Back To School

I am tired...

Ryan decided to time his 4 month growth spurt to follow along with the boys going back to school. 

Not cool little man, not cool.

So, I have been up every 2 hours starting at 2 am.  My alarm goes off at 6:20 am but typically I am already awake and just hoping the clock is wrong and it's really  Saturday so I can go back to sleep.  Alas, it's not Saturday and I must get up and start the day.  While I am thrilled that the older two are back in school and I have my hands a little more free than they were over the summer it also brings a whole other set of issues.  Once the bus stops and the boys get in the door we don't slow down until bed time.  Home work, followed by various sports, dinner, bath, and then finally bed.  I shouldn't be so whiney about this because it's really what I thrive on but by 3:15 my energy is gone and I am dragging so I pull out a coffee cup for a pick me up.

This new schedule is going to take some getting use to and hopefully Ryan decides to sleep again.

So there is a bigger picture here that I really want to address.  I find myself being more and more grateful for my parents the older my kids get.  I doubt you are asking why because really there are many things you are probably grateful for as adults that you were not as much as a child.  That aside, today I am thankful for the fact that my parents allowed me to participate in sports.  I never understood how much this cost them! 

We have had the boys in soccer,  baseball, and flag football and while they all cost money they weren't more than $65 for a fairly long season.  Noah, my second, doesn't care for team sports.  My husband, try as he might, couldn't convince him to play.  Finally last year he asked to do gymnastics, Darien wasn't too excited.

So after a long time of asking he got a 6 week session for his birthday from Grandma.  He started last week and loves it.  I am beyond thrilled!   He is also doing year round swim team which he is so excited about that he sleeps with his goggles.  Conner is taking tennis lessons and they both are doing a running club.

So how much does this all cost you ask?  Well you didn't ask but in order to understand why I am so very grateful I will tell you. 

In order to continue gymnastics after this session it's $130.  That is for 6 sessions for 45 min once a week.
Swim team is $118 for insurance which thankfully is a one time fee for the year.  It is $55 a month plus our family membership to the YMCA which is $75 a month.   Conner is taking group tennis lessons at the YMCA and we lucked out because he is the only one signed up so we pay $40 a month for that but get private lessons which is actually $70 a month!

The school use to offer a free running club but this year an organization stepped in and is offering a more detailed club and it's $85 per child for the whole program. 

The costs add up and they aren't even in school sports yet!  As a cheerleader coach I know how much a Varsity sport costs!  My parents spent close to $800 a season and that's not including the monthly gym fee.

Since I am no longer coaching or working doing all of this is financially harder but worth it.  My parents never once told me I couldn't do something because of the costs.  We have actually had to have that conversation with Conner about swim although I didn't really want to.  He went back and forth on whether or not he wanted to sign up and finally we just sat him down and said he was going to have to decide between tennis and swim because swim was expensive and he needed to be very sure about it.  In the end he chose tennis.

So thank you mom for letting me do all of the sports, dance, and gymnastics classes even if I wasn't grateful for it then.  I cannot imagine how you did it when all four of us were involved in sports!  I am slightly dreading that day...

All in all, we are happy to have such active kids and even if I have to cut back here and there I will do so gladly.  In the meantime I am hoping Evan or Ryan decide to be artists. 

A mom can dream!

Art lessons are free right?!?!

Never A Dull Moment

It has been too long since my last blog post but have 4 boys and it being Summer has hampered my ability to juggle the blog along with everything else.  School starts in a week from tomorrow and I am sad but excited at the same time.  I am hoping that at the very least I will have a bit more time to update the blog at least once a week but let's be honest, I would settle for once a month. 

Ryan is almost 4 months old and there have been so many more changes in our house!  Hubby got the "snip snip" done so we are officially done having babies which was a sad moment for me but also a really great thing.  I think it will always be sad to have something that has been such a huge factor in our lives for almost 8 years be over with but it also is a fork in the road that brings us to a new place as a family.  I find myself trying to enjoy the small things, even the frustrating things just to hold on to the small amount of time my kids will be kids.  All too soon they will be teenagers! 

