Happy Halloween! Nap or treat!

Well, last night left me a bit more tired. I think between 2am and 5am, I was only laying in bed for about 5-10minutes because Jacob & Leah were waking up. Anyway, I thought that this afternoon, maybe I'd get the big boys to take a little nap (so I could do the same!). Jacob is asleep, Leah is asleep; Leyton & Nathaniel are not. I told them that we'd need a lot of energy to go trick-or-treating tonight so that maybe we should take a nap to get more energy. They both replied in a VERY serious manner...Leyton: "Mom, I actually already have a lot of energies in my pocket." Nathaniel: "I already have a lot of energies; they're in my basket. I don't need anymore." So there you have it; looks like I won't get a nap, but I did get a chuckle. Maybe I'll rest later...20 years later. Ha, ha. Hopefully we'll be able to get a few pictures of everyone tonight. Leyton: Bob the Builder, Nathaniel: Thomas the Train, Jacob: a green M&M, Leah: cute (that's the neat part - she can wear anything!).

Convenient Dinners

With the birth of Leah, I will admit that I have not been cooking very frequently. My mom was here and during that time, she cooked fairly often. In addition, some of our family and friends have very kindly brought a meal by for us to help us out during this busy time. We have been very appreciative. Tonight I was warming the dinner that was delivered to us by a friend from church. Nathaniel said to me, "Mom, so we can't cook dinner anymore?" I didn't really think about it much but I replied, "Well, sure we can. What do you mean?" He said, "Well, since we got our new baby, we can't cook dinner anymore?" I thought that was funny. I will cook again, but I really do appreciate the help we have received.

Great Big Brothers

They continue to be great big brothers. Jacob has as well, he's just harder

to catch for a picture when he's being loving or giving her kisses!

Halloween Approaches

So only a few more days until Halloween. Leyton & Nathaniel are going to be Thomas the train, Jacob will be an M&M. Leah may possibly wear a Halloween type outfit (not really a costume), but that depends if I make it to the store to get one. She won't be going out anyway, so we'll just see what we do. I think that on Monday we'll carve our pumpkins & get them ready to be jack-o-lanterns. Nathaniel has especially been looking forward to this. It will be a good "project" (they love doing projects). Hopefully the weather will be nice.

Date at Home

So we had a nice weekend this weekend. On Saturday, we once again went to see Jim Cosgrove. It was actually kind of nice because they had some raffles there and after the show I won a new coffee pot for us! It's a nice one (nicer than I'd buy I'm sure, and we actually needed a new one); it saved me a trip to the store! The boys had fun & Jim got to meet Leah. Saturday night Patrick & I had kind of a date at home. We ordered a nice meal from a restaurant we enjoy and ate it after the kids were asleep. We had a nice time & got to visit quite a bit more than we have lately.

Flying Solo

Well, I'm officially flying solo on the daytime duty with the kids now. My mom left today to go back home after staying for almost two full weeks. We have really appreciated her help with the house & with the boys. Hopefully she had fun as well?! Now she will go home to work on projects & business stuff until her wonderful vacation in Nov. to Cancun and then they'll be back here for Thanksgiving, then the following week is my brother's wedding.

I think I'll be able to handle the new routine just fine. I'm feeling good with the exception of being tired, but that won't change for some time. We'll work now on establishing our daily schedule of events that will hopefully allow us to still fit in everything we need to do (including Jacob's nap, feeding Leah, and maybe some fun stuff, too). Leyton & Nathaniel have really been playing well together & keeping occupied and that has been helping a lot. They are all such wonderful kids.

This weekend we'll go see Jim Cosgrove on Saturday morning. The boys are very excited for it and it will be a fun family thing to do. That is about it for now. Hopefully Patrick will have a break as he has worked a ton this week. I think as of Wed. when he got home at 4am, he had worked about 45 hours for the week in those 3 days. He slept well last night, so that is helpful for starters!

That's about it for now. Will try to post a few more pictures soon.

