What's been Happening...

Here's a quick and totally random update on the Roberts clan.

* Aftyn is 4 weeks old today. She is doing great. Still sleeps most of the day away but not so much of the  night unless she is snuggled right next to me then she is content as can be. Last Monday I took her in for a weight check and she was 6# 6oz. I took her back in today and she is finally back up to her birth weight 6# 11oz. She is still itty-bitty.

* As to be expected I am completely sleep deprived and feelin' it. Nights are getting harder to get up. And my nerves get fried during the day almost before the sun comes up. That is mainly due to a certain 2 year old who has learned to escape from everything and everywhere. A 3 year old who has magically turned into the wicked witch. The girl must be attention deprived because she has become a sassy little stinker. Her cuteness isn't even working for her anymore. The only thing saving her today is the fact that I'm medicating myself with a bag of M & M's. And last but not least a 6 year old who has suddenly become selectively deaf. That kid has made "ignoring your mother" an art form. Argh...I anticipated the late nights and the demanding schedule of a newborn, but I completely underestimated the fact that my little ones would turn into out of control hoodlums.

*Ken is SO busy. He goes from one thing to the next with very little breaks in between. Work, school,  church,  kids, baby, wife, and home and auto repairs are keeping him busy and worn-out. I feel sorry for him, I miss him, and sometimes I find myself getting a little perturbed at all the things to do and places to be. Both of us need a break, but no breaks ever seems long enough to recuperate. Oh well, such is life. We are still enjoying the journey even if it would be nice if it slowed down a little.

* Last week I woke up to feed Aftyn and heard a weird noise in the house that I couldn't identify. It sounded like an engine running. After Ken went to investigate he found that we had broken pipes in the front yard. Water was everywhere, two rivers ran through the yard and down the street. We put on our coats and grabbed the flash lights and went out to figure out went was going on. Ken turned off the water to the house and left it to figure out in the morning. All I could think about was dollar signs and how much this was going to cost us. I could just picture a backhoe digging up my front flower bed and it made me sick to think about. In the end Ken got things taken care of for now without any money or digging but come summer we'll have some sprinkler pipes to repair.

*We have been looking for a passenger van for almost 3 years. We have a 9 passenger Suburban but now there are 10 of us so we could wait no longer. We now own a passenger van. Not the big hooptie 15 passenger van but a slightly less hooptie 12 passenger. Only at the moment it only seats 8 because we are still waiting for the back bench. Hoping by next week we have a vehicle that fits the whole family. Fun for us!

*Sydney found out today that she got accepted to be in the Junior Honor Society. She is very excited. I think it will be a great experience for her.

*Kaylie goes to the District Science Fair this Wednesday. Good luck, Kaylie!!!

*Todd got the "Paw"sing to praise award at school this month for writing his numbers all the way to 100. Great job, Buddy!

Here are a few random pics...just because they're cute.

Mr. Man wearing daddy's glasses. Do you see that mischievous twinkle in his eye?

Emma got her ears pierced for her birthday. She was so brave. 

Kaylie LOVES holding Aftyn. I love it too!

4 of my 5 cute girls.

Don't let her innocent face fool you, this girl is TROUBLE! But we LOVE her anyway. :)

 Aftyn is getting some Big Sister Lovin'

Okay?

I don't have many pics of Ty because the little dude makes a face every time I snap a shot. Ty is looking forward to getting his braces off in April.

 

THE END!!!

Congratulations, Kaylie!

Kaylie's science fair project was selected to go to the district science fair. She is so excited! Way to go, Kaylie.

I am super proud of her because she came up with this idea all by herself. She did the experiment all by herself. I only thing that I helped her with was putting the board together (on Valentine's day...the night before it was due). I was kind-of feeling bad because all this was happening while I was having a baby so I felt like I couldn't give Kaylie the time or help that I normally would have, but she didn't need me to. She took the initiative to do things by herself. There is probably a mommy lesson to be learned here...I'll analyze that theory later. Anyway...Great job, Kaylie!!!

