Loads of smiles!

Charlotte is smiling all the time now. She is a total babe.

Gee, I wonder where Isabel gets the high pitched voice when she talks to little kids? I didnt know I did that until I just listened to this. hahaha!

She loves this mobile and she stares at it and is so happy doing so! fun!

Brighton Weekend

The Brighton family came to visit this weekend. We had soo much fun!

Chris has a few childhood friends that he is still close to. Jeff is one of them. We love his wife Sarah and their 4 kids too. The kids ages are the same ages as our kids, so they get along so great! They act like cousins. We actually call them Uncle Jeff and Aunt Sarah. (There were a few "Grandpa Jeffs" thrown around due to grey hair. hahah!) (It'll catch up to Chris someday, dont worry Jeff!)

Our weekend was full of games, laughing and great food! I have never seen so many Lego creations and barbie villages. It's been a long time since we've heard so many giggling, happy children. YAY! Wall to wall sleeping bags was fun!

I didn't pull out my camera until we had the soccer and football "face off". Brightons VS Lherons. Good ol' fashion fun! Here are some pics of that game.

We love you guys!

How did you do that?

I have had so many friends ask me how I did it. How did I reach total complete relaxation and not feel any pain at all during child birth. I finally have a few moments to tell ya. (Being a mother of 5 is kicking my butt.) Feel free to ask questions or call me. I love this stuff!

Relaxation! The only way I think I can explain HOW is to walk you through it. I start at the top of my head. I close my eyes and think of what my eyes feel like and relax them. What I mean about thinking of what they feel like is feeling the actual nerves and the what they are feeling. To get in touch with those nerves, sometimes I have to scrunch up my eyes. Then I make them smooth out, like there are no wrinkles.(haha! I wish!) Then after I get my eyes totally relaxed, I move on, down my face and down to my shoulders. Every single part of my body from top going down to my toes. I will feel those nerves and be totally conscious of what they are feeling and relax them. I remember scrunching up my toes when a contraction was there and Chris was always reminding me to relax them. If I had my toes relaxed, I knew that the rest of me was. It takes total concentration to do that. Don't think it takes over night to be able to do that. It takes months and months to practice the result you want. BUT the coolest thing is that you will always know how to do it after you know how!! Very cool!! To come out of your meditation and relaxing, you start at your toes and wiggle them and go UP your body to awaken it. So, you are reversing your relaxation to be awaken. Does that make sense?

I have a certain way I breath when I am in labor too. None of this.... heee heee hoo hooo crap. Its breath in for 8 counts and blow out for 15 counts. Can you believe that!? Every single speck of air out of ya! Its a very slow action. Every breath is a new life. Its very fun when you learn this too. But, it takes time to learn this too. Just practice practice! The breathing helps you focus on relaxing your muscles everywhere. Especially the ones inside of you.

I needed Chris. I needed him to constantly stroking me with a light touch massage. I know he couldn't do anything to help me accept just be there and physically hold me or touch me. I needed to know that I was not alone. I can do anything if I know I have support and in this case, someone physically there to be with me. I would not have been able to do it without him. I am also notorious for being physically uncomfortable and just dealing with it. He is the total opposite than that! HA! He knows when I am uncomfortable and he makes me become comfortable. So, he is the one that changes my position.

In my birth story I mentioned this CD that I listen to. I have a few. Hypnobirthing is an actual technique that people use that comes with a book and CD and there are classes. We took them all when I was pregnant with Adeline(she's 6 now). LOVED THEM! Here's the sight for that company. http://hypnobirthing.com/ The programs idea is that you can only do one thing at a time. Your body can only feel one thing at a time. SO if you are in complete relaxation, then you are not going to feel your labor. They don't ever use the words contraction either, they use serge or wave. It teaches you how the uterine walls move so you understand what is happening to your body and how the baby is coming to you. The CD that they have walks you through a meditation called Rainbow Relaxation. Its great for practicing your muscles and nerve relaxation. Love that. The book has lots of scripts that your birth partner can walk you through a more personalized meditation. They are great for breathing and muscle relaxation. Also, they are great for helping you find a "Happy Place". BUT! Here is my problem with that entire philosophy.... Labor DOES HURT! HAHAHA! I tried to talk myself out of that, but its true! SO! How did I get it to not hurt? .... I'll get to that! By the way, I did not use this CD during the labor.

