Photo Dump

I'll write a few words about each of these pictures, but I'm still pretty tired, so it'll be brief. Just wanted to share some things I hadn't posted yet. Above is all the girls playing a game on the computer. I love how well they love each other!

Here is us at church this morning. Everyone thinks I'm nuts for getting out so soon, but they don't realize they're the only family we've got down here. If we lived in WI we'd be at my mom's. If we lived in FL we'd be with his family. We live in TX, so we visit our church family. I didn't let many people touch Corbin, though...I don't need to bring any illness into the house right now!

We gave him his first bath last night. He did NOT like it one bit and I must say it stressed me out, too. I've never had a winter baby.

Daddy is proud of his son! He's such a great dad :)

Violet loves to climb into that cabinet. It's the only cabinet we haven't child proofed and we put little toys in there for her to play with. She likes to hide stuff in there...like her string cheese and sippy cups. Ew.

Saturday the girls made pancakes from the recipe on the back of one of GraceAnne's Curious George books. GraceAnne has made them several times with Allan now, but she loved doing it with Rhiya. They even made shapes...smiley faces, hearts and snowmen!

Here they all are after they got back from the airport. Rhiya's flight was delayed 1.5 hours. Allan had a lot of fun waiting in the car with two over-tired and hyper little girls. I stayed home and rested with Corbin. It was nice for me, at least!

It's just cute, there's no explanation.

This boy has already found his thumb a few times. It's not a habit yet, but I wonder if we'll have 2 thumb suckers. He is an awful lot like Violet was as a baby.

Bethlehem Revisited: this would be the Holy family.

A centurian. The whole place is decked out like Bethlehem and everyone is dressed in the clothing of the time. They even speak like they used to. "Have you heard? A king is born in the city of David...let us worship Him!"

Here is a market. They wanted me to purchase that goat for 12 shekels.

Okay, excuse me looking like crap...it was EARLY in the morning. He's wearing one of my favorite sleepers...it has the recycle logo and trees that say "Hug Me" and windmills all over it. My friend Andrea got it for him and it's PERFECT! I had to have him wear it that day because it was a size newborn and he's already outgrown it. This kid is gonna be big!

This is from last Friday. GraceAnne decorated a gingerbread house with her class. We helped. Well, *I* helped. Violet snatched candy as her sister walked away to get more stuff to add to her house.

She's so hard at work!

Check out my little man in his Sunday best! He looked so darned handsome at church today. I wish I could afford to dress him like that every day!

There you have it...our week in 20 seconds or less. Tonight we're having turkey and roasted baby bakers and inviting Jesus to eat with us. How does that work? I'm not sure, I think we'll just pretend He's at the table and talk to Him and act as if He's really here. Maybe it should be a nightly ritual? Seems like we could all use a little more Jesus in our lives, especially during this season of giving. Love and hugs to you all!

8lbs 15oz

Please excuse that these are all out of order. I'm too tired to fix it...Above is us, back at home, GraceAnne getting to hold her brother for the first time.

Violet has been running around the house yelling, "A BABY!" all day. She says he's "soft." I'd have to agree. :)

We already had to take the newborn pad out of that seat...he's too big!

Last picture of me pregnant with Corbin.

We are so pleased to announce that today we welcomed our son into the world! His name is Corbin Grant and he is 8lbs 15oz and 19" long. The biggest, (and shortest), of them all!

In the above picture is our doula, who was also our HypnoBirth instructor. She was an angel and really helped the experience go smoothly.

Birth story in a nutshell...last night I started having real contractions so I figured it'd be a long night. We went to Target and Bethlehem Revisited, (pictures to come when I'm not so tired!) and came home. I called the doula to put her on alert, (she lives an hour away) and took a bath. Ended up listening to my Hypnobirthing cd and got a little rest. I woke up around 1am and was fairly sure I wasn't going back to sleep. I breathed through as much as I could on my own and woke Allan about 2:30. I called the doula around 3:30. She got there around 5am. Our sitter, (THANK YOU, ANDREA!!! You're a lifesaver!!) came around 4:30. We stuck it out at the house until 6am and I said we NEEDED to go to the hospital. Primarily I just wanted to be sure his heart rate was good and all was well.

On a funny note, I was definitely at the end of dilating when we transported me downstairs and
so there was a lot of stopping to moan through a contraction, where I was bearing down. Violet had woken up by this point and Andrea said that after I left Violet was walking down the stairs moaning like I did. That gave us all a good laugh!

