YAY - SUCKS DAY!

Yesterday was a YAY - that SUCKS day. Let me explain. I went to bed Monday night WAY too late.It was more like really early Tuesday morning. So I will take credit for starting Tuesday off badly.

So Tuesday morning I did not want to get out of bed which resulted in me getting up not at 5:30 but more like 6 am. SUCKS! In mommy terms I began the day behind. Then I didn't have time to pump- SUCKS. I didn't have time to feed Lillie Claire her cereal before leaving to take the big kids to school- SUCKS. I didn't have to get anything together for preschool or teach - YAY! So at least that wasn't a problem.

My darling daughter the previous evening had decided to get out one page of homework and do it. Only she had about 3 more pages she was supposed to do! So since we have really been on to her lately about her schoolwork, she tries to get it all done before we leave - but after taking her time eating 2 bowls of Fruit Loops! (As a side note, I tell her all the time she is a girl, she has got to learn to multitask!) So she helps make us nearly late for school because she is now in a panic trying to finish homework she should have finished the night before. This episode was complete with everyone except her in the car and me honking the horn! SUCKS!

My son decided not to get out of bed in time to eat breakfast- SUCKS. So I was supposed to put some cereal in a baggie for him to eat on the way to school. Only, I forgot- SUCKS. So I had to take time to go through McD's drive-thru which meant there was no time for my regular Starbucks run- DOUBLE SUCKS! This was also the last day of preschool, and I was supposed to already have teacher gifts bought, but I had forgotten! SUCKS! So I had to add that to my to-do list for while Jack is at school. Plus, since it was the last day of school, I should have taken my "real" camera so I could take a last day of school picture- except I forgot. Then when I went to take a picture of him with his teachers, my phone had so many pictures on it, that it would not work!!! SUCKS!

I was able to run in quite a few places and get some shopping done. YAY! Miss Lillie Claire didn't cry or fuss while shopping. YAY!

PS.  I found out later I had looked at the wrong day on the lunch calendar and I was supposed to pack Madalynn's lunch! SUCKS!

Pictures in time

Lillie Claire's first walk this spring.

After a bath, she had discovered Madalynn's lip gloss!

Wearing the t-shirt from her Aunt Jenna

Lillie Claire's First Shopping Cart Ride

Lillie Claire's first time riding in a shopping cart!

We went to Meijer today and she is getting so heavy in the infant carrier that I decided to let her try out the baby seat. As you can see, she was too busy checking it out to look at the camera.



Lillie Claire Goes to Sunday School

This little lady finally went to Sunday school! Because of the scheduling that accompanies three children, one mama, and church, she had been out in the auditorium with me. I had to get her up to nurse about 6 am, then she would swing and take a little nap. I would pump so I would have a bottle in case of emergency. So that while the big kids were in class, I could go to the nursery and feed her again and not have to worry about dragging all three out to feed her and I wouldn't feel like I was going to explode after not nursing for 5 hours. After I fed her during class, she would then fall asleep during preaching.

Not anymore! She is now still nursing, but also eating solids, so our entire Sunday schedule is different. That means that she is awake from 9:30-10:15 and can go to the cradle roll class! This all happened on March 25, 2012! She was about 6 months old. I think she liked it! She was being held when I got back to pick her up, but not bad for a baby that isn't used to being away from Mama and sitting in the same place for 45 minutes.

Today has been beautiful! Too bad I was stuck indoors and running errands all day! The temps are in the 70's and it isn't raining. The big kids have gone to the farm with Jeremy. I wished Lillie Claire and I could have gone, but it was Miss L's dinner time. Nothing gets between that girl and her food!

We had preschool today and I actually got to prepare before 11 pm the night before. Nothing big, it just makes me feel so much better when I have kind of gotten myself together and am not in a rush.
We talked about Letter U, Number 20 (our last new number), and the theme was Music. I love getting stuff ready and I really thrive when I can give 100% to teaching. I plan every week to work on preschool stuff and it just usually never happens. I guess three kids, a husband, and a farm will do that to you.

