New pics of Cheyanne and Diesel

Cheyanne is keeping busy lately by being a good big sister, and Diesel is shown here with his new boots! He loves his new John Deere boots, and wears them every day, all day!

New pics!

New pics of Miss Adalyn

Adalyn is doing great! She was 7 pounds, 8 ounces on her two week birthday. She is sleeping all night still (I have to wake her to make her eat!) She is very content and smiles soooo much! She smiles more than any baby I have ever had! She is growing fast!

Amazing pics of our addition

Remember, you can double click on a picture to see it full-screen!!!!

More amazing pics of our new addition......

These are the gorgeous flowers that my children picked out and brought to me in the hospital!!!!

Coming home from the hospital

I was released from the hospital 24 hours after she was born. The docs said we were both doing great. I lost 10 pounds in those 24 hours.....and I am officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight 72 hours later!!!!! We are just truly blessed that we have a healthy, beautiful baby! We settled in well and Addie is nursing like a pro. She slept 9 hours straight the first night home! (I haven't let her do that since!)

Announcing Miss.......

Adalyn Rylee Hartsock. Also known as "Addie". Born 8-11-2009 at 10:11 A.M. She weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is perfect! Her apgar score was a 10....couldn't have been better! Labor went well and we are both doing great! She looks the most like.......DIESEL! Many more updates and pictures soon! (Oh, and they just brought her in with a cute little hair bow in all that hair of hers, so I will have to get more pics!!!!!)

More practing......

Cheyanne at the track....

Cheyanne's first time on the pullin' tractor

Shawn had to modify the tractor quite a bit to get the girl on there! The foot pedal is now up on the column instead of down where it is supposed to be, and they had to put a ton of weights on it for her to make the class weight limit!
She was so excited, though! At first, she was scared of the noise, so she held her ears UNDER her ear muffs! Then, as soon as she realized that she had complete control, she grabbed the wheel, stomped on the gas a couple of times, and she was off! Now, we can't get her off the thing! She keeps wanting to go faster, but we keep having to explain that it is not a fast tractor, just a powerful one! She already calls it 'her' tractor, and Uncle Tom is not complaining (yet)!

Cheyanne practicing for the garden tractor pulls

This was Cheyanne's first day on Uncle Tom's tractor....she had a blast!

"Will it fit her, Mommy?"

Cheyanne was helping me pack baby's hospital bag and do some of her laundry when she hesitated, stared at the outfit, then my belly, and said, "Will it fit her, Mommy?" I had to go get the camera and have her act it out again for a picture! It was so cute :)

On my due date

Uggghhhh...yes, my swim suit is officially outgrown. I am growing impatient as I wait for baby to arrive. I think it is mostly because I am ready....house clean, laundry done, bills paid, etc. I still am at a 12 pound weight gain total. Have not gained a pound since 23 weeks. My stretch marks are growing, though! Chey took these pics, by the way. She loves taking pictures of her baby sissy :)

39 weeks

Family Maternity Pic

Cheyanne's 5th Birthday Party

Cheyanne's 5th Birthday party went very well!!!! She had 5 friends come. We had it at Grandpa and Grandma Minnich's house since I am so far along in my pregnancy. It was supposed to be a pond/ swimming party, but the temperature was a high of only 68 degrees :( They still got to play in the sand, take pedal boat rides around the pond, play kickball, watch a movie in the theater, and have a snack time. We also played an Oreo stacking game. They all had a lot of fun. Cheyanne was very happy. She got some cool gifts, including her bike.
Thanks to Dad and Sharon for bravely having it at their house! That helped out tremendously and the kids thought it was so much fun going there!

35 weeks

The whole family got to go along for my doctor's appointment today. We had family maternity photos taken, then had a picnic at the park, then went to my 35 week ultrasound. It was Diesel's first time getting to go 'check on baby sissy', and he did great. Cheyanne was 'reading' the ultrasound before the doc. She would announce that that was baby's head, back, etc. right before the doctor could!
Baby weighs only 3 lbs. 15 oz. right now. I have still only gained 12 pounds, and I have not gained a single pound in 12 weeks now. Weird......doc asked if I have been eating enough! LOL! What a question for me! Shawn confirmed my answer...."Uh, yeah!" She wasn't concerned at all about either my weight or baby's weight. I was relieved that I am not having a huge baby, but that is pretty little, so hopefully the ultrasound is a little off. Everything looked great with baby! I have been doing well and we are expecting baby to come close to the due date!

