BROTHERS

Gabe and Porter playing with Quentin on my bed this afternoon.  

One Week Old

With the birth of Quentin this has been a busy week at our house.  Here's what's been going on the last few days.

Lots of cuddling, snuggling and attempts at sleeping!

 

Quentin relaxes & enjoys some baby spa time.

We're still wondering whose baby this is!  Is that blonde curly hair?

Having a baby in the house has sparked a lot of questions from Gabe and Porter, and it's led to some pretty funny moments too.  Here's my favorite Gabeism and Porterism from this week.

Gabe: Mommy, why does Quentin have such small ears?

Me: Because everything on a baby is small.

Gabe: But if there's a big noise he won't hear all of it!

Both of the boys have been very interested in what the baby eats.  Yesterday, Quentin was crying, so Porter pulled up his shirt and attempted to breastfeed the baby.  

So I've now had a discussion with my three year old about how even though you have nipples only mommies can feed babies milk.  Reminds you of Meet The Parents, doesn't it?  "I have nipples Gregg, can you milk me?"  

It's been super hot here this week, so naturally the hose came out.  We love having a privacy fence, because now we can do all sorts of inappropriate things in our backyard, like play in our underwear and pee in the bushes!  (Not that not having a fence ever stopped us before.)

 

We were all getting a little stir crazy after a few days, so we took Grammy to see Cohoes Falls.  This was officially Quentin's first outing and a much needed change of scenery for the rest of us!  

I can't believe it's been a week since Quentin joined our family!  It's been busy and exhausting and we wouldn't trade it for anything.  We are absolutely in love with him!  Happy First Week Quentin!

Introducing . . .

Quentin Mac

Born: May 23, 2012 @ 1:46 PM 

8 lbs. 11 oz. & 20 ins.

Proud new Mommy and Daddy!

and one very happy Grammy!

Gabe & Porter meet their little brother.

After only 24 hours in the hospital we were home!  It must be pretty bad at the hospital if you think you'll get more rest at home with a 3 and 5 year old!  

Look out little brother, you're in our territory now!

What a blessing and a miracle a new baby is.  

We absolutely adore him!

Mr. Smarty Pants

I know I said adios until Wednesday, but I need a Mommy bragging moment, so deal.  Today Gabe had his kindergarten screening test done and he scored in the 98th percentile!  I knew he was a smart kid, but that kind of blew me away.  One question he missed was identifying knuckles on his body.  When the principle told me this, I thought to myself, true, he may not know where his knuckles are, but did you happen to ask him what a double helix is or anti-matter?  Because he could explain those to you!  So proud of my Mr. Smarty Pants!

Adios Baby!

Have I mentioned I'm done?  I am SO done with this!  While walking into Chili's on Friday night I heard the ladies (from clear across the parking lot) laughing and "oh my goshing" about how big my belly was.  I really hope there was alcohol involved, because I don't find it all that funny.  Then walking into church today I overheard a lady who was shocked to learn that I was having only one baby.  Several people in our ward just had twins and I guess she was surprised I wasn't one of them.  After spending all week on pins and needles (since my doctor told me I wouldn't make it through the week) I think I expected a baby by now, and it just has me super ornery, because here I am.  I'm not sleeping, because I'm having contractions that keep me up at night.  And I've been in tears more than once this week.  Trust me, I'm a real treat to be around right now.  On the bright side, I have one more day until it's been a full week, so I guess there is still a chance she could be right.  And if not, Cheryl gets here tomorrow and I've scheduled my induction for Wednesday!  So at least there is an end in sight!  But it would be A-OKAY with me if this baby decided to adios himself from my belly anytime before then.  So until Wednesday, and here's hoping to before! Adios!

I promise . . .

