Getting Crafty?!

I am the first person to admit that I am NOT very crafty! But once in a while, I go through a bit of a crafty spurt :)

I thought it would be fun for Jade and I to make an Easter Egg pinata! We could fill it with foil wrapped chocolate eggs, and bring it to Kody and Kim's house when we go for brunch on Easter morning! Can you imagine how fun it will be for the kids to whack it open?! They are going to LOVE it!! :)

I also thought it would be fun to make Rice Krispy nests, so I did that tonight! The kids are going to be thrilled when they get to have one after lunch tomorrow! :)

During the MESSY paper mache process!

Decorating our egg with streamers
Our finished Easter Egg pinata!

Mmmm! Rice Krispy nests!!

6 Months Old!!!

Believe it or not, little miss Sage is 6 MONTHS OLD already!! She turned 6 months yesterday, and had her check up today.

I can't believe it. WHERE have the last 6 months gone?!

My "little baby", is turning into a "big baby". Over the last few weeks, she just seems to have gotten so much older. She likes to hold and chew on toys, and she will grab at anything you put in front of her. She is getting so close to rolling from front to back. We have been working more on sitting, and she is getting much more balanced. Today she even cut her 2nd tooth!!

Sage is a much more smiley and happy baby then she was in the first few months! She now even likes to spend time with Daddy! She is starting to get a bit of stranger anxiety though, and doesn't really like to be held by someone she doesn't know!

Sage now weighs 16lbs 10ozs, and she is 25.5 inches long. She is in size 3 diapers, and has now totally moved up to 6-9 month clothes.

After several months of falling out, her hair is finally starting to come back in! Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as dark as it was when she was born. I liked her dark hair! :(

After taking a few days off, I am going to try her on rice cereal again tonight - wish me luck!

Weird.

So my plans for starting to get Sage onto more solid food are not really working out. Go figure. For so long I have NOT wanted to start her on food, and now that I have decided to do it, she is not cooperating. *Sigh*, I have a feeling she could be a bit stubborn when she gets older.....

On Monday evening, she had a weird puking episode. She hadn't had cereal since before her chest infection, and since she was finally better, I fed her cereal Monday before bed. She ate it fine. Then at about 10pm, I could hear her fussing on the baby monitor, so I went in to give her her soother, and discovered that she had puked all over her crib. And I don't just mean she spit up, I mean she puked. ALL of her cereal had come up, as well as the pink antibiotics she had had. Nice. So Gairod got her bathed - did I mention it was all stuck in her hair?! - and I got her sheets changed and rinsed out. We were just finishing getting her new sleeper on, and she started puking again. Poor baby had already thrown up everything in her tummy, so it was just bile and spit. We brought her out to the living room, where she proceeded to "puke" (really it was just bile and dry-heaving) several more times. She was pale and weak. I have NEVER seen a baby puking like that. In fact, I have often wondered how you would actually know if a baby was vomiting, or just spitting up. Now I can tell you - you will know. At about 11:30pm, I really wanted to go to bed, so I brought Sage with me. She hadn't thrown up in about half and hour, and she had NOTHING left in her tummy, so even if she did start "puking" in my bed, it wasn't going to make a mess. She was fine. She woke up around 3:45am, and was STARVING! I took her out to the living room, and she ate, and ate, and ate. I then put her back in her bed, and she slept until 7:30am.

She was fine the next day, but I didn't try to feed her cereal, just in case. On Wednesday I tried feeding her cereal, and she was gagging on it, and didn't want to eat it. I tried twice on Thursday, and again, she was gagging, and not wanting to eat it. On Friday I tried a couple times, and same thing, only now she has learned how to push the spoon out of her mouth with her tongue. So apparently, Sage has decided that she no longer likes cereal. So today, when she refused the cereal again, I tried giving her some apple sauce, thinking surely she would like the sweetness, right?! WRONG!! She wouldn't eat that either!!

So I am at a loss. Do I just keep trying to force food on her? Do I give it a break for a couple days, a week maybe, and then try again? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Really, you would think with this being my FIFTH kid, I would know how to do all this stuff! lol!

1st Tooth!!!

Sage cut her 1st tooth!! I can't believe it!

Tonight I was trying to feed her cereal, and she was being a crab, and wanted nothing to do with it. I had her in her Bumbo chair, on the table. She was crying, and I noticed a white line on her bottom gum! I said to Gairod, Oh My God!! I think Sage has a tooth!?! I shoved my finger in her mouth and sure enough I could feel a tooth cut through!!!

