my oldest son

is becoming a young man. yes. i know. i've known it was bound to happen. but it really hits home these days. he has a girlfriend. she lives in our neighborhood. they talk on the phone and hang out at each other's houses almost every day. he took a punch in the mouth defending her. they exchanged xmas gifts yesterday b/c they were too excited to wait. yes. my son, with his own money, picked out by himself, diamond earrings - REAL diamond earrings!!! small, but still. she loved them. she also went with us to his xmas concert last night. ahhhhhhhhhh bittersweet.......

mikey update

yippee!!! my baby's head is perfect - per his CPNP! i love her. she made me feel so much better. his soft spot is small, and we will need to follow that, but all his sutures are fine. she actually worked in peds neurology at children's during her early nursing career, just another plus and reason to love her! she also said that it concerned her b/c i usually didn't over-react about the kids, but she could tell i was really worried about this. now i can relax, and just sit around sniffing his sweet head!

worried about mikey

monday his doc mentioned his soft spot is almost closed up. so i started researching this and i'm really worried. some of the red flags outside of the skull itself are going up (not an avid eater, sleeps alot, high pitch scream - which just started and isn't a colic type thing). the more i reserach it the more worried i get. he is supposed to go back dec 14th for his reg check up, but i think i want to get the ball rolling on checking on this sooner. what i'm reading says corrections is easiest and most successful between 4-10 months. he's 16 weeks this coming tuesday. and if we wait until mid dec and he does need the catscan and referral to a ped neurologist then we're looking at going through all this during the holidays. i have hardly slept at night thinking about the possibility of my precious baby boy having his skull cut apart. and him having to wear protective gear and not being able to kiss his sweet head, i love holding him and smelling his head and giving him sweet kisses on it.

poor mikey bug

little guy is sick. i took him in last week when zach was sick and it was just some snot. well thursday early morning i noticed his cough was changing. over the next 24 hours he would have these strange coughing fits where it was almost like he was choking. so i called first thing this am to have him seen, i didn't know if it was snot or all this damn drool he's got going on (is it really possible to be the beginning of the teething stage already???). anyway, he's wheezing. little guy is hoarse from coughing, and just feels down right pittiful. luckily his sats were 96/97 and now he's on orapred and albuterol. and to top it off, tomorrow night is the night that chris and i are staying in a hotel in atlanta and going to that semi-formal event for his district. i've got him sleeping in his swing and praying the meds to wonders for him over the next 24 hours. my poor mom and a full page lists of the kids and their different meds and when to take them, lol. but there's no one i'd trust more!

i like the smell of construction paper & elmers glue

first off, let me tell you that these days i am pretty much a single parent with the responsibilities of a married person. chris leaves before we do, then doesn't get home until after the boys are in bed most nights. he's working in rome, and then has to come back to cartersville to make his deposit and do any checking in he needs to. sometimes i'm awake longer than 30 minutes when he gets home, most nights not. mikey is still waking every 3 hours at night, so yeah, i'm tired. anyway, i have to find ways to keep the boys occupied, when they get bored bad things happen, lol. and with the weather getting cold and everyone so sick i can't just lock, i mean send, them outside. so we do crafts and attend MOMS club stuff, play at McD's. but their favorite is to "do a project". out of all the kits i've bought of crafts for them, they seem to just like construction paper, glue, buttons, and a hole punch. who knew?!?! ahhh to be young and have life so simple. i noticed tonight when i opened the trash can it smelled of kingergarten, lol, that glue mixed with paper smell, and at that moment i realized that it doesn't take much to make a kid happy.
on other notes. i took them to pottery lane yesterday with the MOMS club. i have avoided that place like the plague, i mean 4 boys in a store full of breakables........like letting a herd of wild buffalo loose right??? nope. my kids were soooooooo good. of course i threatened them before we even got out the car. but they did exactly as i said, had a good time making their stuff, and everyone left happy, without having to pay for any broken items. i even got a compliment from another mom today at the business meeting about their behavior, made me just beam.
i'm loving MOMS club. after the meeting today 3 of us went to lunch, that was nice. and i volunteered to head up the recipe club. for those who don't understand this irony - i'm not the best cook and can't bake to save my life. i love to try new recipes but i'm just not that creative in the kitchen. laugh at me later, but for now i have faith in myself..........i said for now.......geez.
saturday chris and i go to atlanta for a night away. we are staying at the crowne plaza where his work event is. i even forked out the extra money for the romance package, champagne, strawberries, room service breakfast....but you all know they really sucked me in with the late 3pm check out. is it really sad that i'm looking more toward solid uninterrupted sleep than anything else. we joke that we really just want to go for the rest. i told chris i saw no reason to get out of bed before 2:30pm, lmao.
then he leaves sunday night for training in orlando. he won't get home really late friday night. but like i told him, it'll be no different than these past few weeks, lol. actually it may be less stressful, cause the kids are happy with PB&J's every night, lmao.
ok, chris called and i lost my train of thought, my head is pounding, and it's almost my bed time!

zach update

looks like this course of action is working. they called yesterday he does have a little pnemonia in is lower lobes. so they upped his antiB to omnicef (sp). and we went this am and his sats were that magic 94 that we needed to stay outta the hospital. he is moving air better and not working quite so hard, so it seems the atrovant is working it's magic for him. so at this point we keep doing what we're doing and go back monday to make sure he's better. he's on 6 medicines, so it's a crazy routine but worth every minute if it keeps him home. and the orapred has him hopped up like he's on crack, hardly sleeping and going 90MPH. i just keep on trucking, knowing next weekend i get saturday afternoon until sunday afternoon to relax and sleep .... uninterrupted.

holy hell halloween

yesterday morning i was on a roll. everything was going perfect. i had the last minute items i needed for jacob's party and by the way, i totally kicked butt with his party. anyway, there i sit at a red light, heading home to pick up the fridge stuff and head to j's school and BOOM!!. this jerk slammed into my rearend....he thought the light chagned....
just so happened another mom from j's class saw it and stopped. i gave her all my stuff and she took it all to the school. we got the report done and i took my car for inspection to make sure it was safe and legal for driving. got the ok, and made it to j's school with 2 minutes to spare.
the rest of the day from there was a blur of parties and Halloween events. by the time i hit the bed last night at 10pm i was sooooooo tired and sooooooo sore.
mikey is good, got a thumbs up on his carseat from the police and EMT's. they came out just to make sure he was ok.
now today, zach is home sick. we have 24 hours to get his sats up or we're going to children's hospital tomorrow....lovely.
i am beyond exhausted and i'm about to go get him and mikey and pile up in my bed with a little noggin on the tv for some much needed rest.

huge sigh of relief

if you remember, i asked for prayers for my mom. some of you knew why, others didn't. my mother had her yearly mammagram this year. there was a suspicious mass. so she went for a diagnostic mammagram. still unable to determine if it was indeed breast cancer or not, they did a biopsy last week. before i tell you the results, let me just say that i have been in complete freak out mode. i mean i seemed to always gravitate toward thinking the worst. i even told myself that God must have put me staying home and working with the American Cancer Society and BCCP for exactly this purpose. i'm a big everything for a reason believer so i just knew this was preparation for me to deal with what was in store. yesterday i broke down twice during random conversations about cancer. this morning my stomach churned as i awaited my mom's phone call. i had breakfast with her and mikey this morning and couldn't stop watching her interact with mikey and soaking up the love that beamed from her eyes for her grandchild. at 9:24 am this morning my phone rang while i was at Car Audio getting my front windows tinted. i closed my eyes and said one last quick "please God" before i answered. well, when i heard my mom on the other end saying it was "all normal, no cancer, just fibercystic", i honestly could feel this huge pressure lift off my chest. i could breathe again. so thank you, every one of you who prayed, sent happy thoughts, mediatated, whatever you did for us, thanks!!!!

down grade to upsize

well i did it. traded in the pimp Denali for a bus. we got a good deal. other than the name there's really not much difference between the two. denali had more miles but was one year newer. the suburban has like 3 more feet. the denali was that brown goldish color they all are , this one is a dark charcol almost black - means i'll actually have to wash it. but the look inside and out really is the same though. everything else is pretty much the same from seats to features to sunroof etc. the suburban didn't have video, so next saturday we are set to have it installed, and the front windows tinted darker, and possibly change out the head unit to one with navigation. luckily we got enough cash back from the trade to do all this.

i know, i suck!

