kindergarten girl

I don't mind gushing about my sweet Aimee on my blog, and the truth is, Chad and I are both smitten with this curly little blond!  As a mother I couldn't be more proud of her!  In fact, I was, among the mound of paperwork that I had to fill out for her to start kindergarten, asked what I was most proud of about her.  I admit my first thought was to tell things like, "Aimee is a great reader," or "Aimee has great math skills," or "Aimee likes to sound out and write her own stories."  But I realized that would be short changing her.  Instead I wrote that I was proud of the way she understands good and bad choices, and what kind of consequences follow them.  I could also have written that she tries very hared to be obedient, that she loves to make others feel happy, or that she is a great example of kindness and service.  She is pretty amazing, and it has been a huge struggle for me to let her go to school (for so many reasons).  As a career stay-at-home mother, I think she makes me look pretty good, even though I am sure it is more nature than nurture. 

 When the big first day arrived we did the customary first-day pictures.  Of course I couldn't exclude her fan club.  May was sleeping, but her brothers were eager to be part of her big day.

 Medlar View is just a half a mile up the road from our house.  Each time we have passed it in the car over the last couple of months, she reminds everyone that it is her school.

 I think more for the benefit of the parents than the kids, the first day was very much easing into things.  When we (me and all four kiddos) arrived, we finally got to find out who her teacher was.  Mrs. DeDario!  We then met the principle, and took a few pictures while the kindergartners were led to their new class room to get acquainted with their new classmates.  This saying goodbye in the cafeteria where we met, was strange to me.  My mom always walked me to my class the first day, helped me find my desk, and then said goodbye.  I found this mass exit odd.  I guess it not being so personal made it less emotional, but I felt like I was forced into missing our "moment."  I think when the time actually came, and Aimee realized it was time to go, her excitement dwindled and she got a little nervous.  This picture pretty accurately shows what I think she felt.

 Look at how little my Aim is compared to all of the other kiddos.

 After a short Q&A session with the principal, the kids came back.  We then got to tour a bus, and go home.  Then it was business as usual at home.  I was glad to have it over, and I think Aimee's brothers were too!

 The following day was the part she had really looked forward to!  Riding the bus to school!  I for one, spent a lot of time on the bus as a kid and wasn't excited to put her on it.  Luckily, my little five year old was assigned the front seat at the front end with all of the other kindergartners.  Our bus stop is at the end of our block.  Porter and Pratt loved walking down and standing around with all of the other kids to wait, all 13 of them!

 When the bus appeared around the corner, it all kind of hit.  My baby was off for her first real day, and I had to really say goodbye.  Maybe it sounds a little dramatic, but that was truly the hardest moment for me.  I hated knowing that the only thing I would know about her day from that point until she got off the bus would be whatever details she happened to remember to tell me. She, on the other hand, was super excited!

At the end of the day when I begged for a report, her highlight was still riding the bus.  She wasn't as gung-ho about anything at school as I thought she would be, but at least there was nothing sad to report.  She is now a week in.  She loves playing on the play ground, wearing a back-pack, and riding the bus.  Oh, and she has a boy in her class that she thinks is cute.  Chad hates hearing about that part! Everything else is just kind of unexciting to her.  As for the rest of us at home, the most exciting part of our day is when she gets off the bus, hugs us all, and asks if we missed her.  I spend just a little more time on my knees each day, praying for her, and wondering what more I can do to prepare her for all that is out there to learn, and not just in terms of the curriculum. I love my sweet Aim, and hope that she remembers how amazing and special she is, even though I am not there to tell her!

sycamore trails lessons

I was so disappointed in the swimming lessons that Aimee did earlier in the year.  However, because we have a community pool, and the kids love to go, I felt it was important for safety reasons that the kids have some basic water skills.  Aimee and Porter were just the right ages to get to be in the same class.  Since I was very pregnant, this was a perfect way to let them both have lessons with minimal effort on my part (except for the wrangling Pratt part, but that was a given).

 I had heard that Sycamore Trails, the city pool in Miamisburg, had great lessons.  I heard right.  Instead of a grouchy mid-aged woman for a class of seven kids that just made the kids hang on the side of the pool until their turn to be floated back and forth, it was a class of nine kids with three fun, cute and energetic highschoolers.

