Destin sunshine!

Vacation couldn't have come at a more perfect time! We were all needing a desperate break from the craziness of life here. This transition to being a family of 5 has worn me out to the core. I honestly say the only thing holding me together was knowing the break vacation would bring! After our trip to Colorado last summer with our extended family we decided it's something we wanted to do yearly. Because last year was mountains it was a no brainer that the ocean was calling our name this year :) So us, Meghan, my aunt/uncle and cousins from Wisconsin and aunt from Iowa  all braved the drive and met in Destin, Florida. We rented a BEAUTIFUL home just a couple houses from the ocean. It was PERFECT!!!! These pictures are all out of order!

 We were spoiled in our neighborhood! About a 2 minute walk to the beach, a heated pool and hot tub,  and a gated small community with such little traffic! Renting a house is the way to go. We loved all being so close but yet having our "own space". It was such fun making dinners for each other and just hanging out!

 My Aunt Jodie and Aubrie have such a special bond! Jodie spoiled Mike and I  at waking up when our kids woke in the morning and telling us to go back to sleep! She would even walk into our room to get our crying baby and send us back to sleep :) Oh how rested we feel!

 Brody got some great beat up time with my cousin, Caleb!

 Brody and Libby were quite the pair. They were always on the look for sea shells :)

 Some bragging on myself! We made friends with our neighbors who had 2 paddle boards. We all got to take them out! Above is me and I actually stood up on it! The water freaks me out so I was super hesitant on doing this. But it turned out to be my most favorite part of the trip. Being out on the paddle board was so peaceful and beautiful. A wave did attack my board and I fell into the water, but I think doing something so out of my comfort zone made it so exhilarating!

 The Parks dude did so wonderful! He just tagged along wherever we went :)

 This is all B and A wanted to do one the beach. Dig holes and fill them with water :) The sand and ocean were brand new to them. It was fun watching them "discover" how to play on it! Aubrie wouldn't touch the water, the movement scared her. Brody liked it only up to his ankles and hated the saltiness of it!

 Mike and I were just simply spoiled by the time we go together! We took a few walks on the beach on even went out on a date! :)

 Pretty sure baby boy was made for this!!

 The kids were PERFECT on the drive! The way there we made a 14 hours drive in under 16 hours and the way home 15 hours! We are turning them into road trippers!

 We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center because we had some time to burn before we could get into our house. If you ever go to Florida via car, stop at the Welcome Center! Very kiddo friendly AND you get free orange juice! ;)

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My Aunt Jill and Caleb watched the 3 kids while Mike and I went out! They had a blast and even packed everyone up and headed to the beach and that's where we found them when we returned. Super impressed!!

Just a beautiful trip and wonderful time with family! Destin was a perfect destination with some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen! Super family friendly! This is definitely a place we will return to! Can't wait to see where next year will take us!

Last page of this chapter....

We are turning the last page on this current chapter in the Kaelber family. Mike officially announced to the teens that he would be resigning as their youth pastor June 22. Wow, it's even scary to write that! The last several months (well actually over a year now) we have felt the Lords leading for Mike out of youth ministry and into the college realm. The biggest question is, "Where did Mike get a job? Where are we moving to?" Well folks, he has no job after June 22! This can only be from the Lord because it really does seem absolutely ridiculous! He will become a stay at home dad while beginning his doctorate!! Actually he begins his doctorate today :) I will continue to work at the hospital and hopefully be able to go on full time come June or July. So we will be sticking around in the 'Ville. I never thought that would bring me so much joy! This place has really grown on me ;)

