Our Little Brainiac

You know I always thought that Emily functioned abouve average. I'm not one to brag about it, but the kid knew all of her letters and numbers by the time she was two. And by 18 months she was singing a variety of songs on her own. They were audible and right. She constantly blew us away with the things that she knew. And she has such a desire to learn and soaks in everything that you tell her. Kinda freaks me out sometimes. By the first quarter or preschool, she was reading. In kindergarten, she was acing her spelling tests and was the top reader in all three classes. By the time we got to Kindergarten conferences, her teacher wanted to push her thru to first grade. I wasn't too thrilled about that because I was just adjusting to having her away from us for five days a week and I surely wasn't ready for her to be gone five FULL days, so we kept her in Kindergarten.

As first grade started, we realized that she was acing all of her tests and her teacher started testing her reading comprehension without our knowledge, just to see where Emily sat on the charts. The day that I found out that we were going to have Maggie in two days, the principal at Em's school called. Kinda freaked me out. I think as a parent, we always freak when the school calls, right? Well, the principal informed me that she wanted to move Emily into second grade. Apparently, the testing that Em's teacher did was off the charts. She is testing at a level 30 reading and comprehension level (end of 5th grade) and average for 1st grade is 6. She scored 85% on the first grade end of the year math test with no instruction.

What a huge thing! Like seriously, I don't want to have to make decisions like that. We took some time though and talked about it. Jay was all for it because it was going to benefit her in the long run. She was bored in first grade and needed a challenge. I looked at it that she is a young kid in her grade to start with and when all is said and done she will be 16 when she graduates. YIKES! After much discussion and talks with family and friends we decided to go for it.

So, the MOnday after I had Maggie, I walked Emily into her second grade class. All new friends and all new class. I was nervous for her, but she was thrilled. It's been almost three weeks and she is doing fantastic. She is actually getting a few problems wrong on her math work and we have to show her her mistakes. We've never had to do that! She is challenged and loving it. For now, I couldn't be happier with our decision. I just hope I feel that way in 8 years. :)

Magdalena's Birth Story

To my best recollection:

Thursday October 8th, 2009
I was up at 4am. We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 6am for a pitocin induction. My alarm was set for 4:47am, but at 4:00, I finally gave in and got out of bed. I sat down and typed up a quick blog entry and updated my facebook status. At 5:15. I woke up Jay and at 5:30 my dad arrived to stay with the girls (who were still sleeping) until my mom came home from work. Jay and I left the house about 5:45 and stopped for magazines and m&ms. We got to the hospital right at 6:00am and they didn't even escort us up to l&d because they figured after 3 others, we knew the way. :)

I got checked in and sat and waited for my nurse to come and start my i.v. She didn't have much luck, so I had to wait for another nurse. After 6 or 8 pokes, they finally got me hooked up a little before 9am. My veins are terrible and hard to get. I was pretty bruised up after that fiasco. My dr. came in to say hello about 10am and told me that they were going to get me going slowly because he had back to back surgeries at 11 and 12. So, my pitocin drip was nice and slow and Jay and I enjoyed our "morning out" and relaxed while reading and watching tv. At some point, he went and got himself breakfast.

At 1:45pm, my dr came back to check on me and I was at 6cm. I was actually shocked because I knew I was having contractions, but not one hurt. Nothing more than a little cramp. And they were regular and about 2 minutes apart. The dr broke my water and said that he was right around the corner since we all expected that it was going to happen quickly. I think it was about 2:15 when that happened and I refused my epidural. I was still sitting up in bed and handling everything really well. I was still shocked that things were going so smoothly. Around 2:30pm I felt really pushy. Jay went to find the dr and when he checked, I was only 8cm.

Well then the shit really hit the fan. I went from listening to my hypbirth cds all relaxed and chillin to thinking I was going to die. Transition without an epidural is not that great! Transition started about 2:50. I cried. I screamed, I BEGGED for that epidural (but was way too far along.) In retrospect, I think I felt worse for Jay than myself. HE was scared and had no idea what to do. All of a sudden I got that unmistakeable feeling right about 3:00. I guess they are right and transition is short because the pain was only unbearable for 10 minutes or so.

I'm not sure if Jay went out to find the dr or if they heard me screaming that it was time and came in. That part is a little blurry. Wonder why....The dr came in and I flipped over to my back to start pushing. Only I really don't remember pushing all that much. The baby decided that he or she was in too big of a hurry to wait for them to break down the bed or do much of any preparation. Thank goodness the nurse listened when I said I usually go fast and started bringing in the delivery cart when the dr broke my water. I remember feeling the baby crown and then the dr rotating the baby to get the shoulders out. I think I gave one little push for the shoulders. That was it. LEss than 8 minutes from complete to delivered.