I know, again I have become a blog slacker. this one's long, feel free to just scroll down to the pics if you desire.

Life is just crazy. I never seem to slow down, it's always something. My "to do" list never seems to shorten. And I think I may be battling a little PPD. I seriously just want to sleep. If I'm home I want to sleep, not that I get to, but I want to. If I'm on the go I seem better. I'm also very much struggling with my weight and body image, as well as the condition of my house. So I've resolved to get my butt in gear. I want to start putting more effort into the house, so my goal is one room a day top to bottom. Once I get them all done then up keep should be easy if I stick with it. And I have got to start watching what goes in my mouth, not to mention I have got to exercise. I have been getting out with the kids, walking to the park and to neal's school some days to pick him up. But I need a daily routine of something that really gets me going. I have been saying for weeks I'm ready to get back to the gym and I want to and look forward to it, but just never have the motivation required to actually go. I know once I start I can do it, it's always making myself take the first step. I really feel like getting a grip on my house and my weight will help with how I feel. So I'll try to keep you posted on how that goes, feel free to give me moral support and a little kick in the rear if you want...

On to other things.
I got my hair completely whacked off. It was in such bad shape and all I ever did was pull it up b/c it took too long to dry. Chris hates it, but I love it. Makes my life so much easier.
i am so sleep deprived. mikey sleeps ok usually. i usually go to bed around 11pm and he normally wakes up at 1-2 am and 4-5 am. but it's like i have trouble going back to sleep so i stay up longer than it really takes to tend to him. and then stay on the go so much that i just can't catch up by napping during the day. but lately he seems to be waking more or sleeping more restlessly (is that a word?) and i will co-sleep some with him or fall asleep in the recliner in his room holding him. so i don't sleep sound when i do sleep. anyway, i can tell it's catching up with me physically and mentally. then last night he slept from 8pm until 2:30am, but then from 2:30 am until 5:50 pm today he slept in 5-15 minute spurts here and there. he may have slept a total of 2 hours. then he slept for 1 hour and 26 minutes at 5:50pm. can you tell i've spent all this time just watching the clock? anyway, my mom couldn't have picked a better night to let me sleep. her and dad are off tomorrow so they came about 7:30 pm and took mikey for the night. i cried in the shower, feeling sad. why i don't know. but i sooooooo NEED this. i took a shower, took my last two loratab from my tooth stuff i had done, and now i'm just waiting to crash. now i pray i can actually sleep solid.

In other mikey news, the kid still only drinks 2-4 ounces at a time but eats lots of little feeds. Occasionally I can get a 6 ounce down him. And talk about slow! I remember the other boys could suck down 8oz in record time. I am no longer breastfeeding. I reached my 6 week goal then slowly let it taper from there. He's been weaned about a week. I'm a little sad some days, but then I remember feeling tied to the pump or how it was to schedule what I needed to do around his nursing. That always relieves some of the guilt.

I think he's up to about 13 lbs now. He still seems small to me, but my boys have always chunked up so fast. Mikey just now seems to be getting a little roll on his thigh. I've got to go get his pics made, add that to my "to do" list for this week, lol.

Let's see, what else is new?
I took the boys to the Indian Mounds Saturday, that was fun. A cheap and educational something to do. Man that's a long way up Mound A for someone so out of shape. Jacob isn't too fond of heights, gets it from his momma. At the top he said "ok I'm done I feel like I'm gonna vomik."

Zach had his first field trip to the pumpkin patch, that was fun. I really like his teacher and she secured her spot on my "good" side. I took his inhaler just in case b/c I knew he be outside and around things he's not used to (farm animals, hay, etc). So I said I was going to take him to the car for a "puffer" and she had his school one right there in her purse. Her being prepared for his asthma really pleased me!

Jacob is going on his first field trip for this year to the dairy farm, and Chris is going. This will be his first field trip, I can't wait to hear how it goes. They have this new no sibling rule, so I couldn't go, and mom and dad have mom's dr appt, and paranoid me can't let any of my kids go without one of us or nana or papaw, so chris got roped into it. Jacob is stoked about daddy going.
Neal is doing better in school, or so he says. We'll see how it reflects in his grades soon. If he brings everything up to atleast a "B" then he gets an "under armor" shirt. If you don't know what this is, then feel happy. He's asked for this useless shirt forever, so I used it as a bribe (thinking deep down that he'll never bring that 63 up to a "B". Bwahaha is that wrong??? This kid has always done so good in school, it's just always come naturally. Fourth grade is kicking his butt, and his not being organized isn't helping. I've also always been easy on him about homework and stuff, and this year I'm really having to stay on my toes with this. With us both working harder he may pull it off, stay tuned.

As I mentioned my mom has a dr appt. I'm going to ask that y'all keep my mom in your prayers. She has some medical stuff going on and I will post more later, after we have results from this test, but for now, just keep her in your prayers. I can't imagine my life without her, and what's going on reminds me that every day is a blessing and nothing in life is a given, never take it for granted.

Hmmmmmmmm what else???
It's been so long since I've blogged it all just seems to be lost in my mushed up mommy brain. So I'll leave you with some pics of my guys. Enjoy.
Some days we walk to neal's school to get him, Jacob befriended a froggy.

jacob & his bike

and here's where i found jacob riding his bike without training wheels



http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=17968787

finally figured out how to get videos off my phone!

this is zach saying "what's up pimp juice" - for some reason you can't hear anything but pimp juice, but it's still cute

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=17968711

Happy 6 Weeks

wow. i know time flies by as you watch your children grow, but dang. i can't believe mikey is already 6 weeks old. we've stayed so busy lately too, so that has probably made the days seem shorter. there's just never enough hours in a day to do it all.

mikey is doing great. he weighed 7lb 13oz last friday. i'm anxious to see his weight this friday, i'm willing to be he's at least 9lbs. he seems to have really grown this last week or so. he's staying awake a little more and getting some control of that big head of his. his cephlahematoma is noticably smaller these days too, which is really great, i felt like that little bump would never start to shrink. he slept in his bed for the first time this past week. of course he was only there a few hours, until he woke for his 3am feeding, but its a start. he has slept there a little two other nights, and when i'm done blogging, i'll put him there and get a few hours sleep before he wakes to eat and i decide to be too lazy to put him back upstairs. (secretly i just love snuggling with him, but use being tired as an excuse for me and him to hog the bed and keep chris on the couch). he has this one little dimple on his left cheek, but only shows it to us occasionally in his sleep. the other morning his face lit up a little when i started telling him "good morning", it was nice to see what this mom will call some recongition - i'm telling ya the kid knows who gives him the good milk. breastfeeding is still going well, i can't belive i've stuck with it this time around - go me!

as for me. i have an appt with a new dentist on the 25th (thanks heather). and i had my 6 week pp check up today. all looks well. i'm only 2lbs over what i was when i conceived - of course everything shifted and my damn clothes still don't fit right. someone please tell me where this muffin top came from!?!?! i plan to hit the gym this week and get my body back - or as much of it back as possible after 4 kids right? for those wondering, i chickened out of the tubal. i just couldn't do anything permanent. period. and since i'm nursing my options were limited. so i took the depo for one round and will most likely go with the nuvaring in december, unless i happen to still be nursing. my ultimate goal was 3 months, so that will have come and gone by then. of course as well as things are going i may set myself a new 6 month goal. hell who knows, i can't even make up my mind what underwear to put on some days. my bp was up still, and i'm wondering if this is the cause of me being tired. some days i just want to crawl in bed and stay, but i know i can't so a few days i have left all my "to do" stuff to wait and endulged in a nap with mikey while the boys are in school - my problem is i sleep for 3 hours and still don't want to wake up, but i'm forced to.

