2015

Wow what a year we have had! 

Andrew: Is a graduated man and working hard as always. He is also looking forward to finding a new job for 2016!

Starrie: Is staying at home with the kiddos and leading a very busy life! Especially now that Jocey is in school, Vivian is Vivian haha and there is a new baby to get used to.

Jocelynn: Is killing it at being a Kindergartener, Big Sissy and awesome daughter and friend. This year she learned to read, and hit all her milestones! She is exceptionally smart and loves to learn about everything.

Vivian: Is so proud to not only be a Little Sissy but also a Big Sissy! She is hitting all her milestones and is talking so well and much more clearly. She is so polite and always says sorry when she feels bad. She is so dang energetic, silly and spunky, it's hard to keep up with!

Oliver: Is such a sweet boy and is doing great on his sleeping and feeding skills! Being a little 1 month old is a tough gig and he is doing it with flying colors. He laughs, smiles, babbles and holds his head up.

We are looking forward to this new year!

Jocelynn's Labor Story

My baby girl just turned 6! I'm really having a hard time with the reality of that and am trying to enjoy each moment with her. In doing so I realized that this blog does not have her labor story. After rummaging through my diaries I found a vague entry of her labor. It's better than nothing though!

Before the hospital:

At 36 weeks along I was dilated to 5cm (on my birthday, Dec. 14, 2009) I went to the hospital but there was no progress. I walked around at a 5 for over 2 weeks. On the night of December 27 for some reason I thought my water was leaking, but was worried if it wasn't I would not be admitted.

The Hospital:

I arrived at the hospital around 10:30 p.m. And was dilated to 6cm so they ended up keeping me. It was weird because I felt no pain or contractions, even though I was having them regularly. After several hours of labor the next morning I got to 8cm, still having no pain. I was scared that I would have pain while pushing so I got an epidural, which also did not hurt. After that, at 9cm they broke my water. They told me to go to sleep while my body finished dilating, when I woke up about an hour later I was fully dilated to 10cm. I pushed for an hour and a half, still had no pain and remember feeling so hungry! Finally, on December 28th at 10:35 a.m. little Jocelynn was born! Weighing 7lbs 12 ounces and 19 inches long. Born at 38w 6d. I still remember thinking about how warm she felt as soon as they layed her on my tummy right after delivery!

My Thoughts:

I've always regretted getting that dang epidural! I didn't need it! And I really had wished I ate a larger meal before going to the hospital.

I needed 1 stitch for a tiny little tear on the inside. I had extreme swelling the first few days and it was hard walking due to heaviness.

My first delivery experience was wonderful, even if I'd wished I did some thing differently. There is nothing that compares to experiencing child birth for the first time! Seeing my Jocey's face for the first time really put into perspective how much love you can instantly have for a tiny little baby and person! I am so grateful she is our first!

Ollie's Labor

I wanted to write down my labor story with Ollie so that I do not end up forgetting what happened later on.

Earlier in the day:

On November 2nd, in the middle of the day I was having contractions on and off but they were not very close together and ended up stopping if I got up or walked around for a little. Later that night we went to Andrew's mom's house to eat some dinner, after dinner I suggested to Andrew that we go on an hour long walk to see if we could get anything started. Even if nothing was going to start, I wanted to go to the hospital because my hip was hurting pretty badly. During the walk I had several contractions but of course they would stop as soon as I stopped walking and or sat down. After the walk we went back to pick up the girls and decided to go down to the hospital for my hip. We stopped at home first to get the girls ready for bed so that coming home would be easier and threw our hospital bags in the car "just in case". The whole way down we told the girls we were probably not staying at the hospital and that we would just show them where I would be once the baby came etc. 