As high schoolers people ask the all to insane question of where you see yourself in 10 years and of course we are almost always wrong but at this point in life asking a mom where you see yourself in 10 years is a very real and tangible thing. 

In 10 years I will have a 17 year old who is getting ready to start his senior year and a 16 year old starting his junior year.   Evan will be almost 13 and Ryan 10!  That is such a crazy and scary thought that we are only 10 years away from that.  So as I sit here holding Ryan as he sleeps and listening to the older 3 fight over Lego's, I try very hard to just be still and enjoy it.  I know that all too soon I will be wondering why these days were gone so fast.

This summer since I haven't had cheerleader we enjoyed doing things, getting out of the house and going on adventures, attending camps, and VBS.  I never realized how much my coaching held my kids back from these little things.  I don't regret it but it definitely makes me see things in a new perspective. I've watched the older three fight over how to just be brothers.   It seems to be a never ending battle but slowly they seem to be working through it.  It will be exciting to see how Ryan fits into the mix. 

My little bit of time is coming to a close so as much as I want to keep writing, I need to get the boys to swim lessons!

Thank you all for sticking with me!  Find me on Facebook for short snip its of our daily craziness!

A Toddlers Guide To Driving Your Mommy Insane

Hi, I am Evan!  I am 2 and a half!!!

I have taken over mommys blog for now to set things straight.  I have been poorly misrepresented lately and just so mommy doesn't feel left out I want to share some things with all of her friends toddlers so she isn't alone.  I mean who else is she going to talk to?  me?  Her internet friends seem to be her only friends besides me and the new kid who is taking over...  that is another story though so I will stick with these tips on how to drive mommy insane.

As a toddler I reserve the right to do what I want, when I want.

Yes, I do!

YES!!!!!!

Now that I have made myself clear let's talk about the ways that you can gain these valuable skills because there is nothing better than watching your mom pull out her hair with poop on her face.

(Shhhh don't tell her it's there!)

First, thing you need to do is delay potty training as long as you can.  Rookies will tell you do just refuse potty training and keep the diaper but that's just easier on mom.  The diaper keeps all the fun contained!  So whip that thing off and paint the walls and your toys with poop!  Don't worry mommy will clean it all up and your toys will be back soon and will be good as new.  Mommy will try and follow the "3 day potty training" system that her internet friends told her about and the best thing is to just go with it.  Once you finish with the 3 days and you have given your mommy excitement and hope you can than start to go back and forth between accidents and the potty which makes mommy go crazy!  For you girls who don't like to get dirty then try and use all of the toilet paper to clean yourself and then flush it down the potty.  It makes for even more fun!  The potty will break and water will go everywhere so you can have a water play date all to yourself!

This is what I did today!

I told you this would be fun!

Second, the world is your oyster!  This isn't your parents house or apartment but YOURS!  Mommy's and daddy's like to hide all of the good stuff so search around in all of the cabinets or closets and just have fun.  It maybe stuff you have never seen before and who knows it may break into lots of fun pieces.  If you can do this like a ninja and not get caught the look on your moms face will be priceless.  Mommys makeup is like awesome paint so totally not just for girls.

Eye liner is really fun to play with.

Third, you are the boss, not the dog or cat.  Make sure they know that by stealing their food and treats.  They taste pretty good anyways and mommy won't let them hurt you so just laugh while they stare at you.

Fourth, if your mommy has had a new baby all of the things we have talked about already are way more fun.  She is busy, distracted and hasn't slept much between you and the new baby which is just funny thinking about mommy trying to do it all without you making things more fun.

Fifth, sleep is for daddy's!  We aren't babies anymore, we are toddlers!  So wake up in the middle of the night and climb into bed with mommy or better yet just sit there and cry until she comes in to talk to you.  When she comes in let her think you will be going back to sleep and then in 10 minutes start screaming again.  This is also fun during nap times.

These are just a few of the ways you can drive mommy crazy.  I like to find new ways everyday and swtich things up to keep mommy on her toes.

In my younger days I would make a cereal bed to lie in and have food everywhere I laid bed because this is my bed not mommys.

I hope that you all have lots of fun in your adventures!

