Chunky Monkey

She is getting chunkier and chunkier every day!!!!

Happy Birthday Zane

Even though we had the party on Saturday, I couldn't let Zane's official 4th birthday pass without making the day a little bit special for my guy. After some super snuggle time with Gwen we headed off to Red Robin for a fantastic birthday lunch. (Gotta love their birthday burger program!)

This afternoon we will head over to Alice and Gene's for dinner and I am taking a cake to celebrate his birthday. That should be fun as well. He is getting way too big. I know that I will have him home with me for a couple more years but it still makes me a little sad that he is getting so big.


What a special boy and super blessing he is in my life! Happy Birthday my sweet Zaners!!!!

Celebrating My Zane

Zane will be turning 4 on Monday. We decided to do his party a couple of days early so we could celebrate with friends.

Zane wanted a Thomas themed party and I was kinda glad. See, I know that by next year he will have more than likely outgrown Thomas and it makes me somewhat sad to know that he will have moved on from his first character love.

We had a lot (some would have thought more than a lot) of kids at the party. I belong to a group of ladies that all have lots of kids (anywhere from 3 to 7!) and most were at my house today. So it was a bit crowded. A bit loud and a tad chaotic. Lots of fun though!

Zane was super excited for his birthday. He kept saying/yelling "Presents! WHOOHOO!!!!" And for those of you who have met Zane you will fully understand how loud that really was!


Zane got some really neat stuff for his party. He was so expressive and excited while opening his gifts. It was very cool to see him so excited for new stuff to play with. He got some really cool art projects to do as well. I can't believe my baby is almost 4. It seems just like yesterday that he was tiny like my Gwen.....

A Shower for the Gwenie-Girl

This weekend the ladies at church threw a shower for Gwen and I. It was a lot of fun and my mom and Eric's mom were both able to attend.

I know the photo is kinda dark but Alice is on the left then me and Gwen and then my mom.

Gwen got lots of neat stuff and some diapers. This is the quilt that Alice made for Gwen. My mom made a blanket too and gave it to me at the hospital. It is so cool that my kids have crafty grandmas!

4 Ring Circus

Doctors appointments with 4 children can be a bit busy. All my kids like going to the doctors office and chatting with our pediatrician. She very tolerantly listens to all they have to say. Today was supposed to be Zane's 4 year well child check and Gwen's weight check and PKU blood draw. Well, I had to add Andrew onto the days activities because he has been peeing about 18 times a day for the past week and it is enough to make me crazy. I worried that he had a bladder infection so I thought since we were in the office I might as well get it checked out. While we were there I also needed to get Zane and Lucy's iron level checked for our WIC eligibility. This was going to be a fun and exciting trip.

After running a smidgen late we got checked in at the office. The nurse called Gwen back to get checked at exactly the same time as Andrew was being handed a cup for the lab to give a urine sample. Eric took Andrew to the potty and I took Gwen back with Lucy and Zane. Gwen weighed in today at 9# 11.5 oz. She is doing great and has more than exceeded expectations for weight gain. When I grabbed Gwen out of her bucket seat though she was ridiculously poopy and had to have her whole outfit changed. I was just glad I had extra clothing with me. It is not unheard of for me to have nothing with me at all. I am just that type of mom. Eric and I joke that one of these days we will be prepared parents. Maybe this is the kid for the responsibility to kick in!

After getting Gwen taken care of we headed back out to the waiting room. The MA called Zane back and started his appointment. Current statistics:

Height: 43" 95%
Weight: 45 # 4 oz 96%

Still proportionate. He is just going to be a big boy. They did Zane's hearing test and eye test. I hear from the nurse that he was very uncooperative. No big surprise there at all. Mostly he was just in a rare mood of silliness. I try to not to be too annoyed with it. It is an attention devise that works. I wish he wouldn't need to work for the attention that hard. I will be happy when Andrew gets back to school. It gives me extra time to be with Zane and do things with just him. Little sisters will nap and it is going to be great for some mommy/boy time.

After the doctor finished with Zane, Andrew's lab results were in. He does not have a bladder infection. Apparently there is such a thing as benign urinary frequency which means that he is just going a lot because he is stressed about something. Usually it is something like worry about school or some change at home (bringing home a new little sister maybe?). It is nothing to worry about and should resolve itself in a couple of weeks. Until then we just have to ride it out. It was very reassuring to know there wasn't something really wrong with him.

