Friday, December 31, 2010

one tired mommy

This past week has left me one tired mommy.  For Christmas, my brother, sister-in-law, Sean and I gave my mom a bathroom remodel.  The wallpaper in her hall bath was around 20 years old, and the carpet (yes, I said carpet) in the bathroom was original to the house, which is older than me.  Can you say yuck?!  My mom always says for her birthday and Christmas instead of gifts, she just wants us to help her out around the house.  So, this year we actually listened. 
Sunday we had our Christmas celebration at her house, and then my sister-in-law, Heather, and I got to work taking down the wallpaper.  I'm so glad we started that on Sunday with how crazy the rest of the week has been.  We got the wallpaper down and one coat of primer on the walls on Sunday.  Monday we did a second coat of primer and the first coat of paint.  The guys had the tasks of removing the vanity, carpet and toilet in between our work.  Unfortunately, Monday night my brother came down with a stomach virus, so we missed a couple days of work because of that, but the guys have been hard at work again yesterday and today, and just have a few more things to finish tomorrow.  I can't wait to show pictures of the before and after.  I'm so excited! 
Brooklyn is now 7 months old.  In the midst of this busy week, I completely forgot to make that post.  Sorry Brooklyn.  Those are just the hazards of being the 5th child.  She's still a crawling maniac, and pulls up on everything.  I am sure she'll be cruising soon.
In other crazy news, the permanent retainer I've had for 13+ years broke late Wednesday night.  It came loose on one side, so I spent Thursday morning desperately trying to find an orthodontist who was in the office this week that could get me in.  I did not want to wait until Monday and risk things getting worse and me ending up with a piece of metal wire stabbing me in the mouth for days.  I am unlucky that my orthodontist had retired, and no one took over his practice, so I had to find someone new.  After calling about 15 offices, I finally found a place that could get me in.  I definitely lucked out as the orthodontist is super nice, as is everyone in her office.  I have pretty severe anxiety about dentists and orthodontists, so I am VERY thankful I had a great experience Thursday.  Seriously, I got to the office building and thought I was going to throw-up from being so nervous.  Anyway, I chose to have her remove the permanent retainer removed so I didn't have to worry about something like this happening again, and I ordered a removable retainer I'll have to wear at night.  Go ahead and make your jokes now.  :)  I figure that's better than needing braces again.
All that, plus Brooklyn sleeping like crap has left me sooo tired.  I need a day that I don't have anything to do so I can just sleep, but I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen.  I'll take sleeping in a little tomorrow though if I can get it.  I wish I had a magic solution for getting Brooklyn to sleep, but I just can't figure anything out.  She only sleeps when she wants to, and nothing I can do can convince her otherwise.  At least it won't last forever, but I sure do miss sleep. 
And just so this isn't a long boring post with no pictures, here are all the kids at my mom's for Christmas.

and just a sneak peek of the old bathroom.  (awesome red carpet, right?)

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had a great day today.  I have to say, I LOVE that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas.  For a while it kind of was a bummer that we didn't go to my mom's on Christmas day, but now, I love that Christmas day is just our family hanging out at home together.  We open our presents, eat breakfast, and then play with the new toys, watch the new movies, and hang out together.  Since we got lucky and had a white Christmas this year, the older three even went out and played in the snow for a while.  Such a wonderful day!
I will try to get some more pictures posted tomorrow, but for now, I think these will do.  :)

before Santa came
After Santa's visit
The next two are the post present opening chaos.  :)


I hope everyone else had a wonderful day however you spent it.

Monday, December 20, 2010

picture time!

Here are some pictures of the kids from the last month.  I'm terrible about taking pictures anymore, and even worse about sharing them, lol!  Enjoy!


Emma preparing to do a handstand at the Christmas show.


Megan being Megan at the Christmas show. She did do her dance though.
Brooklyn didn't care for the peaches, but loved the spoon
Jackson with his new toy he got for his birthday
The girls when I was trying to take pictures. Megan REALLY wanted to hold Brooklyn.

The boys being goofy


Brooklyn trying to escape

Sunday, December 19, 2010

YAY!

Got some good news on Friday.  Jackson actually grew 2 inches, and gained almost 4 pounds in the last 6 months.  I think I breathed the biggest sigh of relief in the pediatricians office when he told me those numbers.  The doctor said Jackson is obviously still small, but he gained and grew taller, and actually moved up in the percentiles as well, so he's not really concerned at all.  I cannot tell you how much better I feel about Jackson being such a little guy.
Unfortunately we also got a little crappy news on Friday, I'm still sick!  I came down sick back on November 14th, and my body still hasn't kicked this crap.  I am now onto round 3 of antibiotics to try to clear up this nasty sinus infection I have.  I have to go back to the doctor in 3 weeks for another check to see if everything has cleared up.  Also, the doctor did some bloodwork on me just to make sure everything else is working properly, and to find out why I've been so tired.  My fingers are crossed it's nothing serious and just a side-effect of being a mom of 5, lol!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Jackson is 2!

