Merry And Musical Memories!

I have reached a point where it's easier to just forget catching up on here and just blogging about current(ish) events.  We'll backtrack as far as December 1st.

I'm a Christmas junkie all the way around.  I usually have super high expectations that don't get met half the time, but I just get so excited about all of it that I want it to be perfect!  One of the things I always have as a great idea in my head is a Christmas shopping date.  We took one last year and it was great!  This year?  Expectations weren't really met.  But we did have a DeBrand's  gift card to use up so we finished off the date with that.  Which was delightful of course, but tainted with probably the least fun conversation of the evening.  We managed to call the date a success overall but we decided maybe a Christmas shopping date isn't the best choice for us:)

The next weekend we had not one single plan on the calendar which turned out to be a good thing.  Sawyer spiked a really high fever on Thursday night and was down for the count all weekend.  But we did decorate cookies and visit the dancing lights with the kids.

When Danny asked him if he had eaten the frosting he confidently replied that he hadn't:)

We hosted our Bible study for a Christmas party and white elephant gift exchange.  Much fun and many laughs were had!

After we had retrieved the kids from the sitter (thanks, Brenda!!), Summer got some cough syrup before bed.  I was feeding Tucker, Danny was putting her to bed, and Sawyer was discovering the open bottle of medicine sitting out.  I had mopped the floor right before the party started, but it was undone by little footprints of cough syrup tracking through the kitchen.  Oh Saywer!

I am especially a junkie about all the Christmas music.  So this past weekend was just a dream come true!  We started with a candlelight singing where our kids were enthralled with being able to hold their own candles and I was hyper-aware of their every little move while holding said candles.

The next morning we went caroling with a group of friends before eating lunch together at Pizza Hut. 

And then that night we went to the Selah Christmas concert.

Selah is one of my all time favorites and this was my fourth time seeing them in concert.  But the fact that it was a Christmas concert???  Definitely a highlight of the season- maybe even the year!

The next morning we got to go watch our niece do a solo in her church's program.  So many musical events in one weekend!  Oh, and tonight we made it to my home church for their big Christmas program so there's that too:)

And through it all, Tucker slept like a champ.

He turned 12 weeks on Sunday!  I remember with Summer turning 12 weeks I felt like I could/should start counting months instead of weeks.  But I just don't feel ready this time around.  Slow down, baby!!  This mama isn't quite ready for you to be so big!!

And now we have just a short time left of my favorite time of year. (Sept. 1-Dec. 31)  And we have lots of people and events to fill it with.  No complaints here!

October Came And Went

Well tomorrow is the first day of November which brings us that much closer to the official Thanksgiving/Christmas season!  I'm celebrating by listening to Christmas music as I write this:)  

*sidenote* This past weekend I went to a "favorite things" fall brunch.  We each bought three of our favorite fall things to exchange with the other girls at the brunch.  Whilst brainstorming of what I could bring I asked Danny what was a thing I love about fall.  He said "Christmas music?"  It's true!

Anyway.  October was kind of laid back and relaxing and kind of a blur.  Thank you, newborn baby!  Most of our days and evenings and weekends were spent just staying home, which was nice, but we're glad to be out and about again.

Almost every time it rains Summer asks to go outside and stand in the rain with an umbrella.  I say yes about 1% of the time.  This particular time Daddy was home and not only did she get to stand in the rain, they even took a walk!  It's really a good thing our kids have one adventurous parent.

Danny's mom has a fall party every year and the kids usually dress up.  Summer was more than happy to wear her princess garb and it was pinterest along with a last minute 97 cent stocking cap purchase to the rescue for Sawyer.  Tucker opted out of the dressing up this year.

Grandma's house has kitties.  And our little kitty lover takes full advantage of when she can.  One nice thing about living in town is that I don't feel bad saying no to getting a cat:)

One day my mom texted and asked for pictures.  She didn't clarify that she wanted pictures of the kids so this is what she got!

