Cheese!

This is the picture of Little Miss that I took with my phone. I caught her mid smile. She is wearing the new outfit that her Grandma Childs gave her.

Childs' Children...they keep growing and growing....

Today Olivia is two weeks old!!!! I just can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like only yesterday I was complaining about her not being here and now she's here and there's nothing to complain about because she is a perfect baby! She eats well, sleeps well, smiles a lot, and is just the cutest darn thing alive! I took a really cute picture of her smiling with my phone, but I don't have the right "plan" to send it to my e-mail and print it out. So, I sent it to my sister in-law to do that for me and as soon as I get it I will post it. She had her two week check-up today and weighs a whole pound more than when she was born. She weighs 8lbs 4oz and they measured her at 21 inches...but does that sound right? Can a baby grow 3 inches in just two weeks?!?! Everything looks good with her so that makes me happy. My little Nathan is also growing. He had his 18 month check-up today, as well, and he weighs 22lbs 2oz and is 32.5 inches! "He's tall and slender" the doctor said, "it's a genetic thing that he probably got from a family member," he said, smiling at me. Man I love this doctor! At Emma's two month check-up the doctor told me she had gained so much weight that I must be feeding her whales milk...needless to say we never saw that doctor again. You don't mention the word "whale" to someone who's just had a baby!!!!! Anyway, Nate was so good during his shots. He just whimpered a little and that was it. He's such a good boy. He sat still and let the doctor do everything he needed to do. I have truly been blessed with the most beautiful, smart and just all around perfect little babies. The two older ones on the other hand....well, they were once like that too. But then again, I guess we all were right?

Look what Cupid brought...

She's finally here!! I'd like to thank my dear, sweet hubby for the previous post. He did that all by himself and he did a great job! So, you know me, I can't post without a big ol long story. So here are a few of the details of the arrival of our newest addition. So, as most of you read in the previous posts, I had an appt. on monday that left me with high hopes of having her that day...obviously she didn't. I went to bed a monster! I was ornery all day and short with my kids and husband and just didn't want anybody to look at me or talk to me. Throughout the night I felt a little crampy, but just ignored that becuase I had been feeling like that for a week now. Then at about 6:30 a.m. I decided to go get in the tub and see if there was any action. My contractions got a little more intense, but they were only in the front. I was having any back labor. Already being at a 5 though I decided to call the midwife on call and see what she would advise me to do. She told me to come in to the hospital and if I had progressed to a 6 she said, "let's break your water and get that baby going." So, I called Jason home from work (he leaves around 6ish to be there by 7, he had no idea he would get "the call" this morning). While I waited for him I got Maddie off to school, Emma off to school and Nate ready to go spend the day with his cousins. It seemed so foreign to me that I was going to be having a baby that day and not in immense pain. Jason and I arrived at the hospital at about 10:30 maybe closer to 11. They checked, I was at a 6, called the midwife. At 12:15 she broke my water. 20 minutes later I was still not doing much. So I told her I wanted to go for a walk and get things moving. That did the trick! My mom got there about 1:30 and she was asking how I was doing. I said, I'm in labor but the contractions are still not consistent. Two contractions later they were starting to get consistent...a little too consistent! They checked I was at almost an 8...contraction after contraction...9 1/2...more contractions and then at 2:17pm she was born...without drugs might I add! Yes, I accomplished another natural birth, which throughout I kept saying "remind me that I don't like this part and I don't want to do this naturally ever again!"...we'll see. She was a little blue because the cord had been wrapped around once, but she had a good set of lungs on her and she was perfect. I was so excited about all the hair she had. I kept telling my husband,"she better have a lot of hair with all this heartburn she's been giving me!" She weighed in at 7lbs and 4oz...which I didn't believe. She seemed so much smaller than that. Again, I asked the heavens above, why couldn't you have sent me the bigger kids when I had an epideural?!? Oh well. She did not like being messed with and just cried and cried. But once she was all toasty warm in her blanket and in her mother's arms, she was content. She nursed really well right from the beginning which made me happy. Our first night in the hospital wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. She was just constantly wanting to nurse and couldn't quite figure out the binkie. When they came to take her to weigh her I told them to keep her for a minute and see if the nursery nurses could work some magic and get her to take the binkie. She came back well educated in that matter and I am so thankful...gave me a rest for a minute! The next night was much better. She slept and seemed to get enough to eat. Fortunately she hasn't had any problems with jaundice. I hate having to bring them back and see their yellow faces. Our first night home was fabulous! She only woke up once. She ate and went to bed at 1, woke-up at about 4:30 to eat again and then didn't wake up until 9:15. Every night has pretty much been like that. Except sometimes she likes to be awake after her 5am feeding. But that's ok. She's a smiley baby and just so much fun to have around. Maddie has missed out a little because of school, but she is a great helper and loves to hold and cuddle her. Emma just wanted to see her toes. All morning before I went to the hospital she kept saying, "I can't wait to see Cinderella Olivia's cute little piggies." The only word Maddie found to describe her was "adorable." when she first saw her in the hospital she kept saying that word about everything! Nate's voice was the first voice I heard when they came to the hospital, "baby!" Then he caught a glimpse of my chocolate cake from dinner and that was all he could think about. "Do you want to hold the baby?" "No. bite." The following day, I made sure that my lunch was hidden when they came and he was much more interested in her. He made this cute little "Ohhh" sound and played with her hair and gave her a million kisses...and he's been doing that ever since. He's even beeped her nose a few times. He's learning to be soft and gets really concerned when she cries. He loves her and I don't think I have anything to worry about with him. He is struggling a little bit with me not being able to hold him or spend a lot of time with him. But this too shall pass. I want to thank my family and Jason's family for all of the help and support they have given us. Thanks to all of our neighbors and friends who have brought meals and gifts. But most importantly, I want to thank my sweet kids and the best husband in the world!! The kids have been so helpful and mostly well behaved and tried to help their dad get things done. My husband is just too good to be true! He's been on top of things and never complained about all the little things he has to do. He's spent hours playing games with Emma and helping Maddie with her homework and getting valentines ready. He's had to take care of Nathan 24/7 and change all the diapers and prepare all the meals. Everybody asks me, "So, how is it with 4 kids?" I reply with "Great! So far I've only had to really take care of one of them because my husband is so great!" I dread the day he has to go back to work, when I'll really have to prove my worth as a mother, but I want him to know how much I love him and what this little baby means to me! I couldn't do it without you Babe! You are the best! Thanks for making it fun! Love you!!!!!!