I cried and cried and cried. Jay cried...and cried and cried. Then the baby cried. I asked Jay to tell me what we had because he was so lost in the moment I think he forgot that was his job. haha. I was thrilled to find out we had another girl. I kind of thought it was a boy, but was over the moon to hear it was a girl. Jay cut the cord and baby was passed up to me. She was beautiful!

After taking Magdalena over to get her assessments and get weighed, they brought her back to me and after looking her over and 'mashing her a little, I offered her the breast and she took right off nursing. I have never had a baby so alert and ready to get down to business. But I have also never had an all natural delivery, either. :)

I called my mom first. I was more excited to tell her about my accomplished natural delivery than I was to tell her about the baby- thats horrible, right? I was so proud of myself and a little mad that I didn't go natural sooner. Oh well. I did it once.

My mom and dad didn't tell the girls about their new sister. They actually just told them they were going to visit me and the hospital. So when the girls got there, my parents sent them in first so we could have some bonding time with just our family. The girls were so so so excited to see that I had the baby and they had a sister. They ran right out and told my parents and brought them back in to introduce them to Magdalena.

I don't think I could have asked for anything better than the birth experience I had. It makes me sad to think that this is probably the last one. Unless I can talk my husband into a few more....

Welcome Miss Magdalena Jane

Again. A little behind. But...it's hard to separate myself from all my little lovies.

Magdalena Jane made her appearance at 3:08pm on October 8, 2009. I am pretty sure that I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience. I will post my birth story in the next post so there is a little forewarning. If you don't want to read it, then skip it. :) Our little lady was 7lbs 14 oz and 21.3 inches long. My smallest baby by 2 oz.

She is named for Jay's great grandma- who we have never met, but we looked back on Jay's family tree (courtesy of his Aunt Maddy and Uncle Art) and I fell in love with the name. Jane was the name the Jay's grandma went by. Her real name was Joanna, but everyone called her Jane. And up until she passed away on September 11, 2001, Jay had no idea that Jane wasn't her real name.

We are totally in love with Maggie and the girls can't get enough of her. She is AWESOME! And somehow God granted me yet another sleeper. This kid can out sleep just about anyone. Thank goodness. We are so very blessed and we thank God daily for our many blessings.

Dear Baby,

Tuesday I went to my regular weekly appt. I had made it to 38 weeks which I didn't think was going to happen. I figured it was going to be the same old thing and we would see the dr again in a week. I weighed myself. I gained five whole pounds from the week before. Just a pound less then I had gained the whole pregnancy. The nurse checked my bp. It was high. I had noticed some swelling in my legs. And when she checked my urine, the nurse found I was spilling protein. All the precursors for pre-eclampsia. The doctor came in and said he wasn't pleased with my results and said he would like to have you out rather than in. So he set the date for Thursday October 8th to induce labor. *wow*

I called Busia first thing on my way home. I couldn't stop crying. I am not sure why. I think it was finally an end to the pregnancy and a real beginning to our life together. I knew when you were coming now and when we would get to meet. I stopped at Target on the way home to pick up anything I thought I would need and some diapers for Cecelia. Then I went home to tell Daddy our great news (and I cried some more.)

Wednesday I spent the entire day nesting. I cleaned house, did laundry, made some food. Relaxed with the girls, went to jazz with Elizabeth, made all the girls teachers/ bus drivers/ friends aware of what was going on. I wrote a zillion notes for Busia, Dziadzia and Auntie Lisa so that they know whats going on when I am gone. I stayed up too late and had Phoenix COney Island before I went to bed. Daddy came home at 10:45 which was so nice. He only worked a half day.

Now it's 4:30 am. I have been up since 4am although my alarm WAS set for 4:47am. I can't sleep. I am so excited to meet you. I am so nervous about the work I have to do today and the pain I have to experience, but the joy and pride of meeting you will far surpass all of that. I can't believe the day is already here. I feel like a kid at Christmas awaiting to unwrap my special present. As I sit and type this I feel you hiccuping in my belly and you are stretching your legs out and kicking my ribs. Believe it or not, I am going to miss this all. You are probably our last addition, so I have tried hard to love every minute of this pregnancy. Even when what I really wanted to do was cry from exhaustion or morning sickness.

By the end of today I should have you in my arms. I have been praying that you are happy and healthy and that you make a fast appearance. I can't wait to hold you and kiss you and introduce you to your three big sisters who are so very excited to meet you. Cecelia isn't the baby anymore and I wonder how she will deal with that. She seems so thrilled, but I know its going to be a big change for such a little person. I'm anxious to see if she is right and you are the boy that she has been insisting that you are for the last 9 months. :)

See you soon, Baby. We love you so much already.

Love, Mommy

Anytime Now!

I made my goal. The baby can come now. Since the minute I found out I was pregnant, I prayed that the baby would not be born on Cecelia's birthday. They will be close and I knew that, but even a day apart was better for me than sharing the actual day.

