Vivianne's First Word

Vivianne turned the table on me and kinda ruined my Christmas! lol!  (not really)  The first 6 children ALL said "mama" as their first word.  All of them.  Every. Single. One.
So Jeremy said that Vivianne said "dada" and "daddy" on Christmas Eve.  I was at the store and thought he was just hearing things.  Well, on Christmas day Vivianne decided to seal the deal and full fledged just started babbling saying "dada, dada, dada" over and over again.  I literally could not believe my ears.  The betrayal.  The horror!  I was in denial and had to listen to her say it many, many times before my poor ears had had enough!  There was Jeremy grinning from ear to ear and there I was, stunned and poorly, blankly staring at the daughter that broke my streak.  Merry Freaking Christmas to me! Bah humbug!  (But, in all seriousness, Jeremy deserved it and I am happy he had one kid say "dada" first.  It really does make him ever so happy!)  #firstwordproblems

Random Pictures (Circa: End of August 2014)

 Eden and Liam were playing dress-up-sword-fighting and Viv was enjoying the show! 

 I love this one!

 Vivi Lu is such a good little baby.  She always has smiles for everyone!  We have been comparing baby pics of Liam and her, and boy is it ever close!  She is so much fun to be around too!  

 

Diapers, Pull-ups, Wipes, Oh My!

• 2 Cases of 504 wipes each Huggies Wipes
• 1 Case of 40 Huggies Good-nights for boys
• 2 Cases of 56 Huggies Pull-ups for girls
• 1 Case of 216 Size 2 Luvs Diapers
• 1 Case of 186 Size 2 Pampers Swaddlers Diapers (every other month)
• 1 Case of 112 Size 6 Luvs Diapers
• 2 packages of 20 adult pull-on diapers

Trisha and I were talking about how exciting it will be to get some of these kids out of diapers, pull-ups, etc.  And she said we must go through a lot of them and I said yes!  But, I decided to make of list of just potty training related items that we order each month from Amazon.  We get all these thing EACH month (minus the pampers which we get every other month)!! Craziness, I tell ya!! Somebody has to decide to stay dry through the night!! I wonder what we will do when no one is in any of this though?~!?!  I can't even imagine! lol!

Not In a Good Mood Today....AT ALL

Today is not a good day at all.  For a multitude of reasons.  I hate when I get in this funk and then take it out on the kids or Jeremy.  Right now I am sitting here hating the fact that my milk is gone.  I have been crying my eyes out and now they are so blurry that I can't see straight.  I ordered some more of the More Milk Plus tincture and have been taking my fenugreek.  The problem is, I cannot pump right now.  My hands are pretty much useless so I can't really hold my dang boob to actually feed her either.  Failure.  I am boiling water right now to sterilize the pump to try to pump all day today.  I am sure I will have to take a vicodin after this though from the pain in my arms.  My neck has had a HUGE crick in it all freaking weekend and I can't turn my head either.  Or lay on it.  My foot feels like it is broken and I am limping around like a gimp.  What the freaking hell is going on with my damn body!?!?!?!? For reals.  What the hell!?!?  I don't understand.  And who is suffering from it besides me?  Vivianne.  I am so annoyed with myself that I just don't know what to do.  UGH.  And the milk I get from Sarah keeps leaking into the dang water that I am thawing it in and wastes the whole stinking bag.  I am so frustrated.  *sigh*  I just wanna go back to bed. 

I feel like we are never going to have the time to get rid of our other house either.  We are just going to struggle with two payments forever.  It sucks.

 And another thing...Fall came too quickly and the kids don't have any clothes.  And all of that falls onto my shoulders to figure out what the crap they can wear in the meantime.  Liam had to go to school today in shorts and a sweatshirt.  Pretty sure I look like Mom of the Year. 

Of course it is rainy and grey today.  To match my mood I guess.  My house is a mess and I don't want to move to clean it.  And the spiders....don't even get me started on the spiders.  It wouldn't be so annoying except that we have PAID someone to get rid of the spiders and...the spiders are STILL FLIPPING HERE....in fact, they are worse.  FML.

I could go on and on about a zillion different things.  But, I won't anymore.  I'm just done.  

Meeting Kylie!