Sorry I freaked some of you out with last post (including my husband).  But, I promise to take it easy this week.  There will be no major cleaning done.  No furniture rearranged.  I will be taking it easy . . . trust me I don't want this baby to come without his daddy being here!  I will only be doing the necessary things like folding the laundry that has taken over the living room floor, doing the three day old dishes sitting in the sink, and taking out the smelly trash.  Oh, I might feed the kids too, but really that's about it.  Okay?  This is me promising to take it easy, to cross my legs super tight, and maybe even hang upside down hoping that reverse gravity keeps baby locked up tight ; )

9 months

I've changed my theme music, and no, I am not making my own music video.  My apologies, but you do not get to see me sing and dance while 9 months pregnant.  Here's the song I've been singing lately and all you have to do is change the lyrics to:

 There's a Baby in My Tummy!

B to the I to the M to the T

There's a Baby in My Tummy!

 

And here it is: 

Pics of The Baby in My Tummy at 9 Months.

Dang!  She has an actual baby in her tummy!

I totally understand women in the old days going into confinement during pregnancy.  I'm ready for my confinement to start . . . okay, I was ready about a month ago.  My EXTRA LARGE maternity shirts no longer cover my belly and I refuse to buy anything double XL or simply anything else maternity.  So most days I resort to my gauchos (comfy stretchie pants) and XL mens t-shirts that I found on clearance at Wal-Mart.  All I can say is it's depressing when your husband's t-shirts are no longer comfortable because they are too tight and you have to go buy some that are larger.  Sunday's are the worst, because I can't wear my stretchie pants, t-shirts, and I have to shove my swollen feet into something other than flip flops.  Sorry to be such a whiner, but I'm so ready to be done with this.

Also, I want to apologize and say thanks to everyone who attempted to call me on Mother's Day.  The kids and I actually made it to church and had a good time there, but the day just went down hill from there.  I just had a hard day and wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, so again, my apologies, I love you all, but just couldn't do it.  I did talk to John on the phone and trust me he probably wishes he hadn't called (I think this call prompted the nice Mom's Day Blog Post below), so count yourself lucky?  After I put the kids to bed, I ate my feelings in the form of peanut M&Ms while watching several episodes of Prison Break into the wee hours of morning, after which I actually got four consecutive hours of sleep.  It was much needed and very effective therapy, because today is Monday and I feel that all is right with the world again. 

Last week I saw the doctor on the way to take John to the airport.  When she checked me I was only at a one.  That made me feel much better with John leaving town.  However, today when I went to the doctor (which was an experience all by itself, since I had to be checked with two little boys in the room) the news was not so good.  I'm at a three and when I asked if I was going to make it until Friday when John got home her response was, "I'd make sure I had a good back up plan in place."  Great.  So again, I'm asking for lots of prayers that baby stay put until at least Friday! 

And now I'm faced with this OCD dillema.  I was going to save all my cleaning for this weekend when John got home so the house would be nice and clean for company and the new baby.  However, the verily likely possibility that baby could come before this weekend makes me want to clean now, so whomever is lucky/unlucky enough to come help out with my kids isn't super grossed out by my house.  So do I clean now and possibly put myself in labor?  Or do I not take any chances by sitting on the couch and eating Bon Bons all week at the risk of being completely embarassed if someone saw my house in it's current condition?
Let's face it, I'm OCD, I'll be cleaning house this week.  Don't know why I bothered asking.  So just pray really hard okay?  Thanks.

Mother's Day

My wife, nine months pregnant and home with the boys while I "relax" in Montgomery, AL. What would I...we do without you Rachie Roo Who. The strength to get the boys up and to church, all three of them, when it is painful just getting out of bed, shows me you are a force not to be under estimated. Thank you for your strength and steadying influence. I know there are times you feel inadequate. You shouldn't. Our boys are smart, strong, happy and kind because you have been there to teach and exemplify these traits for them. I know you're thinking right about now that you fall short far too often. Let that feeling go. You do much more good than you give yourself credit for. And, I love you for all of it. The pictures above are just small examples of the many fun experiences you've planned and done for your boys. Remember, you can't see now all the good you are doing, but some day you'll be forced to see it when your grown boys come and thank you for it. Hun, I love you, miss you and will give you some well deserved time off when I get back. Love, John

You might be pregnant if . . .

