Happy birthday, our little Winnie the Pooh Boy!!!

Our fourth little blessing, Daddy's Chan the Man and Mama's Water Bug, turned two yesterday!!! In keeping with tadition, Mama made him a slide show of his first two years of life, capturing just a small snipit of the joy, smiles and laughter he has brought with him! We are so thankful for this teddy bear of a boy and our little Winnie the Pooh lover! 

2 years for Middle Man!

Our little "Middle Man" turned 2 on November the 12th, 2015. For our kids' second birthday, I make them a slideshow of there first two years. :) So here for your viewing enjoyment is Ian's...

Chandler's Arrival

When I look at this little face I am filled with thankfulness. Chandler's pregnancy was the first pregnancy I have not had low numbers with or bled the first part of the pregnancy, but it was extremely hard and at times scary. I was so weak, faint and dizzy (with no medical reason). At times I was scared to be by myself with our three other kiddos (there were several days where I had to call Daniel and ask him to come home early because I was so weak and close to passing out). I remember one day feeling especially bad on a day when Daniel was in meetings all day long and could not come home, calling Shelden to my side as I laid on the couch and instructing my little four year old that if mommy for some reason should not be able to wake up to call "daddy's picture" and keep calling until daddy answered. The merciful Lord lifted "it" the last few weeks of pregnancy as I was able to hit nesting mode to get ready for our little one. I believe He gave me strength for labor, because if I had gone into labor feeling the way I had most of the pregnancy I do not think I could have done it. 

Its not super detailed, but it may have more information than some people want to know (this is always more for myself to have a recorded birth story)... 

July 14... After cramping most of the morning, I started to have these little contractions (really more like cramps) about every four minutes around 1:30pm. This went on for about an hour before I let Daniel know that it was looking like I was going to be going into labor soon.  After some more time past with more of the same kind of the thing happening, I let my parents know, so they could be prepared to head this way. I asked Daniel if he could come home early so I could try to get some rest (I had not gotten much sleep the night before as Ian had the croup). My parents decided to come on and got here a little before 5:00, allowing Daniel and I to try and get some rest. 

At 5:58pm, I felt Chandler move and when he did it really hurt, followed by a contraction. I started having contractions 10 to 12 minutes apart, after about four of those they went to every four to five minutes. They would stop whenever I laid down, but when I stood up I would immediately have a contraction that I had to breath my way through. 

My labor felt so different this time, my contractions went back to being about 10 minutes apart and stayed that way even at the end. Itf elt really weird trying to push a baby out with the contractions 10 minutes apart. They were SO hard though I felt I need that full time to recover from them, I had pain from the contractions radiating down into my legs that I can still feel when I think about it. 

I believe my midwife arrived a little after 8:00pm. I had asked her to come on, since I had cut my labors in half every time, and I was a little nervous about a short labor (Ian's was only six). Instead of cutting it short by three hours, I added three. Jackie (my midwife), broke my water about 2:40am, because he just wasn't coming. 

Even though he was my fourth baby, I still pushed for around an hour. 

I have always labored in the water, but for one reason or another I had never gotten to have a water birth. I was feeling so completely exhausted that I felt I had to lay down. Jackie, knowing I really wanted a water birth this time, encouraged me to give it two pushes and if he hadn't come by then they can get me out and in bed. I think it was actually three pushes, but I was eventually able to push his little head out and have my water birth. It then took a few pushes to get the rest of his body out. It being as big around as his sweet little head, but Chandler Levi made his appearance into this world at 3:35am on July 15th, 2015 weighing 8lbs 13oz and 22 inches long. 

I didn't realize it until later when Jackie said "I loved the way you just grabbed him", that I was actually the one that caught him It was just so automatic. 

  

Chan the Man

With already being outnumbered 3 to 2 by our progeny, we figured that being doubled up by them was a challenge that we were willing to face. Playing “zone defense” is a tactic that we are getting accustomed to. I must confess that my vision of the perfect family was a package deal of two of each kind, and maybe throw in the pet parakeet, gerbil, or potbelly pig. Our plans are never perfect, and fortunately God rarely gives us what we ask. A pattern appears to be developing here; Boys. Our little lady, has her big-little man, middle man, and now little man.

Little man, also known as Chandler Levi, Chan the Man, Baby, Chanlee, or Chad is a cute skinny kid with pretty good sleeping patterns, a poochey lower lip and a contagious smile. The perfect addition to a young but robust family. The little guy already has very distinct traits. He enjoys his contact with other humans. Kisses from mom, belly rubs from dad, and even puts up with a lot from his sister and brothers. The youngster will even take some pain like a champ if he feels like it is genuine love being overly displayed to him from someone that was in his stockings less than two years ago. He does however seem to play favorites. His sister has a knack for getting the biggest smiles from him, and seems to best calm his nerves when they get frayed. The biggest brother even prizes the opportunities that he gets to hold or even carry the little guy to the waiting open arms of a parent (while the other typically follows in very close proximity).

Yes, our home is rather lively, and no we don’t have a lot of free time to do much. Adding this additional beaming smile to the mix, is definitely a blessing that we will hold on to. Chandler Levi’s name as a direct English and Hebrew translation is a candle maker that brings unity. It is difficult to understand how an infant’s mind functions, but amazingly he already seems to be living up to his meaning. His little smile lights up the world of his family around him, and taking care of yet another little soul again reminds us of our own helplessness, and dependence on God unifying us with this basic yet essential fact of life. Live long and light up the world, Chandler. We love you little guy.

~Daniel

His Little Corner of the World

With 10 days to go... give or take, Chandler Levi's little corner of the world is ready for him. So are his biggest brother and big sister. Ian seems as excited as his limited knowledge of the happenings allows him. Last night he gave the cutest Oos and smiles over Baby Chandler's space, proudly showing it to Daddy too. 

"I love Mommy when she lets us do school"

On Saturday: "Mommy we forgot to do school" or "Mommy can we do school today?" Sunday evening: "Mommy thank you for doing school tomorrow!" "I love Mommy when she lets us do school" This mama heart melts at each of these... just hope we can keep this joy and love for school. 

I wish I could put in to words how much I am enjoying it too! I love the cuddle time reading together, the joy on my kiddos faces as we play games and learn, the fun they have with crafts or journaling and watching the stories come to life for them through different activities. Ian even loves being involved at times, Racing to the table with the kids to do his "school work" too and "hollering" at Mama if he thinks she has for gotten to give him his "work". 

Developing the Early Learner

Auditory active: "Was the sound the same or different?" 

Seeing what it might have been like for Jacob 

to sleep on a stone when fleeing Esau.

Making a "cave" after reading "Tiger Tries to Cheat"

Making brownies for a neighbor to go with our verse

for the week... "God loves a cheerful giver"

Doing school work

 Nature walk and nature collages

Counting active

Nothing to do with school, just my Terrific Three :)

The Name of Our Fourth Child and Third Son is...

After much deliberation we have decided to name our fourth child and third son

Chandler Levi Falkenstine

The meaning of the name Chandler is the old English word for Candlemaker. The meaning connotes one who brings light. Levi is the Hebrew name meaning united one. Levi, who was the third son of Jacob, and patriarch of the holy priesthood line connotes bringing unity between God and man.

The verse that we have chosen for our son comes from I John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

We ask the Lord to use this life to unite many souls to Him, and walk in and bring light to a troubled world.

As his first and last name contain a combined 19 letters, we expect that his name may become truncated into a nickname! While we may leave it up to him or the market to decide what it is, we have one already pre-arranged, but will need to get a good look at him first to see who he is!

~Daniel