We're Movin' on Up!

As if the addition of a new baby girl were not exciting enough, our family has even more news to share:  we are moving up!  Up north, that is - to New Hampshire.

Not only has it felt rather cramped in our small townhome with three active boys, a new baby (and all the accoutrements that come with a baby - gosh, there's a lot of stuff, isn't there?), and a dog, but Pennsylvania holds a lot of sad memories for us.  We're excited about moving away from some of them and starting with a clean slate in a new place.  But we will miss the amazing friends we have made here, too.

The timing is quick - Patrick got a transfer with his current job and will be able to continue working for the same company in a new territory.  We'll likely be there by the end of February. (She says in mid-January with nothing packed and no where to go to yet.  We're very Keep Calm and Carry On around here these days, with an itty bit of Freak Out now and again just to prove we're human.)

Three boys, a baby who's just gotten over RSV, a dog, a slightly sick mommy, house hunting eight hours away, purging belongings, packing, and moving.  That's how it is nowadays!

For better or for worse...

Today is our sixth wedding anniversary.

When I think back over the past seven years since we met, at a little pub in Concord, Massachusetts, and I think about the person I've come to love with every part of my heart, I am so thankful to God for bringing us together.

Of course, as blissful as our new found romance was then, I knew that Patrick was the kind of person that I'd been dreaming about.  I could tell that he was special.

And the more I get to know him, the more I know for certain that I was not wrong.  Because not only is he the kind of husband who makes me feel beautiful, and special, and treasured.  The kind who isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and help with whatever needs to be done.  The kind who loves children and being silly with them and singing to them, and comforting them when they're crying.  The kind who loves God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength, and not just on Sunday mornings at church, but in every part of his life.

But he's also the kind of husband you want with you when you go through a year like our past year has been.  The kind of husband who holds you when you are afraid.  Who cries with you when the doctor tells you he's sorry, but there is no longer a heartbeat.  Twice.  Who works a full day and then prepares dinner and packs up the bags for your three young children and then drives them almost an hour away every single Tuesday for months because you have a hospital appointment the next day.  Who brings every meal up to you in bed every single day for eight weeks, while working a full-time job.  He's the kind of husband who gives you unbelievable amounts of slack when your emotions are all over the map and you can't rein them in.  Who can see you at your absolute worst and still think you're great. He is the person who supports you even when you know he needs support, too.

I have never known a love like that from another person, and I'm convinced that God knew what lay ahead for us when we met way back on that cold December night in New England.  I remember him walking me to my car and thinking I'd really like to see him again.  I didn't know yet that he was the one for me (it would only take me about three more dates to know), but I just liked him.  He's unbelievably likeable.

Yes, God knew that we had a rough road before us, and that we would fit a whole lot of living into the next six years, but he also fit us together perfectly.  See how even the curves of our faces fit together?  He knew that we would each be the missing piece the other would need to get through something like we just went through, and I am so grateful that He did.  Because there is no other person that I want to go through this life with than Patrick, and I can't wait to see what the future will hold.  If we could get through that, we can get through anything.

Bring it.

Father-daughter time

Patrick got to hold his baby girl for the very first time today!

I'm pretty sure that look on her face is saying,"I'm going to have you wrapped right around my teeny, tiny finger."

I'm also pretty sure that the look on his face is saying,"Yes. Yes, you are."

Not quite out of the woods yet

In fact, I'm thinking we're actually going to be living IN the woods for a while. We can pitch a tent, keep the food up high in a bear box, and sing songs around the campfire. Care to join us?

We had our follow up appointment at CHOP today, one week after my surgery, and while we hoped to see leaps and bounds of improvement in baby Brigid, what we actually saw was not too different from the scan we had the day after the surgery. Her ventricles in her heart (the bottom two chambers that do the actual "pumping" work) are thickened and a little weakened from having had to handle so much excess blood, and her valves are not closing as well as they should for the same reason. The cardiology team will follow me weekly in hopes of seeing improvement, and there is a medication that I can take that can help her heart (which is amazing to me), if it does not improve well enough over time. She looked beautiful, though, and was moving all over. I've been feeling her kick and move so much more since they removed the excess fluid and it's been a reassuring feeling that's reminding me every day that we just need to take things one day at a time. Every day that I carry her and feel those kicks is a blessing.