Aftyn is 2 Weeks Old

Aftyn is two weeks old. Yesterday I took her in for her 2 week check-up and just as I suspected she is still itty-bitty. I need to fatten her up, she likes to sleep ALOT! She hardly ever cries or demands anything and can often sleep right through a feeding. My job is to make sure she eats at least 2 oz. every 3 hours. Yesterday she did really good eating more than she usually does. I take her back on Monday for another weight check and I think she'll be close if not back up to her birth weight.

Here are her stats:
Length: 20 1/2 inches   75%
Weight: 5# 15oz.         10%
Head Circ. 33.5           25%

She is a long, skinny girl with a tiny head. She's completely beautiful. I just need to put some meat on them tiny little bones.

My sweet visiting teacher brought me such a thoughtful gift. See the little blue & yellow blanket that Aftyn is snuggling with? That is a little blanket made for Zachary. Mandi made a large pink & green one for Aftyn, but she didn't leave out Zachary. She made him a little blanket as a momentum for his memory box. I am so grateful. It really touched my heart.

One of the very hardest things about coming home with just one baby was knowing that Aftyn would never get to know or be with her brother on earth. We had spent much time grieving for our own loss before the babies came, but it was Aftyn's loss that hurt my heart after she was born.

I love this picture for what it represents to me. In some small way it's like seeing them both together. Aftyn may not be able to see, touch or hold her brother in this life, but I have no doubt that they will be together many, many times throughout her life. She has a special buddy that will always watch over her.

My Valentine's

Love you all to pieces!!!

Note: Ken's cookie isn't smaller because he is less of my Valentine, he just happens to be watching his figure. I'm watching his figure too, and I think he's HOT! TMI? Sorry, but it's true...my hubby is a hottie. 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

More Baby Stuff

Don't expect anything original from me for a while. I basically have a one track mind and it's focused on baby, baby, baby, family, and more baby. So here is a random update on...you guessed it....baby and family. I'm typing one handed because I can hardly stand to put down this little bundle of squishable, squeezable love.

So we've been home from the hospital since Friday. My recovery is going well. I have a new appreciation for pain medication, but over all each day I feel a little better.

Aftyn is doing great. She is such a good baby. Everyone in the house is completely twitterpatted with her and she never lacks for someone wanting to hold her. She has night confused with day, but that's okay I love seeing her big bright eyes staring at me even if it is in the middle of the night.

Ken has been able to be home with us this week and will for another week. He can work part-time from home by remoting in to his work computer.  He has been a life saver by waiting on me, taking care of kids, and trying to stay on top of housework. I am one lucky lady.

All the kids have been super helpful. A few days ago I was having some pain while walking up the stairs and both boys (Tyler and Todd) took me by each arm and helped me up the stairs. I didn't even ask but they are being such sweet guys trying to take care of their mom.

Here are a few pictures of the kids with a story to tell... 

This picture was taken in the hospital when Ken brought the little ones in for a visit. I didn't want Daric to leave without a little bonding moment with his sister, but just after this picture was snapped he pushed her away and said, "You hold it."

I was relieved when we came home from the hospital and he actually seemed excited that we brought "it" home with us, he came over and gently kissed the back of her head. 

Now he frequently asks if he can hold "it".

A few days before Aftyn was born Kaylie asked me to take her to Hobby Lobby. She wanted to buy something for me and the baby but I had no idea what it was. I stayed in a different part of the store until she was done with her purchase. I was so pleasantly surprised when she presented this cake to me on the day Aftyn and I came home from the hospital. She made it all by herself. I knew she could make cakes, but I had know idea she could decorate one so beautifully. I could tell she was really excited to be able to make this cake, and I was so very proud of her. She did a fantastic job. It looked and tasted great! But even better than that her thoughtfulness just thrilled my heart. 

Just after we found out we were having twins Sydney decided to knit both babies hats. She did this as one of her personal progress activites. This is the one she made for Aftyn. Ken and I think Aftyn looks like a character out of a Dr. Seuss book. I love it! Great job, Sydney.

Here is one more of Sydney's creations. She knitted this bag for Aftyn just a few days before she was born. I knew just what I wanted to do with it. I couldn't wait to bring Aftyn home and take a little naked baby shot of her sitting inside the bag. I love this picture. And I love to see the girls share their talents with others, especially their siblings.

