A Boy!!!!

Noah William Barricklow was born October 13, 2012 at 3:56am! 
He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 21 1/4 inches long!
 

The Story:
Wednesday night I lay down to go to sleep the usual exhausted from the day and what do you know...contractions!  6 minutes apart and painful for about 15-20 seconds.  Just enough to make sleeping impossible.  So I roamed the house, took a bath, tried to sleep on the couch/recliner/in bed.  No dice.  Finally about 6:30am exhaustion won out and I fell asleep for an hour...then the kiddos woke up.  About 30 minutes into breakfast/diaper changes/getting kids dressed I realized--no contractions.  ((forgot to mention, at some point during the night I had called my Dr and she told me that unless things progressed they would just send me home if I went in to the hospital)).
Zombie through the day Thursday took a 30 min nap while the kids were sleeping. SLEEP TOTAL: 90 minutes in 2 days.  Thursday night, go to sleep about 9:30 after putting the kids down and getting a few things done.  Sleep till 12....and you guessed it contractions.  Every 6 minutes 25-30 seconds of painful.  All night.  Kiddos wake up at 7:30am...contractions stop by 8.  SLEEP TOTAL: 4 hrs in 3 days.
Friday--Now I'm really the walking dead...shaky, no balance, can't keep my eyes open.  Running errands because baby day is tomorrow and things still need to be done.  Contractions actually came on and off all day.  Got an hour nap during kids nap time. SLEEP TOTAL: 5 hours
So now it's Friday night...just have to make it through till we leave at 7:30 for the hospital.  Lay down around 11:30 (contractions already going strong).  At 12:30 I called the hospital and begged them to let me come in early.  I was beyond crazy tired.  They said yes.  I think they could hear my desperation.  So by 1:00am we were leaving for the hospital.
Saturday:  We get to the hospital, they check me and tell me I'm in labor and progressing.  They check my contraction monitor and tell me that I could have come in much sooner. WOW.  Could have cried.  But they are going to check with the Dr. working that night and see if I could get in the OR for the C-section or just wait till my 9:30am scheduled OR time.  They decided I was a go.  By 2:45am I was in the OR and at 3:56am Noah was born!!! (But he didn't have a name for awhile).
We didn't have a name for Noah for awhile because by the time we got to our room I had been awake  72+ hours (minus my 5 hours).  And we hadn't had names solidified before we got to the hospital.  So by the time I woke up enough for us to have that conversation it was quite a bit later :)

We are so thankful for a safe delivery and for a healthy baby!  Little Noah is so precious.  Renae and Jack love him, too.  We are really enjoying our new family of 5.  I will say that after 2 1/2 days in the hospital (toddler free) with a sleepy newborn and a nursery down the hall I got LOTS and LOTS of sleep.  I feel wonderful!  We are all doing very well, and having lots of great family time.

Thanks for your prayers!  God is SO good!!!

One last one...

This is it! Prayerfully this is the last post while we are a family of 4! Here's a little glimpse from each of us: Josh: Still lovin' 3rd ID. He seriously is really enjoying this position. Which has turned him back into the man we all know and love :) For so so so many reasons! He's gearing up to run his first 1/2 marathon since his knee surgery last winter here in a month. And he is loving time with the kiddos--He and Renae have a bunch of games that are just the two of them and they all have names: Elevator...Floppy Fish...Superman...Crash in the Ocean super cute. Erin: 1 day shy of 39 weeks pregnant. Feeling every day of it. I've actually had a few reality check moments that in no longer than 2 days and a wake up we'll have another child! It's weird not knowing the gender...makes it exciting, but also kinda takes away the reality of it...kinda of because you can't spend all the time planning details--we don't have a name...we don't have clothes ready (well, we have about 3 outfits of each washed and ready to go) but we don't have the room ready, I haven't made any baby crafts with B3s name on it...all things that built reality before. But I'm glad we are being surprised, it is pretty fun! I am still pretty uncomfortable, been really sore for a couple months now. I'm very excited to just be tired and not tired and hurting. AND I really really am excited to have my huge tummy gone. It's hard not being able to give hugs and carry kids comfortably. Especially when kids are crying or hurt (which happens alot at 2 and 1). Renae: She is a professional dresser. She puts all her own clothes on everyday and has been for awhile...couple months maybe. She's probably nearly as fast as I would be putting clothes on her. She can even put things inside out and the other day we were pulling out some clothes from last 'winter' (hahaha- winter in GA) and she tried on clothes for a good 30 minutes and kept up. She's learning new words every day and really likes playing with Jack. She wants to do EVERYTHING herself, so we are working on asking permission to do it herself instead of taking liberties. Favorite activities: puzzles, tea parties, side walk chalk, hopping/dancing/running, and Jack. Jack: Silverware required. He wants to eat everything himself. And for the most part he does ok. He can use a fork like a pro. Way beyond Renae with that one. And he stays clean, it's insane. He still snaps all the time, dances, and TALKS a mile and minute. He does better about switching from screaming to trying to use words. He is learning animal noises especially cows, dogs, bears, and cats. And he knows how to find his tummy, belly button, ears, nose, eyes, mouth, and hair. Favorite activities: Playing with beads, cars, following Renae, animals, books. And soon +1 makes 5!!! Eeek!!! WHOO HOO!