the other boys are all doing well. neal got his first progress report, not what i'm used to seeing from him but we'll work on it.

jacob has his first girlfriend. even got her a ring out of the treasure chest today. he made me give him an envelope to decorate and wrap it in. awwwwwww. oh and today i looked out and saw him riding his bike without training wheels. what a proud moment.

zach is bustin' preK wide open. everyday he has a new song to teach me and when asked "what center did you go to?" i get the same response "kitchen". ok so he did go to computers a few times. and the only other kid he can remember in his class just happens to be zachary too.

chris is super busy with work. no big shock there. but they're tossing around some ideas for him. he's loving being in management and out of the shop most days. and in my opinion goes well above and beyond what he has to for terry. if only he'd been this dedicated to a job all those years ago, lol.

speaking of jobs. i need to go back to rome to help out with the breast program, but just can't bring myself to leave mikey yet......not even with my mom. i'm really struggling with even just a few hours. i don't remember being this bad before, but then again i didn't have a "choice" like i do now.

i'm also really enjoying the MOMS club. i've gone to a few things so far and have made some new friends, one or two that i click pretty well with. i really think this is going to be good for me and the boys.

i got a new phone and have a few videos to share but haven't figure out how to get them off the phone onto the computer yet.

ok, time to wrap it up and get a few hours sleep while i can. i leave you with new pics of mikey - not sure if he's saying "peace out" here or if that's "what's up pimp juice" which is zach's new greeting....

Dental Hell

I know I've really been slacking, Mikey and I have had a super busy week. SO yesterday was my dentist appt. Background, several months back I broke a very back tooth on the bottom right. Called the only dentist local for my ins. They got me in for a cleaning and to check out that tooth. They procede to tell me I have ELEVEN teeth that need work. Now, let me just throw out there the fact that NONE of my teeth bothered me in the slightest way, not even the broken one. Seriously not a single stitch of pain or sensitivity from ANY of them. However, I put my trust in her and tell her to fix them all. She does 3 on the top right. I am pleased with the work, have a little sensitivity to hot/cold in one of those. Next up are 3 on the top left and 1 on the bottom left. While there I ask about the sensitivity to which she tells me to use Sensodine Toothpaste and it will go away in a week or two, she then procedes with the four for previously mentioned. I leave. Now these teeth HURT. They ache, they are sensitive to hot/cold, and to pressure when biting. So I figure give it a bit like the others. My next apt comes and I miss it due to baby issues. Then I decide not to reschedule b/c of the pain and start looking for another dentist. Fixed teeth should not cause this much trouble...PERIOD! Well more baby stuff delays my search and here I am finally a few months later following up. Mom gets me an appt at the dental clinic on campus where she works. They don't do anything real serious there but I can at least get started and find out the "why" for the pain. I go last Thursday. She says all my composits look good, so she's not sure why I'm having so much pain and feels the most important thing to do is fix the broken - yeah the one I originally went in about that the other dentist didn't even work on! However I explain to her that I have to stop this pain in my upper right before we can even think about the broken tooth, since afterall it causes me no grief. SO yesterday I go back. The plan is to clean out the 3 composit fillings in the painful teeth and place in some medicine to "quiet them down" then refill them. Simple enough right? Yeah, would I be blogging about it if it were simple???? So there I am, my mouth all jacked open, a "rubber dam" across my face, numerous anesthetic injections, and she begins. She's cleaning the old fillings out, gets up, comes back cleans some more, gets up, comes back. She says "these fillings just keep going down down down. Then it happens, she hits a nerve. Now I about came out of the chair, but her reaction blew me away - she was so pissed by what she'd found that she actually threw her little dental mirror she was using. The last dentist had completely hollowed out my tooth and just laid a composit filling directly on my nerve. As the new dentist is explaining I start to cry. I am so fucking angry. All I can think is she's going to have to pull these teeth. We both calm down and she explains that she won't go any further on the other two, just put the med in ontop of the remaining filling and put the temp filling over that. Hopefully it will help for now. The 3rd tooth has to have a root canal, which she is not set up to do, but she has no choice at this point but to start it. I am finally done, and my mom comes over to check on me b/c we have to leave in order to pick the boys up in time. I am crying, shaking, and in so much pain my lips are quivering like it's 30 below in that office. Now, let me tell those of you who don't know, I have a massive pain tolerance. If I hurt bad enough to shed tears, then it's BAD. And shaking, I have never done due to pain before. The next step is to get me referred over to the other dentist in Rome that they work with and have the one root canal finished and the other two will probably have to have them as well. I honestly feel like I've been hit across the face with a baseball bat. And I am soooooooo fucking angry. Teeth that didn't bother me now have to have root canals????? WTF? All b/c some dentist decided to completely destroy my tooth. I will be going to get my records and original xrays Tuesday. If I find out that there was no cavity or a small cavity that didn't require the tooth to be so "hollowed" or that in fact it was so bad I truly did need a root canal, and that this dentist should have made other decisions for my treatment - GOD HELP HER! And to top it all off, the fuckin' broken tooth is still untreated, b/c now the immediate concern is the 3 teeth that the old dentist destroyed.

Way to Grow, Mikey!

mikey had his recheck today! he's up to 7lb 12oz!!!!!!! and his billi is down to 7!! finally we are seeing some major progress! we go back in 3 weeks.

it's hard to believe he'll be 4 weeks this tuesday. man the days have just flown by! of course i knew they would, look at neal, he's NINE already.

we had our first rough night last night, and it was on the low end of rough. he just seemed to have a little belly ache or something and woke more often, but he was easily soothed by nursing. or just snuggling.

i'm still having issues with low milk so i picked up a slew of herbs today at my favorite herb shop. it was $50 for what she set me up with but if it works it'll be soooooo worth it.
i also SCORED today at a church consignment sale. i got a medela pump in style for $20!!!!!!!! i was so freakin' stoked about this find. and it works great! i had all the personal parts b/c i had rented that other pump earlier on, so i am set! boy am i excited.

oh and i have to brag about my neal-bean! he auditioned for the chorus this past saturday. they only accepted 25 students from the 4th and 5th grades. we got his letter on thursday and i don't know who squealed louder, me or him. i was sooooooo afraid i was going to have to let him down gently. i kept reminding him that it was ok not to make it b/c there were so many trying out and only so few spots. so when i saw he made it i was elated!

ok here's two new pics of my sweet baby boy, wide eyed and semi-smiling!

what's new, gertrude???

let's see......i've been slack on blogging so i hope i can hit the highlights and not bore you to death.
friday night i went to my first moms club event. it was family night at CiCi's Pizza. chris had to work late so i said "what the hell". i took all four boys by myself and it was not at all as stressful as i had inticipated. the older boys met some new buddies in the gameroom and i got to chat it up with the moms. i am really glad i did this - thank you chelley! this thursday afternoon is a boys party at another girls house and i hope i can get everyone picked up and make it to that one. should be fun - and chaotic.

saturday mom and i took the boys and went shopping and to a bowling birthday party. the boys had a super time. who knew my kids were good bowlers?!?! jacob scored 122 and neal 99, i think zach was in the high 80's. i laughed saying this would be the one "sport" jacob was good at - look out bowling scholarship. they had never played before so i was pretty impressed. thanks again deska for the invite! this was also the first time i've ever had to pump or nurse in a public bathroom. i did both. i suppose there always has to be a first time for everything right?

sunday was a lazy day. boy was that nice. and monday was more shopping. we are trying to find mikey some clearance newborn sized clothes - the kid is so little he has nothing to wear - he wears the same 4 or 5 things over and over, lol. i'm just not used to have a small kid. i didn't score him anything great but i did score a pair of yoga pants for myself.

