JT makes 3

     Being a mom of three for almost three months now, I see that the more children you have, the longer it takes to do pretty much everything. This seems pretty obvious, but I didn't fully consider how much  longer "doing life" would take- bedtimes, bath times, meals, ect. I say this to explain why it has taken me three months to write JT's birth story, and as I type this I realize it's unnecessary to explain why it has taken a while. Three tiny humans call my house home and daily activities have pushed certain sentimental tasks by the wayside. Without further delay, and as I avoid said tiny humans' demands for more snacks, here is sweet JT's entrance into the world.

Evie and I did some shopping the day before JT was born. 

October 16th, my due date came and went, and so did my parents and josh's parents. I should have been prepared for the lengthening of daily task as I waited anxiously to go into labor and it didn't happen. Both my other children were born on their due dates so when the 16th came and went I was bewildered. Mom stayed and like the wonder woman she is helped me to take care of Judah and Evie. On Wednesday morning, I woke up to some contractions and decided to get up and see if they stuck around. After Evie's precipitous and accidental home birth, Josh was a little on edge, so he asked if I was having contractions. Before I got a chance to say, "Let's see if they stick around" he was showered, packed and had put air in the truck tires. They didn't stick, as soon as I walked around the contractions completely disappeared. The 4am wake up call just turned into an early start to the day. 

Joshua Thomas 8lbs 2oz. 21.5 inces born at 2:45 am

     On Wednesday night, my poor husband was exhausted and ready for bed. He decided to head that way around 9 and I jokingly told him that I would see him in two hours. Sure enough, around 11:30 I woke to a huge contraction and got up to walk around. My mom woke up to check on me and after four contractions I knew it was time to go, so she went to wake up Josh while I focused on not giving birth in my kitchen. We rushed to the truck and thank the Lord, made it to the hospital. After a rather lengthy check in process, I went to triage where I was admitted and waited for the coveted "natural birthing suite" to get cleaned. When we got to the room my midwife and her student were waiting on us and I was able to get into the bathtub to help with labor pains. I was so relieved to have made it to the hospital and the quiet of the early morning hours made this one of the most peaceful experiences. The room was quiet except for Josh talking with the midwives and nurse about their families and some soft music playing. I spent about 10 minutes in the tub and the contractions were in high gear. I don't remember thinking about anything but meeting JT. I pushed twice and he was out! I had him on my hands and knees. I'm not sure why but this position has always been the easiest for handling contractions and with each baby I have found myself there. I turned around to see him and kicked my leg over the umbilical cord and grabbed JT (later, my midwife said that she had never seen that move before!). He was crying so loudly that I laughed and he had his little fist tucked under his chin and he put his hand on my face. This was the moment I had been dreaming about for 9 months. He was here and I was finally able to snuggle that sweet little boy! 

Judah and Evie love their baby  

     After getting out of the tub and dried off I got checked out by my midwife. Everything was fine and I was relieved to not have any tearing or problems with delivering the placenta. I struggled getting JT to nurse right away, but the student that my midwife had with her was amazing. She helped me get him to latch and put me at ease. I was so impressed with my midwife and her student and couldn't believe how peaceful and relaxed giving birth could be! (This does not mean that I didn't feel pain-it was certainly painful, but a pain so worth it). Earlier last year we changed our insurance and I was unable to go to the doctors that I had with Judah and Evie. This turned out to be a huge blessing. Having low risk pregnancies, I didn't think it was necessary to have as much "company" as I had at Judah's birth. There were 4 or 5 doctors and nurses at my feet with him and I was on information overload. With Evie, I was scared to death, because I was giving birth in my bathroom with no medical professionals. JT's birth was exactly what I wanted. At the hospital, peace and quiet, in the tub, quick, but not scary-fast. 

