Family, Parenting & Life

What a week!

2012-02-17T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well, you know how the week started. It is ending about the same. Samuel started to get better by Wednesday afternoon and Joseph went completely downhill. Wednesday afternoon Joseph wouldn't take a nap, so I had him on the couch watching TV. All of the sudden his face got red and he started pulling on his ear. I took his temperature and it was 102.4. I gave him Advil and called the doctor. I wanted to make sure he didn't have an ear infection because the night would be unbearable. I called the doctor at 3:30 pm and they said to come in by 4:30, which was perfect because Samuel gets home from school around 4 and we could go straight there.

Right after I got off the phone with the doctor, Simone woke up from her nap. I got her all changed and then started feeding her. Around 3:50 I saw Samuel's ride coming down the street, so I told Joseph to stay by the back door and not move while I ran and put Simone in the living room, so I could go and meet Samuel outside. It was raining and I didn't want Simone or Joseph outside. Plus, I never let Joseph go down the back steps by himself because he isn't normally that stable and he just goes. I am sure you can guess what happens next, in less then 30 seconds, Joseph is screaming at the back door. I knew he tried to go down the steps and I was terrified at what I was going to find when I rounded the corner. He was laying on the ground and half off the last step, he lifted his head up and there was blood everywhere. I flipped. I picked him up, ran into the kitchen and made him spit in the sink. I grabbed wet paper towels and cleaned up as much blood as I could. I looked in his mouth and there were no loose teeth and no cuts in his mouth. Then I wiped away the outside of his face again and there was just a gash on his upper lip and right side of his mouth. He was bleeding a lot, but they were mostly big superficial cuts. Thank goodness.

At the same time this is happening, Samuel is being walked to the back door. He does not do well with blood or seeing other people hurt, so he started to freak out too.

I have to preface the end of the story with a recap from Tuesday middle of the night. Samuel woke up in the middle of the night with a bad dream and I ran into his room. I got him calmed down and back to sleep, then I went back into our restroom because I felt like I needed to blow my nose. I reached up with a Kleenex and all of the sudden my nose started gushing blood. I have gotten nose bleeds before (usually when I am pregnant or really stressed out), but this was unexpected. I usually can control the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop, so I yelled for Dave and totally freaked him out. Anyway, my nose finally stopped bleeding and I got back in bed, but I was feeling really light headed like I could pass out. I ended up falling asleep, but in the morning, I had a conversation with Samuel about if something happens to me and I can't respond or talk that he needed to call Daddy or Savta on my cell phone and tell them and they would get me help. I wasn't sure if he understood what I was saying, but he acted like I did.

So back to Joseph bleeding. As soon as Samuel saw him bleeding, he freaked and grabbed my phone and said, "Do I need to call Daddy now? He will know what to do." He did in fact call Dave and told him that Joseph was bleeding and hurt his mouth. Luckily Dave was already on his way home. When Dave got home I took Joseph to the doctor and he did not have an ear infection (after all that). He was clearly sick, but no ear infection.

It ended up that Wednesday night the boys slept okay, but not great. Then last night happened. In the afternoon Joseph started to get a really high fever. By 3:30, he had 104.4 fever and I totally flipped. If you can't see the pattern here, when my kids hurt themselves or are sick I completely freak. I know I should be calm, but I get so worried and I don't handle that stress very well. Joseph was absolutely miserable. Let's just say that for the next few hours, I was not a relaxed person. Joseph was freaking out, Simone was screaming and Samuel just being a pain. My nerves were shot.

I had a feeling last night was going to be a bad night, so I set up blankets on the couches for me and Joseph, just in case he needed me in the middle of the night. At 9:30pm, Joseph was up and a mess. His fever was still super high (we did try everything to get it to go down) and all he wanted was for me to hold him. So my night on the couch began at 9:30. Joseph is terrible to sleep with. He wanted to sleep right on top of me in the craziest positions. At one point his entire body was on me, but his head was hanging off the couch, then he wanted to sleep directly on my head, this went on and on. Around 12:30 am his fever finally broke. We didn't get restful sleep at all, but he was feeling a little bit better.

The kids on Valentine's Day.

Simone dressed up on VDay.

I made the boys heart shaped sandwiches for lunch.

Here is my miserable little boy. This is when his fever was super high and you can see the cuts on his face.

The boys this morning wearing their superhero shirts.

Week Two

2012-02-14T15:27:00.000-06:00

There must be something about Tuesdays lately that means, throw up day. You know the story from last week, well this week both boys have vomited.

Last night Samuel started coughing a ton and he didn't stop. All of the sudden I knew that the cough was so bad that puke was coming next. I ran into his room (this was around 12:30 am) and he had thrown up all over his everything. I know I have said in the past and I will say it again, I really hate puke.

Anyway, in the middle of the night I changed all the bedding, including the comforters and started a load of laundry. I changed all of Samuel's sheets, cleaned him up, got him redressed, cleaned up the floor (yes it was there too), got him water and got him tucked into bed. I laid down with him for a little bit and he finally fell asleep. Everything took about a hour total. Then I got back in my bed and I think it was about an hour or so later when he started coughing again. I sent Dave in this time to lay with him. I fell back asleep and Dave fell asleep in Samuel's room for a while. I have no idea when he got back in bed because I was exhausted.

Then around 6:30 or so, Joseph started coughing. He was basically up at that point, so I rolled out of bed to start the day.

The boys have been coughing like crazy all day. I obviously didn't send Samuel to school, which broke my heart because today they were having a big Valentine's Day party and exchanging valentines. We dropped of Samuel's valentines at school and his teacher is going to collect all of his for him and give it to him tomorrow, if he goes.

Then to my afternoon. I made the boys heart shaped turkey sandwiches. Joseph inhaled his and Samuel took two bites. Joseph was acting really tired around 12:30, so I decided to put him down for a nap. When I laid him down he started coughing too, but I thought he would eventually fall asleep. I took Simone into her room to get her to take a nap. She was eating and was basically asleep when I heard Joseph doing the same ridiculous coughing that Samuel did last night and I knew he was about to throw up. I quickly put Simone in her bed (which she wasn't happy about at all) and ran into Joseph's room just in time to hear him throw up all over his bed. Are you freaking kidding me?!

I stripped him and the bed down, cleaned him up and got him dressed again. Then I started my fourth load of sheets and bedding for the day. It has been awesome. Now both boys are sitting on the couches, watching TV, covered with blankets and coughing their heads off. Samuel just told me his bones were hurting, which scares me because I really don't want flu in this house.

Tonight we are ordering heart shaped pizza in honor of Valentine's Day. The boys are really showing me some serious love today.

I have always hated Valentine's Day and this is just another reason not to like it. However, because today is the day to celebrate love I do want to say how much I love my wonderful husband. I couldn't function without you! I am also extremely grateful for my beautiful kids. They drive me crazy sometimes, okay a lot of the time, but my life would not be complete without them. I celebrate this day because of them.

I can't leave out my amazing parents. Now that I am a parent, I really appreciate everything they did for me growing up. Parenting is one of the most difficult jobs EVER. I think they did a pretty good job with me! I love you guys.

There are other people in my life that I appreciate and love so much. I am so grateful for my in-laws, my brother, sister-in law, niece, nephew, aunts, uncles, my beloved Zayde and my friends.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Party Weekend

2012-02-08T14:38:00.001-06:00

We had such a busy weekend. We celebrated Joseph's 2nd birthday on Saturday. All the grandparents came in town to help celebrate. Jonathan, Laura and Haidyn came over and a lot of our friends. Also, my Aunt Kay, Uncle Izzy and my Zayde came in town from Kansas City. It was so nice to be able to have them in town. It is sad to think that there are not going to be an infinite number of birthdays that my grandfather will be able to attend and I really cherish each one that he is able to celebrate.

I thought I took a lot more pictures at the party, but when I downloaded the pictures I didn't have a lot. I know a lot of people were taking pictures so I will have to get some from everyone else.

Not only did we celebrate Joseph's birthday, but Simone also turned 4 months old. She is still absolutely wonderful. She is so happy, laid back, beautiful and easy. She is such a joy to have. She rolled over yesterday from her back to her stomach all on her own. She has been rolling from her stomach to her back for a while now, but it was the first time she rolled completely over from back to stomach. She has really found her feet and hands too. She is also still sleeping completely through the night.

Here were her statistics from the doctor's appointment yesterday:

Height: 25.5 inches (88%)

Weight: 13 pounds 14.5 oz (53%)

Head Circumference: 15.90 inches (31%)

She is tall and skinny right now.

Just as a comparison, here are the boys stats:

Joseph:

Height: 25.5 In. (73%) he was the height as Simone is now.

Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz (62%)

Head Circ: 42.5 cm (58%)

Samuel:

Height 64%

Weight 16 lbs 11oz (84%)

Head Circ: 34%

So far, Simone is the tallest at this point. It is crazy that my little girl is such a big girl!

What can I say about Joseph. My goodness, Joseph is such a handful. In two years, he has changed and grown so much. Before Simone was born, Joseph would not hug, kiss or cuddle with anyone unless he decided to do it himself. After Simone, it was like a completely different loving kid emerged. I think having a younger sister brought out this loving and protective personality that we had never seen before. He is so excited to see her all the time. He now will give kisses and hugs. Not only has he become very affectionate, he is also extremely stubborn and independent. When he doesn't get what he wants he throws fits and he is adamant about getting what he wants. I know he is in his terrible two's, but I also think that his behavior is just part of his normal personality. I don't think he is ever going to be an easy going laid back kind of guy. He is my fully animated little guy. I love how much he has changed and grown. He is absolutely wonderful.

Yesterday was Joseph's birthday and we spent the afternoon at the doctor's office for his well visit. It was quite an experience. As soon as we walked in the door at 1:15, Joseph started screaming. I know he thought he was getting shots and really I wasn't sure if he was getting any, so I couldn't tell him not to worry. I tried to calm him down, but when the nurse came in he lost it. He screamed continuously until we left at 2:45. It was a really long appointment because we were there for both Simone and Joseph. I talked to the doctor about Simone and that was pretty quick, then we moved on to Joseph.

After we discussed all my questions, then the doctor came over to examine him. Now Joseph is always very difficult to examine. He hates to be touched by the doctor and fights like crazy. I always have to hold him on my lap and restrain him when the doctor is looking in his ears or eyes. By the time we got the the examination part Joseph had been crying for at least an hour. His cheeks were bright red, his ears were bright red and he was a completely mess. I felt terrible for him and I was trying to calm him down. I thought the examine would go okay once the doctor listened to his heart and chest. Joseph was actually laughing a little bit because the stethoscope was cold and the doctor was making him laugh. Once his ears and eyes were looked at then the doctor started to look in his mouth at his throat. All of the sudden Joseph started gagging (because he was crying and screaming again) and then he just threw up all over. When I say all over I really mean it. He threw up all over the doctor, all over my legs, my arms, his shirt, the blanket he was holding and the floor. It was disgusting. I took off Joseph's clothes, wiped myself off, took off my jacket, cleaned off the floor and tried to gather everything up. The doctor gave me a bag and I put all the nasty stuff in the bag and tried to calm Joseph down. By this time, Simone was screaming, Joseph was still screaming and the doctor was just trying to help me get everything together and get me out the door. He felt terrible, but what could he do. It was not the best experience I have ever had at the doctor. I guess you have to experience everything once.

Here are Joseph's stats:

Height: 34.3 Inches (47%)
Weight: 28.60 pounds (59%)
Head Cir: 19.40 inches (67%)

Here were Samuel's:

Height: 36.25 in (91%)

Weight: 35 lbs (>97%)

Here are pictures from the weekend:

Simone at 4 months!

Zayde with Simone

Family picture!

The cake pops I made for the party

Joseph attempting to eat his birthday cupcake and ice cream.

Samuel and Simone hanging out on the couch

Another Simone picture

Oma and Opa with the kids

Joseph and Simone on his birthday

Another happy picture

The kids hanging out on the couch

A little break

2012-02-01T12:59:00.001-06:00

The past three days have been gorgeous here. We have taken advantage of the beautiful weather. I have walked Samuel to school every day this week, gone on walks and taken the kids to the park. We have been having a lot of fun. I really needed some nice weather, even though technically we haven't had much of a winter at all.

I haven't posted pictures in a while so here are some below:

Yesterday, Simone was laying around and she found her feet. She is grabbing them all the time now. She is growing so quickly, I can't believe how fast time is going. She is going to be 4 months in a few days.

Joseph is going to be 2 in a little less then a week. I am planning a big birthday party with friends and family. I am going to be making lots of food and desserts, so I will have to post pictures after the weekend. Joseph has been on such a strange food kick the last few weeks. For two weeks all he wanted to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner was peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Then on Sunday night he started to only want to eat veggie corn dogs and apple breakfast bars. He is throwing in a few veggie sausages and smoothies in the mix, but really that is all he wants to eat. Then I discovered yesterday that he is getting his left bottom two year molar. We were wondering why he hasn't been sleeping that great and now we know. Thank goodness the last four teeth are starting the come in. I am so done with teething at least for the boys. As soon as all of his teeth come in, Simone will probably be getting her teeth.

I can't believe that Joseph is turning two as well. I take both Joseph and Simone to the doctor next Tuesday and I can't wait to see how big they both are getting.

I can't believe that January is gone. I am happy to say that I lost 7 pounds in January. I still have 10 more pounds to go before I am at the weight I was when I got pregnant with Simone. I have really been trying to workout more and making food at home every night really has made a difference.

I was planning to write a lot more, but Simone is crying and I have to run. At least I got a little post in today.

Discovery

2012-01-22T11:59:00.000-06:00

I discovered this website Kiwi Crate. This is a wonderful idea for a mom like me that could be really creative if I had the time and energy. Each month your child gets a box in the mail with fun and creative activities. I just signed up and I can quit at anytime, but I wanted to try it out.

I have reached my limit on many things in my life right now. I am sick of having all this baby weight, so I have become desperate to lose weight. Dave and I are going to work really hard for at least the next two weeks (I wanted a shorter attainable goal) to eat better and exercise. I will let you know how it goes. I am about to roast some butternut squash, acorn squash, cauliflower and carrots. I want to be able to add it to my salads all week and then hopefully the boys will eat it too.

I am also going to buy a label maker and lots of organizational bins, containers, baskets, etc. I need my pantry to be better organized. I need my life to be more organized. I have to start somewhere.

My memory has really been going lately. I can't remember things, I forget things and I just simply feel like I am walking around in a fog. I really need organization in my life in order to feel like I am functioning properly. It is part of my perfectionist, OCD personality.

I am off to do some cooking and organizing.

Sick House

2012-01-20T14:53:00.000-06:00

Our house has been full of sick people for at least two weeks now. I don't think I have had a cold like this in a really long time. I still have a runny nose and a little bit of a sore throat, but I feel a hundred times better then last week. Simone has been sick this week too. She has a runny nose and a cough. It has changed her sleeping a little bit. She is waking up around 4 every morning, instead of her normal 6 am, but she eats and goes right back to sleep. I can't complain when I have such an easy baby.

As I mentioned in a few previous posts, I have really been making an effort to cook meals at home since the beginning of the new year. I am constantly searching for new and easy recipes. There still aren't many things that the boys will eat, so it makes dinner time pretty difficult. Another new years resolution of mine is to not be a short order cook. I want to get to the point where I only make one meal for dinner and everyone eats it. Wouldn't that be nice! I would say we are about halfway there. I always give the boys steamed vegetables or a vegetable option for dinner and they have to eat at least one bite. Samuel is pretty good at eating his veggies every night, but Joseph is terrible. He refuses to even take a bite most nights. Then he will throw in a random night where he will inhale the veggie. That is why I give it to them every night with hopes that they will eat the veggies more often.

My kids also really are not fans of meat. They will eat a hamburger every once in a while, but mostly they won't even touch the meat. I am slowly trying to come up with more and more vegetarian dishes. They seems to eat those best. Anyone have good ideas for food for kids? My kids are not normal. They will not eat macaroni and cheese, cheese quesadillas, grilled cheese, chicken fingers...you know all the normal kid staples. They love bean and cheese tacos or burritos, veggie corn dogs, some pasta and rice. Please help!

The good part about me cooking at home is that it is helping me lose some more of this baby weight. I have lost 6 pounds since the beginning of the year. I would still like to lose a lot more, but I am sure it will come off soon. Now that I am finally feeling better, I have got to get back into exercising. I have two half marathons scheduled this year. One in April and one in October. I would like to attempt to run some of the one in April and most of the one in October.

Lots to do and so little time.

My life is Chaos

2012-01-11T11:15:00.000-06:00

My life seems so chaotic lately. I think part of the reason why it seems so out of control is the fact that I have had a cold for the last five days. It just doesn't seem to want to go away. It is a total head cold and I just feeling like I am walking around in a cloud. It is really hard to get motivated to do anything.

I feel like I always set myself up for stress. My to-do list seems to grow by the day and I commit myself to so many things. I am trying to prioritize and trying to accomplish at least one thing a day, but it just isn't satisfying when I have piles of stuff I need to do.

Since I haven't been feeling well, I haven't been going to Bikrum which I can really feel in my body. I haven't gone now in almost a week and I desperately want to work out, stretch and sweat. I am going to have to wait until next week though because I have zero energy to do anything.

I have really made an effort to make dinner these past two weeks and I have tried out some really delicious foods. I have also lost 2 pounds. Working my way back to my pre-baby weight. These pounds just don't want to come off.

Another stress in my life is that our wonderful babysitter is moving to Chicago tomorrow and I am searching and interviewing new sitters. We are interviewing one girl tomorrow and another next week. Hopefully we will find someone soon that I like so I can get myself on some type of schedule too.

I am so boring right now. I am off to get Samuel ready for school and then hopefully I can get some relaxing in and start feeling better.

Pictures from the holidays

2012-01-07T09:28:00.000-06:00

This year the holiday season was so much fun. Samuel was really into putting up the Christmas Tree/Hanukkah Bush. He loved looking at all the ornaments and figuring out which ones were his. He was really excited about lighting the Hanukkah candles too. By the end of the 8 days, he pretty much had the prayer memorized. Joseph also picked up on the prayer too and tried to say it along with us as well.

