My little gladiator/fairy...

We had some workmen at our house a few weeks ago to fix some things...most of which needed to be done before we moved in. One of the issues was a broken tile, caused by settling in the foundation. The guys of course took their shoes off at the door, so were all in their socks. While they were fixing the tile, Kadence was sitting on the couch with me watching, when she noticed that one of the guy's socks had started coming down over his heel. It bothered her. A lot. She told me "I need to go fix his sock." I told her that it was fine, and convinced her to leave him alone. A few minutes later he was walking around, and his sock was still the same way. Since I had said she couldn't fix it, and it was still bothering her, she said to him "Excuse me, your sock's amiss."

The things that come out of her mouth never cease to amaze me...we pulled into the driveway one afternoon, and she informed me "When the fire comes out of my butt, it rains." I still have no idea what that was about.

Kadence and I went to Sonic for lunch on the way to do grocery shopping. I told her that if she didn't eat all of her chicken, she couldn't have her toy. She was playing with her stuffed baby chick before bed that night, and told it "You can't have your toy if you don't eat your chicken!" Poor little chick...

When we were checking out at Sam's that day, she had been talking to the ladies in line behind us. When I had to move the cart so things could go back in it as they were scanned, she was rather unhappy about being removed from her audience. She loudly informed me "I'm angry!" I asked her "Why are you angry?" She said "Because I'm not happy!" I suppose that's a good enough reason. lol

One the Christmas gifts we got Kadence was washable finger paints. She was thrilled with them, and was very excited to use them. The first time we let her finger paint, Patrick changed her into different clothes so she wouldn't mess hers up (even though the paint is washable)...and she came back looking like a little gladiator. She was very precise about her painting though, and wasn't really into making a mess. It was actually a rather clean process.

 

Aunt Ashley got her a dress-up box of fairy clothes for Christmas. It had different accessories to go with the different outfits. She's been completely obsessed with it. The first night she had it, she had to wear ALL of the accessories...so he had on her regular earrings, AND 2 sets of plastic clip-ons. She looked more like a gypsy than a fairy.

A few nights after she first got the dress-up set, she put everything on and had nowhere to go, and nothing to do. So she went upstairs, and knocked on Ben's bathroom door.
K: It's me! I'm all dressed up. What are you doing?
B: I'm taking a bath.
K: Can I watch you?
B: No.
I was laughing for awhile.

She had her first bowling experience on New Year's Eve. Sandra, Savannah and Garrett came down for that weekend, and they, Ben, Caiden, Kadence and I went bowling. Patrick had to work. :( The kids had an awesome time though...but just in case you didn't know, bowling with 2 three year olds takes forever.

She's been periodically begging to go back for the last month. We'll go again sometime...when Daddy can go too.

Small people misunderstanding each other is rather amusing. Kadence had just woken up from her nap, and was slightly grumpy. Caiden was hyper, and about to take a nap.
C: Let's run!
K (thinking he'd asked 'What's wrong?'): I'm fine.
C: Let's run!
K: I'm FINE!
C: Let's run!
K: I'M FINE!!
By that point I'd figured out what she thought he was saying, and calmed her down...then I laughed. :)

I am still technically doing catch-up blogging on past events...so posts will probably be a little shorter for now, since I'm going to try to squeeze them in as often as possible in my free time to get everything completely up to date. :)

Happenings Part 2

The weekend after Ruth's wedding I almost didn't make it through work. I was extremely nauseous and felt horrible. I considered doing a pregnancy test, but wanted Patrick to be there when I did, so it had to wait til Tuesday morning when he didn't have class and would still be home. October 19th I once again used the most sophisticated piece of technology I will ever pee on (according to their commercials) to have it tell me this.

When I found out I was pregnant with Kadence (using the same type of sophisticated technology) I wasn't exactly thrilled. Patrick had to find out by digging through the trash to find the test to see what it said. This time it was both planned, and expected...so I was much nicer. As he put it, I woke him up holding something I'd peed on in front of his face. At that point I was 3 weeks and 5 days along.

