Today My Princess...

Today, my Princess is a milestone for you. You refuse to believe it, cause there is no cake, but today you became a 2 year old.

It is so hard for me to believe that it was two years ago that you came into my life. I went to the L&D ward at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in pain, but expecting to be sent home yet again with a "sorry there is nothing we can do, go home and get some rest." Instead they told us you were coming right then. I panicked! Your auntie Katie had just (and I mean like hours previous!) gotten on a plane to head to New Hampshire. I had no childcare for your brothers lined up for that day! Mike was gonna take the time off on the day of your scheduled c-section, which was still 2 weeks away! So I did what anybody would do. I called Mike and begged him to come down to the hospital. He was on lock down at the barracks and was certain that they were not gonna let him go anywhere. Well, He just took off anyways and headed out to help us! (If I remember correctly he fought an article 15 for disobeying direct orders to not come, and won cause he was taking care of a fellow soldier in need.)

As soon as your uncle Mike showed up, they wheeled me back to the OR. Your c-section hurt so much worse than either of your older brother's c-sections had!



But oh! You were beautiful from the word go!



Then they wheeled you off to do all the things that they do to newborns. Weigh you, measure you, give you shots, all of it. Daddy went with you to take pictures!



You, of course, were not amused!

Eventually we were together again and your brothers just couldn't wait to meet you!




Alexander was so immediately smitten that he didn't even notice that Aeddon was trying to bust open my fresh incision!

Then everybody went home for the night and you and I were supposed to get to bond. But something went wrong. You see, shortly after your brothers and daddy went home, I started to have complications. I was bleeding badly and the doctors were scared that they were gonna have to take me back to surgery. During all the chaos, you were basically ignored. Nobody really checked on you. Nobody finished cleaning you up. Nothing (well some people from your dad's work did show up and help for a few minutes at a time!)

By the time they decided I was ok, it was late and you weren't doing well. You had something that looked like a bruise on your back. (for the record, I noticed that bruise and asked them to make note of it at the time of your birth, but they didn't listen to me!) Without my permission, they took you for x-rays. They wouldn't bring you back and I couldn't understand why! Nobody would tell me that one of the nurses had seen Alexander holding you and was appalled and had told everyone that we were letting him hold you completely without supervision and that he must have dropped you. The other going theory was that the reason I was in so much pain and ended up bleeding like I did was because your daddy had hit me and done it hard enough to hurt not only me, but you as well. Idiots. Like your dad would ever hurt either one of us!

Then the next thing I knew, they were heavily medicating me and then they came in all rushed and crazy and told me that you had a broken rib and had to be rushed to the NICU at another hospital and that I had to sign the papers for your transfer and that NO I could not call you daddy to see what he though was best. I had to do it now or they were going to send a social worker down and have me declared unfit and remove you from my custody and take you anyways and then I would have to fight for you back in court. Well I panicked and let them take you. MISTAKE.

It took me two days to get them to release me from the hospital and in that time, no less than 5 people came to see me and tried to get me to confess to either Alexander dropping you, or your daddy beating us. I told them all the same thing. They were nuts and you were fine. Finally they let me go, and I rushed to your side at the NICU.



When Daddy and I got there we were informed that you were fine. There had never been anything wrong with you and that you never should have been taken from us in the first place, but that they couldn't let you go home because they had routinely put you on a 5 day antibiotic course and you couldn't leave till it was done.

3 days later we brought you home. Since then, you have been making our lives a happier, significantly more beautiful place!


















You know what, baby girl? I wouldn't change a thing. Happy Birthday My Love!

It occured to me.

*For those of you counting down with me, 5 days (including today) until I give birth!

So yesterday I was sitting on the couch when it suddenly occurred to me that I did not currently own a pair of slippers to wear while in the hospital. Since I will be there for a minimum of 48 hours, and will be there for a full 5 days if Owen gets his way, I really did need a pair of slippers to wear.

See I am not a big fan of the "slipper socks" that they provide at the hospital. They make my feet itch, and since I swell up like a balloon that first day (to much IV fluids if you ask me!) the ankles on them always pinch. The last thing you need when you are finally alone with your new baby is itchy ankles you cant reach. You know that whole "I just got cut from hip to hip, there is no way I can reach my own feet right now!" thing.

So I did what any crafter would do! I crocheted myself a pair of slippers! I used the Adult Mary Jane Skimmers pattern by Sylvia Schuchardt (Rav links to the designer and the pattern!) Her patterns can also be purchased here. For those of you who don't crochet, but want a pair for yourself or anybody who wears any shoe size from a women's 11 down to a newborn size, I am authorized to make and sell as many pairs of these as I want, so just let me know if you want some!