 At the end of July my friend Tuesday came to Nauvoo for the City of Joseph Reunion.  I didn't end up going to it because we were in the middle of a move and most of my best COJ friends weren't there.  But, anyway, Tuesday came by with Kylie!!! She is adorable and way bigger than Viv, which I wasn't expecting....her being 8 weeks early and all!  Tuesday was having to plug her into the wall for her heart/breathing monitor.  Kylie was feeling out of sorts after being out of her element the whole day and Tuesday felt bad that she wasn't her normal, happy, cute, self.  Luckily, I know how that goes and didn't mind one tiny bit! 

Kevin came over too and we just hung out, ate tacos, ate banana splits, and chatted.  Tuesday had asked me to take some pics of Kylie but, she just wasn't in the mood.  So, I just snapped a few randoms and got some cute ones! 

 My Vivianne was just quiet and sleepy all night long.  I don't snap enough pictures of her.  She is simply gorgeous.  We are seriously smitten with her.  Like I can't imagine not having her in our lives.  I am SO stinking glad that we got pregnant with her. 

 Tuesday came bearing gifts!  She makes the cutest little barefoot baby sandals.  I got a white pair and a pink pair.  Then she made the bows/flowers interchangeable.  They just snap on and off.  I got this floral one, a pink one, and a white one.  I think they are awesome! 

Vivianne's First Bath at Home

 Jeremy took the pics and said that I should be taking them but, I wanted to bathe her.  So, they are a little blurry but, he did a good job anyway.  

I got a cool Spa tub for her that has vibration and music I think.  I have yet to put batteries in it though and it still functions as a bath tub, lol!  Good grief, sometimes the smallest things are the hardest for me to do.  Like putting batteries in a baby tub.  You would think at some point in two months I would have thought to do it but, nope.  Just nope.  

 Anywho, the point is, Viv loved the bath(mostly).  She is cute, cute, cute.  She was so tiny this first time, I was scared to bathe her almost.  She kept flopping over.  Poor thing.  

 We are enjoying having a baby in the house again.  I am trying to soak up as much as possible as this is my very last baby.  I know, I know, I have been very blessed to have as  many babies as I have but, it feels so rewarding to carry, birth, and take care of newborns.  I am going to miss it when it is all gone.  For now I will try to live in the here and now and enjoy it.  

A Little Update

Well, it looks like this is happening...we are moving this summer!  We were wondering what was going on because we hadn't heard from Hasek's but, they have just been busy.  We have to sign the contract and then it is go time.  I have so much to do!  Gah!  And then we have the worry of this house selling.  I really don't want to have two house payments for a long time.  So any prayers for a quick sale would be greatly appreciated.  We still have work to do on this house.....painting, cabinets, carpet, etc.  And then we will have to add on to the house in Nauvoo after the Carthage house sells.  It's gonna be bonkers.  Completely bonkers.  Whatever.  I am excited to move back to Nauvoo for some reasons and completely dreading it for other reasons. 

Next week is my 6 week check-up.  I can definitely tell that I am older now.....it took me a little longer to recover after having Vivianne.  I was just completely drained of energy.  I tried working out about two weeks after she was born (I've done this in the past with no problems) and boy did I regret it.  I hurt for days after.  Anywho, I am hoping to get the all clear to work out.  I do feel a TON better now. 

I still have a ton to catch up on the blog about but, I have a feeling it is going to take me all summer to catch up, if I do at all.  July and August are gonna be busy, busy, busy.  I also have volunteered to be a den leader in Asher's scout troop.  That should be interesting.  I want to be involved in Tristan and Cedric's school stuff too. 

My milk supply has taken a dip just like it did when I fed Eden.  I bought the Mother's Milk tea completely forgetting how GOD AWFUL it is to drink.  My stomach is churning as it glides down my throat every single time!! YUCK!  It has Anise (black licorice) in it and that is up there with pumpkin pie, ham and bean soup, and poop on my list of gross things to eat.  So, I bought some herbal supplements from a company called Motherlove.  I got the ones called More Milk Plus.  They are pricey.  It's about $35 for a 20 day supply.  I hope they work.  I just got them yesterday so  I have my fingers crossed.  I will do whatever it takes to keep giving Vivianne breast milk.  Including buying milk from another mother.  It think it is funny that society has trained us to think that another human feeding our babies is "gross" or "Wrong" or "unsafe" but, that it is perfectly fine or normal to feed your baby from another ANIMAL that you have no idea what has been injected into it or where it came from or whatever.  Humans were not made to drink cow's milk which is what formula is.  How many times has formula been recalled??? hmmm???? 

