Whew!

Well baby Mattie is almost 3 weeks old, and a busy 3 weeks it has been. That is why I haven't really been updating my weblog daily as I was before. She is actually sleeping very well at night but when she is awake during the day she wants to be held almost constantly. She was weighed today and is a whopping 9 lbs 3 oz. She is starting to get chunky little legs and arms, which is sooo cute.

I am sad to announce that my parents have sold their cabin. They will still own it for another month I think before it goes into escrow, and I am really going to miss the old place. But I think in the end it will be a good move for my parents as they will have options to invest in another property, maybe closer to us. We are going to go look at a 5 acre ranch today, that also has another unused 5 acres adjacent to it for sale. We'll see if it is a good deal or not, it sounds really good!

Mattie

Mattie Anne

She finally arrived. April 7th 2006 at 3:22am. A beautiful little baby girl. 8 pounds even and 19 1/2 inches long. Her birth was fine, 7 hours of not too bad labor, towards the end it was pretty intense. The midwife broke my water at 9 cm and the contractions became more painful. I just wanted it to be over so badly. She was a little harder to push out than Roman, and yes it hurt.
After I had her, I thought everything was fine until I started noticing a lot of blood and noticing I was getting really dizzy just lying on the bed. The midwife came to check on me and was pretty concerned. They kept saying are you doing okay? Stay awake, things like that. She gave me a shot on the thigh, and made me drink something yucky, and then I felt a little better. She kept checking my blood pressure and pulse and I guess when my blood pressure was about 60/20 they called 911. The whole time I was just completely dizzy and didn't know what was going on. The next thing I know there are all these firemen and paramedics in my room, the lights are all on, and everyone is saying Colleen stay awake. So I had to be transported to the hospital in Prescott to find out why I was hemorrhaging.
I found out several hours later that part of the placenta was still attached inside my uterus and this was where I was hemorrhaging. Not only that, but the hemorrhage was causing me to clot ridiculously and some of the clots were as big as a softball. They removed everything right there in the hospital room with nothing to numb the pain and let me tell you it was much worse pain than the whole childbirth. But it is all overwith now, and I am so glad that it is. Now I have a beautiful little baby girl and I am so grateful that she is healthy and happy and we are all safe.

My Mom was here for the entire birth and just went home last night. She really helped me out, I think I would be feeling a lot worse if she hadn't been here to help me out. I am really going to miss her, in fact I cried after she left, but I am okay now. I know she will read this, so Mom, don't feel bad, you were a great help to me! Roman and Cliah are so proud to have a new little sister. Roman is sooo sweet giving her kisses and Cliah wants to help as much as she can. We are all going to have to adjust to having another member of the family, but I am sure we will do just fine.

My daughters teacher

stinks! If I had the courage I would go down there and tell her what I really think. Next week is AIMS testing and in the good old state of AZ every 3rd grade student is required to take them. My question was if my daughter is absent a day next week can she do a make up test. My daughter asked her teacher and the teacher said she better not miss one day next week, that she doesn't care when I am having my baby, Cliah better not miss school, or she is going to get in trouble. So Cliah is all upset and worried that IF I have the baby during the week of next, that she will have to go to school, even if she has been up all night, even if I am in the middle of delivery when she is supposed to walk to the bus. Her teacher doesn't care about our situation, all she cares about is that the principal is on her case for whatever reason, and she doesn't want any of her students missing one day next week. Tyrant! Well what if they were involved in some mishap, and couldn't make it? Is that student going to get it? GRRR she makes me so mad! I told my daughter that Mrs. Schumacher does not make the rules of my life, and if Cliah is to stay home one day then toooooo bad Mrs. Meanie. This gave Cliah a little smile, and me too.

April 3rd and Overdue!

Well I am officially over my pregnancy due date. I am so tired! I don't feel like doing much the last few days. I did go to the mall, but after two stores I was pooped! I'm trying to stay active but it is really tiring carrying around this fully grown baby all the time. I feel like the baby is taking over my body. How long is he/she going to stay in there? Does he/she need an invitation or what? I talk to the baby all the time and say "come on, come on out". I imagine the baby is just so comfortable, all warm and cozy and sleeping most of the day that it just doesn't care about coming out. Well maybe the baby is uncomfortable all squished in there, squishing my intestines and doesn't know how to get things moving. I can't wait to see how big this baby is, I think it will be the biggest yet.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. We went to the Park and took some subs and a blanket and had a nice time. By the time I got home I had to sleep for and hour and every one of us got sunburned. That's Arizona for you. Freezing one week and sunburned the next.

