Cora's Foura!

The Little Mermaid cake

The Little Mermaid lego (first real lego!)

Happy Birthday little girlie!  She would hate it if she knew I called her a little girl.  Four-year-olds are definitely NOT little!  She has been waiting for this four-year-old milestone it seems ever since she turned three.  Four to her is a very big deal. It means preschool in the fall and to her it is like she is a "big kid."  I'm so glad she is still really a little girl though!  I keep telling her I'm going to put a brick on her head so she stops growing and every time she explains to me how kids have to grow up and then says, "I tell you every time, mom!"  She sometimes gets exasperated with me (but it's mutual!).

Cora has been a three-year-old joy.  Sure she has her moments of stubbornness and sometimes she gets the grumpies...but overall she is so very sweet and happy.  She is the easy-going one of the bunch right now and gets along well for the most part with her brothers.  She gives random hugs and tells me she loves me endlessly.  This year has been such a blessing getting to spend every day with her at home.  She is the one I can talk to amid the house full of babies and is very proud to call herself my "big helper."  I saw an article recently entitled something like, "When I realized my three year old was my best friend"  I can relate to that!

A day in the life of Cora looks something like this:  She is usually the first one of the kids up in the morning and she wants breakfast which always is synonymous with cereal.  She eats and has a vitamin, dresses in something sparkly and with a skirt, and watches "Wild Kratts", "Curious George", and sometimes "Sesame Street."  Then it's off to play with ponies.  She is usually toting around all of her "girly things" in one of her many bags or purses.  She gets them out to play at various places around the house, but if a little comes too close she packs 'em up and is out of there.  When she plays in her room it is either her bookstore or her store and she is a big fan of setting all of her things out on her dresser and all over her room.  Her room in generally a black hole of everything pink and sparkly in our house.  If Jude is missing the princess to his lego, check in Cora's room!  She has pretty much given up napping since Luke has been born, but she will go lay down and fall right to sleep when she is tired enough.  She is a huge fan of "Odd Squad" tv show and any princess movie.  She has dubbed herself "princess doctor" because she loves princesses and doctors.  She informed me just yesterday that she loves rainbows, horses, and unicorns.  She is girl though and through!  Summer has just begun and she enjoys swinging outside, but is also not afraid to get dirty.  She loves the chicken coop and yesterday was covered in mud from splashing in the puddles.  We read many books together and at night we still sing "Away in a Manger" and then she says, "Let's just snuggle,"  okay sweetie!

We celebrated at the park with cousin Skyler on May 16 (unfortunately you duplicated the famous feat of the three year old park birthday...next year I'll plan ahead and bring extra clothes!).  Then we celebrated at noon on May 22 and the rest of the day was spent celebrating cousin Emily's wedding.  Then on the 23rd we headed down to Council Bluffs for the day and night.  And the summer fun has begun!

We love you Cora Clare and can't with to see what your big four-year-old self will conquer!

Jude...not a baby anymore!

Obviously Jude has not been a baby for quite some time, but it just dawned on me the other day that I have been filling in his baby book for five years.  And now it's over.  During his first year I carefully charted all of his firsts and made sure I took a picture of him each month and recorded all of the various details of his existence.  After that I scaled back to once a year.  I pasted a picture of his party and cake and told all about the little boy he was.  One year old, two year old, three year old, four year old, five year old...that's it! This year he is 6.  No longer a baby I suppose.  Sigh.

I cannot simply give up the recording of this young life which began my journey into motherhood six years ago.  I am a recorder/keeper of life by nature and even though it sometimes ends up meaning I have a drawer full of "sentimental" clothing in my dresser which I never intend to wear again (true story), it is in my blood (thanks mom!).  

So here goes...