   JT's birth should have given me a clue that he was going to be as easy as his birth. Josh and I joke that he's our favorite, but really he is amazing. When we got home from the hospital he slept peacefully wherever and in whatever storm of toddlers was happening at the moment. At his first doctor's appointment, he had not only gotten back to his birth weight, but he had gained a couple of ounces. At six weeks he started sleeping through the night, which for me was the most amazing thing, because that did not happen with the first two. The Lord knows what you need!

Pictures by my sweet friend Angela Reed! I absolutely love this one. 

My mom being the amazing woman she is!

At the beginning of 2017, I heard the Lord telling me that He was doing a new thing. I had no clue what this consisted of and honestly, we're still in the middle of it. Shortly after telling God that I would trust Him with this "new thing", I found out that I was pregnant. Talk about a new thing! Having three kids three and under is extremely challenging in many ways. And most days I don't do the best job of trusting God with this newness, but I am trying to appreciate it. I love this little boy so much and am amazed that my heart could stretch to love another baby so much, but it has. JT fits so perfectly into our family and I see that God's plans are so much better than my own. 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19

Judah's Room

I am nearing my due date and with each day I get more excited about seeing my Judah. I can't imagine the feeling of holding him for the first time! AHH! The thought of  going into labor at this point is no longer scary but exciting, because it is one (extremely grueling) step toward meeting my little man. My mom arrived on February 1st and is planning on staying until the 27th. It has been such a relief having her here! We've done plenty of shopping and preparing for baby. So far we've put together a swing, a "rock 'n play" and a couch. We are women, hear us roar.
I'd like to talk all day about my third trimester of pregnancy and how much I'm ready for this baby to be here, but I'll resist and just show off the nursery.
I had so many ideas for Judah's room, even before I knew he is a he. It is a slightly masculine nursery, but would work well for either sex. If you know me, I am an owl person. When we moved, I felt like every box I opened was stuffed full of owls. I can't help myself! Josh is not an owl person, but by default, Judah will have to love them.

Here is a panoramic shot of the nursery. I went with a woodland animal theme, mostly playing off of the colors in the bedding. The banner is a little hard to read, but it is burlap squares with fabric letters and it says Judah. The rocking chair is from an antique market in Berlin, OH and only cost me $15! The rug is from Ikea. 

This little cube shelf was purchased from Ikea the day after Thanksgiving and only cost me $20!  Lamp and sitting owl are from Target. 

Now, this part of the nursery I'm not too proud of... it's a mess and I'll be honest, I've rearranged it probably 30 times. My diaper stash lives here and mostly in my basement. Look at the amount of clothing this child already has! He'll never be naked! 

I should have photographed these before I put them in frames but here is my makeshift nursery art. I looked all around Etsy for the perfect artwork for the nursery, but surprisingly enough found these at Ikea! I tore these pictures out of a book I found in the children's textile section! Overall, the artwork cost me about $3 (the price of the book, because I already had frames).

The bedding is from Target and animals are from Ikea.

The pillow here is from Target $ aisle! I was so excited to find something that matched so perfect! 

No buckeye baby should be deprived of their very own Brutus doll and of course, another owl! 

Here is my Pintrest inspiration! I bought spice racks from Ikea and had Josh stain them and voila! bookshelves. 

This quilt is a Vera Higgins original. Most talented crafter ever.

This woman is a magician with all fabric! This is the front of the quilt. 

Here is the crib (Target) and the mobile! I'm really proud of this adorable mobile. Mom and I used different pieces I had lying around to make this.

The owls here were crocheted by my friend Leigh Anne and the fabric wreath was made by one of my honorary mothers,  Katsy.

Painting by Valerie ( I love this and I have a hard time not crying when I think about it). 

Prayer for baby artwork from my Grannie and Papa.

I had such a good time putting this room together, and I love that it really isn't that different from the rest of the house (except cleaner). Now that I have everything ready to go, I'm just counting down to BABY!
Love, Emily

Update and Gender Reveal Party

Hello Friends!  It certainly has been quite some time since I've written in my blog, but you know how life is... If I have time to blog then I probably don't have anything to blog about! Oh, the great paradox of life.