On Christmas Eve, Samuel was so excited to make cookies for Santa (he requested snowball looking cookies) and he wanted to leave carrots for the reindeer and chocolate milk for Santa because that was his favorite. You can see pictures below of all the excitement.

The boys did really well this year with gifts. Their grandparents and Jonathan and Laura spoiled them. They got most of their gifts from them. We gave them one gift on the first night of Hanukkah and then a dollar each additional day. Then on Christmas, we put stuff in their stockings and they had a few really small gifts.

Although I really love Christmas and Hanukkah and know how excited the kids are for those holidays, I decided after this year that we are only going to give them a few gifts for each Hanukkah and Christmas. Their birthdays are in February and March and I think birthdays are much more important then Hanukkah and Christmas. I would rather give them more gifts on their birthday. I think that holiday is much more important.

My parents came in town for the last night of Hanukkah and we had a big feast. Jonathan, Laura and Haidyn came over and we celebrated by eating, lighting candles and opening more gifts. It was a great way to end all the celebration.

Then several days later, we celebrated New Years. Justin, Charisa, Vance and Vaughn came over. The kids played so hard. Joseph was worn out by 8:30 and then Samuel couldn't make it past 10:15. They played and the adults were able to relax and have some adult time, which we don't get very often. It was a wonderful way to bring in the new year. I feel like 2012 is going to be a great year for us.

I have signed up for two half-marathons already. I am doing one in April in St. Louis with my mom. Then I am doing a second one in October in Detroit with my mom and Dave's mom. I am so excited that we can do it all together.

Here are some pictures:

The kids on Christmas Eve.

Samuel sitting with the chocolate milk, cookies and carrots. He was SOOO excited.

As you can tell, he was going crazy. Joseph was trying to steal the food.

So nice to have a little family time!

It snowed while my parents were here and my mom made the fist snowman of the season with the boys. They loved it and so did George. She ate the carrots off of the snowman's face.

Another picture with the snowman and Samuel

Last night of Hanukkah

Another attempt at a family picture

All the kids freaking out about opening gifts.

Samuel and Joseph sitting on their new big pull out chair from Savta and Papa. This has been a wonderful gift. Samuel has even had one sleep over on it already.

Samuel got a drum set from my parents. The kids are actually really good at playing. I'm impressed.

The kids with Savta on her birthday.

My parents with the kids.

All the kids on New Years Eve

Catching up

2012-01-06T17:14:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that the first week of January is over. We have had a very busy last few weeks. I thought Samuel being home from school for almost two and a half weeks was going to drive me nuts, but it has just flown by. He has been asking to go back to school all week. I know he misses going too. Joseph hasn't had a break from school which has been nice because I have had two days where it was just me a Simone. Next week we will be back to normal hopefully.

Dave and I have been going as much as possible to Bikrym. We love it. I wish it weren't 90 minutes long, but it feels great when I am done.

I am really trying to make a effort to cook dinner during the week and have healthy options. It is really hard to come up with ideas and then finding time to cook it all is nearly impossible, but I am making a huge effort to do it. I will be posting recipes and pictures of my food on my other blog: Dinner for Two

In other news, Simone turned three months old on Wednesday. I can't believe how fast the time is flying. She is starting to laugh out loud, is talking like crazy and is almost able to roll form her back to her stomach.

Here are a few pictures. I will post again with more pictures from the holidays and when my parents came to visit.

Samuel somehow got himself in the laundry basket.

Simone in her holiday dress

Cute picture of Joseph. My phone was taking strange red pictures one night, but I kind of like it.

The kids hanging out together

Joseph in his new Thomas the Train Pj's

My little ballerina!

Here are some of her three month old pictures. She is so happy.

Here is a half smile

I just love this picture. It reminds me of Joseph and his big huge brown eyes.

Updates

2011-12-22T22:12:00.000-06:00

Wow. The days just fly by. This is the first time I have had a moment to myself all week. I am writing this blog and watching the finale of X-Factor, which by the way has turned out to be a great show.

We have been so busy the past few weeks. We had Oma and Opa in town this past weekend and celebrated an early Christmas. The boys got lots of wonderful gifts, which I have tons of pictures below. We also went to breakfast with Santa at the Missouri Athletic Club. It was our first experience and it was clear that this is a big traditional breakfast with a lot of families. I know we will go back for many years because it was a lot of fun, but I was a little stressed out because I never know how long the boys will behave themselves. This year Samuel was so excited to see Santa and tell him what he wanted. Joseph on the other hand, freak the f-out. He screamed so much and would not let go of me. We weren't planning on having a family picture, but that is what we got. There was no way Joseph was letting me put him down, plus Simone was fast asleep. Oh well, maybe next year.

Not only did we have a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with Oma and Opa, but they were also so amazingly helpful in watching the kids that I got to go to Bikrum Yoga twice and Dave went with me one time. I think I am obsessed. I love the way it makes me feel. I sweat like crazy and I smell so absolutely disgusting afterwards, but it is such an awesome workout. Since I started last Wednesday night, I have lost 3 pounds. I thought at first it was water weight, but it hasn't come back. I am just feeling great and Dave loves it too.

Simone is getting so big. She is smiling all the time and is such a happy baby. Today when we went over to Justin and Charisa's new house we were walking down into their basement and Simone laughed out loud for the first time. I have no idea what she found funny, but it was so cute to hear. Then I put her down on the floor to change her diaper and she started to roll over from her back to her stomach. She almost made it completely over, but her left arm got stuck underneath her and she couldn't figure out how to kick herself over. Anyway, I could not believe it. She must love the McFarland's new house because she had two huge milestones over there.

On Tuesday morning Samuel woke up and his eyes were super red and crusty. I thought for sure he had pink eye in both of his eyes, so I put drops in them and kept him home from school. In the afternoon, I put Joseph in the tub and Samuel in the shower. After Samuel got out of the shower he started complaining that his ear was killing him. He got a really high fever and was grabbing his right ear. I called the doctor and luckily they had late office hours that night, so Dave was able to take him in. It turns out, he had a double ear infection and his right ear was super infected. The infection caused his red blood shot eyes. As soon as he had one dose of the medicine his eyes completely cleared up. I have never heard of such a thing, but thank goodness he didn't have pink eye. I hate having to hold him down to put the drops in.

This morning Samuel woke up and had splotches all over his body. I thought for sure he had an allergic reaction to the medicine, but within 30 minutes the spots went away, so then I thought it was just a heat rash or something. It was gone all day until about 2:30 in the afternoon and then all of the sudden it came back again. I called the doctor and he wanted to see us right away to see what was going one. Turns out he really is allergic to the medication. His ears had completely cleared up, so the doctor said to not give him anymore medicine and see what happens. Samuel has never had a reaction to any medicine so this was a whole new experience for me. He is feeling fine now and hopefully our house is done with sickness.

Tuesday night was the beginning of Hanukkah. Since Samuel felt terrible he wasn't in a great mood. We lit the candles and didn't do much else. On Wednesday night we lit the candles and the boys got rain boots. Samuel was so excited about his Batman boots, but Joseph was freaking out about putting on his Thomas the Train boots. He wants nothing to do with them and screams anytime we try to put them on his feet. I hope he gets over that soon, but that will be a waste of money if he won't wear them. Tonight I made a nice dinner and the boys each got a dollar. It has been such a nice holiday season so far. I am looking forward to having a nice family weekend with all the kids and Dave.

More pictures to come, but for now here you go:

Making the gingerbread house. Joseph wasn't too happy that he wasn't able to help out with the frosting.

Simone starting to smile

Another smiling picture

The other night the boys put their shirts over their heads and ran around, they were having so much fun. I love to hear their laughter together.

Just look at the Samuel's face, pure joy. I love it!

Another funny picture

Oma holding Simone in the back in her cute dress. She is looking at her big brother.

My handsome Joseph. Such a cutie pie.

This is such a great picture of Oma and Opa with the kids. The kids did such a great job of sitting for the picture.

Here we are with Santa. You can see how absolutely crazy it was. Simone sleeping, Samuel smiling and so happy and Joseph screaming. It was quite a scene.

Samuel enjoying the cool airplane that Opa made for him. That plane is made completely by hand out of wood. It is really cool. Obviously you can tell, Samuel loved it.

Whatever Samuel has, Joseph has to have too. Luckily Oma and Opa were smart enough to get Joseph a plane too.

The boys got flashlights to play in their new tents. Joseph is imitating the Statue of Liberty here.

Opa made Joseph handmade block to build with.

Here is Samuel playing in his new tent.

A rare photo of me with Oma and Simone.

Simone in her holiday dress with Opa.

I just love this picture because every time I look at it I laugh because Simone's face just cracks me up. Hilarious.

This is a much better picture of them all. Love it.

Fist night of Hanukkah.

Although Samuel felt terrible, he still smiled for the camera.

Rain makes me tired

2011-12-14T16:26:00.000-06:00

It rained yesterday and stormed today. I get in such a funk when it rains. It is just so dark and nasty and depressing.

To make it even better, Joseph has had a stomach bug for a few weeks now. He was just having tons of bowel movements, but starting Sunday it turned to diarrhea. I know too much information, but it is disgusting and I have to share how disgusting it is. Yesterday he pooped through two pairs of pants. He hasn't had a fever during the day or any other problems. I debated whether or not I should send him to school because I don't send the kids to school when I am worried they are going to pass something along to another student. Joseph has been acting completely normal and fine, but is just having diarrhea, so I sent him to school today. They said he was fine, but had one yucky diaper. Well when I was loading him into the car, I smelled another load in his pants. As soon as we got home I went to change his diaper and it wasn't a pretty sight. I immediately put him in the tub for a good cleansing and then started gagging at how disgusting it was.

Samuel luckily is healthy and happy. He is starting to speak so much more Spanish. Today when he finished his snack after school, he looked at me and said "mas por favor". It is really exciting that he is learning and speaking Spanish.

Simone had a rough day today. She also started pooping a bunch today, which worries me because I really don't want her to get sick. She has a little runny nose, but nothing else. This morning when I dropped Joseph off at school, I went in the back seat to get Simone and she had blood coming out of one of her nostrils. I freaked. It wasn't a lot of blood, but none of my kids have ever had a nose bleed before and it was just scary to see. I get nose bleeds when I am stressed out, pregnant or the house is really dry. I called the doctor and they said that she may just be effected by the dryness in the house too. I need to watch it and then call them back if she gets anymore.

Life is super busy. I feel like I don't have much time at all for myself. But I have to admit, having three isn't much more difficult then two. I think we got really lucky with Simone. She is an awesome baby. I was always jealous of people that said they had easy babies that barely cried and slept great. Really I thought most of them had to be over exaggerating and just acting like their babies were great when in reality they were going nuts behind closed doors. Now I can say that happy easy babies really do exist. Simone is normally awesome. She naps, barely cries and sleeps from 9pm to 4/5am every day. Sometimes she will throw in a 6 or 7am wake up, which is absolutely amazing. She is truly a gift. Thank goodness she is my last and I can go out on a positive note.

In order to find time for myself I am going to start Bikrum Yoga. On Monday and Wednesday nights there is a class at 8:45 pm. The classes are 90 minutes long and I won't get home until 10:30, but that is the best time for me to get in a workout. The boys would be asleep and Dave can easily put Simone to bed. Hopefully I will start it soon and I will let you know how it goes. I am super excited to try something new, get in a good workout and have some alone time. I am really trying to get rid of this baby weight. I have lost about 20 pounds and I would like to lose 25 more to reach my goal weight. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Wow!

2011-12-07T13:06:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how fast the time is flying. It is already December 7th. Anyone else feel like they are going 100 miles per hour?! I feel like there is just so much to do. I can't believe I am already trying to put together a holiday card, 2012 calendar, baking for Samuel and Joseph's school and preparing for the holidays. I have noticed more now how quickly the time is flying because Simone is growing so fast.

On Sunday she turned 2 months old. Already!!! My baby girl. We went to the doctor on Monday and she is growing like crazy.

Here are her statistics:

Height: 22.5 inches (56%)

Weight: 11 lbs 5.5 oz (61%)

Head: 15.20 (46%)

Here were the boys:

Samuel:

Height: 24 inches
Weight: 13 lbs 14.5 oz

Joseph:
Height: 23.25 in (64%)
Weight: 14 lbs 4 oz (95%)
Head Cir: 40.4 (62%)

Although her percentages seem like she is smaller then Joseph, she is already wearing 3 month clothes. She is growing like a weed and is such a wonderful baby. I was telling her pediatrician how lucky I feel that my third is just so easy to deal with considering I have two crazy boys at home. He said that we are only given what we can handle and I couldn't agree more. She is still sleeping through the night, taking awesome naps and only cries when she is hungry, sleepy, pooped in her pants or she is hot. I feel so lucky.

Here is her two month picture:

I have been trying to get pictures for our holiday cards. It so so difficult to get all the kids to look at the camera at the same time. I am about to give up and just get the cards done and in the mail. That is one things I need to cross off our list and it is stressing me out. Here are some attempts at pictures.

Everyday I look at Samuel and I can't believe how big he is getting. He comes up to my boobs. Pretty soon he is going to be taller then me and I am going to freak out.

If only I could get a really cute picture of Joseph. He will only take a picture on his terms. One of these days I am going to snap a good one.

So much for a cute picture of all three. It is a work in progress.

So easy to get a picture of Samuel and Simone because Samuel loves to hold her.

Another picture attempt.

Early Resolutions

2011-11-30T07:56:00.000-06:00

I have decided that I am going to start my list of New Year's resolutions now. It isn't too early right. I started to make a long list yesterday and I will hopefully work my way down them. A lot on my list are little goals for myself, like little projects I need to complete (finishing the boys photo albums, organize baby clothes, etc.) Others are things like running a half marathon in 2012 and losing all my baby weight.

Speaking of baby weight I am so discouraged about my weight. I need to lose 25 more pounds to get to my goal weight and nothing is coming off. I haven't lost a pound in about 4 weeks. This week I have made some changes. Dave and I have been talking for a while about eating vegetarian, with an occasional fish or chicken dish. One of his goals is to eat some fish (if you know him, you know he has always hated fish). We went out to dinner the other night and he actually ordered and ate fish. It was delicious and we are trying to make an effort to eat some fish at least once or twice a month. We don't typically eat a lot of meat, but when we force ourselves to eat more vegetarian meals our whole diet changes. We eat less junk food and make better food choices. This morning I ate greek yogart with blueberries, strawberries, almonds and agave nectar. I am going to make a huge salad tonight with lots of veggies.

I worked out on Monday and Tuesday. Monday I did spinning for about 30 minutes and it killed me. I am in no shape to take a class at this point. I am going to keep spinning by myself until I feel like I am in better shape for an actual class. Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for a little while, but my left arch started killing me. I can always tell when I have a lot of extra weight on my body because it really puts pressure on my arches in my feet. I had a difficult time running even a mile. Because I wasn't having fun running I tried out a different machine that was similar to an elliptical machine and it killed me. When I got off 20 minutes later my legs were complete noodles. It was a good feeling to get in a workout like that. Today I plan to do some weights and sit ups when both boys are at school. I am also going to sign up for Bikrum Yoga. Has anyone done that? I am really excited to try it out. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will go. I need to get some yoga clothes though. They want you to wear really tight clothes, like leotards and bike shorts, so they can see you body and so that it soaks up all your sweat.

I am hoping that my hormones will start going back to normal soon. I am somewhat of a mess. After Simone, I decided that I would get back on birth control for a limited time. We are done with having kids and we didn't want any more accidents. I know after having Simone our family is totally complete. Anyway, I got on the mini-pill when Simone was almost 5 weeks old. She just turned 8 weeks yesterday. After 4 days on the pill I started my period and it was super heavy and disgusting. I called the doctor because I have never had a period while breastfeeding until the boys were about 9 months old. She said that some people on this pill have a period and then they have spotting often. She said that if I continue to bleed then I might consider getting off of it because it just might not work well with my body. Well after I had the "period" I continued to spot almost every other day and then at 7 and a half weeks I started bleeding again really heavily. My hormones were going crazy and I was feeling terrible. I decided that I was going to quit the pill. It isn't worth all the bleeding and hormone issues. I got off on Sunday and I already stopped bleeding and I am beginning to feel so much better mentally. I guess I wasn't meant to take the pill. I am hoping that getting off will help me lose weight too. We will see.

Life with three kids is so busy. Simone is so wonderful. She is getting cuter and cuter each day. Her baby acne is clearing up finally. She is such a happy easy baby. She smiles so much and loves to see her brothers. I look at her and feel so grateful that I have such a beautiful little princess and one that is a much easier baby then her brothers. My life really feels complete.

I'm off to drink coffee and relax a bit before the crazy day gets going.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-29T11:07:00.000-06:00

There is so much to be thankful for. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. My parents came in town and we were able to get a lot done. Dave and I were able to go out one night for dinner just the two of us, which was a really nice treat. It is always so nice when our parents come in town because Dave and I take advantage of them and go out on much needed dates.

Here are a lot of pictures from the week and weekend.

The boys attacked my dad every night.

My dad made Gingerbread men with the boys. They looked absolutely perfect and then they were eaten up right away.

Here is Joseph with his gingerbread man.

Savta with the kids

Joseph and Haidyn matched. They were so cute on Thanksgiving.

Joseph gave Haidyn a little kiss. She should feel super lucky because he doesn't give those out that often.

The boys love giving hugs.

Samuel loves giving kisses.

The beautiful table at Jonathan and Laura's house.

All the yummy food.

Simone's first thanksgiving. She was so excited for all the food!

The boys didn't eat that much, but they loved the rolls

Although they didn't eat much dinner, they were pretty excited about the dessert

Samuel and Jonathan. This is such a cute picture of the two of them. Samuel was really cold outside so he had his arms in his shirt.

Savta and Papa attempting to get a picture with the grand kids. I wasn't able to get any good pictures. This was about the best one.

