Fun Quiz (thanks mommy of 5)

You Belong in 1955

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

I wish I could remember to take some pictures....

Sorry, I have no new pictures to post right now but I thought I would just drop a note and let you know I am still alive.....I think. My birthday is coming up on Sat the 6th and I keep forgetting about it. I was pregnant on my last birthday when I was 30 and have already been pregnant again and had another baby girl. My family went from a family of 3 to a family of 5 since my last birthday. At least I am not pregnant for this birthday and can maybe enjoy it although I don't know that we are going to do anything.

So I am turning 31 and I feel 40. I did something to my neck the week we came home from the hospital (actually 2 weeks ago from today) and it is still hurting me. I have been on muscle relaxers for a week and a half and tylenol and advil. Nothing is helping is seems. They have now put me on some steroids. They think my neck pain is causing my headaches which I have had every day since last Tuesday. I am just a mess but trying to stay positive. I'm not pregnant anymore and that is one thing to be happy about.

I am very happy that I am able to fit back in my old jeans already. I want to continue to lose more weight and hopefully look more like what I did when Ryan and I got married. It is a far stretch but with me not working I hope to eventually have time and a schedule that allows me to walk and eventually run like I used to. I know this would make me feel more like I am 31 and not 40.

Haylee is doing better with the new sister and seems to be adjusting. She has her moments though. I am trying to get her 1st B-day party together and planned. It will be on Sunday Sept 21st for those of you who need to put it in your calender. She had had to grow up so much the past month it seems like. I love her little personality that is coming out...she is just a doll!

Tyler is doing good. My first day by myself all day was Tuesday and he woke up sick to his stomach. I had to take Katelynn to her 2 week check up so I asked Aunt Stephanie to come sit with Tyler and Haylee so I wouldn't have to take everyone and bust out the double stroller in the small doctors office. Poor Tyler ended up throwing up while I was gone...or should I say poor Stephanie. He felt 100% after that and played outside the rest of the day. Must have been something he ate.

Katelynn is a bit like Haylee. The past 2 night have been much better but the nights before that were about 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours of sleep for me. I guess the steroids are helping me have some energy. We are trying to figure out her constipation problem and I have stopped the breast feeding. The pedi wanted me to continue to supplement with formula and she pretty much refused the breast feeding thing. If she had been my 1st or even 2nd and I didn't have another baby hanging on me I probably would have done much better but that was one thing that I could take off my plate. Time management was huge to me and if I had spent 30 min trying to get her to nurse and then had to give her a bottle anyway then I had to pump (plus I kept getting blocked milk ducts that was extremely painful) I wanted to trade that for a 15 minute feeding. She is sweet and slept all night 2 nights ago and only woke up one time last night for a feeding.

I will do my best to take some pictures of the kiddos. Looks like I talked about everybody but Ryan. He is back to work and misses the time he had at home with me and the kids. We are getting closer to our 7 year anniversary coming up in October and I am excited. What is the 7 year itch all about. We have our struggles but have no itch to go elsewhere. We started the Financial Peace University class by Dave Ramsey at church last night. It is tough to sit through it and hear all of the ways the have made mistakes and how $$ is the #1 reason marriages are torn apart. We are staying strong and hope to learn how to plan for our future and get out of debt. It is going to take a while and it will be hard but we have committed to this and we are hopeful. So anyway new pictures to come soon. I promise! Here are a couple of cute pictures I took before I had Katelynn. I meant to post them before but never had time...enjoy! Still had room in his lap for Katelynn!

Very busy in the Ivy house........

As you can tell by my lack of blogging it is very busy in the Ivy house. I feel so out of sorts because I long to have some sort of order and schedule going and that is not happening at all. I thought that while Ryan was home with me it would be the best time to make some changes and he could be there to help. We switched Haylee to whole milk instead of formula out of a sippy cup instead of a bottle. We still give her formula if we are out of the house but she is all whole milk at home. That went better than I thought but I think she is more upset about baby sister taking her place in mommy's lap. That seems to be her biggest complaint. Tyler is doing very good just a little acting out when he isn't getting enough attention. Katelynn is much like Haylee was at night. For instance....I got 3 hours of sleep last night! I do believe we have a colic baby on our hands. Unfortunately her pumpkin hours are from about 10 or 11pm to 1 or 2am! So I get to sleep from 2 til 5am and then Ryan gets up for work and it is time for Katelynn to feed again. Because nursing isn't going so well I have to pump about this time of the morning and by the time I am done with all of that Haylee is waking up. I know things will get better and more sleep will come but man it is tough. One good thing going for me is that it hasn't been that long since I was up all hours of the night dealing with a colic baby so it isn't as bad as it was when I had Haylee. I feel like the morning is worse though. Haylee wants to cuddle and Katelynn is crying and Tyler is hungry. I just want to get a schedule going and cant wait for that to happen. So enough of my complaining, here are a few pictures to share with you!