So now Cecelia is two. Her birthday passed. Baby, you can come out whenever you are ready because we sure are ready to meet you! Can't wait!

(I guess I still have 2 weeks and 3 days left, so it could be that much longer, but I am so ready now!!)

Happy Birthday Cecelia Rose

A day late and a dollar short. Isn't that the way that it goes?

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of our 3rd daughter. I can't even imagine that it has been two years since she blessed our lives. It's still amazing to me that she came as early as she did and that she is a "she." I was convinced my whole pregnancy that she was a "he." But was more than happy to learn after she made her debut that indeed we had our third little princess. She has yet to fail to surprise me and every single day with her is new and exciting.

Today we will celebrate with family and a Dora themed Mexican Fiesta. She loves Dora and for the life of me I still can't figure out why. She doesn't watch Dora and I am not even quite sure where the obsession came from. But so it is.

Thank you Cecelia for keeping me on my toes and for helping to decorate everything with your markers and crayons. I love your love for life and I love how you can keep up with your big sisters. I can't wait to watch you grow and learn and to see what kind of person you grow to be.

Thank you God for blessing my life with Cecelia. She was the perfect addition to our family and she keeps life fun and interesting.

Happy Birthday Cece, Celia, Cecelia Rose! We love you like no other!

34 weeks

Well....not as great an appt as the last 34 weeks worth.
I started to lose my plug on Sunday. I had contractions from Saturday on.
Tuesday was my appt. I made the doctor aware of all the changes (but only after we discussed that Paul Stanley from KISS had a baby in January lol) My doctor said he wants me sitting/ laying down for the majority of the day. I am NOT to overdo it. I need to delegate jobs and let things go. He wants the baby to cook as long as possible but would really like to see me make it to 37 weeks. I can do that. On the same token, he did say that I could go over 37 weeks, but with the way things are happening right now I might not. I wanted an early baby, but not this early.

So Tuesday I came home and told Jay the news. He wasn't thrilled but he sent me to sit down and that is basically what I have been doing the last three days. I move from the couch to the computer chair to the recliner to my bed. I get up and move a little during the day like to take Em to the bus stop and to pick her up. If anything this is good because I don't spend much time cleaning but instead more time reading, coloring and playing with the girls. Kinda nice. My mom came over yesterday evening and brought dinner- Taco Bell and raspberries. YUM! She cleaned up the house a little and played with the girls. I am so blessed to have her to help us anytime we need it!

So here's to at least 2.5 more weeks of baking baby! I can not for one second believe that we are nearing the finish line. I kinda wanna cry.

Six years ago

at this very moment, I was enjoying my very last night as a non-mom. Jay was out with a friend of his (since today is his best friend's birthday) and I sat home getting last minute baby stuff together and reading and relaxing. We were scheduled the very next morning for an induction to get our first baby out. I can't imagine that it has been that long. SIX YEARS! Where does the time go?

32 weeks

I can't believe it. Eight weeks (or five weeks) until the newest addition makes his or her way into this family. I have the most mixed emotions about it. On one hand I am super excited and can't wait to meet this little person that has been kicking and rolling in my belly, but on the other hand I want to cry. Jay and I are pretty sure that this is the final addition to the family and I kind of want to make this pregnancy last a little longer. I can't imagine that after this baby arrives, I am never going to lay in bed at night and read out loud to myself just because I know the baby can hear. I can't imagine never putting on a pair of pocketless maternity pants again. I can't imagine closing this chapter of my life and moving onto the next. Though, I am pretty sure after a ton of tears, I will be totally okay with our decision. I know that money will be tight the older the kids get and I don't want to stretch our budget that far and I don't know honestly if this momma will handle more than four. I am pretty sure that every single day of the week this fall will be filled with some kind of activity. It's going to be busy, but its going to be fun. And with more than 4 kids, that doesn't leave any more days of the week for activities. :) Thats what I keep telling myself.

As for my 32 week appt today, everything went well. Not surprisingly. I told my doctor about the episode of contractions and painful movements I had on Saturday night and he said he wouldn't doubt if the baby was turning into position. And I think he might be right because now most of the movements I feel are up in the ribs and less in the hip bones. He said maybe I should start taking it a little easier and resting more. HA! Who has time for that? I measured 35 weeks, baby's hearbeat was 155 and my blood pressure was perfect. Oh and I lost 4 lbs according to their scale. Amazing!

Tonight I put together my new double stroller. Sunday I put together the diaper shelf in our bedroom and the carseat is ready to go. The baby's bag has been sitting packed for a week and my suitcase is coming on Saturday. I am sure I will have it packed by next week. I have to borrow my sister's suitcase again because it is the perfect size for a hospital visit.

I can't believe this pregnancy is drawing to an end. I CANNOT wait to meet our new baby!

