Family - Our Alabama Life

The Weekend Story

Posted on June 29, 2015 in Family, 0 comments

Friday night, Libby hosted a sleepover with two of her friends. (I’m not a big fan of sleepovers, but she had been begging for this for MONTHS and I finally caved.)

Libby tends to set the bar extremely high for these types of things. She builds them up so much in her mind. I kid you not, she planned this sleepover out by-the-minute. At the grocery store, she wanted ALL THE THINGS–cookies, cupcakes, ice cream, hot chocolate, chips and dip, popcorn, cokes. (I made her choose two from that list, by the way. She went with hot chocolate and popcorn.)

The sleepover went really well. GraGra and Mal came over to do nails and makeup. Temporary tattoos were applied. The girls ate popcorn and drank hot chocolate while watching the premiere of Teen Beach Movie 2. The first girl didn’t go to sleep until 3 am, with the others falling soon after that. I don’t know about you, but I call that “Sleepover Success.”

The kids and I spent Saturday morning catching up on sleep and cleaning up from the sleepover. Justin went kayaking with some guys from church and made it home just in time for me to leave the kids with him and meet some ladies from church for a Starbucks planning meeting. (If you are in the area, we are hosting a women’s conference on July 18. Doors open at 5:30 and it’s going to be amazing. Emily Fox, co-founder of the Forget the Frock movement, will be speaking. There will be snacks and shopping and so much fun you won’t know what to do with yourself. The cost is $5 and you can sign up here.)

Saturday evening we had plans for a Ladies Night In with some friends from church, but Libby wound up with an earache we think is swimmers ear. (Surprisingly, neither of my girls has ever had swimmers ear before, so I can’t be certain that’s what it is just yet.) After some ear drops and Tylenol, she felt better so all five of us snuggled up and watched Overcome on Amazon Prime.

On Sunday, we hit up the new Texas Roadhouse for lunch after church. It was quite tasty and my food ended up being free, so that’s always a plus. (My plate was a few minutes later getting to the table than the other plates, so the manager gave it to me for free. That’s just good customer service, right there.)

After lunch, we went swimming at Meme’s and then Kyndall and Justin did a little fishing while Libby, Jase, and I did some back patio swinging and conversating with Pops and Gra-Gra. (I know ‘conversating’ isn’t a real word, but it should be!)

I finished a few chapters in Simply Tuesday and I can’t wait to tell you guys all about it. It is speaking to my soul in such a deep way. I am really reading through it slowly, savoring the words Emily has written. This book has been such a gift to me, especially lately as I’m trying so hard to slow down and enjoy the now.

What did you do this weekend?

Easter Celebrations

Posted on April 6, 2015 in Family, 0 comments

We started out our Easter weekend with an egg hunt at church. Each year, TBC hosts an Easter Extravaganza with blow-ups, food, and several hundred eggs. It’s tons of fun. The weather was great and we spent the entire afternoon just hanging out at church, fellowshipping with our people.

Saturday night, we hosted dinner at our house for some friends. Justin put some tri-tip on his new Orion cooker (which we are LOVING!), the guys stood around outside, the girls sat around inside, and the kids ran amuck everywhere. It was perfect.

Our church participated in the Forget the Frock movement this year, making our own shirts to raise money to feed the hungry in our community. Being totally superficial here, but it made getting ready a BREEZE, I tell ya!

I prayed for God to show-up and show-out on Sunday morning and He did not disappoint. Jase and I usually hang out in the back of the church in case he gets fussy, so I got to witness the extra chairs they kept having to bring in to seat all the people. Talk about a packed house. The kids sang two songs and it always warms my heart seeing my girls worship. The whole service was God-breathed and just what I needed.

After church, we went to Pop and GraGra’s house for lunch and an egg hunt. (The above photo was the calm before the chaos!) There were ten prize eggs stuffed with money hidden, so each kid hit the jackpot.

Libby walked away with $12, Kyndall with $10. (Back in my day, we had to fight over ONE $10 prize egg, but whatever, man.)

Spending time with my people is one of my most favorite things to do.

FYI: I’m the WISEST (read: oldest) of this group. So proud of each one of these cousins and the wonderful people they are becoming!

We rounded out the evening sans-Justin (he got called in to work) with cereal for dinner (it’s the meal of champions, ya’ll), a fever for Kyndall (boo.), and an early bedtime for Mom and kids. I’m so thankful my God rose from the grave and gave us a reason to celebrate this day.

Cave Touring With My Big Girl

Posted on March 17, 2015 in Family, Travel, 0 comments

Last week, Justin and I were both able to go with Kyndall on a field trip to Cathedral Caverns State Park. I always love field trips with my girls because its another chance for one-on-one time with them. It was probably one of the neatest field trips we have been on so far.

