our family grace

20 October 2014

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

Welcome to Mommy Moments! Last week we had some great new link ups! Let's keep it up by sharing and promoting Mommy Moments and the wonderful community we have here! I have enjoyed getting to know all the new mamas linking up and sharing their lives with us! I can't wait to hear more from you all again this week!

Motherhood has its seriousness and frustration as well as its laughs. That's why we are here. Life is much easier when traveled with companions! So mamas, let's join together in the spirit of motherhood and share our moments together. We want to hear the happy, sad, tough, terrible, hilarious moments that make being a mother the best job in the world!

The top viewed link this week belongs to Wife hat, Mom hat and her post The Arrival of Sweet Caroline. Welcome to the world Caroline from the Mommy Moments team and congratulations Amy, she is absolutely precious!

The Life Of Faith

The Not Quite Military Wife

Beautiful Family Affairs,

Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Now, link up your post!

Post can include anything related to mommy-hood, children, homemaking, pregnancy etc. If you aren't a mom yet, feel free to link up your preparation for motherhood, your journey as you try to conceive, or even a post that would be encouraging to the other moms in the party!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends!

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

We would also love it if you could add the Mommy Moments button to your post or blog so everyone knows where you are linking up! If you are not able to copy/paste the code on your page, please e-mail one of us and we would be happy to send you the code!

<div align="center"><a href="http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" title="The Life Of Faith"><img src="http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg" alt="The Life Of Faith" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

14 October 2014

My Homebirth

I honestly thought our little guy would never come. Sunday, August 31st, I had strong contractions on and off all day. We went and walked the mall as a family of three hoping to hurry things along. They got to the point where I wanted to go and drop Bug off at my parent's house before heading home. I definitely thought the little guy was going to come that night!

No.

By 3am contractions had slowed down enough for me to go to sleep. So our midwife went home in the morning with instructions to walk walk walk with the hopes of things picking up the next day. We called my parents to bring Bug on home and made arrangements to go and walk the corn maze down the street.

Still nothing.

We went back to waiting.

Thursday, we were on our way home from my parent's house and talking on the phone with the hubs. It was the only thing that would keep Bug from crying. I specifically remember him telling her to "be nice and gentle with Mommy tonight." Did she listen? Of course not. But I do credit her with getting labor started.

So before bed that night, Bug decided it would be a good idea to crawl and jump all over me. She loved every minute of it. At the time, I did not. I wanted sweet cuddles with my girl, but those were few and far between.

I put her to bed and tried to get some sleep myself. If I had known what was coming, I doubt I would have slept. Luckily, I was oblivious.

The hubs eventually got home around 3 am. I was just starting to wake up with contractions, but nothing too serious. I slept in between them until around 5. That's when I decided to get up and start bouncing on my yoga ball to see where things were going. It wasn't long before I decided to call in the troops. First, I had to tell the hubs what was going on. He admitted to not really understanding what was happening until he heard me say I was going to call our midwife and my mom, the midwife for obvious reasons and my mom to be there when Bug woke up.

Things started off fast. Contractions were already 3 minutes apart and there wasn't much of a break between them. It wasn't long before I found myself laying in the tub.

There is something about water and labor. It felt amazing. I ended up staying in there until it was time to push. At that time, I ended up getting up and crawling into bed.

The time in between getting in the tub and the bed was very intense though. Contractions hit hard in my left hip and my back. It was awful. They hurt more than anything I could ever describe and centered mainly in my hip. The only thing that felt good was my husband rubbing both locations with black pepper essential oil. Afterwards, we thought I'd be black and blue on my hip from how hard the hubs rubbed.

I remember a few times trying to get out of the tub to try a few more positions that would hopefully alleviate the horrible hip pain. Nothing worked. We tried all fours, sitting, and squatting. Nothing worked, so it was back in the tub for me.

It was amazing how free I was to move and do whatever it was I needed to do. I wasn't limited to one space or one position, I could do whatever felt good at the time.

