Max's weekly/monthly photos

Well, life with three kids is BUSY!  I made it to 6 weeks before I starting falling behind on his weekly photos. It's now transitioned to monthly photos. Much more manageable for me.  Here's weeks 4-6. and his 3-5 month photos. He's already 5 months old!!

We got chickens!

 In August 2015 we took the plunge and ordered 7 baby chicks. We went with easter eggers, rhode island reds, and golden laced wyandottes. We ordered all hens, but one of our reds ended up being a rooster.  Unfortunately, in February we lost him to a hawk and then about a week later we lost one of our easter eggers to a hawk too. Marley and Mason go out there and play with them. They dig for worms in the yard and then go play restaurant with them. 

Our handsome rooster

Doing her homework with the chickens

Our 5 ladies. Marley's named them- Meano, Penguin, Squibbles, Speckle and Ice Cream

August of this year, we ordered 7 more- buff orpingtons, silver laced wyandottes, and rhode island reds. So we're up to 12. 

The new babies are now almost 2 months old. They're out in the coop but separated from the big ladies for a bit longer.  So far only one has a name, Tennis Ball... However, she's now a beautiful white color.

We get 4-5 eggs a day from our big ladies. I love all the different colors and can't wait until the babies are laying too.

Maxton's Birth Story

 On Tuesday May 17th at about 3:30am I woke up with some pain. I thought I just needed to pee so I got up and went to the bathroom and then got back in bed. The pain went away, but a while later it came back. This happened for about an hour before I started keeping track on my phone. At 5am I woke up Mike because I noticed the pain was occuring about every 5-15 minutes. Mike was supposed to leave for work at 5:45am, but I asked him to call off since I was in a bit of pain by this point. I continued to keep track and called my mom to tell her that I might be in labor so stay by the phone. (She would be watching the kids) By 7am when we took Marley to school, the pain, which I now realized was contractions, was about 5-10 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. We took Marley to school and came home to rest. I took a nap around 11am and the contractions let up a bit, but once I got up and moving they picked back up again. Around 1pm we went to lunch at Culver's and while there we decided we would head to the hospital since the baby wasn't moving as much after I had some food in me like it normally does.  We dropped Mason off at my moms and headed to the hospital. We arrived at 2:30pm and I was dilated to 4. They didn't admit me, but kept me for a few hours to see if I made any progress. The nurse basically said she didn't think I was going anywhere since I was having regular contractions and was dilated.  At 7pm they checked me again and I was dilated 4 1/2 cm. They said I could stay or I could go home and get some rest and come back when the pain increases.  We decided to leave, go to my moms to see the kids, and go let the dog out and get some rest. By the time we got to my moms (about 5 minutes from the hospital) I was in a lot more pain. It was almost as if the contractions picked up as soon as I walked out the hospital door. We stayed at my moms for a little bit to tell the kids good night and ate some dinner. We then headed towards home to let the dog out. We weren't even halfway home when the contractions became even stronger. Mike was ready to just head right back to the hospital, but I talked him into coming home. We got home and I headed upstairs and into the shower. That helped a little bit, but not enough. I tried to lay down in bed, but that didn't help either and we both decided to quickly head to the hospital which is a 30 minute drive from our house.  Mike was driving about 90mph the entire way and by 10:30pm we were back at the hospital. I really think he thought I was going to have a baby in the van. From the parking lot to the 4th floor of the hospital I had to stop 4 times because of contractions. At 11pm I was back in labor and delivery and was dilated to 7cm! It was official, I was having a baby! Since I was going for a VBAC my doctor and midwife arrived and had to stay there the entire time until I delivered.  I asked for an epidural and the nurses said several times they didn't know if I would have enough time to get one because they had to take blood and wait for the results before I could get one. HOLY COW! Was it happening that quickly?!  They did my labs and must of rushed them because by midnight I was getting my epidural.

Wednesday the 18th at 12am I got my epidural and fell asleep. At 2am in my sleep my water broke. I must of been dreaming there was a nurse in the room with us because I yelled out 'my water broke!', but it was just Mike and I in there so he went to get a nurse to let them know.  She came in and checked me and I was dilated to 9cm at this point. I fell back asleep for a bit until I woke up feeling some pressure. It was about 5am now and the nurse had me start pushing while waiting for my dr to come in the room. Pushing on my back wasn't making much progress so we decided to take a half hour break and let my body and the contractions do their thing. At 5:30ish I started pushing again, this time on my side. I was making progress with each contraction but the midwife said she thought the babies head was stuck on my pelvic bone.  At about 6:30 my doctor came in to use the vacuum. Again, since I was going for a VBAC, they only allow the vacuum to be used for 6 contractions before I would have to go for a c-section. Yah, that wasn't going to happen. I was determined to get this baby out!  At 6:45am on Wednesday May 18th, Maxton Randall was born. He weighed 9lb and 9 oz and was 22 inches. He was placed directly on my chest and stayed there for the next 2 hours. It was awesome! I can not believe I had a VBAC and I can't believe that I went into labor on my own just 1 day after my due date. This labor and delivery was everything I wanted it to be and I am so happy with everything!

By 3pm on the 19th we were all packed up and leaving the hospital with our new baby and starting our life as a family of FIVE!! 

Max is 3 weeks old

Time is flying by now that summer is here and we don't have a routine. Max is already 3 weeks old. He's about 10 lb 8 oz. and is officially out of newborn clothes. Not all newborn clothes fit him but I had a few little rompers that did, but now he's in 0-3 months.

