Walking....

I've tried and tried and tried to get a good shot of Carly walking this week but this girl for some reason constantly decides that when Mommy is video taping her she is going to fall down on her bum.  But put the camera away and the kid will walk every where with no problem!  She's a goofy one.  Carly has been walking along the furniture for a while now, and learning to walk from one object to another.  Well this week she has been walking more and more on her own, and she is doing great!  She can actually stop bend over and grab something and stand back up and start walking again.  I am so proud of her!  Today she is doing awesome she rarely crawled today and was walking everywhere,  I wouldn't exactly call her a walker just yet but she is just days away from being there! 

Hopefully I will be able to get video of her soon to share with you all!  My little turd just doesn't like to cooperate like that though.  I'm sure eventually though she will let her guard down and I will get a super cute video of her walking.

Until then....

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

Me and My Crazy Kids....

So its been a while since I last posted some pictures of the kids and I.  So how about a little up-e-date?

Me?

I'm doing good. I'm tired (as always) but I'm managing to function some how (not sure how).  Taking care of the children's.  I'm exercising and the weight and inches are coming off!  The picture above shows me wearing a shirt that as you can see is baggy on me. Well the last time I wore it, it was tight all over.  So I'm sure you can understand my excitement.  I don't want to get into it to much since tomorrow is sucking it in saturday and we can talk about it more then :)

Devin?

Devin is doing well.  She is doing good in school. Although she is constantly telling us she is bad in certain subjects she really isn't but for some reason she believes she is.  She has yet another cavity that needs to be filled and will eventually need braces.  She use to be so excited about braces, wanting them  before her adult teeth started coming in but now she doesn't. Go figure I don't understand kids...

Brooke?

I think Brooke is going through a growth spurt, this child is constantly eating!   She's still her drama queen self and still very emotional.  I hope its just a phase but I guess only time will tell.  She is extremely interested in playing Nick Jr. Games on the computer right now.  She has learned a lot from pre-k and is doing so well in spelling.  She can spell her first name, last name and her sister Kara's name. She is turning 5 soon. They grow up so fast!  If you have kids of your own then you already know this don't you?  Of course you do!

Kara?

What can I say about my Karbear?  She is an extremely active 2 year old! She loves her binkie and her blankey and refuses to potty train.  She is a stubburn little butt monkey!  But her smile keeps me from being mad at her.  She loves to be naked, even during these cold winter months and no matter were we go she trys to take her shoes off (even at the store).  When she is shirtless we call her gibby and she loves it! (iCarly reference).  She has piercing ice blue eyes that can melt your heart!

Carly?

My baby bundle... Carly is doing a lot better since her stay in the hospital due to RSV, Bronchiolitis and Pneumonia.  Her breathing is noticably better.  She doesn't even sound sick anymore.  She needs to get an updated x-ray to make sure her lungs are clear but I don't doubt that they are.  She's on the move now a days learning to scoot and crawl.  She is extremely close to sitting up on her own. and she has 2 teeth.  She wants to be held all the time which doesn't allow me to do much, unless I can find a way for her to be occupied with her toys.  Thankfully she likes playing (sometimes haha).

And there you have an update on me and the kids. 

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!

Catrina

Carly's update...

Will it ever end?  Carly had her post hospital check up today....  She hasn't gained any weight (which I didn't expect her to anyways).  Her o2 levels were 98% so that was good.  She is still wheezing really bad.  They did a RSV test when she was in the hospital and she tested positive, that is what caused her bronchiolitis.  For now she is to continue on her antibiotics and albuteral and I am to slowly ween her off once her coughing gets better (which could take a couple weeks).  They plan on doing another x-ray in a few weeks as well to see the way her lungs look.  They are still concerned about her having asthma, we will probably know for sure once she gets her x-ray done.   If she does or if she is still having problems she will be put on steroids during the cold and flu season to prevent problems occuring like this again.   She is doing much better, but yes you can still hear the wheezing when she breathes.  But its so nice to see her smiling face and hear her cute little laugh again! 

Well thats all I wanted to say so I'll share a few videos that I took while she was in the hospital....





and when she came home




Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

Sick babies and kiddos...