The scan also showed something that we knew was a possible effect of the surgery. That is, that my amniotic sac has detached from the chorion it is usually fused to, and fluid has gotten behind it. This does not really affect the baby at all, I am told; she has enough fluid for herself. The risk is that it gives me a greater potential for premature labor, and so I am to stay on bed rest for the entire remainder of the pregnancy. The longer this period is, of course, the better. This is quite daunting, but again, something we'll have to handle one day at a time.

We are so grateful for meals, childcare and offers of helping with chores and errands that have been pouring in. It is incredibly humbling to have someone over to your home for the first time and to watch them vacuum your living room while you're sitting on the couch. Patrick and I like to be self-sufficient, both individually and within our family. "No thanks - we can handle it!" But this may be part of the lesson that the Lord is trying to teach us - to humble ourselves and ask others to help us, because the reality is, we don't have another choice right now.

A day in the life

I recently watched an episode of Oprah in which Nate Berkus gave a stay-home mom the day off and did her job for her.

At the end of the segment, they posted a checklist of the tasks that Nate had completed that day. While he seemed to think it was a lot, it looked to me like the kind of day I might have if two of the boys were staying with my parents and I didn't really have anything going on. The woman had two school-aged children who were gone all day and a two-year-old.

Now, I'm not claiming to be the busiest mom out there, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I sometimes turn on the T.V. to get a little down time, but I made a list today of the things I did. Just took about one minute every 30 minutes or so and jotted down what happened in that time period.

Let's just say that I call the red parts "Why Nate Berkus ain't got nothin' on me" and the blue parts "Why I have the most wonderful job on the face of the earth."


6-6:30 - Jack, after waking us up by talking too loudly in his room to PJ at 5:45, came bursting into our bedroom at 6 to start the day. Patrick took them downstairs while I fed Thomas and came down by 6:30. (I got about four broken hours of sleep last night.)

6:30-7 - Change diapers/put underpants on boys, pay two bills, drink some coffee while Jack plays in the basement and PJ watches Caillou and holds Thomas a little.

7-7:30 - Teach PJ and Jack how to draw and color flowers. Make oatmeal for breakfast. While breakfast cooks, Pj says he has to do a tinkle (he does), then a poopy (he doesn't), then another tinkle attempt, then another poopy attempt. Underpants are off and on between each one of these and every time I say anything to PJ, Jack screams, "What?!" from the basement despite my repeated explanation that I am talking to PJ. Jack asks if breakfast is ready three times. Thomas screams in his swing during much of this since I can't hold him while cooking or helping PJ on the potty.

7:30-8 - Boys eat breakfast at the table, but only after deliberating (and arguing) about which train they want to bring to the table to "share" breakfast with them. I feed Thomas again and put on a Thomas the Tank Engine DVD for them to watch while they eat.

8-8:30 - Shower, dress, make bed, straighten boys' room, start a load of laundry, load dishwasher, put Thomas up for a nap.

8:30-9 - Help older boys get dressed, watch the end of DVD with them and do activities together learning about shapes and how the trains are alike and different.

9-9:30 - Clean up kids' breakfast, make and eat my breakfast, load dishwasher again (where did all these other dishes come from?), set boys up with Play-Doh and juice at the dining room table.

9:30-10 - Give boys haircuts while they play with Play-Doh, vacuum, and, while vacuuming, help PJ with two poopy false alarms by reading him books while he sits on the potty. Jack made a "hotdog" with green mustard and red ketchup out of Play-Doh and asked PJ and me if we wanted a bite. It looked a lot like a real one!

10-10:30 - Clean up Play-Doh, help PJ tinkle, wipe down the bathroom sink and toilet with Clorox wipes, get Thomas up from his nap, change his diaper, get him dressed and nurse him. Post a funny Mother's Day video on Facebook. Kiss boo-boos on both Jack and PJ. Tell PJ about Jesus on the cross of his rosary beads and what He did for us. PJ thanks Jesus and gives him a kiss.