today i cleaned out my closet and brought back out the non-maternity clothes. i still have a ways to go to get back into my "thin" clothes, but all the "fat" clothes i didn't give away last year fit, so i'm good for now. i am counting down the days until i can get back to the gym - i'm so ready to get my body back to where it was this time last year.

it's been hot as hell here lately - i'm so glad i didn't suffer through those last 4 weeks in this heat - look at this on my car thermometer - yes that reads "131"















sunday - chris decided to clean up "big nasty" (his big ole jacked up jeep). he came in to get something and when he went back out this is what he found. jacob will do anything for daddy - he's such a suck up!





















and a few pics of mr. mikey, one just sleeping so sweetly taken on sunday and one taken yesterday in his one "outfit" that fits - everything else is a sleeper or a onsie, lol - score this at the carter's outlet on saturday for $6 - go me!

quick update

just a quick update. mikey had his weight check today - he is at 7lb 3oz - still 1oz under his birth weight but a definate improvement. however his billi count is going up, today's count was 11.2 up from 10.7 (8 days ago). this is concerning b/c it should be going down since he's peeing/pooping/eating well - so they are going to check it again in one week and decide what they need to do. so please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming for my littlest man.
and i've got some new pics, but i just haven't had time to upload them to the computer yet. so watch for those in the coming days!

sinus infection & breastfeeding do not mix

i felt it coming on earlier this week. oh man. i went to the doctor today. first let me say that Dr Henley at the Harbin Clinic has the personality of a ROCK. anyway. turns out there's nothing i can do other than vitamin C and Mucinex DM. anything RX or OTC with a decongestant will dry up my milk (yeah i took sudafed yesterday and already my milk is well under half of what i was producing - i feel so retarded for not asking first) and he gave me an Rx for an anti-B but of course i shouldn't get it filled unless absolutely necessary b/c it will give the baby the runs, tummy cramps, and fussiness........ugh. i feel like i was hit by a truck, all i want to do is sleep. mikey and i enjoyed our peaceful morning, however the brothers are home and well, it's gonna be total chaos until chris gets home from work. great.

oh and as i'm leaving Dr. Dumbass says "don't give it to her" taking about mikey - i didn't even bother to correct him "if she gets it she needs to go to the ER, and they'll have to do a spinal tap, so if she runs a fever take her straight to the ER" - WTF?????? i just stared at him and then asked "what would you consider a fever?" and he says "100.4" and walks out of the room.
could someone please pass the tissues.......and the rum???

covet

ha you thought this was gonna be juicy - sorry. i got my monthly Ulta ad Monday and it had a sample of this new Sara Jessica Parker perfume "Covet" in it. i HAVE to have this. however, it's going to take me a while to suck it up and pay $60 for a little bottle.
on to other things....

i've been slack on blogging, just seems i've been too busy to sit down and type. i've cleaned out my bath cabinets and reorganized, i still need to do my closet and kitchen cabinets, maybe tomorrow....

yesterday i came home from dropping off the kids at school and laid down to nurse mikey, we fell asleep and didn't wake up until almost noon. there went that day, but boy was it nice!!! i didn't even realize i was that tired until i woke up.

there is this commercial i saw the other day for baskin robbins - ohhhhh chelley & brooke, i thought of our baskin robbins excursion in nashville that first time. the dad is cleaning up the dinner dishes and he tells his son that if he doesn't finish his peas then they aren't going to baskin robins. so he turns his back to the sink and the mom grabs the peas and inhales them. ohhhhhh i've so been there - needing a serious ice cream fix!

what else is new? had a great lunch with alesha and deska today. it was so nice to have some adult interaction and a little girl talk. just what a momma needed! next time i hope a few more of you gals can join us, it's so refreshing to just kick back with the girls, i've missed that dearly. i really hope to be a more active friend. and in trying to find some other local moms to befriend, i've joined the local moms club. i'm excited to meet everyone and get involved. it's probably my hormones but i'm so friend lonely these days.

mikey is still the best baby ever, and i feel great. neal, jacob, and zach are all doing well in school. being back on a schedule is also really nice - i know i've said it before, but it just really is.
as for my essure (tubal) procedure. it's scheduled for sept 11th. HOWEVER, as of last night we have officially decided to cancel it. not because we WANT more, no plans to give the Duggers a run for their money. but neither of us are ready to say let's go permanent. i was stressing about it last night and it was the biggest relief ever to hear chris say "then don't have it done". who is this man i've been living with for the last year???? he's amazing and i am sooooo in love with him. he's an amazing father and an amazing husband. i never thought i'd say it but i am one lucky woman!

hmmmmmm, anything else i need to add????
mikey has his weight check on Friday, so let's think "grow baby grow" for my littlest man.
oh and lastly - mark your calendars - because january 4th and january 5th are PARTY nights! i'm sending my 20's out with a bang and everyone is invited! girls only friday night - somewhere downtown atl - ideas welcome. then saturday night is a family/friends affair - ideas for that welcome too. if you know a good DJ let me know.

it's been a few days

let's see. i'll start with Thursday. Mikey had his doctor's apt, his billi was down to 10 and his weight was up almost one ounce to 6lb 14 oz (what zach weighed at birth). so we're on the upswing, gotta go back this coming Friday to check his weight.

Friday was the 1st day this week we didn't have the boys home or have to go anywhere, i actually got to enjoy a nap with Mikey......it was sooooo nice but too short. by the time i laid down it was only an hour until we had to get up and get ready to pick up the brothers from school. but i'll take what i can get.

the boys are liking school. neal's class is working with an economy system for behavior and such. it's pretty cool. they earn "money" for good behavior. they get fined for bad behavior. they can purchase things like extra recess time, and supplies, etc. and they are all applying for "jobs" within the classroom. they have to fill out a job app and get references, it's really a great idea to teach them about responsibility and money management. neal is applying for DJ....lol. his ambitions after that aren't too high - pencil sharpener and computer tech (who only really cleans and turns on/off the computers).

jacob and zach both are adjusting well too. and i just can't believe that every morning this week has run so smooth and no one has been tardy!!! being back on a schedule feels good.
as for me, i'm feeling great, i'm ready to go back to the gym, but can't until 6 weeks. so i think i'm going to start morning walks next week - if the heat isn't too bad of course. the only complaint i have is my neck. i really must have done a number on it during delivery. the left side is almost completely better but the right side only seems to be getting worse.

mikey is the best baby ever. he hardly cries and sleeps so well. i still have to wake him for most of his feedings. it almost scares me how good he is, lol. he is having two good awake times each day now, one in the morning and one in the evening. so that's good. and b/c my babies are usually so big i only got like 2-3 newborn outfits, this poor kid, he just gets lost in everything. if he's wearing a footed sleeper he curls his little legs up to his belly and leaves the legs and feet empty. i'm used to chubby little monkeys, and mikey's a skinny-mini!

i missed my post-license exam window while i was in the hospital, i've got to contact the commission next week and see if there's anything i can do. all i have to do is take (and pass) this exam, so i'm hoping they will give an extension. i remember reading about it somewhere but just haven't put any effort into finding out more info. i have a "to do" list two pages long, a lot is marked off, but there's still a lot to do. i still haven't gotten those pictures from kodak gallery sorted out, but i will. but for today, my goal is to get to the grocery store at some point today, maybe when chris gets home from work, otherwise we're eating buttered bread & chicken noodle soup, and the baby is going to be wearing cloth diapers by tomorrow, lol.

oh and i'm super excited, we're having our house painted this weekend!!! it needed it bad, not like there's much to paint, just trim and some small areas, but the chimney especially needs it, so i'm stoked. that was one thing we really wanted to do before putting it back on the market!
so, that's it in a nutshell, here's a pic of my sweet baby boy from today for those fighting that baby fever...

first day of school, first bath, and other motherly ramblings

today was the first day of school. i'm pretty certain i was more excited than the boys, lol. the morning could not have gone any smoother, it was just perfect.