Max is two weeks old

Max turned two weeks old this past Wednesday. According to my scale he's about 10 lb 5 oz already. He sleeps about 3-4 hours at a time at night, nurses and then goes back to sleep so not much to complain about there. He's been awake more during the day and following us with his eyes. He turns his head when he hears the big kids talking too. Mason has yet to hold him (he doesn't like babies), but he has finally started talking to him and booping his nose. Small steps lol 

Mid sneeze face hahah!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Belly 38-40 weeks

I never got the chance to post these before Max was born so I'm backtracking a bit, but wanted to get them up.

40 weeks

That's my last belly picture. Still in shock that I went into labor just 1 day after my due date.

Maxton is one week old

Maxton is already one week old. He's been a good little guy. Just eating and sleeping really. His one week dr. appointment he weighted 9 lb 12 oz so he's already back to and over his birth weight which is good and everything else looks good too.

Baby #3 is a....

It's a BOY!! 

Maxton Randall was born on May 18th at 6:45am. He weighed 9 lb 9 oz and is 22 inches tall. 

 

We are home already and so far so good. I will post his birth story sometime soon and I'm sure lots of pictures will follow too! 

Homemade Carpet Cleaner Solution

I don't know what it is, but when I am pregnant I am OBSESSED with vacuuming. I literally do it every day. Something about seeing those lines in the carpet is so satisfying.  This pregnancy I splurged and bought a carpet shampooer. My mom has one that we usually borrow, but I needed my own. I bought the Bissell ReadyClean from Menards. It's a smaller one, but I love it. I'm not going to lie, I bought it in March and have cleaned the carpets three times already.  Another thing I've become obsessed with lately is making my own cleaners instead of spending all that money on them at the store. I searched Pinterest and found this recipe for carpet cleaner solution and loved the fact that I could buy everything at the Dollar Tree for just $4. Yup, FOUR DOLLARS!! And you only use a small portion of each item so it's really less than $4 for a whole gallon of cleaner.

Here's what you need:

2 Tablespoons Liquid Tide Laundry Detergent (They have small bottles at Dollar Tree)
1/4 cup Awesome cleaner
1 scoop Totally Awesome Oxygen Cleaner (Oxyclean)
1 teaspoon Fabric Softener  (I used Snuggle Blue Sparkle because it smells the best to me, but they sell small bottles of Downy at the Dollar Tree)

Mix these all together in a gallon jug and then add hot water until it's filled. Fill your shampooer per instructions which is about 1/4 cup of cleaner and test a small spot of your carpet before doing it all to make sure it doesn't mess up your carpet.

We have really old carpets so I didn't think this would make them look brand new, but it would at least clean them before the baby comes. I was disgusted with how dirty the water was afterwards. That may be part of the reason I've cleaned them so many times since I've gotten the shampooer, but they were lots cleaner on the third time. HAHA!

Conair Curl Secret Review

I've been wanting to share this with you all for a really long time. Mike got me the Conair Curl Secret for Christmas in 2014. See, told you it's been a long time. 

I don't fix my hair every day. I'm a messy bun woman. But, if I do want to fix my hair this is my go to hair style. I can curl all my hair with it in about 20 minutes.

This is right after curling it. I usually then separate the curls and put the front up either with a headband braid or just bobby pin it back.

This above is day two. I love the curls on the second day even more. I just use hair spray after curling and they hold for at least two days.

Marley requested I curl her hair too and it worked great on her hair as well. 

Here it is in action. I will admit that the first time I used it I was so scared it was going to suck my hair in and burn it off, but I haven't had any issues with it getting tangled or burning myself.

This isn't a sponsored post and Conair doesn't even know I exist, I just wanted to share this with you because I love it so much!

Alfredo Sauce Freezer Meal

4 cups milk

1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp pepper

1 pinch nutmeg

2 Tbsp olive oil

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and oil. Add garlic. Cook for a couple minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Heat over medium heat stirring often. Once it bubbles, reduce heat and simmer for 5 more minutes. Let cool. Divide into two freezer bags and freeze.

Thaw for a few hours before cooking. Heat slowly over low-medium heat, Serve with pasta and broccoli. 

Thai Peanut Pork Crock Pot Freezer Meal

2 lb boneless pork loin

1 1/2 multi colored peppers, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup chicken broth

3 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground ginger

To freeze, combine all ingredients and freeze in freezer bag. To cook, thaw and toss into crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. I flipped mine after 3 hours so that each side of the meat would cook in the juice.

Potato Bacon Soup Crock Pot Freezer Meal

bag frozen cubed hash brown potatoes

bacon bits

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup flour

4 cups chicken broth

3 cups milk

4 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

2 oz velveeta cheese, cubed

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

To freeze, divide all ingredients between two bags and freeze. To cook, thaw and dump into crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. 

Orange Chicken Crock Pot Freezer Meal

2 lbs chicken breasts, cubed

16 oz bbq sauce

18 oz sweet orange marmalade preserves

3 colored bell peppers

20 oz pineapple chunks, drained

2 Tbsp cornstarch

To freeze, mix everything together in freezer bag except for the cornstarch. Freeze. To cook. dump into crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours. To make the glaze, simmer 4 cups of juice from the crock pot with the cornstarch until thickened. Mix back into crock pot. Serve with rice.