Tessa 2 Days Old

Sweet little miss, 2 days old in the hospital.
Taken with my phone:) She looks like Olivia here.

We're Home

After a brief stay in the hospital, we are now safely home:) They actually let us go Friday instead of Saturday. It was VERY nice to get out of there. Normally I don't mind the hospital stay at all, but this time it just drove me nuts. The room was very tiny... and the bed was not comfy. When I sit, I like to sit at just about a 90 degree angle. But these beds were like 60 degree max... and were causing me these terrible back pains and spasms. Which is terrible because I was having almost NO pain at all from the c-section, only from the bed!
Anyway, we are all home together now and enjoying our sweet little miss. Tessa is a great baby! She rarely cries, only when she's hungry. She loves to just sit and look around taking in her new world. She's so content. So calm. A perfect third baby!
Short post for tonight! Sorry I haven't posted pictures yet.... will do soon.

Welcome to the world sweet baby girl

At 8:30 this morning our family welcomed it's newest member:
Tessa Juliette Carter
7# 14oz
20 inches
Bright blue eyes
Dimples
Full head of brown hair

She is sweet as can be. Super quiet and so calm so far. She's been awake and checking out her new world.
We just settled into our hospital room. The C-section went great, the best one yet!!!
We are at st joes in ann arbor room number 3082. Stop by and say hello:)
Much love!
Tricia

The Last Day of My LIFE being pregnant

It's 11:55pm, and I should be sleeping. We are having a baby tomorrow... in 8 hours. It's like the night before a big test. You know that you know the material, you're not studying, but you're not going to be early like you said you were going to either.
It's nerves, but more anxiousness. I can't wait to meet this little one! This pregnancy, the last pregnancy of my life, has been a fantastic one. It's been exactly what I hoped for and exactly what I needed- Easy. No complications, no hiccups, no worries, just easy. And with two other kids and a husband gone, that's exactly how I hoped it would be. Now I just hope the baby and the transition from two to three is easy too. I think it will be...
Everyone keeps asking me, do you think it's a boy or do you think it's a girl? Well to tell you the truth I honestly have NO IDEA. Seriously, you would think there would be a mother's intuition driving me one way or the other. Well there is, but it flip flops weekly. For the first six months it was a girl, total girl all the way. Then for the last little while it's be a boy. Totally a boy. And for the last two weeks solid I think it's a boy. But in all reality, I have no idea! It's an amazing surprise that I am so proud to have given us. I thought I would crack and give in to find out the sex, but it's been pretty easy. It's actually fun. Fun not knowing. Fun wondering and dreaming about it. I highly recommend it to anyone NOT having their first child:)
We have our names set. Well the boy's name is set in stone. The girl's name is still debatable and not solid. We have our top three, but I can't seem to get beyond those. They are all so different! The top two are night and day. One is a little spunky and for someone more like Deagan's personality. The other is sweet and more like along the lines of Olivia. I think I just need to meet her first, if it's a her. And then she'll become someone. It's odd, I never, ever, thought I'd be the hold out like that! But it's hard. It's hard to plan for a boy and plan for a girl. Sometimes it's like I feel like I'm having twins, one of each. I have a pink set and a blue set of going home outfits:) I've washed and prepared ALL of Deagan's baby clothes and ALL of Olivia's. All I need now is to meet this critter and then pick up one box. It's amazing!
My belly is huge and I can't imagine going another week with this baby inside. I'm ready. We're ready. And the baby, well it has no choice... it's going to be plucked out whether it likes it or now:)
It's so nice to have a planned C-section. I'm not really a spur of the moment kind of gal. I have no interest in having my water break or having contractions send me to the hospital in the middle of the night. Some people think it's unnatural and just plain odd to KNOW when you're going to have the baby. But I love it. I love getting a good night's sleep, packing and planning and going in the morning of ready to go. I'm clam, cool and collected ready to get this thing on the road! Bring it on. The sleepless nights, the crying, the extreme fatigue and hormones! The sweet smelling clothes (oh how the detergent brought me back a few years washing all of the baby clothes!). The tiny little chubby baby thighs and sweet little dimples (pray it has dimples too). The tiny little feet oh so soft. Pure innocence molded in your hands. A gift. Our last gift. Tomorrow, assuming the baby comes out healthy we will be "closing up shop" and my baby brewing days will be officially over. Sure I'll miss it a little. I'll miss the second trimester of pregnancy, but I sure won't miss the end! I think what I'll miss more will be the sweet little newborn baby times. But luckily I'll get to relive that with family and friends when they have babies. I'm looking forward to the future, knowing our family is complete. Raising our kids, all three of them, and moving on to start our lives, yet again.
The kids are SOOO excited. This morning Olivia came in to wake me up, I was still asleep and I felt my blanket get ripped off, my shirt lifted up and these two sweet little hands on my belly as it was showered with kisses. Then she said, "guess what baby, I get to meet you tomorrow! It's your birthday tomorrow!" It melted my heart. She has such a sweet relationship with this baby already. I swear they KNOW each other. She loves to touch my belly and talk to the baby, and whenever she does the baby responds to her. It's amazing.
Deagan is crazy about the baby too. For such a crazy little boy on the outside, he's sweet as pie on the inside. He talks about the baby all of the time. Asks when it's coming and tries to throw out names for the baby. Right now, if it's a boy, he wants to name it "macho." If only we let them name the baby....
Well it will be quite an adventure that we are starting. Three babies, two adults and a dog! What a family we have created. I can't wait to meet this little one! Talk to y'all soon:)