One of my all time faves

I swear this is one of the best pictures I have ever taken. My sister and brother in law live on 5 acres and have "pet deer." They are rather tame and come when my sister calls them (by name of course.) In the spring, the girls and I were visiting Auntie Lisa and Cecelia saw the deer. She literally took off running after them calling out, "Dog. Woof. Dog. Arf." We have since taught her the word deer, so there will be no misunderstandings. :) It was just plain funny to see her reaction to the deer and their reaction to her. Priceless.

30/10

Thirty weeks down....Ten more to go. I can't believe it!

I had another great drs appt on Tuesday, My blood pressure was the lowest it's ever been at the drs office. I normally have really GREAT blood pressure, but for some odd reason whenever I get there, it shoots up. I think its the excitement about being there. I am odd. I look forward to each and every drs appt. I genuinely love going. Not just to hear the baby and talk baby, but because I adore everyone that works at my office.

The baby's heartbeat was 142 and I went back to measuring 32 weeks. Not too bad and maybe- just maybe this baby won't be as big as I expect he or she will be. :) Who am I kidding? I am expecting him or her to be the biggest so far. At least 10 lbs is my guess. We'll see!

Getting to the bottom of things

When we are not running around visiting, playdating, swimming, beaching, vacationing, yadda yadda, I have been cleaning. AND I MEAN CLEANING. I have taken one room at a time that I have started to deep clean. I have a goal of three garbage bags a week less of crap in our house. The bags can either be donated, pitched, recycled, sold, or shredded (old bills and stuff) These are bags on top of all the stuff that normally leaves the house as garbage or recyclables. I have to say that I am doing pretty darn good sticking to my goals. Unfortunately this cleaning rampage takes up a lot of the time I would normally be spending with the kids. Fortunately, we are making a lot of it "family time." The girls actually enjoy washing the walls and dusting. I don't toss any of their old toys in front of them however and every now and again, they catch an old magazine in the "outbox" and I have to blame it on Cecelia. Poor Cecelia. Only Elizabeth has this little thing she says everytime Cecelia does something wrong, "It's okay. She's just a baby and she doesn't know any better. We will just have to teach her not to _________anymore." So cute!

I have come to the realization that we have toooooo much stuff. Its not just my nesting kicking in, but it's just looking at the house and seeing closets bursting at the seams and useless junk everywhere. I am on a mission to make our home more liveable and welcoming and make my life a little easier and more relaxed. We had one garage sale already this year and it seems like all the "old people" came. I don't know where all the young mothers were because they are the ones I REALLY need at my garage sales. I might take a few things over to Jay's mom's in September when she has her sub sale. I am also looking to get started listing things on craigslist. I have 12ish weeks to go and I want this house in tip top shape before then. Though it would be pretty nice to get it all done before school starts. I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

Baby Update

We have a name (or two) picked out for #4. We think we have the perfect boy name and the perfect girl name. We discussed it on the way home from 4th of July weekend and we are sure that they will be the names we use. I guess you will have to wait and see come October.

Tomorrow marks the start of my 28th week already. Twelve weeks, give or take, left until our baby makes his or her debut. I am still feeling well- aside from the horrid leg cramps yesterday and today but it's my fault. Someone should have told me that big preggos shouldn't play kickball. oops.

Tomorrow I have my dr's appt and glucose test. One hour that I will get to spend at the drs office all by myself. I just have to decide what book I want to take to read. :) Though I am fairly certian that tomorrow I will get my pre enrollment papers for the hospital, so I should probably just sit and fill those out. I can't believe how fast this is all coming to an end. I am so excited to see who is in there, but I know I will be sad when its all over.

Life in the fast lane

I swear I haven't sat down in the last month- which is weird considering my legs hurt so bad, you'd think all I could do was sit. Whatever. I will have time to sit down when I am old and have nothing better to do.

We've been enjoying our July to it's fullest potential. We have squeezed in a few playdates, made a few trips to various parks and beaches and a few more trips to Busia's house to utilize the pool. It's cold, but the girls don't seem to mind. Momma does, but they are right in. Elizabeth is jumping off the diving board and doing backwards sommersaults all on her own. Emily is swimming over (and under water) unassisted. Cecelia prefers throwing rocks into the pool to anything else, but has taken a new liking to the slide. :)

We spent 4th of July weekend at our cabin up north with my parents and spent time visiting with my mom's family. These last 4 days we were lucky enough to have my brother, SIL and nephew in from Colorado visiting. Four days flew by, but we will take what we can get. We all went to my cousin's graduation party on Saturday and Sunday we spent time at my mom and dad's playing kickball and swimming.

It's been busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We are fully utilizing the summer days as they come and can't wait for August and HOPEFULLY some warmer weather. :)

July?

How can it possibly be July already?
We've had a very busy last three weeks off of school. And July isn't going to be any less busy, thats for sure.

It's amazing how quickly the year, the summer, this pregnancy is flying by. I hit 24 weeks yesterday!