On a beautiful fall evening we found ourselves with just Tucker at home and wanted to take advantage of that.  So we climbed the fire tower!  I was a little hesitant because I am so badly out of shape but we took it slow and I did it and felt pretty accomplished!  And going down is far worse than going up if you ask me.

I guess it's just animals in general for Summer.  She could have brushed the goat all night long at the Global Missions event!  Really I think I'd rather have a goat than a cat.

I came home from Wal*Mart one night to find the kids playing church.  I love that they love church!

The same day that Tucker was born, I had a first cousin that passed away very unexpectedly.  She and her family have been living in Utah for 15 or so years, and there was no funeral.  They asked that people who knew her would just get together to have their own version of a memorial service in her honor.  So a couple weeks ago we decided to make the trip to IL when my family did just that.  It was kind of a question whether or not to even go with a newborn and all but I'm so glad we did!  It was a very simple evening with some aunts, uncles, and cousins, but a special one.  Oh, and also in that same 24 hour period another cousin got married.  It was quite the range of events and emotions in the family that weekend!

One reason I was excited to go was because I could go ride along during harvest after all!  And here I thought it wasn't going to happen this year.  But guess what.  We got there on Friday night and it turns out they finished up the last field that afternoon.  I missed harvest by about three hours!  Go figure.  However I did get to ride a little bit in the tractor while my dad planted wheat.  I only had a few minutes because Tucker got hungry, but Summer spent about three hours with him!  It's kind of a bad picture of both of them but she loves being with him.  And of course- the crown.

Also my grandma got to meet Tucker while we were there.  She just loooooooooves to sit and hold babies!

And speaking of the little Tuckerdoodle, he's just so sweet and snuggly!  And sleepy.  Until he's hungry.  Then he's really loud.  And he tends to have some fussy time in the evenings.  But the last couple weeks almost he's been doing about five hours at night so if that's what I get in exchange for the fussies, I'll take it.  We love him to pieces!

The three little boy cousins have all made their debuts now.  We are still waiting on their little girl cousin who is coming in about a month.  She is sure to be well protected and loved by these three! 

And we finished up our month by celebrating Sawyer's second birthday!

He has been singing "Happy Birthday" to himself for quite some time now.  And when he gets done he pretends to blow out candles and everything:)  But all that practice paid off cause he blew those things out with no problem at all!

This kid makes us laugh and go crazy every day of his existence!  He is happy go lucky and so stinkin' mischievous.  A 2 year old boy to the max!  He loves cars and trucks, candy, flushing toilets, chips, his sister, climbing on and in everything, and stealing my chapstick just to name a few.  Life is better with him in it!

Happy October, everyone!

When The Cat's Away The Mice Will Play

While Danny, Tucker, and I were basking in the quietness of one lone child at home, the other two were having a grand ole time in Illinois.  I was afraid they would be pretty bored and let down once they came back and realized the fun was over!  They kept busy all week and it was fun to see what they were up to while they were gone.

There were trips to McDonald's Playplace,

games to be played,

Play-doh to be molded (and probably eaten by Sawyer),

bubbles to be blown,

and much outside time to be had.

Not to mention a few forbidden fruits that they don't get as much when they're at home:)

Like yummy sugary cereal,

a little more screen time than usual,

and all the candy they could possibly want!  Okay not really on the candy.  That was just Sawyer being his usual destructive, exploratory self:)

They also got to farm a lot!  Mostly Summer cause rumor has it that Sawyer was a little scaredy cat and preferred staying away from the big and loud machinery.

Yeah, my jealous bone may have flared up a little bit over all the "farming" that Summer got to do!

Especially since she got to hang out with some of my favorite people while doing it!

They topped off their week with a birthday party trip to a local pumpkin patch with the family before heading home the next morning.

Thanks so much to my family for taking such good care of them!  Even if they did get to go farm and I didn't:)

Tucker Joseph Week One

Here we are beginning our adjustment phase!  It's been really easy so far cause we're so spoiled with new babies.  Danny is able to take off most of that first week, Summer and Sawyer went to Illinois with my parents, and my mom has brought them back home but she is staying for another few days.  So Spoiled!!

