Welcome Wynn!

Wynn Eliese Fessler

As most of you know, our world was totally changed on May 11, 2013 when our sweet little Wynn was born. But what you might not know are the details surrounding her birth, so I want to share with you her birth story.

Wynn was originally scheduled to be born on May 17, 2013. Her due date was the 18th, which was a Saturday. We did not want to be induced, but we wanted to make it easy on our parents and allow them the chance to take off work so they could be with us. We had everything planned perfectly. Mike and I were going to spend the Thursday night before she was born with the boys and have one last family night.  My parents were coming on Thursday night so that the boys would be taken care of. Mike's parents were also coming and everyone would come together to the hospital the next day and meet the 1st granddaughter. Funny how we forget that God has a hand in EVERYTHING and makes sure that things happen in his perfect time. Its also funny how His plan is ALWAYS so much better than ours. 

Well, the day before she was born I was very crabby and I'm sure very unpleasant to be around. In fact, I feel bad for my boys because I'm sure I was not a fun mommy at all that day. Anyways, that afternoon I was sitting outside praying and begging God for peace over so many things, but mostly the birth and how my boys would respond to their new sister. Later Will joined me on the porch. I was uncomfortable and not in a great mood, but he had asked me to play band with him and sing songs with him. I was not digging the game, but I figured I might as well play along. We started singing and making up words to a song, Usually when he sings, he just makes sounds and yells them at the top of his lungs. But, this time he had lyrics. At first they were silly, but then he started to sing about Jesus. I was listening and singing along, but then he sang these words," Don't worry about anything Mommy. Its all going to be ok because Jesus takes care of us." I was floored and my eyes started to tear up. And then I laughed. Will asked what was so funny & I told him that God had used him to answer my prayer. After that I did have peace and I did have a feeling that everything would be ok.

That evening, like the two before it, we enjoyed fun nights with our boys. We ate dinner as a family and played outside until almost dark. After putting the boys down Mike and I were talking about the "plan" for Wynn's birth. I told him how I wanted one last special family night, almost like closure to that part of our lives. He then reminded me that I had gotten three special family nights that week alone.  Funny that he said that, because neither one of us knew at the time that that night was our last night as a family of 4.

My water started to break around 2 am the next morning. I woke Mike up about 4 am. We both got up and started getting things together. I was not in any pain and I called the doctor and was told to come in as soon as I could. We called our parents around 5am and then started calling friends to see if someone could sleep on the couch and stay with the boys until grandparents got into town. We got in touch with my dear friend Annette, who has three kids of her own. She came right over. As we waited for her, both of the boys woke up. I went in their room and was able to tell them what was about to happen. I was able to comfort them, love on them and tell them how much I loved them before we left. I realized later that God allowed this to happen so that I could have my closure with them, but also so I could put their minds at ease. They did not go back to sleep and chose to stay up until Mrs. Net came. 

We got to the hospital around 6:30 am. I was put into a room and had the feeling that we would meet this little one quickly. I was very comfortable even though I was contracting, but my contractions were irregular. At 8:15 am, I got an epidural. By 8:45 amI was dilated to an 8, but still the contractions were irregular. They started me on pitocin and then we waited, and waited and waited! Finally at 1:15 pm Dr. Hamilton and Beth the nurse came to check me and told me it was time. At 1:28 pm I was holding sweet Wynn in my arms! She weighed 8 pounds and was 22 inches long. Will, Luke, Marmie & Mimi got to meet her first about 6:30 pm that evening. We were moved to a new room around 7 pm where Poppy and Aunt Joy also got to meet her. 

That day seemed so long, yet went by so fast! But in the end she was perfect and healthy and we were thankful for this very precious gift from God!

The last picture of me with Wynn in my tummy!

They weighed her several times, but they finally came to 8 pounds even.

2 proud big brothers!

Daddy with his girl!

Mommy with her girl!

Will, Mimi and Wynn

Mommy, Luke and Wynn

Sweet Wynn

Happy to be going home!

