Knotts & Pirate Adventure

Last Christmas my inlaws blessed all of the Kids and Grand kids with season passes to Knotts Berry Farm. With our passes expiring in a couple of weeks we decided to get one more trip in.


Ricky, Karissa, Gavin, Kennedy, Ava, Peyton, Jessica, Bob, Linda, Jason, Nevaeh, Trinity, Selah and myself made up the group:)

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The weather was amazing, the park was empty and there were virtually no lines, all of the kids were in good moods and were incredibly well behaved ( even Selah.)


We started in Camp Snoopy giving the kiddos a chance to ride a bunch of rides, then us adults snuck in a couple big rides. We enjoyed lunch together at Jonny Rockets, hit a few more rides, did some shopping then we left.



I found an incredible deal online for the Pirate Adventure Dinner Show, which was right down the street, so we shuttled the family over.

Doors opened at 530pm, we enjoyed some appetizers, drinks, did some shopping and watched the pre-show. At 7pm the adventure was ready to begin!

You walk into a stadium of 5 different color sections, in the center of the stadium is a giant pirate ship stage surrounded by a water moat. The show was amazing, funny, exciting and they really got the audience involved. My nieces and nephews were chosen to be part of the show. My sister in law and myself were chosen to participate in one of three challenges.


The food was yummy ( we were already pretty stuffed from the appetizers) and I couldn't have asked for better company.

We had a great time, I hope it is something my girls will remember for years to come.

Birth Story for Selah

Birth Story isn't all that exciting but here it is for those interested.

I was admitted at Zion Hospital Monday November 1st at 11:30 am to have my water broken. After getting paperwork finished, monitors set and IV hooked up my doctor ( Dr. Stuckey) came in at 12:30pm and broke my water. Then the "waiting game" began. Hour after hour went by and nothing happened, no contrations, no dilating, nothing. Dr. Stuckey wanted to see labor begin within 4-6 hours and by 6pm we still had no progress in the labor department.

Dr. Stuckey went off shift and I was under the care of Dr. Mesch. Dr. Stuckey explained my wishes of a VBAC being extremely important to me and the two devised a new plan of action. I would be administered half the normal dosage of Pitocin under internal monitoring, if labor still hadn't begun before the morning then csection was our only option left.

6:30pm Pitocin was added to my IV and Jason and I prayed for labor. Lesson being- Be careful what you pray for:) 7pm my first contraction hit and it hit HARD! Threw me into the fetal position. It lasted about a minute and a half and then next one came nearly 3 minutes later. Then another, and another, I went from nothing to INTENSE labor in a matter of minutes. This lasted about an hour before Jason and I decided an epidural was needed so we called in the anetheisiologist. It took him about a half an hur to get there and another half an hour to administer the epidural. Meanwhile the contractiona are hitting harder and are closer to 2 minutes apart.

9:15pm I was a happy camper. Epidural was in full effect and I had no more pain! Contrations at this point were 1.5 to 2 minutes apart, I was a little over 3cm and 75% effaced. Around midnight I was starting to feel a lot of pain on my right side. The epirdural wasn't working up to par. My doctor came in, repositioned me in hopes that more of the medication would fall on my right, it helped a little but I still had to breathe through the contrations. She checked me again-no progress.

2am rolled around, contractions were only a minute apart and I was still super uncomfortable on my right side so I asked the nurse if I could be checked ( I wanted to give my Mom enough time to make it for the birth.) She said the Dr. was in surgery, an hour later same excuse. 4:30am rolled around so I called my nurse in again because of the pain on my right hand side and because of pressure I was feeling. She said she would go ahead and just check me.

Turns out I was 100% effaced, 10cm and Selahs head was visible! Jason, who was in a dead sleep, jumped out of the chair to see. We all started freaking out a bit. " CALL MOM!" I yelled. The nurse was quickly prepping me for delivery and instructed me to give her one big push. So I did and she said I was definately ready. The doctor came in and got right to business. ( Meanwhile my Mom & sisters were frantically on their way to the hospital) I pushed for nearly 20 minutes and Selah Desirae Winters entered the world at 5:05am.