 The kids were always engaged and someone was always right there to encourage, and make it exciting.  Even my water shy little Porter had a blast!  Chad was able to go one morning to watch. He saw how Porter being timid in the water earned him extra attention from the teachers and figured he had nailed down how he was going to get dates in the future.  I think both parties enjoyed it!

 I would say the only down side of the whole experience was just that because it is an outdoor pool, it was always just a smidge chilly in the morning.  That made it tough for the kids to want to get wet.  I can't blame them. Plus, their session just happened to a rainy stretch, and lessons were canceled twice, and should have been one other time.  

It was practically torture to Pratt that he didn't get to play too, but now I know that the crew there can handle all three of them next summer while I wrangle May!

life with may

I admit that when I found out I would be having another little girl I had mixed emotions.  Of course there was the side of me that was over the moon about it.  It was especially fun that Aimee was with me when I found out. Instead of crying out, "noooo!" like she did when we found out Pratt was a boy, she was bouncing off the walls excited.  Chad had been wanting another little girls so badly that I couldn't wait to tell him too.  But, there was a side of me that sort of considers myself a boy mom type.  I grew up as the only girl sandwiched in between four brothers until I was nine.  I loved building forts, digging, and even getting tricked into eating everything from raw eggs to dog food.  It was fun!  I get annoyed by all of the drama, and sometimes I feel like gagging at all of the bling-type stuff out there for girls.  Coming off of two little boys, I just thought it would be a tough transition.  Well, I was wrong.  It has been awesome!  Aside from the little perks, like not having had any front blow outs (also know as wiz-outs here), May has just added a balance and softness to our home, that I didn't even know we needed. 

 

A few tidbits about this little lady:

She is the polar opposite of her big sister when it comes to size!  Aimee was such a featherweight, but May, not so much.  She started out pretty average, but has been putting on all kinds of cute chub.  She had a well check at 5 weeks.  We learned that she has been gaining around 2 ounces a day.  That is just shy of a pound a week.  She was 10 pounds 15 ounces that day.  That put her in the 95th percentile for weight, but was only in the 50th for height!  Even Pratt wasn't that round!  I love it!

One of my good friends from Omaha used a clothes basket to lay her daughter in as a makeshift sort of bouncer.  So, because our bassinet didn't survive our last move, I took a page out of her book.  May sleeps in this basket every night in our closet.  Each child has stayed a progressively shorter time in the room with me because all of their little baby sounds keeps this light sleeper awake.  However, this basket in the closet method has been ideal!  She is still technically in the same room with me, even at 6 weeks old! As an added bonus, she has only had two nights where she got up more than once!  She is a great sleeper!  We usually put her down around 8:30, and rendezvous at about 3 A.M.  I am a fan, although her days of waking me up at all are numbered.

I hate how it is almost impossible to catch the sleepy smiles, but somehow I lucked out and caught one.

When Chad gets home, he takes all of the May cuddling time he can get, and doesn't like to share.  He figures since we have all day to do all of that he gets first dibs in the evenings.

My amazing neighbor gave Aimee and May matching dresses.  Aimee loves this!

I love tubby time pics!

My friend Nicole offered to take some newborn pictures with her awesome new camera.  She did them just a few days before May turned one month.  She had already filled out a ton, and by far has the chubbiest cheeks in her baby pictures of my babies.

It can be hard to give everyone the turn holding May that they want.  If she isn't sleeping she is eating, or someone else got to her first.  I think it is super sweet that they all love it so much!

Aimee loves to tell people that she has a baby sister.  As we pass people in the isles of Wal-mart, Aimee is sure to inform them of her fortune.  Aimee also loves to help change May's diapers, sing to her, and anything else that I deem as being a good big sister.

I get the "you've got your hands full" phrase a lot, and I guess that is true.  However, it the only thing that feels different is just that life is a little sweeter.  It just keeps getting better!

four big ones

I regret to begin by saying that I don't have great pictures of Porter's big day.  I mostly took video, and still haven't figured out why they won't load.  Aside from that, Porters big day, I think, was a success.  It was nice to have his birthday on a Sunday, and one that Chad had off, so that we could all spend the day together.  And while Sunday birthdays somewhat limit activities, we had no shortage of them that weekend.  Friday night we went to a Springboro city celebration at a park.  They had bounce houses, face painting, cotton candy, snow cones, a gym bus and a climbing wall, all free!  I thought it was pretty considerate of them to put on such a great party for him!  All of the kids had a great time.  Porter also surprised Chad and me by being brave enough to climb the rock wall.  He even made it higher them Aimee! 