Our final stop for the day was back at the lab for Gwen's PKU test and Lucy and Zane's iron test. Lucy and Zane got called back first. I gave Zane the option of going first and he deferred to his sister to be the guinea pig. Such the little man he is, ha, ha. Anyway, Lucy did amazing. Finger was pricked and blood squeezed out. All without a tear. I think she was fascinated by it more than anything. Then it was Zane's turn. The finger was poked and the blood squeezed. He was doing fine. Then they bandaged it up with some gauze and a band-aid and apparently then he realized that it hurt. What followed was a trip back out to the car and a good 15 minutes of screaming about how it hurt. Fortunately WIC only requires that every few years so this should ideally be the only time we ever have to do it. While I was in the van with Lucy and Zane, Eric took Gwen in for her PKU. She did great and didn't even cry. Now people can stop poking my babies for awhile.

All in all it was an absolute circus today. It is so much easier if we only have to take one or two in to the office at a time. I think it is more fun for them too. They think it is a special treat to have some mommy and daddy time all to themselves. We should be done for awhile though. Hopefully everyone will remain well and we can say goodbye to the office for at least another couple of months!

It's SOCCER TIME!!!!

So I was lame and forgot my camera, but today Andrew started his second season of soccer. This year he is playing U-7 (under 7) Rockets in Lake Stevens. His team is called the Blue Tornadoes and it consists of 7 boys. 3 of the boys were on his team last year and 4 are new to the sport. It was very nice to see that the boys he has on his team from last year are the nice ones from last year. On his team last year was a little boy who thought the name of the game was "lets push everyone down like a bulldozer." He was a big kid too so it didn't take much effort. It was annoying though. Most games I thought Eric's head was going to explode from frustration. He (and I) would have pulled our kid and made him sit if he acted like that. Anyway, I digress. The biggest changes this year is that the games are longer (45 minutes rather than 30 last year) and the boys are in general a bit more competitive and pushy, at least at the start of the game until they wear themselves out. It was interesting to see them get out there and be aggressive for the ball. Andrew did really well. He is a major team player which is nice to see. He gets in there are goes for the ball but he doesn't try and hog it like some kids do. His team won today 4-1 (although there is officially supposed to be no score) and that made him happy. It should be a fun season and I am looking forward to it!

Chillin' Out Man vs Wild Style

In a moment of boy dominated tv, Eric watched Man vs Wild with the boys. Apparently Zane was terrified an alligator was going to bite Bear Grylls.

Andrew, on the other hand, now wants to tour the Everglades and eat a turtle in it's shell. He is such a boy.

Oh the fun things kids can learn while watching the Discovery Channel with Daddy!

She Definitely is One of Ours!

All my kids have sucked their thumb. Gwen is just jumping ahead of the curve a tiny bit!

Isn't she so sweet!

That's it. Just had to share my little angel with you all!

Adjusting

The last few days have been filled with adjustments. Nothing major. Just the usual chaos of adding a new personality and responsibility into the mix. Andrew has only increased his helpfulness. Eric and I have both noticed that he is just doing things that are helpful lately. Like tonight he set the table without any prompting. It was very nice. Zane is having his usual adjustment behavior. He is needing a bit more attention than usual but that is what I expected out of him. Lucy is becoming quite the little momma to Gwen. She insists that Gwen have her blanket and pacifier with her at all moments in time. She is also behaving exactly like an 18 month old should. Testing every boundary and making me slightly crazy with her stubbornness. It is funny how it takes a few days for the kids to truly discover that just because a new baby enters our house life doesn't really change that drastically. The new one only requires momma every once in awhile and other than that it is just business as usual. I figure we should be back to our regular schedule next week. I will still live in fear that Lucy will try and carry Gwen but that usually fades once she gets a bit more sturdy. All in all it is going well!

First Bath at Home

Last night Eric and I gave Gwen her first at home bath. I never know whether or not to consider the bath at the hospital the babies first bath or the bath at home. Anyway, I digress!

Not that you can tell from the pictures but Gwen was not entirely thrilled with her first bath. She pretty much screamed the whole time. Not unusual in the least!

Me and my new little lady. All clean and ready for another day of fun!

First Day Home

Bringing Gwen home from the hospital has been as close to living in the middle of a three ring circus as it gets. All the kids are super excited about their newest sissy. Gwen has been very tolerant of all the attention and manhandling.

Zane has been super sweet with Gwen. He really likes to hold her and snuggle her. His hands look like paws when he pats her little face and we are still working on the gentleness aspect of his touching her but all in all it is going well with him.

