Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Birth Story: One month and two days later

Just kidding.  I have been trying to finish this but it will have to wait.  I decided to put the pictures up even if I haven't finished the birth story. Who wants to hear about me pushing trying to hold a baby in until the Dr(s) can make it anyway?
Tucker Stockton
Born: March 10, 2011
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 20.5 inches
(It is crazy how much he has changed in one month!  It is funny to be posting these pictures when he now looks so different.)

On my due date, Wednesday March 9th, I went in for my 40 wk check up and found out that I had FINALLY made some progress on the dialation front and was between a 3-4.  I don't progress AT ALL  prior to labor so my Dr. was confident that it was going to happen very soon, as in- could happen at any time that day.  She said we were welcome to go to the hospital at any time and she would get me admitted, would break my water and that it should be a really fast and easy process...it did not happen exactly like that.  I was fine with the idea of being induced since I was at the 40 wk mark and frankly, hitting the 10 MONTHS PREGNANT mark can put a pregnant lady in a very dark place. :)  Not to mention the fact that both Fisher and Cooper had slight complications with being overdue so we did not want to go much longer anyway.

 We left the Doctor around 10:00am and then went back home to get stuff ready.  I picked up Fisher and then we spent a little bit of time with the boys and my mom before we left.  Todd and I went on a little date and went out to eat at Penn Station (our days being able to eat our favorite philly cheesesteak sandwiches are dwindling down) and then we stopped by our favorite Graters Ice Cream and gorged ourselves even more on some ice cream sundaes.  I was very thankful we ate so much when I still had not eaten anything at 3:00am that night.
We made it to the hospital where I leisurely strolled in around 2pm.  I was checked in right away where they checked me and said I was closer to a 3, 0% effaced and at a -2 station. They were going to get everything ready to start me on the pitocin and then break my water.

 About 30 minutes before they started me on the pit. I had my first legitimate contraction, just like it felt with Cooper so






















Thursday, April 07, 2011

Grandpa Sinkey

Thanks Aunt Kathy. 
I love this picture.

Ramblings

When I went to de-personalize the house for showings I needed some pictures for my living room and I remembered I had taken some from Lake Tahoe over the summer.  Since it happens to be my favorite place, it makes me happy to see these pictures every day.  They look even better in print.
The footprints in the first and last picture are Fisher's.

I wish I had more time for the blog.  Poor Tucker has kind of been put on the back burner with trying to take care of three kids and then everything with the house.  I eventually plan on putting up pictures from when he was born and when my mom & mom-in-law visited.  Then there are the few recent pictures I have snapped but have not yet made it off the card and on to the computer. 

Things are slowly but surely working out for us.  Tucker had his 4 week check up and weighed 9 lbs 2 oz and was 21.5 inches long.  He was right around average on the charts.  He gained a lb over the last week was positive since I had mastitus and some other nursing issues.  Everything is going a lot better in that category and his weight gain reflected that.  He is a good baby although he does like to be held constantly which can be hard sometimes.  We can't blame him considering we can't put him down when Cooper is around so it is imperative for him to be held often which only makes it worse.  He has been sleeping through the night for about the last four nights.  He will eat sometime between 10pm and midnight and will sleep until 6 or 7.  You would think I would feel so rejuvenated but I am still exhausted mostly because I have not caught up on sleep from the last few weeks.  Every spare moment has been spent either dealing with the kids or cleaning the house...which is why is it nice to say that we have found a buyer for the house.  We listed the house on a Tuesday had two showings on Sunday and then one on Monday and we received an offer on Tuesday which was countered back and forth a few times.  In the end we decided to take it and I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders now that I do not have to keep the house so spotless all the time.  It is a hard thing to do with three kids, one of them being four weeks old today and a tired mom.  Now we just have to hope that everything goes well with the buyer's loan and inspections.  She agreed to rent back to us until June 15th so it looks like that the 14th or 15th of June will be our big moving day where we load up our lives and head to Omaha.  It is all becoming so real.

