Still Here!

I've been contemplating blogging again, but I always think no one cares so what's the use? And it is hard to imagine anyone cares what I have to say considering how many people are blogging now. Not to mention how many people use Facebook (which I do), Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram, etc. to share their lives every single day. However, I want to blog to remember these fleeting days of my life with my children. As I was reading over my limited blog posts, it reminded me of things I had forgotten but I want to remember.

In light of that, I'm going to start blogging again and sharing pictures and videos, so I can enjoy them later on. Not sure I'll even share with others that I'm blogging again (I doubt anyone checks since it has been a year and a half since the last post), but I'm committing to myself to blog about our life as a record for me. If you happen to come across my sliver of the the web, enjoy!

Here are some of our most recent pictures from our nearly 6 inches of snow (very unusual in the South!).

First Day of School!

Today was our first official day of homeschooling.  But really we have been homeschooling since Thomas was born.  And our desire has been to homeschool since we were dating!  In fact, on our very first date Josh told me wanted his kids to be home schooled.  I hadn't thought much about how I would school my future children until he brought up.  Obviously, I agreed with him or we wouldn't be married now!

Homeschooling for us isn't too big of a difference than what we have already done the past couple of years.  When Thomas turned 3, we began preschool and even though it hasn't always been formal or every day (even every week at times), we have had times of learning & a semi-school room.  The biggest differences:

1. We bought curriculum.  The only thing I had to buy this year was math (we are using Singapore) & phonics (we are using Spell to Write & Read).  We are also including handwriting, catechism, memory work, & Classical Conversations memory work (not until September).

2. We have lesson plans (which was really fun to do...at least for now).

3. We have to school for 180 days. This is the biggest difference. Thomas can't say, "I would rather play today than do school." Thankfully, it is kindergarten so there isn't much work or much pressure. And our school day today was an hour and a half, which included Thomas checking out Josiah's preschool work.

Our first day was great & Thomas was so excited about starting school.  I hope his love for learning lasts his whole life (or at least until Christmas break!).

Who does she looks like?

When people meet our family, they immediately say that Thomas looks just like Josh, which is completely true.  Most people aren't sure who Josiah looks like (I think he favors my side of the family), but someone at church told us recently that he has Josh's personality!  And then we have conflicting thoughts on who Sarah looks like.  Some people tell us that she looks just like Thomas (and she does favor him) and therefore, she looks just like Josh.  While other people tell us that she looks like me.  The other day I was looking through a scrapbook I made for the 9th grade and there were baby pictures of me in it.  I scanned one and will let you decide.  Does she favor me at all? :-)

Sarah at 10 months

Dianna at ???

First Dentist Visit

This past week, I took Josiah for his first dentist visit.  Thomas had his first visit at 2, and while they are completely different personalities, I thought it would be a good time for Josiah to at least have the experience. 

Thomas went first since this was his third time and he is a pro now!  Josiah watched with some curiosity, but honestly he was more interested in the fish tank than Thomas having his teeth brushed.  When Thomas was finished (and he did fantastic as always!), Josiah was excited to sit in the chair.  Dr. McMurray was already in the room, so he asked Josiah to open up wide & he did open his mouth, but it wasn't very big.  After about 5 minutes of opening his mouth for the dentist and hygienist, he said, "I'm ready to get down now."  He didn't even get his teeth brushed this time and thankfully, they didn't push the issue because they didn't want to scare him. 

If you ask Josiah the best part of going to the dentist:  the prize box!  Since it was such a good experience for him, I don't think he will have any problems going again.  Below are some pictures I took before & during the visit.  Enjoy! 

Excited about going to the dentist!

Ready for his cleaning!

I love this!  They gave him glasses for the "flashlight" in his eyes.

Big brother looking on.

A New Everything!

Obviously, it has been a really long time since I have blogged.  I wasn't blogging much before Sarah was born, but now that she is here (and 8 months old now), my time is much more limited.  Three kids 4 and under takes most of my time & energy, but I really would like to blog again.  Even though many people don't read it, I have found blogging is more for me than for anyone else.  I guess blogging  is my way to journal, but I have never been very consistent with keeping a journal either - oh well!

A quick update on us in the past 8 months:

On November 20th, Josh received an unanimous vote to become the Senior Pastor of Holly Ridge Baptist Church in Simpsonville, SC.  We are very excited about our new church and we have been so blessed to join HRBC. Josh began his duties there on December 18th, just in time for Christmas! I will try to share more in the future about what led us to this move & how it transpired.

Since Josh had a new job, it meant we had to find a new home because we lived in another city &  in the parsonage at our previous church.  Our first thought was to find a home to rent for a year and then look at buying a home.  But the more we thought about the current housing market, the more we realized this was the right time to buy.  We were pre-approved for a loan (so thankful that we were debt free!) & went to work looking for a house.  We found our house on November 30th, and became homeowners on December 29th. 

