August 30, 2011

1st grade

Today Keaton offically started the 1st grade.  He was so excited to start.  The summer lasted a little too long for him and he was starting to get really bored towards the end.  He went to bed early, well at least he and Andrew were in bed early. They didn't really go down until 9p.m, but that is ok, at least they were in their beds.  They love to talk and dream up all sorts of things. It is quite interesting to hear their conversations.
We woke up early this morning, packed his back pack, made his lunch, which he thought was the best thing about going all day to school - packing a lunch to school. We got him ready and then he wanted to ride his bike to school so Lance and I walked by his side while he rode his bike.
We got to the school and we parked his bike at the bike rack and then we found his classroom and put his things in  his cubby and then he wanted to run outside and play until the bell rang. So Lance and I and about a hundred other parents watched from the sides as the kids played until the bell rang. He ran right to his class and found his seat.  He was so happy that he recognized about half the students in his class from kindergarden last year. 
I think he is really going to love this year.  We will report on his day when he gets home.  His day starts at 8:55 a.m. and we walk down to pick him up at 3:40 p.m.. Kind of missing him today.  Andrew is loving that he pretty much owns the house and is the big brother now.
Here are a few things Keaton said he can do now that he is 6 years old.....
- mom, I can climb up the bunk bed latter with only one hand
- I can carry Ellie standing up
- I don't have to wear a bike helmet because that is only for little boys
- I can make myself breakfast and clean up after myself because I am 6
the list goes on and on.  It is quite amazing that since he turned 6, he thinks he can do everything.  I love how his little mind works. If you ever get the chance to sit and listen to him, he is quite intelligent.  Gets it from his father, that is for sure.

Can you believe I have 4 children? Also the fact that I now have a 1st grader just blows me away. Here are all my reasons to live!

August 26, 2011

Please sleep!!!!

Dear Ellie,

Sweet girl, I am not sure what is going on but I am really tired.  I spent literally my whole day trying to make you happy. Did it work? No, not really.  You screamed and were incredibly fussy.  Seems like that is all you do when you are awake.  You are most happy when you sleep.  That makes this very tired momma happy too.  I am not sure if this is your temperment or if something really hurts you.  I have cut out all dairy and sweets but so far that is not making the difference.  So if it not the cause, I am going to start eating it again.  That is has been really hard cutting that completely out of my diet. I feel like I am running dry.
Your days and nights are still kind of mixed up.  You would think after 3 weeks of being alive we would get that figured out but still no luck. 
I have heard many moms say "Don't you wish there were a 4th trimester in pregnancy?" I thought for sure those moms were crazy that wished for that but now, I think I would go for a 4th trimester of being uncomfortable then to comfort a screaming baby for those 3-4 months.  I don't know, it is hard to say.
Don't get me wrong, you are just the most beautiful, most sweet thing that has happened to our family and believe me when I say it is a good thing.  You have made your dad soft as well as your brothers.  Andrew contiually likes to pick out your clothes each morning so I am sorry if you are not color cordinated in a lot of your pictures.  You can thank Andrew for that when you get older.  You still look too adorable though.
We took  you in for an ultrasound on your kidneys Wednseday morning and the results came back this afternoon.  The doctor says your left kidney was slightly dialated.  So they are refering us to a Urinologist, I believe is how you spell it.  We are suppose to schedule that next week.  So keep our fingers crossed that all will continue to go well with your little organs.  Best news is, there is no ill effects from it, it is just something that has to be monitored and if it needs treatment, it is a very common procedure so I am not worried.
So dear Ellie, while you are sound asleep at this moment and I am questioning myself as to why I am still awake and wasting my time on the computer, I want you to know I love you very much. You make me  happy and I am so glad you have come to our family.  Life just wouldn't be the same without you.
And if this is what they call colic, then I guess bring it on. I survived Keaton, and I pray that I can do it again.  After all this usually goes away after 3-4 months of age.  It is the getting through those months that are tough.  So if you will be patient with me I will try my hardest to be patient with you.

I love you,

Your momma

August 19, 2011

2 weeks today

Ellie is 2 weeks old today.  Happy two weeks Ellie! They have been a wonderful 2 weeks too.  We are learning so much about you.  Here are a few things we have noticed......


~ you love to eat! You are a great eater.
~ unfortunately you spit up almost everything you eat.  But you are doing much better since you had some adjusting done.
~ you love to be held. Seldom do we let you down.  You are growing too fast.
~ you can go from silent to a blood curdling scream in 2 seconds.  Once you get what you want, it settles
~ you love it when I sing to you.
~ you are a cuddler.
~ you love the bath
~ you love it when your brothers come and talk to you while I change your diaper.
~ your plumbing definetly works.  Seems like you are pooping every hour.  Just when I think I have you finally all cleaned up and ready for a nap, you do it again!
~ you sleep pretty well at night. I can't complain. I will take 3 hours at a time.