I am gearing up to get my garden at the house going. I have a planter project I need to get figured out for the entrance to the farm. And my husband assures me that I will need to start mowing at the farm in a matter of weeks! Whew! Good thing there are only 5 weeks left of preschool and we have more daylight in the afternoons now.

Miss Lillie got to wear her first summer type outfit this afternoon. She had on a long sleeved knit pants outfit today and she was burning up and ill! I changed her when we got home into a cute little bubble outfit that my grandmother made for Madalynn. So cute!

Speaking of Miss Lillie, she is getting to be a pro at this whole solid food thing. I still only feed her baby food once a day, usually at dinner. I don't know how I'm ever going to feed the girl breakfast. It is all I can do to get up and get everything done and get everyone out the door most mornings. I could do lunch, but I am in no hurry since she is my last baby. She still nurses 5-6 times a day. She is still sleeping throughout the night even though we are on the verge of teething. She is drooling like there's no tomorrow, but strangely, only certain times of day!? She has tried green peas, green beans, applesauce, bananas, squash, prunes, and tonight, carrots. She really likes the squash and carrots.

Well, it is 9:30 pm and as I type this, I can hear the little princess squealing instead of sleeping, so I may need to investigate!

Time just flies! I keep meaning to do better and just can't seem to get my head above water. Oh well, it's just my season in life. I am considering a blog makeover to help me get motivated. I sure hate to waste money though.
Miss Lillie's 5 month update. I can't believe she is already 5 months! Time goes by so fast. She seems to be so big and then looks so petite sometimes too. I'll have to get on the scale tomorrow and see what she weighs. She has the cutest little bottom and chubby thighs! I could just eat her up. It has been so long since Madalynn was a baby and Jack never had a chubby stage. I am loving it. She is wearing a size 3 diaper though she could wear a 2. I just really like not having blowouts! Speaking of that, we have started solids. We started brown rice cereal February  and she tried applesauce for the first time on Monday, February 20. She seems to like the applesauce a little better. That or she is just getting a little better at getting the food in her mouth and not pushing it out. I am in no hurry. She is my last baby. I will miss nursing and the boobs that go along with it! Ha! She doesn't nurse as much. Not sure if she is just eating less or if she drinks quicker and gets more, more quickly. I read an article that says they used to think as a baby got older, that the mother would produce more milk and have since found out that isn't the case. They don't go on to say why or what does happen though. I need to look that up.

3 Month Update

Miss Lillie is growing like a weed! I have no idea how much she weighs or how long she is I just know she is getting longer and heavier. She is wearing 3-6 month clothes. She is also losing her hair except for the long twig in the front on top. She was born with that. She is definitely going to have her Daddy's hair.
Today we took the big kids to the dentist and she was so good! This is a rarity! Our appointment was at 10:00am (prime nap time) so I expected a meltdown. she just happily sat in her car seat and didn't even fuss once! In all honesty though, we were only there a grand total of about 30 minutes. I love the kids dentists these days. Instead of having to wait on one to finish in order for the next to go back, they have two dental assistants and do the kids simultaneously! Love it!
We then went to Wal-mart to get another Wii remote and she went to sleep in the cart just as pretty as you please! Slept throughout the Wal-mart visit, the car ride to Starbucks and then home and sat for another 30 minutes or so while we ate lunch! I love that girl so when she is low maintenance!
Anyway back to what i am loving at 3 months...I love how you want to hold onto my shirt while you nurse. I think it is funny how you get so impatient (furious) when you are hungry and will open your mouth and kind of wait on me while I am gaining access to the milk supply. :) I love the little dimples on the backs of your hands. I love your big eyes and how you will sometimes try to "talk" to us. You are able to turn yourself in a circle and can arch your back and "travel" too.
You laughed for the first time on Tuesday, December 13 and Daddy even heard it for the first time too. This was also the morning your poop changed over to more conventional baby poop and not breastfed baby poop. ie no more mustard colored seedy dirty diapers. You started sleeping through the night on November 17th. This was the first night Daddy was gone to San Antonio to AAEP. We had a 30 minute cry it out session that night, a 20 minute one the next night and by the third night I just laid you down, you went to sleep, and I saw you next at 6 am the next day! Love it! You still have to cry it out many nights unless i nurse you till you fall asleep. Not 100% ideal since they say if you have to nurse to fall asleep, if you wake up during the night, you will need to nurse to fall back to sleep. So far it hasn't been a problem but i wish I could put you in bed sleepy and you wouldn't scream!