I used this CD during labor.... www.healthjourneys.com/Product_Detail.aspx?id=15
You don't have to use this one, but the point is to have one that helps you. I loved this CD because the guided mediation walked me through my feelings. They actually did say contraction and they did say pain. I loved that they addressed it and didn't lie to me saying that it didn't hurt. ha! I loved that they mentioned that I had women behind me that went through this same thing and there are women that will go through this in the future. We all are together in spirit, helping each other. Sounded beautiful when I was in labor. The mental support was there! It also guided me through one awesome fact that made all the difference in the world to me. It was this, I turned myself over to my body and let it do its job! AWESOME! TOTALLY SPIRITUAL! God made my body! He made it perfect! A woman's body knows how to deliver a baby! WOW! So, I finally realized that I didn't have to do anything. I really understood that fact and I could have it hurt or not at all. It was up to me of how I wanted my baby to come to me! How cool is that! I know you are saying... whatever, it still hurts. Well, it will until you truly believe that one fact. Your body knows what to do. This particular CD guided me through those feelings and my fears and supported me in the idea of my body knowing what to do. So, those that have pain in labor, fear the pain. I am totally serious. I have had 5 children now and know what its like!

If you do all these things: have support, knowing how to relax and breath, use meditation and have your mental brain decide that your body is going to do the work and its not up to you and totally understand that, then you will have NO PAIN DURING LABOR!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!! OH YEAH!!! I SAY... PRETTY DARN COOL!!!

If I can do this, ANYONE CAN! I am just an average gal that found out that a great birth experience makes a huge difference to my baby and me and.... (hey, why not it's my blog)... the world! hahaha!

This is what keeps me going when I think I will loose my mind as a mother!

Charlotte is 8 weeks

Addy's Bday party

Addy's little party finished off the holidays!

Adeline had a few friends over for some crafts, games and cake.

All to celebrate Adeline's 6th birthday!! How fun is that!

Ever wonder what movie is playing at our house... it's a Barbie movie for sure. The newest fascination is Barbie and the Three Musketeers. Cute!

Of course we had to do a party that was all about the Musketeers.

We had the kids decorate masquerade masks and played games to be courageous musketeers.

I feel bad that I didn't make a cake... but I had to get over it and enjoy that Addy got a fun cake she picked out.

Goggles!!!

How exciting do you think your swim goggles are?

Some pics are blury because Bea is 2!

for isabel

isabel knows my camera almost as well as i do.

she wants to show off one of her finer shots.

so, here it is!

This is what I look like most of a normal day...

I've aged about 10 years and yes

those are bags under my eyes.

But, hey, loving life!

I get to be with this sweet little baby all day!

My brothers and sisters

Ken and Richy

Me, Andi and Jo

We took this picture at Grandma Arba's funeral this weekend. It was so nice to come together and see eachother and realize that we do miss eachother. We dont live close to anyone and we talk occationally. It seems like so much has happend in each of our lives that has made it so we justify the distance. But, in this picutre. I see a nice space in the back with the boys. It is a perfect spot just for Mark. We miss him and I hope I can live my life so I can see him again.

Grandma did it again! She was the best at getting us all together and enjoy our family. All of her children and grandchildren were at her funeral. She did this without even being here. She was a wonderful example to me of how to be actively nice to people and how that in turn makes me happy and then my family happy. I am so happy I got to be her granddaughter. She was a very special woman. She touched my life for the best.

Adeline is 6 !!!

When you say "say cheese" to Adeline, this is what happens.....

What can I say about my Adeline? She has got to have the most character in our group. As you can see. Her sense of humor is irreplaceable! Some of the things she says, is just hilarious. We enjoy her so much. Her smile alone will catch you and hold you in her world and suddenly you will do anything for her. She is gracefull, compationate and smart. I am privilaged to be her mother and adore her.
Happy Birthday Addy!

A SLIDE SHOW FOR THIS POST HAS BEEN MOVED HERE.....
http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e59/lheronclig/?action=view&current=d199f0e8.pbw
(I'm trying to save space on the blog)

This Christmas season was memorable. Having babies at Christmas time has made me really slow down during the season and really do the very funnest things. This has been the first time since we have been married that Chris has not had to work retail at Christmas time, so he was home and we took advantage of that. Fun fun. Well, it seems like we always have fun.
I dont know what happened to my pics of some things we did, but these are a few of the season and of Christmas day. Granny was here and then when she left my mom and my stepdad was here. They came to help out with the baby. We were greatful for their service to us. We are happy they all got to come and share this season with us.