Baby Sister Snuggles and Fun Times

 On Sunday, Pat and Debbie brought the younger kids home!  We were so excited!  They also brought us a delicious chicken pot pie and some peach cobbler!  It was awesome!  And thoughtful!  Usually we have had people offer to bring us meals or offer to help in other ways when we have babies and we didn't get any of that this time.....except from Debbie and Pat.  I was super thankful for it because the last thing I wanted to do was cook dinner for all the kids when they got home.  

Asher got to hold Vivianne finally and he was really happy about it!  

 I love the little smile on his face in this one. 

 We have discovered that Asher is pretty good at anything sporty that he tries to do.  He and Jeremy stayed outside for quite some time playing baseball on this day.  We asked him if he wanted to be on a t-ball team and he keeps saying that he doesn't know how to play.  And I say, yes you do, we can teach you.  Or you can learn on the team, that is what the team is for.  But, he is scared to put himself out there.  He says the other kids would make fun of them.  And they probably would.  That is the sad thing.  He has been having issues with other kids his age being bullies and saying rude things to him.  So, I get why he doesn't want to put himself out there but, it makes me sad for him and mad.  I want to start a team where they play for fun and learning instead. 

 She poses herself all the time.  

I love her. 

 When I was in the hospital, Liam had "dress as your favorite literary character day" at school.  He wanted to dress as Harry Potter.  I had ordered a costume the week before and it came just in time.  Jeremy was able to get it to Liam the day after I delivered Vivianne. So, when I got out of the hospital, I made him dress up again and let me get a picture.  He really liked it!  

 Liam loves Vivianne so much.  It is sweet to see him interact with his younger siblings in such a sweet way.  Liam has a big heart even if sometimes he likes to pretend he doesn't. 

I just love him so much.  I love my whole big family.  I love that there are so many of us to hang out with.  Through good and bad, our family pretty much rules!!! :)

Coming Home

 On Saturday, I was SO ready to go home!! I was sick and tired of the hospital.  Jeremy got there about 10:30am and I got showered and ready to leave.  We ate our celebration lunch of steak, baked potato, salad, veggies, roll, apple pie, and iced tea.  WE had to fill out the birth certificate......what's funny is when Jeremy showed up that day, we both had been thinking the exact same name.....Vivianne Lucille Kelley.  We also had Haven May Kelley in our heads.  We liked the nickname Vivi Lu though.  (Since being home, I find it VERY hard to call her Vivianne.  I think it is too many syllables or something, lol! I have been thinking that I should call her Haven May anyway or officially change it but, who knows.  I don't feel like I know her well enough yet.  I don't think babies should be named until about 6 months old!! That way, you know what really suits them!! LMAO!)

Then we waited and waited and waited!!! Ugh.  Dr. Jones was not showing up for his rounds and apparently we had to wait for him to okay me to go home even though he had okayed me to go home the day before.  Sarah and Matt were gonna come visit us but, we thought we were leaving the hospital.  Finally he showed up about 3:00.  He told me I could go home.  Great! 

 This was the outfit Jeremy picked out for her to come home in.  Doesn't she look so pretty!  Another annoyance to us was that usually Jeremy goes shopping to bring a "going home" outfit for each of the kids.  Which he can do because he is in an actual city when we deliver in Quincy.  This time we were just too busy and too far away from anywhere to do it.  So, he picked from some of the outfits I had already bought.  Really it was fine.  But, we just had traditions and things we did that we didn't get to do this time or do it differently this time.  But, there were also perks so whatever.  But, if we were to have another baby.....BAhahahah, nope!

We got home and wanted to relax and get settled in a bit before all the kids came home.  We had just gotten Vivianne to sleep and ourselves about 15 minutes into a nap on the couch (since I didn't sleep at the hospital) when my mom walked in the door with the three older boys!  Sheesh! I was annoyed.  Really annoyed because I had specifically asked her to keep them for another night so we could adjust and rest.  I figured that if they stopped by the house they would start begging to stay.  Luckily, they stayed just a few minutes and left pretty quick so we could rest some more.  The next day was a completely different story!! lol!! I couldn't wait for the kids to get home to hang out with our new, bigger, family!!  

We are super thrilled to have Vivianne in our family and our lives!  She is beautiful and perfect in every way.  She has a little birth mark on the back of her head at the base of her neck.  She has the sweetest smile.  She loves to eat and poops like a champ!  haha!  She is pretty whiny a lot of the time but, we love her anyway!   She just really likes being swaddled and close to mama which is fine with me....most of the time!!  :)

Visitors, Day Two

 The next day was the complete opposite of the day before.  Jeremy had stayed at the hospital with me for the first time ever.  Between the baby eating pretty much non-stop through the night and Jeremy snoring his brains out, I did not sleep at all!! LOL!  

