"My Sweetie"

Adilyn loves to pretend, and she has about four pretend games that she loves to play. Anytime she plays "house" she is always the mom, I am always the dad, Cory is the brother, and Kacy is "Sweetie". I don't know where she got the nickname Sweetie, but it's hilarious. Kacy totally goes along with it, and she will even say, "I Sweetie." I love when they play well together!
Another pretend game she loves to play is with her tiny princesses and the one prince that we have. Poor guy, he is outnumbered about 45 to 1! I have to be the prince, of course, and Adilyn will walk the princesses up one at a time to the prince. The prince will ask them to dance, and they will maybe dance or maybe make up an excuse that they can't dance. They have meetings, dance recitals, or other reasons why they do not have time to dance with him. We also have pretend weddings, but the princesses will fight over who gets to marry him. I love playing with her and listening to how her sweet little mind works, but sometimes I just don't want to be the prince anymore! :) Repetition is the key to learning, though, right?

Brooke is Waking Up!

Well, I knew it would happen at some point, but Brooke is no longer an amazing sleeper at night. She is also no longer a super easy baby. Although she is grumpier than she was the first couple weeks, she is nowhere near what I would call a "hard baby". She calms down pretty easily when she gets mad, but she does get mad a lot for no reason. A couple strange things is that when she is sleeping, she will randomly scream bloody murder for a couple seconds, and then go right back to sleep. I don't know why she does that, but it scares the crap out of me sometimes! It's also a little sad because it seems like something scares her or hurts her, but maybe not. The other thing that is odd is that at night after she eats, she gets congested. I feed her, and when I lay her back down, it seems like she can't breathe. She coughs and sounds all stuffed up. Of course, she can't go back to sleep very easily, so I usually end up holding her and having her sleep on my chest while we both sit up in bed. I can't tell if she just has a little cold, or if she is maybe allergic to something. Whatever it is, I am much more tired than I was those first couple weeks when she was sleeping 5 or 6 hours a night! :) Oh well, I know that she will sleep more eventually!
On a much less complainy note - she is more awake during the day now, which is awesome. It's always hilarious when they start to wake up more, but they can't really be entertained or communicate. You just stare at them, and they stare back, but those are awesome sweet moments. I swear she has smiled at me a couple times! She seems to focus a lot more when Cory, the girls, or I talk to her. I just can't wait to see what she is like when she starts to interact more! I love getting to know their little personalities in these early months!

Oh, the Joys of Selling a House...

Our house has been on the market for almost 2 months now, and we have had absolutely no offers. We have had 15 showings, which is good, but I would rather have an offer! I really thought that the house would be sold by now. I know that the area is not that great, and the market is not fantastic, but I really thought that it would see in the first couple months. We don't really need to be in a new house until July or so for Addy's school situation, but I just really want to get settled. I really don't mind having to keep the house cleaned, it is actually kind of nice to have to clean for a reason. What I really, really hate is having to get out of the house for showing. And, what I hate even more than that is when we clean up the house, and we load everyone up, get out of the house, and then the people never show up for the showing! That has happened to us two times, and I guess two times out of 15 is not too bad, but it is still frustrating. The other thing that I hate is having to take the dogs with us everywhere we go! They do pretty well in the car, but it's still annoying to have to drag them with us everywhere. We have to take them all the time when we go more than an hour away because you never know when you might get called for a showing. If we don't have time to get back to get them out of the house, then they have to come with us.
When we have to get out of the house, this is what we do - #1 destination - go to the "Windy Park", which is one of our favorite parks. It's always empty, it has a dog park, and it has a bathroom.. #2 destination(s) - friends or family's house. #3 destination - run errands or just drive around aimlessly.
We have had some really fun times on our adventures out of the house, but we have also had some seriously annoying times! The other day Willow decided that she didn't want to ride in the back of Cory's truck anymore, so she jumped out on our way out of the driveway! Luckily, we were still close to home, and we weren't on a busy street, but it was still annoying. We had to switch over to the Tahoe after everyone was completely loaded up and ready to go. The Tahoe was full of stuff from Cory's fishing trip, and it didn't have all the carseats in it, so we had to drive to a parking lot down the road to switch everything out. Grrrr...Another time we had to get out right when Brooke had to eat. We pulled in our neighbor's driveway and fed her, then we had to change her diaper. When I changed her diaper (in my lap), she peed all over me! We were already supposed to be out of the house, but my shorts were completely soaked in pee! I ran back in the house and changed my clothes, all the while imagining the prospective homeowners walking in the front door. As I ran back to the car, Brooke spit up all over Cory. Luckily, he had an extra shirt in the car. One time we were in the middle of the grocery store about 15 minutes away from the house and someone wanted to see the house in 45 minutes. We had a cart full of groceries, and we paid super fast, ran home, put the groceries away that we had just bought for dinner that night, and went out to eat.
I know that it will sell when it is supposed to sell. I keep thinking that maybe it hasn't sold because the house that we are supposed to live in isn't on the market yet. With everything that has happened in the last year with my job changes and the pregnancy, I absolutely know that things happen for a reason. I know that everything will work out in the end, but it is just really hard to go through the current situation when it can be so annoying.