Military Police Ball 2012!

A week or so ago Josh and I went to the MP Ball and had a great time!  Here are some pictures of our night out :)
 

4 days and a wake up till B3 is here!

Football Saturdays and more

Superman!

Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! 

Jack's rocket 

Jack's favorite spot to sit 

So cute 

Go Big Red! 

hahaha :) 

How Big Are We!?

Jack had his 15 month check up and shots today. The Dr is pretty laid back so Renae got her height and weight checked, too. Especially since she really really wanted the Dr to check her. WOW. But yup, here's the stats!

Renae:  33lbs 37in tall 

Jack at 15 months: 27lbs 31in tall
**they asked me if he knows at least 3 words.  he knows at least 25--way to go!  Especially since the last two Dr appts he couldn't clap or wave...he was WAAAAY behind on those two.  haha 

And me.  YIKES.  5 weeks and a day to go.  Feel like the baby might come out tomorrow.  The public seems to think so, too.  Even the Dr today told me they can't deliver at the clinic.  I told her I have over a month to go and she didn't believe me.  And I'm 64 in tall and no I won't tell you my weight.  hahahaha ((Oh and B3 is estimated to be 17in long and roughly 4 lbs now...gaining 1/2 a lb a week from here on out!))

Labor Day weekend! :)

We went to Atlanta for Labor Day and got to see a lot of our friends--it was a great trip!  Renae and Jack got to bust out their Husker gear.  Renae should get paid to say "Go Big Red, Go Big Red" cause she says it every time she sees an "N".  She can say Go Nebraska and Go Huskers,  but fight song is a work in progress.  We're working on it.  hahaha

Football season is here!!  WHOO HOO!

 

Enjoying real grass!  Ant free grass at that!  Doesn't get much better than that! 

And our friends house has a giant slope for a backyard....he would get up, try to get his balance, stumble a bit, then fall down...and he ended up all the way at the bottom of steepness.  He wasn't so happy, but it was kind of funny.

Much better...flat surfaces! :) 

Always lots of fun! 

I got to go out to supper and frozen yogurt with a friend one night, Katie (& her husband Stuart...our friends we stayed with) and I got a pedicure, we watched football, grilled out, had more friends over, got more frozen yogurt (in our pjs), and played a bunch of games.  AND we went to Chick-Fil-A breakfast buffet Saturday morning.  Fabulous :)

And we went to the park!  Right before we got on the road to go home, got the kids all good and sweaty and headed into a rainstorm for the drive home.  And it took us 2 hours to get 45 miles because of traffic and the weather....the only downside of ATL. 

 

hahahaha 

Jack would just fill his shoe up with wood chips, walk around and dump it out and repeat. 

Stuart getting a work out while Jack was lounging and texting it appears...as usual.

Besties

These two are pretty good at playing together.  Renae gets a teeny bit annoyed...and bossy but for the most part whatever one of them is doing, the other one is doing.  :)  Their 'conversations' are hilarious.  And yes, Jack talks just as much as she does--I'll have to ask Renae to translate for me cause she seems to know exactly what he is saying.  hahaha

What would we even do without the beads!?  The kids play with them all the time. 

Still trying to do somersaults. 

Big boy! 

 Corn on the cob!  :)  2nd time and already a pro!  haha. 

This is hilarious.  Jack is such a lounge-er.  Full blown recliner mode already.  I'm wondering if this is his preferred method of sitting due to my huge tummy or what but we've gotten lots of comments about it from people who have watched Jack.  Not the most attractive but definitly funny.  And in the background you will see a couple of friends of ours...yes they are both wearing MIZZOU attire (as were their twins).  And yes we can still be friends because now we are all in different conferences (and they are about to lose nearly every conference game they play ((we will try not to rub it in))--welcome to the SEC).