Beyond the Gates of Splendor

We went to evening church at the Atlanta Vineyard tonight. The kids went to children's church and we previewed a documentary in the main sanctuary called Beyond the Gates of Splendor. This is a short synopsis:

The well-known facts about this story are that five men, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Nate Saint, Pete Fleming, and Ed McCully ventured to Ecuador in the mid 1950’s as missionaries, along with their wives, to share the Gospel with those who were out of reach of it. In the process, these five men lost their lives and the event became worldwide news. But in this account, the events begin fittingly with the backstory of the native Ecuadorians, the Waorani people, and sets up the history, culture and violence of their lives that led to the horrific event of the missionaries’ deaths. Following that is the backstory of the five men – their days together in school, getting married, their decision to go to Ecuador – leading up to the day they died. The film then takes us beyond that tragedy to show the fruit of the labor of these men, specifically through Nate Saint’s son, Steve Saint.

We just watched an abridged version that was about 40 minutes long. It was a powerful film. The widowed wives, instead of turning their backs on the tribe and returning to America, continued to teach the gospel to the Waorani people.

We broke off into small groups after the film for discussion. At one point in the movie when the men entered the jungle where the Waorani lived, they refused to bring guns to protect themselves. Their reason was that the Waorani were not yet assured a spot in heaven. They knew they would go to heaven, so they preferred to be the ones to die if anything happened. The question we discussed was, "Would you be willing to die for your faith?" and on the flip side, "Are you willing to live for your faith, wherever God leads you?" In my opinion, the answer should really be the same either way, but they are really difficult questions to ask yourself.

You can view the trailer at:

http://www.beyondthegatesthemovie.com/

Crazy Kathy!

This morning we had breakfast at IHOP with Atlantamommas. There were approximately 15 moms with their 1+ children, so can you imagine the pancakes and eggs everywhere by the time we left? Kaitlyn was playing ring around the rosy with her friends Emma, Ta'tyana, & Gabby. Kaitlyn loves playing ring around the rosy! This evening when I was fixing dinner, I heard Kathy meowing like she was hurt. I looked around in the usual places, but didn't see her right off. I found her outside on the porch hiding in our picnic basket. The trash collector was picking up the neighbor's trash and she appeared to be terrified. Since she is normally an indoor cat I can see how one of those huge trucks would be sort of scary, but she is supposed to be deaf. Was she feelings vibrations from the truck or something? I have been telling Jon for years that she is faking it and can really hear. :)

Good choices!

Alex has been having more good choice days. These are his Fall 2005 Pictures. Isn't he handsome?

Alyssa smiled for the first time this morning! She loves it when I make funny faces at her!

My cousin Ryan was named First Team All-Defense at the All-Heart of America Athletic Conference this week!! He is a punter for the football team at Baker University in Kansas. Good job Ryan!

http://www.bakeru.edu/athletics/football/profiles/smith_r.htm

Pretty Bracelet

Alyssa likes to wear Grandma's funny bracelets as much as Kaitlyn used to!

Thanksgiving-The Day After

The day after Thanksgiving we woke up and ate sausage gravy (my personal favorite) for breakfast. I took some pics of everyone that stayed up too late....ummm....enjoying their favorite beverages. :) Cousin Ryan has been growing his hair out on a bet. I thought I should take a picture before he goes back to his normal buzz cut. Jon and I headed back home and ate more turkey and pumpkin cheesecake before going to the theater to see the new Harry Potter movie. We took little Alyssa with us. The theater was sold out so there were absolutely no empty seats. I think the lady next to me was a little nervous about Alyssa, but I reassured her that she was a really good baby. She only started to cry for just a moment before I took her out to calm her down. She slept on through the rest of the 3 hour movie! When it was over, several people around us commented on what a good baby she was.

Thanksgiving Day!

