Keizer Iris Parade

The parade was a big hit this year! This was the first time in 5 years that there were no tears from any of the kids! (And we have an extra one now too!!!) Gage especially loved the atmosphere! He waved to every single person and when they would wave back to him he got this big cute grin of satisfaction on his face. I'm sure he was thinking, "All of these people are here for me!" He was so fun to watch. He loved the horses, motorcycles, fire trucks, police cars, and lots of other things. Now, Maisey. . . she was all about the candy. We decorated candy bags that morning, and that girl was on the prowl to fill hers with some sugary treats! She came home with a completely filled bag and even shared a bunch with her brother who was busy waving and could have cared less about the candy! And Miley just happily snoozed on her daddy the whole time.

These were a few of the kids' favorite parade entries this year!

We can't wait for next year's parade! By then, we'll have to make 3 candy bags!

Our First Week With Miley

Shaun had the whole week off (he gets two weeks paternity leave, but is saving one week for later this summer!) and it was so nice to have him here to run Maisey to preschool and ballet and to take Gage outside to play. He also took both of our cars into the shop to get some maintenance work done. All I had to do was focus on Miley that week and it was way nice. My mom made dinner a few nights, and my friends brought dinner over all of the other nights. These are just a few things that I wanted to remember about the first week and a few pictures.

Monday:

Miley had a weight check at the pediatrician's office. She weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. which is what she weighed when she was discharged. Also, the first few days we were home from the hospital the kids were OBSESSED with her! They pretty much still are, but at least they aren't begging to hold her every second now, just every minute! :)

Tuesday: 

Miley had her newborn photos taken! I can't wait to see them all! This is just one pic that my mom snapped with her phone!

Wednesday:

I had a lactation appointment that morning, and you have to see the ped. first for a weight check so the insurance will cover it. So she got weighed and was back up to her birth weight, 7 lbs. 14 oz, by four days old! The ped. was impressed! Obviously nursing was going well for her, since she had gained 6 oz. in two days, but it was very painful for me. The lactation lady and a prescription that she had my dr. call helped a ton, and things have gotten better since then.

Friday:

Shaun's mom came to stay with us for a week!

 Saturday:

We took Miley out in public for the first time besides to the pediatrician. We went to the Keizer Iris Parade. It is a tradition for us to go every year, and I didn't want to miss it. So, at a week old, Miley enjoyed her first parade.

Sunday:

 Miley and I got some much needed quite time while Shaun and Grandma Grimmett took the kids to church! This was a pre-church picture!

Mother's Day

We came home from the hospital on Mother's Day! That in itself was the perfect gift!!!!!!! There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed and wearing your own clothes, even if they don't quite fit right!! 

Janel took the kids to church because Maisey was making a gift in Primary and couldn't miss it!! She was a little sad to sing in Sacrament meeting though, because I wasn't there. We got home while they were at church, which was really nice. It gave us a chance to get things unpacked and settled back in with out the craziness of the bigger kids.

The minute they came home from church she gave me her gift from Primary (which was a card with a picture of her on it) and then ran to her backpack to get her preschool gift. She gladly opened it for me!

It's a cute poem about her small hands leaving hand prints every where, and how when she gets big I will miss those small hand prints! Her teacher is super creative!

We had a BBQ with my mom and Aunt Janel and had this delicious chocolate cake for dessert. 

(Funny story: We bought this cake at Costco Friday night right before we went to the hospital. When we got home from Costco we were in such a rush that all of the food just made it to the kitchen counter and not put away. On my way to the hospital, I texted my mom to make sure the cake got into the fridge. I was really looking forward to that cake and did not want it to go bad! Shows where my priorities are, huh?) 

I had a little "What the crap were we thinking? How can we handle three kids all at the same time" meltdown that afternoon, but my mom and Shaun both assured me that we would be just fine!

We ended up playing games with Janel for a little bit that evening because she was leaving super early the next morning. It was the perfect end to a Mother's Day that I will never forget!

Miley's Hospital Visitors

Miley's hospital visitors included: Grammy, Aunt Janel, Maisey, Gage, my Aunt Jeanne, my cousin Jenn, and her daughter Madi. 

