date night!

As many of you know T and I don't go out on dates very often. Our idea of a date is watching a movie or playing a game after the kids go to bed. There are a couple reasons we tend not to go out: (1)we (generally) don't have anyone to watch the kids, (2) there is not a whole lot to do in our town, and (3) a baby-sitter is so stinkin' expensive (we figured it out one day and it would cost us $85 to go to a movie on a date!). Now that A moved back up here we had an opportunity to go out on a 'date' and she was free to watch the kids! YAY!! T had his Medical School Formal on Saturday night. We had a wonderful time with adults. It was especially fun for me to get dressed up and feel fancy. ; ) T even won an award! The Medical Class of 2014 nominated T as the 'Most Likely to Use a Gigantic Word that You Don't Know the Meaning of'. The perfect award for him in my opinion!



Last weekend A was down and she was able to watch the kids so we could go and find a dress for me! It was so much fun. T and I spent almost 3 HOURS shopping at the mall (with O). It really wasn't bad because O slept the whole time and we just pushed him. It actually was nice because then we didn't have to carry anything. Although we spent more time looking for a dress and accessories than I did wearing it on Saturday it was super fun.  I think it is human nature to get caught up in life and not focus on your marriage occasionally (even though we try not to!). Sometimes I wonder how our dynamic or relationship will change when the kids leave us because they are such a HUGE part of our lives. Times like this remind me how much we truly love each other!

to my future M.D.

I found this poem online and thought it was just perfect. I could see J writing something like this when she is older. She makes a special point to let T know that being a daddy is his most important job; not that he ever forgets but she just likes to be a little bossy!

My Daddy, M.D.

Whenever Daddy signs his name

he always writes MD.

So people all will know

that he belongs to me.

For MD means "My Daddy"

or something just the same.

And that is why he always puts

these letters in his name.

Some letters in his name are small

but these are not, you see.

He always makes them big like that

because he's so proud of me.

being a parent

I was very blessed and was able to become a mother at a young age (compared to some). There were many times that I felt sorry for myself or wanted to do things that I couldn't. Over the years I have come to realize that being a mommy is GREAT! I may not have designer clothes, the newest tech toys, a new car or go on fancy vacations, clubbing, etc. BUT I get to wake up everyday and see four beautiful faces look at me! They are all healthy, happy (most of the time), and full of love! What more could a girl ask for?! I used to dread the idea of having to get up in the middle of the night to take care of and feed a crying baby but now I LOVE IT! Sounds crazy right?! I get to snuggle, hold, rock, and cuddle little O and have him all to myself. As for the other kids: N drives us nuts lately but she is so 'happy go lucky' and brings laughter to our mouths and hearts everyday. She has some of the funniest expressions ever seen. E is a boy of few words but nothing is better than having him come up and wrap his arms around you! He loves to sneak up and give hugs. Although J is a perfectionist who gets frustrated easily, she is a great kid.  She wrote her name the other day (after I made a game for her to practice and play: my teaching degree is put to good use even though I don't get a pay check!) and we were so proud of her. She did amazing and was so happy. In addition to all that we get to watch them grow and change while becoming little people. I am sure there are many challenges ahead of us as parents but we are so excited to see our children as young adults.

N's 'naughty' morning

Now let's just start by saying that T and I have always tried to avoid the 'n' word in our home (naughty)! But N was just down right naughty on Monday morning. Her afternoon nap could not come soon enough for me! I think the stage/age has come where she is developing herself more every day and is learning what she can and can NOT get away with. We have been a little relaxed with time-outs but now it is time to lay down the law! = ) Her morning went a little like this...

• During breakfast she did not get her yogurt right when she wanted it so she took her bowl of cereal (and milk) slowly lifted it about 9 inches above the table, looked at me to see if I was looking, and then proceeded to ssslllooowwlllyyy pour it ALL over the table. She was cleaned up and put in time-out. *I must mention that she was allowed another chance at breakfast sans milk in the cereal the second time around.
• We had an ice cream bucket of clothes soaking in the bathroom. N happened to sneak into the bathroom and somehow managed to dump the entire bucket, only about a gallon of water on the floor. Argh.
• After getting the bathroom floor cleaned up, I went into the kids' room to find her bottomless. No pants or diaper! This could have been much worse. She did not have any bodily fluid mishaps while she was diaper less. Woohoo!
• Now O pooped his diaper so of course I needed to change him. While changing his diaper N pulled out my chair at the table and pulled the candy bowl towards her. Some how, sneaking again, she managed to unwrap 4 Reese's Peanut Butter cups and shoved them in her mouth. She had all the wrappers on the table (thus how I know she consumed 4) and her mouth so full of peanut butter cups she could not close her lips. When I asked her what she was doing she just smiled and moaned, "MMMmmmm"! After cleaning her chocolate drool off her face and getting her down I watched her like a hawk until lunch.