I stayed up late preparing some of Thanksgiving feast and then got back up at 6:00 in the morning to make sure the turkey got on in time for "dinner" at noon. It was quiet all through the house, so I decided to watch My Date with Drew that I had rented the night before. Of course as soon as I put it on, Kaitlyn immediately woke up! So much for that idea, right? The Worrells and Amanda and Ciera arrived just before everything was ready despite the fact that I gave Amanda wrong directions to our house. I don't know whose idea it was that I should send directions. I am perpetually lost! We put together a Thanksgiving tree. Everyone traced their hands and wrote what they were thankful for. Alex was thankful for his mommy, Kaitlyn was thankful for popcorn, Grandpa was thankful for quiet grandkids, Amanda & Ciera were thankful for family, Jon was thankful for the Bank of Mom & Dad (Ha!), and I was thankful for our healthy kids. I also decided that Alyssa was thankful for breastmilk. :) We had a nice nch and then Alex, Kaitlyn, & Ciera headed to Alabama to spend the rest of the holiday with Ann and Will. Jon, Alyssa, & I went to my mom's house to spend some time with the other half of the family. There was quite a party going on there as usual. Mom, Aunt Trish, Ma'am (mammal), Uncle John, his girlfriend Sherry, Uncle Jason, Michael, Matthew, David, The Tigners, Cousin Ryan and his friend LV from college were all there. We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning eating, drinking, and being merry. Alyssa had a bit of a tummy ache and projectile spit up all over Terry Ticklebug (Tigner). She had the right idea though and didn't get a drop on herself!

My Beautiful Girls!

Kaitlyn loves holding her new sister!

More Pre-Thanksgiving Activities

Today we all went to Jon's Thanksgiving luncheon at the chiropractor's office that he works at. We feasted on ham (not turkey), stuffing, macaroni and cheese, sherry drenched lima beans, and Pea Pickin' Cake. (I am still not exactly sure what that is though. :) Alex, Kaitlyn, Alyssa, and I had pizza for dinner at my Dad and Teri's house. Here is a picture of Teri being tackled by Alex, Kaitlyn, and Bryson!

A Big Girl!

Alyssa is becoming a big girl! She is staying awake for a little bit longer intervals all the time. Alex and Kaitlyn wish she would wake up more often because they always want to play with her and she is ALWAYS sleeping!

Mountain View Thanksgiving Party

Kaitlyn's Thanksgiving Party was this morning! She and all her classmates brought in some of their favorite foods. Kaitlyn brought Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins! Yummy! All the kids made turkey hats and read the story "If You Give A Pig A Party". She had a great time!

Pritz Class Thanksgiving Program

Alex had his Thanksgiving Program this morning! They sang songs and played their little tom toms made from canisters. They were dressed in full Native American garb and Alex's "name" was Tall Bear. He said he chose that name because he likes to prowl!

Parents, Grandparents, & Special Friends Luncheon

Alex had his Parents, Grandparents, & Special Friends Luncheon today at his school. He was visited by Mommy, Kaitlyn, Alyssa, the Happy Grandmommy, and Nim. He was really excited to see us. He and his classmates were so cute, dressed up like little pilgrims. He sat in between his two grandmas for lunch. After lunch was over he gave the grandmas a little tour that included his playground and the library. I think it was a totally exciting day for him!

My beautiful children!

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Look at these three great kids I have!

Alyssa in Cloth Diapers

We finally got our cloth diaper supply together and have begun the switch over. Alyssa doesn't seem to care as long as someone is changing her diapers, but hopefully cloth diapering will work out for us and save us lots of $$$. Here she is in one of her new diapers!!

Alyssa's One Week Check-up

Alyssa had her one week check-up today. She weighed in at 8 lbs and 3 ounces, 20.5 lbs. Since she has exceeded her birth weight, I don't have to wake her up to nurse anymore! YAY! More sleep for Mommy! They said she is a touch jaundiced, but not enough to be concerned about. Kaitlyn was also jaundiced when she was born. A few sunbaths cleared it right up for her. Alyssa's foot was turned out when she was born because of how she was positioned in my uterus and they said that it will correct itself in time and not have to be operated on. She spit up twice last night for the first time. Her doctor said it might be a little reflux, so let's all pray that she doesn't have that. It was so awful for Kaitlyn when she was an infant! The doctor said she looks very healthy overall and needs to come back for her one month check-up at the beginning of December.

Alyssa's First Outing

Alyssa went on her first outing today to the WIC office. It was kind of cold outside, so we bundled her up as if she were going on an Antartica adventure. She and Kaitlyn were so cute in their matching jackets! Alyssa also gave me a little smile today. I swear she was really smiling and it wasn't just gas!

A Good Baby

Alyssa is a really good baby so far. I have to wake her up every 2-3 hours to nurse, but I really think she would sleep for at least 5 hours at the time otherwise. She only cries a little when she is having her diaper changed, but that is about it. Let's hope this lasts.....

Visiting Day

Sunday was visiting day! We had a quiet morning, but around lunchtime the visiting started! First Happy Grandmommy and Ma'am came over and brought Chinese food for lunch. There were four generations of our family's women in the same room! When they left, the Knutson family arrived. Joel, Katie, Josiah, and Eden all thought that baby Alyssa was a beautiful baby. :) Then Grandad and Teri arrived with a dish of Teri's famous baked ziti for us to have for dinner. Once all the family left, we were pretty well exhausted and went to bed.