I know when it finally does sell, I will have all sorts of other  emotions. This is our first house as a married couple. It quickly became our home. Zoe and Willow joined our family here first. As our family grew we brought our three baby girls home to this house. Adilyn and Kacy took their first steps here. Years and years of wonderful memories fill this space.
But...with all that being said...let's get this house sold!!!!

My Middle Child

I am going to try really hard to avoid the typical "middle child" syndrome with Kacy. I have always heard that parents subconsciously forget to celebrate the middle child's accomplishments. They are never the first to do anything, but they are never the last either. Kacy already has some traditional middle child personality traitsis ...she is super silly, she starts trouble when she is bored, and she is a little feisty. We will see how things go as she gets older, but I have a feeling that we are going to have some serious fights through the years :)

The other day, we realized that it was pretty quiet in the bathroom. I told Cory to go check on her...he found her painting her face with makeup...yikes!

"I See Baby"

Adilyn and Kacy love Brooke so much, but they show it in different ways. Adilyn likes to hold her and help me take care of her, Kacy just wants to get her hands on her as much as possible. She comes over to me a million times a day and says, "I see Baby?" This means that not only does she want to see Brooke, but she wants to hug her, kiss her, hold her hand, and basically attack her in a loving, sweet, gentle way. I love that they both love her!

The Quietness of One

Adilyn and Kacy have been going to school a couple days a week to keep us all sane. It is so strange to be home with just Brooke. I am not used to being home much without Adilyn and Kacy as it is, but now to be home with just teeny, tiny Brooke is so quiet. She sleeps so much, and there is nobody asking for juice, nobody fighting over Barbie dolls, and nobody asking to watch cartoons. I love having a little quiet time, but honestly the quietness kind of freaks me out! I love having time to bond with Brooke alone, but it's an uneasy feeling that they are not here. I kind of feel bad sending them to school when I am home, but like I said, I think it's good for all of us to have a little time apart. Once summer comes, we will be together for almost three months straight. Yikes!

The Miracle As I See It

Since this is definitely the last time that I will experience pregnancy, birth, and all that goes with it. I want to write down some things that I think about or that I love about the whole process. I never want to forget how amazing the entire experience is...

From the moment I find out that I am pregnant, my whole thinking changes. I think about what I want to name the baby, what I should be doing to get ready for the baby, or how my life will change when he or she arrives. It's not like I obsess all day and all night about it, but any time there is a quiet moment or I am alone, my thinking always drifts back to something about the baby.

As I start to feel the baby move, I begin to wonder what she is doing in there. Is she trying to get comfortable? Is she "dancing" to the music that I am listening to? What is she going to look like? There is something about feeling the baby move that makes the pregnancy seem so much more real.

Every appointment I go to, there is always that moment when the midwife puts the jelly on my belly to listen to the heartbeat that I hold my breath just until I hear that heartbeat on the monitor. There is just that moment of nervousness each time, and then a moment of relief when that strong heartbeat is heard.

Even though there are some things that are hard about a growing belly, it is always so amazing to see how my body changes throughout the months to accommodate the sweet baby that is growing. Each pregnancy, there has been a certain morning that I woke up, and it really hit me, "Wow, I am pregnant!"

As my due date gets nearer, I always wonder if I will know for sure when I am in labor. I will definitely say that no matter what, I always, always knew when I was in labor. Once that moment came, there was not a doubt in my mind that the time was here!

Of course, the labor and delivery is the most amazing part of the whole experience. When I get in there, and it gets to be time to push, adrenaline takes over, and I seem to just go to another place. I am there, and I am focused, but there is another part of me that takes over. I am lucky that I was able to deliver all my babies naturally and with midwives, the way that I wanted to. There is nothing in the world like the pain of when that baby is actually coming out, but oh my, the relief when they are out is amazing! At that moment, all pain, all stress, and all anxiety is gone. The midwife puts that sweet little gooey miracle in my arms, and it is a feeling like nothing, absolutely, nothing else in the entire world. Not a single other thing in the world matters at that moment. The baby that I carried, dreamt about, and loved for 9 months is here in my arms...healthy and beautiful. The feeling is a feeling of peace, happiness, and total overwhelming joy. Looking into the face of this precious baby for the very first time is more than I can even put into words!

