Random vacation and summer time fun!

     Life is great with my house full of boys! Noah is adjusting really well to his baby brother and will actually give him hugs and kisses now. Elijah loves both of his brothers, and Jacob gets a kick out of watching the older two play.
     A couple weeks ago, Josh had the great idea to take a trip to NC and surprise everyone. I was very excited, but nervous about the 13 hour drive with 3 little boys. The trip went way better than we expected. All the boys did better than we thought they would. The only crazy incident was Noah's diaper explosion! He has never had an out of diaper explosion, that I can recall, but on the trip he sure did. It was pretty gross, but gave me a good laugh to watch Josh change him and be so grossed out, hehe. We decided to stay at the house that Josh and I first lived in, which his grandparents own. It was nice to be back somewhere with such great memories. It was so different than our base townhouse. It was quiet and relaxing. We had a wonderful time seeing all of our family, and even had a small birthday party for Noah's 2nd birthday. He had such a fun time getting to eat a bunch of junk food and be spoiled by everyone.

           
                We got to take our sweet Elijah on a lunch date. He loved getting Josh and I all to himself :).

           
           Jacob loved sitting outside, watching his brothers play in the water. He is such a cute chunker!!

Josh was even able to get a couple more days of leave so we could visit a little longer. We didn't want to leave! We headed back, and Josh thought it would be fun to stop a little over half way at a hotel so we could all get out of the car and relax for the night. We ate supper at Chick-fil-a, let the boys play in the play area, and ended the night cuddled in bed, watching Up.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back in August!!

We've been busy since we've been back, but my life is pretty much always busy :). The boys have been playing outside in the water, building forts, playing at the park, and of couse, being wild in the house. Noah is now 2 years old! He tries hard to keep up with his big brother. He is such a sweet, tenderhearted boy. He hates to get in trouble and loves to cuddle all the time. So far, he is definitely less challenging than Elijah lol. 

Jacob is growing so fast! He is now 3 months old! The last three months seem like one big blur! Time seems to go by so much faster with the more kids I have. He is such a sweet, easy going baby. The past 3 nights he has slept from 8 p.m until 6 a.m.! He eats, then goes back to sleep for a few more hours. I told Josh, if I could guarantee that all my babies would be like him, I'd probably have 4 more, hehe. He is such a great addition to our family, and I love cuddling him as much as I can. The baby stage doesn't last near long enough!

                       
                          He found his thumb when his brothers were being loud and woke him up.

                                                             Cute curly-headed boys <3

Our new addition!

     So life has been crazy the past couple weeks! I now have three little boys to take care of and love on :). I've been wanting to write about baby Jacob's arrival and life since and am finally able to take a few minutes and get it done. At my last check up, I was almost 39 weeks, almost 4 cm dilated, and knew that he could come at any time. I was worried about when I would go into labor because our friends were going to watch the boys, and I wanted to make sure they were available and not at work or something. Early Saturday morning, March 29th, I woke up at 3:25 with a painful contraction. I felt like I had to use the bathroom, and Eli was sleeping in our room, so I went downstairs. I was having really bad stomach cramps, but thought that it might just be gas. I started checking the clock every time I had a pain and they started to be about 2-3 minutes apart. Since it was so early I wanted to make sure that it wasn't gas before I called anyone. I went to lay down on the couch, but was in a lot of pain. I coughed slightly when I was laying down and felt as if my water broke. I stood up to go to the bathroom and had a gush come out. At this point, I was positive I was in labor, so I called my doula. I explained everything to her and she confirmed that I was definitely in labor. I woke Josh up and we got all our stuff together, called our friends to watch the boys, and headed to the hospital. We left for the hospital at about 5 and it took about 15 minutes to get there. Since it was so early, there wasn't anyone at the check in desk, so I sat down and waited probably another 10 minutes before someone took me back to get checked out. I was 7 cm dilated and contractions were one on top of the other. I finally got back to a room and could hardly move. I just sat on the bed, trying to breath through the contractions. I told Josh and my doula, Aime, that I didn't know if I could do it naturally. I didn't have any break between contractions, the nurses kept poking me and messing with the monitors they strapped on me (which I didn't want to begin with), so I was in pain and getting crabby. I suddenly felt the urge to push, so they started setting everything up for that. Josh and Aime were by my side comforting me and telling me to breath. I just started pushing and could feel his head coming out. At this point, none of the nurses were paying any attention to me and my doctor hadn't arrived yet. I yelled out that he was coming, Aime lifted my gown, and sure enough baby was crowning. A few moments later, my doctor walked in. He quickly got ready and just barely caught baby Jacob. They laid him directly on me and in that moment, I felt so much joy that I don't think I've experienced with my past 2 births. He was born at 6:25, exactly 3 hours after my first contraction. It was so fast, I was able to have him all natural, while my other two births were induced and had an epidural. I felt so amazing knowing I did it without any drugs. It didn't go exactly as I had imagined, but I believe it went way better! I prayed that it would be the experience that I wanted and it was so much more.
     This is my sweet Jacob Edward Kirkman. Born at 6:25 a.m. on March 29th, weighing 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/4 inches long.

Life with boys hasn't been all that crazy yet. Josh has had the past two weeks off and he's been an amazing help! Noah doesn't like his new baby brother, but hopefully he'll warm up soon. Elijah loves him! He gets so excited when he wakes up and opens his eyes. I love having three little boys! All three are going through different stages and it's so fun watching them grow. It all goes by way to fast, but I am enjoying every moment with all of them!

My crazy boys!

