2 weeks already?

I am really not liking how fast time has been going by since Kyle was born. As of 1:20pm today, he is 2 weeks old. He went to the doctor this morning for his 2 week well baby checkup and passed inspection. He now weighs 9lbs & 1/2 an ounce. He is the best baby ever. (thank goodness, I was due one, ha) He wakes up about ever 3 1/2 hours during the night and never cries or fusses unless he's hungry. Things with 4 children in the house are still going smoothly. I am definitely loving it while it lasts because I know it won't always be this calm around here.

On that note; can someone please invent some 'make your baby stop growing' potion? Pronto!

mom⁴

Baby #4 arrived safe & sound on Friday, June 20th @ 1:20pm. Weighing 8lbs 4oz & 21 inches long. He has a head full of black hair and looks just exactly like his daddy. We named him Kyle David. His middle name came from his great grandpa, David, that is a very important & special man in our lives.
His sisters meeting him for the first time. They are so excited to have another little brother and always asks to help out with him. Caleb isn't much on the new baby. He talks to him every now and then and gives him a smooch on his fat baby cheek. He isn't as jealous as I thought he would be, so for that I am thankful.
I love this picture of my 5 babies. It was taken the day we brought the baby home from the hospital. I promise my kids do gets regular baths and they do have nice matching clothes to wear, it just so happens in this picture they had neither. :-)

Having 4 kids at home isn't anything like I expected it to be..... so far. It has been less than eventful. I am thankful that Kyle is a good baby. He only cries or whimpers when he is hungry and being a newborn he sleeps a lot. I have been able to stay on top of the housework and give the other kids plenty of attention. I am sure all that will change as Kyle gets older. I was hoping I would have some kind of funny story to blog about by now about being a mom of 4. It's strange the way things have calmed down around our house since the baby came home. Maybe it's because the estrogen vs testosterone levels have evened out. That's my theory, anyways.

It's beginning to look a lot like baby

The countdown is on: 4 days until Baby #4 arrives. I have a love/hate feeling about being induced. I love the fact that I can have everything ready and not be caught off guard by going into labor. I love that I can make arrangements for my other children and not have to panic at last minute. It makes life a lot easier.. well sort of. I hate the anxiety that comes with it all. Knowing exactly how many days you have left is nerve wrecking. You have too much time to think about all the "what if's." I haven't been able to sleep well since I found out my induction date, I have drove myself crazy planning, organizing and trying to have everything just as it should be. But, most of all I have totally stressed myself out trying to keep everyone else satisfied when I really shouldn't waste my time. Having a baby is suppose to be a joyous time in a couple's life. Too many people take things too personal and doesn't respect said couple's wishes when it comes to labor and delivery.

My husband and I were talking a few nights ago while laying in bed about how we wanted the process to go. I told him (like I have with our past 3 children) who I wanted in the delivery room with me, and it's the same 3 people as before. Call me selfish if you must but it's my body and I don't want just anyone with a front row seat. We shared our concerns, well that was mostly me, and he reassured me that I shouldn't stress myself out with the unknown. This pregnancy has been extremely different than the other 3 for me. I have stayed paranoid and in denial nearly the entire 9 months. Thinking something will be wrong with the baby, something will go wrong with me. I have literally made myself nuts with all the possibilities. Even down to making sure my kids and dog are taken care of properly while I'm in the hospital. Mr. Clean has really helped keep me busy and keep my mind off of things. Although, I'm not sure how there is possibly anything left in this house that hasn't been scrubbed, dusted, washed, or organized.

Here is my to-do list for the next 3 days:

-Pack hospital bag for myself. (you would think after having 3 children I would know exactly what I would need to pack, but I draw a blank... so please feel free to make suggestions)

-Pack the kid's bags for the weekend.

-Charge camera batteries.

-Put car seat in van.

-Put batteries in Papisan seat & swing.

-Stock up on groceries and household items.

