Hard job

Being a parent is definitely the hardest job there is. Once you find out your expecting your heart is forever on your sleeve. Every concern, every joyful moment, every milestone, every fever, every fall...I feel it immensely. I've had a handful of mama moments that have been very difficult:

~an ultrasound with the girls that showed baby A's heart had a bright spot (usually an indicator of downs, but also can just heal in the womb and be nothing--for Mikayla obviously it was nothing)
~a brain ultrasound the girls needed during their NICU stay because they were preemies
~The girls' 10 day NICU stay.
~Hip ultrasound at 1 month old because they were breech and their pedi. was concerned.
~The girls' pedi. detected a heart murmer at their 2 year check up for both of them....it has since gone away and was nothing.
~Brianna hurt her ankle at a birthday party when she was 2.5 and needed x-rays
~Then, our loss at 12 weeks, our baby was a partial molar pregnancy.
~Being pregnant with Joshua and getting H1N1-talk about terrifying!
~Joshua's iron deficiency scare

Besides, losing our baby, these are all little things in life. I experienced another mama scare Saturday. While at a birthday party for one of my dearest friends' baby boy my 1st baby fell of the swing. Nelson was pushing the girls and I was pushing the baby and talking to friends. I didn't see Mikayla fall just heard the thud when she landed. Nelson said she let go when she was high up and flipped in the air and landed on her back. Her face was SO frightening. She got the wind knocked out of her and couldn't breathe, and her lips were turning blue. Thank God, Alison's a np and I knew her friend who is also a nurse. I yelled for her friend who was close by and she got Mikayla to breathe. It took her awhile to be back to herself, and after a trip to after hours and some x-rays we were all able to sleep tight. She just had bruising, and is fine. But, boy these moments as a parent are hard.

I'm so grateful to have a husband who is the perfect parenting partner, and a faith in God to know that He won't give me more than I can handle, and a support system of amazing friends and family who love me and my children and are here when I need them. This job may be a hard one, but the benefits are worth it. With every smile, "I love you", hug, kiss, new experience, makes all this job a great one--even with the hard moments scattered in there.

To all you Mommy's...you all rock! Every Mom deserves to be told often how great they are, because it's not an easy job! I wouldn't give it up for the world....best job out there!

Joshua's 15 months!

Joshua had his 15 month well visit today. He's a tall skinny boy ;). 90th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight. I don't know how since he eats us out of house and home! Joshua is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse. Like wakes up and goes to the tv, and points and says Mickey over and over. It's SO cute. Today my mom bought him Mickey DVD's...he was SO excited when we put one on. I love seeing his interests develop! He stacked some blocks today-the dr. asked if he could...and I said I didn't know because we have lots of blocks but he's always so busy that he doesn't sit and stack. Well, we got home and I put him and the blocks in an area away from everything and built a tower and he copied me by stacking some! He's such a smarty pants, but has such a stubborn streak. He's getting really good about signing please when he wants something...but, when he really wants something it looks more like he's hitting his chest really quickly. He cracks me up. Joshua has 10 teeth and 2 cutting through...poor thing has been teething like crazy (I'm hoping this is why sleep has been all types of messed up lately).

brother sister bond...love it!

In other news, my brother, Ricky, has been here since mid-December. He heads back to Boston tomorrow. The girls absolutely adore him, and I'm sad that I won't get to see him until sometime this summer. He's a good kid, err man, and I'm so proud of him. My other brother, Joey, is also making his big sis so proud. He's taking pictures of Maya Angelou soon!

The girls and Uncle Ricky after putting together a puzzle!

Sleep, what's that?

My little man who has been sleeping through the night 7pm-7amish has decided for over a week now that he doesn't want to do that any longer! I am at my wits end. It's SO hard to do CIO at this age. He is standing with his little arms straight up at me to get him out just sobbing. So, I get him out. I know I'm teaching him crying=getting out....so, we are going to try and be diligent about not going in his room tonight when he starts. Easier said then done though. We had Rebecca and Justine over for a sleep over Friday night, and all four girls were asleep at 8:30 (a sleep over record-sleep overs on school nights is the way to go!), and the babe was up until 11. ELEVEN!! Then, last night up till 9, and up at 3:40 am screaming. UGH. My friend's son, I remember going through this a couple months ago when he was Joshua's age. To the point that they would have to drive him around to get him to go to sleep. So, I'm praying it's a phase. I was thinking teeth, but now not so much. My Mom says it's totally normal, but the girls never did this. Joshua makes me feel like a 1st time Mom so often :).


This moment was just too cute to not capture. I love seeing how much Nelson loves our children. He was trying to get Joshua to go back to sleep...

Then, right after I took the first picture he looked up ready for a photo shoot...uh-oh. No more pictures when we are wanting the babe to sleep ;).

Enough whining about being tired ;). Things are going well around here. I don't think I updated the blog about our fabulous news about the babe---hemotalogist says he's perfect! He just had an iron deficiency he outgrew--woo hoo!!

We had 2 birthday parties this past weekend for people we love-Evan who turned two, and my friend Theresa. Next weekend we head to Orlando for Colton's 1st birthday! Birthday's are so fun!

Joshua is doing so many more fun things these days. He's a lot more social than my girls were at his age. He loves saying hi to everyone, he says about 12 words, and does about 3 signs consistently. He is still cruising everywhere, and not quite confident to let go of our hands to walk...but the girls walked at his age, and I'm thinking it'll be really soon for him. He is off the bottle!! HUGE congratulations to my husband for transitioning him while I was in Seattle. He was only drinking milk from one cup, but yesterday he drank it out of 3 different cups just fine. He definitely feels more like a big boy since we've put away all the bottles.

