Friday, December 24, 2010

ITS THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME

Michael had his party/program at school on Wednesday morning.  They sang some songs, handed out home-made gifts, shared snacks.  Only one shot on the phone..but it was very cute, a nice little celebration.  I could actually hear Michael singing the songs and he was very excited answering questions..big difference from last year.  :)  Several of the teachers and aides came up to me to tell me about the marked improvement they've seen in Michael

...what a nice present :)

Monday, December 20, 2010

REWIND TO THANKSGIVING

 Here it is Christmas week and I'm getting around to Thanksgiving pictures.  So be it.
Travis and I came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving afternoon..so we had our "traditional" Thanksgiving meal/celebration on Friday.  
Compliments of Mike and his helpers.
Carina peeling potatoes,
Rian loading the muffin tray,
 Michael mixing the muffins.
 They also did a few little crafts with Daddy..
Notice their headgear and little turkey cups.


 Check out that mug shot!
:)
Thankful for each one.

2ND TIME..

 ..ever getting a "professional" haircut.
Carina has very thin hair and it was getting loooong...
so we thought a haircut was in order to clean it up and hopefully add some thickness as it grows back.
Mike took her to the shop with Michael.
 Sitting like a champ.
 WOW!!!!!
 Doesn't she look cute??
 She looks like a different girl!

Friday, December 17, 2010

A FEW MINUTES IN THE MORNING

 Travis Robert..a few minutes after birth.

So, his story is a bit different.
Though I guess each kid has their own unique story-Michael because he was the first, Carina because she was born on the floor, Rian because it was super-fast and we barely made the hospital...and now Travis.
 As Due Date drew continually nearer, we were increasingly nervous about getting to the hospital on time, given the previous 2 births.  I voiced these concerns to the midwives several times--towards the end there, I think I finally got through.  Either that or they just were sick of hearing it and decided to humor me.  :)  
We could hardly believe it when Travis decided that he wanted to be "late." After having 2 right to the due date and 1 early--it was tough. 
So, it was a Monday night when I had my last appointment with the midwives.  The weekend had been quite uncomfortable--not necessarily contractions, but sharp pressure and extreme achy-ness...
And it was Thanksgiving week.  
Mike's 10 year reunion was scheduled for the weekend and of course Thanksgiving was on Thursday--no one wants to "work" a holiday.  We went in Monday evening, Mike had stayed home from work that day--we were 5 days late at this point--thinking it could be any second and if history repeated itself, he would never make it home or to the hospital on time for the delivery.  Anyway, he was home.  We dropped the kids off at my parents since it was near dinner time and who knows how long the appointment was going to take.
(Good thing we did)
I got an exam and Lisa (the midwife) gave me a few options--after finally hearing my concerns about having a quick birth experience.  We decided to go walk around for awhile and see if anything "happened."  Lisa gave me her cell and said she would be in the office till 8pm if we wanted to come back or made some decisions (go in for a dose of castor oil, wait it out..etc.).
We walked around for about an hour and a half
and this point I was having pretty good contractions--fairly strong and close together.  At 8pm, we went back to the office with the premise--if nothing has changed we'll go home and wait it out, if something has changed, we'll go to the hospital.  
Well, there was progress.
(I had already started dilating a few weeks earlier)
After a quick dinner, we check into the hospital.
I was monitored and what not--
we said we'd wait and see what happened overnight
(with the contractions I'd been having walking around, we didn't expect to last the night)
Turns out--Mr. Travis is a stubborn boy.
Once I fell asleep, contractions lessened greatly.
To make a long story "short," in the morning Lisa came in and again we went over some options--I was definitely NOT in labor, though still experiencing some contractions.  She ended up breaking my water around 9am--and from there we let "nature run its course."
Nothing happened for 3 hours--we walked around the hospital, tried to nap--the waiting around was just torturous with nothing going on --but I really did not want meds
12pm--I guess my body finally realized the water broke and I went into labor and once that got underway, it was just as fast as the girls.
1 hour 47 minutes.
We did a water birth this time around.
I'll tell you about that another time.

Travis arrived at 1:47pm
While the waiting around was very tedious, 
I'm glad we were at the hospital. 
The hospital staff was great and birthing with a midwife was a totally different experience.
Again, I'll tell you about that another time.

 Less than a day old.

We went  home Thanksgiving afternoon--
here are some shots of the kids holding their little brother.

 Carina was so cute, she did NOT want to let him go.
Mike said her turn was up, it was time to let Rian hold him and she just snuggled him closer...


 Travis looks nearly as big as Rian here...
She treats him kind of like a doll--always wanting to touch him or 
put a blanket on him, give him kisses.  Very cute.
No real jealousy issues with anyone.
Though at times, if Rian wants me to do something--she'll look at me and point to Travis' seat--and say "baby, seat!"


 A quick nap with Daddy
 He is a big boy, already over 10 pounds and not even a month old yet.  He started sleeping through the night at 9 days old.  And eats like a champ.  He does not like a pacifier and will only take it on occasion--much to my chagrin--he thinks he has a human pacifier.  
: /
Can't wait till these smiles are "real" smiles!
Anyway, I think my few minutes in the morning are just about up.
I heard a little voice calling from her crib.

Stay tuned.

Monday, December 6, 2010