Sunday

Daddy and Dominic played an intense game of Battleship before bed time. Dominic won. Penny loves to call out hit or miss for Daddy. We love playing board games!

Still fishing for ideas on what to put on our blue wall in our dining room. Any suggestions are welcome. All our walls are still quite bare because I'm indecisive.

Aren't his lips just delicious?

She's gotten quite good at changing diapers. She can actually do a pretty good job and is helpful when I change Michael's. I thought with her sensitive gag reflex (she gags at the smell of her own poo) that she would steer clear of Michael's diaper changing festivities.....but she's actually right up there with me everytime with a wipe in her hand, ready to go!

Aunt Eva sent us several cute newborn outfits. He looks like such a little dude in them. I love it.

Michael's first Bath

Michael's "Bilikin Corn" fell off yesterday and so today we decided to bath him.

I just put a towel down in the tub and let he and Penny bathe together. She laid right next to him and helped me wash him. He didn't seem to mind it at first until we started washing him with the washcloth.

All clean and slippery. I love this monkey towel.

He's a clean little monkey now.

Our Busy Week

Random shots from the last week:

Penny all ready for bed. Can't you tell? This was the first time she got them over her nose and the goggles fogged up pretty quickly. She thinks these are sunglasses and tries to put them on before she goes outside.

We were watching a show on dinosaurs (we've been watching a lot of discovery channel type shows on netflix through our Wii...love it). Notice anything? hee hee...my kids love eachother.

Tickling Daddy is so much more fun than tickling Mommy (Mommy hates to be tickled).

I love this chubby cheeked little guy. He's getting a little more alert with each passing day.

Penny hasn't been able to snuggle this well with me for quite a while. It felt good to hold her again and not be uncomfortable. She made quite the drool mark too.

Helping Michael get his plug in right.

Got Milk?

His cheek/neck area is especially yummy and delicious smelling.

This is her "angry goggle face". She asks to see the picture often.

Dominic being flash....he and Penny chase eachother around the circle in our house. I caught him running through.

Penny always wants to hold him just how Mommy does, "up on her shoulder." She's a good mini-mommy. She's burping him, Michael is enduring.

Doesn't he look fake and teeny?

He prefers his thumb over his plug...when he can find it. Sometimes I just help him. Its one of those things where its nice that he can't ever lose his thumb if he wants it....but I can't cut the end of his thumb off when we're ready to be done with it like I can his plug. It immediately soothes him though, unlike his plug which he will sometimes suck and sometimes won't.

Say What?

We had Michael circumcised on Monday....so traumatic. I hate it. Our doctor was of the old method.......I much prefer the plasti-bell version where there is no AFTER CARE (meaning no changing of the petroleum gauze every time he needs a diaper change) .

The doctor asked if we wanted to keep the foreskin. Wha? I apologize to anyone who does...but WHAT?



Michael's "bilikin corn" fell off today (I can't correct how Penny pronounces it...its so cute) . We are excited to bathe him, though we're going to wait a few more days because of his peder stuff done on Monday.

I'm not keeping the cord either.....I find keeping that kind of stuff gross. Just saying........

The Baby Story

So I better get to writing this before I forget the details (like pain and stuff...funny how you forget the pain so quickly once your bundle has arrived). Its nothing too detailed and gross.....just all the fun facts and random feelings we were having. Enjoy!

With all 3 of my kids, I've started contractions at about 1am. This time was no different. I'd been feeling like it was going to be soon for a few days. Random changes in my body and him sitting much lower led me to believe that I was going to have him just before, or on my due date. Though, I was trying not to let myself get psyched by this because I didn't want to be dissapointed when/if my due date came and went. I was due on Thursday, May 20th.

I went to bed on Tuesday night (May 18th)and was awoken by a contraction (the first one to wake me out of my sleep) at about 12:50am. I had another one 12 minutes later, just after 1am, followed by another one 8 minute later and another 8 minutes later. This was strange to me. With both previous deliveries, I had had contractions far apart all night long and into the day but nothing that really progressed till the next afternoon. This was going really fast if it was true labor. Next one was 6 minutes later.

