Kindergarten Assessment

Josh had his kindergarten assessment yesterday. It didn't go over so well. Josh is extremely shy around adults and got a case of the forget-everything-I-have-ever-learned. The teacher had us come in and had me sit in the far corner of the room while she asked Josh different questions. She started off by asking Josh what his first name was. He replied he didn't know. She then said it's Josh. She followed by asking him what his last name was. He replied, "Um, I don't know." That was his favorite response the rest of the assessment. When it was over I tried to explain to the teacher that he really knows a lot more than he showed, but I could tell she didn't quite believe me. I guess when school starts and Josh suddenly learns everything so quickly the teacher can pat herself on the back about what a wonderful teacher she is. Kids can be so frustrating at times!!

Just as I called it all of our tomatoes have gotten ripe all of a sudden. In the last few days we have already picked a bushel with another bushel sitting out there ready to be picked. The first bushel we took around to the neighbors trying to get rid of them, but they would only take a few until Aaron happened upon another neighbor and gave him the rest of the bag before the poor guy could think up some excuse. We did send some with Aaron's Dad to give to Aaron's sister Susan. I hope she didn't mind. I don't want to try the neighbors again because I am afraid they will go running when they see Aaron with a huge bag of tomatoes!! This next picking I am going to try to call around to people in the ward to see if anyone is interested. I just don't quite feel up to canning anything yet.

Here are some more pics of Sarah. Daniel just loves her and it is hard to keep him away from her.

First Day Jitters

Today was Matthew and Josh's first day of school. They were really excited to start this morning because they got up and dressed without any hassle which is amazing!! Matthew was able to ride the bus which came and picked him up an hour before school started even though we live less than a mile away from the school. He is the first pick up of the day and it takes the rest of the hour to get everyone else. Good thing he loves riding the bus. That at least gives me time to get Josh ready for kindergarten. Josh asked me all morning if it was time to go. Finally, after about an hour of constant, "Is it time to go, yet?" and, "Kindergarten is going to start without me!!" It was finally time to go. Josh's first day was only a 30 minute orientation and treasure hunt. The treasure hunt consisted of finding the bathroom, big toy, drinking fountain, etc. Josh even put his backpack on first thing this morning and kept it on until he was ready to go. Josh doesn't really have his first day until next week because of kindergarten testing. He has his assessment tomorrow morning. He was still a little upset that he didn't get to ride the bus, but hopefully he will get over that. I was just glad Aaron was home this morning to help me with everything. Matthew had a really good day today. He came home with all smiley faces across his behavior chart which was exciting. He must have had a good day because he was really happy and was very well behaved the rest of the day. We have been having a little bit of a hard time with this since Sarah came home. I think he is just glad to finally have a routine again as am I. As for Daniel, he starts his playgroup next week. I am a little nervous because of his allergies, but I will be bringing his snack every week so everyone else won't have to worry about it. I will have to drop off his inhaler, Epi-Pen, and Benadryl doses, but I am hoping they won't need to be used. The group was nice enough to make me the last rotation so we could get things at home more settled before a whole bunch of 2-3 years olds come to play. Daniel wanted his picture taken this morning as well so that's why he's in the last one.

Josh's WWF Soccer Video

Josh is #3 on the Blue Team.

Soccer

Well soccer has started once again. Josh had his first game yesterday and is on a team with four other boys. I guess he really got into the game yesterday--as much as Josh does, anyway--and he actually shoved a boy to the ground during the game. My demure, non-aggressive Josh did that. I was quite surprised myself. If Aaron hadn't caught it on video I would have never believed it!! Matthew didn't have a game yesterday; he just went and picked up his uniform for the year. Aaron took the boys to the game and to pick up the uniform that gave Sarah and me some quiet time which was great.

My poor body is still recovering from the pregnancy and delivery. I guess after the fourth child it takes it a little longer to recover. I still have a boggy belly. I am trying not to give it too much thought, but it is hard when your regular clothes don't quite fit you as soon as they did after the other deliveries. It also doesn't help when you have little kids that are a little too honest. Sarah was sleeping downstairs when Aaron and I were getting the boys ready for bed upstairs. Matthew finished getting dressed and looked at my saggy belly and saw that Sarah wasn't with me. He then asked if Sarah went back inside my tummy. Sadly I told him no and am hoping my stomach goes down soon.