Since grandparents were doing the kid transfer at the hospital, we had both sets together there to visit.  That doesn't happen too terrible often so it was fun to get the group shot!

Of course we had our first family of five picture attempt:)

And this little girl is absolutely enthralled.  Just like I thought she would be.  Also just as I thought, she has aaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllll the questions when it comes to feeding the baby!

We had lots of visitors, but perhaps the most surprising was Aaron and Cassie stopping by on the way home from their hospital stay.  We were so glad they came!

Isn't that just so fun??  Two days apart!

Then we said our farewells to our beloved hospital and headed home ourselves.

It didn't take long before Tucker was quickly introduced to the harsh world of daddy's face smashing.  Okay maybe mommy helped a little bit with that one:)

We had several glorious days of peace before the other two came home and jumped right into all the fun.  Those are not pacis by the way.  It's a kazoo whistle thing they got from their cousin's birthday party in IL.  They love blowing them and it's great because they're not super loud and obnoxious!

Summer takes her role as big sister very, very seriously.  It's somewhere along the lines of cute and sweet and a little annoying.  But I'm sure the novelty will wear off after awhile.  Right?  Though she can be a help so I guess it's alright:)

Other than that we're just learning all about our little Tucker and loving him to pieces!

Well THAT Didn't Last Long!

Well now.  The wait is over!  I had an induction scheduled for Tuesday the 25th and was a mix of excited to meet the baby and be done with being pregnant and total second guessing myself.  After being induced with Sawyer I was pretty sure I preferred going on my own like I did with Summer, and I was afraid that I was just jumping the gun and not being patient enough.  Tuesday was my actual due date and sometimes I would sit and feel all kinds of regret that I wasn't waiting longer to get induced.  But it was set and everybody had already worked their schedules around us and I knew it really wasn't that huge of a deal.  I also knew from my last appointment that my body was definitely ready so I wasn't too worried about complications with being induced, just kind of bummed about not going on my own.  

Saturday evening we took one last outing with our little family of four.  We visited our newest nephew/cousin, and then hit up Steak n' Shake and Jungle George's.  It was a lot of fun and we just enjoyed hanging out with each other.  I had been feeling more tight and crampy than usual all day Friday and Saturday but just figured I would be like that until Tuesday when I got induced.  We got home and went to bed, and Summer woke up crying around 2:30.  Danny went to check on her and I was laying there thinking I just felt weird.  And a little sick.  I went to the bathroom a couple different times between then and 3:00, and then at 3:00 I was pretty sure I felt a contraction.  I thought there was no way it was happening so I just laid there.  But sure enough, right away I was having them five minutes apart.  I woke Danny up at 3:20 and said we should just get up to get our stuff together just in case but I didn't really know for sure if it was the real thing.  And I asked him if he would be annoyed if we went all the way to the hospital for nothing.  But we were up for just a few minutes when I told him to call his mom cause I was more sure than ever that this was definitely labor.

And while the kids were peacefully sleeping and I knew she was only a few minutes away I said we need to just go.  Contractions intensified pretty much as soon as we got on the road and I told him he needs to drive faster!  The good news is with the middle of the night, there's hardly any cars out so he could go at quite the accelerated speed:)  We reached a point on the drive where I started getting nauseous, shaky, and sweaty and thought I might be in transition.  I was feeling fairly confident that we would most likely make it to the hospital but also feeling fairly confident that there would be no epidural.  I had tried to kind of prepare myself for that option mentally because my doctor had said that when things happen they will probably go fast.  However I still had high hopes that would not be the case.  

