Ohhh, the craziness of it all...

Just some notable pics from this last month along with a short update...

The Infamous "torpedo belly." This is post 4-mile walk. Crazy big, huh?


This is Dave a week into the 'stache-growing contest at work that started Apr 6. It's a little more filled in now.





So the past few weeks really have been good to me:
I delivered a healthy baby boy and had wonderful friends help me through it all.
I have three other boys that enjoy him so much and want only to love him every second.
I haven't felt nearly the emotional toll this time around with all the hormonal changes.
And a husband who would do anything for me and the fam.

BUT I WANT MY DAVEY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He really has been MIA these past few months. I don't get much time with him anyway, but I really have felt like the lone woman in the midst craziness. Once my Betsy left, I was afraid of what the day could bring and was pleasantly surprised that things weren't so hard after all - thanks to the older boys taking charge of their own responsibilities.

I thought that since those first two weeks were not emotionally straining I was totally in the clear for the emotional roller coaster that is childbirth; but I'm finding that although I'm not really emotional, I'm EXHAUSTED and can't really tolerate the whining and complaining that seems nonstop. Yesterday I took the initiative and "locked" the kids downstairs and let them have free access to the backyard and I had a couple of hours to myself (and Haefan) and it was WONDERFUL. Then the boys and I went to the park since it was so nice out and they LOVED it; but once we were all forced back inside from the thunderstorms, the whining picked up where it left off. I feel like I just can't win. It seems as though not everyone can be pleased. And since I'm the only parent, my psyche gets not even one moment of peace. So in other words, I'M GOING INSANE. Even as I sit here and attempt to ignore the incessant "MAMA"s, I can feel my insanity level rising. I hope that my mental health remains intact until June, when I think I should have a bit more help around me. If not, hopefully you'll still love me - crazy and all!

Things have been rather busy between just getting the kids to school and also doctors appointments, etc. We also had a several companies stop by the house to do a moving estimate. That was useful, but definitely NOT FUN. I can't stand having people over in my messy house right now, but it was a necessary evil. So now that the moving company is chosen and our move date is pretty much solidified, all I have to really do is throw out the trash and all things not being moved. That will take some time since that includes almost all toiletries and cleaning supplies. It will be difficult for me being the pack-rat that I am, but probably very cathartic and therapeutic for me, too. Oh the fun of moving!

This next week we have t-ball practices and the opening day on Saturday. Hopefully that won't be too traumatic for the big boys since they've missed all the practices this month since they are on Sunday, which we don't attend, and the Tuesday ones have been canceled due to rain.

In other news, Dave underwent some minor surgery this past week (I'll let him explain) and so that has contributed to my feelings of being alone because I've needed to allow him some recovery time and time for the drugs to wear off. Simply for the fact that I've had not much more than 5 minutes of respite time this past week or more has a large part in my path to insanity. I'm at least feeling very happy and optimistic, still, so depression is not the issue, I PROMISE. I'm just SO EXHAUSTED and really tired of hearing "MAMA!" all the time.

I hope that I have more fun pictures to post this next week and I'll work on looking toward our bright future to stave off the negativity.

Now a bit of a rewind of the past few weeks to explain the pics:

We had a wonderful Easter (sadly, without Dave, of course) with a fun Easter-egg hunt with Betsy and Max. The boys loved their sweet kid cereal in the many eggs we hid. We included Cookie Crisp, Lucky Charms, Trix, Reese's Peanut butter Cereal, and Fruit Loops. Betsy was kind enough to include a few chocolate treats, too.








We were able to celebrate JJs birthday the day after Easter with Sheila, Steven, and Trevor. They thoroughly enjoyed running around rampant and eating only a fraction of the HUGE cake.

This is JJ singing his favorite tune from Blues Clues (...sit down in your thinking chair and think, think, MMM mmm MMM, MM mm MMM mm MMM...); it's quite adorable to see in person.


A cake suitable for 30 people to be shared with 5. Nice.



What can I say? At least he's using a fork.

What's a party without the pinata??? We are Mexican, you know.





Poor Trevor has many food allergies, so he's always stuck with his own "cakes" and "treats" at my house while the rest of indulge in front of him.


It was so nice this day that Dad broke out the "pool"


Max and Betsy were so nice to live with us for 2+ weeks and so to surprise them for Betsy (and Adam's) birthday, I flew Adam out for a couple of days to spend with the family, but most especially to make the flight home a more bearable one ('cause nothing is worse than traveling solo).