Saturday was kind of a hectic day. The kids had a T-ball game in the morning, so Shaun ran home and got them ready and headed to the fields to coach the game. After the game, Janel flew in for a short stay. Shaun and Janel came up to the hospital and my mom stayed home with the kids while they napped. After naps, my mom brought the kids to the hospital. Maisey was so excited to finally meet her sister. Gage was excited for about 10 seconds then kept saying, "Mommy, time to go home!" He wanted me to come home with him. Poor guy just didn't get it. He didn't want to sit by me because he was scared of the IV in my arm and all of my bracelets. He hung out by the window most of the time. It made me sad that he didn't want me. But then we got out the gifts that the kids picked out for Miley and they got to open each of theirs for her. Then they got surprised with gifts from Miley to them. Gage got a giant fire truck puzzle, a fishing game, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. He busted out the fire truck puzzle and did it on the hospital floor! He was so excited. Maisey got a stamp book, Princess Yahtzee, and Barbie and a Mermaid Tale 2. She also colored in her stamp book at the hospital. I would say Miley must know them pretty well all ready because she picked out some pretty big hits! In the evening, Shaun and Janel took them to a cafe at the hospital for dinner then they came back up to say good night! It was sad seeing them leave, but luckily it was just for one more night!

On Sunday, just as we were getting ready to leave, Jeanne, Jenn and Madi stopped by. It was nice to visit with them for a few minutes. Madi even got a turn holding Miley. 

Here are all the pictures!

A Baby Story: Miley Marie

So, most of you know births are messy! If you have a weak stomach or are grossed out by blood or details about needles (Kate!), etc. don't say I didn't warn you!!!!!

Let's start on back on Thursday, May 10! On Thursday morning, I wrote about how my contractions had stopped the night before but that morning they had picked back up. On Thursday afternoon, I planted flowers in my front yard, then weeded my back yard for 4 1/2 hours!!! I filled up our whole yard debris bin plus four black garbage bags! When I finally finished, my contractions were definitely noticeable! They continued through the night but I still wasn't ready to go in yet. Shaun decided to work from home on Friday just in case it was the day. We played our Friday morning like a normal day. Maisey went to preschool and I brought Maisey's preschool teacher's son home with me. I took Gage and Brody for a long walk that morning. I picked Maisey up from school, fed the kids lunch and put them down for naps. I took a nap Friday afternoon as well, I was exhausted from the yard work, being up all night with contractions the night before, and my looooong morning walk. When I woke up, my friend offered to take the kids to her house for a while to play. Since we didn't have the kids, Shaun and I decided to head to the outlet mall and walk around some more. My contractions were getting stronger, but I could still totally walk and talk through them. After the mall, Shaun went and got the kids and took them on a "date" and my mom and I went to Costco. We saw a lady from my ward there and she was like "You haven't had this baby yet?" I didn't say anything about having contractions because I didn't want to get anybody's hopes up. But I was thinking to myself, "Hopefully tonight!!!" As we went through Costco, I actually had to stop during my contractions but they were still about eight minutes apart. After we finished up, my mom took me to dinner at a burger place. I mentioned to her something about hoping I don't regret eating here if I ended up going to the hospital that night. On the way home from dinner my contractions were getting closer and stronger, so I told my mom that we would probably head down to the hospital and just get checked out. I had some things I wanted to take care of at home first. Shaun had already put the kids in bed but they both wanted back rubs from mommy. So between contractions I ran in each of their rooms real quick to do those. WARNING *This next part is kinda gross, but still details I want to remember.* After I finished with them I went to the bathroom and it was really bloody. I lost my mucous plug on Wednesday, but this was like bright red!!! It scared me really bad so the next 10 minutes after that were CRAZY!!! I had to finish throwing everything in my bag, and order a shutterfly book that I had a deadline for all while I was shaking because I was scared. I don't remember bright red blood with the other kids. I went in Maisey's room and kissed her goodbye and she started crying, which made me cry. As we finally went out to the car I was a mess, and my neighbors were outside. Of course, they came over to chat (mind you, I'm still crying and shaking) and we finally left for the hospital about 8:30 pm. We got to the hospital at 9:03. After 9 pm you have to check in at the emergency room instead of going straight to labor and delivery. The lady checking us in was as slow as ever and tried to tell me that my doctor wasn't contracted with the hospital, even though I could see his name on the list! We finally got everything taken care of and I had to be wheeled by some creepy old guy over to labor and delivery. That's where the fun started!!!

