January a.k.a. "Monster - Huge Post"

(note: I begin this post with a pointed disregard for my lack of posting. It's an ongoing battle. Those who have been a "fan" of this blog, know the shpeel. There's no need to delve. I like to think of it as a "sporadic-suspense- building blogging technique". You never know when it'll happen, thus - sporadic. You're excited, no? Thus, suspense-building. But I digress...)

January - January was BUSY! By this time we are in full swing of the "Birthday Marathon." Sammi turned thirteen on the 29th of December, (yey Sammi!) and I am now officially the mother of a teenager. Yikes. So far, though, she's a pretty good one. Beautiful, talented, stylish, and hil.ar.i.ous! I'll see if I can convince her to let me post some of her "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde pictures." Seeriously. So. Funny!)

Anywho, Sammi's birthday marks the beginning of birthday mayhem at our house. I feel like I am in constant planning mode.
But FIRST: the year began with some milestones: Charlotte became a Sunbeam (yes, she still refers to herself as "Princess Mac n' Cheese")

and Henry decided to walk and took his first steps! 

Keith turned 8 on Jan. 14th - it was a fun day and we decided to switch up our traditions a bit by having the birthday child get to go to dinner with dad AND mom. I LOVE this new tradition. The other kiddos get to have mac n' cheese or whatever meal of their choice that makes me cringe, while Matt and I and birthday-little-person eat it up at Red Robin. We had a lot of fun talking to Keith and getting to know more of his deep thoughts. He's such a steady guy, with adorable freckles and incredible intelligence. He's easy-going, loves anything to do with the solar system, Angry Birds, science, and Scentsy Buddies. He loves to write stories and has quite the sense of humor. He wanted a cherry pie for his birthday, and so - I made one. Happy Birthday, Keith!

Five days later, it was Eli's turn! He's such a funny guy - we stuck to our new tradition, and had a blast at Red Robin (yes, again) and opened presents. We discussed his thoughts and where he was at in his life, and it was mighty fun. Eli is such a ball of sunshine. He loves everything, loves to play with Keith (whom he outweighs by a pound) and is always smiling. We are so grateful to have this little guy as our son.

 

 

Keith also became a Cub Scout and his birthday was just in time for him (and Matt) to do the Pinewood Derby! Yahoo! They spent 2 hours watching a physics video on how to build the "perfect" derby car. The lesson was learned. The car was built. And the races were WON - all 8 of them! It was pretty exciting and ended with an award ceremony where Keith was given the 2nd Place ribbon. Only in Cub Scouts can you will all races and get 2nd place. Even the kid that got first place was confused. Ah, well. It was still fun.  

Henry got his first haircut. 

 He wasn't very thrilled. It was sad for me too...but, I gave him lots of hugs and kisses and saved his beautiful locks. The end result was pretty cute - he looked like a little man, less like Bob Ross. Thanks, Dad!

 

 

Finally, the month was topped off by Keith's baptism. On July 31, Keith was baptized the same day as his cousin, Sam. 

 

It was so fun to be able to share this day with my friend and sister, Katy. We had cake afterwards and cute CTR cookies made from my mom's killer sugar cookie recipe. So good. (Side note: They really are good...I once ate 6 of them even when my sense of taste was gone. They're that tasty.) It was a wonderful day and we're so proud of Keith and the person he is.

 

January. Out.

 

January 2014 - Part Two

If this is going to happen, I've got to keep it short! Five days after Keith's birthday, we celebrated Eli's! I can't believe my little guy is five! Since his birthday was on a Sunday, his dad took him to Primo's and Big Al's for bowling on Saturday - he graciously invited Keith to come along, so the boys had a good time. On Sunday, we celebrated with the Birthday Boy's breakfast and dinner of choice and cake!

Our month ended with Charlotte continuing to be adorable, Maddi finishing her final cake for her class and Eli being allergic to something. (He was fine after a day or two).

On that note...Happy January!!

