Fall of 2014 - Catching Up

This may or may not be a long post. I will probably just give the high-lights and there you have it. There won't be any pictures (sad I know) but our external drive is not working, so I don't have access to any of our pictures.

There was some excitement after the 4th of July last year. That was one of my last posts.

In September, Tim was able to travel to Italy for a 9 days and although it was for work, he was able to see some sights (he called just to tell me he was at the base of the Alp's), some great food and have a nice time. Upon his return, he was exhausted and fainted. He was ok, just a little dazed. Anyway, he fell into the shower doors. They didn't break but the guide that holds them into place came off and we couldn't shower in there until they were fixed. Instead of just fixing that, we decided to redo the entire bathroom, slowly, starting with the shower. However, due to how the construction was done, we ended up redoing the entire bathroom all at once. I don't have any before pictures but I do actually have a couple after pictures.

Tim was able to do all the work himself (minus the granite counter top), which saved a lot of money. It just took a little bit longer than we had really wanted but it turned out beautifully. That was started toward the end of September.

While this was going on, we decided to paint our bedroom (finally after 6 years of living there). We thought it would look weird going from a really nice bathroom to a bedroom that still had the white carpenter paint on the walls. This was now December. Well, there were a couple of big rain storms and while Tim was painting our bedroom ceiling found a spot where it was wet. Yep, we had a small leak in the roof. Luckily, it was due to wind damage and our home owners insurance paid for all of the repairs! Yipee!! The first big wind storm after the roof was fixed, Tim and I turned to each other and said, "Wow! It is so quiet!" The roof had had issues for a long time but we just didn't know it.

Halloween was fun. For my turn with preschool, we went with another preschool to a place called Apple Annie's and had a great time. That following Saturday (just a few days later) we went there as a family. The boys had a great time and we all got pumpkins to carve. Although Tim and I did all the work. The boys help a little with scraping out the innards but not much. It's too slimy but there are doing more and more each year. This year for Halloween they were Luke Skywalker, Optimus Prime, Buzz Lightyear and Snow White. A friend had given us an infant costume, otherwise, little girl would have been a scarecrow, like her brothers before her. They were able to get a lot of candy and had a great time.

Thanksgiving was fun and low key. Tim's sister and her family were able to come stay and hang out. We got the obligatory picture of the Little Girl with the turkey and the boys with olives on their hands. That evening, I braved Wal-Mart down the road (with the sister in law and her family) and took the little girl with me. We found a few things and were surprised at how quickly and smoothly everything went.

The next day Tim and the boys decorated the house for Christmas. When we first got married, Tim and I would both decorate together but as the years have gone by, Tim has taken over. I do help here and there but it's something he really likes to do and to be honest, my decorating wasn't quite good enough. I missed opportunities here and there, so now, I just do what he tells me to do. Hahaha! The boys love to help him, which is nice. Although this year, I was trying to keep a crawling and very busy 7 month old out of the way. I didn't get any Christmas cards out. It was just too busy and I couldn't find the time.

Christmas was very low key. The boys were excited because Santa gave them a Wii and a bunch of games for it. They all got matching Avenger pajama bottoms from  mom and dad and LOVE to wear those, especially when the little girl is wearing hers. They all like to match her. We visited with family and had a low key vacation. That was when the roof was fixed and the bathroom was very close to being done but not quite.

So that was a quick catch up of the fall.

LG's baby blessing

The reason everyone was in town was for LG's baby blessing. We had a bunch of family and friends there and it was a great day. It was nice to see everyone together and we had such a great time visiting. The boys loved playing with their friends and cousins. We enjoyed seeing everyone and feel so blessed to have such wonderful love and support from family and friends.

In her blessing dress.

Family photo.

Mom and dad. 

Grandpa and Grandma Parker.

Grandpa and Grandma Dutson.

 

Our dear friend Debbie and LG.

Jeff, Debbie, LG and Dan.

LG and Ms. Debbie

Family and friend picture. 

4th of July

Grandparents were in town for the 4th of July, so we went "big" with everything. We had an impromptu photo session with all the kids in their red, white and blue. It was fun. We got some great photos and it was  fun to see how "big" the boys are in comparison to LG.

I know the pictures of the fireworks make them appear a bit "lame". And for the most part they were not that exciting to us adults but the boys LOVED them! We might have to do something more exciting next year.

I think this is perhaps the best one of the bunch. Everyone looking at the
camera and smiling. And good smiles too! Minus LG but hey, she has her
eyes open and for a 1 1/2 month old, that's success!

We always have to have a funny one. I'm sure
LG is thinking, "Who are these crazies???"

Birthday! Birthday! Birthday!

