How did we celebrate......

princess Katelin's 3rd birthday?!?!?

Well...even though Daddy said she didn't match, she was the most beautiful princess ever (sneakers and all!)

We let her open her presents.........

 Nanny sent her $25 and Rylie, Owen and Evan gave her a baby doll (Owen was very specific that he wanted one with a bow in it's hair because Katelin would like that!)

 What did Mommy and Daddy get her????

This really cool dollhouse and Grammy got her extras to go with it!!! As you can see....she's not the only one who liked it (they spent several hours playing with it together.)

 Rylie made this sweet card for Katelin during computer class at school, I love how sweet my kids can be towards each other, if only it could be all the time!

And then we went to dinner at Applebee's, they sang while she hid behind me and then home for cake and ice cream!

My princess had a great day! I really believe all this is enough but we are having a party with friends and family on Saturday. I guess that's what happens when your a princess!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

To my Mom:
Thank you for being such a remarakable mother and a wonderful friend. I know you gave up a lot for us and that you still do and I appreciate everything that you have ever done. I hope you know how much you mean to all of us. The kids could not ask for a better Grammy (or one that spoils them more)! I can only hope that one day I can repay you for all that you have done. I wish that I could do more but please always remember how priceless you are to us. I love you!

To Chet:
I always wanted to have a "Daddy" and while I did have a Dad....I did not have a "Daddy". The only thing better than having my own "Daddy" is my kids having the greatest "Daddy" that I could ever imagine. That along with the 4 amazing children you have given me is the greatest thing I could ever ask for. I also really really love the camera lense you got me though! So Thank you sooooo much for that. You are my perfect half and I love you more than you will ever know. I think we make a pretty incredible team!!!

To my darling children: Rylie, Owen, Katelin and Evan:
I am a mother because of the 4 of you! My dream come true. Most little girls dream of their wedding day but not me......I began dreaming of motherhood before I can remember. I am living my greatest dream, you all make me who I am and I cherish each of you. Where ever you go, my heart will be with you. Thank you for being your beautiful, wonderful selves. I love you more than you will ever know. Brighter than the sun. Bigger than the moon. Farther than the stars. Deeper than the oceans Forever and Ever......oh and yes.....to the universe and back!

And to my stepchildren: Matthew, Cheston and Jakee:
I wish what I know now, I had known when you were younger and living with us......I would have been a much better step mom. Please know my lack of parenting skills was because of the insecurities I had and nothing to do with who you are. I truly believe you all to be amazing and am proud to be a part of your lives. I love you all and wish you all to have incredible lives!!!

I feel so incredibly blessed to be living the life I am living. I consider myself to be one lucky Mama!!!

And to all the amazing mothers I know..........Happy Mothers Day, I hope you all have a fantabulous day!!!

Katelin's Birth Story!!!

3 years ago today was a Monday. It was a beautiful May day. I was nervous. Why??? I think your always a little nervous, no matter how many kids you have had plus this was my first attempt at a natural child birth!

Cheston and Jakee had come out the night before so they could help keep an eye on Rylie and Owen while we were at the hospital. We got to the hospital and got settled in. Chet, my mom, and Natalie were there with me. This was going to be my 2nd VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section), and the "rules" had changed and I had to be under a "doctors" care. Luckily I was still able to have Jeane (my midwife) be with me for labor support and for delivery. Jeane came in early that morning and broke my water. I had asked to hold off on pitocin to see if breaking my water would start labor. Dr. Carriker had agreed to give me until noon to see what would happen. Well.....guess what happened????

Waiting on baby Katelin!

Nothing. Finally at 11 am I decided it wasn't gonna happen on it's own and I wanted to get things rolling and lucky for me Dr. Carriker happened to be at the hospital so she ordered my pitocin and things got going quickly. Jeane had gone back to the office to see patients and I was supposed to let the nurse know to call her when things started getting painful. I hate pain scales. I have no idea what # to relate to what pain. The nurse told me that she considers 5-6 when you would no longer go to work. My nurse was impressed that I was still saying about 3 with my contractions being as strong as they were but then she came in again and I told her that I didn't think i'd be working through my pain now! She called Jeane and she came up to the hospital. She got me on the birthing ball and then in the rocking chair and rubbed my back and all that was a huge help to get through the pain. I don't think I could get through a natural birth without Jeane, she just has a way and a calmness about her.

Waiting to get things going......

I was handling the contractions pretty well and then they got stronger and seemed to be coming one right after another. I was back in bed and dialated to 6 or so and I was told she would be here in a couple hours for sure. Well........I wasn't going to be able to go with back to back contractions for a couple more hours and decided I wanted the epidural. Jeane then said that she didn't think it would take that long at all and had me roll over to my side. She said she would call the anesthethiologist if I wanted. I decided I didn't need it. Rolling over did the trick within like 10 minutes I was dialated to a 9. And then it was time to push.