Then, the baby is here. Instantly, I love them. Instantly, this sweet girl is part of our family. Instantly, it feels like this was exactly what I was supposed to do with my life.

Days pass, and it is still amazing to think that this 8 pound miracle fit inside my belly just a couple days before. It seems impossible that she grew from a tiny little bean to this perfect baby in just 9 months. Her toes are so tiny, her little fingers begin stretching out, and her sweet little eyes opening to take in the world. It's just the most amazing experience from start to finish!

Seriously, I'm not usually this sappy...but I just can't help it. Must be the hormones! :)

The First Ten Days

Brooke has been here for 10 short days, but it feels like she has been a part of our family forever! Things have been going really well so far. Of course, there have been some rough moments, but that is to be expected. There were rough moments in our house even before Brooke arrived! The one thing that I am so happy about is that Adilyn and Kacy have never seemed mad at Brooke when I am with her. They seem to understand that Brooke needs me, and they patiently wait until I can help them or play with them. Dad and Kris were here for the first week, so that really helped out. They played with the girls, kept them entertained, and did a bunch of things around the house. I was a little worried about how we all would adjust without them, but things went pretty well. I really try to spend some time playing with Adilyn when Kacy is napping, and I try to include them in caring for Brooke as much as I can. I do feel bad when Adilyn asks me to play with her, and I just don't have time, but I guess it's all part of being a mom of 3. Unfortunately, Kacy is still being mean to Adilyn, so that is difficult to handle. Overall, I really think that things are going as well as expected.

Some things about brand new Brooke...

*She loves pooping in an fresh and clean diaper! I am pretty sure that she poops in a clean diaper at least 50% of the time that I put a new one on her.

*She also loves to poop the minute that I put her in the car seat. I swear, as soon as I click that last seatbelt in, she poops! Great timing!

*The girl can sleep through anything. Kacy loves to come over and kiss her hand, which of course, means pulling Brooke's hand toward her mouth. 9 times out of 10, she never even flinches!

*She does not love her carseat. I feel like the other girls would pass out on car trips, but Brooke does not seem to do the same.

*Luckily, she loves the Baby K'Tan carrier that I have for her. She will get in there, and get all snuggled in and sleep forever.

*She is very calm most of the time, but without warning, she will start screaming out of nowhere. Then, almost as quickly as the screaming started, she will stop and be fine again.

*When she is awake, she loves to look around at everything. Any time her eyes are open, she will look around to find the girls. I think they will entertain her for years!

*She likes to be held facing up most of the time. Just recently she will fall asleep while laying on someone's chest.

*So far, she is the best sleeper! She will sleep for 4-5 hours at a time at night. I love it! We have only had 2 nights where she woke up a lot.

I can't believe that I am lucky enough to have had 3 healthy babies! I am so happy that Brooke is part of our family :)

Sisters!

Both Adilyn and Kacy have been really excited about Brooke joining our family. They didn't seem that excited when I was pregnant, so I was not really sure how they would act when she got here. When they came to visit at the hospital, they both wanted to hold her right away. They both act a little differently toward her, which is interesting. Adilyn seems to be a little too "busy" to pay a whole lot of attention to her. She always wants to know where she is, but she usually just gives her a little kiss on her way to some other activity or game she is planning. Kacy on the other hand, will sit next to her and hold her hand and kiss her every few minutes. They are both really sweet with her and very gentle. Adilyn will watch her for me when I ask her to, and every now and then she will sit with her and talk to her. She will randomly way, "Our baby is just so cute!" She also likes to pick out her clothes and make her look "adorable"! Kacy just loves to pat her head and make sure that she is happy.