Also an attempt at the cousins picture, but again it is just hard to get pictures of them all right now. We did the best we could

My mom got the boys holiday pajama's and they loved them. Joseph has this new thing where he tries to attack Samuel from behind. He grabs onto him and won't let go. It is pretty cute, but Samuel isn't too much of a fan.

Another day of eating the gingerbread men.

These two pictures of the boys are just too funny.

They both have the same crazy look on their faces.

This is what is looks like most nights in our house. I'm feeding Simone and Joseph is on top of me and Samuel is next to me. I know I will miss this when they get older.

Add caption

We actually put up a Christmas tree this year. We have had this tree in the box for the last 6 or 7 years and have never taken it out. We figured it was probably a good year to do it. The boys are older and we are in our new house. The boys loved it.

Here it is all lit up with the ornaments. I am actually really excited about the holidays this year. The boys are going to have so much fun.

More Pictures

2011-11-17T14:31:00.000-06:00

I just downloaded pictures from my phone to my computer and there are so many good pictures. Some of these are old but I still wanted to post them.

Simone's first picture at the hospital

Simone gave Samuel a doctor's set for a homecoming gift. He loved it.

Simone's first doctor's appointment. She wasn't very happy.

She was only about a week old here.

This is how she sleeps at night. All wrapped up and cozy. She loves it because she sleeps at least 5-8 hours at night!!!! Yea for Simone.

Savta with Samuel and Simone.

Papa with Samuel after they carved the Halloween pumpkin

Joseph wearing the doctor glasses.

Samuel in his football costume that he refused to wear on Halloween.

Joseph enjoying his very first lollipop. He loved it.

Simone at the park for the first time

The boys one day just brought out thier pillows and blankets and layed down on the couch. Too bad they didn't go to sleep. It was still really cute.

Joseph being funny

The boys with Simone. They love seeing her first thing in the morning.

Where does the time go?

2011-11-17T13:49:00.000-06:00

If only I had more time and then once I found it I wasn't so exhausted. I am struggling with finding time for myself. Although I normally have a babysitter on Fridays I am usually running to the grocery store or attending appointments. Time is just flying. Simone is 6 weeks already. I have felt like with the third baby the weeks just fly. When I have time I am unloading the dishwasher, loading it, doing laundry, cleaning up toys, figuring out what to make for dinner, etc. You know the list goes on and on. It is going to take me a while to get in a better routine.

This winter is going to be rough. I can't really take all three kids out. It is just too much work right now. I already feel like I am stuck inside the house all the time and it isn't even freezing cold yet. Oh well. I need to figure out good activities for the boys. The problem is that their attention span is about 10-20 minutes tops. So it is hard to come up with tons of things to do. We all get bored and get on each others nerves. Thank goodness for school!

My emails are starting to pile up. I barely have time to respond to anything. I think I have about 30 emails to read and at least half I need to respond to. Sorry if you are one of those people. I will get back to you eventually. I am not intentionally trying to ignore anyone. I barely have time to even shower during the day (normally I don't). Alone time is very limited. I don't even get to go to the bathroom by myself. I try to sneak off and if one of the boys sees that I have disappeared, they run to find me and they have to bug me until I am finished. There I times when I have to run to the bathroom, lock the door behind me just in order to take a pee by myself. Oh the joys of motherhood.

Last weekend Dave and I did get a break. Oma and Opa were in town and they wore the boys out everyday. On Saturday night they watched all three kids and Dave and I got an evening out to ourselves. We left around 4:30 and got back around 8 pm. It was a wonderful break and we really needed some time alone. By 8 we were exhausted and ready to go to bed. Times sure have changed. I don't think we could handle a late night out anymore. That would wreck us for at least a week.

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

I figured we should get a picture of me with Simone when she is a baby. I am always taking pictures so I am rarely in the pictures. I know later I will be upset if I don't get more of me with the kids when they are little. Anyway, we are both smiling in this picture.

A rare showing of affection by Joseph. It doesn't happen very often, so we all cherish the times when he gives hugs, kisses and snuggles. He LOVES Simone, so she gets most of the attention right now.

Here are the boys with the sister.

Joseph always sticks out his bottom lip when he get mad or frustrated. I was finally able to get a picture of it.

I wanted to take a picture of how tiny Simone is right now. She is already growing so fast.

Oma and Opa with the grandkids. Of course, we can't get a good picture of the boys because they won't sit still. They both had to have their own camera. At least that sat still for a few pictures.

Oma and Opa with Simone.

Before Oma and Opa left Joseph was playing with their suitcase. He was making funny faces and looked so cute.

I have gotten a picture of all the kids sleeping in their car seats, so I couldn't leave Simone out. She fell asleep on the way to Samuel's school. She didn't sleep long like that, but I took the 15 minutes!

And it just keeps getting better

2011-11-09T08:50:00.000-06:00

On Monday I took Samuel and Simone to the doctor. Samuel wasn't getting any better and I was worried that Simone was getting sick too. It turns out that Samuel has/had croup. He has been on Steroids since Monday evening and it has helped tremendously. He actually slept all night last night with no coughing. He is on the mend. Hopefully tomorrow he will go back to school. I don't want to send him back too early because I know he is just getting better. If he doesn't have a fever today and if he doesn't cough at night tonight I think I will send him tomorrow.

Simone is just really congested. Her nose is super running and snotty, but she hasn't gotten any sicker. The doctor thinks that since I am breastfeeding her she probably won't get any sicker, but I am supposed to keep her away from the boys as much as possible which is difficult because they want to get close to her. I am doing my best.

On Monday in the middle of the night I heard Joseph cough and it was just one cough but it sounded exactly like Samuel's so I knew what was coming. He has croup too. Last night was not great, but I know it will get worse before it gets better. He woke up at midnight last night and I rocked him for about 20 minutes and he went right back to bed. Then he woke up around 5 coughing and screaming. He had a fever of 102.5 and sounds miserable. Luckily after getting Advil his fever broke within an hour. He is acting fine, but is sounding horrible. Tonight I think Dave will be sleeping in the guest bedroom, so he can prepare to sleep with Joseph. I have a feeling tonight is going to be a sleepless night.

Of course on a night where Joseph wakes up and we have to deal with a sick child, Simone slept from 8:30 pm to 6 am. She is sleeping great, if only we could be getting sleep as well.

Our house has been a hand washing pajama party for the last four days, lots of building blocks, fort building, juice drinking, popsicle eating, movie watching, coughing and crying. I am worn out. I have barely had any minute to myself. I am completely worn out. I have had two breakdowns, which have been great actually. Once I cry myself I feel so much better. Crying is such a release sometimes. Dave has had a break from the kids when he goes to work, but then he gets home and it is total kids time. He is normally holding Simone from the minute he gets home until she starts eating again at night. She LOVES sleeping on and being held by her Daddy. Dave and I are both exhausted. Things can't be easy. We can't just have a newborn and be exhausted, we have to have two other really sick kids that require a lot of attention and TLC. Once we get through this it will be smooth sailing.

Anniversary

2011-11-07T14:13:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Dave and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary. Actually I can't really say that we celebrated much at all. Samuel has been sick all weekend and still is today. He had a terrible cough, lost his voice and had a fever. Today he has all the same symptoms, so we are heading to the doctor. Not only am I going to have Samuel looked at but also Simone. She has been congested and has had a super running nose for at least a week now. Yesterday she started wheezing, but today I haven't heard her have any problems so hopefully she is getting better.

Anyway, yesterday Dave got us coffee for breakfast at Starbucks and that was basically our treat for the day. Oh how much our life has changed in 7 years. On Friday Dave brought me home 7 beautiful red roses, dark chocolate caramel and a bottle of rose champagne (We haven't had an opportunity to drink the champagne, but hopefully soon). I got him a nice bottle of wine that we ended up drinking on Friday night too. Thank goodness we celebrated a little on Friday because the rest of the weekend was a mess.

Hopefully all the kids will start feeling better and hopefully they didn't get us sick. That would be terrible.

Simone has continued to sleep pretty well at night. Nothing like her all nighter, but she has been sleeping between 5 and 6 hours straight when we put her down at night. The good thing is that she is going to be between 8:30 and 9:30 pm, so we are able to go to bed around that time too and get a good chunk of sleep.

Even though we had a rough weekend, I feel so lucky to share all the good days and bad days with my amazing partner and husband.

Now let's hope this week gets better and better.

Twillight Zone

2011-11-03T07:08:00.000-05:00

I should still be sleeping, but I am in disbelief. Last night was a rough night. Simone would not go to sleep. She was screaming from about 8:30 pm until 11 pm last night. I didn't know what was wrong. She kept acting like she was hungry and wanted to eat non stop. I kept feeding her and thinking that she was going to throw up all over the place because of the amount of food she was eating.

Dave slept in the guest bedroom because we weren't sure when she would go to sleep and how many times she would wake up. By 10:45, I was rocking Simone and crying because I didn't know what to do to get her to stop crying and freaking out. I thought about waking Dave up because I wasn't sure how much more I could take. Then all of the sudden a little after 11 she started eating again and passed out. I was worried about moving her around too much because I didn't want the crying to begin again. After about 15 minutes I wrapped her up in a blanket, transferred her to her cradle and said a little prayer that she would sleep longer then 2 hours.

Well, it is now almost 7 am and she is still sleeping. Can you believe it? I can't and that is why I am up right now. I have been up since about 4 am and then tossed and turned until 6. I was so worried she wasn't breathing anymore. By 6 am my boobs were rock solid and I was in a ton of pain. Dave was supposed to get up and work out around 5, but I hadn't heard him leave so I went to the guest bedroom and he was still sleeping too. I told him that Simone had slept all night and we couldn't believe it.

I wasn't sure when she was going to get up, but I couldn't stand my boobs any longer. I pumped and she is still asleep. I am in shock. I know I should be sleeping and enjoying this amazing night of sleep, but I was and am still too freaked out. When I looked at the clock at 4 I was in shock then, this is unbelievable.

I am sure this will not happen again for many many weeks, but I will take what I can get. It is hard to go from 4 weeks (actually many months) with no consistent sleep, to a full night of sleep. I don't remember the last time I slept through the night. I will not freak out again if she is going crazy until 11 at night. Clearly she just wanted to eat and all the crying and screaming completely wore her out.

I guess I will go make some coffee right now. I don't even know what to do with myself. Happy Thursday!!!

Halloween Pictures

2011-11-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

The boys went trick or treating in our neighborhood on Monday. I couldn't really get a good picture of the two of them together, but I got a few individually. Although I bought a football for Samuel and a milk carton for Joseph, neither one of them wanted to wear it. Samuel wore the same costume he wore last year (gorilla) and Joseph wore an old costume of Samuel's (dinosaur).

They had lots of fun and we got some good candy. I think I am going to have to freeze a bunch of candy though. We have so much around here.

Simone has had a little bit of a cold lately. She has a runny nose and is sneezing all the time. I think Joseph may have given her the cold he had last week. Although she hasn't been feeling the greatest, she is really becoming more aware of her surroundings. She is able to follow us when we walk past her, she is starting to focus on things and best of all she is starting to smile. I can talk to her and she gets a big smile on her face. I tired to get her smiling today, but I got a few cute smirks.

Sometimes she looks exactly like Samuel and then other times she looks just like Joseph. Her eyes are not turning blue yet, but they aren't brown like Joseph's either. They are dark, but I think they have green coming through. That would be crazy if each of our kids had a different eye color. I can't wait to see what her eyes turn out to be.

I am loving dressing her up in different clothes. Samuel loves it too. Today we were at Nordstroms and he picked out the pinkest most girly outfit and said he wanted to buy it for Simone. It is so cute. Everyday Samuel gives her a hug and tells her how much he loves her. It is the sweetest thing ever.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my princess:

Another week

2011-10-31T14:35:00.000-05:00

Well last week was my first week alone and we all survived. It actually wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. Part of the reason I think is because the boys have been sleeping in later, which allows me to get up and do a few things without being woken up at 6:30 am or earlier.

I needed to post something on my blog because I am feeling like I don't have time to do anything and I desperately needed to feel like I accomplished something today. Not only am I writing on my blog, but I am also going to make dinner tonight!! I am trying out a new recipe, so I will post it if it turns out to be good.

Tonight we may go trick or treating. We haven't decided for sure yet. We went to the MAC for Trunk or Treat last night. It kind of wore me out, so I am not sure if Dave and I are up for another night of trick or treating. Simone slept most of time, Joseph discovered his first lollipop and was completely obsessed he sucked on the whole thing and wouldn't let go until it was gone. Samuel decided to drink 3 juice boxes, which caused him to have serious stomach issues, which in turn created a very interesting evening for Dave and a very quick exit at the end of the evening. Let's just say things got messy.

Tomorrow I will post some pictures of the boys in their costumes. It is so difficult to get a picture of Joseph. He has no desire to stand still and have his picture taken, so all the pictures I got were of his back or him standing sideways. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to post something.

On another note, Samuel is crazy about holding Simone. He wants to hold her all the time and he tells her how much he loves her. It is adorable. Yesterday and today when he was holding her both Dave and I caught him singing songs to her. This morning when he was holding her she was crying and he started to sing Rock a Bye Baby. He is such an amazing little boy. Here is a picture of the two of them:

On Saturday, Michigan played football and Dave lots to get all the kids dressed up for the game. Here are a few pictures of all of them. Simone looks absolutely crazy. She is in that really weird looking stage where she takes crazy pictures. She is really starting to fill out, so hopefully I can start getting some good pictures of her.

All three kids:

Now that I have posted something I feel better. Now I need to change Simone's diaper, feed her really quickly and leave to pick Joseph up from school and I need to do it all in 10 minutes. Better go!

3 Weeks

2011-10-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that Simone is already three weeks old today. The first few weeks really flew by because I wasn't really functioning. Last week was the first week I wasn't in bed. My rash luckily never got that bad and then went away. My headaches are gone now. Every once in a while at night my head hurts a little bit, but thankfully they went away on their own. I am still feeling pretty tired after all the recovery issues. I am just hoping things continue to get better and better.

I don't know what we would have done without the help of Dave's mom and my mom the past weeks. It was so nice to have them here because I was able have an easy transition from two to three kids.

On Sunday my parents left to go home. That afternoon Joseph got an extremely high fever (103.8). Dave and I were freaking out because he got so sick so fast and we were also on our own for the first time in weeks. Joseph slept great Sunday night, but woke up with 101 fever. I ended up taking him to the doctor just to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or something. He was completely fine except for the fever. His fever broke on Monday after his nap and he hasn't had one since. Today he is feeling fine, which is such a relief. I wasn't ready to have to deal with a newborn, sick little boy and a very active 3 and a half year old.

The last few weeks we have been busy. My family from Kansas City came in town to meet Simone. Uncle Izzy, Aunt Kay, Aunt Riva and my Zayde all came in town on Saturday and we all spent the day together with Laura, Jonathan and Haidyn. It was so nice for them all to meet Simone.

Here are some pictures from the last week and a half.

She was about a week and a half here.

Simone and Oma.

First bath at home.

Simone and Aunt Kay

Simone and Aunt Riva

Simone and Zayde

Family picture with Zayde

Simone's fist bottle. She is doing awesome drinking from a bottle. I wasn't going to have another baby like Joseph that wouldn't take a bottle. We are giving her a bottle at least every other day. She is doing great!

Savta and Simone

Savta with the Glasser kids

Savta, Papa, Samuel and Simone. Joseph didn't really want to have anything to do with taking a picture.

This is the best we could get of Savta and Papa with the kids.

Papa with Simone

Pictures of Simone and Family

2011-10-14T15:08:00.000-05:00

Savta holdingSimone for the first time.

The happy Dad holding his little girl

They let me give her the first bath. I didn't get to do that with either of the boys, so I was really happy to be there for that.

Papa holding Simone for the first time.

Oma and Opa seeing Simone for the first time.

Family picture

Getting ready to go home in her little outfit that I thought I would never use.

I got her the cutest little leg warmers. I love them!

Getting ready to leave.

Wasn't very happy about getting in the car seat.

She calmed down pretty quickly.

Just relaxing

Joseph was so happy to hold her

Samuel holding her for the first time. He couldn't wait.

She was crying and his first reaction was to try to breastfeed her. He is a funny guy.

He is so loving. He wants to dress her up all the time in her "princess" clothes

Oma and Opa with the kids

Meeting Aunt Lala and Haidyn for the first time.

Haidyn and Simone. Already best buds.

Uncle Jonathan with Simone

Labor, Delivery and Postpardum Story - Very Long

2011-10-14T14:11:00.000-05:00

This was definitely my most extreme labor, delivery and postpardum experience. I have had the most interesting labor and delivery stories. All three kids came into the world with a big entrance. It has taken me over a week and a half to write this because I am just now starting to feel better. I have had quite a difficult recovery with this one.

As a little recap, Samuel was born naturally (no drugs). I labored in a tub of water and hadn't planned to do a complete water birth, but by the time I was 10 centimeters I was in so much pain there was no way I was getting out of the tub. I pushed for about 40 minutes and when Samuel finally came out, only his head and one shoulder came out. They couldn't get the rest of him out while I was in the water. There was a brief freak out period where my doctor, Dave and a nurse yanked me out of the tub and threw me on the bed (with Samuel hanging out) and then they basically pulled Samuel out. He was blue and not really crying so tons of nurses were running in to deal with me and Samuel. I still can't believe I did it all without drugs. Unbelievable. I had a little bit of a difficult recovery after that. I also broke out in PUPPP, which is a pregnancy rash that normally happens at the end of a pregnancy and then clears up after delivery. I got it about two weeks after Samuel was born and it was extremely itchy and uncomfortable. They told me that PUPPP can occur after a first pregnancy but doesn't normally come back again. That was a relief.

