Gabriel Andrew

Gabriel Andrew was born on Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 2:53 in the afternoon! This is a picture of me before he was born!

Here is a picture of Gabriel right after he was born....What a big boy! 7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long!

Dr. Eckel, me and Gabriel just after he was born.

Look at his giant hands. It makes us laugh everytime he pulls them out of his blankets!

Daddy holding the little man....

So bright eyed. The doctor had checked him and he was just watching thinking hey what's up?

Gabriel just finished eating and was so sleepy after.

We were getting out of the hospital. Had to take some goodbye pictures!

Mommy and Gabriel...

Family photo leaving the hospital!!

The dogs are meeting Gabriel for the first time. Jag just wanted to lick him and Roxie would get near him and then just growl and run. It was pretty funny. She is doing much better now!

We are so excited to have him home with us. His brothers come home on Monday so there will be more pictures to post then. He is such a sweet baby and I honestly hope it continues!!!! Love to everyone!

Baby Shower

On Sunday, my best friend Jeannine, threw me a wonderful baby shower!!! It was set for last Sunday except something crazy happened. The Arizona Cardinals were playing football here in Arizona and Jeannine had the pleasure of being there. Being as that was a once in a lifetime opportunity she HAD to attend. Thankfully I have VERY flexible friends so yesterday it was!!! Here is a picture of some of the yummy food...and some of the wonderful guests!!

Kristen and her sweet baby girl Leanne!

Me opening some presents!! A new monkey. Monkey's have become our theme!!!

Now these were some YUMMY cupcakes!! I even had one today....

My fun presents! This of course before they were opened!

So now I am just bummed because I didn't get a picture of ALL the guests and I didn't even get one of Jeannine and I together!!! It was such a beautiful day and I had so much fun. I really can't thank everyone enough for making it happen. So many people helped to make it a really special day for me and baby Quattro. Thank you thank you!!!!

On another note we should be finding out on Wednesday what day I will be induced next week. I am shooting for Thursday the 5th or Friday the 6th. I am getting so excited. Well, nervous, but excited!! I just want to see his sweet little face! :)

Random things we have been up too.....

Since my last post we have been VERY busy around here. So busy it has been hard for me to do anything, but work and take care of the kids! :) Here is the recap:

On December 31, 2008 Bradley got to fly to San Antonio, TX to play in the All-American youth Army bowl. It was held on Sunday, January 4th and it was live on the Internet. The WEST (his team) won 21-14. He helped score two of the three touchdowns. Bradley plays Quarterback and was the starter for the WEST. It was very exciting and right now it is TOP on the list of the best thing EVER. (according to him anyway)

School went back on January 5th and we hit the ground running. Between football after school EVERY day for Bradley and lacrosse two nights a week I am trying to find the time to get stuff done. Up until a few weeks ago the baby had no bed and we had some work to do. The baby's room is improving now that we have the furniture, but I still need to wash the new duvet (its chocolate brown to match) and the sheets, etc. I also need a window treatment cause the white blinds are NOT cutting it and lastly some cool artwork on the walls. I am thinking something with monkeys...

Bradley had his first lacrosse game last Saturday and won! He is the goalie for his team. I had my 36 week check up today with the doctor. He says everything looks good. Baby is measuring right at 36 weeks and he is HEAD down. Whoohoo! We are shooting for Feb. 5th to be his deliver date. I can't schedule it until one week before. The hospital won't let us.

Just trying to fit everything in before this little guy is born. So much still to do and I do feel like I am running out of time!

Tried to tell JT tonight I was having a baby and he just wouldn't go along with it. He keeps saying I am fat from eating too much dinner. I asked him if he was sure it wasn't because there was a baby in there. He said nope there is no baby. I know he knows that is where babies come from because about two months ago he told me when he gets little again and gets back in there...ok WHAT?

Oh what a rude awakening it will be when this baby comes....

Happy New Year!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a VERY Happy New Year!! Just a few pictures from all the fun! We even made some popcorn balls. I swear we have the same recipe as from when I was a kid, but they tasted so much better when I was younger!!!! The kids sure love them though!

Sarah and Elizabeth stirring the candy for the popcorn balls...took FOREVER!!!!

Opening all our presents!

This last one was just me begging the boys to take one more picture together. Next year there will be 4 boys in the picture and I wanted these to remember when there were just 3!!!!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. Here's hoping 2009 is a WONDERFUL year!!!!

25 Christmas Questions

Susan over at Life in the Psych Ward asked for us all to join in the fun!! So here I go....



1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Ok that is hard because this time of year it's Egg Nog, but the rest of the year I LOVE me some Hot Chocolate!



2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa puts our gifts by the fireplace where our stockings hang.



3. Colored lights on house/tree or white? White.



4. Do you hang mistletoe? If I knew where to find some, I'd hang some up and stand underneath it!



5.When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year I couldn't get motivated!!! (I have no idea why either)



6.What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My mother in law's mashed potatoes and my mom's jello. Love that stuff!


