Villains, throwing fits, crappy day, the usual

It's the little things ya know? I really want to make sure I don't forget these little things that happen day-to-day that make me chuckle or smile.


B: Mom! Where is Baby Brother???
M: He's in his bed in my room. Is that alright?
B: OH! I thought a villain took him!

Paislee lately when she is throwing her little fits (there are many in a day) will say "I don't want to!" But it's the way she screeches it that really is funny. The first word is high, the second low, etc. So she sounds like a dying mongoose.

Kailia lately has been saying "Wee-ah" which can mean anything. I've noticed a pattern where she means "Open this", but again, it does have many uses.

Bella really wanted to name Phinn "Ella", "Mystery" or "Fawn". Some good names...(for a stripper)! Just kidding.

Kailia is very fascinated with Phinn nursing/eating. She points and giggles every time. She calls it "Baby mo" (Baby milk). ha ha.

A moment I never want to forget is the first time Bella got to hold Phinn. She was so overwhelmed with emotion and love. Tears welled up in her eyes and she was trying so hard to hold them in. She had been waiting for that day for a long time.

I love how Paislee and Kailia say, "Awwww!" when they are disappointed about something. Their tonality when they say it is hilarious! They sound like little mini teenagers. When Bella is disappointed she says, "Harsh!" They are too young to be throwing around this attitude.

Phinn was crying in his bouncer and Bella was trying to comfort him. I guess Kailia got the wrong idea and thought Bella was making him cry. Boy, did Bella get the chewing out of a lifetime! Kai was pointing her finger up and down yelling at her. Not quite sure what she said exactly. I could pick out "baby" every few words though. There were probably a few baby swear words too. So funny.

Last night Phinn only woke up twice. Hooray! He woke up at midnight to eat. Then, at 5am I actually woke him up to eat. It's amazing what a solid chunk of sleep can do for you. I was up by 6am and took a shower without any children present in the bathroom. I sorted and threw in a load of wash, checked my email, and wrote this post! I'm not getting used to it yet, though.

Yesterday was my first day with all 4 kids out and about by myself. I had my 2 week check up. I wasn't counting on it being a blizzard, in May, outside. I ended up (with Levi's help) getting the kids into the car after a quick breakfast. Paislee would not stop crying for some reason. They were all wearing their p.j.s still. Hair was looking really scary. So, I get to my mom's house and her huge tree has cracked in 6 places from the weight of the snow. I couldn't pull up in the driveway, so I had to haul each kid- one at a time through the snow to her front door. After I dropped the kids off with my brother, I made it (alive) to my appointment 30 minutes late. Phinn starts crying while we are waiting so I pull him out of his carseat. They call my name finally. I ask the nurse to hold him for me while I produce a urine sample. I hear laughing. It turns out Phinn totally peed all over her scrub top! So embarrassing. At least it's newborn baby pee though, right? It's got to be more pure. After the appointment, we pick up the girls. Turns out I forgot to change them that morning and forgot to leave diapers with Blair. So, Paislee and Kailia are soaked, stinky, and even more whiny and grumpy. All in all, it was a downright crappy day. We left that morning at 9am and got home around 12:30. Four kids 3 and under are really, really hard! I don't think we'll be leaving the house this summer.

At least they took a long nap, though. I didn't know how much more crying and whining I could handle! Levi ended up going to my mom's to help cut up and haul away that tree. He didn't get home until after 8pm. So it was up to me and only me to get them all fed, bathed, and to bed. By the time he got home, he was so exhausted and sore. He could barely move his arms. Today is going to be a good one though. For starters, it isn't snowing outside.

Phinn Arthur

The day we left the hospital is the day we came up with Baby Boy's/Billy Bob's name. Actually it was literally 5 minutes before we left the hospital. We both really liked the name Phinn. Levi wanted him named after his dad, Kevin Arthur. I wanted to spell his name "Finn" but that would make his initials spell out "FAT". Levi said "No big deal". But I had to put my foot down on that one. So Phinn Arthur Tippetts. It sounds like royalty. He almost needs a suffix like the IV or something.

I am in love with this boy. I didn't think I'd adjust to having a boy so quickly, but I did. Boys are just as fun as girls...just a little different. We couldn't ask for a sweeter, more patient baby. I love holding him on my chest as often as I can, to let him sleep. He sleeps so well this way. I held him in the hospital this way as often as I could. I knew once I got home back to normal life, I would be spreading myself to five different people, cooking, cleaning, etc. etc. etc.

