And then there were six....

EDIT:  This was a draft that was just sitting on my account without ever being published....  so I'm publishing it now, 2 years after the fact.  And maybe I'll work on an update while I'm at it.

I must've written it sometime September  2013.

Sam arrived back in El Paso at the end of July and we've LOVED having him home.  The boys adore him like a super hero.  And he kind of is, to all of us.  My Dad and Madre came in for a visit during the first week of August.  We expected our little girl to come earlier than she did and they ALMOST missed her entrance.  In fact, their plane departed almost exactly 12 hours after her birth.  Which leads to her awesome birth story.

In the past, my babies have all been born between 2-4 days early. So that's what I was anticipating with this one....until my midwife told me that she would be out of town for a wedding during that window.  EEEEKKK!!!!

In the army, when you go into labor, you don't get to choose who delivers your baby. You just get whoever is on duty.  I wasn't okay with this and I'd always wanted to try a water birth at home.  Although we'd looked into it with Keith, it just wasn't financially possible for us at that point.  In the past two years, we've made some HUGE progress with our finances and knew that we could pay for a home birth this time around.  So after some recommendations, we found a fantastic midwife and planned for a home birth.  When I found out she was going to be out of town for most of the week prior to my "due date",  I was more than a little nervous.  I really hoped that I'd have her before she left so there would be nothing to worry about.

Well, my parents arrived, my midwife went out of town, and my parents were gearing up to go back home.....still no baby.  I'd finally given up on having my Madre there for the birth when at 7pm the night before they were supposed to leave, I get 3 really good contractions while lounging on the couch.  So I'm thinking, hey, these could be real. I wasn't even moving!   So Madre and I get up and go for a nice brisk walk around the neighborhood.  We come back, and I decide to put the kids in bed before resting again.  The contractions are continuing and seeming to get stronger. Boys are down, I relax on the couch and have 4 more good contractions in an hour.  So at 930ish I text my midwife and let her know.  At this point, I thought she was back in town.....nope, she was 2 hours away.  An hour later, I'm barely able to talk through my contractions, and my midwife shows up. 

They set up the birthing pool and around 11pm I get into it.    It. Is. AMAZING.  My contractions slowed from about 3-4 min apart and then I had one 9 minutes later.  I was a little concerned but Mary, my midwife, said it was completely normal and not to worry because my body was still progressing in the labor.  She was RIGHT!  The contractions started up again and I just relaxed in the pool between them.  She came in every half an hour to listen to the baby but there was no other monitoring or exams.  At this point, I didn't even know if I was dilated at all.  She had never done an internal exam on me.

Right before Mary had arrived, Sam had said that he was hungry.  I told him it was going to be a long night and he should pop a pizza in the oven.  Laughing, he did it anyway.  So while Sam and I were in our bedroom talking in between contractions, Mary and my parents were eating pizza in my dining room. Haha!  My dad commented at one point, "Well, this is different from being in the hospital."

Around 12:45 I started into transition so I started making some noise and Mary came in to assist for the delivery.  Sam, Madre, Mary, and her assistant, Ambar were all in the room with me.  Looking back on the experience, I would've had my dad come in too.  It was torture for him to hear me, and not be able to see that I was okay.  Around 1:07am Sam delivered her head with the sac intact.  She was looking at him through the amniotic fluid.  He got teary eyed when he saw how much dark hair she had.   Daisy Lynne Montague was born at 1:09am on Sunday morning.  She was 7lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches long.  It was so great to be at home and I don't think I could ever convince Sam to go back to the hospital for a low risk delivery.

She was up all night that first night....with me.  Yeah, Sam konked out.  He'd worked really hard....hahaha.  As soon as 7am hit and the boys woke up I passed her off to him and she fell fast asleep to the noise from her brothers. 

A continuation in present day 2015:  She was a really good baby and continues to be extremely good natured for the most part.  Especially compared to other two year olds.  Here's a picture progression for you.

A few hours old.

Probably about 5 to 6 months old. I'm guesstimating.

Around 12 months old.

Big Cheese.  Christmas 2014.

She LOVES books. She's about 18 months here.  

.

Just Four Months!