Andrew has been my super helper! He is completely content and competent to hold Gwen when I need to get something done or just want to sit and take a little rest. It seems to make the other two a bit jealous that he gets to hold Gwen for long periods of time and they don't but frankly their attention spans give out long before Andrew's does. It is such a relief to have a big kid (or at least big enough kid) that I am not constantly worrying about poking at her.

Lucy has been a pleasant surprise with Gwen. She is very excited to hold her and loves to sit right next to me and have Gwen on her lap. She acts like she wants me to just hand Gwen over so she can carry her around though and that makes me super nervous. She isn't aggressive with her though which is a huge plus. Lucy also thinks that Gwen needs her blanket and her pacifier with her at all moments in time. I end up pointlessly holding many things at once when Lucy is awake and I have Gwen on my lap. Somehow I think this little girl is going to be super spoiled with being held. Even if it is only in her self-defense!

All in all we are adjusting well! It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few weeks. The excitement of a new baby can only last so long for little people!

Gwen Meets the Siblings

The boys have been so excited for their newest sister to make an appearance they have been making me a little crazy! When they woke up on Sunday morning and Eric and I were gone and Grandma Alice was here Andrew immediately knew what was going on. Zane quickly picked up on the fact too which I think is very intuitive of them! After Gwen was born we called to tell them they had a new sister and they immediately wanted to come and meet her. I was all for that. I figure they wait with a cranky, crabby mom for 9 months and they deserve to see the result of their pain and suffering ASAP. We had Alice get them ready and bring them to the hospital.

What a difference 18 months makes! When Lucy was born Zane wanted NOTHING to do with her and almost refused to hold her. This time around he was super excited to hold Gwen.

Andrew, as expected, was excited to hold Gwen. If fact he continues to want to hold her and will do it any time I ask. I expect him to be super helpful with this little one!

Lucy walked into the hospital room and didn't even seem to notice the baby. She made a beeline straight for me and wanted up on the bed with me. It is kinda what I suspected from her. When we did have her by the baby (and me) she was super cute and patted her head and gave her a kiss. She is a bit rough, which I expected, but super excited for a sissy. So far no jealousy issues which is nice.

Coming home was great on Monday. I was so thankful to have gotten all the necessary antibiotics in my system. Staying 48 hours at the hospital is never my idea of a good time. Sleeping in my own bed last night was fabulous! Now I just need to get my family up and moving for the day. That other post will probably come later this afternoon but I couldn't wait to share Miss Gwen with the world!

Meet Gwendalyn Lily

Being overdue with a baby when you have never gone past your due date is NOT a fun time. I have been desperately trying to get this kid out for about 2 weeks and she just wasn't cooperative. However either my body thought it was time or all the walking I did on Saturday worked because at 1:20 am early Sunday morning my contractions started. I had been contracting all afternoon on Saturday but they were erratic, 6 to 10 minutes apart and when I called the triage nurse to see if she thought it worth it for me to come in she laughed and told me no. I needed to wait until they were 3 minutes apart. I said ok (and thought that she was an idiot) and decided to wait it out. By the time I went to bed they were spaced out even more and it was probably a good thing that I didn't go in. I am sure they would have sent me home. However, once my contractions woke me up in the night I was pretty confident that we were a go!

Eric and I called Alice (his mom) to come over and be here with the kids while they slept. She got here right before 3 and off Eric and I raced to the hospital. We got checked in and checked my progression. I was 6 cm dilated with a bulgy bag. When I told them I was Group B Strep positive they really flipped out and started talking about slowing down my labor so we could get both doses of antibiotics in. After the fastest triage visit I have ever had (45 minutes) we went down to the room and waited for my favorite person in the whole world, Mr. Anesthesiologist. He got into the room and gave me the best epidural of my life! It was absolutely perfect. I felt zero part of my contractions but still could feel pressure and an urge to push. Lovely! After getting me settled it was time to sit down and wait. I had Eric call my mom about 5 and she got to the hospital about 6. About 7:30 I started getting a lot of pressure. I mentioned it to the nurse and we decided that it would be best to start my antibiotics as close to the mark as possible. She got the antibiotics in the room and hooked up. We started running then right around 8 and they finished just before 8:15. About 8:20 I started feeling like I needed to push. However the doctor was monitoring another patient who was having some issues and he didn't want to deal with my delivery and this sketchy patient at the same time. I knew I had be close though because the need to push was almost unbearable. Finally the nurse checked me and told me I was almost complete. I just had the tiniest about of anterior lip left. She ran to get the doctor and when he got in the room the lip was gone and it was time. Water got broken (I swear, I must have amniotic sacks of steel) and the need to push was overwhelming. In fact it was so overwhelming that I didn't push. Miss Gwen and my uterus decided to work as a team and push together. I think there were 3 contractions. The first one she crowned, the second her head was out and the third the rest of her body came. I may have given the tiniest of pushes to help her shoulders. It was the weirdest and coolest sensation I have ever felt.