There is so much more to learn from you.  We can't wait.  We LOVE YOU!!!!

August 14, 2011

Change

I am sitting here in a quite home. It is 10:24 a.m. and my husband and children are at church.  It is just me and my baby.  She is quietly sleeping in the front room.  I am sitting in the office and I can hear her breathing.  It is one of the sweetest sounds.
It is the getting up mulitple times in the night because she needs me. She is hungry and when she is done feeding I just put her on my shoulder to burp her. It is her small, gentle breath on my neck that makes it so sweet.  Her little sounds, wimpers, giggles and cries that make me love this face so much.
It is my body changing. When I was in labor with Ellie, I had never felt that kind of pain in my entire life.  It was pain that was real and intense.  My body was tired and under a lot of stress. Then she came and it all dissappeared. She was completely worth all of it.  Every second.
  I love the peace that has filled this house since she was born.  There is a quiet reverance that comes with a new baby.  It is times like this when I am reassured that I am doing something good.  People ask me why I have 4 children.  Most of the time I don't have an answer, but I do know that I love them!! I love each of them for who they are. 
I feel like I have changed.  Most of the time it has been a positive thing and at other times I feel like I am losing my patience more often.  Seven years ago I lost the one thing I wanted most. That was a baby.  She was what we had been waiting and praying for.  Then she was gone.  I changed.  Lance changed.  Seems liek everything and everyone changed around me.  All around me I was reminded of the one thing I lost.  Now seven years later, I feel like it has all come back to me.  Don't get me wrong, I have loved each and every one of my boys.  They have been huge blessings and I am so thankful for them.  When we got the news that we were expecting a girl,  I felt like I was being given back what I lost all those years ago.  Now that I have her, I hold on to her tight.  She is mine!  All mine! 
Last night I read a dear friends blog.  My good friend was told the news several months ago that she was expecting twins.  What a huge surprise! What a wonderful surprise.  Well last night I was reading that she lost one of those twins.  They had just found out that they were both girls too.   Since the baby has passed on there is nothing they can do about it until she delivers the other baby.  So now she must carry a baby who has since passed away while the other continues to live.  I couldn't help but think about my own.  She still has the one and that is a miracle.  I know how she feels.  I have felt all those emotions.  I have felt all the pain, the anger and hurt.  I think of this friend often and I hope she knows when she reads this that I love her!

Change is good. Change is hard. Change is different.  Change is needed. Change moves us to become better. I feel like I am becoming all of these things slowly but surely.  I only hope that I am worthy of all these sweet children.

August 13, 2011

Michael Buble

So for my birthday this year Lance surprised me with tickets to the Michael Buble concert.  I was a little hesitant at first because I knew we would be having a baby pretty close to the actual date of the concert.  Luckily our little one came 4 days earlier so we could go.  My mom and her sister Sheryl came over and took care of our kiddies so we could go and have a good time.  I was really nervous leaving Ellie since she was only a few days old, but I pumped enough for some bottles that she so happily took too.
Michael Buble was amazing in concert.  Sounds just as good in person as he does on CD.  Only problem was, he had a filty mouth.  He popped out cuss word after cuss word and had some pretty crude jokes.  I would just try not to pay attention when he did that.  I would have been 100% happy if he had sung the whole 2 hours through without making jokes.  It made me kind of lose alittle respect for him as a person. As an artist, I will continue to listen to his music.  It was the kind that gave you the chills when he sang.
Would I pay to see him again? Ya, I probably would.
Thanks Lance for such a fun night out.  I had a great time with you. Also, a huge thanks to my mom and my sister who so thoughtfully helped out with my children.
Thanks!!!!!!

August 9, 2011

For Ellie, From Keaton

The other morning Keaton came up to me and told me he was bored and had nothing to do.  So I mentioned that he could draw some pictures.  He was up for the idea.  So he went to the kitchen table and started to draw.  This is what he he made....
He drew a picture to hang above the crib where Ellie sleeps in our room.  He drew her a picture of all 6 of us in our family with our names written below just so she wouldn't forget. So this sweet little picture hangs right above her little crib in our room. Talk about a sweet little brother.
Oh and by the way, Keaton has started this thing with wanting to be a babysitter.  He informed Lance and I the other day that if we wanted to go out and do something without kids, he would be glad to stay behind and watch Ellie and the others for us.  He was serious too.  He has such a huge heart.  It is so fun to hear all the things they are starting to say now.

Is she awake yet?

This is a typical morning in our home.
All the boys gather around her bed to watch her sleep, just wondering when she is going to wake up.  Most frequently asked question, "Mom, can I hold her yet?"




August 7, 2011

She's here!

Introducing Ellie Mae Snyder
born on August 5th, 2011 at 2:17 p.m.

