The Other Violet

Violet has thrush.  She's pretty pitiful.  Her little tongue is sore and it hurts her to eat and use her pacifier.  The doctor called in some medicine, but she was really fussy so I kept her home from church tonight.  

When I went to Kroger to pick up her medicine, they told me that there wasn't any.  Medicine for Violet, that is.  The pharmacy clerk said that nothing had been phoned in, faxed in, or emailed in.  That pretty much covered everything.  I was frustrated,  but I had to laugh.  I walked away to get a few items that we needed, and heard an announcement over the loudspeaker for "Violet Smith's mother to return to the pharmacy".  I went back and the pharmacy man told me that her medicine had been called in, but that they had accidentally filled it for another Violet Smith in their computer.  A "really old" Violet Smith, apparently.  

Ha!  

I love my little girl and her "old lady" name!

Weekend

Yes, two posts in one day.  I'm trying to get back in the habit of blogging.  I miss it, and I really do want to record what's going on in our little family.  

Here are some pictures of what we did this weekend. If I'm friends with you on Facebook, most are just a repeat of what you've already seen.  

Saturday:

We all went our separate ways in the morning- I took Jordan to his soccer game and Chris and Shaun went to church for the Man to Man breakfast.  Jordan, Violet, and I ran errands after the game and then went back home for a few hours.  

This picture of Violet cracks me up.  She looks so exasperated!

After Chris and Shaun came home, we headed out to our friend Ryan's birthday party.  He turned 21!  I've known Ryan since he was a little boy and the fact that he's 21 now makes me feel extremely old.  He had a costume party at the park.  Except we couldn't wear costumes because we were on the way to a hockey game afterward.  It was still a fun party, though, with lots of Halloween-type games.  

We had to leave the party a little bit early so we could make it to the game in time.  The boys got free Gladiators tickets through a reading program.  This was our third year doing the program, and we finally saw not one, but two fights!  Chis was really excited about that!

Pre-game goofiness:

This is what Violet did in during the game:

Ha!  She actually stayed awake about half the time.  She was so good.  Never made a peep.  

I hate pictures of myself lately, but my mother has convinced me that one day I'll be sad that I don't have more pictures of me with the kids.  So here's a shot of me with Violet at the game.

Today was a church day.  I had really been looking forward to today, because Bill Wiese was at Free Chapel!  He preached an unforgettable message about Hell and tons of people gave their hearts to the Lord.  It was one of the best services I've ever been in.  The boys had choir practice after service, and then it was (finally!) time for lunch.  We don't get out of church until after 2:00 when there's choir practice, so we're always really hungry.  Today we tried a new place.  Pastability.  It was so-so.  In my opinion, Panara Bread is better, but my Greek Salad was pretty tasty.  And Jordan learned to use chop sticks.  

After lunch, we split up again.  The boys went home and Violet and I ran some errands.  After I came home, we went to the track at my old elementary school and the boys and Chris played football.  

They played until it began to get dark and Violet and I walked a few laps around the track. Is it bad that every time I go to that track I have flash backs from 5th grade P.E.  I was always last in the mile run.  :(

When it was dark we came home and I washed bottles and got everything together for our school week while Chris and the kids watched The Walking Dead.  I have been trying to get in to this show for almost a year now.  I can't get past the first few episodes of season 1 and I don't want to watch season 3 until I know what's going on.  So I'll just wait for it on NetFlix.  

Now, all the kids are sleeping, The Hubs is gaming, and I'm going to sleep myself.  We were so busy this weekend. Sometimes I feel like we need another weekend to recovery from the weekend we just had!  

Take Heart!

It seems as though a lot of people I know have been discouraged lately.  Discouraged, or maybe just overwhelmed with all that life throws at us.  Sometimes, at least for me, it seems like nothing can go normally or smoothly at all.  Ever!  Its always something.  Either the kids are giving me fits with their behavior, we're short on cash, The Hubs and I are at odds with one another, a friend and I have a disagreement, there's family drama, the dryer breaks, one of the kids is sick, all of the kids are sick, I am sick, I'm depressed, the car tears up, or we need new tires.  It really is always something.  