Four months since my last post!  Not too bad.  Also, about four months until Sam returns home.  Also, about 4 months until this bubble on the front of me pops and I have 4 screaming kids instead of 3.

Four seems like a good number right now, so we'll go with it.  Here's four things that have happened since I last updated:

1.  Connor has started and finished his first season of soccer.  He's LOVED it and looks forward to playing again next year. He's also lost his two bottom front teeth via extraction.  The tooth fairy visited and he was totally not fooled by her existence being mom.  He's also learned to ride his bike without training wheels.  Yeah, that was a riot to watch, I'm sure.  Me and my huge belly trying to run along side him. Anyway, it worked. After a couple nights of practicing, he's got it down.

2. In the middle of Feb I took Bear to the gastroenterologist due to some chronic bowel issues he was having.  The doctor has been FABULOUS.  Two weeks after seeing the doctor, I put him in underwear and almost overnight, Bear was completely potty trained. Hallelujah!  I will not have three kids in diapers come August.  As a reward, I promised him that once he was potty trained, he could take swimming lessons. So now, both Connor and Bear have started taking swimming lessons and I'm so glad that I decided to put them both in the lessons.  They've both had a bit of a fear of water.  They love the idea of it but I wasn't having much success getting them to try new things like floating/kicking their feet/paddling with their arms and their teacher has magically managed to get them to do these things in less than an hour of working with them and their classes. I'm so impressed.

This is Bear taking advantage of the crazy El Paso wind.  $1 store kite=a whole lotta fun!



3.  My mom came to visit for the all important ultrasound.  It was great to have her here and to be able to Skyp
e Sam into the room so he could see it also.  Good news!  The baby is healthy and growing normally.  What?  That isn't what you wanted to know? Oh well, we did also find out that we are having a GIRL!!  Is that what you wanted to know?  Good, everyone is happy now.  The boys are very excited to have a sister and we are all having fun coming up with different name possibilities. I'm ecstatic although part of me wants to be prepared.....just in case there was a mistake made in the ultrasound.  It's not stopping me from making all kinds of girly preparations though. I just ordered fabric for her bedding set that I'm making. And I've started on booties and a hat. I've gotten rid of all the baby boy clothes except my favorites so I can make them into a big family quilt at some point.  I'm just having trouble figuring out where I'm going to set up her crib.  I hate to take away the boys play room for her nursery...but that might just have to happen. We'll see...

4. Keith turns 2 in just 9 days and he is SO big! Into everything and starting to throw tantrums. Yep, the fun stuff.  Although I'm pretty sure he's about figured out that a tantrum never gets him what he wants so they are getting shorter and shorter. Smart kid.  For two years old he has quite the gift for humor and timing also. We are constantly laughing with this one.  Connor says "Mom, Keith is your funniest kid."  I have to agree, although, they all have their moments.  This picture by the way is of a "green" smoothie all over his face. It's actually pretty close to black because we put blueberries in it.

He loves smoothies.

So there are the major events of the past few months.   A few other smaller momentous occasions:
-- We've passed the halfway point in our first deployment. So it's all downhill from here!
--We replaced the siding on our house in Tooele and were able to pay for it without any credit.
--We paid off the balance on our van so now have 0 car payments!
--Connor is starting his reading curriculum in school(he wasn't quite ready at the beginning of the year) and although he's not loving it, he's learning it. He likes me to give him the answers so new things are always a struggle.  He loves having me read to him though and is starting to make the connections between the things I'm teaching and how he can use those things in the "real world".  The other day he saw me doing some addition while paying bills and gasped, "Mom! You do math?"  Haha, yes son. There is a reason you have to learn to add. Too funny.  So now, I'm trying to do better at pointing out the things he sees everyday that require him to learn the things in school.  Like, the highway number signs. And the speed limit signs.
--Sam got promoted today! WOOOHOOO!  We've almost been in the Army for 2 years. Crazy.  Just 4 left to go....unless I can convince him to put an application in for Warrant Officer.  No luck so far.

And here's a baby bump picture at a couple days shy of 25 weeks.

I think that's about all.  May the 4th be with you!

Broken Promise

Ugh- What a lame brain I am.  Anyway, no excuses. Just an update.