05.25.09 Sleepy Hollow State Park

Yes we are having a baby in two days, but that's besides the point! Today was Memorial Day and we headed off to the beach. We went to a state park near where Jeff grew up. We knew it wouldn't be too busy there and the kids could also do some fishing. So we packed up shop and even brought Maverick for some fun. Jeff brought his grandpa's fishing stuff and some worms so he and the kids could do some fishing. The kids just LOVED it! They each caught (and threw back) tons of fish. They got one EVERY time they threw the line in! It was a delight for them:) They also did a little swimming, despite it being a windy 68 degree day... the sun was shining and they were swimming. We had a nice little BBQ lunch and overall a fun family day:)

The three amigos catching fishies.
Deagan working hard to bring one in.
Deagan had to pick out and play with his worm each time before he would sacrifice it to the fish.
Olivia catching a fish
so excited to be swimming, even if it was a little chilly.

braving the water with a 68 degree air temp!
Deagan a little too excited...
Me:)
Sweet Sissy
Mr. Maverick oh so content in the sunshine

Olivia and Deagan cheesing it up with their happy grins.
Daddy teaching them how to fish
When we first got there I saw a mom and dad goose with 22 babies! Maybe 23! How is that possible? How do they keep track of them all?
Olivia in the car ready to go to the beach. (yes the baby carseat is installed and ready!
Deagan ready for the beach (with mav over his shoulder in his own seat!

05.23.09 Campfire in the Backyard

Roasting marshmallows in the backyard!
Jeff and Mavvy
Olivia and Deagan enjoying the fire
Maverick excited to be apart of things

First Day in the Pool 05.20.09

After a VERY long winter, these kids were more than excited to get a new pool and swim in the front yard:)

Jeff is HOME

Jeff drove straight through all last night to get home this morning BEFORE the kids went to school! He's here, he looks fabulous and we couldn't be happier. We are planning on enjoying this last weekend as a family of four before the fun starts next week:)
Happy Memorial Day Weekend:)