You know what they say.  "That's life"!  

Who the heck are "they", anyway?

And these are just normal, every day, run of the mill issues.  Heaven forbid something really major happens.  Cancer.  A death in the family.  A car accident.  In addition to the "normal" stressors.  It can seem like too much to bear sometimes.  

Life is hard.  

I was reading my Bible the other day and I came across this verse:

"I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."  John 16:32-33 MSG

Yes, I've heard this verse before.  About a million times, actually. But it struck a chord in my heart this time and I just feel like saying, to every one of you out there who is struggling, to keep your chin up.  If you know Jesus, this world is NOT your home.  One day we'll live perfect lives with our Father and have no problems.  In the meantime, we can rest assured and have peace about the fact that no matter what happens, He will see us through.  Big problems or everyday drama.  He's got this.  He knows about every one of our issues before we even had a thought about them. Now does this mean that I'm going to skip and sing when my car dies?  Or when I've grounded my 12 year old yet again for his smart mouth?  Or when a family member passes away?

Heck, no!  But it does make it somewhat more bearable, don't you think?

So, take heart!

Hang in there.  

My prayer is that we all have peace that passes understanding, no matter what life throws our way.  

Take heart!  He has conquered the world and every little problem in it!  

This and That

We just came home from a visiting with my parents and sister.  Jordan told me that his cousin Layna was crying because someone she knows is in jail.  Jordan told me, "I just tried to talk to her and make her feel better.  I said it was okay to cry.  I was... you know... kind of like a pastor".  Love!

The weather's changing.  Fall is here, and I hope the temperature continues to act accordingly.  

Shaun's behavior has been absolutely AMAZING today.  I'm so proud of him.  His hormones have been kind of crazy lately.  I can totally relate to him!  We've really been praying for him, and today he had a great day.  I don't think he was in trouble at all.  Thank you, Lord! 

Jordan was pretty well behaved today, too.  As a reward, all three of the boys in our house are camped out in the living room for a "slumber party".  They haven't been able to do this in a long time due to two boys' smart mouths.  Violet's in there with them.  So far no one's objecting to a girl crashing the party.  

Speaking of Violet, she looked even more adorable than usual today.  Sadly, I didn't get to take her picture.  

Dr. Mark Rutland is joining the staff of our church.  I was so excited to hear this announcement this morning.  I've been listening to him on the radio for years.  It was the best news of the weekend. 

My sister, myself, and two of our friends are so excited to be going to the Twilight Marathon on November 15.  We'll get to see all of the movies one last time on the big screen, plus we get to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 at 10:00 instead of midnight.  And then it will be over.  :(

I've been watching more television that usual.  I've always preferred reading over watching TV, but Violet doesn't really allow me to read that much.  So we watch television together instead.  Most shows are a huge disappointment.  Being a huge "Friends" fan, we were really excited about Matthew Perry's new show.  Until we watched it.  We thought it was really lame.  We do, however, enjoy Revolution and The Mindy Project.  And of course, the new and final season of 

The Office.  

And now my sweet little baby girl is crying, so I must go see about her.  

One Month Later

Today, or rather yesterday, since it's technically October 1st already, Violet turned 1 month old.  

We can't believe a whole month has passed already!  

Violet celebrated her birthday by sleeping so, SO well on Saturday night.  I guess she wanted to prove to us that she's becoming a big girl!  We moved her to her crib for the first time (she had been sleeping in our room in a bassinet)and she seemed to like it.  

Things have calmed down considerably around here.  I guess it took us a month to get our groove on.  

I wanted to be all organized and list all of Violet's stats on here, but I can't find the sheet we brought home from her two week check up.  I'll have to play it by ear.  

