Why a Mommy can't look away from her children...

Taylor's 1st Soccer Practice

Taylor started Bitty soccer today at the Liberty Community Center. She did very well at practice and looked terribly cute in her little soccer shorts, socks, shin guards, and shoes. I had her hair pulled back in a little pony tail that was braided so her hair wouldn't get in her face. She just looked too stinkin' cute! Bella had a good time watching her big sister play and a couple of people brought their dogs to the field and she enjoyed looking at them as well. She calls them "woo woo" because thats what they sound like when they bark. Kinsey slept quietly in her carseat that was set in the stroller during the whole practice. Andy Reiger was Taylor's coach. Andy is Meg's dad, one of Taylor's best friends from our MOPs group.

DC Father-Daughter Dance 2009

Jay took his three little ladies to the annual DC father-daughter dance. He intended on taking them out to dinner before taking them to "the ball", however I wanted to go to the dance to get some good pictures and you know me...I'm not going to miss out on a good meal. So I tagged along with them and we went to the casino for the buffet before the dance.When we arrived at the dance Bella was TERRIFIED of the balloons. We honestly thought that I was going to have to take her home because she would just sit in a chair in the corner and cower away from the balloons. As the night wore on she got much more brazen and even chose several dance partners other than her daddy. She even danced on the stage with Taylor!Both girls got in the middle of the big circle to dance when it was the girls turn. They were much braver than their daddy. He wouldn't get into the circle and dance when it was the daddies turn.
They really didn't want the night to end and it was definitely one that he will cherish for the rest of his life. He even won the prize for the youngest daughter for the second year in a row. The prize was a gift card to Chipotle. I told him we were NOT going to try to win this prize next year.

Kinsey's First Smile

Jay got the best birthday present that he could've asked for, Kinsey gave him her first smile! We went to Ginger Sue's for his birthday breakfast and as he was talking to her she smiled. He teared up when she gave him that award winning grin.

Welcome Mackinsey Rae O'Brien!

We welcomed our third daughter into the world on Monday December 29th at 9:57pm. She weighs in at 7lbs. 3oz. and is 19 inches long. She didn't get to come home with us today, she's taken a small vacation in the NKCH NICU to sunbathe her cares away. She has a bit of jaundice, so it is light therapy all the way for her. For those of you that are curious...here's our birth story.

I'd been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for several weeks. It was no different when we took Bill & Lynn (aka Papa & Granny) to the airport on Saturday night (Dec. 27th). However, that night I wasn't able to get a good night's sleep because I was up every 13 minutes with a contraction. Sunday morning I was EXHAUSTED but still couldn't rest because the contractions started coming 8 minutes apart. At that point in time I called the doctor's office and they advised me to come to the hospital to get it checked out. They watched me for a couple of hours and told me that I was having contractions 3 to 5 minutes apart, however there was no change in my cervix. They told me that I likely had a urinary tract infection and sent me home with an antibiotic and a prescription for vicodin to help me get some rest.

That night I took my antibiotic and vicodin and was able to get 2 hours of sleep before I was up having contractions for the next 2 hours before I could take any more vicodin. We did this for two rounds before I became nauseous and bowed my head to the porcelain throne. I called Labor & Delivery to let them know that I was having a new issue and they assured me that it was because I'd taken the vicodin on an empty stomach. I ate half of a bagel and tried again. I was still sick. I decided I would just lay around and "get over it".

Jay went to work and the kids and I had a pajama day on Monday Dec. 29th. I was very nauseated all day long and couldn't eat or drink. I called Jay for help at 3:00 because I was so tired and so sick. He came home at 4:00 and I told him that I was going to go lay down upstairs to try to get some rest. When I stood up I felt a trickle. I thought "that might be my water breaking" and I told Jay that I thought my water had broken. I went to the bathroom to tinkle to make sure I hadn't just had some bladder leakage. I was still conflicted...until I stood up and the fluid began to flow down my legs.

We began the protocol that had been designed weeks before. We couldn't get in touch with Jeanne to watch the kids so we took them to Kim-Marie. I called Kelli Craft (a dear sweet friend that agreed to help me scream my way through contractions) to meet us at the hospital. We finally got in touch with Jeanne and she picked up the kids from Kim-Marie and brought them home so that they could get a good night's rest. We were all set.