Then there was Joseph's delivery. It was super fast and intense. I wanted to do it naturally again, but the contractions came so hard and fast and I couldn't keep up with my breathing. I had a nurse examine me and she said I was only 6 centimeters and I was in extreme pain, so I decided to get an epidural. They had to stick me twice because they hit a blood vessel the first time, but the epidural got administered at 5:30 pm. My water broke around 5:50 or so and I immediately told the nurse that I was feeling pressure, like I needed to push. She said if it continued to let her know, but she didn't think that I could be close to pushing because I had only been 6 centimeters at 5:30. The nurse left the room and I told Dave that I really really needed to push and that he needed to get someone in there right now. A resident doctor was heading down the hallway with her fleece on leaving her shift at 6:00 pm and she came in the room to just check on me. I told her that I needed to push and this baby was coming. I turned over on my back and Joseph came out at 6:05 pm. I didn't even push, the resident barely got her gloves on in order to catch him. He made a quick entrance and was a super easy delivery and recovery was great too.

Now for our new bundle of joy. I delivered Simone Bayle Glasser on October 4, 2011 at 8:26 am. She weighed 6 pounds 15.6 oz. She was 20.5 inches long (the same as Joseph).

Here is her labor and delivery story:

On Monday, October 3rd I had a doctor's appointment. I was so uncomfortable being pregnant and I wanted to be done. I asked my doctor what the plan was because I was miserable. She checked my cervix and I was 4 centimeters, so she decided to strip my membranes to see if she could get labor started. If I didn't go into labor at the beginning of the week, I was going to be induced on Thursday evening. At least there was a plan. My mom was supposed to leave Monday night to go back to Tulsa, but I had her stay because I had a feeling I may go into labor that night. I had a few contractions during the day that were stronger then normal, but not labor pains yet.

At 11:30 pm I had my first painful contraction. I knew that it was going to happen soon. I woke Dave up and told him that I knew labor was starting. He of course got really nervous because of how fast Joseph came, so he started packing up the car and woke up my mom. We called our babysitter to come over to take care of the boys in the morning.

My contractions were really really strong, but only about 5 or 6 minutes apart. I took a shower and we all got ready to go to the hospital. We got to labor and delivery around 1:50 am. We got to the room and settled in, but they really didn't do anything until about 3 am. I continued to have really strong hard contractions, but they stayed about 5 minutes apart. I had already decided that with this baby I was going to get an epidural. I wanted to have a good delivery experience and I didn't want to strangle Dave like I did with the other two. I wanted it to be relaxed and enjoyable for everyone.

Lidocaine. Then the really pain began. He could not get the epidural in. He tried three times and couldn't get it. Finally his boss came in, she tried two times and finally got it. It was so painful and mostly stressful. The pressure in my back from them continuing to try to get in the epidural needle was awful. Dave said he was about to beat up the first doctor because of the faces he was making. It was an absolutely terrible experience. The attending physician was really apologetic, but frankly I didn't give a shit what she had to say. I was so freaked out by everything and I was just happy that was over.

The medicine did kick in, but I asked them to give me a really low dosage. I wanted to be able to continue to feel the contractions, but I just wanted it not to be so intense. They gave me the perfect amount because I was really comfortable and able to relax while still feeling some labor pains. The nurses had instructions not to touch or examine me because they knew how fast my labor went last time and they wanted me to get two doses of the penicillin since I had tested positive for Strep B. My second dosage was supposed to be administered at 8:30 am.

They checked me around 6 am and I was only still 6 centimeters. They said they were going to talk to my doctor about giving me Pitocin to get things going since my contraction slowed down a lot after I got the epidural. It was like my body understood what it would mean if I got Pitocin and I immediately started having stronger contractions again. At around 7:30 am, my doctor showed up and checked me and I was 8 centimeters and she decided to break my bag of waters. As soon as she did it I started to feel pressure. The nurse was concerned that I hadn't gotten my second dosage of penicillin, so she talked to my doctor about giving it to me early. They started administering it right away. She tried to just have an open flow to get it in quickly, but it really started burning, so she slowed it down. I was determined to get the medicine because I didn't want to have to stay an extra day in the hospital so they could watch the baby and I wanted the baby to be as healthy as possible. So even though I was feeling LOTS of pressure I held on until the medicine was completely in my system. By 8:15 it was in. My doctor came back and checked me and said the baby's head was ready to come out. They prepped everything and at 8:25 am I started pushing and out the baby came at 8:26 am. I literally pushed one time and for one minute and out the baby came.

I was so convinced I was having a boy, so when the baby came out and I didn't see the penis I was completely shocked. I said, "Oh my gosh, it is a girl!" My mom immediately started crying, the labor and delivery nurse was crying and Dave was so happy that he was right that it was a girl. It took me almost 24 hours to really grasp the fact that I had a girl. I was completely shocked.

Overall, the labor and delivery was wonderful. It was my easiest by far and most enjoyable. I was just upset at how terrible the epidural experience had been. I felt initially great after delivery. My body recovered really well and I was feeling awesome. Then around 2 pm in the afternoon I started to get a terrible headache. I asked for some medicine and said my head had started to hurt. They brought medicine, but after a few hours it did nothing and I started to feel terrible. By 7 pm I was in such extreme pain that I couldn't even sit up in bed to feed Simone. My head was pounding and I couldn't even open my eyes. They called anesthesia because they had a feeling I had a spinal/epidural headache. That is when they are administering the epidural they accidentally puncture through the dural space, causing spinal fluid to leak out. My pain on a scale of 1 to 10 was a 15. They started giving me medicine every four hours and I was supposed to drink an insane amount of caffeine. If my headaches didn't get better they were going to have to do another procedure, which is called a blood patch, where they basically give you another epidural but inject your own blood into the spot and it is supposed to stop the headaches immediately because it seals the leak. I was concerned because I didn't know which of the 5 injections had gone threw my spine and I didn't want them screwing with my back at all.

Basically everyday my headaches got better, but didn't full go away until 9 days after my delivery. Today is the first day I feel much better and I haven't had to take any medication for my headaches. So while I was recovering from my headaches, I broke out in a rash all over my body. Well, so much for only getting PUPPP one time. I just went to the doctor this morning and I have a mild case right now of PUPPP. I think the stress of this recovery period caused me to break out again. Who knows.

I am finally on the mend and Simone is absolutely wonderful. She is a really good baby so far and I am in total love with her. I can't believe I have a little girl. Wow! So many new things to experience. I can't wait. The boys love her too. Samuel is so loving and such a great big brother. Joseph is great too, but not as affectionate, which isn't a surprise because that just isn't his personality.

So that is the story. I will post pictures of the new princess soon.

Injuries

2011-09-27T09:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was eventful for the boys. I got a call around 11 am from Joseph's school. They said that he got bit by a little boy at school on his shoulder. It was through his shirt, but they said the top layer of skin was definitely taken off. They said they cleaned it with water and put ice on it and tried to calm Joseph down. Apparently he was cranky all morning and he wasn't very happy when the kid bit him. By the time I talked to his teacher she said they were doing art projects and were about to eat lunch, both things that Joseph likes to do, so he wasn't crying anymore. They said if he started acting unhappy again they would call me. They didn't call and when I picked him up he was perfectly happy. He has teeth marks on his shoulder and this morning the area around the bite is bruising up, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him.

I remember a few years ago when Samuel bit the little girl at his school and the little girl's mom was a real bitch to me about it. Now the tables were turned and I am the mom of the kid being bit and I still can't believe the reaction of that mom. Kids will be kids. There is only so much you can control. No one can anticipate when a kid is going to bite unless they do it all the time, which is a whole other issue. Anyway, this incident made me think back to when Samuel bit that little girl and I still think I handled it well then and would do the same things now.

Also yesterday I took Samuel to the gym in the morning to try to get a workout in and get this baby out. It was an interesting gym experience all around. I was on a machine for about 10 minutes when this old man got onto the the machine right next to me. I had my ear phones on listening to the TV and all of the sudden I heard him belching. It was so loud and disgusting and it didn't stop. He belched at least every 5 minutes and I was getting sick to my stomach. Then another lady got on the machine on the other side of me. Her phone rang and then she just talked and talked the entire time. It was a very annoying 20 more minutes of working out. I think the belching was absolutely more disgusting then the talking on the phone. I could have handled that fine, but my goodness this guy seriously had a problem.

So after that experience, I showered and then went to pick Samuel up at the child care. I walked in and he had a huge scratch on the right side of his face all the way from his right eye down to his mouth. It was definitely a fingernail that did it. Apparently a little girl he was playing with grabbed his face and scratched it. Samuel didn't seem to mind and said it didn't hurt, but he was just mad because the little girl didn't say she was sorry.

So that was the exciting day for the boys.

I forgot to mention on my last post about my last doctor's appointment. I made them examine me to see if anything was going on because Thursday night I had some extremely strong contractions and I was hoping that it did something. I am 2 centimeters dilated, finally. They couldn't feel the baby's head at all, which means it is really high up still. That doesn't really mean anything to me though because Joseph never dropped until I was in active labor. He wasn't low at all, but when he was ready to come out he just flew out. I have been feeling more pressure in my pelvic area, but my contractions haven't been bad at all lately. I have been walking like crazy, but nothing seems to do anything. Dave wants this baby to come on the 1st of October, which is Saturday, I hope it happens!! 10 more days!

Continuing the Countdown

2011-09-26T08:18:00.001-05:00

We are getting closer. 11 days until my due date. I feel like at this point I can start counting in days since it is getting so close. I went on two longer walks yesterday, but it didn't get anything going. I am going to the gym this morning too. Let's hope it happens soon. Dave is still really pushing for October 1st. That would be this upcoming Saturday. It would be nice to go on a weekend. We will see.

We had a very busy weekend. The boys did much better at soccer this weekend. Joseph actually participated instead of screaming and holding onto Dave the entire time. Then we had a BBQ for Samuel's school on Saturday early evening. We had a play date with one of Samuel's friends from school on Sunday and we just relaxed the rest of the weekend. The boys have been pretty good lately. It is a nice change.

I forgot to mention this last week. I think Samuel has a crush on a little girl at school. On Thursday night, when we were about to give the boys a bath Samuel pointed to two different objects and said, "This is me and this is Morgan." I asked who Morgan was and he said it was a girl in his class and he liked her. He had never mentioned a Morgan before and I hadn't seen her name on the school roster, so I thought maybe he made her up or it was an imaginary friend. I had no idea. The next day on the way to school, Samuel randomly said, "I really hope I see Morgan today. I think I may hold her hand." I said, "What?!" Then he didn't mention her again.

When I got to school I saw the director and I asked her if there was a Morgan in his class. She said yes that a girl named Morgan just started school that Wednesday. She said she had forgotten to tell me, but the week before Morgan came to visit the school to see if she would fit in and all the kids were playing on the playground. Morgan was playing by herself and the director said that Samuel went right over to her, grabbed her hand and said, "Let me show you around." All the teachers thought it was really funny and cute.

Don't you think he is too young for this? Holy cow. I am not ready for him to be having a little crush on a girl. I plan to talk to the director and his teachers today just to warn them that Samuel is very affectionate. I know that they know that he likes to hug and kiss them, but if he really has a little crush I could totally see him trying to lay a big kiss on her. I don't think Morgan's mom would be too happy about that. Oh my gosh, I can't believe this already.

Here's hoping for an exciting week. I hope we have a baby soon!!!

A little free time

2011-09-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

Today will be my first day since both Samuel and Joseph started school that I will have a completely empty and free of commitment house for two hours. I did not plan anything from 12:45 until 2:45 today. Normally I have appointments or I plan to run errands while they are both gone, but today I decided that I am going to do whatever I feel like doing. Maybe I will go for a walk and then take a bath or read a book. I have no idea, but I am pretty excited for complete quiet time.

Samuel and I are going to run errands this morning after I take Joseph to school and then I plan to take him to lunch, drop him off and have some freedom.

I am getting pretty tired lately. I get worn out really quickly and by the end of the day I just don't function well. The boys have been pretty good lately, making nighttime much easier to manage. The baby is also slowing down in the middle of the night. I am getting about 3 hours of sleep at a time without having to go pee or be kicked to death. Last night before I went to bed I think the baby was practicing karate or something. It was going nuts. It finally calmed down around 10:30 and I was able to sleep until 1:30. I felt so refreshed.

George seems to be feeling a little bit better. She is still eating grass and isn't her normal spunky self, but I can tell she feels a little bit better. Tomorrow I am taking her to the vet, so we will see what they say.

Last night I was home alone with the kids because Dave had to go to a baseball game for work. We were relaxing on the couch and I told Samuel that I loved him. I asked him if he knew how much I loved him. He used to always say "sooo much" and hold his arms out wide. Last night he looked at me rolled his eyes and gave a huge sigh. My little boy is growing up and is already annoyed at me. It was like I had a peak into the future. I know I will be seeing a lot of that eye rolling and I know I will be getting looks like I am a complete idiot. So many things to look forward to.

On another note, when I was reading a book to Joseph last night before I put him to bed he counted from 1 to 12 all by himself. I knew he was pretty good at counting to ten, but I had no idea he could count to 12. It was pretty exciting. Then, before I put Samuel to bed we turned on his night light turtle that put stars on the ceiling and he started to count all the stars in Spanish from 1 to 12. It was pretty cool. Now that he is starting Spanish school again, he will randomly say things in Spanish. I am slowly learning what everything means. The other night he brought me half of his snack and just said "No mas". It is really cool to hear him speaking and understanding another language at such a young age.

I am off to get the boys ready to leave. Have a great Wednesday!

Another week

2011-09-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before we had a pretty busy weekend. We went to Yo Gabba Gabba on Saturday afternoon and it was actually a ton of fun. The boys loved it and it was really entertaining. The Fox Theatre was packed with parents and kids.

We were planning to go to the Balloon Race at Forest Park after but it was so busy and Joseph passed out in the car on the way there. So we drove around a little and went to an early dinner.

So far no sign of the baby coming. I think I may start working out a little this week and see if I can get things moving.

Of course things can't always go completely smoothly. I am taking George in to the vet on Thursday morning. She hasn't been feeling well. Starting this past Thursday, she just hasn't been herself. She has been throwing up and having pooping issues. I took her to doggie day care on Friday because we thought she needed some activity. When Dave picked her up the day care lady said that George wasn't being herself during the day. She was acting really tired and wanted them to pet her a lot. Not only has she been acting funny, but Dave felt a lump under her rib cage. We are kind of freaked out about her getting sick. We are trying not to talk about it or think about it because it makes us too sad. She is 8 years old and I feel like she is just too young to be having issues. I don't want her to be in pain, so I want them to check her out and make her better.

Here are some pictures from this last week:

Samuel was obsessed with wearing my rain boots. He was walking all around the house. They were huge obviously.

Last Wednesday I went to pick Joseph up from school. He goes from 9 until 3. They normally put them down for naps at 12:30 pm. Joseph isn't much of a sleeper, but he always takes a good nap at school. They said that he was completely worn out on Wednesday. That was no joke. When I came at 3 to pick him up he was still asleep on his cot. I always wondered what he looked like sleeping on the cot at school. He was so passed out. The lights were all on, everyone was talking and kids were playing in the room. The teachers said that the kids even went by him and were playing and he still didn't wake up. He looked so cute and peaceful, I didn't want to wake him up either, but I had too. I snapped some pictures of him sleeping though:

Joseph is crazy about wearing whatever Samuel wears. He wanted to put on Samuel jacket and he looked so cute. I was trying to take a picture, but he was mad because he wanted my phone. He still looks pretty cute.

Here we are at Yo Gabba Gabba. The boys were so happy to be there, but they didn't want to have anything to do with Dave and me. They were happy as long as we weren't trying to take pictures with them.

Happy Boys!

Not so happy to be getting his picture taken with Dad.

Samuel is down right pissed to be taking a picture with me. This is just too funny. I love his face.

Sunday morning all the boys were having cereal. It was so cute. Joseph was clearly happy to be making a huge mess.

37 weeks and counting

2011-09-16T09:24:00.000-05:00

Another week and I'm still pregnant. Thankfully I am full term now, so anytime now that I go into labor I would be happy. Unfortunately I don't think it will be soon. I had my doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Nothing new is happening. My contractions have actually started to slow down a little bit, but at night the intensity of the contractions are much stronger. I am feeling more pressure in my pelvic area too. Instead of feeling like I am going to go early, I am starting to feel like this baby might be staying in longer. I am measuring 35 weeks at this point. I asked my doctor what we were going to do if I get to my due date. She said if my cervix has not changed and I am not dilated, then she wants to wait a while. Every appointment that I go in gets a little more discouraging. I was really hoping to start getting things moving, but now it looks like we aren't going to do anything at all.

For a few weeks now I have gotten no sleep at night. The baby normally wakes up at night and kicks like crazy. However, the past two nights I am getting at least 3 hours of sleep at a time or longer. I am not being kicked or having to go pee. It feels so nice to get a few hours of continuous sleep. The boys slept until 7 am this morning, which was absolutely wonderful. I woke up and got to just relax in bed for a while before having to get them.

I can't believe we are going to have another baby soon. I have been saying from the beginning that I think this is a boy. But yesterday when I was driving around all of the sudden I got a really strange feeling I was having a girl. It kind of freaked me out a little. I would say now I am 99% sure I am having a boy. I am preparing for the possibility of a girl.

For those of you with kids, what was the heart rate of your baby? Both of my boys had heart rates in the 130-140's. This baby has been consistently in the 140's. That is another reason I think it is a boy, but I am just wondering what other people's experiences have been. I heard higher heart rates are girls, but I am not sure how true that is.

I am off to read dinosaur books to the boys. Joseph is completely obsessed with dinosaurs and unfortunately Thomas the Train. He has only seen one Thomas episode that was on TV and that got him completely hooked.

We have a very busy weekend planned. Samuel and Joseph start soccer on Saturday morning. We are going to see Yo Gabba Gabba Saturday afternoon at 2 pm and then there is the Great Hot Air Balloon Race in Forrest Park Saturday evening. Then we have a birthday party on Sunday late morning. I am sure the boys are going to be an exhausted mess by the end of the weekend. Lots to do.

Picture time

2011-09-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

I haven't been very good at posting pictures. I finally downloaded them from my camera and phone. Here are some updated pictures.