We got to the hospital and when I walked in I yelled for someone. I was shouting orders at everyone, (as nicely as I could), and there were jokes made about me forever being in control. They asked how far apart the contractions were and I said, "I'm telling you, this baby is coming NOW!" The guy must not have believed me, because he looked at the doula and she said, "yeah...the baby is coming now." So we got in our room and it turned out our 2 nurses were the ones who have been working with me on my birth plan and getting everything in order for me, so they were PERFECT! They knew exactly what I wanted and never once tried to stray or even second-guess me. We were "complete with a bulging bag of waters." After a couple more contractions my water broke spontaneously and after 4 pushes he was here!

All is perfect with him, he's been asleep most of the day and is nursing well. He's not quite the pig his sisters were yet, but we'll get there. I was released after 5 hours and got to come home to my babies. I cannot WAIT until Friday when Rhiya is here. Then we'll be complete again!

The girls got presents from their brother. Violet got a boy baby doll which she's been carrying around all day and trying to get me to trade for the real baby. GraceAnne got a newborn pony set.

Here's Vi checking her brother out.

I really have to thank some people here, so bear with me. Thanks goes to God, first! I prayed for this child for 6 years and here he is! We got 2 perfect girls in the meantime, too, and I'm continually amazed at how well He provides for us and gives us even better than we'd have for ourselves!

Allan is next, because he is and always has been the PERFECT birth partner. He's gentle and calm and loving and he makes the best daddy. I couldn't have done any of it last night without him.

Then there's Andrea, who came in the middle of the night and gave up her Sunday with her family to take care of my girls. I am so Blessed to have such wonderful friends!

And of course, our doula! Hypnobirthing really helped me get through this without fear. I told Allan when we started if I could manage to make it through without fear, (I knew the pain would still be there, mostly, though that was much easier to deal with, as well!), I would be happy and my prayers would be answered. God sent us an angel in Cheryl. We all bonded so well during that class and I am so thrilled she attended our birth.

And then all my family and friends who have been so excited to share our news today. Thank you ALL! I love you and miss you all tremendously and I hope you all get to see our son in person, soon. I miss you, Mommy!

We'll be posting more in the coming days. Love to you from all us Doyles! lol

Christmas Angels!

I'm not an angel, but look at those pretty girls! Please excuse the mess. We're always a work in progress, it would seem!

Here are the angels! GraceAnne's hair is finally getting long and Violet actually looks like a little lady!

I thought this one captured their essences pretty well...Violet sucking her thumb and just going with the flow and GraceAnne with her pent up energy (look at her feet) and ever trying to please us with a grin. They're too sweet!

And here they both are looking as perfect as they come. I love Christmas babies in Christmas dresses! If cards are late this year it's because we're trying to wait until Corbin is born and Rhiya is here so we can get a photo of all 4 of them together to include. Or else I just plain got tired and didn't mail them. I'm praying for the 1st. I'll try my hardest!

ICE!

We're cramming holiday festivities into this weekend. Why? Look at that belly up there! We're talking any day now, peeps. Where is Baby Corbin? He might hang out until Rhiya gets here, (super cool with me, if I can manage to feel good like I did today!), or he might come see us this week. Who knows? At any rate, can you see that pretty garland on that pretty railing?? We decorated the house today for Christmas. We're way behind since we've been busy/tired/don't have a tree yet, but it feels SO GOOD to have some stuff up. I love having a house to decorate for Christmas! This is the first year we've actually been able to do things we want to do because A) we have a house and B) we live in the whole thing!

Then we went to Grapevine at the Gaylord Texan, (a really huge, extravagant hotel with lots of interesting stuff to see), to see ICE! They ship people in from China to carve statues out of ice. We're only slightly bundled in this picture because we weren't in the tent, but it got better.

We all had to wear parkas becuase it was NINE degrees in the tent!! NINE! We all had red noses, to be sure! It was a great time, but I was also reminded as to why I don't live in the north anymore.

This year everything was decorated like the Grinch who Stole Christmas. There were different types of ice--dyed ice, clear ice, etc. These people have some serious talent! They shipped in 2 billion pounds of ice over several weeks and every last detail was absolutely amazing!

This was at the end of the tour, and MAN were we cold by then! It took about 20 minutes to walk through and the exhibit included a 2-story ice slide and a giant nativity scene. We all had a blast and got Starbucks on the way home to warm up. The camera didn't want to work too well in there, so we mostly took videos. If Allan can teach me how to turn them into still photos, I'll post more pictures later.