For those of you who are familiar with my past experiences in birth I was the last person to hold either of my daughters because of the csections. That wasn't the case this time. They put Selah right on my chest, goop and all. They cleaned her off, cut the cord and administered most of the tests right there on me! It was a dream come true. My family arrived about 30 minutes later, bummed they missed the birth but excited to see Miss Selah. They had to wait to hold her though because she was still on Mommy "Skin-to-Skin" time:)

With the exception of the partial episiotomy and 3rd degree tear I recieved in the birthing process I was very happy with the overall experience. I got to be the first person to hold my baby girl and she successfully started nursing right away!

Selah Desirae Winters
Born November 2nd 2010 @ 5:05 am
9lbs 1oz 21 inches

I am Sam

This is Sam, the most recent addition to our family. He was given to us by friends of ours from church. He is 8 years old and a total cuddle bug.
Plan is to breed him with our other Golden Retriever Hope, but meanwhile he enjoys following the girls Nevaeh and Trinity around the house, cuddling with Mom and Dad, and running errands around town with Mommy. He fits right in with our family and is the house trained, cuddly dog I have always dreamed of owning!

Countdown Time!

We had a check up today and it was GREAT! I know I have mentioned this before but I have to go on record again saying, I LOVE DR. STUCKEY! Selah is measuring normal and her heart beat is great. I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced so the Dr. is encouraged that I am already showing signs of progress making my chances of a successful VBAC better. My blood pressure is great, on the lower side, and I am up 1 lb since my last appointment making my total weight gain so far 17lbs. (Staying withing my goal of between 15-20lbs) We have another check up Wednesday, hopefully I progress and Selah comes on her own. If not the plan is, depending on how far have dilated, to either break my water or strip the membranes on Monday the 25th to encourage labor. I don't have the option of a drug induced labor because of complications it can cause with my history of csections. So hopefully labor happens and progresses normally and doesn't result in cesection. PRAYERS APPRECIATED:)
So all in all it was a good check up, I am encouraged and excited to meet our baby girl!

Baby Linder Maternity Shoot

I had a photo session at the infamous Dos Picos Park yesterday with Andy & Melinda Linder. They are expecting a baby boy in about 8 weeks! I had a lot of fun shooting their pictures, I'm sure you'll agree I had good models:) I must admit I had to get pretty creative in order to get some of the shots I wanted. One included me laying on my side because of the big belly I have, preventing me from laying flat on my tummy. I'm sure watching a 9 month prego woman attempt to squat, bend, climb and waddle aided in making their smiles genuine. I am so excited for this growing family and can't wait to meet their little boy!

Oma's Pumpkin Patch

Today a group of family and friends took the kiddos to Oma's Pumpkin Patch in Lakeside. It was a lot of fun and was cheap! $7 per child included a bottled water, access to all activities on site and they even got to choose a pumpkin from the Jack Patch to take home.

The girls had a blast on the Cotton Seed Mountain. We also rode on a hay ride, got a tour of the dairy farm, pet farm animals, played on a playground, ran through a hay maze and took pictures galore!

It was a lot of fun, but it sure did wear me out. It's getting harder to get around these days. All in all I had fun with my little pumpkins, trying to get as much quality time in with them as possible.

Selah Update- October

Because of scheduling issues with my doctor I have 2 check ups a week from now until Selah's due date, fun times!

Appointment today was AMAZING!!!

I lost 1 lb this week making my total weight gain 16lbs so far ( not too bad.)My goal was between 15-20. Everything with Mommy and Baby is checking out normal. We went over the results of my 36 week ultrasound...

Selah is head down, hardly any cervix left ( hoping she comes soon), she is in the 50 percentile ( Won't have another 11 pounder)they are estimating 6lb 4oz so far and her head to abdomen ration is perfect! Because she is smaller they decided not to schedule a c-section until 41 weeks ( November 1st) to give me another week to go into labor on my own. For those of you who haven't followed my journey I have been fighting and searching for a doctor who will let me have a vbac and finally found one. Because I've had 2 previous csections I am considered high risk and have had a hard time finding a doctor to work with me. God blessed me with Dr. Stuckey who has monitored me very closely and is working with me to have a better birth experience:)The three stipulations being... #1 They will not induce, I have to labor on my own. #2 any signs of fetal distress and I am on the operating table no questions asked. #3 If I don't go into labor by Nov 1st they are taking her via csection.

I'd appreciate prayers. For a healthy baby, that Selah will show her pretty little face before her due date, that everything progresses normally and I have a successful vbac, and for a speedy recovery.

That's all for now, another update to come on Friday!