zach, my sweet zach, i can't believe he's in preK. that little dude walked in the front door and immediately dropped my hand, walked right into his classroom like he'd been there for ages, saw what the teacher told the other kids to do with their bags and just did it, without prompting, and then went right over and sat down like he'd been in this routine for years. it was sooooo bittersweet. last night he told my dad "i hope they show me where the lunchroom is". that kid, always worried about where his next meal is coming from, as if....




















jacob, my shy one. he didn't really want me to leave, but i also think he didn't want me to know he didn't. so i kissed him and told him i'd pick him up first, that seemed to put him at ease. last night he wanted to know if he'd have homework the first day.



















and neal, who is of course too big to be walked in, hopped right out and headed into fourth grade. saying hi to everyone. he's like a magnet, people gravitate to him and everyone knows him and he knows everyone - by name.




















so with only one child, i have time to get some stuff done. mikey made his first trip to target, he'll come to find this is a once or twice a week thing - at least. i really didn't want to have him out this soon but there are a few things i couldn't go another minute without, so we braved it. luckily no one wanted to touch him, the just smiled and commented and went away - like good strangers should. when we got home he had his first bath. yeah, he's not really a fan of being naked and wet. but he smells sooooo good now.


















then we nursed for the first time since being in the hospital and he latched like a champ. i think we'll nurse when the boys are at school and at night, when the house isn't so chaotic, and i'll pump and bottle feed the other times. i'm just very pleased that things are going so well this time. my milk is in, my nips don't hurt one single bit, and it all just seems to be falling right into place.
now, i'm taking advantage of the quite, to blog, then i'm off to sort the monster order of photos that just came in from kodak gallery. it'll be 1:50 before i know it and time to collect the masses.

one week old

yesterday was a BUSY day. i had to go in and have my bp checked, it's up a bit, but managable. and the pitocin seems to have caused me a lot of swelling, along with the bp. today is better i think, each morning i see a few more pounds disappear on the scale, which is nice. i'm still pumping and really getting a good supply, we'll start trying to nurse tomorrow, with the boys in school i'll be able to give mikey my full attention to get us on the right track.

mikey also had a dr appt yesterday. it was almost 2 hours in there and i was just worn out after all i the running around. his billi count was down to 13 and his weight was only at 93% of his birth weight (6lb 13oz). so we had to go back today. that was fun with ALL the boys - NOT. i suppose it wasn't too bad, it just took forever again (about 90 minutes) so they get bored even with gameboys and hot wheels on hand. everyone kept saying i seemed so calm with 4 boys, not sure if that was a compliment to my mother skills, but i'm going to tell myself it was. anyway, mikey was still at 6lb 13oz, so no more loss, which is awesome. and his billi came down about 3 tenths of a point, not what i'd hoped for but as long as it's going down i'm happy. we go back thursday - thank goodness school starts back tomorrow. mikey is still only taking about 1oz at a feeding, we have had 3 feedings where he took 2oz. however, we are now able to wake him up enough to eat more often, so hopefully we'll just keep moving in the right direction.

chris is awesome, last night i got to sleep through the 1am feeding, when my alarm went off he came in and told me to just keep sleeping, he'd already fed and changed mikey and was just chillin' with him on the couch. he brought me a sweet sleeping baby sometime around 2am and i snuggled with him until it was time for his 3am feeding.

we did open house last night. that was insane. but the boys are ready and so am i, lol. tomorrow can't come quick enough. i'm ready for some quite time and a set routine.

as for me, i'm sooooooo on the fence about having that essure tubal sterilization done. not that i necessarily want another (any time soon at least) but i don't want it to not be an option, ya know. i'm just not ready to say "give me a permenant fix". i have 5 more weeks to decide what i'll do. so who knows.

i finally have a little down time today. which is nice. chris has to go to charlotte tonight for a class tomorrow, so mom and dad are going to come stay the night and help me with bath/bed time and getting everyone ready and off to school tomorrow. it's so nice to have such a super support system.

i think that catches us up. oh wait, mikey's cord fell off yesterday. i was in shock, neal and jacob seemed to take forever to lose theirs, zach's of course was removed at the NICU. it's so nice to have a cute little belly button instead of that stumpy clamped cord, lol.

jaundice update

it's down to 14. doc said this is the point where it would usually peak, but instead of going up it's going down. woohooo happy dance. the billi bed goes away tomorrow! we're going to put him on it on and off for an hour at a time just to be safe. i'm sooooooo excited.

almost 4 days old

well, we are sitting here awaiting our billi blanket. his count is 17 today, so we're just going to do some home photolight therapy to get it on down. we'll go tomorrow and get a heel prick to see if that's going to do the trick.

he's not nursing right now, using formula to get the poops going and get the jaundice processed out. saw a LC and my body is not really producing anything b/c he is so sleepy that my body thinks it doesn't need to make milk. so i rented a hospital grade pump and i'm pumping every 2-3 hours to build it up so we can get back on the bf wagon ASAP. right now i'm getting only drops, but this last time those drops actually made it into the bottle to accumulate one big drop. i'll see the LC again monday. our goals are 1 feed the baby by any means necessary 2 build my milk supply and then 3 get him nursing and tackle any hurdles that have been created by bottle feeding. i do have his wonderful ability to latch on my side though. so i'm still very positive about nursing this time.

he finally pooped a non-meconium poop at 4am - oh the things we get excited about. so that means we're on our way to processing out the jaundice, now with the lights, hopefully it won't take too long.

sleep - ahh sleep is not a complaint i have. b/c of his excess blood and jaundice we are having to wake him up. he goes sometimes 6 hours straight, we can't even wake him up enough to suck more than once or twice. he barely cries - unless it involves a cold wipie. i told chris that we are so going to pay for these easy first few days in a couple of weeks, but that'll be ok b/c that will mean his body is all balanced out and he's able to spend more time awake and alert and eat more. he ate the most at 4am, 1.5 oz. this is so weird for me b/c i'm used to babies who eat every 2 hours and i mean EAT! so this part is definately new.

as for me, i feel pretty good. i'm still crampy, and my bleeding isn't quite tapering off yet, it's not bad but not getting less, if that makes sense. my bp is a little up, but nothing alarming and i'm still a little swollen. but for the most part i feel ok, not too tired and so far only one breakdown. my back is sore from the epi, but i was expecting that.

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

I went in Tuesday am for my 36 week apt. My BP was up and baby was very inactive so Macie sent me over to L&D just to monitor me for a bit. After an hour the nurse was ready to send me on my way b/c my BP was good and baby was doing great. However, I was plotting contractions on the monitor every 3 minutes, so I asked her to check me, better safe than sorry. She checks me and says "looks like we're having a baby today, you're 5cm". And so the whirlwind begins. I had to have my antibiotics for at least 4 hours, so we were in no hurry. After my first 4 hour dose, we were ready. Got my epi and my water broke around 6pm and we just waited. They gave me some pitocin around 8pm b/c he wasn't descending and I was dilating so slowly. Around 9pm I was 9cm and waiting on that last cm seemed like forever. This was my longest labor ever, yet it was my easiest. I felt NOTHING until it was time to push. I was almost complete so Macie had me push to see if he was going to come down with the pushes, immediately she tells me to stop and starts getting her drape and gloves on. It takes all I have not to push and I tell her "Macie he's coming!!!!" She looks down and tells Chris and the nurse "grab her legs!!!" She barely snaps the 2nd glove on and out comes half his head, one more little push and out pops his beautiful little face. I was in a position so I could see this all, even though it was my fourth it was the first time I'd seen it all with my own eyes. A third push and there's his body! It was amazing. I truly believe no matter how many times you experience the miracle of birth it never become any less amazing or special! He came out SCREAMING, which was a beautiful sound after what we'd been through with Zach. Mom and Dad brought the boys in and we had some family bonding time. Then off they took him to the nursery. He gave us a little scare, turning blue the next morning for no apparent reason. He has extra blood that his body has to work on balancing out, and he's a little jaundice. He latches like a champ, now if only my milk will gush in we'll be in business. He sleeps like an angel, this has truly been and EASY few days - I told Chris we were sure to pay for this in a few weeks. The boys ADORE him, and Daddy is smitten. I myself, can't get enough snuggle time with the little guy. There is just something so life affirming about a newborn baby. Here are a few pics, and a link to the full album that will be updated as more pics come in from various cameras. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=oqmc03y.6hchtrbm&Uy=nyxz36&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

