WARNING!!!! GRAPHIC PICTURES OF JAY'S FINGER! THOSE OF YOU WITH WEAK CONSTITUTIONS......LOOK AWAY NOW.



Alrighty then.







Most have already heard the story, but here it is anyway. Last Sunday Jay and a friend were smashing matchbox cars with a short-handled sledgehammer. I know, I know....why would I let them do that....blah, blah, blah....Max and Jay have done it many times before and it always went the same way~ I contemplate saying no, but don't. I then call out..."Be careful!!!!" Sunday was no different. I was feeding Viv when I heard a cry/scream like no other. It was the textbook definition of bloodcurdling. I won't go into too much detail, but as we were running water over Jay's finger, I was silently praying that it wouldn't fall off into the sink. No lie. We fly off to the local hospital ER..

*The doctor at the first ER went to Iowa and worked at Covenant (Eric went to Iowa and I used to work at Covenant hospital-go figure) They decided he would definitely need to be seen by a hand surgeon.

Eric can't stop taking pictures and I can't stop sharing them!!

It's amazing how much she's changed in the past 10 days!!

Pretty awesome. That's Eric's wedding ring on her toes! :)

MidOhio Bullets baseball is here. As I've mentioned before, Max finally caved to the requests for him to play for a travel baseball team. They have started their season and their first tournament didn't go as well as they would have liked. They lost their first two games (and by lost I mean ....got stomped) The boys were obviously a bit demoralized. The last game of the weekend was Sunday and I decided not to go because it was supposed to rain and I didn't want to sit on the bleachers under an umbrella with a newborn. Turns out it didn't really rain and I missed Max's homerun!!!!! D'oh!!!!!!

Yay for daddy and the camera!!

He nearly took out a kid who was playing on the slide - 200 feet!

The ump gave Max the gameball and said he hadn't seen a hit like that in a long time. Max also struck out 19 guys throughout the weekend as pitcher. This last game they DID win, so the whole weekend wasn't a total loss!!!

MORE............ and more and more..............

Nothing like sisters.....

Here's "Uncle Jeff" with Viv.

We were very excited to introduce Viv to the horses. We knew Georgie would be the first one there to check her out and he was. The others were somewhat distracted by the apples Ally had, so George is the only one who truly got to meet her. One day soon, she'll be on his back yelling "Giddyup!!!!"

Vivi at home:
So, we got our little girl home and the flurry of pictures has not stopped. In fact, Eric is a maniac with the camera! That's ok, I can't get enough of the kids' cute faces!!

I asked Max to sit with Vivian while I ran downstairs. When I came up, he had fallen asleep next to her.

Mark with Viv.

Abby and Angelina Jolie. Oh wait, that's my newborn.......that looks like Angelina Jolie. Come to think of it, so does Abby! Ha Ha Ha! Viv did a "faceplant" into my pelvis. Her cheeks were bruised, her lips swollen and her eyes bloodshot. It was a hard transition for the poor baby.

Sooooooooooooooo adorable.

The very brief time I was able to hold her. The kids kind of monopolized her :)

VIVIAN'S ARRIVAL!!!
Even though my midwives had talked about induction early in my 9th month, I did not think I wanted to be induced. Forward 2 weeks..........INDUCE ME!! I want this pregnancy over!! I couldn't walk, couldn't sleep, and my hands kept falling asleep. We decided if I didn't go into labor on my own before April 10th, we would induce that day. I did not go into labor, so Eric and I arrived at St Ann's at 9:00am on Good Friday. Abby brought the kids to the hospital a couple hours later. Once they broke my water, things really got going. Around 2:15, the anesthesiologist gave me ITM (interthecal morphine) and I went from 6cm to 10 cm in less than a half an hour. I started feeling a lot of pressure, so I told Eric to get the nurse. Once she checked me, she said I was ready and began getting things ready (in quite a hurry I might add) Maybe 2 or 3 pushes later and she was here!



This is my nurse, Heidi. She was from Iowa- the Sioux City area. Believe it or not, I had NOT had any drugs at this point. (even though it looks like it)

Over a month before Vivi was born, the kids hammered out the order in which they got to hold her.

The nurse gave each of the kids a Vivi stamp as she was doing her footprints.

NOT happy about being weighed. Ally was a little "nurse shadow". She was following the nurses around, asking questions and being able to help out a lot. The nurses and midwife were sooooo good with the kids. They were patient and explained everything. I was so impressed. It was a wonderful experience.

Damn kids!!!!!!

Many of you know how much I sooooo enjoy April Fool's Day. Yes, it can be stressful coming up with good pranks, but it's fun. My kids are on to me. That was very apparent last year when I barely got by with the running-out-of-gas gag. I knew I had to strike early, when they just get up and before they realize what day it is.
I had Eric go into their room when he got up for work (about 6:30). He grabbed the bag they packed for the hospital in case I went into labor in the night. He said, "Max. Jay. Is this your hospital bag? You need to get up, mommy's in labor and it's time to go to the hospital." Jay opens one eye and says, "Dad, it's April Fool's Day" WHAT?!?!?!?! He wasn't even fully awake!!! That little shit! This can't be. Now what? How am I supposed to trick them, now? My one strategy......useless. I guess my trick next year will be to NOT trick them. They'll be expecting something all day and it won't come. How about that you little fun-haters.

I did get them in a small way, but not up to my usual standards. I made brownies, but wouldn't let them eat any for dessert. I said it was my last chance to eat a whole pan of brownies myself - ya know, cuz I'm pregnant and you can eat as many brownies as you want when you're pregnant. What's that? You shouldn't? But why? Oh.......that's the reason my ass is the size of Texas? But, that's where my babies grow and thrive! Anyway, they got NO brownies that night ....that's right, April Fools, because they did get them the next night. Yeah, not earth shattering, but after they foiled the fool-proof trick, I was just scraping by.

THE COUNTDOWN TREE
At christmas, Mom gave us this tree and drawers. Inside, were little hanging ornaments. Starting about a month out from my due date, we were to start taking the ornaments out of the drawers and putting them on the tree...kind of like an advent calendar of sorts. This would help give the kids a visual of how much time until Vivi will get here. Neat idea, or what!!!! So, the kids have been decorating the "Vivi tree" for a couple weeks, now. I had them speed up the process a tad, thinking I was going to be having this baby before my due date.

*And on that note, went to the doctor last Monday and she said I was 3 cm and her prediction was that I'd have the baby this week. WOW!! I have never dilated this much this early with any of the other kids, so this was very encouraging. I thought for sure I could have an April Fool's baby, which would be absolutely fitting. As of Saturday, no baby. Ugh. I really wish she hadn't said anything. Next appointment is Monday, so we'll see what the next prediction will be that I will try so hard not to believe, but will stick in my mind like a bee to honey.