Hope you're all having a great holiday season, too!

A New Floor

Okay, so this picture has nothing at all to do with a new floor, but she is so cute eating a cheeseburger like a big person! She cracks me up. She must be the only child on earth that doesn't like chicken nuggets, but goes crazy for McDonald's cheeseburgers, (no pickles, please!)

Back to business. Below you can see the old linoleum in our laundry room. We got a late start taking pictures, you can see below the washer and dryer Allan had already replaced the piece of subfloor. This addition was built in 1955 and the water heater was moved all over that room, so there were holes everywhere. The laundry room was never really worked on by the contractors, (except they helped us hang the door we bought for it), so it was something we've been waiting to have the time/money to do. That was this month! YAY!!

That linoleum goes all the way through my kitchen, too, but we have enough to replace all that, too. Another weekend, though. This took too long as it was.

Allan scraping up THREE layers of old linoleum and a piece of subfloor.

Ewwww...

WOOHOO!! Doesn't it look great!? I'm so Blessed to have a husband who is so handy and enjoys projects like this! Today he brought in the shelves so I can organize the kitchen a little better and all that's left is to put up trim and paint the beadboard. That flooring is actually linoleum that we found for a great price, but it looks like tile. I can't wait till the whole kitchen is done in it! If we stay here long enough to do what we really want to do to the house, we'll put down real tile, but for now this is a 115% improvement on what it was.

We all feel so Blessed. Allan said, "wow...it seems like the projects I do now actually make a big difference." It's because the core stuff is done for us now. It used to be we'd do a "project" and it was really just demolition, so we'd leave the place looking worse than when it started. Now he gets to make it look pretty! It's very exciting :)

"Santa Loves Girlscout Cookies!"

GraceAnne is in Daisy Scouts this year, and that has been a pretty neat experience so far. Her favorite thing yet is being in the Parade of Lights here in town. We've been Blessed with a super cold year this year, so it actually felt like Christmastime to us northerners. GraceAnne got bundled up in her sweater, scarf, mittens and hat with her vest over top of it all. I also sent her with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. She said it was "the best night EVER!"

Here's part of her troop and her troop leader. The theme of their float was "Santa LOVES Girlscout Cookies!" because they're going to be starting to sell in January. I can't wait to help her earn her patch! All you followers out there in blogland better be buying your cookies from that sweet little Daisy Scout in blue this year! ;)

Dad and Violet are waiting for GraceAnne's float. Like I said, it was COLD! We all had hot cocoa to help keep us warm. Allan was quite pleased with the weather.

Cutest thing!! She loves hats!

Here's the float. You can't see it too well, but if you blow it up, GraceAnne is waving, (what a perfect little parade queen!) and there is a thin mint cookie walking with them. There was also a trefoils. TOO CUTE!

Cutest Elves Ever

We did our first holiday tasks over the long week GraceAnne was out of school. We all had a blast with each other and it seems like homeschooling may be in our future. We have to see how I feel after we add another baby to the mix, but everyone was in much better spirits and much more eager to learn/do activities when we weren't all spent from the busy-ness of the days. One of our projects was making gingerbread men. MMMM! The girls had a blast.

Yes, the sun was bad for pictures, but I always love the way their pretty blue eyes look in that light! The extent of the help Violet gave was taste-testing. She's pretty good at that job!

We have a lot of sprinkles. I'm a bit of a fanatic. It makes for lots of fun/interesting combinations.

When they were done decorating the cookies, they had to eat the leftover sprinkles. I think that was their favorite part!

Here are some of the pretty creations. Hope ya'll are doing some things to make great family memories for this season! I decided a long time ago that the holidays aren't the holidays if I do a bunch of crud that stresses me out, (ever met those bah-humbug types who can ruin a holiday spirit with their selfishness/lack of lustre?) and that I would always try to have the joy in my heart. I have a hard time sometimes, still...especially being tired and hormonal, but mostly we refrain from anything that causes any of us to be unhappy with Christmas. After all, we're supposed to be celebrating the greatest gift that has ever been given to the world! So all that to say, if you find yourself doing more that makes you miserable than that makes you feel joyful...stop it and reassess. WHY do we do what we do? Is it to spread Christ's love or because of some strange obligation? I hope your answer is the first. ;) We love and miss you all!

What am I thankful for?