Sarah has a lot of dark hair that the rest of our kids never had. Aaron is starting to question me about the mailman, but we have a mail-lady so that theory doesn't quite pan out. Maybe she actually will take after me instead of Aaron like the rest of the boys have done.

Can I just say THANK GOODNESS SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!! I don't think my kids or I could survive another summer day!! Everyone in our family is looking forward to tomorrow!! Josh, however, realized today that he won't be riding the bus like Matthew. Even though they are going to the same school, only the special education students ride the bus. That means I get to take Josh to school every day. He got really upset that he isn't riding the bus. He cried for a while about it. I don't know quite what to say to help him understand. I am sure we will figure something out.

Grandpa Mancil came for a visit yesterday. He got to see and hold Sarah for the first time. It was nice he could come to see her and the rest of the boys.

Post Sarah Excitement

Things have settled down at our house since Saturday which is a very good thing. Sarah had her first visit to the Dr. and after two successive blowouts she was able to get weighed and seen. Although the blowouts happened after the weight was done I was tempted to have her weighed again because they were very big blowouts! Why do babies wait until the worst possible time to do that? I am still trying to adjust to the sleepless nights again. You forget how sleepless they are so if this doesn't sound coherent you'll know why ;). I am nursing Sarah and as discrete as I try to be I am still not good enough to do everything under a blanket yet. That means I have some very curious boys around me when she gets hungry. Josh was watching the other day and came to the conclusion that he couldn't feed Sarah because his chest just wasn't big enough. After Aaron and I got over laughing he explained to Josh that only Moms--who are girls--can feed babies like that. Sarah has also found her thumb on a few occasions. I am trying to stop it, but she is pretty fast. I don't want to have three thumb suckers in our family!!

The boys are just fascinated by her. Whoever is holding her has everyone else either trying to crawl into their lap as well or very close by. We have had to save her a few times from some "helping hands" as well. They try to shove the binky in her mouth while she is sleeping or have tried to feed her some Skittles. They think she is a boy still because she still has the umbilical cord attached and they think that is her little boy part. I have tried to explain, but it is to no avail. I can't wait to see their faces when it falls off. I thought I was safe from being squirted since we had a girl. I have been mistaken because changing her on my lap she has squirted me twice and pooped on me once. I guess I have just got to be faster :).

Aaron attempted potty training Daniel while he was on the baby leave, but that lasted all of one day before we both gave up. If we really pressed it he could do it, but right now neither of us have the energy to keep up on that. Daniel is happy either way so why change it?

Josh and Matthew's school open house was last night. Josh went with Aaron to meet his new teacher and he is really excited to start school. Matthew, Aaron and I met with his new teacher this morning. We had a meeting with his old teacher and his new teacher to go over what makes Matthew tick. It was a good meeting. We are going to miss his old teacher very much, though. We are hoping this year will go smoothly because it is a new program at the school so there are always bugs to be worked out. Matthew is all ready having a hard time adjusting to all the changes this last week, so I am just hoping the new teacher will be prepared for Monday!! She will earn her salary I am sure of it.

Standard Examiner Link

Here is a link to the article that the Ogden Standard-Examiner did on our story. Enjoy!

