Presley Grace - 8/19/10

I update so much on FB, I forget sometime to update the blog.... so here is Presley's belated birth story.

The last few weeks of my pregnancy Presley was being stubborn! I went in for my 35 week checkup and she was still breech. My dr said that if she was still breech at 37 weeks he would schedule me for an external version. So I spent those next two weeks nervous about whether or not she had flipped and googling ways to make your baby flip. I went in for my 37 week checkup and she was head down. She was still floating, but head down! The following week, at 38 weeks, she was still head down and had dropped some. So I thought we were in the clear and everything would go smooth after this. I was also dilated almost 2cm, so I went home and was determined to get this baby out! I walked and walked and for days had the most inconsistent and annoying contractions ever. Just a couple days before my 39 week mark, I had contractions for 5 hours and then nothing (this was on a Sunday night). The next couple days following that, I had some more inconsistent contractions. I was getting so frustrated that I couldn't get them to get labor started. I went in on Wed for my 39 week appt to learn the reason that my contractions were not sending me into labor.... she was breech, again. At this point, the dr said we couldn't give her anymore time to flip, that we had to do something. So he went over all my options with me. My first option was a c-section. Which I did not want and neither did my dr. My other option (which would have one of two turnouts) was to be scheduled for an external version and the success of that would determine the next step. If the external version was successful , he would immediately break my water and induce me. If it was unsuccessful, I would have a c section. Which ever I choose would have to be done right away, either that afternoon or the following day. The dr did not want my water to break or for me to go into labor while she was breech because of the risk due to a baby being footling breech (the breech position she was in) . It was all very overwhelming and the thought of having a c section upset me. So I decided to give the external version a try and pray that it was successful and I could on to be induced. I was scheduled for it the following morning at 6:30.

I arrived at the hospital and registered and was sent to labor and delivery. They got me in my room and started my iv right away and hooked me up to the monitors. The dr arrived around 7 and got out the u/s machine to start the external version and to our surprise she was head down. We couldn't believe it! But I was so happy that I didn't have to worry about the version being successful. The dr broke my water right away, he didn't waste anytime. They started my pitocin shortly after that. My contractions started around 9 am. Around 12:30 I mentioned getting an epidural because I was starting to really feel that pain and getting scared I would miss the epidural like I did with Madison. So they checked me and I was 3 cm, they went ahead and ordered my epidural. (Normally they wont order it until you are 4 cm. But when i had Madison I was at a 4 when they ordered it and by the time he got there and made an attempt to get it, it was too late. So I had to deliver without it) Around 1:00 I got my epidural, thank goodness for those!! She checked me again at 1:25 and I was already a 6. The right side didn't work right away and by the it started working, I started feeling the contractions again. So she checked me again and i was complete. She called for my dr, who was across the street in surgery and was going to be about 30 min. I asked if I could wait and the nurse said no because Presley wasn't responding well to the contractions and I needed to deliver now. So they called the relief dr. I pushed twice and Presley was born at 1:47! She was beautiful and perfect!! She weighed 6lbs 3oz and was 19 inches.

I enjoyed my moments with her and was so in love!! We stayed in the hospital for 2 days and came home on Aug 21. Presley weighed 5lbs 12 oz at release. We took her to the dr a few days later and she was 5lbs 15 oz.

Stay tuned for hospital pictures!!

Forgotten words

I forgot two words that Madison uses daily.... "thank you" and "cheese". For awhile she has said "cheese" anytime you get a camera or phone out or anything else that might resemble something that would take a picture. Tonight, though, she asked for some cheese to eat.

I keep thinking of words that Madison says that I forgot to list. Today on our way home a couple more popped into my head.... Bite (when she wants a bite of your food), gone (which she uses a d instead of a g), today she said more....