She HAS been drooling tons and chewing on stuff, but Kadance drooled for MONTHS before she finally cut a tooth. Out of the triplets, she was the first, and she was almost 8 months. Although, I just looked back at my notebook, and Jade got her first tooth just after 6 months, so I guess it's not so crazy for Sage to get hers just before 6 months. I am still totally shocked though! I hadn't even started checking her mouth at all! lol!

I have to say this honestly makes me sad. I am having a real hard time with the fact that she is almost 6 months old. For some reason, 6 months is really bugging me. That is half a year. I DON'T want my baby to grow up :( I HAVE to convince Gairod to have one more baby, Sage CAN'T be my last!! :(

Setbacks and Milestones.

We've had a bit of a setback with feeding Sage solid food. She was doing really good for a few days, and I was about to move her up to having cereal twice a day, and then she got sick. She was so congested, that she was having a hard time even drinking breastmilk, so I stopped the cereal for about a week and a half.

This evening, I started her back up on rice cereal. She is doing much better sickness wise, and I am hoping tomorrow to start her on cereal twice a day!




Tonight we hit a milestone. Sage rolled from front to back for the first time!! :) She did it 3 times! She had not rolled AT ALL yet, and is almost 6 months old!! I realize that is late, but to be fair, she really doesn't spend a whole lot of time on the floor. When she is awake, she is usually in her Bumbo chair, in her exersaucer, or being held!

Basement!! :)

After what seems like FOREVER, our basement is finally done!! Well, it's not actually done, but it is done enough, that we are using it, and able to move the toys back in!! :)

We still have some stuff to do, such as baseboards and trim. But Gairod wants to wait until it is dry outside, so that he can paint and cut out there, so it is easier.

So for the last several days, I have been busy cleaning and sorting though toys. We have WAY too many toys, so I am getting rid of A LOT! I have decide to stick with fairly basic toys, that can be used with a lot of imagination. - The kitchen, the doll stuff, the tool stuff, the doctor stuff, and the dress-up stuff.

I have decided that when you have a lot of kids, you really don't need a lot of toys. They can play with each other. My kids actually play better together when they have less toys, then when they have a lot. More toys = more fights!

Poor Baby! :(

Poor Sage has a chest infection :(

I got my doctor to check her out on Tuesday, when I was in for my appointment, and he said he could definitely hear stuff in her chest, but at that point she wasn't too bad.

Today, the triplets had their 3 year check-up, and I got my doctor to check out Sage again, because in my opinion, she has gotten WORSE in the last couple days, not better.

He confirmed that yes, she has gotten "significantly worse" in the last two days, and most definitely has a chest infection.

So he put her on some antibiotics, and hopefully they will start to clear her up in a couple of days.

My poor baby! At least she has been surprisingly happy, just wanting to be held lots! Yesterday she slept most of the day, but when she is awake she is coughing, and SO wheezy/rattly sounding. I really hope my poor little girl starts to feel better soon!

On a roll!

I feel like I have really been on a roll the past few days with getting my life back in order!

The kids have all been sick and cranky, yet I have still been really motivated to clean and get things done!

Today alone I stripped, washed, and put all the sheets back on ALL the beds, washed the towels, did a load of the triplets laundry, baked 2 loafs of banana bread, sorted some of the boys too small clothes, took pictures of them, and posted them on Facebook to sell them, vacuumed the whole upstairs, swept the floors upstairs, and swept the stairs.

You have to understand, that is A LOT of productivity for me, ESPECIALLY lately!! But I have to say, I feel SO much better when my house is clean and things are in order.

I am really hoping I can keep up this motivation! :)

3 week check-up

It has been 3 weeks since I was diagnosed with postpartum depression, and started on antidepressants.

I am happy to say that I am feeling quite good, and it seems to be getting better all the time. I had a doctor's appointment today, and my doctor is happy with how much better I am feeling. He could see how much happier I am!

He wants me to continue on my antidepressants for another 3 full months (4 full months total), and then slowly wean off them with one more full month worth of pills. I will take 2 weeks every day, 2 weeks every other day, and then the rest every third day, until they are gone. So by the time I am totally off them, it will be about 6 months.

I am happy with that. I am feeling much better, and I want to continue feeling better. I feel like I have my motivation back. I honestly think that the nice weather we have had lately has helped too. I have been getting out for walks with the kids, and we have been de-cluttering all of the toys out of the garage! I am feeling rejuvenated, and like I can handle things again. I am happy!

Blackmail ;)

I know Hayden will HATE me for these pictures in about 10 years, but I just HAD to share them! LOL!