I got up to go to the bathroom and the contractions increased in strength and got closer together. I woke Sean up and told him it might be a good idea to get the kids to Gma's just so we have that out of the way. They were sleeping and could just sleep the rest of the night at Gma's and then thats one less thing we needed to worry about if indeed we were going to go in soon. He agreed but asked if he had time to shower. At which time I had another contraction, 6 minutes apart......and getting stronger. I told him if he wanted a shower, he better hurry. Fastest shower ever.......

Sean took the kids over to Grandma Matteson's (great Grandma to the kids) at about 2:15am. They were tired and Penny was fussy getting into the car. She was whining and crying until she looked up. She instantly stopped and said, "Oh, you have your happy shirt on." Sean was wearing his Mr. Happy Shirt......I gave her a bottle of milk which helped her relax again and off they went. I called into the hospital at 2:26am telling them that we were on our way soon. They asked if we wanted to wait it out a LITTLE since I had only had about an hour of contractions total. I told them that I went really fast with my last labor and the nurse told me that if I ever broke my water at home to call an ambulance to take me in unless I wanted to have a baby in the car. At that comment, she thought it would be a better idea to come in now and at least be checked. Agreed.....

I really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich. I was hungry, but decided that puking grilled cheese didn't sound fun and went for a bowl of trix instead (we NEVER have trix but I'm so glad we did that night! It hit the spot).

Out the door we went and arrived at Mercy Hospital of Folsom, just after 3am. I checked in and they took me to a room. I was 5cm dilated and they told me I could stay. Better than that, my friend Denise was on call and since they were quite busy that night, they called her in and she got to be my nurse.

They tried to start an IV on me 3 times in my left arm. They said I was valvey and my veins were small. Denise got there before they tried a 4th time and she said not to worry, she'd get the IV (slyly smiled at me basically saying "you don't need an IV if you're doing it natural girl! I've got you covered!")

I decided I wanted to try taking a shower to get things progressing and pass the time (with Penny I walked the halls.....so not fun). Let me just say, I loved being in a nice hot shower for contractions. It was very distracting and very soothing. I was able to talk and joke between each contraction even though they were getting pretty strong. It was not anything that was super intense that I couldn't stand through. I just had to keep myself relaxed so that my body could do its work. After about a 45 minutes to an hour or so in the shower I was 7cm dilated. The contractions were about 1-1.5 minutes apart. It was about 445am. They called in the Doctor and Denise was given the go-ahead to deliver the baby if he didn't make it in time. =)

At about 5am I decided to get out of the shower and the doctor arrived shortly thereafter. Contractions were getting a little more intense but I could still talk between contractions. Its amazing how you can be so controllably uncomfortable through contractions and then for a good blissful minute and a half, laughing and talking as if the last contraction never happened. The doctor checked me and broke my water at 5:22am, I was still at a 7cm.

Breaking your water causes extremely intense contractions. I knew this. But, it also makes it really fast. Its a trade-off. Fast and intense, or slooow and a little less intense. I'm a get-er-dun kinda girl and so breaking my water is how I like it. Contractions got really intense, I puked up those trix I had eaten, and I remember looking up at the clock at exactly 5:30 and thought to myself...."Okay, I'm not sure how long ago he broke my water, but if I haven't had this baby by 6am...I'm going to lose composure and not be able to do this." With Penny it took about 30 minutes from the time they broke my water to when I had her so I was expecting that this should be at least somewhat similar. I could tell there was progress being made as they were getting stronger, closer...right on top of eachother even. 30 minutes seemed completely far too much time but I was trying to be generous in how much time I should allow myself before I fell apart.

Sean was great. Feeding me ice (I love the ice at the hospital) and rubbing a cold washcloth on my head while telling me "you did so great on that last one....you're almost there, you're almost there. He'll be here soon Katie."

