Three...and a half!

It seems like we just celebrated this girl's 3rd birthday...but suddenly she's 31/2!

Gonna be tall like her daddy...

She grew approximately one inch in the past six months, and was ecstatic that she could add the coveted "and a half!" phrase to her age. 

Our dinner conversation regarding the subject went as follows:

Peter: Marie, how old are you now?

Marie: Three-and-a-half!

Peter: So how old will you be on your next birthday?

Marie: Four! And after that I will be five. [pause] But when I am five, I'm not going to go to school. I'm going to stay home ALLL day!!!

Me: So not happening.

Peter: Erik, how old will you be on your next birthday?

Erik: Cake!

Cake, indeed. 

Ethan is 3 Months Old! {Photo/Video Dump!}

Guess who's 3 months old today?

Here are lots of updated pictures and videos, as promised!

Laughing!

Hyp Mama: The Grand Finale - Ethan's Birth Story!

Many of you have seen these posts and expressed interest in finding out more about Hypnobirthing. You can find all the posts I've written about it here:

My Discovery of Hypnobirthing: 

Hypno-What?!

The Hypnobabies Lessons I've blogged through:

Hyp-Mama: Zero Day 

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 1 - The Power of Words

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 2 - Out Like a Light!

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 3 - Blissfully Numb

Hyp-Mama: Lessons 4&5 - Push it to the Limit

Hyp-Mama: The Grand Finale - Ethan's Birth Story! 

And also be sure visit the Hypnobabies website, www.hypnobabies.com, for more great information. (Some of the Hypnobabies links embedded in my posts may be outdated since Hypnobabies has updated their website). If you have any questions or want more details, please feel free to send me a message and ask away!

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I know the star of the show is almost three months old, but considering the fact that I never got around to writing the birth story for my first “hypnobaby”, it’s a bit of a miracle that I got this one down before the kid left for college!

So if your favorite pastime is reading exceedingly long and drawn out baby stories, if you’re interested in hypnobirthing, or you have nothing better to do, then this post is for you! Everyone else: you’ve been forewarned.

For the purpose of this birth story:

Pressure Wave=Contraction

Birthing Time=Labor

Baby-in-waiting=Ethan

It all started on Thursday, October 27^th when I was getting ready for work around 9am. I was already in my uniform and trying to bend down to tie my boots when it happened: my water broke! Or so I thought. There was no big gush but definitely some seeping, and it was the last thing I expected, so I texted my husband and boss, then went out to the living room to tell our nanny. “Don’t freak out, everything’s fine,” I said, “…but I think maybe my water just broke?” At which point she absolutely freaked out and started bustling around the house with excitement making sure everything was ready, asking if I needed anything, getting me food, etc. I wasn’t so excited, though because nothing was happening. No pressure waves, no “pain,” just the discomfort that I’d been feeling, say, for a few months now. And I did NOT want to be one of those women who had to be induced because her water broke and she hadn’t progressed.

Hyp Mama: Lessons 4 & 5 - Push it to the Limit!

Many of you have seen these posts and expressed interest in finding out more about Hypnobirthing. You can find all the posts I've written about it here:

My Discovery of Hypnobirthing: 

Hypno-What?!

The Hypnobabies Lessons I've blogged through:

Hyp-Mama: Zero Day 

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 1 - The Power of Words

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 2 - Out Like a Light!

Hyp-Mama: Lesson 3 - Blissfully Numb

Hyp-Mama: Lessons 4&5 - Push it to the Limit

Hyp-Mama: The Grand Finale - Ethan's Birth Story! 

And also be sure visit the Hypnobabies website, www.hypnobabies.com, for more great information. (Some of the Hypnobabies links embedded in my posts may be outdated since Hypnobabies has updated their website). If you have any questions or want more details, please feel free to send me a message and ask away!

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So in the interest of time and the fact that my newest hypno-baby is almost 12 weeks old already, I've decided to combine the concepts for the last two lessons and just blog about it already. And hopefully get to blogging about the real deal before the little man isn't so little anymore.

Hypnobabies Lessons 4 and 5 focus mainly on educating a woman about the actual birthing process: what the different birthing stages look like, what's happening in a woman's body during each stage, and what's going on with the baby during each stage. These chapters also define different intervention tactics used in many hospitals and birthing centers that may be recommended to 'speed up' the process or that could be used in case of an emergency. Unless there is a valid emergency, most of these techniques are completely unnecessary and can actually add stress, time, and pain to the birthing process. Some even increase the chances of the baby going in to fetal distress. These chapters offer many helpful suggestions for avoiding this, and explain many practical techniques that help labor progress properly and naturally without having to resort to interventions; many suggestions are also given for turning a breech or posterior baby prior to or during the birthing time to ensure the baby is in the most optimal position for a smooth entrance, so to speak.

We're Movin' on Up...

"Well we're movin' on up to the east side...to a deluxe apartment in the sky..." 

-Theme from the Jeffersons

Truth is, we're actually moving west and up...to the Mile High City. This is the official blog post to confirm the official decision that we've unofficially told most people about: next stop, Denver!

In less than 60 days we'll be saying goodbye to Army life, packing up, and shipping out so that Peter can start his MBA program at the University of Denver (go Pioneers!). We've planned for awhile now to get out of the Army at the end of our five year commitment and start our 'grown up' life. I've always known hands down that I want to devote myself to caring for the kiddos, but Peter has vacillated for a bit between three options: going to school full-time for his Master's, going to work full-time, or both; working while attempting to do an executive (part-time) MBA program. 

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!

We're thankful for the blessings of yesterday, 

the possibilities of tomorrow, 

and most of all for the gift of today!