Reading and Writing and 'Rithmatic

School started for us on August 20th, which annoyed me. I hate that school starts so early and I just wasn't ready for it to start again. I also felt bad that we didn't seem to have much of a summer because very pregnant mommy didn't feel like doing much. But, the world doesn't stop for little old me - so we had to face the facts.

Tanis has the opportunity this year to go to a brand, spanking new Jr. High/Middle School. He's still going to school with most of his friends and kids from this neighborhood, but they built a new school much closer to us! The school he attended last year was 15 minutes away, this year it's not even 5. Of course, they still get bused. YAY!!!

Shaylyn is now in 6th grade and is happy to 'Rule The School'. She got the teacher Tanis had in 6th grade and we were both happy about that. She's enjoyed the year so far and is actually doing her homework! Let's pray it keeps up throughout the year.

Lex is in 4th grade and also has a teacher Tanis had. Tanis had this particular teacher in 2nd grade, but she's moved up in the world. Lex is pleased with his teacher and comes home happy each day.

One week later, on August 27th, Nate started Kindergarten. Based on the results of his assessment, he was one child selected to do a whole day of Kindergarten. The all day Kindergarten students are the 16 who scored lowest on their assessments and with a whole day they get a little more teaching in. The kids do not have to go all day, the parents are asked if they want their child to participate or not.

Because I was at the assessment with Nate, I knew there was a high chance he'd be one that was asked to participate, so when they called a couple days later I had my decision made. It wasn't an easy decision to make and I had/have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I was super worried about him being gone all day and I worried about him being able to get his 'hot' lunch okay. I didn't know if he'd totally dread going to school because he was gone all day or what. In the end I decided it'd be good for him - even if not for the learning part - it'd be good for him to learn how to focus a bit more (that is what I really noticed as the issue during his assessment). 

He was super excited to go to school and couldn't wait to go meet his teacher. Turns out he gets 2 teachers. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. He is thrilled by this. He was anxious to go all morning on the 27th and when it was time to walk out the door, he was completely ready.

So how did the 1st day go? Well judging by the expression on his face after school was over, it had me worried...

But after talking to him, he expressed that he liked school and eating lunch in the big cafeteria. He's also been excited each morning he's had to go to school, so it hasn't been too hard on him. I do think he gets a little tired from being in school all day, but overall it's gone much better than I anticipated.

Then there's Ailey. She would love to go to school, but sadly it just isn't her time yet. She gets to spend the day with Mommy and Jace. She had trouble the first day we took Nate and as we left after dropping off Nate she said, "We can't leave Nate." She was really kind of sad to have her best friend not be around anymore. She adjusted quite well though and is loving having her own time.

What Happens Next...

The Rest of August

As much as I would've liked life to slow down this month, it didn't. Life still went on and thankfully I took a few pictures to document the rest of August 2013...

So, while loving our new baby that first week - I also got to hang out with the likes of people like this:

Then it was time for the Scouts Raingutter Regatta. But, because we had a 5 day old baby - I stayed home and sent Eric off with Lex. We let Lex do all the work on his boat...

If I remember right, which I probably don't, Lex came in like 4th or 5th overall. Eric refused to take the camera with him, but took videos on his phone - which, of course, he hasn't sent to me. Maybe someday if I get them, I'll update this post.

Nate made progress this summer...

That's right. Nate actually got IN the pool and found that he actually LIKED it. Too bad it only took him all summer to figure it out...

School started, but there will be a separate post for that.

Then this little piggy found a 'hat' too big for her head...

And we either had dreams that were freaking hilarious or just so incredibly hard to believe...

What Happens Next...

Welcome Jacen!!!

So the kid is almost 3 old now and I'm just barely getting to his birth story...I tell you, life has been interesting as of late and it's been hard to keep up with day to day life, let alone keeping the blog up to date...Anyway onto Jacen's birth story.

We all know that most of my kids have come early. In fact in terms of weeks, my kids have been 4, 3, 2, 1, and then 2 weeks early. So we prepared ourselves around week 37 of pregnancy for this kid to join us at any point. Well, he didn't want to be like his siblings...

I went to my 38 week checkup on July 29th, positive that the doctor was going to tell me that nothing was going on down yonder and this kid was not coming anytime soon. Well when the Dr. checked I was at a 2.5. I was thrilled. I was only at a 2 when Ailey made her appearance 2 weeks early, so I was sure that I wouldn't make it to our next appt. the following Wednesday.

Well, Wednesday the 7th rolls around and I'm still quite pregnant. Feeling somewhat frustrated and sad we went to my appt. and once again I was sure that there would be no change. The Dr. checked and I was at a 3, so there was some progress made.

The Dr. then asked if we wanted to talk about an induction or just wait it out. Eric and I both opted for an induction. Eric doesn't like to be away when I could go into labor at any given time and I wanted a week or so to adjust to a new 'lifestyle' before school started. When the Dr. asked how soon we'd like the induction, I said ASAP and Eric said, "Tonight."

My Doctor laughed along with us and said, "Well I can't do it tonight, but we'll see what we can do." He then went to call the hospital and figure it out. He set us up for Friday, the 9th - which is when I was technically 39 weeks. I was thrilled, but nervous at the same time. The doctor and I both remembered the last time I was induced and what a picnic that turned out to be, so he tried to assure me that that kind of thing didn't happen all the time.

I was told to call the hospital on Thursday evening to get an idea of what time I'd need to be at the hospital. When I called, she said I was #5 on the list, so it probably wouldn't be before 9:30 the next morning, but I should call around 7:00 a.m. to make sure. So we went about our night. Around 9:00 Thursday night we get a phone call from the hospital. This girl told me that it'd be more like 7:00 in the morning and to call around 6:00 a.m. the next morning, but to pack my bags just in case.

