Home sweet home

Hello!!! We came home from the hospital Saturday afternoon. When we arrived the boys were there with my parents and they had the house decorated. What a fun surprise! They made pink bows and tied them all over the house including Morgan's room. Ethan was SO excited when she got home (Reece was taking a nap) and wanted to hold her right away. Here we are coming home and then there is one of the boys the next day after church in front of the sign.

We finally got to hang this painting that I have had hiding in my closet since her name was top secret. A good friend of mine made this and it is the cutest thing ever! I love it so much and it makes her room complete for sure! :)

My aunt also re-covered my glider chair for me and here it is along with this cute pink monkey & balloon that her cousins brought her in the hospital.

We are trying to adjust to life with a newborn. I was telling a friend yesterday that you quickly forget how hard the first few nights home are. It is hard to adjust to the lack of sleep! I have sat down at the computer several times and literally nodded off once. When you are in this type of survival mode I think you could fall asleep at any moment if given a chance. Scott and the boys went to church Sunday morning while Morgan and I stayed home. I had recorded the Miss America pageant and I think I fell asleep 4 times trying to watch it. Scott said the next day--are you finished with that yet or what? I did finally get through it and was pleased with the result. I never thought I would stay home with my DAUGHTER & watch Miss America. Scott and I have had several moments where we just look at each other and say "Can you believe she is here??" We feel so blessed and are so happy that the boys have adjusted to her arrival so well. I do have some other big breaking news:

REECE IS GOING PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to say that I get all the credit and my friend said I should get a Super Mommy Gold Star for potty training one within a week of giving birth. I will disclose that he went for the first time for my parents while I was in the hospital. Ever since he got home he has been telling us he has to go and is doing so great! His teeth my rot out from all the M&Ms he is getting for going, but it has been a long time coming. After all, they are just baby teeth, right?

I will leave you with a picture of Morgan from today. This is how she spends her days. That will give you a clue as to how she has been spending her nights. WIDE AWAKE! Sigh...her cuteness makes up for it.

She has arrived!!!!

Sorry for no update yesterday, but we had a few things going on! Hee hee. I am so happy to announce that

MORGAN ELIZABETH has arrived!!!!!

Everything went well and she is healthy and a very content baby. We are overjoyed to say the least!! She weighed in at 8 pounds 7 ounces. Her big brothers are happy and proud!

Aunt Tracy made them shirts and Ethan's said "Big Big Brother" and Reece's said "Little Big Brother." They looked so cute and were so excited and even more excited when they saw that they were their favorite colors! Ethan was the first to announce her name to everyone. More details to come once we get home.

Baby Sister Eve

Well, here I am still. Tomorrow is the big day. Baby Sister will make her arrival. I honestly thought that she would come yesterday. It was just one of those days with LOTS of contractions. I even had my bad joke of her being inaugurated into our family ready and everything. I went to the doctor in the afternoon and told them how the day had gone and complained and groaned. When my doctor came in to check me he just said "See you Thursday." I can see how people end up having their babies in taxi cabs and places like that because you feel so ridiculous when they tell you that you aren't even close. If I weren't induced I'm sure I would wait until the last second. I won't go there with my friend who was baking brownies the morning she was in labor & then had the baby only two hours after arriving at the hospital. You know who you are...hee hee. It's all in that fear of them telling you that you are crazy to think you are in labor. Either way I won't have to worry about it because I will be arriving at the hospital at 6:00am tomorrow morning to check in.

As I sit here I am having those thoughts that I have had the day before I was induced with the boys. Today is the last day of quiet for a while (of course if anyone were to ever come here you would think it is anything BUT quiet, but you know what I mean). Today is the last day of the 4 of us. Today is the last day I will be pregnant (ever) & feel her kick. Today is the last day to sit and wonder what she will look like, what she will weigh, how the delivery will go, etc. Today is the last day I do not have a daughter. Today is the last day the boys do not have a little sister. It's all a lot to take in, but I am overjoyed, excited, nervous, and everything that goes with it all.

Thank you to everyone who has been checking in on me and sending me nice & encouraging messages. Can't wait to give all the details (well, maybe not ALL the details) of our little one's arrival. By the way, so far no one has guessed the name correctly. Sorry! :)

The bags are packed...

Happy Monday everyone!!

I have returned from my big scrapbook weekend! I MADE IT!!!! All this month my main goal was to make it to my weekend. This was 100% for selfish reasons only. I just needed one last getaway before Baby Sister makes her arrival. Let me just say it was WORTH IT!! If you saw the state of my walking or my feet right now you might question this decision, but I am not.

I left on Friday morning and headed to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville. I was the official mascot of the "Heifer weekend" this time for obvious reasons. As soon as I drive into Perryville I feel such a sigh of relief. I leave all of my cares behind me and focus on scrapbooking, chatting, eating, and making Sonic runs. This time I did not do as much scrapbooking as the other things but that is not the main goal of the weekend. There were lots of laughs & a few tears (I mean that's a given at 39 weeks pregnant). It was very difficult to squeeze in the coffin-like bottom bunk (I am NOT kidding) this time, but it was worth it. The sleeping is really just a small part of the weekend anyway. I am so thankful for this last get-away before baby and for my wonderful friends that I shared it with. I'm already looking forward to July AND all of the pink pages I will be creating.

While I was at the weekend I got in a little trouble for not having my hospital bags packed yet. I am just so unorganized that things like this are hard for me. I had them help me with a list and now the bags are packed and I am ready for the hospital. The boys are now packed up to head to Grandma & Grandpa's house. My house is in the process of getting cleaned so we don't have to come home to a mess.

