Daily life is challenging! Having four children is not easy! I would never change our life, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like if we only had one child... For example, what would it be like if Aliza were an only child? Would she be less aggressive? Would she not seek attention in negative ways? Would she have not have developed such excellent verbal skills because she would not have her brother as a role model?
What about Trevor and Ella? What would their life be like as only children, or without a sibling with a disability? They certainly would have fewer battles in their day to day tasks, they would not be screamed at by their sister. They would not be hit as often and there would be fewer tears shed over toys being taken without asking.
As a family, dinner time would likely be a bit easier with only one child... the yelling and crying about where to sit, what cup is whose, waiting until everyone is finished, etc. All of this would probably make things easier. Right??? But do I want things easier.... the answer is NO!
Our family is perfect! To an outside I can see where one might think that this life is nothing short of crazy. We are busy from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we are woken up in the middle of the night. Someone is always needing something. There is constant noise in our house. Our home is not the place to come to escape. You will like have two kids pushing eachother for space in your lap, one child trying to get you to play games, the other needing a diaper change, someone spilling their drink, a dog drinking out of the toilet and chasing the cat and a cat howling at all hours of the day and night.
With any part of this picture missing, our lives would not be the same. Our children know how to love! Even though Aliza can be challenging, when she tells you she loves you, you know she means it. It absolutely makes my heart melt. When Trevor puts his arm around one of his sisters to help them, I forget about how rough he can be sometimes. When the laundry is backed up, toys are strewn from room to room and the kitchen floors has crushed cheerios, I remind myself how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family to have created thoses messes.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Have a Birth Day Dear Quinn!
The day started out like a normal day, or so I thought. I was in a great mood and felt great. I was looking forward to spending the day with the kids and Tom. There was the exception of the dream that I had the night before in which I was told that if I baked a birthday cake for the baby, then the baby would come. So while it was a relatively normal Sunday morning for everyone else, I got up bright and early and baked a birthday cake for Quinn with the help of Trevor, Aliza and Ella. Although I was feeling fine, I was 37 weeks pregnant and willing to do anything that I could do (within reason) to have the baby sooner than later.
My previous pregnancy with Ella was quite traumatic! During her delivery she did not manuever herself correctly and was born in an unusual position. She likely was not able to manuever correctly due to her large size, 10 lbs, 12 oz. I delivered her at the Birth Center, without medical intervention (no physician) or medications. During delivery my pelvis seperated which has resulted in complications including being unable to walk or roll over in bed for weeks following her delivery, as well as long term pain and arthritis. I was not looking forward to having these problems with another delivery. Hence needing to deliver a small baby, and the earlier the better (post 37 weeks!)
Since I had the dream that baking a cake would bring about labor, I thought lets try it! For some reason after the cake baking process- which is a process when you have three children helping- I became very easily agitated. The littlest things were making me very angry and frustrated. I was getting anxious about the babys arrival and not being ready for the first day of school for the other kids. Also, Tom's school year was starting early as usual and he would be going back to work in 3 weeks. As he did yard work outside (he is a smart man and knew it would be best for all of us if he and the kids stayed outside while I was in my "mood") I called my mom and asked her if she could take the kids for an hour or so while we went school clothes shopping. This trip seemed to help take some stress away and really helped me feel somewhat organized. For the past few weeks I was having regular contractions but not enought to start labor. So once we got into the car I noticed that my contractions were coming kind of frequently, but not too painful. This was part of my continuing frustration, I was having regular contractions, sometime painful and making sleep difficult, but not starting labor. At my previous Drs. appointment I was 3 centimeters dilated, but that means nothing when it is your fourth child.
