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| The kids meeting Mary for the first time. |
1.26.2013
Sibling Love
1.19.2013
Mary Cecilia
So Daddy and Grandpa took the big kids to the zoo, leaving me with 8 day old, sweet Mary Cecilia. I have been shamelessly vegging out on the couch, watching the Bachelor but decided I should do something productive with my free time. ha! Like blogging obviously.
But Miss Mary wouldn't rest in her crib by herself, so she is joining me here at the computer.
Finally, she is here! Four long days past my due date.
Last Friday, the 11th I woke up with serious cramping and occasional strong contractions at 2 a.m. Long story short, I felt like a first time mom when they sent me home from the hospital after some monitoring. After the last two babies coming in under 4 hours, I was really afraid I wouldn't get to the hospital on time.
I did have them strip my membranes though, and so after a late breakfast, we went home to wait. Around 1:30, Matthew went to work leaving my mom home with me. My contractions were still coming every 15 minutes.
I kid you not, as soon as the tires of Matthew's car left our driveway, I was down to 10 minutes. 30 minutes later they were 4 minutes apart. He came racing home after being at work maybe 20 minutes. By this time I was in serious labor and really worried we weren't going to make it to the hospital (20 minutes away).
Well, we got there - thanks to Matthew's gratuitous speeding- and I was THAT huffy puffy pregnant woman in the wheelchair being raced up to L&D. I tried not to freak out the 4 yr old boy on our elevator and just hold it in, praying my water wouldn't break right there. And the lady at the L&D reception desk had the nerve to suggest an observation room! Whaaa? Fortunately I didn't have to say anything because another nurse piped up that she didn't think I needed to start there...
We made it into a delivery room pronto and they strapped monitors on my belly for "20 minutes of monitoring." I told them I didn't think I would make it that long and... yes. I was right. Mary arrived with just a couple good pushes, about 20 minutes after getting into our room.
3:02 p.m.
7lbs 7oz
of sweetness
Honestly I am so glad it is over. You know how you are supposed to "forget" how painful it is. I guess something is wrong with me because I didn't forget. Xavier's birth was really bad. Short labor and delivery but the most painful one... maybe because it was SO SO fast. In comparison, Mary's wasn't that bad, but I am glad she is here. And I can tie my own shoes again. And play ball with Matthew Jr. and all that.
I'm so happy that God gave me a girl. He knew I needed her after my 2-boy streak. Love my boys to bits, but from the very beginning I was desperately hoping for a girl.
But Miss Mary wouldn't rest in her crib by herself, so she is joining me here at the computer.
Finally, she is here! Four long days past my due date.
Last Friday, the 11th I woke up with serious cramping and occasional strong contractions at 2 a.m. Long story short, I felt like a first time mom when they sent me home from the hospital after some monitoring. After the last two babies coming in under 4 hours, I was really afraid I wouldn't get to the hospital on time.
I did have them strip my membranes though, and so after a late breakfast, we went home to wait. Around 1:30, Matthew went to work leaving my mom home with me. My contractions were still coming every 15 minutes.
I kid you not, as soon as the tires of Matthew's car left our driveway, I was down to 10 minutes. 30 minutes later they were 4 minutes apart. He came racing home after being at work maybe 20 minutes. By this time I was in serious labor and really worried we weren't going to make it to the hospital (20 minutes away).
Well, we got there - thanks to Matthew's gratuitous speeding- and I was THAT huffy puffy pregnant woman in the wheelchair being raced up to L&D. I tried not to freak out the 4 yr old boy on our elevator and just hold it in, praying my water wouldn't break right there. And the lady at the L&D reception desk had the nerve to suggest an observation room! Whaaa? Fortunately I didn't have to say anything because another nurse piped up that she didn't think I needed to start there...
We made it into a delivery room pronto and they strapped monitors on my belly for "20 minutes of monitoring." I told them I didn't think I would make it that long and... yes. I was right. Mary arrived with just a couple good pushes, about 20 minutes after getting into our room.
3:02 p.m.
7lbs 7oz
of sweetness
I'm so happy that God gave me a girl. He knew I needed her after my 2-boy streak. Love my boys to bits, but from the very beginning I was desperately hoping for a girl.
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| Going home with our pinky bundle. |
More to come tomorrow. I have the most PRECIOUS sibling pictures... :)
1.05.2013
Still waiting.
O yes, we are still waiting around here. Why do we pregnant ladies get so certain it is going to be "any day" at 38 wks? It makes the ensuing 2-3 weeks that much longer. 'sigh'
Well, maybe it WILL be this weekend because I suddenly got a strange urge to hang all the framed photos and pics on the walls that I possibly can. I also am feeling an urgent need to clean the house but am skeptical that this is a good way of using my annoyingly limited energy. Yeah, hanging pictures is pretty easy work.
