First Post of the New Year!

It's a little late but we have had so much going on. The kids have been sick. We actually took William and Alyssa to the doctor and discovered that William had an ear infection and Alyssa may get one soon. So, we got some antibiotics for them and still have a few more days to go.

Briana's birthday was this past Friday and I'll have more on that. I planned a large kid party on Friday, followed by a family party on Saturday and ended with a Disneyland trip today. So, I am exhausted. I have a lot more to post and update but I think I'll save that for tomorrow!!

Hey! I didn't see 25 entries for the 25 days of Christmas

It's true I did not complete the project as planned. I do have two more days to upload and haven't been feeling well so they will have to wait.

When the project idea first came to me the days just seemed to fill in themselves. There were definitely a few bumps in the road. I didn't visit the Christmas Tree Farm as planned because Alyssa had shots the day before and slept in. I felt she needed the rest. I planned to attend another Santa/Craft/Snow day put on by my HOA but when I found out that they were charging $5 per child just to play in the snow, I boycotted the event. I was so excited to have the kids donate to Toys for Tots but by the time I was ready to make the donation it was too late. Of course a few crafts along the way were left undone. I still love the concept and will definitely do it again next year. I may just do the 20 days of Christmas or not focus on a number at all just the fun activities!

What I absolutely loved about this project is that it made me do things with the kids that I had not attempted until this year. The Gingerbread house for instance was a favorite of my kids and so we will definitely do another one next year. I let the kids use cookie cutters and sprinkles in order to make cookies for Santa, another favorite. They did far better with the Santa letters than I had even anticipated and will be that much more ready to do a letter for Santa next year. I did get a fairly good picture of the kids with Santa. Our picture at the Christmas party made me think that I should get more pictures of me with the kids at more of the play dates we do throughout the year with the group.

Now on to the new year and more great times with my kids. They are truly growing so fast!

I Survived . .

It's almost 930 and I survived my first day alone with the kids. Thursday's are Alan's long day because he has night school till 10 or so. So, technically still going with all three on my own. Not as bad or crazy as I thought it was going to be. I think Alyssa felt sorry for me and was actually eating and sleeping on a somewhat regular schedule. Not to mention my older ones love to eat and play on their own, which helps greatly.

I even decided to go on my first trip on my own with the kids today. We went to my parents house but it was still a huge milestone for me and it was great to get out of the house!!

Of course, I'll still have to take one day at a time. Eventually, we will have to start attending our mom's group events again . . . .but for now we'll stick close to home and try and make it through the day. I'm still waiting for Alyssa to start sleeping through the night then I will really have it made!!

My Hospital Stay

It took three births but I finally got to stay in a somewhat decent room at the hospital. My previous visits were always in the smallest rooms. I would hear the nurse say over the phone in the recovery room, "You don't have a bigger room?" Especially, since I was going to have to stay so long following my c-sections.

It was so nice to have a little extra room. Of course as fate would have it, this was also our shortest stay at the hospital yet. :)

Our Children's Names

It took us so long to finally decide on Alyssa's name but now that we have, I really like it. I spent a little time looking up name meanings and so I just wanted to write it down for future reference. Especially, since I will be getting rid of all my baby name books! :)

Briana - (Celtic) Strong
William - (German) Constant Protector
Alyssa - (Hebrew) Happiness

The Month of May

To sum up the month so far . . . . getting ready for baby. At least we now have a name, Alyssa Marilyn. We had the most difficult time agreeing on something we both liked. As of right now I have about 10 days until my scheduled C-section and everyday leading up to her birth is filled with some sort of activity or errand that needs to be completed. Having done this twice before, I know life gets crazy after bringing home a new baby. My big plan for the first two weeks that I'm home is to care for Alyssa and nap . . . that's it!! No cooking, cleaning or chasing after Briana and William. Daddy is going to have to step up and he has already agreed to take the time off from work. :)

I will be recovering from my third c-section. This is not something I am really looking forward to, but at this point I can not have a baby any other way. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery because once my husband returns to work it will be me running after three small children. So, I think I'll need all the energy I can get. At this point I am finished with being pregnant. I want to get to the hospital so that I can meet my new little girl and start the recovery process. I'm hoping that the adjustment from 2 to 3 will be relatively painless . . . . that remains to be seen.