Hospital:
Once we got to the hospital at around 10 p.m. I got in my gown and told them about my hip, they wanted to monitor for an hour just to make sure everything was ok with baby. As soon as I got in the bed the nurse came in and checked me, I was at a 4 and 70% effaced! We were pretty surprised because I had been at a 1 and 50% for 7 weeks. After the hour had passed I progressed to a 4+ and once again we were caught off guard and admitted. Vivian was very concerned for me while I was getting the IV and Jocelynn could not contain her excitement. Later, Andrew's parents came and got the kids. After 2 hours I was pretty much a 5 still and my cervix was pretty posterior, so we decided to break my water to get things going a little faster, this was at 2 a.m. During the next 50 min I was really starting to feel it and started to get anxiety that things might turn out like Vivian's delivery. I got to the point where I couldn't focus and started crying and basically screaming uncontrollably, the nurse came in and checked me at 2:50 a.m. and I was at a 7. I thought I could get through it, but when the next contraction came at 3:00 a.m. I asked for the epidural. Around 4:00 a.m. the nurse came in to put in a catheter, but I ended up being 10 cm and fully effaced, which was surprising and scary. Scary because my epidural was only working on one side (never had that happen before) and surprising because I have had 12 and 13 hour labors in the past so I was prepared to be in labor for much longer. At 4:15 a.m. we got ready to push and at 4:37 little Oliver was born. He was born at 38w 2d, on November 3rd and was 8lbs 1oz, 20 inches long. The first thing I said when I heard him cry was, " Oh my gosh he even sounds like a boy!" and then we both almost started crying.
My placenta took a good 25 minutes to come out (and that was with painful kneading on my stomach for all that time), once they got it out I am pretty sure they cleaned my uterus out, so I haven't bled much and it was also my first time ripping during birth. The recovery has been a little more rough then my other two.

My Thoughts:
I cannot believe I cut my labor time in half this time, it seems like it came and went so much quicker!
I am so glad that It all happened the way that it did, it was a great experience for me and I feel so blessed that everything went well. 

Babies are little miracles, it blows my mind how different each labor is and what is required to get them here. We love our Ollie baby!

Mermaids

Once again I decided to make my girls costumes for Halloween this year. I was out of ideas when it came to princess' so I asked Jocey what she would like to be. She was very insistent that she be a mermaid, and of course Vivian agreed.

All the mermaid costumes you could buy, in my opinion, hardly resembled a mermaid and looked like a regular dress. So to Pinterest I went, but still no one had made anything I particularly liked. I decided to combine a fabric I saw one place, with a tail I saw another, a shell bra that had a dead link on its tutorial, while also adding my own touches.

Materials I used:

2 Nude Dance Leotards

2 yards of two different colored Tulle

1 yard Fish Scale Fabric from Amazon 

1/4 yard Purple Dance Wear Fabric

1 yard Stretchy Purple Sequin material

Some stuffing

Basically I drew my own shells for the bra, sewed right sides together, flipped inside out, stuffed them, sewed them shut and then I hand sewed the lines into the shell bra. After that I attached the bra to the leotards with my machine for duarability and added the sequin material around the back connecting each side of the bra. I cut the leotards in half (horizontally) and serged the edges, cut my mermaid scale fabric, fit it to their waists and sewed it to the leotards. Later I cut the bottom of the scale tail into a triangle and attached straight cut ruffled tulle to the sides of the triangle where I had cut. Last I added tulle to the tops of the tail for a completed look.

The best part is there are no zippers, buttons or snaps, just stretchy goodness. And because they're so stretchy there are no issues with walking or running!

My girls have already played in these and they're in love!

Pregnancy Comparisons

I think it is fun to do some pregnancy comparisons. So here are a few.

Morning Sickness and Gender
Jocelynn: Girl, Sick until just under 30 weeks, throwing up everyday
Vivian: Girl, Sick until after she was born, throwing up almost everyday
Oliver: Boy, Nauseated until 15 weeks, bearable with very little throwing up

Cravings 
Jocelynn: Sweets
Vivian: Sweets
Oliver: Bland, NO SWEETS-blech

Starting Weight
Jocelynn: 130 lbs
Vivian: 143 lbs
Oliver: 153 lbs

Ending Pregnancy Weight
Jocelynn: 150 lbs, total weight gain 20 lbs
Vivian: 162 lbs, total weight gain 19 lbs
Oliver: *updated* 172 lbs, total weight gain 19 lbs

Deliveries/ Complications
Jocelynn: Dilated to a 9 w/o epidural and little pain. I was scared to push, got an epidural (at a 9) and had her vaginally. 13 hour labor.