Meanwhile, the kids are bugging me about when this sib is coming since I went so long telling them "after Christmas." Now that we are talking about putting away the Christmas decorations, I think they are getting worried. M Jr. declared today that the baby would be here after NEXT Christmas.
We have had a few distractions though. Like family, friends (sorry no pics of the Rowles visit here, go to Maureen's blog:http://mcrowles.blogspot.com/2012/12/st-louis-visit-with-mcbrides.html) and SNOW!
And just for good measure, a family photo taken a week before Christmas. Sorry folks, that's all I've got for pregnant belly shots!
And since I am not a big FB person anymore, I'll be posting birth details (if it ever happens) here, tho M Sr. will probably put a few pics on his FB page. Stay tuned :)
Well, maybe it WILL be this weekend because I suddenly got a strange urge to hang all the framed photos and pics on the walls that I possibly can. I also am feeling an urgent need to clean the house but am skeptical that this is a good way of using my annoyingly limited energy. Yeah, hanging pictures is pretty easy work.
Meanwhile, the kids are bugging me about when this sib is coming since I went so long telling them "after Christmas." Now that we are talking about putting away the Christmas decorations, I think they are getting worried. M Jr. declared today that the baby would be here after NEXT Christmas.
We have had a few distractions though. Like family, friends (sorry no pics of the Rowles visit here, go to Maureen's blog:http://mcrowles.blogspot.com/2012/12/st-louis-visit-with-mcbrides.html) and SNOW!
And just for good measure, a family photo taken a week before Christmas. Sorry folks, that's all I've got for pregnant belly shots!
And since I am not a big FB person anymore, I'll be posting birth details (if it ever happens) here, tho M Sr. will probably put a few pics on his FB page. Stay tuned :)
11.30.2012
"The Pie that Killed my Mixer." Also, "Monsters."
Thanksgiving has come and gone. Only one more holiday till this baby gets here... about 5 weeks and counting!
Thanksgiving was lovely. Pop smoked the turkey on Wed, and then Mom and Pop brought over a few side dishes and an apple pie. New was asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and a cranberry orange compote. I also made a caramel cream pumpkin pie (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/caramel-cream-pumpkin-pie/). Sadly, it wasn't worth it. Making the meringue topping took 25 minutes and burnt out the motor on my hand-mixer! Sometimes you just can't mess with a classic. I preferred Mom's apple pie.
I got a lovely pie crust recipe out the pumpkin creme pie ordeal however. It has vodka in it (a great excuse to go get you some hard liquor) instead of water to cut down on the chewy gluten that forms when flour and water mix. It was really tender and very hands-off (you mix it in the food processor and then barely touch it to form a ball. But once you pull it from the fridge to roll out, you better move fast. I think I rolled that crust in under a minute! I'm sure I looked hilarious - like one of those zippy tv clips in FFwd.
Here's the recipe if anyone is interested. This will be my go-to easy crust of the future. And did I mention it has vodka in it?
And left, you see the very "scary basement. It has been a bit of a problem that Xavier likes to use the ash from the fireplace to "cook" with in his little kitchen...
Finally (see right) we get to have our books out! Thanks to Pop, who is loaning us his bookshelves until they find a house where they will have the space to display his library.
AND... come and visit us! There is another large bedroom to the left of this pic. And a full bathroom!
Upstairs living room. In need of wall-hangings. Can't wait to get our Christmas tree!
Thanksgiving was lovely. Pop smoked the turkey on Wed, and then Mom and Pop brought over a few side dishes and an apple pie. New was asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and a cranberry orange compote. I also made a caramel cream pumpkin pie (http://www.bhg.com/recipe/caramel-cream-pumpkin-pie/). Sadly, it wasn't worth it. Making the meringue topping took 25 minutes and burnt out the motor on my hand-mixer! Sometimes you just can't mess with a classic. I preferred Mom's apple pie.
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| He's not getting ready to eat it... he was helping me swirl the topping! |
Here's the recipe if anyone is interested. This will be my go-to easy crust of the future. And did I mention it has vodka in it?
It's called Gesine's Pie Crust (from BHG, click on link above to the pie recipe. Crust recipe is at the bottom).
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| He's gonna grow up to be a Ghostbuster |
I'm posting a few house pics here. It's awesome having a basement to send the kids down to play in. But, apparently they are at a very imaginative stage because monsters are a very real problem in our basement. I need to get me some monster spray and go down there a few times a day to clear em out. Because maybe then, the kids would actually take advantage of this wonderful space.