Its amazing, I have 4 girlies, the older 3 get sick and life goes on I take care of them and do what needs to be done to make them better. They get their pampering when they are ill (because of course I would be a mean mommy if they didn't). But what is it about the baby in the family that just makes your heart melt and you feel so sad and helpless when they are sick? Devin has yet another ear infection, thankfully she feels fine other wise, and we're so use to ear infections (with her at least) that things don't really change much (unless she is in severe pain) this time around she doesn't have pain, she just can't hear worth a shit. I'm afraid the child is going to end up needing a third set of ear tubes! (I sure hope not).
Kara at this time has again a double ear infection and double eye infection, she is now on antibiotics again! The poor child went through this back in december! I hope this isn't going to be a new thing for her to constantly have ear infections like Devin. I don't want to have another child have ear tubes placed. But if it helps her then so be it. She too seems fine at least during the day. She is running around playing and having fun. She is a little crabby but you (as well as I) need to remember she is 2! So now we wait for the antibiotics to kick in and start kicking butt. I hope this is the last time we have to deal with this...
Now on to my baby girl... The one I feel aweful for! The one who although seems happy and fine most of the time, I feel horrible for right now. She, like Kara has a double eye infection. But unlike Kara, Carly's eyes are much worse, it makes your eyes water to just look at her, it makes your eyes hurt to just look at her, I feel so aweful. One top of this though, she has a viral infection, yeah I know doesn't sound like a big deal does it? Well to make it worse she is wheezing and breathing fast. She can't suck on her binkie because of the congestion and the trouble she is having with breathing. She won't sleep in her crib so when she naps I have to sit with her in my bed (to make sure she doesn't fall off the bed). She is normally really clinging towards me and I know this, and I try to prevent this (normally) but I feel so bad for her right now that I don't mind the clingyness. She is in fact my baby girl and I want to make her as comfortable as possible. She is now on albuteral, or breathing treatments right now to help her with her breathing. Unfortunitly they informed me that she may also end up with asthma or wheezing problems down the road.... That really sucks! Well good thing we already know how to give breathing treatments and have a machine (since my Brooke has childhood asthma).
So for now I take care of my baby girl and feel so badly for her...

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

I don't really think this was my intended post...

I'm just not sure what to say here today because well so much is not going on, haha. Devin, oh my poor Devin she has yet another ear infection. The poor girl has been having so many problems with her ears for the past few months that I have a feeling she may end up getting another set of ear tubes placed, and if she does this will be her 3rd set of tubes. She is again on antibiotics (isn't there like a rule that they aren't suppose to have antibiotics to much?) well she has an appointment with the ENT in March so I will be able to update you on whats going on with that, then.

Kara, oh man Kara, what do I tell you about her? Well lets see she is 2 years old, so yeah she is going through the terrible two's for sure. Tantrums are her new thing right now, along with getting into everything and doing everything that she shouldn't be doing. I bet your wondering what kind of things she's doing that you know she shouldn't be? Well lets see how about, eating cat food, eating yogart off the carpet, washing her hands and face in her food (at basically every meal!) you know the normal stuff (haha).

Theres really not much to update with Brooke because other then the fact that she is very sensitive, not much is going on with her. Right now she honestly has to be my most quite child seriously!

Yeah I said Brooke was my most quite child you know why? Because Carly whines alot! Why? Because she wants to be held constantly and not just by anyone by me! I try to get her to spend time in her frog jumper and she will for a few moments, and I try to get her to spend time on her play mat and thats last a little bit to but then she rolls onto her tummy and instead of rolling back to her back she gets angry and cries until someone picks her up, yeah your thinking well why don't you just roll her back onto her back? Guess what I thought about that too, it doesn't work trust me!

So yeah I don't know if you were coming here looking for an update on my kids but guess what you got one (haha)

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

I'm a Goofy Goober - Yeah....