Our basement is mostly finished, and we are in the process of bringing in ALL the toys we have out in the garage. The kids were THRILLED with all the dress up clothes, and Hayden seems to have a fondness for "princess dresses"!

Jade was getting him to pose for the camera! lol!
Twirling! lol!

I ♥ my little BOY!

Sick kids :(

Most of my kids are sick. Jade has had a cough for several days, and has had a fever off and on. Kadance has also had a cough and a fever. Sage has a cough and a fever, and has been quite fussy (aka - just wants to be held). Hayden is the healthiest, with only a cough. Cole has a cough and a fever, and this morning, he started throwing up. I am REALLY hoping that no one else catches the throwing up part. Coughing and fevers suck, but I can handle them. Throwing up, I HATE!!

What a change!

It's funny how fast things can change! As of yesterday, Sage LOVES rice cereal! Before that, she didn't really like it, so I was only giving it to her sporadically. Yesterday, I put a tiny bit in a bowl, like usual, and started feeding it to her. She gobbled it all up, and started bawling when it was all gone! So I put some more in her bowl, and she gobbled all of that up, and AGAIN started bawling when it was gone! So I gave her a bit more, and then decided I better stop after that, so that her little tummy could get used to the new food. I am so glad she is finally not only liking it, but LOVING it!! :)

Now I am getting excited to start her on fruits and veggies as well!! :)

Improving

I am happy to say that my meds kicked in sooner rather than later, but I am still improving, not all better.

I wish I could say that I am all better, but that would be a lie. I am still struggling. Not as much as I was, but not doing as well as I would like to be. I realize it will take time. It has only been 2 weeks. But I just want to be all better.

I am happy to say that I can now get out of bed and off the couch, but I DO have to make a conscious effort. I still want to lay on the couch all day, but I can now make myself get up and get a few things done. Before, I felt like I couldn't even make myself do it.

I am hoping the weather getting warmer will also help me. I want to try to get out for lots of walks this Spring, as I think the fresh air and exercise will be good for the kids AND me. The key is making myself do it. I have a lot of plans and things I want to do, but following through has ALWAYS been a problem for me!

Sisters ♥

A couple of weekends ago, my mom took Kadance and Jade for a sleepover on Friday night, and then the boys for a sleepover on Saturday night. WOW, what a difference between having only the boys (and Sage, of course) and having only the girls! I LOVE my boys, but I tell ya, life would be MUCH easier with only girls! lol!

When the girls were gone, you couldn't even tell! It was just as noisy and messy as if all the kids were here!

When the boys were gone, it was like a completely different life! The girls were so quiet, and played so nicely together - I loved it!

Jade and Kadance painting together!

Jade ♥

Kadance ♥

Sage ♥

Kadance and Sage - Matching dresses!

I have to say, before I had Sage, I used to think it was so dorky when people would dress their different age kids the same. But now that I have my two little girls, I have to admit that it is VERY tempting to buy them matching outfits! lol! Since they are both in the same size range now, I can buy EVERYTHING at Children's Place in a 6-9 and a 3T. When I find a cute outfit, it is hard to decide which little girl to get it for, so I have, on occasion, bought one for each of them. Yes, I am a dork!

Playing Catch-up!

I realize it's been awhile since I have blogged about anything "normal", so I will try to play catch-up, and fill you all in on some of what has been going on around here!

A few days before Sage turned 5 months old, I decided to try rice cereal with her. I was going to wait until 6 months, but since she has been sleeping so crappy, I thought maybe if I started her on solids a little sooner rather than later, it might help keep her full at night. So we tried it, but she didn't really like it. I have been trying every few days since then, and she is starting to get a bit better at eating it.

Just before her first taste of rice cereal - I LOVE Cole in the background! lol!

First bite!

NOT liking it! lol!

Get this OUT of my mouth!

Sage is now 5 months old. She weighs 15lbs 6ozs, and is 24 1/4 inches long. As I mentioned, she is still not sleeping through the night anymore, and the lack of sleep for me is frustrating.

Just the other day, I started putting Sage in 6-9 month clothes! I hate it! She is growing up WAY to fast!

The triplets turned 3 on Friday, but I will do a separate post on that! :)

I'm still here....

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, just wanted to let you all know I am still alive!

My first week on antidepressants has gone fairly well, with only one really bad day. I went to a follow up appointment on Tuesday, and my doctor thinks that the meds have kicked in already, which he said can happen sometimes, even though they say not to expect them to start working for a few weeks. So that is good.

I will try to post more later, I have just been fairly busy this week. Sage just turned 5 months old, and the triplets turn 3 TOMORROW!!