TAGGED

Both Cami & Angie tagged me with the same thing, so here it goes:

1. I thoroughly enjoy organizing and rearranging things. For example. just yesterday I re-organized all of the kids drawers, just for fun. Today I plan on tackling the bathroom vanity. Give me a drawer, pantry, room, basket, whatever and I will re-organize it.

2. I had such lofty dreams of what I would be like as a mom when I was younger. I have not lived up to my own expectations and sometimes get really down on myself. Hopefully my kids won't be too tainted. However, through it all I still LOVE being a mom and adore my kids.

3. I love to read, but don't very often. I tend to get sucked into a good book to the extent that I neglect everything and everyone. NOT good! So even though reading is good for our minds, it isn't good for my family. I cannot put the book down until I have completed it. It kind of bothers me that I read this way. Why can't I just enjoy the book chapter by chapter and let it last for a while. Why feel rushed?

4. Each night before I go to bed I do a crossword puzzle. The book is tucked nicely in my nigthstand with a pencil and waiting for me to grab it every night before my head hits the pillow. It's a great way for me to calm down and do something that makes me feel smarter (their the easy puzzles).

5. (Please don't think ill of me for this one) I nurse for selfish reasons only. I believe that the happiest baby is a formula fed baby. At least mine are. They sleep longer, they fuss less and you don't have to guess if they are fed enough. I nurse because it helps me to drop my baby weight more quickly and the hormones keep me happy and I can avoid the whole "blue" thing. The other reason I like to nurse is because it guarantees me time to just sit down and do nothing for about 30 minutes every 2-3 hours of the day (I needed a reason to be lazy). As I type this Carly is latched on a happily sucking away. I didn't get to nurse long with Abi and saw these differences right away.

6. I am a muncher. I would rather just munch all day long. I will eat a meal, when it's placed in front of me. But if I had the option (and the metabolism) I would have a donut (or some pastry) and chocolate milk for breakfast, tuna and crackers for lunch, nachos for dinner and in between the "meals" nibble on some white chocolate covered pretzels, sip on a caffeine-free cherry pepsi (do they make that? I've been caffeine free for three weeks now) and nosh on some other un-healthy junk food. On occasion I would enjoy a nice relish tray or fruit (dipped in caramel).

So, now I will tag Nikki, Angie B., Miranda, Emilee, Ashley, & Brittany

Rules:
1.The player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves - try to find 6 you haven't already posted about.
2. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names, and then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for the rules

Thanks!

Thanks for all of your well-wishes. I have fully recovered from the surgery and labor...I am now working on recovering from lack of sleep. But doesn't that just come with it all.

Connor got sick last week, so I have been tending to his needs (no Nicole, we didn't get it from you guys so we are still safe to play). I tell you what, I don't necessarily like Connor when he is sick. Sorry kid...but he just whines and whines and cries and cries. The cold is winding down, so that means its time for another child to get sick!

Abi has begun teething (again). It looks as though she's trying to get in a few molars. So she's crying and crying and unhappy. Thankfully she will take regular naps so I get a little break.

Carly is adjusting to life and she thinks that she is starving when she is awake. I have had to resort to giving her anywhere from 2-4 ounces of formula after every feeding to keep her happy for at least 2 hours. I chalk it all up to a growth spurt.

Todd has been the most wonderful husband and daddy. He has completely taken over bedtime with Connor and bathtime duties with Connor & Abi. When he's home, I don't change either of their diapers. It's been wonderful. What's sad is that I am probably getting more sleep than he is. Connor had been waking up every other hour with this cold, which meant Todd woke up every other hour too.

Good news though, Todd doesn't have to go to Hawaii in December like we had planned. His committee is allowing him to do everything via conference calls and email (I don't know how you do it, Ang & Lori). I was mentally preparing myself for a week without Todd and now I don't have to.

Okay, now I'll work on the Tagged post and the Thanksgiving post...be sure to check the kids blogs if you want to know what cute and new things they are doing.

