One Month....Already

So, my little Paisley Grace is turned one month yesterday.  Time goes by so fast.  She continues to be such a good baby.  Sleeps about 6-7 hours a night and is content most of the time she is awake.  The Lord has truly blessed us.  Liberty, Caden, and Josie continue to adjust well.  Liberty is such a wonderful help and will run and get me anything I need whenever I need it.  Caden is such a sweet boy with Paisley.  The other day she was laying on our bed while we were getting ready for the day and Caden crawled in bed with her and just gently rubbed her head.  He is going to be such a great big brother.  Josie loves her baby sister too!  Although sometimes she would rather be Paisley than herself. :)  She loves to sit in Paisley's carseat and loves to tell me to call her Paisley.  Life at Gateway continues to go well.  It is now summer, so life gets a little bit busier, but so far things are going good!  Our days have their ups and downs, but seeing small progress in the lives of these teenagers makes all the hard days worth it!  So, for now we will keep doing what God has called us to do and rejoice in each day!  I pray that you all can do the same in your lives.  Doesn't it feel great to serve such an awesome God! :)

PAISLEY GRACE IS HERE!!!!

On Wednesday, May 9th, we welcomed our precious Paisley Grace.  She was our smallest bundle and weighed in at 5lbs 11oz and was 19.5 in long.  Paisley was 2 weeks and 1 day early.  The week before she was born I went in for a regular appointment and my belly was measuring small.  Dr. Kennedy decided she wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that Paisley was growing like she should be.  To make a long story short, during the ultrasound Paisley needed to do 3 things to "pass".  She only did 2.  So, they brought me in the next day to perform another ultrasound.  They told me that if she didn't pass again that they would induce me right then.  Well, she passed, but barely.  So, Dr. Kennedy told me that she wanted to keep a close eye one us.  She scheduled us to come in twice weekly instead on once, and one of those appointments would be an ultrasound.  So, I went in Tuesday the 8th and had another ultrasound.  Well, little Miss Paisley Grace didn't pass for the second time.  So, Dr. Kennedy said that she would really like for me to be induced the following day.  It wasn't critical, but she didn't want to take any chances and since I was nearly 38 weeks, she felt comfortable with bringing Paisley into this world a little early.  I was excited!  I was so uncomfortable and all these ultrasounds were just making me anxious.  So on Wednesday morning, we got to the hospital at 7:30am to start the induction.  I was dilated to 1cm, but my cervix was still pretty high.  She they gave me cervidal ( I think, or something similar to that) and said that should soften my cervix and start contractions.  They were right! :)  I started contracting about an hour later.  At first they weren't bad, but they were starting to get uncomfortable pretty quick.  So at about 11am they came in and checked me and I was 3 - 3.5 cm and told me I could have my epidural as soon as my first bag of fluids was in.  That didn't take very long and by 11;30 I had my epidural.  And boy was it a strong one!  At first I could still feel the pressure of the contractions, but soon I couldn't even feel that.  So at about 2:30pm they came in and checked me and shut my epidural off for about an hour.  I was dilated to 4cm at this point.  An hour later they came and turned it back on and at this point I was starting to feel more pressure.  At 4pm, I was really starting to feel the urge to push.  They had checked me at 3:45 and I hadn't really made any change.  Maybe a 1/2 cm or so.  Well, they checked me at 4:10 pm and I was complete and ready to push.  BUT my doctor was about 15 minutes away.  YIKES!!!  How was I going to hold this baby in for that long?!  Well, it took concentration, but I was able to breathe through each contraction and hold that baby in! :)  My doctor arrived at 4:25pm and "suited" up!  I pushed twice and little Paisley Grace entered the world at 4:41pm! :)  So, my labor started out kinda slow, but by the end it went so fast!  I am doing really well and have healed the fasted this time around than with any of my other kids!  Which is super nice since I have 3 more little ones to take care of!  So that is the story of how little Paisley Grace joined our family!  We are enjoying her so much already!  Libby, Caden and Josie just can't quite get enough of her!  :)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Baby Girl!!