Oh well, that's it for now, I am going to go call my Mom, it's been a while.

Good Morning!

Well I have been sick the past two days and today I am feeling totally better. I think I had a stomach bug of some kind, but I am just glad it is gone! The rain is gone, the sun is out and all the birds are singing. I am feeling so energetic today, maybe it is being over the sickness or that Roman is at preschool right now, I don't know, but I am just so excited about the day. So I'm not going to spend too much time on my blog, becuase I've got some things I want to do. My pansys are still sitting in the flower bed in their packages, but I don't know if I can be on my knees to plant them. So have a great day!

My Baby Prediction

6 Days Until the Due Date!

I am going to make a prediction about my babies birth. I am going to go into labor Thursday night and I will give birth sometime mid morning on Friday April 1st. It is going to be a girl, and I will name her Mattie - Miele. I don't have a middle name predicted yet, because I don't know what the middle name will be. I like Mattie Rose, or Mattie Elizabeth, or even Mattie Anne, but we will see. So that is my prediction, I can't wait to find out!

Ear Ache From Hell!

Well my ear infection from last week has now moved to my ear canal. Whatever that means. All I know is I could not sleep last night until I took two hydrocodone, and I was standing outside the Urgent Care clinic at 7:25am. I hate ear infections, they are the worst. So I got ear drop antibiotics, which to me, when my ear is infected an plugged up, the last thing I want to do is put 10 drops of anything in there, but if it heals it (it better!), then I guess it is worth the trouble.

It was soooo nice out today, I went outside with Roman for about an hour and lay on my comfy swing. I forgot how nice it is to watch the kids from the comfort of that swing. There was a nice breeze and a little sun and Roman kept coming over and pushing me a little. I imagine myself out there watching Cliah and Roman, while nursing the newest addition. I love being out there when the weather is nice. I think tomorrow I am going to plant some flower with the help of Cliah. Everything is getting green and blossoming and I have no flowers to enjoy. I can't believe my daffodils haven't come up yet. What are they waiting for?

Well I am down to single digits now. Only a matter of time before the third little Miele is around here letting his or her presence be known. Tick tock tick tock!

10

Well there is only 10 days left until my due date. Some days I feel really good about the home birth experience and other days I am just a little freaked out. Hopefully my Mom will make it up here becuase I think that she will be a big help to me. Hint. I can't believe that there will be a new baby here soon.

We had our last snow the night before last and I am going to actually miss it. Although I am really looking forward to the wonderful weather that is beginning! I've got to get some flowers planted, it is just so uncomfortable for me to garden in my current shape. I can't wait for summer, with the barbeques, and hanging outside with the kids, playing in the kiddie pool. Of course last summer the little pool barely ever got warm enough for them to be in for very long. I just love summer around here though, it's not like it was in Phoenix, the summer nights are actually cool! Last summer we went the entire season with only an evaporative cooler. We have an ac unit, but it is sooo expensive we decided to give the old evap a try. Whadya know, it worked all summer, in fact some summer nights we actually got cold, can you believe that? I guess if you are reading this and are from a really cold state, you can.

Cliah is starting softball on Monday. She really enjoyed it last year and I think she will like it even better this year. Her coach is a man, but her team is all girls.

I took the kids for a yearly physical and checkup today. They are both very healthy and happy. They got an assortment of shots, Cliah needed 4 shots and Roman needed 5. Cliah was totally cool with the shots, but Roman was a little upset. He didn't try to fight or anything, but he was crying and it made me feel pretty bad. But he seems to be over it now, except for the dark circles under his eyes and he seems a little tired. Speaking of the kids, I think it's time to go!

Sweet Sixteen

Well I hope you are impressed by my beautiful 16. I downloaded all these 30 day free trials of Alien Skin, which is a plug-in filter for Adobe Photoshop. They are pretty fun, but I would never buy it, it is way too expensive. I have had an earache all week and it is finally starting to go away. Ear infections can be really annoying. Well I have to go support China today, by shopping at Wal-Mart. I had a dream one time that all the workers inside Wal-Mart were Chinese. It was pretty scary, like a nightmare. But when you want to get a bunch of different items bought in one store and you are 38 weeks pregnant, Wal-Mart is just the place to go. Wal-Mart needs some tough competition. Like a Fry's Supermall, or a Safeway All In One.