I think it'll be easiest if I start on the most recent events and work my way back. 

Lets start with some great news because some of the other stuff isn't as fun....  We are EXPECTING!  Expecting what?  A BABY of course!  Haven't you been keeping track?  Keith is 19 months old and that means its time for a new Montague. The boys are very excited and each one of them is hoping for a little sister.  Its not just me, I swear.  Right now I'm almost 9 weeks along so I still have 11 weeks of waiting for that all important ultrasound. I'll keep you posted. Oh and if the rest of this  sounds too depressing...keep reading. It does get better.

Christmas and New Years were relatively lonely.  I mean, I love having my boys around and we even got to have Sam's mom here for a few weeks which was great but a holiday without my better half is just bound to be not quite as great as others.  Luckily, he was able to Skype in on Christmas morning and that was a unique experience which wasn't a total loss. Which leads to the next noteworthy event.

Deployment.  And worse yet....the dreaded FIRST deployment.  As an Army wife, I knew it was inevitable and I've done what I think is a pretty good job of coping and preparing myself for it.  But it's really hard and in ways that I didn't really count on. The good news: 1 month down, just 8 to go :)  Sam should arrive back home just a few weeks after the newest addition makes his/her debut.

Sickness:  I've been pretty lucky and have managed to steer clear(fingers still crossed) of the strep, ear infections, pink eye and other general cold symptoms that have plagued my house.  This is one of those tender mercies that Heavenly Father gives Army Wives when their husbands are deployed:  Supermom powers to fend off weariness, evil, morning sickness and all other infirmities to herself that may incapacitate her ability to be mother and housekeeper to three extremely rambunctious boys.

Moving.  Yes, we moved houses within El Paso just the weekend before Sam deployed.  It was a good decision for us to move but that doesn't make it any less of a pain in the butt.  All in all though, our new place is bigger, less expensive and closer to everything that we enjoy the most.

For Thanksgiving we enjoyed having my Dad and Madre in town. She made so much yummy food and even did some quilting. It was great. They finally treated themselves to iPhones this year and we got a good laugh over the fact that we all had computers sitting in the background while we each goofed off on our phones instead. We enjoyed having Sam home for that holiday even more knowing that we wouldn't have him around for Christmas.

Connor and Bear had birthdays in November and December.  Connor is now 6 and Bear is 4.  They are growing so fast, I can't believe it.

In the beginning of October we took a trip up to Utah to visit family and get away for the Army for a little while. It was much needed and we enjoyed seeing some of our friends on the way.  We did some shooting, rock climbing, hiking, general conference watching, and lots and lots of driving. It was really fun and Sam is looking forward to a similar trip upon his return.

In the beginning of September I started homeschooling Connor and Bear.  I've had some really great mentors down here and I truly believe that Heavenly Father sent us to El Paso so that I could meet them.  I really enjoy taking my children's education into my own hands and love being able to continue my education with them. We read lots of classics, Color, paint and create lots of pictures, Say the pledge of allegiance everyday and are memorizing The Articles of Faith.  There are new challenges and new accomplishments daily.  I treasure those moments when Connor's eyes light up and he suddenly grasps a new concept.

His independence level has grown leaps and bounds over the past 6 months and he keeps surprising me with new ways to be helpful.

While homeschooling Connor, I decided to teach Bear right along with him. They love to do things together and separating them is nearly impossible.  Bear is extremely intelligent and loves to see how things work and why they work that way.  They received a set of magnetic letters for Christmas and his favorite thing to do right now is to put a bunch of letters together that don't spell anything and ask me what it says.  So I read it for them, just like they put it.  They laugh and laugh but its helping them learn that a letter isn't just a symbol. It has a sound to go with it. It means something. He is learning his letters and letter sounds VERY quickly and will probably learn to read at about the same time Connor does.

Keith is a ball of happy energy.
He is a HUGE source of happy for me.  He is a ALSO a HUGE source of CRAZY for me.  We have a game chest.  And I really need to lock it. Because every morning, afternoon and evening he proceeds to empty the contents of every game and puzzle onto the floor in the living room.  The problem with this?  He looks so stinking happy doing it! So I can't even stop him until he's turned his terrorizing attention to something else, like the fridge magnets which he swipes everywhere, or the boxes of cereal that he empties onto the floor, or the stoneware bowl that just looked too peaceful sitting there empty on the table(I bet you can guess where that one ended up).