about to freak out!!! - very scattered preggo brain ramblings

about to freak out. i had my shower yesterday and looks like we're pretty much set there. it was kind of embarassing though, i had one friend there (who helped host it), everyone else was a friend of my mom, a few aunts, and my grandma. but alas, this is my 4th, and my bucket of friends isn't that full (not of local gals anyway). i still made out like a bandit, still need a few things, but nothing i can't pick up here and there. so i finally feel like "quatro" can come home now since i did finally get my carseat/stroller. but...............i spent an hour last night struggling to get the damn thing in the car tight - NOPE. it would just flop up in the front and that just can't be right. then the freakin' stroller wouldn't fit in the back of the Denali. WTF??? i finally gave up, assuming i'd have to settle for another travel system i didn't like as much. i seriously even thought i might have to *gasp* go back to driving a minivan!!!!!! go ahead chelley, say "i told you so" of course that is until tonight, when my heros, Chris and Neal, averted both the carseat and the stroller/Denali crisis. so i'm fighting with the carseat and noodles, some brilliant idea i got off the web to make the base fit better, and Chris takes over. he gets the carseat base tight enough that it doesn't move - without noodles. i just wasn't getting it tight, even with all my weight and might. crisis one averted. so then i tell him about the stroller and he gives it a try. he's brainstorming and looking at the options and neal's in the backseat trying to help and says "if only you could take the wheels off"........ding ding ding ding. i tell chris we can do that, it's easy, and sure enough, even in the dark, we popped them suckers right off and voila! he even gave me a cargo net thing he had in his jeep so i don't have to worry about it falling or shifting when opening the back. crisis two averted. those two totally rock tonight! and i'm telling you once again, that husband of mine just keeps making my heart flutter, i fall in love with him more every day.

let's see what else can i bore you with???
this morning, i woke up at 4am and my mind is racing with things i need to do (yeah the whole Denali/carseat/stroller thing was what got my mind reeling). then i started thinking about money. you know how it is, you start with one simple thing and toss and turn trying to fall back asleep and before you know it your mind is going 90 mph. grrrrr. i finally got up an hour later. i was working at the breast cancer office today and couldn't force myself back to sleep for an hour or so, i just got on up. anyway, one thing that i'm freaking out over big time is losing my little income for a couple of months. i know it's crazy, but those two days a week really make a difference in our budget (splurge money) and money is the one thing that i can never seem to not stress over. and i thought about what if he comes early and i don't make this month what i'm hoping for then that puts even more pressure on. this just put me in all around panic mode - this baby is coming and i'm not ready!!!!!

Chris is off tomorrow so i can go to my 34 week dr appt. our evenings are sooooo crazy once he gets home, i'm really looking forward to just hanging out with him and the kids tomorrow afternoon.

oh and did i mention the whole not having a baby name is REALLY bugging me. never did before but some how this time it is. i've tossed out a few ideas, chris hates them. he's tossed out a few, i hate them. agh! i give up. quatro it is. of course jacob want's to name him vomit. and zach likes zachary alexander.....hmmmmmmm.

then let's add to this list of "i'm 'bout to freak out" today's trip to L&D! i was at work and got some really intense contrax. so i headed home to lay down. but before i hit c'ville i knew it was something i should have checked out. sure enough, there they were on the little monitor, one right after the next, and what do ya know, i'm 1cm. i know it's my FOURTH and 1cm isn't necessarily bad at 34 weeks, but i also know i shouldn't have had such unrealistic goals of having a 38-40 weeker with my history, but i refuse to give up hope - i want my 6 more weeks of a full nights sleep and no diapers damnit! not to mention we still have yet to rearrange the bedrooms to "make room for baby". i have my appt tomorrow so hopefully there won't be any further changes and i can continue to hope for at least 36-37 weeks.

ok, i think i've rambled about everything i had to ramble about, i'll leave you with some pics from the shower.....
it was given by my mom and my friend, mylinda. mylinda and i have been bestfriends since 6th grade, she and chelley are truly the best friends i have ever had, they'll finally get to meet in january. just want to take the opportunity to tell you two how much i appreciate all the support, some days i think i'd bury my head in the sand if it wasn't for them. now if only chelley didn't live in indy-freakin-ana!!!!
ok anyway pics....

Tidbits & Ramblings

i've been scarce, sorry. life is just busy these days. is it time for school to start back yet??? lol they start aug 8th, i'm hoping i go at least that long, i really want them in school before "Quatro" comes. let's see, what's going on????

my shower is sunday. i'm really excited. i'm hoping this helps me get and feel a little more prepared for this guy. i am going to start working on packing my bag today and finally finished the boys "big brother" shirts. zach was born at 33w4d - so i'm praying that this one beats the odds and stays cooking until 37+ weeks, i'm 33w1d today. however, i'm truly ready to not be pregnant. i've been day dreaming about working out again and resuming great sex with that never more sexy husband of mine. speaking of him, the roles have really reversed in our house. he has become the "better" parent. he's so good with the boys and does stuff with them, i'm the one who yells and just can't wait for a chance to escape to my bedroom. it really bothers me, i even told myself this morning before coming out "i am going to be a good mom today". it's true, i have only yelled once, because neal hit zach who called him a "shithead". and i made their shirts, and put them on some tattoos, and let them empty the dishwasher (bwahaha they think it's a privledge). but other than that they've played outside and upstairs while i've started trying to accomplish things on my "to do" list - that i was writing at 4am the other night b/c i couldn't sleep. ahhh sleep, it's that thing that i vaguely remember and long for the day (months from now) when i may actually get a feeling of what it is. my teeth hurt from dental work i had done - which i'm going to try to find a new dentist to correct, but haven't b/c i'm lazy and unfocused. i pee every hour at night. i can't get comfortable on my sides and can't breathe on my back. i have crazy dreams that leave me exhausted and my mind rambling. and for some reason, if i lay on my left ear it starts to hurt, not inside but outside. ok, what else can i waste your time with???? oh i put my license on "inactive" status for now. the market is soooooooo bad, and the fees are so much, that i was paying out the wazoo to keep active and making NO MONEY. so we took our house off the market until after school starts back. we'll re-evaluate the market then and decide whether to relist and if i am going to re-activate my license or hold off until spring - when "they" are saying the market is due for an up-swing. i am still working (sometimes) 2 days a week in rome with the breast cancer program. you know i make more doing that than i did full time at my last job, truly sad huh? ok, i'm off to work on this list, that seems to grow 2 for every 1 thing i mark off. i leave you with a pic of the boys, tan and smug, in their "big brother" shirts.

CRAVINGS

so chris comes home the other night and i had made popcorn and he says "do i smell cake, where's the cake?" now i have not really found anything that i really wanted. i am hungry but nothing has made me go "oh i gotta have THAT".....until he said CAKE. i don't even like cake, but i digress. i didn't want to go to the store so i looked through a recipe book. now let me remind you that the last thing i baked from scratch was cookies and they were AWFUL - both times. in my book i find a chocolate peanut butter cake recipe and a fudge frosting recipe.........I HAVE TO HAVE THAT! but i don't have cocoa powder.........so i'm off to the store anyway. i baked it, including sifting almost 5 cups of powdered sugar (do you have any idea how long that took me) y'all that cake totally kicked butt. actually i'm eating the last piece with some vanilla ice cream right now. however now that i read that pineapple thing that jenni mentioned..........it doesn't taste as good and i want pineapples........off to the store when C gets home......

