Life Lately

Now that Gabe is 9 months old I figured I need to start documenting a little of his/our life! 

Where to start...

Olivia is in 1st grade this year(!) Her teacher is Ms. Arita and she quite likes her.  She misses kindergarten sometimes because she didn't have tests.  She is such a hard worker and is doing really well.  The other day Phil asked her who the hardest working kid in her class was and she thought about it for a while and said, "probably me."  She does her regular homework for school, then she does 15-20 minutes of big brainz, 30 minutes of Imagine learning, then she reads out loud to Phil or me for at least 15 minutes.  Phil and I (but let's be honest, mostly Phil) really want her to have every opportunity available to her.  She's already learning that she's capable of anything, as long as she keeps working at it.  She is reading like a champ.  I can't believe how much she can read, even compared to the beginning of the school year.  She is so good with Gabe and helps me out with him a lot.  I can't believe how much she's growing up!  

Jack is learning his letters and to say he is obsessed would be an understatement.  He is constantly writing his name and any letter he can think of.  I've been really impressed with his handwriting. He's doing a little joy school twice a week with Aynslie, Jordan and Gentry.  He LOVES it.  Each mom takes a turn teaching so I end up teaching once every two weeks.  We do one letter every week and he is just soaking it all in. I can't believe he still has two more years before he goes to kindergarten. At this rate he could definitely be reading by kindergarten.  I love being home with him and being able to spend so much time with him. He is such a sweet kid.  He'll randomly say, "hey mom.  I yove ya" He always wants to "tuddle" (cuddle) and he still is a sucker for my hair when he's sucking his thumb.  He is starting to talk like a boy and it makes me kind of sad, he's losing a lot of his adorable speech isms.  He used to boseye!  for motorcycle,  and hopprtoppr for helicopter. 

Gabe is adorable.  I find myself just staring at him.  He has so many cute expressions and so much personality.  He LOVES his family.  When he sees Phil or the kids he smiles from ear to ear and starts flapping his arms like crazy.  He gets super wiggly and is hard to hold onto!  He is an absolute mamas boy.  If he sees me, he will not let anyone else hold him.  As long as he can see me, (and no one is holding him) he's usually pretty content.  He loves to stand next to things and hold himself up.  He's even starting to take a few steps while holding onto the table.  He still isn't crawling, and I wouldn't be surprised if he never crawled and went straight to walking. He doesn't like being on his tummy for very long.  He will get up on all fours every once in a while, but he mostly just spins around in a circle or moves backwards. At his 9 month check up he weighed 19.8 lbs and was 28.5 inches.  He usually sleeps to sometime between 4:30 and 6.  I weaned him of the 4:30 feeding a few weeks ago and it was awesome.  But then he got a little stomach bug and he wasn't eating any solids really so I didn't want to deprive him of any feedings.  I'm really excited to get a solid nights sleep someday.  It's kind of funny, it never fails, when Gabe sleeps through the night, Jack or Livi will come down and want to get in bed with us.  And when Livi and Jack stay in their bed, Gabe wakes up.

 One of Gabe's adorable expressions

 he kills me

 his hair is getting so curly, I love it!

 I came in from grilling and the kids were pulling Gabe around the house on the sleeping bag

 One day after feeding him, he layed on my lap like this just talking gibberish for a good 5 minutes.  It was so adorable!

 Livi had to take head phones into school for computer class, so she was testing them out.  This moment really made me realize how quickly she's growing up.

 listening to Disney songs before bed

Livi and Jack both love to hold Gabe like this before bed.  He eats their faces and they laugh hysterically.

Gabriel McBride Arias

Gabriel made his grand entrance into the world in the wee small hours of December 23, 2013. He was born at 2:57 am, weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 19 1/2".  Not to play favorites, but his was probably my favorite labor and delivery.  I felt very focused, was able to enjoy the moment, and I was able to manage the pain better than the previous ones.