So I really don't have much to share with today.... Sorry I've been busy cleaning today, and then we took the older girlies to the skating rink for a school party. They had a blast, if you were wondering.
So the Hubby and I were sitting with Carly tonight watching south park, and the Hubby was messing around with me and singing "Mommies a Goofy Goober, Yeah" (if you've watched spongebob squarepants I am sure you know the song) and it actually sounded like Carly was trying to sing with the Hubby! It was so cute, obviously you couldnt understand what she was saying since it was all cooing and such. But she really did seem like she was singing too.
So since thats all I had to share today I thought I would share some pictures of my little Goofy Goober. Enjoy!

I swear this child never blinks!

She is sitting up on her own more
Did you know that she is going to be 5 months old tomorrow (1/14)

She is just the sweetest thing

She looks alot like her big sis Devin

It almost looks like she caught wind of something smelly

Love that smile!

She makes Mommy smile!

And she thinks it hilarious when she shits in a brand new white bumgenius diaper

But with that smile and giggle I will forgive her

serious time

again with the big eyes that don't blink

Shes mama's baby girl

Have an Oh So Wonderful Night!

Catrina

Randomnes is my life!

I'm feeling good today, well for the most part except I'm tired (like always) and I had a horrible dream last night that has me all upset now. Does that ever happen to you? You have a bad dream (whatever it may be) and then your whole day is thrown off. Thats me today, Now I'm exhausted because I had trouble falling back to sleep after said dream pissed me off and woke me up.
Thankfully today is my day off from exercising because I just don't have the energy or motivation to do them today. But I do need to go to the grocery store and get some food, I have ran out of things for smoothies and lunch stuff for the kids and we have no milk...(don't worry we just ran out last night, we have formula and things for the baby, but the big kids need stuff as well).
The kiddos do need to watch thier Your Baby Can Read video and review thier cards & Book.. Brooke needs to do her "Homework".
But I am just so darn tired! All of a sudden (now that Devin is home) the house has gotten loud. How is it that if only 1 or 2 are together its quite but you add one more and it gets really loud? They seem to just all of a sudden go straight into fighting. But I guess that is the life when you have 4 girls (such drama queens!).
Carly had her shots yesterday and she is not having a good day today. She is running a little fever and is slightly crabby, she has been sleeping alot today. I hope this does not last for to long, this is the first time since she was born that she hasn't even been slightly sick (other then her acid reflux).
Well I guess that is the Randomness of my day...

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

Both of us suffer from painful thighs!

I know its not Saturday yet, so its not time for my weigh in and I know that I have been talking about this a lot this week but bare with me this is my first week and well I have anxieties, fears, excitement and all of the above this week so right now this is the main thing going through my mind most of the day right now.

I told you the scale is my enemy and hates me! I also have a tendency to weigh myself way to much and dwell on why I have not lost any weight yet. I have exercised every day this week since Saturday, tomorrow (Friday) is my day off, I have been eating healthy (for the most part) but there are some things I need to work on. I weighed myself this morning and was disappointment and not happy with what I saw. Its very depressing but at the same time there are a few factors that could be effecting the scales hatred for me. I do feel a change (slightly), the Hubby said he is starting to see definition in my arms and I did see that I lost an inch off my waist the other day. But I still have cravings, you know the ones that make you want food that is not healthy for you, that food that is so tempting and delicious! The stuff that you know you shouldn't be eating right now. So I'm still working on those issues of mine.
I have been sticking to my exercising and feeling good about sticking to them although I have been in pain all week, yesterday I started to feel some relief I was actually able to walk up and down the stairs with out that initial surge of pain when I took that first step. Then today I began my exercises thinking that I could go deeper into my lunges now that the pain is subsiding. Oh that was a horrible idea! Now the pain is worse then ever, I have a stabbing pain in my muscles. Finding your balance in exercising, what you can and cannot do is hard! Just when you think you can handle more bam your wrong! "No Pain No Gain"