At Cathedral Caverns, we traveled 1.5 miles back into this massive cave, ending up an entire football field below ground level. There were rock formations in the shapes of former presidents, animals, even church bells.

After the cave tour, Kyndall was able to pan for special rocks. She said this was her favorite part 🙂

We are all ready to go spelunking now, because while interesting, just walking through a cave wasn’t quite the adrenaline rush the West family goes for. But it was a very fun day. We even followed it up with our traditional lunch at Rosie’s with the Johnson family.

These are the best days, ya’ll.

That Time We Took Our Girls on Dates

Posted on March 11, 2015 in Family, 0 comments

A few weeks ago, Justin and I decided that we were going to take the girls’ on individual outings. Since Jase came into the picture, we’ve really missed out on that one-on-one time with them. Make no mistake–they have been absolutely wonderful with Jase. I think it’s more us missing them than them missing us!

So on Monday night, Justin and Kyndall went to the Cookie Company. They ate huge cookies, drank Icee’s and walked around the mall.

Libby and I went to Zen-Beri, ate huge tubs of yogurt with all the extras, and talked for thirty minutes straight. Talking is kind of Libby’s thing.

Papaw and Nana kept Jase.

Then, Tuesday night, we switched. Justin and Libby went for dinner at Fulin’s. Kyndall and I went to Chongwah Express (Chinese food) and followed that up with a pretzel from Auntie Anne’s. Gra-Gra kept Jase.

This is definitely not something we will be able to do every week, or even every month. But I do see great value in it. I think it’s so important to keep the lines of communication open with your children, and when you have more than one child, that can be challenging. Too often, Libby will be in the middle of a story and Kyndall will interrupt, or Jase will start fussing. I want them to know that what they have to tell me is important. I want us to be the ones they talk to when they have issues, not another kid who might give them shady advice.

When Jase was first born, I took a few minutes (5-10) the first few nights we were home and called each girl into my bedroom individually. (I called it my office, because I’m cool like that!)(The girls are so lucky.) We sat cross-legged on the bed and just spent a few minutes of uninterrupted conversation. It was wonderful. I’ve slacked at that the last few weeks, but it’s something I want to pick back up and continue as part of our nighttime routine.

If you have more than one child, what are some ways you show them their individual attention and/or importance? How can I make sure they come to me with problems and not someone out there, in the world?

A Breastfeeding Discussion

Posted on February 9, 2015 in Family, 0 comments

Jase4weeks — Shout out to Forget-Me-Not Photography for this photo!

This sweet boy will be four weeks old tomorrow. And today makes the first day in his four weeks of existence that breastfeeding him has not hurt so bad it’s made my toes curl. I’ll spare you the photos of him nursing (there aren’t any), but there are no shortage of them online if you are interested. Apparently, it’s all the rage for celebrity moms to post breastfeeding photos?!?!

Some moms choose to give their babies formula. Some moms can’t breastfeed and have to give their babies formula. Some moms try breastfeeding and it’s too painful, or too demanding, and switch to formula. And other moms breastfeed. All these moms are great moms. This post is not meant to be judgmental or say one is better than the other.

Personally, I breastfed both my girls & have been very determined to do the same this time around. I’ll be honest though–I was about ready to throw in the towel. It hurt worse than I remember with either of the girls. Although it has been six years, so maybe my memory is a little foggy.

At the hospital, I worked with the lactation consultant. Jase was latching on perfectly. A few days after we came home, I called my OBGYN. They did end up calling in medicine for me– a yeast infection in the milk ducts–but that shouldn’t have been causing real pain. At Jase’s two week check-up, I talked to the pediatrician. Surely he had tongue tie, or a yeast infection in his mouth, or something that was causing this pain. He didn’t.

Everything I read and everyone I talked to said that the pain should stop about two weeks in. And having done this breastfeeding thing twice already, I do think I would remember if it was this painful. I’ve been popping Tylenol like an addict.

Then, magically, it got better. At his feeding this morning, I didn’t want to cry when he latched on. My legs didn’t kick out uncontrollably in pain. It was real progress.

So the point of this post is that if you are attempting to breastfeed, it does get better. But if you choose to throw in the towel, you’ll get no judgement from me!

And just out of curiosity–did any of you struggle with pain the first entire month of breastfeeding? Or am I just really wimpy?

This Man

Posted on February 2, 2015 in Family, 1 comment

This man, ya’ll. I struck gold when I married him. For the past three weeks, he has waited on me hand and foot. He has dealt with my crazy tornado of emotions like a boss.