To catch you up on current events...

This year has been extremely challenging in many ways. This past February, Josh and I found out we were expected a sweet baby! We were absolutely thrilled and couldn't wait to tell our family. At our first Dr's appointment everything seemed fine, so Easter weekend we decided to tell our family and church family. But, life is sometimes cruel and does not make sense and at our ten week check up we found out that baby did not have a heartbeat. I cannot explain the ways that my heart broke with the loss of that little one. I think a part of me will forever be with that baby and I know in God's amazing grace that we will get to see that child, fully grown in perfection in eternity. In January God gave me a verse for the year, Romans 12:12 " Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer." This verse was mor fitting for my year than I realized. Praise God, He is good and walked us through the worst experience of our lives. After this happened I was shocked to hear about so many other women close to me that had lost babies. It is like this club that you become a part of against your will and the only way to be okay is to realize that so many others have faced this and are fully functioning humans with other children and good relationships. Thank you to all my family, friends, and others who brought food, said prayers and gave words of life.

In honor of our little one we planted a Dogwood tree in my parent's yard and had a small memorial ceremony, nothing fancy, but certainly good for my spirit. During that time I read as much literature on miscarriage and scripture as I could. Reading definitely brought me answers and peace that I prayed for. If you ever do go through this I am sorry, it sucks, and it is not fair. No words spoken by another person can make you feel better , only the voice of God can bring peace to that kind of brokenness.  And if you encounter someone who is coping with this please be careful with your words. I had so many people tell me that they were praying for me, which was wonderful to hear, but then also had people try to explain to me that it was God's will and so on, this does not help. As a believer, I know that the Lord is all-knowing and that He is outside of time, but when someone is grieving this will not help regardless of how true it is. This is not your time to shed spiritual theology on them, but rather the time for you to take them food and tell them that you love them.

My favorite part of the story...
After 3 months of waiting we found out on a wonderful Friday morning that we were expecting again! I spent the next 10 weeks holding my breath and praying. At my 6 week appointment Josh and I saw a little baby and were amazed at the little fluttering heartbeat and then at my ten week appointment I heard the heartbeat. Music to my ears!!!
I was convinced that I was carrying a girl because of my "womanly intuition". I love it!
So fast forward to week 14 when we spread the news that we were expecting again! I let my Golden Retriever Jewel do the hard work...I'm a little partial but she is the most beautiful dog!

Of course, Josh and I could not wait to find out who was in my belly..girl or boy??! My wonderful sister-in-law Courtney threw us a Gender Reveal Party. The theme was "Guess Whooo", an adorable pink and blue owl party (in honor of my love for owls). 

Courtney got the cake from Fultondale Bakery with the secret inside color...

Everyone dressed to show who they think Baby Deeter will be...my Father-in-Law and Brother-in-Law took it a little too far...

My mom and I racked our brains to think of all the pink and blue food we could. There was a pretty impressive spread.

We served my dad's wonderful "Fried Chicken Salad", I'll have to post the recipe later!

Sandwiches/crackers and a pink and blue cheeseball that my grandmother made!

Some of our pink and blue... cotton candy, jelly beans, sour straws, marshmallows, and pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles.

All of the appropriate colored fruit we could find: Strawberries, (blue) grapes, raspberries, blueberries and watermelon.

Josh and I found out the gender of our baby the Thursday before the party so we each chose a color so we didn't give it away!

We had about 60 guests show up to the party!! So, for the final cutting of the cake we crammed everyone into my parent's kitchen and I cut the giant cake. There were 3 different Skype calls going on for out of town friends who wanted to know. The anticipation was unbelievable! 

Surprise! It's a BOY!!! Little Judah Michael Deeter will be here in February.

Here I am at 20 weeks, it is unbelievable how much my belly has grown in just 2 weeks! 

Now that we know what we're having it is so hard not to buy all of the boy clothes I see! Next things next the big move. I'll keep you updated with all of my northern winter adventures to come.

Love to all,

Emily