Oh and all of mommys friends, sadly I won't be a toddler for much longer and then we an have all new adventures and don't worry I will pass this down to anymore kids you want to add to our family.

Happy Mother's Day - A letter to my mom

Happy Mothers Day! (A couple days late, whoops!)

I originally thought about this post and wanted to make it about being a mom to my kids but also about my mom but after writing a couple paragraphs I deleted it all and started over.  This happens a lot in the blogging process but there was a very specific reason I stopped and began again.

My mom is the reason I am the mom I am today.

Very simply put, I wouldn't be here without her.

Yes, stating the obvious but more than that I am a mom because of her and from a very young age I knew I wanted to be a mom like her.  Maybe some of it is because I am the oldest of four kids.  I have 3 younger brothers and although I hoped each one was a sister and NOT a brother, I wouldn't trade them for anything.  Well, at least not now but back when they were just coming into my family and disrupting my princess status and I would have traded them for another tiara or a sister or a baby doll! 

My parents divorced when I was 7, my mom and dad had joint custody but we spent most of the time with my mom.  She worked, then she stayed at home but she still worked running a company with my step dad.  I could talk about my childhood for ages but I'll just stick with this, divorce sucks but my mom was always and never ceasing my rock through the years.  Even in high school when I'm pretty sure she wanted to trade me for another son who wasn't so dramatic and emotional, she was there. 

Even when I thought living my life only for my own selfish whims, she was there.

She took me back in when I hit rock bottom.  What mom wouldn't?   Well she certainly didn't have to, I was 21 and was an adult or so I though.   In spite of every insane thing I had done in the year after she made the tough decision to kick me out of the house, she was there.

I'll leave that story for another day...

My mom is my best friend.   I don't like sharing her.  It's probably a good thing I didn't have a sister! I do have 2 sister in laws now so I share her a little more now.  I still want her approval and when I'm sick I still want her to take care of me. 

So for this Mother's day, it's not about me, it's about my mom who helped shape me into the mom I am.

Thank you mom!  Thank you for being there even when I didn't think I wanted you there.  Thank you for never running away even when I'm sure you wanted to because I have those days now which make me even more thankful you didn't escape to Fiji.  (Can we run away to Fiji now though?)

Thank you for always being honest with me even when I may not want to hear it.  I inherited this which is probably why we like to shop together.  :) 

I continue to hope every day that I can be the mom to my own kids that you were to me. 

I love you!

Two Weeks Old - Mama said there would be days like this

We are two weeks in...

Two weeks to adjust to 4 kids...

Let me make one thing clear, I asked for this and I am in no way saying I am not up for the challenge BUT the adjustment is hard.

Hard doesn't even come close to the right adjective.  It's brutal, emotional, and tiring both mentally and physically.  I feel fit to be institutionalized at times.

I think every mom feels this but when you are adding a newborn, trying to recover from child birth, helping the other kids adjust, and every other motherly responsibility is like trying to balance 100 China plates on the end of a broom stick...

On the night Ryan turned 2 weeks old we had our first evening alone.  I was nervous and quite honestly ready to go hide in a closet.  Ryan has terrible reflux and spits up 4 to 5 times after most feedings and every evening he gets fussy, not screaming like colic but crying, whimpering and refuses to sleep.  So add that to homework, dinner, bed time routine, and a 2 year old who screams and stomps at everything oh and did I mention he's still potty training? ?

Can you see why I was nervous?  

Ryan wasn't too bad, Evan had a poop accident or more tried to poop on his own and just ended up with half in the toilet, half on the floor and all over his legs, Noah went off with some kid he rides the bus with without asking and beyond the boundary that he is suppose to stay in (he's currently grounded btw), and bed time which was a whole other insanity.

Long story short, Evan is ready for his big boy bed which is currently in boxes in my hallway.

Even with all of that we made it through and I enjoyed a glass of wine after hubby got home at almost 10 pm and of course wanted me to watch the NFL Draft which him.  Then to just top off the crazy night this morning was Ryans 2 week check up.  I showered, realized I was running late, got Evan dressed and then dealt with him refusing to put on shoes.  Then I fed Ryan and while I fed him I changed his diaper then he pooped everywhere!!!  I mean all over the place and in the middle of that Evan came back in from getting his shoes only to show me that he had gotten in my purse and tried to put on mascara....  yea...  we were late to the Dr.