On our way home I was really hungry. I had been really concious of eating heathly during this pregnancy and gained only 12 pounds. I was so afraid of having a large baby and really wanted to delivery naturally without a C-Section. I knew that the only way this could happen (without seperating my pelvis again) was if the baby was small. On this day I had a craving for McDonalds. If you know me, that is a crazy craving considering that I do not eat meat and especially processed meat. Tom asked what I wanted while in the drive thru line. I told him I wanted a Sweet Tea (I had not had sugar in months), a cheeseburger (sounds disgusting now) fries and an ice cream cone. A few miles down the road my "walking on eggshells" husband looks at me with a grin on his face and I look down at my large belly covered with crumbs and a half eaten cheeseburger in one hand and ice cream in the other to dip the fries in... we both started laughing and it was at that moment that I realized I was going to be going into labor soon. I even said out loud that I would be very surprised if I was still pregnant the next day. We went home and I made dinner for the family. We had "Quinns Cake" and sang "Come have a Birth Day dear Quinn" to the tune of Happy Birthday and then went for a bike ride around our neighborhood. During the bike ride I was keeping track of my contractions and while not too painful, they were very frequent and coming about every 3 minutes. We got home and I called my mom to ask her to be on stand by should we decide to go to the hospital. I went back outside to walk some more while Tom got the kids ready for bed. I wanted to see if these contracts were going to continue. About 1/2 way around our block I realized that I was really in labor and should not walk too far from the house just in case my water broke or my contractions started getting stronger. I walked home and called my mom to come over to watch the kids. Even though all things were pointing to actual labor, I was convinced that I was not really going to have the baby. With my other kids I had events of false labor and would go to the hospital only to have the contractions stop. I felt bad for having my mom come over, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, it could not possibly be this easy... All you have to do to go into labor is bake a cake for the baby... yeah, right.
So we went through the motions of going to the hospital and going through triage. My contractions were still happening, but I still I was convinced this was all for naught, I was not really going to have a baby. We did not even bring my bag from the car inside because we were that convinced that a baby would not be arriving. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and said she would be back in one hour. Fifteen minutes later she came back and said that I was contracting every 2 1/2 minutes and at this point she did not need to tell me this... Those not so painful contractions that I had been having for the past few weeks were gone. The real contractions had begun. It was determined that I was officially in labor. Now there was a decision to be made... Vaginal delivery or C-Section. The fear and pain of Ellas birth came back very quickly. Most people say that women forget about the pain of childbirth once the baby is in their arms. This is not at all true for me. I very distinctly can recall the pain and trauma of Ellas birth and the incredible helplessness and discomfort of the weeks that followed. This is also true for my husband who made the statement during our discussion that he needed me to be able to walk and since we did not know the outcome of a vaginal delivery (if my pelvis were to seperate again then I would likely need to have surgery to repair it) then maybe a C-Section was the safest option.
So off to the O.R. we went. This was a really quick process and almost surreal for us since it was such a differnt birth experience than we had ever had. Within an hour Baby Quinn was born. She was born at 11:59.23 on July 25th, 2010. She was healthy, 6.13 lbs and 21 inches long. Now, two months later and completely healed from the C-Section I can say that we made the right decision.
My previous pregnancy with Ella was quite traumatic! During her delivery she did not manuever herself correctly and was born in an unusual position. She likely was not able to manuever correctly due to her large size, 10 lbs, 12 oz. I delivered her at the Birth Center, without medical intervention (no physician) or medications. During delivery my pelvis seperated which has resulted in complications including being unable to walk or roll over in bed for weeks following her delivery, as well as long term pain and arthritis. I was not looking forward to having these problems with another delivery. Hence needing to deliver a small baby, and the earlier the better (post 37 weeks!)
Since I had the dream that baking a cake would bring about labor, I thought lets try it! For some reason after the cake baking process- which is a process when you have three children helping- I became very easily agitated. The littlest things were making me very angry and frustrated. I was getting anxious about the babys arrival and not being ready for the first day of school for the other kids. Also, Tom's school year was starting early as usual and he would be going back to work in 3 weeks. As he did yard work outside (he is a smart man and knew it would be best for all of us if he and the kids stayed outside while I was in my "mood") I called my mom and asked her if she could take the kids for an hour or so while we went school clothes shopping. This trip seemed to help take some stress away and really helped me feel somewhat organized. For the past few weeks I was having regular contractions but not enought to start labor. So once we got into the car I noticed that my contractions were coming kind of frequently, but not too painful. This was part of my continuing frustration, I was having regular contractions, sometime painful and making sleep difficult, but not starting labor. At my previous Drs. appointment I was 3 centimeters dilated, but that means nothing when it is your fourth child.