We spent the last weekend in Caseville camping with the in-laws and friends. We had a great time and spent a lot of quality time together. The girls love to camp and I couldn't be happier about that. One of these days we plan on upgrading from our tent to a pop-up. That'll come in due time. First we need to pay off a few more bills and stock a little extra money in savings.

This weekend we are heading up to my family's cabin near Alpena. My parents are tagging along and I am sure we will get to spend some time with my mom's family that all lives up there. I am glad that Jay appreciates the cabin and time in the woods as much as I always have.

We're all hanging in. The girls have random fevers after coming home from Caseville. I hope nothing comes of it. I'm not rushing off to the dr just yet, but if it doesn't get better I just may have to.

More updates to follow. I HAVE to upload some pics. Jay has been doing it lately and everything is unorganized. Drives me nutty. I'll get caught up...one day.

22 weeks

So much for playing catch up....
one of these days.

Today marks the start of my 22nd week of pregnancy! I can't believe that I am more than half way! If this baby follows in Elle and Cece's footsteps, he or she will be here in 15 weeks! I am hoping for just a little longer than that, but I can handle whatever happens. :)

I had my 22 week appt today and it was the first one I went to alone. We bought a new pool yesterday and the girls wanted to stay home and fill it with Daddy. I took that as a 1/2 hour break for myself and headed out....alone.

The baby's heartbeat was 151 and I'm measuring about 22-23 cm. Right on target. I asked the doctor what he recommended I do about the horrid leg pains I have been having and he suggested trying a maternity support belt. The girls and I ran right out and got one and I have yet to notice too much of a difference, but maybe soon? HOPEFULLY soon! We also spoke about not wanting any triple dye used on the baby's umbilical cord and he said whatever I wanted was fine by him. This would be why I love my OB so much! There are a few other things I am going to request and am actually thinking of doing a birth plan for this baby- moreso for the nurses than for him. But we'll see.

Things are going well and I am just enjoying each day of this pregnancy. Enjoying the nesting most of all and getting a lot done- though with the house torn apart right now, you'd never guess. I guess it has to get messy before it gets clean, right?

Kindergarten Graduation

So much for playing catch up, huh? One of these days. :)

Tomorrow my "baby" graduates from Kindergarten. I can't even imagine that a whole school year has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was hiding in the bathroom and then later in the pantry sobbing because Emily was going to school everyday. And here it is, the end of the year. We made it. I didn't doubt her for a second, but I doubted myself the whole way.

It's amazing to me to see the transformation from a little preschooler to the big girl that gets off the bus each day at 12:20. I swear she has grown a foot and picked up a little attitude along the way. I look forward to the years to come, but I must admit that I sure wish I could go back a few years and have Emily be the wee one that crawled on my lap and asked to be read to. Now she would much rather sit in her room so she can "be alone to read quietly to herself." *sob* I keep telling Jay that at least I have three more coming up behind her. Five years from now, I promise I will be a bigger basketcase.

To all my Momma friends who have attended or will be attending Kindergarten Graduation:
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Happy June!!

I think I am ready to be up and rolling again. I am finally feeling better and I think I finally have a minute or two to sit down and blog again. I was slipping bad. I've just been checking in on the computer lately to see whats going on with life outside my house and have to admit I have been on facebook a little too much. Oops.

I am going to try and type up a few posts a day to catch up from April and May. Just the important stuff and the good pictures- which I am pretty sure I have some photo uploading to do again. Ugh. I am having a hard time keepin gup with things, but its getting better. At least I THINK its getting better. :)

Elizabeth's Party

Elizabeth with her favorite birthday present and the only thing that she REALLY asked for. A new KISS shirt. She was THRILLED! Elizabeth's fairy glade cake. She saw a picture online and she loved it and Momma tried her best to duplicate it. What a pain in my arse. But the kid was happy and thats all that matters afterall.

Elizabeth with her cake and her TInkerbell balloon that Daddy suprised her with.

WE had lunch at Don Pablos on the actual day of her birth. Just our little family. It was perfect as always.

I am pretty sure Elizabeth had a great time at her birthday party. It was small. Just the immediate family- Busia and Dziadzia, Auntie Lisa and Uncle Rob, Auntie Laura and Donovan, Auntie Lynn, Unlce Jerry and Luke, and the five of us. Grandma and Grandpa are still down in Florida so they were unable to enjoy the festivities. We had lasagna, veggie penne alfredo and cheese stuffed shells, garlic bread, salad and veggies. With cake, Superman ice cream, BTS cake and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. There was no shortage of calories. It was a perfect day. Laid back and surrounded by the people who mean the most- family.

Elizabeth is 4!!

Elizabeth Grace


Click on Elle's name to watch her first four years in pictures.