Your five year old asks you questions like:

"Why are your arms so fat?"

or

"Mommy, when you're not fat anymore, can we . . ."

And while placing both hands on your rather large bosoms he says, "These just keep getting bigger and bigger every day."

Yeah, I think I might be preggers.

The other day I was looking through pictures on the computer and came across pictures taken during my first trimester.  Seeing the pictures reminded me of how sick I was and it seriously made me physically ill all over again.  I'm so ready to be done with this baby making business!  Although, I will confess, I like the large bosoms part, it's the only time in my life I'm ever well endowed : )

In other news, here's what's been going on around here lately:

John and Gabe went camping with the scouts two weeks ago.  The weather was cold and wet, but they went anyway.  First thing Gabe did on the hike to their campsite was splash in puddles of water, successfully soaking his only pair of shoes.  Luckily, I had unintentionally packed him four pairs of socks.  I only meant to pack him two extra pair, but my pregnant forgetful brain forgot I had already packed the extra pairs, so I packed them again and he ended up with four pairs.  So thankfully, he had lots of dry socks to change into and he was able to stay reasonably warm even with the wet shoes.

While they were gone camping Porter and I chilled together.  I put him in the tub on Friday night and I sat down to do some stuff on the computer.  After a while I realized I could no longer hear any noise coming from the bathroom.  I thought he'd drowned it was so quiet.  I went running into the bathroom certain I was going to find a mother's worst nightmare, but instead I found this.  

Yep, he was being quiet, because he was getting into trouble.  John asked if I got mad at Porter for the mess he made.  Uh, no.  How could I be mad at him when just moments before I thought I'd killed him?  Never been so happy to clean up a mess in my life!

Do you think it's time to cut the grass when you can't see the rabbit hiding in it?

John left for Alabama on Monday.  So the boys and I made a chain to count the days until daddy comes home, then we just kept adding to it.  So now the kids (and me) can visually see the number of days until John comes home, Grammy gets here, our baby's born, Papa gets here, and finally Emma gets here.  We are all super excited for the next few weeks!!!

Since John's been gone we've had yuck rainy weather, so I went all Becky Homecky the last two days.  I made a new nursing cover and then things got really out of hand when I pulled out the ric rac for the car seat cover.  Ric rac may be no big deal to some of you, but for someone like me who couldn't sew a straight line even if the lives of my children depended on it, this was huge!  So here's my finished baby  projects (and trust me there are no straight lines, but lots of cuteness).

And finally here's a couple Gabeisms:

1.  While playing Mario Cart on the Wii with Porter I noticed that there were three players, instead of just two.  When I asked Gabe why there were three players he said,  "It's so Porter doesn't come in last place every time."  How sweet is that?  Gabe is getting really good at Mario Cart.  He can beat me every time and has even beaten John a few times.  He's looking forward to challenging Uncle Taylor . . .

2.  While drinking a vegetable/fruit drink.  "This drink is super healthy.  If you drink 100 of them, you'd be the best person in the whole world.  If you drank 200 of them, you'd be Jesus."

10 Years!

I can hardly believe it was ten years ago today that we were married.  We've had our highs and lows, ups and downs, lots of good, some bad, and unfortunately there's always some ugly (and no I'm not talking about how I look first thing in the morning), but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  It's been one adventure after another, and I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring! 

Forever, For Always, and No Matter What.  

I Love You!

   

My New Theme Song

It doesn't matter if you are James Bond, the Pink Panther, or simply prego and heading out to shop, everyone should have their own theme music.  So thanks to a friend who shared this with me!  It's not only stuck in my head, but I've chosen to embrace it as my theme music for the next few weeks : )  Pig out!