My L&D nurse, Lacey, was way awesome! She got us all set up in our room and checked me and I was between a 5 and 6. We called my mom to let her know we were pretty sure we were staying so she left and came to the hospital and our friend went to our house to stay with the kids. The nurse could tell I was in a lot of pain so she said she was going to go call the doc (my doc wasn't on call, so I had Dr. Mallek who I had never met!) and let him know what was going on and see if she could just admit me with out having me sit on the monitors for an hour (that's their standard procedure). She came back a few minutes later with my bracelets and an IV. I was so grateful for that. I couldn't imagine sitting there for a whole hour getting monitored! A CNA student came in to start my IV. I know all students need to learn sometime and on someone, but I just kept thinking, why me? She had to wiggle the needle around forever and she even took it out and had to put it back in. It was pretty painful. As soon as half the IV bag was in me, they called for the anesthesiologist to come in for my epidural. I tried telling her about my experience with Maisey (had an epidural placed 3 times and none of them worked!) but she seemed very confident in her skills. Well, it took her 3 times as well. She kept saying she couldn't get past a bony structure in my spine. So I got the painful numbing shot twice and could still feel the huge needle and the tubing going in ALL.THREE.TIMES!!! It was horrible!!! I couldn't move and I was having the worst contractions ever. But alas, by some miracle, the lady got it figured out! By the time she finished it was close to 11 pm. My mom got to the hospital toward the beginning of whole epidural process but she had to wait outside the room until it was finished. I was so happy to finally see her! The nurse checked me again and I was at an 8 with a "bulging sac of waters" as she put it. The CNA student placed a catheter in which was also very painful. I don't remember having one with Gage, and I remember they tried to put one in with Maisey (which I remember also being very painful) but the epidurals didn't work, so they took it out. If I ever have another baby I'm going to write out a birth plan and the only thing on it is going to be "NO CATHETER!" It was almost worse than the three epidural pokes! Anyway, the student and the nurse left the room to "let us rest" at about 11:15 pm. At 11:30 my water broke on it's own, which was a weird feeling. I've had it broken by the dr. with the other kids, so this caught we really off guard. It felt like a water balloon inside of me that just went SPLAT! I pushed the call button on my bed and the nurse and student came in and started cleaning me and the bed up, and from there it became a WHIRLWIND!!!! The baby's heart rate dropped really low so my nurse had me turn to my side and to my other side. Now remember, I have an epidural, so I can't move all that easily, actually not really at all. After a few minutes the nurse called for some "extra hands" and a few nurses came rushing in. My nurse asked me if she could put a monitor on the baby's head, and that's when I got really scared! My mom and Shaun had to stand back and all of these nurses were moving my body around to try to get the baby's heart rate up. They eventually helped me get on my knees and they sat my bed as straight up as it could go and had me drape my upper body over that and use it for a support for my lower body and that seemed to do the trick. I was feeling a lot of pressure so the nurse checked me again and I was at a 10. They called my dr. who was still at home in bed. This baby was coming whether the dr. was there or not, so my nurse frantically called to another dr. who was out on the floor to come in. He was ready to catch the baby just as my dr. walked in. My dr. put gloves on as a nurse helped him throw his scrubs on and Miley Marie was born within minutes at 12:04 am on Saturday, May 12. Yeah, all of that happened in 30 minutes!

Dr. Mallek 

(the on-the-floor dr. seriously stepped back to let my dr. take over and Miley was born! He still has his gloves on and everything!)

That little yellowish dot with the red and blue braided cord on the top of Miley's head is the monitor they stuck on her.

They rounded up to 7 lbs. 14 oz.

Lovin' her Daddy already!

I swear that smile is not fake! I was just exhausted, as you can tell by my stroke eye! :)

Shaun and my mom got to hold her while I got stitched up! I only needed one stitch this time. (it seems to get better with each kid!)

My mom headed to our house around 2:30 am so she would be there when the kids woke up! She is such an awesome support and is always so willing to do whatever we ask her to!

We got moved up to the mother and baby unit about 3:00 am. I got all settled in and then the CNA came to give Miley her first bath!

Ready for her first night, uh... few hours of sleep!

