1 year old!

Claire's birthday is today!  She is:

-Crawling
-Climbing onto anything she can, quite the climber
-Waves and says "hi"
-Says mama, dada
-Is sick on her birthday
-Takes 2 naps per day 2-3 hours per nap
-Wakes up at least once per night (being sick hasn't helped)
- Loves her siblings and all the attention she gets from them
-Her favorite thing is being outdoors
-She loves water = bath, pool, sink
-Loves to cuddle and be held


Claire's birth story:

I was scheduled to be induced with Claire on 8/27/2013.  We went into the hospital, checked in at 7am.  I was checked at the Dr. office a week before that and was di

lated 3 cm, so thought I'd go into labor before then, but I didn't.  Just lots of braxton hicks, or pre-labor contractions.  We went into the hospital nervous (b/c labor was impending) but excited.  Had my pillow to make things comfy and had the other 3 children watched by Grammy and Grampy.

From 7am-11am I was checked in, got a blood sample, IV started, got in a gown and then they hooked me up to an antibiotic.  I needed 2 rounds of the antibiotic which takes 3 or 4 hours per round.  So from 7-11am Rob and I just watched tv and hung out.

At about 11:30 am the nurse started me on pitocin.  She still didn't "check" my progress at all, which was fantastic for me.  They set it at the lowest setting and came to turn it up ever 30 minutes.  About noon they talked about getting me an epidural before the Dr. came to break my water.  I had requested this b/c last birth I progressed really fast after the water was broken and wanted an epidural, and was guessing I'd miss out if there was no epidural before the Dr. came.

Aboutr 12:30pm I got the epidural and was just starting to feel "uncomfortable" from the contractions.  One side wasn't as numb as the other, but not as bad as with Luke where one side could feel everything.  Epidural was relatively quick, but I was much more nervous during it b/c I wasn't in massive amounts of pain, so I was concerned about it, rather than just so relieved to get it.

At 1ish, the Dr. came in and broke my water.  She checked me before and I was already dilated 6cm, so I'm glad they hadn't checked me before she broke my water.  After she broke the water she said I was an 8.  She left the room and said she'd see me soon.

Within 10 minutes I felt like the epidural was broken and was in a lot of pain.  Nurse checked me and said I was a 10.  They set up for delivery and said I could start pushing.  We had called my mom at 1pm and told her that my water was broken and I was a 6 and she better head down quickly.  She walked into the room as I was pushing, 30 minutes from the phone call.

Claire was born a few minutes after my mom's arrival.  She was born at 1:45 pm , 8 lbs. even.

It was a very painful delivery despite the epidural, but I guess that's what happens when you go from no labor to baby delivered in 2 hours.  I honestly only felt like I was in labor from 12:30-1:45, so an hour fifteen minutes....fastest delivery of all 4.

Claire had fluid in her lungs and was purple with lower oxygen at birth.  Thankfully her nurse was so calm about it that I didn't know there was an issue.  I was able to hold her and do skin to skin and then they took her to clean her off and put her under an oxygen mask and rubbed her chest for quite awhile.  She was on oxygen for a good 30-45 minutes while I was being cleaned up and she was being cleaned up too.

Because of this I didn't hold her for about an hour, which seemed like quite awhile.  After a bit she would take the oxygen off and Claire's stats would drop but then with oxygen she went back to normal.  After that hour she was perfect.  For the next 2 days at the hospital it was rough with her coughing, spitting and choking on the extra fluid in her body (trying to get it all out). But, day by day she acted more and more like a normal newborn.  The first 2 days she acted the same as Luke had and I was so upset that I had another colicky/reflux baby to raise.  Thankfully she ended up with a milder case of reflux and no colic.

The hospital stay was nice besides the fluids in Claire.  Rob and I had a blast ordering food and also found out that we could get tiny Ben and Jerry's ice cream with my meal, so we'd order those too.  It was a great time to bond with JUST Claire, not the whole family.

I definitely also felt like relieved that this was the last baby and last hospital stay and last postpartum recovery I'd have to endure.

Now here we are a year later and I can't believe it flew by this quickly.

We were blessed with a sweetheart, Claire Olivia Douglas.

He did it! E went to Kindergarten!  The day was glorious for me.  So quiet and relaxing b/c Claire went down for a nap once we dropped him off.  Luke played in a pool in the front yard and then watched a tv show.  I relaxed, cleaned and prepped food for dinner.  I also went through one of the kids closets and de-cluttered it, which is one of my HUGE goals for our entire house.  I want to get EVERYTHING unnecessary out of here, but more about that later.

Rob and I were able to walk with him to school drop off.  Bre, Mikey, Amari, Hugo and Ethan all rode bikes to school and Rob pushed the little ones in the stroller.  He didn't cry and didn't look back when he walked into the school in his class line, following his teacher.  I will remember that the kids backpacks are almost as big as all the kids, they all look little (especially compared to Breanna's 2nd grade class).

He said it was a good day.  He had no complaints, and was all smiles when I picked him up from school.  Normally I will just drop him off, but today I did both, b/c it was a special first day.  It was nice doing the walk to and from school, it was a warm, but beautiful day outside and I think the kids enjoyed the fresh air.

