Bettering myself

With the new year brings the dreaded question. What's your resolution? And as usual I think of something good but know that I will never keep it. But at least I get the "that's fantastic!!" reply. Last year it was to get to 36 weeks pregnant with Josh. And I actually did it!! This year I'm not going for weight-loss or lower clothing sizes but I'm going for doing some sort of exercise every day. I started today. And I have goals. At one week of doing it I get an hour to myself. To read and get coffee or what ever I want. And I'll do it every week. At one month maybe a haircut. Just simple things. But to make me feel better about myself. Because if you ask Caleb about the last couple days it's been bad. I've felt horrible and fat and gross. So I'm changing it. I hope to be to a size 6 next jan 1st. And since I'm only a size 9 now I know I can make it. I just need to start eating better and working out. :) because not only do I deserve to feel better about myself, my hubby deserves to have a hot sexy wife by his side. Not a frumpy freak show. :) so here's to a new year with a good resolution that I can keep!

Crazy December

I found that I rarely have time to just sit with a computer on my lap with the older boys eating me out of house and home and running wild and Josh eating non stop, growing (22lbs almost!!!), and trying to walk. In one week he went from moving an inch or two to full out crawling, pulling himself up on everything possible, and cruising!!!!! And now he keeps trying to walk! My little baby is all grown up. But with all this and a marriage time to just sit down and blog doesn't happen. So I found the app on my phone!!! Yay!!!! So last week and the week before we celebrated 5 years of craziness!! 5 years of life for Ben and 5 years of marriage for me and the hubby. I can't believe it's been 5 years. On top of that we had my sister here with her 2 kids and then today hubby's friend from Bragg is coming here for 4days and then my brother is coming for 3 days and then my sister with her kids are back for another 2 weeks min. So it's CRAZY!!!!! Plus my younger brother is getting married and Bens the ring bearer. :) and in march we are moving again. :) I live the life of a crazy lady. But life never stops! So I am off!!

Almost 6 months later and a move across the country

Well I am here!! I promise. We have been super busy. Josh is almost 6 months old and we had his appointment yesterday. He 18lbs 4oz (76th%) and 27 3/8 cm long (91%). He's doing great. Rolling over front to back and back to front. along with almost crawling forward (he has backwards down). He's almost sitting up completely unassisted and is just so big and fun. He isn't sleeping through the night anymore and hasn't since we started our drive across the country. We start baby foods next month and are going with homemade baby food. I'm so excited!!!!! The big boys are doing great too. Ben is almost 5 and is so excited for his birthday but is hating to wait for it. Tristen is doing good too. He is turning out to have quite the attitude when he's tired and I hate missing their naps. Caleb is doing great too. He graduated the course and we are now at our new station in Washington. So far I like my neighbors and the kids play outside everyday with the other kids. We ended up getting rid of our dogs when we got here because the house is just too small for two big dogs. We ended up getting base housing because the houses where we wanted to live were just slightly out of our price range and we decided we are not going to retire to the west coast. We are going to AZ. it's AMAZING there. :) Caleb is enjoying his work and I'm loving being here. I had my sister come up and see us last week and I went down and saw my dad and friends. The drive across the country was a lot of fun. We came  from NC all the way to Washington. We stopped and saw some of my family and Caleb's and both of our friends. All of which we haven't seen in a very long time. We went swimming almost every night and the kids did great. Josh let us know when he was done for the day and we'd stop at that time. I miss all of my friends and family in NC and wish I could be back there but the life of an army wife is making new friends and family where ever you go. Josh is hungry again so I need to go but here is Josh's 5 month picture. :) 

Josh's Birth

Tristen's turn to hold baby brother

Burping after his first feeding

An extra proud daddy holding his boy for the first time

Pictures while waiting to prove to facebook that I was ok.