So that's our news. Does it make sense? Not really. Is it a safe thing to do? Who knows. Is this the biggest leap of faith either of us has ever taken? Absolutely! We choose a word at the beginning of this year to focus on a word. The word is "Trust" that centers around the book of Joshua. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go," Joshua 1:9. If you read Joshua, especially the first chapter, God simply just calls him to action. He doesn't reveal to Joshua His whole plan and how He's going to direct it,  instead just says, "..I will give you every place where you step your foot" vs. 3. We know without a doubt that God has moved Mike's heart to college students we just have no clue how we are going to get there. God has only revealed the next steps for us which are to resign from the church, begin working on his doctorate and me to continue working. This all freaks the heck out of me! But I'm so excited to take this leap of faith, having no clue where God is going to take us, knowing we are in the center of His will, and having no choice but to trust in Him, alone! So here we go, beginning to turn the last page on this chapter. Scary, excited, sad, and hopeful all rolled into one :)

On a lighter note. The hiking season has begun! Mike and Brody took their first one of the year last weekend. Brody got to test out his new Camelback ;) I guess the water part was in his mouth the whole time :) They had a blast! Mike always talked about, before we had kids, how he was excited to go on hikes with his boys one day. It's really neat to see that day come. Excited for the Parks dude to be able to tag along :)

Victory

Just some cute pictures to make you smile :) I do need to brag on myself for a quick bit. I had a momma victory this morning. I attend a MOPS group twice a month. Where we meet at and where I drop the kids off for child care are in two totally different buildings. Like across the street different buildings. This was my third time going with all three kids. Each time going I've thought of different plans on how to get Brody and Aubrie dropped off all while having Parker. (Really this story is so silly for you moms who have 3 plus kids! But go with me!) Today I brought the sit and stand stroller (duh!). So Parks got to stay in his car seat and stroll in the stroller while B&A stood in the back of the stroller! It worked so beautifully that I carried my head a little higher and ACTUALLY even got complimented saying how well I was handling all these kiddos! And really looked like I had it all together. Ha! I assured that mom that it was all an allusion and I really knew nothing except for survival ;) But hey, I did it! For that I celebrate :)

Aunt Jodie and 1 month

We had a very special visitor, my Aunt Jodie! What a true blessing and extreme help she was! She was a breath of fresh air helping out anywhere she could :) Thanks again so much for coming!!

 The kids, of course, ate her up! They thrived on her undivided attention. Aunt Jodie's specialty is making popcorn. So every night before bed, she would make buckets of goodness for us that Brody and Aubs would "help" with.

 The weather was terrible while she was here. Which turned out to be a blessing because it snowed her in for an extra day! Yay!! She took these two crazy kids to the mall almost daily while she was here to "burn off some energy" and give Mike and I some quiet time and did kitchen clean up after every meal! Have I mentioned how spoiled we were to have her here! We are somehow contemplating how to get her to move down here and be our nanny ;) I can always dream, right?!

The Parks dude is 1 month already! I can't believe how quickly it has gone but yet again I can't believe we are only one month into this adventure; it feels like Parker has been with us forever. At 1 month he is on a pretty good routine. Eating every 3 hours (we are just now stretching to 3 1/2 hours), able to stay awake for about one hour after feedings, and getting one middle of the night feeding somewhere between 2-4 am. His only hangup is sleeping alone. We are finding his little personality HATES being alone. It's pretty crazy. Sadly he's done his fair share of crying, learning the art of sleeping by himself, because with two other kiddos running around we just can't hold Parker all the time. Brody cried A LOT when he was a baby. So I asked him if he remembered crying. He told me he doesn't remember it. I hold tight to those words as I think our son will have emotional damage due to his crying. He wont, I know it, it just breaks my momma heart hearing him belt it out :(

Brody and Aubrie continue to eat up each and every moment with their new brother :) They think he is the coolest thing! Brody thinks he sleeps way too much and Aubrie rushes in with a blanket for him each and every time he cries (she's a really good momma!). This transition has been hard for sure, but the joys of watching all three love on each other makes it worth it.

