St. Patrick's Day - 2016

The last couple of years, I've done a St. Patrick's Day breakfast for the kids before they head off to school.  They really look forward to it, and it doesn't take that much effort on my part.  It does mean that we need to hurry through it in order to make it out the door on time, but I love seeing the excitement in their eyes and the opportunity to start the day out on a good note.

This year, I set my alarm earlier than usual so that I could get a jump start on things, especially since I did minimal prep the night before.  (I had the best of intentions to do so, but I was so tired once I finally got James down for bed, that I went to sleep at the same time).  Then, I was up so much with him in the middle of the night that I haphazardly hit the snooze button on my alarm that morning and then flew out of bed, realizing what tasks I had to get done before the kids awoke.

The gold and green glitter paper ("placemats") and lime-green forks were left over from Samantha's Wizard of Oz birthday party in the Fall.  The headbands are an "oldie, but goodie" prop from about four years ago that I continue to pull out each year.  And the beads ... well, we have no less than about 100 strands of those all over the house -- a bulk purchase that Steve made many years ago to celebrate one of his favorite holidays.

Add in a few chocolate gold coins and some festive napkins and plates, and it made for a cute place setting at each of their respective seats.

I shaped some cinnamon rolls into shamrocks and popped those into the oven.

Meanwhile, the kids waited with rainbow fruit skewers and some green punch.  (Let it be known that I never serve punch for breakfast, but it was a special day!).

Then, for an extra pop of color, I added some green dye to the icing for the shamrock cinnamon rolls.  Not too much.  After all, the kids still needed to go to school and I didn't want their lips covered in green goo.

And what holiday would be complete without a photo of my little ones?

Jack is working on his smile these days.  Lately, he likes to say "cheese" and squint his little chocolate-brown eyes.  This was one of the better pictures. 

Wow, he's going to be three in just a couple of months.  He's growing up so fast.

My four kids.  I am really the lucky one this St. Patrick's Day.

Jimmy's 1st St. Patrick's Day ... wearing a bib that I have had since Sophia was a baby.

And when Steve arrived home from work, we took a quick picture of him and his boys ... all sporting some green for the holiday.

James' Birth Story

We knew from the very beginning that I would have a c-section for this birth (my third one, based on the fact my bone structure is too narrow for my larger babies, and that I have a "hook" on my tailbone that makes deliveries challenging; Samantha was born without a c-section, but it was a difficult delivery that required vacuum suction and the breaking of my tailbone).  Leading up to the end of this pregnancy, we were not sure though if I would go into labor on my own prior to the scheduled c-section date (like I did with Jack), or if I would actually hold out.  My fingers were crossed that I would wait until February 4th so that my doctor would be the one to deliver James.  I would be 39 weeks and 2 days on that date.  The earliest that the hospital would allow us to schedule a C-section is 39 weeks, but my doctor was not available until 2 days later.

I was quite uncomfortable towards the end.  I was feeling more contractions than I ever felt before with my previous pregnancies and I was clearly carrying a larger baby, as well.  But my body DID wait until February 4th.

My mom came to my house the day before, as the plan was for her to be at home with the kids during the delivery.  In the past, her and my dad were always at the hospital for the births, but my dad was traveling and I knew that I would feel better/more secure knowing that I had someone that I trusted to be at my house "running the show" while I was away.

Before Steve and I took the girls to school that morning, we took one last photo as a family of five.  Ugh, did I mention the excessive swelling that my body was doing?  I was retaining fluid all over, especially in my hands and feet.  And this was before I was pumped full of IV fluids.

 

With Jack at home with my mom, I made sure that all of my bags were packed and then we left for the hospital around 11:15 am for my scheduled surgery at 2 pm.  We checked in to triage right on time -- at noon -- and the IVs and paperwork began.  All while my stomach was rumbling from being so hungry.  After all, I was not allowed to have anything to eat or drink, even water, after 6 am.

My surgery was delayed for an hour because the operating rooms were working overtime that day.  There were lots of babies being born.  But the whole event was so casual, much as it was with Sophia's birth, that I didn't mind one bit. 

And then James came out -- screaming loudly and holding tightly onto Dr. Barton's finger.  All 8 lbs. 7 oz. of him.  He was my largest baby of all, beating Sophia by 3 oz.

He was immediately evaluated (perfect Apgar scores!) ...

And then given to me for skin-to-skin contact right away:

He was foot-printed for his birth certificate:

And then his daddy was able to hold him for a bit while the doctors finished up my surgery.

I spent two hours in the recovery room before I was wheeled to my Mother-Baby room, where I would stay for the next two nights.  Steve was with me until about 9 pm that night before he headed back home. 