The House, round #2

So last week we fired our original realtor. Things were just not working out. She was severely old fashioned and not "up with the times" and the new market challenges. Not much of a "do-er" more of a "lets sit back and see what happens" kind of lady. Which would have been perfectly fine two or three years ago, but real estate times have changed!
Anyhew, I researched some of the homes in the area that actually did sell in the last two months and searched out the realtors that sold those homes. Specifically a home right in our sub that sold in 78 days. So we called this new lady. She seemed PERFECT. A Bulldog of sorts and a real "go-getter" who actually knew how the market operated and how to do a proper short sale. Since the ONLY thing selling in our county are short sales, we should be in good company. As you may recall, because of Jeff's military orders we can do a short sale without penalty (thank god). You would think in that case, we would be a realtor's dream client. One they can price the home at WHATEVER the market price is and it can sell quickly. Well....
The housing market in Livingston County is down 40% from this time last year. YES 40%. That means a house like ours of $220k value is expected to sell and only selling for $132k. HOLY SHIT IS RIGHT. But for us, who cares. It's the bank's problem in the end as we are done with it. So our gorgeous home that we paid $220,000 for is now listed at $149,000! Someone is going to get a FANTASTIC DEAL. I wish things were reversed and WE were the ones that could pop into a mortgage for only $149! Give me a break! She said we should have an offer by the end of June and be out by August. Let's hope!
In the meantime, anyone know of anyone who is looking to get a STEAL on a house?

B.S.

Two weeks ago I paid $2.05 for a gallon of gas.
Today it was $2.49.

*post edit* Gas finally spiked at $2.65 on Memorial Day!

I sense the summer heat wave coming with Memorial Day weekend, but still, I think it's BOLOGNA with the state of our economy.

Olivia's Manatee Report

She was so proud of herself.
Olivia with a picture we printed out from our "internet research."
Her EXCELLENT drawing of a Manatee in it's habitat. I can't believe how well she did with NO help from me!
The three facts that she remembers most about Manatees.

This weekend Olivia had to do her very first report for homework. She was told to pick any animal that she'd like. She picked the Manatee because in her phone conversations with Daddy, he told her about a family of Manatees that lived at the end of the dock near his hotel in Florida. She had to do research about her animal on the internet, draw a picture of it in it's habitat and list three facts that she liked/remembered most about the animal. Then tomorrow she has to present it to the class:) She worked very hard and was very proud of herself. She did such a GREAT job!!!!!!

The Latest Obsession

This robe (that Deagan got for Christmas and hasn't touched since) is his new obsession. He insisted on wearing it to preschool on Friday like a jacket. Of course I let him, it was too darn cute:) Well tonight the house was a bit warm with the evening sun coming in the windows so he stripped down to his spiderman underwear, but had to top it off with his robe!

Brayden's Birthday Party

On Saturday Deagan was invited to his friend Brayden from pre-school's 4th birthday party. His mother was like Martha Stewart! She planned this extravagant scavenger hunt for all 18 children. They each ended up going home with a paper grocery sack filled with garden stuff, seeds, shovels, pots, toy frogs, pinwheels... and more. Everything was perfectly coordinated it was amazing. She sure is the envy of all moms at the preschool;)
Deagan and his best buddy from school, Trevor.
look at this awesome idea for a cake. If your kids are like mine, they just eat the frosting anyway... Brayden's mom lined the frosting with different m&m's it was Deagan's dream cake!

Deagan's First Soccer Game

Sweet, sweet boy all excited for his game.
The team line up, little pint size squirts:)
Warming up, getting his game face on.
So happy to be apart of things
Deagan taking the ball away from the red team. (p.s.- the girl to his left behind him bear hugged him during the game and brought him right to the ground. It was because he was running away with the ball and she wanted it... but we told him she wasn't being mean she was just trying to give him a hug:)

Peter and Lindsey's Grand Adventure

Peter and Lindsey with their HUGE Uhaul towing their car. They were on their way to NY, and then NC... when their tire blew out about 6 miles from my exit. So we had lunch on the side of the highway:)

Olivia the Super Soccer Player

So this season Olivia has taken a little bit longer to break out of her shell at soccer. Partly I think it's because Jeff and I are not coaching. And she's really tired after being at school all day everyday, and some nights soccer doesn't start until 7 (she normally goes to bed at 7:30). And then finally because her coach is a not so warm and fuzzy man. He's a little rough around the edges to be coaching kindergartners, but oh well.
Back to the story at hand.
Last night at her game she finally had the boost she needed to give her the confidence that she IS good and she CAN do it! She was a super star and had TWO, count 'em TWO break away goals where she took it all the way down the field to score on her own:) She was beaming with pride and my little soccer lover (instead of practice hater) came alive once again! It's so nice to see her smile and be SOOO proud of herself and love what she's doing!