Will's 1st soccer game

Two sweet brother before the big game!

This Spring Will decided that he wanted to play soccer. Sounds great, except that Mike and I know nothing about soccer. Also, I guess it was kind of our dream that he would choose baseball as the first organized sport that he wanted to play. Oh well, obviously this is not about us! Its about Will and the fact that he wanted to try something new.
If you know Will, this is huge. He does not like anything new or change of any kind. I mean, he flipped out when we got a new couch this past Christmas! (This is why we are praying hard for the boys when Wynn arrives!) Anyways, we were pleased and excited when he loved his first practice. We were even more pleased when he had a blast a his first game! He loved it! And Mike, Luke, Mimi, Aunt Joy & I cheered and cheered for him and his teammates and had fun too!
Here are a few pics from Will's big day!

Will is #6. Here he is listening to Coach Jimmy.

Going for the ball!

Getting ready for the ball to be thrown in.

Will and his buddy Chase

Luke cheering for brother!

Listening to strategy from Coach Jimmy

Getting ready to throw the ball in after being kicked out of bounds.

Post-game snack

Yay! We won!

Easter 2013

The classic front porch pic

We have been in Charleston now for a little over 3 years. Each Spring has been so nice and warm and Easter has always been hot! But not this year. This Spring has been unseasonably cool. Now I say this relatively, because we have not had the cold, rain or even snow that some of our friends and family have had. I mean honestly 60 degrees is not cold, but when you are used to it being 75 in March, than yeah 60 is cold!

Well, this Easter sunday this year was gorgeous! It was ended up being cool, even though the forecast was supposed to be sunny and 75. But as the day went on it did get better. 

This year we celebrated with our church family with a picnic after church, an egg hunt in the back yard and then a pot-luck Easter dinner that evening with our community group. So, enough of the recap of the day. Here are the pictures of the boys!

She has a name!

After months of dwelling on names we have finally come up with one that we love for our baby girl. It took us awhile because we just could not agree on anything. You see, we have criteria for naming our kids. For us, each child has to have a family name as their first or middle name. Each also needed a strong meaning for their name or we wanted it to be biblical to represent our faith. With her we also decided that we did not want her to have one of the top 10 most popular names of her birth year. 

So, here is what we have come up with...

Wynn Eliese Fessler

We love the name! Here is the story... Mike had been suggesting names since Christmas when we found out we were having a girl. I turned down everything he liked. He was getting a little frustrated with me so in turn he turned down everything that I liked! One night we were watching the Golf Channel. They have an anchor on the channel named Win McMurray. I sat for a minute and then turned to him and said "You know what...I kinda like the name Win." He started laughing and said, "I like it too. I wanted to suggest it but was afraid you would turn it down." We continued to think about other names, but after that night I think we knew her name was Wynn.

As for her middle name, Eliese is my grandmother's name. She and I have always been close and she she has been a huge encouragement to both Mike and I during our marriage, so this was the perfect way to honor her. 

Now for the meaning... 

• Wynn means "holy, blessed reconciliation; joy and peace; fair, pure"
• Eliese means "God's promise"

So, she has a name. Her nursery is just about ready and she has clothes and diapers to get her started once she is born. Now we just have to wait 6 more weeks until we get to meet her!

Me at 31 weeks 

New things

Ok, so it has been a month since I have updated. Let's just say that we had a little computer mishap that involved us buying a new hard drive and we lost lots of pics. To say that we were bummed was an understatement, but here we are back up and running and I have got LOTS to tell!

We have had some new things happen to our little family in the past month and they have been awesome! The biggest, most impactful change has been Mike's new job. Since Christmas, Mike & I had been praying for a way to provide for our family, especially after the baby comes. Mike felt like God was telling him to pursue something that was more full-time. (He currently serves River Church in a part-time role, so he had time to spare). After a week or so of searching he found an opening with an organization called Water Missions International. He interviewed and they hired him and he started at the beginning of March. Its been a crazy busy month for him so far, but working there is truly a blessing and we are excited that God has chosen to us to become a part of the Water Missions family.