Carly had her 4 month check up today and got 3 shots and some kind of liquid. The girlie is growing! She weighs 15.5lbs, which is 70% for weight (not bad even though she is on baby food now) and she is 26 1/4 inches long which is 93% for height, she is one tall little girlie. She is doing good and hitting her milestones. The doctor wasn't to pleased with some of the things that I was doing. Like the fact that miss Carly is eating straight baby food, and no rice cereal. But sorry the kid does not like rice cereal and I am not going to force it on her. She loves baby food though, the doctor said we can continue to give her what she is eating but not to add more, I left out the fact that for breakfast and dinner Carly eats stage 2 foods and they are not just fruits and veggies (they are the mixed ones too). I left out the fact that Carly won't sleep unless she has a blankie to hold (I know that wouldn't go over to well) or the fact that she has a little violet dog that sleeps in her bed because she loves to listen to the music when she goes to bed.
This is my 4th kid I think I know what I am doing by now....don't you? I'm not saying nothing bad can't happen but so far nothing has. Kara is the same way though she has a blanket that she has had since birth and won't go to bed without it.
Like I have always said I know that the doctors do know things but sometimes it doesn't compare to mothers instincts (or sanity).

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

I just had to share!

I'm very excited... The Hubby got me my lighting kit for Christmas and of course Christmas day I had to try it out so well, I did. Guess who was my Guinea pig?

Why Carly of course!

Don't you just love her smile?
Well I do!

She was very patient with Mommy while I tried to figure everything out.

I don't know for sure but I think she had fun!

She definatly made some cute faces and expressions

Don't you just love that smile?

I am so glad she didn't mind smiling so much for me!

I was trying out different techniques and they were pretty cool!

I swear though the child never blinked!

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!

Catrina

I've been trying to think about what to post today because well I have yet again hit another block. So you'll be enjoying some randomness today...
First off I am so tired! Number 4 woke up at 5am to have a bottle, no big deal she usually does this and then goes back to sleep. Except this morning she chose not to go back to sleep. She fussed and fought so I brought her back into bed with me since Daddy was going to work. I turned on Nick Jr and hoped that she would fall back to sleep or at least watch the tube so I could go back to sleep... Nope she wasn't having anything to do with that, she continued to fuss. I put her back to bed thinking okay maybe she is tired again (this was probably 6-6:30) she screamed and wasn't having it (yet again). So I brought her back to bed with me I layed down and she started screaming yet again! Obviously at this point I was beyond frustrated because I just didn't know what was wrong with her. Thankfully my father her heard screaming and since he was up decided to take her for me so I could get some more rest. She fussed some more for him and finally I told him to go ahead and give her some baby food, I really didn't want her eating her "breakfast" that early but gave him the go ahead. She ate it and stopped fussing (until she realized it was gone) but the screaming finally stopped! Now with all my other kids when we started baby food it was a slow process and they didn't mind that it was a slow process but Carly is not having it she LOVES baby food and wants more! She is not eating rice cereal because she doesn't like it she is on straight stage 1 baby food, (at 4 months old) obviously she is still getting formula though.
Now I know in my "Book" I talked about getting stressed and PPD and while I'm not saying that is what I am going through because well it was just one night of frustration. I can definatly say, that saying don't get to stressed out when baby is screaming, but that is definatly easier said then done when you are exhausted and wanting to go back to bed and baby is screaming in your face! I stayed calm to an extent, yes I got pissed, yes I got frustrated but other then getting mad there wasn't much else I could do. Even if my father hadn't taken her from me I am sure eventually I would have offered her the baby food but when you are super tired, your thought processes are a bit slower then normal.
Can you believe there is only 8 more days till Christmas? I'm getting super excited! I just can't wait to give my family thier gifts! Sure I am excited about the gifts I will get. I am more excited to see the excited on my kids faces when they open thier gifts. Of course though I still have a few items that were purchased online that I am waiting to arrive. Hopefully they get here in time.
I was a bit worried this year that I would not find matching jammies for all the girlies but I had to go for a larger size for Carly so that she could match her sisters. and although this outfit will be huge on her I hope it will still look alright.
I've been thinking alot about the contest and weightloss program that I wrote about in this post, don't forget the deadline to enter is December 31st so get your comment in before then! But anyways I have been thinking alot about it and alot of the reason I chose to wait till the beginning of the year was because well duh the holidays you certainly eat more. But I thought okay now is my time to start to preparing and I have not been doing that at all I have been snacking on unhealthy foods constantly! You know it taste so good but you feel so guilty after devoring half a tube of chocolate chip cookie dough and then 2 handfuls of multigrain pringles! I know it sounds weird but who out there does this? For some reason if I have a sweet snack I feel that I need a salty one after words how strange is that? I believe this may be my down fall once the diet begins. I think I can handle the 15 minutes exercises but its the food intake that is were I am going to fail. Of course having that kind of attitude I am destined to fail right? I know I will try my dammdest once I start but I have low expectations for myself because I always give up on things... Yep I'm one of those people, if the things that I do are not getting the results that I am looking for I stop, instead of continueing until I get the results I am looking for I just giveup! So as long as I see results from the beginning I will do great but if not I know I will give up on myself! I think that should be something else I look to change in the new year, I need to change my expectations for myself and not let myself fail at everything I do. The only thing I feel I can do good at is taking care of my kids and well when I get frustrated I feel like I am failing once again!
Oh geeze look at me now... This post has turned into a feel sorry for me for being a failure. Sorry about that....
I must go clean and other such things, we have company coming over today and I am super excited!