I've been slowly taking his newborn pictures a day at a time. We get interrupted a lot and we both get frustrated. So these are his newborn pictures PART I- more to come. I still need to get Levi in a few with him. I also got some taken at the hospital by a professional and I love them! I just don't know if I can spend the $125 to get them on CD.

He is here! (finally)

Baby Boy Tippetts arrived Monday, May 10, 2010 at 8:24 am. He weighed 7lbs 12oz and measured 21in long. He has dark brown hair, navy blue eyes, long skinny toes & fingers, and is such a handsome little guy! He is so very sweet. I am amazed every time I look at him.

He was delivered by C-Section, which went great accept for the spinal block / anesthesia. That took two tries to administer and didn't go up high enough. I actually felt the doctors pulling apart my stomach muscles and pulling out my uterus! AGHH! But we did it, and we are grateful to be healthy and watched over.

I am so happy he is finally here. I know his three big sisters and dad are excited too. Levi is mostly excited for me to recover and to come home. Being Mr. Mom and running a business by yourself, it turns out, is a lot of stress and a lot of work! It doesn't help that Paislee is getting 4 teeth right now and is being an absolute monster!

I know our "hands are full" (I hear it all the time from everyone), but I just feel so very blessed and honored that Heavenly Father is entrusting us with these precious children!!! Being a mom is the best.

Oh yeah, still have not decided on his official name yet. For now, it's Billy Bob. We are going back and forth between Finn & Hayden and various middle names.

Who are all these little people following me?

Paislee's "bootsies"

Kailia is our skinny little runt. (She & Paislee still fit into 6-12 month clothes and they are almost 2!)




Sometimes I look at my tail of "little people" that follow me around and it hits me again that they are my children! That sounds totally crazy, I know. Sometimes I kind of forget that I am their mom and that they are my responsibility. I've been hearing all the Mother's Day ads and think, "Wow, mom's are so special". Then I think, "Oh yeah, I'm a mom!" Weird. Here are the latest things that make me glow about my own little ones...

Bella-
She is getting so dang smart. We are working on sounding out letters to make words. She loves getting her bathtub foam letters to spell our words with me. "Mom, what does that spell?" One of her favorite things is library books. She would have me read to her all day long if that were possible.

She is getting sweeter every day too. Whenever I am aching from a contraction she asks me if I am okay and then will rub my belly for a minute. She is such a sweet, thoughtful and considerate girl. She rarely complains when I ask her to do something. She is so patient and sweet with her little sisters. I am very blessed to have Bells as my oldest child.

She was so heartbroken when we thought Baby Brother was coming last Monday. Bella was very excited to hold him and finally bring him home. When we picked up the girls from Nana & Papa's she asked me where he was. I had to explain that Heavenly Father said he isn't ready to come yet. She was almost in tears!

She asked how the baby came out. I didn't want to traumatize her too much so I told her the dr. cuts a small cut on the stomach and pulls out the baby. So, last night she says:

B: "I don't ever want to get married mom!"
M: "Why?"
B: "Cause I don't want the dr. to cut open my stomach!"


Kailia-
Oh my gosh...I can't even stand how dang cute it is when she dances. She still LOVES to dance to every song she hears. I love it when she'll imitate whatever Bella does. My favorite is her robot. Even in the car today I couldn't help watching her bob her head to the music in my "mommy rear-view mirror". Maybe I should keep my eyes on the road.

Kailia is such a little parrot. I love getting her to repeat words or sentences.

"Go-di-go" is still "Water"
"EE-ah" we are pretty sure means "Open this"
"Nannies" is "Candy"
"Bee momma" is "Please mom"

And yes, I think it is true that twins come up with their own language. Paislee understands her even when we don't!

Kailia still loves pushing people's buttons. Like calling her Aunt Star, "Nana" just to make her mad. She loves taking whatever toy one of her sisters has, and will run off giggling. What a cute little stinker.


Paislee-
Such a funny girl. She really walks to the beat of her own drum. I love it. Lately she has loved her "Bootsies" these cute pink cowboy boots her Aunt Shilo got her. She insists on wearing them and loves stomping the floor with her bootsies.

She is obsessed with Bella's fish. (I am amazed that Mystery has been with us for almost an entire year.) Every morning at breakfast she has to say "Hi" to "Fishy" and climbs up on the counter to get a closer look.

Pais is an animal lover altogether. Yesterday at the duck park, she woke up all the ducks who were nice and cozy on the grass. She screamed and ran toward them as they quacked grumpily and waddled away. She still kept chasing them and almost ran into the pond 4-5 times. After pulling her away and bringing her back to the playground 17 times, I decided it was time to go.