Truth be told though, the kids have beat me to the punch. The other day I forced them downstairs to play, despite their monster protestations. Suddenly it was quiet and I heard the Legos being pushed around and Sophia seriously directing her brothers.
Usually I outlaw toys on the stairs, and I started to
object as Matthew began placing Legos on the sides of the stairway...
until I heard what their purpose was. They were setting "monster traps."
Sophia and Xavier were building the devices under the stairs and
Matthew was carefully placing them.
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| The "trap" factory. And general favorite hangout. |
And left, you see the very "scary basement. It has been a bit of a problem that Xavier likes to use the ash from the fireplace to "cook" with in his little kitchen...AND... come and visit us! There is another large bedroom to the left of this pic. And a full bathroom!
Upstairs living room. In need of wall-hangings. Can't wait to get our Christmas tree!
11.17.2012
A few pictures
11.16.2012
What really goes on...
Have you ever walked into a kids room and your amazing preggo nose tells you it smells like poop? And then you can't find the poop? And then you don't really want to find the poop, but it just keeps smelling. 'sigh'
M Jr's room stinks and I can't find the source. He says it's dog poop outside his window. Hmm.... This may be another blog post in the future depending on what I find.
So I while back I read that federal funding was going to go away for Poison Control. I really think that that shouldn't happen and if it can't be funded by the Feds, every person with kids should just give them $10 or something. It's lot less than a trip to the ER and chances are you'll need to call them someday.
Like I had to last week.
We had to unexpectedly have naptime at my parents house because of the workers at the house and as usual, M Jr. slept in my parents bed. Of course he made a beeline for all the stuff on my mom's nightstand (earplugs first, a lovely choking hazard, right?). So I promptly cleared the nightstand and put it all on top of a shelf that was obviously taller than him.
Sophia and I and Xavier (in his pack&play) laid down in the guest room. We all napped, and I thought I heard a rustle of M Jr waking up in the next room, but it stopped. So I thought he had gone back to sleep. About 15 minutes later, I heard him walking around, so I left the other sleeping kids to check on him. He had that guilty look and Mom's earplugs were on the bed and the wooden nightstand looked unusually shiny.
He had gotten down the earplugs and greased her nightstand with lotion. Then I saw the bottle on the floor. It was Strawberry flavored melatonin. 5mg tablets, a jar of 90 pills. It was empty except for the silica packet. He had eaten every last one.
I panicked. How much time did I have to deal with this? He had probably eaten them 15 minutes ago? Mom couldn't pick up her phone because she was teaching, but I needed to know how many pills had been in there! A call to Pop verified it had prob been about half full, at least.
Thank God for poison control. I called and a calm sounding nurse answered. I gave her all the facts and she didn't tell me to rush him to the ER. I could feel the relief flow through my body when she said, "Well, melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in our bodies. If we have to much, our bodies just push it aside. He may be a bit sleepy, but otherwise, he should be fine." She verified he had no underlying health conditions and told me not to worry about it. 'phhheeeew'
So M Jr had been sitting quietly on the couch the whole time (wierd) looking sleepy. But he eventually bounced up and started playing. At one point about 30 min later, he set his toy down and said, "Mommy I'm a little bit tired.... but I have LOTS of energy!" I think he fought off the fatigue and so he never really seemed to slow down as a result of all that melatonin.
So it all ended well and gave us a very good reason to have that very serious talk with the kids about never ever eating medicine or vitamins or anything they find. And of course to tell us if they ever see a sibling doing that!
And this was a reminder for me to keep praying to the kids' guardian angels!!
M Jr's room stinks and I can't find the source. He says it's dog poop outside his window. Hmm.... This may be another blog post in the future depending on what I find.
So I while back I read that federal funding was going to go away for Poison Control. I really think that that shouldn't happen and if it can't be funded by the Feds, every person with kids should just give them $10 or something. It's lot less than a trip to the ER and chances are you'll need to call them someday.
Like I had to last week.
We had to unexpectedly have naptime at my parents house because of the workers at the house and as usual, M Jr. slept in my parents bed. Of course he made a beeline for all the stuff on my mom's nightstand (earplugs first, a lovely choking hazard, right?). So I promptly cleared the nightstand and put it all on top of a shelf that was obviously taller than him.
Sophia and I and Xavier (in his pack&play) laid down in the guest room. We all napped, and I thought I heard a rustle of M Jr waking up in the next room, but it stopped. So I thought he had gone back to sleep. About 15 minutes later, I heard him walking around, so I left the other sleeping kids to check on him. He had that guilty look and Mom's earplugs were on the bed and the wooden nightstand looked unusually shiny.