Halloween 2011

Well, Halloween 2011 didn't go exactly as I had hoped since I had not one, not two, but three sick kids on Halloween! Madalynn and Jack missed school with the remains of a stomach bug and colds/bronchitis. Poor Lillie Claire didn't escape the sickness either. She started being sick at about 3 or 4 that afternoon.
Madalynn and Jack recovered enough for Jeremy to take them trick-or-treating that evening though.

We always go to the Moreheads neighborhood since we live out by ourselves and would have to spend the two allotted hours of trick-or-treating just driving around. We did usually stop by Calumet to see Bill and Linda but, of course, we didn't do that this year. Sweet Mr. Bill bought the kids each a sack full of candy anyway.
Jack was a race car driver and Madalynn was a queen.

I didn't worry with a costume for Lillie. She had a very cute outfit to wear, but since she was sick no one got to see it.

Jeremy and the kids took a quick trip around the block and came on back home since Madalynn wasn't feeling well again.
She has come to the door during the night and before bed pretty much every night this week and said she thought she was going to puke. I don't understand it. I don't think she is sick, but has some super amped up gag reflex. That and the ability or inability as it were, to not stop thinking about throwing up. Jack on the other hand, barely talks about it even when he is sick as a dog.
As I said, poor Miss Lillie was sick too.She rarely spits up to amount to anything, but Monday night was different. I had called the pediatrician earlier in the afternoon because I had the feeling she was getting sick. They recommended giving her 2 oz of pedialyte every other feeding. She took 2 oz. at about 5:30pm, and went to sleep. I fed her again about 8 and later she spit all that up. I fed her some pedialyte after that but she promptly spit that up too. So before I knew it, it was midnight and she hadn't kept anything down since 5:30. So I called the UK Pediatric Triage and asked what I needed to do. The nurse that answered was super nice. So after speaking to her, I ended up staying up till 2 am because they recommended alternating between feeding her just a half an ounce of pedialyte, then nursing for just a few minutes every 15 minutes for the next two hours. I did and she was able to keep the food down so I was glad to do it. It is very scary having a tiny baby sick like that. Neither of the other kids was ever that sick that little.
Lillie Claire also turned 6 weeks old on Monday! I can't believe how big she is getting!!!

Let's hope next year we actually get to carry her trick-or-treating!

Well, I keep thinking I will get into a groove and have a routine...well not yet. I now have a 7 year old, a newly 5 year old and a 6 week old today.
Lillie Claire is getting a little more used to life on the outside every day. She doesn't have to be held 24/7 anymore. Her upset stomach has resolved itself for the most part. Nursing has gone great. She usually only gets up once a night now. She will fall asleep in the car seat, the swing, sometimes the playpen or the changing table. My only real complaint is that she doesn't want to go to sleep at night like at the normal going to sleep time. I am pretty sure I let her get too tired, but it is hard to put her to bed early when you have older kids running around and when the girls share a room. So I end up nursing her and trying to put her to bed, she goes to sleep for a few minutes, then is back up and we do it all over again. Last night I attempted to let her "cry it out" for a while. She was fed, dry, warm so I let her cry it out in the crib for a while. Well, as soon as we turned off the TV, that wasn't going to work since the girls room is right next door to ours. So I took her to the swing downstairs, I didn't turn it on though. I have a trip to Tennessee in less than two weeks so I am trying to avoid needing a swing, since I won't have one while I am there. She cried for a little while, fell asleep for about 30 minutes, then woke back up around midnight and I went down and fed her again. I put her in the crib and she slept until about 5 am.
In the meantime, I had another kid wake up puking. Joy! I have slept on the couch at least 3 nights in the last 4. I was majorly sick about 2 am Saturday morning. Then Jack was sick Saturday and then Madalynn had it about 2 am this morning. I am holding out hope that Lillie and Jeremy don't get it. I think the big kids are well enough now to go trick-or-treating although the thought did cross my mind to just offer to buy them a bag of candy and call it good. I am sure they would not go for that.