My last day being pregnant 39 weeks exactly

Josh at just 12 hours old

Saying Hi to Ben after Josh was born

Ben held him first
 

It's almost been a week and I want to get this written before I forget. I went in for my 39 week appointment at 920. I was getting achy and wanted to see if we could jump start things. My plan was to ask for the membrane sweep, go home and do chores and go for a walk and shopping. Hoping that it would give my body a little jump. And since a lot of time it doesn't work I had my 40 week appointment the following Monday to try again. I had to go alone with the boys since Caleb had a formation but he was going to try and get to the appointment before it was over. The doctor heard the heart beat and was getting ready to do my cervix exam when I asked if she would be willing to do a membrane sweep and thinking she would say no she said sure! that they usually will do them at 38 weeks if asked. So I got excited! She went to do it and because my cervix likes to hide she had to push a little harder and POP goes the water. At first I thought I had tinkled a little and I was soooo embarrassed until she said "well oops. but it's clear and clean so lets get your babysitters here and get you upstairs". At this point my brain was going a million miles a minutes and I was starting to freak out a little. I still had dishes to do at home and there was a load of laundry that needed to be washed. And I hadn't vacuumed the day before like I needed to. I sent Caleb a message saying "water broke. need you now." and when I went to the front of the hospital he was running across the parking lot faster then I've seen him run. He got to me and we started making the calls and texts. I texted my brother to see what they were up to that day since I didn't know if he worked or not and he was our main babysitter. Caleb called our backup sitter which was his friend and got him on the way to our house. My brother was at breakfast and would swing by to pick up the carseats from my car and then go pick the boys up from our friend. After getting that figured out we both called our parents (it was only about 6am their time.) and let them know their newest grandson was coming. After the phone calls Caleb took the boys home and I went upstairs. I was only at 3cm when they did my exam at the doctors and not contracting so they wanted to start Pitocin. I wanted a drug free birth so I asked if I could walk around a little first and try to get labor going naturally once Caleb got there. They allowed it but after 6 hours the contractions wouldn't stick so we started the Pitocin on a low dose. I was extremely bored and was on facebook the whole time. I constantly had people saying they couldn't believe I was having a kid. :) The pitocine finally started to work at the lowest level and at 6 I was hurting bad. I was laying on my side with Caleb rubbing my back the whole time. When he stopped I'd yell at him to keep going. And by the end his hand was cramping bad and I wanted to punch him for using his nuckles instead of massaging my back. I asked for meds. Just enough to take the edge off but the nurse couldn't do an exam because I was in too much pain and I really didn't want the drugs so I said never mind. possibly in a ruder way though. At about 1950 everyone had left the room for one reason or another and my body switched from laboring to pushing and I screamed at Caleb to get someone beccause it was time. (While starting to do little pushes). I will never forget how Caleb ran around my bed straight into the rolling chair only to push it in front of him and trip on it again. He ran down the hall and I could hear him yelling at the nurse that I was pushing. They ran back into the room and Caleb told me not to push and I just glared at him. The nurse did a quick exam since I was already down and ready and she said I was good to go. When the whole room flocked with EVERYONE. I had told everyone when I arrived that the second I started to push we had 10 minutes MAX. And I guess they listened which was good because I started to push at 1956 ( I remember this because I looked at the clock and said we'd have another Ben and Caleb said only if I got him out in 4 minutes) And I was pushing good until they lost Josh's heartbeat and then I lost it for a couple minutes. Then got myself together and he made his entrance at 2006. I took him immediately and held him for 15 minutes before the nurse took him to weigh him and examine him. After that I harassed the doctors that were busy delivering my placenta (SO AWESOME TO WATCH!) and I later got to play with it. :) Then we discussed whether the hospital really was like greys anatomy with all the sex in storage closets (to which the answer was YES!) and of course while they were sewing me up I was posting on facebook. Yeah I'm a freak. The boys came and saw us later that night but were both asleep the whole time except for Ben when he wanted to snuggle with me. The boys came back the next day and were happy to hold Josh. It was an amazing experience and I loved going drug free again. Though once the pit really started working it was a little harder. But still proud of myself. So finally here is the birth story. Almost 6 months late. :)

Boys and Hubby

This was supposed to be posted in March but some how didn't. oops. :) I'll post another one as soon as i'm done with all the other "drafts" lol.