Splash Village March 09

Thanks to Auntie Laura, we had a beautiful first time ever girls overnighter at Splash Village. My two sisters, my mom, the girls and I had an awesome time! We were even upgraded to the best suite in the place. :) We swam a lot and laughed a lot and had a LOT of fun! On the way up we were able to share our news about the baby. IT was an awesome time and I only hope that we can do the same next year. Even with a baby in tow. We better hope its another girl or the poor little boy will have to stay home with Daddy. :)

It's long lost ME!

I guess I can finally fess up to why I have been MIA. Its the morning sickness- the all day sickness actually. And the tiredness. And the lack of interest in much of anything except sitting on my butt.

Yep! I'm pregnant!

We are so very excited and its been a very hard secret to keep! I am 10 weeks 3 days today and the baby should be here sometime around October 20. Though the last two have been earlier and earlier. I told my sister I am keeping this one in until her birthday so she better get used to sharing. Ha! I think if I went over 11 days I would be delivering one VERY large baby.

We went to the drs today for the first time and heard a perfect little heartbeat. 164 bpm. It was a fast appointment as all the first ones are and we were in and out. Emily was the most excited to hear the heartbeat and I almost cried. Okay- maybe I did...just a little.

So, here we go again. The fourth and final addition to our family. Its so awesome. But at the same time it's kind of sad. I know that everytime something happens for the first time this pregnancy, it is also the last first time I will feel it. I'm okay with it, though. We always said we wanted four and here it is...unless its twins. Or Emily told me today I could have three like Princess Fiona and Shrek. *gasp*

Little Miss Chatterbox

Well apparently we have a Little Miss Chatterbox on our hands. And the funniest thing is that its the kid I thought least likely to be a talker at school. lol.

Emily has been bringing work home everyday that she is unable to complete at school. Then she started complaining that she didn't get to play or eat her snack at school. I was ready to investigate when the teacher sent another sheet of work home with a note attached. Seems that Emily finds it more neccessary to talk during her work time than actually do her work. Apparently she is visiting too much with her neighbors.

So I asked Emily about it. I asked her if she was still sitting by the one little boy that she has always sat by. Much to my surprise, she is now sitting next to a boy that she has known since preschool. I think there is a little puppy love there and apparently so since now its interfering with her work! I am so not ready for this! But I did sit down with Emily and explain to her that we are at school to learn and do our work and if indeed we have time leftover, then we can sit and chat. BUT only when her work is completed. I think that might have helped a little because we haven't had work sent home since.

I am so very not ready for this! Why can't they stay 2 forever?

Win A Free Bum genius Diaper

My friend Ellisa sent me to this blog a few weeks ago and I have been a reader ever since. It's one of my favorites!

Win a free Bumgenius 3.0 Diaper! This is a valuable All-In-One cloth diaper that you can use for yourself or give as a gift to someone expecting a baby! Go check out Hot Belly Mama's Blog for details on how to win this wonderful All In One Cloth Diaper. Hot Belly Mama will announce the winner on March 30th, after her 30th birthday! Here is the direct link to her blog:
http://hotbellymama.blogspot.com/
Good luck!

Happy March

and Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

My goodness. I have been MIA for almost the entire month of February. Its been busy. And fun! And more busy.

Onto March. Hopefully this weather freking warms up soon. I almost froze at the bus stop. Its COLD! Jay and I were lucky enough to have a night out on Saturday. My parents and my sister took the girls over night so Jay and I made the most of it. We went out to dinner with our $2 gift card worth $25. That was awesome! Then we picked up Jay's friend Tom and headed out to Detroit. I can tell you that its been a very long while since I had a night out like this! ANd it was so fun! We started out at Motor City Brewery and Nathan met us there. We stayed until almost 2am I think. Then we headed over to Lafayette Coney Island. Its older than old and smaller than small. Apparently the food is awesome. I wouldn't know. My belly was too full from the 4 sodas I drank at the brewery to have room for anything else. Then we headed back to Tom's capping the evening off at 4am. That was nuts. I can tell you that I laughed harder and had more fun Saturday night than I have had in a long time.

Sunday the girls came back and we laid low. Daddy was a little slow moving....wonder why and I was TIRED! So, we hung out played some WebKinz and had a fire. I made some killer meatloaf and mashies for dinner and the girls went to bed extra early. Cecelia was sleeping before 8 which is a rareity.

Happy March everyone. Lets hope that the weather makes it above 40 sometime soon!

Down time

We had a busy day yesterday. We make it a point to do something fun together as a family on Valentines Day. Yesterday was no exception.

We had made pland to take the girls to the Detroit Children's Museum with some passes that we got at the library. Well, it was a good thing I checked before we left. We were literally sittting in the van and I opened the passport book. It said that passports weren't valid on the 2nd Saturday of the month. WTF?? So, we quickly made a plan B and headed to Cranbrook Science Museum. It was a ton of fun and we even got free cake in honor of Charles Darwin's birthday. SCORE!