The bottom sole is 6 year old Red Heart Super saver yarn that I have had floating around for forever. It is in bad shape and was HELL to crochet with. But I have tested them on the floors in my kitchen and they are pretty grippy, without sticking the way a rubber soled shoe would. The top is Knit Picks Swish Worsted Weight Wool. The wool is super soft and since it is a nice open pattern, it doesn't make my feet to hot!



This is what they look like from the side. See that nice black sole? Not only does it have just the right amount of grip, but it is also black, so will hide dirt well!



Tada! SO CUTE!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they are completely machine washable. So I will be able to clean them easily when I get home!



Even Mikaela loves them, and has requested a pair in her size, which luckily I have a pattern for!

Ginger is the COOLEST!

We are all gonna play a little game of pretend. Ready. When I say go, we are all going to pretend that I posted this yesterday. OK??? GO!

Six days left till Baby Liam is here. Today I had planned on a tender post about his bassinet and why it is so special, but I have decided to wait on that post until he is here and sleeping sweetly inside said bassinet.

Instead I want to tell you about a present I received from someone whom is very special to me. Her name is Ginger, and I have talked about her here on my blog before. The link to her blog is right there on the right hand side. Just click the link for Momma MC. Yep that is her.

I asked Ginger a few months ago if I could buy a custom embroidered shirt off of her to bring Baby Liam home in. Ginger insisted on making it for me as part of his baby present. Ginger is one of those SUPER AWESOME people who likes to make a present for every baby to be whose mother (or father) she knows personally.

She asked me what I wanted. I told her I wanted a cute little dragon in the same colors as the set I had/was knitting and crocheting for him. She asked for a sample of the yarn for color matching purposes. I sent it off to her and look what I got back!!!!!



Isn't he SUPER CUTE???!!!!

This is the newborn sized Coming Home outfit all together.



Just in case he is another 10lb baby like Aeddon was, I have a back-up plan!



I still have to make the shoes for this one, but since they take less than a day, I can bust them out in the hospital if I have to!

Of course, in typical Ginger fashion, she did not just send the shirt! Oh no! She sent a whole package!


This is the shirt and some cute matching sock/booties that she made! The sock/booties are crocheted!


This is the super cute, super squishy ball that she crocheted! The older kids all love it and want to play with it, but I am trying to save it for Liam to play with first!

Last but not least, a few weeks ago Ginger posted a blog about the awful-ness that was buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Bellys. I happen to love that particular flavor, and so I jokingly told her she could send them my way! Well HOORAY FOR ME! Ginger actually sent me a bag of Jelly Bellys of my very own!



This was all that was left after they were in the house for just under an hour! This bag was almost 3x this full when it got here! At least I didn't eat them all! The kids helped.

I keep thinking Ginger has officially done the coolest thing ever, then she does something else. Like send me a really cool gift. Thanks Ginger! You really are the COOLEST!

The finish line is in sight.

Today marks exactly one week until I give birth. In honor of that I will post a picture of me, taken by Owen.



This is Owen's favorite of the pictures. I am standing on Owen Beach. He loves this picture cause that is just me. No make-up, no fancy hair, no fancy lighting, no photo editing. Just me watching the kids playing.



This is my favorite of the pictures Owen took of me. I know it doesn't show my face, but I have always loved profile shots. Plus you can see my whole pregnant body in all its glory, or at least as much of "all its glory" as I am willing to show in public!

That is all I have for now. I am gonna try to post at least once a day from now until I head in to give birth to baby Liam.

I so totally owe you!

Ok. I promised you all alot of updating... and haven't done any of it. I have been checking things off and adding commentary to my to-do list for the month, but I feel the need to give you more than that!

First Liam's completed blanket:





It turned out huge! I love it though. The tips go from one edge of my queen sized bed to the other side (from side to side not from top to bottom!)

Easter:


The kids all dressed for church.


From left to right: Mikaela's Easter Bucket, Alexander's Easter Bucket, Aeddon's Easter Bucket. I never did give them all the eggs in front of the buckets. They are still hiding in a drawer in my bedroom!







Fun with Easter buckets.

Then Owen went to work. That was pretty much the end of Easter for us. No egg hunt, no dyeing Easter eggs. Nada. We even just had Mac'n Cheese for dinner.