Silly Boyz

here's what my silly boys did today. the first pic is from the rain, then it goes to today. the other album is some from baseball.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=oqmc03y.87vmwil2&Uy=i4h33c&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Scarey visit to the Nail Salon

in between appointments yesterday i figure i'll head over and get my nails touched up. i'm sitting there about to get polished and i start to feel sick. hot, clammy feeling. light headed. i go to get up and fall back in my chair, right leg numb. the girl says "you ok?" "ummm no, can i have a cold wet papertowel?". she gets me one and i get that groggy everything getting dark vision thing. i just knew i was going to pass out right there, need them to call 911 and all i could think is "this girl barely speaks english!!!!!!" i lay my head down and just sit for a minute and things seem to subside long enough to let her finish my polish. i dry and go to leave. once in my car i know that i just don't feel right. being lunch time, my doc's office is closed so i head across the street to the ER. i explain to the lady i'm not in labor, there is something wrong with ME. they give me fluids, draw blood, get a urine sample, and put me on my left side. 2 hours later they send me up to Labor and Delivery for another hour of monitoring. my BP had shot up causing all of this, could have also been the baby pressing on something he shouldn't have. my blood work was fine, but i was spilling protien. today i went in for my routine OB apt and all seems good. bp is a little high but not bad, no protien in my urine. i am so ready to not be pregnant.
anyway here's my 30 week pic taken earlier that morning. i really did feel good yesterday up until that episode hit at the nail place. weird.

playing in the rain

yep. my kids are outside playing in the rain. we've been having some spurts of pretty good rain but no thunder or lightening so when i saw them passing by with coats on i didn't question it, just sat back and waited. little boogers have on winter coats in summer heat playing in the rain. and i'm just going to let them.
notice zach is even without pants. who cares right?

Back from the Beach

Wow what a great vacation! I truly am a beach girl at heart, no doubt, and so are my kids. Jacob keeps asking "can we go back tomorrow?" I would sell this house and pack up and go in a heartbeat, just getting Chris to agree is the hard part. I'm so up for a new place, but he's so not. ANYWAY. Got down there dropped our stuff and hit the jetties at St Andrews for swimming and snorkeling. Returned just to sleep and found our room was less than sleepable. The office was closed, we picked one of those places where each unit is individually owned and there's no real staff. We suffered through the night and as soon as the office opened the next morning got a refund and hit the road for a new aboad. Found the Beachcomber and LOVED it. Worth every cent more it cost us. Mom and Dad came in the next afternoon. We spent time at the jetties every day. Did the usual putt-putt, go-karts, and souveniour shopping. And of course had to take our Pirate Cruise, which we almost missed b/c they were so booked up. Luckily they had a cancellation and we got tickets. Chris stayed face down snorkeling the WHOLE time and was sooooo sunburned. I just chilled on the beach, snorkeling only once, never knew this baby belly could make it so much more tiring to just float above water. Chris and I got a night out alone and that was nice. But funny thing, we got back in earlier than our kids did - boy we're getting old. Got a call the 2nd day there and found out I failed my 1 hr glucose, so I went yesterday for my 3 hour one. Being stuck 4 times, drinking pure sugar on an empty stomach, and hanging out in the waiting room for 3 hours is certainly not a fun way to waste a morning. But we're back and today I have to work on getting settled back in, I have a buttload of laundry to do, but somehow I bet that will be left to do after we hit the pool this afternoon. lol I love summer! Here's a link to some pics, enjoy:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=oqmc03y.1ytcx0f2&Uy=ahdra7&Ux=0

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

so i was supposed to get a gazeebo for mother's day but target didn't get one in this week of the particular one i want.
then today my van died. ok maybe died is harsh, something broke that's not to hard to fix, but we don't know what other problems lie in the future, it's a 2000 with 140k on it, so i got a new car..........

















it's a GMC Yukon Denali, the pic was taken in the dark sorry. it has everything you could imagine and we got it at dealer cost b/c we got it from chris' dealership. i'm so in love with it.

surgery for zach

*sigh*
zach is having his tonsils and adnoids out Tuesday. i know i've been through this with the other two but i feel way more nervous this time. they saw them last week, we saw the ENT yesterday, and are set for surgery Tuesday. it was all so quick, but the kid litterally has a very small airway b/c they are so huge. they are keeping him overnight b/c they are concerned about his respiratory problems and the anesthesia, but all should go well. i'm actually relieved that they are going to keep him instead of just sending us home. i just remember neal having it done and this same age and how much he hurt and how it took him 6 weeks to recoop. not looking forward to this at all.

Happy Birthday, Zachary!

hard to belive he's 4. my sweet little angel baby has grown into a wild and crazy little boy!

Museum Photos & Jacob's Birthday

Took the kids to Chattanooga to the Creative Discovery Museum yesterday, we had a great time, perfect day trip!

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Jacob says "Being 5 Sucks"

So today is his big 0-5. We went to IHOP for breakfast and he cleaned his plate and drank two glasses of chocolate milk. Put him in the Jeep and up it comes! He had to ride home in his underwear. He cried and said "I didn't want to puke on my birthday!" Then he comes to me a little bit ago with a bloody big toe, the storm door had shut on his toe and ripped off half of his toe nail. He said "being 5 sucks".

He's only been 5 for half a day and already it's a tough road. Poor guy!

Zach & the ER, Take Two

It's just not poor Zach's week. This morning on the way back to Papaw's from dropping the brothers off at school, Zach and my dad were in a wreck. Some guy decides traffic is too backed up and just does a turn around right in the middle of traffic. My dad doesn't have time to even react, hits the car head on and lands in the drivers side of a van. Both are fine, and were evaluated at the ER. The nurse said "didn't I see you earlier this week???" lol. Zach has a knot and abraision on his left forearm. Dad has an abraision on his right arm and bruised knot on his cheek bone. They were in my Dad's truck, because I'd forgotten to leave him the keys to my van. The airbags deployed and filled the cab with that powder and Dad couldn't get the door open so he got freaked because of Zach's asthma. They finally got out and my dad was so concerned with Zach I don't think it really hit him until about 3 hours later. Both Dad and Zach are sore, the truck is totalled, but in the end, both are going to be just fine. Zach keeps telling the story, which is cute to hear his version. I am just greatful they are ok. The other drivers were ok and refused treatment. The guy's insurance has already called, and the other lady in the van just got her van back last week where someone hit it while it was parked in her driveway, poor thang. The emergency staff was super, Zach got a bear from the fireman on the scene and keeps talking about riding in the "am-lance truck where the am-lance mens took good care of him".

Jacob & the Aquarium

Jacob's Pre-K class took a field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium. There were enough parents there that I got to just explore with him, and we had the most amazing time. After the field trip we took a walk over to Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream. In Jacob's words "It was the best field twip ever"!

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2 Brothers + 1 Fight = Trip to ER

yep. i was finally sitting down resting a few minutes before time to get dinner going and i hear this can't catch my breath cry followed by a gut wrenching scream. i look upstairs and at the rail i see zach with a blood covered face. i rush up and get him and bring him to my bathroom. there was so much blood i couldn't even tell where on his face it was coming from. jacob comes down behind us and says "i slammed his head into the wall". i finally see the 1/2 inch cut on zach's forhead but can't get the bleeding to slow. so i send jacob next door to get neal, usually i'd call him on the two-way but i was in freak mode and couldn't think. i find zach a shirt and grab one for jacob b/c i can't remember if he is wearing one or not. we run out to the van and jacob and neal come running up. hop in and head out, calling chris on the way. he tells neal to sit by zach and keep pressure on his head. and being the best big brother ever he does. we get to the ER and chris is there waiting. they take him straight back, and see that neal did get the bleeding to stop. after a good washing they determine he can just get a little dermabond, whew no stitches. i was so glad, that was truly traumatic last time he had them. and we are home and he is no worse for the wear. they said to watch him and he says his head hurts, but he's playing. jacob keeps apologizing and zach has forgiven. and mom keeps point out to them that this is why brothers don't fight. what was the fight about???? zach wanted to watch jacob play a computer game and jacob didn't want him to.