Judas Maccabeus Ridenour turned 6 on Saturday April 18, 2015.  Not to be confused with Friday April 17, the day of the "party."  At long last all of the Allen Kindergartners are now 6 (as Jude is the youngest much to his constant dismay.  Although one of his favorite things to tell is how is youngest AND tallest in his class!).  Jude is full of life and I thought the following picture captured his personality pretty well.  Personality is not a lacking quality.  Jude continues to be FULL of emotion and feeling and thought and is not one to keep these things just to himself.  He is an extrovert all the way!  One is never left to wonder what Jude thinks or how he feels about a situation for long!  This year has been a little tumultuous at our house...I quit my job at school right as Jude had to begin his full time.  We also added another member to the mix in February.  At the ripe old age of five Jude has had to become quite independent and even counted on to help out in various ways around the house and with the younger siblings.  During this past year Jude has played tee ball, taken swimming lessons, showed a bucket calf at the fair, started all day school and rides the bus, made many new friends, basically learned to read (what?!), become a big brother again, started sharing his bed with Mikey (still a bit of a challenge!), learned to tie shoes, got out of the car seat and into a booster, and is getting his first big tooth (although he is yet to lose a baby one!).  WOW!  Jude's biggest interests are legos, farm toys, playing outside and exploring, watching anything on TV, and playing anything on the ipad.  He loves to be around people and every day when he comes home from school he asks if we are going anywhere or who is coming over.  A day in the life of Jude looks like this:  7am wake up (slowly, not a morning person!), dress (sometimes shower), eat cereal and a vitamin, brush teeth, put on shoes and jacket and book bag.  7:30 bus comes.  From there the day is his and I am not involved again until 4:15 when he gets back off the yellow school bus and meanders to the back door.  When he comes in he is usually excited about something but is also worn out, tired, hungry, and often grumpy.  He eats a snack, plays with toys or outside, or watches TV or reads until supper time.  6:00 we eat as a family.  Then more playing, picking up, maybe a bath, some books and it's off to bed somewhere between 7:00 and 8:00 depending on how everything goes.  This boy NEEDS his sleep!  At night we say prayers as a family and then I stay and sing to you and Mikey for a bit.  You love that and always want the "horsey song" and more hugs and kisses.  Sweet!

This year we had a John Deere themed birthday with a cake and a t-shirt.   Mom and dad also got you a farm set with grain bins.  On Friday night we had Katie, Russ, Ashtyn, Skyler, Nana, Papa, Brett, Grandma Mary Lou, Grandma Vonny, and Grandpa Buddy over for supper.  It was a beautiful day and evening.  Then on Saturday Papa John and Grandma Ridenour and Brittany came up.  You got some really great presents and I think enjoyed your day:)  You are also looking forward very much to having Blake come over to play on Thursday (Atlee cannot come because he got his tonsils out!).

Happy birthday young man!  I love you so so so so much! Mom.

Jude posing while opening gifts

John Deere cake

Welcome Luke Kirby Ridenour

Luke Kirby 

Ok, so I knew I needed to hurry up and post the last one!  I guess I thought right when I thought I might be in labor that Tuesday.  I haven't been wrong yet, but for some reason I decided to ignore it all day (could probably be due to the fact that I was four weeks early and supposed to have a March baby!).  Quick summary of the birth story:  after ignoring contractions all day long I went to sleep around 10 only to be woken up by another contraction at about 1am.  I had a few other signs of labor, but like always waited a little longer to time a few more (why do I always do this!?).  I finally woke Gil up around 2 and after stating contractions were 10 minutes apart he practically flew out of bed exclaiming that he wasn't about to deliver a baby in the car.  I called mom and in about 10 minutes we were out the door.  The only things I had were the clothes on my back and my wallet and phone.  I was still a little uncertain if this was the real thing as we walked out the door, but once again by Jackson (about half way on our 45 minute trip to the hospital) I was certain and told Gil he needed to drive FAST (as if he wasn't already!).  I started to have a few flashbacks and kept reminding myself this wasn't Mikey.  We got to the hospital around 3 and baby came at 5:40 (plenty of time- even got me an epidural!).  I was pretty worried and had many questions:  Why am I in labor so early?  How much will he weight?  Will he need the NICU?  Will I have to stay in the hospital long?  And I knew our friends and family would all be surprised!  I still don't have answers to all of my questions, but soon after the birth many of my worries were relieved.  Luke weighed 6 lb 11oz.  Not bad for 36 weeks!  And most of all he was found to be perfectly healthy!!!  Praise God!!!  He and I both recovered splendidly.  He took a while to learn to nurse well, but now at ripe old age of one week is doing great.  He is just perfect and we feel blessed beyond measure.