Urge to push came at 536am. Funny thing is, with Penny pushing didn't hurt AT ALL. It was more like a relief to push, no pain. I was shocked. This time it hurt....which I was surprised. Perhaps it was the extra pound of baby? I don't know. But, I did know that if I pushed through the pain, it would be over. NO BIG DEAL. I can handle pain for minutes if I know its going to be over at a specific juncture. I ain't gonna lie....I wasn't quiet...I made noise, yelled and everyone on that floor probably heard me. 2 contractions later, Michael made his full presence at 5:40am and I was no longer in pain. Ah, bliss......its amazing how it instantly stops. COMPLETE relief.

They handed him to me right away. He was swollen and blue and completely beautiful. He took a good 15 seconds or so to cry. Sean's first comment was on the size of his nose. We both laughed..."who's nose is that?"

We were in love. He was here, he was perfect............

Sean stayed for a couple of hours and then left around 8am to go get the kiddos. I sent Michael to the nursery so I could get a power nap before the kids got there. I could hardly stay awake holding him, I was so exhausted. Denise went home and hand picked our next nurse for us who was GREAT also. The nurse promised to wait to bathe him until the kids came.

"We have 3 kids, we have 3 kids"......was all I could think about as I slumbered off to nowhere land waiting for Sean and the kids to arrive.

Welcome Michael Jarom Matteson

Story to come later. Here are some pictures to just enjoy

I got to hold him right away. He took a little bit to cry and that first cry is so sweet and cute. He started nursing right away (sorry about the photos that made it out on accident.....Sean forgot to pre-screen them).

Its a happy cry I'm sure right? He's got a big nose....but its cute.

I get the shivers REALLY BAD after I have a baby. Like uncontrollable shaking. Its the wierdest thing (adrenaline) and I'm not cold, but the mounds of warm blankets they bring me feel so nice anyways I never reject them.

Nice and chubby at 8 pounds 13 ounces, and 20 inches long. Exactly 1 pound heavier and 1 inch shorter than Penny and Dominic (both Dominic and Penny were 7 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long).

Getting warm under the warmer. Love the bed head little guy.

My favorite picture by far. This was the first time Sean held him and I can see the instant love in that gaze. Sean was amazing to have there to help me through labor, he knew exactly what I needed and was quick to respond when I had to tell him.

Kiddos get to see Michael for the first time. He was in the nursery when they arrived (I took a 45 minute power nap) and so we had to wait a couple minutes for them to bring him in. Needless to say, that confused Penny a little.

Great Grandma Matteson got to come and see Michael that morning along with the kids. She loves babies. Thats just shy of being 95 years of age difference right there.

We had the BEST nurses. My friend got to be my nurse for the delivery and then she said she HAND PICKED our next nurse for us. Becky was great with the kids. She waited for them to come to give Michael a sponge bath and let the kids do a lot of the washing. They she let/made Dominic put a new diaper on him explaining each step and why it was important. I loved the extra time she was spending to have Dominic and Penny enjoy the process.

Miss Penny coudln't take her eyes of this REAL LIVE DOLL that she was going to be able to take home soon.

Daddy got him all dressed after his bath and diaper.

Dominic kept making remarks about how cute he is. Also, his eyes look really blue (like they usually do when they are newborns) and I lost track of how many times Dominic said he thought that Michael's eyes would stay blue just like his. He's pretty proud of this little guy. Today he said, "So his middle name is Jarom like mine AND he'll probably have blue eyes like me too."

Michael looks like a little Asian baby to me right here. I caught a little smile from him.

Squishy face! Accepting visitors NOW...

I snapped this photo of the two of us snuggling. I pretty much love him.

We got some pretty interesting visitors in the middle of the night.

Family bonding:

Smooches from mom.

Us girls have to stick together. We're outnumbered now.

Penny likes to talk on the phone with no hands. She's talking to her Penny Grandma here and telling her all about her new baby brother.

I think new baby ( to the right) might be getting replaced with a newer model. =)

Dominic LOVES to hold him and he's pretty good at it too.

We found her over in the corner of the hospital room changing her new babies diaper.

Such a sweety.

