Today...

Well, today we got all our photos back from the studio...we are so grateful our children cooperated through the whole sesh!

I am so glad Josiah is home, she has just completed her first year of Chiropractic school and has been practicing some of her techniques on Josh and I. She has adjusted our feet which felt amazing when I was in the final stages of pregnancy. She adjusted my hands at Thanksgiving and those of you that know me, know that I have always dealt with wrist pain, especially after playing volleyball, I usually can't wear any bracelets, watches, rubber bands or anything on my wrists because they have always been so sensitive. Typically I would wake up with inflamed wrists and swollen hands once a week from sleeping weird or putting to much pressure on my hands. This is something I have dealt with since highschool...after one adjustment-I have had NO pain! I have gone a full month with ZERO pain in my wrists! Amazing!
Since having Nevan..I have had a terrible, raging and constant headache, I could tell it was from the pain in my neck...I think I must have twisted my head weird while I was pushing Nev out and since then my neck has been extremely tight and constantly sending waves of pain up to my head and down my back. Josiah has been trying to massage my neck all week, but I have been so tense due to the pain that she has just been slowly trying to stretch it out. Tonight she did a gentle adjustment and WHAM...my headache was gone and my neck was no longer tense! I am completely amazed at Chiropractic care! Josiah is just in her first year and she already has learned so much, I am so proud and grateful for her! There really is no arguing the benefits of Chiropractic...I know now from personal experience how great and beneficial it is!

Tomorrow is New Years Eve, we get to stay over at the Grandparents and watch home videos of all the Hinkle's...they are all pretty entertaining, I can't wait to watch vids of Josh when he was growing up!

Blessings!

Pictures from Christmas

Not a lot to say for today, Nevan woke everyone up at 5 am this morning :/.
Clare and Paul are watching lots of cartoons today because I have to get laundry done.
This is my first full day with the kids alone (((YIKES))).
I found a Mother in need who had preemie twins at the beginning of the month so I am donating my breast milk to her, feels good to be able to help someone.
We have professional family pics tonight- so I have to somehow get myself and everyone else ready...yeah right.
God bless!'
Mandy

Three doesnt really feel very lucky

Lucky number three keeps coming to mind when i think of my kids, however I do have to admit, three does not feel lucky but completely overwhelming! Don't get me wrong, we are soooo grateful and just enjoy our children sooo much but wow, three is insane! I looked into preschools in the area and we just can't afford a preschool for Clare and the public school system here is NOT an option. There are some Mothers Day out programs but they are all at Baptist churches and I just dont know what that entails as far as being Catholic and I am nervous to even find out. Then there is always the dilemma of not vaccinating and kids going to school. I know I can throw exemption forms at various schools of choice but I just dont even want to jump through those hoops, and I dont want to make other parents uncomfortable. So it seems I will just have to deal with the overwhelming feelings I am having about three children. Clare is pretty good, she is just incredibly sneaky, and she knows it! She is always getting into things and sneaking around which is tough considering I am spending so much time nursing Nevan! Nevan is sleeping well for a newborn (my expectations of a sleep schedule at this age is pretty low though). He is so adorable and getting so big, he is out of NB diapers (he was out of those the day he was born practically but we had to use them till the cord stump fell off). He is wearing 0-3 or 3-6 month clothes - pretty much he is too tall for the NB outfits but he is skinny so the larger sizes he is tall enough for but still is swimming in them. Nevan loves the carseat and so errands are still about the same as they were before since he just sits in his carseat. Josh has had a little time off but when he does go into work I have mini panic attacks (not really) because I have to spend two or three hours alone with the kids. I am dreading tomorrow, because he has a full day at work... :(

Christmas was wonderful! The kids got lots of toys and clothes that they love. Clare got a couple more baby dolls so I wanted to just list of the names she has chosen for her babies. We have
Honey baby
China baby
Tiny baby
Naked baby (bath time baby)
Cynthia
Scary baby - story, Scary baby was originally baby Julia, but Clare kept forgetting and calling her baby Jew (i.e. where is my baby jew?) totally not appropriate so I told Clare to change the name and she has been calling her scary baby, reason...because she blinks and sucks on her bottle which is "scary, awkward, and freaks" Clare out. (really, those were Clare's words)

Paul is transitioning well right now with Nevan being here but has definitely had a hard time. I have really enjoyed being able to carry Paul around a bit now that I have hips and not a huge belly. (when I have time)

We have been spending time with cousins Abby and Titus. Abby is so adorable, she is very smart and listening to her say various words is sooo adorable. She doesnt really have baby talk - she says everything very precisely and with intensity...it is cute. Titus is quite the bruiser, he is big and has a strong personality, he has kept me laughing all week. He is a big Clare fan and loves to follow her around and hold her hand. (the age difference is about 13 months).