I also found another surprise on the carpet...  He dumped this velvet powder from a nail kit all over the carpet.

After being at the Dr for an hour it was time to run errands.  At this point I was close to tears.  I don't tend to be an emotional person and crying isn't something that happens that often but I was fighting them back.  Conners birthday is on Sunday so I needed to go get his presents and to Sams.  I had a couple other small things to do but after the first two I was done.  I was also crying while going through the drive through to get lunch.

My emotional dam had broken....

I took the time to ignore my house and everything I felt like I was failing at and just spent Evans nap time snuggling with Ryan.

It's been two weeks, I give myself credit for having hair on my head and not crying every day.  It will take time for a house of 6 people to adjust.  I fully accept that and thankfully I have an amazingly patient spouse who even when I am wrong and yell like a lunatic just because he apologized for me having a hard day (yes this happened) simply says I wasn't mad after I apologized.  Seriously this man is a saint sometimes.  I mean I am no peach to deal with.  -insert winky face here-

So for all of you mom's out there, we all deal with our own insanity!  Hang in there!!!  You are not alone!!!

One Week Old - I'm not as young as I once was...

It's been a week, I am tired, sore, and emotional.  This is all normal post pregnancy things but now that I am no longer I'm my 20's it takes longer to recover.  I don't expect to feel 100% after a week but I want to be able to get up and walk without feeling like a hammer has hit every single joint in my body.

We took Ryan for his one week check up and he has gained almost a whole pound in the 5 days we have been home!  We left the hospital at 7 lbs 9 oz and he is now 8 lbs 7 oz!  I am extremely blessed and thankful to be able to breastfeed my little man and that he is growing although I would appreciate him slowing down a bit since he is my last and I am trying to savor every moment.  This is probably why I haven't really put him down in the week he has been here.  You can't spoil a newborn or so they say.

We are adjusting and my wonderful hubby is helping out so much which means I only feel slightly guilty that he is doing so much.  I have been able to spend my time taking care of Ryan and trying to heal.  For all of you who know me pretty well I have done nothing!  No really!  Hubby even unpacked my hospital bag!  My brain only temporarily freaked out seeing things not put away where I wanted them.

We are breastfeeding well and so far having no issues except some spitting up which I am keeping an eye on.  At first I thought he was just over eating but I think it's also my over supply.  We go back to the Dr in a week for his 2 week check up.  In the meantime we have more family adjustments!  At some point I am going to have to get out of the house on my own and help with night time duties but for now Evan, Ryan, and I will just have lazy pj days.  Hubby went back to work 2 days after we got home so we are slowly figuring things out.

Evan loves his baby brother!  He asks all the time Iis he can hold it.  Yes it, we are working on saying him.

Welcome Baby Ryan! - Birth Story

We didn't make it to 40 weeks!  Ryan Robert entered the world on April 24th, 2014.  We are so blessed and although tired our family of 6 is doing pretty well.  This is his birth story but before I start let me just say that in the last week I was nervous and not a fan of being induced.  I was being selfish, he is my last baby and I wanted to keep him to myself for as long as possible however he had a 2 vessel cord which complicated things.  My doctor stressed that waiting much after my due date made the risk of still birth go up.  At the same time my brother and his wife were being induced the Monday after my due date.  After going back and forth we chose to induce on Thursday April 24th. 

I had two days to get the older boys organized and taken care of before we added #4.  This ended up being a blessing since having a baby wasn't near as nerve wracking as managing to get child care and making sure everyone was being picked up and taken care of.  Did I mention the older boys had a half day? 

On that note, here is Ryans birth story!

