I swear, this kid is going to give me gray hairs!

Sebastian, that is. I suspected it when he was 2 and used to climb to the top of our upright piano and yell "Mama! Look at me!!" then jump off of it. Though he did seem to calm down a bit between 4 and 6. I guess his daredevil switch was off. But it seems to be back on now. In the last 7 months or so he has been to the emergency room twice. Once for a his hand, sprained his thumb, and once for stitches when he slipped on the ice and his face broke his fall. He's also single handedly keeping Band-Aids in business. Awful nice of him in this tough economy, isn't it? It had been a while since the last major boo-boo, so I guess we were due.
Last night Bastian comes downstairs kind of crying a bit saying "I can't get this off my finger!" He had a little tiny washer stuck on his pinkie. It was down near the first knuckle, and the tip of his finger was starting to swell. Dennis runs it under cold water...it's not coming off. He puts ice on the fingertip...it's still not coming off. (by this time Bastian is crying a bit more and I'm thinking "Looks like one of us his going to be running him to the ER again") Dennis rubs butter on the finger....nope, still not moving. Then Dennis tries putting the finger in cold water with the butter all over it...and it comes off! Whew! Hopefully Bastian learned a lesson.

Here's a goofy picture of the kids...what's with Gideon & Bastian throwing up gang signs? "Upstate New York in the Hizz-ZOUSE!!" And, obviously, Spencer is driving the crazy bus...
Baby James turned 2 months old on the 16th. Here is her 2 month picture with her bunny. She was not happy, as you can see. And yes, I do have my baby girl wearing a cloth diaper cover with hot pink skulls on it. My girl is fierce :)

This is just the sweetest picture! Spencer is so in love with Jamie. He always wants to hold her and he loves to make her smile. He's not too crazy about her spitting up on him...but he'll put up with it. If that isn't love I don't know what is.

Baby Jamie with Baby Brennan. How can you stand so much cuteness?? I tell you, it was tough. You just want to squish them don't you? "I shall call them Squishy, and they shall be mine. And they shall be my Squishy"

Lastly, I call this one: The Circle of my Life. Right there, in one silly goofy perfect picture, is the reason I was put on this Earth.

I know...I know!!!

I've totally slacked (again!) on my blogging responsibilities. I've had some health issues, nothing major, but enough to distract me lately. And I've discovered facebook. But mostly health issues. Ok, 65% health issues and 45% facebook.

And, yes...I know that adds up to more then 100%...but you are so nice I threw in another 10% free of charge.
(I think Dennis's sales-guy persona is rubbing off on me)

Motivational advice from McDonalads....

So, I was just sitting here, holding Jamie and enjoying a McDonalds cherry pie while Moira and Lincoln are napping and before the boys get home from school. I look down at the pie box and it says : Caution handle with care I'M HOT. And I think to myself "Not yet...but I will be hot!" Then I think to myself "Maybe McDonalds cherry pie isn't the best place to get motivation" I mean, sure I want to look hot, and feel hot...but not in a cherry pie kinda way. And not even in a "we have to say this because our lawyers said we do because people are stupid and dont know that food is hot so they scarf us down and then burn themselves and then sue us" kinda way. I have no idea what that means...but I think I have underlying issues with stupid lawsuits. Anyway, at some point I want to be hot. But, that would mean I can't have the occasional McDonalds cherry pie. So I think I'll stay "fluffy". Fluffy is good.

I SEEEEEEEEEE you!!!

Here is Gideon....he is such a goof :)

This is Jamie's 1 month picture. How in the world is she one month old already? I'm going to take her picture every month along side her bunny so we can see how she has grown in her first year.

I love when babies sleep like this. "I surrender! I'll go to sleep now! I surrender!"

We finally got to meet Brennan!! How cute is he?? So cute you just want to squish him if you ask me. I just had to take some pictures of the babies together. Brennan is one week old, James is one month and one day old. Lindsay had said that Brennan was 8 pounds 12 oz at his last checkup....Jamie was 7 pounds 14oz.