Miss Madison - A.K.A The Monkey

Madison is almost 16 months old. It's crazy how fast the girls are growing. She recently had her 15 month check up and was 19 lbs 10 oz and 29 inches. She is doing well and moving right along. I believe that she has hit all the major gross motor milestones that she will hit. The kid can climb on anything and everything, I mean everything!! She is such a monkey! She nearly gives her daddy a heartache though. She is learning so much and thanks to having a big sister learning some things really quick. Her vocabulary is getting much better and while she can't say a whole lot of words real clear, she can communicate really well. She is starting to put words together and form phrases... for example, she will say; "I got it" "Hi___ (insert mama, dada, ryry)" I done mommy" "Bye-Bye___ (insert a name). Those are the main ones but she will say things just out of the blue and usually just once or twice. Once she said "where daddy go". She tries to put words into sentences, but we can't always make out what she is saying. Her list of words that can she say is growing.... mama/mommy, dada/daddy, ryry, sissy, baby, ball, hi, bye, phone (but sounds like bone), juice, shoes, Ellie (our dog), banana (but you really have to know what she is saying), mine (her favorite word), mimi, papa, her newest that we heard her say tonight was Jimmy (Tom's friend that is staying with us). Then she has the words that hear once or twice and then never again. She is quiet the talker though and always acts like whatever she is telling you is very important. She is learning how to use crayons and other writing utensils. She loves her stuffed animals and babies. She mimics Ryleigh and tries to do everything she does, it's so cute. She picks up on things so quick, it's impressive! She likes to help put away the dishes and knows exactly where the silverware goes. She is starting to understand little things like throwing things in the trash, brushing her hair, putting toys away, etc. She can follow simple instructions.... like get a diaper if I ask her to, or her shoes, throw something away or get a certain toy.

She is the mean one though!! The kid has a temper on her and is so rough and tough. She has recently learned that she can scream when she isn't mad or crying and she insists on doing it all the time. And now that she has figured out how to really scream, her tantrums are even worse!! She is very headstrong and determined and doesn't give up until she gets her way or at least is able to push Ryleigh around for a little while. But she also has a very sweet side to her that I believe came from having a big sister who comforts and loves her all the time. She does a lot of same things as Ryleigh does to her and it's so cute. She adores her big sister and looks up to her!! I love the relationship that they have!

Ryleigh... our toddler going on teenager!

Ryleigh is such a big girl now!! I can't believe how smart she is!! She will be 3 1/2 next month and it's so hard to believe. She is the cutest, smartest, funniest 3 year old I have ever met!! She amazes us everyday and makes us so proud!! She is learning so much at daycare. Ryleigh loves her "friend" Jesus and that makes us so proud! The kid has a vocabulary like you wouldn't believe and uses it every second she is awake!! She loves to talk, she loves to tell stories and she loves to sing. She loves her baby dolls and pretending to be mommy. She is our little mother hen. She is very caring and nurturing and loves her little sister more than anything! She is so good to her and takes very good care of her. She is a great example for Madison too!! Some of things she is learning at daycare.... she count past 20 most of the time, she can count objects and if asked to get a certain amount of something she comprehends it and gets the exact number, she knows her abc's, she can trace her letters and her name, she can cut anything and everything on the line, she can draw her shapes and smiley faces, she knows her name starts with an "R" and recognizes it written out, she knows her letters when asked to look for them... the list could go on. I love her teacher and I am so glad that she learns so much there! She really does amaze us and makes us so proud.

She is 3 though.... she has her moments. She is, for the most part, a good listener, but sometimes struggles to remember how important it is to listen. She can be very hyper and out of control at times and throw some really unpredictable fits. She likes to say the word "no"... which is not tolerated in our house at all, so we usually have a bad moment when she tells us that and then rebels when she gets in trouble for it! BUT, even in all those moments, she is a pretty good kid. Below are some recent pictures.... they really show her huge smile!!

Oh, and she is totally into mommy being pregnant with her baby sister... she can't wait for her to get here!