     These boys are so crazy! In the past week, Noah fell and busted his lip, Eli got hurt playing with his friend and busted his lip, and today, after his lip finally healed, Noah fell again and bust his lip open. I hate when they get hurt, but it seems to be a constant thing in this house! I can only imagine how crazy my house is going to be when I have 3 wild little boys lol.
     We found out in October that baby #3 is another boy. We were a little disappointed at first, but are super excited now to add another sweet boy to our family. I am 30 weeks now, so not too much longer until we meet our little Jacob. I'm glad we're getting to the end because this pregnancy is starting to wear on me. I'm getting tired easier and just uncomfortable. I have also developed PUPPP. I'm not quite sure what it stands for, but it's little, itchy, red dots all over. Luckily it isn't too bad, but it can get pretty uncomfortable. I am getting excited for delivery. I've been meeting with a doula and talking to my doctor about doing a more natural approach. With my clotting disorder and being on blood thinners, doctors tend to intervene more at birth, but my doctor seems pretty open to trying things how I want. He's open to not making me induce at 39 weeks and letting me labor in the water and walk around, instead of being confined to the bed all strapped up to monitors and wires. Hopefully it'll be the experience that I want.
     I'm hoping the boys adjust well to the new baby. Elijah is such a little handful! Today I caught him splashing all the water out of the toilet and then loading a different toilet up with pieces of toilet paper. He seems to always get into something which then teaches Noah how to make nice, big messes lol. I know it's going to be a lot of work with 3 boys ages 3 and under, but I'm excited!

Our growing family

     So much has been going on the past couple months! We found out, in the end of July, that we are expecting our third little one. I was completely shocked when that test turned up positive. I ended up taking six tests just to make sure it was true! Josh was out in San Diego when I found out. I told him over Skype. He was excited and has been ready for another one. I wasn't planning on being pregnant for a few more months, but God had something else in store for us :).
     This hasn't been too bad of a pregnancy so far. I have gotten sick a few times and stayed nauseous for the majority of the first trimester, but now I'm feeling a lot better. I am obsessed with potatoes! I love twice baked potatoes, baked potatoes, fries and then I love vegetable beef soup. With the boys, I wanted fried chicken and ice cream. This baby, fried stuff makes me sick and so do most sweets. I have an ultrasound scheduled for next week, so hopefully we'll get to find out what we're having since I'll be 17 weeks. Josh is set that it's another boy. I feel that it might be a girl because I've had different cravings and less sickness, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up with a house full of boys. Elijah keeps saying it's a girl, so maybe he knows something we don't.
     Elijah and Noah have been doing great! Elijah turned 3 about a month ago. He had a cute little Toy Story party and, of course, got spoiled rotten with gifts. He is now completely potty trained! It is so nice to only have to buy diapers for one :). Noah still isn't walking, but I can tell he's close. He is more of a talker than Elijah was. He says, "Meme" for Mickey, ball, book, bath, "Bo Bo" for brother, and Mama and Dada.
     We are going to Disney the end of next week and are all super excited! My parents are going and Josh's cousins that live with his parents are going too. Josh's cousins have never been so I'm very excited to see their expressions! Elijah is so excited about going back to Disney. He asks all the time when we're going. Noah has really been showing an interest in Mickey and Nemo, so I think he's going to have a great time also.
   

It's been awhile

     I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Not too much has changed, but the boys sure are getting big! Elijah has been talking a lot more and really trying to be a 'big boy.' He's potty trained, except all the way at night, he likes to dress himself, and doesn't like too much help from Mommy or Daddy. I can't believe he'll be three in just two short months! Noah is about 13 months old and is always on the go. He hasn't started walking yet, but he does pretty well with a walking toy. He doesn't talk much, just the usual Mama and Dada and babbling. They don't really play together yet. Elijah still isn't too fond of sharing his toys, and Noah is content playing by himself.
     Live in New Orleans isn't so bad now. We've been here over a year now and still have a little over 2 1/2 years left. It hasn't been too bad with Josh's family only being an hour away. Well they got their orders and just moved to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Now we are officially on our own down here. It's weird not being able to go to their house or have them over. It makes me sad when Elijah asks to see them and he doesn't understand that they aren't close by anymore. It will be easy to see everyone since both of our families will be in NC now. We probably won't be able to take another trip up there until next year, so Josh can save up his leave and we can take a good two weeks off. I would take the boys and go before then, but I'm not brave enough for the 13 hour drive without Josh lol. Hopefully our families will be able to visit us too. That trip is very tiring and hard to do more than a couple times a year. It's sad being away from family, but we've been adjusting pretty well and have made some great friends to help make it feel more like home.

Christmas 2012

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Trip to FL and my growing boys!

     We just got back from our 10 day vacation. We decided to surprise my family for Thanksgiving. We just showed up at their house Thanksgiving morning. It was so great to keep it a surprise. We got to spend three days in NC visiting with everyone. After that, we headed off to Florida! We went to Universal and Disney. Elijah had so much fun seeing all the characters and riding some rides. I hadn't been to Disney in years, so it was so much fun going back. Josh had never been to Universal or Disney, so it was really exciting to experience everything with him. We didn't feel like we should bring Noah since we would be around so many people and germs, so we left him with Josh's parents. That was the longest 10 days of my life! It was so hard being away from him for that long. I can't wait til we can take both boys!!

                                                Riding "It's a Small World."

                                                    His first ride, ever :)

                                               Passed out after supper.

                                                     Buzz is his favorite.

                                                   My cute alarm clock <3

                                               First taste of applesauce
    
     The boys have been growing so fast, I feel like I can hardly keep up. Since we got back from our trip, Elijah has been talking a lot more. He's adding new words everyday and it's so exciting to hear him! Noah is all over the place. He has been starting to babble a lot and is rolling over every time I lay him down. I think he'll start crawling within a month or two. He had his first taste of applesauce, which he absolutely loved! He even has his first tooth on the way. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Everything seems to be going faster now that I have two little ones in the house.