Not once did he make fun of me for my irrational, bad-patient behavior. Not once did he complain or groan when I asked, for the millionth time, “Will you do me a favor?” (And believe me, when you are stuck lying on your left side for a week, you need lots of favors.)

Don’t get me wrong–we’ve had lots of help. My mom and meme have washed, dried, and put away load after load of dirty clothes. They have fed us and ironed the girls clothes for school and taken care of all the last minute baby things I hadn’t gotten to yet. I owe them big.

But it was this man who had to put up with my late-evening-stressed-out-ridiculousness. It was him who had to get up in the middle of his television show because I could not look at that dirty cup sitting on the coffee table for one single more second.

It was him who had to unload my grandmothers car and reload our Tahoe with bags and carseats when they were going to the Harlem Globetrotters game, because I irrationally demanded they not drive the smaller car. I was convinced that driving the smaller car would be a fatal mistake.

It was him who had to set me up each morning with my laptop, iPad, cell phone, chapstick, bp monitor, chocolate milk and gallon of ice water before leaving for work.

It was him who, when I had to do a 24-hour urine analysis that had to be kept on ice, refilled the ice bags that surrounded my pee jug every few hours.

And it was him, during labor and delivery, who knew exactly what to say and do to help me through.

True love doesn’t show itself in the easy, happy times, ya’ll. It’s in these stressful, irrational, hard times that the light of true love really shines.

Jase Allen: A birth story, part 2

Posted on January 28, 2015 in Family, 0 comments

If you missed part 1 of Jase’s birth story, click here.

I delivered at Madison Hospital, which is a relatively new, smaller hospital in our area. They were super laid back, but completely experienced. While other hospitals are very strict about procedures and the amount of visitors, Madison allowed me to set my own guidelines. The nurse told me I could have as many visitors as I wanted, and if it got to be too many to let her know–that she would be the bad guy. This worked well for us, having such a huge family.

One of my favorite things about Madison was after delivery. I was immediately given Jase for skin-to-skin, even before the cord was cut. Being able to watch that process was something I had not experienced with the girls and it is really amazing. They encourage at least 30 minutes of skin-to-skin contact before doing anything. The girls were able to come in and see him right away, before he had been cleaned up or anything. Then they helped give his first bath, right there in the room with me.

The staff at the hospital really made a point to include the girls on everything. They loved being able to listen to his heartbeat!

The poor little guy was passed around the room after this—Kyndall, Libby, GraGra, Mal, Pops, Papaw–the list went on and on!

Another great thing about Madison–they only came and took him to the nursery twice. No long waits for the pediatrician to make rounds, no feeling like he was ‘stuck’ in the nursery waiting. They took him, did what needed to be done, and brought him back. I did have the option of letting him stay in the nursery for me to rest, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that!

One of my favorite parts of this pregnancy was watching the girls enjoy it. Each time they felt a kick or saw the ultrasound photos, their smiles would light up the room. Now that he’s here, one of my favorite things is watching Kyndall and Libby love him. Full disclaimer: It took Libby a few days to warm up to him. Kyndall was head over heels the moment she laid eyes on him. And now we get to spend our days adjusting to life as a family of five!

Jase Allen: A birth story, part 1

Posted on January 26, 2015 in Family, 9 comments

If you follow me on social media, you probably already know that our sweet boy made his grand appearance last week. On Tuesday, January 13 at 9:41am, Jase Allen West made his arrival, a little earlier than expected. Let’s back up a little.

On Monday, January 5, I went to the doctor for my regular 36-week appointment. My blood pressure was elevated and my urine showed small levels of protein (a sign of kidney damage from preeclampsia). I was sent to the hospital for further testing and to be monitored, and several hours later was sent back home on modified bed rest. Throughout the week I made several trips to the hospital for more tests and monitoring, and my bp slowly got worse.

Friday, January 9, I was put on strict bed rest (laying only on my left side and getting up just to use the restroom). We were trying to make it to 37 weeks before inducing. This worked well for the weekend, but by Sunday night my bp was pushing 150/93 even while lying down. Back to the hospital on Monday morning and the doctor made the decision to induce the following morning (Tuesday). I would be exactly 37 weeks, 0 days.

The entire night before being induced I was a wreck. I was so nervous that he wouldn’t be ready. I know that babies are delivered much earlier than 37 weeks all the time, but I still worried. I delivered at Madison Hospital, which is fantastic, but doesn’t have a NICU, so there was the added fear that he would need to be transferred to Huntsville hospital NICU. Without me. All these fears made for a very restless night, and an endless conversation with God.

