Being a stay-at-home mom...

My mom sent this to me.  It describes what it means to be a stay-at-home mom perfectly (in case any of you stay-at-home moms have any friends who want to know what you could possibly do with all of your time).  I love Carolyn's answer, I wanted to stand up and cheer!

(click on the article to enlarge and read)

Happy Anniversary to Me!!

This is the actual place we are staying!!

You may recall my last wedding anniversary, it left much to be desired, to say the least. Well, this June is our 10th anniversary and, even though it won't be until October, it most definitely will not be forgotten because....I JUST BOOKED OUR TICKETS TO MAUI!! I am so excited!! A few things had to happen to make this possible:

• I have 2 extremely generous parents who are letting us use their timeshare at the Marriott resort
• Ray got an Alaskan Airlines credit card for work which came with a $50 companion fare certificate
• Flights to Maui have gone down about $400 in the last few months (I have been watching)
• This one is the most important...I have an amazing mother who must be a glutton for punishment because she has offered to watch my 4 children for a week while we go (soccer, kindermusik, and halloween...need I say more?)

Now I just have to lose the rest of my baby weight...but I am much more motivated if I have a goal!!

This will be me and Ray in the pool :)

Poopy on the Potty!!!!!

Yes, he is holding 2 Wii controllers, he was in the 4 player mode and playing all the players.  What can I say, he loves the Wii!!

Yes, it has finally happened, Elliot went poopy on the potty!!!  It happened yesterday.  I have to give all the credit to Ray.  I actually had given up on potty training about a month ago (not really given up, it was more like taking a break...).  Ray was home all week last week and he laid down the law (in a really nice way).  He banned Elliot from playing on the Wii and computer until he pooped on the potty and he made Elliot clean himself up all by himself every time he pooped in his pull-up (Elliot TOTALLY hated that).  I have to admit I was skeptical at first and saw the whole thing as more work for me eventually.  He got Elliot to sit on the toilet (which he has previously completely refused to do) by letting him hold his poopy presents and reading him books.  Yesterday all his efforts paid off when Elliot pooped on the potty.  The best part is, he did it again today!!  He did poop in his pull-up earlier today, but I figure this will resolve itself eventually.  I am thrilled beyond belief by this!!  I was sure he would be wearing pull-ups to kindergarten!!  Great job Elliot!!!  

One Week Old

Maggie and Naomi are kindred spirits, she is always trying to give Naomi her binki :)

Here are some crazy kids...

Naomi was one week old on Friday (it took me a while to get to the computer for a blog post!).  It is amazing to me how quickly they change when they are newborns.  These pics are from her one week birthday.  Her umbilical cord fell out that day and she got her first bath.  She really liked it!  She didn't cry much at all.  She is a good baby.  With the exception of her first night home, she has mostly just been waking up at night to eat, then going right back to sleep.  Sometimes I have to put her in bed with us, but she usually goes right back to sleep.  I have always said that I could never sleep with my babies in bed with me, but it doesn't seem to be a problem with Naomi (maybe it is just exhaustion :))  

Maggie and Elliot have been extremely emotional the last few days, Grace has been having serious problems hearing me when I tell her no (even more than usual) and she cut Maggie's hair yesterday (don't even get me started).  It has definitely been an adjustment for everyone-Max has been wigging out a little bit too.  But we all love Naomi so much, she is so precious.  I just really need to make an effort to spend a little one on one time with all of the kids.  It is times like this that make me better understand the divine calling of motherhood.  I realize how important I am to my children, and that makes me want to be a better person all around.  I can honestly say that at this point in my life I feel peaceful and fulfilled.  I feel lucky to be a mom to these precious little souls.  It isn't always easy or fun, and I definitely have my moments of insanity, but I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing at this point in my life, and that feels good.

Welcome Naomi Sage

She's a big girl!

Her feet are huge!!
This is my midwife, Sara, she is awesome!!  

Kind of looks like she has 2 shiners!!

Dad is checking out her feet :)

On our way home... 

