Our Sweet Angel Matthew

It was two years ago today that with much sadness we said hello and goodbye to our son Matthew. The sadness hasn't really subsided for me, because there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not reminded of some milestone or moment that we will never share with him. But the sadness is overshadowed by the great joys our four girls bring to our lives every day. I find happiness in the little moments, thankful for each smile, laugh, and mischevious grin that comes my way. I realize that for whatever reason, Matthew was meant to watch over us from above, and it brings me great peace knowing that he travels in the stars, the flowers, the rain, and the sunshine that warms us every day.

So Happy Birthday Matthew. We hold you in our hearts.

Sarahism #1

Sarah has been extremely helpful these past weeks, even taking her oldest sister duties to a new level today when she volunteered to change Kate's diaper BEFORE she had ascertained if there was a messy surprise waiting for her inside. Jeff was finishing off some evil pirates for Sarah in our Pirates of the Caribbean Wii game, and I was holding Elizabeth, so she was on her own trying to make Kate sit still for the diaper change. A difficult task as of late. After chasing her naked toosh around the media room for a bit, Sarah finally turned towards us and stated "This is like wrestling a greased pig!"

Splish Splash, Elizabeth's first bath

Happy 1 week birthday, Elizabeth! In honor of this milestone, I figured it was finally time to give her a bath instead of just cleaning her off with an aloe vera wipe and putting lotion on her. I am always hesitant, though, because I always compare it to a torturous experience. Poor little things are so used to being snug and warm, wrapped up in a toasty blanket while they enjoy being cuddled, and then WHAM!, along comes the mean mommy who strips them of all their clothing and pelts them with a lukewarm mixture of water in hopes of not burning them. Good thing babies don't remember these moments :) Elizabeth wasn't very excited at first, but was then calmed by the water. Sarah saw her role as Elizabeth's advocate, making sure that I hurried up so that Elizabeth wouldn't get too cold. I love that Sarah takes her job as the oldest sister so seriously ;)

Elizabeth joins our family!

We welcomed Elizabeth Mary Yeager on July 11, 2008 via c-section at 4:53pm. She is a very welcomed addition to our family, and seems to be fitting right in! Following is her birth story:

My blood pressure readings had been slowly increasing over the past weeks, and Wed night they were in the 150's/mid 90's, so my doctor wanted me to come in Thurs morning to see him. They found a substantial amount of protein in my urine, and along with high blood pressure and some swelling, he was tracking me for preeclempsia. I took a Non Stress Test to monitor the baby's activity, and thankfully the baby was really moving, so my doctor let me go home with orders to rest for the rest of the evening. He wanted me to come back on Fri morning at 11:00 to check my urine and blood pressure, and to do a sonogram to check amniotic fluid level.

Fri morn my blood pressure was really high again (hard to relax when everyone is telling you to relax ), still had high protein numbers, and there was a very low level of amniotic fluid. So after going over the pros and cons, and giving me his opinion that we should deliver, my dr. asked me what I thought and wanted. I told him that I would rather have her in the NICU delivered, safe, and being watched over, than still in utero where anything could happen in an instant without being able to control it or help instantly if needed (Matthew was on my mind). So he just smiled at me and said OK, let's deliver.

I had brought a packed bag, so I walked around to the L&D building to check in. I also called Jeff (who was on alert at work where he was finishing up some business meetings with out of towners, but ready to drop everything to "come on down" ), to tell him to drop everything and come on down. Then I called my mom who had our 3 girls to let her know what was going on.

I was set up in L&D, scheduled for 4:30 in the OR, so I just chilled until Jeff got there. Of course my blood pressure was now 132/78, because there is nothing like knowing it would be over soon and that I was under the watchful eyes of the nurses. I ended up getting the same delivery nurse I had with Kate (Thanks, Jennifer, you rocked!) which was great. Jeff and I watched TV and started talking about middle names, because we still didn't have one. We were searching for something short that would just flow, but nothing seemed to go, nor did they have any special meaning. Then Mary popped into my head, and I wondered why it hadn't earlier, because while it's not my mother's full name, it is the name she is known by to most people. We are hoping it means lots of extra babysitting sessions, seeing that Elizabeth can be called her namesake :)

Before we knew it, it was time to be rolled into the OR to do all the prep. They shot me up, made sure I was numb, got me all ready, brought Jeff in, and started. I was crying at this point, not really sure why, but figured it was nerves, relief, fear, and anticipation all wrapped together.

They had a NICU team there ready to take her (mandatory because of her gestational age of 34 weeks, 4 days), and also on alert because of the anticipation she would need oxygen and other help. She was born at 4:53pm with a full head of black hair, weighing 5lbs 14ozs and 19.75 inches long, but best of all screaming her lungs out. The NICU team didn't need to do anything, she was treated and looked over there in the OR just as she would have been if she were full term. She was taken down to the NICU for observation, and we would find out later for how long. Jeff got to go with her, while I went to recovery.