He had gotten down the earplugs and greased her nightstand with lotion. Then I saw the bottle on the floor. It was Strawberry flavored melatonin. 5mg tablets, a jar of 90 pills. It was empty except for the silica packet. He had eaten every last one.
I panicked. How much time did I have to deal with this? He had probably eaten them 15 minutes ago? Mom couldn't pick up her phone because she was teaching, but I needed to know how many pills had been in there! A call to Pop verified it had prob been about half full, at least.
Thank God for poison control. I called and a calm sounding nurse answered. I gave her all the facts and she didn't tell me to rush him to the ER. I could feel the relief flow through my body when she said, "Well, melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in our bodies. If we have to much, our bodies just push it aside. He may be a bit sleepy, but otherwise, he should be fine." She verified he had no underlying health conditions and told me not to worry about it. 'phhheeeew'
So M Jr had been sitting quietly on the couch the whole time (wierd) looking sleepy. But he eventually bounced up and started playing. At one point about 30 min later, he set his toy down and said, "Mommy I'm a little bit tired.... but I have LOTS of energy!" I think he fought off the fatigue and so he never really seemed to slow down as a result of all that melatonin.
So it all ended well and gave us a very good reason to have that very serious talk with the kids about never ever eating medicine or vitamins or anything they find. And of course to tell us if they ever see a sibling doing that!
And this was a reminder for me to keep praying to the kids' guardian angels!!
11.08.2012
Of Pumpkins Past
I'll get around to being a spiffy blogger with pics to illustrate each paragraph, but since I'm not there yet, you just get random pics sprinkled throughout. :)
I have been working extensively on Sophia and Matthew's old school's newsletter, which has been taking most of my evening time on the computer. It's almost done... awaiting edits and so I won't feel guilty hopping on to do some frivolous blogging :)
We are getting used to all being home together again. It's like when the kids come home for the summer after being in school during the day. Shock to the system.
An informal homeschool program thus far has included reading learning sight words for Sophia, math worksheets for both, handwriting with lined paper, and fun busy-work art projects. I'm getting ready to order the Seton Home Study program for K and Pre-K though. The hope is that next year both kids will be able to attend St. Austin School, where Mom teaches K and 1st.
Work continues on our house. We got a new roof a few weeks ago, landscaping last week, and a working toilet. Now we just are waiting on new doors for the bedrooms and bath, hopefully on Friday.
It's been great having my parents around! They come over for dinner and help put the kids to bed on nights Matthew works late and take a kid or two for a bit on the weekend. It's nice to be able to do things all together too.
Baby Girl is super active - imagine that. She'll fit right in with her sibs. :) We picked a Dr. based on a friend's recommendation, and so hopefully we will be delivering at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis about 20 min away from here. The whole pregnancy is still going well though I am really slowing down. I think part of it is from gaining more weight than usual - a byproduct of stress and the move I think.
And now... some Halloween pics! Sophia was a Blue Fairy, Matthew was Spiderman and Xavier a Bumblebee.
I have been working extensively on Sophia and Matthew's old school's newsletter, which has been taking most of my evening time on the computer. It's almost done... awaiting edits and so I won't feel guilty hopping on to do some frivolous blogging :)
We are getting used to all being home together again. It's like when the kids come home for the summer after being in school during the day. Shock to the system.
"helping" Daddy set up the table
An informal homeschool program thus far has included reading learning sight words for Sophia, math worksheets for both, handwriting with lined paper, and fun busy-work art projects. I'm getting ready to order the Seton Home Study program for K and Pre-K though. The hope is that next year both kids will be able to attend St. Austin School, where Mom teaches K and 1st.
Work continues on our house. We got a new roof a few weeks ago, landscaping last week, and a working toilet. Now we just are waiting on new doors for the bedrooms and bath, hopefully on Friday.
It's been great having my parents around! They come over for dinner and help put the kids to bed on nights Matthew works late and take a kid or two for a bit on the weekend. It's nice to be able to do things all together too.
Baby Girl is super active - imagine that. She'll fit right in with her sibs. :) We picked a Dr. based on a friend's recommendation, and so hopefully we will be delivering at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis about 20 min away from here. The whole pregnancy is still going well though I am really slowing down. I think part of it is from gaining more weight than usual - a byproduct of stress and the move I think.
And now... some Halloween pics! Sophia was a Blue Fairy, Matthew was Spiderman and Xavier a Bumblebee.
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