Motherhood is a funny thing...

A while back right after the baby was born, with in one week actually. Stephanie decided that she was done with the whole diapers during the day thing. Maybe seeing that the baby wears diapers she no longer wanted to be a "baby". Who knows why she did it, but the good thing is that she did. Over night... One day she had diapers the next it was gone forever. With very minor accidents, she even made the 12 hour trip to FL with no accidents. I am so proud of her, especially after many hours of trying during my pregnancy to get her out of them, I had given up for at least 6 months. 

Since baby Belle's been home Stephanie has really taken to the idea of playing dolls, She is such a good little mommy. She does things I don't even know if I could, diapering 3 babies at once for instance. 

The rule at our house is, if you don't take a nap during the day. You will go to bed early.

So the other day, both of the older kids were really bad and did not take a nap. Leaving me no choice but to put them to bed at 7 p.m. After bath and milk and the whole ordeal, they were in bed and warned to not get out of that room. Seeing that they took me seriously and were very quiet I relaxed and watched TV for 2 hours. It was American Idol finale ok... So stop judging me. 

When I got back to the room ready to go to sleep, I found Stephanie AWAKE playing with some things and eating tooth paste.

Who knew a Diaper bag could be so interesting??

After the initial desire of killing the kid, (she is lucky she ran to grandpa), I began to clean the mess.

When I came across a bottle of MYLICON (infant gas relief drops) Open and half GONE.

Oh great, what's the number for poison control? 1800 222 something 222? 

I knew I should have listened to the Dr. Anyways no big deal, I mean... She was only covered with a facial rash. But was now sleeping peacefully, and who am I to interfere with that? I have the other one to keep me awake all night, don't need 2, thanks....

Here is what I found out, the next day, while at the pool. It relieves MORE than gas. Major D blow out. 

Nasty, it was grainy too, so I am not sure if her tooth paste/Mylicon mix had a shot of Butt paste also.

Well we had lots of fun this week, and my baby has grown so much. Today she smiled at me, YES!!! I was the first one. And we went to the beach, Spencer almost drowned, thank goodness grandpa was fast and caught him, Stephanie almost got ran over by a car when she took off to the road, thank goodness she has a fast auntie also. So you ask... Where was the mother of these kids??? Well where else?  

I was laying on the sun, getting fried. Cause Lobster is the new look you know?  

 This ugly little bathing suit, was given to her by my mom. Just because we live in TN does not mean we dress in camo. But whatever, there were many other people there who should have taken a better look at their suits. JUST SAYING.

ONE whole month.

Wow... can you believe she is a whole month already, The weeks go by so much faster when they are on the outside. My littlest girl is 9 lbs and 6 oz as of yesterday. SNIFF SNIFF.

Where is time flying to? Tomorrow is a big day for Lil miss Belle. She is going to meet her grandpa for the first time. Grandma and Grandpa are flying up to bring us down. My hunny had to go out of town for work and will be gone for 2 weeks, I have been by my self for the past 3 days. I would have packed and left already, but my wonderful parents got some tickets and are coming to help me drive down. I can't wait for Warm weather, Beach, Family, Pool, Friends, and some help with the lil munch kins.

Sunshine State here we come. Yiiiippppeeeee. 

3 of them 1 of me

"You will pursue many avenues in this mortal journey, but none as important as being a mother." 

That is a quote taken from a special blessing given to me when I was 16, and if you are and LDS you know what I am talking about. 

I knew from the time I was a little girl I wanted to be a mother, have many kids. I would have great husband. The check list went something like this.

1. Tall

2. Good Teeth

3. Returned LDS missionary

4. Eagle Scout

5. Handsome

6. Blond

7. Blue or Green eyes

8. Sensitive

9. Smart

10. Handsome 

(yeah I know Handsome was on there twice, I wanted to make a point)

I got 8 out of 10, 

I will let you guess which 2 I compromised on. 

He is lucky he is handsome, cause at the time I thought that blond kids with blues eyes would make the cutest  babies. However now, I realize that my babies are beautiful just the way they are. And people don't look at me and wonder where the heck did that one come from. C'mon they are carbon copies of us. 

Anyways, let me get to may point will you?

