Thursday, December 29, 2011

9 Year Old Love

Today, Aidan told me that he loves me more than a Wii, an X-Box, a Playstation 3, a Nintendo DSi and a Nintendo 3Ds all put together.

That is high praise from a 9 year old boy.

Well, Aidan, I love you more than shoes and purses, more than Pinterest and facebook,  more than a new haircut and fresh highlights.  I love you more than the perfect mascara and the just right shade of lipstick.  I love you more than Paula Deen and Pioneer Woman all put together.  I love you more than distressed furniture and mod podge.  I love you more than scrapbook paper, colorful fabric and burlap.  I love you more than a good book and a hot cup of coffee.  You are one of my very favorite blessings and I love you bunches!

Love, love, LOVE this sweet boy!

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Christmas 2011

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already!  Time flies.  We had a great Christmas.  Aidan got a basketball goal, and lots of baseball equipment.  Aidan's gifts are starting to double as gifts for Mark too, because they both enjoy the same things now.  That's the thing with boys...you get to a certain age, and the interests stay the same...they just get more expensive.  Ella got horses, and a Little People zoo.  She loves anmials of all kinds.  In fact, she has a basket full of baby dolls and all their accessories in her room that she never plays with.  She will, however, use the baby bottles and her strollers for her animals. 

Ella also got lots of play doh.  She got the play doh pizza factory, the play doh ice cream shop and 4 canisters of play doh in her stocking.  That came to about 12 brand new cans of play doh...all different, beautiful colors.  Less than 24 hours after Christmas, she had 12 brand new cans of brown play doh...which is why playing with play doh with children stresses me out.  They always want to mix the colors...which would be fine if you could UN-mix the colors, but you can't.  And that stresses me out.  I try to remind myself that play doh is only 50 cents a can, and if it doesn't bother them, it shouldn't bother me, but it does.  It's one of my "things."

Aidan got several new wii games for Christmas.  One of his favorite things to do over Christmas break is stay in his pajamas and play his new wii games.  But, unfortunately, our wii broke 2 days before Christmas, and he hasn't been able to play at all.  He's been a little mopey about that, and I can't say that I blame him.  Many of his gifts were games, or skylanders.  Now, he won't be able to enjoy them until the wii is fixed, and I'm not sure when that will be.

I got a kindle from my hubby for Christmas.  I was skeptical when the kindles first came out, but I have to say, I love it.  I love being able to get books instantly...and inexpensively.  And, I love having them all in one place.  I also love that Mark knew I would love it because he understands and supports my insatiable reading habit. 

Mark got a coffee maker that he's been wanting for a couple of years.  It's the kind that has no carafe...you just put your cup up to it and out comes the coffee.  Mark says it's like having free coffee.  I hope he's not disappointed when he realizes you still have to buy coffee to go in it.  Mark makes me a yummy cup of coffee every morning (almost) and I will hardly drink coffee anymore unless he makes it for me.  He really does spoil me quite a bit.

Miss Anna Kate got a baby gym from Santa.  She was completely oblivious. 

We had a great Christmas.  This best part about Christmas for me, is having the whole family home for 2 weeks.  It always goes too fast.  I love having Aidan home all day.  As much as it pains me that he is growing up so fast, I have to say, I really like the kid he's becomig.  It's such a nice feeling when you realize you not only love your kids, but you genuinely like them too.  He's got a great sense of humor and he's very thoughtful and considerate (most of the time).  He has a variety of interests...from video games to science to sports, and he loves to read like me.  He's turning into a well rounded, pretty cool kid and I like hanging out with him.  I hate that I can already feel the return to school day looming in the near future.  Bummer.  How long until Spring Break?

Finally, I just want to say how grateful I am for Christmas...not only the gifts and Santa, and the festive decorations and the time with my family...but just for Christmas.  God has used several events in the lives of people around us lately to make me realize that without Christmas, we would have no hope.  Because of Christmas, we are full of hope!  And if that's not reason enough to wrap our entire house in lights, feast for days and spend a small fortune showering those around us with gifts, I don't know what is!  I hope everyone had a joyful Christmas.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Anna Kate

Due to the busyness of having 3 children and the sleep deprivation caused by a newborn, I have yet to write anything about Miss Anna Kate.  I have to say, I was a little anxious about how a new baby would affect the family dynamic.  We have a pretty good thing going over here...sweet, well-behaved (mostly)kids...both potty trained and fairly independent, and going back to Newborn square one made me a little nervous. I worried about how Ella, who is used to having my undivided attention all day, would do with a baby.  I worried that Aidan, being the oldest, would feel like he was getting the short end of the stick, attention wise.   But, as usual, my worries were unfounded.  Everything has gone beautifully.  Anna is a sweet, cuddly baby, and Aidan and Ella are head over heels for her. 

