Warner has arrived!

It's been a week and a half but things have finally settled down enough to sit and write for a bit (hopefully).

Early Wednesday morning I woke up and thought I was having a bad stomach cramp. About 10 minutes later when I had another one I realized that these weren't the cause of eating something bad, but contractions! About 3am I started timing them and for the next few hours I tried to rest, browsed the internet for a new diaper bag that would accommodate two kids still in diapers (I have two that I like but neither one fits the enormous amount of stuff I feel like I need to lug around with me for 4 kids total), watched some reality tv reruns and then finally my alarm went off at 6:35. After I got Dylan off to the bus like usual I showered and told Shane he probably wouldn't be going in to work. At 8 we started making arrangements with my mother-in-law to watch Lincoln and started getting all the stuff moved to the van. Then I NEEDED to sweep the kitchen before we left. If you ever really want your contractions to get intense, start sweeping the floor... it works great!
Finally after running some errands first we checked into the hospital at 9:42am. The set me up in a little room and started monitoring my contractions. They weren't showing up very well so it took them a while to figure out how far apart they were and once the nurse finally check me and decided to move me into the labor room it was about 10:30. We got me up and started walking to the room and had to stop half way there, about 20 feet into the walk and I literally thought the baby was going to fall out in the hallway. We made it to the labor room and realized that our bag that had the camera was still in the van. Shane ran out to grab it and my water broke just as he came back into the room. My doctor barely had time to get into the proper delivery clothes things were moving so quickly. I pushed twice until the head came out and since no one likes having a baby hanging out of them I just kept pushing and voila Warner James Sadler was born at 10:40am. 7 pounds even and 19 1/2 inches long. He was perfect! He came so fast Danielle didn't even make it in time to see him born but was there to help get him washed up and cuddly. Unfortunately they think he took a big gulp of amniotic fluid right as he was coming out so he kept gagging on fluid and they actually had to suction out his stomach with a tiny little tube but it didn't seem to bother him too much.
Warner is such a little love bug and we are so excited to have him in our lives.

The night before we became a family of 6. 

The last picture of me pregnant.

And he's out!

Proud big sis

Grumpy old man face

Checking each other out

Staring at Mommy

Sleeping in his basinet at the hospital

Grandma Shirley with ALL the kids

Proud Daddy

My Boys

Family at home. 

Bounty of Poultry

Shane has a way of getting his hands on the weirdest things for free (including house plants, chocolate, lean cuisine meals, chorizo, yogurt etc) and he recently came home with a windfall of chicken. Forty pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I'm estimating it's worth at least $80 around here considering I think about $1.99 lb is a decent price. All we had to do was separate it. It seemed to come in about 10 pound bags all frozen together in one giant chicken pop. After defrosting it, we BBQd about 2-3 lbs for dinner yesterday and stuck whatever we didn't eat in the fridge because Shane is going on a diet kick and says he will eat chicken all the time. (I think those extra 6 pounds might have something to do with all the baking I've been doing lately, sadly no more) This is my most favorite type of meat to work with... or eat but I don't always have it around so I am more than excited. Here's what we did:

I threw about 7 pounds into the crock pot with about 1/2 cup water, garlic salt and pepper on low overnight for about 10 hours. I shredded all of it, set aside two cups for chicken divan for dinner tonight and mixed the rest with BBQ sauce for chicken burgers sometime when we have a crowd over. With graduation and the new baby coming soon I figure that will be really easy to serve if we need to.

We bagged up another about 15 pounds in 2-4 pound portions for ease of thawing. I made a huge list of meals that I want to make eventually when I have all the ingredients on hand with the chicken such as: coq au vin, chicken parmesan, chicken quesadillas, chicken fijitas, chicken chili, homemade chicken taquitos and chicken and biscuits. Yum I'm getting hungry.

