Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny visits our house on Saturday.  So this morning the kids woke up to watch cartoons.  They didn't notice the note on the playroom door downstairs from "E.B."  It wasn't until I was fixing breakfast that D went downstairs and found the evidence of a visit.  After that it was 5-10 minutes of excited egg hunting and treasure discovering.  Then the sugar fest commenced.

Caught in the act!

Visit from a Leprechaun

K has been talking about leprechauns quite a bit because they've been having leprechaun visits at school and writing notes for the leprechaun.  She just knew a leprechaun would come to our house for St. Patrick's day.  I've never done anything for St. P's day.  I've always looked at cute things others did and though, "How nice.  Maybe next year..."  I figured I'd better get in touch with a local leprechaun and have her visit our house this year.

 She did a pretty good job.  She snuck into the kids' rooms and left gold coins on their floors and a couple in K's leprechaun house.  She left a trail of gold coins down the hall.  On the bar she left a box of Lucky Charms and a bottle of green "leprechaun juice" for breakfast and bags of gold treats as well as green jelly beans scattered all over.  Plus she hung green crepe paper all around creating a fun atmosphere.

Here's the note Mrs. L left for the K.  K had started a note before bed to leave for the leprechaun. The leprechaun left a response on the bottom of K's note.  K thought it was pretty special that Mrs. L would come and respond.  Really, K was so excited.  The other kids were too but K was the one who had been anticipating a leprechaun visit.  I'm so glad she wasn't disappointed!

Derby Time!

Roy and D have worked very sort of hard preparing D's 1st pinewood derby car.  They found a design online that D liked and Roy felt confident he could do. They went one Saturday to D's scout leader's house to cut the car out.  They sanded, painted, added weights and whatever else good pinewood derby makers do.  Then today was the moment of truth!  I stayed home with the baby so we'll all live the moments through the pictures, okay?

Getting ready for his big debut!

I can only surmise that Roy handed the camera to D to take pictures.  I have no less than 16 race photos.  This is the best one.
I do believe that green blur in the lane closest to the camera is D's car.

The 4 fastest cars are going to District!

Overall, D took 4th.  He raced 4 times.  The first time he came 1st, then 4th, then 1st again then 2nd.  He's pretty excited that he gets to race at the district level!  Good job D!

On my own

Mom left today.  She flew home leaving me all alone with 4 kids.  Oh, and a husband.  Right.  I've been repeating to myself over and over, "I've done this before, I can do it again.  It gets easier.  I CAN do this!"  And it is all true.  Still, that doesn't stop the anxiety from being there. 

We've had a good visit.  She flew in two weeks ago.  She was only going to stay until last Friday but since little C didn't come as quickly as we'd all hoped, she decided to extend her flight out to today.  I'm sure glad.  It has been so nice having her here.  The best part?  In the morning, I don't have to get up to make breakfast and get the kids ready for school.  Tomorrow morning?  All me.  Oh yeah.  Bring it on!

She was able to go to the Green Eggs and Ham breakfast at D's school.

We're all grateful she was able to come and that grandpa was able to let her come!  I know it is a sacrifice for both of them and I appreciate it.  I'm thankful to have supportive, loving, helpful parents.

One Week Old

This little boy is bringing such joy to our family.  He doesn't even have to do anything, which is good considering he's a newborn and doesn't do anything!

A wanted to take a picture of the baby and I. It turned out a bit blurry but when
you consider it was taken by a 3 year old.... not bad!

The blankie handoff

I mentioned in my last post that A has decided to donate her blankie to her baby brother.  She has been telling us she was going to do it for months.  I wasn't sure she would actually do it when it came right down to it.  The night we came home from the hospital she had tried to leave it C's bed but daddy made her take it out until it could be washed.  A very wise man, that daddy is.
Today it finally got washed.  A saw it in the bottom of the basket and got it out to take up to C who's napping.  I grabbed my camera so I wouldn't miss this.  A went up to C's bed.  She found her favorite corner (the one that's been loved into almost oblivion).  She assumed her snuggle position for one last suck on her thumb with her corner then put the blanket over C.  It's about all I could do to get this picture and not just dissolve into tears and hug the stuffing out of this sweet girl.

As we walked out of the room she commented that C wasn't sucking his thumb.  I tried to explain that not all babies suck their thumbs.  This is A's personality.  She is a lover and nurturer.  We are so lucky to have her as part of our family!

Big day for our family

So today has been kind of another big day.  It is C's first day home since we didn't get home until nearly 9 last night.  His first night home was rough.  He had gas all night and the only way he could sleep was if I was holding him upright while he lay on my chest.  He's done great today though.

K decided she wanted to learn to ride her bike without training wheels today.  Roy took them off and helped her get started.  A and I left on a little walk and when we got back, K could ride her bike without any help!  She is so able especially when she is determined!  I'm so proud of her.  She's getting so big!  I don't have any pictures of this event though.  I took video.  Grandma took a picture so maybe she'll send it to me *hint*hint*.