Todd is slowly but surely crossing off different requirements in order to graduate.  We are counting down the days until graduation.  He officially has a case of senioritis that would have rivaled mine in high school.  (I was nominated "Worst case of Senioritis" my senior year. :)  I can't blame him.  He will be 31 in August and aside from a 2 year stint in Finland from 19-21 he has been in school since he was 5.  I think a Bachelors in history, a Masters in Sport Administration and a D.M.D are plenty for one guy.   I am so proud of him and all that he has done for our family.  He is THE BEST husband and father.  He is perfect for me and I love how we balance eachother.  I love him.
He has his final Boards next week.  We will be crossing our fingers that everything goes okay with them.
***
I guess I should also throw in a quick little blurb about Fisher and Cooper.  Fisher is still handling the big brother roll well although he has started becoming a little more aggressive with Cooper in their wrestling matches where as before he would just lie there and take it.  I guess one can only sit and take the abuse so long before it becomes too much.  He has definitely started acting out but we expected that.  There are so many drastic changes occurring and he is old enough to recognize them.  He is devastated to be moving away from his friends.  I worry how he will cope with the move and starting Kindergarten.  He is very bright and curious.  He has learned to read his colors and wants to learn how to read everything but I have to figure out a way to make it seem like he isn't "learning".  If we label it as such then he becomes more resistant.  (Hmmmm...sounds familiar to his mother.)  There are these special moments when he drops the new attitude and his eyes light up with excitement over something and I remember how much I DO love Fisher despite the fact that he can frustrate me to no end. 
Cooper LOVES wrestling and "fighting" with Fisher.  He is a little instigator.  I have started calling him "Beast" because he is one.  He has started climbing out of his crib, not sleeping as much and it doing A LOT of naughty things.  This past week, while on my own, he has thrwon items into the toilet, unrolled rolls fo toilet paper, pulled his diaper off, played with his #2, poured lotion on to the carpet, dumped all the gold fishies from the box, broken eggs out of the carton on the kitchen floor, opened the oven (thankfully not on at the time), constantly getting into the dishwasher- starting, stopping, and jumping on the door which hs is too big to sit on, knocked all the chairs to the table onto their backs, fallen off the kitchen table, fallen off the ottoman, fallen off the lazy boy...are you sensing a pattern?  It hard to keep the kid contained and when I am feeding Tucker, Cooper takes full advantage of the situation.  The one thing I would say as he goes about his business is that Cooper is full of joy.  He radiates it even when being a mischievious little stinker. All he has to do is bat his big blue eyes and it is hard not to do his bidding.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Anyone want to buy a house?



We finally listed the house so now it is just a matter of finding someone to buy it.
I think our realtor did a great job with the pics.  Here are some of the pictures off the website.







Tonight at book group I had a sad moment where I realized there are only a couple more months of meeting up on the last Thursday of the month for great book discussions, good company and delicious food.  I almost cried but then I did what I always do and chose to not think about it instead.  It is so hard to believe how fast time is flying by.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

We are alive and kicking

 Life is crazy but good.  I have not had any time to spend on the computer or pictures so I figured I would throw a couple on here.  We are listing our house on Monday which I am a little stressed about because there is still so much to do and no time to do it.  Todd is so close to being done with school.  It is crazy to think we are almost done with our time here in Louisville.  Tucker is a good baby but has had some problems with nursing.  Not fun.  So painful.  He is a great sleeper at night though and has done 4-6 hours the last few nights.  Reminds me of Fisher when he was 2 weeks old.  Fisher has acted out a little with all the changes but is still capable of having a good day every now and then :)  He is a WONDERFUL big brother to both his little brothers which is a blessing for me.  It is nice only having to worry about Cooper around the baby.  Cooper is a little beast these days but he is so happy it is hard to stay mad at him even when he is being a naughty little guy, which is often the case.  I am trying not to go mental with everything going on but I would be lying if I said I had not had a few stress related breakdowns.  Thankfully I have a wonderful husband and we have great parents who have helped a ton.  My mom was able to come out for 3 weeks (one week pre-Tucker and 2 post) and then my dad was able to join us for a few days.  Now Todd's mom is staying with us. It has been wonderful. I am so grateful for all the help we have received.  Not to mention all my wonderful friends who visited in the hospital, have taken the boys for a few hours to give us a break and the meals that have been provided.  We are so blessed!






Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Boys

Things have been good lately.  Busy, but good.  We have been working on the house trying to get it ready to put on the market in the next week or so, trying to sneak in naps whenever possible, Todd has been studying for ANOTHER board exam test (school is almost over.  Can't wait!) and playing and working with my parents who leave tomorrow to go visit my bro and his family in Charlotte.  Oh- and of course we have been enjoying our new sweet little baby, Tucker. 
 Fisher learned how to ride his bike without training wheels.  He is so proud of himself!

 He has also been enjoying Tucker.  Fisher can be a rambunctious little boy but when it comes to the baby he is so tender and sweet and loves to hold him whenever he can.  The other day he was holding him and told Tucker "I won't let anything happen to you Baby." 

Cooper is finally acknowledging there is another person living in our house.  He points at the baby and will laugh at him when Tucker cries or poops. 

 He also is in an extremely stubborn phase.  The kid fights us on his food, where he eats, his clothes, sleep...pretty much everything.  Fisher has been difficult but Cooper has him beaten in the stubborn department.  This was taken the other night when he still hadn't gone to sleep like three hours after we put him to bed.  He is in to taking his clothes off and this includes poopy diapers.  He also enjoys lobbing all the contents of his crib across the room.

 Our three boys.

 Todd has been happy spending time with his boys.  He would be happier if he did not have stupid tests to worry about.

 And here are a few new pics of the new guy.

 This picture rotated and I can't get it to turn.

 Eyes open.

Snoozing in the swing. 

Sleeping on Grandma.

I still have pictures from his first few days of life and the hospital.  Working on those.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

A new member of the family

I haven't had a chance to post pictures, or even sort through them for that matter, but here are a couple of shots of the newest addition to our family.
We thought Cooper was darker than Tucker but we were wrong.  Looking back on pics of the other two, Tucker is by far the darkest, has the most hair and is a good mix of both brothers.

He is a baby who constantly has to be sucking.

He has a beautiful head full of hair.  I can't wait to wash it again so we can tell what the color really is.

I thought I would throw in one of him looking like a classic newborn with the hat and swaddled in hospital blankets.  There will be more pictures later along with the basic birth story filled with details such as the nurse actually delivered the baby since TWO doctors failed to make it in time. 
We are home and happy to be out of the hospital.  I am tired and a little crazy with hormones but also overflowing  with love for my boys.  It amazes me that I have been entrusted with these sweet little hooligans. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tucker Stockton 3.10.11

We officially have three little boys.  Tucker Stockton Church was born March 10, 2011 at 12:51 am.  He was quite a bit bigger than the previous two weighing 7 lbs 15 oz with a length of 20.5 inches.  He has a head full of light brown hair and a mix of both his big brothers with a mouth and similar skin tone to Fisher and a nose like Cooper's.  It will be interesting to see what he looks like when he is not a puffy newborn.

I have been trying to upload pictures to the blog and Facebook and it just isn't happening here at the hospital.  I will try again tomorrow.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Little Cardinal Friends

So when one is three days from her due date and going a little crazy, she posts pictures of little bird friends who live in the back yard.  We will miss our little Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal.  They have been with us the whole time we have lived in this house- especially when Todd added the bird feeder to the deck.

 Mr. Cardinal

Meet the Mrs.

 Enjoying the sunshine.

 Perched on the deck.

Taking flight. 
I love this one.