First Time

As you know, I am really good with bleeding heads and stitches, but I've always been worried about broken bones....for a couple of reasons. If one of my boys has to wear a cast in summer and prevent us from going to the beach he will be grounded, and #2 I have always imagined a bone popping out of the skin and having to rush to the ER. Luckily, neither of my 2 concerns happened with the event of our first broken bone. It is hard to imagine that it took us almost 14 years for one of the boys to break something! Poor James broke his hand over 2 weeks ago and I have had zero compassion for him....up until now. James was at practice and when he tackled someone he must have crammed his knuckle real hard against someone or something, because the center of his hand (under his middle finger) just snapped. I thought his hand was swollen from actual swelling, turns out it was part of the bone sticking up. (Have I told you what an amazing Mother I am?) Just so you don't think I'm too horrible, I did have James go to the urgent care. Scott had the choice of staying home with the 5 kids, feeding them and putting them to bed or to take him. Not a surprise that Scott took him. When the doctor pressed on James's hand he didn't complain so she didn't even do an xray (I should have taken him), so we didn't think it was broken. Meanwhile, James went 2 more weeks, did practice, played 2 games, threw the ball and everything. He did complain a bit about the pain, but not too much. The funny part was watching him play.....he dangled that hand like a limp noodle....I made fun of him, my sister and brother made fun of him, and a few unnamed people were laughing with us.....it was pretty hysterical to watch. He didn't exactly have his best games. Normally I don't criticize his playing, because who's kidding, I don't really know what's right or wrong, but I could tell that he wasn't playing great. He tackled like he had no arms and he got super irritated with me for bringing that up. Turns out he had a really good excuse! I took him to the doctor yesterday, he took xrays and James is validated. He got his cast on today. When I asked him if I could sign it he said, "Um, I think I'm going to have my team sign it." That is when I said, "Good, I'll make sure I sign it first then!" I don't know how he went over 2 weeks with a broken hand. He must have gotten his pain tolerance from his father, because I am the biggest whimp. When I was in the hospital with Eldon the nurses always asked what my acceptable level of pain is from 1-10. I told them 1. I didn't think that was weird. Why would you want to feel pain if you don't have to? One nurse came in and asked if I had really said 1 or if it was a typo. I told her it was right and she started laughing. I said, "Why is that funny? She said noone ever says 1, and if it's in the charts it is usually a mistake. What is wrong with everyone? I still don't get why people want to experience pain. Anyways, back to James.....he can't write, play guitar, play football, and to his complete devastation play X-Box!!! He still can hold the baby though :) He is bummed about not playing football, but he might be able to play in the play offs. My poor little baby!

I Have A Six Pack!

The other day George asked me how many kids I wanted when I was a little girl. I told him 6. He did not believe me and thought I was just saying that because I have 6. He actually called my childhood friend and asked her. She of course answered "6". Scott always says I have to get my way, this time he was right. On August 31st I got something that I always wanted.....6 kids. My due date was not until September 17th. When people asked when I was due I would say, "mid September, but I am shooting for late August, early September." Everyone thought I was nuts, but I believe if you set a goal you can accomplish it.......goal achieved! We really weren't ready for the baby to come quite that early. I was planning on going to Babies R Us that Wednesday to pick up all of the last minute stuff that I needed.....I didn't even have an outfit to bring him home in. Monday the 30th was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day. I had a lunch planned with good friends and family and then had a doctor's appointment for myself and for George since George was home with a fever. Here is a picture of me taken at lunch......

Scott went to my appointment with me and kind of made my midwife strip me. She didn't really want to, because she wasn't going to be at the hospital until the end of the week, but it was

going to be a light work load for Scott that week, so he kept bugging her until she did. I left the doctor's office at 5:00. By the time I got home my contractions were starting to get stronger. I decided I should get my bag packed for the hospital. I told Scott I thought we should get going to the hospital, and he was hilarious. He was freaking out....it was like we had never done this before! He was calling people to come over and watch the kids.....he ended up having both Pam and Jani come over. I felt bad both of them came, but they were both so sweet willing to help. We ended up at the hospital around 7:00 and they admitted me. All I want

ed was the epidural. The contractions were hurting, but I got that glorious epidural so I didn't have to experience much discomfort.....and it was a GOOD epidural! We had quite a group at the hospital......

I know most people don't enjoy a crowded delivery room, but I've had one of the boys without anyone but Scott there and I was sad that we weren't surrounded by loved ones. James wanted to come, and I thought he was mature enough to experience it, but I made sure he wasn't exposed to anything that would make him unable to ever look me in the eyes again. He was in the room for the birth, but didn't see it until everything was cleaned up. Scott, my parents, my sister, my brother, my mother in law, my niece and James were there for the delivery. Two of my sister in laws stopped by earlier. The nurse had to ask for everyone to calm down around midnight.....we are a bit obnoxious.