http://www.standard.net/live/news/140824

SUDDENLY...Sarah

Well we are finally home from the hospital and all I can say is what a whirlwind!!! Let me start at the beginning. Friday night just to try something I decided to take some Castor Oil to see what would happen and hoping it just might start things in motion. Well nothing happened AT ALL except it made me nauseated. Saturday morning I couldn't sleep which isn't all that unusual and I still didn't feel so great nausea wise so I got up at 4 am to go downstairs so I wouldn't keep anyone else awake. I was having contractions, but they weren't regular or hurting and I had been having the same ones for a couple of weeks so I didn't think anything more about them. I was downstairs for a while when I noticed it hurt a little, but not something I hadn't felt before. It was about 5 am and I had one that hurt a little more than the last. Then I had another contraction that was painful enough to double me over. I was panting and saying,"Ow ow, ow, ow, ow," until it was over. That woke Aaron up and bleary eyed he came down to check on me to see what was going on. I said not to worry about it thinking I still had plenty of time since the contractions had JUST gotten painful and got up to use the bathroom. When I got in the bathroom I had another really painful contraction and then realized that the baby was crowning. I screamed to Aaron, "SHE'S COMING! SHE'S COMING! AAAAAAAAH!!!" Since Aaron was not quite awake he stuck his head in to see what exactly I was talking about and then the realization hit him and his eyes popped out of his head and he ran to grab the phone. I laid on the floor because at that time there is nothing you can do the baby was coming regardless. In the process of laying down on the floor her head was born. Aaron came back in the bathroom with the 911 operator on the line. This is how their conversation went,"Sir, can I have your address?" "I SEE A HEAD!" "Sir, I need your address." "I SEE A HEAD!!!!" "Sir I NEED your address!" By that time he was able to stumble out his address, but didn't give a city. By the time he gave a city Sarah was born into his hands. The operator then told him to wrap her up in whatever he could to keep her warm which happened to be the bathroom rug--I am just glad I had washed them a few days before. He put her in my arms so he could go upstairs and grab some towels. I just laid on the floor in a daze holding Sarah. In the process of running upstairs and grabbing towels the first Sheriff's deputy came. Aaron opened all the doors and turned on all the lights to let everyone know which house it was. Then it seemed a bunch of deputies (about 10--embarrassingly enough they were all men) ended up down in our little bathroom surrounding me and Sarah. They waited until the paramedics got there. When they finally got there they cut the umbilical cord. They tried to let Aaron do it, but there were too many people in my tiny 6'x6' bathroom. After that they had Aaron back the car out of the driveway to make room for the gurney. They then loaded us up into the ambulance all the while with me having NO pants on and a really messy T-shirt while all the paramedics/sheriff's deputies got a show--I am SO EMBARRASSED!!! Aaron then called our neighbor Cami--THANK YOU!!--to come and sit with the kids until my parents got there because all the commotion had woken them up. Luckily enough they stayed upstairs through the ordeal. They got to sit and watch the ambulances outside their windows. When we got outside there 2 ambulances with lights on and at least 5 Sheriff's Explorers surrounding our house. At least the ambulances didn't use their sirens!! We then drove over to the nearest hospital which wasn't the one we wanted to originally go to, but I wasn't going to protest! We got there and went through the ER up to Labor and Delivery. They paged my doctor, but he had decided to go out of town for the weekend. Luckily their practice did have privileges at that hospital though so we got the doctor on call. He finally got there about 90 minutes later to deliver the placenta. While the doctor was there he talked to me and got a history on me. In hearing everything that has happened with all my previous pregnancies he decided to draw some labs. Unfortunately they came back showing I was starting down into toxemia/preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome again with my hugely elevated liver enzymes and my platelets (they help with clotting) were just starting to drop--which makes a home delivery that much more scary!! Anyway I had to be put on the icky IV Magnesium Sulfate to prevent seizures again which took me down for the count for the 18 hours I received it. Also since Sarah was not born in the hospital they have a mandatory 24 hour quarantine before she can go into the nursery. I guess they think being born on the bathroom floor and being wrapped in a bathroom rug right after it is not clean or something :)--I was picking off bits of grass off her head from the rug in the ambulance ride over to the hospital. Anyway, Sarah also had received a large amount of red blood cells from the placenta being attached for longer than it should have and had a really high hematocrit. That makes her at a higher risk for strokes. That means she was borderline being admitted to the NICU to receive IV fluids to make sure she was hydrated enough to prevent clots and strokes. Luckily she was able to nurse and then get supplemental bottles after to keep her hydrated. Yesterday was a better day with both of us turning out to be in good shape because her hematocrit was dropping and I got off the Magnesium Sulfate. Our local paper decided to do a front page story about us as well. I will post a link later. All in all it was a pretty crazy experience!! One side note is that during it all one of the deputies pulled Aaron aside and told him if it happens again that he needed to warm some towels up in the dryer so we could have some warm towels to wrap the baby in. We just thought IF IT HAPPENS AGAIN? WHAT?!? I guess we will file that away if it ever happens again which I hope it never does!! Besides I am not all that wild about those all natural home births--I think epidurals and hospitals are the most wonderful invention ever :)! Aaron convinced me her middle name should be Rebecca because he thinks I earned it this time--thus the reason for the middle name ;P.

