Xander

Just a couple for now...

Baby Boo is Born!

It's a BOY!!

Alexander Blaise Martin was born on July 26, 2011 at 4:34 am!

8 lbs. 14 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

We just arrived home from the hospital tonight due to jaundice issues, but I will post pictures and details later. 

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner for the Shutterfly Photo Book is:

Liz from Sugarplum Creations!!

Congrats, Liz and I'll send you the info by email :)

GIVEAWAY!!

First things first...no baby yet.  My body is getting a lot of practice though, as contractions are keeping me awake most nights.  So that's fun ;)

In the meantime, I have a code for a free 8 x 8 photo book (20 pages) from Shutterfly that expires on 8/1/11.  Since that is so soon, and I have no patience to make one at the moment, I thought I would give it away to one of you lovely readers! 

This is going to have to be a fast giveaway contest because I want the winner to have a few days to actually make the book before the code expires.  So.....I will pick a winner randomly by noon on Wednesday, July 27th.  (If I'm in the hospital, then it will be as soon as I get out!)

To enter:

1) Leave a comment about what you're making for dinner.

2) For a second entry - become a follower (if you're not already) - and leave a separate comment telling me that you are one.

Easy peasy, right?  Good Luck!!

NOT!

NOT in "real" labor...

7 hours of contractions did NOT amount to anything....

Did NOT get any good sleep last night in the hospital...

8 hours in hospital did NOT a baby produce...

Resting at home today and NOT happy about it...

Next time I won't be so quick to announce I'm in labor so I will NOT be as embarrassed and frustrated.

(But thank you all for your prayers, those were NOT unappreciated!!)

In Labor (I hope!)

I had a great night's sleep last night and woke up thinking that this would be a nice day to go into labor.  I took the kids to Mass (unfortunately had to leave early because it was too hot and humid for me), went to the gym and walked 4 miles on the treadmill, then took the kids to see a free movie in the theater. 

After that we went home for lunch and naps, and when Phil got home from work, he took the kids out swimming (in our little pool) and biking at the nearby high school parking lot.  While they were gone, I started having contractions about 15-20 minutes apart.  They came home, we gave the kids dinner,  and I drove to my parents house who live much closer to the hospital than we do.  Phil got the kids finished eating, cleaned up the house, and got the last minute things packed up.  Then he drove them over while I took a shower and walked around timing contractions. 

We just put the kids to bed now, and my contractions are about 5 minutes apart for the last half hour or so, but not painful yet so we are waiting around to decide when to go to the hospital.  I hope this is the real thing because I'm so excited to meet this little one :)  Here's a picture my mom just took of us:

So please pray that everything goes smoothly and hopefully the next post will be a picture of Baby Boo on the outside instead of on the inside (and I can stop yelling at Phil trying to take pictures of my huge belly)!!!

7 Quick Takes Friday: Volume 2

It's Time for Seven Quick Takes Friday again, thanks for hosting, Jen!

1) I am using Sarah's clever idea and making placemats for my kids on Picasa.  So far, I only have Maggie's done:

 but I hope to work on some more today and then figure out how to get them laminated soon.

2) Phil had this weird growth/bump on his inner lip for the past 6 months or so.  He saw the dentist about it and she wasn't concerned but said they would keep an eye on it.  I finally convinced him to see an oral surgeon about it, and he said it was something that they should remove.  So he had it removed last Friday and will get the stitches out today.  They sent it away to be biopsied and we should also learn the results of that today.  It's most likely nothing, but I'm glad it's gone.

3) Baseball is finally finished for 2011! 

This is probably our last year that both John-Paul and Andrew could play on the same team.  Next year, John-Paul will move up to the next level, and Eamon will start playing tee-ball, so we will have to figure out practices and game schedules for 3 boys each week.  How do you moms with huge families do it??

4)  Speaking of sports, track is going well for all the kids this summer.  They meet on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6-8 and learn all sorts of track and field events.  My boys are such competitive little things...I wonder where they get that?? ;) 

Here's Maggie (in the white hat) and her friend Robby helping each other stretch - so cute! 

(picture stolen from Laura's blog)

5) I went to my (hopefully) last midwife appointment yesterday.  I told her I've been having lots of pressure, low back pain, cramping and the baby has dropped.  I asked her for any tricks to get this baby to come out sooner rather than later and she just smiled at me and said "It's best to wait until baby is ready." I said "But you're a midwife...aren't you supposed to have secret tricks?"  She laughed and said "I just know that I'm not in charge"...just one more reason why I love her so much.  She is such a holy woman!  On a coincidental note, I have gained 26.2 pounds - exactly the amount of miles in a marathon.  So I think my race has been run :)

6) Poor John-Paul woke up sick this morning.  He's thrown up twice already.  I hope it's not something that's going to spread around the house.  He's definitely the child of ours with the weakest stomach, and mine's not that much tougher.  Let's pray it's not a bug!

7) Eamon, our little meatball, has been surprising us so much lately with his skills.  This summer, he has learned to pump a swing (Maggie did too), hula-hoop and now SWIM!  He's only four, but having two big brothers really makes little kids grow up!  He jumps in and swims without floaties all around the pool, but he does get tired out quickly so we have to be nearby to help out when needed.  What a little fish!

He won't need this floaty suit anymore!

How were your weeks?

Wordless Wednesday: Summer School ;)

Nesting...Almost Complete!