Day One

I had originally been scheduled for an induction on September 13th, but since I wasn't overdue- the insurance called the doctor's office back and said they would not cover it. So I was scheduled for an induction the day after my due date. My doctor and I discussed it at my last doctor's appointment on September 14th.
Last Monday, September 19, I had been told by my OBGYN that I would  be induced at 6am. She told me to  be sure and call Labor and Delivery before we left the house to make sure they hadn't gotten behind during the night before. So I did. I told them my name and asked if it was still good to come on in. They said yes. So I get ready and pack up the last minute stuff, and get Jeremy up. We finish getting ready and take everything downstairs. I ate my piece of toast, which is all I could have. We ran to McDonald's and got Jeremy some breakfast. We then headed off to the hospital.
We get there (about 15 mintues late) and parked the car. We go up to Labor and Delivery on the 2nd floor and go to check in. Well, the lady at the desk says she doesn't have my paperwork. Not a good sign. So she calls L & D and tells us a charge nurse will come down and talk to us. All I could think was this is not going well. So a lady comes down and talks to us and says they don't have us on the schedule for the 19th. We weren't scheduled until the 26th!!! I wanted to cry. We reemphasized that I had been told by Dr. Fuson to be there at 6am on the 19th. So they call her and she says she will drive on in to her office and get the paperwork and we can wait in the waiting room! So there we are sitting in the waiting room with all our stuff: suitcase, pillow, purse, camera case, laptop case, everything. Luckilly, there was only one other family in there. So we sit until almost 8 am.
Finally someone comes out and Dr. Fuson has found where they had it handwritten that I was scheduled for the 19th, but both the hospital and the office had it down for the 26th. We finally get to go to a room and I get changed and answer all the questions for the paperwork. They do the IV, and we get the pitocin going. Around 10 am, the nurse checks me and I am a 4. I had been a 3 for weeks, so I was hoping for faster progress.
Nothing much happens until about lunchtime. I can feel the contractions slightly, but nothing major.  When Dr. Fuson came back around 12:30 I was still only dilated to a 4. She broke my water and man did things get going then! My nurse asked me if I wanted to go  ahead and get the ball rolling for an epidural. I said yes, I guess, because who wants to take a chance on the anaesthesiologist getting tied up and getting in major pain before you can get the drugs? Not me. So I say yes, let's go ahead. They had to run a bag and a half of fluids, well by the time that happened I was already in pain. The anaesthesiologist gets there and everyone assures me he gives really good ones that last a long time. Sounds like a plan to me. By the time he gets done I am having major contractions. It seems to take forever for it to kick in. My legs slowly get numb but by the time it fully takes effect, I am about 20 minutes away from giving birth. I don't know how much more painful it would have been, but let's just say I experienced the most pain I have ever been in in my life! To make things better, there was a lady giving birth naturally down the hall and was screaming bloody murder. I was trying to breath deep or whatever you are supposed to do. Like I know! I never planned on needing to know anything about Lamaze. I now know you can't take a deep breath when having a contraction.
So finally the nurse says she wants to check me again. She does and says I am complete. So they get the bed ready and she asks me to push once. I do and she immediately says I'll call Dr. Fuson. Dr. Fuson comes in and I push once and start to push and she tells me to stop and I look down and can see Miss Lillie Claire making her appearance. So after major pain, an epidural that almost didn't take in time, and exactly 2 1/2 pushes my little girl was born!

Lillie was born at 2:43 pm, she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.

Our smallest baby!

Needless to say, since the anisteiologist had bumped up my epidural I was good and numb for a long time. I think that is why we got to stay in the LDR room so long. We didnt' move to a regular room until almost 5 pm. I got there and got situated. They now leave the baby in the room almost all the time. She even got a bath in my room. I got to eat supper. It was so good! That's how you know you are hungry. Later that night the kids and Lonnie and Peggy came up to see the new baby.