After that, we stopped in at the movie store, hit The Christmas Tree Store and Buy Buy Baby to scope the places out and waste an hour before dinner. We ended up at Don Pablos for an early Valentines Dinner and home to watch our movies. A great night for sure.

Today we are enjoying some down time. Cecelia is napping. The girls are watching more movies and at 3:00 they are going to hit the bathtub so that by 4:00 we can leave for our VERY belated Christmas pictures. I've cancelled about 3 appts for snotty noses and despite the fact that Cece is still a little snotty and has a beautiful rug burn patch on her eye, we are getting pictures taken if it kills us! I just hope everyone cooperates. :)

I didn't run away

though I feel like I might want to.

Its been a busy few weeks over here. I thought February was supposed to be cool calm and collected, but no such luck over here.

~Cecelia FINALLY cut a third tooth (which explains the many sleepless nights I have had in the last month or two and the overabundance of coffee.) She got the top right one and the left is coming in quickly behind. Yep! 16 months and she has 2 half teeth on the bottom and a slight tooth on the top. Its so weird.

~I finished up and mailed in all of my breastfeeding class work. Its done and I have the certificate to prove it.

~I enrolled in my postpartum doula class and am now a member of DONA international.

~It's COOKIE MONTH! We spent this morning at Steak and Shake selling our yummy cookies. I am just hoping that our booth at Kroger on the 22nd does a better job than the one today. We were there a good long time and didn't sell but 28 boxes. The bad news is that we have at least 100 more to sell. Anyone want cookies??

So aside from teeth, cookies and classes I think thats about it. I am trying hard to start spring cleaning, but thats a whole other post. I want to be clutter free soon. Debt free and clutter free. Is there such a thing? I guess only time will tell.....

Until next time.

Can you please take a minute and pray

I have been following a few quad blogs since a friend of mine told me that a girl we went to highschool with was having quads. I am seriously addicted to reading about the daily life of quad families. Its truly a miracle and absolutely amazing to me. Thru the blog I read I have been linked to another. I don't know this family personally, but my heart breaks for them. I can't even begin to imagine.

I hope that its okay with them that I post this here, but please say a prayer for their babies, especially Preston. http://treverjennaeva.blogspot.com/ Thank you!

Got you (Where I want you)

Man, I haven't heard this song in years. Seriously, its been A LONG TIME! When Jay and I started dating, we HAD to have "a song." I think all 18 year old girls need to have a song. We had a hard time picking one. One day I was looking thru Jay's cd collection and found this cd. I knew a lot about music and had never heard of this band. I still don't know a darn thing about them. I don't know a thing about the song and I don't really know all the words. How horrible is that? But I love the slow beginning of it and I love the words that I do know. Had I not been so in love with Aerosmith and had this song not had such a fast beat in the middle I know this would have been our wedding song.

I think this would be prime example of why everyone needs a song. I listen to this song and the memories are flooding back. Is it funnier than hell that I have these little butterflies right now? I know I am weird, but if there is a song related to an event, I can recall the event like it was yesterday. I love music and I love the memories music creates for me.

Thanks Ellisa!

I am getting better and better at figuring out this Blog stuff. I have always wanted music on my blog. One of my friends has music on her blog so I followed the link and set up my own playlist all.by.myself. I am so excited for me. Hope you enjoy the music. Some of my faves. Hopefully I can figure out how to change things up a bit if need be. I'll leave that for another day.

Money saving to the maxx

I am on a mission this year to cut down our spending and to build a stockpile of commonly used products in our house. (buying stuff we don't need is a waste of money, afterall)

I have found CVS and the nifty extra care bucks (ecbs) that they give you for buying products in their store. The beauty is when you have a coupon and they give you free money to spen in their store. Last week after spending $7.40 out of pocket (oop) I got 3 packs of Kotex feminine products, 2 packs of soy joy bars, 4 glade air fresheners, 2 dish soaps and a two pack of toothpaste. (that was like $36 worth of stuff!!) So, needless to say, we are taking advantage of that and I am learning every week how to make the most of my money there.

Today we went to Meijer (Jay has been to Meijer every day this week because we read that they only let you double two identical coupons for ine item) Jay stops every day on the way to and from work because we bought 20 coupons for Chex Mix on ebay. They were for $.50 off and doubled to $1 and it was on sale for $1. Twenty FREE bags of Chex Mix! Can you even imagine?
I can almost gurantee that at least a few will end up in the food basket at church. :)

Anyway, today we went as a family with coupons in hand. I bought only sale items. Even all the meat and produce I bought was on sale (well, excpet the bananas) We spent $98.xx and saved $99.xx. We had over $32 in coupons. I was so very excited! ( I know, its the little things) I guess all the browsing ads and coupons this week really paid off for us!

It's amazing to see how many people- young and old- are shopping for coupons these days. Its so cool to me. And its like free money! LOVE IT!