Our little Violet weighs around 8 pounds.  She takes 3-4 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours, unless we're out and about.  When we travel, she usually just sleeps!  She still wears size Newborn diapers- we prefer Huggies.  She loves to be carried in the sling... and I admit that I love that she loves to be carried this way. Loud noises don't phase her.  Why would they? She's been accustomed to chaos since before she was born!  She has totally stolen the hearts of the men in her life.  She has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already and her big brothers are SO protective.  Shaun is more laid back about it.  He asks to hold and feed her, but only when no one else is around.  Jordan wants to help do everything, and he even told my cousin Jane that "only family can touch her".  Jane had to explain that she was indeed family and that she had taken care of me when I was Violet's size before Jordan would let her touch his sister. Ha!

Violet seems to be pretty laid back.  She goes with the flow, going wherever we go.  She's been shopping, to soccer games, to church (not to the nursery yet, though), out to eat, to co-op, Lego Land, and lots  more.  Wherever we go, people tell us how beautiful she is, and we have to agree!

Here are some pictures from Violet's first month:

Just a few days old.  

One of my favorite pictures of her!

A few weeks old.  This is before her first church service.  She was so good!  Even when she woke up, she stayed very quiet!

 This one cracks me up.  She was so tired and her pacifier kept falling out.  She'd wake up just enough to keep the tip of it in her mouth. 

One month old and on her second field trip.  We had just been to a play.

 Not the best picture in the world, but I wanted a picture on her birth day.  Thanks to my friend Kelli for getting me the "first year" stickers!

Happy One Month, Violet!  We love you!

Raw Honesty and a Little Encouragement

And so, we've had a rough few weeks.  Havoc has been wreaked on our household in the form of Violet.  Seriously, how could such a little person cause such malfunction in the way we do things?  

Several people told me that having a third child was no different than having a second.  Umm.  Well, no.  At least, not in our case.  I guess I was just a little out of practice.  It has been six years since we've had a baby in the house, and my boys have spoiled me.  They can take care of themselves!  They fix their own breakfast, dress themselves, and they sleep at night!  I really had forgotten how much little babies just don't sleep at night. In all honesty, I don't remember either one of my boys being "bad sleepers".  Or maybe I could just function with less sleep way back then.  Either way, the lack of sleep has definitely been getting to me.  

Also, I may or may not be experiencing post post-partum depression.  I can't really decide if I am or not...it depends on what day (or moment) I ask myself.  It was really bad last weekend.  I was so overwhelmed!  And tired.  Did I mention tired?  The tiredness makes it worse!  Violet hadn't slept in three nights and everything went crazy.  The house was a mess, we were running around everywhere- so busy!  And I shut down.  I was a total crazy lady.  So unreasonable.  And sad.  It didn't help matters when the Hubs offered to stay up with the baby and she slept all night for him.  At one point, I actually told Chris that I just needed to go somewhere for a week.  Anywhere!  Because I wasn't cut out to be the mother of a baby again.  And I couldn't handle the boys or Violet.  She didn't even like me! Why else would she cry all night?

This was on Saturday.  After my outburst, Chris said that it was time for me to come back to church.  Even if I didn't want to go, he said I needed to go.  Of course, I didn't want to go.  So he presented me with a bribe. He'd stay up with the baby all night Saturday night if I'd bring her to church the next day.  It was an offer I couldn't refuse, even though I definitely didn't feel like being around a ton of people and acting like everything was fine.  But, I was desperate for sleep and willing to do anything to get it.  

I was too exhausted to cook dinner that night, and nothing we had in the house was what I wanted, so we piled in the car to hit the drive through.  Only I was being unreasonable again and couldn't decide what I wanted- so I wound up getting nothing.  We came back home and realized that we only had 7 diapers in the house.  It was after 9:00 and I knew 7 diapers wouldn't last until after church the next day.  So I stormed out and drove to the Cleveland Wal-Mart, crying the whole way.  