Vivian: Dilated to a 6 w/o epidural. She pooped in her water, was facing posterior, I was in horrific pain and got the epidural at a 6. Labor then stopped, I was put on pitocen, I pushed her out in a few contractions vaginally, without her head ever getting into the right position. NICU team was present at time of birth. 12 hour labor. Later I found out I had a dermoid cyst the size of soft ball that weighed 5 lbs on my ovary which most likely contributed to such a horrible labor. That was removed 8 months later via c-section.

Oliver: TBA

Weeks at Time of Delivery
Jocelynn: 38 weeks 6 Days, Not induced
Vivian: 38 weeks 5 Days, Not induced. Did not make it to scheduled induction.
Oliver: *updated* 38 weeks 2 days

Every baby is so different. You think you know what your future has in store for you, but you really don't. At least that's how I feel! Here are some pictures of Oliver from 5 weeks ago.

    The Money Shot.

     Face, Leg, Shoulder. His feet are in his face.

                                            

    His whole leg.

A long time coming

OH Wow! I haven't posted on here in ages, I view this blog as a personal family diary that my kids can look back on as well as myself.

2015 has been such a year of wonderfullness! Andrew graduated with his Bachelors Degree from Broadview University in Business Management at the end of December of 2014. And has now started his MBA this last May.

 After his graduation in December, we felt very strongly it was time to expand our family. So in March we found out we were pregnant! And later in May found out we are having a little BOY. We are so very excited, but also scared and in shock, because all new things can be quite scary. His name is Oliver and I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and feeling his little movements.

Jocelynn has perfectly completed Pre-School, and is super smart. Jocelynn is just one of those angel kids who always obeys, has a heart of GOLD, looks out for everyone and only asks for love in return. She will be starting kindergarten here in the next few weeks!

Vivian is a normal 2 (almost 3) year old who is very curious and very very aggressive when it comes to learning new things, trying to help out and loving you. She is intense. But very motivated and kind. We never knew screaming would be a gesture of love.

Well that's enough of an update for now! Of course here are some pictures!

Jocey and Vivian

Jocey is going to be 5 in December. Where did the time go? She is our sweet soft spoken girl.

School:

Jocelynn started school at the end of August. She goes 2 days a week and absolutely loves it. Her teacher is really good at always doing a craft and has a very interactive learning style. Jocey love's love's love's it. She can write several words from memory including her and her sisters names. Her handwriting is very good for her age. We always knew she was smart and it is really nice to see her progress and for her to have such a good outlet for her creativity.

Personality:

Jocey is fun loving, crazy, one of the kindness people you will ever meet and very "wise beyond her years." We can have long conversations with her, snuggle her, play pretend or even just listen to her sweetly deal with her little sister. She is extremely friendly to all children and enjoys playing for hours with anyone, whether they are her age or not. If you're willing to play, she is happy. We are so blessed to have her as our oldest child.

Favorites: 

Frozen, playing pretend, helping mom clean, COOKING AND BAKING, having her arm and back tickled, snuggling, drawing on white boards, putting on "make up", skirts and going to school.

Vivian will be 2 next month. She is our rambunctious, wild and crazy child.

Home:

Vivian loves her one on one time with mommy ( and sometimes daddy ) when sissy is at school. Vivian loves getting into everything and dumping all toys everywhere.  She is very hands on. 

Personality:

Vivian screams a lot and uses very loud pitched voices. It's just her personality. She is a cheese ball, the funnier the smile the better. She loves to feel like she is being taken into consideration and heard. She talks quite a bit, but chooses not to when a lot of people are around because she knows sissy will talk for her. She is head strong and refuses to get punished for anything, unless you say no to her in a deep scary voice. She can be one of the craziest kids and also one of the sweetest. She is always up for kisses but not always snuggles. And she loves saying "I love you."

Favorites:

Frozen (even more so than Jocey), being sung to, rocking in a rocking chair, pizza, mexican food, any kind of soda, wrapping babies, kissing babies and CANDY!!!!!

Jocelynn and Vivian love each other so much, but can get on each others nerves very quickly. They like to pretend they are having babies together. If one of them gets one thing the other has to have something similar so they can be twins. All. The. Time. It's adorable. We love them so very much.