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

The Randomness that is my Life

I feel badly that I missed posting the past 2 days... But I have been in a slump the last few days, I want to write something that is actually entertaining or at least interesting for you to read but I am just stumped! I was gonna give you a weekend update but well there wasn't much going on this weekend, we did go to a baby shower on Sunday. I was going to post about that but unless you knew the people would it really interest you? Probably not... So I am going to try and post what I was planning on posting but excuse me now if it is confusing to read or sounds stupid.




But then I started looking at my page stats and stuff and realized that no one is reading my blog anyway so whats the point of getting so concerned with what and when I write right?


So if I really wanted to I could tell you that all I did yesterday was help my mom deep clean the carpets and move furniture around and vaccum and do laundry and well yep that about sums up my day yesterday. Exciting huh? Or how about I write about the fact that I REALLY need to go to the store to get some grocerys and that we are basically out of dog food. Or I can talk about the fact that Carly is spitting up every where all over my bed right now and its getting really annoying! Oh how about we talk about all the cyber window shopping I have been doing lately? How do I love cyber window shopping I just wish I could actually do some cyber buying!



I can tell you how that Carly has a security blankey and for some reason the kid can not go to sleep without it!

The blankey that she is holding was actually given to Kara when she was hospitalized with jaundice, she never took to using it as a security blanket or anything like that (instead Kara has two tiger blankets that she must sleep with but they are larger then this). Yesterday Carly was tired and whining and I could not figure out why, finally I gave her blankey and what do you know she fell fast asleep with in seconds. so yeah now I know she must have her blankey to go to bed ( I better never loose it) .

I hope that my creative juices start flowing soon and I will have some awesome post to write, until then enjoy the crap that I spew out.... :)

Have a Great Day!

Catrina

Ha, Who needs sleep?

I've had some interesting things happen today that made me think twice... First I had not really a rough night but Kara woke up early 3:30 to be exact I hate when she wake up that early, not nessisarily because I am up, because I turn on her Nick Jr and she watches her educational shows while the rest of sleep (yeah I'm a horrible parent for letting my kid watch tv in the middle of the night I know but seriously would you like to be up at 3:30 in the morning? yeah I didn't think so!) but when she wakes this early or issues comes with some days she doesn't want to just lay silently and watch her shows some mornings she likes to start with "Mommy, Miwk Pease!" okay Kara I'll get your milk. Then once that cup is finished she is opening the door yelling "Mommy miwk pease!" but this morning while Brooke slept in her bed Kara decided that not only was she not going to lay quitely but she was also going to open the door and turn her bedroom light on. Thankfully Brooke stayed asleep, but not me I was woken quite a few times because of the noise and other such things going on in their room. Not only that but Carly was very quite all night, she actually slept all night I'm talking like almost 12 hours! Of course I was flipping out the whole night checking on her because I was afraid she wasn't breathing. But Thankfully she was fine! After all her sleeping all night she finally woke up at 7am to eat and like most mornings I layed her in bed with me after she was done (yeah I know again I'm a bad parent for allowing my kid to sleep in bed with me) sorry she likes to sleep in bed with me in the morning . When I had to get up to get Devin ready for school Carly was chewing on her hand. When I came back up stairs after Devin left (don't worry folks the bus stop is in our driveway so I didn't go far) I noticed there was blood on Carly's blanket (she was chewing on her blanket when I came upstairs). Of course I panicked why was there blood on her blankey?? I looked in her mouth but seen nothing so I wiped her mouth with the burp cloth and again blood, what the heck is going on I was flipping out everytime I looked in her mouth there was nothing but when I wiped there was blood, finally I looked very intently in her mouth and sure enough the little butt nugget had scratched her gums while she was chewing on her hand (I just cut her nails and they are already long, no not at all they were just short and sharp).