I normally dilate from a 5 to a 10 very quickly, but this time was different. I actually felt bad for everyone that it was taking so long! They even gave me pitocin around 11:00 to try to get me further along. I was only to a 6. Finally a little after 2 am it was time. I think I pushed twice. My bag broke earlier, but there was still what they called a 'bubble'. Once that bubble popped he kind of flew out. It was the easiest delivery ever. It is such a wonderful experience to share with people that mean so much to me and who were so excited to be there for his entrance into this world.

The cord was wrapped around his neck, but luckily there were no complications. His blonde hair was evident right away and it was so fun to try to figure out who he looked like. He weighed 7 lb 7.8 oz......all of my babies have ranged from 7lb 3 oz to 7 lb 11 oz....I'm very lucky!

Scott cut the cord and James was able to cut the rest of it. I think he was a little nervous, but happy to do it

When he was born he let out his newborn cries, but as he layed on my chest he was very calm and sweet. It was definitely love at first sight.

The boys were very excited to come visit at the hospital.......it was insane when they dropped by. I was completely exhausted by them and asked for an extra day's stay at the hospital. It was great. I actually appreciated the hospital food! I didn't have to make it or clean it up....it was amazing.

Before I came home we got George's test results from his Monday appt. Turns out he had strep and mono.....I was freaking out. After having two babies suffer from RSV I am a complete FREAK about germs and exposing my babies to ANYTHING. Poor George had to keep distance from the baby and couldn't even hold him for a couple of weeks. I took this picture of George admiring him from afar.....so sad.....

It took us two days to name this little person. We finally decided on Eldon James. Eldon was one of my grandmother's brothers. My grandmother has the neatest family, and I was so happy to name another one of my boys after an admirable man. His middle name is a tribute to his older brother, plus I love that name! I am so thrilled to have this sweet, little baby, and I am cherishing every moment with him. So grateful to have my 6 boys!

A big thank you to everyone who dropped off goodies, meals and gifts. Everyone is so giving and charitable. Our family truly appreciated all of it!

I have a lot to catch up on! I thought I'd start with a quick recap of the summer......

Beach! Thank goodness we live close enough to the beach to enjoy it. I love it, the boys love it, my sister loves it, my mom loves it, my friends love it and we all love going! The beach didn't really get great until August, so we made sure we got our summer's worth. I did not let my ginormousness stop me. My belly button was disgusting and completely grossed out my sister. Therefore, I made sure to wear my two piece. After I delivered the baby a nurse that examined me said, "Oh my gosh you actually wore a bikini!" Whatever! It is amazing how much sun your stomach gets when it sticks out so much. After delivery it was black. Anyways, I was so glad my boys didn't act embarassed, and they actually liked going in the water with me...thank goodness!
My cute Charlie turned 6 this summer. It is so fun to watch the joy exude out of a little boy because of a few gifts and extra attention. He is a fun kid, and I'm so glad he's mine!
Havasu.....we got a chance to get to Havasu for a week. I thought it would be miserable, but I spent most of the time floating in the lake. The boys were extremely impressed with my mad floating skills!
The boys had fun snorkeling and cliff jumping. Even KC jumped, which scared me to death, but that crazy kid had a smile on his face jumping, falling, landing, and coming up from the water....he's nuts!
It was a nice getaway, and we only missed half of a day getting the prop repaired because I chopped it up running over a rock!


Football started. James, Curtis and George are playing this season. That means lots of practices and lots of games. Luckily, I really do enjoy watching my boys play!

For some weird reason I like to gross the boys out, so I would walk around the house with my belly showing. James can not stand me....

Luckily, my friend Liz took some pictures so I can remember this last pregnancy with a little dignity.....

School started WAY too early this year. There should be a law about going back in August! James and Curtis get to go to middle school together, George and Charlie are at elementary and KC started his first year of preschool...yippee!

We were able to have a couple of mellow months before our world got rocked by a new baby....all good things!!!

Light?

