First Day of School

Wow, summer went by so quickly this year. This was probably helped along by the fact that Laina was born about half way through. Michela and Chase were actually excited to go back to school, Hunter, not so much. The last couple of weeks of summer got kind of boring for Michela. I guess after our trip to California everything else just wasn't as exciting.

Chase is in 2nd grade this year. He is such a social little kid, he loves being at school with all of his friends.

Hunter is in 4th grade. He is excited to see his friends again. He and Michela go to a different school than our neighborhood kids, so his school friends are kind of spread out.

Michela is a big sixth grader this year. Yikes, I have a sixth grader!! I totally remember being in sixth grade. It was so much fun being the "rulers" of the school.

Here's to another fantastic school year!

Laina Lou

Laina is growing up so fast! I can't believe how big she is getting. When we were in California the difference in her weight from when we got there to when we went home was very noticeable. We are guessing she is in the 11 1/2 - 12 pounds range already. I guess Momma's milk is fattening her up.

She is all smiles lately. She loves when you talk to her and get down close to her. She is starting to "talk" to you and makes the cutest sounds. The other day I laid her on a pillow and put her on Aria's lap so she could "hold" the baby. Laina was in heaven listening to Aria's cute little voice and watching her little face. It was the sweetest moment.

She is getting more active. She is pretty good at pushing herself up on her tummy.

She loves to lay under her little activity toy and swat her fists at the hanging toys. She rolls over on her side and is always twisiting and turning. She likes to stand up and the other night she was doing a little dancing. At one point she was doing the little Elvis hip swinging move. It was a crack up!

And her absolute favorite place to be is in the warm bath. She can be screaming her head off but as soon as you stick her in the warm water she immediately calms down. It's fun watching her relax in the tub.

I attempted some newborn pictures of her a week ago and I'm getting her birth announcement together. I'll have to post the pictures as soon as I get them all photoshopped. They are turning out super cute!

Sewing for Baby

I bought some cute little white onesies in hopes of adding some embellishments. Thankfully Laina had a good day where she actually took a nap so I was able to get a little sewing done. I ended being able to applique four onesies, two for Laina and two for a neighbor friend.

I've been seeing ruffles on the bums of onesies and wanted to try it out myself.

How cute are those!

I also made a cute little headband for Laina.

I'll have to get some pictures of it on her.

Other projects are in the works, but I'm lucky to get a shower and everyone fed every day. There's not much time for sewing, but I'm sure there will be more in the future. I'm amazed I got time to do this post. Alas, I spoke too soon, I hear her crying after being asleep for a whole ten minutes! Aargh!

Spoiled Rotten

I can't believe that Laina is already 3 weeks old! She is such a cutie, which is a good thing since she keeps Mommy and Daddy up at night. She is adored by all and will probably never learn to crawl or walk because she is held almost all the time. Whenever she makes so much as a little squawk, one of the kids is scooping her up. I have to keep reminding them that it is okay if she cries a little.

Michela is my biggest helper. She has the magic touch when it comes to calming Laina down and getting her to go to sleep. It's so cute watching her holding Laina, bouncing her in her arms, and talking to her.What a good Mommy she will be! She also is my life saver when I desperately need a nap and Laina won't sleep in her crib. As I walked into the kitchen this morning I saw Michela holding Laina and Laina's little eyes were picking up over Michela's shoulder. Too precious!Hunter is always second in line to hold Laina. He follows Michela around waiting for his chance. He is so sweet with her. I love watching him bounce her in his arms, it's not such a smooth bounce, but he's working on it. The love on his face in this picture just melts my heart.

Chase is always asking to hold Laina when she is not so happy. He holds her as she is screaming her head off, just smiling away. This morning he got lucky and he was able to hold her while she was dozing off.

Don't you just love that little foot sticking out?!

Laina is getting a little bit better with the crying in the evening. I think since we know it is coming it isn't bothering us as much. We were actually able to go out to dinner last night as a family and she just slept in her car seat. I'd forgotten how nice it was to go places with a new baby because they usually just sleep the whole time.

Laina is working on her neck muscles, trying to hold her head up when she is on your shoulder or on her tummy. She loves to push with her legs. She likes listening to music and the sounds of the washing machine and dryer. Her favorite way to sleep is curled up on your chest. And she is staying awake more during the day, especially in the morning.

Time is already flying by too fast and I need to enjoy every little moment with her. I'm so glad it is summer and we can all enjoy her together.

Did I Sign Up For This?