Since the addition of LG (little girl), we now have birthday's in January, April, May, June, July and August. April to May birthday is 5 weeks (roughly). May to June and June to July are both roughly 3 weeks. July to August is roughly 5 weeks and then throw in our anniversary a week after the birthday.  It is a busy time of year for us. We had both sets of grandparents in town for a different reason, so we decided to have a joint birthday party for Bacon and Pach, who turned 3 and 7. I thought Pach would be a little upset about it but he was great. They were both into Avenger's at the time (Bacon still is. Or at least still LOVES Hulk Smash), so the cake worked out beautifully.

They both got a lot of great things and grandparents got to be there for it. It is rare that the grandparents get to be here on birthday's, so it was great fun.

Here are some pictures:

The cake, with Iron Man, Hawkeye, Captain America and The Hulk looking on.

Opening his Captain America. It went everywhere with him
for a few months. Still one of his favorite toys.

He is a LEGO master.

The pirate watch he got from his Grandparents. He loves it so much it is
tucked away safely in his drawer so nothing bad will happen to it.
He does wear it once in awhile.

Blowing out the candles.

After the candles the most important part is the toys. Who cares about
eating the actual cake, right?

BABY GIRL HAS ARRIVED!!!

Yes, I know I am WAY behind. Side effects of having a newborn in the house. Sleep deprivation is not conducive to getting anything done. Or getting anything done in a timely manner.

Ok, onto the baby girl! I had been scheduled to be induced on a Saturday morning, so had to be at the hospital Friday night. We were getting ready to leave and the hospital called to say too many ladies in active labor came in. I was a little sad but it all ended up working out alright in the end, so it wasn't too bad.

Saturday night a friend came over to stay at the house with the sleeping boys while Tim took me to the hospital. (She also took them Sunday morning so Tim could be with me). I got checked in, poked, prodded, hooked up to things and was given my first dose of "the slurry" before Tim left around midnight. "The slurry" is some "tasteless" drink that helps the body get ready to have the baby. It tasted like aspirin dissolved in water to me. It wasn't the worst thing ever but definitely not tasteless! I had a dose at midnight, 2 am and 4 am. I was checked at 6 am and told I was far enough along I wasn't getting another dose. Apparently you cannot be induced less than 3 hours after having a dose of "the slurry". I was fine with that. I also found out when I had checked in I was at a 2 1/2, so I think the little girl would have come on her own, just a little bit later.

My OBGYN was on call at the hospital that weekend. That was really nice. She came in a little after 7 am, checked me, stripped my membranes, broke the water and left. The nurse came in 10 minutes later to tell me my doctor was doing a C-Section and then would be in. I informed her Dr. Sherman had just been in and she looked surprised. Tim and I were surprised she was already in a C-Section so quickly.

A few minutes before the epidural came, our friend Debbie made it to the hospital. She has been with us at every delivery and it has been great. She came with us to Pach's in case of an emergency C-Section and has been at every one since. It gives both Tim and myself peace of mind to have someone else there. And since family is so far away, she has come. And she is more like an aunt now.

The anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. I've had 4 and they seem to get slower and slower with each one! With Pach, the guy put in the epidural  in between contractions. He was super quick. Maybe 1 minute. Pickle's wasn't much longer than that either, maybe 5 minutes. Bacon's was longer, about 15 minutes and it got everything from my abdomen down numb but not my abdomen. The lady came back in and gave me another dose completely. That worked but then I was also numb for 12 hours after delivery. With the girl the guy took 20 minutes!!!! I was dying! Ok, not really but contractions without the water barrier are not fun nor pleasant. He explained quite a few things, which I guess balanced out taking so long. And Tim and I found out why I got so numb in all the wrong places with Bacon: I sat up after I got the epidural. The medicine follows the law of gravity, so when I sat up it went to my legs, hence, I was numb abdomen down but no numb abdomen.

I got to 10 cm pretty quickly and by 11 am, everyone was in the room and I was pushing. I pushed once and Tim looked at me and said, "I've never seen a baby with so much hair!" That's saying something since all the boys had quite a bit of hair. The doctor agreed. I knew she must have had a ton of hair because the doctor has delivered hundreds of babies. I pushed a second time and both Tim and the doctor said they'd never seen a baby move so fast. Yep, the little girl wanted out. I then have a half-hearted push and out she came, at 11:06 am. A beautiful little girl with a head full of thick black hair. I got to hold her for a minute and then she was taken over to get weighed, measured and wiped up.

She weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Smallest baby. And the easiest to deliver. She knew my voice and perked up and would turn her head in the direction from which my voice came. Tim got to hold her as did our friend Debbie before I got her back. Of course she then decided to make life all the more exciting and turned blue. Yep, her face turned blue. I was quite proud of myself that I didn't scream or panic. I simply said, with great urgency, "Um, she's turning blue. She's turning blue. Hurry." The nurse came right over and she was fine. Because of that she ended up in NICU for a little bit and went back again before we went home. The second time was just to make sure she was completely fine.

