May 2014

 May is Camille's birthday month and this was the birthday book she choose to donate to her school library.  It remains one of our favorites. 

Cecil is quite the active little guy and has learned to sleep when he can, where he can.  He practically lives in the car seat on someday's.  Makes me feel sad, but I think it makes him more easy going. He has found his thumb a few times and I absolutely love it, although I won't let this take the place of his paci.

Here is Jillian's butterfly that will be displayed all of next school year. She was pretty excited about it. 

Here is Coco looking fly.  He has gotten use to being dragged around to the girls stuff too. Poor guy gets pretty upset when we pull up to the soccer fields or the gym, but as long as I have a stash of snacks he does alright. 

Mother's Day this year was super laid back.  We had church and Jeff made dinner. Perfect day. 

Our chicks entered their adolescenes.  They are looking a little dinasourish. 

Swim season started and Jillian has been working on her dives. 

Coco has been carrying around a doll carrier and taking it everywhere.  I guess we need more boy toys around the house. 

This May marks our 10 year wedding anniversary.  We'd like to go on a trip but with me still nursing Cecil it's been postponed.  Jeff has been my very best friend and this picture really says a lot to me.  It was taken while I was in labor with Cecil. He just looks like he'd take all the pain away if he could and so much more.  I love him. 

Camille turned 6.  She is such a sweet sweet girl. She's still as sensitive as she was the day she was born.  She has worked hard to correct her speech.  She's always had a little lisp and would say her "r"'s like "ah" (instead of "car" she'd say "caah").  It actually sounded so cute and she'd get multiple comments on it everyday but she'd also get teased at school and sometimes by adults.  She tries very hard to please everyone and is a bit of a class clown.  She mostly always has a great attitude and is very optimistic.  Her love of animals has continued to grow and now is very selective of when she'll eat meat.  She's always willing to help out and really loves to hold the baby. 

I see so many of my own attributes and my physical features in her.  It's a really surreal and special feeling when I study her.  

We are so proud and feel very blessed to have this little one in our family.      

I've been a little overwhelmed with the four so I copped out and did a party at Chuck E. Cheeses.  I never thought I would, but it was surprisingly great!  All the kids had a wonderful time.  I was able to visit with parents.  And my house didn't have to be cleaned before and then cleaned after.  It was wonderful. 

We did the traditional balloon launch right outside. 

Cecil has rolled over a few times now.  Problem is that he gets stuck like this.  He doesn't seem to mind.

I love to see new places and enjoy where I live.  I heard about Bull Creek and we decided to go check it out.  It's pretty close to us and right off the road.  We loved it.  It's a natural spring fed creek.  There are a lot of kid friendly spots as well as some deeper areas to swim.  It has a hiking trail that runs along side it. 

While there is started dumping rain on us.  We all had a fun time playing in the rain.  It didn't last long, so we continued our exploration. 

We will definitely be back. 

Jillian has been taking piano for two months now and had her first recital.  Jillian did a wonderful job and didn't mess up once. 

The end of the school year brings on awards.  Both girls got the Citizenship award and we're thrilled. 

The last day of school is such a wonderful day for me.  I love having the girls with me all day and I love not having to wake-up early and get lunches ready.  That being said I am so grateful these two have the opportunity to go to a good school and that they have each other. 

Soccer ended too.  Jillian was with Coach Lee and Coach Andy again. Camille lucked out and got a great coach too. 

April 2014

Every Spring we love attending the Round Rock Express games.  We usually sit on the lawn and let the run around. Often times they'll have fireworks or a concert after the game. It's really fun. 

Even Cecil had a good time. 

This particular time they had Bob Schneider in concert. He's a famous Austin native musician. Jeff and I first heard of him right after we moved here. We took the kids to the zoo and some random lady gave us his CD. She was appalled that we didn't know who he was. Jeff and I have loved him ever since. We all really enjoyed the concert. 

Jillian needed some help with homework one day so I sent Ce to see if he could help. 