10:30-11 - Change Thomas's poopy diaper, change and clean up after PJ's pooping in his underpants because he didn't make it to the potty, move laundry to dryer. While putting new underpants on PJ, Patrick sends me an email saying, "Jack is banging on my door HELP" because his office is in the basement, his door is locked, and he's on the phone for work. When I go down to play trains in the basement with the older boys and ask Jack to stop banging on Daddy's door, he says, "But I just wanted to tell Daddy that some little kids don't have any toys and we're lucky because we have all these!" I help Thomas work on learning to roll over and we all sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to him.

11-11:30 - Bring Thomas and PJ upstairs, get a snack for PJ, feed fish, water plants. Patrick leaves for a lunch meeting. Jack stops him before he leaves and says, "Daddy wait! I'll miss you!" Then when PJ, who is in time-out for hitting, cries because Patrick is leaving, Jack comforts him by saying, "Daddy is going to a meeting that is just for Daddies. Some other meetings are little kid meetings and another time, you can go to one of those."

11:30-12 - Make grilled cheese for lunch while holding a fussy Thomas and giving PJ two time-outs for disobeying. Boys eat at the table while watching Bob the Builder and I cuddle Thomas on the couch. Love these coos and giggles! Jack, who's just getting the knack of knock-knock jokes, tells me this one: Knock-knock. Who's there? Bob. Bob who? Uh...Bob cup. PJ bumps his head while running around the table and needs kisses. Help PJ use the potty.

12-12:30 - Bring boys upstairs, help them use the potty, put pull-ups on them and put them in bed for naps. Jack tells me, as he does each day, that he has to poop, so I read books to him while he sits on the potty for ten minutes, at which time, because I suspect he's playing games with me since he does this at each and every bedtime and I have no idea how to handle it, I put his pull-up back on and tell him to stay in his bed. I have a feeling he's going to poop in his pull-up during his nap.

12:30-1 - Clean up from lunch, watch Ahmadinejad on Charlie Rose (that man is crazy), run upstairs to put Thomas's binkie back in.

1-1:30 - Fold laundry, boil water for tea, watch Todd English

1:30-2 - Praise the Lord - the boys are still all napping! Tea with Barefoot Contessa! Run upstairs again to put Thomas's binkie back in. Back up once more to get him because enough is enough already. Nurse him a little while I finish my tea.

2-2:30 - Give Thomas some time on the floor mat, Jack gets up (clean pull-up!), we both play with Thomas.

2:30-3 - Jack and I thin and water his tomato and watermelon seedlings on the deck. We planted the seeds about six weeks ago and they all sprouted on the windowsill in their little red and blue pots. He's so excited they're growing. I teach him a little about roots, leaves, and stems and what they do.

3-3:30 - Thomas eats again, PJ wakes up. Jack offers to go and tell him that I'll be right up and I get to hear them talking together in the monitor (one of my favorite things). Get PJ, help him go to the potty, get snacks and juice for both boys , finish nursing Thomas.

3:30-4 - Give boys some window crayons and let them draw on the outside of the slider. Take funny pictures of them looking through Groucho Marx-type glasses/mustache drawn on the glass. Give them Windex and paper towels and let them clean it up, but it's not so great, so I go out and wash them myself because, heck, they needed to be cleaned anyway. (Let's call that my spring cleaning, shall we?) Boys build sandcastles in the sandbox. I change Thomas's poopy diaper.

4-4:30 - Put Thomas up for another nap, but he's gassy so I bring him back down and let him sleep while I pat his back and he's lying across my lap. Boys race their trains for a while and then fight about who won, so I put on Team Umizoomi for them to watch while Thomas snoozes and I'm feeling a bit icky in the tummy.

4:30-5 - Put Thomas up again and he stays asleep for a little while longer. Fix dinner, which tonight happens to be leftovers since we have a fridge full of them. Thomas starts crying again so I go up and put his binkie back in and stay with him for a few minutes until he falls back to sleep. Boys play in basement for a while and I straighten up the living room.

5-5:30 - Serve dinner for Patrick, Jack and PJ, but I'm not feeling great so I don't eat. Patrick sits with boys at dinner table while I go lie down for 10 minutes upstairs. Tired and sore right now. Clean up from dinner.

5:30-6 - PJ has another poopy false alarm. Patrick helps the boys go to the potty and I help get them ready so that he can take Jack and PJ to the carwash with the van and then to ride their bikes at the park. I put my achy feet up for a little while, have a diet coke, and work on this post.