We made it to nap time. Phew!

the honeymoon is over

I was very lucky when O was born that my mom was able to stay with us for a few days and help out. She left on a Tuesday and then T was done with his block exams Wednesday evening. I only had to take care of the four kids by myself for about 30 hours. Then T was home for over 3 weeks! I have to admit that he did most of the work while he was home, he more or less was SUPER DADDY! I really was able to rest and get my bearings back after having little O. Now this past Monday he went back to school, my honeymoon phase is over. Reality has set in and to be honest it is not as stressful as I thought it would be. We have great kids and they are very good helpers. Of course there have been a few episodes and tantrums but that has to be expected with kids. J and N love to help with baby O. E basically does his own thing and is fine with that. I think it is a boy thing. This is a great way for them to learn about being patient. They may have to wait a couple more minutes for more milk at a meal, solve a sharing problem amongst themselves, or help each other with a game, but overall these things won't harm them in the long run. As the kids get older I look and watch them grow into little people and I am completely amazed! I can't wait to see what they become some day.

new babies!

As mentioned prior T took on an aquarium project over his break from school; which is now his new hobby. He has been very diligent in getting the tank ready for his little friends to live in. Everything from researching about the levels of nitrate, nitrite, CO2, ammonia, pH, and several other components that he tests and checks every day (nothing is ever easy). So last Saturday was the turning point! He had the tank ready and everything was set so he could add fish. He got 2 Mickey Mouse Platties; a yellow one and dark orange/red one. They were doing great swimming around and having a good ole time the last few days. Well when T checked on his fish at lunch today he found more! For those of you that may not know MMPs are livebearers (when they give birth the babies are live, not eggs). And lucky for us... apparently each birthing episode can produce up to 60 'fry' and each pregnant fish can have five birthing episodes of off one insemination because they have a 'special' sac that can hold extra male goods that have not already been used. So long story short this one pregnant plattie can produce up to 300 fry! And in addition to that all the females that are born can get pregnant extremely easily as well. Oh boy! I am glad my hands are washed of this mess and I don't have to deal with all this fun.

tidbits from our home

* About a week after O was born.
J: Mommy, are you still pregnant?
M: No, O is not in my tummy anymore so that means that I am not pregnant anymore.
J: Well then why do you still LOOK pregnant?
M: Thanks J!
I guess losing 25 lbs in a week is not enough for her!!!

* E (still sick this morning) was crying and asking why he was still sick. I don't want to be sick anymore. If only mommies had a magic wand that could make it all better : (

* N's most commonly spoke word is 'NNNnnnooooooooo!' The other night the big kids were playing animals and E wanted N to be a dog. He was telling her to bark and she looked at him then meowed. They went back and forth meowing and barking then all of the sudden she stood up yelled 'NNNooooo Me meow!' then got back on the floor and crawled away, meowing! I have to give the girl credit for not giving into peer pressure.

* O was getting his diaper changed the other day. I lifted his legs up so I could clean his little butt and next thing I knew he was peeing... all over his face! Poor little guy. Hilarious but I still felt sorry for him.

He is HERE!

Our Baby Boy is HERE!
The big story of little O:

On Tuesday (the 7th) I had an appointment and I asked my doctor what the plan was. He wanted to induce the 14th, I said that was a no go since T's tests would be taking place at that time. I asked if he had any plans on the 9th and if we could induce that day instead. After looking in the computer and talking back and forth we decided that the 9th would be a good day. After my appointment I called my mom and she made plans to be up here Wednesday night so she could watch the kids for us. (We did not tell anyone else at this point because last time we had to call a bunch of people and tell them that he was NOT born and that sucked so...)

The day. I got up showered and called the Labor and Delivery area of the hospital. They said they were FULL and I could not come in today. They may have an opening at about 10 or 11 and they would give me a call back. REALLY? Are you kidding me? were my exact thoughts. My mom was up here for a second time and no baby. What are the chances?! Then they called back about 30 minutes later and said that things had changed and I could come in! Woohoo. Maybe we will have a baby today after all. We got to the hospital about 7:30 and my doctor was in my room by 8:30 to break my water! He said he wanted to make sure that they did not have an option to send me home so he was very prompt.Thank You Dr. B. Labor progressed normally and everything was great. Actually surprisingly fast and somewhat painless. By about 1 pm I was in a little more pain and got a dose of Stadol before it would be too late. By 2 pm I was dilated to 6 cm and 100% effaced and by 2:30 we were ready to go...

The delivery process was almost unimaginable. I had 4 or 5 contractions that were spaced far enough apart that I felt refreshed for the next one. I remember talking back and forth with T, Dr. B, the Res. Dr., and the nurse; I have no clue what we talked about but I remember talking with them and being really relaxed. (Dr. B knew that T is a Medical student so they were chit chatting about that type of stuff during this phase as well.) There were a couple points that I was a little nervous that labor had completely stopped. I was in no pain and could not feel anything. Then a minute or so later it would be time to push again. Next thing I knew O was born and it was over. I guess after N's dramatic entrance into this world I was a little surprised that it was so 'easy'. Don't get me wrong labor and delivery is never easy and it hurts a lot, but this was pleasant compared to N. We were not too surprised when Dr. B said, "He is a big boy and he has red hair." T and I just looked at each other and laughed a little. O's hair color is just like his big sister's.