I can't wait to see how their relationships with each other will grow and change throughout the years. I know that there will be fighting, crying, and disagreements, but I hope that the laughter, silliness, and smiles will be more of what we get to see! :)

The First Outing

We went to one of our favorite parks the other day just to get out of the house. Mimi and Pops were here, so we had to take two different cars. Adilyn had said that she wanted to ride with Mimi and Pops, so Cory got the carseats all set up for that. At the last minute, she decided that she didn't want to ride with them anymore, so we had to completely rearrange the seats. Then, Brooke spit up all over herself, so much that I had to change her. Then, when I went to change her, she pooped all over everything. It was chaos...not the best way to start our first adventure as a family! :) We made it to the park, but because of our challenges, we did not get to play mini golf as we had hoped. Luckily, Adilyn was okay with missing putt-putt, and we had a fun time eating dinner at the park (even though the ducks tried to attack us and steal our Subway sandwiches), swinging, and playing around on the other equipment. It was a beautiful night!

Hopefully, our next outing will have a little less drama! :)

Breastfeeding Buddies

Adilyn and Kacy have, of course, been quite interested in Brooke. They love to ask questions about her and talk about how cute and tiny she is. Kacy loves to hold her hand, and Adilyn loves to kiss her head. They have really seemed to adjust well with her so far, but the biggest issue we have is breastfeeding. Any time I am feeding her, they always get real close to me and start to ask a ton of questions. Kacy always says, "Brooke drink your boobies? Why, Mama? Why her not eating food?" Then, she stares at her and gives me a play by play of what Brooke is doing. It's very nice and private :) Adilyn was sitting next to me with her baby doll, and she decided that her baby doll needed to eat too, so she pretended to breastfeed her doll. It's very sweet, but also pretty crowded at times!

Brooke Nicole :)

Our sweet Brooke

"Celebration Dinner"

Relaxing in our room

Our third (and final) sweet baby girl came into the world on the best day ever, my birthday! Of course, she was due on April 9, and I made up my mind that I wasn't going to expect her to come early. I finished up work on Thursday, and I went to my appointment. They did not have any specific ideas about when the baby would come. I was dilated to a 3, and she said she wouldn't be surprised if I had the baby that day or next week. So, we went home to wait...

I wanted to be there for the girls to do their Easter basket hunt, so we set it up that night for them to find in the morning.

That night, I woke up around 2:45am with some contractions. I knew they were real contractions, but they were not too terribly strong or too close together. Around 5:30, I started thinking that it might be a good idea to call the midwife to get her opinion on things. I kind of thought that it would be smart to get out of the house before the girls woke up, also, the midwife that I really wanted to deliver the baby was on call until 7am that morning. When I called her and told her what was going on, she said to wait one more hour to see what happened. I remember, I was outside on the porch when I hung up the phone. I looked up at the sky, and the moon was beautiful, and it was so peaceful. It was a strange calming feeling, and I felt like at that moment waiting was the right thing to do. I went back to bed and only had two contractions for that whole hour.

Adilyn woke up really early (around 6:45) because she was excited to see what the Easter bunny left her. I got her to lay back down for a while, and then all of a sudden, I started having contractions again. She was in bed, messing with my hair and talking to me about the Easter bunny, and I was trying really hard to get through these contractions. Finally, I told Cory that we should think about leaving, but Adilyn was the only one awake. We decided to wake up Mom and Kacy, and do the Easter hunt very quickly. They came downstairs to find all their little toys, they were jumping on the bed, and screaming about what presents they got...meanwhile I am having strong contractions every five minutes or so. It was not the ideal situation to stay focused and calm! :) After they got through with their hunt, I jumped in the shower, and we headed out. I knew the minute that we got in the car that we were in for another treacherous ride to the hospital. I could tell that we had waited too long, once again. It was 8:15am, but luckily it was Good Friday, so there was not much traffic. My contractions started coming closer together, and my rest times seemed to fly by. Every bump in the road was excruciating, but we finally made it to the hospital. I was so relieved to pull into that parking lot, but little did I know that my adventure had just begun!

I had them get me a wheelchair because I knew that I couldn't walk that far without having to stop for contractions, and I really wanted to get in a room as soon as possible. We get up to the 11th floor, which is triage where they assess you before you go to labor and delivery. As soon as we get to the desk, the lady says in a very sweet, soft voice..."Good morning, welcome to the Pavilion for Women. We are so glad you are here." I kind of thought in my mind..."don't you see, I need to get in a room, quick!" But, I tried to be nice and answer all their questions between breathing through contractions. After what seemed like an hour, they let us go back to the triage room. They got me set up on a fetal monitor and were asking me all kinds of ridiculous questions. I asked where Mary, the midwife, was, and the nurse said that she was waiting for me at labor and delivery. Mary came down a few minutes later, and she asked me why I was on this floor. I told her that is where I was told I had to go. The nurse said, "All patients must come through triage." Mary said, "That is not true." The nurse replied, "Yes it is, obviously there is still some confusion about protocol." As this is happening, I am thinking to myself...who cares about the damn rules, I need to have this baby!!! Of course, the hospital had not even been open for two weeks, and they apparently have some issues to work out between triage and midwives!