Welcome Sarah!!

Well, somewhere around 5:30 this morning Sarah decided to join us. She didn't wait for the hospital, so Rebecca had the pass, Aaron had the reception, and a helpful 911 operator had the assist (Okay, so guys DO have to put everything into a sports metaphor). The full story and her full name will be told when Rebecca is home and can write it. She is 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. Rebecca and Sarah are doing great . . . Aaron, however, is still recovering ;). Here are some pictures. You can click on them to enlarge them.

The County Fair

Yesterday we made the annual trek to the Davis County Fair. I didn't enter anything this year because I procrastinated too late and also the kids have eaten all of my nice looking bottles of fruit and jam. Besides I didn't know if I would be around to collect my things after it was over so I will just wait until next year. We went yesterday for the famous all-you-can-eat Meadow Gold ice cream tent. We just brought a ton of fruit snacks, the Epi-Pen and Benadryl for Daniel and strapped him in the stroller while the rest of us dined on yummy ice cream. Daniel was in heaven with all-you-can-eat fruit snacks so it wasn't as bad as it sounds!! Matthew and Josh didn't enjoy it as much as Aaron and me, but it was still yummy!! I figured I had my last weigh in at the OB's office that morning so I could splurge a little--or A LOT!! After the ice cream we went around to see all the animals. Josh is our animal lover in the family. He kept trying to pet anything he could reach in between the bars to touch, but some weren't as friendly as others, though. Daniel was the opposite by trying to stay as far away of anything alive as possible. He even ran away in fear almost crying after a goat baaaaaaad--or whatever it is called--at him. Matthew was a happy medium, but mostly he just enjoyed looking at the animals. They had horse rides available for kids so all of them got a turn. They all loved it. Daniel liked riding the horse, but made sure he was only touching the saddle and not the horse in any way--like holding his legs up on the saddle while he rode it. They even had a petting zoo with a mule, goats, sheep, donkey, bunnies and a llama which Josh of course loved, but Daniel hid behind us every chance he got. Matthew took it in stride.

This morning Josh had his follow-up neurology appointment and everything looks good. We will go back in a few more months and if everything still looks good we will only have to make the trek for him yearly. I have been to Primary Children's Hospital so many times I think I could drive it with my eyes closed!! You know it's bad when you check in and they ask which one of your children they are seeing today!!

Matthew has not been one that is too patient to watch movies, but we have found the show Signing Time is one he and the other two really enjoy and it is pretty educational. Daniel has learned quite a few signs and likes to show them when he gets a chance. Yesterday at the doctor's office while we were waiting to be seen Daniel was doing a sign--or we thought-- and it was one we didn't recognize. Aaron then asked him what that sign was and he looked at us as a matter of fact and said, "It is booger, Dad." He had just picked his nose and was trying to get rid of the evidence when Aaron saw him make 'the sign'.

What a Morning!!

This morning was pretty crazy. We all had a pretty tight schedule so when we got up we had to hurry to make sure we got everyone to where they needed to be. In the middle of all the chaos Josh yells to me from the bathroom to come see something. As I walked over to the bathroom I saw Daniel standing by the toilet with no pants or diaper on with a teeny piece of toilet paper trying to wipe his bum. As if he could read my mind he answered, "I went stinky, Mom." Well there was no stinky in the toilet, no stinky in his diaper, but there was stinky all over his bum. As I have a horrible cold I cannot smell anything I don't know quite exactly where the stinky is--I am just assuming it is somewhere upstairs that's NOT in the bathroom. I am trying to tell myself--as in the movie Field of Dreams instead of the saying, "If you build it they will come" If I don't think about it, it will go away :). We ended up being late for everything this morning, but at least everyone got to where they needed to be. Things like this only happen when you have the shortest amount of time possible to get something done!!

