He's Home

Meet Dashiell Monroe Juhala, an amazing little man born 6 weeks early who is finally home after a week in intensive care.  We are extremely blessed! (And extremely tired!  More details will come at another time.)

Baby Update

I think Annie said it best....."Little Dash is already trying to live up to his name, isn't he?"  This has been an interesting week! I spent most of it having 3 minute long contractions every 5 minutes.  After trying everything else with not much success (only small reprieves before they started right back up again) I ended up on a magnesium drip Thursday evening, which finally began to work sometime around 4 a.m.on Friday. (Then, with some other lovely medical assistance, I finally got some sleep!!) Even my doctor was surprised, as he fully expected me to be having a c-section by then!  They covered all the bases by giving me a series of steroid shots to speed up the development of Dashiell's little lungs, which I must admit, as much as I hate piling on the medication, gives me a huge sense of relief!!  So now...only God knows!  We could be back in the Birthing Center having a baby tomorrow, or Dash could stay put until October 20th and I might have another month of normal activity ahead of me.  I'll say one thing.......having a boy is already keeping me on my toes!  Monday, barring unforeseen circumstances, we head back to Maternal Fetal Medicine for another 3D ultrasound to check out Dash's development, size, and how his little kidney is holding up. I'm sure he's a doing beautifully and is already a decent size, but I am looking forward to taking a peek at the little trouble maker.  In the meantime, thank you for your prayers!!

Camping Day One!

"I wanna go camping again!" says Miss Elora as she looks over my shoulder at these pictures from what I can't believe is less than two weeks ago.  As the last couple of weeks we've been a bit preoccupied with doctor visits and, well, nesting, I'm quite behind on sharing our adventures!  Over the next few days I'll attempt to remedy that, so don't be alarmed when our girls suddenly have hair again in all of the photos!! :)

Goodbye, Grandma

Last night my grandmother passed away after 92 years.  What a blessing that just last weekend she was able to celebrate with all three of her children and much of her family.  I wish I had been able to say goodbye, but I am so blessed that she knew and loved my family. Now she is at peace and can finally rest in the arms of  her Lord.  We love you, Grandma.

The "Afters"

Miss Seleia Vaughn, sporting her new do, and Miss Elora Kay, all sparkly with her haircut!

Peach Butter

I haven't been able to do too much in the way of canning this summer (Okay, practically zilch), but with the fall weather beginning I got the bug!  I needed to preserve something!  The peach butter recipe at a handmade life looked enticing, so I decided to give it a try!  Mine turned out much darker than hers (I'm convinced she used white peaches!) but the flavor is delicious!  I used organic peaches and sugar so all winter long when we're putting it on pancakes and peanut butter sandwiches we can have delicious summer flavor that is nothing but good for you. Next, maybe blueberry jelly.......

Locks of Love

Today was a big deal!  Seleia has been asking for a haircut for a while, and I finally decided that that was fair, since she is responsible for taking care of her own hair now....might as well let it be manageable, eh? After further discussion we decided that cutting 6 inches off and throwing it away would be a waste, so we decided to chop off the full 10 inches and donate her hair to locks of love.  When we were waiting at the salon, they asked how many of the girls were getting their haircut, and Seleia and Elora both raised their hands eagerly...what was I to do??  (Amarra declined.....PHEW!!...and waited patiently, enjoying the festivities.)  So in went two ponytails and off came 20 plus inches of hair!! (Tomorrow I'll post what it actually looks like dry.  They both look so great!)  I did okay, but a woman waiting for her styling appointment gasped both time the ponytails came off....she almost made me do a "what was I thinking??" type double take, but it quickly went away.  Both girls have been beaming all day!  Seleia waited for the bus to show her BF Lauren when she got home from school.....and L responded perfectly...running up to Seleia and screaming "HOLY COW!" at the top of her lungs.  *sigh*  Where did my babies go?