On our way home I was really hungry. I had been really concious of eating heathly during this pregnancy and gained only 12 pounds. I was so afraid of having a large baby and really wanted to delivery naturally without a C-Section. I knew that the only way this could happen (without seperating my pelvis again) was if the baby was small. On this day I had a craving for McDonalds. If you know me, that is a crazy craving considering that I do not eat meat and especially processed meat. Tom asked what I wanted while in the drive thru line. I told him I wanted a Sweet Tea (I had not had sugar in months), a cheeseburger (sounds disgusting now) fries and an ice cream cone. A few miles down the road my "walking on eggshells" husband looks at me with a grin on his face and I look down at my large belly covered with crumbs and a half eaten cheeseburger in one hand and ice cream in the other to dip the fries in... we both started laughing and it was at that moment that I realized I was going to be going into labor soon. I even said out loud that I would be very surprised if I was still pregnant the next day. We went home and I made dinner for the family. We had "Quinns Cake" and sang "Come have a Birth Day dear Quinn" to the tune of Happy Birthday and then went for a bike ride around our neighborhood. During the bike ride I was keeping track of my contractions and while not too painful, they were very frequent and coming about every 3 minutes. We got home and I called my mom to ask her to be on stand by should we decide to go to the hospital. I went back outside to walk some more while Tom got the kids ready for bed. I wanted to see if these contracts were going to continue. About 1/2 way around our block I realized that I was really in labor and should not walk too far from the house just in case my water broke or my contractions started getting stronger. I walked home and called my mom to come over to watch the kids. Even though all things were pointing to actual labor, I was convinced that I was not really going to have the baby. With my other kids I had events of false labor and would go to the hospital only to have the contractions stop. I felt bad for having my mom come over, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, it could not possibly be this easy... All you have to do to go into labor is bake a cake for the baby... yeah, right.
So we went through the motions of going to the hospital and going through triage. My contractions were still happening, but I still I was convinced this was all for naught, I was not really going to have a baby. We did not even bring my bag from the car inside because we were that convinced that a baby would not be arriving. The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and said she would be back in one hour. Fifteen minutes later she came back and said that I was contracting every 2 1/2 minutes and at this point she did not need to tell me this... Those not so painful contractions that I had been having for the past few weeks were gone. The real contractions had begun. It was determined that I was officially in labor. Now there was a decision to be made... Vaginal delivery or C-Section. The fear and pain of Ellas birth came back very quickly. Most people say that women forget about the pain of childbirth once the baby is in their arms. This is not at all true for me. I very distinctly can recall the pain and trauma of Ellas birth and the incredible helplessness and discomfort of the weeks that followed. This is also true for my husband who made the statement during our discussion that he needed me to be able to walk and since we did not know the outcome of a vaginal delivery (if my pelvis were to seperate again then I would likely need to have surgery to repair it) then maybe a C-Section was the safest option.
So off to the O.R. we went. This was a really quick process and almost surreal for us since it was such a differnt birth experience than we had ever had. Within an hour Baby Quinn was born. She was born at 11:59.23 on July 25th, 2010. She was healthy, 6.13 lbs and 21 inches long. Now, two months later and completely healed from the C-Section I can say that we made the right decision.
