And now there are 4

August 1, 2010 Joshua David Landis made his way into this world at 3:29pm.  Weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 20" long. 

We arrived at the hospital about 5:30am on Sunday the 1st; hard labor didn't really start until about 10am, by 1:30pm I was ready to start pushing.  It took us a little longer to push him out because Joshua's heart rate kept dropping, he wasn't handling the pushing very well, so I was only able to push every 4th contraction until about the last 30 mins, then I was able to push every other.  After two hours of pushing he arrived!  The cord had been wrapped around his neck- so God had already showed himself strong in this little boys life! 

My wonderful husband, my mom and my sister were with me in the labor and delivery room.  My sister probably worked the hardest, besides me of course :-) She was my massage therapist!  She went above and beyond by even standing in the whirlpool tub to put counter pressure on my back!! It was so nice to have them all there with me, supporting me and cheering me on!

My nurse for the day was wonderful and really knows her stuff!! She has been working OB for 30 years!  On top of that a strong christian woman and she attends my church! Thanks Ann for all the support, she always knew exactly what to say and do during my contractions to get me through them.  She even made sure we had the largest labor room, as I had a few extra people!  After Joshua arrived we must of had 10 people in the room plus the hospital staff!  What a treat.

Kaitlyn was able to come and see her baby brother within the hour of his birth!  Below are some pictures of her greeting and meeting him, I think they speak for themselves!  She loves her babies!  She loves holding him and kissing him.

We feel so blessed and honored to have been given this son to raise up in the ways of the Lord.  He is melting our hearts and making his place within our little family of 4.  The moments I have him all to myself and he is lying on my chest, I marvel at his tiny and precious features.  The way his left ear has a 'nick' out of it, where his right ear is smooth.  The way his fingers and toes appear to be so long right now.  The way the fuzz on his face feels against my cheek and the smell of his little body brings such warm and loving feelings to me.  The way his dark blue eyes are searching all the time as they respond to his mommy's voice.  The way his belly will rise and fall as he is sleeping in my arms.  All of it is a-m-a-z-i-n-g and over whelming at times, such precious moments we are in right now. 

I have to note that when we left the hospital he weighed 6lbs 13 oz; and on day 5 he weighed 6lbs 12 oz.  He also has a tint of red in his hair, we'll have to wait a while and see how that turns out!

Thank you Jesus for such a precious life!

Kaitlyn 2 yr Pictures ++

Because it is too overwhelming to pick out which one of these I like the best, I've just put them all into a slide show for now! ENJOY
These are pictures taken with the daughter of very good friends of ours, her name is Addison.  She is about a week shy of being 1 year old.  Kaitlyn in 26 months in these pictures.  

Wednesday???

So this morning Kaitlyn was telling me that Baby "Wash-ua" was coming soon. 

So I asked her, "Really? When?"  and to this she replied...

"Oh, I don't know..... Wednesday?"

Then when Daddy came in the room she proceeded to tell him that Baby Joshua was coming on Wednesday!

I guess we'll see if it is this Wednesday or another one or some other day! 

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Freeze Recipe

A YUMMY recipe I wanted to share with you! If you're a chocolate and peanut butter fan like my family is, this is a great treat anytime of year, but especially the summertime.

What You Need

45 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/2 cup  PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup  crunchy peanut butter, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 can  (11 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1/4 cup  chocolate syrup

Make It

MIX wafer crumbs, nuts, butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter. Reserve 1/4 cup; press remaining onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan.
BEAT cream cheese and remaining peanut butter in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in condensed milk. Stir in COOL WHIP; pour over crust.
DRIZZLE with chocolate syrup; swirl gently with knife. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Freeze 2 hours or until firm. Remove dessert from freezer 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly.

peanut butter-chocolate freeze recipe at kraftfoods.com

Quick Update

Just wanted to post a quick update on the pregnancy!   I know family has been checking in. 
This week we are 37 weeks (on Thursday).  So far, so good. However, I am really just exhausted and have no energy to get the final touches ready for this little guy! :)

Hopefully, my Mom and Sister will be coming this week to help me get all the infant items tracked down, unpacked, cleaned up, and put where I know they are!  Including the car seat- I figure that is one important piece of equipment I MUST have....

In the meantime we've been dealing with Kaitlyn being sick for the past 4 days, on day 5 now- but things are looking up so far this morning! PTL! I hope we are on the mend there, because that just adds to the exhaustion; having a sick child to care for- I am so thankful it was over a long weekend and Matt was around so much to help out.

We continue to try and prepare K for this new arrival of her baby brother Joshua... however, I don't think she will fully understand until he is here to stay.  Last night when I put her to bed she said "Baby Joshua's crib"- so that was encouraging that she is seeing his crib right beside her bed and knows that it belongs to Joshua!  They will be sharing a room for a while; Lord willing!

The summer is flying by as we spend time with family, friends, swimming, playdates, work (blah), and Matt's golfing has pretty much wrapped up for the summer as he is preparing for our second child.

We'll keep you posted as to when we go to the NEW HOSPITAL!!! It looks very roomy and spacious; hope it is comfortable for Matt and my coaches (Mom and Michele)... we will see SOON!

30 Weeks... well almost

I haven't posted much about this pregnancy of ours... and here we are approaching the 30 week mark on Thursday!  There are moments when I think wow there is only 10 weeks left, that is alot... or that is nothing!  Depending on what I'm focused on.  Knowing that I am really not prepared in my home for this second baby yet, 10 weeks doesn't sound like all that much time to try and get everything accomplished I feel like I need to before the big arrival!