Two years ago I got to meet you for the first time! We were so excited to have another little girl in our family! You have brought us so much happiness and laughter. You are so onery, but that's what makes you our little Josie Mae! I love how your eyes smile and sparkle! You are such a beautiful little girl! We all love you so very much and can't wait to see you grow this next year! Happy Birthday, my little girl! Always remember that Jesus loves you and will always be there for you! Love you little girl!

It's a......

GIRL!!!!

Today was the big day! We had our ultrasound this afternoon and got to see our baby for the first time! At first she didn't cooperate very well, but after moving around and pushing on my tummy a little, she moved enough for the ultrasound tech to confirm her suspicions of a little girl! Baby girl Hodel seems to be growing right on schedule and looks healthy! Praise God! As we prepare a little more each day, we pray that God will continue to be with our baby girl as she grows! Looking forward to meeting her in May!

Updates

I have one question....where does the time go? These past few months has just flown by and looking back I hardly remember what all happened. It has been 2 months since I have last posted! Our life has been busy! The end of October Dustin and I celebrated out 7th anniversary! I can hardly believe it has been 7 years since we said "I Do!" I can't imagine living life with anyone else! Sometimes I look back and think, how did we get where we were are now! If you would have told me 7 years ago that we would have 3 children, 1 on the way, and be houseparents to 5 teenage girls I would have either laughed or cried! Or maybe even both! But I feel at such peace about where God has us! Don't get me wrong, I have my days! Sometimes I get so overwhelmed and just want to go back living my simple life with just my honey and kids, but then one of our girls will open up to me or say something that I would have never expected and it reminds me why we do what we do! Things at Gateway have been going pretty good! We are sharing alternates right now, so that makes scheduling a little different and sometimes stressful, but I am confident that God will provide and I shouldn't worry about something that I cannot change. We were excited when our dear assistant called us to tell us that she was getting engaged! And it gets even better, she is engaged to Dustin's brother! So, she will move on from being our assistant to being our sister-in-law! God is so good and works in so many wonderful ways! Now, we will be losing our assistant soon, but somehow I know that we will get by! (again! last year we went without an assistant for 7 months!) Just another teachable moment for us!

On December 2nd, I got a call from my mom to let us know that my Grandpa Koehl had gone to meet Jesus! This was a little unexpected, but it's what he desired and what is better that your loved one getting their eternal reward! We will miss Grandpa, but know that his aches and pains are now gone! He can run and jump without pain! When I stop and think about what he is experiencing right now, I can get chills. To be in the presence of Jesus! How wonderful is that!

The night of Grandpa's funeral, I had my last session of Dale Carnegie. Now this course had been going on for 13 weeks! It was something that I DID NOT want to do, but am so glad that I was encouraged to take the class! I have learned so much and truly feel like I am a better person, wife, mom, and employee for taking the class!

It's the day after Christmas and we are enjoying a little time in Roanoke. It is good to just spend uninterrupted time with my kiddos and Dustin's family! In a few days it will be 2012 and we will start another year! Praying that I can grow more for Jesus and keep the ultimate prize in sight. Praying that the New Year is a blessing for you as well!

Expecting a Visit from the Stork in May

Just wanted to share with all of you our exciting news....We are Expecting baby #4!!! He or she will making their appearance sometime towards the end of May. I am feeling pretty good. I get a little sick during the day, but nothing big. Praising God! I am starting to pop out. People aren't kidding when they say you pop out more quickly with each baby you have. This belly is growing fast! :) Libby and Caden are super excited! We told our girls in Hickory House and they are equally excited! It's so fun to see them excited! :) Praying that God is with us as we add a new little bundle to our family!

And She's Off.....

My Liberty Joy went to Kindergarten today. She was so brave! Just got on the bus like she had done it 1000 times over. Now this mama didn't do so well! ;) Last night I was laying in bed and just started crying. Thinking, my baby girl can't go to school. She has been at my side for the last 5 1/2 years and now she is going to be gone all day long....every day! And then at the bus stop I held it together before the bus came and even when she was getting on the bus, but when it stated to pull away the tears came again. I am so proud of her! She is so very excited to start this new chapter in her life and I'm so glad I can be by her side as her mommy. Liberty Joy, I love you so much and am excited to watch you grow!