Farmer Boy

Last weekend Brent helped his dad in the field.  Deacon was quite excited to be able to ride in the tractor with him.  Apparently Brent had Pringles in the tractor, because the next day I was asking Deacon about his ride and he said, "Pringles!"

Life lately.

It's been a fast 5 weeks.  Much faster than the 5 weeks before Nora was born. :)  Deacon has adjusted well & I'm very thankful for that.  It definitely hasn't all been easy and yesterday I was ready to turn in my 2 weeks notice as a stay at home mom, but the Lord's mercies are new every morning!  Today has been much better.

Nora's first walk.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Lost Creek Preserves Fall Festival.  Nora wasn't all that interested, but...

....Deacon had lots of fun.  

I was quite proud of him when he rode the pony all by himself.

Time to pick out a pumpkin.

20 months old.

The other day I was out in the kitchen cleaning up things.  I put in the movie Cars ( a new one for him) and came in to check on him a little later & I found this.  A first for him!

Nora at 4 weeks old.

Unlike her brother at this age, she enjoys her hair being washed & with all of that hair, she gets a lot of head  rubbing which results in lots of grease!

The last few weeks has once again showed that life is so short.  With the passing of Jerry a couple of weeks ago & then my brother-in-law's mom last Friday, the Lord brought a couple of things to my mind.  Do the ones I love, know that I love them? Do I tell them?  Do I show them?  It's something I've been pondering lately.

Meet Atti

Andria & I got to endure our pregnancy together & anticipated our 1 week apart baby girls so much.  Little did we know that our 1 week apart babies would actually be 1 month apart!  I still can't believe it.  With me going 11 days early & her 10 days late, it made our girls have birthdays in different months.  We are so thankful baby Atti Lynn arrived safely.  

Atti was much more interested in eating than a photo shoot.

So fun to have baby girls together!

4 Weeks Photos but.....

she's actually 5 weeks!  I decided to attempt to take my own photos this time.  Please excuse the non-professional look :)

Due Date

Today marked my due date.

Here she is looking quite beautiful.

I'm so thankful to hold her in my arms & not in my belly.

Meet Nora

We have begun our adjustment of life with two.  Thankfully, it's been easier than I thought it was going to be.  Deacon has been wonderful!  I was always one that wanted at least a 2 year age gap between our children, but God had other plans.  I'm definitely seeing the advantage of having them close together, because Deacon couldn't care less about her.  It's like she's just a new piece of furniture. :)  

Nora has been a great baby so far.  I hate to brag too soon, because you never know when the switch is going to flip, but she's been sleeping like a trooper.  

sweet, sweet baby.

Hanging out in the hospital.

We could have went home a day early, but I wanted to take advantage of being in the hospital.  I'm not like most people....I actually enjoy being in the hospital!

Flowers for Nora & I from Brent.

Ready to go home!

All packed & ready.

daddy's arms.

Peaceful baby.

Kisses from brother.

I'm feeling great & counting my blessings that labor is OVER!  Brent went back to work on Wednesday & I was a tad nervous about that, but my mom came over & helped, which made it easier.  We were out of the house by 11 today....I was wondering if I was going to be able to do that. :)  I wouldn't change a thing.  We are so thankful that she's finally here!!

Announcing.....

We are quite pleased to announce to you all the arrival of our sweet, baby girl.  Nora Kohl decided to make her appearance 11 days early on September 21st, which was just fine with her mommy!  Although the means of her arrival I would not have chosen, we are so thankful she's here, healthy & safe. 

From family of 3 to family of 4.

Taking her all in.

All chubs at 7lbs. 12 oz & 20 1/4 inches long.

thumb sucker already.

I'm not an all-natural girl when it comes to child labor & delivery.  I quite liked the effects of my epidural when Deacon was born.  I did not get that luxury this time around.  At around 3:30am, I started feeling cramp-like contractions coming every 7-10 minutes.  Finally at 5:15 I decided it was time to wake Brent up & head to the hospital.  Mom Sink came over to stay with Deacon & we walked out the door around 5:30.  As the contractions got more painful & closer together, Brent put the pedal to the metal.  I think he topped out at 95 on interstate.  I'm also wondering how many tickets we'll get for running every single red light.  We made it to the hospital with my contractions coming every 2 minutes or less.  After skipping registration, being in triage less than 5 minutes (after discovering I was between 6 & 7 cm) we made it to the delivery room.  At this point I had the feeling that my chances at receiving an epidural were very, very slim because of how far along I was.  We arrived at the hospital at 6am & a mere 42 minutes later, Nora joined our little family in person.