How was labor?  Well let's start at the beginning.  We were originally scheduled to be induced on Wednseday the 3rd.  We were up and ready at 6 a.m and we were instructed to call the hospital to make sure that everything was still on for our induction.  Sad to say they told us that since so many woman came in the previous night, all the rooms were occupied and that we would be put on standby.  Have you ever heard of being put on standby by the hospital?  I hadn't.  So we waited almost the entire day.  It was awful.  We were very anxious, excited and disappointed all at the same time.  The phone call came around noon telling us that we would not be able to come up to the hospital that day and that we were being rescheduled to come in Friday morning.  So what do you do but wait?  It seemed like forever and was terrible.  I had to do everything to keep myself busy and keep my mind off of everything I was feeling.
So we went school shopping and out to eat with the boys.  Just the boys and I. It was so much fun to just be with them and spend fun quality time with them.  I sure adore them!
Well Friday morning rolled around.  We called in to make sure it was still scheduled and to see if I was still ok to come in.  We got the ok and headed down to the hospital.  We were so excited.  My mom came over and watched the boys.
We reached the hospital at 7 a.m.  To make this long story really short, because I am sure it will bore you to death.  We got right in to the labor and delivery room.  We had great nurses and everything was going really well.  They checked to see if I was dialated more than a 3 and sad to say I was not.  I hadn't even progressed over the last couple of days.  Baby was still up there quite abit.  So we started walking the hallway.  We walked and walked for about an hour just going in circles.  It was terrible. Good thing my husband has a fun personality because he made it fun.  After about an hour I started to feel light-headed so we went back to the room and the nurses suggested I use the bouncy ball.  Ever see those huge inflated bouncy balls that kids play on? Well they use those to help bring the baby down into position.  Gravity is an amazing thing.
My doctor came in on his lunch break around noon to see how things were going.  I had only progressed to a 4 and things were moving pretty slowly.  I only felt contractions now and then but nothing hard or painful. The doctor decided to break my water to see if that would move things along.  I told him that everytime my water would break, my babies are always born about an hour afterwards.  So they put the epidural close by so when it was getting intense she would would be available on demand.  Well they started to come fast and hard.  It was starting to get painful.  I called in for an epidural and so this older woman who looked like a hippie walked in and started to give me my epidural.  Went well, felt really no pain from the procedure.  She told me to wait about 10-15 minutes for it to kick in.  Well time passed and I could still feel everything.  It was very uncomfortable and I was hurting pretty bad.  I think Lance could see it in my eyes. I was starting to claw him and press my finger nails into his arms pretty good. So the nurse called the doctor back in to see if they could give me a stronger dose of med. to see if that would help.  Still didn't feel anything happening.  At this time the contractions were right on top of each other and I was literally screaming.  It hurt that bad.  No mind you I have never really felt pain with any of my labors so this was completely new to me.  I didn't like it at all!!!
So the doctor came back in to see if there was time to redue the epidural.  I was so desperate for anything that we decided to go for it.  So I bent over the side of the bed just exhausted, still digging into Lance and screaming.  While I was bent over the contractions were the most intense they had ever been.The pain was so intense that I was starting to pass out.  I couldn't hold my head up and I was so tired.  Lance said he had never seen me like that before. 
 I could literally feel the baby's head starting to crown. The nurse told me to lay on my side and they would check to see if she was coming.  Sure enough there was her head.  The doctor had just finished with the epidural and it started to kick in. My legs went numb instantly and after about 20 minutes of pushing Ellie Mae Snyder was born.  She was born at 2:17 p.m weighing 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long.
She was by far the longest baby I have ever had. She was smaller than we thought she would be.
But she was worth all the pain!
Here she is! Here and I right after she came out.












We love her so much.  We are home now and just trying to adjust to life with 4 children.  I feel abit overwhelmed but we will just take one day at a time. 

August 4, 2011

Hopefully on friday

Since we weren't able to be induced on Wednseday due to so many woman going into labor. The hospital was jamned pack with pregnant woman. They said it was the first time in a really long time that that has ever happened. So we waited on standby pretty much the entire day just waiting for the call to come in.  Well it came but not the news we wanted.  The doctor had to call and tell us that we couldn't make it in and that he was really sorrry so now we are rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 7.  I know many of you called, emailed, and texted to see pictures of a new baby.  Well there aren't any yet.  Hopefully friday will be the day to have a baby. The 5th sounds like a good date to me.  Stay tuned!

August 2, 2011

Tomorrow

Just got the news this morning at my doctor's appointment that we are scheduled to be induced in the morning.  So tomorrow at 7 a.m. pray for us!  We are so excited. It feels like Christmas.  Stay tuned for pictures and details.
Thanks to everyone for helping us out take care of our boys and with everything else that is going on.  It is a crazy but fun and exciting time in our lives.