We went out to Osaka (a Hibachi/sushi place) and had a wonderful time with everyone - Thanks guys!





Because of the nice weather, we spent our last night together with the Romneys at the beach, where JJ became very fond of the goose pellets and the lake water by ingesting them both. It took me some time to figure out why he was chewing so much, until I saw him grazing the sand and picking up something suspicious. Then he headed to the lake with a scooping shovel and proceeded to drink straight from the lake, simultaneously soaking his whole right side. I can laugh about it now, but it's still pretty darn disgusting.



Loving the Crazy Bread (I have to say that the LC's near Stoney Creek has the BEST Crazy Bread! It's like REAL italian bread vs. the normal greasy madness one can find everywhere else).


Peek-a-BOO!






I LOVE the warm weather and look forward to a fabulous Spring!

A Few More...

Things have been hectic around here...as would be expected bringing a new baby home, selling a house, finishing up studying/traveling/taking national surgery boards, and planning for Easter along with a couple of birthdays here at home. Let me clarify that things - despite the stacked schedule - have been rather low key. Nothing big has been planned for any of the celebrations and baby Haefan is such a dream for a baby. He has the occasional fussy night, but overall, he sleeps, eats and poops like a champ. So the circumstances couldn't be better.

So needless to say, recovering from delivery and trying to hold down the fort while Daddy Dave is away working, etc., has taken much of my energy and sucked the life from me mostly, so not much to add to the previous pictures we posted earlier. But in an attempt to add something new, I found a couple worth sharing, but really nothing more recent than the first few days of Haefan's homecoming.

Other than that, I thought I would post some of the details of it all...
So I knew when I first found out about this latest pregnancy that I wouldn't have the luxury of having Dave's parents come into town to help out the first week or so, like they have in the past since they were itching to go and serve an 18-month mission. So I thought of the various options I had and asked my BFF Betsy to come out and help me during that time. She was so good to accept the proposition. The problem was since I couldn't afford to buy a last-minute ticket for her, I had to guess when I would need her to be here for the big event. I know that I've always been shy of the 40 weeks when I deliver, but JJ was only shy by 4 days and Kaelan was shy by 3 weeks. So with trying to avoid making Betsy cover all the bases and stay for a whopping whole month to be SURE, I just guessed and booked her arrival for the 2nd of April (back in October sometime or so), since Dave would be leaving the next morning for his Chicago boards. Well, as you know, it turned out that our Heavenly Father was looking out for us all (especially me!) and answered many heartfelt prayers and allowed the whole thing to take place on the 1st (not my idea of a great birthday day). So Dave got to see his little peanut before he left, I had my baby early, and Betsy was able to come at the EXACT perfect time - just as I was ready to leave the hospital.

Now for the Baby Story...
Dave moonlights at a downtown-ish hospital on Tuesdays, so after watching my American Idol and staying up late to catch up on the Biggest Loser that I recorded, I headed to bed. It was probably around 1am when I finally made it under the sheets and I remember thinking, boy what a dumb thing for me to do (stay up late for no good reason) if I really go into labor since I will have little opportunity to catch up on some valuable sleep after that begins. Then about 4am I felt a small gush in bed that I knew wasn't pee. So I quickly exited the bed and rushed to the bathroom. Thankfully all the gushing decided to finish up on the tile floor in there. So then I paged Dave with the "special code" and I got no response after 10 minutes. So I tried again and again. No response still. So then I called my good friend Sheila. Told her that today was the day, but that I couldn't get a hold of Dave. So I was getting more and more nervous. She told me that since her husband was out of town (for only that night!!!) at a trade show in Canada, she would have to get her mom to come over before she could make it to my house. Well, she also couldn't get a hold of her mom, so she lugged her two boys out of bed and brought them over at 6am. OH MY GOODNESS!!! I can't believe I have such wonderful friends. I'm the luckiest person in the world, REALLY. Anyway, I finally got a hold of Dave, who was also lacking a lot of sleep (hence, the missed pages he slept through) and he headed home and took me to the hospital. That's only happened one other time. It was nice to be driven instead of driving myself, I've got to admit. Anyway, they hooked me up to the IV, which STILL is sore BTW and "locked" it so I didn't have to be hooked up to anything. I was having mellow contractions and only dilated to a 2-3, so I decided to start taking laps around the OB floor. Well, 4 miles later, still not much progression and I was getting SO tired, that I finally gave in and let them hook up the "pit." Well, things started moving along nicely at that point and 2.5 hours later I was ready to push. It was less than 10 minutes of pushing when Haefan made his grand appearance. What a cutie. I can happily say that I've made it to the other side now. I was able to make it here with 4 healthy boys all delivered without the dreaded needle in the back. Boy, I don't know how you other ladies do that. But good for you, really. It's never been about pride, just the fear.