We are coming up on the two week mark tomorrow and I am already starting to go a little bit crazy. Laina has been screaming her head off whenever she is awake for the past few days. She is either screaming or asleep, and usually asleep in someone's arms. I've been having visions of my nightmare first year with Chase when he wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding him. I remember sitting on the couch for three hours one day just so I could get some peace and quiet and so that he could get a nap. These thoughts were going through my head as I dozed in a chair while holding Laina on my shoulder, sound asleep after screaming for an hour. Thankfully my Mom is still here, otherwise I might just go insane!
My Mom and I were discussing if it might be colic so we went to the baby books to check it out. They say colic can be caused by a stressed out Mom. Well, how can you not be stressed out when your baby is screaming at the top of her lungs and can't be consoled?! Another factor can be over stimulation. How can a baby not be over stimulated with 4 other kids running around the house?! They are all fighting over who will hold her, running around like a bunch of wild Indians, and yelling at the top of their lungs. Yikes!
Thankfully the kids are all out of the house right now at the movies and Laina is sleeping in her crib during this quiet time. I can't believe my luck that I've had a little time to work on a project I've wanted to do.
The problem is that she seems like she gets so tired that she just starts screaming her head off because she can't figure out how to get to sleep. She gets really mad if you try to stick a pacifier in her mouth because she thinks she needs to nurse to fall asleep. Hello, I am not a 24 hr. all you can eat buffet! She often wakes up an hour after I've fed her and thinks she needs to eat again. The other problem is she has to burp all the time! Last night it took me an hour to get her to sleep after I fed her because every time I layed her down she had to burp again. Then I had to go through the process of getting her back to sleep, only to lay her down and find out she had to burp again! I went through that about 5-6 times last night. Frustrating!
None of my kids have ever been this bad. Yes, they had a fussy period in the evenings, but not this inconsolable screaming. Does anyone have any tips for a tired and frazzled Mom? I'm starting to wonder if I'm too old for this. This would have been a lot easier to handle when I had less children and I was about 10 years younger. I know this won't last forever, but when you are in the middle of it, the end is nowhere in sight.

One Week Old

I can't believe a week has already gone by. Mostly I've just been a feeding machine and trying to catch up on my sleep whenever possible. She has already been ousted from our room. That has to be a record. Usually my kids have lasted a couple of weeks, but I just can't get any sleep listening to all her grunts and groans. She's also just like the other kids when they were babies, she hates being swaddled. She's always finding a way to work her arms out of the blanket.

Laina is a doll and we love having her around. Hunter is always close by, watching her and adoring her. Whenever Aria is around Laina she proudly proclaims, "I love my baby sister." Chase is always asking when she is going to wake up so he can have a chance to hold her. And Michela is such a big help, she loves holding Laina whenever it is needed. She also likes to help me pick out which outfit Laina will be wearing that day.

Laina is staying awake more and more during the day. She loves looking around and listening to everyone talk. She makes the funniest faces and sounds.

She loves getting her hair washed but doesn't enjoy getting sponged off. She burps a lot! I forgot how much babies need to burp. She is so beautiful. I love her long eyelashes, little hands and feet, her soft skin, and all that lovely dark brown hair.

Along with new experiences this week I also have been experiencing all those things I had forgotten about having a newborn.

1. They are so tiny and easy to tote around.

2. They sleep a lot of the time, except of course when you want them to.

3. They look so cute in all those tiny clothes.

4. You get absolutely No Sleep!

5. Blow outs. Who knew those little bodies could create such big explosions?!

6. How much it hurts when you nurse. Ouch!

7. How fun it is to just watch them sleep.

8. How hard it is to get a shower.

9. How you have no time for anything but nursing, changing diapers, and putting them to sleep.

10. How absolutely Precious they are.

Peanut is Here!

Laina Amelia was born on Friday, July 2 at 2:16 am. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19" long. She has lots of dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. She looks so much like Michela and Aria when they were babies. Probably the biggest difference is that Laina already has some chub on her. She's got some rolls on her arms, chubby cheeks, and a double chin. Love it!

I was induced at 11:00 pm and she was born 3 hours later. The nurses and midwife were impressed with how fast and smooth the induction went. It only took a few pushes to get her out and then I was able to hold her.

Unfortunately things didn't go so smoothly after that. The nurse noticed her color was a bit off and she wasn't crying a whole lot. They took her down for some tests, giving her oxygen the whole way, and I never saw her again until 7:30 that morning. Mike got to stay with her in the NICU for part of the time but we spent most of the five hours sitting around and worrying. She couldn't get her oxygen levels up on her own so she was put on oxygen tubes. They gave her every test they could think of but everything came back negative. We were so thankful for that, but it was so frustrating not knowing what was causing the problem. They wouldn't let me feed her so she was given an IV to keep her hydrated.

At 7:30 I was finally able to try feeding her and she did great! The problem was they didn't let me come in at regular intervals to keep trying and she wasn't getting very hungry since she had the IV in. It was very frustrating trying to feed her. She had tubes in her nose that got in the way and her IV in her arm was in a weird place so they had to splint her arm. Every time her arm moved too much the IV would start beeping and they would have to interrupt the feeding to fix it. All Friday they tried decreasing her oxygen flow but she couldn't keep her levels up on her own. It was so weird not having the baby in the room with me. Thankfully Mike stayed at the hospital with me most of the time so I didn't have to worry on my own.

Early Saturday morning they had me come in and feed her around 12:30 am. They had decreased the oxygen and flow and she was doing good. While I was trying to feed her, Laina ripped the tubes out of her nose.