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I feel like a giant cop-out cuz we're going to our pastor's house instead of actually cooking. To be fair, they did ask me to bring a turkey and stuffing. Cop-out again because the stuffing will be stove-top this year. With 2.5 weeks to go until our due date, I'm too tired to really concentrate and I'm definitely too tired to clean it up afterward! For the record, every year since I left home I've made a huge dinner for whoever I can. We invite anyone who doesn't have a place to go and I typically start cooking 3 days early. Everything is from scratch and SO TASTY! Maybe next year I'll get back on track. LOL

So what am I thankful for this year? This will get long. I intend for it to be that way. The more we count our Blessings, the less yelling there is, the less grumpy days there are...it's wonderful.
-that we are no longer living in our guest house
-that our house actually looks like a home and we're putting pictures up on the walls after 3.5 years
-that Allan graduated from school after 5 long years and 2 cross-country moves
-that he got the residency he wanted at the VA
-that even though this isn't what we thought it would be, it's stretching us and teaching us
-that we're expecting our 4th child
-that he's a boy! the girls are SO EXCITED! he will be spoiled rotten!
-that God is *slowly* turning me into the mom I would like to be, (so as not to bust me, I suppose!)
-that we found a church to call a home and a group of people to call a church family
-that I've found my ministry--cooking for the kids on Wednesday nights!
-for the 3 girls I already have and the beautiful young ladies they are growing into
-for my fabulous husband who is never disappointed, but continually thrilled with my growth
-for a new relationship with my little brother
-that Allan got his Segway and we are going to use it at the mall, Christmas shopping with GraceAnne on Saturday
-that even though the economy sucks we get to have a comfortable Christmas
-for Dave Ramsey
-for my mom and sisters, who drive me nuts, but I love them and miss them like crazy
-for our pretty ducks who give us 2 eggs per day (I haven't had to buy eggs in months!!)
-for our lovely backyard with the huge pecan trees
-for the Weds night bible study which has caused me to read EVERY day instead of just once in a while...amazing how much I've learned in the last couple months!
-for the chance to witness to people
-that in 23 days we will have all four of our babies under one roof!
-that I don't have to cook this year!!
-that this week the girls have been off of school
-that the hospital seems slightly open to "my way" of giving birth
-that my doctor has finally stopped harassing me about "his way" of giving birth
-that we get to have a doula with us for the labor
-for my great friends here in town who call just to say "what's up?" or stop by for movies and popcorn
-for my stupid, old, crappy car that I don't care if gets messed up by the kids cuz it's stupid, old and crappy--but it gets me where I need to go!!
-for my sweet 5-year-old who is singing praise songs in the dining room while she patiently waits to decorate gingerbread cookies
-for my sweet 19-mo-old who is standing next to me sucking her thumb and loving on her baby doll
-for my sweet 13-year-old step-daughter who is more of a joy to me than I let her know and still has the gumption to love me whole-heartedly
-that my children all love to give and share with others
-that my computer pooped for 5 days and I realized that despite being a bit of an inconvenience, my life really is better without it.

Truly, there is so much more, but I really need to get on this cookie decorating thing. I hope you all have a fabulous holiday and that you all have more Blessings than you can count. We love and miss you all!

Public Service Announcement

**this post will probably be a hair more graphic than most of the ones I've written in the past, but it needs to be put out there**

To my loving OB.

For your information, I am not a vagina with legs. (Furthermore, if I *were* a vagina with legs, I would still be DIFFERENT from every other vagina with legs that you look at on a regular basis). I am actually a human being with my own feelings and belief system. I'm sure that in your umpteen years of baby-catching you've seen some crazy and even disastrous situations, but I'm willing to bet, from day-to-day, your job is fairly boring. It boils down to this as why...

ULTIMATELY, IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, THIS BABY BIRTHING BUSINESS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!!!

I'm sorry if that upsets you to the point that you have to make snarky comments to me, but I'm really okay with it. In fact, it comforts me that I don't have to leave the most basic and natural of "bodily functions" completely to someone else. So for the record:

1. You do NOT need to cover your own butt by putting a hep-lock in my hand. If there is an emergency I will be perfectly still and I happen to have FABULOUS veins for sticking.

2. I do NOT need a bag of fluids *just in case.* On the contrary, I will be drinking just as much water as I need to consume. I know my body better than your needle does.

3. You do NOT need to give me a shot of pitocin when it's all over to get me to birth my placenta *just in case* No...I just birthed a baby and I think I can handle the placenta on my own, too. In fact, I've done it twice before.

