July, August, meet the baby, and seizures

I've been thinking of closing the blog but I guess I haven't given up the idea of putting my thoughts out there into the abyss that is the internet. So here I go with an update that I hope to continue to do monthly for those interested (leave some comments so I know if you're interested!). I'm hoping to keep reviewing books and such (less though) and do a monthly or bi-monthly family update (my friend Kaila does a monthly update of her family much more beautifully).

I'll begin with our newest member, Princess. I've gone back and forth over using my kids' names on here and really I'm too lazy to go back to change all of the Moose/Squirt names so I'll stick with nicknames.

Princess was born July 20, 2015 at 10:15am by induction (with an epidural, praise God!). She was 8 pounds 10 ounces, 21 inches long, with reddish/blond hair and blue eyes. She looks SO much like Moose at birth!
Her birth was really just different and special, like all births. We went in to the hospital at 6:00am while it rained so I could be induced (this was her due date). My parents were with the boys at home; I had a hard time leaving Squirt because he was upset the night before about me leaving. Can you tell we don't leave our children often?
Pitocin was started around 6:30 or 7:00. I didn't feel the contractions at first as I sat on the birthing ball. When I did start to feel them, they weren't so bad. Our doctor didn't sound like she expected the baby to be born until the afternoon (Big A thought differently per our experience with Squirt). Around 9:00 I started to get back labor pains and asked for an epidural. In the eon between 9:15 and 9:30, I was in such pain I was practically begging for my epidural. The anethesiologist was in the hospital and coming, but when you're in pain it seems to take a few thousand years.
During the pre-epidural contractions, I could not focus on my focal point, I couldn't listen to one perfectly nice nurse telling me to breathe he-he-hoo like you're supposed to. All I could do was focus on my pain. Big A said that he felt someone come in the room and it was like my eyes were just magnetized to her. It was my friend/nurse, Robin.
She came to my bedside, was right in my face (in a nice way) going he-he-hoo and I he-he-hooed right along with her, focused on her beautiful blue eyes (with a fleck of red in her left eye). She was calm and I just think God sent her to be exactly who I needed to get through this labor and delivery. I tell you, she was amazing!
Pushing was really hard this time around. I had such an "easy" birth with Squirt (I'll chalk that up to narcotics) so maybe this wasn't so bad. It took me a LOT of energy and a vacuum to push baby Princess out. When she came out it was such a relief and there was such joy and I just cried, so happy to have her there.
And then she pooped on me. Which really didn't dampen the moment at all but is hilarious now. She looked just like her brothers!
My friend Amy took some awesome pictures after of us settling in, the boys meeting her.
I just loved this birth experience as hard as it was (not Moose hard but not Squirt easy).

We had some concerns about her kidneys pre-birth but with an ultrasound (on a newborn!), they look to be just fine. They are producing urine just fine, trust me. Her weight has mostly gone up: 9#2oz down to 9#0oz, back up to 9#5oz, and then at one month 9#15oz. Here are some of my favorite pictures of her so far (and there are lots to choose from).

My favorite of her onesies, already outgrown. One of my favorite of her quilts, although each has been used and spit up on. You can see on her cheeks, she had some awful baby acne that turned more rash-like but never seemed to bother her.

How does time fly? I could have gotten a better picture had I been patient, but I'm not. So we have one with the pacifier that she has a love/hate relationship with. We'd hoped (are hoping?) she'll be a thumb sucker. So much more convenient and we know how to get rid of that now. But whatever. Love this little doll she has, too!

Yep, I'm that big of a geek.

This one makes me laugh. I just love her cheeks.

I think she likes us.

Moose- 

On Facebook, I posted about how I would have kept my pregnancies even having known about Moose's autism and now epilepsy. Apparently no one knew he had epilepsy; I'm great at updates (not). Moose does have epilepsy; not sure if that's diagnosed at one seizure or two, but he's had 8 since March. One in March, two in April, one the Thursday before Princess was born, one the day we brought her home from the hospital, two the day before school started (August 19), and one the Monday after school started.

We started with one med that seemed to alter his happiness (as in it made him irritable and unable to calm down as easily). That hit a breaking point and we stopped it. The med he is currently on doesn't seem to affect his emotions/behaviors like that, but we've had to up the dose a few times. I guess it's still a relatively low dose that he's on. It is kind of a guessing game as to what meds at what dosage will be best. That's hard because it feels like we just wait for the next seizure and pray there isn't one. 

I think about his seizures daily, but try very hard not to let it stop us from stopping him doing things. I still let him ride his bike off the ramps at the skate park (something he learned to do over the summer). I do chop his food a little smaller (he's had a few seizures while eating and will continue to eat) - food like carrots, apples, etc. 

We've had some adjustments to school and homework. Forgot a snack one day, choosing to skip recess vs taking work home to do. Nothing huge and his new special ed teacher is AMAZING! The communication this year is awesome! He's done well; telling his teacher (after she complimented him on his cursive writing) that he will "flood this school with tears of joy." Strange but cool.

Such a handsome guy.

Oh yeah! The boys both learned to jump off the diving board and swim to the side. AHHHH!

He loves her.

Squirt-

Nothing life altering for him (thank You, God!). 

He lost his training wheels this summer! Finally!! Big A says bike rides are a lot more fun now. 

He's had some moments since baby was born where he has lost sight of me or doesn't seem me and thinks I've left him or am not coming for him. Never done that, but I'm aware of it now that it's a fear of his. Poor guy. Has to be difficult after 6 years of being the baby. 

He is our comic book author/illustrator. So much fun to watch him work plot lines (sometimes he copies shows but sometimes they are his own ideas). He spends a lot of time asking me how to spell words and working out his pictures. I told him this could be a job for him some day, too.

He's doing well in school. Has the same teacher Moose had in first grade; she's wonderful. 

We'll see how his ears are doing on Friday. He's had 3 tube surgeries; I'm praying for not a fourth.

So fun to watch them. Now I need to learn so I can join in!

No training wheels!!! Until Princess starts to ride...

Such neat handwriting.

Not much else to tell this month. I'll try to write an update at the end of this month and then monthly. Until then, you should keep up with the Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Haiti through their new blog.