Luke Kirby was a martyred saint from the 1500's in England.  Gil really wanted to use Kirby and when he found it was a saint name he was sold (Gil plans to call him 'The Kirbs').  And we both love the name Luke.  It is hard to believe we have another member of the family and now have FOUR kids under our roof!

Birth #4 (the plan)

I figured I should blog about how I envision the birth of baby #4 since it supposedly will happen a little differently than in the past and even though I never know for sure how it will turn out, this one seems even more different.  All three previous births have been within 2 days of the due date, all natural labors, and all vaginal deliveries.  Hooray!!!  The problem is that the time it takes has been halving each time.  12 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours...and 1.5 hours just won't cut it especially since we are 45 min. away from the hospital and barely made it with Mikey as it was.  Therefore enter new plan.  My doctor mentioned this plan right after Michael's birth and I have been holding on to it ever since.  I discussed it with her again last week.  The plan is to induce labor sometime in week 39 as to avoid not making it to the hospital.  I am in favor of this plan for several reasons.  The first is that I will not have to worry about not making it to the hospital!  I was a panicking mess with Michael.  Think TV drama births!  It hurt and was scary.  It all turned out okay in the end however:)  My second reason is that I am a planner and if I can know ahead of time when this will all take place I would love that.  I will have my bags packed, the baby things ready, my hair washed, etc.  I will be prepared.  The third reason is that I plan to have an epidural.  I had one with my first and it was lovely.  I had one with my second, but I think it ended up not mattering much because it wasn't quite enough time to really take effect.  I did NOT have one with my third (hence the TV drama screaming!).  This time even if the labor is longer or harder I will not feel it!  OK, so three good reasons for this plan:  the baby will be born at the hospital, I will be able to plan this event, and I will get an epidural.  What could go wrong?!  Well, I have two basic fears when it comes to this plan.  Even though my doctor assured me that I would not be induced unless "conditions are favorable" I worry number one that I might end up having to have a c-section which would just really be disappointing.  And I worry that the baby will be ready and as healthy as he should be.  So I have high hopes for this birthing process...but a few reservations as well.  Stay tuned to see how it all turns out.

P.S.  I thought I was going into labor this morning...so who knows what will really happen!

Mikey Turns 2!

So our little Mikey turned 2 last Thursday.  I can't believe it has been two years since that mad rush to the hospital and...I'll spare you the rest of the details!  I had an ob appointment that day for baby #4 and just am hoping this next one goes much smoother.  Not that I can complain too much.  I quickly had a healthy happy baby boy who has been on the go ever since.  

Mikey LOVES him some Elmo, hence the cake!  He also loves him some frosting.  Really he is a great eater, the best we have right now, don't know how long that will last.  He is still in the highchair at 2 even though big brother and big sister were not.  I don't know if it's cause he's the baby or if he really is that much messier.  

Mikey is really starting to talk more and more each day and it is fun to see what he comes up with and to finally understand some of the babble.  Last night he was saying, "Mom, whe ar oooo?"  He is still quite a pest to Jude and Cora, but starting to play a little "nicer" and starting to be able to use his little imagination which is fun.  He still has some bleach blond hair and very blue eyes and pale skin.  Just about like sister.  We are wondering what this next baby will bring into the mix!  Mikey has no clue what is coming so it will be fun to watch him become a big brother.  Although he has gotten used to having two other littler ones around during the day and doesn't hesitate to remind them that he is bigger than they are.  He still likes baby dolls, although recently he has started to like cars and trucks just a little more.  I would still say right now wandering around the house and making messes wherever he can still tops his list of things to do.  He likes to play outside with Cora and Jude and it is nice to have those two to play with him and take care of him outside.  Jude can even get him out of his crib in the mornings on the weekend which is nice.  They will all troop down the stairs and either turn on the TV or find the ipads while Gil and I get a few extra minutes of shut eye (that is all about to change in a few weeks however...so don't get too jealous!).  He is quite the boy and doesn't let himself get left out or left behind too much, but I will say he really enjoys Wednesday nights when Jude and Cora are at Awana and he gets all the toys and all of mom and dad's attention to himself!

We love you sweet Michael Johnnie!