Josh and I are sleep deprived but sooo happy and blessed with our beautiful family. Three is tough but totally worth it!

Nevan!

We are so proud, blessed and grateful to announce the arrival of...

Nevan Jonathan

December 15, 2010

8lbs 15oz - 21 1/2 inches

I have written this post a million times, but half way through I have gotten interupted or distracted...so I am going to make it short.

Delivery was wonderful, natural and quick. Not to take any credit from myself ;) it was very painful and I always feel so empowered after a natural birth. The Lord, Mary, St. John Bosco, and St. Clare really watched over Nevan and I as there could have been quite a few complications with the way he was positioned and how the cord was...but we were taken care of.

Josh was great during all my screaming and crying and when Nevan arrived we were just overwhelmed with joy and love for our family.

Recovery is going great. Clare and Paul love Nevan, Paul is feeling a bit replaced and it is showing in his behavior big time so we are trying to show him some extra love and attention to help ease the transition.

I have tried to put together Christmas cards but things just keep going wrong with it, I think we will just send a family photo out in a couple of months.

Love and Blessings,

Mandy

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Momma!

I would tell you her age, but I dont know it off the top of my head and I am to lazy to count back to her birth year for this post (plus its rude to broadcast ages on blog posts unless you are a baby :)
Some things about my mother you may not know or that I just love and appreciate.
-She has a soft tone to her voice that makes her an easy person to talk to.
-When she really laughs hard, it makes me laugh even harder
-She has always dressed in really up to date styles- like no frumpy momma stuff or anything like that, she always takes time to get ready in the morning (something I did NOT inherit).
-She always gives great advice from a very peaceful perspective.
-She has a way with babies and soothing them with various holding positions.
-She is extremely patient (another thing I did not inherit...but I guess that is something I will continue to build and work on...hopefully)
-When she prays, it is sincere.
-She often takes on little sayings from her friends after spending time with them...i.e. Her english friend Denise always says things like "Lovey, and Dearest" and I always know when my Mom has been talking with her because she will call me those things :)
-My mom makes THE BEST bean burritos (simple but true), lasagna, homemade mac and cheese, and even though I am not a fan of the following, my bros and sisters always rave about them- seafood casserole.
-My mom is fun to shop with.
-My mom is fun to see movies with.
-My mom is very caring towards others and will spend lots of time making someone comfortable.
-My mom loves all her children and grandchildren.

I am sure I will think of more as the day progresses but...Happy Birthday Mom, and I love you so much. Miss you.

Mandy

Crazy week

Today, my Grandma died. I had a very strong relationship with my Grandma, she always was very accepting and loving towards me as well as my sisters. She went into the hospital on Tuesday and fought until this morning at 9:30 AM when she took her last breath. I miss her already so much, I haven't seen her since January, however I am so grateful I spoke with her on the phone yesterday morning for a couple minutes. She always makes me laugh, however yesterday I just cried while talking with her. She was a spitfire and I will always remember her attitude towards life. I always thought she was very beautiful for a ninety year old and am still amazed at how healthy she was and aware of everything. I will miss her dearly and will pray for her.

Josh and I are eagerly waiting baby Hinkle, Clare and Paul seem pretty excited. Josh is busy with work, and I have been spending quite a bit of time at his parents house as I am so tired all the time and feel like I can't get anything done being this pregnant.

Clare has been fighting bronchitis all week, the doctor prescribed her some antibiotics but I held off with those and tried some natural remedies and they worked! I used garlic, essential oils, a homeopathic cough syrup and some vitamins and she is a new girl...almost. Here's to hoping Paul doesnt get sick :/

Paul is such a goof ball, he is talking more and more each day, he seems to be understanding so much and we are really enjoying him. He is going through a rough sleep stage and has been spending a lot of time in bed with us. We are constantly praying for peace for him in his crib but he still ends up in bed with us. He is OBSESSED with blocks, he will sit and build with blocks for hours!! Love watching him...his concentration face is precious.