Let me tell you, I looked amazing.  No make-up, huge black circles under my eyes, and sweats.  Yes, I went out in public that way.  I didn't think twice about it.  After I had purchased the diapers, I realized I was starving.  And the Cleveland Walmart has a Subway, and that bread was smelling so wonderful.  I got in line with my huge box of size Newborn diapers.  There was a couple in front of me.  They were friendly.  A little too friendly for me in my hormonal state, but nice enough.  They took forever with their sandwiches! They wanted meatball subs, and there wasn't enough meatballs, so the Subway worker had to go get more, and some other weird things happened, and it just took forever.  I really was about to fall asleep waiting in that line!  I propped myself up on the box of diapers while I waited.  Finally it was my turn to pay, and when I got my debit card out, the cashier told me that my food had been paid for.  Well, that woke me up!  I asked who had paid for it, and it was the couple in front of me.  The cashier said they paid for my meal because I had to wait on them for so long.  I don't know how I missed them having that conversation.  Maybe I really did fall asleep for a little bit.  Ha!

Thankfully, the couple had ordered for "here" and were eating their sandwiches at a nearby table.  I went to thank them for their kindness with more tears in my eyes.  That sweet lady had noticed my box of Newborn diapers and thought I needed some encouragement.  How right she was, and she did encourage me a lot!

I couldn't find the words to tell this woman how much her act of kindness meant to me.  I don't know if she had kids of her own or had any idea of the hard time I'd been having, but she reached out to me and it was just what I needed.  My spirit was lifted and I had a new outlook on things.  I'm so thankful for this sweet couple, and I don't even know their names.  They could be angels for all I know... sent from Heaven to enjoy a meatball sub and encourage me.    

Violet's Birth Day

Today is September 13th.  It's my due date!  And Violet Victoria Smith is two weeks old today!

I've been meaning to document her birth day for... well... two weeks now but I haven't found the time or the energy.  It's crazy how one little newborn can turn your household upside down!  I don't want to forget anything about the day she joined us, so here it is:

Chris and I woke up bright and early and arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on August 30th.  The boys had spent the night with my parents, so it was just the two of us getting ready that morning.  We were both kind of quiet.  We were tired and nervous!  We made it to the hospital on time, which is a miracle in itself.  Once we were there, I got in bed and my nurse came in to monitor the baby and start my fluids.  Violet had to have one last laugh with us before her arrival- she hid from the monitor AGAIN!  She had been so hard to monitor from the get-go.  I thought it was funny.  

The nurse finally found her and then all we had to do was wait. This was different because my first two c-sections were emergencies and there was no down time to wait and think about what was about to happen.  This time, we were stuck with nothing to do except to think about what was about to happen!  We had about an hour left to go until surgery time.  It was a really long hour!  My sister and grandmother came around 7:00, followed by my parents and the boys shortly after. Jordan wore his "fancy clothes":  jeans, his t-shirt with a necktie printed on it, and his sports jacket.  He wanted to look nice the first time he met his sister!  Everyone was able to come back and visit with me a little while, which helped pass the time.  When the anesthesiologist came in, Chris gave me the thumbs up sign.  He thought she was the best.  And she was!  We'd met before, and I knew I liked her.  I told her how nervous I was about that stupid spinal needle and she remembered that I'd had a lumbar puncture two years ago.  She assured me that this needle was way smaller and that everything would be fine.  

Five minutes later, we were ready to roll.  The doctors let Chris stay with me the whole time.  Usually dads aren't allowed in until the spinal block is in and the surgery has already started, but since Chris was used to seeing everything they let him stay with me.  As we entered the room, I heard music.  You know the episode of Grey's Anatomy when pregnant Callie is in the car accident and almost dies?  The "musical" episode?  The song Callie sings when she's having an out of body experience because she's at death's door was playing in the operating room.  When I came into the room "If I lay here, if I just lay here, will you lay with me and just forget the world" met my ears.  Just slightly unnerving!

As I was getting into position to get the spinal, I hissed to Chris, "Do you hear that song?  That's the song from Grey's Anatomy that played when Dr. Torres was pregnant and almost died!"  Chris just looked at me and raised his eyebrows.  So did the anesthesiologist.  She even asked me if I wanted them to turn off the music.  I composed myself and got ready for the needle.  I only freaked out a little bit.  Chris held me up the whole time.  That helped.  And then it was over.  

