Did he really just say that???

So I went in for my 6 week postpartum check up yesterday and everything is great. So glad to be done with the whole pregnancy thing. It was difficult and there were some complications. Apparently my doctor is glad I made it through as well. These were his exact words to me: "I'm so glad you didn't die." Um, yeah, me too. Don't you love how they never let you in on how serious things are until after the fact? I knew my blood clot put me at risk for stroke/heart attack/pulmonary embolism, but I guess I didn't really stress about it all that much. I think my poor doctor stressed out enough about it for the both of us.

Happy Happy Happy!

Why am I so happy? To most people it probably doesn't seem like such a big deal, but for me it is pure joy! As of yesterday I gave myself my LAST shot of Lovenox in the tummy. I've been doing it twice a day for the last 7 1/2 months. And twice a day when it was time for my shot, I just felt like crying. I absolutely hated it. It's not that it was unbearably painful, (although it was no picnic either), but I just dreaded having to do it. Yes, I would be a terrible diabetic. So, I'm still on blood thinners for a few more months, but at least now I can just pop a pill, which is so much more pleasant than jabbing a needle into my body!

And Baby Makes Six

Our sweet baby Dylan is finally here! He was born February 3rd at 12:23 p.m. weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 21 inches long.

This is him at 3 days old.

I went into the hospital for a scheduled induction on Feb. 3rd at 5 a.m. We got things going, but by noon I was still only dialated to 5 cm. Then baby's heart rate dropped and the nurses decided to see if they could get him out of distress by having me roll onto my side. Well that definitely worked because in ten minutes I was fully dialated and after 3 good pushes Dylan was born. I love that my deliveries are so quick and easy. I've guess I've gotta have something to make up for the fact that my pregnancies are so difficult!

This is us just a few seconds after Dylan was born. He had a little facial bruising from coming out so fast!

Hospitals have been very strict in their visitor policies this winter due to the whole H1N1 thing. No one under the age of 14 would be allowed to visit at the hospital. My kids were so bummed that they were going to have to wait until we brought him home to meet their new brother. So I was soooo happy when someone from the hospital called me the night before we went in and told me that hospital policy had changed that day and that siblings would be allowed to come visit!

Greg, Alyssa, Dylan, Kristie, Tyler and Ryan

Having my first three kids in 3 1/2 years, they didn't really realize what was going on whenever we had a new baby. Now having a newborn and having older kids, it has been a lot of fun seeing how excited they are to have a new little brother. They all absolutely adore him. Hopefully the novelty doesn't wear off too soon.

We are all doing great and are so happy to have Dylan as a part of our family. I can't imagine our family without him!

Traditions.....

One of the fun traditions that our family has done for the last few years is "Movie Night". This happens almost every Friday night, unless something else comes up that we absolutely have to do. But movie night usually takes priority over other non-necessary activities. (Heaven forbid something else get in the way. The kids could hardly stand it that Christmas fell on a Friday this year and Movie Night had to be postponed.) We get out the pillows and sleeping bags, make popcorn, and camp out in the living room and watch a movie. The movie we watch depends on who gets to be the "chooser" for the night. We rotate who gets to be the chooser so everyone gets the chance to watch what they like best.

Fortunately, Alyssa has finally grown out of her "Land Before Time" stage. Would you believe there are 18 Land Before Time movies? Well there are, and we have seen all of them at least once. Some of them 3 or 4 times. Bleh....

Tyler typically tries to choose movies that he knows will make Greg cringe, so he frequently likes to choose either "Enchanted" or "Hairspray". Personally, I think these are great choices, but also quite amusing coming from a little boy.

When Ryan is in charge of choosing (and if we have recently made a trip to the library) we usually end up watching some sort of educational children's video about trucks of some sort. We have learned all about monster trucks, construction vehicles, army vehicles, race cars, and various other types of vehicles.

When Greg and I get to pick, I think the primary goal is to choose something that we haven't already seen a dozen times. This is where Redbox comes in handy. We don't get to the movie theater with the kids too often, so this is a good way to catch up on some of the newer kids' movies out there. We've also had a lot of fun watching the "Planet Earth" DVDs. There is some amazing footage and the kids even get really into them.

So some weeks are definitely better than others, viewing-wise, but mostly I just love that we are creating fun family memories. Hopefully this is something the kids will want to keep up for years to come.