One Week Later

The first week with Carly home has been wonderful. It's just as you could expect, those glorious sleepless nights (one night she did give me a whole 4 hours of sleep), being a milk-maid and taking as many naps as possible.

I can't complain. Connor and Abi are getting along better than they ever have before and Abi isn't as clingy as she used to be and doesn't seem bothered by Carly at all.

I have been going over to my moms house each and every day from 8-5. My poor mom has been trying her bet to keep up with Connor and Abi and letting me take my afternoon nap. I get to sleep with Connor and she tends to Carly and Abi. It's been so nice to have her help (I love you mom!) and to not worry about the kids during the day. During the hours that I am at my moms, I don't think I have changed a single diaper!!! I am so spoiled.

The worst part of this whole first week struck me at 3pm on Friday afternoon. I began to have a side ache and thought that it would go away, but it didn't. The pain got worse and it became more difficult to walk, or stand, or laugh or cough or anything like that. I tried to sleep it off, but having to wake every two hours to feed Carly proved to add to the pain.

At 5am, I woke and took some ibuprofen in the hopes that the pain would then be relieved some. Nothing changed. I called my Dr.'s office and got the Dr. that was on-call. He suggested that I go to the emergency room. My symptoms sounded like appendicitis.

7am, Saturday morning, I passed my little Carly off to my mother-in-law and Todd took me to the ER. After 5 vials of blood were taken to the lab, the results came back that my white blood count was very high, so there was definitely some type of infection. So the next step was to have a CAT scan.

They took the CAT scan, but the results of that were too hard to tell because my right ovary was inflamed and completely covered the appendix. I was off to Ultra-Sound where they did the regular and an internal ultra-sound to look at my ovaries, my uterus and the appendix.

At 3pm they finally came to the conclusion that the only thing that could really determine what was wrong was a laparoscopy. So they had the surgeon come in. He did a physical and explained that he would explore the uterus and the ovaries, but that in the end he was certain that I would just need my appendix removed.

My wonderful husband sat by my side the entire time. I couldn't complain about being hungry, at least I had a bowl of cereal that morning. But there he sat in a chair with nothing to read, nothing to eat and nothing to do but sit and wait. I was in and out of sleep the whole time, so I wasn't the greatest company. He never complained about his boredom or lack of things to do. What a good guy.

Sure enough, it was appendicitis and at 5pm, I awoke from my very first surgery, totally out of it and pain free!!! I got to spend one night in the hospital (a vacation?) and have to "pump & dump" until 5pm tonight. I am also on this liquid diet....totally annoying, but I will try my best to stick to it.

So, that's what's new in my life! I hope that you are all in good health! I sure appreciate today's medical technology and am even more grateful that we are back here with family. I couldn't have imagined burdening our ohana in Hawaii with three kids at 6am on a Saturday (not that any of them would have minded).

The kids were pre-occupied with all the outings that their two aunties, uncle, grandma and grandpa Riches took them on. Thanks family for all of your help! I love you and couldn't do it without you.

A Few more Pictures of Carly

The whole story of the labor and all that is finally up and on Carly's page. I will add more pictures as they come!

Here's our whole little Riches clan (Please forgive me for looking like I had just gone through labor...oh wait, I had).

This picture was taken just a few minutes after Carly was born. The guy holding her is Todd's dad, Ken. Carly's first interaction with a grandparent...so sweet! I love this picture because it looks like she is so happy to be here.

She's Here !!!

So sorry that I have not just hurried as quickly as possible to announce the arrival of Carly Belle...but I have been taken my own sweet time resting and recouperating from it all.

I will write all of the gory details and add more pictures on Carly's blog. But in the meantime, you can look at the pics on my dad's page.

The short of it is Carly was born Friday November 2nd at 7:10pm. She weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

My mom is watching the kids right now, so instead of typing the last few days events, I am choosing to go and take a nap before I am needed again!