Fern Bluff has a huge fundraiser in the Spring, called The Bobcat Bash. It was quite the shindig. They had all sorts of booths, games, music, attractions, etc. etc. The girls loved everything! Coco's favorite thing was the real firetruck. 

I finally transferred my nursing license. Now it's time to decide what to do: work, or claim retirement. 

I planned a little neighborhood egg hunt the Friday before Easter. We had a pretty good turn out and we all had fun chatting and letting the kids run around. 

Here we are Easter morning at church. Our church is held at 8 am for all of 2014. We are lucky if we get seats in the foyer.

We got four little chicks for Easter. I've been missing having hen's and fresh eggs and the girls have really been wanting pets. These little chicks were so cute. 

The girls named them Peggy, Rosie, Alice, and Red.  Rosie was the runt of the group. She was a Silky and had hair feet. Alice was the giant and kinda ruled the roost. 

Instead of having a big Easter dinner, I wanted to go enjoy nature. We planned a potluck picnic and invited Stan and the Rattray's. We went to McKinney Fall's.  It was beautiful. We ate yummy food, then hiked and biked around. 

We ended up at the Upper Falls. There was a cliff to jump off that Stan and Sara did. Everyone else wadded around a bit.

We ended the outing with desert and few games, such as Red Rover. We will definitely be back. 

The girls were invited to a birthday party that had pony rides. As much as Jillian loves horses, she gets so timid around them. Camille was brave as could be and rode them over and over. 

Everyone is still all over Cecil all the time. He is really a patient little baby. 

Camille had a field trip and I was able to meet them for lunch at a park. I wish I could be more involved at the school, but it's really too hard with the two babies at home. Camille was thrilled to see me there and we had a fun time. 

I've always been drawn to yoga and as I get older with a more hectic life I feel like I need it even more. This was a "stop drop and yoga" challenge from social media. Cecil looks like he'll catch me if I fall

January 2014

With the beginning of the new year and my pregnancy drawing to a close I tried to spend a lot of quality time with these three.  They would always accompany me on my walks and copy me when I'd "curb-walk". I've curb-walked with all my pregnancy's. I don't remember who told me this, but I heard (while I was pregnant with Jillian) that if I went on walks with one foot in the road and one foot on the curb it would help my baby drop and my hips open, thus helping my body progress to birthing a baby. Who knows if it really works, but I keep doing it no matter how ridiculous I must look. I couldn't believe that this three was soon to be four. 

My mom was able to come out to Texas a week before my due date. I went in for my 39 week appt on the 16th. I had Dr Anger strip my membranes and then I came home and went about the day with my mom. I was trying to make sure she knew the schedule for the kids and the routes to all their activities. I awoke the morning of the 17th knowing my water broke. I didn't have a large gush of water but a slow steady leak. I told Jeff to go to work but keep his phone with him. My mom and I started raking the leaves in the backyard in hopes it would help start labor. After a few hours I decided to go into the dr.'s office just to see if my water had really broke. Sure enough toady was going to be the day.  They told me to go directly across the street to the hospital. Instead of doing that I went home, finished packing my bags, kissed and cuddled Coco, and called Jeff.  The party was about to start.  

I got to the hospital around 11:30.  Janice was working there and was able to come visit during her lunch break. My contractions were really irregular, and I was planning on going natural so I asked to walk the halls. My nurse was not liking that idea. She was nervous because I've had so many babies things might move too quickly for me to get back into the room etc. I made her call my dr and get permission. So I walked the halls a few times and did some squats. Nothing steady was happening. Jeff came and then the Rattray's and my mom brought the other kids. I really feel lucky to have had such great support. My entourage really made me feel loved. We were all dying to know if the baby was a girl or a boy. 

In the meantime, Jeff had to grab a picture of Dr. Anger and Coco. Coco was Dr. Anger's "first patient" delivery as a bone-a-fide Dr. She looks 12 because she probably isn't much older but we trust her.  