POW! Right in the kisser!!!

Woohoo! I know it is not very clear...but I was finally able to get a picture of James smiling!! She has been smiling for a few days now. And, before you say she is too young and it's just gas, she will catch my eye before she smiles, so I know it's the real thing. When she gives a big smile she has a dimple on her left cheek. So cute!


I know this week is very baby-centric. More pictures of the rest of the monkeys next week I promise!! Sorry I don't have anything much to say....I woke up at quarter to 6 this morning. Have I ever told you I'm not a morning person? Yeah, well, I'm not. *grump*

Our new Family Motto...

Jamie is just about the same size as the build-a-bear bunny that the kids made for her after she was born! The neat thing about the bunny, is while I was pregnant I got one of the message recorder thingies (yes, I do believe that is the technical name for it. Or possibly it is a sound thing-a-ma-jig?) I brought the recorder with me to one of my OB appointments, and when they checked Peeps heartbeat using the doppler I recorded it. So, when you squeeze the Bunny's paw you can hear 10 seconds of Jamie's heartbeat. Yes, I'm a genius to have thought of that. And I give you permission to steal the idea.

I have to say I hate feet. I hate people touching my feet. I hate seeing other peoples stinky feet. The thought of a pedicure really creeps me out. BUT, I love baby feet. And I also love my kids feet. And I appreciate that they indulged me and posed for this picture for me.

That is one pissed off baby!! James had her first real bath this past week. We waited because though her cord feel off after a week, the belly button was still a bit "gunky" and I wanted to make sure it was completely dried up and healed. In case you couldn't tell, she is not a fan of the bath. At all.

Moira had her 4 year checkup this past friday. She is 33 pounds (26 percentile) and 41 inches (67 percentile). She also had to get all shots needed to start pre-K in the fall. She is actually up to date with her shots, but the next series can be given between 4 and 5, so we decided to just give them now. So the poor girl had 4 shots, two in each thigh, and she also had to get a lead test. Some sadistic person decided that 4 year olds need to actually have blood drawn for the lead test instead of just the finger prick. So, here is Moira showing off her boo-boo.

Here is how Jamie spends most of her day. I love this age. But, man, all the baby snuggles really cause me to slack on my floor cleaning responsibilities. I told Dennis I'd love to get a roomba vacuum (http://store.irobot.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3334619&cp=2804605&ab=CMS_IRBT_StoreHome_043009_vacuum) but I'm afraid it would turn evil on me. I'd wake up to it trying to vacuum my face while muttering "It never ends! The cleaning never ends! I can't take a break for 2 seconds around here! I have no time to recharge my batteries! I'm not a machine!!"....oh, um, maybe I'm projecting my feelings a bit here?


So, as I said in the blog title, we have a new family motto. It is:

What The...? Sometimes, it is What The Heck? Yes, I know that is weird. But all of my kids say it. Lincoln, at the ripe old age of 2, just started saying it. I blame Dennis. I mean, I know it's my fault, I'm the one that says it most, but I still blame Dennis. It makes no sense to blame him, but oh well. Deal with it.

I have decided that I would like our family motto inscribed on my headstone. It would be hilarious, and yet I'm sure it will confuse people. And, that is how I strive to live my life...to make people laugh and yet leave them asking "what the....?"

Gonna try a new idea....

I'm going to try something new. I want to try to do a "picture of the day". I'm hoping it will get me to figure out how to use some of the features on my camera, and also make sure I take more pictures of the kids. Though not every picture will be of the kids. Probably only 99.99% of them. Hey, you gotta admit they are darn cute models! My idea will be to take at least 5 new pictures a week, hopefully 7 but I can live with only 5. Then on Sunday (or Monday if I'm busy Sunday) I will put up a new post with the weekly pictures. And, since I tend to get songs stuck in my head, I'll post a youtube video of the song too. 'Cause if it is stuck in my head, then by golly I'll try my best to get it stuck in your head too!