So, here's the story of little Anna's birth:

Monday, the 21st, I woke up at 5:00 not feeling very well.  There was nothing specific wrong; I just didn't feel right.  But, I didn't think much of it, because I had been having contractions off and on for almost 3 weeks.  So, while I was hopeful that this was "it," I didn't get too excited.  I couldn't get back to sleep, so I cleaned the house instead.  We had a doctor appointment that morning.  I was hoping she would say something like, "YOU cannot be pregnant one minute longer!  Go immediately to the hospital and have your baby right now!"  But, she didn't say that.  She said what she always says...it could be any day!  She offered to schedule an induction for me, but I told her I would think about it.  I was already dilated 2 cm., and really wanted to go into labor on my own like I had with the other two.  She wanted to do a sonogram to check my fluid levels and the baby's size.  While we were in the waiting room, I started having contractions.  But, this had happened before, so I didn't get too excited.

While we were at our appointment, my brother and his wife were at the hospital having a C-section that would deliver their little girl, Harper.  After our appointment, we had lunch at McAlister's Deli, and I continued to have contractions, about every 6 minutes apart.

We then went to the hospital to meet little Harper.  She was born at 12:12 that day.  She was pink and perfect.  We were so excited...and even MORE anxious to have OUR baby!  I had contractions the whole time we were at the hospital, but on the drive home, they stopped.  I wasn't having contractions anymore, but was having a constant ache in my back and abdomen.  When I got home, I took a nap. 

When I woke up, around 6:00, I was having fairly strong contractions every 7-8 minutes apart.  I was still skeptical, because of all the false alarms over the previous couple of weeks.  I had some soup and put the kids to bed.  By 9:00, I was having contractions every 5 minutes and was starting think it might be the real deal.  Around 11, I called the doctor.  Her nurse called back and said something to the effect of, "This is your 3rd baby?  And you're having contractions every 5 minutes?  Don't your labors go really fast?  You need to go to the hospital NOW!"

So, we woke the kids up...not an easy task.  Ella was a little unnerved by the whole thing and cried quite a bit.  Aidan didn't know what was going on at first, and I couldn't get him to wake up.  But, once he finally got awake, he was very excited.  We took them to my parents' house and went to the hospital.  We got there around midnight.  My labor was fairly uneventful.  I decided to get the epidural from the beginning.  With Aidan and Ella, I waited until the very end, but with Ella, I almost didn't make it in time.  I started feeling the urge to push while the epidural was going in...so, I decided not to risk waiting this time.  This time, they had trouble getting the epidural in.  I'm not sure what was happening, but some part of the epidural wasn't working right and they had to try several times.  I was getting pretty nervous about the whole thing.  I hate epidurals almost as much as labor...not a fan of having a needle and catheter put into my spine.  But, they finally got it working and all was well.  Anna was born at 5:44 am on Tuesday morning.  She would have been born earlier, but we had to wait for the doctor.

 She was perfect right from the start.  This was by far, my longest labor...Aidan was only 6 hours, and Ella was around 3 hours...but my water had broken with both of them, so I'm guessing that's why they went so fast.  My brother made arrangements with the nurses to have us put in the room right next door to him and his family.  Anna and Harper got to spend some good quality cousin time together in the nursery.  I am hoping they will be very close, since they were born only a few hours apart.  Plus, Harper is going to need some girls in her life, since she has 2 rambunctious brothers!

We feel very blessed to have 3, healthy, beautiful children.  The Lord has been very good to us.  We now spend our days fighting over who gets to hold Anna next and acting like complete morons because everyone wants to be the first to make her smile...so far, she has only teased us with a grin here or there.

I apologize for the long post...I hope it all makes sense.  My brain has been feeling a little like mashed potatoes lately!

Anna Kate
November 22
7lb. 11 oz  20 3/4 in. long
Big Blue Eyes and Big Squishy Cheeks :)

Monday, December 5, 2011

Things I've Heard Lately, the Ella Edition

I've got a post coming about our new, sweet Anna Kate, but first, I wanted to share a few gems from Ella...before I forget them.

While watching Little Red Riding Hood: " I had a grandma when I was a little girl.  She was sick.  Then she died."  (both of her grandmothers, as well as 2 great grandmothers are alive and well)

While playing with a toy dinosaur:  "The time for dinosaurs to be friends with potatoes is over."

"I have decided to write a note to Santa and to God to bring me peace on earth and a dog toy."

"Mommy, we go together like nuts and carrots."

When first introduced to the baby: 
    ME:  "Her name is Anna Kate."
    Ella:  "I know and I love her."

While stalling at bedtime:  "Daddy broke my heart, and I can't marry Aidan, so I guess I'm not a big girl after all."

Every morning as soon as she wakes up:  "Can I open my Christmas presents now?"