Joseph's first day of pre-school. He had no idea what to expect.

Another first day of school picture

Here is Samuel rocking out.

Samuel's first day of school.

I caught him rolling his eyes at me because he thought it was ridiculous that I was taking so many pictures of him before school.

One of your only pictures of me pregnant. Samuel took this picture. I am 35 weeks pregnant here.

Samuel in his smock ready for school.

Giving Joseph a big hug before he left. Joseph had a very hard time dropping Samuel off. He cried a lot. Poor guy missed his brother.

One of Samuel's best friends at school. They were so excited to see each other.

Ready for the first Michigan game of the season.

Samuel was ready too!

Samuel dressed up as a pirate.

Joseph trying to be a pirate too.

Pink Eye. He looks terrible. His eye was so swollen.

Another pink eye picture. It is almost all gone now. Hopefully tomorrow if he has no redness, he can go back to school. It is just slightly blood shot today.

Time is flying

2011-09-10T14:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe the week is over. It went by really quickly. Samuel had his first week of school. He survived and I survived. I was so excited for him to go to school and I would get a break in the afternoons, but the truth is, I missed him. Having school in the afternoons is really wearing him out. Over the summer he started to cut out afternoon naps, but he usually just relaxed and played quietly at home. Now he is super busy in the afternoons, so he comes home starving and exhausted. Bedtime is at 7:30 now and not much later. It makes for an earlier night for us, which is nice for Dave and I to have a little bit more time together.

School was a bit of an adjustment for Samuel, more then just being worn out. The first two days he got put in time out by his teacher because he wouldn't stop talking while she was talking. When she told him not to talk he would just ignore her. We had talks all week about not talking while the teacher was talking because he was not learning and he was preventing other students from learning too. By Friday, he said he didn't talk at all and didn't get in trouble. His teacher confirmed. So in one week he made progress. I remember getting in trouble a lot in pre-school and kindergarten for talking too much. Samuel was just so excited to see his friends from last year and he barely ever stops talking at home, so I am sure she couldn't get him to be quiet. Hopefully next week will be even better.

That is if he makes it to school next week. He woke up this morning with a very swollen red and blood shot eye. He was complaining that it hurt, but there was no crust or yucky stuff coming out of his eye. I wasn't sure if he had pink eye or what. I was worried he had an eye injury or something else was wrong. I called the doctor and we got him in around 8:30 this morning. Sure enough he has pink eye. It looks miserable. Now both eyes are getting red and gross. The doctor said it looked really contagious. I washed all the sheets and blankets and I am trying to keep Joseph away from Samuel, but that isn't working so well. Hopefully the rest of us don't get it. We have to put drops in his eyes and he can't go back to school until his eyes clear up. This is such a pain. I have never gotten pink eye, so I have no idea what it is like or how long it lasts. Hopefully not too long. Unfortunately now we are stuck at home all weekend. Two weekends stuck at home. I am going a little stir crazy.

Last update, I had a doctor's appointment this past Wednesday. I lost 2 pounds in a week and a half, which they said is no big deal right now because the weather got much cooler and some people at the end of the pregnancy lose weight. I'm not too unhappy. I am not doing anything differently except for eating a TON of fruit. I am craving every fruit possible. It is the only thing that sounds good lately. Not a bad thing to crave. I have gained 29 pounds so far. For a little while I was worried about gaining as much as I did with Samuel (48 pounds), but now I know that is impossible. 4 more weeks until my due date.

I was hoping that at 37 weeks the doctor would start the natural induction process, but things have changed a little bit. I am starting to measure a little bit smaller then my actual week. So when I went in on Wednesday I was 35 and a half weeks and I was measuring about 34 weeks. For the last few visits I started measuring smaller. There was a time when I was measuring a week or two bigger, but I guess the baby had a huge growth spurt at that time. Anyway, they aren't worried because this baby is an absolute wild child. It doesn't stop moving, it kicks like crazy and the heart rate hasn't changed at all. I have even had several contractions while at the doctor's office and they listen to the heartbeat throughout the entire contraction and the baby is handling them fine. My contractions are getting stronger all the time, but nothing is happening. I have barely dilated at all. The doctor doesn't want to do anything with this pregnancy. She wants to just see what happens. At my next appointment I am going to ask her how long she is going to let me go. I have ZERO desire to go over my due date, but I guess we will see.

So that is the update with the new baby.

I am trying to enjoy the weekend stuck at home again. I guess we will be watching lots of movies.

Labor Day Weekend and Samuel starting school

2011-09-06T07:59:00.000-05:00

The weekend wasn't exactly what I had hoped and planned it to be. Friday night Dave and I had made reservations for dinner at the Ritz because he had bought an online deal which expires in October and we wanted to use it before the baby came. I hadn't been feeling great all day Friday and Dave ended up coming home an hour early from work. I was just feeling like I might be getting a cold or something.

Anyway we were having nice family time snuggled in our bed watching a little bit of TV before Dave and I started to get ready. Joseph jumped out of bed and then threw up twice. This is very uncharacteristic of Joseph. I think in his whole life he has only thrown up one or two other times and that was when he was eating rice cereal and ate too much too fast. Anyway, I was hoping that it was just a freak throw up and that he would be fine (this was about 4:30 pm). Dave took the boys to get smoothies and a little food for dinner. Our babysitter came over around 5 and we decided to try to go out to dinner. I told her to call me if Joseph threw up again and we could just come home.

At 5:45 I got a text message from her that Joseph threw up again. We had just ordered some drinks at that point, so we got our check, cancelled our reservations for dinner and went home. We got home at 6:15 and when we walked in our babysitter said Joseph had just thrown up again. Needless to say, I was looking forward to a relaxing evening out, but instead took care of Joseph, who was absolutely miserable. He continued to throw up until he fell asleep at around 8:30. He threw up one other time at around 10:30 and then was fine all night (other then just waking up a few times). When he woke up in the morning, he was acting perfectly fine. He wasn't really hungry all day, but he acted fine.

Saturday morning, Dave golfed and got home around 1 pm, then all the boys watched a little Michigan football. By Saturday night I was so exhausted from dealing with Joseph, getting no sleep Friday night and then having to deal with the kids all morning Saturday.

Sunday we ate at the Boathouse in Forrest Park and planned to go to the zoo, but there was a War Veterans Festival right next to the boathouse. They had some pretty cool old war replicas (boats, guns, cannons, etc.) We ended up staying there for about 45 minutes and then headed home. The boys both fell asleep in the car and we got a little bit of a break in the afternoon. That was when Dave started to not feel well. By Monday, Dave was sick. Joseph must have given him whatever he had. Dave had a fever and was miserable all day. We tried to keep the boys busy in the morning, then Dave laid down around 12:15 and slept all afternoon. I took the boys to the park in the afternoon and then the weekend ended.

Not exactly the exciting and relaxing weekend I was planning. The wonderful part about the weekend starting at Saturday evening was that the weather is absolutely amazing. It has been in the 70s and actually chilly in the morning. I am hoping the cooler weather will help with my swelling and uncomfortableness.

I am back to getting pretty much no sleep at night. This baby is up pretty much all night. Last night I thought it was going to kick its way out of my stomach. It kicked so hard and I really felt its entire foot and leg. It was pretty amazing. I finally feel asleep at 3:30 and then was up at 6:30 (Joseph was nice and slept in 30 minutes).

I am increasingly more uncomfortable at night. My back really hurts and like I said the baby is nuts at night. I am 35 and a half weeks. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. My contractions are getting significantly stronger. When I lay in bed at night they are actually approaching the somewhat painful point. It is all exciting and scary at the same time. I always get freaked out about labor right before it actually happens. The anticipation is so scary. I can't believe we will have another baby soon. I had a very vivid dream last night about the birth. I dreamed that it was a very fast labor and we just made it to the hospital. Somehow my mom and Dave's mom made it to the hospital for the birth. I was standing up to move to the bed and then I just pushed the baby out. I grabbed it and it was a boy. I am telling you that if this baby comes out a girl I am going to completely freak out. I am 100% convinced that it is a boy. I will be shocked if a little girl comes out.

Lastly, it is Samuel's first day of pre-school for the year. He is so excited and so am I. He can't wait. I will take a picture today when he is about to leave. He goes in the afternoons and I have to drop him off at 12:45.

Time to start the day.

Getting prepared

2011-08-31T09:32:00.000-05:00

I haven't been sleeping at all the last few nights. Last night I was so comfortable on all my pillows, but the baby was super super active. It was kicking like crazy and the foot finally reached my ribs. It was kicking and kicking way up in my rib cage and that freaks me out because I think there might be a possibility that it could crack a rib. Samuel kicked super hard too when I was pregnant with him and now this baby I feel like is just as strong. I finally fell asleep around 4 am and then Joseph was up at 6:15. Needless to say, I am very tired today.

Joseph is off to school today, which will be a nice break. Samuel has his pre-school open house this morning. We get to meet his new teachers. He is so excited and it makes me happy to know that he is really excited to start school again. He told me today that he is ready to start counting in Spanish again. He is also really mad that today I have to stay. He wants me to drop him off and then pick him up later.

Hopefully Samuel will take a nap this afternoon. Joseph has started a new thing in the morning. When he wakes up and goes out of his room, he runs to Samuel's room and yells "Samuel, wake up!" I tired to get him to be quiet this morning (since I finally got him up around 6:30), but he was yelling for Samuel and therefore woke Samuel up. It is really cute to see both boys in the morning together. They always give each other a really big hug and kiss. Too bad it doesn't happen around 7 or 7:30 in the morning. I am not asking for much. I would love it if they slept in even later, but 7 would be great for me.

Yesterday I was so excited to make a roast in the crock pot. We don't eat that much beef around here and I was looking forward to having a nice roast with potatoes and carrots. I got everything ready in the morning and the house smelled so good all day. Dave got home from work and took the beef out and started cutting it up. There were a few pieces that had a good amount of fat in it, so we threw the two pieces to George for a little snack. Within about two minutes George was puking all over the floor.

Dave and I looked at each other and we both had the same feeling. We weren't about to eat that beef if it made George puke immediately after eating it. We threw everything in the trash. I was so grossed out it was hard to even have an appetite. I made a quick dinner of spinach salad with tomatoes, garbanzo beans, almonds and fresh goat cheese and a grilled sandwich with Manchego cheese, tomatoes and provel cheese. It ended up being a really good dinner, just not what I intended.

Today the goal is to relax and get more stuff done around the house.

Have I mentioned

2011-08-28T14:10:00.000-05:00

how I am so done being pregnant. I know this is old news and everyone is sick of me complaining about the end of my pregnancy, but I'm done. I am no longer wearing my rings. I could wear my wedding band, but moving around all day and walking around make my hands swell and it just wasn't comfortable at the end of the day to try to pry my rings off my finger.

I have officially gained 30 pounds now. I am feeling like I gained at least 60. I'm huge. I am not exaggerating when I say I am huge. Here is the story: Today we took the boys to the zoo. They love going and it is nice to get out and walk around for a few hours in the morning. We took the boys into the sting-ray exhibit. I was standing behind the boys and a zoo worker was standing next to me. She asked if I was walking around the zoo trying to get things moving with the baby. I said no, but that in 3 to 6 weeks I will be doing whatever is possible to get the baby out. She said "You look pretty close. The baby is coming straight out front. You look like you are normally pretty small, but that baby looks big and all in front." Then she said that 3 kids was a good number. I asked her if she had 3 and she said no, she had SIX. Okay, so you would think for a woman who had 6 babies she would know not to tell a huge pregnant lady that she looks gigantic. Thanks lady, that really helped with my self-esteem for the day.

Here is another story: We went to the car after the zoo and the boys were having serious meltdowns because they were exhausted. Dave opened both sides of the van so we could put the boys in. He went to put Samuel in and I got Joseph out of the stroller and then tried to get to his side of the car. Another car was parked close to our car, but not super close and I couldn't even fit between the cars. Dave had to get Joseph and put him in.

Okay, so I have to conclude on a positive note. For all day long when I feel terrible, tired and huge last night made up for it. It was getting late and the boys needed to go to bed. I was sitting on the couch with both Samuel and Joseph. I had my pajamas on and my shirt was showing some of my belly. Joseph looked over patted my stomach and said "Baby". This is the first time that he has associated my big belly with a baby. Then Samuel said, "Yes, baby." Then Joseph pulled my shirt up and kissed my belly. Samuel then kissed my belly. They went back and forth kissing my belly. It was really so cute. Joseph is becoming more and more affectionate. He is starting to give kisses more and will cuddle up every once in a while. I actually have more of a positive feeling that Joseph will become instantly attached to this new baby the same way Samuel was to Joseph. I know Samuel will be in love with his new brother or sister right away because that is just his personality. I am now so excited to see how Joseph reacts.

In reality I don't have much longer. Almost done.

Begging Did Nothing

2011-08-25T16:01:00.000-05:00

I had a doctor's appointment today. I felt a little bad going in because really all I wanted to do was complain and get sympathy from my doctor. She ended up having to go to a delivery so I got the other OB in the office. I wasn't too excited to talk to her, but she ended up being great today. I am still have tons of contractions and this week they got pretty strong, but luckily I am still not dilated. She told me I really needed to pay attention to my contractions because I could all of the sudden go into labor and I will need to go to the hospital right away.

Tomorrow I am 34 weeks. In three weeks at 37 weeks they will begin doing the natural induction they did with Joseph. They won't start doing it any earlier even though I was basically begging for them to do something. I understand that this baby needs to stay in as long as possible because it is best for its health and I really do want to go as long as I can, but I am miserable. I feel like this baby is huge and growing by the hour. The doctor told me that the baby doesn't feel that big and I am not measuring like the baby is huge, but that with a third pregnancy the baby usually comes straight out front and is really uncomfortable especially if you are picking up and carrying around another little one.

I can make 3 weeks for sure. Just hearing 3 weeks though makes me nervous. It is really soon. I am going to pack up my toiletries this weekend and start getting a few things ready, so I don't have to worry about it later. I also need to do some organizing around the house, so I am fully prepared for the baby to come.

I am also a little stressed because we are getting close to one of the biggest fundraising events for Woman's Place that I have been planning with our committee. The Iris Ball is October 14th and there is still so much to do and I have a feeling I am going to be out at a very crucial time. I have been getting things organized for that so I can pass all the responsibilities on to other committee members.

Things are crazy around here. I am off to try to relax. The boys are quiet for now. Hopefully this will continue the rest of the evening. I think they can tell I am completely worn out!

Where has the time gone

2011-08-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

...oh yeah, to complaining about how I am so done with being pregnant.

I am now 33 years old. My birthday was last Monday. Samuel and I spent the day together. Joseph had his first day of school last Monday. He is doing pretty well. He goes every Monday and Wednesday from 9-3pm. Yesterday he started crying as soon as we drove into the parking lot. I feel terrible when he is crying, but by the time I pick him up he is running around playing with all the kids. They told me yesterday that he only cried for a few minutes after I dropped him off.

The crazy part is that he is napping on a cot there. He naps for a long time too. Yesterday he napped from 12:30 to 2:15. That is almost better then he naps at home. He must be so worn out from all the activities that he just passes out.

I am happy to have a little bit of time with Samuel alone. Once Samuel starts school I will have 2 hours to myself in the afternoon. It is just enough time to get absolutely nothing done. At least the house will be quiet. Both Samuel and Joseph's schools are 10 minutes from our house, so the drive isn't bad and I can spend a good period of time doing stuff at home.

This past weekend Dave's parents came in town and kept the boys super busy. Dave and I were able to run tons of errands, go out to brunch and dinner and then on Sunday we slept in until 9:30am. We haven't slept in until 9:30 since Samuel was 9 months old and we went to Vegas for the weekend and I couldn't get out of bed the whole weekend. That has been a little over 2 years. It was so needed.

This pregnancy is wearing me out. It is pushing straight out. It moves like a mad person. I am also having terrible back pain and I feel like my tailbone is bruised. I have a really hard time sitting for more then 30 minutes. Sleeping is nearly impossible too. This is by far the hardest pregnancy. I really wanted to enjoy this pregnancy because it is my last, but I am just not a huge fan. I just want to see this baby. Luckily I am 34 weeks on Friday. The weeks are flying by, but that doesn't make it easier.

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, so I will find out more information about when we can start moving forward with having this baby. I still think I am having a boy, but last night I had a dream it was a girl. We will see.

I am off to play with the kids. Joseph is standing by me screaming.

Busy Busy Week

2011-08-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

This was one of the busiest weeks I have had in a long time. This past weekend my parents were in town and they kept the boys very busy and worn out.

On Monday I had a doctor's appointment. I am 32 weeks today. I am measuring one week ahead. I feel like the baby is growing at a rapid speed. I am feeling stretched out and tired. The baby doesn't stop moving and kicking. It is super wild. I still think I am having a boy, but Dave thinks it is a girl. Not much longer. I am still have contractions. I opted not to get examined this last time because I had very painful contractions after my last examination. Probably at my next appointment they will check me out and see if I am dilated.

We set up the crib and changing table in my office. It fits perfectly. I bought a new bumper and a few organizational baskets to go under the changing table. I also bought a boy and girl newborn outfit. I really want this baby to come home in a gender appropriate outfit since both Samuel and Joseph came home in just plain green and white.

My birthday is on Monday and when my parents were here we had cake one night for dessert and then Samuel and my mom made a marble cake for me, which is my favorite. The boys were so happy to have dessert two days in a row. Here are some pictures:

On Tuesday I took the boys peach picking with my friend Andrea and her two daughters. They had a lot of fun. Joseph kept saying "Apples!!!!!", we finally convinced him they were peaches. He has actually been eating them at home. They have ripened up great and taste delicious. I need to make a few peach recipes so I can use up the peaches before they go bad. This was pretty much a full day trip and by the time we got home everyone was exhausted.

Here are some pictures from peach picking.

On Wednesday Joseph had his 18 month doctor's appointment. He is such a little guy. The doctor told me that she has a feeling Joseph is about to have a growth spurt because his percentages were so much lower then they have been. I told her that I was sure it was about to happen because he is eating a ton of food and sleeping great. Those are always two signs that he is about to grow.