While I was pregnant with Annabelle, I had people tell me...

"It's no big deal, 3 is no different than 2."

I also had people tell me...

"Poor Vanessa, 3 will throw her for a loop"

And so I wondered who was right. When Spencer was born, it was hard and easy... 

Hard because we were learning together, I was learning how to be a mother, and what was acceptable and what to do when certain things happened. We are still learning as he gets older. And it was easy because there was only one he had my undivided attention 24/7.

When Stephanie was born, It was Cake, I knew how to do everything, and how to get her in a routine, and life was great. We carried on as if nothing major had happened. We got to church and fulfilled our callings with a great ease.

Annabelle came along, and It's all a blur to me. Stephanie was no longer my Stephanie, jealousy is and evil guest at our house. Annabelle does not work with my routines. She makes her own. She is a great baby, with a mind of her own. Spencer is in a completely different stage of life, He is a little boy now, Soccer practices and kindergarten right around the corner. 

OF COURSE I CAN DO IT. NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.

It's just taking me a little while. The other day, Spencer stayed home from preschool, he only goes 2 days a week. So those days are sacred to me, he stayed home with a fever, sore throat and a head ache. 

Stephanie busted her chin open on the table AGAIN. And I nursed my starving baby every 2 hours for an hour. It was a crazy day, it was not until the end of the day, when I noticed my milk supply was low, that I realized I hadn't eaten all day. Or showered for that matter. 

Well, it's times like these that I have to think back, and tell myself. Nothing I will do in this life is more important than being a mother. 

So even though there are 3 of them and only 1 of me, the Lord is on my side, and "all things are possible through Christ"

DISCLAIMER: I would give up the blue eyes and blond hair, for the husband I got any second of the day as many times as it would take. He is much more than I could have asked for. so really I didn't compromised in anything.

A sprinkle of summer.

Man!!! It's May, the MIDDLE of May... And we have been sick and tired of Snow, and Rain. And I am only in TN I cannot even imagine you folks up North. This winter was rough. 

We are so ready for summer, and I am sure by august we will be sick and tired of summer. But for now... we are enjoying the warm weather, and everything good that comes with it. But the wasps... those can go away, for all I care. They are useless, Seriously... someone give me ONE good reason why we have wasps in the world?

Well for mothers day, my wonderful hubby gave me a morning off from all 3 kids. He stayed home yesterday and took care of the little army, and I went to get a SPA pedicure and manicure. AMAZING. And when I got home he even attempted cleaning a little. I say attempted, because cleaning the house with little ones around is like shoveling the drive way while it's still snowing. 

Well it was a nice day, and we headed outside to play in the water.

This Is Stephanie my 1st little princess. As I was outside trying to take pictures of the baby, I made the mistake of calling Annabelle my little princess. I got and evil little look from Stephanie, and a stern reply...
"mommy, I PRINCESS" Well Excuse me??!!

This is Princess #2, and when she went for her 2 weeks check up on May 10th, she weighed 8lbs 3 oz, and was 21 inches long. Wow.. I guess Mommies milk is like miracle grow. 

They had fun, I got to lay around snuggling a sweet smelling baby, and the house... well that is still a mess.

Evil Stickers...

stick·er: 

[stik-er] 

–noun

1.

a person or thing that sticks.

2.

an adhesive label.

3.

Informal 

They usually come in a cartoon character, they are cute, and oh you think harmless?!

So you buy them for your children and think it will keep them entertained for a while. and really how bad can they be? 

Well... It will keep them entertained, and this is what they will be doing!

Isn't she cute?

A Birth Story...

As you know I had my baby almost 2 weeks ago, April 21st, 2011 was a great day. 

This is me and my last pregnancy picture at 36 weeks.

I had a Dr.'s appointment on the 20th, I went in hoping to have big changes and that he would tell me to go straight to the hospital. YEAH!!! right.

Instead I was told I was 1cm, (1cm??!! ARE YOU FLIPPIN KIDDING ME??) All that walking for 1cm?? He told me that he was going to schedule me to be induced on the 1st of May. I told him I had been having contractions for the past 3 nights but that when I got up to get ready to go to hospital they spread out and went away by morning. But I was tired of NOT sleeping. He than told me if I went in with contractions that could be picked up by the monitors that he would not send me home. 