Mommy and Katelynn













She looks most like Tyler to me and we think she has brown eyes!














































Haylee had fun with me at the hospital until she saw her new sister. She wanted to climb in the hospital crib to get her.













Proud big brother!









































Sweet kisses!

















After we got home. Sleeping on tummy trying to help out the gas bubbles!









































Kissable lips!

I Grow People........

I saw this T shirt not too long after I got pregnant with Katelynn. Actually Ryan found it and said this is perfect for you Robin and held it up to me in the store. I never did get it but still think it is cute! I thought before I "stop growing people" I would share the cute shirt with you. I am kinda sad (but only a little bit) to think about this baby possibly being my last child. I know every mom goes through that feeling. Seeing that I have pretty much been pregnant for 2 years now....I almost want to burn my maternity clothes (not yours Laura or Deanna)! I don't even remember what regular clothes I have in my closet but I am very anxious to get back in them. I am very excited to sleep on my tummy (for the little time I will be able to sleep!) I cant wait to be one body and I am looking forward to seeing my OB/Gyn once a year like every other woman. I am sure they are tired of seeing my face and belly and other things too! So just a few emotions as I draw near to the end of what could possibly be the end of having children. We haven't decided on birth control yet but seeing that I got pregnant on the pill 2 times we might look at doing something different. Ryan is not wanting to do anything permanent yet because we are still young and wants the option to be there if something were to happen to 1 or all of our kids. I pray we never have that happens Dear Lord! I will reevaluate how I feel after I am not pregnant for a while. I don't think I could give it a good solid solution right now. Don't get me wrong, we are not wanting anymore right now and think a family of 5 is plenty and perfect for us right now. We will just see what options are best for us. I am about to go to my last OB appt for Katelynn and I will give everyone a update if there is one. Basically I haven't changed since the last one and she is giving me the option if I want to do the 3rd treatment or not. She was hoping it would change/progress my cervix but she hates to put me through all of the pain and it not change me. So as it stands right now it looks like Monday will be the day. If I have changes today I will let ya know! Off for now....see ya!

The fun day I had yesterday.....

Okay, that was painful! So I got there yesterday at 10am and they asked me all of the questions and I found out that I hadn't registered yet. I told the nurse I just had a baby here in September, am I not still in the computer? Well, evidently I have to re-register for this delivery. So after doing the paperwork and answering tons of questions they got started on the "gel" stuff at about 10:45. They checked me first and I am still dilated 1-2cm (really 1 and a wiggle is what she said) and I am 40% effaced.

After starting the gel she told me they would leave me on the monitor for about 30 minutes to watch Katelynn's heart rate and see if I have any contractions. If Katelynn and I were doing good she would have me go walk for 30 min come back check Katelynn's heart rate and then walk again for 30 more minutes. I started feeling contractions about 20 minutes later but they weren't showing up on the monitor.

Off I go to walk for 30 minutes. My mom had the kids up there with her at work and so she came back over to the hospital to walk with me. We went to the mommy/baby boutique to exchange my pajama's my mom got for me to wear in the hospital. I was hurting so bad I couldn't see straight. It was a different hurt that I hadn't felt before. Severe pressure and the only thing that helped was to sit down. It was excruciating! I hated to be a complainer but I went ahead and told her when I went back that I was experiencing severe pressure. I didn't feel like a contraction but maybe more like a constant cramp. She said "good, maybe it's working".