Here's what I've actually made and put in the freezer since yesterday... man not sleeping well sure gives you plenty of time to plan.

chicken curry sauce

Teriyaki Chicken, chicken curry x3, sliced for Stir Fry, teriyaki chicken burgers, orange chicken, chicken piccata, the chicken divan and the shredded chicken. I love that most of the meals are freezer friendly! Can't wait to eat them all.

Oh I forgot to mention that I also made taco meat and pulled homemade refried beans out of the freezer so the family can have tacos the night I stay at the hospital... man I am so ready for this baby to come.

Mom Connection Winner

And the grand prize goes to...
Courtney!

I know you are out of state so we will have to negotiate the hula hoop part of the giveaway, but please message me your mailing address and I will get the book out to you asap. Congratulations!

Our Favorite Muffins

So I've been baking more since my freezer is still pretty full of freezer meals and we have completely fallen in love with this chocolate chip zucchini muffin recipe. The are so yummy, somewhat healthier than the no-bakes that I've also been making and they stay good until the last one is gobbled up (which isn't that long around here.) I've probably made four dozen since I found the recipe online and frozen about a dozen to have on hand after this baby comes. Will he ever come? Hopefully soon but until then I have these great muffins. If you make them, you will thank me.

Mom Connection (Book Review and my first Giveaway!)

I was recently given the opportunity by MOPS International to read and review next year’s theme book called Mom Connection: Creating Vibrant Relationships in the Midst of Motherhood by Tracey Bianchi. In her book, Bianchi examines the relationships between today’s mom and finding her rhythm with her children, spouse, her schedule and commitments, her extended family, friends, community and the world. Like trying to sling 100 hula hoops at once alone, mothers in today’s society try to do it all and look good while doing it. Bianchi discusses mommy competition and while we are all on the same team being just a mom can be isolating, “We are never physically alone and yet our souls starve for connection.” Once we recognize how great we are and how important others are to us then we can flourish as a spouse, mother and person in society. Remembering to “take regular moments to rise up into your gifts and passions. To live fully into the rhythm of your life, you need to celebrate all that you are.”

The book is well organized and easy to read between diaper changes, never-ending snack time, and the sacred bedtime. I started writing down quotes I loved from the book and ended up with 6 pages (mind you it was during “Glee” and I was writing sloppy on a wide ruled notebook) because so much of it I wanted to remember or apply to my life. I felt that the spouse and extended family chapters were especially important for me to read because I have a hard time balancing my needs with the needs of other who are important or I think are important such as “working on your partnership takes energy you are likely short on at the moment, but you need the payoff to thrive.” I want to thrive in my relationships! I also have to remember that “newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reason that families work.”

There are three sections of the book; including finding your own rhythm as a mom, finding rhythm in your relationships and helping others find their rhythm. At the end of each chapter there are three tips to try out at home, a place to jumpstart prayer and a journaling opportunity. I highly recommend reading Mom Connection no matter what season of motherhood you are in.

If you would like to win a copy of Mom Connection: Creating Vibrant Relationships in the Midst of Motherhood you are in luck! From now until 11:59pm on May 6^th you can enter to win a brand new copy of Bianchi’s book and a hula hoop. You’ll have to read the book to understand that part a little better. To enter please leave a comment on this post explaining why you love MOPS or are interested in getting involved in a group near you. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced on May 7^th.

Cutest Kids in the West

I was reading a book the other day and one of the quotes that jumped out at me was something along the lines of "Be the Steve Jobs of mothering." I was to leave a legacy and have people talking about how great I am... ok that came out a little wrong but it is good for the mind and soul to realize how great you actually are, even in the midst of feeling like you need to flop on the couch and scream (I'm not saying that necessarily happened yesterday around 6:30pm). So let me brag about my adorable children for just one (more) moment.
Even though there is a five year gap between them, my boys... that are actually out in this world as we speak... for the most part love each other and can be best buddies. Such characters!

I think if Linc wasn't eating a pretzel we might have had a better smile. 