-Rearrange bedroom so the bassinet can fit beside the bed.

-Find a dim lit lamp to use on nightstand for late night feedings.

-Finalize arrangements for the kid's and my dog baby.

-Finish decorating guest bath that I begged my husband to repaint before we had company over to visit the baby.

-Make a final decision on birth control. (this perhaps could spark a different blog post)

Everything else has already been completed. I have boiled bottles, washed covers on bedding, seats, swing, car seats etc, washed and hang all clothes sized NB-9mths, packed diaper bag, packed away maternity clothes except a few to last me the next few days and hang up most of my normal clothes, with hopes that I can actually fit into them shortly after delivery.

You would think I would be calm and collected given my experience and all my preparations but don't let it fool you. . . . . . . I am totally freaking out as. we. speak.

My Last Week

I went for my weekly OB appointment on Wednesday to find out that I could be induced as early as next week if I chose to be. Kyle isn't due until the middle of the month but he will arrive a week from today, hopefully. I was relieved to find out that I only had a little over a week left to be miserable. But, after leaving the doctor's office the reality struck me. Most of this pregnancy I have been in denial. It wasn't until pulling away from the doctor's office and seeing the induction paper laying in my passenger seat that it hit me, I'm pregnant, next week he will be born. I will have 4 kids that depend on me. Our lives will never be the same. Going from 1 kid to 2 was an easy transition. From 2 kids to 3 was a little more challenging but still doable. I am a little nervous about going from 3 to 4 though. Here are just a few things that have clouded my mind in the past few days.

I only have 1 week left to:

-load the kids in the backseat of our gas saving car. From now on we will have to drive the van everywhere we go.

-I will have to pack an actual diaper bag again instead of just dropping a few necessities in my purse.

-No more sleeping through the night for awhile to come.

-I will have to change tiny diapers, fix bottles of formula that has a horrible stench and lug around a heavy infant carrier.

-But I also realize I will have another little angel to melt my heart, make me smile and make my day just a little brighter every time I look into his tiny helpless eyes.

I am so blessed that I have 3 healthy children. I hope and pray Kyle is just as healthy and everything goes smoothly.

p.s. Someone be on standby with a nerve pill the first day I am home alone with all 4 of them ;)

Love Affair

Yes, it is true. I am completely in love with another man and I refuse to end our love affair. My husband is jealous but at least it isn't a secret and it's something we can deal with. He goes by the name of Mr. Clean. He is fabulous! I was once in a relationship with Mean Green, he took my breath way... a little too much. Mr Clean Meadows & Rain with Febreze is my guilty pleasure now. His aroma is so appealing it lingers around long after we are finished so I am constantly reminded of how perfectly he fits into my life. He is wonderful on carpets & ink pen marks. My porcelain and counter tops have never been so shiny. This man is the real deal, he's got it going on!

Husband, Kids, a dog.. Oh my!

Husband- I can not begin to put into words how blessed I am to be married to my soul mate. I guess some people doesn't believe in soul mates but I do, he was made for me. We balance each other perfectly. He makes up for my flaws and I make up for his. We have our moments but overall we are still as googly-eyed as the day we met. He just recently purchased himself a new toy which he deserves for all he does for the kids and I. He used to have a 'toy' when our youngest was just a baby. I am so happy for him that he is able to have another toy even though we have 3 kids. It's going to be our date car... for those few and far between days we actually get to ourselves.Kids- I am really beginning to think I screwed up when naming our kids. They are all too similar. So when referring to them as a whole I call them my "CK clan". . . individually, they are A,B,C and D.

A) Today is her last day of the 1st grade. I still remember the day we brought her home from the hospital. We were so terrified of her and had absolutely no idea what we were in for. I am still not sure on what we are in for with her. Some days she couldn't be any more perfect and some days I struggle on running far far away because of her attitude, haha. She is such a big help to us with her brother and sister and I can tell that when she gets older, much much much older she will be a great Mom. She also made the Honor roll all 4 quarters of this school year!! I am so proud of my little girl.