The rest of the day or mostly the day was basically uneventful, although I have to say I thought is was absolutely sweet when Kara and Brooke come out of the bathroom and Brooke is saying how proud she is that Kara pee pee'd in the potty, I was a little shocked because well I had no clue that she needed to potty because she never told me! But I guess her big sister Brooke helped her to go potty, now how sweet is that? Very I would have to say!
Another thing happened that I'm not really sure if I am imagining it or not (because someone kept me up alot this morning) but today after Carly ate she was really crabby, had to be held and kept whining and we just couldn't figure out why? Well finally I decided maybe just maybe she was ready for bed, (of course why didn't she just go to sleep when I was rocking her?) So I took her to her room changed her diaper, changed her jammies and tucked her in and sure enough out she went! Sorry I don't think I have ever had one of my babies wanting to go to bed A) that early or B) on thier own in their bed without being rocked to sleep first. I wonder if perhaps she will sleep as long as she did last night? I hope she will but again I hope that Kara will not wake up at 3:30am either.
Today was a lazy day for me, I read alot of blogs today (in between taking caring of my kiddos) I am now following many new blogs that caught my interest.
I need to finish my project that I started this week and get it ready for Kara's party this Saturday. Which by the way did you know she will be 2 in just 2 short days? I know how crazy is it? Speaking of Birthday's okay its more like an anniversary but this month I will celebrate my first full year on my blog! Yep I've been blogging and boring you for almost a whole year can you believe it? Well time for me to go finish some unfinished work and get ready for tomorrow, no I don't have huge plans but damn I need to go to bed some time right?

Have a Great Night
Catrina

I really should be compensated for my opinion!

Okay so I should be a spokes person for the Belly Bandit but yes I am here to say great things about it agian! I have been wearing the size medium since Thursday night, I have even been wearing it during the day sometimes. I am now down to 42 inches! I am very excited about this because honestly I don't know the last time that I was at a 42 in waist I am sure its been a few years.

My Oh So Boring Life is getting a little more Oh So Busy Lately. With getting ready for school, taking care of a newborn, 22 month old, 4 year old and 7 year old. Trying to clean and keep the house looking half way decent. Lucky for me its my moms house and she HATES a messy house but I am trying to help out the best I can.

I played a game of "ping pong" as my mom calls it last night. Yep thats right when I wanted to be sleeping I was running between my room and Kara's room for about and house at least because everytime I would get Carly calmed down and back to sleep Kara would start crying and whining for whatever reason ( I think because she didn't get a good nap last night) and then as soon as I would go to take care of Kara, Carly would start crying again because she just wanted to be held (I think). So I finally gave in a turned Kara's tv on so I could get some rest. I'm exhausted! But then again what parent isn't?

I don't know about you but we have just 2 more days till school start. I can't believe Devin is a 2nd grader already! They grow up so quickly! Just like I can't believe my Brookie is 4 and will be in preschool this year (and start kindergarten next year), and Kara will be 2 in November and Carly will be a month old next week! It seems like time goes by slowly then all of sudden before you know it your kids are growing up right before your eyes and you wonder were the time went!
I'm glad I get to share this experience with my Hubby, and now with my parents I'm glad they get to be closer to the girls right now and see them in their every day life and watch them grow before thier eyes.
I have to attend to Carly right now ....
Have a Great Day!
Catrina

updates of some sort.