Dad Update

Mom just called. Dad has two blockages. One left side, one right side, one is mild and the other is 70%. They also found that his heart is not shaped right, not life threatening, thank goodness. I can't belive that's never been seen before. Anyway, no surgery for now, just meds to relieve the blockages and aid in blood flow. He also has small viens or was it artaries? Crap so much info in one quick phone call. He'll stay at the hospital for observation, have the site checked around 5pm and if all is well get to come on home. Then they'll follow up to see if the meds are correcting things and go from there if not.

Dad, Me, and Other Junk

He's been complaining for weeks, tired, hurting, hard to breathe. SO finally two Friday's ago he goes to his doc, sees the nurse practioner. His lungs sound bad, so she gives him a breathing treatment and says she'll see him in 6 weeks unless he doesn't feel better. Didn't do a TB test, didn't do a chest xray, did draw some blood - for god knows what. Anyway, this Friday my mom makes him go back. A different nurse practioner sees him and doesn't like what she's sees, so she sends him for a chest xray. It comes back clean but his lungs appear stressed. Then she does an EKG or something, and calls the doctor in. They refer him to a cardiologist. His apt is at 3pm, by 3:30 he's been admitted to the hospital. The doc says he is certain he has had at least one heart attack and certain they are going to find blockages. They give him a nitro patch and his pain/discomfort eases. They admit him and his heart cath will be tomorrow morning. If they find something, they'll send him to either Crawford Long in Atlanta or Redmond in Rome, both are excellent heart hospitals. You know, my mom and I were convinced he had lung cancer or emphazema (sp) b/c of his smoking. The heart is scarey stuff, but I also know it's come a long way in the last 10-15 years, and they did wonders for my grandmother back in the day, so some how, I'm a little relieved.
Now on to happy news, well kind of anyway.
I had my 16 week apt today, was so excited b/c my midwife was going to sneak a peek for gender. well we saw nothing, nadda. this little one was kicking and wiggling, but he/she kept those legs together and the goods out of sight. i was sooooo disappointed, i was planning baby shopping spree today.......oh well.....i just indulged myself. i should know on April 13th, my official ultrasound is scheduled for 10am. i have lost 5 more pounds, puts me down about 17 since getting pregnant. but those 5 probably came from the drastic change in my diet....healthy changes. here's my cutie...

Good Grief Charlie Brown!

First, I'm dealing with this glucose thing, trying to figure it all out. Had an early 1hr glucose intolerance test done yesterday, hoping to hear from it today. Cooking dinner Zach puts his little hand on a hot eye just as I'm saying get away from that it's hot. Burned the piss out of his little ring finger. Little bug didn't cry a single sniffle. I cried harder than him. THEN, Zach started puking at about 11pm and went all night. Nothing like a sleep deprived, puke fest filled with Cocoa Pebbles and Hamburger. My laundry is already to the ceiling, and now......add puke blankets, towels, rags, etc to that. JOY. I started getting a sore throat last night, kind that strep feeling (lumpy, scratchy, dry) but only on one side. Today, I go up to help Jacob wipe his ass, and someone has put to much tp in the toilet, so I move Jacob and decide it's not that much, it should flush. Ohhhhh no I was WRONG. Guess some of it was down the chute, huh? So the toilet over flows and I send Neal (mr turtle after the plunger). When he returns I'm an inch deep in water. Should have gone and got it myself. But I was trying to keep it contained with one lonely towel that was in there. Get that mess cleaned. Come downstairs to find the kitchen leaking water from a recess light. While cleaning that I see we have sprung another leak over my sink cabinets. Which is getting the surface soft and just not going to be a good thing by the looks of it. Did I mention it's about time to list our house and now this????? I don't know how this water went from the upstairs bath to here, must be a crack somewhere that it seeped through in between floors of the house. The kids are on winter break this week. Who the hell gets a winter break? Xmas and Spring Break, that's all they NEED! Where the hell is my Calgon????????????

Priceless

Circus Tickets & Parking: $211 Light Up Swords: $62 3 Bottles of Water & 1 Popcorn: $15 ONE Cotton Candy: $10 Seeing the awe on the faces of my children: PRICELESS

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2007 is off to a great start!

can we just say yippee?!?!
Saturday I got my first solid contract. It's a cash deal on one of my listings, set to close Jan 31st. It'll be a back to back closing, so we'll be writing the contract on my clients new house to close right after the closing to sell their current house. So that will be two transactions for January! I'm stoked, the money is great and couldn't have come at a better time. And the icing on the cake? My client, who is also my dear friend will be moving into a new house that is very much "her" and have room to start expanding her family. Just happens her new house is in the development we're building in, so that is a plus too! We've been friends since 6th grade, and now we can raise our children together, me with a head start, but together none the less.
Also had a showing on another one of my listings today (wink wink Rachael) and have one on my other listing tomorrow. So one down, two to go, it's about time I'm seeing some action in the market!
I'm really excited about this because I was getting really discouraged. If you remember the first contract I wrote, it fell through today, had it not been for this string of good news the last few days I might have been pushed over the edge by this, but instead I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Jacob's Artwork

my child, well he's such a sweet child, but sometimes he just doesn't use his thinker. i had told him the other day that an artist always signs his artwork when he handed me some pictures that were pretty good but didn't have his name on them. the day goes on and that evening chris finds a lovely portrait on the wall upstairs. and i realize maybe he does use his thinker because he remembered to sign the crayon artwork on the wall in the upstairs den. now do i explain to him only use your name if you want someone to know it's your work.

Ever Have One of THOSE Days?

where you wonder why the flip you even got out of the bed??? well yesterday was one for me. started my day off in chaos, but of course in this house, that's normal, right?!? had a friend stop by to drop off some stuff, and hurried to finished getting ready. i finally get all the kids out the door and over to my mom's at 11am or so.....did i mention i have errands to run and have to be in haralson county by 1pm??? yeah. so one of my errands is to pull money from paypal for chris. well i obviously am a debit card idiot or something's up with my pin. i'm thinking the latter b/c i surely know how to spend the money from any other account linked with a debit card. i have been to 2 banks and tried multiple times to use this stupid card. i get "more than this atm can dispense" or "invalid card" or "does not support this network", WTF? so i go to krystal, where they have free internet and pull out the lap top. log on and change my PIN, which appeared to have never been set up 3 years ago when i got the card. ok. PIN set, i'm ready. go to bank #3. NOOOOOOOOO! so here i've spent all this time i don't have and accomplished nothing! go to Chris and tell him he's just going to have to deal with using the card and i'll figure it out this evening. now on the way there i am on the phone YELLING at the automated phone system paypal has...if you've never used it, well it's one of those you can speak to and it understands NOTHING. ok so deal with chris, and head to haralson county. got my directions, on my way. while i'm driving i pass 278 and realize that the dumbtards at mapquest have just sent me 30 miles out of my way!!!! grrrrr. oh well, the state pays milage on these site visits so it's all good. do my site visit and head home. it's earlier than i had anticipated, so i'm going to go home and lay down for an hour before heading to the bank and getting the kids. i get home and realize i don't have a front door key and my garage door opener is in my van....at my mom's house. ohhhK. i'll just go on to the bank, and oooohhh while i'm there i'll run over to sonic and get a smoothie..yummmm. well now, this account has about .81 in it and i've got nothing but hundreds for my deposit. my bank is CLOSED. they were just closed for 4 days straight and now they are closed at noon? ok i know this is their regular early day but after being closed that long??? come on. well sonic won't take a hundred dollar bill, my account is drained, chris has my paypal card, and i'm not about to charge a three dollar drink.....and my flippin' bank is closed. now remember i'm pregnant, and there's not much food that even remotely sounds appetizing, so telling me i can't have what i want is not acceptable. so i go get the card from Chris and trek back across town to Sonic. get my smoothie and just sit in my car thinking, why did i even get out of bed today???? oh yeah, for a smoothie! sure things could have been tons worse, but it was one of those days where you fee like you're trying to run but your feet are stuck in the mud and no matter how hard you try you're just not getting any where.