Our First Day at Home

We spent our first day at home just lounging around and watching TV. We didn't have any visitors, just spent the day resting and being with each other. I did manage to take a few pictures of baby Alyssa though!

The Day After

They finally brought Alyssa to our hospital room shortly after 1:00 am. She was a fairly quiet baby. We woke up to nurse every couple hours, but otherwise she slept well. I can't say the same for Jon though. He had a nice, little fold out couch but couldn't get too comfortable. The next day we had a couple visitors. Ann and Will made it to the hospital first since they had stayed in a hotel just around the corner from the hospital with the kids. Alex and Kaitlyn were very excited to see their new sister again and we took our first family photo! They visited for a little while and left with The Worrells to spend the weekend in Alabama. Later in the afternoon, Happy Grandmommy and Terry Ticklebug came to visit. They brought flowers and chocolates for us. Then very late in the evening, Carrie Ferguson came to see the new baby. It was a nice day resting with the baby.

The Arrival of Alyssa

We went to our midwife appointment today and she checked my cervix. I was dilated to 5 cm, but not having any contractions and my water hadn't broken or anything. She asked if I wanted to go over to the hospital and have my water broken since I was already so far dilated. We still had to pick up Alex from ASP (after school program), so we told her we were going home to get ourselves together and we would be back at 7:00ish. We were back at North Fulton by 7:05pm and settled into our room by 7:30pm. My midwife came in and jiggled Alyssa around a little. They wanted me to start contracting a little before they broke my water. She only moved her around that once and I started contracting regularly on my own. Alex and Kaitlyn came in for one last time and Alex was so sweet. The Happy Grandmommy had taken them to the cafeteria for some candy and he got some Reese's. He offered me one of them and I told him that I couldn't really eat until after the baby came out. He said that he would put it on my tray, so that I could eat it as soon as she was born. :) They broke the water between 8 and 8:30pm and I got into the tub. The water was really warm, almost hot. It was cool because I take really hot baths, but my neck/shoulders/face were steaming. It was making me really uncomfortable. Jon made me a fan to fan myself with. Then he tried to help me fan myself and accidentally smacked me in the face with it, so I had to find him something else to do. :) Then my L&D nurse found me an electric fan and it was truly a godsend. I don't know if I would have been able to stay in the tub otherwise. Then my contractions started hurting a little, but I really think the tub helped with that part of it. We were curious as to how they would know when it was time for me to push since I wasn't hooked up to any machines. She said that most moms make this strange moaning noise when it was time, so for the rest of the labor we kept questioning if each noise I was making was the one she was talking about. Then the contractions started REALLY hurting. After about 15-20 minutes of really bad contractions, I felt like I needed to push and told my mom to get the midwife RIGHT THEN or else I was going to have to deliver her myself. I reached down to feel if her head was already coming out. Jon told me later her thought I was trying to push her back in. HA! The midwife and the nurse rushed in and told me to start pushing. Jon was holding one hand and my mom was holding the other, so that kind of kept me anchored in the water, but the lower half of my body was kind of floating/thrashing about. It really hurt. I remember saying that there was nothing natural about natural childbirth, that it was the most unnatural pain I had ever felt. I think that was the only complete sentence I was able to get out during that time. Except once the head was out I kept saying, "Okay, get her. Get her out now." I pushed for less than 10 minutes though. She was actually born at 9:50 pm. They put her right on my chest and I kept her body in the water to keep her warm. She stayed there while they cleaned her and during the cord cutting. They took her, so that I could get out and wrapped her in a blanket and brought her to me in the bed. She nursed almost right away. Her face was a little bruised because I pushed her out so quick, but she was squished and beautiful looking. She looks a little like Kaitlyn, but not as much as I was expecting. They have similar noses. She has more hair than either of the other kids and it is a little darker. She was 7 pounds and 9 ounces and 20 inches long. The kids came in right away. They were both pretty awestruck. The first thing Alex said was, "Mommy--were you so scared?" I said, "Yes. Yes I was." They both wanted to hold her right away, but I asked them to wait until everyone was home on Sunday. Everyone left the hospital and Jon, Alyssa, and I settled into our hospital room.

The Beginning

Okay, since there is so much going on in our lives these days what with all these children everywhere--I have decided to create a blog for our family. Even though I try to stay in touch with everyone and keep the family updated on all the kids' current stuff, I forget to tell you guys everything. So here we go........