Baseball season this year was NOT fun for me. Despite my wishes Scott was president of the league. My morning sickness kicked in the week of drafting, and Scott was gone every night - it was hard. With four boys playing on different teams our schedule was full to say the least. We pretty much lived at the fields. James had a coach that I absoutely detested, and he knows that because I pretty much told him to his face. I put on most of my pregnancy weight because of the stupid snack bar! When you have a billion boys the league allows you to cap out once you have spent a million dollars on registration, so we only had to pay for about 3 of the 4. So, it was a LONG season. I do enjoy watching my boys play, so I didn't mind that part. Anyways, when the season finally came to an end I told Scott that I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders because we were finally done! That is when Scott told me we had allstars. Have you ever been so upset you just want to cry? We have never participated in Allstars for many reasons. The most important reason is that summer to me means NO schedules. These allstar people like to practice and do scrimmages and then crazy tournaments that you pay for. It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would want to do this, but some people really, really love it. Needless to say Scott and I definitely argued over this. James, Curtis and George were all wanted for their age divisions. What sounds more fun than sitting at baseball games in the middle of July and August 8-9 months pregnant? Sometimes I feel like Scott needs to be smacked against the head to get the message. So, after hearing his allstar ambitions all I could think was "There was light at the end of this tunnel, and it just got smaller!!!" Luckily George didn't really care about playing, thank goodness...he is now my favorite! James absolutely loves football and with the starting up it would interfere with the allstar stuff....yeah for football! But Curtis, stinkin Curtis!!! The fact that you have to pay $4o for a jersey and hat is lame....plus tournament cost and cost of traveling, etc. We compromised and worked something out with the allstar coach that Curtis is part of the team, but on very flexible terms. We went down to Los Altos this weekend for a tournament....it wasn't that bad and Curtis looked very cute in his uniform

Thank goodness only Curtis was playing. This last week I started to experience intense pelvic bone pain that starts in the pelvic region and everytime I put weight on my left leg it sends a shooting pain down my leg. I have never experienced this before. It is so frusterating, because my day starts out fine, but the more movement I make the worse it gets. So, if I sit around on my butt all day I am fine, but if I want to be normal and just do my normal tasks it gets very painful. I'm hoping it will be short lived, because I can't go another 2 months like this! So, if you see me wobbling and limping that is why.

Way TOO Soon

The time has come for me to hang up my workout shoes for now. I can't express how depressed I am about this. Usually, I love when it is time to take a break. I am usually burnt out and super tired of it, but this is way sooner than I was hoping for. When I was pregnant with KC I taught my classes until I was 34 weeks, and he was born a little after 38 weeks. With Charlie I stopped at 32 and he was born about 37 1/2 weeks. I got a nice break from working out and was able to get the finishing touches prepared. I am only 28 weeks and I was really hoping to go at least another month, now the rest of this pregnancy is going to take forever! I understand I am no spring chicken and my body isn't how it was when I was in my 20s, blah, blah, blah! BUT, I am in way better shape now than I was then, or at least until I got pregnant I was in way better shape. Luckily, nothing is wrong and the pregnancy is progressing great. Now, if pregnant issues gross you out, you might want to stop reading now.....anyways, the issue this time around is pelvic pain....major pelvic pain! Tuesdays are usually my really busy days. I teach 2 classes, train 4 clients, and completely love it. Well, this Tuesday during my first class my pelvic bones started killing. I even sat out the 3rd sets of everything (well, kinda, it's very hard for me to take it easy). I went throughout my day and when I went to go teach my evening class I thought, well, this will make it better or completely kill me. As I was teaching that spin class it felt great. I remember thinking how good it felt at the time....not just physically, but mentally. I had a great class, but once I got home I could barely move. I don't mean to complain, but it hurt, I thought my bones were going to burst apart! Luckily, Wednesday is my break day, so I did nothing....well, I didn't work out. I painted, finished laundry, etc, but I didn't work out! I am trying to be smart about this, so I got subs for my Thursday and Friday classes. When I woke up Thursday it felt better, but it still was not great. I know most of this discomfort was self inflicted, so I was really torn! I could either continue teaching and pay the price for it in physical pain, or let me body recover and feel better. For those of you that have an addiction, even though you know it's not the best thing for you, you still want it! Working out for me is not just a physical thing, yes it makes me feel better, justifies my mass amounts of food consumption, etc, but mentally, mentally it has kept me out of the loony bin. I am constantly saying how teaching has saved the lives of my children as well as keeping my marriage alive! So, needless to say, I am scared! Summer has just started, the boys are wonderful, but they are a lot to handle! Teaching 1-2 hours a days was physically tiring, but mentally refreshing. The physical safety of my children is not my only concern here, but if I was able to gain 24 pounds while I was working out, imagine how much more I am going to gain not working out! I know, this isn't the most important thing, but I don't like being huge...it's not fun. Oh well, we'll see how the rest of this goes. Now, after expressing all of that, does it make sense to say I really enjoy being pregnant? If I wasn't a worker outer, everything would be dandy! Oh, one more downside to this not working out thing....I am not sure if I will ever shower again. I hate showering and getting ready....a shower after working out always felt great, but really, the motivation factor now is pretty small! I know, I am disgusting, but it's the truth. I am going to have to force myself to get showered....I think I am worse than the boys! I will continue to do my personal training, but it's not the same. I know people have serious issues to deal with, and this really isn't a big deal, but it is a big part of me that I have to put on hold for a while.