I went and walked 30 more minutes and dreaded every step. In fact I stopped and sat down a couple of times to catch my breath. I got back and got hooked back up on the monitor but still nothing showing up on the monitor. They checked me before I left and I was "unchanged". Now I was supposed to pack up my kids and go home. I was no where feeling like doing anything but to lay in bed. It was so painful that I had Ryan come home a little early to help me. Thankfully Haylee was in need of a big nap and I didn't have to get up much with her. The 2 times I did get up was to make a bottle and to change a dirty diaper. I thought I was going to die. I thought my water was about to break any minute. My contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes or so but it was a walk in the park compared to the other pain.

At about 6:00 or so I started feeling more relief from the severe pressure but was still having the contractions. They were pretty regular and I thought I need to go get a shower and see if that will help relax me. I did just that and then ate a great dinner my parents had come over to fix. By 8:00 I barely had anymore pain and the contractions were tapering off as well. I was relieved but kinda bummed that things were ending.

We will have another chance to go through this on Monday and I will be better prepared for what is coming and the pain I am going to feel. Please pray that Monday's "gel" treatment will at least make me progress in some way. So frustrating to go through all of that and to stay the same. I want it to help things along even if I don't go into labor on my own I don't want this to be for nothing! Thank you for your prayers.

So this was my day...how was yours?

See no evil....Hear no evil!

Some of you might remember this picture from a while back
This is how she used to eat her bottles:













This is how she eats her bottles now! I think it is a comfort thing because she just gently holds her ears.


















I think it is really cute except I need her to hold her bottles. She knows how to but would rather hold her ears. If I make her hold her bottle, she wont finish it and the bottle is wasted and she gets hungry sooner.





































What to do? Silly girl I am about to have to feed your sister every 3 hours. I guess I can breast feed and bottle feed at the same time. Haylee will turn one pretty soon and we will try to do away with the bottle ASAP. Tyler did great going from bottle formula to sippy cup of milk but Haylee is all together different than him and I am not sure it will be as easy!


















Pretty girl!

Another Katelynn update.....

Well , I had my appointment with my OB yesterday. Katelynn is doing great and measuring to be about 9 lb 1 oz give or take a pound they say (hopefully take a pound.) Everything looks fine on the sonogram and she is head down now! Yay! I am dilated 1cm and she is sending me today to Labor and Delivery Triage to have the 1st of 3 doses of the prostin gel to be administered. I will go back on Monday and have another dose of it and then I have my appt Wed. Then, one last dose of the gel again on Thurs. and my induction is scheduled for Mon the 18th. So if I don't go sooner with these treatments then we will see Katelynn in about a week and a half. Please be praying for everything to be safe and for Katelynn and I to stay healthy. Pray for a smooth delivery as well! I will try to update more if I can.

Uh-Oh!

You will have to excuse the pictures of my filing drawer. Haylee learned how to say Uh-Oh about a week or so ago. She now says 3 or 4 words. Uh-Oh is the most used and her favorite. She also says Daddy every time he comes home from work and when I show her his picture (not so much Mommy but every now and then) and she is now starting to say "Ba" for ball! This is Haylee's favorite place to be if I am on the computer. She takes my bracelets and will drop them in to the open space in the drawer.


















She will look at me and say Uh-Oh! Her mouth is just adorable when she says it. Ryan and I love it.


















Saying Uh-Oh again she will try to get it but her arms are too short to reach it so Mommy has to bend over to get it. It is so cute and was fun about the first 10 times but you know how hard it is to bend over with a big baby in the tummy. Got old pretty fast. :)

New blog background...

So, I found this website where you can download cute blog backgrounds FOR FREE (free being the key word) and decided that this was the one I liked best. It was hard to chose because there are so many cute choices. I love it because it was basically a copy and paste kind of thing and took no time to revamp my blog. I did however realize that the picture header I had on there did not match so then I had to do the scrapblog thing to have it match. I actually thought about not using one because the background is so busy already. But, I don't have a good recent picture of Tyler and Haylee together to just put one pic up for the header. If you like the background you can go to www.thecutestblogontheblock.com and get your own. Lots to chose from and instructions on how to copy and paste it. It really only took me maybe 5 minutes to find the one I wanted and get it on there. FUN!

Katelynn update.....

