2 weeks in...

well, since all i have mostly been doing for the last 2 weeks is sitting around nursing, i have had more tv time (keeping up on my current events), surfing the net from my iphone, folding loads of blue (more exciting than i thought it would be, except that there are WAY more cute clothing options for girls than boys out there, i need to start my own line of cute SIMPLE baby boy outfits that don't have any animals or sporting equipment on them... what's up with that?) trying to find the perfect orange modern crib set... any suggestions? and looking for an awesome place to find reprints of vintage movie posters.

i did manage to find my new favorite brand of shoes.... gentle souls by kenneth cole. $192 at nordie's....

i got them for $29.99 at lc... did you expect anything else???

Paully got me this awesome necklace... i love it and it is oh so true. which i have had to remind myself a lot lately.

these peeps are pretty awesome. i saw them on another blog and got a little obsessed. i keep telling paul to put something together so we can do this. i just wish i had her voice. it's all about finding a type of music to match your sound.... i don't see what's so hard about that. get on that paully....

here is a pic of my sissy with the twinsies... well actually they don't look anything like twins... or even related. i think they both look like their daddies. they are acting like twins tho... they both lost their umbilical cords on the same day at the same time. awwwwwwwwwww.........

the king has arrived....

well... we did it. we finally welcomed our 5th baby... and a BOY at that... to our family.

it was quite the experience. i had always wanted to experience natural childbirth, so i was bound and determined to do it this time. paul and i studied for months, made a birth plan, read, read and read some more.... and i'll tell you what.. those books are pretty accurate. i couldn't believe this was my 5th pregnancy and i was reading this stuff for the first time.

after realizing this baby was not coming early, after watching my due date come and go, i went to the dr. on monday to try to move things along.... not too exciting. i said.. do it again! she looked at me like...

"ok crazy lady, now you're talkin!"

she tortured me a little more and then whispered...

"do you want me to break your water?"

i asked if i would have time to go home and get my bag. she said probably not. i said what the heck... go for it.

i was past my due date and a little delirious at this point. i was weak. also, this was not part of the birth plan. i DID NOT want to be induced. i knew i would not be able to labor in the hospital... i am too weak and the epidural would be right there if i wanted it.

anyway... she tried and guess what, the baby blocked that move. it put it's sweet little hand up so that she couldn't do it. not ready. we went home.
on wed. morning i woke up with mild contractions. i was apprehensive the whole time, not wanting to go to the hospital until that baby was practically coming out....so i tried to distract myself. we decided to go ahead and take the little girls to atrium. we walked around for a bit and the contractions were getting much stronger. in between contractions i was just fine, stopping to talk to friends, etc. etc. paul downloaded an iphone labor app. he was pretty pumped about that. we were able to chart contractions, make notes and charts. it ended up being very helpful.

after we picked up the girls, it was starting to get pretty intense. i just wanted to go home. we did stop at whole foods tho, just to push things a little more and i really wanted some pears. we were able to drop S off with my neighbor and my dear friend M came and picked up D.

so we were ready. it was around noon at this point. we tried all of the things on my list to pass the time. the idea was to stay relaxed. if i could pick the best tool, it would be the heated rice bags. those things were awesome. if it weren't for the immense sensations i was feeling, i would've thought i was at the spa. it was hard work but manageable. finally, when out of nowhere i began to lose it over being fearful of getting stuck in traffic, paul was able to gage my emotional signpost as probably nearing the transition phase. which means that baby was coming very soon!
the ride to the hospital was very trying. it was hard to maintain composure, especially feeling every bump in our 4 runner. we did not run into any traffic tho ;) it was 3:30 in the afternoon.

as we pulled up to the hospital, i was grabbing onto a blanket and got out of the car. the nurse could tell i was upset and asked if i was pregnant. i could not do any talking at this point. paul was able to explain everything and guide us briefly thru check in, where they couldn't even get a bracelet on me, and into triage. another nurse asked me to change into a gown and she would be right back. that didn't happen either. i couldn't move or do anything but focus on each contraction which were right on top of each other at this point.
finally another nurse was able to get a better gage on the situation and quickly but calmly got me onto a bed and wheeled me into a delivery room, while announcing to the other nurses to get the dr. ... 5th baby, dilated to an 8, this baby is coming!!!

i didn't have an i.v., baby monitors, hospital id, i still even had my dress on when the dr. came

in. she kindly removed my dress with no help from me. before you know it, thanks to paul for putting up the stirrups, i pushed that baby out and paul said...

