And then there were three...

On April 19th, after several months of worrying we would have a premature delivery, baby boy Grayson made his arrival at 7:25 am weighing 6 pounds and 5 ounces and 19 inches long! The c-section went well thanks to fabulous doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists although I had to have several doses of nausea medicine (since throwing up is so fun while having your belly wide open). Grayson came out kicking and screaming, letting us all know his lungs are perfectly healthy. He latched on so well during the first feed and we were all so impressed. That should have been our first warning that this kid LOVES to eat all day and night long. Seriously. The girls came to the hospital later that day and instantly fell in love with their new little brother. During the past few weeks, the girls have been huge helpers, love to shower their brother with hugs and kisses (and share germs, thanks), and have adjusted well overall with the new addition. The first two weeks were brutal since the girls did act out by refusing to nap or sleep in their rooms at night, and Grayson was so very fussy. Things are getting better and we are trying different formulas for Grayson to see what helps him feel better. Both the girls were lactose intolerant (in fact, Campbell is just now tolerating milk at 20 months old) so we are assuming baby brother is the same way. So far soy formula is working. Unfortunately he does not tolerate breast milk well at all, so I have stopped nursing. I'm ok with this for the most part, but I am bummed as well. I was hoping to nurse him for awhile since I couldn't with Campbell for very long, but as a friend said, a happy baby is much more important! Plus, trying to nurse/pump with three kids 3 years old and under was a total nightmare. I don't have time to pee, let alone be hooked up to a pump for 15-20 minutes. Grayson is now five weeks old, we are all still alive, the house is still standing, and I still have hair. This is good. Some days are so hard and I don't know how I will survive, but I do. Having three kids 3 years old and under has been really difficult at times. But those moments where giggles, smiles, hugs and love hide the sleep deprivation, the messy house, my tears and frustration, wow, they are so worth it. Can't wait to watch Grayson develop into his own little person and see what kind of personality he will have, and who he will look like. Till then, taking it one day at a time and hoping for more sleep soon!

Ready for Grayson to get here..

Yep, still pregnant. Grayson has decided that now since it is safe to be born, he's going to burrow his little (read: massive) self in my belly and refuse to come out.

I. Am. Miserable.

And that's putting it VERY nicely. I am beyond huge. I should walk around with a caution tape plastered across my fat pregnant self as I tend to knock things, and people, over when I move. Furniture vibrate as I walk by. Little kids scurry away quickly when they see me coming. Or they stand right in front of me and I trample all over them since they are below my line of sight thanks to this massively ginormous belly I have attached to my front region. The damn thing needs its own zip code, it's that big. And I ain't lying. For the first time ever, my belly button is completely flat; it's usual deep cavernous hole has disappeared - the one thing I enjoy nowadays!

But on a serious note, I am very thankful that we have made it full term (37 weeks as of last Thursday). There were several times that we just knew Grayson wouldn't make it this far. So, we are very blessed and a sigh of relief can be had. But now it's time to get on with this birthing process. Like now. I have an appointment tomorrow at 2:45 pm, and I will be giving my OB an ultimatum of delivering me by Friday. Preferably Thursday because the last thing I need to do is have a c-section on Friday the 13th (OMG, asking for more drama!). I will be posting a Facebook status tomorrow morning asking for any and all suggestions on how to get my OB to deliver me this week instead of waiting till the 19th. I will be taking both girls with me and seeing that it will be their nap time and they will have spent the morning at school, I can almost guarantee my blood pressure will be high from two tired and whiny toddlers. Bonus!

Aside from being fat and miserable from typical pregnancy issues, my migraines have become so severe that some days I am stuck in bed all day, forcing brad to do everything with and for the girls. This has been hard on him, and for the most part, he has been understanding. I think he is finally realizing how bad my migraines have been, and I get less guilt trips from him.

So, it could be that I will have my baby boy Grayson in my arms (!) this week! If not, then we will keep on surviving and growing until April 19th and not a single day past that. I work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday of this week, then Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday after that, and then Grayson will make his debut Thursday!

Regardless of his final arrival date, I will soon have three kids, 3 years and younger.

HOLY. HELL.

Stomach Bug

The dreaded stomach bug.