Today is my first day home with all 3 kiddos by myself for the whole day! I've been spoiled and incredibly fortunate to have Mike home so much and for unexpected snow days keeping him home even longer :) And my Aunt Jodie was here for along weekend also (oh my how are we going to survive without her!) and left this morning. All the kiddos are down for a nap at the moment. I attempted a nap in my quiet home but it didn't last. I just dread falling asleep and then being woken up by a baby crying. So I will indulge in my chocolate ice cream instead ;)

So, how has it been being a family of 5? Absolutely overwhelming! We love it, of course! We love having baby Parker apart of our family. It's just a lot of work. Honestly I thought this would be a super easy transition. Adding Aubrie was super easy. But oh my goodness. Maybe it's something with Mike and I being out numbered or we are both now in our 30's?? (This getting old thing really takes a toll!!) Or we have 3 babies under the age of 3. Who knows, but I was definitely thinking ridiculous things when I thought this would be easy ;) Our whole way of thinking has been crushed and stepped on and needing to be re-invented. I know we'll get above the water eventually and this will all become second nature, but wow, 3 has really thrown us for a loop! Here are my minor freak our thoughts at the moment, #1- When will I ever go grocery shopping? Or even will I ever venture out of the house again during the day while Mike is working? I used to love taking the kids grocery shopping with me, but it would take an hour to just get out of the house now. And then how do I coral 3 kids to 1 one mom?! #2 - Who in there right mind will ever babysit 3 kids at the same time? Will we ever have a date night again? #3 - I need sleep! ;) When will I sleep for more than 3 hours at a time again?

The great thing with adding number 3 to the mix is that we know without a doubt these minor freak outs only last a season. Truly I grin a bit at the thought of how overwhelming life is right now because I know, without a doubt, we will survive and our feet will get back on the ground. We just can't let the kids catch wind that we have no clue what we are doing ;)

Sweet cousin Ashlyn came for a visit and got to fall in love with her new baby cousin :)

Brody and Aubrie continue to adore their little brother :) Their has not been a single jealousy moment yet in the 3 weeks he's been here!

Just tons of love and kisses for Baby Parker. We laugh because really Parker had to be born huge. It's his size alone that's going to save him from Brody and Aubrie's "love" ;)

Yep, they are pretty cute with him! Brody gets super excited when Parker is awake. He quickly shouts, "I see eye's!!!" Apparently Parker sleeps too much for Brody ;)

As of last Wednesday, Parks dude weighed 9lbs 7.5 oz! At 2 weeks old he outgrew his newborn diapers. We barely can sneak him into his newborn clothes anymore. Most of his clothes are Brody's when he was a baby. So Mike and I stand in his closet and select our favorite outfits of his so he can at least wear them once and we can get a picture before he outgrows them by the end of the day ;) We still are speechless at his size! He has been such a great baby! He cries when he's hungry and when his diaper is being changed and that's about all. Watch out though, his cry can be heard about a mile away :) He is our big Roley Polly, and we are just in awe of how perfect he is!!

The Parker story!

Induction day came. I was a bit bummed that labor didn’t begin on it’s own for me, but then again I was so relieved to having this baby boy. I’ve never not wanted to be pregnant so badly before. I was spent, I was done, I was exhausted. I had a doctor apt that morning to check if I would need to be at the hospital at midnight that night or wait until 6:00 am Thursday morning. I also had a massage scheduled that afternoon, which I was of course very thankful I could go to that ;) Mike took off work that day and evening and so we had a simple family day. Nothing eventful, just all being home together before life would turn another chapter in the Kaelber home.

Midnight was the decided time to arrive at the hospital to slowly kick me into gear. I wasn’t really dilated much past 1cm and his head was still pretty high up. This was pretty confusing to us all with this being my 3rd baby and having been contracting already for a couple weeks. Hmmm….is what we all thought. IV was started, medication placed and we were tucked in for a few hours. Thankfully the Olympics were on all through the night, giving me something to watch. Mike has no problem sleeping wherever ;)

7:00am rolls around to my doctor and my great and wonderful nurse friend coming on into our room. Side note but, I love, love, love working where I deliver. I love that my doctor and my nurses are my friends also. I love knowing I'm receiving the absolute best care. I love how fun it is also :) Really, there is no fear, no up tightness, just lots of talking, laughing and simply having as much fun as you can when in labor. So anyways, doctor broke my water and labor began. Contractions right after another. Enough to request for that epidural pretty quickly. I get the epidural quickly because I have quick labors, to me there is no point in dragging out the pain when relief can be met. I love my epidurals!