That first night was rough. By the time we were all settled in it was close to 4 am!  The hospital makes you sign a safety sheet saying you won't sleep with your baby in your bed. Well, Miley just wanted to be held. She didn't want her little plastic bassinet (you blame her?) so it made for a long few hours. Plus we had the nurses coming in every 30 minutes to push on my stomach, or to unwrap Miley to take her temperature under her armpit or some other frustrating reason. Then, all of the doctors make their rounds between 7 and 8 am, so we really didn't get much sleep. Dr. Mallek came in to check on us and said that technically since Miley was born on Saturday, we could stay at the hospital until Monday. I asked if we could go home Sunday morning and he said yes!!! YAY! I didn't want to stay longer than we had to.

I loved looking at all of her hair in the back! 

And I love that she totally came out sucking her thumb, just like her sister did!!!

The second night went a little better, but by the time Sunday morning came around we were definitely ready to head home!

She was looking pretty cute in her first outfit!

Ready to go home!

Back to Life

I figured it's time to get back on this thing! I've been enjoying reading all of your blogs from my phone during the middle-of-the-night feedings but I keep thinking of the bazillion posts that are waiting to be done on my end. Funny how life doesn't stop when you have a new baby! I sure wish it did, but I finally faced reality yesterday. I did things like laundry, pay bills, and make a real dinner (not from a box or from the freezer!!!) I also went through all my emails that I deleted off my phone but kept in my inbox to go through at a later time. Wow, there were a lot of those! Anyway, hopefully over the next week I will get all caught up! Today's goal: Miley's birth! I can't believe it's already been 2 1/2 weeks. I'm starting to forget things, so I really want to get that recorded! It was crazy!

Our Family of Five!!!

Miley Marie Grimmett - born 5/12/12 at 12:04 am. 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 inches!!!

The Waiting Game!

So I had my appointment yesterday evening. I waited to be called back for almost an hour and was having some pretty strong contractions. I started timing them and they were about 8 minutes apart. I was super excited and thought maybe he would just send me over to the hospital. I finally went back and met with him and he said I wasn't dilated yet, but that things were definitely starting to happen. So we scheduled an induction date just in case but said he would most likely see me before that.

The Salem Hospital only schedules 3 inductions a day, and the first available time wasn't until Tuesday (May 15) morning. So we scheduled it for that morning, but my dr. said he would be really surprised if I made it through the weekend.

I walked out of my appointment feeling disappointed, but also glad that there is an end in sight. And I was happy that I didn't have to schedule another appointment!

I had contractions the whole way home and went to our Young Women's activity last night. I was still having contractions. When I got home, I rested on the couch and caught up on my Wheel of Fortune shows that I've been DVR'ing this month (It's Portland month!) and my contractions nearly stopped. So Shaun made me sit up and play Mario Kart with him and surprisingly they started up again. It was pretty hard to steer while having them. We eventually went to bed, and all contractions stopped. :(

Maisey came in my room at 3:00 am and started crying and said, "Mommy, why are you still here?" It was really sad. Shaun put her to bed while I was at the church and told her that we might be going to the hospital in the middle of the night and that when she wakes up our friend might be at our house. She is so excited for this baby to come that she is having a hard time understanding that we don't know when she is really coming.

Once we got up and going this morning, the contractions have started back up again. I am going to plant some flowers, weed my back yard, and go for a walk today to try to keep things going. We'll see how it all works out!

But, at least we have Tuesday!!!

P.S. It's a sad day when your husband's clothes don't even fit you!!!!!!! I can't find a shirt to do yard work in. :(

Kiddo Update

Things about Maisey lately:

* She said to me the other day in a very concerned tone, "Mommy, our baby is going to be born cute, right?" It was pretty funny.

* She is also very interested in how the baby gets out of my tummy. She keeps asking me over and over again and I don't really know what to say to her, so she said she was going to ask the doctor when she comes to visit me in the hospital! :)

* We were talking about how we respect our bodies and we don't draw on our skin and about tattoos the other day. She said to me, "Only Spanish people and people who drink coffee get tattoos." 

