Kilan Parcell is Here!!

Estimate due date: 4/6/14
Date of birth: 3/21/14 @4am
Weight: 7lbs 8 oz
Height: 19.5 inches
Born at home. We and big sisters are happy to see him even though he came 16 days early

Our birth story.
I started having contractions around 1:30am on Thursday the 20th. They were intense but very inconsistent. Knowing what happened with Kimara, we tracked it for a bit and called the midwife. They got here around 5:30am. Unfortunately, contractions kept going away and coming back only after my naps. Around noon, I sent them all away cos I really wanted to sleep and it didn't look like contractions were going to come back.

Fast forward to 1:30am on Friday the 21st. I started to contractions again. This time, they were very severe and lasted about a minute and a half. Hubby called midwife after 15 minutes because they just kept coming.
He filled the birthing tub and getting stuff ready and left me to labor(just the way I like it)
Birth assistant got there at 2am, 1st midwife(Marci) came 15 minutes later and the second midwife(Jessica) came 30 minutes after that.
When she checked me, I was 8cm and 90%effaced but baby was still -1 and there was a huge bag of water.

I got in the tub and labored some more. I had back labor with this one as well. So they used counter pressure when the contractions hit and that helped a lot. I also rocked and squatted through some. Around 3:40am, midwife asked if she could check me again and if she could break my water if baby is down enough. I agreed cos I wanted it to be over.
She checked me, broke my water and holy Molly! It was like a dam broke. She said there was at least 3lbs of fluid. I was in bed at the point in my side so she asked me to get down so gravity can bring this baby here.

Well immediately I got down, I had the urge to push. As much as I didn't want to, this baby was coming and there was no stopping him.
My body just went into pushing mode and with 3 huge contractions, he was here. Born at the side of my bed holding on to my hubby for support.
Midwife caught him at 4am and handed him over to me right away and was given a pitocin shot because I was bleeding a little.

I was helped back into bed so I could cuddle him. They changed the layers on the floor and clamped the cord after it stopped pulsing. Baby was then given to daddy so he could also bond with baby while I delivered the placenta and cleaned myself up.
When we were all cleaned up, we returned back to bed with our bundle while the team cleaned up and started a load of laundry.
 They came back to check on me and baby and did his newborn tests.

Kiralie and Kimara were still upstairs and slept through it all.


They were shocked when they woke up to a new baby in the house. Kiralie was just out of control excited. Kimara on the other hand was more disappointed. She loves to give baby brother kisses and all. But she still thinks I've given her place to someone else.
 We are still working on that so she knows no one has taken her place. We have enough love to go around.

Tim who was on the fence about a home birth told me, "it felt right. Just the way it should be"
We are in love with our little man and definitely doing a home birth again.

We are all fine

It's been over a year since we last updated this blog. A lot has happened since then.
As most of you might already know, we are expecting baby boy Parcell in April of this year. Kiralie is especially happy because "she already has a baby sister".

I've been wanting to update the blog so many times but didn't know exactly where to start. But an incident that happened today has given me a starting point.
Let me warn you, it's no juicy info. Just something that happens each day that I take for granted. So here goes

As I was sweeping my very dirty kitchen floors, Kimara came into the kitchen to see what I was doing. I always tell them to pick up their toys off the kitchen floor or they will end up in the trash when I sweep. So she picked up all the little things she wanted to keep. There wasn't much that is why I didn't make a big deal out of it in the first place. But she knew the drill and did exactly what I would expect of them normally.
As I continued to sweep, I saw her go to their meal table. She picked up their left over lunches and dumped them in the trash and put the bowls in the sink. She then put some water on the table and got some paper towels and wiped it down as much as she could. She collected their sippy cups and put them in the sink as well.

I thought to myself, " how could I get so lucky to have such a wonderful spirit to call my own, and how privileged I am to be able to stay home and experience all these wonderful things?"
She is not yet 2 but knows that, I wipe down the table every time I  sweep. And I empty the dishes before I put them in the sink.
I'm in no way, shape or form the best mom. I have my struggles each day. There are days I just want to give up because I just don't know what I can do right. And there are days that I'm just so glad to be part of this wonderful family.
In the end, I try to be the best I can be. Heaven knows I'm not the scheduling play dates, meal planning, craft making, zoo going kind of mom, but I do my best. And I'm happy to be part of the lives of these amazing little ones that we've been entrusted with.