20 Days to go

SNOW!

Roman in the sled

Our Iced Tree

Little Cliah

The Bradshaw Mountains

Our Japanese Honeysuckle

So it does snow here. We had a lot of snow last year, but not so much in one storm. It's all melting today but there is still a lot more hanging around than I would have thought. We went sledding a little yesterday, (not me) until the local police chased all us fun-loving families out of the sledding area.

So we went home and had hot soup and biscuits. We watched The Brothers Grimm, it was kind of scary for the kids but it was pretty funny too, and weird.

Cliah is on Spring Break this week. She is going to have a friend over tonight and she is going to Disneyland with her Grandma on Thursday. Lucky girl! Sounds like a lot more fun than my spring breaks when I was a kid!

I've got to get in gear and buy all my homebirth supplies. I only have 15 days until I am going to be in complete panic. At the same time I can't wait until the day is here and I have a brand new baby in my arms.

I made a deal with my Jason (my husband) that he can buy a hot cam (whatever that is) for his dirtbike as soon as I get my mini-van. Only because he has spent around $1000.00 on dirtbike in the last two months. So what does he do? He goes online and shops for hot-cams. Um, hello did he forget my end of the deal? Sometimes I have to wonder what he is thinking. So we may go to Phoenix on Saturday and look for a new van, and I am expecting to be going home with one. I hope he realizes the seriousness of the situation. I am getting a van this week!

Well I gotta go do Cliahs hair and go to Target, bye!

25 Days & Counting Does Not Help!

The days are really dragging now. I feel like I am at a stand still and just waiting for this baby. As if life is on hold until the baby comes, and I am getting restless. I don't think I experienced this with Roman or Cliah. I soooo look forward to the weekends because there is usually something to do, but this weekend it is supposed to snow, so I am going to be stuck at home I just know it. Maybe I will take the kids to the movies or something. We were supposed to have a little party for Romans birthday (a few weeks early), but with the snow I don't want to ask anyone to drive up from Phoenix, plus it was so nice out the last few weeks, I was looking forward to hanging out in the back yard and Roman playing in his new sandbox, so I think I will postpone. So now what will we do? Well if it snows a lot, maybe we will try to go out into it, or maybe I will go van shopping.

Here is a picture of Grampa and Roman checking out there catch.

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30 days and counting

Doesn't seem long to you, but to me this will be the longest 30 days of my life. I am no longer sleeping comfortable at all. I put a pillow between my knees, but that doesn't help. I am supposed to sleep on my left side, but often wake up on my back and you aren't supposed to sleep on your back. Both of my hands go numb during the night, it doesn't sound bad, but it's really uncomfortable. Not to mention I have to haul myself out of bed about every hour to pee, then when I get back to bed I feel like I could drink a gallon of water. Then when I get under the covers I start sweating all over so I get my wet washcloth from the nightstand and cool myself off. I get back aches all day and my feet hurt. I can't go hardly anywhere, I get so tired from just one store, plus you have to hope every place you go is going to have a bathroom. The heartburn, oh the heartburn!
There are good sides too, like you don't have to worry about birth control, if you are waiting for a table at Chilis some handsome gent will probably offer you a seat, the energy bursts and the afternoon naps, and the baby constantly squirming and kicking you all about. Sometimes I wonder what that baby is up to in there, it feels like he/she is trying to kick his/her way out. Pretty soon the baby will be out and then I will be wishing the baby was still inside. I need to be happy with what I have right now!

.

Well I am beginning an official countdown to my due date. I have officially 36 days until I am due. I still don't think I am, what they call, mentally prepared. We don't even have a sure name picked out. Every time I say a name for example Madeline, my husband makes up a name like Madine. I told him I don't want a made up name, and he just insists. So annoying, or how about these ones he came up with.
Maline (sounds like saline)
Malea ( do I need say anything)
Zalea (*-*)
I like the name Mattie. I really, really like that name, but if I bring it up, he says nothing, nothing! We haven't even touched on boys names, they are not as fun to think up.
Anyways, another baby will be at our house before you know it, and my butt is starting to look like my moms butt, no offense. But after three kids, I mean your butt does change.