Penny sandwich

Ready to head home! He has some killer nails and so socks had to do until we got home (like the outfit Eva?)

All strapped in and ready to roll. Home sweet home, here we come!

Sorry!

Its not that I am too tired or too busy to blog right now....its just that our new computer is on the fritz again and we're having to do backups and all kinds of stuff to it so that we can re---blah blah blah blah....I can't put pictures on this old computer until we delete more stuff off of it.

So, you get a wordy post today.

I feel good. Tomorrow I will be 39 weeks and have most everything checked off of my to do list. Wanna see it?

-Paint baby room
-Shop for carseat, bedding, mattress, etc
-Convince husband that the bedding and the paint color will look fabulous once its all up
-Set up crib and put on bedding
-Add curtain rod in room, hem curtain
-Listen to husband proclaim his great idea of the paint color and bedding and how it turned out
-Wash baby clothes and put away
-Make sure carseat fits in the middle seat in the car with room enough for kids on either side too
-Make blanket for carseat (the one that goes behind the baby and doesn't get removed)
-Bring over rocking chair from Gma's, repair rocking chair a little so it doesn't squeak
-Bring over changing table from Gma's
-Buy nursing bras and pads (sorry....TMI?)
-Locate all the old baby gadgets and clean them
-Pack hospital bag


Still to do:
-Make burp cloths (got them cut out today!)
-Make Big Brother/Big Sister shirts (got them purchased..just need to assemble)
-Put changing table upstairs and clean it / organize it
-Find "Cleaning and Scrubbing" frame in attic and hang in Michael's room
-Deep clean my house


It doesn't seem like a huge feat, that list...... but I seem to run out of energy so quickly that I only get to do one or so of those things every few days. Lately (nesting) I've been getting more done than the last 4 or 5 weeks which feels really good! I just have to remind myself not to tire myself out and go into labor already pooped.

Being pregnant at 30 is way different for me than being pregnant at 22. I feel the pains more easily...get tired more easily....can't move as easily....all while still having to attend to 2 other amazing spirits. I love it though. Every second of it. I love being pregnant (despite my eye rolls and "can't wait for it to be over" comments)......I love being pregnant. I have a healthy body that, I think, was meant to have 15-20 children. We shall see, but I think 4 or 5 will be our magic number.

We had family pictures taken last week by my friend Gloria who has moved away but was back in town for a few days. I cannot WAIT to see them, they should be really good. I asked Sean if he wanted to have pictures taken now (while I'm pregnant) or later when Michael was here to which he replied, "I would love to have some great pictures of my beautiful wife when she's pregnant. Absolutely." Had it not been for that comment, I don't think I would have. I love him.

Penny is becoming more and more antsy. Asking each day when Michael is going to "pop out," and making comments to him about how when he "pops out" he can sleep in his bed, play with his toys, sit in his carseat etc. Dominic today asked how long we had to wait again to which I replied that he was due next week....his response? "Really? That's it? Oh, I can't wait." I love that my kids love each member in our family so much.

Michael Jarom Matteson, we're ready for you when you're ready for us!

Smiles all around!

My hair is outta control long....but I like it on most days. I don't think its EVER been this long. Its so long that

- when I roll over in bed, I sometimes can't flip my headhard enough to get all my hair out of the way
-It gets caught in my seatbelt when I take it off and it rolls itself into the seatbelt's hideaway
-I think its a spider on my arm and I freak out
-makes me look like I have hairy armpits if its all behind me
-I've given up on every trying to blow dry it
-I can use it to tickle people at quite a distance

36.5 weeks

This was an absolutely beautiful Sunday evening. Dominic was throwing the frisbie and Penny was pretending to be a dog and fetching it. She would even get down on her hands and knees and lick it before she tried to pick it up with her teeth. What? God made dirt....and dirt don't hurt.

I love Dominic's socks and flip-flop combo.

Here she is retrieving it and bringing it back to be thrown again. She's so goofy.

Penny was ding-dong-ditch-ing with her viking hat on and it would fly off every time she ran away. I would have to sit at the door and turn my back so she could ring the bell and then I'd turn around and ask who was there........ we did this about 100-50-40 times (that use to be Dominic's favorite HIGH number in kindergarten).