Miss Gwen was out and weighed, 8 pounds 12 ounces, 21 inches long! My lightest and longest yet! My recovery would be a whole different post. I will probably put it on my other blog though. It is kinda graphic and not entirely kid appropriate and since I try to keep this one all about the kids I will just tell you there were some complications in the afternoon and you will just have to wait until I get to that post to hear about them.

Miss Gwendalyn Lily is finally here and she is absolutely gorgeous. I have no idea who she looks like other than herself. She has an adorably dainty nose and eyes that I think will eventually turn brown. I could be wrong but you never know. She also has a TON of dark brown hair. We will have to wait and see if my mom's prayers come true and she has curls like my dad. That would be adorable.

I find it very interesting that when she was born she was exactly how I pictured her being. I have these preconceived notions about what certain names should look like and in my mind a Gwendalyn has brown hair and brown eyes. Well, it looks like it is going that way which is kinda neat. Lucy's, on the other hand, are supposed to have blonde hair and blue eyes. :)

A daddy with his newest little lady.

Coming next: Gwen meets her siblings!

Andrew First Grounding

It has been a week of firsts at our house with discipline. First Zane gets to suck some soap and now Andrew is dealing with his first grounding. Today I was playing on the computer and then went to take a nap. I told him he could play the game that I was playing while I slept. Eric got up and I think told him he had played enough. Andrew for sure was playing until Eric came downstairs though. Later today Andrew wanted to play again. I asked him if he was still playing when Eric got up. Andrew said no. Not "I don't know" but flat out "No." Which was a lie. I called Andrew on it and he back pedaled and said he didn't know. I know he knew. He was angling to get more time on the computer. And lying is certainly NOT the way to get anything in this house. We talked and I have restricted him from computer use until Sunday. Harsh? Maybe. But lying is something that I will not tolerate. It will certainly not be rewarded. Hopefully I won't have any more fun new discipline to deal with in the next few days. That would be ideal!

Zane Bites the Bar

I have only a few (maybe more than a few) rules that are hard and fast at my house. One of them is don't play with the computer. In the event that something gets messed up on it I am powerless to fix it. And I am the one with the computer savvy of Eric and I. Today I was playing on the computer and Zane started messing around with the mouse. I asked him to stop. I told him to stop. Then I told him to go upstairs because he obviously couldn't control himself to not touch it anymore. That is when he started getting mouthy and lippy and screaming at me. In my enormously pregnant state I have zero energy to deal with cranky little people who are being sassy. Eric, on the other hand, is running on full energy and he didn't take too kindly to Zane's mouthiness. He told him to go to timeout. Zane screamed at him. Finally that sent Eric over the edge. We have been threatening Zane with soap for his sassy little mouth for awhile and today Eric carried through. I heard Eric say, "THAT'S IT!" and he went upstairs, got his bar of Zest (or Irish Spring or whatever it was that we have) and told Zane to open his mouth. Then he proceeded to stick the bar in for a second. Zane asked "Is it soap?" Eric said yes and you can wash your mouth out when you are done with timeout. Timeout ended and Zane swished and spit for a few minutes. I think it was effective. It certainly was not enjoyed so hopefully it will be enough of a deterrent to just threaten him with it in the future. Some days it is SOOOOOO much fun to be a parent.

A Trip to Grandma's House

In case you didn't realize it, this last week was hot. And not just Western Washington hot that we like to complain about but honestly and truly hot. Anyway, I, in my pregnant wisdom, took my mom up on her offer to weather the hotness at her very nicely A/C'd house. It was lovely.

We honestly didn't do much all week. It was too warm to go and play much but even sitting around in an air conditioned house was preferable to sitting in our hot box (top temp inside ours was 91). It took me only until Tuesday afternoon to discover that staying home was going to be a miserable experience for everyone.

Anyway, the kids had fun and I think mom had fun too. All three kids slept in the same room that I had growing up and Eric and I slept in Reece's old room. Oh, and the mutt came along too. He is such a spoiled brat.


Hopefully I never have to experience heat that hot again. That was just terrible. Anyway, still no baby. I think almost everyone's dates are expired now so if you want another crack at guessing I would love to hear it!