This is his brother that he chose from Heaven according to the boys; so there couldn't a brother more proud or happy for him to finally be here.


Proud Papa singing his lullaby to his little man


Not happy about coming home in an awkward carseat.




So there was no real drama leaving the hospital this time (JJ was A LOT of drama); but then when we went in for the check-up a few days later, the doc said she wanted his blood drawn to check the bilirubin since he looked a bit too yellow. Well, the results showed that his levels were a bit high - but still nothing too crazy - so she ordered the UV blanket for him and another blood draw the next day. We did the blood draws every day of last week, but one and the photo-blanket everyday. That's an awkward device and a blinding one! I finally was getting sick of his levels not dropping, so we went to the park and let him soak in some REAL UV rays, only to find that later that night, I was too negligent and let half his face become sunburned...yikes. I never said I was good at this newborn thing...obviously. But, really, what is worse? Jaundice or mild sunburn? I don't know, but we're finally in the clear and there will be no more pricks for the little guy.


Soaking in some sun to help the jaundice.


Being the angel he is.

I have a handful of cute Easter photos that I will post another day. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!!! I know that my Redeemer lives. Love to you all.

Haefan Michael Gonzalez Skeehan

So, baby Haefan was born today at 5:51 pm and weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and measured 20.5 inches. Both he and Griselda are doing well and are expected home in about 24 hours. I have a few pictures to post along with the first video ever of baby Haefan.

Baby Haefan's first few seconds.....



A big yawn....
His first bath....

























His post bath pictures...




































He is definitely a keeper. He was born under 10 minutes once Griselda was completely dilated; however, the complete dilation part took about 12 hours to achieve. She was a trooper. Completely natural. What an amazing mom / woman.

Dave

It finally is Happening!!!

Griselda's water broke about twenty minutes ago. So, we are off to the hospital. I'll let you know when we have a new baby.

Dave

Happy Birthday to Kaelan!!!!

...And to Dito (my brother). We had a fun week this week. As I near my official due date (April 11th), we are (read: I am) starting to slow everything down to a snails pace for activities, etc. We took the week in stride and delivered the ever-dreaded snack everyday to Kaelan and Lathan's class each day. I had a meltdown mixed in there over it, and we were late most days because of it also. But we survived and Kaelan seemed to love being in control of it. So WHEW! Now that that's done, I am going to bury myself in a hole and start doing silly exercises to see if this baby will hate his environment enough to join us really soon.

Here is the general rundown of our week:

Tuesday we hit the OB's office for another ultrasound. The doc measured him to be 7 lbs, 11 oz and my belly measured about 39-40 weeks in size. Remember all of this is taken at 37 weeks. I'm dilated between 1-2 cm and the baby is still really high (not uncommon for me even after my water breaks). So I'm hoping for any day now. We didn't discuss induction because I feel that this should happen by itself; but I'm fearing the wrath of childbirth as each day progresses.

Thursday I went to a parent-education night at the kids' school (that I was hoping to miss because Dave had a Journal club meeting that night); but the boys really wanted to have a fun time at the child-watch that happens during the meeting, so we crammed our dinner down and ran over. It was a fun, but very late night. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes apart while there, which I think was due to the uncomfortable wooden child-size chair I was sitting in because they stopped once I left.

Friday was Kaelan's birthday celebration day. Dave had committed to attending and made arrangements to be there for the short 30 minute celebration. Since I knew he would be there I brought JJ with me so that we could all be there. Well, as it turned out, Dave got stuck in the operating room doing a case that turned nightmare-ish. So he missed it and was unable to tell me at all beforehand. So I sat there hoping for some relief from JJ, who was absolutely determined to take part in the celebration and playing with all the "works" all over the room. I had a really hard time taking pictures/video because of his curiosity. Kaelan, thankfully didn't seem to mind or notice too much. Lathan was totally egging him on because the class thought that JJ's random outbursts were hilarious. So Lathan would say stuff like, "JJ, say 'horsey'." And JJ saw that he was getting such a reaction that he would end up shouting it for more effect. All this during the middle of the birthday celebration presentation. JJ thought he was the spotlight, for sure, and wanted to stand in the center of the circle to display a little more JJ-ness. Afterwards, we ate strawberry shortcake (that the class so nicely made for us - the biscuit part - the day before as an activity) for the birthday treat. Along with the strawberries, I brought canned whip cream for the topping and as I suspected, it was the highlight with whip cream being sprayed all over just for the sake of it because of its novelty. I already had it, so I didn't want to go out and buy more of something else. Poor teachers had to deal with it because I had to take off since JJ had really had enough of me corralling him here and not there.