Please keep us in your prayers, I am pretty sad about my Grandma and of course we are praying for a safe and healthy delivery for baby.

Oh and please keep Clare in your prayers as well- and Paul :)

Special Times...

So, I always feel like something is happening in our life...and we can't just be in a routine or have the same day over and over...which would be boring I guess.

Josh is now switching stores for the fourth time, this is great news, since he has had to share a store for about two months with another manager. Josh was originally placed at his last store as an interim until his new store was complete and to "fix" everything at the new store and train the manager there. Well...this of course wasn't happening, the other manager just doesnt have the same work ethic as Josh and didn't want to work. Josh ended up picking up the slack, and everything else involved with the store when it wasn't really his store. CONFUSING. Anyways, we have been praying that corporate would see that Josh was in a hard place at this store and move him and TA-DA, we got the call Friday that he would be managing another store until his new one re-opens in March! Josh went to work on Monday and was so excited to walk into a store that had been ran really well and meet a crew that works and are good team members. This is very positive for him, less stress and hopefully more money :) Thank you Lord.

While Josh was at work on Monday, Jan took me and the kids to my doctor's appointment. I was not expecting the doctor to check me as he is a pretty easy going, natural doctor...anyways, I have definitely made progress...Baby is big, so the doctor and I decided next week he will strip my membranes and if this baby is anything like Clare and Paul, that should send me into labor. I have made enough progress for it to work. Doc also gave me various remedies to use at home to help my body prepare for labor as well as potentially induce naturally at home. I have been eating pineapple, kiwi, taking blue and black cohosh, evening primrose oil and walking a lot. EVERYTHING I do causes very strong braxton hicks contractions...very strong and makes for each day to be very uncomfortable. I was glad though that baby's heartbeat was back up in the 160s because last week it was in the 130s which worried me because he wasn't moving a lot...
Clare is so excited for her baby brother to get here, she is constantly talking about him and patting my tummy and telling him "its okay, its okay, I miss you, I love you, your gonna do great" etc...
Paul hugs my tummy quite often and says "aww baby, awww, hug".
I have FINALLY gotten into the "nesting" mode, PTL! Today, Josh and I did a complete overhaul on our apartment. I reorganized our kitchen which between that and the kids, pretty much took me all day! Josh cleaned various things that I just didn't want to clean so I pushed off on him. He also cleaned the car and got everything ready to install the baby carseat!! (YAY) We are thinking we need to teach Clare how to buckle/unbuckle herself because trying to lift and buckle three children into carseats is going to be tiring for me!
Josh and I went and bought our Christmas tree this past weekend at the local boy scouts lot, crazy thing- their whole shipment of trees were from OREGON! So I have a beautiful Oregon tree in my apartment! We put up all the ornaments (mostly blue, brown, pearl bulbs) and then the kids put up some ornaments that Grammy Jan gave us that she had bought over the years for Josh. Paul spent the first two days pulling ornaments off and then throwing giant fits when we would tell him NO, and now he seems to be over pulling them off.
Today, while Josh and Paul were out cleaning the car, Clare hung out with me and I pulled out some puzzles I had forgotten about for her. I was so proud of her, she put all of them together with no help from me. So for Christmas, I think I will buy her some next level puzzles. She is so cute, she is always hugging everyone and telling us "its okay hunny, I love you". She always refers to everyone as "hunny". She briefly spoke with my Mom on the phone the other day and said "oh hunny, before she rambled on about her gingerbread house". I hope she doesn't grow out of saying "hunny".
Paul...Paul, Paul Paul- I have NEVER in my life seen a child who can throw a more dramatic and drawn out fit! He is amazing...he will cry and scream for a very extended period of time...I never thought he would be more dramatic then Clare. We have found that if he starts to throw a fit, ignoring him does NOT work at all, so ultimately I end up just cuddling him for a couple minutes and he calms down and I try and explain why his behavior is inappropriate. Not sure he understands, however at least he isnt throwing a fit for thirty minutes (literally).
I have all these photos to post of this past week but I can't find my connector cord...so I will have to wait to post those. The pics above are of Clare and Paul in the bath - they are so cute in the tub and a pic of them in their carseats ready to go see some Christmas light shows! Some of my fave memories are driving around looking at Christmas lights. Josh found some neighborhoods that actually synchronize their entire street with Christmas songs and put on a fabulous show...so we went a saw a couple of those.