My birthday:

Traditionally, my birthday sucks. I don't know why. It just does. I know some will say that that is because I am expecting it to suck and therefore it does. That is just not true. Every year I wake up and hope for the best!

This year was no different really. I was in horrible pain all day. On top of that, Aeddon tried to strangle Mikaela and I had to have Owen come home and help me with the kids cause I just wasn't up to doing it on my own!

On the good side of things, we had a yummy dinner and I had a cake... sort of. It was a tiramisu from the Safeway bakery. It was pretty good too!


Owen put 27 candles on it.


The kids helped me blow them out.


Then we chowed down on tiramisu and vanilla ice cream.

That is all I am gonna pack into this post. I have updated information on Aeddon's evaluation, but I am not really ready to talk about that right now.

Easter kinda fizzled this year! (So far...)

This picture is from last year. This year we have been so distractingly busy that I FORGOT to have the kids use the Easter egg dyes! Not to mention that Owen is not even going to be home for most of Easter this year! He has to work a CQ shift.

For those of you who are not or have not been a military family, that means that he will spend the majority of his day sitting on his tushy waiting for someone to call with a problem that needs a solution, like "Hi this is Private Joe and I just got in a car accident and they took me to a non military hospital cause I was unconscious... but now I am released and I have no way to get back to the barracks cause my wallet was in my car, which was totalled, and so I have no money for a cab, and no car! Can someone come get me?" or things like " this is Mrs Joe, Private Joe is my son. I know that he was supposed to come back from leave today, but he slipped on our way to the airport and broke his tibia. He is currently in the local hospital in traction. So I don't think he will be back for a while. I didn't know who else to call so he didn't get into trouble. Can you please help me?" If any situation like those (or any other random reason someone might call the barracks to reach a soldier) happens, it will be his job to contact the right person who needs to know. Also, the non-phone related part of his job, it is his job to log when people who are confined to the barracks try to leave without permission, and stop soldiers from bringing "up" girls they picked up wherever. The barracks are not a hotel room, after all.

Now, I think it really sucks that of all the single people in Owen's unit, who are here and eligible to work a CQ shift, Owen will be the one working on Easter Sunday! What am I supposed to do though? I could have gone and talked to a chaplain, and asked for help. I could have gone straight to his first sergeant and made a fuss. But I didn't. Why, you ask? Cause Owen asked me not to make waves. They are very tolerant of all the time he has missed at work lately, due to my rough-ish pregnancy.

He did, however get the sergeant that will be working CQ with him to say it was cool with her if he came home and went to church with is family? (did I forget to mention that CQ is a 24 hour shift that goes from 8am one morning, till 8 am the next? But is only the full 24 hours on weekends, cause on weekdays the offices at the barracks are fully staffed with soldiers during the day and a person working the CQ desk would be redundant?) She is going to consider it as his lunch break. I decided that was good enough for me, since we cant get to church without Owen, cause I can't drive till after Liam gets here.

We will be celebrating Easter though! I have baskets for each of the kids, which I will share with you all later, I promise! And, since I will need things to keep the kids occupied while I am struggling to keep them cheerful while Daddy is missing yet another holiday, (I am not complaining to hard. He could be in a war zone, and not only missing a holiday, but also in danger!) I am going to have them dye the Easter eggs after we get home from church. Then, if Owen gets to come home and have dinner with us, we will do the Easter egg hunt while daddy is home. We aren't teaching the kids about the Easter bunny anyways!

Now, after all of that, as you may have noticed I read a lot of other peoples blogs. One such blog is The Panopticon. In 2006 he shared a story about an Easter from his childhood that made me laugh so hard that I almost wet myself. So in the spirit of cheering this post up (since I didn't intend for it to sound complain-y) please follow the link to his blog post and read it. It is a WRONG story about Easter. It is funny in much the same way that America's Funniest Home Videos is funny! You have been warned! ENJOY!

The Panopticon: Rotten Egg

Countdown of the craziest month of my year, this year.

So, as long as you are not in a coma, you probably noticed that April starts tomorrow. This is going to be the craziest month of my year this year. Ready for an itemized list of what should be happening, in order, this month? Great! Glad to hear you are on board! Here we go!