Post Holiday Wrap-Up

Okay, so I didn't do so great about blogging during the month of December, but we sure had fun! Here are a few of the highlights from the past month.....

GINGERBREAD HOUSES


The kids loved making gingerbread houses. It's one of their favorite things to do each Christmas time. They begged me for weeks to make them, so I finally got ambitious and actually made homemade gingerbread and measured and cut all the pieces. (As a result, my house smelled DELICIOUS for days!)

My sweet Alyssa and her masterpiece.

I thought they would appreciate having the real thing, but as soon as I presented the kids with the pieces Tyler said "I don't really like gingerbread. I just want mine to be made out of graham crackers." Little stinker. Of course when I made him one out of crackers he promptly dropped it on the floor and it shattered. He couldn't wait for the icing/glue to dry on another one, so he ended up using the gingerbread pieces anyway.

The candy on Ryan's house only lasted long enough for me to take this picture.

WRAPPING PRESENTS

I found a pile of presents in the hallway that apparently the kids had wrapped for each other and for me and Greg. They were mostly wrapped in shoe boxes and tied with old scraps of ribbon or some of Alyssa's hair ribbons. It's very sweet of them to think of others, but they tend to find weird little odds and ends and wrap them up in boxes and call it good. These packages mostly contained leftover Halloween candy, loose change, and unwanted Happy Meal toys.

The tag on this one especially made me smile. I like how it says "To Greg" rather than "To Dad".


CHRISTMAS MORNING

We slept over at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve. While trying to get just one decent picture before opening presents on Christmas morning Ryan kept informing us of how mad he was at us. He was not happy to be taking pictures when there were presents to be opened....thus his refusal to look at the camera. Oh well.

The coveted glitter balls. All three of the kids had been begging for these for the majority of the past year.

They were definitely a hit. The kids are still sleeping with them at night.

And the biggest hit of all was the one thing they all asked for from Santa every time they saw him....a trampoline. There was much dancing and shouting for joy upon the opening of this present. Now we just have to wait for the snow to melt so we can get it set up.


NEW YEAR'S!!!

The rest of us had more fun than this, but this is the only picture I got. Poor Ryan can never seem to make it much past 10:00 on New Year's Eve. He crashed on the floor, but his sweet little friend Abby put a crown on his head for him anyway so he wouldn't be left out. Alyssa and Tyler think New Year's Eve is the greatest holiday ever because they get to stay up as late as they want. They made it until about 3:30 a.m. this year. Not quite the all-night goal they had in mind, but pretty close! I thought for sure they would sleep in the next day, but nope.

RESOLUTIONS 2010

Yeah, I don't do the whole resolutions thing. No point in setting yourself up for failure in my opinion. So far the only thing I have resolved to do this year is:

1. Have a baby.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to accomplish this one.

Keepin' Cool

Yep, now I'm complaining about being too cold. I love winter from the comfort of my own house, but I'm not a fan of actually being outside in the winter. However, the kids have been dying for enough snow to go sledding, and it finally happened. Greg is a great dad and will usually take them when he has a day off from work, but the kiddos just couldn't wait that long! So off to the park we went. (I wish I could just send them on their own, but I still worry about them crossing that busy street by themselves.) I was barely able to get my coat zipped over my big belly, and had to borrow Greg's ski pants, so I stayed fairly warm even though it was only 20 degrees outside. Only my fingers and toes got chilly. The kids slid down the hill while I sat at the top in my camping chair reading a book. (So yes, if you drove past the park and saw a crazy lady sitting there in the snow reading, that was me!) I'm not such a good sport that I actually wanted to sled with them. Plus I didn't want to send myself into labor by stomping up the hill over and over again. (That was my excuse anyway. I doubt anything I could do could make me go into labor. I spent Alyssa's due date rolling a giant snowball around the backyard to make a snowman, and still didn't have her until five days later.) After staying for about an hour we went home to enjoy the best part of playing outside in the winter....hot chocolate and cookies!

Is it just me, or is it warm in here?

Well, apparently it's just me. Okay, so I know that I have kept the house relatively cool since I feel quite warm all the time due to the baby cookin' in my oven....but walking into the living room and seeing my boys playing video games with their coats on made me feel a little sorry for them, and I graciously cranked the thermostat up to a toasty 65 degrees. I hope they appreciate all the sacrifices I make for them! :)