Home Brewed Smittle: Week 6. 34 to go.

This has been a long strange week. We celebrated Addi's fourth birthday by letting her get her ears pierced and use birthday money to buy a pool. She's had great fun with her siblings in that this week. Isaiah and Mia decided it was time for a summer cold last night and have had a LARGE amount of drainage. Gag. Mia fell down my parents stairs last night and about gave us a heart attack. She's got battle scars to show for it, but she was OK. It's only her second time to ever fall down the stairs which I guess is pretty good since Bubbs fell down the stairs about every day when he was a baby. Poor guy!
I've been VERY tired this week. I'm also feeling very yucky. I haven't been sick yet, which is a blessing. I'm starting to look chubby, but not pregnant yet. I'm at that phase in pregnancy when people say to themselves, "She looks like she's gained a little weight!" Ha!
This week, the baby's eyes, nose, and ears are beginning to develop. There are also vast developments going on in the rest of the baby's body. His/her little heart beats 100-160 times per minute. The baby is about a quarter of an inch long, or the size of a lentil!

Happy Birthday, Princess

Today is Addison Faith Smittle's FOURTH birthday!

As I sat on my bed skimming through pictures of her little life to use I was caught up with emotion in how fast time flies and how my babies are only here with me for such a tiny amount of time.

 

It seems like just yesterday my Addi was being born with a BANG on the Fourth of July!

She's been such a joy and pleasure since birth.

As she's grown one thing has become obvious, the girl was MADE to be a princess.

If you asked anyone who lives with her or around her they'd tell you that

she thinks she's in line for the throne!

So glad God put you in our family, Addi Fae!

Happy Birthday! Momma loves you so much.

I guess Addi isn't far off, 1 Peter 2:9 confirms what she's always known to be true!

Thanks to LuluPhotography for capturing this picture almost two years ago(can you believe that Bek?).

I love it because it captures everything wonderful about my Addi!

Home Brewed Smittle: Week 5. 35 to go

So, it's been a week already. I still haven't officially spoken with my midwife, but I still have tons of time for that. This past week has been really busy, and I'm REALLY tired. At about 2:15 every afternoon I hit a brick wall. The only solution is to lay down and sleep. After about 30 minutes I'm ready to go again for making dinner and getting the kids in bed. Once they are in bed I've been trying to simply relax in the evenings. Lots of big sighs from exhaustion, but glad to be able to rest and still get things done.
We've had lots of raised eyebrows as we've been a little more vocal about having another homebirth. Last time we really didn't tell anyone that didn't just down right ask. After having such a wonderful experience, we feel it's important to express to others what a joy birthing at home can be. No, you don't have to be a strange hippie running naked around your house to birth at home(not judging those of you that do that, it's just not for me.). It's for "normal" people too. Ha! I laugh at myself as I type that because I know you're thinking, "There ain't NOTHIN normal about that girl!" Indeed...
BabyCenter says our little baby is the size of a sesame seed.

Quite a lot of growing he/she did this past week. In other news, this is a pretty cool article if you haven't ever read anything on brand new babies. AND, I thought it'd be cool to add a few thoughts about first ideas on names. Right now my three top boy names are: Eli, Asher, and Owen. Top three girl names are: Anna, Evelyn(Evie), and Audrey. I'm not having good luck picking girl names this time. Maybe it's because it's a boy...That is what we are hoping for, although we'd obviously take a girl too. Ha!

Things our kids have said this week, "Mom! You better stop that laughing. You're going to laugh the baby right out if it REALLY is the size of a poppyseed!" "Mom, did it hurt? When Amelia was born, did it hurt?" "Mom. Is the baby eating your rice checks or can you taste them too?" "Mom, is there REALLY a baby in there?" "I can TOTALLY tell you're pregnant today!"(To which I responded. Nope. Just feeling a little fluffy!)

Such a miracle growing inside me. Thank you, Lord for your blessings in our family.