I would rather the girls and I get the flu, cold, pneumonia or something like that than the stomach bug. Unfortunately this is Campbell's second bout of the stomach bug. Both the girls had them a few months ago and it lasted 7 days with each girl. It was awful. Nonstop vomiting and diarrhea. I threw out so many sheets, towels, blankets, and clothes because they were all ruined or I just got tired of rewashing them several times a day.

This bug that Campbell has now has really, really hit her hard. We are on day 8 of the bug, and it is starting to ease up a little. She has not thrown up today, but has had it from the other end several times today. It started on Thursday of last week and it wasn't too bad in the beginning. In fact, I thought it was getting better by the following Monday. But Monday night, things really went downhill. I have never seen a 1-year old throw up so much and have that much diarrhea. She did not eat Sunday-Tuesday morning and when she did eat Tuesday, she immediately lost it. It got to the point where she couldn't even keep gatorade down. I took her back to the pediatrician Wednesday morning (I took her last Friday just to see if they could do anything, which they could not), and after a thorough assessment by the pediatrician, she stated she was pretty concerned about Campbell. Campbell was pretty dehydrated and it was taking a toll on her body. Her heartrate was really high, she was very lethargic, her blood flow was a little sluggish, her eyes were sunken, she was very pale, and she was just pitiful. Her mouth was somewhat moist but her lips were chapped. The pediatrician told me that I had until 5 pm that day (it was 11 am) to get her to keep 1 ounce of fluid down, 5 goldfish, and have two wet diapers. If she did not do that, she would have to be admitted to Children's Hospital for IV fluids.

We went back home and after her nap (she was so exhausted from our trip to the drs), I worked with her to keep fluids and goldfish down, and begged her to tinkle. Not sure when I have ever cheered so loud when my kid tinkled. She was able to keep gatorade and 8 goldfish down and had one wet diaper. I was supposed to call the pediatrician if Campbell didn't have two wet diapers, but I decided against it because she was perking up already so much from being able to keep gatorade down. Today she is doing better about keeping fluids and food down, so hopefully we will be done with it soon. I have been making sure Peyton does not share ANYTHING with Campbell during this bug because I don't think I can take another round of this nasty bug. Campbell is starting to act like herself again and that just makes my heart feel so much better. Poor baby has been through a lot this past 8 days!

I HATE STOMACH BUGS!

How am I going to survive?

Days like today reaffirm (?) the fact that I do want to be a working mom. I love my kids dearly and will do anything for them, but man, sometimes they kill me! I love, love, love being a mom and honestly, I don't know what I did with my time before I had them. Well, I did manage to get sleep every now and then back in the day. Nowadays, not so much. I have finally accepted the fact that I most likely will not sleep again for years.

But, back to my day. Campbell had school today so that made things a little less hectic from 9-1. Peyton was fairly good during those hours while home with me. But as soon as Campbell got home from school, all hell broke loose.

I attempted to get Campbell down for a nap, then I walked back into my room. Peyton walked into the room a few minutes later and her face was covered in pink. I half-laughed, thinking that she got into the markers again and it would come off easily. Then I noticed a strong odor. A smell that you encounter when you walk into a nail salon. Yep, the girl broke into my hidden stash of nail polish and decided to paint her face with the brightest color ever. These bottles of nail polish aren't for me, but for Peyton. I have to keep them hidden because she wants to paint her nails every hour of every day. I would like to avoid having nail polish in the house, but if you ever come across us in a store after Peyton sees the display of nail polish, you will understand that I do not have a choice. The girl will have a HUGE dramatic meltdown if I don't purchase a thing of nail polish. So anyways, after discovering that Peyton painted her face, I spent 30 minutes washing it off. I gave her yet another stern lecture, telling her to STAY OUT OF THE NAIL POLISH OR ELSE. Ever heard of that working on a 3-year old? It doesn't.