Olivia Mae

We welcomed Olivia Mae to the world today!!! She was born Feb 9th at 2:17 pm. She weighed 7 lb 4 oz. She was 18.25 inches long. She's got a lot of hair and a pretty pink bow courtesy of Emma. This girls were excited as could be. Emma just loved her little feet. Maddie just kept saying how adorable she is. Nate was only interested in eating his mom's food. Pictures will be coming soon.

The Home Stretch

Ok, one more week left...can I make it? I went to my appointment this morning and she checked me and gave me the shock of my life. She said that I was already dilated to a 4.5 and could possibly even be a 5! Seriously, you don't know what this means to me. When I was in active labor with my other kids I was only at a 2. I'm at a 5 when I finally go to the hospital and am in real pain. I'm also about 70-75% effaced and at a zero station, which means her head is really low. But no activity!!!!!! What the heck is going on down there. Is she stuck? Is she just teasing me? I hope they spank her when she comes out! So, yes it could be any day, but it could be a week before she decides to do anything. I guess I just sit and wait. Nothing else to do. Laundry is done, house was clean-not anymore but that's the way it is with 3 other kids, nursery is as done as it's going to be right now-not much to really do there, bag is packed...just need the dang baby! So, I guess we wait.

Jazz Daddy Dance

This is the best that we could do. Unfortunately you get the backside of him, but when you really think about it that is his best side! But his facial expressions are so hilarious! He is the one in the back and has the blue shorts on. This should bring a smile to your face and a chuckle to your cheeks.

P52 #5

This past Saturday was Jason's 31st birthday!! Jason had prearranged for his mom to take ALL the kids (did you catch that dad? ALL the kids) friday night for a sleepover so we could have one more night to ourselves before the new baby comes. So we went to Wingers because he had a free birthday meal from them. It was really good. Then we went and did a little birthday shopping and found some killer deals! After that we did a little grocery shopping and rented a really bad movie from Redbox. I think it was called Duplicity...we didn't even finish it. We turned it off because we just couldn't get into it. It was really hard to follow because they kept doing all these flashbacks. Anyway, not a good movie. So, we turned it in early. The next morning his mom invited us over for breakfast so we went and had some eggs and toast. The kids had a blast at grandma's and were just as wild as could be. Nate did great for his first time away from mom and dad for the night. I'm really glad he made it easy for grandma Liz. Jason chose to work that day. His company was doing inventory that day so he left to be there at 11am and didn't come home until around 7pm. I made him a special dinner of Spicy Asian Chicken and homemade Ham Fried Rice. He seemed to enjoy it. The girls were just adamant that daddy have a "themed" birthday party and blow out candles. They chose a basketball theme for him. Jason doesn't really like cake so I usually make him his favorite Banana Cream Pie, but you can't really put candles in a pie. So, I thought that I would be really clever and make him a cake and frost it like a basketball. I don't know what my problem is, but everytime I make two round cakes they fall apart!!!!!!!! I tried to piece it together and frost over it anyway but it looked like crap and wasn't even picture worthy...one of those memories I'd like to forget! So, that didn't work out but it was ok because he still blew out the candle and the cake was more for me and the kids anyway. On Sunday we invited my family and his family over for pie. Well, actually, at the last minute I called my mother in-law to see if we could do it at her house. I spent the whole day Saturday cleaning and by the end of the day it didn't even look like I had lifted a finger. I used up all my energy on that whole day and knew that I wouldn't be able to clean on Sunday, so she saved me once again. Anyway, my sister Kayla has her birthday on the 27th of January so she brought a chocolate cake so we could sing to her and she could blow out her candles. She turned 20 this year! Makes me feel really old. Jason is not a fan of chocolate and as soon as Kay walked in the house with this nice chocolate cake with chocolate frosting Maddie said "Oh, we don't like chocolate!"