It all started Sunday the 22nd mid day.  I hadn't gone to church because I was recovering from a nasty flu the previous 2 days.  Which I actually thought was labor, ended up going to the hospital Friday night, only to be told I was dehydrated.  Super embarrassing especially since I did the same thing with Jack.  Anyway, through out the day Sunday I had some contractions, but very sporadic.  I was already dilated to a 4 so I figured it would be that night or the next day. That night we put the kids to bed around 7:30 and decided to watch a movie and time my contractions, as they were definitely consistent at that point.  We watched The Kite Runner, (so depressing.  I kept thinking, "I don't want to be thinking of this sad movie while I'm in labor!) By the end of the movie they were pretty strong and 10 minutes apart.  I called my neighbor and told her it was time and could we bring the kids over.  She was sick as a dog and asked if we had a back up.  Luckily, we have some great friends.  So I called my friend Tracy, she didn't answer so Phil called her husband Drew.  They were just about to go to bed and were more than willing to take the kids. We gathered all of my things for the hospital, woke up the kids, loaded everything in the car, dropped them off at Tracy's, and headed to the hospital.  It was around 11:30 and my contractions were about 6 minutes apart and getting stronger.  Phil knew he was in for a long night so he asked if we could swing by Taco Bell and get him some sustenance.  I felt totally fine in between contractions so we drove through Taco Bell and got Phil some food.  We arrived at the hospital and they checked me, confirmed I was in actual labor, dilated to a 5, then put me in my room.  It was about midnight at this point.  Everything was pretty text book from that point on.  A few days earlier my friend Kari had shown Phil and I some techniques to deal with the contractions, they were so helpful and we ended up using two of them the whole time. I had read a little of Hypnobirthing and another book called Birthing From Within.  I couldn't really get my mind to do the hypnobirthing stuff.  Birthing From Within is a little more about embracing the pain and using it to help.   Every time a contraction came I would repeat the same thing in my head, "I'm strong. I can do this. My body was meant to do this. Heavenly Father made me to do this. I have a husband who loves me and is here for me." I would say that over and over until the contraction passed. As the contractions got more intense I would envision them pushing the baby down.  After a few hours I was dilated to a 9. They broke my water and a few minutes later I was ready to push. I think I pushed twice, maybe three times, and out he came as perfect as can be.  For several weeks before he came I kept picturing a little boy with thick dark hair, and he definitely fit the description! They immediately handed him to me and he was all red and puffy and I said, "oh he's so cute!! We did it buddy, we did it." He swallowed a little amniotic fluid so they suctioned him out.  Livi and Jack both latched on immediately, but he didn't seem interested at all. I would stop and try again a little later but he wasn't latching.  Finally he spit up all this amniotic fluid and then he ate like a champ.

Because I'm strep B positive and they weren't able to give me the full course of antibiotics, we had to stay a full 48 hours. So I was there Christmas Eve and was able to go home Christmas morning at 9am.  I was sitting on my bed with my bags packed waiting for the ob and pediatrician to discharge us.  I was so excited to get home and watch the kids open their presents! We got in the car and Livi said, "Yay! We got mommy back!"

Gabriel is such a sweet baby.  I'm not gonna lie the first 6 weeks were rough. No sleep coupled with Phil going back to school while still working made for lots of craziness. (He is getting his masters in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M) Gabe is sleeping so much better now at 8 weeks.  He went 6 hours last night and I felt like a million bucks.

Livi and Jack have been so great with him, especially Livi.  She'll hold him while I make dinner and they both are great about bringing me diapers. Jack has his moments where he will start petting his head and then he'll pull his hair or pinch him.  But for the most part he's been great.

getting checked in and hooked up to the monitor.

going home!

 comparing their hair color

 watching tv waiting to be discharged

Christmas morning!  These 2 are awesome, they woke up, so all the presents and didn't complain at all that they couldn't open them yet. Also, huge props to Phil for putting everything out and for finishing up the wrapping I didn't get to.

 this is Gabe at 7 weeks, and this is the outfit Jack came home from the hospital in.  More and more I'm realizing what a tank he was.

 this is how Jack shows his love

I love Gabe's face in this one.

sleeping anywhere, anytime we can

Livi Goes To School!