Blah! Part II

Today's appointment went alright even though I was depressed and frustrated. Fortunately, my doctor was pretty sympathetic to everything I went through last night- the contractions, the shots, the puking, starving for 6 hours for no reason, etc. He said there wasn't a reason to deliver yesterday since I was just contracting and not dilating. He's the one with the medical degree, so I'll just have to trust him and be patient. I am not a very patient person! My contractions have been about 10 minutes apart during the day. They are about 5-8 mins right now and I am sitting...I guess I'll wait to see if they get so strong I can't handle them anymore.

On a good note, I did schedule my very last appointment with him for next week. So I guess that gives me some hope that I won't be pregnant forever. Why do the last few weeks of pregnancy seem like endless torture? My goal is to try to enjoy them as much as possible. I will enjoy my girls and the time I have for resting and naps!

Blah!

Sunday night I start contracting. From 9-10pm they were 6 minutes a part. From 10-11, 5 minutes. 11-12 4.5 minutes. Finally I get so tired, I take my Uni.som and go to sleep. All day Monday same thing. Intense, strong contractions only these were 2-3 minutes a part! So I call Levi he drops EVERYTHING he is doing to take me to Labor & Delivery. My sweet neighbor comes over and helps me get the girls packed and ready to go.

I get to the hospital and yep, I am still contracting. They call my doc and he orders a shot of Morphine to "knock the contractions out". If it were false labor they will go away. So I get my morphine shot but no anti-nausea medicine (because I am allergic to the kind he ordered). My contractions are more like 1-2 minutes a part now and super strong. The morphine did NOTHING but make me feel like I was floating on a cloud so that I didn't care about the pain.

After 4 hours of steady, strong contractions, I wasn't dilating. I am getting a C-section, so I don't see why it mattered. So, doc has the nurse give me turbutaline. This made me super jittery and slowed the contractions a ton. After 5 hours, he orders another shot of turbutaline. And my contractions are completely gone. They send me home.

In the meanwhile, I wasn't able to eat or drink anything in case I was going to deliver. So I am as thirsty as a sinner in Hell. So I get a big, ole' cup of ice and water only to puke it up all the way home! What a waste of 5 hours. I am so mad! I was ready to meet our new little guy. I am 37 1/2 weeks pregnant, so considered full term. I guess my doc just didn't want to work last night. I have to go see him today for my regular appointment and it will be sooo hard not to glare at him the entire time.

Wish me luck!

Here are some ugly cat pictures just to show how annoyed I am.

Dress up and other things

Today I had the funnest time watching the girls play dress up together. I don't know what made it so cool- the fact that I didn't have sisters to dress up with? Or was it that Paislee & Kailia are finally interacting with Bella, almost as equals? I had fun helping them take on and off their outfits. Bella was a princess, a ballerina, & a karate girl. Kailia and Paislee are obsessed with the princess shoes. They fight over them a ton. Kailia dressed up in a leotard, tutu, and ballet slippers. She kept saying "TU-tu" over and over. Paislee kept trying to steal my camera, as I was trying to snap some pictures of them. I finally was able to get her in a princess dress, crown, necklace, purse, and shoes. I told her how beautiful she looked and she smiled sooo big. My girls are my little princesses and I hope they always remember that!


Princess Paislee is totally into necklaces and earrings...and my camera.


Kailia can now leave the ground when she jumps and does it when she gets excited. She also dances to every song that comes on.


Bella the Ballerina - she told me that she practiced ballet a lot and that's why she is so good. She really really wants to take ballet lessons. This summer after pre-school is out, I plan on putting her in some lessons.

Bella is getting so good with her letters and the sounds they make. I credit this all to the Leap Fr.og Lett.er Fac.tory. It's her favorite movie and she asks to watch it all the time. Her favorite word game to play with me is "Word Roll" from the tv show "Word World". There are round little tokens with each letter of the alphabet on them. You basically spell out each word on the cards by finding the letters. I have her practice sounding out the letters of each word. She is getting pretty good. I have a hard time explaining all the different rules to her though. English really is such a tough language!

I read somewhere that the more senses you incorporate into learning, the easier/better it is learned. The suggested activity was to pour salt into a pan and write with your finger. I wrote down a list of words on a piece of paper for Bella to practice. She loved this and it kept her entertained for at least an hour. She is such an inquisitive little girl. Her questions seem never-ending..."Then what could happen?" "Then what would he/she say?" "Why mommy?" After every answer I give her, she shoots another question at me. After 4 or 5 times, I'll finally ask her what SHE thinks. I am amazed with how quickly she is learning. I usually only have to tell her something a couple times and it just sticks.