6-6:30 - Lay out jammies and overnight diapers, fill humidifiers and straighten blankets to get boys' beds ready for sleeping.

6:30-7 - Put away all the sandbox and water table toys on the deck and close them up for the night. Put on Thomas's jammies, feed him, and put him to bed. He fusses, rebink him. He fusses, rebink him. He fusses, rebink him. (This is going to bite me in the backside in a few months.)

7-7:30 - Patrick gives the boys a bath, helps them brush their teeth, puts their jammies on.
7:30-8 - Patrick reads boys a story and puts them to bed.

Tomorrow, after having slept in comfortable beds, in a safe home, we will,
Lord willing, wake healthy and
able to do it all again.

And I wouldn't change a single thing!

Our little Valentine

Just a few pictures from Thomas's first weeks at home.


We are all enjoying little Thomas!


He's been doing a great job sleeping at night, and is very cuddly.


He's such a sweet little guy - very alert and content when he's awake. He's easy to read, and easy to console.

Jack and PJ have had colds for the last ten days or so, which has had me shooing them away from kissing and touching Thomas's face too much, but they love their new baby brother.


On the first night that we were all home with him, we had a little "birthday" party, which was really just an excuse for Mommy to eat buttercream frosting and the boys to blow out some candles.

He fits right into our family (as is evidenced by the above video).
Of course we have another boy.
How could we have thought otherwise?

It's a BOY!

We still can't believe it.

I went into the hospital on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., and

Thomas Christopher was born at 5:24 on Wednesday morning, January 27th.

I am stunned at how big he was. I was positive he was smaller than the other boys.

I think maybe I was just smaller this time.

Ask me how it feels not to be pregnant anymore.

Go ahead - ask me.

That's how.

(Whoa, look at those eyes - I definitely didn't get much sleep that night.)

Patrick is one proud papa - and a little in shock.

He was pretty convinced it was a girl too.

But no - here's our little puffy-faced boy a few hours after he was born.

Jack and PJ had been staying at my parents' house for a few days, since I had had more than a few false alarms that had me thinking I was in labor.

When the doctor gave us the okay to head in to be induced, I called Jack there and told him that the baby was going to be coming out that night. I promised I'd call him the next morning and let him know whether it was a boy baby or a girl baby.

At 7 a.m. that morning - just a short while after the baby was born - I did just that.

Here's how that call transpired:

Me: Jack, it's Mommy. The baby came out today!
Jack: Already?
(!?!?!?!?!?)
Me: Yes! Daddy is holding him. And guess what?
Jack: What?
Me: It's a little boy baby!
Jack: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
(Screaming, sobbing, dropping the phone and continuing while walking away)
I want it to be a little girl baby!

So...that went well.

I hoped that when he met little Thomas, things might be different.

I was right.

First, he saw that it was indeed a tiny little baby.

I think he equated a boy with another little brother the same size as PJ.
And Jack's a baby lover!

Then, this happened.

(This picture makes me cry a little.)

Then, he was thrilled to hold his baby brother.

PJ, also a baby lover, just went straight for the cuddle.

Then he was excited to see his little eyes and nose.

Some quiet time with my little guy this morning.

I love this one - the boys brought in some "Boys Rule" stickers for everyone and we put Thomas' on his bassinette
(though I have to admit the perfectionist in me wonders if they couldn't have asked someone with a little bit nicer handwriting to fill out the card).

Getting ready to head for home.

We are all doing well. The boys will spend one last night at my parents' house and give us a chance to settle in with Thomas. Then Patrick will go pick them up in the morning.

I can't wait to have all of them home together.
We are so blessed!

Anniversaries

Patrick and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on November 5th, and the fifth anniversary of our first meeting on December 5th.

It's hard to believe that in just five short years, we met, married, moved to Pennsylvania, and are expecting our third child. It was a whirlwind romance, sort of buckle-your-seatbelts-and-hang-on-for-dear-life, but we are both so blessed.

I was sick for our wedding anniversary, so instead of a weekend away, we spent one night overnight in Annapolis, Maryland. It was lovely and we had a great time. On the ride home, Patrick's phone rang, and in a RARE (as in probably the first time it's happened) instance, he asked me to answer it for him. The number was listed, but there was no name given, so neither of us knew who it was, and the conversation went like this:

Me: Hello?
Her: Is Patrick there?
Me: Can I tell him who's calling?
Her: Uh...um....it's....uh.... (mumbling) it's Royer's Flowers.