I went into the hospital at 4:30pm. I had dialated from 1.5cm & 50% effaced to 2cm. and 70% effaced. While we were waiting for pitocin I began to have contractions and I dialated from 2cm to 4cm. Once the pitocin kicked in I lost it and started yelling at the nurse to "please get me my friggin' epidural". They finally agreed to give it to me when I was so hysterical that it took everything in Jay and Kelli to get me to breathe. I got my epidural at 9:05pm (none too soon in my opinion) and was immediately checked and had advanced to 6cm. In the 15 minutes it takes for the epidural to be effective I went from 6cm to 9cm. They decided to get me up in the stirrups by then. After they'd gotten me situated I told them that I felt a ton of pressure and they checked again and I was already a 10 and was totally ready to push.

I pushed 4 times (10 seconds each) during 1 contraction for Kinsey to make her grand entrance. She was BEAUTIFUL! She had a little trouble with breathing smoothly and had to be observed for 2 hours in the nursery befor we were able to love her up.

We got to spend a day with her before she developed jaundice and had to be moved to the NICU. Her bilirubin count dropped from 9 to 8.5 over a 8 hour period so we are hopeful that we'll get to bring her home tomorrow.

WE ARE BLESSED!

Getting ready for Christmas!

Wow...time flies when you're having fun! We are preparing for Christmas and I think that we are almost done. Jay decorated the outside on the last pretty day that we had and I must say that he did a FABULOUS job. The outside looks like each light was intentionally and perfectly placed. He also put icicle lights around the living room, dining room, & kitchen. The kids love all of the lights!

The Missaoui family came to visit for Thanksgiving and helped us put up our two Christmas trees. The small tree in the foyer has our "family ornaments" on it. Each family member going back out our grandparents has an ornament on that tree. We need to make a new one for Kinsey this year! The tree in the living room has all of our fun ornaments and an ornament for every year of Jay and I's relationship.

Jay also hung up the stockings (the mantle is getting very full) and our various other knick knack decorations. Marian, Stephen, Angie, Tatum, Christine, & Connor went together and bought us a gorgeous painting of Santa Claus that is hanging in our living room.

Taylor's highlight is moving the mouse along our countdown calendar. I've had this calendar since I was a kid and looked forward to moving the mouse. She gets confused and REALLY wants to move the mouse after naptime too. So we move the mouse in the morning and in the evening we read our "Jesus cards". Ms. Jeanne at church gave us the gospel account of Jesus' birth divided up among 25 cards and you read a new card each day so that by the end the kids almost have the story memorized. They LOVE it!

All of the gifts have been bought/shipped and we lack only one gift per child. We're arranging for a "shopping date" so that the two of us can go out and agree on what we'd like to get each one.

Taylor asked Santa for:
1) A pink robot that talks and walks.
2) A big dinosaur that must be pink or green.
3) A teddy bear that she wishes to name "Faluka".

When I asked her what she wanted Mommy & Daddy to get her she said "I don't know." I guess we get the creative freedom that Santa only wishes he had!

Bella looked at Santa like he was from Mars and didn't say a single word.

When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she just said "Winnie the Pooh". Simple kid.

So that is how Christmas is shaping up in our house. We've done A LOT of internet shopping since I'm about as big around and I am tall and walking is sort of difficult for a weeble. However, I think that things have shaped up nicely. After Christmas we'll be in the final preparations for Kinsey's arrival!

Kinsey's 3D ultrasound

We had a 3D ultrasound done today of Kinsey and I think she looks alot like Bella, but she has Jay's smile. His cheeks fold a certain way when he smiles and we saw hers do the same thing.Jay wanted to make EXTRA sure she was a girl since that is what we are totally prepared for and sure enough...there's no mistaking that she's a girl!

She likes to keep her feet up by her face. Here's a good shot of her cute little feet.

Apparently she was on a mission to see if she could explore her mouth with her toes.

She gave up on this mission and covered her eye with her hand. It looked like she was a little bothered that we had intruded upon her sacred time in the womb.
We got to see her cute, tiny little ears in the ultrasound and the lady said it looks like she has a little bit of hair on her head. (They said this about Bella too and she's STILL having trouble growing hair at any length!)
Right before we were done with the session she folded her hands like Taylor & now Bella will do from time to time.
I think we wore her out because she started to yawn right before the session ended. Good night Kinsey, sleep tight!