The nurse decided we would just try it without the oxygen and see how she did when she was eating. She ended up doing such a good job that the nurse turned it all off. The poor sweet thing was so battered by the end of it all. She had been so poked and prodded.

Later that morning the doctor said we could start trying to wean her off the IV. By the afternoon we got the best surprise when the NICU nurse rolled her into our room. We were so happy to finally have her to ourselves.

Sunday morning I was in the nursery getting her checked out when I looked up and saw my cute family all gathered at the window. The nurse chuckled and said, "Now they don't look excited or anything do they?!" The kids all fought over who got to hold her first.

They all are so in love with Laina. Funny thing is? We still all call her Peanut most of the time. Today when I went to the hospital to check her in for a Bilirubin test the admitting lady asked me what the baby's name was and I had to pause because I was about to say Peanut. I guess that's one nickname that is going to stick around for a while. We are so happy to have her home!

Happy Birthday Chasey!

Happy 7th Birthday to Chase! It's unbelievable that Chase is 7 years old. When did he find the time to grow up so fast? Chase's birthday is always fun since it is on the Fourth of July. For his first present we got to bring Peanut home. He showed up to the hospital to pick up Mom and Peanut in his Sunday best. We let him hold her first since it was his birthday.

After church he waited patiently until we could sit down and open his presents. Legos from Grandma Hunt and Ben 10 toys and Bakugans from the family. He and Hunter immediately raced downstairs to try them all out.

A picture of the kiddos in their 4th of July finery.

After dinner we had some yummy brownies that Michela had made for Chase's "Birthday" Cake. He was so happy to blow out the candles and dig in.

Seven Fun Things About Chase on His Seventh Birthday:

1. He has lost 3 teeth so far.

2. He taught himself how to ride his bike without training wheels.

3. He is learning how to play the piano.

4. He is a little fish in the water.

5. He loves to read.

6. His favorite color is Blue.

7. He Loves Legos!

Fourth of July Shirts and Skirts

Since I had so much time on my hands this past week I thought it would be fun to make some stuff for the kids to wear on the 4th of July.

Aria is always wanting to wear dresses and skirts so I bought a few different red, white and blue fabrics and made her this darling skirt.

I can't wait to see her in it on Sunday.

The shirts sprouted with the idea to make Chase a special birthday shirt. Since his birthday is the 4th of July and we like to call him our little firecracker I came up with this.

Front-

Back-

I've wanted to try Freezer Paper stenciling for a long time now and this presented the perfect opportunity.

Hunter's shirt was a little more simple but I loved how it turned out.

Michela's shirt inspiration came from a Michael's ad in the paper last Sunday. Michela helped me figure out the stencil and she painted it all herself. I loved how we roughed up the edges. It gave it kind of a worn look. She even came up with the words she wanted to use and wrote them on with a Sharpie. She loved it so much she didn't stop with the front of the shirt but went on to do more stenciling on the back. She is such a creative girl. I love doing crafty things with her.

I love how they all turned out. They are going to be super cute for all the fun Fourth of July festivities this weekend!

Projects for Baby

Yes, I'm still here. If this baby doesn't come tonight I will be getting induced tomorrow morning. At least the end is in sight either way. I swear I thought I would be having this baby every night this week. I have been having lots and lots of contractions but they always stop before they amount to anything. Last night at about 1:30 I woke up having really hard contractions every ten minutes. I waited awhile to see what would happen and instead of getting closer together, they got farther apart until they finally disappeared. I am a bit frustrated with all this teasing. What is it about my girls, they have all been the hardest and longest labors.

With each day I find I have more time to do things, so here are some pictures of some of the things I have been working on in the last two weeks.

I restuffed the crib bumper. I am using the bedding I made for Aria because I loved it so much and it looks so cute in the room. The crib bumper was in a sorry state. I can't believe how saggy and deflated it was. Now it is super cute and puffy again.

I recovered the cushions on my rocking chair and Mike painted it for me. Mike bought me this rocking chair back when we first started trying to get pregnant with Michela. I've rocked all my precious babes in this chair but I just couldn't stand the forest green fabric with the pink roses on it anymore. I didn't quite think the project through though and after wrestling the back cushion to tuft it with some covered buttons I realized I wouldn't be able to sew up the channels on the sides. Luckily there is a awesome little upholstery shop nearby and they sewed them up for me. What I wouldn't give for an industrial sewing machine!

I made myself a pretty, lightweight nursing cover. I could have used these with all of my other babies.
I also made a car seat canopy for the infant car seat. Of course I had to go the extra mile and put a ruffle around the edge and made cute little flowers to go on the handles and front. Why make it easy on myself?!


I still want to make some cute burp cloths, maybe I'll have time for that later today, and applique some onesies, but I'll have plenty of time for that after Peanut is here. As well as getting these projects crossed off my list I've also gotten a lot of mending done, turned a couple of pairs of pants into shorts and shortened the sleeves on a few shirts. Other projects done consisted of organizing around the house. It's been a busy month but I'll be so glad to be able to relax after Peanut comes and just concentrate on taking care of our new little one.