Two Weeks to Go

Two weeks from today this huge belly is going to pop:)

My Wonderful Husband

Even though he's half way across the country, he still remembers the little things to make me feel special!
I got a call on Saturday telling me to go to his favorite jewelry store to pick up a present. When I got there they said "go ahead and pick, anything you'd like." Last summer I started a Pandora bracelet and I've been slowly building my collection. It's a sophisticated charm bracelet of sorts, where each charm has a special meaning. I have seven so far.
Anyway, I was walking around looking at all of the charms trying to decide which one I wanted, and I picked this one. I thought it was a frog prince, so I got it in honor of Jeffery. But while they were packaging it up, they told me it was the queen bee. Fitting, of course! It's got a perfect fat little momma belly like me and after all- it is Mother's Day- and I am the queen bee:)

The Queen Bee
My favorite Gerber Daisies
sent from my iphone

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Me and My Babies
Four Generations... My Grandmother, My Mother, My Midget(s) and Me
Deagan with the baby kitten

Today we had a wonderfully relaxing day over at my mom's house. She had us over, along with my grandparents, for lunch. It was nice to be able to sit and relax and not have to do a thing;) The kids had a great time too. They got to play with the latest baby kitten, take a few quad rides with poppie and generally relax. It was a nice Mother's Day:)

19 Days

19 Days to go. 19. Not months, not weeks, days.... 2 doctors appointments, 2 soccer games, one kindergarten music show, one birthday party, another soccer practice and then Jeff comes home for one last weekend as a family of four. Then just like that, we'll be a party of five:)
We've waited so long, yet it's actually gone by SUPER fast. The whole thing. Such an easy pregnancy. Let's hope it's an easy baby. Everyone keeps asking me, "Are you going to miss being pregnant?" Initially, I thought yes, I will. But you can't help but feel huge and miserable during the last few weeks... and that kind of spoils the warm fuzzies of being pregnant. So no, I don't think I'll miss being prego. Sure, I LOVE it. I really love being pregnant. It's one of the times in your life where people CELEBRATE how big you get and embrace your chunky thighs. You can get a double scoop of ice cream and proudly walk down the street with it, and people SMILE at you instead of give you a little scorn look. Heck and this time, I'm NOT EVEN craving the bad stuff. It's sad, I could justify all of the bad stuff and shove it in left and right... but I don't even want it most of the time. I crave salad. WHAT? Yes, salad (minus the lettuce of course). And potatoes. Specifically hash browns. Salty, crispy hash browns. Preferably in the patty form, with lots of salt. I guess that is my weakness, potatoes. I've only gained about 20 pounds, so hopefully 8 of that will be baby and then the last 12 will come off VERY QUICKLY and then I can concentrate on the other 30 I wanted to loose before getting pregnant;)
Ok, enough babble, 19 days! Just 19 days!
(14 until Jeff comes home)

Jeff off the coast of Miami

Sent from his iphone, driving a boat for class off the coast of Miami.... livin' the hard life;)

05.05.09 First Sprinkler of the Season

Today while shopping at Home Depot with Deagan, he conned me into buying a new sprinkler for the kids. Well the coil hose I also bought (figuring it would be nice and easy to use- not so much) didn't provide enough power to make it rotate. So it was a mini-sprinkler of sorts. Either way they LOVED it. 65 degrees.... sure that's warm enough for a sprinkler in the front yard... followed by a nice warm 45 minute long bath!!!!!

05.04.09 Olivia's Soccer Game

These are some pictures of Olivia's first soccer game of the season. She did very well. Her and Lillia got a breakaway right off the start and brought the ball all the way down for Lillia to score:) What fun!