Sometimes he's less destructive and likes to dance in circles, put things in and out of containers over and over again, or play outside. A pretty normal 19 almost 20 month old who is driving his mama insane, slowly and painfully. He's also got a pretty excellent vocabulary for his age too which is worth documenting.  He'll parrot a lot of things the older boys say and it's pretty amusing at times. Luckily, both Bear and Connor haven't spouted any really awful things yet.

I think that pretty much updates things.  We are doing well and surviving together one day at a time which I guess is the best we can do right now. I'm encouraged by the many women who have been in similar circumstances and pray that I can keep it together like they did.

P.S. Sorry for lack of pictures, I have yet to upload them from phone.....

A Promise

These last few months have FLOWN by.  And there is lots to update on which warrants more explanation than a one liner so I'm formally submitting a promise to update by no later than Sunday evening. Preferably before that, but I'm trying to be realistic here.

Sewing, Quilting and Knitting, OH MY!

I've got a little bit of all of these activities under my belt this summer. My boys and I have been so busy with swimming, playing at the playground, going to the library, zoo and museums that its a wonder that I've been able to accomplish anything for myself this summer.  Somehow, I manage though;)

  

The skirt was made out of my favorite skinny jeans that finally gave out in the knees.  I just couldn't bear to toss them and I was needing a good jean skirt.  I'm not a fan of the weird V's of random fabric that you'll often see in upcycled jean skirts so I decided to keep it narrow in the front and just add a V in the back with the leftover portion of the legs.  It worked BEAUTIFULLY!  I was also thinking of adding a little ruffle to that V in the back to hide it but changed my mind.  It looks pretty good as is, so maybe next time :)

 

The quilt is one that will be for ME!!! It's not the first quilt that I've made that I intended to be for me but it's the first one that is going to be mine(I guess its a good thing that people want to buy my work. But don't get any ideas. This one is NOT for sale.)  I picked up a fat quarter pack at the quilt shop my step mom works at in North Carolina.  I'm just in love with the color combo.  The background green fabric and the big orange border fabric came from JoAnn.  I'm hoping to enter it into a fair in Roswell, NM next month.  We'll see though. My HQ is having a fit and I'll have to rectify it before I can get it finished up.

As for the knitted shrug, it was my first successful attempt at knitting a sweater! And I really like how it turned out, but as far as wearing it, I'll probably have to wait until October. It's so stinking hot here.

And since I know that no one wants to look at me all the time, here is a couple shots of my cuties recently.....

Can you believe this is at the doctor's office? I love this kid. He's 15 months old already!

Frequenting the new Dunkin Donuts on Fort Bliss!  Oh how I have missed those chocolate frosted donuts.  The boys might have liked them a little bit too :)

This and That

My brother, Josh, came through El Paso last week on his way cross country and although his stay was short, we loved having him, his wife, Pam and his little Guy.  And naturally, when one needs a bath, they all need a bath so this is what you get. ------>













<-------As for this little monkey, I blame his father. Good job, hunnie. You wanted him to climb. You got it. Thanks. Thanks a lot.









And this is what I've been up to when I'm not trying to climb proof everything in the house.  I'm thinking of entering the quilt in a State Fair with a friend of mine. I'm still trying to figure out what design to quilt into it. Any suggestions?





And the green shrug that I have on is my first knit sweater.  The pattern called for a cardigan length but, get real, I live in El Paso. I'll be lucky if I can wear this for 2 months this winter. I was sweltering in it by the time I had a decent picture taken of myself.

And just because I think it's hilarious that he will literally fall asleep anywhere....here's my cute little Bear taken a snooze on the stairs. I'm building quite a collection of pictures of the strange places he falls asleep.

Slowly but surely

We've been in this house for four months so I decided, amidst all of my larger projects that I have going, that I needed a small window treatment project to be completed in an afternoon.  Sam took all three boys for a Zuki ride and I managed to get these simple curtains almost completed in their absense....imagine that :)