26 weeks (1 day late...)

So, here it is, only one day late! My 26 week belly pic!

Other things...

**I had an appointment today and met the most magnificent midwife, she even rubbed my belly with cocoa butter!

**It may be possible for me to have an epidural this time, even with the rods in my back!

**I have my referral to neurology!

**I have an umbilical hernia that may need to be repaired with surgery after I deliver.

**Girly is measuring 2 weeks ahead, but my midwife isn't worried about that since my babies tend towards the big side.

**If anyone could bring me some chocolate and a coffee, you'd be my friend :)

a lot of little stuff

So, I don't have any cute pics or really funny stories to post, but I was thinking that I should post SOMETHING, and we have had stuff going on, but not really of the fun variety, but life is life! So, here is what we have been up to.

**Two weeks ago today I was hospitalized over night for a horrid migraine that has YET to completely go away. Hopefully my neurologist referral comes through fast, because the OB seems content with giving me narcotics until me and the little girl in my tummy are loopy and sleepy and unable to function. I'm NOT fond of that.

**Tyrone gave himself a concussion. Great, huh? Fell and hit his head. He spent Sunday in the ER and today is his first day back at work. So HE has been loopy on pain killers as well. I hope his day goes ok, he still has some really nifty headaches himself.

**The boys are mostly adjusting well to school. We did have one really bad day on Monday. Poor Gabe got hit in the mouth by a boy in the lunch room, but contained himself and didn't hit back. The little boy got in trouble. But then on the bus someone pushed him and he had enough and hit back. He got in trouble, and of course it wasn't right, but poor little guy :( That same day on the bus Kaleb also got in trouble for "starting something" with another little boy, but the details on that aren't clear. That was a very rotten day, but we seemed to have improved since then, so that's good!

**I am going to start putting up weekly belly pics of me....this is my last pregnancy and I want to enjoy every bit of it and remember it for years to come. Have I mentioned that at some point I am going to make this blog into a book for our family? So I need to have all these things in here as a part of our family history. So look for a belly pic tomorrow, I'll be 26 weeks!

**Speaking of pregnancy, I only have 99 days until my due date as of today! How exciting! Oh, and the name for this little girl that I was dead set on? We've changed it. And played a little fast and loose with our own naming traditions. But I am SURE that this is her name. I think. :) She is getting bigger fast, almost 2lbs now! Currently I am sitting kind of sideways on the couch with the laptop on the arm of the couch, my elbow is resting on my stomach, and she is kicking it over and over. Guess I'm in her space....sorry little one!

So, I think that's pretty much it. We've just been living life and trying to not have headaches! This week and/or this weekend Tyrone and I are going to put together the baby's furniture, I can't wait to put up her clothes and make up her crib :) So I may put up some pics of all that when it's done, as well!

I hope everyone is having a good week!

baby morph!

I found this website called morphthing.com that takes a pic of mom and dad and morphs them into what their baby might look like....too much fun! Here is ours, check it out!

fishy lips on a monday

celebrating shiloh

Shiloh has become a talkative, entertaining, caring, and bossy little girl this past year. She has a vocabulary that leaves many thinking she is at least 3, and has lost all of her baby fat and rolls. If anyone around her cries or so much as says "awww, man!", she is by their side, rubbing their cheeks, patting their arms, hugging and kissing them, and asking "What's wrong, what's wrong?!" Around her bubbas, her favorite new phrase is "I'm telling MOMMY!" over and over again, and then repeating the name of the offender.

Shiloh loves to dance and sing, hold hands with her biggest bubba, and cries every single time her Daddy leaves the house. She'll talk on the phone for hours, and still loves her sleep, happily running to her crib most nights. Her favorite sheets are Disney Princess, but you have to remember to tell her she's Princess Shiloh when you cover her up. She's none to fond of ANYONE hugging me and saying "My mommy!", so this is Gabe's favorite way of getting her goat.

So, with all that fabulousness, we had to celebrate her today! We set out this morning for the Syracuse Zoo (we had never been), and had quite the adventure. Then Daddy took us out for lunch, and we had naps on the long ride back. Once we were back at the house, it was time for cake and presents!


Tons of free roaming birds in the aviary!

Everywhere you looked, there were birds of every different kind!



This lion was laying so close to the glass, we were able to get just inches from him. It was awesome!

The chimps put on quite a show for us, this was Shiloh awestruck!

And the boys watching the chimps...


Flamingos...