Livi started kindergarten on August 26th!  I have to say, for several weeks before she started, I would have slight panic attacks while laying in bed.  I never sent Livi to preschool or anything so she has pretty much been with me ALL the time.  Excluding play dates and primary.  Livi can be quite shy when she first meets people so I was worried that she wouldn't make friends very quickly, and I was worried that being gone from home for 7 hours every day would be hard on her.  BUT, I'm happy to say that she absolutely adores school!
The night before her first day Phil gave her a really nice blessing.  Her teacher had also given her a packet of confetti with a little poem about how the confetti was magic and if she slept with it under her pillow she would get a good night sleep and not be nervous.  Livi was super excited to sprinkle it  under her pillow and when she woke up in the morning she was so excited because it had worked!! After I picked her up the first day she said, "mom, guess what?!  I made two friends!" long pause, "and one of them is named Emily!"  Which is one of my best friends names.  She loves her teacher, Mrs. Allen and she just loves everything about school. When she gets home, if her and Jack have any disagreements she will say, "I wish I was in school!" I totally cried the first day dropping her off.  Phil went into work late so he could come with us and he got a cute video of Livi hanging up her back pack and me trying not to let her see the tears in my eyes.  Jack was really sad after we got home on the first day. But after we played blocks and cars and trains and play doh, I think he got over it.  The second day we dropped her off he said, "me no sad!" Every day when we pick her up, as soon as she comes around the corner, Jack runs and gives her a huge bear hug or grabs her face with his hands and just stares at her.  It's adorable.  We ride our bikes to and from school and that has been really fun.  Although, the afternoon ride home has been SO hot.  I usually don't cool down until dinner time.  (I have been so hot this pregnancy!)

Jack rides in a trailer attached to my bike.  The 5th and 6th grade school is on the same street as the elementary school, but it's on the other side of our house.  So every morning older kids are riding their bikes in that direction. The first day as we were riding home from dropping off Livi, we were in a little group of other moms on their bikes and I was bringing up the rear.  I could hear these kids coming up fast behind me but didn't think much of it. Then I hear tires skidding across the sidewalk and all of a sudden I got rammed from behind.  Some kid ran into the back of the trailer and flipped it on it's side.  I think he hit the tire.  Luckily, Jack was buckled in and he was fine, but it obviously terrified him and he was screaming and crying. I almost started to cry, not sure exactly why, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with hormones.  The other moms got after the boys and told them to slow down and they felt so bad and were really apologetic.  The poor kid that hit the trailer was limping as he walked away.  I don't think I said anything because I was worried I would cry.  

Livi has since made lots of friends, one of whom is a boy named Jordan.  She said he's "definitely" one of her best friends.  She told me yesterday that a boy in another class told Jordan that Livi was his girlfriend.  "But he's not, he's just my friend" was what Livi told me. I can't believe how much my little girl is growing up.  Sometimes I feel like I just became a mom and have a hard time believing that I have a kid in elementary school.  I'm so proud of the person that she is becoming and am so excited for her.

It's A Boy!

We are so excited to be adding another boy to the mix!  My official due date is December 29th, which puts me at 21 weeks.  I've been feeling good. The first trimester was very similar to Jack's.  A little nauseated but if I chewed mint gum and made sure to eat every two hours I was okay. It was mostly just after dinner that I would feel pretty yucky.  I also noticed that if I ate a lot of sugar I would feel really sick.