Unknown to the doctor deliverying her, we had already celebrated her birthday a few hours earlier. When they told us the time of her delivery I was thrilled to be able to tell her siblings when they woke in the morning that their baby sister was born on the day they made her a Birth Day Cake.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Chaos
Our lives have been in a state of complete chaos for the past few months. We decided to put our home on the market in February. There were a few reasons to sell our home, but the most important is because we are expecting our fourth child... another little girl. We need more space and another bathroom. With three girls (not counting Mom) one bathroom is going to quickly become a point of contention for our household. As part of selling our home we were selected by HGTV for a new TV show called My First Sale. So in addition to all the work that goes into selling your home, we have also had our lives filmed for a TV show, while pregnant. We were fortunate to have sold our home very quickly, but we were also unfortunate that we had not yet found a home to purchase. Panic started to set in about 4 days prior to the closing of the sale of our home when I realized that in a very short period of time we were going to be homeless! We have three children to provide for and no where to live... did this make any sense? NO! We had a back up plan or two, but I did not realize how difficult it was going to be to find temporary housing. I quickly learned that unless you were able to pay a fortune for housing, or commit to a long term stay, finding temporary housing for a family is not easy. Fortunately, because of the TV show and my connections as a Realtor, I was able to make arrangements for us to stay in a wonderfully luxurious condo that is very well appointed and much nicer than our family could ever afford. In the meantime we also found a home that met all of our needs! We only need to stay in temporary housing for 30 days... I can do anything for 30 days! Even though this condo is beautiful, it is not easy to have three kids in a multi-family building. The fights over who is going to push the elevator buttons and trying to keep a 5 year old boy from jumping and running are getting old very quicky. I have realized that it is much easier to do smaller loads of laundry daily (the stackable can only hold one outfit each) than spending all day on Saturday doing laundry and that we do not need the tons of toys and clothes as we are doing fine without.
With all of this chaos in our lives, I often forget about the new life that is growing inside me. It is usually only when one of the kids tells the waitress at a restaurant "my mommy has a baby in her tummy" or when one of them comes up to give my belly a kiss and a hug that I am reminded of the new family member that we are going to have soon. We have had lots of discussion about the baby's name... the kids come up with some very interesting names! Hashabag, Ritti, Lampshade... all very popular names according to an 8, 5, and 3 year old.
In the very near future we will have the journey of selling our home viewed by millions on national television, we will have a new home and a new daughter. At each turn I feel a huge weigh lifted and am very anxious to get back to "normal", only to await the next obstacle or challenge!
With all of this chaos in our lives, I often forget about the new life that is growing inside me. It is usually only when one of the kids tells the waitress at a restaurant "my mommy has a baby in her tummy" or when one of them comes up to give my belly a kiss and a hug that I am reminded of the new family member that we are going to have soon. We have had lots of discussion about the baby's name... the kids come up with some very interesting names! Hashabag, Ritti, Lampshade... all very popular names according to an 8, 5, and 3 year old.
In the very near future we will have the journey of selling our home viewed by millions on national television, we will have a new home and a new daughter. At each turn I feel a huge weigh lifted and am very anxious to get back to "normal", only to await the next obstacle or challenge!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Funny Things
Aliza really has a very funny sense of humor. She always laughs at her dads silly jokes, even the ones that no one else thinks are funny. She also is known to be the first to wake up every morning and then somehow or another wakes the rest of the house up. There is never a worry that our alarm clocks fail, as a matter of fact we do not even need to set them because Aliza is always there to wake us up around 6am. (and sometimes even earlier)