* Maisey and I went to register her for kindergarten last week. It was a very interesting and frustrating experience. The one good thing about it was a lady took Maisey into another room right away and started testing her. When she was done she came back to talk to me. She told me that she was amazed for a 4 year old how well she did. She got 100% on everything except for the reading comprehension which she got 4/5 on. And the lady said it's pretty much impossible to score a 5/5 on that unless you have a photographic memory. It was a proud mommy moment! Then in the car on the way home I was asking her about the testing. She told me, "Mom, I told the lady I liked her shirt, and I actually really did!" I just starting cracking up! She is already a schmoozer!

* She really wanted this Barbie Fashion Dress-up book out of her book order at school. It cost $15, and definitely isn't educational, so she is getting her first lesson in working for something that she wants. We made a chart and glued the picture of the book at the top of it. She has to do chores for me until she earns 15 check marks. This has been interesting so far. Some days she is way more into than others. I bet when the book comes and it has to be put away until she completes her chart, she will be more interested in the chores!

* She asked me if this picture was a picture of her as a baby or of Baby Jesus. When I told her it was a picture of her, she said, "Wow mom! I look a lot like Baby Jesus!"

 * Maisey and I got to go out on a one-on-one date last week. We got Jamba Juice and went to Target. It was fun spending time with her and giving her some special attention before the baby is born.

 * Maisey and Daddy went to a Community Track Meet that a boy in our ward put on for his Eagle Scout project. Maisey ran in a bunch of races and did really well. Shaun also ran in a couple of races (in his jeans!) and did awesome. A bunch of people came up to me at church the next day and told me how well they both did! It was pretty neat.

* We were playing outside and I traced Maisey with chalk. Then she traced me. This is a picture of me! WOW! I knew I was big, but not that big!!! Then she drew this tiny little head on my body. It was pretty cute.

*She is getting ready for her ballet recital next month. Her costume is super cute and she is way excited for her "performance".

Things about Gage lately:

* I took him to his 3 year-old checkup this morning. He was such a good boy. Maybe because I told him it was going to be like going to visit Doc McStuffins! (anybody else's kids obsessed with that show?) Anyway, I was surprised with how much he interacted with the doctor and could answer all of his questions. He loved telling the doctor all about riding his bike and his red helmet. It was pretty cute. He is 39" tall (82%) and 36.5 lbs (85%). He is my big boy!!!

* The other day, I was laughing really hard at something and he said to me, "Mommy, you a Halloween witch!" Apparently my laugh was more of a cackle!

* He was obsessed with the baby sitting in front of us at church on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how he does with his little sis!

* He has developed quite the attitude lately, and will even put his hands on his hips when he is talking to you. The first few times I laughed at it, but now he's getting pretty lippy and has even earned himself a few time outs for it.

* Obsessed with popsicles!

 * He gets into everything, all the time!!! When I was in the shower, he put hand soap in his hair, turned the water on and used my make up brush to "wash" his hair! Very creative, but very annoying!

 * He is really into role playing right now. He loves to "build" things, play store with the cash register, and play restaurant.

 * He asks to go outside everyday and ride his bike. He is getting pretty good about being able to ride it by himself. Sometimes he just needs a little push to get the peddles going.

 * He is still as crazy as ever, going down the driveway head first on Maisey's skate board, with no shoes on, might I add.

* Sleeping in his bed is 50/50 right now. His new thing is to take apart his train table and sleep in there. He's such a weirdo.

A few random things:

* T-ball helmets were on clearance at the store the other night, so we bought them each one. I think they look like storm trooper helmets. Shaun was proud that I even suggested that! :) The kids loved them, but Gage starting going around head butting things, including his sister, so they got put with the other T-ball equipment real fast!


A few random things:

* This is what I wanted for Mother's Day! A lounge chair for our back deck. I have a really nice husband because he said that my ticket was going to be my Mother's Day gift this year, but he gave in and bought this for me. But now, he fell in love with it and brought it inside to watch tv in it! Maybe a matching one will show up for Father's Day? (with a stipulation that it only stays outside!)

* Still waiting for this baby to come! I'm starting to get worried that she is going to be HUGE! At my 36 week ultrasound she weighed as much as Gage did at his 36 week ultrasound: 5 lbs. 1 oz. He came two weeks early and weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz. If she puts on the pounds like he did, this could be a 9 lbs + baby! YIKES!

* Shaun and I watched Baby Mama Sunday night to try to lighten the anxiety of the waiting game! I forgot how funny that movie was! It was just what I needed!

Hopefully I have good baby news after my appointment tomorrow!!!!!