4th of July

The 'collection'

Here are Cheyanne's trophy's as of the 4th of July weekend. She is more than proud of them! She tells me how to arrange them on the shelf! LOL!

32 Weeks Along...

From the front, you can barely tell I'm pregnant, but from the side, I look like a cow! Hubby agreed :/ I have gained 11 pounds now. (Sorry about the shiny bra...it's all I have!!!!)

This is not the way this pregnancy is suppossed to be going!

I have had terrible pressure and pain now for 48 hours. The doctor sent me to Labor and Delivery Monday night at 11:30 P.M. I was not in labor, but they wanted to check me to be sure and to check the baby. Baby is o.k. by heart rate and fetal monitor. They ended up giving me Depitrol by IV and sent me home. I got very sick off the medicine and threw up for about 2 hours and it never even took the pain away. My doctor saw me in the office today and confirmed that I am in pain because the baby had shifted positions on Sunday (when all this started) and that the baby's position and weight are causing this pressure and pain. She does not expect it to go away or get any better. She said that since I am carrying the baby all out in front, there is no support to hold baby up, so she prescribed a belly wrap thing that will help with support while I am on my feet. She said it is because I am so small, and with this being my third baby, the muscles are not doing their job. Plus, I was diagnosed with diastasis recti in the beginning of this pregnancy (where my muscles had torn after I had Diesel because my belly had stretched so far.) That condition is contributing to my problem.
I am not able to eat anything!!!! I have not eaten in 2 full days because as soon as I eat, it creates tremendous pressure. Doc said I now have to eat every two hours, tiny amounts at a time. I have lost 3 pounds, which is not good because I had only gained 12! I am unable to walk correctly. I am either bent over in pain or waddling so bad I can not get anywhere. The pressure makes me walk so slow, move slow, and it even hurts when I sit. I am basically on bed rest for the next two months. Doc said no working at all, bed rest as much as I need to, and she prescibed me Vikaden.
This is not what I expected for this last pregnancy! But, these last few months have not gone like Shawn or I expected, so I am just going to take it day by day. Thank God I have Shawn to take care of me. He is so wonderful at it :)

NOT what I expected.....

I have been putting off going through Cheyanne's old clothes until I was done with school...that way I 'd have time to do it. Well, I went through them today, and I am glad I did. I got a rude awakening! I knew I had at least 3 tubs of clothes and things, but I couldn't remember how much I had left after the garage sale. I pulled out everything 0-6 months, and I ended up having only 3 outfits and 2 onesies!!!!!!! I was shocked. It is not that I sold it all.....I had been very cautious as to what I had sold at the garage sale because we knew we would be having another baby. It is all just ruined with spit-up and poop! I know I had sold the items that were ruined, but come on! I still thought I had more clothes left than that! So, here I had planned on only buying a couple of new outfits, and using Cheyanne's old clothes, but not now! I guess I have no choice but to go shopping! So far, I had bought a few new things, but it really barely covers the basics (one pack of onsies, 3 sleepers, 3 outfits, burp cloths, bibs, a diaper bag, recieving blankets, and a pair of fancy socks) So, now I have to start over again! I do have a lot left for older ages, like 12 months and up, but almost everything from the first year was ruined! (I did have a messy pooper...)
Ya know, I remember thinking when Cheyanne was born, "Man, she has a lot of clothes!" but in all honesty, she didn't have near as much as I thought. Diesel had 3 times the amount of clothes in the first year that she did. I even looked back at pictures of Chey when she was born because I thought for sure I had more clothes for her, but no. I have a picture that I took of my favorite outfits that she wore as a baby, and I have only 3 out of 7 of those, due to stains!
I was wondering, is it wrong for me to use Cheyanne's keepsake clothes for the new baby? I have a tub that I made for her with all her special stuff in it, like the outfit she wore home from the hospital, the outfit she wore on her first birthday, etc. Should I pull those out and use them, or is that wrong?

And the name we chose is......

Still a secret!!!!! Yes, we are definitely waiting until she is born to share her name. BUT, we will tell you the runner-up names if that makes anyone happy :) If she had been a boy, his name would have been Ryker Gage. That was the only boy name we had picked out. Other girl names were: Maybrie (our top pick) and Kyrie Grace (which everyone hates, even Shawn).

