More pictures of Mitty Moo and a description of my experience with natural childbirth:

This girl sleeps constantly!!!




But I sneaked a couple of shots with her eyes open.





This doesn't happen very often.





This is what she usually looks like. Feeding her is VERY hard cuz she falls asleep constantly!




Russell the Muscle holding Calamity Amity. What a pair!!




And here we go again!

Sooo...Amity is the sweetest little thing. She is such a great eater...except for the whole falling asleep during feeding time thing.

We love her so much. She looks so much like Russell, although she was quite a bit bigger than him! He was only 6 pounds 8 ounces and she was 7 pounds 12.8 ounces. So she is definitely filled out a lot more.


As for me, I am doing well. I HAD HER NATURALLY WITH NO EPIDERAL OR PAIN KILLERS. (Well, they did give me an IV with something in it when I first got to the hospital, but it only made me sleepy but didn't do anything for the pain and so we let it wear off, which only took an hour.)

I was in labor for 26 hours and let me just say...OUCH!!! But the WORST was at the end when I had to push. OUCH OUCH OUCH!!!!

Now, many people have asked me the WHY question. Why did I want to do it naturally?

Reasons:

- My doctor was pretty adament that it is better for the baby, although I'm not sure that the difference is super significant. ????
- I wanted to prove to myself that I was tough enough.
- I wanted to prove to my whole family that I was tough enough.
- I wanted to have bragging rights about it for the rest of my life.
- I wanted to put Travis through a lot of extra stress and pressure. (hee hee)
- I wanted to feel a kinship with all of my foremothers from generations past and know what they went through.

But I have to tell you...I almost lost it. It is just soooo easy to say, "Okay! That's it! Just take the pain away!!!" In fact, just ask Travis. I was begging for pain killers, but my doctor kept pep talking me into waiting it out and kept saying that I was over the worst of it. Pretty soon I was pushing and it was definitely too late.

So there was a lot of screaming and yelling. And I was definitely making snappy and rude comments to the doctor. And I also took one hard swing in Travis's general direction, but hit the control panel on my bed instead. (That spooked the nurses a little.)

I NEVER would have made it without the encouragment of my doctor and Travis AND all of the massages they gave me.

So in the end, I am really glad that I made it...but I'm really not sure that I would ever do it again. Maybe if my future labors are a LOT shorter cuz half the problem at the end was that I was just sooooo tired from such a long day without sleep that I thought I would never get that girl out!!

So anyway...that was my el naturel experience. And my family, I'm sure, will be hearing a lot of bragging about it for the rest of our lives! HA!

At Long Last!!!!!

We are proud to anounce the birth of

Amity Reese Moulton

January 30, 2010, 5:11 am

7 lbs 12.8 oz, 19.5 inches long

Presenting, the adorable, Mity-Moo!

After what may have been Ashley's worst night on earth, she is so happy to have Amity out.

One proud papa.

More detail will follow, along with more pictures. Sadly, Russell will not be able to meet Amity till tomorrow thanks to pigs with fevers.

It's done!!!! (almost)

Okay...so we have been VERY crafty around here lately. Here is the rest of our stuff.




This is a little bracelet that I made. I had a really hard time getting a decent picture. I still have to check the sizing and cut off the ends.




I also made this reversible nursing cover. I made one side sort of neutral/boyish so that I wouldn't feel like I was feminizing my future male offspring.




And here is the cute female side.


And now...for Travis's bassinet debut.........




TA DA!!!! Isn't it beautiful? I just love the way it turned out!




It swings on those little hooks, but there is also a little stopper knob that you can stick in it to hold it still. We still need to cut off the end of a couple of bolts and that center board on the bottom still hasn't been stained in this picture, but other than that, it is pretty much done.




Don't you love the little hearts? My husband is so talented, ain't he? We got the idea from some friends of ours who had one that their father had made. Travis liked it so much that he took a few measurements and changed it up a little and went right at it. When he first told me he was going to do it, I was like, "That's great, Travis. I support you totally. Follow those big dreams of yours." I didn't actually expect it to get done, but he has been using this as an outlet from all of his studying. Needless to say, he really surprised me.

We had to make a custom matress and sheets and bumper. Travis did the matress, and I sewed this cute little bumper and sheet set.

So...what do you think?

Which Ashley is bigger??

So here are some pictures for a quick comparison.




Here I am on my due date with Russell.




Here I am a week and a half before my due date with baby girl. (Name not yet revealed.)

So which Ashley is bigger? It is probably kind of hard to tell, especially since one of the photos is taken at a closer angle. Let me know what you think. I won't be offended...promise.