Well, this made us a little more frantic. We had to decide what to do with the kids since it was so much earlier than we had anticipated. We finally figured out that we could leave our house around 5:00 a.m. the next morning, crash at Eric's parents until we had to go to the hospital and we could leave Tanis and Ailey with Eric's parents and Eric's mom would drop the other three off at my mom's when people were awake over there.

So bright and early, we head out. I call the hospital a little after 6:00 and they tell me they want me at 7:00. Hallelujah. I was so worried that we were going to have a repeat of Nate and we would play a waiting game all day and night long.

I had Eric and his Dad give me a blessing before we left as I was feeling all sorts of anxiety. Eric and I then headed to the hospital. I had decided once again to do this thing naturally, even though I knew I'd be dealing with the stupid Pitocin again.

By the time everything got set up and we got going, it was about 9:00. I was still only at a 3 and I spent the next few hours really scared to do this whole labor thing again. It's the 6th time I've done this, so why I was so scared, I don't know. When I was checked around 11:00 or so I was still only at a 3. I was really getting frustrated and the next couple hours brought with it massive pain, where I was literally shaking from the pain. I started to regret the whole no epidural thing.

The nurse comes back in around 2:00 and says she's going to check me again. I had decided that if she told me I was only at a 5 or less, I was going to ask for that stupid epidural. Well, she checks and says I'm at a 6+, so she goes to call my Dr. and has another nurse start setting up for the arrival of this baby.

They're going about their merry way when I tell Eric that this kid is coming. He gets the nurse's attention and we are all surprised to see that within a matter of only 5 minutes or so I went from a 6+ to complete. This made the nurses nervous and they had to start looking for any doctor. Thankfully, one had just walked into the hospital and was called into my room. But while waiting for him I just had to push. The nurse kept telling me not to and I tried not to, but it was so hard. I wanted to scream at her and tell her to let me go about my business, but I knew it was best to have a Dr. there...

So the random Dr. comes in, quickly gets his coat and gloves on and within seconds we've got a new baby! Our sweet little Jacen and he came with a head of blonde hair! WHAT!?!?!? I was expecting another dark haired baby, but I'll take our cute, little blondie. Did I mention that even his eyelashes are blonde? Okay, I'm seriously in shock.

Jacen Eric was born at 2:17 P.M. He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 18.5 inches long. Though he was our smallest baby, he was the most painful delivery. I pretty much turned into a mad woman during his labor. You know how in the movies and tv's the ladies are so dramatic and screaming bloody murder - I used to think they were all silly - I'm now one of those crazy, hysteric ladies. I was also so shaken up after his birth that I literally couldn't stop shaking. I had to have Eric hold Jacen for awhile cause I felt like I just couldn't get a safe hold on him.

A couple hours after Jacen's birth, we were moved to our room where we'd stay the next few days.

I've always hated having babies on the weekends for two reasons. #1 - There's never anything good to watch to keep yourself entertained and #2 - It seems like the hospital photographers are never there on the weekends. #1's not a major deal, but #2 always frustrates me, so imagine my surprise on Saturday morning when the hospital photographer came into our room.

I wasn't sure we'd buy any photos, but I wanted them taken anyway - just in case I really loved one and wanted to buy that one. The photographer gave us instructions to undress him to his diaper and to choose a blanket to have him photographed with. I was thankful I thought to grab one of our baby blankies before we left the hospital. She then went about photographing our little guy and he wasn't too sure about any of it, but we got some good ones.

The photographer then gave us the sheet of what packages they had and I had a horrible case of sticker shock. The prices for the photos were OUTRAGEOUS!!! We still took the information home and when I had a chance I took a look at Jacen's gallery and of course fell in love with a few photos. I thought that maybe I could buy just a couple photos and it'd be cheaper, but those packages were still insane.

Thankfully, Eric knows me and knows how important photos are to me so he was able to financially work it out so that I could have ALL the photos and I'd get them immediately, since it was a downloadable file. Here are my faves...

...I LOVE that his ear has a little heart shape to it on the inside...

But my absolute favorite has got to be this one:

We tried to get him to only hold onto my finger with one hand, but he grabbed on with both. I know he won't always rely on me so heavily and so I really cherish this picture.

We left the hospital on August 11th and as I always do, I tried to get some pictures of Jacen in his going home outfit...He was more difficult than any of the other kids. He insisted on turning his head to the opposite side. Finally, my smart husband decided to hold his head still so I could get a somewhat decent shot.

I've been a slacker mom and haven't taken many pictures of Jace. I literally spent the whole 1st week home holding him like 24/7. Eric even called me a baby hog. Hahaha. I did take these ones, when at only 3 days old he was already at the mercy of his older siblings (Nate) and okay, I guess I played along too...

At 1 week old he got to meet his Great Grandma when we went to wish her a very Happy 94th Birthday! I love these pictures. Old and New and I love that I caught the photos while my Grandma was just admiring her newest Great Grandbaby and talking with him...

That was Jace's first week in a nutshell. He's been growing fast and we love having another baby in the house (minus the whole getting up in the middle of the night thing) and he's so much fun. He had his 3 week checkup today and he's now 21 1/2 inches long and he weighs 7 lbs. 9 oz. I was so glad to hear that he had gained a pound. We had to take him back to the Dr. when he was only 3 days old as his billirubin level was in the low-risk category when we left the hospital - thankfully he wasn't jaundiced at all and the Dr. wasn't concerned, but he only weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. which scared mama a little bit.

So yup, he's growing fast and doing well. Now I need to tell myself to take more pictures of this kid before he's a teenager and he's heading out the door to college. 

What Happens Next...