Remember this was the first time I went natural and man did it hurt. I remember, at one point, thinkning that the only way out of this pain would be to die right now! I, of course, did not want to die but that is how bad it hurt. I pushed with everything that I could.....I just wanted her out! I was pushing so hard and not getting enough oxygen that my hands started to constrict. Jeane told me to slow down and breathe. I remember saying "get her out"! I'm pretty sure it only took about 5 minutes and there she was. 4:02 pm Katelin Rae Elizabeth was born weighing 7lbs 14 oz. and 19 1/2 inches with blond hair and blue eyes. I had expected her to look like Rylie and after I saw her I said " she looks like Owen".

Jeane had told me to not push because she didn't want me to tear but I couldn't keep from pushing so I did tear a little but nothing to major. I didn't need stitches. I got to hold her right after she was born, I had never experienced that because Rylie was c-section and Owen had passed meconium before he was born. I had the shakes really bad after she was born and I was sooo cold. They kept bringing me heated blankets. So I let everyone else hold her while I recovered a bit. But I was completely in love with her from the moment I saw my beautiful girl!



My sweet baby girl......I so Loooove her!

We took her home the next day, made a quick stop so she could meet Nanny and Papa and by the liquor store for Daddy. When we got home Chet carried in Katelin and I carried in the 12 pack of beer.......it was kinda funny to see me carrying beer 24 hours after having a baby, I looked like a real lush!

Any Guesses..........

on how old my sweet Katelin will be tomorrow (Thursday)????

Well that all depends on who you ask and when you ask! Had you asked Katelin a few weeks ago she would have probably said either 15 or 18. When I asked her today, she said 80. I asked her a few more times and she said 80 every time until she finally decided she was only going to be 40 tomorrow and her friend was going to be 80! That's my funny little Katelin for you.

I thought about saying how I can't believe she is going to be 3 but it really feels like she has always been with us.....it's hard to remember life before Katelin. I swear she is a 7 year old trapped in a 3 year olds body. She keeps up with the big kids like it's nothing and she talks so well.....way beyond what I would ever expect from a 3 year old. She knows all her colors, can count to 15, knows most of her shapes, uses so much vocabulary and uses it correctly (most the time) and yes......she even knows when to cuss.

This girl of mine is so full of life, she brings so much laughter to our home and so much joy. Don't get me wrong she also brings a whole lot of mischief but that's okay, she's worth every onery thing she does! I keep telling her i'm going to sit her on the curb and sell her for a penny. After she asked what a curb was, she told me I had to sell her for $5!

Some of Katelin's favorite things.........the color orange (it was the first color she knew and since then it has been her favorite), popsicles (she would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let her....good thing Grammy's not in charge b/c she would let her), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (She would watch this all day while eating popsicles, again...good thing Grammy's not in charge), kitty cats, rubber duckys (she has loved these since she was about a year old and has quite the collection), candy (we have to keep it hidden), baby dolls (she must have 15 of them but everytime she sees a new one, she wants it.....and yes she does play with all of them), water (give her some containers with water with them and she has a blast and makes a mess), being outside (she loves it), her kitchen stuff (she will ask me what I want to eat, I tell her, she says no we don't have that and then she tells me what to ask for), books (her favorite 2 are "baby dear" and "little mommy"), Riding the 4 wheeler, Rylie and Owen (she always wants to play with them), Baby Evan (even though I still see her mourning the loss of being "the baby", butter (yes she will eat straight butter when Mom's not looking), Snuggling (melts my heart when she says "I want you to nuggle me"



 I had sooo many pictures I could have shared.....with her sweet little face and her beautiful blue eyes, I could just look at her all day long. And her gorgeous blond curls, although it took quite a while for that hair to come in. It's so funny to look at pictures from her first year, she was soooo bald! But we sure do love our little princess........Happy Birthday Sweetheart, we love you more than you will ever know!!!! I will be sharing Katelins birth story tomorrow!!!

PINK!!!!!!

I like the color pink.....it's not my favorite color, that would be purple. It's not even my second favorite color.......that would be blue. But I do like the color pink!

I love little baby girls in pink, ooh and pink roses are very pretty! The noses on a sweet baby kitten all pink and wet.....yeah that's also pretty cute. So there are lots of pink things that I like.

There are also things that are pink that I don't particuarly like. I don't tend to wear pink clothes. While I love milk......strawberry milk is gross. And I can't stand when men wear pink shirts or pink ties but hey....to each their own. This week my house was infiltrated by something pink!

Yes........Pink Eye. It all started with Haylie. She had it but had medicine and it cleared up. No sign of it in Dylan or Xander so Dylan spent the night. Guess what???? Yeah, he woke me up at 3 am with his eyes matted shut. So we were keeping our fingers crossed until Monday morning.