Mommy and Baby Presley

Baby Presley is doing great!! She is growing and becoming a very active little girl!! My pregnancy is moving right along. I will be 26 weeks next week!! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! My last dr appt was last week and everything looked great!! I have to do my glucose test before May 27 (which is when my next appt is). Then it's onto my 3rd trimester and I start going every 2 weeks. Ryleigh is really anticipating the arrival of her new baby sister! I hope to start preparing for her arrival and getting everything I need for her and switching rooms over in about a month or so. I am having just as much fun as I did with the first two girls when it comes to buying things for her. For now, I am just enjoying being pregnant for the very last time! I cant wait to meet our precious baby girl, but I also just want to enjoy the pregnancy!! I have posted the latest belly picture, taken at 24 weeks.

Daddy Update

I thought I would update on the whole gang since I know a few of you that read this do not have Facebook.

Daddy is doing terrific! He was offered a new job a few weeks ago. After much consideration, he decided to take the offer. He was offered the General Manager position at a new dealership that was opening up in Festus, Blackwell Motors. The guy who owns this dealership also owns two others. Tom took everything into consideration when making the decision and decided that the opportunity that this position held was too good to pass up. He has spent the last couple of weeks getting the dealership open, from scratch. Today was there first official day open as business. He hasn't made it home yet, but I am hoping (even with the crappy weather) that the first day went good for him!! We are very proud of him and he has worked hard these last couple of weeks and we know he will continue to do great at his new job. Stayed tuned for further updatews as he gets the dealership going.

Madison's Favorite

I answered these for Madison (with Ryleigh's help)

Color: Well I put her in a lot of pink and purple
Food: Mac n cheese
Fruit: banana
Vegetable: Peas
Breakfast Food: Chocolate chip pancakes
Drink: Apple Juice
TV Show: Dora
Movie: All she ever watches is Dora and Mickey Mouse
Book: Not really into books just yet
Toy: Baby
Shirt: She will wear whatever I put on her
Ice Cream: Chocolate I am sure
Cookie: Sandwhich cream cookies
Snack: Chips or crackers
Season: summer since she loves it outside
Animal: Dog
Stuffed Animal: Any of them... she is getting to where she loves to sleep and cuddle with them.
Singer: Elvis
Thing to do outside: Play, she would live outside if we let her
Sport: Well the only sport that goes on in this house is Nascar
Thing to do with Mommy: Cuddle :)
Thing to do with Daddy: Play and dance to Elvis

Ryleigh's Favorites

I copied this from Sarah's blog....

Color: Pink
Food: Turkey (this is what she said) But she also really likes sausage, corn on the cob, peas and mac n cheese
Fruit: Oranges
Vegetable: Peas
Breakfast Food: Waffles ( Also sausage)
Drink: Root Beer (she really doesnt drink it that much, but everywhere we go to eat she asks for it, places just rarely have it)
TV Show: Dora
Movie: Dora
Book: Bible (not kidding, that is really what she said)
Toy: Dora toy
Shirt: Pink one (who knows which one this is)
Ice Cream: Vanilla
Cookie: Brown (not sure what cookie this is)
Snack: Fruit snacks
Season: Hot
Animal: Froggy (hmmm, I would never have guessed that one for her)
Stuffed Animal: Froggy (she must be on a froggy kick)
Singer: Jesus love Me (that is what she said) But her favorite singer would be Elvis
Thing to do outside: swing
Sport: racing
Thing to do with Mommy: Run with me... hmmm, not sure that will happening anytime soon. lol
Thing to do with Daddy: Sing with daddy.... to Elvis of course!

A Collection of Ryleigh's Funny Stories

I know it's been awhile since I have updated the blog, but I have to share these funny stories before I forget. Then in the next day or so I will do updates on everyone.