I laid back on the table and waited for forever for my body to go numb.  I tried not to think about what was going on, but it was hard!  It seemed like I was lying there for hours...I'm not sure what exactly the doctor was doing all that time.  Chris watched the whole time and assured me that I didn't want to know!  Finally, he looked at me, squeezed my hand, and said excitedly, "She's almost here!"

And then, there she was!  Dr. Martin looked over the curtain thingy at me and said, "Here she is... what a big girl!"  I didn't hear her cry, and the flashbacks from Shaun's birth started.  I asked why she wasn't crying and my sweet anesthesiologist bent down to me and told me that she had just swallowed some fluid and that she'd cry as soon as it was cleared out.  Sure enough, a few seconds later Violet's cry filled the room.  I got a quick glimpse at her sweet little face before the nurses took her across the room to clean her up.  Chris went with her, and I kept asking whoever was listening if she was okay.  Everyone assured me that she was perfect, and then a nurse shouted out her stats:  8 pounds, 1 ounce.  20 2/3 inches long.  I'll never forget watching Chris' face when all this was going on.  He didn't stop smiling the entire time!  Of course, I cried, and my anesthesiologist rescued me again by wiping my tears.  

A few minutes later, Chris brought her over to me.  I couldn't hold her or even touch her because my arms were still secured, so he put her face close to mine and someone snapped this picture:

I love it.  I love her!

The nurses and Chris took her away to the recovery room for her bath while I was being stitched up.  Again, this took forever.  About halfway through the whole thing, I realized that I could see everything that was going on over the curtain in the reflection of the light over my head.  So I watched a little.  I saw my uterus, which was strange.  But it helped pass the time!  Chris took this picture in the recovery room, before Violet had her bath.

Finally I was ready to go to the recovery room.  They gave Violet to me and I was able to nurse her for a little bit.  I was clueless about what to do, so a nurse was helping me.  She had just finished telling me to not worry about the baby not being able to breathe because she would push away from me if she couldn't get her breath.  That's when I noticed that Violet looked kind of purple.  I said so to the nurse and she scooped her up and back over to the bassinet.  It turned out that Violet had just swallowed a good bit of fluid as she was being born and was getting choked on it.  She was fine a a few minutes and in my arms again.  

By this time, almost an hour had passed and I knew my family was getting restless in the waiting room.  Only two people were allowed in to see me at a time, so Chris went to get my mom.  A few minutes later my granny, sister, and mother-in-law came back.  No kids were allowed in the recover room.  :(  A short time later, I was ready to go to my room.  As I was being rolled down the hall, I saw my sweet boys through the waiting room door.  They escaped the clutches of my family and burst through that door!  Fortunately, my nurses were all awesome and let them walk with me to my room.  

Once we were in my room, Shaun and Jordan were finally able to see their sister.  And they fell in love!

Just Us Five!

Here's a funny picture of the boys with my nurse.  I can't say enough good things about all of my nurses.  They were absolutely wonderful.

A little while later, the boys got hungry and Chris took them to lunch.  While they were gone, someone knocked on the door.  Dr. Onal, our pediatrician stuck his head in the door and exclaimed, "I came as soon as I heard!"  I was so glad to see him.  He's the greatest doctor in the world.  We've been through a lot together, and he was so excited for us.  He examined Violet and announced that she was perfect.  As if we didn't know that already!

For the rest of the day, we relaxed and enjoyed showing Violet off to all of her visitors.  It was so surreal that we were able to keep her in the room with us.  We've never had that option before.  A constant prayer of thanks stayed in the back of my mind for the entire day.  When you've had sick babies, you don't take healthy ones for granted, and we were so, so thankful for a healthy baby girl. 

Here are a few more shots from Violet's first day, taken by my friend Kelli:

Happy Two Weeks, sweet Violet!