Earlier on winter morning I heard Aliza get up and go downstairs. Tom had already left for work. I heard a bit of rumbling in the kitchen, but usually she gets herself a bowl of cereal without too big of a mess. While slowly getting ready for my day, I heard Trevor go downstairs. When he got downstairs he said to Aliza, "What are you eating, is that cat food?" She told him "Yes, its cat food." He responded with "eew, Aliza you cant eat cat food!" She said "it's good, here try it..." He immediately is disqusted and tells her that mommy is going to be angry, she needed to stop eating the cat food. This discusssion went on for a few minutes, meanwhile, I am upstairs and hear this entire conversation going on. I am hysterically laughing at the thought of Trevor thinking that his sister is eating cat food. The reason I am not rushing to stop the cat food eating is because we had run out of cat the day before and I had given the cat a treat of a can of Chicken of the Sea tuna instead. I had put the leftovers in the refrigerator. I assumed that Aliza was eating the tuna and there was no reason to rush to stop her. I was actually quite surprised that she would be eating tuna, (Moiss Picky Eater) and didnt want to interrupt her eating something different. Trevor came upstairs after his attempts to stop his sister from eating the cats food failed. He was completely sick to his stomach and could hardly believe what his sister was eating. When I told him it was okay, that it was tuna, he insisted that I was wrong and that it was not tuna. I asked him if it was in a can, he said no, it was in a bowl. I tried to explain to him that I had given the cat tuna that we could eat, not cat food tuna. He did not believe me and asked me to come downstairs to see what she was doing. We walked downstairs, and there was Aliza, sitting on the floor in front of the TV eating a bowl of food. And Trevor was right, it was not tuna. And yes, it did look like she was eating a bowl of cat food. I looked at her and started laughing at the thought that she had convinced her brother that she was eating a bowl of cat food when in reality she was eating a bowl of chocolate peanut butter ice cream at 615 in the morning. I never told Trevor that she was eating ice cream, I gave Aliza a look of disapproval, and then walked into the kitchen and put the ice cream away. I thought it was so funny that Aliza had figured that if convinced her brother that she was eating cat food versus ice cream that she would not get in trouble for eating ice cream- or she thought there would be no way that he would want the "cat food" which meant there was more for her. Either way, I was completely in stitches and proud of Aliza for her ability to pull off such a complex stunt. A few days later I told Trevor that she was eating ice cream, not cat food. The look on his face was priceless!
Earlier on winter morning I heard Aliza get up and go downstairs. Tom had already left for work. I heard a bit of rumbling in the kitchen, but usually she gets herself a bowl of cereal without too big of a mess. While slowly getting ready for my day, I heard Trevor go downstairs. When he got downstairs he said to Aliza, "What are you eating, is that cat food?" She told him "Yes, its cat food." He responded with "eew, Aliza you cant eat cat food!" She said "it's good, here try it..." He immediately is disqusted and tells her that mommy is going to be angry, she needed to stop eating the cat food. This discusssion went on for a few minutes, meanwhile, I am upstairs and hear this entire conversation going on. I am hysterically laughing at the thought of Trevor thinking that his sister is eating cat food. The reason I am not rushing to stop the cat food eating is because we had run out of cat the day before and I had given the cat a treat of a can of Chicken of the Sea tuna instead. I had put the leftovers in the refrigerator. I assumed that Aliza was eating the tuna and there was no reason to rush to stop her. I was actually quite surprised that she would be eating tuna, (Moiss Picky Eater) and didnt want to interrupt her eating something different. Trevor came upstairs after his attempts to stop his sister from eating the cats food failed. He was completely sick to his stomach and could hardly believe what his sister was eating. When I told him it was okay, that it was tuna, he insisted that I was wrong and that it was not tuna. I asked him if it was in a can, he said no, it was in a bowl. I tried to explain to him that I had given the cat tuna that we could eat, not cat food tuna. He did not believe me and asked me to come downstairs to see what she was doing. We walked downstairs, and there was Aliza, sitting on the floor in front of the TV eating a bowl of food. And Trevor was right, it was not tuna. And yes, it did look like she was eating a bowl of cat food. I looked at her and started laughing at the thought that she had convinced her brother that she was eating a bowl of cat food when in reality she was eating a bowl of chocolate peanut butter ice cream at 615 in the morning. I never told Trevor that she was eating ice cream, I gave Aliza a look of disapproval, and then walked into the kitchen and put the ice cream away. I thought it was so funny that Aliza had figured that if convinced her brother that she was eating cat food versus ice cream that she would not get in trouble for eating ice cream- or she thought there would be no way that he would want the "cat food" which meant there was more for her. Either way, I was completely in stitches and proud of Aliza for her ability to pull off such a complex stunt. A few days later I told Trevor that she was eating ice cream, not cat food. The look on his face was priceless!
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