My Day...

My day started off pretty good! Was great in the middle, and ended badly.

Morning was same old thing, get Braden ready and off to school, then got me and the other boys ready, nothing special.
Then we went to the hospital Ross works at for the first time and ate lunch with him! It was fun to see him in his white coat and to hear everyone saying what a hard worker he was and how they really enjoyed working with him. And Cashel just loved being able to see him! Afterwards we went to Grandma's and made some yummy holiday treats. Which included Grandma Jones's divinity. I made it today for the first time and it turned out great!!
When it was time for Braden to get off I headed home to get him, and then head back to Grandma's. So I ended up leaving the 2 boys with my mom and Darci, which I almost didn't do. When I was almost there, I got hit. A 16 year old girl who was supposed to be at a stop sign waiting for an opening, stopped, and then just went like it was a 4-way stop. I immediately called my mom to go get Braden who would be getting home in just a few mins. Then i thought to call my friend Polly who lives close to go get him, and she did without any hesitation. (so grateful for good friends and family who'll drop what they are doing to help out) I then redirected my mom to where I was so I could get home. Luckily 2 tow trucks happened to be driving near-by and came and helped us out.
As a side note I called Ross and told him what was going on and the Dr. he was working with made him leave to come and help out-another blessing.
When my mom got there, the police had just showed up and started filling out the paper work. My mom brought Cashel along so Darci wouldn't have too much craziness by herself. So I get in my mom's car to wait for the cops to get done. I look back at Cashel to see him projectile vomiting. I jump out of the car and ran around and open the door, (now you have to just picture this, during this whole fiasco, Cashel is just sitting there looking chill (or lathargic) and has both of his hands in his coat pocket- like he was hanging out-kinda funny!) and get there in time for him to throw up again, and yet again. Yuck!  I just laughed! and it's a good thing becuase I may have cried otherwise. *sigh*

Blessings out  of this whole thing:
friends and family willing to help
I was alone in the car
it wasn't my fault
they are fully insured
neither of us were badly hurt (just a few aches here and there)

I'm so ready to go to bed. Jace...PLEASE have a restful night!! :)

It's Been Awhile...

First of all, Jace is doing fantastic. He was able to leave the hospital the following Monday. Nothing was found wrong with him, and they think the high fever was from a viral cold. I'm even more grateful for a healthy family after this experience.
Now the main reason for my non-blogging, is that I've apparently filled my capacity of pitures. Has this happened to any of you? What did you do? I'm considering just starting a new one...what do you think?

My Baby is Sick, Sick, Sick!!

Thursday early evening, after a day of errands I noticed Jace was just kind of out of it, and was super hot. His under arm temp was 101.4 so really he was over 102. Poor little guy! So Ross and I gave him tylenol throughout the night and decided to go to the Dr. on Friday since his fever was still high.

At the Drs office Jace's temp was up to 103 degrees. Our Pediatrician sent us to Children's Mercy Hospital right away to get him a work up. Thankfully Darci and Scott were able to get Cashel from me so I didn't have to try wrangle him while taking care of Jace. And a blessing was that Ross was able to meet me at the hospital which took a HUGE weight off of my shoulders.

At CMH (in the ER) they did 3 different tests, a urine test (put a catheter in to extract), a blood test, and a lumbar test (did a lumbar puncture-I hated seeing/haring this one the most). The tests came back negative, but they wanted to put them on cultures to see if some bacteria would grow over the next 2 days. So we were sent up stairs to a room.

Jace was super sleepy and just laid there content to be left alone.

Not normal for this little guy...he wants to be held and played with all the time!

Cuddle time with Daddy before he left for the night. 

We have now been here for 3 days, 2 nights and will be here for at least one more night. I can tell such a difference in his demeanor. He is happy, awake lots and kicking and punching all over the place. The cultures all came back negative-yay!- so it's viral, not bacterial. We just can't seem to keep that fever down! So here we will stay, lets pray it isn't for much longer.

Go Fireballs!

Braden started parks and rec soccer this year and is absolutley LOVING it. As you might guess he isn't the most aggressive, but will wait for the ball to come to him rather than go into the mob of kids to try to fight for it. He does have a great strong kick though! He is doing this with his friend Robbie and they are getting to know eachother better and are having so much fun.

His first game was just hilarious! (Unfortunately Ross couldn't make because he was off working.) But Braden was a such a riot to watch. He was galloping down the field, doing crazy hand movements, making crazy sounds, pulling his shorts up and much more! He was just so excited he didn't know what to do. But his second game he was much calmer and was watching the ball a little bit more than before. And with each game he's getting better and better and becoming more comfortable. In fact, he scored his first goal at his last game (game number 4)!!

Adalyn and Ellie came to support!

It's crazy that the season started so out so hot and on the last game was freezing!

Look at that kick!

Rain, Rain Go Away? No Way!

Good times!

Color Me Beautiful

The boys got the chalk out one day and when I made my way out, this is what I found...

Don't you just love this face?? Haha

 Well Braden decided Cashel didn't have enough chalk on, so he decided to help him out. :)

I love the brotherly love!