The girls had their hearts set on being able to come up to the hospital the very day that James was born, but we knew that that was not going to be a feasible option.  With my surgery scheduled later in the afternoon, it would late by the time I got settled in my room.  And it was.

So, it worked out perfectly that the girls were invited to a birthday party for our neighbor that same evening.  It gave them a reason to be at home (and not up at the hospital) and to take their minds off the fact that I, too, was not at home with them.

The next day, Steve surprised the girls by picking them up early from school and bringing all of the kids and my mom up to see me and to meet their new little brother.  It was love at first sight ...

Not quite one day old yet:

 

His frown just cracks me up.  I have a baby picture of myself taken at the hospital when I was born and I was sporting the very same frown.

 

 

 

We did not share his name with anyone prior to his birth.  It made it special for us to then share with everyone at that time.  He is named after my dad (who goes by Jim now, but was always called Jimmy when he was younger).  And his middle name is Steve's middle name, Steve's dad's middle name and Steve's grandpa's first name.  Yes, it carries quite a bit of heritage with it.

 



 



James was strong from the minute that he was born.  His fingers have a tight clasp and his neck can hold his head up quite easily.

 

He loves to have his fingers up by his face ...

 

And those feet?  He has his daddy's incredibly long toes.

 

My last baby.  The one that completes our family.  We absolutely love him to pieces.

Welcome to the world, James Michael.

Mid-Week Randoms

We have had a lot of snow days in the last two weeks, thanks to two separate storms that moved through our area.  I would be lying if I said that I wasn't anxious to get the kids back to school and into some sort of routine around here.  This momma was starting to go a bit stir-crazy.  But the good news is that I have a boy that loves to shovel snow.

Sometimes, he tends to throw the snow back over the area that was recently shoveled, but I don't really mind ...

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My little ones (minus the littlest one), poised and ready to open their Valentine's Day gifts from Steve and me on Valentine's Day morning:

Each of them received a couple little items and a bag of gummy candy.  One of Jack's special surprises was a dinosaur egg that would hatch in water over a period of 2-3 days. 

I was skeptical, but it really worked!

Over time, the dinosaur inside absorbed the water and became large enough to actually "break out" of the shell:

Capturing his dinosaur to keep:

(Note: Over time, the dinosaur has started to shrink {as water evaporated out}, but we put him back in water and he started to "grow" again).

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Sophia celebrated with her preschool class for Valentine's Day on the 16th.  With it being a couple of days after the actual holiday, it gave me a chance to recover a little more and then be able to be there for the party.  This made Sophia SO happy ... and it made Jack even happier, as he was able to partake that day.

Mrs. Dickenson helped to fix a plate of food for Jack:

Snacking with her friends:

Opening valentines!

In the meantime, Jack busied himself with the legos:

And James slept peacefully in his car seat (after having a complete 'blow-out' in his diaper shortly after our arrival):

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I found this picture on my camera; obviously Steve had taken it.  When did my little girl (ahem, 7-year old) grow up?

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Celebrating Steve's birthday with something other than cake with frosting -- a peach cobbler.  Every year, I try to think of something a little less cake-like for him since it is a known fact that he is not a fan of sweet frosting.

Blowing out the candles with all of his little ones (aka "his whole world") in attendance:

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I have a tradition that I make cinnamon rolls on the morning of each kid's birthday and serve them with a candle.  Sophia had looked forward to this all week long.  And what made it even better?  It was a snow day -- no school!

Jack, Sam and I sang happy birthday to her:

Later that day, I frosted her cake and she wanted to be the one to put the five candles in it.  Absolutely, Little Girl.  Absolutely.

Blowing out her candles that night after dinner:

I love this picture because it describes her perfectly; a smile on her face and extra accessories in her hair.

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Taken right before the Daddy-Daughter Dance:

Next year, Steve will be taking BOTH Sophia and Samantha as his dates!

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Steve brought some extra lumber home from work one night to use in the fireplace.  Before he could toss it in there, Sophia and Jack confiscated it and used it to build a (very creative) parking station for all of their vehicles.

And then the next morning, Jack set to work (with gloves on!) to build some sort of tower.  Honestly, those wood pieces occupied the kids for a full week.

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Samantha's 2nd grade class learned about life cycles a couple of weeks ago and started a bean plant from seed.  Once it sprouted, they brought it home.  It was obvious that the plant was thriving so well that it needed to be replanted.  I am amazed at how much it has grown in such a short amount of time.  Pretty soon, I am going to have to make an executive decision on where to plant it.  After all, it almost needs a trellis now.

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I could melt when this little boy looks at me like this:

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Working on a painting project that was a gift from one of her friends for her birthday:

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On my birthday, the girls were shopping at the American Girl Store with Aunt Deb and Uncle Dennis, so "my boys" took me to lunch:

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