A couple of weeks ago Ryleigh was looking out the basement door and starting saying "There is an alligator out there!" I played along. So she wanted me to come see the alligator. When I got to the door, I played the game and said "I think the alligator left." Ryleigh said, "No, he didn't. He is right there." And she pointed down to the ground where there was a LIZARD! It was so funny. I just thought she was playing a game... kind of like "there's a bear" game.

Then yesterday on the way home Ryleigh was full of funny stuff.... here are my two favorite conversations that took place.

We see a lot of horses on the way home from daycare and we usually have atleast one conversation about them. Yesterday she spotted the minature ponies at one house and says to me, "Look at those baby horses." I said, "Yes, I see them. They are cute." Ry: "Yes, they are. But where are the mama horses? Me: "I don't know." Ry: "Oh, I know where they are. Them went to Wal-Mart to get some foods!"

Shortly following that conversation, Ryleigh asked me for a piece of gum. I told her she could have a piece, but it was the only piece she was getting. She asked me why and before I could tell her why, she asked "Because it's bad manners?" I laughed and asked her if she was learning about bad manners at school and she said yes. So I asked her what bad manners were and she replied with this... "No farting!"

Madison the climber

We spend a lot of time downstairs, our family room and playroom are both down there. But we also spend a lot of time going back and forth from upstairs to downstairs. Madison has been able to go up the step by herself for awhile, but we hadn't really showed her how to go down the steps just yet. And really she had never tried... that was until Wednesday. Wednesday evening I ran downstairs to grab the laundry, leaving the girls upstairs playing. Suddenly the girls show up down there too. I looked at Madison and said "How in the world did you get down here?" Ryleigh said, "She did it herself!" So we went upstairs and I waited to see how she did it. And sure enough she could do it... she crawls/slides down backwards on her belly. She is pretty good at it too!! I couldn't believe it, she didn't need any practice, just one day started doing it. She is getting so big!! As much as I dint want her to be that big yet, it's kind of nice that she can (she doesn't always want to) get up and down the steps all by herself. It can be hard on the "pregnant breathing" carrying kids up the stairs!

The "Mustbeard"

The other night Ryleigh and I were watching Spongebob. Spongebob put on a fake moustache and Ryleigh thought it was hilarious. She says, "Mommy look, he has a mustbeard!" It was so funny! I had to text Sarah to share it with someone! Then last night, her and Madison were in the tub and I hear Ryleigh say, "Madison, look, I have a mustbeard." It is so funny to hear some of the words that she comes up with!

The "New" Me (Well the new me in progress)

All of the posts on here are usually about the kids, but this one is about me....