 

On Saturday our next door neighbor had a big birthday party.  Porter got to have all the perks of a party (minus the presents I guess), and it was definitely bigger and "cooler" than what I would have come up with.  We were all partied out by Sunday, and just got enjoy a relaxed Sabbath, open a couple of presents and eat lots of cake!  Porter ordered his volcano island cake months ago, and even before the sparklers were lit, I had approval from the birthday boy.

 Porter hangin' with the coolest guy he knows!

 At age four, Porter is just one year away from Kindergarten, but reading like he has already been there, done that.  He likes pretty much anything that Aimee tells him to like, unless it is food.  He is the most finicky eater I have ever met.  Porter loves to try out new words or phrases that he hears.  He also loves nothing more than to be called a gentleman for holding doors for others at Church.  His funny little "isms" keep us entertained!  Porter challenges Chad and me in very different ways than his brother and sister, but his affectionate side helps make it a little easier.  We love our Porter so much, and feel so blessed to have him as part of our eternal family!

idaho visitors

The kids and I arrived in Ohio on June 25.  That means it has been just over a year since we have seen anyone there.  Luckily for me, I have figured out the secret to getting visitors from home.  Have a baby!  Truthfully, my family had planned to visit in the spring, but when we found out that May was coming we adjusted the plan so that everyone could see her, and we won't be out to visit that direction for another year.  While I know I wasn't the best host in the world since I had just had a C-section, and I didn't take nearly enough pictures, I am posting some of the highlights of the visit!

 

Uncle Cubby was our designated babysitter while I was in the hospital, and the kids loved the way he can get them up to high in the air!

 

 Aunt Torj also became the baby holder.  If she was downstairs hanging out with the fam, more often than not she was also holding May.  I don't think she minded a bit, and I thought it was pretty sweet.

 For the most part, Grandma and grandpa were in charge of activities for the kids.  And as always, the loved making treats with her!

 

 I had to make my dad smile for this picture.  For some reason he thought a halfie would do.

 With two Priesthood holders from the family in town, we decided we couldn't pass up the chance to be able to have them in May's blessing circle.  With May just 8 days old I wasn't ready to take her to church yet, but got it approved to do it at home.  We had a near fail of the bishopric remembering, but our good friend and second councilor in the bishopric came and helped it happen.  It was a small circle, but we were grateful to be able to do it!

 My mom offered to make May's blessing dress!  This is a task I would never undertake with my novice sewing skills, but of course with my mom doing it, it was gorgeous, and my May looked beautiful in it!

 One of the kids favorite things to do with Grandpa in the morning was to play, for lack of a better name, "trip."  I wish I could have got the video to load!  Basically, the three of them would run at him and either bounce off of him onto the floor, or my dad would swipe their feet out from under them and put them in a pile on top of each other.  It was hilarious to watch!

 Swimming at our HOA pool was a favorite activity.  With improved adult kid ratios the kids had a blast being able to do things I normally limit because I can't help them all at once.  They also tried a few new things like snorkels, and Porter even managed to spend some time in the water.

 This picture throws me off a little because my parents are so tan.  They went to Hawaii before coming to Ohio, and I almost didn't recognize them being so bronzed (at least for them)!

May

Chad thinks it is an old wives tale, but I must say that my pregnancies with my girls have been much easier than those with my boys.  Just as with Aimee, I was rarely sick after the first trimester, and I carried high enough so that I didn't feel as though they would fall out of me at any moment.  With the exception of some pretty severe varicose veins, and the run of the mill discomfort of being large, pregnancy was much easier than the last two times I did it!  In fact, I was able to be something of a gym rat, and I often say that May was my little weight training and Zumba buddy.  I know this made several of the class instructors and other class members nervous, but it made me feel good!  It was pretty frustrating to tear a tendon in my foot at 31 weeks and be in a walking boot and out of the gym for several weeks.

Things went pretty smoothly.  In fact, I let my OB know that because this wasn't my first rodeo, and I have to have c-sections, I didn't see the need to come in every week or even every other week as the end approached.  Initially, I think this made him a little nervous.  I don't think he has ever had such a request.  After making me promise to let him know if anything was ever out of the ordinary he agreed (and I don't think it hurt for him to know that Chad is a doctor, and about the most protective husband in the world).  This made my life much easier to not have to schedule and plan around several pointless (at least for me) appointments.