Thankful

This past weekend, Josh and I travelled to the lake for a Thanksgiving fish fry with Josh's family. It was very cold and rainy but we made the trip there with Josiah and Doug and then Josh met us there after work and we rode home around 8 PM that night together. Josh and I were really thankful to spend the time together in the car. We were able to just talk and reflect on this past year and what will soon be coming up with the baby and Josh's work (Clare and Paul were sleeping, which made for a very peaceful trip). We ate fresh fish that Grampa Potts had caught and I made some cranberry salsa which went well with the fish. We enjoyed potatoes (I made :) and various snacks all day. To make the meal a bit more traditional we ate some pumpkin pie after lunch.

The kids got to bathe in Grandma and Grampa's GIGANTIC tub, which when Clare first saw she said, "Mommy! Look, I KNEW there was a lake here! I can swim in it!"

We spent the day relaxing and playing with the kids, enjoying the family and watching some football.

Josh and I are so thankful for this year and the time we have had together. We are so proud of Clare and Paul and really can't wait to meet the baby.

We are also very thankful for Josh's family and my family and all they do and have done for us this year.

Thanksgiving will always be special, not just because it is thanksgiving but also because we got engaged the day before Thanksgiving in 2006. I vividly remember Josh playing a game of pool with my Dad and then afterword, my Dad making some not so subtle comments about me getting engaged soon (I knew though, so it wasnt a huge surprise :)

We have been apartment and rental house hunting for a while now, and nothing seems to be right for us right now. Our apartment is very small and is only two bedrooms, but we think we might just sign another 6 month lease and save a bit more money and hope that something jumps out at us in 6 months.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving!

We are going to be posting pics of Christmas tree decorating this weekend, Clare is so excited she can hardly contain herself when we mention anything to do with Christmas.

Thankful

Day at the Museum

Paul walking through the tall grass outside the museum
Cousin Max and Paul trekkin around (did I spell that right?)

Aunt Pat and Stephen were with us, we always enjoy our time with them.

Clare's eyes closed, hopefully Jackie got snapped one with her eyes open.

Clare and I will both be having nightmares about this giant spider.

Josh's cousin Adam (Aunt Pat's son), his wife Jackie and Max. Jackie and I are due around the same time in December.

Making leaf stencils...

Clare digging up fossils and bones!

Max escorting Clare to the canoes.

The Canoe

We were invited to the Sam Noble Museum in Norman by Adam and Jackie, their blog can be found http://maxsworld.wordpress.com here. We enjoyed all the prehistoric dinos and various wild life displays. The kids also got to dig and pretend they were archiologists which was very fun. After the museum we went to Aunt Pat's for lunch and got to spend some time with Josh's grandparents.

We were so happy to spend time with Adam, Jackie and Max since they recently moved to Kansas and we have missed seeing them.

Busy weekend!

This is just a random pic from my phone of Clare and Paul playing in the apartment complex...I hate to post on the blog without pics.

For the past two weeks, Lori (Jon's wife) and I have been working to plan a surprise party for our Mother and Father in Law, Doug and Jan Hinkle. They both turned 60 this past week and since Josiah is in Dallas, Elizabeth is in Stillwater, and Anna has a hectic schedule, we decided to take it on last minute! We sent out invitations and ordered cakes, pie, various trays and drinks and punch together along with decorations. Josiah drove up from Dallas as part of the surprise and Elizabeth from Stillwater on Saturday, they stayed with Jon and Lori until Sunday and Josh and I took the kids over to get stuff ready for th party on Saturday and hang out with the girls. We had a good time with Abby and we are completely shocked and in awe of Abby's Ipad skills..she is a maniac with the Ipad.

On Sunday, we were so pleased that we actually managed to surprise Doug and Jan, many of their friends came and of course most of the family was present. I think they really enjoyed it and we really enjoyed seeing everyone and doing something special to celebrate their milestone bdays!

On to the kids...