I go back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon to find out how things are progressing. I am hoping that he will say that things will move quickly on Thursday. The induction with Ethan lasted about 24 hours, but only about 4 for Reece so let's hope we have a repeat of the last time. I missed my phone twice this morning because I am moving so slowly. I am pretty sure she is ready to get here sooner rather than later.

I will keep updating this week and am ready to reveal the newest Kailey and her name. Do you have any size/time/name predictions? I would love to hear them. My family always arrives at the hospital with all of their name, time, and size thoughts. There is also usually a few dollars on the line for whoever comes the closest. Hee hee.

The past week

Well, not a whole lot happens during the week when you are 37-38 weeks pregnant. That would explain my lack of posting. There have been a few things going on that must be shared. I have noticed that just about every post lately includes me listing things...oh well!

• We are getting VERY close to being ready for Baby Sister. I don't want to say I am ready right away because like I have mentioned before, there is some scrapbooking on the books that I may not miss. Our Sunday School class gave us a diaper shower on Sunday after church and WOW we got a lot of diapers and other fun goodies! This is VERY exciting and so appreciated. Now I guess I should probably pack bags for the FIVE of us in case she decides to make an early arrival. Ethan reminds us in his prayers every night how many days are left until she gets here. Each night it makes Scott and I just a little bit more nervous (& excited).
• The Hogs are trying to put me into labor. After beating two ranked teams and then LOSING the other night it's just all too much for this preggo.
• The other morning as I was drying my hair I made a frightening discovery. A TON of grey hair!! YIKES! Where did this come from? Turning 30? Being a million weeks pregnant? My wild boys? Wherever it came from I am not liking it.
• This is bad: I went to MOPS yesterday and got there a little late. There was a chair on one side of the table (it was circle tables where the chairs backed up to each other) and I snuck over there. When I got over there I realized: Ummmm, I DON'T FIT!! Groan. The super skinny girl in the chair next to me very graciously switched me chairs but WHOA!!! Now I know how the contestants on the Biggest Loser feel. So sad. That makes me want to get back in shape after this baby even more!
• I have gotten some GREAT free stuff in the last week, oh, how I love doing this:

- Free Suave deodorant (Kroger)

-Two free packages of Charmin 4 roll (Kroger)

-Free Garnier Shampoo (Walgreens)

-Free Garnier Hairspray (Walgreens)

-Two free tubes of Aquafresh Toothpaste (Walgreens)

That's about all from here. NINE days until the induction date. Whoa.

In 16 days...

We are having a baby!!! Yeah! I am scheduled to be induced on January 22. We are very excited. I saw my doctor today and things are moving right along. Since I have never gone into labor on my own we feel like the induction is a pretty safe way to go.

All this time it has seemed like it was so far away. Thinking all the way to January 2009. Now we are here and it's just a little over two weeks until we meet our baby girl. It's all a little overwhelming to me. I have spent the last few nights awake thinking about how things are going to change. It has only been 2 1/2 years since I had Reece, but it seems like so long ago.

What will she look like? Will she be a good baby? Will she sleep a lot? How will the boys--mainly Reece--adjust? Will I make it through another epidural--those things totally freak me out, but are life savers. Will everyone like her name (I promise we are not going to call her Baby Sister forever)? Do we have everything ready?

As you can see I have had these things swirling around in my head. I'm sure there are a million more things but more than anything I am EXCITED to meet our little one. She will be the perfect addition to our family and I am so grateful and thankful for her and all that she will become. What a blessing she will be.

Ethan went back to school today and here's the first thing he told me when he got in the car. Well, actually the second. The first thing was that he will get out of the goody box tomorrow if he is good. Then he said "MOM, I told my teacher that my baby sister is going to be here SOOOOON!!" He had the biggest grin on his face. He is so excited and we have told him that as soon as she is here Dad is going to tell him the name and he will get to be the one to announce it to the family.

Wow, she will be here in 16 days (or less).

Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone has had a great year so far! I love the feeling of a new year and to think of new things to come. A friend sent an email last night that came at the perfect time to remind me of the true things that matter...God, family and friends.


I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends. The love & support that they give along with the love of our family is more than I could ever ask. It is really what life is all about.

Since it is a new year I have decided to publicly proclaim my "goals." I prefer the term "goals" instead of resolutions. Goals are things to work for, not something that I say I am going to do and then feel like a failure when I don't.

-Be a better mom and wife & learn how to balance three kiddos....like how do you go to the store with them all!??!?


-Clean my blinds & windows more often--I am not sure how often this is supposed to be done, but I am 100% positive you are supposed to do this more than I do.


-New counter tops in '09. Anyone who has been to my house has seen my 80's country blue counters. After living in this house for almost 4 years and thinking how much I despise them each and every time I look at them it is TIME!


-Paint the boys' bathroom & our bedroom.


-Run in the Toad Suck 5k in May.


-Get organized. It may be hopeless. I am so unorganized and always have been. Scott just doesn't seem to understand this.

-Cook more, ugh.

-Play more

On a side note...I had a sad moment in Kroger yesterday. I may have shed a tear. I have been addicted to this new cereal Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Clusters. It is heaven in a bowl. I am a serious cereal addict. I could eat it every meal and have been known to put away a box within just a couple of days--please don't judge. The last time I went grocery shopping I went to grab my new fav and it was on CLOSE OUT. This made me feel a little ill but I stayed positive. Needless to say when I was in there yesterday it was gone. All gone. No more. A sad, sad moment. If anyone sees it at another store please let me know. I also saw two people wearing sunglasses in the store. I am thinking that must mean that they had a long New Years Eve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!