Oh no.

My wonderful husband had ordered flowers for me and they were ready to be picked up. Sweet man. He knows that my favorite flowers are ranunculus (the orange ones above) and freesia (the white ones above), and they were absolutely gorgeous.

I am so blessed to have such a thoughtful, caring man for a husband!

I love you, Patrick!

A Day out with Thomas

Thomas the Tank Engine came to the Strasburg railroad last week.

It was a beautiful fall day and the boys had a blast. Jack was especially captivated by the "GREAT BIG THOMAS!"

We paid a visit to Sir Topham Hatt, who was slightly creepy and fascinated Jack and PJ both.

We had an open-air car for our ride and PJ loved feeling the air and seeing the cows outside.

A nice lady waiting in line took our photo while we waited to leave. We don't have too many family photos because one of us is always behind the camera. Usually it's me, and I'm happy to keep it that way.

Jack did a lot of staring. He couldn't get over how big Thomas was.

We had a great time!

Dutch Wonderland

Let's not talk about the fact that it's been almost exactly one month since I posted last, shall we?

Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.

At the beginning of August, Patrick took a much-needed week off from work and we had a little family "staycation." It was just what the doctor ordered, since his work schedule had been terribly hectic and we were both feeling exhausted.

One of our day trips included a local amusement park just for young children called Dutch Wonderland. We had so much fun watching the boys experience this place for the first time.

The first ride we went on was a little boat ride that guided itself around a pond. Jack and I rode together and he "drove."

This was my view the entire time, and I have to say, it made me a little misty.

Still does, actually. But hey, I'm pregnant.

Patrick and PJ had fun together.

Patrick and Jack went on a tilt-a-whirl type ride with turtles, and as they waited in line Jack explained his concerns. Patrick assured him that it would be fine.

They chose their turtle car and got settled.

Thumbs up before the ride started to let me know that everything was okay...

...and then this picture while the ride is moving that I snapped too late because I have a crappy camera, but which shows Jack, white as a sheet, looking like he's about to die.

I couldn't help it. I cracked up.

PJ saw nothing funny about it and thought it was a little annoying that he had to wait while Daddy and Jack got to do fun rides.

Then we went to see a little Thomas show they had there. Both boys died and went to heaven.

Not literally.

There was clapping and singing and PJ was riveted...

...until the people behind us opened up a take-out container of some sort and started munching on french fries. Then he was focused on the food.

After the show, the boys got to pose with Thomas for a photo. Out of the four shots I took, this is the one in which they are most looking in the same direction.

Jack and I went on the merry-go-round. I thought he was having a great time until I saw this picture and realized he was pretty scared on this ride as well.

I crack up when I see this one too. You'd think we were going around at breakneck speed from the look on his face.

Jack took Patrick for a ride on the antique cars, which made Patrick a little emotional remembering that his dad had taken him on the same ride when he was young.

Again with the misty.

A nice spiral slide was just Jack's speed and he went on this one about four times.

And then, there were the monster trucks - the first ride that PJ got to go on too and was he ever in love.

Jack was thrilled because:

(a) they got the front car and it was like he was the leader pulling all the other trucks around.
(b) the car was red.
(c) there was no line when the ride was over so the lady operating it let them go around again.

Jack still talks about the three magnificent points of this ride.

Patrick got to go with them, and I think it's safe to say that were this a Norman Rockwell painting, it could be called "Proud Papa."

This photo makes me a little nauseous because I'm sure that before I know it, this will be 16-year-old PJ behind the wheel of an actual car and oh my gosh, can we please not talk about this either?

Mmmmkay.


Then, there was this tiny airplane/spaceship ride that both boys got to ride together in seats that were back-to-back. Although it's not much, this picture represents the most fun part of the entire trip for Patrick and me because PJ's face as this thing was going around was just PA-RICELESS!

Unfortunately:

(a) out of three tries, I could not time the photos to capture their plane, until this one.
(b) immediately upon snapping this photo, my camera battery died.

The end.

There are oodles more pictures to post from this summer, but I'm not going to make any promises about when they'll get here. I'll do it as soon as I can.

Thanks so much for checking in!