Once I left and was on my way to the parking lot, I received a call from Dave saying how he was so sorry for not being able to make it and not being able to tell me beforehand. I was so upset by all the stress I was under in the classroom to control JJ and the fact that I couldn't really enjoy the moment with Kaelan that I completely lost it. I broke down in the car and really couldn't regroup for a while, ...so I went to Great Lakes to go shopping (heh heh), which is about 45 minutes away. No really, I had to return a couple of shirts I bought there at the Gap Outlet, so I thought it a good opportunity to get out and about and do some essential errands that have been on my list for a while. I felt much better letting JJ loose in those stores. I probably was a little too lenient since I was so sick of trying anymore. On the way back from Great Lakes, I stopped at Babies R Us to purchase a new carseat with a coupon I had because I felt guilty about putting the baby in a 6-year old car seat, which I found out later that one is supposed to replace carseats every six years to keep up to date with all the new safety requirements. Since my babies rarely make it more than 4 months in that seat because they exceed the 20 lb weight limit, there was literally no wear and tear on the carseat itself. I felt bad that I was buying a new seat for my last baby, but I thought that safety comes first, and since I had about $70 in a gift card left, I went for it. I wouldn't have done it if they didn't have the Snugride 32, though. This seat has a weight limit of 32 pounds and 32 inches long. Thats AWESOME!!! I might be able to use this seat for the entire 1st year! I hope. This baby is making quite the mark en-utero already, so we'll see! None of the boys made it to 30 lbs by year 1, so I can always hope. For those of you who don't have the experience, carrying an infant that exceeds 20 lbs around without any carrier is quite the burden. And one that I've had to deal with each time around. It would be such a luxury to bring a portable little bed for when I'm out and about and baby decides that it's naptime. It really is a big deal for me, so HOORAY!

Saturday, Kaelan's actual birthday, I went and picked up the spiderman cake and a spiderman pinata along with some spiderman paper products. We had a very low-key party, inviting the only people that Kaelan wanted, Ms. Sheila and her two little boys, Steven and Trevor. Funny thing is that Steven is one of Lathan's best buds and Trevor is definitely JJ's best bud. So then who for Kaelan??? He didn't mind. He just wanted them there, so we obliged. We hit Pump it Up, the inflatable slide and jumping place for about 1.5 hours and then went to Red Robin with everyone and had a fun dinner. I never thought to make a reservation (I don't know if they even they do that), so we ended up waiting 55 minutes starting at 6:30. Needless to say, but we had quite the late dinner. Then, to top it all off, we were lucky enough to have Mr. Randy (Ms. Sheila's other half, who we NEVER see) join us for dinner AND he secretly took care of the tab! WHATTTT? Why? We didn't understand and then he said that it was as a congratulations for Dave's residency completion. What a guy! I feel pretty guilty, though, considering that the idea was for us to pay for everyone since we were celebrating K's birthday. Then we headed back to the house to do cake, pinata and a little bit of play. The boys all had a wonderful time and finally made it to bed right after 10.
[This pic (above the car) is Dave flying WWE-style into Kaelan to show him who's boss. Thankfully, Kaelan is as quick as a fox, and so no one got hurt.]


I ate so much yesterday that I think it finally took a toll on my last night. I ate a ton of fun breakfast that Dad made for the birthday, then ate a huge lunch trying to rid the fridge of leftovers from the week, and then ate the huge serving that Red Robin dishes out, plus I couldn't miss out on the cake! I had to pull out the "hah hah" (vomit) bucket at the end of the night because I could feel the food trying to make its way back up. Dave tried to cheer me up by reminding me that I felt that very same way the night before Lathan was born. So we both hoped it might be a sign. No luck, obviously.