Eventually it was time for me to push. I remember trying to get into the bed and repeating "I can't" over and over again. It was never about the fact that I couldn't do it, I knew I could...I just didn't think I could move myself from the tub to the bed. But with the help of the hubs and midwife, I made it.

At 11:32 my son was born at home. I felt everything. I remember everything. It was amazing.

More than anything I'm extremely proud that not once did I even think about going to the hospital. It wasn't an option. I enjoyed being home way too much. It was so nice to already be in my comfort place. I didn't have anyone poking and prodding me at all hours of the day. There were no bright and annoying lights. The hubs could lay comfortably next to me. When Bug came to meet him, she was comfortable. I loved being home and will definitely have another homebirth whenever we decide to have another baby.

The following pictures are very near and dear to my heart.

13 October 2014

One Month

weight: over 12 lbs (this is based off of his two week appointment where he weighed 11 lbs 4.4 oz)

height: 23 in

loves to eat and suck on hands

getting chunkier by the day

favorite place is in the moby wrap

can hold up head and loves putting weight on his feet

wearing 3 month clothing (and quickly growing out of them)

will only nap in the moby

started smiling

We celebrated one month at the pumpkin patch!

The following pictures are a recap of Bubba's first month as seen on Instagram! Feel free to follow me {at}alliw009

And for fun: Bug at one month vs Bubba at one month

**birth story coming soon!**

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

The top viewed link this week belongs to Saved By Grace's post titled The Bible And Alcohol. Laurie does an in depth study on what the Bible has to say about alcohol. Although Christians do disagree on this topic, it is always great to read the thoughts of both sides. Thank you for sharing Laurie!

The Life Of Faith

The Not Quite Military Wife

Beautiful Family Affairs,

Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

Now, link up your post!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends!

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

<div align="center"><a href="http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" title="The Life Of Faith"><img src="http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg" alt="The Life Of Faith" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

05 October 2014

Mommy Moments Blog Hop!

The top viewed link this week belongs to Allie from Baldwin Brood and her post 30 Weeks!! We love all our preggo mamas here at Mommy Moments and can't wait to meet all the new little ones on the way!

The Life Of Faith

The Not Quite Military Wife

Beautiful Family Affairs,

Like A Morning Cup Of Coffee

M oms Teaching Olives

Now, link up your post!

Then, explore some of the other posts in the link-up and say hello to some new blog friends!

Please, pretty please, we'd love it if you would tweet or share the link up on Facebook so we can all make even more friends!

<div align="center"><a href="http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com//search/label/mommymoments" title="The Life Of Faith"><img src="http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k537/faithkonrath/cfa5ba11752f4e898055d03d33cf24e0.jpg" alt="The Life Of Faith" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

P.S. We will be having a new guest host every week! Want to be a guest host of the Mommy Moments Blog Hop? Send Faith a message at farmprincess14{at}gmail{dot}com. We would love to have you!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An InLinkz Link-up

03 October 2014

There's a reason for my absence...

Introducing the newest member of the Beautiful Family Affairs family...

Born at home on September 5, 2014 at 11:32 weighing a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and measuring 22 inches long.

I love little baby toes.

My little cowboy.

His belly just makes me smile!

I love this picture of my two little loves. It took a lot to get it, and if you look closely enough, you can see a little tear on Bug's cheek. The instant we put Little Guy in her lap, she broke down in tears and kept saying "No!" It was really kinda funny. The only way we got her to smile was to ask her to give him a kiss. She absolutely loves giving him kisses and blankets and "pats" on the head. If he's crying, she'll run to him and check on him.

We're all still adjusting after 4 weeks of him being here. We're absolutely smitten with him and he is such a cuddle bug!

I hope to share my birth story soon, but this little guy is keeping us on our toes with sleep. I think he and his sister have it worked out where Mommy and Daddy get as little sleep as possible. Those little stinkers are already plotting against us!