The first time the boys came to visit, they LOVED her. Bacon wanted to hold her and feed her. He climbed right up on the hospital bed and put his hands out. He held her for a couple seconds and then said, "I'm done" as he shoved her away. Yes, a little scary. Pickle held her for a lot longer and didn't want to share. Pach was more reserved. He's not a big fan of hospitals but he did hold her. They are wonderful big brothers.

A couple days later, after a hearing test retake, pictures and visits from some wonderful friends, the boys came to take us home.

Little Girl and mommy.

Little girl and daddy.

The whole family.

The hearing test.

This one just cracks me up.

Pickle and his sister. 

 

Pach and his sister. He was so excited for a sister. He said he knew
we were going to have a girl because that's what he voted for.

Bacon and his sister. 

My life in a picture. 3 crazies and a calm one.

Little girl and her coming home outfit. 

 

All snuggly and ready for home.

Easter

We had a fun Easter this year. We talked to the boys about why we celebrate Easter, to make sure they know it's more than dying eggs and getting candy. Pach and Pickle get it. Bacon is still getting there but he will someday.

We started the festivities by dying eggs, which they always love. Each got 4 this year and had a great time. Bacon didn't try to drink the liquid this year and there were no messes, so it was a success!! Last year he did try to drink the colored vinegar/water mixture. He didn't like it.

Sunday morning we had an Easter Egg Hunt with the boys cousin, Baby Jessie (who is not a baby and not name Jessie either. The boys gave her that name after Jessie on Toy Story). She caught on quickly and they all had a lot of fun. The boys made sure Jessie had eggs and helped her find some. They'll be great with their little sister next year.

Easter Baskets.

Baby Jessie, Bacon, Pach and Pickle.

Baby Jessie searching for eggs.

Searching for eggs.

Still searching.

More searching.

Enjoying the spoils.

Tim's Birthday!!!

Tim had a fun birthday this year and..... THE CAKE TURNED OUT!!!!

It started with a trip to the race track and him driving a little Miata race car. For Christmas, I had given him a coupon to drive a race car on a track and he decided his birthday was the perfect time to redeem it. We all went with him and the boys enjoyed watching dad race around the track. I could tell with the more laps he completed, the more comfortable he was. At first there were no tires screeching and by the last lap, the tires squealed for "quite a bit" of time going around a certain corner.

After that, we headed to the grocery store and that's where Tim got a call from his sister, who, along with her husband, flew down from Washington for Tim's birthday and Easter. We met them at a restaurant called Hot Rods, not far from where we live. The boys LOVE it there because of all the old hot rods there. Rich, the brother-in-law, restored a mustang and gladly went on a little tour of the place given to him by our boys. All of them were really happy. Surrounding the restaurant area, is a garage bay where you can actually watch people working on their hot rods.

We headed back to our place after lunch and Tim was presented with his present from Kim (sister) and Rich: A STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE!!!! It's Tim's favorite pie and my two attempts have completely failed. This one was fabulous! They had made it the night before, frozen it and carried it on the plane just for Tim. It was so kind of them and so yummy as well.

Tim's other sister and her family arrived Friday night from Mexico. We decided to go to the Pima Air and Space Museum for Tim's actual birthday, which was on Saturday. Saturday morning came and most everyone got ready and headed out to see a lot of airplanes. Our brother-in-law from Mexico ended up in Thatcher and I ran errands to get the last minute things for meals and to finish Tim's cake. And as luck would have it, THE CAKE TURNED OUT!!!! Sometimes it doesn't turn out well and I usually end up feeling bad. Tim is the cake engineer and most of the time I don't think my offerings would even qualify me for "apprentice" status. I would probably end up fired.....

That night, after dinner, we did cake and presents. The boys got him a few books and crazy cycling socks. I got him some new Bose Headphones, as his other ones broke awhile ago. We sang to him, at the scrumptious homemade chocolate cake with candy bar bits in the middle and watched the boys play with the music card which played "We Will Rock You". Everyone had a really nice time.

Game faces on and ready to cheer for dad!

He's just happy to be near a race car!

The race car: a Miata. 

Getting ready....

Buckled in and ready to roll!

Out on the course.

His spoils.

Crash Test Dummy cycling socks.

Being silly and getting help from the giver.

Being silly and getting help from the giver.

Getting a book he wanted.

The yummy cake!!! Kit-Kat and Reese's Peanut Butter cup on top.

Always getting help. Our wishes always come true!