"it's a BOY!!!"
it was 4:05. i was in shock. shock from what i had just done, shocked from the fact that it was a boy. shocked that we were blessed with 5 healthy babies, shocked that i was lying there completely naked. i could have been in a field somewhere, it was an out of body experience.
the girls came to see him just a few hours after he was born. they were over the moon. they brought me beautiful statues of mothers and babies, a stork with a baby boy, cards and other goodies (all from the dollar store) they were so excited about their purchases. noni took them there and let them pick out whatever they wanted.
i was so thankful for paul during this whole experience. he was a great coach. i think it felt good for him to feel so involved too. i was so thankful for all my friends and family who jumped right in to help with childcare, meals, gifts, visits to the hospital, i even had beautiful birthday cakes waiting for me when i got home. they kick you out after 24 hours now, which i think is a little early. but all in all it was an amazing experience and i am

thankful.




top favorite sayings while i was in labor (all in a matter of about 15 min.)

1. look at my hands! guys there's something wrong with my thumbs! look at them!

2. dr.: i am going to check you... me: why? what's the point? i don't need to push yet.

3. someone came in to draw blood. that was not going to happen, everyone told her to leave. she was bound and determined to get that blood sample from me. she finally made it thru the crowd of people around me and asked... i turned around and looked at her and said "where ?" in a not so nice voice.

4. i kept calling everyone guys. hey guys...

5. i asked paul in a really calm sweet voice to please get me some ice chips.

6. after the whole thing was over, i looked down and realized the situation and said

"i guess i am a little exposed." and then covered up my top with a teeny tiny white washcloth.

7. i started to get really hot. so everyone was kind enough to put cold washcloths on my neck and forehead. i said "please just pour water all over me. can someone please do that?" and i was serious.

8. at perhaps one little weak moment... "this sucks!!!"

recent randomness....

cramming it all in while i still can...

retro.
pouty mcgee....
pouty mcgaw.....
charlotte was excited to be at the vet... glad i missed the anal gland drainage....barf


always take time to stop and smell the roses...
rosie by the roses....

bargain finds....

i am so excited about my recent baby item finds. i had decided to go ahead and get a new stroller/car seat combo and diaper bag for this baby. i had a really nice one when D was born, but it is over 5 years old and they recommend getting a new car seat every 5 years.... soooooo... yeah. and it is pretty beat up after carting 2 kids around in it. and i had wanted to indulge myself with a cool diaper bag, but just couldn't quite justify spending the $$$$ on the one i wanted.

thanks to my bff last chance.... i found this brand new petunia pickle bottom diaper bag for $29.97! can u believe it? i was so excited, they sell for at least $167.00 at the stores and online. what a find. tags were still on and everything :)





i also redeemed all of my gift cards to babies r us and used my 20% off coupon and my 15% registry coupon to get my euro maxi-cosi stroller and car seat. there was some confusion as to if the car seat i ordered online would fit with the stroller i bought in the store.... but it was delivered today and snapped right into the stroller perfectly!

now all i need is a baby :)

i love.....

i absolutely love the phase my eldest S is in now.... she wants me to braid her hair into 2 braids every other night. she wears the braids the first day and then wears it curly the next. i love braiding her hair and always will. she had 2 french braids in her hair before she was two!

i love how easy it is to put L to bed. she tells a quick run down of her day, gives a few kisses and snuggles and then says good nite... and she is out. by far the easiest child in our house to put to bed.

i love how D sleeps with her american girl doll in matching p.j.'s.... it makes the hoopla all worth it. she even likes for them to share the same hairstyle.

i really love how the 2 littlest ones have stayed in their beds ALL night the past few nights. thanks to their new dollhouse bed (courtesy of a sweet neighbor girl who wants a big girl bedroom now). it also distracted S of her unwillingness to give up her crib... she wasn't very excited about that.

i also really love my anthro bowls filled with oatmeal and toppings in the morning courtesy of my hubby.

baby must haves....

i have had some pretty tough decisions lately.....

i decided on both.

i really need to have this baby. i am getting a little cooky with my desire to buy things while waiting for the baby. these are my latest MUST-HAVES for the little one. i know it will appreciate them.....

nice....

my dad sent this to me.... said it reminded him of me. nice.

just a few late nite thoughts....

my thought are very random tonite... it could be because of uber wednesday at gold bar this morning (extra large de-caf mocha for the price of small) and then the uber smart thought to get another venti de-caf mocha this evening from starbucks. now i am uber hyped up!