O is here and ready to go. After being cleaned up and everything checked out I got to hold him. After a couple minutes it was suggested that I try to feed him and see how he did. It was like magic; he instantly latched and nursed like a pro. Not even a fumble. And he has not changed; he now weighs over 11 lbs! He is such a great baby. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful little guy come into our family. The only time he cries is when he is hungry, needs to burp, or is cold.

The kids got to meet their new little brother on Friday night when we got home from the hospital. The hospital was so full we had to double up in recovery rooms so we did not want to bring the kids up and disrupt the other new mother in the room. (I found out Friday morning that there were 16 babies in the nursery at that point!) Anyways... the kids love O to pieces! We have not seen any jealousy from any of the kids. I would have to say the worst things they have done is fight and argue about who is going to hold him first, next, and last or who held him the most.

It is a great feeling to have another piece to our family puzzle. Our little miracle fits right in!!! = )

just a little while...

So it has been a little while since my last post... We have had a busy home lately and to be honest I have not had time to blog and if I did have a chance I usually laid down and went to sleep. Sorry. Here is a quick recap of the last month or so:

*We were blessed with the birth of OMB on the 9th of December! He was born at 2:52 pm, weighed 8 lbs 11 oz, and was 22 in long at birth. (I'll make a separate post for the details on this special day!)
*Gma V was here when baby O was born and spent a few days with us plus we were able to celebrate Christmas with her before she went home.
*T studied his butt off and took his second set of block exams for Medical School just days after O was born. (And he PASSED so he gets to be home with the family for 3 WHOLE weeks!) This was a little stressful for us but we made it and they say, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger".
*Christmas day came and we did not even leave our home. We stayed in pjs all day long and enjoyed spending time together as a family. IT WAS PERFECT!
*Baking extravaganza! T wanted to make some Christmas cookies and candies for the holidays so he made a list of what he wanted to make. We *only* had 12 different sweet treats on the list!
*A couple days after Christmas we got to spend the evening with T's family. T's sister moved back up to the area (only 45 minutes or so away now!) so we were able to see them after she got settled a little. We are super excited to have her back up here and hope to be able to see her at least a couple times a month instead of a couple times a year!
*T and I decided to get an aquarium and set it up for the kids; well mainly T. I am NOT an animal person so I compromised with fish as long as I never have to take care of them. This project, still in progress, started about mid last week.
*HAPPY NEW YEAR! I celebrated New Year's Eve by falling asleep by 8:15 (at the latest). Spent another day of relaxation with the kids although T took the big kids to Petco to look at some fish and plants.
*Sunday Funday?! not here! We woke up this morning and E vomited while he was eating breakfast, on the kitchen table. Then I went into his room and apparently he vomited in bed and did not tell us. Later in the day J started vomiting and they have been back and forth ever since. It has been over 48 hours of both kids vomiting. They are so sad that they can't eat and that we quarantined them to their room so N and O don't get sick. We will have to load them up on calories when they start to feel better so they can gain back all the weight they lost.

a late update

Last Monday: I had a check-up at the doctor because I was going to be induced on Tuesday (the 30th). After talking with the doctor we realized that according to my ultrasounds that my due date was not till the 18th instead of the 10th. We decided that we would come in on Tuesday morning and have an amniocentesis done to check the development of our little baby boy’s lungs.

Last Tuesday: We arrived at the hospital to be potentially induced. After arriving around 7:30am we were hooked up to monitors and machines. The nurse who set up the bands around my tum-tum was impressed with the hardness of my abdomen. She thought I was having intense contractions because my stomach was rock hard but it turned out it was/is just FULL of baby. After hanging around for a couple hours the ultrasound technician came in to check on the little guy and see if we could find any amniotic fluid pockets that would be suitable to perform the amniocentesis. Once she started moving the magic wand around she too commented on how FULL of baby my abdomen was. This guy is EVERYWHERE! [Not exactly what I want to hear since N weighed in at 9lbs. 11ozs.!] They were finally able to find a spot that they could withdraw some fluid; after much flipping, turning, maneuvering, and manipulating of this baby. I was actually surprised at how painful it was to have the doctor lift the baby and move him around (while still in my uterus of course). Nothing compared to labor and delivery by any means, but none the less still painful. The amniocentesis went well and was uneventful (thank goodness). Then we got to sit and wait for another hour and a half or so. We were a little disappointed at the results (his lungs were at 30 and he needed to be at 55 in order for us to follow through with the induction). So we packed up and headed home; without a baby in our arms.

We were more than alright with the idea of not having the baby induced since his lungs were not fully mature but were slightly discouraged. I guess the timing would have been TOO perfect for it to work out. Our list of things that were prepared for this little guys’ arrival was more than complete plus my mom was up here to help with the kids while I would have been in the hospital. Now we get to play the waiting game and see what happens next. Our doctor moved my due date to the 18th now so we have a little more time. I know it does no good to worry about it but I am just hoping that everything falls into place and the baby is not born during T’s block exams (13th-15th); any other time would be just great! I have another appointment tomorrow so we will have to see what is in store for us next!