Belly Painting

We decided to allow the children to use my big 'ol belly as a canvas. Shawn couldn't help but to paint a scene on there of his own. He painted a house and trees and a yard! LOL! The kids had a lot of fun and it was a great way to include them in welcoming the baby. They got mad at me when I washed it off!

Just a cute picture to share

I had dressed them both in their golfer shorts on purpose, but I hadn't realized that their bookbags matched their outfits until I was taking their picture!

Shawn is home!

His episode Friday evening with the cough was awful that night, but turned out that Saturday morning, he was able to sit again finally! So, we don't know if it released pressure from a nerve or what, but he was sitting up and walking a little bit better. It was unfortunate that this happened on a holiday weekend. There were no doctors there to see him and they kept putting him off on physical therapy. After the doctor finally read the MRI report, they decided that he is in surgery stage, but they prefer for him to try physical therapy first. So they gave him the option of sitting in the hospital and waiting for 2 days for the physical therapist to come back in, or he could go home and try outpatient physical therapy. He chose to go home, and boy was he excited! He was ready to go within like 5 minutes! His pharmacy bill was over $500, because they continued him on everything he was on in the hospital. He is taking 5 meds at home, and is not supposed to lift more than a 1/4 gallon of milk. He is doing o.k. for now, but we are anxious to get his physical therapy started (Monday). I am afraid that the only thing holding him together is the medicine. His chiropractor is wanting him to get a second opinion from a neurosurgeon because he feels that Shawn needs surgery right away. We don't have money for all these doctor visits!!!!
We are glad he is home, but each day he is home, he is out and about more and more and it is getting hard to confine him and make him do what he needs to do to get better! Diesel has had a hard time trusting us that daddy is home, and that he will not be in the hospital in the morning. He keeps telling us that he wants to go to the hospital with Daddy.
The blessing through all of this: Shawn has cut back tremendously on smoking. He (obviously) could not smoke for the 4 days in the hospital, and he has had only a few each day since. This is great news. Period. Also great because a lot of surgeons will not operate on smokers. They also told him that he will heal twice as fast if he is a non-smoker. We'll see!

Update on Shawn's condition

It is Sunday, Shawn has been in the hospital since Thursday. He came in with a herniated disk, unable to walk, sit, or stand. All he could do is lay. His shoulders and hips were not in line if he would try to stand up. His left shoulder was actually above his right hip, that is how crooked his back was. The chiropractor had sent him to the ER at Kettering Medical Center, and that is where he still is. He is a little better right now, but the doctors still have not decided whether he will have to have surgery or not. They think he will, but they are going to try a conservative approach first, which consists of a ton of inflammatory and pain meds, plus physical therapy. Right now he is on a whole list of meds, and I think that is what is keeping him together. As of this morning, they are going to attempt to wean him off of the steroids that they have been giving him in here. They will be starting physical therapy, but they will be keeping a close eye on him because they know he is in surgery stage. His MRI showed that the disc has actually torn, but it may have ruptured after he had an awful experience on Friday evening. He had coughed, and it shot terrible stabbing pains through his leg, causing his foot to go numb, and he was basically paralized to one position for over an hour from the pain. That is the update for now.....He has my laptop here in the hospital, so he will be checking his mail and Myspace.....leave him love!

Yes, it's a girl!

Here is what we have sent out to family and friends...

Baby

The baby does have a sex known by us, and a name! We have done very well at keeping it a secret, as no one knows (that we know of). We had gone ahead and decided not to tell Cheyanne so that she wouldn't ruin the surprise. She wants a girl sooooo bad, though! She wants one so bad that she actually insists that it is a girl. She won't even answer us if we ask her what she she's gonna do if it's a boy! LOL! One day I asked her"Do you wanna go buy some boy baby clothes?" and she responded "Not for my sister!" She's pretty persistant. When we did shop for baby clothes (without Cheyanne), Diesel was soooo funny! Every time he walked by an aisle of baby clothes, he said "AWWWWWW" so loudly and drawn out! (I think he was immitating Mommy!) He really had fun shopping for "a baby" ......not shopping for baby clothes, but for a baby. I think he thought we were going to go pick up a baby at the store!
Baby is moving about like crazy. You can actually see the baby kick now, as it moves my whole tummy. Cheyanne enjoys feeling it. Baby is perfectly healthy, as far as we know. I am often so busy that I forget that I am pregnant. The main reminder is my lower back pain :( I find myself waddling to ease the pain!