She ended up being there for only a couple of hours because all her tests came back great, and she was breathing on her own. So we rested in the hospital for a couple of days, and went home Monday afternoon with Elizabeth. We are now attempting to just rest and spend our days planning the logistics of everyday outings that used to be a cinch but now may prove more of a challenge.

One of the eeriest moments for me was during the c-section, my doctor showed Jeff the umbilical cord. It had a "true knot" in it, and the doctor told us that through divine intervention all this stuff happened to bring us to the point of delivering her when we did. All it would have taken was a couple more active days and her moving around enough to tighten the knot to the point of cutting off her oxygen and causing a cord knot accident. It still gives me chills, but also makes me smile the biggest smile that everything happened the way it did.

Webkinz Mania

I was blissfully unaware of Webkinz mania, until a friend of Sarah's shared it with her at a play date, and the craziness began. If you haven't heard of them (lucky you!), let me introduce you to the concept. There are limited places to buy them (in our area, it's a bookstore and a Hallmark store), and each may be stocked with different inventory. In our case, I have to state matter of factly that we are only buying one, ONE, and if any whining occurs, the offender will get nothing (oddly enough, it works like a charm...). So you pick one out, take it home, then log into the computer (webkinz.com) with a secret code attached to your Webkinz. After you "adopt" it (flashback to my own Cabbage Patch days), you can then enter Webkinz world. It's actually a neat concept (I feign trepidation) because the kids are then responsible for their Webkinz health, happiness, and food intake that they must monitor so their friends don't get sick. To achieve this, they have to play games, treasure hunt, and work jobs to earn money that goes towards their animals. I love seeing how happy they are when they have fed, bathed, and bought new clothes for them, or decorated their rooms with a new piece of furniture or poster. I am also amazed at how they remember each of their animals names and birthdays. Here they are above posing with the latest members of their Webkinz family.

Beating the Texas Heat

Ok, I guess "heat" is a relative term. I guess we are trumped by someone lost in the Sahara Desert without water, or an unfortunate soul who has unknowingly bitten into a Bhut Jolokia pepper. But when you are 9 months pregnant with 3 girls who are looking for something active to do, the Texas heat ranks right up there with a Nolan Ryan fastball.

So to quench everyone's need for fun, we went to one of the local malls to play in the play area. It was the first time we had been to one with Kate, but no need to worry because she had a great time. When she wasn't being entertained by her sisters, she was sitting in the big "spoon" watching everyone with a curious expression on her face. It must be the local hot spot for tots however, because our quiet haven for exploration soon turned into the meeting place for every screaming banshee within 30 minutes drive. So upon hearing Sarah's proclamation of "it's just too loud", we decided a visit to the food court and Sonic was in our future. After all, nothing says "beat the Texas heat" like an ice cream cone and cherry limeade.

"I'm walkin', yes indeed"

First off, sorry about the angle of the video. Apparently you can't rotate videos either on the camera itself or on this site (or maybe you can and I just don't know how...). This is the first recorded evidence we have of Kate initiating walking by herself. She still prefers to crawl, but she is getting to the point now where she will stand up on her own and walk somewhere when she thinks nobody is watching her. Daddy's new game is crouching to have her walk to him, and then hopping backwards and making her go a little further. She thinks it's the funniest thing, but I'm sure she's laughing about how silly Daddy looks! :)

"The Tooth Fairy is coming!"

Ashley lost her first tooth yesterday! We were at Auntie Peach's house celebrating Tata's birthday with a good old fashioned fajita bbq (great job Uncle Chris!), when Ashley started screaming "My tooth fell out, my tooth fell out!" Granted, it wasn't much of a surprise since she had been twisting, pushing, pulling, touching, and fiddling with it for the past few days in the attempt to get it out so she could reap the rewards the Tooth Fairy would shower on her. She fell short of having Daddy do it with a piece of thread, even after hearing Sarah's testimony that it didn't hurt a bit. She was very excited about the thought of putting it under her pillow, and was content with the idea that she would soon find herself 25 cents richer. But then Tata pulled her aside and with a hush hush whisper into her ear, her tune changed to "Yaaaa, uh huh, I'm gonna get 20 bucks!" (Thanks Dad ;P) Well, I guess that only seemed fair, since the price of Sarah's first tooth was an FC Dallas soccer jersey. Since we were unsure about what the Tooth Fairy would bring, I bought us some time by telling Ashley that it was too late to get on the Tooth Fairy's list for that night, since she already had her route mapped out for all the kids who had lost their tooth the day before. So I guess I'll have to send Jeff on a mission for a gift, or a quick stop at the ATM on his way home.