Preschool Open House

On Tuesday night, we had open house at preschool for the big boys. It was very nice. Leyton & Nathaniel had little signs to wear that had a checklist on the back. The front of the sign said "Preschool Tour Guide." The checklist was a list of things they were to show us at the open house: different art projects, their library, birthday book, brown bear, calendar, etc. They seemed to really enjoy showing off their classroom and their projects. Then we got to bring the projects home. That was fun, too, because it actually helped me understand a little better when they would sometimes mention projects that I hadn't seen yet. They'd tell me what they did and they were exactly right, I just didn't have the visual of the project to know that what they told me was exactly what they did. School still seems to be going well, so that is good. They had school pictures last week so we will anxiously await their arrival to see how well they turn out!

Looking back on the Labor & Delivery

I have thought about aspects of labor & delivery lately and the reactions received from nurses & doctors during the whole process. It leaves me with just a few questions...
1) When you arrive at the hospital thinking you are in labor, even if you are pretty sure it's the case, it's interesting how calm & unassuming the nurses can be. I guess that has to do with the fact that they have a lot of women come in thinking they are in labor, and some are and I'm sure a large number aren't. So, they can't really let on either way, but just go about their business to find out your particular status. Once they determine that, then the whole attitude seems to change. Like I thought labor was really going on (& it was), but at first the nurse was just kind of like, ok, um, let's check this out & get the monitors on, etc. Then they checked me for the first time & I was 7cm dilated so then they are like, well, ok are you ready to have a baby, because it won't be long.
2) When the whole pushing part is going on, the doctor and nurse were very encouraging. They were saying, "Oh, you're doing a great job, keep going, keep going, etc.; You're almost there..." With that I wonder, do they say that to everyone? Are you really getting closer or do they just say that to keep you motivated? It seemed so positive and I just wondered if that was really 100% sincere, or just a good cheerleader? Granted, my labors have been pretty short, so I guess I was getting things accomplished, but like I said, I just wondered if that was some talk to keep the moms going.

Anyway, random, but things I have thought about in the past week.

Our Newly Updated Life

Well, Leah is one week old today. She is doing well. We went to the doctor today and other than being a little jaundiced, she is doing great. She weighed 7lb 9.6oz today, so that's above her birth weight. Guess she's eating enough. She's a content little one and is doing pretty well on the whole sleeping thing, so that's good. She's just waking up about every 3 hours, and has been having one stretch closer to 4 hours. I'll take that! Here's a picture of her awake. To be honest, at this point, I must say Patrick gets to claim 3/4 of our kids as she looks like him in my opinion.

The boys are doing GREAT with her. Leyton is very good at enunciating her name with an emphatic LLLeah. They all like to say things like, "It's ok baby girl." "Hi baby girl." "Hi Leah." Etc. Nathaniel is such a sweet big brother. He is very protective and likes to hold her as much as he can. We were at Target the other day and he wanted to buy two outfits for "Leah Elizabeth." It was very sweet. He is always concerned with how she's doing. And then there's Jacob, who has been amazingly gentle! He says "Kisses" & puts his cheek to hers and he also pats her head very gently. He also says, "Hi baby girl." It is very cute. We really couldn't expect a better acceptance of her in my opinion!

Other than that, all else is pretty good. School continues to go well for the boys. They have really been telling some great stories lately about whatever comes to their minds. The other day, Nathaniel was telling me about how he still works at Pulte Homes and that he's busy there. But, he said he doesn't have any more mints; he ate all his mints there. (When Patrick worked at Pulte Homes, he would occasionally bring home mints for the boys, hence the story goes.)

The Home will be Changed Forever!

Well, we met our new arrival yesterday! On Oct. 11, 2007 at 1:26am, we welcomed Leah Elizabeth to our family. 7lb 5oz, 18 1/2 inches. Yes, a girl. I was surprised how different I felt as a mom immediately just realizing I'm no longer a boys only mom. It's very exciting. The boys are very excited, also, and love to hold Leah. The labor and delivery was smooth and Leah and I are both doing very well. I guess I was feeling like the time was coming because on Wed. night, I was just getting some things organized and totally ready for the next day. I also called Beth (our night on call person & wonderful aunt to watch the boys) and asked her to make sure she had her phone near her when she slept. We came to the hospital around 12:15 or 12:30am and I was about 6-7cm when they first checked me. So, it was good we came in when we did! We're actually going to be heading home late tonight. We were allowed to go a bit early, but I think we're ready. Pictures will follow. We are so happy to have our newest beautiful blessing!