On Wednesday April 23rd around 6pm I started having contractions.   It was a tough choice whether or not we should go to the hospital seeing as we had a scheduled induction for Thursday morning.  We got the kids in bed and I just waited.  They started to get closer together and stronger so I got a close friend on standby and told my husband that we may have to go in sooner than expected.   At about 9:45 pm we decided we should leave and by we I mean me because hubby wanted to wait so we didn't get charged an extra night.  We waited on a close friend to come and stay with the boys and I made sure everything was in order for the boys to be taken care of the following day.  The 2 older boys had school so it wasn't too difficult but of course I still worried. 

We made it to the hospital and got set up in triage to wait and see if we should be admitted or not.  After an hour I had dilated more than I was when I came in and since we were being induced in the morning they kept us.  Unfortunately this meant they wanted me to just rest and see what happened overnight.  So I tried to sleep but Ryan seemed to know something was going on and flipped all over the place and refused to settle down.  Then his heart rate dropped over and over so the nurses were back and forth in the room.  I slept for a total of 2 hours but as husband's do he slept the whole night although he was in a very uncomfortable reclining chair.  Thursday morning my doctor came in at 8 am and broke my water then we waited.   My contractions which I had all night but they had also slowed down and had gone from 2 min apart to 15 min apart started to pick up but were very sporadic.  At 11 they started a very slow drip of pitocin and every 30 min they upped it from 2cc's to 8cc's.  We stopped at 8 because they were coming very fast and very strong at this point. 

I should mention I was also waiting for my mom to get there...   The whole morning Darien slept on and off or read his sports blogs.  I love him but delivery rooms are not his thing.  When I had to stop talking and focus I would hear "Having a contraction?  Are you in pain?"  Please imagine what what I was wanting to say but couldn't as I tried to breathe...  So I definitely wanted my mom who knew before anyone else that I was feeling sick from the epidural although I was trying hard to hide it.  Anyways, I kept hoping she would make it back from Virginia in time.  She had been with my sister in law who was also waiting for her baby boy, not in labor but was over due and could have gone into labor at anytime.  At 12:30 I was 6cm and my nurse was going to lunch and asked if I wanted the epidural yet...  I was holding out though because I knew as soon as I got it things would move fast.  However I caved 15 min later I caved.  I've said thus before but when you are on pitocin and stuck in a bed there isnt much else you can do to elevate pain.  So, I got the epidural at 1:30 and right after my mom walked in. 

This had been the longest morning so far because it was the very first time I had been in labor and no one from my family was there.  Seriously!  While I was in labor with Conner I had my 2 brothers, my mom, dad, step mom and dad, my grandma, my best friend, another good friend, and my inlaws!  Most were in the waiting room but still there.  Even with Noah and having an emergency c section I still had 2 of my brothers,  mom, dad, and best friend.   They all tried to keep me calm before going back for the section.  Same with Evan so being in labor and delivery with just Darien was strange.

C S for c section, get it??  We are nerds (Noahs birth)

OK back to the birth story!

At 3:30 the nurse came in and checked me, we were at 9 and a small lip!!  Apparently I was 10 on one side and 9 and a 1/2 on the other.  As my nurse says this the doctor comes in and says he has a first time mom ready to push too and asks "How fast do you think you can get this baby out?"  We all laughed since it took all of 3 to 5 pushes with the other 2 births. 

Then it sinks in as they get everything ready and of course you are fully exposed which is still odd no matter how many times you do it.  Laying there...  still a weird feeling thinking about it...

If I haven't said this before you lose all modesty when you get pregnant!

At 3:50 Ryan was here!  Lots of hair, cord around his poor little neck 3 times and so chunky! !  The nurse thought he was an 8 lb baby but he topped out at 7lbs 13ozs and 20 1/4 inches long!  He looked so much like Noah and Evan.  He still favors them but as soon as I saw him I thought he looked like a chunkier version of Noah who was 2lbs lighter than Ryan.

It was a very long day but so worth every bit of the worrying I had done before.  The older boys were fine and had a blast with grandma and papa the next few days while we were in the hospital.  2 days later we came home and my mom and dad left for Virginia!   Cousin Charlie would be here soon!!!

Enjoy these special photo's and I hope to get caught up and update you soon!

Me and my boys :)  Evan was still with the sitter taking a nap

Baby Ryan!  He has old man hair, a ton I

 in the back and not much up top!