On a side note, I find it interesting that I both times I got pregnant, it happened in the same week that I was being the Matron of Honor in someone's wedding...in that regard I'm 2 for 2. So since I think we're finished after this kid, I don't think I'll be acting as anyone's Matron of Honor again. If I do, I guess we all know what to expect. haha

The nausea got so much worse. I was barely functional most of the day...almost every day. Then there was the constant exhaustion. We had to tell Kadence relatively soon after we knew about the baby because she needed to know why we were in bed most of the day, and couldn't go play at the park etc. She was sooo excited about it. Anytime I wasn't able to do something, all I had to do was tell her that the baby in Mommy's tummy was making her sick...and she would be perfectly content lying down with me and reading or watching TV. She would talk to my stomach, and pat it, and always had to "hug" and kiss the baby before she went to bed.

I ended up having to take time off work, because I couldn't stand for the 4 hours required to do my job. Everyone told me the 2nd pregnancy was easier...which I was smart enough not to expect, considering how difficult the 1st one was. :)

We had Kadence's 3rd birthday party at home, since it was easier and less tiring for me. Sarah brought the cupcakes so that would be one less thing I had to worry about...I'm pretty sure her's tasted way better than mine would have. :)

On her actual birthday I took Kadence to eat dinner with Daddy, and then to get her nails done. She was absolutely thrilled, and has mentioned to me several times since then that she "had fun with the wadies" and wants to go back.

On the way home we stopped at Braum's for ice cream...and she picked chocolate. The end result was a sticky, happy, hyper child when we got home.


Not too long after her birthday, she was completely potty trained. In order to get her to start doing #2 in the potty, we had to pay her $1 every time she did for the first week or so...but by that point I was willing to do whatever we had to. :)


I was just over 8 weeks when we had Kadence's party...and I'd been in maternity clothes since 6 weeks.

We had already decided we wanted to have this baby at home, using a midwife. It's less invasive, more comfortable (provided you aren't planning on using medication, which I'm not), you have more control over what goes on, and you can eat and drink as you need to, rather than being loaded up on 25 lbs of fluid over the course of labor and delivery. (Yes, they actually gave me that much IV fluid when I was in labor with Kadence.) Since we are using a midwife, it will be out of network for our insurance...and the midwives don't file until after the birth. That was a problem since our insurance was changing on January 1st, and our 1st appointment had to be before then. So for our 1st appointment we did go to a doctor's office...and it completely re-enforced my decision to do a home birth...but I won't go into that. We had the appointment, and the 1st sonogram on December 2nd at exactly 10 weeks.

We all decided the baby looked like a gummy bear, and that has become it's nickname. Kadence has been very insistent (especially since the sonogram) that the baby is a girl. She won't even allow for the consideration that it MIGHT be a boy. In her mind, that's absolutely not a possibility. I asked her if she would be upset if it was a boy, and she said "No, because it's a girl baby."

At 12 weeks 2 days, on December 18th I started feeling the baby move. Patrick and I were in bed about to go to sleep when I started feeling it...he was pretty sure it wasn't the baby and thought it was just gas...but I know what gas feels like, and I know what a baby feels like...and it's been happening consistently since then. I was exactly 17 weeks when I first felt Kadence...first felt her on July 6th, 2007 to be exact. :) Everything has been happening more quickly with this pregnancy...I started getting sick at 3 weeks, had to start wearing maternity clothes at 6 weeks, and started feeling the baby at 12 weeks...5 weeks earlier than with Kadence. So I'm hoping that means the baby will come sooner, and I'll have a shorter labor too. :)

The bigger I get, the more Kadence likes to interact with the baby. I finally managed to convince her that stuffing food into my belly button wasn't feeding the baby, and it wasn't something that she needed to keep doing. The first time she did it we were eating popcorn. She pulled up my shirt and put a kernel in my belly button. I was confused, so I asked her why she did that. She said "The baby needs to eat that."

On December 22nd at 13 weeks we decided to let everyone know we were expecting. Pretty much anyone who saw me knew anyway. Kadence wasn't really big on keeping it a secret anyway. :)

I was hoping my energy would start coming back at this point, but it didn't. The nausea started improving somewhat, but frequent breaks through the day were still an absolute must when I did anything.

