Katja Rose...YOU ARE HERE!

What a journey life has been lately!  I can't believe I am a Mom to five kids! I was surprised and scared when I found out I was pregnant with number 5! I was only scared because we had so much coming up in our family, that I didn't know how we would fit in time for having another baby.  We had a big move coming up plus building a home, so having a baby was not planned by me.  Actually, I was trying not to get pregnant, however, when we have plans...sometimes God has other plans.  When I told my husband that I was pregnant, he was thrilled and said that God's timing is always perfect and he will provide.  So, this summer at the end of July, Katja Rose came into our world.  I was due on July 14th, according to the Dr., but I figured I was closer to the 18th or 19th.  We said that we were not going to do anything with this pregnancy to induce or interfere, and I am so glad that the experience was a much better one!

I started having slight back aches, contractions and tightening when I had gone out to eat for Chinese with my Mom-in-law on the 23th of July.  I was about 1 1/2 weeks past my EDD, and pretty soon the Dr.'s were going to encourage me to set up for induction.  I went home that night, and my contractions came steady and stronger.  At 1:30 am on the 25th, I thought we should head into the hospital.  When I was checked I was at a 2 cm, but after sitting in the hospital for about 6 hours, and my contractions pretty much slowing down and becoming so sporadic, we went back home.  I sat at home all day with being able to get a nap squeezed into my afternoon.  That evening, my contractions became super intense, and approximately 11 p.m. I felt the need to push with them....so we went back up to the hospital.  This time, we weren't going home, because I was dilated to an 8! :)  The nurses all got the room ready, because we were having a baby!
I could get into all the details of that night, but I will just keep to the big details.  My husband was going to be catching our baby, and I love that! Doesn't he look great in scrubs?

My best friend, Randi, has been with us for 4 of our deliveries.  I love having her and my husband in the room for support.  Both of them are such an encouragement for me and blessings.  I so gratefully appreciate them!  So, back to my story of Katja's entrance...without much for pain meds., I pretty much cried and yelled out in pain.  I am sure the whole hospital heard me a few times, and I remember thinking that.  I had Phetanol (which is like Neubain) just 2 doses. With that pain med., I was able to rest slightly between contractions.  I had an unusual labor, because my contractions never came one on top of another with little time in between.  My contractions stayed coming at about 1-1 1/2 minutes apart for all of the labor.  I knew time was close when I started naturally pushing through my contractions.  What an amazing thing!  I don't recall how long I pushed, but it didn't take long, and Katja (literally) flew out.  Terry almost had her slip through his hands.

My Dr. was super!  He was technically still on vacation, but he was officially back to work later that day on the 25th.  So, having him come in was a very nice sacrifice.  I think he did a great job, and he showed up in his shirt and cap. LOL 

I love my dear friend, Randi!  (Thanks for all you do, all you are, and for being my dear sweet friend! I appreciate you!)

Katja Rose (Katja: pronounced caught-ya, is a form of Katherine, meaning PURE) weighed 8 lbs., 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Here is one of my nurses.  I loved all my nurses, and I really don't have a complaint about any of them. Usually I get one that we either clash a little or I just don't care for them, but this time....all of them were super!  My whole experience with this labor/delivery was excellent!  I was at a different hospital this time, and the care far exceeded the last hospital.  I had small town hospitality here!

My Mom holding her littlest granddaughter.  Katja is number 24th of the grandchildren on my parent's side.  It would have been fun if she was born on the 24th.

My Dad making faces at his granddaughter.

Here I am holding my second little girl, and also holding my friend's daughter who is 2 months older than Katja.  My face is starting to swell on this photo.  I had one allergic reaction during my stay, and I had big time swelling, and chest tightness.  Good thing I was in the right place if things went wrong.  After I removed myself from all medication, I had to be on Prednesone for 5 days.

Daddy and his two princesses...

Grandma Cheryl with her two granddaughters. (Maddy is so in love with her baby sister)

Grandma Cheryl with our kids~ Nathaniel (12 1/2), Caleb (6), Madelyn (4), Cole (2) and Katja (newborn).

Katja and her little friend, Kayla...holding hands.

Getting ready to go home. 

I love this photo!  My favorite!

Crying newborns are actually pretty cute. :)

All set in the car seat.  She looks so tiny!

Welcome baby Katja! We are so thankful for our little daughter! I am thankful for the hospital, Dr., nurses, my husband, best friend, and for having such a beautiful & healthy family!

I am back...and here is where I have been!

We have been extremely busy over the summer months...really since about late spring. We were getting ready to move, and in the process of packing up our home, I was pregnant and my husband was/is working a full time job while building our new home. I thought I would update on our progress with the house with lots of pictures and some information on it. The order of the pictures aren't necessarily in order, but they are in order from most recent to the earlier stages.

A few weekends ago, my husband had invited about 4-5 guys over to help him put up the trusses.  That was a big job and we are very thankful and grateful for their help!

This is the backside of the house, or the South facing side.  We are building a berm home, so three of the walls will be buried in 6 feet of dirt.

This is the front of the home, the South facing side, where the windows will be.  There will be 11 large windows in the front, and 9 sky light windows on the roof, 4 of them will be ones that open up.  We are planning on designing the home to have planters on the inside under the windows to grow fruits and vegetables.

Caleb has been up to "the new land," as the kids like to call it, with Terry pretty regularly.

Nathaniel likes to go up to help out, and he really enjoys spending time with his new friend who only lives a few houses away.

Here is Terry with one of the main helpers~ we appreciate all his help this summer with everything.  His whole family has been such a help with the work, feeding my husband and sometimes kids, and more!

This summer has brought many challenges and hurtles.  We had one of our walls fall down after it had been stacked up completely.  It wasn't secure yet with the bond, but with the high winds and rain we've had, it just knocked down.  Then, with this picture above, we actually had lightning hit our house.  We had a rod sticking out of the cement block, and the lightning had hit that, shot down through the blocks and bust out through the bottom.  Crazy!  Amazingly, my husband fixed both and you wouldn't even know the difference.  I guess we will have to put up lightning rods to protect our home from future strikes!

This is the latest picture of what the house looks like.  Right now we are working on the materials for the chimney, for the wood stove, and putting the sheeting on.  The next step after the sheeting will be putting in the sky lights, chimney, and then roofing the house!

S'mores! Always a great treat!

Time with Grandma is always fun!

The kids love going on three wheeler rides with Dad!

Stunning sunsets up there....BIG SKY COUNTRY!

This is a hail piece from one of the big storms we had up there! It was crazy!

So much rain this summer~ sure made things delayed a bit.

So, that is one of the big projects that we have been working on this summer, and we are still working on it.  We hope to have it closed up before snowfall, but we shall see.  We started working on the home, breaking ground, in May.  We have had a few set backs with the rain, mud, muck, road restrictions, wall collapse and more, but we are just going to keep moving forward.  In the end, we will have no mortgage, 20 acres, and eventually raise our own food!  It has been hard being away from my husband as he works full time and spends all the other time working on the house, but I know that the sacrifices we make now will be worth the end prize.  I do look forward to having a more simplistic life!