I had my last OB appointment this morning and everything looks good. I am dilated to a 4, but still no labor. We scheduled an induction for Tuesday and hoping for me still to go into labor on my own the doctor stripped my membranes--OUCH!! I don't know if I am ready to go through everything yet. I do know I am ready to be done being pregnant, but not for all that comes after such as the pain and the responsibility of having a baby. I guess I have 5 days to prepare!!

Today is the kids' last day of Kids in the Park. They are going to be really sad because they enjoy going every morning. Today they went to a water park so I am hoping everything went well. I never got a call so I am assuming everything did. Only one and a half more weeks of summer until school starts WAHOO! Matthew and Josh are excited to start school and I can't say that I am not either ;).

We did have to start Daniel on nebulizer (breathing) treatments a couple days ago because he caught this cold as well. Hopefully he will be over it by the time the baby comes and by the time Grandma and Grandpa Terry have to watch him. He is not needing a treatment every four hours anymore, but still needing them quite a few times a day. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Daniel at the Olympics

We were watching the women's gymnastics portion of the Olympics last night with Daniel--because he refused to go to bed. He was watching when he decided to do his best imitation of the balance beam. He thinks he is pretty good. I give him a 10.0!!

Weekend Adventures

This weekend we tried to keep ourselves busy and active hoping to induce the elusive labor. We weren't successful in that venture, but we did have fun. Friday morning Josh went to a birthday party of a little girl in the neighborhood. Judging by the goody bag he got to bring home he seemed to have fun. We also tried some geocaching, but we have lost our touch and weren't too successful in finding any of the 'treasures' we searched for. We even looked for our own caches, but they have been muggled. We will have to replace them when we get some more time.

Saturday we ran a few errands and then took the kids to the Gateway fountains in Salt Lake. They were pretty hesitant at first, but after a bribe or two they were more than happy to get wet. Matthew found a light in the ground and stepped on it thinking by doing that he was turning on the the fountains. It got him pretty excited. Daniel had fun until he looked straight into a fountain as it was turning on and got squirted pretty good in the eyes. He was not so interested in playing after that. Josh played until he was totally soaking wet.

It has been a while since we have had an embarrassing moment at church so Matthew made sure he would make up for it. During sacrament meeting, which was quite BORING, the first speaker seemed to droan on and on. That's when Matthew asked Aaron in his outside voice, "IS HE DONE TALKING, YET?" I know all of us were thinking it, but no one dared say it :). I did get released from Young Women today. I am kind of sad, but they need someone to fill in for me while I take my 'maternity leave' from church.

Pregnancy Update

We had an OB visit yesterday and everything looks pretty good. The night before the visit I was having pretty regular, painful contractions so we thought it might be the real thing, but alas they slowed down in the morning. I am still getting regular contractions, but they don't really hurt anymore--so much for getting our hopes up. I am dilating and am currently at 3 1/2 cm, however. Unfortunately not enough to send me over to the hospital which would be at 5 cm, but maybe by next visit... The OB said he would be surprised to see us at next weeks appointment, but I heard that for three weeks when I was pregnant with Josh so we'll see. It might be kind of fun to have her on the date 08/08/08, but I am not about to do anything drastic, yet.

We got our first tomato from our garden today. I couldn't wait for Aaron to come home so I ate it for lunch. It was really yummy!! We also had a few zucchinis so I made some zucchini bread as well. I was feeling quite domestic today if you couldn't tell.

I am officially on the injured/reserve list at church. Our bishop likes to give all pregnant moms a reprieve from callings two months before they're due and six months after the baby is born. He believes their calling during that time is being a Mom. I should be released from Young Women Sunday--now that's a SHOULD be so we'll see what happens. The only thing scary about that is you don't know what is coming around the corner in 6 months...:)

Chuck-E-Cheese

For Matthew's B-Day we met Grandma and Grandpa Terry at Chuck-E-Cheese's for dinner and some fun. The kids all had a lot of fun.

Grandpa giving Matthew some good tips while Daniel and Aaron look on.
Grandma helping Josh step on all the spiders.

Aaron is having as much fun as the kids.

Matthew getting ready to blow out his candles.
Matthew opening his presents.

Matthew showing off his new shirt and watch.

Happy 7th B-Day Matthew!!