The little ones played in the pool in the front yard about 10 times today.  I changed them over and over again from wet to dry, wet to dry, wet to dry.  But, they're super happy while playing in there.  Luke brought out tons of his trains and was driving them down the slide into the pool....they're wooden, so that can't be good for them, but once again, I didn't worry b/c it kept him busy and happy.

Took a tiny walk with just Luke when Rob got home from work.  I think it made his night.  He kept smiling at me over and over.  Rob made Ethan and Breanna's night by jumping and playing with them on the trampoline.  They ask him a lot to do this and they were thrilled when he spent lots of time with them playing on the trampoline.

The best part is....we get to do it all again tomorrow!  Send the 2 older to school again, hallelujah!  I really felt like a good mom today, which was so nice, b/c I've felt not so much like that the past while.  It was a long summer with all 4 home all day long everyday, so this new change we've started, feels amazing!

Monday/Tuesday's

Right now Mondays and Tuesday's are Rob's days off from work, therefore, it's our weekend :)  No big deal throughout the summer, but now that school has started again we will need to make a big effort to do things with the kids from 3:30-7pm on both of those days, b/c that is our chance to be together, all 6 of us, throughout the week.

The big first day of Kindergarten for E is tomorrow, wahoo!  He had his assessment today and did pretty well.  He knew his numbers, most of the uppercase letters and some of the lowercase letters.  Actually kinda surprised that he couldn't identify a circle for the shape test, but could identify a diamond....hmmm, but he did great!

Now to see how life is with just two littles from 9am til 12pm everyday, let's see, I"ll let you know how it goes.

Sunday's

We attend church every week. It is usually the 3 hardest hours of my week. These pics were taken in less than 5 minutes and it's just 2 out of the 4 kids (all age 7 and under) that we expect to sit and listen reverently. I go because of my personal beliefs and faith in Jesus Christ. I also go so my kids have a good moral foundation. I couldn't do it without the kind friends at church who weekly help me and truly love my kids, despite all the chaos. I don't go because it's easy 

Teacher meet and greet

Today we went to the kids elementary school to meet and greet their teachers.  We were able to visit Ethan's Kindergarten class and Breanna's 2nd grade classroom.  They're both excited and scared.

Ethan wouldn't let go of my hand while meeting his new teacher Mrs. B., who seems really nice.  He is at table 6 with the color purple for the beginning of the year.  He gets a cubby and is doing AM kindergarten. It was nice to see his preschool teacher right behind us in line to bring her daughter to school before we entered the school for the first time.  I think that helped put a smile on his face.

Breanna got to choose her desk this year, something that's never happened before.  She chose it near a set of nice twins she knows from her 1st grade class, so I'm really glad she'll know them to begin the year.  Her teacher complimented her even though the year hasn't started yet....Breanna used to go to her class last year for reading groups b/c she's advanced in reading.

The kids each got a cookie, which of course made the event more enjoyable!  Played on the playground afterwards for a few minutes before it started raining.  My mom came and watched Claire at the house so that I didn't have to take her to the event, which made it a million times easier.

Luke wore his backpack the ENTIRE time and kept saying we were going to "his" school, really cute.

School starts Monday for Bre.  E has an assessment Tuesday and then starts his school year Wednesday!  2014/15 here we come!

Yes, the mom of the house is SUPER excited for 2 kids to be in school.  Can't wait!

Bridal Shower

May 2014 - Sacramento

I have billions of other pictures, but this is a good sum up of the trip to Sacramento, 7 kids, 7 years old and under!  Crazy/fun trip.

Make over

Okay not a real make-over, but I got a haircut and color.  Cut off at least 8 inches, had a fun time with Deanne!

Sacramento 2014

A great picture Michelle took of Claire when we visited Sacramento in May, 2014.

Babysat

Claire was babysat A LOT this summer.  She learned how to love others and not scream for mommy every time I left her side.  Stranger danger also subsided.  Here's a picture of her at Auntie Dede's house one of the days, we had LOTS of helpers, so grateful!

4th of July

1. Super cool that we were able to go out our door and watch fireworks with the kids without having to go to a show for them!
2. BBQ with our wonderful neighbors
3. Sister watched claire for me all day, since Rob was working
4. Awesome husband sold a house at work today, which make it feel totally worth him working on the holiday.
5. I could keep going, but am grateful to live in the USA where all these little things that happened to me today are even possible!

August 2014

How are we already to August?  The kids start school next Monday (Breanna - 2nd grade) and Ethan (Kindergarten).  I'm very excited about it actually.  Having 2 in school will be great, 2 at home, I won't feel so outnumbered.

We've had a relatively good summer and hopefully the kids will remember the fun things that we did and not the boring days (you know that has to happen too).

This summer we have:

- Had Friday summer day camp with Grammy and Grampy
-Went to Winter park for a family reunion.  Got to swim, hike, play games, family talent show, play some more.
- Went to the North Pole
- Swam at several pools
- Had LOTS AND LOTS of thunderstorms, lightning, rain and hail!
-Drove up to the top of the continental divide with their dad

- Celebrated Deanne getting married with a bridal shower

-Put pennies on the train tracks

Dressed up as superheroes

 Played with cousins

 Went fishing

 Flashback to Easter Sunday with my family.....

 Fast forward to Auntie Shell visiting Colorado, we miss her so much when she's gone!

There's plenty more, this is just a tiny bit of the summer.