Baby number 5!!

Introducing Cole David Schneider! He was born on November 18 at 2:49 PM, weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 22 inches long. We are yet again blessed with another beautiful gift from the Lord!

At 41 weeks my midwife decided that since Cole did not want to arrive on his own, an induction was necessary. As much as I wanted to go into labor naturally, I also felt it was time to bring him into the world!

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15 am and the Pitocin was started by eight. The labor and delivery nurse did not give my body much time to respond and upped the pitocin every 15 minutes of course causing pretty intense contractions.  

After having contractions every couple of minutes, my water finally broke. Things really kicked into high gear after that- so much so that there was no break between contractions. At that point, coping with the pain while hooked up to an IV and being limited in mobility seemed almost impossible.

 I had been practicing hypnonobirthing techniques in hopes of not needing an epidural, but the  pitocin foiled my plan! No amount of deep breathing and meditating seemed to help. So-  I decided to go with an epidural. I asked the anesthesiologist to not give me very much medication through the epidural so that I would be able to feel  the contractions a little as well as walk after giving birth. She gave me just enough to take the edge off!

Within the hour after receiving my epidural, I dilated to a 10. With just a few contractions and pushes, Cole was here! Looking back, I have no regrets about getting the epidural. It was such a relief and allowed me to enjoy the last part of the delivery.

Cole's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice so he was quite blue. My midwife quickly unwrapped it and handed him to me, not seeming too concerned thank God. I held him and nursed him for several hours before moving down to the room we would stay in overnight.

I loved having my midwife there during labor (she was with me for over four hours!), and we loved all of the nurses that took care of us always to the hospital. The entire birth and recovery was such a great experience and we feel so blessed to have Cole in our family!!

He has been home for four days now and likes to do a lot of sleeping and eating. Clara is getting used to having him around and likes to give him lots of kisses on his head. The big kids love taking turns holding him.

I want to soak up every minute of this time with our precious newborn because I know it goes so fast!

Clara turned 1 all the way back in February!! (which means she's 15.5 months and I'm FINALLY adding new pics of her!!)

Clara loves her crib and goes to sleep for her two naps and bedtime really easily! She stopped nursing last month and is finally sleeping 12 hours a night! 

Clara is definitely a celebrity amongst her siblings! They race to be the first one to get her out of her crib each morning and after naps, and are constantly showering her with attention!  Cal is still working on giving her "gentle" attention.  He loves her to pieces, but also loves to be right in her face which she doesn't always love.

Clara has stopped putting most things in her mouth (and if she does it's just so she can run up to mama for some attention!) which is a huge relief, but now she has transitioned into making lots of messes! I have to empty this jug almost every day! It's amazing how quickly she can completely dismantle a room in a matter of minutes! (or closet, or cupboard, or dresser....)

This was one of Clara's birthday presents. She love to take walks and will just sit in it contently for a LONG time! (not usually IN the house like this pic though....)

Some more mess making.....

After we updated our kitchen and got this new sink, we HAD to try it out for a bathtub! She loved it!

A few more things about Clara...

*She loves to make people laugh- usually by making a silly face or sound!
*If there is music on, she is dancing!
*She was in the 40th percentile for head, weight (20lbs) and height at her 15 month appointment.  She is definitely our smallest kiddo!
*She does not say too many works yet- ball, dog, hot, all done, mama, dada, uh-oh, oh wow, as well as few signs- more, eat and all done.

We love this little cutie so much and thank God every day for blessing us with her!!

As I went to update our blog with the girls' birthdays, I realized that I never posted pics of Calvin's third year old life!! So- here are some pics of our now four year old before he turned four in November!

We hear a "thump in the night" often around here and this is usually what we find!

 Cal LOVES to paint!

Calvin is such a great little guy! At four and 3 months Cal loves learning and is writing his letters and numbers quite well.  He's reading the first level of Bob books and is sounding out more words each day! We'll start home school kindergarten soon! Calvin spends most of his days playing dress up (I have a knight in shining armor sitting next to me now!), playing legos with Corinne,  building Tinker Toy and Trio weapons with Caleb, and trying to carry Clara around (which she does NOT love). He loves to take baths and go to bed when he's tired.  Cal spends a lot of time laying in his bed and listening to Sparky, Wing Runner and Cubby Cd's.  I think he may know all his Bible verses before even starting Sparkies! (Awana)  He loves to tell Clara how much God loves her.  We love Calvin so much and are so grateful to God for blessing us with him!!

Clara is 10 months old!!!

Improvisation

I often hear beautiful sounds coming from the basement music studio and sometimes am lucky enough to sneak down to record!!

She loves to make up songs!

Caleb's Birthday

This little guy turned 6 on September 23rd!

Caleb is SO full of life and energy and we love him so much! He is all boy! He loves to pretend fight, make everything into a weapon, ride really fast on his bike, climb and jump on everything, show off for everyone who will pay attention and torment his siblings. : ) He has such a huge heart and is very sensitive behind that "all boy" facade. He does really well with home school and loves Sunday school and Awana. We can't wait to see God's plans for this little guy.

 Caleb loves to do building projects with his dad!

Reading his Bible reader.

First lost tooth! (which he knocked out running along a rock ledge!)

He loves his sisters!!



And brother too of course!

8 months!!!!

Oh my goodness Clara is 8 months old!!!
Some of the things she's been up to....

*Crawling! (started at 7 months)

(And yes- we all use pretty ridiculous voices when talking to Clara!!)

*Eating lots (sweet potatoes, squash, cheerios, bananas, broccoli, spinach, pear, tomatoes.)

*Tummy sleeping....

*Looking cute.....

*Checking out her newly decorated nursery....

*Fun in the bath....

*Making kitchen messes with mommy....

*And croup, which included an overnight hospital stay... : (  Poor baby!

Clara is 17 pounds and growing by the day.  We all love Clara to pieces and feel so blessed to have this little cutie in our family!!