But, Jeremy got up bright and early and left to get kids to school.  

He had to get stuff ready for Cedric's birthday slumber party that night too.  What in the heck we were thinking, when we scheduled that is beyond me.  So, off he went.  I was not really enjoying my hospital stay much.  I had to be moved to another room like I said.  It was pretty nice too but, just not the same.  The lack of pain medication was super annoying!! They said Dr. Jones had said I could have tylenol and motrin.  What the What did they say!?!?  Ugh.  And they didn't do much in terms of keeping tabs on me or checking on me but, whatever.  I was glad when Trisha texted me and said that she and Eden would be over to hang out for a bit!  They showed up around lunch time and had their lunch there too.  

We talked about how the other kids were doing and about baby names. 

 She is gorgeous, isn't she! 

 Eden was all about the baby!

 While they were there I kept saying that she looked like a boy to me because I didn't have any classic girl colors on her.  So we dug a purple bow out of my diaper bag and had her super girly looking lickety split!

They had to leave and I was left all alone until Liam and my mom stopped by after school.  Liam got to hold his new baby sister for the first time and looked so happy doing it.  I wish I had remembered to get a picture.

 I couldn't see Jeremy again that day because he took Cedric and his friends to see Godzilla at the movie theatre, then had a sleepover at the house with them.  We texted a lot!!!

And that was it for visitors the whole time at the hospital actually.

Visitors, Day One

 The downside of having the baby at the Carthage hospital is that everyone wanted to be there IMMEDIATELY after she was born.  haha!  For reals, it was annoying to us but, I understand it too!  The baby hadn't been cleaned up.  I was still hooked up to the IV, the epidural IV, the blood pressure cuff etc.  We had food waiting for us to eat and I was STARVING!  Jeremy hadn't even gotten to hold her yet.  Usually when I deliver in Quincy, we have at the very least a couple of hours before people come so we can relax, recover, and enjoy for a bit.  Also, the labor and delivery rooms are supposed to be the room you stay in the whole time you are in the hospital and there was someone waiting to get in mine so the nursing staff was kinda rushing us too.  

We also had hoped that by splitting the kids up three and three with the Grandmas that we wouldn't end up with all of them there at the same time, which is super loud and annoying.  We get it.  They are excited to meet a new sibling.  They are in a new place and it is all new to them but, good grief, I felt sorry for the other people in the hospital. ;)

 So, despite our best efforts, everyone came all at once.  The reason it was annoying is because everyone was talking at once, running around, the nurses still trying to do their things with me and the baby, trying to eat during it all, and get pics, and be happy.   It ended up being okay but, it just wasn't what we had pictured in our heads at all.  

 Cedric was pretty weirded out by everything I think.  Or just didn't know how to express himself.  Not sure really.  He just seemed real aloof.  

 Liam on the other hand was VERY interested in her!!  It was so sweet!! And he still is! 

 Grandma Trapp brought the older three out.  

 She found her thumb pretty quick and did this a few times right away.  

 

At Carthage hospital they use the tummy tub.  But, the nurse doing it had no idea what she was doing, lol!  Oh do we have some funny stories about that nurse, haha!  Anyway, they used to give away a tummy tub to the new parents when you gave birth there.  They don't anymore.  I would've liked to try it but whatever.  I got a new tub anyway.  Not that we use it that much.  You aren't supposed to bathe newborns much or even use soap.  

 Trying to get a bite (or many bites, lol) in while people visit.  

 The little ones!!

 People kept asking to hold the baby and Jeremy kept saying....but, I haven't even held her yet.  So, we made sure he was the first one to hold her after I had finished feeding her.  

 I think he likes her. ;)

 Eden has been smitten from the first moment she laid eyes on the baby.  She seriously loves her so much!

 Grandma and Grandpa Kelley getting some snuggles in too! 

 Grandma Trapp got some cuddle time in too!

 Check out Asher's face!!!

 I told you....she LOVES her!!

 Tristan is a great oldest child.  He thought the baby was pretty neat!

 Aunt Trisha finally got to put the camera down for a second to hold that baby!!

 Vanessa and Josh were next in line! 

 Only siblings can come back into the delivery room so the cousins had to look at the baby girl through the nursery window.