Running around by the bears


Shiloh has a phobia of walking over anything with cracks, such as this wooden bridge that goes over several exhibits. Daddy had to rescue her


The penguins were hilarious. This one in particular would follow your fingers as you moved your hand around the glass, so we got quite a show!



After lunch, on the way home, this was the scene in the back seat


Blowing out her candles!

She was all about opening the presents!


Present from Grandmother and Grandfather, accessories to something she would open in a minute...




A dollhouse from Grandma!

She has played and played with this thing, it is the perfect size for a little girl her age and practically indestructible! Other highlights included a play purse complete with a mirror, fake lipstick, fake phone, and fake (thank goodness) debit card, and a really cool bath toy!

Happy birthday, Shiloh Isabelle!

2 years old

I was starting to think that I would never go in to labor with Shiloh. With each of the boys, they were born several days before their due dates, but here I was, the day before her due date and nothing! Then, my water broke! Tyrone was very calm about the whole thing, and we got the boys to the person's house who had agreed to watch them and made our way to the hospital at about 1pm.

Contractions had not started on their own, so we started the horrible pitocin after walking the halls for several hours. About that time (7pm or so), the people watching the boys for us decided that this was taking too long and they couldn't watch them anymore. Tyrone had to leave and get them, hoping one of our friends would agree to some last minute over night babysitting. I was so upset to be in labor alone that my blood pressure spiked to the point that it sent nurses running in to my room.

My nurse was THE BEST. She told me that they would do whatever it was I needed, that we would make the boys a pallet behind the nurses station and let them watch cartoons if we needed to! She listened to me sob incoherently, rubbed my back through some contractions, and convinced me to go ahead and take some pain medicine and get a nap. Luckily, one of Tyrone's buddies and his wife were perfectly willing to take the boys and they ended up having a fun movie night over there.

Once Tyrone was back and things were settled (9pm or so), my midwife turned up the pitocin and really got the show on the road. This was, by far, my most painful labor. I literally could not stay still, and was out of bed, rocking back and forth, and falling asleep for 30 seconds between contractions leaning against anything available. When my midwife checked me at about 12:30 am, I was almost ready, but not quite. She had such a soothing, grandmotherly presence. She sat down in the rocking chair and rocked and was quietly reassuring.

Well, suddenly I had to push! It was time! This part didn't take long, and 7 or so pushes later, at 1:08am, Shiloh Isabelle Martin was born on her due date, 9/9/07! She was beautiful, much bigger then predicted at 8lbs, 7oz, and 19 1/2 inches long, my heaviest, although not my longest, baby. Tyrone cut her cord (a first for him!), took tons of pictures, and made the important phone calls.

We were moved to a recovery room, where everyone did really well. Things went along as they were supposed to, the boys got to meet their new sister, she nursed well. She was diagnosed with a small heart murmur that scared me to death but ended up healing on it's own and was never a problem. We did so well that we were sent home the very next day with our brand new daughter, who has never stopped making us smile.

'07

'08

'09

first day of school!

Well the boys are off for their NINE HOUR day at school! They were so excited and ready to go. This seems so different to me, Gabe only had a 4 hour day at pre-k! I anticipate him being exhausted when they get home. Kaleb was all calm, cool, and collected, with a been there, done that attitude. When I woke him up this morning, he said "But, Mom, it's still dark out and I'm super tired!" Lol, He went to bed at 7:30, he couldn't have been THAT tired!

Kaleb wasn't really in to me taking the first day of school pictures, so this squinty eyed, get it over with already look is the best I got from him :) Oh, and, I did try to convince Gabe to go to the barber shop with Kaleb and Daddy to get a "big boy, back to school" hair cut like Kaleb....but he INSISTED on the mohawk. Hey, it suits his personality, he loves it, and I have bigger fish to fry then pushing a hair style he doesn't want on him. So, go Gabe, be who you are!! :)




And, little sissy, she wasn't really sure WHY she was excited, but she knew everyone else was, which was enough for her! Hmmm....wonder if she knows this is the LAST DAY that she will be 1....but that's an entirely different post!

new ride

So, I don't know if anybody besides us cared enough to do the math, lol, but 4 kids in my beloved Grand Prix was NOT going to cut it :) We knew we had to get a new vehicle, and tossed around the idea of minivan, but Tyrone really wanted us in something that would handle well in the north country snow, especially once he deploys. So, we shopped around, and did some research, and this is what we came up with!

A Suburban! It has 3 rows of seating (8 seats), and lots of room for storage. How cool is that?!