Here are his percentages:

Height: 31.8 Inches (35%)
Weight: 25 lbs (36%)
Head Circum.: 19.50 Inches (90%)

I don't know why, but seeing how freaking big his head is always makes me laugh. He is just a little guy with a huge head. No wonder he hits his head on everything. His tiny body can't keep up with his gigantic head. Poor kid. At least he doesn't look disproportional.

On Thursday Joseph had is unofficial/official start of school. He only went for 2 hours, just so they could make sure that he wasn't completely freaked out when I drop him off on Monday.

He is going to start going to the Jewish Community Center/Early Childhood Center on Monday and Wednesday from 9am-3pm. It is going to be a nice break for all of us. The teachers said he did a great job the first day. It took him about an hour or so to warm up to everyone. Then they said he just started talking and repeating everything they said. I always know he is comfortable when he starts talking. That was a good sign for me.

While Joseph was at school, Samuel and I ran to Target and got all the school supplies we needed for both he and Joseph. It was amazing how fast two hours went. For the rest of August, Monday and Wednesday will be a day I get to spend with just Samuel. It will be nice to have alone time with just Samuel before the baby comes. Samuel starts school the beginning of September and only goes in the afternoons.

I feel crazy busy trying to get everything organized. All the paperwork and immunization records, everything. Luckily it is all done now and I can just try to relax.

Here is a picture of Joseph before I took him to school:

Thank goodness it is Friday. I am exhausted. We ran to the grocery store this morning and to Pottery Barn Kids. Joseph has just now fallen asleep and Samuel is relaxing on the couch. I am pooped and ready to have a nice relaxing weekend.

Hopefully next week will be a little less hectic.

So Hot!

2011-08-02T13:30:00.000-05:00

It is just unbearably hot outside. At 11:30 we were coming home from the gym and it was 101 degrees and I called the weather line and it is 60% humidity. It is just miserable to go outside.

The last two days I have taken to boys to the gym daycare and I have gotten some alone time. Yesterday I swam in the pool and did just a very slow breast stroke so I didn't get my heart rate up and then I sat out for about 15 minutes to dry off. It was so nice and relaxing. Then today I went and did some arm weights and squats, read a little bit of a book and then got them. It was great for everyone. They got playtime inside with other kids and I got alone time.

Tomorrow I am checking out an Early Childhood Center at the Jewish Community Center for Joseph. I can sign him up two days a week from 9am-3pm (Monday and Wednesday). They have an educational curriculum and lots of playtime. They feed him lunch and give him an afternoon nap. If I like the place I am going to sign him up. He needs to be in some type of school before I send him to the International Spanish school that Samuel goes to. Joseph will be able be able to start at that school next September.

I am getting more and more frustrated with fixing meals around here for the boys. Joseph is completely boycotting meat. He will only eat chicken that I have in my homemade chicken soup and that is it. He is also refusing to eat tofu. I also keep him on a higher fiber diet, which is really hard. He isn't supposed to eat (and he really doesn't like it anyway) cheese and bananas. He loves cauliflower, bread, eggs and smoothies, some veggie things, but that is about it. Meals are just getting harder and harder to figure out.

I have been making smoothies everyday for them. I am trying to mix up the fruit to give a variety. Every meal I make, half of it gets thrown on the floor. It is so frustrating.

Samuel on the other hand has decided he wants Salami for every meal. He wants salami sandwiches for lunch and dinner. He doesn't really like bread, so he will eat a few bites with the bread and then just eat the salami. Today he mixed it up a bit because he wanted Salami and Turkey on his sandwich. He took about 5 bites with all the bread and everything and then just ate the meat. Samuel is a pretty good eater. he makes good food choices, but he only eats when he is hungry. If he isn't hungry at lunchtime or dinner time he just won't eat. That is annoying too.

Anyway, last night I needed to use up Ricotta cheese and fresh mozzarella cheese I had in the fridge so I whipped up this very yummy pasta dish. Dave and I thought it was great and of course neither of the boys ate any of it.

Fresh Spinach and Fresh Mozzarella Pasta Bake

Saute two tablespoons of minced garlic and half of an diced onion in about a tablespoon of olive oil.
Chop up a ton of fresh spinach and add that to the garlic and onion mixture when the onions are translucent.
Cook the spinach down
Add two jars of Pasta Sauce (I used an organic Garlic Marinara Sauce)
Cook until a little bubbly
Add one small container of Ricotta Cheese
Cube up some fresh mozzarella cheese and add to sauce

Cook a container of whole wheat pasta (I used leftover pasta I had in the pantry (Rigatoni and Fusilli) in boiling water for 9 minutes then drain

Put a little bit of sauce at the bottom of a baking dish (11x13) to coat the bottom

Add pasta to sauce mixture and make sure all the pasta is covered in sauce

Put everything into baking dish

Cover all the pasta with thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes until all the cheese is melted and it is bubbling.

It was super creamy and delicious. It was great for leftovers too!

Freedom for Now

2011-07-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

I had my doctor appointment today. I am not dilated yet thank goodness. No bed rest yet. I am not supposed to do aerobic exercise though. I can do weights and squats, toning things but I can't get my heart rate up or really exert myself. I have two months of no exercising, which isn't too bad. I am going to enjoy it for now. I just need to watch what I am eating so I don't balloon up these next few months.

I am going every two weeks now. I have to watch my contractions and just relax as much as possible. The baby has gotten huge. At my last appointment 3 weeks ago, I was measuring right on schedule, now I am a little ahead. I am 30 weeks on Friday, but I am already measuring about 31 weeks. I know they are going to be paying a lot of attention to the size of the baby because I can't have another one as big as Samuel. I guess at the next few appointments we will probably talk about natural inducement and preparing for an early delivery. I may be having a September baby. Dave really wants it to come on October 1st, so it would be 10-1-11. We will see.

My babysitter is coming back on Thursday, so I am going to plan a day of errand running. I need to get a few newborn baby outfits for the hospital and start thinking about what I am going to bring. I want to last at least 7 more weeks, but I guess you never know.

We will probably try to set up the crib and changing table this weekend and get the office/nursery a little more organized. There will be a lot of changes soon.

It is getting closer and I am so ready for this pregnancy to be over and meet our last Glasser baby. I can't wait!

Ultra-sound

2011-07-21T14:07:00.000-05:00

I had my ultra-sound today to check my placenta. I am 28 weeks and 6 days. Exactly on schedule. It is growing at the exact perfect pace. The baby currently weights 2 pounds 13 oz. I forgot to ask about the heartbeat because I was so excited to see all the pictures. Because they had to get a good look at my placenta they did a 3D ultrasound too, so I got to see some great pictures.

The baby would not keep its hands away from its face. I was telling the ultrasound tech that at 20 weeks Samuel was already sucking his thumb and we saw it on the ultrasound. Then all of the sudden this baby started sucking its thumb. It was so clear, I saw the cheeks moving and everything. I don't know what came over me, but I just started crying. It was so amazing to see how much the baby has grown. It reminded me of when I saw Samuel for the first time and I just could control the tears.

Everything with the baby looked great. The best part too is that my placenta has moved away from my cervix. We are in good shape. I can now have a vaginal birth, if that is the way it is going to go. I felt so relieved.

Here are pictures of the little baby!

This is looking straight down from the top of the head. You can see that a hand it up by its mouth and it is clearly sucking its thumb.

Profile picture

3D images. You can see the face and the arm is right next to the face.

This is a better picture of the face. The nose looks really big because they had to zoom in a lot to get a good picture of the lips and chin. You can see on the chin that it has a little dimple in it just like Joseph has. It definitely has my nose too, just like both boys. I can't wait to see this baby in person. It sucks its thumb like Samuel and has a chin like Joseph. I can't wait to see all its other characteristics.

U2 Concert

2011-07-21T13:44:00.000-05:00

Pictures from U2. We had so much fun. The stage was super awesome. It was hot as hell that night, but I wore the perfect dress. I didn't sweat through it and it kept me pretty cool, even though my boobs were falling out all over the place. Who cares, I am big and pregnant and I enjoyed the amazing concert.

This is the opening band Interpol. Dave loved them. I thought they were pretty good. The bass was so loud. My whole body was vibrating. When they first started playing it scared the baby shitless. It jumped, like I have never felt it jump before and kicked and kicked the whole time they were playing. At least it got to experience its first concert!

Michigan Pictures

2011-07-21T13:33:00.001-05:00

Fun in the little pool. Samuel, Jacob and Evan

Samuel loved getting sprayed with the water

Love this picture. He looks so happy.

Everyone enjoying Ice Cream Sandwiches. I can't figure out where I was because I would have eaten a ton of them.

The boys were ganging up on Jules

Slip and Slide

Remote control truck playing

Family picture. Excuse how ridiculously huge I look. Melissa, Me, Dave, Joseph, Marleen, Jacob, Samuel and Greg

Big Family Picture. Greg, Ton, Adam, Evan, Uncle Joe, Karin, Jules, Ton's parents, Melissa, Samuel, Leone, Me, Dave, Joseph, Marleen and Jacob

Joseph loves sparkling water. He couldn't get enough

Joseph missed George so he played with Lucy!

Busy Weekend, Busy Week

2011-07-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

We had a very busy weekend. We went to Michigan (I will post pictures later, I haven't even had time to download them yet) for our yearly visit. We got to see family from The Netherlands and Canada. It was a nice but short visit. We left on Friday evening and didn't get into to Michigan until around midnight, then we had an early flight out on Sunday morning.

The kids were so busy playing all day on Saturday that they were worn out for a few days when we got back.

On Sunday, Dave and I went to the U2 concert. It was a great concert. They sounded amazing live, better then on any album I have ever heard. If I had a bucket list started, seeing U2 would have been on the list. I love their music and I always wanted to see them. I got some good pictures that night too. We didn't get home until around 11:30, so needless to say Dave and I were worn out from the long weekend.

I have been trying to relax a little bit more this week, but it is hard because the boys need to be busy.

Joseph I think is already entering the terrible two's and Samuel is full into the ridiculously difficult three's. There are a lot of tantrums going on in this house, lots of time outs, lots of correcting, lots of figuring out how to parent and lots of patience. There are many times a day that I want to lock both boys in their rooms and not let them out.

This hot weather is killing me. I have no energy to do anything. I can't wait for it to start cooling down a little bit.

I washed all the newborn baby clothes that were all unisex. I figured I wouldn't wash all the newborn boy clothes until I knew for sure what we were having. I still think I am having a boy, but the other night I kept dreaming about having a girl. We will find out soon enough.

We are off to play.

28 weeks

2011-07-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

It seems like I really only have time right now to post once a week. The weeks are flying by and I am just so exhausted I don't really want to do anything.

I am 28 weeks today. I feel so lucky to have reached this point. I always am relieved when I get through the first trimester and then again at 28 weeks.

I have started to feel really emotional. I feel this overwhelming need to just start crying. It is such a crazy feeling. I know my hormones are going nuts.

We finally bought a crib and changing table last weekend and it will be delivered soon. Once we get that set up and I wash the newborn clothes I have I will start to feel calm again.

Overall I am not that stressed about the prospect of having another baby or how crazy things are going to be, but I am stressed out. I have been having a lot of contractions for the past few weeks. At first I would have a random one that was really strong and painful, but now I am having that more often. I posted before that I have to start keeping track of my contractions if they start coming fast and I have to call the doctor if I have more then 10 in one hour.

Last night around 9 pm I started having a ton of contractions and several were very strong, hard and long. I started to get a little bit worried and was about to start keeping track of how often they were coming when they just stopped. It was scary from 9-9:30, I had one more around 9:45 and then it ended. I didn't have anymore the rest of the evening.

I am trying not to do too much. It seems like when I relax they come more often. It doesn't make any sense, but that is what is happening.

I have another ultra sound next week and then a doctor's appointment the next Tuesday. I will be almost 30 weeks at that point.

This baby is feisty. It doesn't seem like it is happy with the close quarters in my uterus. First lesson it must learn is that Mommy is in charge! It better calm down and stay in there for a while longer.

Well, I wish I had more of a break but Joseph is already waking up. He doesn't nap longer then a few hours.

I am going to try to stay cool and hydrated. We are having a heat advisory around here starting on Sunday through all next week. It is going to be miserable I am sure.

Long week

2011-07-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

We haven't had the most exciting week. Joseph was sick most of July 4th weekend. He had a fever, running nose and cough, but acted completely fine. He didn't have a fever on Tuesday or Wednesday at all, but then Wednesday night was a complete mess. He was up pretty much all night screaming. It started around 9 pm. We got him to go back to sleep a few times, but it only lasted about 5 minutes. He just continued to scream. I told Dave we should just bring him in our room, so I think around 10 we brought him in. He just screamed and screamed. He only wanted me to hold him and he wanted to lay right on top of me. Dave finally moved to the couch to try to get some sleep. I have no idea when Joseph actually fell asleep, but at some point he did and so did I but only for about a couple of hours.

I had a feel that he had a ear infection, just because he was so miserable. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he has a double ear infection. No wonder he was such a mess. He took a 3 hour nap yesterday and slept all night (well until 6:30 am). He is a little cranky today, but is so much better.

What a night! I wasn't that tired yesterday, but today I am pretty exhausted. It is really hard to only get a few hours of sleep. Plus as I mentioned in a previous post I am starting to have contractions. Some are just tiny ones, but others are big, strong and painful. Because Joseph wanted to sleep pretty much on top of me, I had contractions all night long because of the pressure on my stomach. It wasn't comfortable in so many ways.

This is actually the first time Joseph has ever slept in our room at night. He doesn't get sick that often and never was so uncomfortable that he needed to sleep with us. I remember having Samuel in bed with us all the time. Even though I felt terrible for him and it was uncomfortable for me, I did like having him right next to me.

I also had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I am now 27 weeks. This pregnancy has been moving pretty quickly. While she was measuring me and listening to the heartbeat, I started to feel a lot of pain in my stomach. The more she pushed around, the worse the pain was. When I looked at my stomach I was having a huge contraction. My doctor said she was impressed with how a long hard contraction it was and asked how long I have been having contractions. When I told her two weeks, she wanted to check to see if I was starting to dilate. Luckily I am not dilating yet and there weren't any signs that the lining was thinning, so she was pretty relieved and so was I.

At this point I can continue to keep up all my normal activities and I can exercise, but I have to start keeping track of how many contractions I am having, even the non-painful ones. If I have more then 10 in one hour I have to call and come in to see the doctor. She wants to see me again in 3 weeks to check me out again.

I also have to get another ultra-sound to check my placenta to see if it has moved from my cervix. I will probably have that in the next few weeks. I haven't had any spotting or bleeding, which is a really good sign that it has moved, but we have to make sure.

I am keeping my fingers crossed (keep yours crossed too) that I don't have to limit my activity or go on bed rest. I would go nuts, so would the boys.

I'm off to figure out what to do with the boys.

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T13:35:00.001-05:00

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the long weekend. Our plans have been somewhat disrupted because Joseph has had a fever all weekend. He woke up with a fever on Friday morning and he hasn't gotten rid of it. The highest it has reached is 101, but it has been around 100 the whole weekend. He is coughing and has a runny nose too, but other then that he is acting completely fine. He is running around and not even acting sick. Samuel has a bit of a cough too, but is also acting coming fine.

They are both napping right now, which both Dave and I needed desperately. They have been waking up at 6 am. What is wrong with them? How do you get kids to sleep in later? Joseph goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 at night (we can't get him to stay up any later, he literally can not function by 7) and Samuel goes to bed between 7 and 8 depending on if he took a nap or not. They do go to bed at a reasonable time, but my gosh can they not sleep in later.

Other then not much sleep and dealing with wild children all weekend, I have been cooking up a storm.

On Saturday night we had grilled Bone-in Rib-eye (which was absolutely delicious), crab cakes, roasted fingerling potatoes (oil, garlic, rosemary, onion powder, cayenne pepper, pepper and salt all tossed with the potatoes and put on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes), grilled zucchini, squash, and portabella mushrooms.

On Sunday night we had roasted turkey breast (cooked in the oven in a roaster with celery, carrots, onions, rosemary and brushed with oil, seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and parsley cooked at 325 for 2 hours), garlic mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. It was super delicious. We had a lot of leftover turkey, so I sliced that up and we will use it for sandwiches for the rest of the week. Yummy.

Tonight I am making Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers. I am going to post pictures and the recipe at Table for Two.

From now on I am going to try to post all my food related items at that blog. It is easier to keep it separate from all my family stuff.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

Every night Joseph wants to lay down with Samuel on the couch. They are so cute together.

On the train at the Museum of Transportation

Joseph isn't much of a hugger but he loves to give Samuel hugs. I LOVE this picture of the boys.

Check out that height difference

More hugs!

Growing and Nightmares

2011-07-01T07:09:00.000-05:00

I think Samuel is about to grow because he is having nightmares again. Last night he yelled for me around midnight. I ran in there and he started yelling at me for poking him in the eye. I told him I didn't poke him in the eye and he said yes I did poke him and his eye was killing him. He was grabbing his eye and it actually looked really red. I think he poked his eye in his sleep and it woke him up. Anyway, I had to calm him down, turn on the light, look at his eye to make sure there wasn't anything in it and then I got him to go back to sleep. By that time I was wide awake and it took me a while to get back to bed.

I was supposed to have a doctor appointment yesterday, but when I got to the office both doctors were out delivering babies, so I have to go back next week. What a pain! I am growing by the day. I am so done with being pregnant. This baby is wild. It doesn't sit still and is always kicking me. It is as wild as Samuel and Joseph. Probably another crazy boy.

It is going to be a hot long weekend. I think we will be spending time at the pool. We bought a little pool for the backyard and the boys love it. I love it because I can sit in it while they are playing and not get too hot.

I'm hoping to cook and bake a lot this weekend. We will see if I come up with anything interesting. Happy 4th of July weekend.