We have noticed a pattern with Clare, she seems to stutter a lot when she doesnt get enough sleep, we are totally lost with her schedule and nothing we do seems to get her into a consistant nap/sleep schedule. It is very frustrating and we ask for patience by the minute.

She has said countless funny things this week, hope they don't offend anyone...

She came up to me and said "Mom?, I have to pooop which is why I am walkin like a bird"

She also keeps saying "freakin out" for EVERYTHING

Paul has really taken to singing about everything, he loves Twinkle Little Star, Drummer Boy, Baa baa black sheep, Mary had a little lamb, Jingle bells, I belong to Jesus, BIBLE, Jesus Loves me and Old McDonald. He actually sings them quite well and on tune which is very cute to hear and watch.

For the record- Paul has a great sleep schedule and it is only interuppted by Clare's non-existant one.

Josh is off until Tuesday and tonight he heads to an awards banquet where there is a 1000 dollar drawing...please pray that we get it!!

We are currently busy looking for a rental house, we are done with renting an apartment for more than what we could rent a house for.

Josh also is going to be registering for courses for the spring term, he is changing courses to be heading in a very different direction...something we have been talking and praying about for a LONG time now. If his pre reqs go well, we will likely be moving to a different state and he will be going full time to school (no working for him) and I will probably be working to help support the family. We are praying to be out of debt by this point and have a good emergency fund as well. Huge commitment and huge decisions ahead of us. We dont want to announce it yet, because he wants to get a good idea of what his school load will be and if we can commit to it yet. Please pray for us - the next five years or so will be monumental for us. (At least they feel like it).

Lots of unexpected and sudden progress with baby number 3 and we are hoping he will wait at least another 2 weeks before joining us officially.

un-eventful week, as un-eventful as it CAN be with two tots...

Josh has been busy at work all week, he hardly has any days off which is tough for us because that means the kids and I are stuck at home all day every day but I try and make it interesting without making to much work for myself...(sounds kind of selfish to put it that way). The kids love to take walks, so I walk them around our complex quite often and they play and run and pick up random things...but sometimes it is nerve racking because they still don't completely obey all the time when I am instructing them to stop or not be in the parking lot, but I still am able to chase them before they hit they get to close to danger. (very uncomfortable to sprint at this stage in the pregnancy).

Josh and I have been working hard on the kids routines for a LONG time now, they have had a lot of moves in their lives and unfortunately have never had a STRICT schedule. Anyways, Clare has been in a big girl bed for about 8 months now and it just has not worked! We have spent 90% of our nights since the big switch chasing her back to bed. We have read every blog, tutorial, listened to audio on the subject of getting your child to stay in bed and it has not worked at all. We basically are tired and feel that our patience is completely GONE for this situation. We gave up and put her back in a crib, and moved the crib right next to Paul's. Clare can be very anxious at bed time or anytime for that matter (sadly, this comes from me- have always been a worrier and an anxious person). So moving the crib next to Paul's was a comfort thing, we are hoping that she will not feel so lonely. We were just sleeping with her at night, but we have a small bed and Josh and I aren't exactly the smallest people in the world, then throw the pregnancy into it...Clare had to go. :( Anyways, yall get the point. Paul and Clare seem to like being next to each other and actually have been climbing into each others cribs..but they still havent figured out that since they can climb from each others they could climb out...they just stick to going back and forth between theirs.
TIME CHANGE!!! I absolutely hate FALL BACK! I wouldn't hate it so much if it didnt mess up my kids so much but it DOES. Most parents just don't mess with it and put their kids down at 7:30 instead of 8...which is what I was going to do, but NOPE - my kids have a great internal clock because they are having none of this time change. Both Paul and Clare's night routine is off and that affects their naps during the day. Wish I was still in Hawaii where there is no time change.

Paul has taken to eating baby food, after a 10 month vacation from it...I appreciate this because I feel he is getting a more balanced diet and he can feed himself.

Cute story- I was folding laundry in my room, while Clare and Paul were playing in their room and I heard Clare say "Oh my!" and then I heard Paul reply "Oh my doodness!" (not sure what they were doing) I thought it was really cute to hear them interact with each other.

Paul has been saying "I said" before everything, so he will say "Pumpkin" and then repeat it by saying "I said pumpkin!". He is so cute.