1. today was mommy and me day at preschool for D and myself. it was precious. my friend A watched S for me, bless her heart, she spoiled S rotten. i had to pick her up from the floor, under her dining room table, in a full crying tantrum to remove her from the house. she didn't want to leave. she was reaching for walls as i was carrying her out. it was adorable.

anyway, D and i made crafts, sang songs, read books... all those cute things. here is a little survey they surprised each of the moms with. at least she got the age part right....

apparently i need to change up the outfits once in awhile. and what's with all the sleeping comments? this is not the first time this has come up. i wish i could sleep all day!

2. i enjoyed seeing these pics D took on my phone from our ride to pick the big girls up from school...

speaking of picking the girls up, i was informed by the school that L was up to the office 2x saying she was sick. (i know she was having a hard time with some friends) but things are going around, so, i thought i would go pick her up early. when i got there, she had a very dramatic entrance to the office... slightly bent over, clutching her stomach, a pitiful look on her sweet little face, and even pushed out a few forced coughing sounds. poor thing. i hugged her and we waited for S (who i would also take home early).

as soon as we got in the car, L made a miraculous recovery and was singing, eating her lunch and then went home to play with D in the back yard for about and hour while i home-schooled S. that was fun. about as fun as it would be to bang my head against a wall for an hour. i really applaud all those home schooling moms. you really have a gift! a gift that i do not possess. although, we did end up getting some beautiful work done and had a lovely rest of the afternoon.

3. guess who isn't feeling well? guess who feels like they need to throw up and has a constant stomach ache???????? i wonder why???????
4. i just got back from my mom's group and they were talking about celebrating pentecost for children. being the awesome catholic that i am, it never occurred to me to make a big deal about pentecost. this coming from the girl who, when a junior in high school, heard about the rosary for the first time. we were at a retreat and someone said it was time to pray a rosary. i whispered to my friend next to me.. what the heck are they talking about? i don't think i have one. she replied "it's ok, just count on your fingers" i was completely confused... what?????

anyway, they had this old vintage coloring book, oh how i love vintage things... and i thought it would be perfect for my kids. they learn and color about....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. definitely things my kids need to be working on. the little angels that they are...
5. i made these burp cloths for the newest little cherub. i guess i am officially nesting. does it count as nesting when you schedule cleaners to come? haha. i'm kidding. kind of. i really did call cleaners, but i have been scrubbing everything. i washed all the baby clothes, baby sheets, blankets, bumpers, car seat covers, boppy covers, swing covers. got myself some new jammies and receiving blankies for the baby. i put away the laundry (which is a big deal for me) i even scrubbed out the silverware holder in the drawer. for those who know me well, this can only be attributed to something larger than me... something hormonal.
6. my mom is back!!!!!

S, the party planner

the girls were a little jealous that they have not been able to attend any of the many baby showers that have been had lately. last night, the boys had a "man" shower for Dave. the girls thought they were invited too. but sadly, they were not. i told S she could throw Sarah a baby shower. she was all over that.

a lot of time went into setting the table just right. there were place cards for everyone and also tea cups with lemonade.

wonder what she was pouting about...
my auntie sent the girls vintage easter hats. they thought this was the perfect time to wear them.

the hostess with the mostess....
the mommy-to-be....
this one was not on her best "tea party behavior"......
D loves the pink vintage hat.


A loves the yellow one....
L finally cheered up and put on a cute black hat and drank her "tea" with her pinky up.
S made more lemonade.

there were 2 games. baby word scramble....
they were working hard.
Sarah did a pretty good job.
next we had a diaper race. the winner put the diaper on the baby faster than the opponent.
L's diaper was pretty funny.
Sarah did well on this task too.
i was glad to see my girls were pretty efficient at this task too.... might come in handy later....
i was really good at it.
D and Nat raced against each other. D was trying hard, it was difficult with one arm tho... she may have let out a hawk-like squeal when her sisters tried to help her. it was really sweet.
we had ice cream sundaes for dessert. they were delicious. good job S. i am impressed with your party planning skills.