Nathaniel's quick pic

Just can't leave out a picture of him?! I'm sure we'll have another one of him next week with Brown Bear!

Leyton has Brown Bear

The boys' class has a Brown Bear that each week goes home with someone different. Last week, Leyton had him. We write about what they did with Brown Bear in a little book and the story gets shared with the class. Nathaniel is very excited about his turn coming up this Thursday. He asks every day when it's his turn. They have a lot of fun with it and really take good care of Brown Bear!

Jacob says "CHEESE!"

Well, in the last couple of weeks, Jacob has turned a corner on posing. He has never wanted to sit for a picture before, but has now become quite a cutie when he sits & says "CHEESE"! Here's one or two from recently.

39 weeks & counting

So today marks my 39 week point. It was my last scheduled day of work this year. Strange feeling! I wonder when the baby will arrive? Who knows. I guess last Thursday, I was 50% & 2-3cm, so I guess there's some progress, but no big action yet. The boys are very excited that I'll be staying home for "a lot of days" now and they look forward to Grandma's visit. Shouldn't be long!

Random Thoughts & Comments

- When Jacob plays with trucks, he pushes them around and has to make "beep beep" noises as big trucks do when in reverse.
- Nathaniel told me today, "Mom, thank you for staying home with me all day." He also said, "This dinner is delicious" (I've never heard him say delicious before that)
- Leyton has a full body response to things and will say stuff like, "That is silly." This comes with a head shake, putting out the hands to the sides, etc. Very much into body language & facial expression.
- Leyton & Nathaniel both have been talking about things like the sky being wonderful or beautiful.

Fast Times and Slow Times

The slow times... Well, as far as the baby goes, the days are passing slowly. I feel good, but just don't know when the big day will be. I am now thinking I'll go overdue?! I figure, if it hasn't happened yet, I don't know how/why it'll change. Ha. I go to the doctor on Thursday, so I'll be curious to see if there is any sign (other than my stomach measurement) that the baby may come soon. We'll hope. I think Grandma & Grandpa would be okay with 10/4 as that's their anniversary! That would be fine with me. I'm still feeling pretty good, not uncomfortable, really, so that's good. I'm a bit worn out, but don't know if it's truly any more than usual. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

The fast times... the three growing boys currently in the house! Jacob got a haircut today - his first basic buzz cut. He looks quite different. It wasn't what I planned, but simply how it ended up in dealing with the time he allowed for it to be done and the amount of wiggling. Leyton & Nathaniel have crazy sock day at school tomorrow & are supposed to wear red. We're hoping to round up some Jayhawk or Chiefs socks for the day. Also, a neighbor dropped off two different things today - it may be a challenge to have these popular items shared. She brought us one set of Curious George pajamas (they love Curious George) and a Hawaiian type shirt with palm trees & lots of cars & trucks on it (yes, another shirt to fit the basic wardrobe they currently enjoy). I'm curious to see if it will work that we have one of each of these two different exciting things! The other school thing that came up today was that we were talking about cleaning up the legos on the sunroom floor (they are there almost all the time). I asked if we could clean them up & they said, "Actually, we only clean up at school." My response of course, "WHAT?" Ha, ha. Anyway, then they went on to say it was because there's "clean up music" at school and that's what determines their cleaning efforts. I have decided I must find out more about this magic music - couldn't everyone use such a thing?

I put Jacob down for nap today & Nathaniel always wants me to hurry with that & get back to him. Today he even said, "Mom, I want you to come out of Jakey's room because I like you to spend time with me." I made sure he knows how much I like it too.

I guess to top off the day, the weather was absolutely perfect, so much of the day, we were out side enjoying the sandbox, swingset, etc., & collected "nature things" in ziploc bags for fun.

Enough for one day.