Also, tonight was the opening of a school district wide elementary art show in which D had a piece selected by his art teacher to be displayed.  Roy and my mom took the kids down to the opening while I stayed home with C.  I really wanted to go see D's art and celebrate with him but I am not taking C out just yet.  He's not even 48 hours old yet!  D drew and painted the shell in the picture above him.  He also mixed the paint to make those colors.  I'm very proud of him!  And look how handsome he is!

I am so lucky to have my family.  And I know I'm getting emotional from all the postpartum but I really am lucky.  I love each of my kids so much.  They have their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses.  I feel fortunate to be able to raise them and be their mother.

Home already!

C and I are home tonight!  He was doing so well, they let us out after 24 hours.  It is good to be home in my own bed and with my family.  Here's some fun pictures from when the kids visited us today in the hospital.  The kids came last night before they went to bed but we didn't take any pictures.  C was actually in the NICU for observation but they went to visit him down there.  (He was only down there for an hour or so just to make sure everything was okay after his traumatic birth experience.)

They are so excited to have a baby brother finally after all these months of waiting!  A was nervous about the whole hospital thing.  She didn't understand why I had to stay but she was okay... just nervous and reserved.
Roy told me on the way home that A had put her blanket in C's bed for him.  She's been promising that when the baby brother was born she was going to give him her favorite fuzzy blankie that she has loved on since she was born.  This is so sweet it makes my heart almost explode!

I know it doesn't look like much but it is the biggest sacrifice that girl could make for her brother.

Happy Birthday C!

 A funny thing happened on Sunday morning about 3 a.m.  My contractions started up hot and heavy again.  After a few hours, I knew these were not the kind of contractions they send you home for so Roy and I packed up to head to the hospital.  We got there about 7 a.m. where the nurse checked me - 8 cm!  Yea!  This baby is finally going to be born.
The nurses hurried and got my IV in because I tested positive for GBS which is nothing for me but potentially harmful for the baby.  I had to have a dose of penicillin in me for the baby's sake before he was born.  So we went to a room and I laid down which helped slow the contractions down.  I didn't worry too much because every time I got up the contractions started up in full.  It was kind of nice to have a relaxing morning - I even got to doze a little between contractions while we waited for the meds to travel through my system.  About noon the doctor came in to break my water and deliver this baby.  Funny enough I hadn't dilated any more so he decided not to break it quite yet.
Now instead of laying in bed relaxing, I was up walking and bouncing on a ball and doing all sorts of exercises to encourage labor.  After a couple of hours, the doctor came back and broke my water even though I still hadn't changed.  He stayed pretty close to the room after that because both he and the nurse knew that as soon as I felt the urge to push this baby would be fast.  They left the room for moment and I had to page them back in.  Unfortunately not because the baby was coming but because I had suddenly gushed so much more water that it was dripping off the sides of the bed!  I swear that baby had a 20 gallon pool at his disposal!
Well, fast forward another 2 hours or so until about 4 p.m.  I'd been thinking all day thoughts like, "He'll be here before noon."  "He'll be here before church is out."  and still no delivery.  About 4 we decided to add pitocin to my IV.  Again, figuring that even a small amount of intervention would encourage the baby enough for him to shoot out.  The doctor and my nurse had really not left the room much since they broke my water.  Now they didn't leave at all.  I had a really great doctor and nurse.  They were awesome!
Long story short (uh,,,too late) baby C still wasn't born.  Finally about 6:40 I couldn't take it anymore.  I was exhausted and the pain was too much.  I was still unchanged, 8 cm, and didn't know how much longer this would go on.  I requested the epidural and tried to hang on.  The doctor left to go brief his replacement.  (Remember how I said he was awesome?  His shift had ended an hour earlier but he'd stayed because he really wanted to be there for the delivery.)  All of a sudden, seriously, I felt the urge to push.  I could feel baby C's head pushing through the birth canal.  My nurse ran around the side of the bed, pulled the "code" lever and caught C's head.  I had to give one my push to get his shoulders out but I didn't even have to wait for a contraction.  Which was good because the cord was around C's neck 5 times and he had to get out right then.  The doctor, who'd waited around for an extra hour so he wouldn't miss the delivery, rushed back into the room.  Poor guy, just missed it!  And poor Roy mostly stood there panicking - not sure about what to do!
Everything happened so fast from the time I felt the urge to push and over the next 5 minutes that I don't really know what happened.  I know there was a team of nurses working on C to get him crying and clear out his lungs.  I remember the nurse anesthetist came in the room to give me the epidural about the time I was pushing C's shoulders out.  I remember them trying to determine the time of birth.  My nurse finally settled on 6:52.  She didn't actually have time to look at the clock seeings she was busy trying to revive my baby.  I remember the doctor delivering my placenta.  Glad he got to participate at least some!  I really remember feeling relief that the contractions were over.
I am forever grateful for the awesome team of nurses who took care of my baby. I'm especially grateful for an amazing nurse and doctor who encouraged me through the long hours and were good company for me and Roy during the long day.  I am most grateful for my nurse who caught C and was able to unwrap the cord from his neck and revive him before the team could arrive.