This pregnancy has been different because I am making very conscious choices about what I eat.  Because Jack was so large, 9.4, and he had low blood sugar, my Dr thinks I may have developed gestational diabetes at the end of that pregnancy.  When I did the glucose test at 26 weeks my blood sugar was perfect, so if I did have it, it had to have been at the end.  That has been a hard pill to swallow.  Especially thinking that I probably caused it by eating ice cream every night.  Now, I'm making a concerted effort to eat as if I did have diabetes in order to nip it in the bud.  Sometimes it's a struggle, but for the most part, I feel great and am really seeing the benefits. Phil is reaping the benefits also.  I'm not sure how much weight he's actually lost, but he fits into pants that he hasn't been able to for years.  He has said on numerous occasions that he wants to keep this up forever. Basically, I eat a lot of meats, eggs, natural peanut butter, string cheese, fruit, salad, and whole grain breads. I have also discovered how much I love brussel sprouts.  Breakfast is by far the hardest, I LOVE pancakes and waffles and crepes and donuts and cereal, oh my goodness how I love cereal.  I've been able to cut all of those out, although I will admit to making whole wheat waffles and eating them with PB and fruit, but it's not the same.  It's amazing what we can do when we are thinking about the health of our babies.  I sometimes wonder how I'm going to make it through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas without losing my mind or my will power.   But it gets easier every day and it helps that when I do indulge I feel like crap.

I have felt him move a ton.  Livi got to feel him kick the other day and that was really neat.  She is so excited to meet this little guy.  When we found out we were having a boy I asked her if she was okay that it wasn't a girl (she really wanted a girl) and she said, "I wish it was a girl, but I'm okay, I just want a baby."

Now we'll just see when he decides to show up!  I'm hoping it's not on Christmas....is that bad?

July Festivities

We've had a fun July so far.  Three of Phil's high school buddies from Boston came and stayed with us for a few days. They are such nice guys and really fun to be around.  One day we headed down to Galveston to show them the beach.  Their reaction was hilarious.  If you haven't ever seen Galveston, the water is basically brown.  Not very appealing or inviting.  But the water is warm and the sand is nice, so I'll take it. The kids loved playing in the sand and we had a hard time getting them to leave.

The 4th was really fun. It's definitely one of my favorite holidays. We went to the parade in the morning where Phil was randomly a drummer in the Union Army band.  A guy in our ward heads up this "float" every year and kept asking for volunteers to play the drum, he wasn't having any luck so Phi stepped up and said he'd do it.  Even though he's never played the drums before.  He did a fantastic job and they sounded so awesome.  Their group actually got first place for most patriotic!

The kids LOVED the parade.  They waved their little flags and Livi would wave at the people in the floats.  A float loaded with mermaids drove by and she about flipped.  She is a little obsessed with mermaids right now.  

After the parade we went swimming and had a blast.  Livi has been taking swimming lessons and is doing a phenomenal job.  I'll have to write a separate post about that.  Later that night we had a BBQ and I made some red white and blue rice krispy treats, which were a big hit.  Phil was beyond impressed with my dedication to holidays.  A few days earlier I had went and purchased a few of my favorite fire works from when I was a kid. Black snakes, sparklers and smoke bombs.  I thought I remembered Zippers as these awesome things that would "zip" around really fast in a circle so I got a few of those, and a fountain.  Phil was super paranoid about all of the fireworks (technically they are illegal in the Woodlands) and I thought he was being such a stick in the mud.  I mean, they're sparklers and black snakes and smoke bombs?!  Then I lit the Zipper. It shot up into the air, over onto our neighbors roof, (covered in dried pine needles), and almost rolled into their rain gutter, (also full of dried pine needles and leaves.)  My heart dropped into my stomach as I was waiting for their house to catch on fire.  That convinced me not to do the fountain. I think I was remembering a firework called the Flower, not the Zipper.

After that near felony experience, we headed over to the Waterway to watch the real fireworks.  It was insanely packed so Phil dropped us off and we went to find a spot.  Right before the fireworks started Phil miraculously found us ( I had forgot my cell phone) and we watched one of the coolest firework displays ever.  This is the first year that Livi has really liked them, they have always been a little too loud for her, so that was extra fun.  And Jack, of course, got a kick out of them.  After the fire works we got to our car and it only took us an hour to get home.  An hour.  We live about 5 miles from the Waterway. Next year we decided we're riding our bikes.  

Speaking of bikes, I sold my road bike and got a beach cruiser instead!  I love it!  I feel like I'm driving a Cadillac because it's so much bigger than my last one. 

 Pat, Paul and Andrew

 telling me no pictures

I don't think we need a paternity test