Clare came up to me yesterday and I told her we were going to go to Grammy and Grampa's house for Grampa's birthday and she replied, "Oh! Do you think Grampa will come to my birthday? It is not till February" - I had no idea she knew her bday was in February.

The pic above just reiterates how good Josh is with the kids, who thinks to build a tower out of books?! Josh :)

Goofiest/Best Dad in the World

Josh is so great with the kids, he is always playing around with them and being goofy. He is really inventive in his entertainment as well- which the picture I think shows pretty well. I am so grateful that during this very tiring trimester-Josh is available to get up about three mornings with the kids so I can sleep longer! So wonderful. He loves to get up in the morning with them, at least I think he does, dont think he would do it so often if he didnt like it. I really have had a hard time with sleep this pregnancy so he has really been helpful.

Clare has been saying some cute/sassy phrases lately-

"In just one little minute"

"I just woke up in the morning!" (sleepily when she comes into our room every morning or after naps)

She also has a terrible habit of drinking out of the carton, she did not pick this up from me but of course from her Daddy...anyways what makes it funny is days like today. I caught her picking out the egg nog carton (SO YUMMY) from the fridge and said, what are you doing? Getting the egg nog? Clare replies "umm let me check", takes a big drink "umm yes, its so yummy". HA!

Clare is my little cook by the way, she loves to HELP me constantly in the kitchen.

Paul has been talking constantly- he likes to repeat everything and its pretty cute to hear Clare tell him to say something and him repeat it. Latest and greatest phrase (song) "uh UH buh oh so HIGHH" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) SO CUTE!

I had my 34 week appointment today. Baby's heartbeat was in the upper 150s and he is head down, face down with his little bum up under my left rib and his feet and knees LITERALLY under my right ribs. He has not dropped at all, which is nice- because Paul had dropped at this point, and I would much rather feet in ribs then pressure...this is probably due to the fact that I have stopped working out as hard as I was with Paul (schedule is too crazy and it is too exhausting trying to get the kids into the gym and work out..la dee dah) I will pay for the premature stop I am sure after I have baby. :/

Josh and I are currently looking to move into a rental house! We are so glad to finally be in a position to do this. Pray that we find a good deal, good area and nice house.

By the way, this photo of Josh actually made Clare very nervous and anxious so I had to make him stop, because her imagination will run wild (just like me).

Gotta blog it to remember it...

I like having a blog not only to keep friends and family updated but for myself as well, I am glad I can go back and look at photos or read what the kids have been saying or doing...

Today I bought Clare some cheap lip gloss (to deter her from using all of my stuff) and she loved it, however at one point I caught Paul following her around (wearing her princess plastic heals) and whining "Yipstick Care"...(Lipstick Clare)...yeah- great.

Paul last night fell of his tricycle (in the living room) and somehow managed to split his lip and chip a tooth...lots of blood- but mouths seem to bleed a lot even with minor cuts. He was fine after a minute of crying. About 3 minutes later I heard a *POP* and then Clare screaming, I picked her up since she was on the floor holding her foot and she wouldnt walk on her foot until the next day....it never got swollen or anything...needless to say the first words out of my little hypochondrical Clare's mouth to Josh the next morning (who she hadnt seen in two days)..."oh Daddy, last night I popped my ankle...it was so sad".

Paul has been calling Grammy (Josh's Mom) MeeMaw, and has been talking non stop about her today..."mee maw help me, mee maw hold me, mee maw hug me, mee maw kiss me" pretty cute.

We were in Target yesterday and Josh and I have to laugh because Clare is such a mini me when she gets into a store...she looks at everything and pulls it out and comments on how cute and adorable it is. She also comments on things she is not so fond of "oh my word, that is just not cute at all, its not even adorable". Her and I will definitely have some fond shopping dates as she grows up.

We watched a video of my brother John, who is currently in Rome working at the Vatican...anyways- he is the Master of Ceremonies for the Pope and in the video Clare immediately pointed him out and then pointed at the Pope and said "Uncle John knows Santa Clause?!" ... we will have to work on that :)

Anyways...We are so excited for Christmas to be here, Clare and I looked at Ornaments and Decorations and trees...It is gonna be so fun with her this year.

Good night and God bless!

JonathanPaul Photography 2