Shawn

Well, I figured I had better give an update on Shawn, too. Yes, his back/hip is still in a ton of pain. Why? We don't know. He sleeps on the floor one night, then the bed the next because the floor helps his hip, but the bed helps his back. He's just been eating pain pills and hobbling around. His business is going, as he has had several phone calls from people and businesses seeing his ad in the phone book. Now, if only he could do the physical labor! Through his discomfort, he is still the best Daddy in the world. The kids adore him, and I have been so proud to have such a wonderful and supportive daddy for my children. He sat through two 4 hour long dance recitals, and was so proud of his baby girl. He attends all the children's activities, and is such a great part of the children's lives. And the best thing of all is his Daddy day care abilities! LOL! He has all the children asking their parents every morning if it is Shawn's day to watch them. They LOVE him! They are all bummed when they walk in and see me! He does an amazing job with them all! I am very lucky to be able to go to school and not have to worry about how the day will go. He makes the lunch and even does the dishes! WOW, huh! Yea, I'm spoiled. We love him ;) Oh, and I didn't write this to get bonus points from him......he probably won't even read it! LOL!

T-Ball

Okay, well........Shawn and I got quite a laugh tonight. Cheyanne had her first T-ball practice tonight, and let me tell ya, we enjoyed it as much as she did! She was at the pitcher position for fielding, and she ran after every ball!!!!Even the balls that were going straight for another girl! She gets her glove down and gets right in front of them, perfect stance and all! Too cute! T-Ball is sooooooo more for her than dance! She is a 'natural' at ball, completely different from us having to work a lot with her on the dance. She was so good at T-ball!!!!!! This is her first year in it, and is one of the youngest on her team, yet she was one of the best! She has a couple of 7 year olds on her team, and she did just as well as them! She was a great fielder, really enjoyed running bases, and hit very well! A couple of parents even commented that she was doing really well for this being her first year! We just laughed because it was just so obvious that this is her thing. Yes, it was only the first practice, but she is so excited about it!!!!!! Oh, and it is sooo cute watching her and Shawn in the backyard practicing. She absolutlely adores all of his positive attention! They both have so much fun with it, and I have fun just watching!

Cheyanne's Dance Recital

Cheyanne has now completed two years of dance. Last year, she had taken tumbling, but this year she was in jazz. She performed the dance 'Hip Hop Baby' at this years' recital. She did so well.....we were soooo proud of her! It was actually a difficult dance, as I tried to help her with it towards the end, and I had a hard time getting through the dance without being completely out of breath! LOL! It was fun, though, and we all really enjoyed the whole show. It was truly entertaining. Cheyanne was ready to be done by this last week, though. It was a busy last week with practices every evening. She was not all that excited about the 'big stage' by the time it was here. She absolutely hated having her hair done, and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get fully ready! She told me that she preferred to be playing T-Ball because she didn't have to do her hair for that :) BUT, she did awesome, was so happy to have all her family come watch her, and she adores her flowers from her Daddy. She was happy to be finished for the year, though! (oh, and as you can see in the pic....she is much younger than all of the others in her group. They were 6, 7, and 8 years old). She says that she doesn't want to take dance again next year, but she said that she still wants to see Kyle (her teacher). She says she will miss him. We definately won't make her take it again next year if she doesn't decided that she wants to! It would save us a lot of money and driving!

Kindergarten Screening

We made it through kindergarten screening! Okay, well, maybe I was the one I was worried about! I worried about it for a week! I was afraid that she would just walk in there and be like "I'm smart and I'm going to school", but not end up showing them what she knows! Well, she did fine! She got a very good report, and they told her that she is officially a Greenwave now!

Winter Fun

The kids were out enjoying some fresh-fallen snow that was long awaited! Daddy was out playing in the plow truck! We all rode along to do a few driveways, but the kids got impatient with that rather quickly!
Oh, and I was wearing Carhartts, scarf, hat, gloves, snow boots. Shawn was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Guess who was the plow driver and who was shoveling the sidewalks?