This fall,we also joined Classical Conversations (CC), which is a home school group that meets once a week for 12 weeks in the fall, and 12 weeks in the spring.  Initially, we had planned to join CC next fall (when Thomas began kindergarten), but I was asked to tutor & after praying about it & talking it over with Josh, we decided this year would be a good time.  Our goal this year has been to expose Thomas to the information and we have been amazed all he has picked up just by listening to the songs and the little we go over at home. 

The kids are doing great with all the changes in our lives.  Thomas struggled the most with the move because he left behind friends.  Thankfully, he has made new friends now and really likes our new house & church.  Josiah is 2.5 and just goes with the flow.  He is so verbal now & makes us laugh all the time with the funny things he says.  Currently, he is telling me he needs (his preferred word when he wants something) to play with his iPad (Josh gave one to me for my birthday).  Sarah obviously is MUCH different than 8 months ago.  She is such a sweetheart & I love having a little girl to love on and dress up.  She is sitting up independently, but not crawling yet.  And she has most certainly stolen her daddy's & brothers' hearts! 

 

 

 

Josiah & Thomas at Grandma & Poppy's house on Christmas Eve

Josh & Thomas at my parents' house on Christmas

Sarah (6 months) & me at my parents' house on Christmas.

Sarah's Birth Story

On Monday, June 6th, Josh and I took the boys to Vacation Bible School at our church and then drove to the doctor's office to be checked again to see if there was any further dilation.  Even though I hoped there was some change, I knew most likely I would still be one centimeter dilated from past experience.  Sure enough I was still the same as the week before, but by this point I was ready to be induced.  My doctor agreed that induction would be wise because he didn't want me having a bigger baby than I already had with Josiah (8lbs 5oz). 

We scheduled the induction for Wednesday morning, June 8th, but he wanted me to go into the hospital on Tuesday evening to give me something to help the cervix "ripen" and help the induction go quicker. 

On Tuesday afternoon, my parents came up from Georgia to stay with the boys while we were in the hospital, and Josh and I left to get something to eat before going to the hospital.  I was having contractions off and on at dinner, but nothing too uncomfortable.  We arrived at the hospital around 6pm and I thought I would be able to wear my own clothes and not be hooked up to any monitors until the next morning, but I was wrong.  They immediately made me change and then put the monitors on to listen to Sarah's heartbeat as well as measure my contractions.  The worst part was inserting the IV needle (even though I didn't need it at the time), because it took 3 attempts and 2 nurses before they finally got it in...ouch!

My doctor finally arrived about 9pm to give me the medicine.  After giving me the medicine, he checked me again and I still was only one centimeter.  He told me the nurse would wake me up around 5:15am the next morning to get a shower before they began giving me pitocin at 6:00am.  Josh and I settled in watching some television and waiting until 11pm when I could get out of the bed again and the nurse said she would give me a snack since I couldn't eat after midnight.  A little after 10pm I noticed my contractions were getting much harder and by 10:30pm, they were painful.  I was confused because this wasn't supposed to happen until the next morning and we wanted to sleep. 

At midnight, my nurse decided to check me and see if I had dilated more.  Thankfully, I was at 3cm but you need to be at 5cm before you get an epidural, so she offered to give me some other pain medicine to take the edge off and maybe I could nap a little.  She came back with a shot and told me it was really going to burn because it had phenergan in it and boy was she right! It did work and I was able to sleep between contractions until about 2:30am.  My nurse checked me again and I was only about 4cm, so I told her I would hold out another hour to see if I could get to 5cm and have the epidural.  Around 3:45am she checked me and I was finally at 5cm and I told her I wanted the epidural (I had not slept since the night before and I really wanted some sleep before Sarah arrived thus the desire for the epidural). 

The anesthesiologist arrived a little after 4am and gave me the epidural.  The funny part about getting the epidural is that I was still so groggy from the shot of phenergan that I had a hard time keeping my head up while she was giving me the epidural!  Thankfully, it worked quickly and I don't remember anything until the nurse waking me up at 6:45am to check me again.  I was fully dilated as far as she could tell, but my water still hadn't broken and she needed the doctor to break it to be sure I was ready. 

My doctor finally arrived about 7:35am (the nurse thinks he fell back asleep after getting the call) and broke my water.  As soon as he broke my water, they could see the top of her head and all her hair!  They immediately started getting the room ready and one of the nurses was about to position me, when another nurse said, "Wait! The doctor isn't ready yet and if you do that the baby will fall right out!"  As soon as the doctor was ready he told me to gently push and her head was out and then said to gently push again and she was completely out!  It was by far the shortest labor I have had and the easiest delivery!

Thank you to all who prayed for us.  I was nervous about the induction, but technically I was never induced as I never received pitocin to start labor.  We are so thankful for a beautiful and healthy little girl! 

Welcome Sarah Carolina!

Sarah Carolina Culbertson
Born on June 8 at 7:50 A.M.
7lbs. 9oz.
20 1/2 inches

Mama & Sarah are doing great! 
Daddy & Brothers are in love!