I was given a cervical softening pill around 4am, which made me start contracting about every ten minutes. The family started arriving around 7:30 and there was a flurry of photos taken to document the morning. The anesthesiologist came in at 8:50 to start my epidural. I have a history of quick labors, so thankfully, the doctor thought we should get that started first. (Although I don’t think any of us expected this labor to be nearly as quick as it turned out to be, but I’m getting ahead of myself!) A few minutes after 9 am, the doctor broke my water and started the pitocin drip.

When the anesthesiologist came in, all the family walked out for a few minutes, expecting to come right back in. I remember my mom texting Justin for an update and asking if the girls could come see me. As soon as my water broke, I immediately began having back to back contractions and hurting pretty strongly, so we said no. (Which I found out later really worried everyone!)

Time seems to fly by at this point–what seemed like 2 minutes was probably more like 10, but I went from 3 cm to 9.5 cm very quickly. Dr. Loncar wasn’t on call that day but had agreed to come over and deliver me. (She delivered both girls too, so this made me really happy!) When I reached the 9.5 mark, my nurse called Dr Loncar to come over and I remember her saying “and she’s having a really hard time not pushing.” I was actually already pushing at that point and remember thinking I didn’t care who it was but that someone better catch my baby! Four pushes later, my precious baby boy was born. For a 37 week baby, he was a chunky 6 pounds and 12 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long, with a head full of hair. And perfectly healthy, praise Jesus.

This labor was by far my quickest (40 minutes from start to finish), but also the most painful. I think I progressed so quickly that the epidural didn’t quite have time to kick-in all the way! Justin was my anchor–telling me what a good job I was doing and putting a cold wash cloth on my forehead and rubbing my hair. And I didn’t even have to ask him to do any of that 🙂

As soon as I heard that sweet baby cry, Dr Loncar was placing him (more like tossing him!) on my chest for skin to skin. We were all three crying–me, Justin, Jase. I was actually able to watch as Justin cut the cord, which is something I missed with the girls.

I even got to watch as Justin and the girls gave Jase his first bath, but that’s getting into part 2 of this story. So check back Wednesday for part 2!

Baby Bump: 36 Weeks

Posted on January 5, 2015 in Family, 1 comment

Thirty-six weeks. I can’t even believe it. And while the first thirty-five weeks of the pregnancy absolutely flew by, I have a feeling the next few are going to take forever. I love being pregnant, I really do. But 40 weeks is a long time, ya’ll.

Baby size: Enormous. Oh wait, maybe that’s just me. According to the fruit and vegetable guide, he should only be about the size of a honeydew melon. Which seems tiny when you look at my gigantic belly.

Sickness: Holy heartburn! Twenty-four hours a day I feel like my chest and throat are on fire. It is ridiculous! (I had heartburn with both girls at the end, but nothing compared to this torture!)

Energy: Surprisingly, I still have a lot of energy. And I sleep very little, which should contradict this but it doesn’t.

Cravings: None. Which is a little disappointing. With both girls, I craved chocolate covered raisins. Food is supposed to be so good when you’re pregnant, and it’s just not to me. (Unfortunately, this has not affected my weight gain at all.)

Phrases heard recently:
From Libby, while playing board games with both girls and Justin–“Let’s go in order from smallest to biggest. Mama, you’ll go last.”
From the Vietnamese lady at the nail salon–“You’re delivering where? Huntsville is a much better hospital.” (<–Funny, I don’t remember asking her opinion….)

Feeling: Oh-So-Ready. My ankles have disappeared. My toes look like sausages. The constant heartburn. Too many Braxton Hicks contractions to count. Pregnancy is not for the weak. But above all that, I am SO ready to hold my sweet boy. I am so ready to watch the girls be big sisters. And I am so ready to adjust to life as a family of five.

All the necessary things are ready. I still need to wash/iron Jase’s clothes for the hospital and get bags packed, but I’ll wait another week or so for that. I’m afraid if I do it too early I’ll jinx myself and he’ll wait to appear after his due date.

Previous baby bump posts:

Hello, Third Trimester
Update: 13 Weeks

A First Grade Program

Posted on November 19, 2014 in Family, 0 comments

Last week, Libby participated in her first grade program at school. She memorized her part so well and even got to dress as an Indian. (Native American for you politically correct folks.)

All of first grade lined up on the makeshift stage and told the story of the first Thanksgiving. There were students dressed as food: cranberry sauce, a turkey, dressing, potatoes. There were students dressed as Pilgrims. Some were dressed as family members: grandparents, children, pets. And then these precious Indians.

Libby did so well! She said her part loudly and clearly.

And just for the cuteness factor, here she is with one of her best friends, Koby.

If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can check out a few pictures from when Kyndall participated in this same program two years ago. Looking back, I can see how my blogging style has changed since then–few words, more pictures. Hopefully, I’m doing better with that now 🙂