I meant to post this last week after my appointment but never got a chance to. We did a sonogram and discovered that she is now head up and still about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks bigger than her dates. Since my appt I think she has already flipped back head down. Thank you Jesus...I don't need a C-Section. I was 35 weeks and was measuring on sono to be 38.5 weeks. So, same song second verse with this visit. Everything else looked great as far as her fluid around her and her movement. By the way we got to see her rubbing her eyes with her little fist like as if she were tired....so neat! She has some very chubby cheeks! My doctor checked me and I am dilated a finger tip. She went ahead and scheduled my induction for August 18 if I don't go into laboron my own (which never happens!) 08/18/08.....should be easy to remember that date. I am getting anxious and very ready...I think! It is just so hot and I am more miserable this pregnancy than my other 2. I guess it's every thing combined with the weather being so hot and having to take care of the other 2 kids and Katelynn being so big. I just heard the forecast and it is pretty sad when you think...well at least Wed will only be 103 degrees. Oh my gosh....104 and 105 the rest of the week. I would love to live in Colorado right now! Thank you for all the prayers and we are getting close to the end. I go back on Wed and I will let you know if there is anything different going on.

Some new things about Tyler...

I just feel the need to post about my sweet Tyler! Seeing that he is four he isn't learning things every month or even every week like Haylee, I feel like he gets left out. I am always snapping pics of Haylee doing something new that amazes me that she has learned and it isn't always something visible with Tyler. We have been working with him on writing and how to hold his pen or pencil. One thing he should know by now and doesn't is how to write his name. It is my goal over the next month or so to get him to be able to write his name by himself.

He really enjoyed VBS and talks about when does he get to go back. He doesn't understand why it is over and hard to comprehend that he can go again next summer. He sings the songs and talks about the stories he learned.

He has had to be such a big boy for me lately due to complications I have been having. I have been having episodes where my blood pressure drops too much and it makes me pass out. I have had the episodes for about 3-4 weeks now and have actually passed out 2 times. He just sits beside me, holds my hand and says "it's okay mommy...you'll feel better soon." If it happens when I am not prepared and haven't called daddy or other family to come help me he knows to run next door to get our neighbor to help. Such a big boy and a big helper. Thank you Lord for my grown up Tyler. He is such a blessing!

One thing I have battled lately is the TV show Calliou. I know, sounds weird but I would love your opinions on this. Hopefully most of you mommies have seen this and can tell me what you think. I think the show is fine in most areas. I like the morals and what Calliou learns each day. I like the simplicity of the cartoon and that it isn't unrealistic like some other cartoons. I even like how the parents deal with Calliou in every situation but I can't stand Calliou's voice and some of his actions. He constantly whines to his parents and it is a very noticeable whine. The second issue is he usually isn't nice to his little sister Rosie. He talks to her in a very rude manner and treats her like she is a pest. I probably would have never had a problem with it until Tyler starts talking like him and starts acting out with Haylee like Calliou does with his sister Rosie like taking and not sharing toys. I know this comes natural to this age but not sure that I want Tyler to see it being acted out in front of him. :( This is one of Tyler's favorite shows. He even knows what time it comes on and begs for the TV to be turned on to Calliou.

I had abruptly made the decision the other day that we were not going to watch it anymore after a miserable outing to Target. I seriously thought he had turned into Calliou. I made mention several times over the past week or so that if he started talking and whining like Calliou that mommy was not going to let him watch it that day. That didn't seem to help and so I vetoed that show. Bless his heart, he has asked me so politely and says " I won't talk like him anymore mommy!" It breaks my heart but if any of you know Tyler, he used to always talk in this forced deep grown up voice ALL THE TIME and I actually loved it. I actually thought we may never have to battle the baby talk because my son sounds like he has already gone through puberty. It became almost natural for him to talk that way. I don't like the baby/whiny talk from Calliou and don't want my son to imitate it.

So, am I being too harsh? Ryan says it's just a TV show and that we have the right to take away shows that promote bad behavior and he is behind me. I just feel mean and want to find something to replace that time of the day to make Tyler forget about Calliou. Something fun....but then there is all the "up next is Calliou or today at 12:30 is Calliou" to remind him. Uugh! What to do? Am I being unrealistic and overly mean? What would you do?

As I am rereading my blog to make corrections...God is showing me how blessed I am that this is my biggest hurdle with him right now. He has really grown up and so independent now. I can remember just a few months ago posting about his unending questions and how much it drove me crazy and now this. That hasn't ended but it is way better! Thank you Lord for the struggles and the choices we get to make when it comes to raising our kids. I pray that I make the right choices for my children that glorify You!