* April 2nd~ Second to last, or possibly last OB appointment before Liam's arrival. DONE!
* April 6th~ Alexander goes back to school/ Spring break ends. Done! He had a rough first day back though!
* April 7th~ Fence installation day!!!! Finally Riley will have the yard he desperately needs to have time away from the kids!
* April 9th~ Aeddon's behavioral/ social interaction evaluation Done. We get the results on whether he is eligible at this time for special education (so he can get a headstart and hopefully be able to interact more normal with the world!) on April 16th. Which reminds me that I need to add that appointment to the schedule!
* April 10th~ Don Bailey's (FIL'S) birthday. We even remembered to call him! Go us! Maybe next year we will get his present to him on time for his birthday!
* April 12th~ Easter Sunday. Owen may not be home for this! Stupid CQ! Owen did work. We made it to church, but the rest of the day was just eh.
* April 13th~ My birthday! Another bad-ish birthday to add to a long list of badish birthdays.
* April 13th~ NEW third to last OB appointment before Liam's arrival! Done. The doctor I saw was my favorite so far. To bad he wont be delivering me!
* April 16th~ Appointment with Childfind to find out if Aeddon is eligible for special education and occupational therapy. If he is approved, it will mean that they still suspect that he may have Aspergers Syndrom. If he is denied, they will re-evaluate him in 6 months. Aeddon was approved for special education services.
* April 22nd~ Second to last OB appointment before Liam's birth. There will also be an appointment on the 27th. That one hasn't been scheduled yet.
* April 24th~ Mikaela's 2nd birthday
* April 25th~ Orion's (my brother) birthday
* April 25th~ Mikaela's Birthday Party... If I can get my act together and get it organized! I want her to have a party right before she is no longer "the baby"! (I got invitations out! This is gonna happen as long as Liam stays put!)
* April 28th~ Liam's Birth.

SO that is all the big stuff in on the calendar. Somewhere in there will probably be at least 1 more doctors appointment. Also stuff I have to do that I have to squeeze in there between all the calendar items:

* Take a family picture of all of us before our family goes from 5 to 6. I had April help do this. I still wanna try to get another one, since these are not quite the way I wanted them to be, but if that doesn't happen, that is OK!
* Crochet Liam's blanket. All of the babies have had a hand crocheted blanket and a sewn blanket I made them, but since I don't have a working sewing machine... Liam is only gonna have a crocheted one, unless someone has a spare sewing machine I could borrow for the next month! I have so many things I would like to sew! DONE! I just have to take a picture of the completed blanket. As soon as I do, I will share it with you! It turned out so CUTE!
* Go through the boxes of small baby girl clothes to pull out any gender neutral stuff that got packed in there on accident, and also to find the small sized PUL cloth diaper covers so that I can use them on Liam for times when he will not be wearing wool covers. Done! Owen finally helped me. I had less PUL covers than I thought I did, but I am sure all will work out!
* Wash the 0-3 month boy clothes. Gotta have something more than pants to put on Liam!
* Set up the swing for Liam.
* Set up the bassinet. All the kids have used it!
* Wash the boppy and find the boyish cover. Washed the boppy... although I might have to replace it... It has a hole in it. I will see how it is with the cover on it. I also found my boyish cover, but I really would like to pick up a nicer one!
* Pack a bag for the hospital.
* Tour L&D at this hospital... since I have never been there? Maybe? Finally toured L&D. It is a really nice facility!
* Get a pedicure. Owen's present to me for my birthday is pretty feet before I give birth. Maybe I can get a manicure too... Maybe?
* Make a menu for Owen to follow while I am in the hospital. He can cook well enough, but lacks direction in the kitchen!
*Get a "Guess how much I love you" baby book for Liam. All the kids have exactly the same baby book. That way nobody can try to say someones was better! (Yay planning ahead!

That is all for now, although I am sure that there is, in fact more!

Elephant!

I knitted an elephant for Mikaela. I loved the Elefante since the moment I saw it almost a year ago on Ravelry. I just never got around to making it cause I didn't have size 4 needles. Well I finally picked up a set... and look!



Isn't she just about the cutest little toy you have ever seen??????



I mean really! How can you resist it?



Even its backside is cute!



I think it is love!

Mikaela

Can I just tell you how beautiful my little princess is? I mean really! Just look at her!



How could you not just wanna kiss her all over her sweet little face?

But there is something sad I have to tell you about poor Mikaela.

She has a head cold. A stupid stuffy/runny-cant breath while laying down- coughing up her lungs from post-nasal drip head cold.

You know what the upside of head colds is?

This:



How cute is that? I mean really!

Now to figure out how to stop her from getting any bigger....

Sorry that I am boring.....

Not much to say around here... No I haven't popped yet... I have just hurt to much to sit at my desk for long. I should have stuff to tell you in the next day or two... not baby related though!