Wow!  Jackson is 2 today.  He is such an amazing little man, and he cracks me up every day.  He is still really tiny, everyone comments on it (which is really annoying from strangers by the way), but he seems like he's healthy and normal, just small.  He was supposed to have a check-up in the morning, but the pediatrician's office is opening late because of the bad weather, so I have to call to reschedule.  Anyway, he talks a TON!  He is picking up new words every day, and he can actually be understood a lot of the time.  He is showing some interest in using the potty, but we've been taking it slow and following his lead on it.  Some days he'll ask to go on the potty and actually use it, and some days he'll ask and not go, or it will be just a minute too late.  But, I know we're making progress, and I hope it won't be long before he gets serious about it.
Jackson has pretty good motor skills too.  His newest thing is jumping with both feet off the ground at the same time.  Sounds silly, but that really is a milestone and takes some coordination.  He still hates using utensils to eat, but I don't really care.  I figure he won't eat with his hands forever, and at least he's eating.
Jackson is quite the funny guy, but we love to refer to him as a little old man.  The more you watch him the more you can see he really is a little old man.  Recently I've started referring to him as Mr. Fredrickson, which is the name of the old man from the movie UP!.  Pay attention long enough, and you'll start to see the resemblance.  I think we should get Jackson a cane to walk around with to make it even more complete, lol!
I just love that little boy, and even though he is definitely hitting the terrible two's hard, he's still a lot of fun, and you can't help but like to spend time with him. 
Sadly, no party for Jackson today. We've all spent the last week fighting a stomach virus, and poor Jackson is just now starting to feel better. The kids were very sad for Jackson he didn't even get cake on his birthday, but I promise he'll get one in the next day or two.

Fingers crossed his check-up goes well.

Friday, December 3, 2010

slow growing

well, like all the other kids, Brooklyn has really slowed down in her weight gain, but she's still healthy.  At her 6 month check-up she's up to 15 pounds 5 ounces, and 25 1/2 inches long.  That's not up much from her stats at 4 months when she was 14 pounds 4 ounces, and 25 inches long, but at least she grew.  Fingers crossed she continues to grow and stay healthy.  I find it hard to believe she only grew 1/2 of an inch, but I really don't think they do an accurate measuring job every time, so who knows.  She is outgrowing a lot of her pj's in the length, so I think she's still doing fine.  I have a feeling her slower weight gain has to do with her increased mobility, but I'm not expert.  I always stress so much about the kids' weight gain, but chances are I have nothing to worry about.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Brooklyn is 6 months old

So sad, my sweet baby girl is 6 months old already!  It feels like it was just a month or two ago we were in the hospital with a newborn, but I think it live in a weird time warp world where things happen at hyper speed without me realizing.  So, yep, here we are at 6 months.  Brooklyn is so sweet and snuggly I just want to eat her up.  But, now that she has figured out how to get around on here own, she doesn't have as much time for snuggling, and would prefer to chase after the toys her siblings leave lying around.  That's right, Brooklyn is crawling. I'm sure a lot of people would say it's not officially a crawl, but I think it is.  It's a half crawl half army crawl scooting thing, but she is fast and always gets where she wants to go.  She can't sit up unassisted, or even using her hands as support, but I have a feeling it won't be long because she keeps pushing herself back onto her hip like she's trying to sit.  Megan crawled before she sat, and she learned how to sit by just pushing herself back onto her butt while crawling one day, so I expect Brooklyn to be the same way.
For a while she was sleeping really well and only waking once or twice a night to eat and go right back down, and would be in bed about 12 hours a night.  Now, she totally sucks at this sleeping thing.  At first I think it was due to teething because her bottom two teeth have cut through.  Then I got sick, so we were wondering if she was just extra hungry.  I wasn't eating much at all, so I'm sure the quality of my breastmilk was kind of crappy, but now that I am at least eating a little more, her sleeping habits are still awful.  Today though, she seems to be running a fever, so I guess she is coming down with something.  I miss the days of being able to put her to bed at 7:30pm and know I would only see her a couple times before morning.  Now she is up and down all night, and I'm exhausted because of it.  Not only am I trying to recover from an illness, but Brooklyn wanting to nurse at least 12 times a day is sucking the life out of me.  But, as Sean pointed out, our only other option is to try to give her some formula (she hates bottles by the way), and I'm not ok with ending breastfeeding because it's gotten hard, so we're plugging along.  If everyone could pray she starts sleeping better again, that would be awesome!
Even though I complain about the crappy sleeping, I do love nursing Brooklyn in the middle of the night when the house is quiet and dark.  She is so peaceful and content it almost makes me forget how exhausted I am and how much I'd rather be sleeping.
Brooklyn still hasn't had anything other than breastmilk, but I definitely think we're close to introducing some solid foods to her.  She is very interested in what we are eating at meal times, and tries to grab our stuff if we are holding her.  Unfortunately, our high chair died.  It survived 7 years and 4 kids, but we just couldn't make it last through one more kiddo.  So I ordered a new one, and Brooklyn's entry into solids will have to wait until it arrives.  I tried to find a replacement cover since that was the really horrible part, but our high chair was such a dinosaur, there aren't replacement covers out there for it.
Brooklyn loves her older siblings.  Even Jackson, as long as he's not trying to sit on her.  She thinks Nathan is hilarious, and Emma can calm her down almost as well as I can when Brooklyn gets upset.
These first 6 months have passed by in such an exciting blur, I'm sure the next 6 will be more of the same.  Even though we didn't plan to have Brooklyn, I LOVE having her as part of our family, and cannot imagine life without her now.  Thanks to God who knew we needed Brooklyn, even though we didn't.