A little while later, Peyton walked into my room BUCK NAKED. I yelled and asked where her clothes were. Apparently she had a little accident involving number 2. I said ok, and said we will clean it up then she can get in the shower. I didn't want to yell at her because all toddlers have accidents. I walked out to the living room and discovered that when she was trying to clean it up before telling me, she had spread it to every surface possible. Come on! Her room, her bathroom, the living room, and dining room had traces of poop everywhere. After spending another 30-45 minutes cleaning, mopping, cleaning, and mopping, I gave Peyton yet ANOTHER stern lecture. I am pretty sure it went in one ear and out the other. About this time, Campbell woke up from her mini nap and let me know that she had managed to take her diaper off and decorate herself and her crib with number 2 as well. GEEEEZ. So spent more time cleaning that up. Threw the girls and myself into the shower.

During our shower, Peyton decided to pour shampoo into Campbell's eyes in attempt to help me clean her. Of course she didn't use the Johnson tear free shampoo, she used my expensive shampoo that HURTS. I gave up with the shower, got them dried an dressed, then sat them on the ottoman in my room while I got dressed. I warned them both to NOT MOVE ONE INCH until daddy gets home. A few minutes later, while I was getting dressed in my closet, Campbell screamed bloody murder. I ran over to where she was and discovered that Peyton had pushed her off the bed and on the way down Campbell slammed her face and head on the bedside table. She now has a gash on her nose, a swollen nose, and a huge bruise above her right eye. REALLY??

I give up. It's 5:55 pm and I am fairly certain I will be handing the kids over to Brad and going to bed in about 30 minutes.

Where does the time go?

I love reading blogs and usually visit several different blogs several times a day. Some days, it's how I keep my sanity. Before Campbell was born, I used to update my blogs (I have two, one for the family and one for me and my close friends where I can vent without being judged, hah) on a regular basis. But nowadays, I am awful at updating. By the time nighttime comes around, I am just too tired to update. I am going to try harder though, so that way I can just update a little bit every night or every other night instead of having to do very long updates once a month. We shall see.

Campbell is now 13 months old! Craziness. She is walking and has been since she was 10 months old. She is into everything and loves playing/fighting with her sister. She will eat anything and everything, including inedible stuff. She is still on formula because she cannot tolerate milk. When I did try milk, she proceeded to outdo the girl from the exorcist and coated my car with vomit. I'm still cleaning that up a month later. I will be trying lactose-free milk as soon as I can muster up the courage to do so. I might have to do fat-free or reduced fat milk because the girl has some meat on her bones. I mean, she is a porker. She hit the 24 pound mark this week. Thankfully she is on the taller side. She is wearing 18-24 month sized clothes, and some of those are snug on her. You would think I feed her hot dogs and cheetos all day (I don't). She is very bowlegged and I will be looking for a pediatric orthopedic this upcoming week. I was hoping she would grow out of it, but she is getting more bowlegged as time goes on. So between her chunkiness and bowlegged-ness, she is quite a sight to watch when she waddles down the street.
Campbell is FINALLY sleeping through the night on a regular basis. Only took a year for her to do that. Peyton started sleeping through the night at 6-8 weeks old, so we had a hard time when Campbell refused to do the same. I think she is finally over her reflux, which is nice. No more tossing stained clothes out. Campbell goes to Mother's Morning Out at our church two days a week and I think she is doing well with it. Sadly I've only been able to drop her off myself once so far due to work. Let's see, what else. She has 8 teeth and I think molars might be coming in soon? Campbell was talking a lot a few months ago, but all of a sudden completely stopped. She went from saying several words and being able to point things out and calling them by name. But now she will not talk at all. She will babble occasionally, but it's nothing like it used to be. The pediatrician is in the process of setting up a hearing appointment soon and we will go from there.

Peyton is doing well. However, she is teaching me that the terrible twos are NOTHING compared to the troublesome threes. She cries and whines everyday and throws temper tantrums on a regular basis. No matter how hard I try to get her to stop and start acting like a big girl, nothing works. She can be extremely difficult nowadays, especially with bedtime; she wants to sleep on the ottoman in our room every night. I cannot wait until she grows out of this phase. I miss my sweet girl!
Peyton recently had a hearing, speech, and developmental assessment at school. She failed her speech and developmental exams and will need to be reassessed again in the near future. If she performs poorly again, she will need speech therapy and developmental (?) therapy. I knew her speech was off and the way she talks is kinda funky. But I was surprised by her developmental exam. Peyton went from young 2s class to 3K this year; everyone else in her young 2s class went to the older 2s class, she didn't. I think by that, she missed learning some skills and is therefore a little behind than the rest of her 3ks classmates. So I am not too concerned about it but we will see how the reassessment goes.