So, we sang to the birthday kids and started slicing up the pies and cake. Guess what Maddie had...the chocolate cake. And then a piece of pie. All in all I think it was a pretty low key, but happy birthday, which is just the way he likes it. So, here's J's Birthday:

I decided that I had time for another page so I scrapped Christmas Morning. I think I've already told you the story about when the girls came up stairs that morning to see what Santa brought them, but I'll tell it really quick. They wanted art and craft things so we found these really great easels for them. They run up stairs and then suddenly stop. They don't know what the easels are!! Em turns her attention to the presents under the tree. I'd show you the video, but it's mostly just them standing around trying to figure out what the heck Santa brought them. They didn't even notice any of the other things he brought. It was just too funny. Once I explained what they were and showed them all the craft things they were excited. Nathan got a basketball hoop with a basketball as his present from Santa. He just wanted to "shoo" all morning. It's a little tall for him so Jason had to hold him up, but he sure loved trying to do it all morning. He also loves to color and found his way into the girls box that had their crayons in it and started coloring in a magazine. It was a pretty mellow Christmas morning but the kids enjoyed the things they received. We got a Wii game for the family to play, a Barbie Wii game for the girls to play and a few princess card games and board games to play. Emma has inherited her mother's love to play games so I try to find new ones for her to play. She is just now getting into "Go Fish" and "Old Maid" and games like that. Anyway, sorry about all the rambling. May I present: Christmas Morning

2 Weeks and counting...

I had another appointment today and it turns out that I also have yet another yeast infection. Gross! I know. This is actually my 5th or 6th one in the last few months. I've done every treatment known to man (or should I say woman?) and it takes care of it for like a week and then it comes back. So, now on to more treatments. The problem is that it is not safe to have a natural birth when you have an infection because the baby is at risk of getting the infection as well. I've read some accounts where the baby ends up blind because of a yeast infection in their eyes. So, they said that if it doesn't go away by my next appointment they may have to do a C-Section. Which I don't want, but want to do what's best for my baby. So, pray that all goes well. The other concern they have is that while I am having constant, hard braxton hicks, I am not progressing. They are worried that it's because of the infections. So, that's the other reason why I might have a cesaerean as well. This child is causing problems before she's even here!! Anyway, that's the update and while I am very depressed about it all (I even got a little teary-eyed when they told me I hadn't progressed at all) I am totally resigned to the fact that this baby will not be coming anytime soon. In the meantime, I'm off to scrub my kitchen floor and clean out the playroom. Something to do while I twiddle my thumbs and drum my fingers waiting for this child to make her grand entrance into the world!

A Friendly Wager

It's that time of year again...SUPERBOWL! Next Sunday is the Superbowl and even though my favorite team didn't make it (the Patriots) I've found a way to still make it enjoyable for me to watch...make a bet with my dad. We've done this for the past few years and it makes the game exciting for me. Last year I won!! The bet was if my dad won then I'd have to grow my hair out for the year. If I won, he had to pay for my next haircut and he couldn't make a single negative comment about my hair all year. I have to admit that he's done an excellent job. Only a few more days dad and then you can make all the comments you want! So, this year he's rooting for the Colts and I'm rooting for the Saints. Even if he hadn't chosen the Colts first I still would have picked the Saints. I love Austin Collie...but I'm still upset about the Colts beating the Patriots for the Superbowl a few years back. And I love the underdog anyway. So, I gave him the option for one more year of me growing my hair out. I figure his chances are pretty good this year to win. But if I win he has to have my kids over for a sleepover...all three of them. Now, he says that he'll only take those who are potty trained but I say if I have to grow my hair out for a whole year then he should be able to handle a little diaper changing right? Besides, I didn't say when the sleepover had to be...who knows? Nate could be a genius at this potty training thing and be trained in a month! So, what do you think? Potty trained or hair is fair? Should he have to take Nathan for a sleepover even if he's not potty trained or should I cut him some slack?