Everything was par for the course, until just a few days before I was scheduled to deliver.  I am a planner.  It is my favorite thing about having to have c-sections.  I had scheduled this date months in advance.  My family had booked plane tickets and planned a visit based on all of my careful planning, and all o my arrangements for my family were tailors around it as well.  The Wednesday before my Saturday delivery date I started to feel a little nervous.  Everything in Omaha had always run like clock work, but with only a few days to go, I had not heard anything from my doctor or the hospital about surgery prep.  I thought I was probably just getting eager to be done, but felt I should just check in with the hospital.  When I called they assured me that there was no need to pre-register, or do any home prep and to just show up the morning of the delivery.  Again I felt the need to just be reassured that everything was in order and asked the nurse to please verify that I was in fact on the schedule for Saturday morning.  I was not!  The nurse assured me that this was no big deal, that she would add me, and not to give it another thought.  Since my husband is training to be a surgeon,  we both knew this was quite an oversight.

Friday morning the phone rang.  The man on the other end identified himself as Dr. Horlacher.  "Dr. Wood is out of town and asked me to do your c-section,"  he told me.  "It is a good thing you called the hospital, because with him out of town, and no one on the schedule, I wasn't sure what was going on.  So, what do I need to know about you?"  I briefly went over my concerns and requests for the surgery that I had previously discussed with Dr. Wood, and said good-bye.  I immediately paged Chad and explained what had just happened.  While a doctor change happens often in the OB world, I admit I was a bit upset.  Another good thing about scheduled c-sections is that I can be familiar with the doctor, and he can be familiar with me and my concerns.  I didn't like that all of my careful planning was not well planned on the other end!  Luckily, a new friend of mine is an OB resident, and she and I had recently visited and talked about the attendings she worked with.  Dr. Horlacher was spoken of highly by her, and turned out to be a really good guy.

Friday night my little brother Cubby flew into town.  It was great to have a family member around to ease the worry of being away.  Chad and I made it to the hospital bright and early to get all prepped for my little May to make her entrance to the world. Chad also got all prepped, and was glad that because this was one of his hospitals, he was able to just wear scrubs in the OR instead of the bunny suit they initially provided for him! I don't know the ins and outs of how or why my spinal was a little off, but this was the most pain delivery I have had.  I wasn't numb as high up.  I think this was why I had such a difficult time getting my pain under control once I was put back together.  I have never felt so loopy and out of control.  It was very frustrating to have my sweet new baby girl, and not dare hold her, for fear of dropping her.  I couldn't even talk to Chad without dozing off in the middle of speaking.  I was so glad Chad was there to cuddle and hold her while I tried to get it together.

Honestly, there were two miracles that day.  The first was that when Dr. Horlacher got inside me, he told Chad and I that, "It looks like no one has ever been in here."  I always dread hearing the doctor tell me that I can't have anymore babies.  And of course the other was when my beautiful little May popped out!  At 7 pounds 7 ounces I don't think any of the Zumba made her worse for wear.  Porter was the biggest by one ounce, but he was also 8 days past due, and May was a full week early.  To me that means she was actually the biggest!  It only got happier once I was coherent again, and my three other babies and little brother came to the hospital to meet the highly anticipated little sister!  They all loved her!  Even my spitfire Pratt sat next to me on the hospital bed for a good 15-20 minutes (that may be a record for him)  just holding her and looking at her.  And, while my room was anything but calm, I loved the peace of having my four sweet babies around me!

This was the only picture Chad got of me and May that I don't look stoned in.

This is one excited big sister!

The hospital was very "granola."  I was glad I had brought my KY, bows and lotion so that she looked like a girl, and smelled right!

We had planned to bring May home Monday night, but I was so sick of having someone come into my hospital room every 20 minutes that when Chad and the crew came to visit Monday morning, we made an early exit.  I wanted to lay on my own bed and even in a house full of kiddos, get more rest than I was getting there!

There isn't a Daddy in the world that was more proud of his little girl than this one!  Chad has been craving a little pink/purple bundle since Aimee!

Since we left sooner than planned we didn't even have a blanket to tick May in her car seat with.  Luckily in July that isn't a problem!

My van was full, and I was loving it!