Well We Made It.....

We made it through Christmas. We had a wonderful time, Santa was very good to the kids and they were truly happy. We spent time with family, ate good food and received many wonderful gifts. But although it was great, I am so relieved that it has passed and the new year is upon us. Our holiday schedule went something like this. Christmas Eve we went to my aunt Carols house, Christmas morning the kids were up early and then my parents came over at about 10:30 that morning and brought more gifts. Then we went to my grandmothers at 1pm, then to my grandfathers around 4pm. Then we headed over to Tim's parents and spent some time over there. Then the day after Christmas we headed back over to my grandmothers because my two aunts and my 4 cousins came from Va Beach. So we were busy to say the least!!
We have had such a stressful time these past fews months that I will be happy to welcome a new year and new things. I started watching a 7 month old sweet little boy a couple of weeks ago and Tim got a new government job!! He will start on January 5th. This is such a good thing! His job comes with great benefits and great hours. Something that his previous jobs have not. It also comes with security, something that we have needed for a very long time. So the new year couldn't come sooner! I hope that everyone else's Christmas was a nice as ours. I will post some holiday pics as soon as I get a chance.

Can They Ever Be Well?

Ok, so my kids just keep taking turns being sick!! I thought we were all out of the woods and then Natalie got sick.... again. She has the worst cold and cough ever. Her eyes are all runny and it looks like she may have pink eye. I'm kind of waiting to see how things go. I know that sometimes a virus can cause things to come out of everywhere! I'm hoping that she is all better by Thanksgiving, which is only 3 days away.
I went out for the first time by myself on Saturday night. I went out with two very good lady friends. We had a blast just eating and talking. It was the first time since Natalie was born that I'd gone out with absolutely no kids. And wouldn't you know that my sweet almost always happy baby screamed and cried the entire 2 1/2 hours that I was away from home? I didn't know who to feel more sorry for her or my wonderful husband who was caring for her? He had our 10 year old(who was a very large help), our 5 and 3 year old who apparently kept fighting and getting in trouble and our little 8 month old Natalie who had a scream fest. I think that may be the last time I'm allowed out of the house if one of my babies is sick. There's just nothing like a mamas love when you are a sick baby/kid. I know I used to feel like that too. No one could make me feel better like my mom. Anyway, I better go and try to sneak a little nap in while ALL of the kids are sleeping. That doesn't happen very often and if I wait to long my chance will be gone!!

Not Much Time

So, I don't have much time to blog. But I wanted to start today and make a promise to myself that I will blog at least a few times a week. I've been so bad about blogging lately! It couldn't be because I'm insanely busy with my 4 crazy kids! Anyway, this weekend was pretty relaxing for once and was going pretty well. Until this morning when Kaitlyn my 5 year old came in my room at around 6:30am complaning of a tummy ache. Well, we all know what came after that. The poor thing kept throwing up all morning. Right now, thankfully she is sleeping all snuggled up in her bed. And we are trying to keep my extremly energetic 3 year old quiet, which is no easy task. Hopefully when she wakes up she will feel a little better. I always feel so bad for my kids when they are sick because there is not anything I can do to make them feel better. All I can do is give them snuggles, rub their achy little bodies and hold their hair back when they are throwing up. I'm sure she will be feeling a little more back to herself tomorrow. And heres to hoping none of the other children get it!!! And on a lighter note. Here are some pictures of my youngest, Natalie. Being able to kiss those sweet cheeks just makes all the bad things go away, at least for a while.

Long, Long Time No Blog!!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in 4 months!! It's been so crazy around here with 4 kids that I barely have time to shower on most days! Anyway, everyone is doing great and growing and thriving! Natalie is now 6 months old! And get this, she weighs a whopping 19 lbs! She is one big girl! She is so chunky and squishy I could just snuggle and squeeze her all day! In fact, that's what I spend most of my time doing. She is a cuddler too! When just about anyone is holding her she will just pop her thumb in her mouth and lay her head down right on your shoulder. Very cute. Some other news is that Kaitlyn just turned 5 on August 21st. She is also getting very big. TJ recenlty had a birthday too! He turned 3 on July 11th. Next is Chris who will be 10 in October! All of my kids are growing so fast. I wish they would slow down just a little bit!! School is about to start here on September 3rd. Chris is going into 4th grade and Kaitlyn will be starting Kindergarten. It's hard to believe that my baby girl is old enough to start school. And then the next week TJ will be going to preschool at our church two mornings a week. Yep, on Monday and Tuesday mornings it will just be Natalie and I!!! What ever am I going to do with such an empty house? Well, I plan to clean, clean clean!!! This house is in desperate need of a good cleaning! It's barely been cleaned all summer. I mean, I straighten up and put things away, but haven't really done any deep cleaning. So while Natalie naps and everyone else is in school I will be cleaning. And I actually can't wait! I've never been in this house with virtually no kids while cleaning. It's sad that I am so excited about cleaning. But I know the mamas with a few kids will totally get what I'm saying!! I guess I better get off. Natalie wants out of her saucer and wants some snuggles!

Been Awhile!

