I want to start by saying thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my blog. I’m sure some of it is boring but it is just about my life.

Today was the first day Bryan had to go back to work. I had to get the girls up by myself and have them get ready for school. “M” and I had a huge struggle and we both ended up in tears. I realized that I couldn’t do it on my own. It was sooo hard. I finally got the girls ready and out to their bustop in time. Thank goodness. A friend of mine (or should I say angel) came over right after the girls left and she picked up my boys for the ENTIRE DAY!!! I couldn’t believe it. The house was so quiet and I had until 4 pm to be with my baby. Of course Brayden knew something was different. He was used to the noise of the house and just could not get to sleep. He cried for most of the morning. I got a good nap in the afternoon and was feeling refreshed when everyone arrived home at 4pm. Tomorrow another friend of mine is picking up the boys for the morning and then bringing them home for naptime. Beginning Wednesday Bryan has 6 days off work. YAAAAAA. He has to go back the day after Christmas but I am really thinking I will be able to handle it by then. Today I have already physically felt better. My back is a little achey but my abdomen feels much better.

Here is another thought I had tonight. I think I am going to make a family bulletin board. Just like one we have at church and the girls have at school. I am going to use my Cricut to make it fun. Maybe put the dinner menu up for the week, a family calendar, some fun artwork from the kids, etc. I’ll change it every week to make it exciting. The more I think about it the more I know it is the right thing to do. Yippeeeeeeeee. What fun it will be for everyone. My goal is to get our house in order. With a family of 7 we need to get on the ball!! I feel like we are just getting by with half the effort we need. I am going to “Super Nanny” my family!!

Little Brayden is such a great baby. He will sleep for a stretch of 4-5 hours at night and then another 3 hour stretch. He really is spoiling us. He has had one rough night so far and it looks like tonight might be rougher than normal. We will get by. It’s weird because I do feel more secure in being a mommy than I did 8 years ago. I would have given up on nursing with my first if it was as painful as it is now. One side was so bad this past week that I would just bawl every time he nursed, but since I have experience I know that I just needed to buck up and get over it. Now I can feel that it is getting easier. I am so glad he came into our family. Our kids are so young now that it seems really hard but I know that as they grow older they will love having siblings close to their age and best friends at home. I wasn’t really close with any of my sisters or my brother growing up, even though my older sis and I are now best friends, so I want my kids to experience it.

Have I said how much I love my Cricut?? I just got 3 more cartridges off Ebay. I used some of our Christmas money that “my” grandma sent so I don’t feel as guilty. Plus I know that I will use these in my family on a regular basis. One that I ordered tonight is called Doodlecharms and has diecuts for every holiday and occasion you can think of. If I was a teacher I would go crazy for this!! I think my stamps are going to be neglected for awhile. There are even 3 cute monkey images I have coming. Shawna, did you hear that?? I will make you something cute with them, I promise.

Well, I’d better get some sleep since Brayden is finally sleeping himself. They say to “sleep when your baby sleeps”. I always find that hard because there is so much I want to do once I am not rocking them or nursing them but off to bed I go. I still need to read my scriptures and write 2 more thank you cards.

I know I should be in bed since the baby is asleep and so is the rest of my family. I just wanted to update my blog since I haven’t been on here in a few days. Today was a very good day. The baby hasn’t been really fussy since that night a few days back. He is growing into his own personality, which is wonderful. He is such a sweet baby and I love him so much!!

Today the kids played and we got a few chores done. I finished up my Christmas cards and now we just need to get them all in the mail. I made 72 of them and took the picture for them today. We just did the kids since I am not up to being in a family picture right now. They turned out really nice and we went down and picked them up from Walmart an hour later. I also sent out all my birth announcements today, which is a big load off my chest as well.

Tomorrow Bryan is going to one of his meetings in the am and then coming back to get the kids ready for church. Then he and the kids will go for the 3 hour block and they will just wait for him to count tithing after church is over. We have asked a Young Women to help us out tomorrow. I know it will be hard for Bryan but I am just not ready to deal with the other children yet. I don’t even know if Brayden and I will go next Sunday. It depends on how cold it is and how I am feeling.

Today I have had a lot of pain in my abdomen and it has been very difficult to walk. It’s funny because some days I will feel almost back to normal and then the next day it will hit me that I am not normal yet. I wonder how long it will be until I am myself again. I can already feel like my brain is all together. I had a talk with my girls today and I told them that we were going to get some order in this house. I told them there would be no yelling, fighting, whining, screaming, etc. We are going to have our house be a special place and we are ALL going to get along.