Alright Doc. if contractions is what you want... I can produce contractions... I told my husband we would be having a baby the next day. So he went to work and tried to finish as much as he could, HE knew I meant it. 

I went home and cleaned the whole house, finished packing for me and kids, got myself ready, and made child care arrangements. Oh... Let's not forget... I stopped by Walgreens and picked up a friendly blue bottle called Castor Oil, and some orange juice. I wanted to make sure these contractions were not going away.

Got home had my delivery potion, which by the way is not as nasty as I thought. The after taste is horrible, but not enough to make me sick. Well after a whole day of running errands and to the bathroom, I had contractions.   Every 5 minutes.  We dropped the kids off, and went grocery shopping, and watched American Idol, and off to the hospital we went. I still had the contraction, and they put me in the machines. It was now around 11 pm and I was having contractions every 3 minutes, and I was a woppin 3 cm.
It was like that until about 4 in the morning, when my doctor came in and broke my water. I was still at 3cm, and my contractions stopped. I was given pitocin, (the drug from down under) and labor went on it's way. Got my Epidural, and life was good. My doctor checked me again at 8 am and I was at 5cm. He told me this was going to be an afternoon baby and that he would come check me at lunch time. Fine by me, I was high on Epidural, and floating on clouds. (Some one should find a way to bottle that stuff. I think every mother should have a bottle handy, for themselves or for the kids in time of need).
Anyways, I began to feel a lot more pressure around 8:30 am. Convinced my Epidural had been disconnected I told my hunny to check it. The nurse than decided to check me again, I was an 8. My afternoon baby just became a morning baby. At 9:15 am I was ready to push. The Dr. rushed into the room, I was told to push. Panic took over they told me NOT to push, and they looked like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. I was laughing at the situation, when I was told not to laugh. Oh this was serious... after the doctor had gloves on, and his apron. I pushed and out she came at 9:35 am. 

Easy Peasy... I guess walking does make labor easy, almost not even fair to call it labor.

Due to my super sneaky veins, 3 different people pocked me 4 different times in order for the IV to go in... Causing a whole lot of bruising.

This is my amazing Nurse... I loved the treatment I received. 

After a whole night of fluids being pumped in my body. 

My little angel is finally here, how we waited for this moment.

Proud Daddy. My husband is my rock, I could not imagine going through this without him. 

Annabelle Louise, 6 lbs 10 oz, 19 inches long.

This was the first time the kids met their sister.

Seriously why do we take these pictures?? 

oh... MEMORIES that's right. 

Pretty in pink. Another Girly Girl. If I can help it.

The kids did not do good at the hospital.

 So I had a lot of alone time with my baby girl. Thank goodness, it gave me time to bond with her.

Getting ready to go home. 

It's been 2 weeks and now I see how different she is already, and how beat up she looked in this picture.

3 kids, 3 car seats, 3 reasons to drive slower.

When we got home, Annabelle smiled for about 5 minutes. I do not think gas can cause such joy. I think she was dreaming, or remembering life before she got here. 

Annabelle, is an amazing baby. She is just another piece of our family puzzle. The kids love her, and are always wanting to hold and kiss her. We are blessed and although we had to have 4 miscarriages to bring them here. We would do it all over again, and will continue to do it until our family is complete. We are not done, despite of what some may think. I still have angels up there waiting to come to our crazy little family.

DISCLAIMER: Despite of the fact that Castor Oil worked for me, I do not recommend it. It is NOT for the faint at heart. But yes I would do it again.

New Beginnings.

For the past 2 weeks I have been missing from the blog world, and now I come back with a whole new address. You may be wondering (or not) why.  Well... Due to some very personal reasons I had to change the address and create a whole new blog. Which is not an easy thing to do if I may say. I am not completely pleased with the results yet, but I better start somewhere. Hopefully you will follow our crazy life here now. I am still debating on weather or not to remove the previous blog from the web, don't be surprised if I do. I wish there was a way to just transfer everything to this one. But I did not figure out how. Stay in touch for many updates, life did go on even if I didn't blog about it and I will catch up with it.