The girls are going on a tour of a kindergarten at their school this week (there is a Christian elementary school next to their pre-school, all a part of the same church). The calendar also said that next month they will be taking their Pre-K graduation pictures. I got so teary eyed reading this. They are just getting so big. I really love the girls they are-they have such kind hearts, and are such sweet, smart girls.

Christmas, Seattle, New Year...OH MY!

What a week!

The girls hugging after exchanging gifts-their school does a "Santa Shop" and they were able to buy each other presents.


Joshua was most excited about a little clapper he got in his stocking. It was so fun watching him open presents. Last year he was only 2 months old and slept through Christmas morning!

We celebrated Christmas and every year it seems to get better. The joy in the kids' faces, and the excitement. It was a fun day! We are on year 4 of our brunch tradition where both of our families come over to our house for Christmas brunch. I like not having to leave on Christmas and still getting to see everyone. The kids don't want to be pulled away from their new loot, and I enjoy hosting on this special day.

After Christmas Eve Mass

Well, 2 days after Christmas I hopped on a plane to fly out to Washington to celebrate Alison's 30th birthday! Months ago when we talked about being together for our 30ths I got so excited. How wonderful. We have been friends for more than half our lives and I just love these girls. They truly are like family to me. It was so nice to have girl time together this past week. Did I mention that I also got to play in the snow? SO fun!!

Then, New Years Eve came and went. I feel strange about New Years. Excited for a new year, and all that awaits in that new year, but sad about my kids being a year older, and leaving the past year behind. Nelson and I had a quiet New Years Eve, and we really enjoyed it. We rented a movie, and then watched the ball drop with champagne. Then on New Years Day we cleaned up Christmas decorations, and went to the park with our kids on such a beautiful day.

This year I turn 30, my kids turn 6 and 2! My girls will start kindergarten! It's a big year!! We have a trip to North Carolina planned for February, and a trip to Vegas in July!! I'm excited to see what else awaits us in 2011!!

5 days away!

Edited: Here are 2010's photos with Santa in Hyde Park!

5 years old-4th year with friends!


Joshua-1 years old and Brianna and Mikayla 5 yrs. old


Nelson and I visited this exact Santa in 2002 when we were engaged! I have the picture somewhere, but here are pictures of our children with Santa in Hyde Park. We will be adding another one to the batch tomorrow!


2 months old


1 years old


2 years old~all 3 sets of twins were with us this year, but I couldn't finagle a group picture


3 years old


4 years old

M and B~4 years, Joshua 2 months

Tomorrow we head to Hyde Park for our yearly tradition of pictures with Santa with 2 other families we are close to. I love the "multiples" picture we get every year with 3 sets of twins! We've been going with the Jeffre family and Miller family since 2007. I love this tradition our families have! We always meet for dinner and then head to see Santa and take lots of pictures outside where it is beautifully decorated.

This month has been full of fun! Lots of Christmas events-Disney candlelight, parades, breakfast with Santa, light shows, "snow", ice skating, tons of fun memories with loved ones...this week is busy busy, and we are enjoying every second of it!

Update on Joshua

Well, we got to All Children's, and the whole time we just were going to see a hematologist (didn't know the name of the office, just the suite number). Well, we get there, and it's the "Cancer and Blood Disorder Institute". So, my eyes well up and I start fearing the worst. Especially when I see young children standing in pj's and obviously going through treatments. Then, I see a girl the girls' age walking with her mom and she tells her Mom she's scared. Then, it was hard to hold my composure. Finally, they called us in and my poor boy who is traumatized with Dr.'s offices now since his blood draw last month started flipping out before they even touched him...oh jeez. We get through the initial weigh in, blood pressure check and all that, and meet with the Dr. The whole time he was talking I wondered why we were even there. He kept saying well, his numbers don't concern me. We'll do another blood draw in a month to compare and make sure everything continues going well.

He did ask us about our family's backgrounds, which I knew it was because he was concerned about Thallassemia (because of his hemoglobin f being elevated). So, I asked specifically about it, and he said Joshua's cell size would usually be smaller, and his are normal. So, if after monitoring his blood results and he thinks it could be thallassemia it would be the mildest of cases where all he'd need was iron supplements. He said he's not concerned. Then, we had to follow up with a hemoglobin finger prick check...which was awful and literally took 4 of us to just hold him still for a little finger prick. I'll call this afternoon and get those results, and hopefully it's above 10.4, and that will show if his hemoglobin is rising. We go back Jan. 6th for more blood work.

(Joshua showing Mommy his boo boo and his baby hospital bracelet-he was totally playing the wounded card and having Mommy kiss his finger and then Daddy-over and over-SO CUTE!)

Well, I called back and Joshua's hemoglobin was at an 11.4! Woo Hoo!! So, the Dr. we saw today (who happens to be the director of the Institute) called me himself. I didn't know if that was good or bad-but he quickly reassured me that it was definitely good! He said to not give Joshua his iron supplements and to decrease his milk intake (he was drinking around 24 oz. of milk a day and the Dr. said to only give him 16 oz. of milk a day since there's no iron in it, and that way he'll be hungrier and to fill him up with iron rich foods. So, it was an excellent phone call. Then, we'll find out on Jan. 6th how he's doing without the supplements and overall. So grateful for this outcome.

My baby playing peek-a-boo :)

Here are my girls who are SO excited about Christmas!!

Brianna and Mikayla-Storytelling

This video cracks me up-taken yesterday. Brianna reading the story, and Mikayla acting out each page. These girls are so funny-I would like to take credit for that, but they are all Nelson when they make me laugh :).