The smile and the scowl, that about sums them up.

Just your typical Tuesday morning before school.

And Danielle, holy cow have you seen this girl? She's only got 25 full days of school left as a senior and she will be graduated! Yikes, where has the time gone. Now don't get all crazy and print or post this picture because I will be sending it out with her graduation announcements in the mail hopefully by early next week. June 11th is going to be a tough day. My oh my I can barely wrap my head around the fact that once she's out of school she will be more of an adult than ever.

Doing It All

I have some friends who seem like they can do it all. We joked that one of my friends just doesn't have her plate full, she had a platter. I love trying to figure out how they can have time or energy to do all of the things I wish I had time or energy to do but then I have to slap myself in the face and remember that each person is different. I don't have the resources or skills to sew all my own clothes and home decor. I don't have the patience or full control to homeschool my children. I don't have the knowledge to start a step-parent support group. I don't have the budget to entertain regularly or have a name brand wardrobe. But I do what I can. Here are some of the amazing ideas that I've seen online lately that I really wanted to try but I've given myself grace and decided that it is just not going to happen for me right in this current season of my life. Quite a few things have changed for us from what I expected for the year so far and that is just how it is going to be.

Gardening - I wanted to start my own seedlings. I even bought some seeds a few weeks ago but never got around to getting soil and then taking the time to get the ground ready and weed and take care of one more thing on my agenda... just not going to happen. In the ideal world I would have grown sugar peas, rainbow chard, mixed lettuce, basil, lavender and zucchini all from seeds. Some of them still say I can plant directly into the ground after the last frost but who knows if that will happen and that's ok.

Preschool - I totally dropped the ball on my grand scheme of pre-preschooling. I checked out awesome resources online, drew up a schedule, gathered supplies from around the house, blogged about it and then it never happened. Lincoln is still growing smarter by the day and is getting more well adjusted around other kids. He can stay in the nursery at church much better, not push kids anymore at playdates and always talks about his buddies. He is an outdoorsy boy already and I just have to remember to try to give him the opportunity to stretch his legs in the fresh air a little more and he will be happy. I'm not going to be making a cardboard village anytime soon but I did buy some activity books to hopefully keep the boys slightly busier while I am trying to get back into the swing of nursing soon. My kids don't need that and that's ok.

Cooking - I spent a while the other day putting together a random type of beef stroganoff for dinner and I thought it came together really well in the slow cooker. When I told the kids what was for dinner all I kept hearing Dylan say was "So we're having hamburger helper?" and "This hamburger helper is really good." Shane didn't even finish his which is unusual. I got mad at both of them because I felt like I spent the time and creativity to come up with this great, healthful meal and it wasn't appreciated. Then I realized that it doesn't matter what we eat. It's just food. Even if it were hamburger helper at least we are eating and we can just enjoy each other's company. I made all of those freezer meals for after the baby comes but I decided that since we are getting so close and I'm getting warn out we are going to crack into them early and just enjoy the fruits of my labor and that's ok.

Getting Help- I have amazing family and friend who have been there for us when things have gotten a little crazy around here. I have one friend who has been bringing us meals once a week so far for 3 weeks and says she will keep doing it until a while after the baby is born as her gift to us. Do you know how amazing that is? I have friend at MOPS who didn't hesitate to plan an event for me when I was overwhelmed when Shane lost his job. I have parents and in-laws and siblings who help keep the boys occupied when they are here so I can put my feet up for a few minutes. I have older kids who can pick a chore off this Saturday to do list and we can whip the house into shape in an hour. I have a husband who will take my son in for a hair cut after I sort of butchered it. I have a couple who will come anytime day or night to watch the boys if I go into labor while my in-laws are out of town. I have a mom on the Senior parent group board who is filling me in on things I've missed and will probably miss in the next week or two coming up. It takes a village to raise a healthy family and that's ok.

No I don't have to do it all or do it all myself to be happy and that's ok!