January - Part One (with a little sprinkle of December)

And so...it begins. Another year. Another blog entry long overdue. Another attempt at being a consistent blogger. I feel firm. I feel determined. We shall see how long it lasts. But seriously - I love the new year. I love the feeling of new things to come and resolutions to be better. Although I don't ring in the new year with late party and watching the ball (or potato) drop, it is one of my favorite things. Anyway - in documenting this new year, I must backtrack a few days before in which my little Sammi turned 12. *gasp* Where has the time gone?! Her birthday was on Sunday, so she got to go to Young Women that day. I'm so proud of this girl. She's so poised, intelligent and beautiful. And funny. Seriously, she cracks me up every day. I'm so lucky to be her mom. Here she is on her birthday, sporting her new scriptures and case.

We also got to meet our newest nephew, Boe. He and Henry are just a month and 2 weeks apart....they are so cute!!

As I mentioned before, we don't ring in the New Year at our house. Goodness, we're lucky if we can make it past 9pm! Here's how we "celebrated."

We were all tucked in by 8:30pm. Little Henry turned 4 months old in January. He is such a sweetheart! So happy and always smiling. He's beginning to love mom the most right now, and will sometimes get upset if someone else tries to hold him, but I don't mind. He's my little buddy. I love how he clings to my shirt when I carry him - like a little monkey. He's a big guy - 15lbs and 4 oz - the biggest of my babies. His hair is thinning out, but it appears to be the same reddish-tinted color that Char's is. Maddi has started to do "Tummy-Time" with him and loves it. She's such a good big sister. He loves it when we play peek-a-boo and is VERY ticklish under his ribs. He also loves his squeaky Giraffe toy.

Maddi also took a cake decorating class this month and learned to become quite the cake artist! Here are some of her creations:

Her teacher was so impressed with how well she did - and I loved eating them way too much! Keith turned 7 on Jan. 14 - we celebrated with our usual birthday breakfast, lunch with Dad and then birthday dinner and cake with our family. Keith is such a funny guy - and so smart!!! We have a lot of fun learning together and he's such a great big brother. Keith's so steady and yet has the quirkiest sense of humor. He's my little grasshopper.

Thus ends "Part One" of my January post. I need to get to sleep, as I am getting up at 4:30am in order to go work-out with my friend at the Y. We shall see how long THAT goal lasts. :)