Ok. Enough of the gooey stuff. Lets catch up on the family.
Who do I begin with?

Kiralie
She started preschool at Little learners preschool at studio 56. She loves school. She does an hour of ballet or tumble and 2 hours pf preschool every Tuesday and Thursday.
She loves her new friends and is always asking when she can have them over.
She is very protective over her little sister. She will cry if she puts something in her mouth that she might choke on and always shares her treats from school with her.
 She is always cleaning up the toys Kimara throws around the family room. She likes to help when she feels like it.
She is still super smart and knows a lot of things. Her little brains i believe, works too much. She's got too much to say for someone her age and she says some of the most profound things.
She isn't one to cuddle, but when she wants mommy time, she gets up early and gets in the bed with me. SO we can have some alone time before sister wakes up. She still wants her chocolate milk every morning and loves to draw and read books

Kimara
She use to be a little shy but not so much anymore. She says hi to strangers in the store and at the restaurant. It's like she wants to be like her big sister. She does whatever she does. And listens to her a little more than I'd like.
She is very helpful and loves to share with her big sister. She wants to "try"
 everything I do and just loves to cuddle. She is so sweet on mommy it's ridiculous. She gives me hugs and kisses every morning and  will try to help me get out of bed when I'm achy. She gives baby kisses and is very protective of him. It's so sweet when she does that.
She also loves to 'read'. She loves to sit in the banana chair and go on and on flipping through her books.
She is obsessed with potties and uses them as chairs and stools instead of actually going in them. We will attempt potty training when when she is really ready.

They are growing into such wonderful girls that I'm excited for them to be teenagers even though everyone thinks I'm nuts.

Tim
Well, what can I say. He has gotten a few more gray hairs from all the drama the goes on around here.
He still works for CC&E Engineers and they are doing good. He's a little busy lately because of the many projects that they have on hand. It's bitter sweet though. Because on one hand, I'm happy we still have a job and and income but that means he has to go out of town for a couple of days some weeks to make sure the projects and sites are going as scheduled and equipments are working as they should.
It's a little hard when the girls are use to having daddy do the bed time routine with them. But whenever, he isn't home, they know and are very gentle on me.
He is super excited that there is going to be another male in the house finally. Overall, he is doing really great too.

T(me)
Where do I start? I'm doing great. I'm hanging in there with this pregnancy. It's my hardest yet but absolutely worth it. I have SPD(Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) which makes it a little hard for me to walk and do some basic things that I normally would do. It started after I had Kimara and came back around 15 weeks with this baby. But chiropractic adjustments helps me function better.
I've been very busy with the help of Tim to set up my online stores. I have Bumz In Style (cloth diapering and natural parenting needs) and Sankofa Diapers (our brand of cloth diapers).
I'm the face of the business and Tim does all the behind the scenes work like website building and fixing issues and advertising and stuff. We are having a blast with these family projects.
Apart from the fact that I rarely want to go anywhere because it's just plain uncomfortable, I'm enjoying being a mom and watching these girls grow.

Overall, the Parcells are doing just fine and looking forward to our newest addition come April or March or whenever he decides to come.

MOAB 2012

Since we don't post much. We've decided to add more pictures whenever we can of our growing family.
Kimara is 7 months now and has 3 teeth. She is crawling and pulls herself up to stand. She is beautiful and we are grateful to have her.
Kiralie is also getting bigger by the day. Her witty sayings are increasing in number and thinks, we as parents aren't as smart as she is. I must agree. I don't think I was half as smart as she is right now. It is so much easier to reason with her instead of give her instructions(she doesn't take them too well)
She is beautiful and loves rocks. She has to collect every rock she finds.

We decided to get away for a little bit with the girls. And we chose to go to Moab for a couple of days. Hotel prices were cheaper first half of the week so we decided go on a Monday. I must say, I wasn't thrilled to leave home. But went along anyways.

Well, it was a blast! I didn't want to come home. Neither did Kiralie. We had so much fun hiking through Arches National Park. It was a great family activity and I'm glad we did it. The girls did amazing.
 Kiralie enjoyed the abundance of rocks and wanted to take every single one home. She even handed rocks to people that passed by. She was really in her elements.
Kimara just enjoyed having mommy right there with her. She didn't cry or fuss. I must say we are lucky to have such angels.

Can't wait to go back to Moab to do Canyonland Park.

Enjoy our trip through pictures