 

We are so grateful that Grandma Jones could come out to be with us and help out. It made my life so much easier having her here. And of course the boys absolutely loved it!

 Baby Jace in the first few weeks of life.

 Amanda and Brandon came into town! The boys couldn't have been more thrilled having them here! We had a good time! And I think Brandon got a pretty good exercise every day with chasing, throwing, and wrestling the boys. :)

I was pretty worried about Cashel and how he would handle having Jace come home, especially when at the hospital he wouldn't really acknowledge him or me. But he has actually adjusted really well. He loves to hold Jace and he gives him kisses throughout the day. And luckily he doesn't have any hard feelings towards me either.

Braden is in Kindergarten!

That's right my first baby has started school!

He did a really good job. He was a little nervous waiting outside for the bell, he was holding my hand and there was no way he was letting it go! He was the first in his class, and we found his seat where a coloring page was waiting for him. He sat down and was fine! He was ready for me to go. I got a little teary eyed as I left, and they actually had donuts in the library for the Kindergartner moms. It was so nice that Grandma Jones came out to help us, I was able to take Braden by myself and not have to try to drag the other 2 boys along.

So far he is doing great. He loves it and is making friends which is always nice to hear. Although Braden did tell me that they are teaching him like he was in preschool, because he already knows everything they are learning. Hopefully he doesn't get too bored!! I'm so proud of my little man!

The Big Day

We checked in at 5am Friday morning. Waited around for almost an hour, then started paper work (isn't that what the pre-registery was for?), got blood drawn and the IVs put in. It was around 8am that I got the pitocin. I felt the contractions started pretty much right away. But they came on slow, and I wasn't in much pain for quite awhile. To keep busy, I read my book and called people to keep them informed. I talked to my mom more than anyone since she shouldn't be there due to my Dad having surgery the same day...go figure that one!

I got my water broke around 12:30 and was dilated only to a 2, almost a 3. Because I wasn't far along, I told my Mom not to hurry even though my Dad was out of surgery. About 10 mins later they brought in the stuff for my epidural because the Dr. insisted I'd be moving along much quicker. And 45 mins later when I actually got it, I was very glad he'd insisted. I was in PAIN! 

Of course the epidural wasn't as magical as the other ones I've gotten with the other boys. It did lessen the pain, But it wasn't ever totally gone.

By 2pm I was at a 7.  My mom was still at the hospital with my Dad.

Because I was laying on my side, the epidural settled on the side I was on. I ended up in ALOT of pain on the other side. I didn't even feel like I could move. And when I did move to go to my other side, I just wanted him OUT. They felt and his head was right there, so I just started pushing, not necessarily because I felt the urge with the contractions, but really I just wanted the pain to stop.

I pushed like 3 or 4 times and he was out! And yes, I felt the head and the shoulders come out-OUCH! Luckily he has a small head! :) He was born at 2:30 and was just perfect!

Jace Leland

August 19th, 2011
2:30 p.m.
8 lbs. 5oz.

20 3/4"

2 weeks early
.......
.......

Proud Momma

Happy Daddy

Giddy Big Brother(s)

Excited Grandmas

More to come...

The Destroyer

One afternoon Braden and I were cleaning up his room and under his bed while Cashel was playing downstairs. Well when I went downstairs to get the broom, I saw Cashel with a wooden toy hammer in hand hitting the T.V.!! And this was the result...(it's much worse now)

No need to say I was pretty angry, and Cashel new it, he started crying instantly. I marched him up to his room while I calmed down. I continued helping Braden clean his room and at one point Cashel opened his door, and I very firmly told him to shut it, which he did, and he didn't try opening it again.

After his time out and our talk, about an hour later, Braden told me that I needed to come and see what Cashel did. And this is what I found... 

He had somehow gotten ahold of one of my decorative balls and tore it up. What a pill!! That was one LONG day.

Goodness Gracious...Braden's 5!!

Braden is now 5 years old...so hard to believe. But he is still as cute as ever!

 Braden decided on a pirate birthday theme, so I made him a treasure chest cake...

 We had lots of friends come to help celebrate, which made it that much more fun!

 We had it at a park, and of course Cashel managed to get down and dirty!

 We played with water balloons, doing a water balloon toss.

 And all the kids made a pirate eye patch.

 Then of course, present time...

 As a favor we gave all the kids a styrofoam sword...they had a good time with those... :)

We ended the day with Grandma and Poppy, and Keri, Greg and Samantha at the T-Rex restaurant at Legends, Braden's favorite!

I am absolutely in love with this boy. Still so sweet! Well not so much towards his brother anymore, they do still get a long and play really well together most of the time, but they definitely have their (many) moments.

I love that he still likes to cuddle with his mom. And he is such a good helper, and I'm sure that he'll be that way when the baby comes, which I'm so grateful for! Just a little side story of his helpfulness...While I've been pregnant and wanting to sleep a little longer than the boys (who can't seem to sleep past 7/7:30), Braden will take Cashel downstairs, turn on cartoons and get him breakfast. Isn't he amazing? I sure think so!