Storms again and Random thoughts

2011-06-27T08:41:00.000-05:00

Two nights in a row we have been woken up and stayed awake due to huge thunderstorms. Last night we woke up because there was amazing winds coming through and I swear it sounded like a tornado. Both Dave and I jumped out of bed and ran to the boys rooms, but when we looked outside it was just windy, lightening, thundering and raining. We turned on the news and saw that it was just a huge storm rolling through. I think both Dave and I were up from 2-4 because the storm was so loud. Luckily the boys slept through it.

Samuel is so strange sometimes. Last night we put him to bed and about 30 minutes later we heard noise in his room and then it sounded like he opened his door, but he never came out, so we didn't even go over to his room. Then about 9:30 we went to check on the boys before we went to bed. Samuel's door was open. He normally burrows down way in his bed at night and we have to pull him up and recover him up before we go to bed. I went up to his bed and I didn't see him anywhere. I heard a big sign and breath and it came from his bed, but he wasn't in it. I looked under his bed and he was sound asleep under his bed. We have no idea why he did that, but we had a good laugh.

The boys are really starting to play with each other. They laugh, jump on each other and just have so much fun. I love seeing them together. Joseph isn't a cuddler, kisser or a hugger. If he hugs you or kisses you then you are lucky. He gives hugs and kisses sometimes at night before we put him to bed but it isn't a regular occurrence. However, he LOVES to give Samuel hugs and kisses. He loves his brother and I love to see that. It makes me feel so good.

Samuel told me this morning, "You are my favorite Mommy." A good way to start the day.

Pregnancy update: Last week I was having a bad feeling week. I was feeling huge, uncomfortable and not happy to be pregnant at all. I worked out three times last week and I am already feeling a little bit better. I am trying to keep it up this week. I think the working out really helps with my mental state.

This weekend I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions. They are random and it is usually when I have been on my feet doing things for a long time. When I finally relax I start having some contractions. I have an appointment on Thursday so we will see what my doctor has to say about that.

Thank goodness this is my last pregnancy. I don't think my body could handle being pregnant again. I am so done with being pregnant. Everything seems like it is falling apart. My scar from when I got my appendix taken out is really hurting with this pregnancy. I called the doctor last week because I was having pretty severe pain around the incision. It went away after a day, but I had to ice it and take it easy. My legs still look absolutely terrible and I am now developing spider veins on my left leg.

This baby is super active. I think it is pretty comparable to my pregnancy with Samuel. It barely stops moving. Last night both Dave and I felt its foot come right across my stomach. It was such a creepy feeling. Whether it is a boy or a girl it is a wild baby right now.

Dave and I are still having issues picking out names. We think we have the first names figured out, but we are trying to figure out middle names. I am not totally set on the boys name, but Dave really likes it. We will see. We will continue to look and think of names. If you have any good ideas let us know. We don't want anything popular but nothing too crazy either.

I think it is going to be movie day today. It is raining and yucky out, so we will probably be staying in.

Best Vegetable Cheese Enchiladas Ever

2011-06-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Tonight I made the best Mexican food ever. I made Vegetable Cheese Enchiladas, Jalapeno Cilantro Rice with Sauteed Fresh Corn.

I will start with the easy sides. Now I can't give you specific measurements because I kind of just throw things in, but I can give you estimates and you can alter it to your own liking.

Jalapeno Cilantro Rice

Brown Rice - (cook like you normally would, I made enough for 4-6 servings)

Take a small frying pan and put in some oil (about 1 tablespoon), turn on medium heat. Add about two tablespoons minced garlic, half of a large onion chopped and two tablespoons jalapenos chopped (I used jarred sliced jalapenos that I keep in the fridge). Saute everything until the onions are translucent, but don't make the pan too hot that it browns the onions or garlic. You don't want to burn it at all. Lower the heat if it starts to brown at all.

Once the onions are cooked turn the heat off, then add about two tablespoons or more of chopped fresh cilantro (I love cilantro, so I added a lot) and mix it all up together.

After all mixed, then add onions, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro to the brown rice and fluff all together.

It was absolutely delicious. It had a great kick and tons of flavor.

Sauteed Corn

I used three ears of fresh corn. I sliced all the kernels off the cob.

Use a medium frying pan. Put about one tablespoon of butter. Melt butter halfway in pan. Add all the kernels. Saute so that all the corn is covered in butter. Then add a little fresh cracked pepper and sea salt to taste. Saute entire mixture until hot.

Dave added the corn to his rice and mixed them all together and I tried it both separately and mixed and it both tasted great.

Vegetable Cheese Enchiladas

Enchilada Sauce
2 15 oz. can of organic tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Cumin (or more if you like cumin)
1 red bell pepper (or any other bell pepper) chopped

Combine all in a pot and cook until it starts to boil, then let it simmer for at least 5 minutes. Once cooked, put enough sauce on the bottom of an 11x13 baking dish to have a nice layer on the bottom. Then add some sauce to a bowl because you are going to dip the corn tortillas in the sauce on both sides before you stuff them. The remaining sauce will be poured over the top of the enchiladas.

Cheese Mixture

One package of mixed Mexican blend cheese (I think it was 15 oz total)
A little more then half of a cup of sour cream
Two Tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley
Pepper
Cilantro (Add as much as you want or non at all)

Mix everything together in a bowl and set aside for stuffing of the tortillas later

Vegetables

1 cup mushroom, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped squash
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 tablespoons garlic
half of a large onion chopped

Use a little bit of olive oil and heat in pan. Add garlic and onions, cooked until onions are translucent. Add all the remaining vegetables and saute until partially cooked (you don't want to overcook because you don't want it to be mushy in your enchilada). Remove from heat and get ready to add to enchilada.

Assembly
Preheat over to 350.
Before you start to assemble you will also need a can of refried beans (I used Organic Refried Pinto Beans) and a can black beans drained.

For each corn tortilla:

Dip both sides in enchilada sauce, then add down the center a thin layer of refried beans, some black beans, some of the sauteed vegetables and then some of the cheese mixture. It will be a full tortilla, but roll it over and place in baking dish seam side down.

Continue until you fill up the baking dish. Put in as many as you can get.

I had a good amount of left over veggies, so I placed them all over the top of the rolled tortillas (remember that they might be juicy from being heated, so just drain the juice and pour only the veggies on top, not the juice). Then pour all the remaining sauce over the enchiladas.

You will have leftover refried beans and black beans as well. You could heat it up and have it as an additional side dish or put it away and keep it for quesadillas later.

There should be extra cheese mixture left over too. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Then add a little more cheddar cheese over the top to cover all the remaining enchiladas. You don't need that much cheddar cheese because the cheese mixture really spreads when it heats up and melts.

Bake in 350 oven for about 20 minutes until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Let sit out for about 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Everything was so delicious. Dave and I loved everything. So good.

What a weekend!

2011-06-26T20:12:00.000-05:00

Dave and I are exhausted. We kept the boys so busy this weekend and I think we only really wore ourselves out. It is like they have endless never-ending energy. Not like you all want to know what we did all weekend, but I am going to tell you anyway. I want to look back and remember how much we did when I was almost 7 months pregnant.

We went to the zoo three times this weekend. I took the boys on Wednesday and they had so much fun Samuel wanted to go again on Thursday. The weather was beautiful this past week and I loved the idea of spending a good 2-3 hours outside. Samuel walked for a good hour and a half on Thursday, then he asked if we could leave because he was soooo tired. We stopped and got smoothies for lunch and then both boys took great naps that day.

Friday we just relaxed.

Saturday we took the boys to the gym day care in the morning, went out to lunch and then spent about an hour and a half at the Museum of Transportation. The boys ran around looking at lots of different trains and we rode the little miniature train. (I will post pictures later. I haven't had time to download anything). Joseph took about a 10 minute nap in the car on the way to the Museum and woke up the minute we opened the doors. By the time we got home that afternoon is was almost 3 and we didn't want to put either kid to sleep, so we forced them to stay awake. They both were passed out that night by 6:30 pm. It was awesome.

Then we woke up this morning, ate breakfast and headed to the zoo again. We walked around for a good hour, rode the zoo train, Dave and Samuel checked out the sting-rays and we walked some more. We ate lunch at the Boathouse in Forest Park, which has delicious food. The brunch looked great, but neither Dave or I were in the mood for brunchy food. We headed home and both boys took a pretty good nap. When they woke up we loaded them up again and went grocery shopping. We got home and Dave filled up the little pool in the backyard. The boys all played out in the back for about 45 minutes while I made THE BEST DINNER EVER. Luckily both boys were asleep by 7pm tonight, which was so needed because Dave and I are pretty much non-functioning.

So I really did make the best dinner ever. I will post a separate post about the dinner because it was unbelievable.

Nesting and Eating

2011-06-21T08:20:00.000-05:00

I think I am beginning to nest. I was feeling the need to start serious organizing yesterday. I am also really started to freak out about having three kids. There is just so much to do. First on the list: BUY A CRIB. We are going to set up a crib in my office connected to our bedroom and I really need to get a crib and a small changing table. I think I am just going to get on Target's website and order a crib. I don't want anything special. We are planning to keep the baby in that room for a while and then move it to its own room. I want to keep our guest bedroom until we are able to finish the basement. If we could only sell our old house. Keep your fingers crossed everyone.

I am really in the mood lately to bake and cook. Yesterday I made veggie chili in the crockpot (Canned Diced Tomatoes, Black Beans, Kidney Beans, Pinto Beans, Corn, Celery, Two Bay leaves, Cumin, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper) and had it cooking all day and then I made homemade biscuits (made with whole wheat flour and ground flax seed. It was healthy and delicious).

I am trying to come up with more crockpot ideas because it is easy. If anyone had good ideas let me know.

Tonight I am making lemon chicken cooked with Brussel sprouts and cannellini beans. I will probably make some quinoa to go with it.

I have lots more ideas. I am so sick of eating out. Again, if anyone has yummy easy food ideas let me know. I am all about tasty and easy for the summer. There is just too much else going on.

Here is my list so far:
1. Cheese Pizza and BBQ Chicken Pizza
2. Whole Wheat Pasta with Cooked Spinach (with onion and garlic) and Tomato Sauce
3. Taco Salad or Nacho Salad
4. Breakfast for dinner
5. Turkey Breast with Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Veggies, Cranberries (I have really been craving a Thanksgiving like dinner for a while. It is definitely a pregnancy thing).
6. Quiches
7. Tomato Pie (Pie crust with sliced fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic topped with Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese)

That is my list so far. I am planning to add to it and just mark things off. I need to have ideas or I never get motivated to cook at the last minute. I am also flipping through lots of cookbooks for baking ideas.

Father's Day Weekend

2011-06-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Belated Father's Day. I have absolutely no motivation to post on the weekends, so this is a late tribute to all the fathers. Happy Father's Day to my loving Dad, to my amazing husband and to my wonderful father in law. I am not really in the mood to be all sappy today. So I just wanted to say that I love you all!

I am so tired today. I can't seem to wake up. I am contemplating having a cup of coffee. I am sure that isn't the smartest thing to do since it is almost 1 in the afternoon and I am pregnant. So another cup of caffeine isn't probably a good idea, but I am having a hard time functioning.

We were really busy this past weekend. We went to Innsbrook, MO for the weekend. We got a house on one of the lakes and tried to relax. It was really really beautiful. The house we rented was very close to the water so Dave and Samuel could go fishing (which they did several times). Joseph liked hanging out at the dock too. We played games, ran around, went to the pool, BBQ'd and it wore everyone out. It was really nice to get away and Innsbrook is only one hour from St. Louis . We were planning to stay until Sunday morning, but we didn't really see the point in spending the night to just wake up and come home. So we left after dinner of Saturday night. Samuel fell asleep in the car around 6 and was so tired and worn out that I just put him to bed as soon as we got home. Joseph was tired too, but I couldn't get him to go to bed until a little after 7. They were so tired that they both slept until 7 am on Sunday, which was awesome. The place we stayed at in Innsbrook didn't have shades on the windows, so if we hadn't come home I am sure the boys would have been up super early, so it was nice to get to sleep in a bit.

I think I am so tired today because I am just worn out from everything we did too. It was a great weekend. I am ready to do it again.

I didn't take as many pictures as I thought, but here are a few:

Getting ready to go fishing

Playing on the deck in the water

On the dock about to fish

They caught their first fish

Eating donuts for breakfast. They loved them some powdered donuts.

On the pregnancy front. I am freaking huge. My veins are popping out like crazy and the cellulite has gone nuts. My legs are so disgusting, I am embarrassed. I have packed on a lot of weight this month. I think my boobs have gained at least a pound to a pound and a half each. They are huge and killing me. I have gained 17 pounds so far and I am so ready to be done. I am having some serious sciatic nerve pain. My back hurts all the time. Depending on what position I am sitting in, sometimes I can't get up and walk. I am trying to exercise more and stretch because it makes it feel better and I am in such a better mood when I workout. I worked out for 30 minutes today and hopefully I can get myself and the boys motivated to get to the gym all week. Today they had no desire to go to the pool, so we headed home after I worked out. I am going to try swimming soon. The swim team at the MAC practices every morning, but they are normally done by 10. It is hard to plan swimming time, workout time, lunch time for the boys and nap time. Everything has to be done by 11:30 or 12 so I can get them home and to sleep.

Samuel is still tired from the weekend so he is actually napping right now. I have 30 minutes to get stuff done before I need to get him up. Lots to do.

Conversation with Samuel

2011-06-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

Samuel: Mommy, give me some orange juice.

Me: Only if you ask properly.

Samuel: Mommy, give me some orange juice please.

Me: That still isn't a very nice way to ask.

Samuel: Mommy, let me have some orange juice please.

Me: How about asking...May I have some orange juice please?

Samuel: No, I am not saying that.

Me: Then you aren't going to get any orange juice.

Samuel: Mommy, I can't say that because I only speak Spanish.

After I had a good laugh, I asked him to try to speak English and ask. He finally did and he got his orange juice.

More Tulsa

2011-06-16T15:27:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pictures of our trip to Tulsa.

On Monday night I went to hear one of my former classmates speak about his new book that just came out. I went to middle school and high school with Daniel Wilson, check out his website: http://www.danielhwilson.com.

His book Robocalypse, just yesterday was said to have gotten on the New York Times Best Sellers list and this is the first week it came out. The book has been optioned by Dreamworks and Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct the film. It is due out in 2013.

Anyway, he is really excited about the book. My other high school friend that moved to St. Louis this past year and I went to his book talk and signing. Then we hung out with him that evening. I didn't get home until midnight which has totally screwed up my schedule this week. I haven't recovered from the lack of sleep.

Oh here is a picture of my friend Robyn, Daniel and me.

Anyway, Joseph has been waking up around 6 am every day and I am beat. He is usually really loud so he wakes Samuel up by 6:30/6:45 am. It is making for very long days. Samuel is no longer napping. He has been great at letting me get some stuff done in the afternoons.

I am not motivated to do much these days, so this is the extent of this post. Maybe when I have more energy I will post more.

I've Exploded

2011-06-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

I seriously don't know how I am going to make it through the summer. I EXPLODED this last week. I feel like I am retaining a ton of water, my stomach has at the least doubled in size, my boobs are getting huge and I don't even want to talk about the size of my ass. It is actually frightening to see.

This week I have been in Tulsa. The boys have been super busy playing tons outside everyday. They have been exhausted. They are not giving me a break on sleeping though. They wake up at 6 am. What is wrong with them. Samuel has insisted on sleeping in the same room as Joseph, so they have been waking each other up. This morning, Joseph woke up first and started saying "Samuel, Samuel!" I tried to grab him before he woke Samuel up, but of course I didn't. Then Samuel said he can't sleep because Joseph always wakes him up. However, yesterday it was Samuel that woke Joseph up. Oh well. It is nice that they are sleeping in the same room and giving me a little bit of a break.

I have been staying up later then normal because it is nice to have alone time with my parents. It makes for a long tired day. The boys have been wearing my mom out. She normally can stay up pretty late when I am in town, but this week she has been wanting to go to bed around 10pm. I can relate. They are busy busy boys.

So far I have had a really nice trip. I can't believe that the week is almost over. It has been almost 100 degrees everyday here, which is absolutely miserable. No wonder I am ballooning. I am really going to have to watch my sodium intake this summer and drink tons of water. I was soo good the first part of my pregnancy. I hadn't gained much weight, but now I am making up for it. I am not getting on the scale right now. I am so scared of what I might see.

Here are some pictures, from our busy week. Hanging out, sidewalk chalk and paint (the paint is super cool), swimming, dressing up and eating.

I am off to put my feet up.

Summer Summer Summertime

2011-06-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

It is hot hot hot. The weather went from chilly to 90's. I seriously don't know how I am going to survive the summer. I finally got myself some maternity bathing suits, so I am set to spend most of my days at the pool, but I am worried about the heat and how big I am going to be getting.

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I am almost 22 weeks and I have gained 10 pounds so far. I feel like I have gained at least 20 more. My body feels huge. My stomach exploded in size the last two weeks. I still look down and I can't believe I am pregnant. Samuel is starting to ask me almost everyday if he is going to have a brother or a sister. This morning he told me that he really wanted another brother, but that he knew I wanted him to have a sister. I don't know where he got that because I have never said I wanted him to have a sister. He is getting excited because he can see I am getting bigger and he always wants to lay his head on my stomach to see if he can hear the baby. It is really cute. I just love how loving Samuel is.

The doctor yesterday told me not to worry about my low-lying placenta. She said that she is almost 100% sure that it will move as my uterus gets bigger. I will have another ultra sound the beginning of my third trimester to make sure that everything looks okay. The only option if it doesn't move is a C-section. She said that she isn't worried about that at all right now.

My varicose vein in my right leg is huge and disgusting looking. I am going to be so excited to take care of that sucker once this pregnancy is over. My body has really changed with each pregnancy. With Samuel I got tons of stretch marks, with Joseph I got my huge varicose vein and with this baby I am getting spider veins. My legs are looking absolutely terrible, which is depressing to me since I will be exposing them all summer. Oh well, it will all be taken care of at some point.