It's been awhile since I've blogged. I have been so wrapped up in stuff around here it's hard to sit down and write. Right now for the first time I have all the little ones napping at the same time!! Even the baby is napping! It has been so quiet around here for the past couple of hours. I have been decluttering while they sleep. I am getting rid of a bunch of toys that the kids don't play with anymore. This is the best time to do it because they can't fight me on it. I have been trying to live with less and not have such a cluttered house. But it's very hard when your hubby doesn't want to get rid of anything! He's fine with toys going but other stuff for some reason he thinks we need to keep, even though we haven't even looked at it in a year. I think it comes from his mom. She does the same thing. They are both wonderful people and I love them both very much even though they like to hold on to things forever! I've really been on this kick to get my house in order and decluttered. It seems like when I was pregnant things got crazy because I didn't feel like doing anything.

As for everything else in my life, it is going great. Kaitlyn only has 1 more month of preschool left and then she is done. I can't believe how fast the school year has gone!! She will be a kindergartener in the fall! Man how time flies! Chris will be done with the 3rd grade a month after her and will be moving on to the 4th grade! Crazy! TJ will only be turning 3 this summer so he will still be home with me. We did have a chance to put him in preschool where Kaitlyn goes now but he just doesn't seem mature enough. He is also not potty trained yet and I don't know if he ever will be. He is a tough little cookie!! Anyone have any suggestions? And my littlest one, Natalie is going to be 2 months old in a few days!! I can't believe it. She is growing so fast. I'll have to put some more pictures up of her in my next post. She is getting so chubby. She loves to eat!!!

That is pretty much it for now. The weather is finally starting to get nice too so I am able to take the kids out to play more now. It was hard when it was still so cold. I am so thankful for spring and summer weather! I can keep all the windows open in the house and air it out and I can start hanging my clothes on the line outside again!! I love this weather!

Some Picures of the New Little One

These are from when we were still in the hospital, which was almost a month ago already!! I can't believe that Natalie is almost a month old already!! Wow, does time fly when your a busy mama!!!

Our New Addition!!

Well, it's been a long while since I posted. But I have some exciting news! Our new little one arrived on 2/26 at 12:22pm. She weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 20 inches long. And I am so proud of myself, why you ask? Because I went all natural with no kind of drugs not even an epidural!! It was definitley painful and hard, but totally worth it. I was able to get up pretty much right away, no back pain no numbness no nausea. And the baby was so alert right after birth. I also went with a midwife this time and that made all the difference in the world. She was so kind and gentle. Everytime she saw that I was tensing up she would come and whisper in my ear to relax and take a deep breath. The lights were dim the whole time too which helped me relax. Since we've been home it has been great. We have been cosleeping most of the time. Mostly because she won't sleep any other way. But I am really enjoying sleeping next to a snuggly warm little baby! The other children are doing great too! They just adore their new little sister, especially her big sister. She is such a little mommy and a great helper. I'll add some pictures when I get the chance!!

An Update

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged. A lot has happened, mostly good, some very bad. First off, in the beginning of January one of our kitties was hit by a car and killed.(He's the little one behind the monster cat in the picture). I was the lucky one to find him as I was driving down our street after taking my daughter to preschool. I was hysterical to say the least. But, thank goodness my daughter wasn't with me when I found him. She would have been even more hysterical. We buried him in my in laws back yard, where we can visit him often. Then we all got really bad colds. Let me just tell you, pregnant woman should not be allowed to get sick!!! It's just not fair. I think my youngest son had it the worst though. He felt just awful. My hubby went snow boarding probably for the last time of the winter, since the baby will be here soon. He of course came down with the cold the night before he left.
I am now 36 weeks pregnant and so ready to have this baby. I am really hoping she decides to come early like her big brother! I am so uncomfortable this time. So much more then any of my other pregnancies. My hip and pelvic bones just feel like they are going to snap when I walk. I know she is riding very low! Now we just get to sit back and wait for her. Which is so exciting! I can't wait to hold my little girl in my arms!
Over the weekend a couple of my girlfriends from church threw me a baby shower. It was at Panera, which was such a great idea!! We all got to chat and have breakfast and then open presents. We got so many cute little girl outfits! We also got a Britax car seat. I asked my mom if she could split the cost of the carseat with some other family members, because they are so expensive and we really didn't need anything else. So now our new little one will have a beautiful new purple flowery car seat. And what's great is the car seat goes from 5-65lbs. We won't need to buy another one for her. She is going to look so tiny in it for a while though!
Well, that's pretty much all that's happened around here! Hope everyone else is doing great!

I Feel Yucky Today!

Well, today is not a great day. I woke up tired because I was having trouble sleeping last night. Then I felt so short of breath all morning and my stomach is a little upset. It kind of feels like morning sickness all over again, just not nearly as bad! Hopefully I'll get to take a nap today and I'll feel a little better. I am nearing the end of my pregnancy so I guess it's time to start feeling blah again. I'll be glad when I give birth to this baby girl and I'm not pregnant anymore. This has been a tough one!! And I also can't wait to see her!! I'm getting so excited!! Only about 8 more weeks to go!! Or if I go early again it could be as little as 5 weeks! I can't believe it!

Also, the kids went back to school today. My son had a much tougher time getting up and getting out of the house this am. Boy was he grumpy! But my daughter did fine. And she was the one that told me last night she wasn't going to school today! We had a super busy Christmas and New Year. It was a wonderful Christmas, but I'm glad it's over. Now we just have to put everyting away!