Today was a bunch of fun hanging out with the boys and just being silly before church. Then we came home and ate our late lunch, let the two older boys watch their "Planet Earth" videos while Dave, JJ, and I took a short nap upstairs. We came back down to make dinner and broke out our new Veggie Tales movie for them and they were loving it. Boy, we don't watch TV during the week, but we sure make up for it on the weekend!

We've been going back and forth on the name for our newest addition and really can't narrow it down past 3 names. We asked the boys tonight and each chose a different one. We don't know, but we suspect that this baby is waiting until we come up with the right one before he makes his grand appearance. Maybe that's what's missing. If we can't come up with one soon, we're just going to make it an open vote and see how that turns out.

Quote of the night:
You know from my last post that Lathan has been putting A LOT of holes in his pants as of late (apparently he is not the only one because I see all the other kids at school with holes, too). Anyway, I received a lovely email from Dave's mom saying that Dave was the same way and could never keep pants intact for too long; so I was telling Lathan about how he is just like Daddy more than I knew. He proceeded to ask, "so did Nana get him lots of new pants, then?" And my response was, "Nope. She fixed them just like I fixed yours." And his response, "Badly, then?" HA HA. FYI, in my defense, he said that because the patch I put on the pants he wore on Friday came right off and he also successfully put a hole in the other side simultaneously; but let's be realistic, anything I do to mend clothing will be poorly done. So we'll try again!!

We hope to report some good news soon.... once again.... Until then, have a wonderful week!

No news...is good news????

I thought of these photos we took back in 2008 sometime and wanted to share a couple. They are so darling. I can never have enough!




So nothing on the baby front. I am officially "full term" as of Saturday when I crossed the 37 week threshold. I was really hoping for another Kaelan delivery where I went into labor at 37 weeks, but that day has come and gone, so now I just hope I don't incubate a 10-pounder. Now the focus is to try to avoid a double-birthday. Kaelan turns 4 this Saturday. He is already sharing the day with my brother, Fernando. I think that's enough. What would I do if this one came that day, too??? So minor, really, I know. But I know that I really like MY OWN special day. The bottom line is to just have a healthy and happy baby, right? I'm trying not to lose focus, but I can see my upbeat spirits draining from my face as each day passes and I keep thinking, "what is delivering this HUGE baby going to do to me???" I'm trying to suppress the fear (you would think I'd be over it by now, being that this is my FOURTH one), but I'm telling you that it's getting harder each day. I do have an ultrasound on Tuesday to see the size of the baby. I don't think they would do anything anyway until 38 weeks (Kaelan's bday, BTW). I don't want to be induced (I HATE, HATE, HATE pitocin); but I'm thinking that may be the lesser of the two evils. OH the confusion.

As far as the rest of our lives...
I spent the week catching up on various things (hoping that I would be out recovering from delivering a baby sometime soon!). We all got haircuts, got my nails painted a special baby blue, packed my bags, organized the baby's room a bit more, and I started sewing ALL those pants that Lathan has managed to put holes in, as well as hemming a few of my own for some post-baby wear. I really don't get how Lathan is getting so many holes in his pants so quickly. Before all the holes began, I had a sufficient supply for him to last him a week at a time. So he wouldn't be wearing his pants more than once a week for the most part; but I think the child walks, runs and sits on his knees the better part of the day because ALL his pants - and even is brand-new ones (brand-name no less) were getting holes after 3 or 4 times being worn....WHATTTT? I wanted to throw them all away, but that cheap side of me really wants to attempt salvaging some of them. It is REALLY hard work, though. In my head I thought that patching the pants with a cool fabric would be totally chic. But really, what I failed to realize is that little boy pants are almost impossible to get under a sewing maching at knee level. Those little leg holes don't provide enough room to sew anything but horizontally, which is sorta lame. So back to square one. I had a few "iron on" patches that matched some of the pants and so I used those. But those look totally retarded. They work, though! I guess the only way to do it is to hand-sew all the patches (really unattractive if I'm the one doing the work). I did a pair of jeans with a skull and crossbone denim patch and they look uber-cool, but I could only sew horizontally. The really cool part is that I used a cool quilting stitch from the sewing maching, so to finish the vertical part is probably going to look pretty lame. My problems are monumental, aren't they?

Because this week is Kaelan's birthday week, it is also our turn to bring in the snacks for 40 (!!!) children. So I've got to run and prepare that (another reason I want to go into labor...to shirk that responsibility).

Sending you all lots of love. I hope the next post is one about a "little" bundle of joy!