4. Your hospital does NOT have to take my baby away from me for 2 hours. And let me just say very vehemently it will NOT HAPPEN! It will NOT be a welcome break after the "trauma" of birth, nor will it be an opportunity for anyone to look him over. Anyone who wants to look my son over can come into my room and do it with me there.

5. Your hospital does NOT need me to stay for 12-24 hours afterward. I'm going to eat, drink and pee 2x and then I'm out. I have children at home who are MUCH more lovely to me than the nurses and staff at the hospital.

I understand that all of these things are precautionary measures to be sure that no one can sue the pants off of you. I also know they are placed under the guise of the medical community actually giving a rat's behind about me and my son. Let me let you in on a tiny secret, though...

PEOPLE WHO ARE HAPPY WITH THEIR HEALTHCARE AND FEEL LISTENED TO, HEARD, APPRECIATED AND ACCEPTED DO NOT SUE THEIR DOCTORS!!!

I could *almost* understand if I was some idealist first-time mom who had no clue about childbirth, but I am on my 4th pregnancy and 3rd live-birth and I would like to say that qualifies me, (because I have made it a qualification by reading and researching, not just for the simple fact that I've popped babies out), to know exactly what I need and want from you. Last I checked MY insurance company will be cutting YOU the check, which makes ME the boss in my own healthcare.

I am sorely disappointed by the medical community in this pregnancy, (I suppose that's obvious??). I have had two completely natural, (no hep-locks or anything, *GASP!!*), childbirths and I would like to do it again. Does that *really* make me crazy? Does that *really* qualify people to make stupid comments to me? I'm not in denial. I'm aware the 5 percent of pregnancies end in emergencies. Just let me have a little faith in the Lord that He's brought me this far and He will continue to provide just the type of birth I want.

Do I want hands-off care? No. I'd like to be doted on, talked to, etc. But I do want to be LISTENED to and when I ask you to take your hands off of me, PLEASE DO SO.

Alright...I've rambled enough. I have to drop the kids off at school. I want everyone who doesn't already know this to realize that this is YOUR body and YOUR birth. Barring any serious complications, they CANNOT do anything to you that you don't want them to. Women have been giving birth for millennia and most of that was before the medical community descended upon childbirth like a bunch of vultures. Your body was DESIGNED to give birth. It's as natural as pooping for us. I am in major appreciation for what the medical community has done to increase the odds of those who need them, but speaking for the rest of us, LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

So grateful and so undeserving....

Happy Veteran's Day to my totally awesome husband! Yes, I'm a hair late, but I've been out of town and trying hard to kick this computer habit. For Veteran's Day we were in San Antonio because the physical therapists at BAMC suggested he apply for a Segway back in June. He did and he got accepted along with 35 other disabled veterans with mobility issues. They told us 2 weeks ago he was accepted and that they'd be paying for our travel, hotel and all food. We got to stay in the 100 year old Sheraton-Gunter hotel. Only 3 blocks from the riverwalk!

GraceAnne can never get enough of the ducks. You'd think they'd get old since we have 3 in our back yard, but nope. She loves them more than ever. Honestly, I think they're one of my favorite animals, too. We walked around the riverwalk on Tuesday while Allan did his training on the Segway. We saw lots of pretty stuff and took a riverboat ride.

here's the boat!

That evening Allan and I took the girls to the Children's Museum. It was awesome fun!

He's as big a kid as they are!!

They took us to Ruth's Chris steakhouse that night. We were nervous about having the kids there with us, and it was a little nerve wracking, but mostly it was awesome.

Not often I actually get makeup put on...maybe I should do it more often. Figured steak was worth a little effort. HAHA

Here's our fancy table.

Wednesday Allan actually got to keep his Segway and Violet loves the helmet. She thinks hats are awesome.

Allan on his Segway.

They had a ceremony to present all the Segways to the vets. It's so neat to see all the history in San Antonio.

Here is the famous part of the Alamo. COOL!

Allan accepting his Segway. This organization is called Segs 4 Vets and they're amazing people! The entire organization is non-profit right on up to its president...no one gets paid a dime--every penny donated goes to getting vets Segways.

This thing is going to be amazing for us. Allan had a SegVator installed on his truck so we can cart it around. He rode it to church and took back our movies on it yesterday. We can't wait to take it to the zoo or the mall or somewhere else we avoid because Allan's leg bothers him after a mile.

Like I said earlier, 35 vets were awarded this time around. In the last 3 years they've given more than 400 Segways away. The humility of these men blows me away and I'm humbled by them. I was glad to get to spend time with them and wish we could have thanked them each individually.