 I had an appointment with our midwife Kathleen at 15 weeks. When she was using the doppler to find the baby's heart beat, the baby kept kicking the doppler...so it took a minute or two to find it. Kadence was watching intently while she whispered "You're ok Mommy. It's ok baby, she's not going to hurt you." After we listened to the baby (heart rate was about 160 bpm) Kadence told us it was her turn. Kathleen put her up on the table and used the doppler to find Kadence's heartbeat. When she got off the table, Kadence had a huge grin on her face and told us "I've got a baby in my tummy too! I heard it!"

Yesterday on January 16th (16 weeks, 3 days) Patrick and I had gotten ready for bed and were lying there watching a TV show. The baby was REALLY rambunctious, and I thought I felt it from the outside. I had Patrick put his hand where I was feeling the baby just to see if he could feel it...I didn't really expect him to, but he felt the baby! He said it felt like the baby was tapping his fingers. :)

That pretty much sums up the majority of the important happenings since I last updated. I will attempt to do better at keeping up with this in the future. :D

Happenings Part 1

So...I have plenty of excuses for not keeping up with the blog. There's been a lot going on, so I'll just hit the important dates...and to keep things from being TOO lengthy, this will happen in more than just one part. You're welcome. :D

At the end of August, Patrick and I went on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel...a do-over honeymoon if you will. It was very much needed. Kadence stayed with Nana, Papa and Uncle Peyton while we were gone, so we all had a good time. Seeing as how I'm in update mode, I won't be going into too much detail...perhaps at some point I will...just not now.

In Jamaica we partied on the beach and got REALLY sunburned (despite multiple re-applications of sunscreen) before enjoyed the beautiful weather that rolled in later. :)

We also did some snorkeling, and ended the day with some shopping before we got back on the ship.

While we were in Grand Cayman we went to Hell...did you know that's where it was? :)

We also visited the Turtle Farm...which is where Patrick found Spongebob. :)

We also got go swim and hold Stingrays...they say kissing one brings you 7 years good luck...it really just reminded me why I don't eat sushi. haha

In Cozumel we had some real Mexican food, did some more snorkeling, went shopping...and MOST importantly, avoided mopeds and hospitals. :)

The cruise came in the middle of buying a house. We didn't plan it that way. We'd booked the cruise months before, and it just happened that way. On Friday, September 17th we signed all the paperwork, and became homeowners of a beautiful 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home. It has a rear-entry garage, which was a huge plus for me. :)

 

On Saturday, September 18th Candice, Stephanie, Ben, myself and Patrick ran The Jailbreak (a 3.5 mile obstacle course/mud run raising money for Sower of Seeds Ministries to drill fresh water wells in India.) I managed to mess up my hip and my foot pretty badly sliding into the river...and ended up at Care Now that night to have my foot X-rayed to make sure it wasn't broken...and thankfully, it was just badly stretched/sprained, and some things were out of place.

Before/After

 On Sunday, September 19th, we moved to our new house. How's that for a packed weekend? Ben, Patrick and I were all REALLY sore from the run the day before, so moving wasn't really a pleasant experience for any of us. But between the 3 of us and my wonderful father-in-law we managed to get the old house packed up and headed up to the new house...where another friend, Reece, showed up as fresh muscle to help us move everything in.

Then the very long unpacking process commenced...it's still technically in progress. :) Kadence had a blast "swimming" in all of the packing paper.

On October 7th I had to call 911 for the first time in my life. Around midnight, a truck driving down our street clipped a semi used for loading cars that was parked on our street (which shouldn't have been)...thing is, the semi's loading ramp was down, and as a result the truck went up on the ramp and launched off...and rolled multiple times before ending up on the other end of the street. One of the tires the flew off hit a house at the end of the street, ripped off siding, and broke through one of the front windows. No one in the house was hurt. Both people in the truck were ok...eventually. The passenger was air-lifted out, and the driver had a concussion...he disappeared from the scene and was found later the next day and taken to the hospital as well.

On October 8th we left to make a weekend trip to Abilene for my best friends wedding. Hey, there's a movie with that title. :) Ruth and Jake's anniversary is 10-10-10...how cool is that? Kadence was the flower girl...and did a wonderful job, until she got to the front, and started crying because her petals were all gone. She calmed down fairly quickly and was fine...until the prayer that began the actual ceremony when she sat down, and then got her foot stuck in her basket and started crying again. She went to go sit with Grandma Patsy and Aunt Martha after that.

