It was the best of times.

Oh my goodness!!! We are getting closer! My due date is April 1st, but actually this baby could come at any time. I've been having strooooong braxton-hicks contractions. This pregnancy has been good to me, but much different than the other two.
Let me give you a little history...Ginger, my daughter, was born on June 30th, in Arizona. We birthed her at a free standing birth center. I was in control of my birth experience! It was Rockn' Awesome! My room was set up just like a bedroom except there was a jacuzzi tub in my bathroom (which I labored in!) I enjoyed the whole process of birth, it was really cool to feel my body make changes and so on (yes it hurt, but still very exciting!)...We opted to birth Ginny all natural. I figured women have been birthing naturally since Adam and Eve, I was gonna do my best to have that experience. Although I wasn't stupid, obviously I had never had a baby before, so I knew if I needed them, there would be local anesthetics around. We had such a positive experience with our daughter!
With Ransom, our son, we wanted to birth him at home. It's a good thing we planned it that way, because he would have been a home birth regardless of what our plans were. Again! It was the best experience! Ransom was born on August 18th. I loved it, I was in my domain and no one was telling me what I could or couldn't do. I was so at peace. And of course Ransom was an all natural baby too!
I highly recommend to all you woman who are exploring your birth options (yes, you do have options!) At least meet with a midwife, or a couple if you have more than one in your area, consider a birth center or even home birth. Be open-minded to your opportunities and get the facts. This is my opinion. But how many woman do you know that can say they actually enjoyed everything about their birth experiences.
Midwifery care is very affordable compared to paying ob-gyn doctors' and hospital fees. Some states even cover out of hospital births with Medicaid.
This birth is, as I said before, very much different than the other two pregnancies. A number one reason being, to save cash we are using our Medicaid insurance to pay for the birth, and because we live in Idaho, we have to birth in the hospital (which is changing soon!) Idaho is realizing the costs of midwifery care and out of hospital births as a good thing. We are sticking with a midwife, and I now feel this birth will be somewhat similar to our birth center experience with Ginger.
It has been a difficult transition. For these last 8 months, we have been planning another home birth. Through prayer and process of elimination, Michael and I decided, that this decision would be the best for our current situation. This decision was not decided 'stress free', it felt like we were taking a step in the direction we didn't want to go. I have pondered on this unforseen change a lot. I feel good now about our decision, due mostly to the fact that we are continuing with a midwife, Michael has given me blessings and Heavenly Father has blessed us with calm reassurances.

We love and miss you all, God bless you in all your endeavors.

Love, Aubray and Michael and Ginger and Ransom and Baby

Hello All! Phew! Sorry about the huge delay in my blogging efforts, we've been pretty busy here. I'm very pregnant and happy, the children are doing fabulously. I'm potty training Ginger. I've been told to wait after major events, such as having a baby, to potty train. But Ginny is excited about it, we are always praising her and making fools of ourselves when she goes on the toilet. Ransom is going through a growth spurt and is ginormous and such the charmer. Michael and I are still working away at our Primerica business and we are getting good results. Anywhoo... Congratulations to my dearest friends, Aaron and Shannon on their pregnancy! Yay!! We hope everyone is doing beautifully and we love you all. Love,
Aubray

Guess What?

So...Did you guess!? We are pregnant again!!! Yay!!! I d0n't have all the details, I know we're expecting about late march/early april. Who know's maybe we'll have a double birthday on the 14th of april, Michael's birthday. I'm about four months along and already showing. But we are surprising ourselves with the sex of the baby, so ya'll can take a poll and when the baby comes...it'll be a 'Tada Da Da' moment. I'm expecting lots of comments so keep bloggin'!

Love you all~ Aubray, Michael, Ginger, Ransom and Baby

Ransom: brand new baby pics

(Ransom 1 day) Ummm, Can I help you?

(Ransom 1 day) Couldn't you just eat his cheeks?

Baby pics of Ginger

Ginger 3 weeks, The Cowardly Lion's "Put 'em
up, put 'em up!"

Ginger 2 weeks, This picture...it's just...I can't, too cute for words!

Today is September 23, 2008, the beginning of fall right? Well today is a blustery day with temperatures at about 60 degrees here in Rexburg, Idaho. What I would classify as an Arizona winter (minus the wind, which makes it feel much colder)! Inside my house it is 69 degrees with a space heater on...Now for some that is not a big deal, BUT! I am a native Arizonan, so what do you think? COLD! Thankfully we acquired a wood burning stove from my in-laws, and I'm so excited to use it this winter. Michael is installing it next Saturday. These stoves are great for creating a darling atmosphere with a blanket and snuggling up to your sweetie. I'm excited! Any way, we are still without a camera, but when I get one I am carrying it with me EvErYwHeRe! Adios, Aubray

First Haircut

Ransom's first haircut consisted of clippers and a number one gaurd. All Michael's doing! I balled like a baby!

Happy 2nd Birthday Ginny!!

A day for Ginger, she is such a sweet little angel girl. Michael came home from his j.o.b. (just over broke) rather late and didn't have time to do much. So we took Ginger and Ransom to Taco Bell for dinner and then for dessert we went to Dairy Queen. I know, lame, but we all had a good time.

It's Ginger and Ransom vs. The Chicken Pox!
Actually Ransom just ended his battle, and won! The brave good Belnap's always conquer! By the way, this photo was taken in April/May '08 months. We traveled home from Arizona with the chicken pox!

Our Arizona Trip in April '08

Ok, these next couple of posts contain pics I was able to take on my camera phone. So Enjoy!

This is my cousin, Melissa, who is totally awesome! Her and Ransom are hangin' out at the park in this picture!

This Cute little Boy enjoyed his time at Grandma & Grandpa Young's house!

Ginger was taking notes and being her charming self at my cousin, Maxwell's baptism.

Our trip to Arizona served many purposes: Hunter's homecoming, Maxwell's baptism, visiting family and friends AND it was Michael's 25th Birthday!!! Happy Birthday Honey! I Love You!