After my pitiful post about not having anything done for the baby, God stepped in and shook things up, and we got to nesting! 

 I woke up on Saturday morning and lost my M.P. (I really don't want to type out what that is.  Either you're a mom and you know, or you are a not...and in that case, I don't want to be the one to teach you.  You're welcome, Fr. Dave!).  Phil and I got a little too excited that maybe this was the beginning of labor, since the only other time I knowingly lost it was with Andrew and he was born 24 hours later.  We packed our suitcase and the kid's suitcase (they will go to my mom's house), cleaned the house, put the baby car seat in the car, bought a dresser for the baby's clothes, got the bassinet set up (Maggie put a baby doll in there - so cute), and I paid bills/finished up any accounting work I had to do at home.

Anyhoo, Saturday was a hot day here and the big boys had their last baseball game of the season.  We all went, but after one full inning in the sun, I started to feel dizzy and sat in the air-conditioned car.  I was dizzy and nauseous all day long.  We went to Mass on Saturday evening, and I had to sit through some of the standing parts.  It cooled off a little and we had a priest-friend over for dinner (the baby's godfather-to-be!) and I started feeling better.  That night we read more of the Bradley book - and in one part describing the beginning of labor, a mother wrote about how she lost her M.P. TWO weeks before giving birth.  Ugh, this could take awhile.

Sunday I woke up feeling rested and went for a 5 mile walk and a swim in the afternoon.  I felt a little more pressure and crampy, but probably from all the activity.  It was such a nice and perfect day here weather-wise, and the thought of labor was the furthest thing from my mind.  For dinner I had scallops and onion rings, and went to bed around 9:30.  About 10:30 I woke up feeling sick and stayed awake for 4.5 hours wondering if the cramps I was feeling were the beginnings of anything.  I finally fell asleep, and today went for a 3 mile walk, and nada. 

I know I still have 20 days until my due date, and although I've always been early, I need to stop thinking about when the labor is going to start.  It's just that after Maggie's super fast labor, I am paranoid that we will not make it to the hospital in time, so I am reading into every sign instead of just letting my body naturally prepare itself for what's coming.  It doesn't help that Phil is being very supportive and calling me every few hours to see how I'm feeling...I know he thinks things are going to happen soon. 

I just heard about this baby on the news:

which is making me want to postpone labor for a little longer, so that's good ;)

Tonight, after the kid's track club (2 hours in the hot sun - can I make it?), I will sort through the baby clothes, and I think that will complete the nesting process.  Hope you're all hanging in there a little better than me!!

In Denial

I don't know what is wrong with me, but it's like I am in complete denial that a baby is coming. 

I know I am nearing the end because I'm a tired, hot, and cranky mess, but I can't seem to get that whole nesting thing down.  This poor baby doesn't have anything set up yet.  We *just* got a bassinet and baby clothes from the shared family baby items.  We haven't put the baby car seat in the car yet, or packed for the hospital, or set up a space/room for the baby, or made plans for what to do with the kids when labor begins. 

We did meet with the midwife on Tuesday to go over the birth plan.  Hahahahahaha - planning for the birth, that joke gets me every time.  Basically I told her I want only Phil and her around (this ain't no party!), a quiet and dark room, the least amount of monitoring possible, access to the jacuzzi as soon as I get there, oxygen at transition, and the whole cocktail of pain meds AFTER the baby is born.  And I want someone to send a housecleaner to my house while I'm in the hospital recovering.  Is that too much to ask?  I told you I'm cranky....

I am still super nervous about the labor, and although we already love and desire this baby in our lives, I haven't been as excited about his/her arrival as I usually am. It wasn't until the moment the midwife mentioned how, because I'll be breastfeeding, that they would put the baby on my chest right after birth to nurse, that I got a rush of emotions of excitement.  It was like duh! I will be holding a brand new baby!  This pregnancy hasn't been for nothing...we are getting another child out of this in the end!  Sometimes I can be so dense ;)

So, we will continue to play the waiting game (impatiently), and I WILL get some nesting done this weekend, even if I have to fake it. 

Fr. Corapi Update (so sad)

Birth Story Haiku's

Jen is asking for some Birth Story Haiku's, and since I'm on a poetic-posting-spree right now, I thought I would join in!

Birth #1 (John-Paul):

Gallstones for eight months

Led to a long induction

Born on my Birthday!

Birth #2 (Andrew):

Matron of Honor

At a huge nine months pregnant

Born nine days later!

Birth #3 (Eamon):

Got epidural

Blood pressure dropped for us both

No drugs from then on.

Birth #4 (Maggie):

Fastest labor yet

Ran every single red light

Born in the tub - whoops!

Birth #5:

Praying it comes soon

Too hot to carry full-term

Still working on name!

July 4th Rhyme Time

Brothers Hugging:



Girls Mugging:

Matching Shirts:

 



Patriotic Skirts:



Patiently Waiting:

Camera Hating:

 



 

 Eight Months Old:

Digging for Gold: 

On the Run:

 Insect Fun:

Caterpillar Catching:

Baby Hatching:

 

Fun for Gammy:

 

Double Whammy:

Parade is Nearing:

Veteran Cheering:

Booty Shaking:

Patriots-in-the-Making: 

Family of Six Seven:

Parade-Candy Heaven:

Some of the Kins:

Cousin-Twins: