My 5th mothers day....

Will be this Sunday. As I am sitting here thinking about each one of my babies. What it was like the day I brought them home. It's as clear as yesterday.

James:

He had on this really adorable onsie. It was blazzing hot the day he came home. Arizona is notorious for 110 degree days in April. My mother in law was there and so was Shawn's twin brother Shane. We visited for a while and then they all left and then it was time to introduce Tank our dog to James. Wow! That was the funniest thing I have ever seen. Tank just about tore down the baby gate trying to get to James. He was crying and needed changing!

Shawn Jr:

Of course it had to rain... What else does it do in Washington other than rain? SNOW! LOL! Well anyway it was a rainy day in May and colder than the dickens. He too also wore a onsie home but was well burried under his blankie with the heater cranked all the way up. James was so interested in what was in the carseat. He just couldn't wait for daddy and I to get through the doors. He did so great. Didn't really cry.

Michelle:

It was so crazy the day she came home. It got postponed from that morning because her Neurosurgeon was not answering his pages and we needed him to come and take out the stitches from Michelle's shunt placement. So 9 hours later she is making her rounds through the NICU saying goodbye (too bad it was a short visit home) and then off we go through Seattle/Tacoma rush hour traffic back to the Peninsula! We introduced her to Shawn Jr. (he was too young to go into the NICU) and she just kinda settled into the chaois that had errupted between the boys and my grandma.

Abigail:

I have to say that was a hard first day home. The kids just kept fighting. She just kept crying. I was a mess. The dog would not leave me alone. He was like what do you have there... Like I was supposed to give him a bone that didn't exist. Once everyone went to bed things got better. I got a shower and then just slept. I was exhausted.

I have to say in the last 5 years I have gone through more trials that most mothers never even get the chance to imagine. My greatest fear to this day is still SIDS. James is 5 and I still go in his room at night to make sure he is still breathing. I disinfect EVERYTHING like it has the Plague on it. Shawn thinks im insane for it. I have learned that every child is different. Although they can resemble their parents in many ways. I have learned that my husband is the greatest thing to ever happen to me other than my babies. I never thought that I would have the life I have. I never thought I would be blessed the way that I am.

Happy mothers day to all the "old" and "new" mothers out there.

4 months old!

Our sweet Abigail Marie is 4 months old! Can you believe it? I can't! In the last 4 months she has learned to blow raspberries! Bring her hands to her mouth to chew! Pull my hair! Bring her blankey to her face when she wants to snuggle something when she is in her swing.

Oh and one more thing....

Cut her first tooth! That's right she has her first tooth! April 28th she cut it! A day before she turned 4 months! Im so proud of her! She is so funny.. She gives you this big 'ol grin when she knows she is going to get her way. She hates being on her tummy. Honestly tummy time is a waste all she does is scream the whole time and just plants her face into the ground.

She has "night colic". She cries at the same time every night until Shawn or I give her a bath. She fights bedtime. Definetely a momma's girl. No one can calm her down like mommy. She is such a beautiful baby! She has this "glow" about her that can just melt your heart! Makes me wanna have like 5 more! lol!

As promised!

As promised here are the pictures from our fantastic family reunion! Abigail just loves her daddy more than anything! Michelle just loves having her daddy home and let me tell you I love having him home too! Shawn Jr and James are doing great since his return! My house has never been more chaotic.

Well tomorrow it may be! James turned 5 on tuesday and Miss Michelle turns 3 on Tuesday! 3! I cannot believe it! I can't believe James is 5! We are having a birthday party tomorrow for the both of them and Michelle starts school on the 20th! Im taking her to school that day. I just have to be there for her. I just need it!

Abigail is just thriving so much! She has finally tipped the scales at 10 pounds 6 ounces. Poor thing got very sick last Wednesday. So badly that we had to take her to the ER and they did everything all the way down to a spinal tap. That is just a horrific sight. After all of that they couldn't find anything so they sent her home. My mommy alarms just told me something was not right so I took her to her Peds office. Thankfully they are open past 5 because they saw her right away and the doctor just listened to what I told her and she admitted her straight into Children's hospital here in San Diego.

That was the most emotional 2 days I have had in a while. Shawn had just gotten home. Abigail was sick and the kids missed me so much. Thankfully my mom was here because I was supposed to get my tubes tied Wednesday but something the night before told me to cancel because she was starting to not feel well. Im just so glad that I did.

She is way better now and all she turned out to have was a VERY bad virus. I couldn't believe it. My friends little girl was admitted the day prior to Abigail and she had the same thing. It's amazing that germs can spread no matter how much of a clean/germ freak you are! Everything gets soaked in lysol every night because I am so afraid of one of my kids having to stay in the hospital. Ever since Michelle got Meningitis even though it was from a surgery I am still freaked out by it.

Well I am going to go to sleep because tomorrow I am going to be a busy mommy! Im so excited though. James invited a ton of friends from school! My next post I will have to tell you about his easter hunt at school today! Too cute!

Home..

Safe and sound back into the arms of his family!

Shawn returned home this weekend from his deployment to Iraq! Let me tell you it was so amazing handing his daughter to him so he could finally meet her. She turned 3 months old today and he got to meet her yesterday. He is definetly fascinated by her.

I woke up at 4 this morning to the 2 of them talking to each other. He doesn't let her cry and had a blast feeding her while I was catching up on some much needed sleep! Luckily the freezer is full of milk for her!

All of the kids are just so darn happy to have their daddy home. Shawn is sleeping right now he had a long three days. They got to North Carolina and boarded a plane only to be told about 30 min into the flight that they had to return to NC because and engine went out. Than they were waiting 3-4 hours for another flight and they had tornado watches... Poor guy just wanted to get home!

So finally about 11 last night he was released to us! Im still a little in shock because it feels so weird to not be doing everything myself and to be honest since my mom has been here I havent done too much other than nurse Abigail. Well im tired so im going to sleep! Ill upload pics when I get them my friend took some for me!

Banners!!!!!!!!

Well I figured I wouldn't blog about the "funny" ones.... Those are a little eh not appropriate for me to type about but I will however send you a picture if you would like to see them :) lol!

But my FAVORITE is one I came up with this morning!!!!!!!


"Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight... No more sending daddy the sun and saying goodnight."

Now the story behind this is we always send daddy the sun and we say goodnight... Well it just POPPED into my head and I went for it! I love it and it was a mean word to trace! LOL!

Now I have 3 banners to paint and 5 to hang! He's loved can you tell???? Well im bummed because the girls dresses are not going to be here in time. So off to the mall I went to hunt down "that" outfit! Well I went to every store imaginable! Horrible..... Finally I go to Sears... Go figure... There they are cute as can be! Little butterfly dresses! So today I got the finishing touches for them! Still bummed about the others they were WAY expensive!

So by next week (i cant say dates for security reasons) my husband will be home! I will post when he gets here! Please say a prayer that his plane lands in the states with no harm! He has had a few close calls and it scares me. Until he reaches Camp Pendleton I wont sleep well! So PRAY!!! Please! lol!

On another note James and Michelle have a birthday coming up! How exciting! 5 and 3! Michelle will start school on the 20th of next month! Even more exciting! And scary at the same time! How do I do it? Ive been her teacher/mother for almost 3 years... It scares me! Im highly considering homeschooling James next year. California's teacher crisis is horrible and there is no way we can afford to send them all to private school! I wish we could but it just cannot happen! Im determined that my children will not be left behind just because the state we live in is broke! Well im off for the night!

Conversation

HUbby: Hey what are you doing?

Me: Nothing just depressing myself wanting to cry trying to fill out all this stuff for Michelle to go to school and she can't do half of it and it makes me feel like I failed her..

Hubby: Well u didn't fail her look at how much more she can do than others she is a girl she is smart..

Me: I know I know.... But stilll... (interrupted)

Hubby: Ummm do you think you could pick someone up on the grinder (place where they come back and leave from when going on deployment) in a couple of weeks...

Me: Yea sure who and how far do they have to go? Do you think they would mind riding in the van with a bunch of kids??

Hubby: Me

Me: DROPS THE FREAKING PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!! lol!

So there you have it over 30 days early my hubby is coming home from Iraq!!!!!!!! Im very excited and cannot wait!

Calling for a change!!!

I absolutely LOVE my blog layout however sometimes you just get a little bored with them! So if anyone has a good layout site let me know!

Everyone here is doing FANTASTIC!!!!!! Im glad to say I survived Sea World with 4 kids! Hehehehehe! :) It was such an amazing day! Look for a blog of pictures here very soon! I have been so super busy I am lucky to even talk to my husband everyday!

We have Michelle's IEP coming up next week to get her enrolled in school! Way excited! We met the Adaptive PE teacher today along with the Ocupational therapist for the school! Last week we met a possible teacher for Michelle she is just as sweet as can be! She has the most beacutiful class of special children!

Abigail is growing like a weed! For being premature she sure is just as smart as can be! She smiles, gets upset when she wants attention. I can distinguish what cry means what now. Excepts when she dirties her diapers because it is the same as when she is tired. So I check first and then put her down for a nap! She is currently napping in her swing because she had 3 huge blowouts this morning so im sure she is pretty exhausted from those!

James decided to color his mouth purple earlier today. Which unfortunetly for him bought him a nice round of being grounded for the rest of the day. If he wants to do anything its read a book or color with crayons. No more markers for him! I cannot believe he did that! He knows wayyyyyy better than that!

Shawn Jr. is currently passed out on the couch. Oh well I have classes tonight so he is going to daycare so he will be tired when we get home. He is starting to get to that ansy 4 year old stage which tells me he is almost ready for school! YAY!!!!!! But booo at the same time! It has been very nice having him home with me during the day!

My husband is bored as heck and is ready to come home! Im praying that they are going to be able to come home early! I would love to have him home sooner rather than later! Although I understand that if his unit needs to stay they need to stay. It is our way of life. He will have plenty of time to get to know his baby when he comes home! It's definetly going to be very different for him because when he left there were only 3 now there are 4 and one crys alot! lol!

Oh how I am counting down the days until I see him! Not too much longer! I have to say I am one very proud Marine wife! Im just one proud wife! He has come so far in the 6 years that we have been together. Further than most even know. We have both faced some horrible challenges and we have jumped those hurdles higher than I think either of us thought! Im just very grateful that we have such a circle of people that we can trust and count on whenever we need them!

As for me well im having surgery April 1st! Im having my tubes tied. Now before someone gets on their highhorse wondering why please here me out... Michelle has been a HUGE challenge emotionally and physically. Batteling postpartum depression is very hard. Battleing it while pregnant is even harder. I could never go through what I have gone through ever again. Next time may be my breaking point. Im lucky that Abigail was not my breaking point. I love my children but I have decided that if I truely want to have another child what about all the children who are looking for homes??? There are so many in orphanages that truely need someone! So wish me luck! Im very nervous about this surgery!

Well thats all I have time for today! Let me know about those blogsites!