Ok, that is a little update. I will really try to update on a regular basis!

Holy. Smokes.

The MINUTE Peyton turned three, she turned into this drama queen who thinks whining and crying should be done every second of the day. We have had more meltdowns and tantrums during the past three weeks than the entire year she was two. Seriously, the terrible twos was a vacation compared to the troublesome threes.

Bedtime has become a huge nightmare. She screams and protests for an hour, maybe even two some nights, and refuses to go to bed at her bedtime. So with her finally falling asleep around 10 pm every night and waking up several times during the night, and coming into our room around 6 am, she is seriously sleep deprived. This sleep deprivation is playing a huge role in the numerous meltdowns. I have exhausted every breath explaining to her how important sleep is, but she often blows me off, and I swear she has even said "whatever" once or twice. Bedtime is torture around here nowadays.

We also have had heated discussions about what she wants, can, and cannot wear to school. She usually has a great sense of fashion, but sometimes her outfits are just not appropriate. Like the time she wanted to wear an Auburn sweatshirt with hot pink tights, no shorts, skirt, or pants - just tights and a sweatshirt. That is just wrong on so many levels, with the Auburn sweatshirt being the most offensive part of the outfit. ROLL TIDE! But, I have learned that I just need to pick my battles, and if she wants to wear a hot pink shirt with purple shorts and green shoes, then so be it. At least I won't lose her in the crowd.

Sharing is another issue. According to Peyton, Campbell has to share every single toy she has, but Peyton doesn't have to share anything at all. I have seen screaming fits and meltdowns that are so dramatic, it's comical. If Campbell has a book and won't let Peyton take it away from her, it's the end of the world for Peyton. Like seriously y'all. Nothing else matters - food, water, shelter, air - NOTHING is more important than that very book Campbell has in her hands. Oh the horror!

I am really hoping Peyton will chill out soon. If not, I will have to start going to the salon to get my hair colored. Gray hairs will be sprouting VERY soon if she doesn't take a chill pill!!!

Peyton - PLEASE! Give your momma a break. I promise, you will be ok if you don't get your way every second of the day. I promise.

I'm not ready...

I'm not ready for Peyton to turn 3. Maybe I'm so sleep deprived and can't remember, but I think the terrible twos wasn't so bad. Don't get me wrong, Peyton is a handful, to put it mildly. She has an endless supply of energy that wears us thin most days. People, after spending a short amount of time with Peyton, often comment on her hyperactivity. She's a busy girl. And in my mind, she has won several Oscars for Most Dramatic Meltdown and Drama Queen. The kid knows how to use her lungs. In fact, she is teaching Campbell quite nicely how to efficiently use her lung capacity when she wants something NOW. Thanks kiddo.

But, she's getting older! I often find myself in awe when she says or does something that an older kid would do. I am just not ready for it. I have enjoyed the past year with her so much, I am afraid to see what the new year is going to bring us. Is she going to start being too cool for her mommy and daddy? Sometimes she calls me Mom or, gasp, Katie! Don't stop saying mommy yet please! I am so not ready to be Mom. What if she doesn't want to snuggle with me anymore because she needs to divert all her attention on selecting an outfit for the day? Oh the horror.

I will have to admit that it is pretty neat seeing her develop into her own person. Her fashion style is impressive (on most days), and her vocabulary is expanding by the minute. Speaking of, this afternoon when she was frustrated about not being able to open her lunchbox, she muttered "oh damnit." YIKES. Definitely have to watch Every. Word. I. Say. Her new favorite phrase is, "Oh, that's so cool!" It cracks me up everytime she says it. Could she BE any cuter?

One of her favorite things to do nowadays is sing. And I may be a little biased, but she is awesome at it! She learns the words to a song much faster than me, and she loves to sing at the top of her lungs. One of her favorite groups is Sugarland. Like I said, they kid's got style. She snaps, she swings her booty (or head if she's in the carseat), and she belts it out. I absolutely love it.

Dear Peyton, please don't grow up too fast for me. I just cannot handle it! You are my firstborn and have a special place in my heart. Love you sweetie!