This weeks Song Stuck In My Head is: Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrFwtlMd0H8&feature=related
(yes, I know The Who did it first...but I like the Limp Bizkit version just slightly more)

First picture: I finally got a picture of all the kids this week. I bribe them by telling them if they give me a few "nice" pictures then I will take a silly one of them. (Note: this is the silly one haha). Oddly, I always love the silly ones the best. In fact, I just ordered this one on a new coffee cup for myself.

My biggest and my littlest. Spencer just loves Jamie. He wants to hold her all the time. I just feel bad because most the time she is eating, sleeping or getting her diaper changed.

Moira is so thrilled to have a baby sister. She calls Jamie "My Baby". The other day on the way home from the doctors Jamie started fussing, so Moira sang her a lullabye. It was so sweet I was literally crying.

Dennis says Baby James looks like me. I still say she looks like Winston Churchill: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

Lincoln has been doing great with the new baby. He calls her "Awwww" as in "Awwww, what a cute baby!" Yeah, he's still not much of a talker.

In other blog-worthy news...we went to the first drive in movie of the year on Friday. Because we've outgrown our van, but have not gotten a new one yet, we had to take both cars. Dennis had the three big boys in his car I had the babies in the van. The drive in is about 90 minutes away, but luckily the drive went well. Or, at least most of it did. About an hour into the drive we were in a very hilly area. And I was reminded of why Lincoln should not be in the very back bench of the van. I was reminded of that by Lincoln whining "Mama!" and when I looked at him in the mirror he had both hands over his mouth. Then he got carsick. Yes, it doesn't take much to remind me. Just a 2 year old throwing up all over himself. But, we cleaned him up and went on our merry way.

I do think we have a new first movie of the season tradition. And that would be getting rained on. Maybe we should wait until it is closer to summer before we go for the first time? Ok, lets face it, if there is a good comic book based movie , then we'll be going to see it. Even if it means we have to huddle in the van to stay out of the rain. It's worth it.

We saw the new X-Men movie, Wolverine. I enjoyed it very much. Dennis knows more of the background so there were some things that bugged him, but he did like it too. The boys liked it. And Moira and Lincoln enjoyed the candy and big blowpop suckers that they had. Jamie slept through it, so I'll have to get her review after the DVD comes out.

Well, there is my blog for the week. I hope you enjoyed it. And, I really hope you have the song stuck in your head now. It's only fair, it's been stuck in my head for 3 days now.

Introducing Jamison Sophia Love!!!!!!

Here is the birth story for anyone interested:

I was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday the 15th. I called at 6am to make sure it was ok to come in and they said they were very busy and to call back at 9. Then at 8 they called us and said they were too busy and they were canceling my induction and rescheduling me for Friday the 17th. I was crushed. Dennis and my mom suggested I call the doctor to try to be seen at the office. I was able to get a 10:30 appointment. So, Dennis and I went in. I had dilated to 3cm from the week before (when I was only barely 1cm). The doctor stripped my membrane's and told us to go walk for a while to see if that did anything. So, Dennis and I spent 2 hours walking every inch of Market Place mall. I was having braxton hicks contractions but nothing real regular or noticeable. By mid afternoon we went home, feeling defeated. At about 10 pm I thought my water may have broken, but wasn't sure. So, the next morning I called the doctors office and they had me come in to be checked. We got there at about 9:30, and found out my water had not broken. The doctor said I dilated another 1/2cm, and the baby's head was right there. He said to do more walking and if I could get some contractions going to go to the hospital. I don't really start to feel contractions until near the very end of labor, so he said to call as soon as what I consider braxton hicks contractions were 10 minutes apart.. Even if they were painless, irregular or not lasting very long. He said once they could get me hooked up to the monitors and it shows at least a couple contractions then the hospital was less likely to send me home and he could break my water. The receptionists had the great idea for us to go to Highland Park. So, that is what we did...walking the trails along the lilac bushes for about 2 hours. Up hills, up and down stairs. I was almost at the point of doing jumping jacks to shake the baby out haha. The whole time I was feeling some cramps but no contractions at all. We decided to go to wegmans and get some lunch. As we were finishing eating our lunch I started feeling braxton hicks and Dennis started timing them. They were every 6 minutes, but completely painless. I figured they were nothing and I was ready to go home and just hope they didn't cancel my induction again the next day. Dennis said lets call the doctor and get into the hospital. The worst that will happen is they will send us home. So, we went in, and I was sure the braxton hicks would not show up and I would be sent home. On the other hand Dennis was positive we were having a baby that day. They brought me right into a labor room, had me change and get me hooked up to the monitors. Then we were pretty much left alone for a while. After about 45 minutes one of the residents checked me, and I asked if I was there to stay or going to be sent home. She said I was there to stay. Woohoo! They started an IV (which took 6 tries and it ended up in the worst spot..inside my wrist!). This whole time I still feeling braxton hicks, but no pain at all. Not even uncomfortable. At 4 the resident broke my water. Then by 5 I started breathing through the contractions and I asked them to check me again. The doctor (not my regular OB but the one from the office that was on-call) said I was only 5cm but the head was very low. So, she said she was going to go across the maternity ward and go do a circ, and told the nurse to hook up pitocin since I'd needed it in the past I'd probably need it again. Pitocin was hooked up at 6, but they said it would take at least 1/2 hour to get into my system, plus they started it at the lowest setting. At about 6:30 I asked to be checked again because I was feeling pressure (but not like I wanted to push, but like I needed to have a bowel movement) the nurse checked me because my doctor had just left to go back to the office to do paperwork. She had told the nurse to call her if I was 7cm or felt like something was happening. The nurse checked and I was 8cm. She called the doctor, and 2 contractions later the doctor comes in and as she walks in I finish a contraction where I felt a slight urge to push. She checked me and I was only at a 9, she said my next contraction if I needed to then I could give a little push, and they quickly raised the bed and got gowned up. **If you are squeamish-or my dad- stop reading now!!!** So, the next contraction starts, I feel the need to push, so I do.....and start peeing. A lot! I was sooooo embarrassed! I'm always worried about pooping on the table, but never thought I'd pee! All the stupid saline drip they were giving me I guess LOL Anyway, the doctor (as Dennis said) was deflecting the pee, that she didn't realize that the baby was also coming until the head crowned! So that one contraction and the head was out, one more push and Peep was born. The weird thing is I never dilated past 9cm, and the cervix kind of dropped low but should move back into place once I'm healed up. Not bad for less then 3 hours of labor! Heck of a birth story, isn't it?

Here is the ironic thing....when we found out what my due date was (April 19th) I had been saying that I wanted to be induced on the 16th. April 16th is the anniversary of Dennis and my first date. This year is our 16th anniversary. Of course once we got closer to April I was hoping to be induced as early as I could. I guess it was meant to be that we had an anniversary baby!

Here are Jamie's stats: 8 pounds 5 oz and 22 and 1/2 inches long! She looks very small, I was shocked she is more then 6 pounds. She must have been curled up inside me, because I had no clue she was so long, either! She has a bunch of hair...and it is a lightish brown with blond highlights. Her eyes are a very dark blue, the same color as Bastians when he was a newborn, so her eyes might turn out bright blue like Bastians. She latched on right away and is nursing like a champ, so I'm very hopeful that breastfeeding will work out this time.

When we called home to tell the kids they had a new baby sister, Spencer and Gideon were happy, but poor Bastian was disappointed. He was hoping for another boy since Moira really annoys him right now. But, once he met Jamison he was completely in love with her. When Dennis told Moira that she has a baby sister she said "Oh, that makes me so happy!". Lincoln had no clue what was going on haha.

Dennis brought the kids and my mom up on friday morning to visit. Lincoln came right over to the bed and climbed up and said "Awwwww" when he saw the baby. And when he was holding her:

He started to take her hat off. She had not had her first bath yet, and when he saw her gunky hair he says "EWWWWWW!" and puts the hat back down. It was super cute.

Here are more pictures of the kids meeting Jamison:

Welcome to the world Baby James!