Okay, my eyelids are drooping and I still need to read my scriptures. I’ll write more tomorrow if I’m up to it. I’m going to try to rest throughout the day until I feel the pain go away.

We have been so blessed by this baby boy. He sleeps so well in his bassinet and lets us get sleep as well. He hardly ever cries and nurses pretty good. I feel so blessed to have all my children and wonderful husband. I know this has been a tough week so far for them. I haven’t been very pleasant to live with. I’m sooooo emotional and crying ALL the time. I’m sure they are getting sick of it. This has definitely been the worst I’ve ever been. I’m hoping it passes soon. The noises are just sooo loud and everything seems to echo. I know that it won’t get better until I’m done needing my meds. Hopefully that will also be soon.

Can I just say that I LOVE my Cricut. Bryan gave me my Christmas present early and it was the Cricut that I’ve been eyeing for awhile. I’m so glad he gave it to me early. It has been nice to be sent to my scrap room when I just cannot handle the noise of reality. I can cut alphabets out of cardstock up to 5 1/2 inches big in a variety of different fonts. It only takes minutes because it is digital. I didn’t think that I needed it but I can just tell that it is going to be used A LOT!!! I am going to finish getting my birth announcements finalized tomorrow so I can get them in the mail and also my Chrismas cards sent out, too.

I’m soooo sleepy being on my medication but I know that I need to stay awake to get things in order. Not physically but mentally. Today I watched Runaway Bride and I thought it was pretty funny. I even laughed out loud on some parts.

I thought I would add one post before my big day tomorrow. We leave the house at 5am and the procedure starts at 7:30. Wow!! I still have so much to do but the fatigue has hit me for the day. I don’t know how much more I can do. I still need to get the cabbage patch kid “babies” ready to go. I am going to take them all out of their boxes and swaddle them in their blankets. I think they will be easier to transport there and home. I just finished making an extra dinner for my family to eat on Thursday. Tomorrow I am going to start a crock pot before I leave. Friday they can order pizza and Saturday B can make dinner. I think my ward is going to do dinner for me on Sunday night which will be great to have a hot meal the night I get home from the hospital. I know I have all those frozen meals but I still have to prepare them with side dishes. My favorite part of having a baby is getting pampered for at least a few days with dinners. For some reason I am soooo hungry those few days after I get home. If I had more energy I would make some more dinners that are ready to pop in the oven. I think we have enough for about 20 dinners right now and I have ordered more from Supper Thyme that B just needs to pick up this weekend. They are making them for me for a little extra charge. They look yummy, too!! We cheated this week and had one of the meals I prepared. It was Taco Soup and oh, so yummy. It was a little spicy but great!!

This morning our guest toilet completely flooded. I guess it’s better today then when I am at the hospital. At least we can deal with it now and lock that door until a plumber comes out next week. The bummer part is that I have a friend coming over in the am to watch the kids and her and her kids will have to go upstairs or use our Masterbathroom. I wanted it to be easy for her. Hopefully it’s not too much of a pain.

I hope I’m not forgetting anything. I’m sure I will. Do I bring a book to read?? Or will I just be sleeping on my down time in the hospital. I can’t wait to meet our baby boy. I only wish we could agree on a name…. any name!!! I don’t have one set name in my head right now. I’m going to try to get a list of 5-10 to take with me and then after we look at him we can decide. Uggggg!! Why are there so many boy cousins in B’s side of the family??? We can’t use any of those and a lot of them are my favorite names!!!

Wish me luck and love!
Robyn

I am so nervous about this Wednesday. I need to really calm down. I’ve never known the exact date of delivery before and I just am climbing out of my skin. I haven’t really talked to family & friends either in a few days which makes it a bit harder. I know this is such a busy time of year for everyone and I understand.

Today is B’s last day to work on a Saturday!! We are going to party!! It has been great financially to have him do this for the past 1 1/2 years but it kind of gets old to have to have him gone all the time, too. It will be nice when he opens his practice this summer. I’m sure there will be new kinds of stresses. He is going to put me to work as soon as I have the baby. There is a lot to be done that he won’t be able to do working fulltime. He says it’s a “paid” position. I just have to laugh at that. I don’t need to be paid to help out my husband. Although, there is this cool scrapbooking machine called the “Cricut” that I have been eyeing now.

I’d better get off my duff and get my chores done today. I am stuck at home but I am going to make the best of it. I want to play with the kids, get my laundry done, and scrapbook. In any order!!