8:00 am epidural gets placed. Exactly what I’ve been waiting for for months! 100% relief and comfort. So that was also the beginning of nap time. So far everything going right along according to plan. By 9:30 I was 4cm and by 11:00am I was 7cm. Looking like this baby boy was going to be here by noon, again totally according to plan. At 11:45 I was just about ready to begin pushing, I just had a rim of cervix on one side that wouldn’t go away. Parker’s head was still a little high up but had come down, so we decided to just begin pushing to see what would happen.

We pushed for a few minutes to discover with every push, little man would just kinda turtle back to where he had been pushed from and that rim of cervix continued to not go away. To some frustration, the bed was put back together and I was going to “labor down” (wait for a couple hours to see if decent would happen on it’s own). We were all so confused as to why pushing wasn’t successful.

By 2:00pm my epidural began to wear off a bit. I wrestled with receiving a bolus of medication from the anesthesiologist because we just weren’t sure when delivery would happen. I eventually gave in after another test run of pushing with no luck. I was hurting and just worn out! I received more medication and with Mike right by my side holding my hand, I slept. So many questions began to come to mind in us all. “Was there a cord wrapped around him”? No that wasn’t possible because he looked great on the heart rate monitor. “Was he too big”? No, that couldn’t be because I don’t have large babies and the ultrasound 2 weeks ago didn’t reveal a big baby. Hmmmmm…….

Right around 3:30 pm my nurse came in, checked me and suggested we started pushing again. By now I was feeling worn out. I could barely keep my eye’s open, I felt sick, I just wanted the day to be over so badly. But I put on my momma face, washed my face with a cold washcloth, brushed my teeth and began pushing and pushing and pushing. My epidural again began to wear off again soon into pushing and so I had some motivation to push my heart out to end the pain. Doctor came in soon into pushing. I’m not sure what it is but I found so much comfort in his constant presence. Pushing lasted what seemed like forever, especially for this being my 3rd kiddo. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This had now become the longest labor I’ve had by several hours. What on earth was going on became the question of the day! We were now a good hour into pushing. I kept looking at my doctor in-between pushes asking, “when are you going to call it?” Meaning when is enough, enough? When will he call the c-section? He kept assuring me, no that can’t happen, and it’s not going to happen.

About 4:45 the conversation I knew was coming but was dreading came. Doctor looked at me and pretty much said, “It’s time Ash.” Little Parker was starting to not tolerate labor anymore with an increased heart rate and I just couldn’t push any longer. I layer in bed in total understanding but cried tears of what felt like failure for me. How could I do this with 2 other kids but not this one. I just didn’t get it. The room was silent, except for me. I felt another painful contraction coming on, looked at doctor and asked if he wanted me to push. He said yes and so I reluctantly  pushed. He asked me to push again and I wanted to strangle him. I didn’t get why he just called the c-section and was continuing to have me push. The other nurses in the room stood their in disbelief also but no one was saying a word. You could have heard a pin drop in there. After about the 2nd push in tears and pain, the Holy Spirit just came upon me, really and truly! We sing a song during family devotions that I began singing out loud breaking the silence,

    "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are His, the valleys are His, the stars are His handy work too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. For you!"

Mike and I began quoting scripture verses such as, “In my weakness, you are strong” and “Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified for the Lord your God is with you.”

A couple minutes into this worshipful time, I began to feel so nauseated and started throwing up. As Mike was holding my puke bag and the girls were wiping my face, doctor began almost shouting, “No way! No way! I’ve never seen this before, come look. Baby Parker isn’t stuck anymore, he’s coming!” Of course everyone stops what they are doing to look in shear excitement and disbelief. Shear excitement broke out in our room and everyone was shocked by the power of prayer in that moment. I was set up for delivery, and about 4 or 5 contractions later we heard the first cry of our son as he was placed on my chest at 5:21 pm. I held him so tightly, wrapping him in warm blankets, sobbing tears of joy and praising my Savior over and over! There wasn’t a dry eye in that room. Praise you Father!

