One Big Update

Hello everybody. Is it just me or is everyone blogging just a little less this year? Anyway, my computer settings are still jacked up and since this is my journal and my family history, I have to blog! So, this here is Sharrid's laptop. Sharrid just finished up school for this semester and he's taking a break from school anyway (and since he's the one who screwed up the computer settings which is causing my blog problems) thanks for the new laptop babe! ha ha Seriously though, I will now be blogging by way of our laptop. I will most likely be blogging a little less for a few reasons. #1 Baby Amar'e. #2 I still want to upload my photos to my computer. So anytime I want to blog photos, it will be double the uploading...not fun.

I was able to put the first pictures of Amar'e on my blog, barely. Here is a short story of how it all went down. The long version is in my pregnancy journal, a journal that I keep that has all the boys birth stories, pregnancy updates, ultrasound pics, hospital caps and wristbands, ect. in it.
Amar'e Willard Hill was born on April 30, 2011 at 10:15 AM at Mountain View Medical Center in Mesa. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 21 1/2 inches long. The day before he was born was my last appointment. When the doctor checked me I was dilated to a 2 and 60% effaced. I was scheduled for induction for Monday (my due date) because I did not want to go over. I've always gone into labor naturally and didn't want to make it to the induction. I also wanted an April baby. I got both wishes. After Friday's appointment I called my mom and asked her to come that day before I had the baby because my sister had a really hairy schedule that weekend and I needed help. Mom got to my house at 8 PM, minutes after I had my first contraction! My contractions with Amar'e were similar to Braxton Hicks but with a lot of pressure down low. They were completely different than Marce's or Phoenix'. His contractions were strong enough that I couldn't sleep through them but not strong enough that I needed to breathe through them, til a certain point of course. I started breathing through them at about 3 AM. We left for the Hospital at about 4:30. My contractions never were "5 minutes apart". It was a 14 hour long sporadic labor with a lot of pressure! I got an epidural at about 6:30 AM. The labor at that point was still very doable. I was dilated to a 7, but after pulling the all nighter laboring. I was so tired that tears ran down my cheeks. I was overwhelmed and so tired of laboring! The epidural was a bit strong and I couldn't feel anything. I was able to rest a few hours while I had 2 doses of meds for Group B Strep. I pushed for 3 sessions with Shar and the nurse and then about 4 sessions with the doctor. My doctor was fabulous. She waltzed right in there like she owned the place. I like her cause she tells it like it is and she's "real" about things. The nurses and staff were awesome too and the food was great!
When Amar'e came out he was cold and had low blood sugar levels but he had to stay under the heater for a while and was supplemented with formula right from the start because he wasn't satisfied with breastfeeding alone. I am still doing both and love the 2 options! Amar'e has a good appetite and is growing like a weed. At birth he was 95% for height, 75% for weight and 50% for head measurement. At first I thought he looked just like Marce did but as time goes on I see he is a good marriage between the two older boys. He has Marce's general eye area, while he has Phoenix' big cheeks and dimples. He came out really pink but has a nice pinkish rosy brown color now. He is my longest by a half inch but was 3 ounces shy of breaking the weight record. He was the baldest out of all the boys and I really have no clue what his hair will be like. He only has a little in the back.
My mom was here for a week and a half and cleaned, cooked, and took care of everyone! She did everything including getting up in the night with Amar'e! I have the best mom and I'm so grateful that she is young enough and has enough energy to help us when we have our babies. By the time she leaves we are recovered enough that we can pick up where she left off for the most part. My recovery is going well I suppose. I am trying to be patient and not do much so I can just get it over with. I am glad that I am keeping up on the chores and taking good care of the kids. I don't feel overwhelmed and not even really tired anymore. Amar'e does okay at night and wakes up every few hours so far. I go to bed at about 9:30 so I don't need a nap during the day. Amar'e really hurt my tailbone much like Marcelus did but not nearly as bad. It's making huge progress though. My bladder even seems stronger than last time when Phoenix' birth destroyed it! So I have high hopes for this recovery and can't wait to start working out. I do still have a little pooch and I can tell I have gotten more flab this pregnancy than from any other thus far. My frumpiest pants do not fit so I have some time and work to do. My feet also might have gotten bigger from this pregnancy but I'm not sure about that yet. My back really hurt after the delivery and it has finally stopped hurting and has started strengthening up. Recovery is the worst part of all of this in my opinion but I have really tough pregnancies physically. Each one has just about killed me in one way or another. I should be fully recovered by mid June and able to start working out. I can't wait to get strong, get fit, and get some energy!

Knowing I was going to have a newborn this year, I made only two goals for the year. #1 Be a good mom #2 Make sure I have my "me time". If I don't do number 2, I won't be able to do number 1. Being a good mom is really vague but basically all I want to do is take care of the kids well, you know, be on top of things, organized and in control. I'm keeping it simple and if I get any extra stuff done or any projects or whatever done, then great BUT if I just take good care of the kids and establish a good routine with them, that's it. Marcelus has chores and we have scripture study everyday and this is all part of that. Making sure things are happening like they should, running the house. Goal #2 includes 3 things really. My "me time" is Working out, watching my Netflix, and reading a good book. Those are the three things I want to do for myself. Those are my little goodies. I realize it might take a month into school starting to feel like we really have a routine but at least I know what I want to do this year.

We are planning to do some really fun things this summer as a family. We might be going camping or going to Stockton but even if we don't, we are going to do a lot locally. We recently took the boys to the Stillman McCormack train park in Scottsdale. We been many times before and it's definitely a favorite for the boys. It was a great day and the weather was so nice! We all got ice cream and to top it all off, everything was free that day...no need to buy tickets! It was awesome. We are going to take the boys to the Children's Museum of Phoenix next. We've never been and it sounds like they have a lot of fun things to do. I can't wait. The boys will love it!

A few days ago we came home from church and saw a young bird walking around. Sharrid said it had fallen out of it's nest and would probably be eaten by one of the stray cats around here. We took the bird in and tried to give it water and food. We were hoping it's wings would finish strengthening so that it could fly. The bird had feathers and wings and everything but probably wasn't old enough to really fly. The next morning, the bird was dead. I feel bad but the bird would have surely died out on it's own. If it wasn't eaten, it would have been run over by a car. Sharrid said that he remembers his mom nursing baby birds back to health. He said she would tap water into their beaks with a toothpick and stuff! We totally failed but I had good intentions.

Our family dog Kit passed away last week. She was 12 years old and had delivered 3 litters of puppies. She was a very good dog. She was very obedient and knew her way around our neighborhood. We will miss pulling up to my parents house and not having her come up to the car to welcome us. I remember when we found her. She was just a young puppy. I was a freshman in High School and she was left outside the auditorium outside after a band concert. We took her for our own and we've never or will never have a better dog than she was.

I bought a new camera. It is a Sony Cybershot 16.1 megapixel point and shoot with a bunch of fancy features. All I wanted was something easy with clear pics. Amazon just happened to have all their cameras on sale and I sucked the life out of my old one til it died a couple weeks ago. So, as soon as I set up the new one, you'll see some pictures on the blog!

And last but not least Phoenix is 3 years old tomorrow! We aren't celebrating til Saturday but Happy Birthday to Phoenix. He is done with the 2's even though he doesn't act like it sometimes. He IS growing up and making progress!

That's the update...Phew! Welcome Back me!