Kadence was obsessed with Ruth and kept referring to her as "Princess." It was pretty cute...so were they don't you think? :)

Thus ends Part 1...to be continued. :)

Kadence's Birth Story

In about a month it will be Kadence's 3rd birthday...so I decided to post her birth story. :)

I had developed pre-eclampsia towards the end of the pregnancy, and so at about 38 weeks I was scheduled to be induced. We went to the hospital at 5am on Thursday, November 29^th 2007. They started giving me Pitocin a little after 5:30, and Dr. Kroeger came in and broke my water a little after 7.

The contractions kept getting worse, which is of course what they were supposed to do. I wasn't planning on having the epidural, and I didn't want medication AT ALL unless I REALLY had to. I refused the epidural completely, unless Dr. Lowery (a friend who was the only one I trusted to stick a needle in my spine) was there. They checked and said he was coming in at noon. I was planning on using other techniques to deal with the pain and the contractions, but because of my blood pressure I was unable to move around at all. The one time they let me try to sit up my blood pressure shot up and Kadence went into distress....so I got to do the whole thing on my side, not moving and trying not to kill Patrick...this was after all completely his fault.

After several hours of intense contractions had passed, I needed something to take the edge off...and since a bottle of rum wasn't an option (no, I didn't actually ask), they gave me Stadol...which only helped for a very short time, but made me REALLY high which I didn't care for at all. So the pain kept increasing and Patrick was smart enough to leave me alone, except during contractions when he would come hold my hand and rub my back. I only hit him once....he kissed my hand during a contraction, which got him punched in the face...I still maintain that he deserved it....breaking my concentration like that. :)

When it started getting close to noon the pain was getting too bad to continue just concentrating to get through it, so I had the nurse page my anesthesiologist and ask him to come up to my room as soon as he could after he got to work. He came up around 12:30. I hadn't seen him the whole time I was pregnant, and he had never met Patrick so we all chatted while he set up and did a spinal block/epidural combination...which I barely felt; that's how good he is.

I was able to relax and quit fighting the contractions, and so Patrick and I both napped for an hour and a half until Kim, my nurse, came in to check me again at 2. I was feeling a weird pressure on my tail bone just before she came in...turns out it was Kadence's head, and she was less than 2 inches from coming out. They paged the doctor, positioned me to push, and set up the room. I started pushing at about 2:15. 

The nurses had been commenting all day on how nice it was in our room because we had classical music playing all day. When Dr. Kroeger came in we were listening to Josh Groban, and he also told us how nice it was. I asked what was normal, since that obviously wasn't. He said the TV was usually blaring Maury Povich, Jerry Springer or something else along those lines. No wonder people have horror stories about their births...:)

I pushed for half an hour, during which we were all joking about a bet my doctor had made with my nurse. She had said that it was going to be all over by 3pm. He said no way was it going to go that fast since it was my first baby, and it was an induction. Patrick asked if they wanted to place a bet on how many more contractions I would have before she came out. The doctor said, “No, she (the nurse) knows better than to bet on anything with me now, because I'm in control. If she said one more, I could just hold the baby's head in until the next one.”

The next contraction came, and she was still in. I glared at Dr. Kroeger, and asked if he was holding her head. He laughed and assured me he wasn't....he didn't have a reason to because he hadn't placed a bet on it. It's kinda hard to push when you're laughing. She came out on the next contraction with her fists next to her face (which caused some tearing) at 2:46pm to Josh Groban and Charlotte Church singing “The Prayer.” As Dr. Kroeger was cleaning her up he said “Wow, she's cute!” My response was “I know, I thought she was going to be much uglier than that.” He said “They usually are, but she's cute!”

Kadence Rayne weighed 6lb, 3oz and was 19inches long. Patrick screwed those numbers up twice when he sent a couple of text messages saying that she was 9lb, 3oz and 16inches long, then corrected the length but not the weight, and eventually got it right when everyone kept asking if he was sure. 

She scored a 9.9 on the Apgar scale....in other words, perfect.