After several hours and slow progress, I consented to have some pitocin to get things moving as my water had been broken for about 12 hours. Dr. Anger went home and wasn't on call the evening but told my nurse to call her cell phone because she wanted to be the one to deliver my baby. I called my dear friend Kristen over to snap some birth shots. It was so nice to have her there. She wanted to be a fly on the wall, but I actually really enjoyed having her more present. Her conversation with Jeff was a welcome distraction while laboring.

When I was 7.5 cm dilated, and the contractions were coming fast and hard, I decided (with much persuasion from Jeff) to get an epidural. I actually hate getting epidurals. I feel out of control with my body and it makes me even more emotional. The idea of no or less pain was over riding at this point though. 

Right after I received the epidural they wanted to rupture my membranes more. I was still feeling all the pain but was assured the epidural would kick in soon. As they popped my water, the nurses were surprised when I still had full function of my body. After 45mins and no relief at all the anesthesiologist came back. At this point I was a 9 and feeling everything. I was tearful and throwing up and just a mess. Jeff was concerned and getting starting to feel upset with the drs and nurses. The nurse kept putting a mask on me because the baby's heart rate would drop a lot during the contractions, then I'd pull it off to throw-up. It wasn't pretty. 

After my second bolus of epidural medication they had me roll to my right side and I had immediate relief but also immediate need to push. The nurse checked me and it was go time. Apparently the nurse couldn't figure out how to get a hold of Dr. Anger and was running around trying to set the room up, all the while I'm feeling urges to push.

Once, Dr. Anger got there and checked me, she was visibly upset at the nurse and began hustling to get the baby out. The baby was in a bit of distress because it had be in the birth canal for a long time. After I pushed twice she hollered for the vacuum. When I heard that, I was determined to get this baby out of me! I more hard, long push and I was done!! It was 6:24 pm. and we had a new baby BOY!!

He was 8lbs 4 ounces and 20 inches long.

 We were in awe.

When the other children came, they couldn't look at him enough. Each took turns holding him and kissing him and also showing concern for me. I really believe that giving children a sibling is a blessing in their lives.

He was perfect. Now came the hard part, giving him a name. 

I was vying for Pete or Marc, both names from my father's family. Jeff was vying for Cecil. We decided on Cecil Pete. It fits.

When I came home from the hospital the kids passed him around and we all couldn't get enough. 

My mom was a champ while I was recovering. She cleaned and did laundry and carted the kids all over the place. She even took them to the circus with the Rattrays. In the down time she loved to hold the baby.

I know they say that when a baby smiles it's just gas. I don't believe that for one second. Cecil Pete smiles all the time and he's not always gassy.

My visiting teaching partner has become a good friend and she took new-born pics as a gift. This was her first time and she did great. I could just stare at my baby all day long. 

Winter weather here can be crazy. I let the girls jump with the sprinkler on one day,

or we'd take the baby to the park.

Then, there would be days like this. "Snow" (really ice) everywhere and school cancelled for several days because of hazardous driving conditions.  

Our January kept getting better. On the 26th Coco turned 2.

He must have known it was his special day. We was just so sweet and smiley all day. The girls dotted on him and spoiled him. He is really a great addition to our family. He has come to really really love cars and trucks. We often go outside to see the garbage truck as it makes him so happy to see BIG trucks. He's a smart little dude too. He can identify all the letters and most of the numbers up to 10. He's a bit of a scaredy cat and doesn't love to go down slides or be pushed too hard in the swings. He seems to be super strong though with a lot of muscles for his age. We always get comment's from others who pick him up about how "solid" he is. (I'm still not sure if they are just saying he's chubby but trying to be nice. Ha.) He still flexes and has "mini-seizures" when he's excited. He loves to tag along with his sisters and always needs mom close by. I feel so happy to have him.

We had the Rattray's over for cake and presents. Then we did the traditional balloon launch. I was nervous that he'd be upset by letting balloons go, but I was wrong. He loved watching them.

He got a balance bike from us and loved being pushed around on it.

side-note: I actually can't find his 2 year stats but he was around 93% for height and 97% for weight. His dr. used a formula to figure out how tall he'll be as an adult, and it predicted 6'1.  We are happy that he'll hopefully have a little height, but really just hope he'll continue to be healthy.