Baby Henry

He is here! (notice I choose to ignore the fact that I have been absent from my blog for about, hm, five months. *sheepish smile* I will update on those days later....) Anyway - HE IS HERE! And he is such a beautiful, sweet-tempered baby. I am absolutely in love with this guy, and so thankful for the sweet kids I have been blessed with. We are home from the hospital and everyone is great. The story of his delivery is kind of a fun one..... Last Tuesday, I was 38 weeks and had my weekly check-up. This pregnancy has defied all others of mine as I went full-term on my own, with no help from terbutaline or progesterone. I was feeling good, uncomfortable, but in no rush. The baby would come when he would come. My doctor checked me and was surprised that I was dilated to a 4. I wasn't having consistent contractions - just Braxton-Hicks now and again. My being dilated to a 4 made him nervous, as my labors progress VERY quickly. He admonished me to be sure to come right in whenever I had consistent contractions and not labor at home. I agreed and called Matt with the update. He was excited and a little nervous to, as I was having random contractions before my appointment and started to again. He came straight home and he and Sammi watched me like a time bomb. I felt in my gut that I wasn't in labor, but my doctor's admonitions resounded in my ears, and at about 5pm we went in to Labor and Delivery to check it out. I asked Matt if we could go to the mall and walk around there first to make sure these contractions were the real deal, as I suspected they weren't. Matt was nervous about that, so I said "okay - we'll go to the hospital, but they're going to make me walk and I HATE walking around the hospital." Sure enough, we got there, I was still at a four and they sent me walking. We broke the rules, and walked outside for an hour, grabbed a milkshake and some Chick-fil-A, and went back. There was still no progress from a four, the contractions had actually let up and so we were sent home. I tried not to say "I told you so." :) Well, a couple of days pass, bringing us to Friday. I kept up with housework and school with the kids and tried not to feel guilty about disappointing everyone every day by not having the baby. (it seemed the kids, and even Matt, were in constant suspense. It got kind of annoying after awhile.) After picking up the house, Matt and I went to Costco as I wanted to walk around a bit and get a roasted chicken (seriously - SO GOOD) and pineapple (I LOVE fresh pineapple and had also heard that it induces labor. I figured, what the heck!) We came home, Matt made some goodies for the BSU game and I got the kids ready for dinner and bed, ate my own dinner and went to sleep. Nothing exciting. I woke up at midnight because Charlotte needed water. I got her a drink and went back to sleep. I woke an hour later, 1 am, from a contraction. It wasn't too bad, and Matt was taking up WAY too much room, so I told him to move over. As I shifted around I realized my water had broken. This put me into immediate action as I knew that once my water breaks, things go pretty fast. I wasn't too worried, as the contractions didn't seem too bad. I woke up Matt, we grabbed the bag, called his mom, told Sammi she would be there soon, and headed to the hospital. The contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart and not too bad. I even thought about paging my doctor, but, I didn't want to wake him up too soon, so I figured they would call him when we checked in. Matt called Labor and Delivery to give them a heads up, and then proceeded to speed and run a light (again, not because it was intense yet - I think he figured this was the only time he would get to.) We arrived at the hospital at 1:30am and they got me straight into the "check-it-out" room. On the way there, Matt had convinced me that I deserved a "no-pain" delivery, and after a contraction that had a "bite" to it, I decided he was right. I wanted an epidural. But I knew that the window would be small to get one, since I go fast. I called out as politely as I could, but urgently, that someone needed to check me NOW. The nurse hurried in and confirmed I was at a 7 and ready to go. She said "now let's get you a wheel-chair". I bounced up and said "That's okay! I can walk! Let's go!" (I was trying to get us there as fast as possible - time was of the essence!) We got to the delivery room with just one stop while I breathed through a contraction, I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, got on the bed and said "Okay, I'm ready for my IV - let's do this. Is he on his way?" (meaning the anesthesiologist) They assured me that they called him and the doctor. But, just as the nurse began prep for my IV, I had a contraction. And I knew. I knew it was getting too close. I panicked and said, rather loudly "IS HE ON HIS WAY?! I NEED THE EPIDURAL NOW!" Unbeknownst to me, the nurse could no longer attempt an IV as I was convulsed in my contraction. The other nurse checked me and said "She's fully dilated" I looked at her, panicked and said "ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!???? I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!" She said "You've done this before - you can do this!" I wanted to slap her, but was racked with another contraction where I thought I yelled the S-word (Matt later assured me I didn't - I must've just thought it with a vengeance). The nurses then began bustling around me, telling me not to push. I thought this comment especially stupid and wanted to slap all of them, but simply growled "One of you is going to have to catch this baby, because he's coming!" and was then racked with another contraction as Henry was born at 2:02am. 1 hour from when I first woke up. Doctor Lovelace came in about 3 minutes after he was born, chuckled and said "Congratulations!" I assured him I didn't labor at home and I was very glad to see him. Henry was so beautiful and a healthy 8lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long. After the delivery we all had a good laugh, I apologized for the swear-word I didn't say and we relived the intense moments. Good times. :) It was pretty crazy, but such an amazing experience. (And to anyone who says I had an "easy" time, watch out. :) Since I don't want to spend time organizing the pictures, I'll just explain them in order: 1) Me on tuesday for our false alarm. I am huge. 2) Our first pic with Henry, about 10 minutes after he's born. 3)The kids meet Henry 4) Baby Henry

The results are in...

It's.... a.... BOY! Here's mama at 20 weeks. Halfway there, folks!