My big girl

While this might not be the best picture ever taken of Cecelia, its still one of my favorites. She's dirty. She has her teething rash. She has on her Daddy's hat. But dang. Have you ever seen two more beautiful eyes? I used to pay money for contacts that made my eyes that blue. I think they might just be one of her best features.

Cecelia went to her 15 month well baby visit with her Daddy yesterday. She did GREAT! She got one shot (and she never even cried) I had warned Jay that she might cry a little and that he would have to be prepared for lots of hugs and kisses. No tears at all from her, though! Way to go big girl! She weighs 27lbs 5 oz and is 31.75 inches tall. (90% and 95% for her age) She is healthy as can be and was on her best behavior.

Cecelia is signing a few words now. She can do baby, eat, Momma, Daddy, milk and we are working on drink. She is saying a few words, too. Momma, Daddy, Lilly kitty, Whats that, Oh see. She can blow kisses, give high fives, wave hello and goodbye. She calls the birdies to her hand, too. She is walking and almost running, climbing, rolling, laughing and dancing. She can also throw a pretty mean temper tantrum already. I almost forgot how fun this age is!

I am so proud to be Cecelia's Momma. She is such a smart little lady and so sweet and caring, too.

Thats better

I think I like this one better. Easier to read. And its Em and Elles favorite colors.

And the flair is added

I am not sure I love it. I may be doing some revisions soon. I guess it might grow on me. We'll see.

Thanks to Ellisa, Marissa and Jennifer for the discussion about changing the backgroud. I am pretty observant, huh? lol

I need to add some flair

Too bad the blog decorating site is down right now. I turned everything boring and black and white and now I can't add anything. I sure hope they get that thing up and running because I am BORED.

Happy Birthday!

Today is our nephew Lucias' first birthday! I can't even imagine that he is a year old already! I still remember like yesterday my brother and sister in law telling us they were pregnant and then I remember my brother conference calling my sisters and me to tell us the baby was here. A year surely flies by quickly. And even moreso when we have only seen the little man a handful of times. I sure wish he would convince his mom and dad that MI is the place to be (despite the lack of jobs and the high rate of foreclosures- whatever who needs a job OR a house????) lol

So, Happy Birthday Lucias Jay! Hope you had a super duper day!

If you are reading this post

Please be sure to scroll down and check out all of the new pics I added. There are several new posts that all contain new pics.


Way to update that blog, Momma!

Our Annual Bowling Extravaganza

Each and every year we have gotten together with my family either at Christmas time or in January depening on when my brother and sister in law come "home" for Christmas and bowl. It's been our tradition for at least five years that I can remember. I have pictures of four month old Emily hanging out in her stroller in the bowling alley. I have pictures of me 7 months pregnant with Elle bowling away. We bowl a few games, share a few pitchers of bowling alley beer and eat a few too many assorted deep fried bullshits (the name we lovingly call all the deep fried yummy, artery clogging food that the bowling alley serves) Seriously, it might very well be one of my favorite days of the year.

This year Emily and Elizabeth bowled. We got them their own lane with bumpers and a ramp thingie and they had a blast. Especially Emily. I am thinking bowling league when they get a little older. :) This year we also tagged along two babies. Cecelia wanted nothing more than to walk down the lanes and Lucias had fun hanging out in the exersaucer. (How white trash, right? Taking an exersaucer to the bowling alley. I think its rather funny myself)

And for the record, the first game, I beat EVERYONE except my dad. Not too shabby. I was only 2 pins below him, too. I could have beat him, but I choked my last frame. The pressure was too much. Haha.

Merry Christmas!!!

Our beautiful family.

Cecelia opening her first (and favorite present) a new cell phone just like momma's. Hopefully she will stop dialing mine and start using hers.

Emily with her Frosty ornament. Every year we buy ornaments that have special meaning. This year we watched Frosty a zillion times, so it was fitting.

Elizabeth with her favorite ornament. Again, we watched Rudolph a bazillion times and it was always her first pick for movie time.

I love this picture. My Dad has a huge train and all the grandkids have a car for the year they were born. The kids were all just sitting and watching the train. I have about three pics of this and it actually shows their heads moving to watch the train. ADORABLE!

I like to call this one MISCHIEF

This is what happens when you leave Cecelia alone in the bathroom with the toilet and a roll of toilet paper.

Then Emily got the Aces Award for Academics

I am pretty sure I cried a little. I was taking video and crying at the same time. I am proud of all of my kids all of the time, but I was EXTRA proud of Emily that day.

Here they are...the first post of pictures...

We went to the Parade Company for our first Daisy Girl Scouts field trip.

First Post of the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I swear that I will update the blog soon.
So much has been going on the last week and a half that my head is spinning.
The girls are going to my mom and dads for the night tonight and the day tomorrow so maybe I can download some pics and get caught up. MAYBE.

So for now, Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope 2009 finds you happy, healthy and full of good things.