Carly Mae is now 18 days old and she had her "2 week" check up yesterday. She is now 8lbs 3.2oz and 20 3/4 inches long. She is healthy and looking good, they said she is right down the middle with all of her stats and her color looks great. Which alot of people have told me that she has great coloring. I'm so happy that she is no longer in pain from the gas and that the formula is working so well with her tummy! I know its a bit TMI but she's finally pooping! We've had issues with bedtime and her lately. Okay well its not really issues, she normally wakes up about 10pm and stays up till almost 12am, which means I sleep less because I am still up at 10pm. Last night she actually went to bed before 11pm (thankfully) so hopefully she will be waking up earlier so I don't have to stay up till midnight every night since the kiddos will be starting school next week.
Devin starts the first day of 2nd grade on the 7th! I can't believe my big girl is in 2nd grade already, okay I admit it she is still my baby. No matter what age they are they are still my babies. Brookie will be in preschool again this year. Since she won't be 5 until March she can not start kindergarten until next year. We'll send her back to the preschool she was in before summer vacation, although its a little more expensive. For us (okay more for me) its more convenient because although we pay by the day, I get to pick what day I want to send her and its all day long and really close to the house and since I will still have two other children at home to take care of it will be alot easier for me. She'll go one day a week for about 8 hours, instead of 3 days a week for 2-3 hours. Of course Kara and Carly will be at home with me all week long. I'll have to get back in to helping my Brookie learning her alphabet and writing her letters which she does really well with but we will keep working on it, so she knows what she is doing once she gets to kindergarten. I think I may work with Kara as well even though she isn't even 2 yet I think she may be able to learn a little bit. She knows how to count already, I believe to 10. But that is thanks to her older sisters counting with her.
So once school starts I will probably have to make myself a schedule, and then adjust it to fit Carly's schedule. I'm not good with schedules, actually I am horrible at schedules but hey maybe that is what my life needs now that I have 4 children and 2 that are in school. I need a little more stucture and consistancy in my day. But then I know bummer, I'll have less time for you all, Haha like I really post that often anymore. I have been trying to post more, I guess I could post during nap time, I'll find time for you all.
But I don't think I will start making a schedule for myself until Devin goes back to school because that will be when I will be forced to wake up early every morning so I can get Devin ready for school.
Do you have a schedule? What is it like? How do you handle it? Like I said I have never been one for schedules so I'm not sure how to do this. How do you keep to your schedule when you are exhausted? Shoot how do you get off your butt when you are exhausted? I'm so tired right now, I need to shower and go to the store so that I can get some more formula (don't worry we aren't out... yet). I just want to nap!
Okay I am going to get up and start getting things ready. I swear this is not an illusion!

Have a Great Day
Catrina

2 weeks have past...

Mommy I've got gas!

So there is my little Carly Mae, she has gas lately but hey at least her gas smiles are cute as hell right? So that brings me to my next thought. We breastfed for 2 weeks but unfortunitly the breast milk was making Carly extremely gassy and she was in ALOT of pain and she was having problems pooping as well. She went 48 hours without pooping and then another 48 hours without pooping. Well on day 14 of her life we made the switch from breast feeding to formula and her tummy problems have been resolved. Unfortunitly there was something in my breastmilk that was upsetting her fragile little belly and instead of trying to eliminate foods and continue watching her suffer in pain we gave her formula. Yes I am extremely bummed out that we are no longer breastfeeding since it helped me to loose 20lbs (well 22 but I ended up gaining 2 back), and I know breast feeding is cheaper and better for my baby. But I am so relieved that she is no longer in pain and screaming all night long. She is now a happy camper.
Today Carly Mae is 16 days old, she is back up to her birth weight and doing well. She finally pooped twice yesterday (after only pooping once in 4 days). I am enjoying my time with her and so happy that she is finally here. The older girlies are enjoying thier baby sister has well. Kara being that she is only 21 1/2 months old is doing very well with Carly and loves her baby sister and even helps mommy out with throwing away diapers and such. She loves to kiss her baby sister and hold her. The older girls love her as well but I think the novelty of having a new baby in the house has worn off for them, because they are no longer begging me to hold her constantly although they do want to touch her alot.
Since Carly is here and its now time for me to start loosing weight again I will be trying to keep up with Fighting the Fat Fridays, obviously I'm not aiming for my prepregnancy weight (with Carly at least) But I still have alot of weight to take off. I'll give all my stats and such on Friday to jump start the new Fighting the Fat Friday. Guess what though? My life is not as Oh So Boring as it normally is... with doctors appointments and errands and a new baby in the house things have been pretty hectic. Thankfully I have my mom to help me out and keep me sane! But speaking of my newly busy life I must go I have bath's to give and errands to run today... Not sure yet if I want to risk taking all 4 kids with me though as its usually pretty hectic with all 4!
Wish me luck!