So. most of you who know me well, know that from the day I was born I have been an unorganized person. It's always seemed to work for me, I never had any complaints about it. Although, I am sure others in my life have. But since becoming mother, I have realized that maybe it isn't so great to be unorganized. And I come to realize that the organization skills that some of us possess is in our DNA. Some of us are born natural organizers, some of us can be but usually have to work at it, and well, some of us just don't have a tiny speck of it in our DNA.... that would be me!!! Trust me, there have been times in my life that I made an effort (maybe not a big one, but I made it). With each kid that I have, I realize how much easier my life would be with a little organization in it. Shortly after finding out that we were having a 3rd child, I panicked and thought, I have to get myself organized if I want to stay sane!!! Well, with 5 months to go until baby Presley makes her appearance, I decided to get serious about this. At first, it was a struggle and I couldn't stay consistent with it. Some of you are probably thinking, what is so hard about this. Well, like I said before it's just not in my DNA and I have spent the last 30 years not being organized. It's tough to change old habits! I envy those mom's who seem to have it all together. They are always on time, their kids always have the stuff they need, they are not running through the house trying to gather everything they need to get their kids out the door for the day, they have all these neat ideas for keeping things organized... you know just those mom's who seem to "have it all together"! Those are the mom's that I look at and think, I want to be that mom!! I realized that my kids are loved unconditionally and properly taken care with an unorganized to mom. And at this point in their lives they don't know the difference. But my life would be so much better and not feel so hectic and my kids wouldn't feel my frustration either. And if I start now, hopefully this can be a character trait that they will be able to possess in their life, because we all know it wasn't something I was blessed with. So, this is a new beginning for me... I am going to be that "all together mom"!! I started with the small things.... like getting the girls' clothes organized. When I don't have time or feel like completing the laundry, I just fold the girl's clothes in a laundry basket and go on. Well, this became a very bad habit and it was driving me crazy!! I couldn't find their clothes half the time or matching socks. I was wasting so much time digging through clothes and it was frustrating me. So Friday, I spent all afternoon and evening going through clothes. I hung up or folded and put away all of their clothes, including their summer and spring stuff. I packed away all their clothes they are no longer wearing. I made sure all the socks were matched and put away, all the shoes were put away and all of their blankets organized in a basket in the closet. It felt good when I was done and I felt like I had accomplished something. I have been making an effort and hope to make it a nightly routine, to make sure their clothes are laid out for the next morning.... everything, from diaper/underwear to shoes and socks to the their jackets. This is helpful for Ryleigh too. She now dresses herself and knows where her clothes are and can grab them and get dressed. I make sure that all bags and anything else that has to leave with us the next morning is ready go before I go to bed. It's amazing how much easier it makes my morning. I realize I have a long way to go, but that certainly is a start to staying sane in the mornings!! And my kid's wont go back to keeping their wardrobe in a laundry basket. I worked all weekend on the laundry and making sure as it came out of the dryer it was put away... I am almost completely done! It's a great feeling! My next step, getting my butt out of bed and to work on time!! this morning I was doing good.... then I decided to do some laundry since I was getting ready earlier than usual, then I stopped for gas and let Ryleigh go in for a donut. I was still at work earlier than usual, but this is my next step! I will be that mom who has it all together and doesn't look or feel like I am about to fall apart at any second!!!!!! And as I said before, this isn't easy when you spent 30 years not really caring if you were an organized person or not..... so this is to a "new" and better me!!!! The organized and all together mom that I envy so much... that will be me!! It may take me the next 5 months it get to down and make it part of my life, but I will be that mom!!

Ryleigh's view on her new baby sister

So Ryleigh started out wanting a baby boy, that didn't last long and she changed her mind and wanted a baby sister. In fact, one day I asked her about it and she pointed to Madison and said "I want a baby sister just like her!" I thought that maybe she would flip flop between wanting a brother or a sister... but there pretty much wasn't any other option but a baby sister. At the beginning we had to convince her that we don't have to return Madison, we get to keep her and we get another one. Daddy wanted a baby boy, so Ryleigh thought we would get one of each... "A baby boy for daddy and a baby girl for me" is what she would say. So we had to convince her that there was just one baby and it was going to be either a boy or a girl. And she would always argue that it is a girl. Now that we have had our ultrasound and it is a girl, we no longer have to even talk about a boy and we have finally convinced Ryleigh there will be only one baby. So this is how our conversation went the morning after finding out....

ME "Ryleigh, are you excited to be having another baby sister?" RY "Yes! It's a baby girl, not a baby boy!" ME "Yes, it's a girl. We are going to name her Presley." RY "No, Madi is Presley." ME "No Madi is Madison and the new baby is Presley." RY "No, she is Madi Presley." ME "Ok, whatever you say." I look at Madison and said "Madison, are you excited about having a baby sister?" Ry speaks up and says "Madison don't get one!" ME "Oh, Madison doesnt get a baby sister?" RY "No because we only get one and i get her!"

So that's that!! We get her to understand there is only one baby and now there is no sharing her!!!!! Love that girl!! She is really excited though! And touches my belly and kisses it everyday!!! I can't wait for her to be able to feel that baby kick and move. She could now because the kicks are strong enough, but she won't keep her hand there long enough.