This post by my sister on our family blog has prompted me to finally get some pictures up of the new beauty!  Naomi Sage was born Friday January 9, 2009 at 6:52 pm.  She weighed 9 lbs 1 oz and was 20.5 inches long.  The induction went fine, but in the past when I have been induced they have broken my water and started the pitocin at the same time.  This time they started my pitocin and didn't break my water until my midwife came back on her lunch hour, at about 1:30.  The pitocin on it's own didn't do much of anything except give me some mild contractions.  Once my water was broken they got much stronger.  I got my epidural at around 4:30 pm and she was born a few hours later!!  The labor was totally fine, I pushed through 3 contractions and she was here.  It was really cool because my midwife had me reach down right as she was coming out and let me lift her up and lay her on my chest.  That was really cool.  It kindof freaked me out, though, because she was really blue, the cord was wrapped around her neck.  Luckily she wasn't in the birth canal long and she turned pink the minute she started crying.  Her face looks a little beat up- it is hard being born!!  When she was born her blood sugar was really low- it was 34 and they told me if they test her a second time and she is under 40 she would've had to go to the NICU.  So they put a tube down her throat and gave her some sugar water.  It only went up to 41, so they put a little tube in her mouth when she was nursing and gave her 1/2 and ounce of formula.  It went up to 58 after that so she was good.  She is such a good nurser, she latched right on and hasn't had any problems.  My milk finally came in yesterday afternoon, so she is happy.  She is a little jaundiced, like all my kids have been, but it isn't too bad, and is getting better now that she is getting milk.  She sleeps a lot during the days, but last night she cried from about 10:30-2:30.  I hope this is just temporary.  She hasn't pooped since Saturday night, so I think her tummy is a little upset.  But we shall see, we may have another Grace on our hands!!  But she is such a sweet little baby.  We love her so much, and the kids love her so much.  Grace is such a little mommy to her.  Whenever she is holding her and she starts to cry Grace says, "It's okay Naomi, your sissy has you".  It is really sweet.  Maggie is fascinated with her, she always screams "baby!"  when she sees her and she is always trying to grab her.  Elliot loves to hold her, but isn't as interested as the girls. 

Anyway, my mom and dad came on Thursday and have been such an amazing help (dad left on Sunday).  Grace had a gingerbread house decorating party on Friday that they were supposed to have the Friday before Christmas break-when school was cancelled.  Their dads were supposed to go to the party, so grandpa went with Grace.  She was so excited, I'm sure their house was the best, knowing my dad :)  Mom is the best, she lets me sleep during the day and makes dinner for us every night.  She even did all the laundry yesterday!!  I'm dreading her leaving on Thursday!!  That's when we have to go back to real life, whatever that is!

Also, today is Elliot's birthday-Happy Birthday Elliot!!  We love you!!  Grandma made a cake that Elliot and Grace decorated.  We went to lunch at McDonalds and had pizza for dinner-not the most nutritious day of eating ever, but it's okay every once in a while!!  We will have a party with his friends in a month or so, which may even involve a present from his parents!  I'm glad he is young enough that he didn't realize the presents were missing :)

Okay, Now I'm Ready

I'm so excited to see what she will look like...maybe this time she will kind of resemble me!! (But, I'm not holding my breath...)

So, in less than 24 hours (hopefully) we will have another precious little soul added to our family.  I have been working feverishly to get ready this week.  Now that the laundry is done,  bathrooms are clean, floors are vacuumed, dishes are washed, house is clean (even the dreaded TOY ROOM!), baby clothes/blankets/burp rags/car seat cover/swing cover/bouncer cover (I could go on) are washed and assembled, the girls room is all set up, grocery shopping is done, bag is packed, parents are currently on a plane en-route to  my home to help with the kids, and the snow on the roads is all but MELTED!!, I am officially ready to have this baby!!  So, wish me luck!  I am going to go and enjoy my clean house for a little while, as long as I can keep my eyes open, because I'm sure it won't be this clean again for a long time!!

One more week...

I went to the doctor today (my last appointment, Yea!!) and I am still only about 1 cm dilated, but "this kid is MUCH lower" (my midwife's exact words), which I already knew-I think her head is directly on my bladder!!  I am 60-70% effaced.  I still don't think she will come early (this is an exact replay of how it went with Elliot, except I was more dilated with Elliot and he wasn't born early), but I feel totally fine with being induced in this scenario.  I'm actually not wanting her to come early now because my mom and dad are coming up on Thursday, and I would rather not have to make other arrangements for the kids if I don't have to.  Ray went with me today and he jokingly said "so she shouldn't be shoveling the driveway anymore?"  I don't think she really got it at first because she gave him the strangest look :)  I assured her that I'm not doing any shoveling!!  Anyway, all is well except that I'm having trouble sleeping, it is a whole production turning from one side to the other but the side I am sleeping on goes numb after a couple hours!!  I also keep waking up at around 4:30 everyday, unable to go back to sleep.  I guess my body is just getting itself ready to have a newborn in the house!  Here is a picture of my HUGE belly at 39 weeks...

I just had to include this totally unrelated picture of Elliot.  He is KILLING me with his cherubic little face-those big blue puppy dog eyes and big red lips!!  He is such a handsome little boy!!