When Mary checked me, she said that I was complete and ready to deliver. I immediately had a flashback of Adilyn's delivery! I was glad that I was at a 10, I was glad that Mary was with us, and I was glad that this was all almost over! We were trying to get up to labor and delivery, and the triage nurse said that we couldn't leave until the l&d nurse came down and got us. Mary told the friendly triage nurse that she needed an emergency delivery kit in case she needed to deliver there. I think at that point I said something like, "Why are there so many rules in this hospital?!?" After what seemed like forever, the nurse finally came. She asked me if I could get in a wheelchair, and I said no way! The nurse said at that point, "Make sure that bed gets back to us because it belongs on this floor." Seriously?!?! We went down to the elevators, and the nurse's badge would not work to open the elevator doors, so we couldn't get in. I couldn't believe it, just when I thought that we were almost through all our issues, another one would pop up! They wheeled me down to the other elevators, but the bed wouldn't fit in there. It was ridiculous! We went back to the original elevators, and as we passed the nurse's station Mary was screaming for someone to help us open the doors. They opened...thank goodness! We got into the labor and delivery room, and I finally got to start pushing with contractions. It is so much better to be able to do something productive while you have the contractions vs. trying to just endure them. The baby was still pretty high, so Mary had to break my water. After that we started pushing, and she still was not coming down enough. We changed positions, and after about 4 more pushes, out came little Brooke! Only 50 minutes after we pulled in the valet parking!

I really feel like natural childbirth has been the best way for me to deliver my babies, but I always forget just how much it hurts when they are coming out! Wow! I screamed louder than I think I had before, and I am pretty sure that I grabbed Cory's arm quite hard. He said that I barely screamed at all, but I sure felt like the whole hospital (even the nurse in triage) could hear me! But as painful as it is, it is completely over the minute the baby comes out. Mary put Brooke on my belly, and that same feeling of relief, joy, and complete unexplainable love came over me as it always does when you see your child for the first time. She cried for a minute or two, and then she just calmed down and looked around. So sweet!

We had to stay in the labor and delivery room for a while because we had to fill out all the paperwork and documentation that we should have done before the baby was born. I think I even signed a paper giving consent to have my baby at this hospital, while I was holding her in my arms! :)

Eventually we got to the mother-baby room, and got settled in. I was so glad that Brooke got to stay with us the whole time. With both Adilyn and Kacy we had to be separated for a little bit for either my medical issues or theirs, but Brooke and I were both fine this time, so she never once left our room! We had a great room, with a great view, and the hospital itself was very nice. Our nurses were all very good, but the best parts about the Pavilion for Women were the food service and the shower. The food service was kind of like a room service type thing, and it was pretty good food. The other thing that was very sweet was that they had a "celebration dinner" for us complete with a white table cloth, flower centerpiece, sparkling red juice, and a birthday cake.

We had lots of visitors, and it was a great stay. As nice as it was, we wanted to get out of there! We got them to let us leave the next evening. I felt great after delivery, and I was up walking around by that afternoon. I am so glad that delivery went so well, and of course, that sweet little Brooke was healthy!

PS - Here are all her "stats" 8 pounds 1 ounce, 20.5 inches, born at 9:44am.

I love all my girls!!!

One week and counting...

The baby is due in exactly one week. I have never worked up until I was due, so it's a weird feeling to be so close to when the baby is going to make an appearance. I am ready for us to meet this sweet addition, and begin to learn how to make the transition into a family of five. Mom is coming on Wednesday, so the baby is more than welcome to come anytime after that!

Thoughts on the last week of pregnancy...

*Every little cramp, tightening, or pain makes you instantly wonder - "Is this the beginning of something serious???"

*Sleeping is getting harder, but you know that this is some of the last good sleep you may get for months and months to come.

*Strangers (mostly women) smile at you with this little smile like, "I know how you are feeling."

*Every quiet moment you begin to think about things. Maybe think is not the right word...obsess is better. Did you pack everything you need in the hospital bag? Do you really remember what contractions feel like? Do you have your list of who to call? etc, etc, etc

*Any time the baby moves, you imagine those same movements he or she will be making in a few short days in your arms.

Of course, life is uncomfortable, but the anticipation of this little miracle that will be arriving is enough to overshadow any aches and pains.

So excited, I can hardly wait!!!