Have a Wonderful Day!
Catrina

Carly Mae has arrived (birth story)

Yep thats right Carly Mae has Arrived! Friday I got impatient yes I was 39 weeks and had one more week left, actually I only had 4 days left because I was suppose to be induced yesterday (Tuesday August 17th). But as I said I was getting impatient and really didn't want to be induced I wanted to go into labor on my own (or as close to on my own as possible). So Friday August 13th I did the unthinkable, okay not the unthinkable but most people would say I was nuts. First I had White Castles for dinner ( known for causing bowel issues), then I took some castor oil and ate some pineapple, not exactly sure what the pineapple does but I heard alot of rumors that fresh pineapple helps. So that was just about 6pm when I did all that, by 8pm I started having contractions 2-3 minutes apart. We finally decided at about 10pm to go into the hospital, thinking this might finally be it. I was still only 3cm dilated and about 50% effaced. They monitored the contractions for about 1 hour. After an hour they checked me and I was still 3, the nurse was going to call the doctor and knew he would send me home, so she had me walk the halls. So I walked the halls for a half hour, the contractions were getting stronger but weren't horrible yet after that she waited another half hour to check me and I was dilated to a 4, Yipee your staying she tells me. I was so excited at this point it was 1am. She called the doctor and he said he would be in later to break my water, I tried to take a nap but the contractions were uncomfortable so that didn't work so well. The doctor came in at 2:30am to break my water I was still 4cm but was 60%. I requested my epidural right away, but it took probably an hour or so before I was able to get it. It was wonderul relief to get the epidural as I was in some good pain. I was able to take a little nap from about 5 to 5:30 when the nurse came in to give me some pitocin I guess my contraction were getting farther apart because of the epidural. By about 6:10 am, the nurse checked me again and I was only 6cm. She told me if I began feeling any pressure or pain to let her know. Not soon after, were talking like 10 minutes later I felt some pain so I pressed my little epidural button to get some more meds it took the pain away for like oh 30 seconds. So I pressed it again, this time it didn't take the pain away, so I called my nurse... I am feeling ALOT of pain and Pressure, she comes in checks me again and the baby was right there and I was 10cm (in less then 20 minutes!), they call the doctor and let him know, He was on the floor right above us. He told the nurse to have me do some practice pushes and if I am doing good then he will come down. The nurse told me to push and before I could finish my first practice push she told the other nurse to call the doctor. I did my second practice push and then she told me to stop and candle blow because the baby was right there. We only waited a few minutes for the doctor to get there and he started to "suit up" he told me to push, and then told me to stop because she was coming down so fast. It only to about 5 minutes (maybe 10 I'm not sure) and Carly Mae was born at 6:48am on August 14, 2010. She was a bit bruised at birth because of the fast delivery but the nurse weren't sure at first why, so they gave her some oxygen. She weight in at 7lbs 1oz, but totally did not look that big. She was 21 in long! No one noticed at first (not even the doctors) but Carly has 2 clubed feet, her right foot bend upward, she can touch the top of her foot to her shin bone. The other one isn't so bad, We've already made her appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon that Brooke see's. She also has jaundice and will find out what route will be taken tomorrow at her first appointment, I took her today to get blood work done and her levels are at 15 which is pretty high. They will look at her weight and such tomorrow and decide whether to get another blood draw and see what to do. Hopefully she will not end up in the hospital like Kara did, but we will see tomorrow. I am of course super worried because, when Kara had her levels checked she was at a 15 and by the time we got to the hospital she was 19. We had Carly's levels check yesterday and they were 15, we will have them checked again today, hopefully they have not gone up.


Have a Great Day!
Catrina