We have officially started summer break and I am looking forward to lots of fun projects with the boys, lots of swimming and hopefully lots of afternoon napping for everyone.

I am off to get some stuff done while the boys are taking a rare nap at the same time.

Power Outage

2011-05-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

We survived 24 hours of a power outage. A storm came through yesterday mid morning and it didn't seem like it was all that bad, but there was some high wind. Apparently it was worse then I thought. I was on my way to my haircut appointment and trees were down all over the place.

My babysitter was home with Samuel and she texted me and said that our power went out, but that it was so bright outside that it didn't bother Samuel. I thought by the time I got home around 4 it would be back on, but it wasn't.

Samuel absolutely didn't understand that he couldn't open the fridge or the freezer or that we couldn't turn lights on or the TV. We played a ton of games last night and wore the boys out. We got them to bed and then it was getting dark and there was nothing for us to do. I ended up sleeping on the couch close by the boys rooms so I could hear them if they woke up in the middle of the night or turn off all the lights when the electricity came back on. Dave slept in our room. We went to bed by 8:30. I wish I could say that I got a lot of sleep, but I woke up a lot and I kept waiting for the electricity to come back on.

It didn't come back on until today around 11:30. So we were out for a long time. The house was hot. I ran errands all morning so we wouldn't have to be in the house. When I came home everything was on. The alarm was going off, the TV was on and pretty much every light. What a relief. I didn't know how we could make it any longer. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to throw everything out in the fridge and the freezer. It seems like everything stayed cold, despite the fact that Samuel opened everything at least three times.

I am hoping to get a good night sleep tonight and relax.

We have a busy week and weekend planned.

Pictures and Update on Ultrasound

2011-05-18T21:04:00.001-05:00

I didn't realize how many good pictures I had taken and not downloaded until today.

Here is a picture of Dave with the boys:

I watched Haidyn about a week ago and Samuel was dying to hold her. I got a couple of really cute pictures.

Now to the exciting part about our ultra sound today. Here is a picture of the little babies face.

The baby looked great. I am exactly on schedule. The baby measured exactly 19 weeks and 5 days. The due date has not changed from October 7th. The baby weighed 11 ounces and the heartbeat was 155 beats per minute.

I think we are having another boy, but Dave thinks it is a girl. We have a few more months to go to find out.

So as I said everything looks great with the baby, but the ultrasound showed that my placenta is close to my cervix. They want the placenta to be at least 2 cm away from the cervix and mine is a little under 2 cm. I have what is called a low-lying placenta. Since I am only 20 weeks, there is a good possibility that as my uterus grows the placenta will move up and there will not be a problem. I have a doctor's appointment on the 31st and we will probably talk about all the different scenarios. If the placenta doesn't move and gets closer to the cervix I will be diagnosed with placenta previa and there are lots of complications that may occur and I will have to really start preparing myself for a C-Section which is normally the only option.

There are lots of things that are up in the air at this point. In a few weeks after talking to my doctor I will have a better idea of what is going on. I am just relieved that the baby looks great and I am feeling overall great.

That's the update.

Where's the light?

2011-05-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

These past few weeks haven't been the greatest. Sometimes I get down on myself because everything really is wonderful around here, but I still get depressed and upset. I know a lot of my mood has to do with the very little sleep I have been getting. My insomnia the past few weeks was really really bad. I was up at least every two hours to pee. Normally I can go right back to bed, but not the past few weeks. I spend at least 30 minutes to an hour awake and then when I finally fall asleep I get back up an hour or so later. Then I have been waking up at 4 am and I am wide awake. Sometimes I contemplate just getting out of bed and doing stuff, but I keep thinking or hoping I am going to go back to sleep.

This week, well Sunday night through Tuesday night, I have been able to sleep from 11:30 pm to 5 am straight. This is a nice change, but I think my body is in a little bit of shock with getting more sleep. I am still really tired, but if I can continue this 5 and half hours a night sleep I will be great. If I go back to my few hours of sleep a night I am not going to make it through the first few months of the baby.

The boys have been napping terribly. Samuel isn't really napping at all in the afternoons, which isn't too bad. However, Joseph is falling asleep late morning or early afternoon and then not taking any afternoon nap. He is almost unbearable in the evenings. He gets so cranky. The good thing is that he goes to bed at 6:30 pm. The bad thing is he starts off the day at 6 am or earlier. It makes for a really long day for me.

I am trying to find a balance in my life right now because I know how important that will be with three kids. Right now I am so sick of all my mom duties. I feel like all I do lately is laundry, loading and unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the pots and pans, keeping the house looking not like a tornado has hit it everyday and thinking and cooking meals. Plus, I know I mentioned it before, but I am also doing a ton of work for Woman's Place. I don't mind doing any of the above mentioned it just feels like there is more of everything lately.

I did four loads of laundry yesterday and I had done almost all all of our laundry on Sunday. It was mostly sheets because Samuel woke up yesterday and had leaked, which rarely happens, but it starts off the day with a load of laundry.

By the way, anyone have advice on potty training at night? Samuel has been potty trained for almost a year and doesn't have any accidents at nap time, but he rarely goes through the night without peeing. We tried getting him to pee after he had already been asleep for a while, but he is a very heavy sleeper and got really out of control when he tried to get him to pee because he was sound asleep. Anyway, any ideas would be great.

Enough with the complaining. On an exciting note, today I am having my BIG ultrasound. We could be finding out the sex, but of course we aren't. I am just excited to see how big the baby has gotten and what it looks like. This is going to be our last ultrasound before I go into labor. I will have to post pictures when we get them. I can't believe that I am 20 weeks in two days. Half way through this pregnancy. This is crazy. Time has really flown by. So far this baby is really calm and easy. I can't wait to see what this one is really like. Only have four and a half more months to go.

I am off to enjoy the day.

Mother's Day - Trauma - Check-up

2011-05-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. Joseph had a bit of a cold when he woke up so he was really needy and Samuel just wanted to snuggle all day. It was like they knew it was Mother's Day and wouldn't leave me alone. Dave took us to a beautiful brunch at the Missouri Athletic Club. Normally Dave and I pig out at yummy all you can eat brunches, but this time it was Samuel and Joseph. Samuel ate so much that at the end he looked at us and said he needed to go home. He was holding his stomach and saying he was "soooo full." It was actually pretty cute. After brunch we all took a little nap and then played outside for 45 minutes or so. It was so hot. My day was great and I felt so lucky to be with all my boys.

Mother's Day right before we went to brunch. (Looks like I am grabbing Joseph's crotch, but he would have slipped right off of me if I didn't hold him like that.)

Joseph was loving his breakfast

Samuel was loving that he got to have two juice boxes, which never happens (and a plate full of black olives)

Quick note before I tell the long ER story. Joseph had his 15 month appointment today. He is doing great, but he is so much smaller then Samuel was at this time. He is just my little man, but with his Dad's big head. Here are his statistics:

Height: 31 inches (48%)
Weight: 24 lbs. 6 oz (49%)
Head Circ: 49 CM (92%)

First emergency ER trip. Yesterday I kept Joseph home from Mother's Day out because he had a slight fever all day on Sunday and was getting over a cough. I had so many errands and work I needed to do for Woman's Place, so I was looking forward to a day alone. I called our babysitter that normally picks Samuel up from school on Mondays and asked her to come over early so I could try to get stuff done.

I was very productive in the morning and then I picked Samuel up from school at 11:45. We got back home and they boys ate lunch and were playing around, so I decided to get back to doing work. I was downstairs in the basement trying to organize things when I heard a huge thump and then Joseph screaming. I don't even remember what I was doing or how I got up the stairs so fast but after I heard that sound I knew that something was not good.

When I got upstairs, our babysitter was holding Joseph and I saw some blood on her hands and he was covering his head. I grabbed him and she removed her hand and there was a big gash. I haven't really experienced many big wounds, but I guess you just know what to do when you see it. I think I was calm for about 10 seconds and then my crazy side kicked in. I immediately knew that we needed to get to the ER because he was going to need stitches. I grabbed a terry cloth towel, shoved it on his head and then started yelling. Samuel was completely freaked, which he normally gets when someone is hurt so he was basically frozen. I knew that I couldn't hold onto Joseph while I drove and he needed continuous pressure on his head to get it to slow down bleeding. So I screamed that everyone needed to get in the car. I asked my sitter if she could drive so I could hold the towel to Joseph's head in the back seat. I know she was completely freaking out too and she asked if she could sit in the back and hold the towel and I could drive.

That was probably the best idea that I drove because at least I could drive like a mad woman and get there fast. Once we got in the car, I called Dave to meet us at the ER and check us in. There is a hospital in St. Louis not far from us that has a children's ER and I knew we could get in there pretty quickly and I wanted the opportunity to ask for a plastic surgeon if we needed one to sew up his head.

Our sitter did a great job of slowing down the bleeding and she held his gash closed. Joseph wasn't liking it very much and screamed the entire way. I got from our house to the ER in about 15 minutes. I was flying. The Silver Stallion held up great.

We got to the ER, got straight in and looked at by a doctor pretty quickly. She said that the gash looked like it could be fixed by glue, but she wouldn't know for sure until she cleaned it out. Once Dave heard that it was going to have to be cleaned out, he was already getting queasy. Since we had two cars at the ER, Dave took Samuel and our sitter home and I stayed with Joseph.

He was really out of control and wouldn't calm down, so they asked if I wanted to give him something that would relax him. Of course I did. I didn't want them to be stitching up his head while he was going nuts. They gave him some meds and put numbing gel all around his cut and wrapped him up. It was going to take 20 minutes for everything to kick in.

Here he is waiting to get looked at. The drugs were slowly kicking in:

Drugs started to kick in. The numbing ointment had just been put on

The doctor finally came in and said that she was going to clean out his gash, check it out to see how deep it was and if stitches were going to be required. She said if she couldn't fix it with glue I could decide if I wanted to plastic surgeon to come in. They swaddled Joseph all up in a blanket to hold him still, which still required a nurse to hold him down and hold his head and I held his legs down.

When she cleaned it out she said it was much deeper then she thought, but when she squeezed it shut it came to a perfect straight line, so she thought she could glue it shut. We decided to try that. She used a TON of glue, but it did the trick. Then she put extra bandages to keep it closed. I told her that she needed to put something else on top of that because Joseph would rip it off as soon as he could. So that is why he got the big neon yellow band-aid.

After everything was over the medicine was fully in Joseph's system and he was super happy. See below:

Drugs in full effect and gash is cleaned and glued shut

The whole ER experience took only about 2 hours, which I think was super fast. We got home around 3 or 3:30. When I got home Samuel came up to me and pointed to the floor and said, "See Mom, this is where Joseph fell and cracked his head open." Great!

Joseph ended up sleeping all night and is doing well today. I gave him Advil when he woke up and I will give it to him again soon. I want to try to keep his pain under control. He is a trooper and so are all of us. This is our first ER experience, but I am sure it won't be the last. With three kids, I am sure we will be visiting again. I am sure I will be getting lots more grey hairs and loosing more years off my life because of the stress. The benefits of parenting.

I am done with drama. Please everyone have at least two drinks for me. I seriously have needed to drink the entire month of April and it looks like May is starting off that way too.

Happy Birthday Dad! and Sleepless nights

2011-05-06T07:52:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Dad! I realized that I need to start taking more pictures of the grandparents with the boys because I don't have any recent pictures.

Anyway, I wanted to wish my Dad a very happy birthday today. We love him very much and can't wait to see him the end of this month.

On another note, last night I didn't get much sleep at all. Samuel developed a cough yesterday and it just exploded yesterday evening and in the middle of the night. He coughed like crazy and then around 3 am he called for me saying that he needed to come sleep with me. I went in his room and he was burning hot. He was still coughing but the cough had broken up a bit and the fever replaced it. I gave him Advil and he drank water. He asked if I would lay with him for a while. You can't deny a sick kid their mommy. He was miserable for about an hour and couldn't get comfortable. Finally he turned over, faced me with his head touching mine and his legs draped over me and finally fell asleep. I could tell when he finally passed out and his fever broke around the same time. I finally slipped out of bed around 4:30.

I had a feeling when we were going to bed last night that it was going to be a long night, but I am already very tired. I forgot to mention yesterday that even though this pregnancy is going great, I am having some insomnia. I have a hard time falling asleep at night, but when I finally do I wake up every two hours to pee and normally I am wide awake around 2 am. Then I finally fall asleep from 3 to 6. That is usually my best 3 hours. So last night was difficult because I was in Samuel's room during my normal sleeping time.

I am drinking my coffee (and yes I do drink caffeinated coffee while I am pregnant. I couldn't survive the days without it. Actually just in the last week I have been able to drink it again. The beginning of this pregnancy I had serious aversions to coffee and now my ability to drink it is back). Hopefully I will survive the day and not get too annoyed with the kids, since I am functioning on about 4 hours of sleep.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Catch up - Earth Friendly

2011-05-05T12:08:00.000-05:00

When I don't post for a while I feel like there is so much to catch up on. I promised a picture of Joseph with his blankie. He is becoming increasingly more obsessed with it everyday. I have decided he is not allowed to take it when we leave the house. I don't want to get into a fight with him later about it, so we are starting now.

Here are the boys playing hide and seek in Samuel's bed. Joseph is also crazy about Samuel's bed. He wants to get in whenever he can. Luckily Samuel doesn't mind. Samuel doesn't understand why Joseph won't lay still and try to take a nap with him. One of these days.

Baby front: I am 18 weeks tomorrow. I started to feel the baby about 2 weeks ago, but only at night. I think I am too busy during the day to think about whether I am feeling movement. At night when I am relaxing it really goes crazy. I was craving chocolate milk two night ago and I drank a small glass. Either the baby loved it or hated it, I am not sure but it kicked and went nuts. I felt terrible after drinking it. I have always had a little bit of lactose intolerance, but I guess I am going to try to stay away from milk because I felt really really sick after drinking it. I bought some Almond milk so we will see where that takes us.

I developed a big varicose vein when I was pregnant with Joseph and it has exploded with this pregnancy. It is on my upper right inner thigh. It is huge and it hurts a little bit. As soon as I get back into shape after this next baby, I am going to have to have surgery to fix it.

I am starting to get bigger and bigger. It seems like I am growing everyday. I am starting to wear only maternity clothes. This pregnancy by far is my best. I am not feeling terrible and I am only really tired at night. I am trying to be positive and enjoy every moment because this will be my last.

Earth Friendly Front:

Since we moved into our new house I have been trying desperately to teach the boys to be less wasteful. The amount of paper towels and toilet paper we used to go through was disgusting. We bought terry cloth towels to clean up messes, dish towels to clean off the counters and tables and we are using cloth napkins instead of paper napkins or paper towels. So far things have been going really well. Samuel has barely asked for paper towels and I am feeling really good about utilizing all of our cloth substitutes. I do laundry about once a week to clean all the cloth items. Overall I really like the switch.

We are also starting to compost. I got a stainless steel counter composter for all of our scraps (you can purchase it anywhere, but a lot of discount websites have them on sale. I see them on The Foundry quite frequently).

Then last weekend, Dave bought me my outdoor composting tumbler. It was a pain to put together (took Dave several hours), but it is supposed to be easy and fast to use. They say if it is in the sunlight and you fill it properly you can have working compost within 3 weeks. I only did one dump of my indoor bucket so far. I need to add the organic top soil and some hay and then hopefully things will start working.

I have wanted to compost for a while, but we didn't want to start a garden at our old place because we knew we were going to move eventually. As soon as we moved into our new house I wanted to get started. I have to say that I feel like I have been extremely wasteful. The amount of stuff that you can compost and not just through in your garbage is amazing. I love the feeling of being about to utilize scraps and put it towards healthy vegetables we are going to start to grow.

In a few weeks, Dave is going to build me an elevated garden. I bought a book and just got it in the mail yesterday. I am going to get all of the great tips and then Dave will put it together. I can't wait to start gardening and I think it will be a lot of fun for the boys to help out with too. I am planning to grow veggies and herbs. I know I want to grow basil, cilantro, rosemary and thyme. Anyone have suggestions on veggies? The book I bought gives lots of suggestions, but I want to know what you have done and what has worked. I am so excited. I will keep everyone updated on our progress.

Need to be productive

2011-04-27T14:27:00.000-05:00

I have taken off the last few days of all house things. I have been burnt out on unloading boxes. However today I am feeling like I am ready to be productive again. I am taking a little time now while the boys are asleep to relax and watch a little Bethany Ever After.

A few things:

Joseph has become obsessed in the last two or three weeks with his blankies. We have always had about four or five small little blankets in his bed with him and he never cared about them. Then all of the sudden the last few weeks he can't go anywhere without his little blue soft blanket. He has to be squeezing it when he goes to bed and wakes up clutching it. It is really cute. I will get a good picture and post it soon.

I made this delicious recipe about a week ago. I pulled it out of a magazine and it was wonderful. It is completely vegetarian. Dave loved it too. It says that it serves 4 to 6, but I think it serves more like 8 to 10. Just a warning, it does take some time to prepare. The chopping of all the veggies and sauteing of everything takes a while, so you need at least a few hours to prepare.

Caserola Milanese

Polenta

6 cups water
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 oz butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper taste
2 oz grated Parmesan

Filling

3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chopped onion
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
1/3 cup fresh basil
2 tsp dried oregano
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 cups diced eggplant
1 1/2 cups diced zucchini
1 bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 cups canned plum tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 cups fresh mozzarella, shredded

Preparation - Polenta

Bring water to a boil and gradually add cornmeal in a thin stream, stirring rapidly. While continuing to stir, add butter, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes (it didn't take this long at all, just watch it), stirring often. When the polenta mixture has thickened, add Parmesan. Pour mixture into a buttered 12 inch casserole dish and let cool. Refrigerate.

Preparation - Filling

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Saute garlic and onion in oil until translucent. Add carrots, celery, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and continue to cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until carrots are bright orange. Add eggplant and saute for 5 minutes. Add zucchini and bell pepper, cooking until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.

To Assemble

Spoon filling evenly over cooled polenta, top with mozzarella and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until cheese begins to brown. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.