Memorial Day

We had a really nice, relaxing holiday. We went to Grandpa Maples grave and Grandpa Green's grave that morning and left a flag for each of them. That afternoon we had a BBQ at Grandma Jeri's and Grandpa Alan's house. They have a fun backyard with a new swingset and a horseshoe pit. I played a couple games of horseshoes and my team won. My very first throw was a ringer! I was suprised at how good I played.

My Diva

I call Avery my little diva. She is way into all things "girly". She loves to put on everyone's shoes and walk around the house. She will pick up a bag or purse and put it on her arm and tell you "bye-see ya!". She loves to be with me in the bathroom and mimic me putting on make-up. I just love this girl!

Barely Surviving...

I have been meaning to update for awhile, but things are a bit crazy around here. I am really lucky if I can get Avery and Anastyn to nap at the same time, but then I just want to sleep, so then I don't get much done. Anastyn is getting up at least once, sometimes twice, to eat at night. She is a good baby and she usually goes right back to sleep, but I am so tired all day. Every day is different, somtimes I can get lots of cleaning done, and other days I look at the clock and it is already 2:00 pm and I haven't gotten anything done. It has been really nice to not have the girls in school right now. I really like having a flexible schedule and not have anywhere that I have to be. I will probably start back to work next week, but the great thing about my job is that I can go in whenever I want to and I leave as soon as my work is done. I only work about 5-6 hours a week so it is easy. And I can take kids with me, so I will be taking the baby.





Can I also say how much I love Aflac and Conseco?? I am so glad that we signed up for that insurance coverage! We received the checks this past week in the mail and we have already spent some of the money. I called the hospital billing office yesterday and they told me that if I pay my bill within 14 days they will give my a 20% discount. That saved me almost $300! We had to splurge just a little bit though. We have been meaning to get a new bed for a while. The one we have is saggy and it is a crappy size. When I worked at RC Willey I bought a floor model "olympic" queen size bed, not a good idea. I have never had bedding that really fits because it is 6 inches wider that a regular queen and you can't buy bedding for them in any store, unless you have bedding custom made which I am too cheap to do. So, as soon as we got home, I got on to Kohl's website and used my 30% off coupon to order new bedding that will fit my new "regular" queen bed. I am so excited!

I Will Not Survive...

Tomorrow David goes back to work. I could just end the post right there. 'Nuff said! I am so glad he took off so much time to be home with us. It has been so great to have his help with taking kids to school, holding the baby so I can sleep, and changing all of Avery's diapers (he doesn't like to change "little butts" so that is my job, which is fine by me). As of tomorrow I will be doing it all on my own during the day. I am terrified! Avery is all over the place and into everything! The only time she stops moving is when she is napping. I generally don't mind it, but when I am nursing the baby I have no control over her to stop her from getting into everything. We will see how things go tomorrow. Hopefully I will make it through this, my house might not, but I might...


On a side note, Avery had her 15 month check up today and she is doing great! She weighs 20 lbs 8 oz. She had to have one shot but she only cried for a minute. She is talking like crazy too, she is a little parrot and she tries to mimic everything we say. A few things she says are
*dado (daddy)
*mommy
*Abbey
*hi baby
*bipee (sippy)
*hi
*she will also sing the "Happy Birthday" song with me.
*ello (hello)
She is a feisty little girl but we love her!

The long awaited post..

OUR BABY IS HERE!! Baby Anastyn Joy is here and we couldn't be happier! She was born on Tuesday May 11th. She weighed in at 8 lbs and is 18 1/2 inches long. She was born with a head full of dark brown hair, which is a big change for us because our babies are born BALD! She is so stinkin' adorable and the other girls are so sweet with her. They were so excited to finally meet her. Thanks to everyone who helped us out while we were at the hospital. We have the best family! They took such good care of our girls while we were there.

Life has not slowed down at all since Anastyn joined the family. (Why would it??) We found out last Saturday that Abbey has strep. I took her to instacare because she fell at recess and sprained her wrist. While we were there she told the doctor that her throat was sore so they swabbed it. They called me a few days later and told me that the test came back positive. Also, Avery has been acting sick, so David took her to the pediatrician today and she has an ear infection. She threw up yesterday and this morning and hasn't wanted to eat anything. It will be nice to have a long weekend to be able to rest and hopefully get everyone better! I had a 2nd degree tear from giving birth so I have been on pain pills and pretty out of it. David has been amazing! He is so helpful with the girls so that I can get lots of rest. We have a really busy week ahead of us and he is going to be taking care of it all! I have the best husband! And he is pretty lucky to have so many sweet girls to take care of him!

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day was actually really nice. It started out with David and the girls making me a delicious breakfast! And by "delicious" I mean soggy cereal (Honeycomb) and cold toast! YUM! It was actually very sweet of them. They all gave me a card and the girls gave me the traditional "school gifts". I stayed home from church because we found out the day before that Abbey has strep throat and she was still contagious. We went to my Mom's house for dinner, which was yummy and then we played Dr. Mario for about an hour. It was great!

Tomorrow is my big day! I am so glad that it is finally here. We spent the weekend getting things cleaned and ready for AJ to join the family. Today I am packing all the girls' things and getting them ready for their sleepovers. And yes, I kept them home from school. I decided I didn't want to drive today, so my kids are entertaining themselves with Spongebob re-runs. I have everything arranged so hopefully the girls will be okay while I am in the hospital.

9 days!

Now I can say that I am only days away from having this baby girl on the outside of my body! As of May 11th I will no longer be pregnant! I can't wait. I love giving birth and I am actually looking forward to it. Not only because I HATE being pregnant, but I feel like it is something only I can do! However, we are not ready at all for this. Yesterday David and I were discussing everything we still have to do to get ready. I have a list a mile long that needs to be finished and I can barely move. It is funny how different it is preparing for your first baby as opposed to your fourth. We were prepared months in advance for Alyssa to be born, and this time I don't have a thing ready to go. I am really stressing about what to do with the other kids while I am in the hospital. You don't realize how busy you are as a mom until you have to arrange for someone (or lots of people) to replace you for a few days! It is madness! I am sure everything will work out though. I have an amazing family that I know will take great care of my girls while I am relaxing in the hospital.