Mother of Four

I never in a million years thought I would be a mother of four! I do not know how my mother ever did it! She raised all four of us and half of that time she was disabled. I was sick this last week with a very bad kidney infection that almost landed me in the hospital. I had to call on friends and family to help me because I just couldn't do it alone. My husband is a very hardworking man and was out working. Much like my father was while I was a kid. My father served 3 terms of a year each time in Korea. My husband works 24/7 on call and is frequently gone at night. I called my mom crying and asked her, "How did you do it?" She replied with a very simple, "I just did." Well, I guess it is time for me to just start doing because I am now a mother of four. When it is just the two babies at home with me we are okay. Even when it is all four of them at home with me I am ok. It is when we have to venture out into the big world that I struggle. Trying to juggle a baby in a car seat and a toddler, who likes to wander into parking lots, is not an easy task. I never thought I would put my child on a leash, but I bought one the other day for Luke. We call it his backpack and he has not offically been out into the world with it yet. We have put it on a couple of times to try it out. I look at it this way I would rather he be safe then hit by a car!
Abigail is doing well. She had some nursing issues in the beginning due to a tounge tie and some movement restrictions, but now that we clipped her tounge and attend theraphy she is good. I cannot believe she is a month old already! We cannot get over how pretty she is. I just love having a little girl. She is going to be a mover and a shaker. She is already holding her head up. When on he tummy she pushes with her feet like she wants to crawl and when on her back she tries to roll over! She knows she has three big brothers she has to keep up with. I have to go back to work on July 6th which is going to be really hard on me. My friend Stephanie and my mom will be watching Abigail. Luke is going to go into preschool!
Speaking of Luke, he will be two in a month and is talking more and more everyday. He loves to watch movies, draw and play with his brothers and daddy. He loves to be outside! I am not sure what we are going to do for his birthday yet, but I am thinking it will be Cars Theme. He loves cars, trains, dinosaurs, and monkeys.
Nathan and Alex are both attending summer school. Nathan will be a freshmen this school year and Alex will be in 7th grade. They are doing okay. Normal teenagers. Nathan got to go to Washington DC, New York and Pennsylvania with his 8th grade History teacher. He had a great time and I am very jealous he got to go!
Well, I think that is about it for this update. I promise to post some pictures next time.

Sneek Peek

If you would like a sneek peek at Abigail's newborn photo session check this out!

http://www.outloudphotography.blogspot.com/

Pictures of Abigail Jean

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83524&id=529459211&l=b232beff37

It's Four O'Clock. Do you know where your kids are?

A few days ago I was awaken from my nap by a text message from a friend saying she was on her way over. I responded with, "I guess that means I better get up." No sooner had I gotten up and threw myself together was she knocking on the door. She came by to devlier a meal to us. (The last meal we recieved for the week.) Her and her roomate asked where the older boys were and I replied, "I don't know." I knew where Abigail was and I knew where Luke was, but I honestly could not tell you where my older boys were. Does this make me a horrible mom? I really should keep better tabs on them. Maybe this is why they stole from Walmart or maybe this is why Alex was lighting matches on the porch. Maybe this is why Alex lies to me about just about everything that he is caught doing. I feel that I am a good mom and everyone tells me I am a good mom, but in all honesty I doubt myself each and everyday. So next time you look at the clock no matter what time it is make sure you know where your kids are!

Baby Abigail Jean has arrived!

On may 18th at 2:32 pm baby Abigail Jean Dunwald entered our world and stole our hearts! She is perfect in every way and we are so blessed to finally have a little girl. Our birth story is a long one so settle in as I begin our journey to becoming a family of six. I had technically been showing signs of "labor" since about the end of April when I was about 1 cm dilated and told not to travel out of town! I missed my grandmothers memorial service and stayed close to home thinking she may come anytime. Well she had other plans. Progress was slow to say the least and we waited and waited, walked and walked. On May 15th I had my weekly doctors appointment and was about 2cm, so the doctor asked if I would like my membranes stripped. We decided sure why not lets see if this gets things going. By the 17th I was 3 cm and having contractions, but nothing consistent. There were other signs as well that lead us to make a late night visit to the labor and delivery room only to be told to walk for an hour and then be sent home. The next morning at about 5:30a I woke up to wetness and thought my water had broke or was leaking. Every time I moved more would gush, so we once again headed to labor and delivery. We arrived at 7am and was checked to be told I was still 3cm, but my water was leaking so they kept me. At 8:30a we started pitocin in hopes to get things moving along. I knew that my regular doctor was scheduled to go out of town at 2pm, so I really was hoping Abigail would come before then, but we will get to that in a bit. I was getting checked about every hour and not progressing as fast as I thought I would. At 1:30p My regular doctor came in to check on me and see how I was doing. She checked me and I was 4-5 cm, 80% and baby was at -1 station. She also discovered I still had a "fore bag" of water so she broke that completely and that is when things really progressed. Unfortunately she headed out right after that. I remember at one point I was 5cm and while the nurse was checking me I went from 5cm to 7cm. I had to wait for the doctor on call to come in before I could push. The delivery was fairly easy and I got to try some different positions and finally was able to push. At 2:32 pm Abigail arrived. (If only my regular doctor would have come in earlier to check on me.) I had no tearing and she took to the breast right away. It was a great experience and we all love her dearly. All the boys are doing awesome and love being big brothers! We have been extremely blessed by our church family with meals being delivered to us for about a week. We have eaten well and truly appreciate them all! I want to send out a huge THANK YOU to Jeanette for setting that up for us and also a huge THANK YOU to all the families that have or are going to make and deliver meals to us. As for the winner of our little guessing contest there was some what of a tie. My sister Emily guessed May 18th at 9am and for the weight 8lbs 0oz with the length as 21in. Her roommate, MaryJo, guessed May 18th at 12am and for the weight 7lbs 0oz with the length of 19in. So I have decided that they are both going to receive a wallet size photo of me when I was pregnant and bragging rights! There is a slide show of pictures from her birth and hospital stay as well as this link to see her hospital photos. http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=e317d539-2f24-4855-bf7b-790db9ca34e0 Feel free to leave a comment for us and I will continue to update as I can!

Mother Son Dance

The Mother Son dance tonight with Alex was fun. It is hard to dance when you are nine months pregnant, but we made it work. I did it mostly for him anyway and he kept saying he was having fun so that is all that matters. We went out to dinner first. Nothing fancy just Carl's Jr. Then we got to the dance and ate more. We sat through the first few songs until others started dancing then we hit the dance floor. They had a raffle and Alex and I won a $5 Starbucks gift card! Yeah Us! Around 8pm Alex was ready to go, but I talked him into staying a little longer by allowing him to change back into his tennis shoes and playing on the playground outside for about 15 minutes. Then we went back in and had our last dance together. I am really glad that I got to spend this time with him and enjoyed all the "dates" I went on this week with my boys. I hope to continue this with them even after the baby comes. Enjoy the slideshow.

PS: Thank you to Papa Larry for letting Alex borrow your cowboy boots and hat!