B) She graduated Preschool which was such a hard time for me. I never got not one complaint on her all school year long. I am also so proud of her for all she has accomplished this year and how much she has grown and matured. She has such a sweet little voice and the way she pronounces words is just precious. Her 5th birthday is next week and it just seems impossible that she could be that age already.
C) Oh me! Where do I begin? He has been his usual hyper, mischievous self. He keeps me up and at it constantly. I joke about when the baby comes how I will ever be able to stop chasing behind him long enough to tend to a newborn, which makes people laugh. It is a concern though, seriously. I wish I had his energy! He is learning so many new words, even some that he shouldn't and is doing really well speaking in complete sentences. We are still working on the potty training. Some days he's interested, others not so much.
D) My OB appointment last week I found out that I am 50% effaced and 1.5 cm dilated. He is due in 3 more weeks. It's hard to believe that I could be in labor at any given time from here on out. This pregnancy has flown by. But, I am so excited to meet my new little feller. Today I washed all his bottle and put them away in the cabinet. I also packed his diaper bag for the hospital. It's all becoming very real to me that soon I will be a Mom of FOUR. Life with 4 kids, ahh, will I ever be able to do it? I guess time will tell.
A dog- I forgot to upload a picture of Boomer. But, he has grown so much. I am still totally in love with him and would feel incomplete without him. There are times that I look across our house and there are toys from one end to the other (literally!!!) and I know the kids didn't do it because they don't stay out from in under my feet long enough to make that mess.. I recently discovered that Boomer was the one who was dragging them out. Oh well, at least someone around here plays with them.

Oh My- As for me, I am just ready to be unpregnant, work on getting my body and my tan back as well as getting started on my school work. My back has felt like a spaghetti noodle lately and my ankles are swollen. I have also been suffering from insomnia. There is always 5124574551566312 things on my mind when I lay down at night I literally wake up in the middle of the night to continue my train of thought. It's nuts, and it could quiet possibly be making me nuts at the same time. This Summer promises to be a busy one. Summer break officially begins today, Will I survive?

A-May-Zing Day

On Sunday we took the girl's out for a day full of fun. They have both done really well in school this year (with a few exceptions toward the end) and we thought they deserved to have a day out with Mom & Dad. With the new baby coming, their busy brother that requires a lot of attention from me and just the busyness we always have going on I feel like they needed this day.

We started off by taking them to play mini golf. Neither of them had ever played before, and they both really enjoyed it. The place we took them to has all sorts of things to do. I remember going there several times as a kid so I knew with all the new things they have added over the years, my girl's would love it.


I wanted to take part in this too, but being 8 months pregnant I'm sure it isn't advised, ha ha! I would like to go back and try it after the baby is born but my poor 4 child bearing bladder probably couldn't handle all the excitement.

The girl's rode the chairlift up the mountain with their dad and absolutely loved it. I've never been a fan of heights and my nerves aren't what they used to be so I just sit this one out.
There is also a nearby Rock Shop, the largest in Kentucky. I have took the girl's here before and they asked to go back. There is a huge concrete dinosaur outside named Big Mo and they always have their picture made with him when we visit. My girl's love collecting rocks so we let them each buy an animal carved out of a mineral. Catie chose a grey cat and Kayley chose a purple frog. I forgot to take a picture, oops.

We also took the girl's to get their ears pierced. We took them once before, last summer, but they both chickened out so, we figured we would wait a little longer and try again. This time they both went through with it and did great. I couldn't believe how brave they were and how well they did. I promised them as soon as their 6 weeks are up and they are all healed we would go earring shopping.

We finished off our day by having a very late lunch at Burger King so they kids could play a little more before going home. It was a perfect day out with our girl's and they got lots of much needed attention. I am going to strive to do stuff like this with them more often.