Then we came inside and played games and colored. Penny drew a tongue on her happy face and was quite proud. when she showed it to us she couldn't stop laughing as she said, "he's sticking his tun (tongue) out."

Dominic spent a LOT of time working on this self portrait. He's quite the drawer lately.

This was his finished product. Doesn't it look just like him? Afterwards he schemed about how he could do more drawings and sell them. I told him that he'd have to draw for a few more years for free before people would pay him for his drawings. I love him.

Then we started a game of UNO. Penny had her own little miniature game going on and it was quite intense (as UNO usually is).

After 4 games of UNO we started playing Gone Fishing, which led to a natural game of the fishies biting mommy on the lips and Penny laughing hysterically.

We were waiting up for Penny Grandma and Courtney to show up. They were only minutes away at this point and my kids were so excited to see them again.

Courtney and Dominic battled in an intense game of Chess (he's quite good actually and SOMETIMES beats me) while Penny and Penny Grandma played Guess Who.

It was tons of games in one night, but was lots of fun and it wore the kiddos out! We were so lucky to have Sean's mom and sister come visit. We can't wait till they can come again.

On Wednesdays, I've been taking Penny to a nearby library for a singing storytime. Its absolutely amazing. The lady that does it usually performs her shows on stage in big shows and stuff and she's REALLY GOOD and very entertaining. Lately I've been taking another little girl with us since her mom just had a baby.

So this day, we stopped at Target afterwards for some essentials that I needed and, of course, the girls NEEDED to stop and try on shoes. It was hilarious, especially the fact that the shoes were all attatched together so they couldn't walk anywhere once they got them on.

Catherine actually asked me if I knew her mom's cell phone number so she could ask her if she could get these shoes "betuz they sparkle." They were at least 5 sizes too big BUT they sparkled and thats all that matters to little girls who are about to turn 3.

They both had their sunglasses and they both put them on top of their heads as soon as we got to the car. It was a fun morning!

Other unrelated news?
(that are really for my journal-ing purposes and not necessarily meant to entertain you)

-We turned off our cable. I love not having TV.

- I lost my car keys with the remote lock on it and its driving me crazy. I know they are in the house somewhere but I haven't found them YET and have prayed and prayed that they will just APPEAR so I don't have to bend over and look for them anymore. Using the valet key (though we've never used a valet in the whole 4 years we've owned the car)

-Michael's room is all set up and ready for him. Penny likes to play in his crib. Dominic thinks 15 days is FOREVER to wait.....I agree but will patiently wait anyways.

-Sean switched from PB &J's (actually, Almond Butter and Jelly) to rice and beans for lunch. Seriously, he eats the same thing every day for lunch and has been having PB & J for over a year......now I get to make beans every week in large vats and freeze them in bags... as well as brown rice in large vats and freeze them in bags too. Dominic thinks the house smells funny when I cook beans, I kinda agree.

-I got a sunburn on Saturday at the pool. Somehow, about once or twice a year, I put sunscreen on my kids but forget to put it on myself.....it usually only takes once and I don't forget again. I'm still really red from 4 days ago.

- Dominic is reading the Hank The Cowdog series. I LOVED Hank the Cowdog when I was younger. He's progressed quite a bit this year in his reading and comprehension.

-I like my home-made laundry soap even better as a dry soap blend instead of a liquid. Its just easier to make/use and it washes just the same.

- 2 weeks and 2 days till Michael's due date. We can't wait to meet him....and I can't wait for my ribs to not hurt.

-I finally gave Dominic a haircut....it looks so much better. He just HATES haircuts and so we put them off for so long. I paid him $2 to not cry/whine. This was his last chance to have me cut his hair without whining/crying or I was going to make him pay for his own haircuts at the salon (he was fine in December when I cut his hair because Eva was here and he didn't want to cry/whine in front of her....which to me says its all an act). It worked. He earned $2 and a GREAT haircut.