I went to wake the kids up and Owen rolls over and says "I have pink eye, I can't go to school with pink eye." And no he could not. Rylie slept with him that night so I assumed she would have it so I took them both to the doctor. Rylie was good and I got medicine for Owen. Then the next day.......Katelin and Evan break out with it. Then Guess what????

Yesterday my right eye started to bother me. I remembered having an itch in my eye a day or two earlier and I had been doing something with one of the kids when I scratched it and I thought Oh No, I probably just infected myself and I sure did. And I had been washing my hands constantly but it doesn't take much. Rylie is still good though so let's hope it stays that way. The kids are doing pretty good with the drops but man I think Rylie would be the worse! Oh and they call it red eye. I have been known to refer to my kids as little demons but thank goodness there eyes aren't really red!

However, I do still like the color pink and now more than ever the "think pink" slogan for breast cancer means a little bit more. I will not complain at all  much about pink eye because in the whole realm of things, it's not really a big deal. This week I heard some shocking news. A dear friend of mine has breast cancer. She is 31 and she is a new mother. She is also a strong woman with an unwavering faith. I know she will beat this. However, I ask that you keep her in your prayers because noone can ever have to many prayers. And keep her daughters and husband in your prayers. You see, I said she is a new mother but not in the traditional sense. She has spent over a year doing paper work, living in a foreign country and working so hard to get her family together. Her daughters are a preteen and teenager who lost their other mother to cancer and I believe with all my heart that they will not lost another mother to cancer. Their story is an amazing one and I so admire all they have done to build their family and this is just going to be another added depth to their amazing journey.

While it's not my place to put her name out here, she is someone who does read my blog. So to you MJ......You are in my prayers everyday, I know you have a countless number of people in your corner but please know that I am here too and if you ever need anything do not hesitate to ask. I admire you so much, and admire your postive outlook and your amazing faith!!!!

Easter 2011

Our Easter celebration began on Saturday afternoon.......when we colored eggs! Haylie and Dylan came over and we let them at it...................

The next morning after the kids got up they got the baskets that the Easter Bunny had left them......



Rylie got model magic along with some other little goodies.




Owen got a camo hat, he's been asking for one a lot lately!



Katelin got a minnie mouse that goes on a flower pot and some other little things!

Evan also got a little camo hat and onesie and a few little toys.

The Easter Bunny doesn't get to extravagant in our house, having so many kids helps keep the spoiling down!!!

My boys in their matching hats!

My beautiful kiddos.......man I sure do LOVE them!

My Gorgeous Girls!

Cousins.....This is such a good picture of the 7 of them! I took about 10 and this was the very first one I took and the very best one of the bunch. Good Lookin' Group of Kids......I Love them all!!!!

Dylan, Haylie, and Xander!

 We go to my Grandma's house every Easter and the kids have an Easter egg hunt. They each have an assigned color of eggs (that way they all get the same thing and it is fair, they get one big egg and it has a dollar for every year of age!)

Katelin swinging!

Rylie was so proud that her feet could touch the top of the deck.

The best seat in the house!

I just like this picture!

Love. Love. Love. Love.

We not only celebrated Easter but we also celebrated Xander's 1st Birthday! Who would have thought 1 year ago when Natalie took in her cousin's 4 day old baby as an emergency placement that he would become such a special member of our family. Happy Birthday Xander......We Love You!!!!

Grammy and Xander!

We had a good Easter. After we left my Grandma's we went to Chester and Doris's house for a bit, my camera had died so I didn't get any pictures but it was great to see them. They had an easter egg hunt for our kids and for Mikayla and Kaylynn (our twin nieces). It was funny, like I said before we did a color for each kid during our egg hunt so when Katelin got in their yard for this egg hunt in an almost panicky voice she said, "what color do I get?" She was excited she could get any of the eggs she saw, no matter what color. They were each supposed to get 12 eggs and Katelin found 13.......it was a bit of a fight but we got her to give one to Rylie!

My sweet baby boy.....

is discovering and learning so many new things and I love seeing him do all of these things! And April 20th was a big day for my boy, he had several new firsts....................

Yeap....my boy learned to clap and man was he proud of himself! He would clap. And we would clap and cheer like crazy people. Then he would clap again and look at us waiting for us to clap and cheer some more. So....of course, we clapped and cheered some more. This went on for a while, he sure thought he was hot stuff.....but I can't blame him because we all think he is too! 

Then after we got done with the clapping game, Evan was playing on the floor and Chet said, "Look what he just did!"  And there he was standing at the end table. And almost a week later......he has it down and is pulling himself up all the time now!

Oh how I love this sweet boy and I love watching him learn and discover all these new things. Seeing things through a child's eyes is truly an amazing experience!!!