It's Monday and . . .

that means I'm one week closer to having this baby : ) So excited to have this little guy here, but also a little overwhelmed at the amount of stuff we have to get done first.  I'm wondering when we'll get it done too, since John has worked the last three Saturdays and will be TDY or working the next three as well.  I had no idea ROTC would demand so much of his time.  Who would have thought?

I had a dream this morning that I woke up and was no longer pregnant.  It surprised me that I'd forgotten having the baby, but I decided he must be hungry so I ran upstairs to find him.  Porter was trying to carry the baby, who was cold and wearing only a diaper.  I thanked Porter for trying to help and tried to find a blanket to wrap the baby in, but everything was wet . . . and then the dream morphed into sleeping bags, alien space ships, and a Renaissance Fair that I'll spare you the details of.  However, being the dream interpreter that I am I think this means that I'm nervous about the baby coming and I don't feel prepared.  Oh, the baby could talk too, which means he's 99.9% likely to be born an absolute genius.

We did get a lot of work done on our house this weekend.  I got the guest room/nursery all put together finally.  So you should all come visit us (just not all at once)!  I won't even make you share the room with the genius when you come.  We can adios him to a pack and play in the office while guests are here.  We also made lots of progress on unpacking boxes in the basement.  Slowly, but surely things are coming along with the house.  One project that is not getting done is ripping out the ugly bushes in front of our house.  Birds built a nest in one of the bushes, so that project is on hold until the baby birdies are gone.  Dumb birds, what was wrong with all the good looking bushes?  Haven't you ever heard of curb appeal?

And finally, here's the last of the rooms around the house I need to post pictures of:

The Office

Upstairs Bathroom

 

 Nursery / Guest Room

 

  Gabe and Porter's Room

Gabe was in trouble and had been sent to his bed when I took this picture, and Porter insisted on being in all the pictures I took in his room.   

 Gabe blurry, but happy to no longer be in trouble!

Now that many of my big projects around the house are finished I can finally start getting ready for the baby.  Since this is our third boy, there's not a whole lot to do except wash stuff: clothes, the infant car seat, blankets, etc.  I went to JoAnn's last week and bought some cute fabric for some baby projects that I'm excited to work on, but I won't let myself do them until John is TDY.  Hopefully, while he is out of town these projects will keep me busy, but labor free : )  It would really stink to have a baby while he is MIA.

As far as the kids go, both of them have taken a real interest in the baby.  Both Gabe and Porter love to feel the baby move and kick.  Gabe is very curious about where babies come from and is concerned that once the baby gets here we will no longer have enough Wii remotes for our entire family.  Porter is certain he has a baby growing in his arm.
John has been reading Harry Potter to Gabe before bed.  And it's nice to have Gabe immersed in the wizarding world for a change, instead of Star Wars all of the time.  However, I've been killed at least six times this morning already by the Avada Kedavra curse.  Apparently, I have a whole lot of love since I've survived so many times.  And people make a big deal because Harry Potter survived it once, that kid's got nothing on me . . . try six times in one day scar face.

Anyway, here's a couple of funny things the kids have said lately:

Gabe: Porter, did you know that you're my favorite punching bag?

While building a marble race track:
Gabe: This is good, but I think we need to make some adjustments.  Do you know what adjustments are Porter?
Porter: No.
Gabe: Adjustments mean we're about to make it really cool!

Attempt at Porter's 3 Year Old Birthday Interview:
What's your favorite food?
Monster Trucks
Who's your best friend?
Monster Trucks
Where do you want to serve a mission?
Monster Trucks

Are you seeing a pattern?  The boy has a one track mind.

And finally to conclude this post that got way longer than I intended:  The other day I sneezed and one my contacts fell out.  Leads me to believe there may be some truth behind the rumor that if you sneeze with your eyes open your eyeballs could pop out.  Just saying, it could happen.


Happy Monday Everyone!
Maybe I'll go be productive now . . . maybe.