7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? That is a tough one. I was just reminded of one by my dearest friend Kerri, but when I was a kid we had a tree stand that rotated around and played music. It was actually very cool. It finally broke after my dad died.

8. When did you learn the truth about Santa? truth??? In our house it is always if you don't believe you don't receive!!!!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a child we were always able to open one gift from a family member. I have allowed my kids to do the same thing. So any out of town packages one present is fair game!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? !With the boys. I un-package all the ornaments and they put them on the tree. I put the higher up ones on and Matt always puts the topper on the tree!

11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love the look...loved as a child playing in it, but I live in Arizona now and can't even remember the last time I was in the snow!

12. Can you ice skate?Yes, and I love it!!! Grew up right down the street from an ice skating rink.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I received a "real" cabbage patch kid one year. In Georgia they have a hospital (Babyland General) where the babies are born from a cabbage and I received Gabriella. My mom still has her today.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with my family and friends. It's a great time to slow down and appreciate.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? We always had a cake for Baby Jesus every year. Now that I am married we have birthday cake because it's actually my mother-in-law's birthday on Christmas day!!!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Taking the kids to see Santa. I don't care how old they ever get. It just makes me happy.

17. What tops your Christmas tree? A snowman star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?I love the feeling of giving, especially to those who are in need. The best part is the look on the face of someone you bought the PERFECT gift for. However, I love to be surprised with a really great gift!!!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Any song on Amy Grant's Christmas albums. I love every single one of them!!

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck?YUMMY!!!!! Oddly enough I just bought some today to eat!

21. What do you want for Christmas? A video camera. I have actually wanted one for years, but I am thinking probably not this year either...:(

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Not an annual one, but we do attend Christmas parties. It's fun to get together this time of year!

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? We wear jeans or anything festive. We have our big party on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is more for pj's.

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes!!!

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Family. Any and all that are around on that day!!!!

Trying to find the holiday spirit

So since my last post I have been trying VERY hard to take it one day at a time. The stress was getting to be quite crazy. I just REALLY needed to finish everything on my list so I could just sit back and enjoy. Yesterday, I passed on attending Brad's end of the year football party. I just couldn't see how that was good use of time. I mean it's always great attending those parties, but I had so many things to do!!!

We took the time yesterday to hang the outside lights (thanks Mom and Dad for your help) and I took the time to clean the inside and then decorate!!! It sure felt good to get that all done. I ordered the Christmas cards (sadly they won't be here til next week sometime) and even got the Lacrosse "mom" stuff done. I woke up today feeling energized and wonderful.

Here are some pictures of the tree. We decorated the tree tonight. Obviously JT was WAY more excited about it than the older boys. They just wanted to hang the ornaments and JT was just happy posing for pictures!!! ;)

So in light of everything I think I have it under control as of now so please please please don't let anything stand in my way til the 25th!!!! :) I know what will happen will happen!! A girl can dream though can't she??

Just a bit overwhelmed!!!

So lately I have been feeling VERY overwhelmed. I am not really sure why either. I don't feel my life has gotten any crazier or any busier, I think it's mostly because in my head I realize that in 9 weeks I will have to take care of one more person. I think it is truly messing with my head! Now don't get me wrong....baby #4 was totally planned and I couldn't be more excited about a new baby in our family, but somewhere in my head all I can think is WOW how am I going to do this??

You see because a typical day in my house includes the following:

Up first to shower. If I let hubby take a shower first he uses all the hot water.
Off to drink some coffee and read the paper. Start the muffins or cinnamon rolls if that is what we are having
Wake up boys to get ready for school
Feed them breakfast
Then we are off to do hair, brush teeth, make beds, etc.
Take kids to school
Come home and work
Straighten up house while making lunch for JT and me
Pick up child from school
Later pick up another child from school after some sport thing he does (i.e. track, football)
Rush dinner on the table
Either help with homework or take oldest to some other sport thing (i.e. football or lacrosse)
Give little one bath
Bedtime
Work some more to get ready for the next day
Watch TIVO stuff if I can stay awake

That's it. Everyday. Of course weekends there is laundry and cleaning. Every weekend I dust the whole house, clean bathrooms, vacuum, clean floors, etc. I can't stop from doing it. Tried to go every other week and couldn't handle it. Tried to hire someone to clean, but just kept cleaning anyone so figured that was silly.

This weekend I wanted to get my Christmas decorations up. Yah, that didn't happen. Every day we had something else going on and I just couldn't find the energy.

I am not trying for this post to come across like I am whining (ok maybe a little) but I just needed to vent. Thinking if I could get it out of my head and onto paper (or the Internet) then maybe I can just go back to getting motivated and moving forward!!

I already feel a little better. :) I just realize that things won't always be able to be perfect and in my head I think that's ok. Just wish I wasn't so OCD!!! I am working on it though. Or am I???