A girl's accessories.....

a purse and some bracelets!


















These are some bracelets of mine that I wore to church on Sunday and has been what she has wanted to play with all week.


















She liked to put them in her little purse and then pull them out and hand them to me so I could put it on her wrist. She is able to get them around her ankles all by herself though.


















It was a nice and different change since all she ever wants to play with is her brothers cars and tools. She has also taken a interest in her baby dolls (but that will be a different post) hopefully to prepare her for the new baby about to enter her world.

Daddy's Hands!

These are a bunch of pictures I took of Haylee and Daddy. She has shown a big interest in daddy lately. As soon as he drives up form work, Tyler is usually out the door to greet him and Haylee can look out the glass door. She gets so excited to see him. She holds her arms up and bounces as if she is saying pick me up daddy, pick me up!


















She looked so adorable in her strawberry night gown I had to take pictures. Then she started being so sweet with daddy. Probably hoping to get more spaghetti. ;) Look how big Ryan's hands look...


















Haylee noticed them too.
















Oh how Ryan loves her touch. I know she will have those same feelings about his hands. Daddy's hands are so different from ours...big, strong, rough and a protection.

















Thank you Lord for our earthly fathers and that we get to experience their touch and feel their love and protection. We love you daddy!

Tyler where are you?????

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. I've been slacking but I have good reason....too hot to do anything! ;)
I enrolled Tyler in a VBS near at a church near our house this past week. It has been pretty quiet around the house to say the least. So funny to realize how much Tyler is a part of Haylee's every day activities. We would get home from dropping him off and luckily it would be close to her nap time but until nap she spent her time looking everywhere for bubba! I really had to be her entertainment. What would I do without Tyler?


















When I went to pick up Tyler I told him that Haylee had been looking for him and he said "awww Haylee were you worried about me? I love you Haylee!" I look back and see him holding her hand. I know it's not the best picture but it melted my heart. So sweet I just love it!

Haylee Marie, You're the next contestant on the Price is Right....

Haylee LOVES the Price is Right! Well, she actually just likes when they spin the big wheel. The minute she hears it she crawls straight for the TV and as the wheel is spinning it makes that beep-beep-beep-beep sound she starts to bounce/dance. She just stares at it til everyone has had a turn.


















Hmmm 50, should I spin again?


















STOP STOP STOP on the 15 Yay 65! Too funny

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Well Ryan moved up and we welcome him to the thirty crowd. He turned the big 30 on Friday. Tyler and I made him a strawberry cake and got him some new jeans a birthday card. He also got to go see The Dark Knight (Batman) with me and several friends from our small group. We ate at Chipotle first and they brought cake then we were off to the movies! I will share pictures after I get them from a friend. Very good movie by the way.


















Big Wish!


















Okay, I don't know if you can see it very well but I had a pregnant brain moment. I put the candles in a 30 formation (or should I say E0 formation). MY 3 IS BACKWARDS! I can't believe I did that. My husband had a good time getting at me for doing that. I was glad to give him some good laughs.

I cant get enough showers....it is way too hot to be huge pregnant right now!

I am so hot and I cant get cooled off!! I have never really liked summer with the exception of longer days. That is really the only thing I can think of that I like about summer. I am hating this heat. When I was pregnant with Haylee last summer it wasn't as bad I guess because we had so much rain. Well, not this summer! Man, I can not wait for Fall to get here! Fall is my favorite season. If I could have planned any of my pregnancies, I would have picked to get pregnant in August and have the baby in May before it get's too hot. Nope, all 3 of my pregnancies were through the summer. I don't mean to complainer but I am nearing the end it is coming out in me. Just check out the forcast for the next 7 days!!!!

7 Day Forecast

High: 97 Low: 78 THURSDAY Partly Cloudy 20% chance of a showeresp. N & E.	High: 99 Low: 78 FRIDAY Partly Cloudy Heat Index: 100-104.	High: 101 Low: 79 SATURDAY Sunny Back to triple digits.	High: 101 Low: 79 SUNDAY Partly Cloudy Could be a storm N & W early...	High: 100 Low: 78 MONDAY Sunny Might be a "drier" heat!
High: 100 Low: 78 TUESDAY Sunny Just another day!	High: 100 Low: 78 WEDNESDAY Sunny Summer blah's continue...