Yes, I Am A Swinger!

I am not embarassed to admit that I am a swinger. I have read that it is normal.....full on mood swings!!! If you read pregnancy week by week, one of the "symptoms" is mood swings. I can be incredibly upset, angry, happy, etc., and switch just like that. It doesn't feel good to feel crazy, but it feels better knowing that it is normal to feel abnormal! My poor family has had to deal with this. That is why I say that if my marriage survives this 6th pregnancy then I think we'll make it in the eternal spectrum! Besides, Scott could not afford the massive child support! Despite my complaints of this pregnancy, I really do enjoy it. I really do. Some people dislike pregnancy, I love it. It definitely comes at a price, and it certainly isn't easy, but it is something I have always been grateful for. Being a fitness instructor and pregnant is pretty comical. I feel like I need to have a disclaimer before each class stating that the workout is effective and apologize for what they have to watch for the next hour. I entertain myself by saying things like, "If a pregnant lady can do it, you can too!" I don't think they appreciate comments like that, but I think I'm funny. I can't exactly move how I use to, and body weight resistant exercises like push ups and tricep dips are way harder when you have an extra 20 pounds on you. That's right, 20 pounds. I am totally keeping it real people. I can teach 7 classes a week and still gain....A LOT! I am about 6 months pregnant, and would like to keep the weight down, but oh well. It's not like I haven't been through this before. I already have some of the regular discomforts, but I still really love this little person. I love the comfort of feeling him flip flop around and I dig the pregnant stomach. I love lifting up my shirt and walking around the house to completely gross James out! September seems far away, but we have a lot of things to do before hand. We told KC he was going to move into the large room with George and Charlie so the baby could sleep in his. He was more than happy to get to sleep with the 'big' boys. After his first night of sleeping in there he woke up and immediately asked if the baby would come out now. He was very cute and keeps telling me he is going to rub the baby's back when he is here. Lets hope he keeps that loving attitude.

I'm Not Gonna Take It....Anymore!!!

I think we've all had those moments when people come up to us and say things that you just can not believe are coming out of their mouths. Some people can say the rudest things, and they usually get away with it. I know that when people say rude things to me I am usually so in shock I can't think quickly enough to reply. Well, not anymore. It may have taken me 6 pregnancies, but I think I have reached my limit. Some pregnant women hate it when people come up and pat their bellies. I actually don't care, I'm not saying I think it's right, I kind of think it's weird, but it doesn't upset me. What has been pushing me over the edge is rude comments. Throughout a few of my pregnancies, some people think it's ok to tell me that I look larger. Even though it is a fact, it doesn't need to be said. So, I decided that if people are bold enough to tell me their opinions about my physique, I am allowed to tell them how their opinion makes me feel. I got the opportunity just this morning! I was at the gym and this lady was walking towards me and says,"Wow, you are big!" She definitely was not talking about just my stomach, she was talking about my entire body. I just looked at her and said, "Yep" Then she felt it necessary to go on and ask if I got this big with the other ones. I again replied, "Yep" Then I said this....."You should probably never say what you just said to me to another pregnant person ever again. What you said was extremely insulting, and really hurts feelings." I definitely caught her by surprise and she tried to back track and say, "well, you were so skinny before" That is when I said, "When you are pregnant, you are very well aware of the way your body is changing, and the last thing I need is someone pointing it out to me, because it's just not nice." I am pretty sure she felt bad, because she was kind of lost for words at that point, and I just left. I also did not feel bad for saying it. It is about time people learn that we don't always need their opinions. I understand I work in a gym, and people are very critical of changing physiques, and most people are very kind and sympathetic, but there are those few you just want to smack! Oh, here is my other gripe....(sorry, but I'm using this forum to vent!) If you don't like the name I have picked out for my unborn child, I don't care and I really don't want to hear it! I have never told anyone I don't like a name they have decided for their child.....for some reason people feel compelled to do so. There have been times I don't care for some names people have picked, but I understand that if they are naming their child this that they love it, and I would never insult them by telling them how much I don't like it! Granted, I pick names that are a bit old fashioned and not trendy. Hence....George! Anyways, I initially wanted to name this little boy of mine Harvey....Scott for some reason thinks he has a say, and has expressed his extreme distaste for this name. Whatever, I still love it, but I am leaning towards Eldon James. Eldon was the name of my Great Uncle and as you know, James is my oldest boy's name. Some people think that's weird, but I don't care. I think it's a great honor to James to have his youngest brother named after him, and I love how it goes with Eldon. Anyways, if you don't like it that is totally fine, just don't tell me! I didn't mention what Scott's #1 name pick is.....get ready....Duke! Feel free to express your opinion on that one :)