We checked into the hospital at 4:32 and I was on my hands and knees in the lobby, moaning quite loudly:)  I was to the point where I didn't really care what anybody thought of me.  They said we needed to go to triage and I yelled out "Please no triage!!"  But they were pretty insistent so we made it there and I crawled onto the bed.  The nurse kept trying to get me to lay on my back so she could check me but I couldn't hardly move at all, let alone turn over onto my back.  So she tried checking me while I was on my hands and knees which broke my water and she said "Okay let's go to delivery!"  At this point I wasn't seeing faces or anything and had no idea there were like five or six nurses surrounding me.  They wheeled me into the room and asked me to get on the delivery table on my back.  I said I just wanted to stay on my hands and knees and finally they said how about a compromise and you go on your side?  So I flopped over onto the table and immediately started pushing.  I pushed through three contractions and his head was out.  The doctor tried to keep me from yelling while pushing but it was pretty hard to not do that.  I was such a hot, dramatic mess!  I don't do good with pain, that's for sure.  But for the fourth contraction she got really serious with me and said the baby's shoulder was stuck so I really needed to focus.  Hearing that did help me come around a little bit and at 4:53 we were able to officially meet Tucker Joseph!

Danny told me right away that it was a boy and I was excited to hear that but so wiped out that I could hardly register it right away.  But it didn't take long until I was a little more with it and could see him and hold him.  Unfortunately though, my recovery was pretty rough with a blood pressure drop and bleeding that wouldn't quit.  I had an injection plus two bags of Pitocin, an injection of another medicine, and some pills of another which made for some hard core cramping, which led to two doses of morphine.  So there were a few hours where I was really weak and completely out of it.  I hated not being able to snuggle and try to feed him but I was just too weak and tired.  But they got me going again and we were finally able to move out of recovery and into postpartum.

One of the reasons I didn't want to get induced was because I kept saying how there's no buildup in labor pain and it just hits you all of a sudden.  But there wasn't really any buildup with this guy so I'm not sure which one I prefer.  He's worth it though!

And that is the story of Tucker:)

Waiting....Waiting....Waiting....

Well here we are in that ho-hum-woe-is-me-WHEN-is-this-baby-going-to-come waiting period.  The kids have been tagging along with me to most of my appointments, which they're okay with because she has a bucket of suckers they get to pick from at the end.  Otherwise we've just been doing normal life and I'm trying to be realistic that an early arrival is not very likely, judging by the first two kids.  I'm 39 weeks today and with both Summer and Sawyer I almost made it to 41.  So we'll see.

Cousin Claire's birthday party with a cake that was a dream come true for any child.  So much candy and frosting to dig through!!

Play time that once again results in me thinking this boy NEEDS a brother:)

Canning, canning, canning.  There is an abundance of spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, salsa, peaches, and jam in our kitchen now!  But the canner has been put away for the year now and I am more than okay with that.

Serving church lunch together for the first time at almost 8 months pregnant.  It went good but we were both pretty wiped out by the end!  And of course we both showed up with our compression socks and comfy, supportive shoes for the day:)

We don't know what we're having this time around.  We found out with the first two but this one is a surprise.  If it was all up to Danny we would know but he humored me!  I'm pretty anxious to find out though by now!

SO.

Reasons it could be a girl:

-When we had our 20 week sono, I thought the 3D picture of the face looked a little more feminine, whereas when I saw Sawyer's I instantly thought it looked like a boy

-baby was measuring a little smaller than Summer did at her 20 week sono

-ACNE!!!!!  

-Some people have said they think it's a girl by the way I'm carrying

Reasons it could be a boy:

-1st trimester sickness was not fun, but definitely pretty manageable, like Sawyer's was

-Heartbeat has been consistently lower

-At this point in the pregnancy, I am measuring big

-My gut says boy... but only about 75% or so.

So, what say you????  Girl or Boy?  We did a game with Danny's family at the lakes this year, and were going to do it with my family over Labor Day weekend but totally forgot.  (Oops)  It's all stuff that nobody can know.  Purely guessing.  And we won't know the winner until the baby is born and we know when, how big, time of birth and all that good stuff.  But I'm excited to see who wins!