Going to NY, again!

Well it's all set, we are going to Conneticut via New York this summer. American Airlines had a smashing deal for $123 each plus tax to fly round trip, what a deal! Our whole family can go for about $600.00. So we will be flying out my husband and I, my daughter, my son and an infant, oh boy! It will be interesting flying with so many little ones. I am going to have to find out about a bassinet out there, because I am not going to bring mine, it just can't happen.

The last time I was in NY was on two days before 9-11. We went to NY on Sunday the 9th and were scheduled to leave on the 12th. Regardless to say we were stuck in Conneticut for a few extra days and it was very unnerving. I remember sleeping in my father in-laws apartment in Westport and hearing those New England ambulance and firetruck sirens. I woke up to them on September 12th and thought the world was ending. To me they sounded like air raid sirens and I was very scared.

It was such a long time ago, and I haven't been back since. I kind of just reluctantly send my husband by himself because I just haven't had the interest in going. So it is going to be strange to be back there after all this time and traveling with my whole family. I hate flying, but to bring all my kids too, it's just kind of scary. But I have to just think of how many people fly every day with no problems.

Is it a Boy or a Girl?

So I would like some guesses on boy or girl? Please give me a one liner comment, boy or girl? By the way I already have one of each! Can you believe a baby is living in there? Every time I imagine the baby in there, it's in computer imagery, because I can't really picture what it actually is like. I have 39 days to go :-0, and I think it's going to be another 8 1/2 pounder like my other two. Can't wait to post some newborn pics!

Anyone have any good baby names they want to share. My kids current names are Cliah and Roman, so I kind of have to live up to a certain standard of originality. We don't know if it's a boy or girl so any name ideas are appreciated. I really could use some ideas, my husband and I can't agree on anything and we have less than 6 weeks until the due date. OMG!

In the meantime I am completely sick. Cough, runny nose, this is the first spurt of energy I have had since Sunday. I keep thinking I am getting better and then I get worse. I can't wait for this cold to be over! I think I will still take it easy today and stay home so I can actually get well.

It's Been a While

So another baby due in 6 weeks. I'm like an actual baby making machine. My husband said he wants to get a milking cow, and I told him he'll have one in about 6 weeks. No but seriously, we are having a home birth this time and I am scared to death. Anyone out there know about home birth? I am taking a four hour class today at the midwifes office, so it should be interesting.



So this is the most snow we have had here all winter. It's been really, really dry! I can't believe that spring is almost here and it has only snowed one time, how depressing! I guess that is why some people like Arizona. Wish I was one of them. I would actually love to move to Idaho or Oregon. Somewhere wet and cold. I think I am starting to dry up like a lizard from all this dry crackly weather.

Maybe I will post some pictures soon of the birth, just kidding, I don't think anyone wants to see that.

Bratz! = Skanks in training...

Okay, I am the only parent out there who thinks Bratz are little skanky? I am sorry if I am offending some parents who have purchased Bratz for their children, but I don't think it is sending a good message to your kids. My daughter has wanted a Bratz doll for about the last year, but I have told her my opionion on them. I have told her I don't think they are wholesome dolls, but she wants one, because the Mom down the street who lets her 8 year old listen to 50cent in her room has bought them for her daughter. Now I have gotten my husband thinking about Christian schools again, because some of the kids my daughter knows have no guidance or direction. What message are Bratz trying to send out? Wear a lot of make-up, super mini skirts and belly shirts with 10 in stilettos? I can't wait until these dolls are out!

Fall is in the air

Well it officially feels like fall. I have purchased several pumkinish scented items, and have let my children dress up as witches just for fun. The spooky window clings are bought and stuck and even though I don't have all my Fall decor out, I am sure in chipper spirit. It has been breezy and 78 and it's absolutely perfect. Fall is definately my favorite season of the year. There are so many exciting things to look forward to. Halloween, birthdays, Thanksgiving and finally as winter approaches Christmas. I just love the warm scents, chilly nights, the fun of gaining 6 pounds, drinking warm apple cider, huffing through the snow to find the perfect tree and seeing family you don't see all year long. Well at least my mind is in a good place today, it must be the bath and body pumpkin oil I am burning. I think I might just have to make a pumpkin pie soon...