I haven't done an update about the men of the family in a while. It's been a crazy weekend and couldn't help but think of them. Caleb is doing great in his classes. He's learning so much and is ready to fix up our house when we find one to buy. :) He has all these plans and it's going to be fun to see him do them. He's been the most amazing husband ever and I still don't know how I got so lucky. We are almost to the end of his training here which I'm both excited and sad about. While being here it meant that I didn't have to worry about deployments and knew he was always safe (though how safe is jumping out of airplanes??). Now when we get to Washington I know we'll get that dreaded word quickly. But it's part of the army life. Right now we are focusing on getting through his schooling and graduation. I can't believe we've been here at Bragg for a year now. It's been amazing. Caleb's excited to get done though and to put his new skills to use. Plus he wants to go back west. He hasn't seen his family in over a year and a half and the trip home is going to be good. Hopefully. lol. We'll see how old Josh is when we move. Caleb's getting more and more excited about Josh. Since he's finally home and able to enjoy the pregnancy it's been a lot of fun. We have all the nursery furniture and put together. :) Now we have the stroller and carseat. We just have to get a couple clothes, blankets, and sheets. And some towels. otherwise we are ready for him to get here. And Caleb did it all. He put everything together for me and he's always spoiling me rotten. The boys up until about a week ago were doing great. Now though they are having some major issues. I think they understand that something is about to change. Ben has become VERY VERY clingy (which he has NEVER EVER EVER been) and Tristen has become well...I guess a worse Tristen. He's in constant trouble, and it's getting difficult to deal with. He's also become mr independent but can't do most of the things he wants to do. Which makes it very difficult. Otherwise they are doing good. Ben is very excited for Josh (for now :) ) and always asks if we are ok. Tristen did the CUTEST thing ever! We have one of these  and if you look at the purple part that holds the marker it looks like a mini doppler. Tristen came up to me a couple days ago and said "I'm a baby doctor and I need to hear Josh" so he put the "doppler" on my tummy and goes "thumpthumpthump" "he's healthy!" it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE. I loved it. I can't wait for Josh to get here so we can all be together. So Caleb is almost done, The boys are killing me with their cuteness, and the dogs are killing me with their trouble making. :) It's been a good year that we've been here. and I kinda don't want to go. :)

4 weeks old!

I can't believe little man is getting so big. He's awake A LOT more which when he's awake means boobs. lol. Just like the other 2 he loves to comfort nurse. Things are going well here. Caleb is gone but it's honestly not as bad as I thought it was. The big kids are doing great. and Josh is making everything easy. I'm not sure how I got so lucky. Only 3 weeks until Caleb is home and done with the course then it's back to the West coast!! I can't wait. I'll try and post pictures sometime soon. Today is the start of loosing weight loss and major house cleaning. Hopefully it goes well. :)

3 weeks

Josh is 3 weeks old tomorrow and I can't believe it!!! I'm sorry I haven't had a lot of time to blog. We had Caleb's family here to enjoy some grandparent time and we stayed very relaxed. I think I was on the computer once to check bank accounts and that was it. I'm exhausted to say the least. Josh eats any where from every 30 minutes to 2 hours. but never any longer. And then I'm also pumping for my nephew. He's 9 days younger then Josh (He was born on Tristen's birthday!) My sister in law is having a supply issue and I've been pumping from the beginning to relieve engorgement so when they asked for milk I said HELL YEAH! :) I'm glad it's going to use because we don't bottle feed until 3 months and then it's for a date if we want one (yup we don't go on dates for the first 3 months) I've had numerous people tell me my marriage is going to fail because I spend too much time with Josh and don't let Caleb help feed. Can we say CRACK HEADS. For some reason a bottle is necessary for bonding. Burping, bathing, holding, and changing diapers is not in any way bonding. hahahaha. yeah I've got some vents to get out. Caleb made a joke last week when he asked when I wanted to start baby foods. When I said I'd like to wait until 9 months he said why not wait until 4 years. When I posted it on facebook (as a my hubby is so funny) I had numerous people say things about how it was weird I was going to breastfeed longer then 6 WEEKS!!! WHAT THE HECK! Why is it weird? A. have you seen formula prices? B. I dislike washing bottles. Right now I wash 2 bottles 3 times a day (pumping bottles) and that's enough for me. and C. Why would I switch when I'm loving it and don't plan on quiting until a year. It's funny to me how we've completely sexualized boobs and taken the natural things out of it. I'm also weird because the boys watch me breastfeed and talk to them about it. They know when Josh cries he's hungry and he gets food from mommy's breasts. But ANYWAY! 3 weeks. I can't believe it. I'm still working on his birth story. With so little time to be on the computer it's taking a little longer to write. I'll try and finish it soon. But for now time is focused on Josh, then when he's laying down, the big boys and Caleb. It's getting crazy. And starting Sunday I'll be all on my own with all 3 boys. Caleb is leaving for the last part of his training. It's 28 days and NO contact. EEK! :) But I'll be ok. But Josh is ready for his next feeding and if I don't post this I'll forget about it. :) Have a GREAT day!! Oh and a picture to let you see my chunks. :) 

1 hour old

17 days old