This picture doesn't have a story, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU to a very special sister. This is Tami, Ken's sister and she is amazing. She stayed with our little munchkins while I was in the hospital all week. I can never express in words my gratitude, but I hope she understands what a blessing she is in our lives. Tami, Thank you SO much. We love you tons!

I have a list a mile long of dear friends I wish to thank for their kindness...dinners, gifts, visits, taking my kids, cookies, prayers, thoughts of Zachary, phone calls, FB comments, etc. I can't begin to mention everyone but you know who you are...Thank you, Thank you! Each one means the world to me. :)

Aftyn's BIRTH-day

It's taken me longer to get to this post than I thought it would..."tomorrow" has turned into a week later. Aftyn is a week already. Can you believe it? Me either.

The fact that she is here is more exciting than the details of how she arrived, but here is a brief run down of Aftyn's BIRTH-day.

I was scheduled for an induction on Monday, January 31st. Ken and I left for the hospital at 6:30am. By about 7:15 I was all hooked up and on my way to having a baby. I was predicting a mid-afternoon birth between 2:30 and 3:30. My doctor came by around 9:00 to break my water and a short time later I got an epidural. Everything was going good. I was having regular contractions and things were progressing well. The only thing weird was Aftyn was in a strange position and they were having trouble picking up her heart tones consistently on the monitor as well as my contractions. This was easily remedied by placing internal monitors in me to monitor things more accurately. This may have actually saved Aftyn's life, because at around 11:30 her heart rate suddenly went from the 135/145 range down to the 40/50/60 range. The nurses quickly tried to determine what was wrong but were not able to get her heart rate back up. Thankfully my doctor is right next door to the hospital and quickly responded to the nurses page. He took a moment to check for a prolapsed cord but could feel nothing. He too could not get her to respond to his efforts to get her heart rate back up and within minutes (which felt more like hours, when you think your baby may be dying) they wheeled me to the OR for an emergency C-Section. I think it was 11:53 when they wheeled me in, Aftyn was born at 12:01 in the afternoon.

The reason Aftyn was struggling was because she was basically drowning in blood. My placenta had began to tear away prematurely causing my uterus to fill with blood, which she was then swimming in. When she was born they sucked a large amount of blood from her stomach and lungs, but after that you would never know that anything was wrong. She has done so well. She is totally fine.

Having a C-Section was a whole new experience for me. I won't go into details now, maybe sometime I'll write about what that feels like. Not so much fun, but boy am I glad for modern medicine. I have always been afraid to have a C-Section and I never ever wanted it to happen to me, but when something is wrong with your baby all you can think about is keeping them alive. It actually felt like they couldn't slice me open fast enough, at that point nothing else mattered to me but getting Aftyn out alive and well. And we did!

She is so beautiful and precious and sweet and perfect. I can hardly believe the joy that a little baby can bring. We are all in heaven with her.

I have lots more I want to write, but it is getting late and I am already sleep deprived. I'll have to make a habit of doing shorter posts more often. Here are a few more pics of our little angel....

Oh, before I forget if you want to see the pictures the hospital took you can go to.... www.bellababyphotography.com/login Login: 0131aftynroberts They are way cute!

This baby is such a sweet, little tiny, piece of heaven!

Emma's Birthday

I'm a few days late with Emma's birthday post. Emma turned EIGHT years old on Friday, the same day as her new baby sister came home from the hospital. Emma thought that was a pretty cool birthday present.

Emma is looking forward to being baptized next month. She is sweetheart with a dramatic flare. Of all my children Emma is the one that reminds me more of myself. I never thought of myself as a drama queen, but more and more everyday she reminds me of things I used to do, or think, or feel at her age. She loves to dance around, sing, she is interested in learning the piano, she works so hard at school, she is a good friend, she has sensitive feelings, and she never tells a story without a heavy dose of added drama. She is a super sister. She loves her family. Sadly being the middle child I wonder if sometimes she questions where she fits in at times. Someday I hope she understands how valued and loved she is, and how she totally and completely she fits right where she is.

  Happy Birthday, Miss Emma! We love you so much!