I actually felt like my stomach was bigger with Russell. But I also feel like this little girl takes up more space in my stomach than Russ did, so I think that she will be at least a little bigger than him. I guess we shall see...


Anyway...we have been very busy prepping for baby girl. Here are some things that I have sewn on my sweet sewing machine.




The purple and brown squares are courderoy, and the printed squares are cotton. I love it! I copied a cute quilt that my sister-in-law made for Russ only with girly prints and colors.

The other blanket is just a little flannel bundling blanket, but I just loved the little piggies in the print. Aren't they sooooo cute!! I made a bunch of matching burp rags too!

JUST WAIT until you see what else we are working on!!! Travis is making the most beautiful bassinet for our little girl. He has been working so hard on it that sometimes he can't sleep at night because he sits up and thinks about it and how he is going to make it just perfect. It is ALMOST finished. I am also putting my new sewing talents to work making a bumper pad and sheets for it. Can't wait to post pics. Soon people, soon!

Anyway. I'm sure you will be updated fairly soon, cuz I could go into labor at any time now. Hopefully I will. This kid is soooooooo wiggly. She is a painful one to carry. Can't wait to meet her! Russ is dying to meet her too. He keeps dressing up his stuffed animals in her clothes and dragging them around the house pretending it is her. He's probably starting to think that I've been lying this whole time and she's never really coming out!!

Anyway...stay tuned!

Christmas Break

Well, once again we had a busy and fun Christmas. It was difficult traveling 15 hours and back considering I was 8 months pregnant. But it was worth it. We needed to visit our families one last time before the kid is born cuz we don't know when we will be able to break away again.

First of all, Russell LOVES the snow.

And he LOVES sledding. Look at the pure joy on his face as he takes on this hill all by himself.

And when Daddy got on the sled with him, he said, "No! Get off! There is not enough room!" He wanted to go by himself.

And here is a humiliating picture for your viewing pleasure. Look how huge I am! I had to wear my father-in-law's snowmobile suit...and I STILL had to suck in a little bit to zip it up!!!!! But hey! Pretty impressive to go sledding at 8 months, huh? I only went down once though. Too uncomfortable and such a long walk up the hill.

Russell loves Santa!

And he REALLY loves presents. Look at that sweet trike we got him.

Well, Christmas is over, but I love New Year's because I am a huge resolution setter, and I love the fresh start and new beginnings.

So HAPPY LATE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Not much going on...but...here's a new post anyway.

Growing! Growing! Growing!



33 weeks and counting! Baby will be here soon!!! I can't wait! I am so ready to be a normal person again...ya know...sleeping on my stomach, tying my own shoes, bending over with ease, being able to go out for a run instead of a waddle. Oh', and this is NOT the same picture as in the last post. I'm just wearing the same shirt because we are poor college students who can't afford much clothing, and I'm just gonna get skinny again in a couple of months, so why spend more money?




It snowed!!! It only stayed for a few hours, but it was fun anyway. I really miss the snow. This place doesn't get much. Also...notice that Travis looks like a hairy bushman. He just shaved and got a haircut, and we got so much commentary at church. It was pretty funny. He was growing out his beard for Halloween but then let it grow out longer for a school thing.




Happy Birthday, Travis!!!! We love you! Doesn't that Butterfinger cheesecake I made look delicious? It was...oh, yes...it was.




Russell knocked Grandpa Moulton off the table, and he was beheaded. Sorry, Gramps!





Russell's latest tricks.

He thinks that he is sooooo cool and daring these days!

Watch out!! Unstable pregnant lady with a gun!!!!

Anyhoo...Travis studies a lot, and I sit around and obsess about our nations recent politics. I am VERY concerned with the direction that our nation is heading, but...that's a whole new post. I have also been busy sewing things for our baby girl, and Travis is making a beautiful bassinet. I will take some pics and post them soon.

My little boy is growing up!!

So I was looking at old pictures the other day and could not believe my eyes. I stumbled upon this little picture of Russell. It was taken just over a year ago, when we first moved to here, Fall of '08. Look at his chubby little face!

When we moved here, I definately did not think that Russ was chubby at all, and he wasn't really compared to a lot of other kids his age, but just look at him now!

Doesn't he look like a little boy now instead of an infant? He has thinned out and grown soooo much! And pretty soon he is going to be a big brother. He will be such a good big brother. He follows me around during the day talking to his baby sister and showing her things. He tells her that he is going to help change her diaper and teach her how to do this and that. He also shows her tricks and gets really mad when I don't turn my belly in that direction so that she can "see."

I just love my little boy, and I'm so happy to be giving him a sibling to play with.