That moment, when your child is placed on your chest, is my absolute favorite moment in all the kid’s lives. Love so overtakes you for this tiny human that you two are the only ones in the room.   I smile, I laugh, I cry. I look over at Mike and he’s doing the exact same thing. I think this little, tiny soul was made from me and the love of my life. It makes no sense and that’s why God deserves all the glory! This pregnancy was a long one. This labor was a long one. I’m so happy all that is behind us. But goodness, without a doubt I would do it all over again if I needed to for the sake of how perfect Parker is! Thank you Jesus!

Soon after delivery Brody and Aubrie came up. They walked into our room, their eye’s beaming at what I was holding. The famous Baby Parker was finally out of mommy’s belly! Brody crawled right up onto my bed and said, “Hi, Baby Parker” smiling from ear to ear. Then it was Aubrie’s turn. She was fascinated by his face and his tiny sounds he was making. He was a real baby doll! Baby Parker had brought them gifts. Brody opened up Bulldog from Planes the movie (which he has been asking for for weeks and weeks!) and Aubrie opened up a baby doll. Parker became the coolest brother ever :)

We were discharged from the hospital the next evening. We almost needed to stay due to Parker’s blood sugars not staying up. My doctor felt comfortable letting me go and if needed I could come back to the floor and take his blood sugars over the weekend.

And now we are home. Adjusting to being a family of 5! We all got into the van the other day and for the first time I thought, “Wow, we have a lot of kids!”. Life has been a bit overwhelming, but with each day Mike and I are learning how to navigate with three. I’ve learned the “art” of asking for help and also the “art” of being honest and truthful with others when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed and that really has been liberating!

Brody and Aubrie continue to “love” on their new brother. He is the first thing they talk about in the morning and the last thing they mention at bedtime. Mike and I are so thankful at how well they are doing at adjusting to the new chaos :) Is our family done growing? I have no idea. But for now we will continue to bask in the beautifulness of this family of 5 :)

Just to wet your appetite :) Let me introduce you to our son, Parker Michael. Born February 13 and is one huge baby weighing in at 8lbs 14oz! We aren't sure where he was inside me, but we were all blown away to say the least ;) We are all exhausted but our hearts are full and we are happy to be a family of 5. Promise to add more pics and details about our "eventful" delivery :)

Last week we had snow and super cold temperatures in the 'Ville, which equates to the town being shut down. A splash of energy overcame me and we all pitched in to make and decorate Valentines Cookies.

 The idea are always better in my mind then the absolute chaos they turn out to be :) Aubrie has learned to climb onto the kitchen chairs so that means I have 2 helpers now when baking. Her little fingers lead her into I'm sure every ingredient we put into these cookies. I even saw a handful of butter go into that sweet mouth of hers!

 Decorating was the best part of all though. It lasted a whopping 10-15 minutes before we had to put a kabosh to it. First off having cookies AND frosting all at a finger tip away and not being allowed to eat everyone them, and then realizing the decorations were made out of sugar brought so much joy to our sugar crazed kiddos ;) They really did have a blast and Mike and I couldn't stop laughing at their hard "work" and "dedication" to eating, licking and "decorating".

 Their creations really were super cute!

 See what I mean, Brody in the act of shoving a handful of sprinkles in his mouth ;)

As we enter into baby week we are all feeling a sigh of relief. We did it, we are here and Baby Parker will be joining us by the end of the week! There have been two days in the last couple weeks of many signs of impeding labor, but no luck. This is the part of being induced that I love. There is an end date, something concrete and a goal I can see. So either we wait till Thursday for evacuation day or he will come one his own before then. At lunch today I asked B and A who was excited for Baby Parker to join us this week?? Brody threw his hands up in the air as he shouted "I am!!". Well he did this so forcefully he knocked himself out of the chair and flat on the floor! We are all ready for your arrival Baby Boy!!!