Halloween!

We had a great Halloween!  The weather was perfect and we lasted 2 hours trick or treating.  Emery and Paisley could have kept going but the rest of us were done.  Haven kept up with running from house to house for the first hour and then took advantage of Ivan pushing her in the stroller.  And he's such an awesome dad that he pushed her as close to the doors that he possibly could.  I wore Sarah in the ergo and she slept the entire time.

Emery was a fox 

Paisley was a rockstar witch 

Haven was Superman.  And she's worn her costume all day, everyday for 4 days now.  I've definitely gotten my money's worth on this costume!

Sarah was our little ladybug.  This costume has been worn by Paisley, Haven and now Sarah.  Love it!

Sarah - One Month Update

Our sweet Sarah is one month old today.  We are all so in love with her!  She's a great baby who rarely cries - only when she's hungry or if she thinks she's been left alone for more than 3 seconds.  She's sleeping through the night (to bed between 8-10p and up between 5-7a), drinking 4-5 oz bottles every 2-4 hrs.  We are also starting to get some adorable smiles but I haven't been quick enough to catch a picture yet.  

Sarah Monroe is Here!

Baby #4, Sarah Monroe completed our family when she joined us on September 13th at 1:32p.  She weighted 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long.  

I was due September 8th and all along assumed I would go into labor a week or two early.  I went into labor on my due date with Paisley and a week early with Haven.  After all, this was my 4th baby!  But nope, Sarah was nice and comfy in my belly and showed zero signs of joining us on her own.  Therefore, I was induced.

Birth Story:

We arrived to the hospital at 8:45a.  I was a little worried they would turn me away since we were an hour and 15 minutes late for our appointment, but luckily they didn't even say anything.  I got registered and settled into the L&D room. 

9a started pitocin

9:15a epidural

10a Dr Quinn broke my water

10:30a 3.5 cm

11:45a 4.5 cm (at this point I was worried it was going to be a looong labor).  I also had a redose of the epidural because they never seem to take 100% for me

12:45p 6 cm 

12:55p 10 cm and ready to push!  I was feeling tons of pressure but the nurse was setting up the room and we were waiting for Dr Quinn.  

1:18p start pushing and after 3 pushes, Sarah was born at 1:23p.

I keep joking that my body was made to carry and deliver babies.  I have been lucky to have 4 amazing pregnancies and deliveries. 

First picture of Sarah.  We enjoyed skin to skin for about 15 minutes until the nurse took her to clean her up and weigh her.  Sarah took that opportunity to take her first poop all over me - Eeek!

The big girls all love their newest sister so much!

Paisley Starts Preschool

Paisley started preschool on Septmber 4th.  She was so excited and had been talking about starting school for a long time.  She was a little nervous as I dropped her off but had a great day.  She's now been in school a few weeks and is loving it.  She's making friends and taking about having play dates already.

Mama/Daughter Dates

I started the tradition of a mama/daughter date for the first day of school outfit when Emery started kindergarten.  It's been a fun tradition and this hear was Paisley's first year to participate as she will start preschool on a couple of weeks.

Emery chose to go to the mall for her date.  She also had about $15 of her own money to spend so of course, the first hour and 10 or so stores we went to , she was shopping for "stuff", just about anything other than clothes until she spent all of her money.  We then stopped for lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen and then finally headed to Justice to get her outfit.  We rounded out the date with a brownie and called it a day.

Paisley chose to have lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.  I tried my hardest to get a normal and cute picture, but Paisley just wasn't having it.  We then went to Target and she had her outfit picked out.

Haven's First Haircut

Finally, at 2 yrs old, Haven was ready for her first haircut.  In all reality, we could have waited but I was starting to feel a little guilty.  Anyway, Haven did great and her hair, while still not much length to ky, looks much better.

Emery Starts 2nd Grade

I really can't believe I have a 2nd grader!  Emery was excited to go back to school - a little nervous about what to expect with her new teacher, but excited overall. We are now a few days in and Emery says she can't wait for her first homework packet - crazy kid!

Waiting for the bus (and the other kids).  Emery was so excited, we had to leave for the bus 10 minutes early.

All of the kids at the bus stop for the year.  The amount of kids will double in 2 yrs once Paisley and all of the kids her age start kindergarten.

Paisley Turns 4! 20 Questions

- What is your favorite color?

Yellow

- What is your favorite toy?

Dr kit

- What is your favorite fruit? 

Raspberries

- What is your favorite TV Show? 

Dora the Explorer

- What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

Ice cream

- What is your favorite outfit?

Cats???

- What is your favorite snack? 

Granola bar

- What is your favorite animal?

Zebra

- What is your favorite song? 

Unicorn Rainbow ???

- What is your favorite book?

Princess Baby

- Who is your best friend? 

Kelley

- What is your favorite cereal? 

Fruit Loops

- What is your favorite thing to do outside? 

Slide down the slide

- What is your favorite drink? 

Chocolate milk

- What is your favorite holiday? 

Valentines Day

-What do you like to take to bed with you at night? 

Cutesie (stuffed animal)

 -What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? 

Fruit Loops (the child has never had fruit loops for breakfast a day in her life)

-What do you want for dinner on your birthday? 

Ice cream

-What do you want to be when you grow up?

A bicycle cleaner

Gardner Village Halloween Fun

We headed off for our annual trip to Gardner Village this weekend.  As usual, we had a great time doing the with scavenger hunt (although we struggle with it every year haha), checking out the fun Halloween decorations, riding horses and filling our tummies with junk!

My attempt at a cute pic of all 3 girls.  I suppose "technically" all 3 are in it ;)

Haven pigging away on goldfish.  I swear, this child is always eating!

The girls got glitter and spiderwebs painted on.  I was actually surprised Emery did it - up to this point, anytime face painting is an option, she opts to have her hand painted. We may have.turned a corner with this one!

A little horse ride for the big girls.

My girls!  I love them so much!

Haven's 1st Birthday

I really can't believe that Haven is 1 already!  It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with her and then bringing her home.  She is the best little baby - easy, adjustable and loved by the whole family.  I will tell you though, the adjustment to 3 kids has been the hardest, BY FAR!  And, I'm literally working 1/2 as much as I was before I got pregnant with her - I have no idea how I would have survived if I hadn't gone part time at work.  It seems like when she was first born, it was REALLY hard for the first 6 months.  Then, overnight, it got easy and I felt like we were back into a groove.  I could go places with all 3 kids and not have major anxiety.  It was so nice!  Then, just a few months later, Haven decided to start walking at 11 months - we were back at square 1!  I couldn't do anything unless Haven was sleeping.  Someone always needed something and I was being pulled in 3 different directions (4 if I was actually trying to do laundry/cook/clean) and couldn't make anyone happy.  In the last few weeks, it feels like we are getting back into a groove and things are getting "normal" again, or we are just adjusting to our new "normal" - it's probably a combination of the 2, right?

Anyway, we had Haven's 1st Birthday party here at the house.  We are so grateful to those who joined Haven's special day - she had a great time and I loved being able to see her so stinking happy!


We had our 2 usual little helpers to open the gifts ..

Haven quickly got the idea of opening the gifts (and of course Carter had to join in the fun!)

My little fashionishta 

Happy 1st Birthday Haven!!

Of course, Haven tried to grab the plate.  To date, we have only given her food on a plate ONCE - she picked up the plate and threw all of the food on the floor.  No more plates for this baby!

Tiny pieces one at a time - this is going to take FOREVER!

The helpers are back!

Aww - she loved it!

Until next year!