Kaitlyn seems interested and somewhat excited, although I am certain she will not fully grasp what is in this big belly of mine until she realized that this baby is coming home for good!  She is aware and calls my belly "Baby Wash-u-a"  or as we would say- Baby Joshua!  She likes to rub my belly and say night-night baby wash-u-a.  She loves babies and loves to take care of them, so we pray this will be true with our real baby boy!

Here are a couple of ultrasound pictures over the weeks of the pregnancy.  Our next one is June 4th to double check on a couple of issues before delivery.  We are praying the placenta has moved away from the cervix and there will be no issues with natural delivery, so please believe with us for this to be so.

Just about 7 weeks here!- It is amazing that you can already see some form in this picture.

19 Weeks- what a  big difference

22 Weeks, even more changes from just 3 weeks prior.

We would get these 'high-tech' ultrasound pictures everytime, but they just never seem to come out very well, this is probably the best one we have so far.... Baby Joshua David with his hand up by his face all scunched up... 

I'm looking forward to the next ultrasound in 2 weeks to see what he looks like now! 
 

Happy Birthday Kailtyn

W-O-W! Just like any other parent... it is amazing how fast things go with your children?!

Kaitlyn turned 2 years old just yesterday!!

What an amazing gift from God she is to her parents, her grandparents, her cousins, and those in her life!  She is so full of life and spirit that she is at times a great reminder of how we should be before our Father!

She is genuinely a happy girl!  I love when I'm sitting in a different room from where she is playing and I can hear her singing or talking or giggling!  It brings such delight to my life and always put a smile on my face!  I am blessed to have her in my life!

I am blessed to see the relationship she has with her daddy, it so precious to see the two of them together, memories to cherish for a lifetime and more.  To tell a child that you love them is one thing, but to s-e-e it demonstrated in their life and the way they interact with you is even more amazing to me!

She has been sleeping in her 'big bed' for about 2 months now and is adjusting well to all that, at least most times! 

She continues to find her new found freedoms in the things she is now able to do that she could not before!  Some of which are a big help to mommy and daddy; like letting 'Bubba' (our dog Buxton) in and out side for us!  We continue the battle of potty training.   Some days the potty is winning and some days the diaper is winning, or my carpet is losing; not sure which way to look at that!  BUT... we continue to make progress.

I joke at times and say her first real sentence is "Cows eat grass."  I laugh when I tell people that, but I really do think that is true!  She is repeating everything we say and learning more and more everyday.  She will tell me things at times and I wonder how does she know this?!?  A sharp cookie this one is... sometimes way to smart for her own good; I'm sure several of you have had this issue?  Little miss independent.

She continues to love being outside- as much as possible.  She loves swimming and water, and picnics outside.  She enjoys walks, especially when she gets to take Bubba for a walk (although it is the other way around and he is taking her).  The neighbors always get a kick of us parents making our 2 yr. old walk the dog! :) 

She enjoys drawing (and amazingly enough mostly on paper!) and riding in her bubble car with her keys (one MUST have keys to drive you know?).  She has such the mothering heart as she is constantly caring for her babies by putting fresh clean diapers on them, or holding them over her shoulder as she pats their little bums and she will sing and hum to them as well, she even makes sure they have a seat to eat in.

I know I could ramble on and on about the things she has accomplished in her 2 years, but hopefully these couple of tid bits will bring even more memories to mind for me as I look back on her life!

Below are some pictures over the past month or so!  We love you Kaitlyn Olivia- what a blessing you are to your family, may the Lord continue to speak to your heart and guide you in His ways, always!

Kaitlyn got a new swimming pool for her birthday. Unfortunately,the day she got it, was a bit chilly outside to be playing in it! I'm sure we'll be getting in it soon enough. She loves the slide, and only wishes it was a little longer ride.

 

Kaitlyn unwrapping some gifts from her Mimi and Rogie.  This one a little pink princess table with 2 folding chairs and an umbrella.  It is set up on our deck now where I am certain many more picnics will be had.  

Below: just hanging with the cousins at the new table and lickin my fingers from sticking them in the cake- YUMMY!

 

Spending a little time in the 'big pool'.  She enjoys water so much!  She wants so badly to be out in the water splashing around and swimming with the big kids... soon hopefully!

 

Eating more cake and ice cream... this birthday just keeps getting better and better!  It helps we got to celebrate it two weekends in row... that means twice the cake!!

 

Opening the present from Aunt Shell and Uncle Sean and Hannah and Emma (or Hemma as she K says sometimes when she is too excited to say both names individually).  She got Dora sheets for her big girl bed and comforter and a baby doll stoller... which I think was the biggest hit!  She started playing with it immediately.

 

Well, she played so hard, go sooo dirty between playing outside and eating cake and ice cream, it was time to wash it all off in the outdoor shower!  Aunt Shell helped her out and got her all clean and smelling more like my little girl! 

And... this last picture... i couldn't resist.  It was taken today.  Her daddy put her up for a nap and we knew she was playing in her room, but since she didn't leave the room, we let her be.  Once it got really quite up there, I went to check on her to see where she ended up. Here she is amongst a dozen pieces, or more, of clothing on the floor of her closet, curled up in a ball... sound asleep!  (Alas, a moment to catch up on our family blog!)

Thanks for keeping up with us, sorry it takes me so long anymore to get posts up... tis the season of life.