The same week that Mike started his new job, Will started soccer. For our family this is huge! Everyone knows that we are big sports people and we would love to see our kids be involved in sports, especially since they played such a huge role in our lives. Ok, so soccer is not a sport we know much about and it is not what we would have chosen for him to play, but he LOVES it! And that's all that matters! So far he has only practiced, his first game is April 13, but still he is so excited each week to go. In fact, the past couple of weeks, he has been dressed with his shin guards, socks and cleats on an hour and half before we leave! Can we say excited?!?! He does pretty well and is catching on quickly, but each and every week he runs up and down the field with a huge smile on his face. To me, that is priceless and says everything I need to know. He is having fun!

 

 

 

Of course, Luke was a little upset that he couldn't play soccer quite yet. He can play in the fall when he is 3, but we aren't sure we are ready for that quite yet. But, in the midst of our new job and soccer excitement Luke decided to start riding a bike. All by himself! He LOVES his bike and rides it all over the place. He is so cute and so proud of himself and of course so are we! In fact he is constantly looking for an excuse to go out in to the garage and practice. The cutest thing, I think, is the fact that his little bike has a compartment in the back for him to store things. And, boy does he, especially his snacks! I will give him a snack as he heads out to ride and then watch him put in in his bike. He will ride awhile and then stop for a snack break and pull out his snack!

  
 

Obviously, I am proud of all 3 of my boys! I'll update on myself and baby girl soon. There is news to tell with her. We have a name! But, you'll have to wait until my next post to find out what it is!

 

Potty Training a 2 year old

Yesterday, I made the decision to start potty training Luke. Well, that's not exactly true. I did not wake up and think it would be something fun to do. We actually had been preparing for weeks, buying all the underwear and special treats, even thinking through night-time scenarios. We also were going to be using the same 3 day system that we used with Will, so there was a procedure already to be put into place. I just had to start it and it just happened that our schedule opened up giving me a couple of free days during the week that I don't normally get.

So, we started yesterday morning. After 2 days things are going well. I have actually been a little surprised. It seemed harder with Will or maybe it just took him a little longer. I don't know. Maybe its because Luke has literally grown up watching Will and wanting to mimic him in everything he does. Maybe Luke was just ready. Whatever the case, I'll take it. As you can see, he is happy so I am happy too!

Watching tv on day 2 of potty training. The child is only supposed to wear a t-shirt and underwear for the first couple of days. This lets you see accidents easier. He did so well that I let him put on a pair of pants by lunchtime!

Funny story, when we trained Will, he cried when we put on his 1st pair of underwear. He did not want to learn to use the potty. When we started yesterday, I had Luke take off his diaper so that I could put on his new big-boy underwear. He gladly took the diaper off, but cried when I tried to help him with the underwear. He actually took it from me and went to the other side of the room where he proceeded to put it on correctly. By himself! Oh, how different these 2 boys are! But, that scenario let me know he was ready!

13 weeks to go

You read that right! We have 13 weeks until we meet this sweet baby girl. This pregnancy is flying by(it always goes by much faster once you hit the 20 week mark anyways) and things are starting to get real. Like, in a few short weeks I am going to be a mommy to 3 little people. Oh wow! That still makes my head spin at times!:)

People are always asking me how I feel. Well, to be honest, right now I feel pregnant. It is getting harder and harder everyday to get up from off the floor. It is sometimes even hard to get off the couch! I still have lots of energy(even though I feel like I could nap everyday around 2), but I am getting increasingly out of breath just doing normal things. Walking up the stairs is hard. Carrying something is even harder. But, the good news is, we will meet her soon and I won't feel this way anymore. Maybe that is why I am writing this all down, so that one day I will remember just how this sweet and precious time felt.

We are still working on a name. The middle name was easy and we are pretty set on it, but the first name is proving tricky. We have one that we are favoring and as soon as we know for sure, we will announce it!