"Dog"

"Cat"

Kailia & Paislee are talking a ton more now. Kailia's word for 'water' is 'dagodigodigo'. We think it's from 'here you go' when we hand her the drink. Her word for 'pacifier' is 'fuffy' or 'puffy'. It's such a funny word so we make her say it all the time. She often starts out sentences with "I WANT....." She can be very demanding. She has been so cuddly lately. I love it when she rests her head on my shoulder. We recently tried to ween her off her pacifier. The more we tried the more she clung to it. We decided it wasn't worth it, especially with a new baby coming home soon. It is a nice easy way to "plug" her. She loves to push buttons. She knows how to push Bella's really well. I can't help but laugh at the joy on her face when she is tormenting a sister (or mom and dad). She'll grab whatever it is, and run away giggling. "scattering her sunshine all along the way". She calls me 'mommy'. That's one way I can tell the twins apart. Their voices are different now, and that helps me too.

Paislee is still such a daddy's girl. She will not go to me if dad is home. She clutches on to him when he is home to make sure he doesn't leave. She'll grip his finger or pants and not let go. At times she is very timid, but others she can be such a monkey. At the duck park yesterday, she wanted to get to the ducks! I had to literally hold her back so she didn't end up in the pond. Kailia and Bella were a little more timid and held back away from the ducks. I love the way Paislee says "Mama". She says it in a tone that makes me feel like I am in trouble. Paislee and Kailia are getting their canine teeth in and have been absolute monsters! I thought there might be something wrong with them, but I discovered the little teeth trying to poke through and was relieved there was an actual valid reason. They have such a love-hate relationship. One minute they are hugging and playing, and the next minute they are fighting over a toy or blanket.

Baby boy still doesn't have a name. We have a list of names that I picked through from an online list. I then had Levi rank each name on a scale 1-10. We narrowed that down to all of the 5 and up names. This brought our choices down to 5 or 6. Izabella was our easiest to name. No, we did not name her after the Twilight books! We both just loved the name (and the book came out 6 months later). There was a cute little girl on Levi's mission in Brazil with the name. We agreed easily on it, but I still needed to hold her and see her to make sure it fit. And it did. The twins were a little more difficult. At first I thought we could each pick a name. But when he picked the name 'Aliyah' I said no way. I liked 'Kai' for a boy or 'Kaya' for a girl after the Bob Marley song. He said let's combine them. And that's how we got Kailia. I found Paislee in a childrens' book by Sandra Boynton. It was dedicated to a Paislee. I immediately fell in love with the name. Now I hear it ALL the time at McDonald's or the park! Not so original I guess. But the names fit them well. For Baby Boy we are thinking:

Finn
Hayden
Brighton
Carver
Bryce
Cash
Jamison
Preston
Weston

No, we really don't care what anyone thinks....Okay I guess we do if you LIKE one of them. But if you don't, we don't want to hear it. I hate telling people our name choices for that very reason! But, the countdown is on. We have 25 days until the scheduled C-Section. We thought it might have been sooner. I was in Labor & Delivery last Sunday night with horrible contractions and cramps that weren't letting up. It turns out I had a bladder infection. I guess those can cause pre-mature labor! Who knew?! After the hardcore iv antibiotics, I started to feel better immediately. It's different to have just one in there. I hate not getting an ultrasound view of him every week like I did with Pais & Kai. It was good to be able check in on them and see what they were up to. But, all the nurses that check me say that Baby Boy is a very healthy baby. Strong heart beat & very active. I wonder all the time who he will look like. Will I ever have a child that resembles me? It's okay if I don't. Levi is such a good looking guy! I have gotten the "nesting" bug and can't stop hard-core cleaning- like baseboards, doors, mopping on my hands and knees. It's killing me, but I am driven by this force that is stronger than me and I can't stop! I have also started swelling- hands, feet, face. I am not sure if it's because of the warmer weather or because I am closer. Yuck!

Now that my cousin had her baby yesterday and Levi's cousin will probably have her's today I am starting to get anxious. I am being so paranoid, like every little thing is a sign of labor. This pregnancy has gone by quickly though. I guess I just don't have the time to think about it, read about each week, and count down because I have 3 children aged 3 and under keeping me SUPER busy. I only get to sit down when it's nap time. And even then, I am trying to get caught up with spring cleaning or laundry. But he will come when he comes and God decides it's time.

So we are doing good. Life is good. I am content and we are all healthy and happy. Just thought I'd write a few things before they are long forgotten from my forgetful mind.