December 15, 2012

 On December 15, 2012 I turned 37 weeks. After 2 weeks of being in labor and laying around, this meant I could finally get out of bed and do normal things! I got up and cleaned my house and by 2:00 was not feeling well at all. I simply just thought I had probably over done it, since I had been such a couch potato lately. I am one of  those crazy ladies that cannot feel my labor pain until it simply is just too late. So by 3:00PM when I still wasn't feeling well and fear starting to set in that I could be in labor and not know, Trent suggested that I go to the hospital. When I arrived at the hospital I was really thinking that they were just going to send me right back home and tell me that I was nuts. You see it's not very convincing to nurses that you are in labor when you are walking around with a smile on your face and just complain of not feeling right. Sure enough when they checked me out I was dilated at a 6 and 100% effaced. The doctor couldn't believe it and told me that a baby was on her way! I called Trent and he took our other kids to our friends the Haretuku's and came and met me at the hospital. After walking around for an hour and still not feeling anything I opted to go and get my epidural, because I just didn't want to chance not getting it! It ended up being one of my longest labors ever and I was really getting bored! Finally the doctor gave me the option of having some pitocin to kick the labor into full gear. That seemed to do the trick!

 At 9:32PM we FINALLY welcomed sweet baby Allie Arleen Belliston at a whoppin' 7lbs and 19 1/2 inches. We couldn't be more in love and happy!

 Such an awesome feeling to be a mom! I really can't think of anything better than this moment here. My face is speaking pure happiness!

Welcome to our family sweet angel baby.

Big Belly

Here is a picture of me at 36 weeks. I was pretty much feeling awful and fat and the biggest I had ever been with any pregnancy. I had started going into labor at 35 weeks and so the doctor had put me on bed rest to try and keep this little munchkin in until she could be a little more healthy. So I had 2 weeks of labor and laying around. That pretty much proved to be almost impossible with 3 other kids to take care of. I did try pretty hard to take it easy because really I just wanted a healthy baby. My body was just not feeling it! I could hardly wait until I reached the 37 week mark!

So Long, Farewell

December 10, 2012 was a monumental day at our house! It was officially the day that we got to say goodbye to Jaida's oxygen! She had her last sleep study about a month ago and she did much better than we ever anticipated. Usually they don't go very well. They are very restless and she doesn't preform very well. This last study went pretty smooth and she was such a trooper. In the morning the tech, whom we know very well unfortunately, spilled the beans to me that she had gone the whole night without oxygen a HUGE deal! I had to keep my emotions in check but just wanted to burst! When I got out to me car the tears just flowed and I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude!
We got the results of her study December 6, 2012 and that is when the doctor informed me that she had in fact kept her oxygen levels at 91% for the night! She still is having apnea events, an average of 4 every night when she stops breathing for 20 seconds or more. So we will keep her on her monitors and in 6 months we will be repeating a sleep study to see if she has improved.
this has been quite a challenging 2 1/2 years to say the least, but it moments like that are direct payoffs for all the bad times. We really have been so blessed and will continue to be optimistic and pray that she will continue to improve. We feel so grateful to all those who have prayed, fasted and simply lifted us in these last 2 1/2 years on behalf of our sweet little Jaida. Thank you.

Straight Hair

 One night I had the urge to straighten her hair just to see what it would look like. Her hair has always been pretty curly and so it looks a lot shorter than it really is. Jaida loves to have her hair played with so she sat super still while I straightened it and combed it. She was in heaven.

After we finished I took her to show her in the mirror. She gave a funny face and said,"Eww I don't like it!!" I couldn't believe how long and full her hair was. I thought it looked really pretty too, but I found myself missing the curls. She just isn't the same without them. I love her crazy lion's mane!

Just lumpy

Me: Brock, Why do you have a plastic fork taped to your shirt?
Brock: Because Mom, it helps other people know that I am a protector of children!

What do I know?

December weather?

 It is the beginning of December here in Maryland and I have the radio tuned to Christmas music. When the song, "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" comes on it feels weird to even say that. I'm not really complaining because I'm not a huge fan of cold weather anyway! We took full advantage of these calm, sunny days and played outside.

A couple months ago Trent taught the boys and the neighbor kids to play 4-square. It was quite a challenge. They were a little slow in the learning process. Trent was trying to be as patient as possible, but it seemed as though they just weren't getting it. Well fast forward a couple of months.... and to my surprise I witnessed a very cool thing. The kids set up their very own game of 4-square and played it without flaw! Too bad Trent wasn't there to witness his hard work paid off, but it was a happy moment. I guess it just took a couple of months to soak in.

it's mine!

See that iPad, Trent got me that for Christmas this year. Except that I have hardly been able to enjoy it. This little girl is constantly confiscating it to watch her Donald Duck flicks. It's a good thing that she is cute because she pretty much gets away with anything these days.

worn out!

This cute boy really is the best! He is so full of life and has so much personality. It turns out that he actually is a very good student too. I was worried at the start of this school year that kindergarten would be too much for him, since it is a full day here. They go to school at 9:15 and they don't get out until 3:55. That makes for an extremely long day for a 5 year old. He has done such a fabulous job and Trent and I couldn't be more proud of his progress. With that being said, this is what happens most days after I pick him up from school. He is just plain tired. He really is such a good boy, my heart melts when he is around. I love you Lumpy Thomas.

Thanksgiving

 This year for Thanksgiving we were so thankful that our friends the Nuss Family had us over for dinner! Being away from family during the holiday season can be hard sometimes, but good friends are great to have in those times. We really have been blessed with those friendships out here and feel so much love from them. A lot of the time they feel like REAL family to us. Brock couldn't wait to get his hands on that Drumstick! He loves to eat it off the bone. He was so excited for his turkey dinner.

 I was thrilled personally because this also meant that I wasn't the one to have to do all the preparation for a big Thanksgiving dinner. I was put on Dessert duty, that was right up my alley! I made Homemade Oreos, Apple Pie, Blueberry Pie and a Pumpkin Lush cake. It all turned out delicious.

I also made the rolls and the stuffing. I was pretty proud of myself! We had a great dinner and the company was great too!
This year I am so grateful for health, love, a roof over my head, Trent's employment, family, friends, and my Savior.

My boys take good care of me

Let's face it... when your belly is huge and you can hardly bend over a second, painting your toenails is a huge chore/obstacle. When we first told the boys that I was pregnant I told them about how I was going to get really big and need lots of help. Brock chimed in and said: I'll be the one to change all the babies diapers. Pierce had a somewhat disgusted face on and said: well I guess I'll be the one to paint your toenails! Made me laugh! Well they have been asking ever since to tackle that chore. I must say they actually did a pretty good job. I had one foot with purple nails and one with turquoise. I sure do love my boys!

Uncle Cory's vist to Maryland

 It is always fun to have visitors especially when it is fun time Cory. He was a good sport and put up with our wild kiddos the entire weekend. Jaida pretty much was glued to his side the entire time. Trent and Cory went out hunting Friday and Saturday. But we had some fun in between. We went to Dave and Busters and played our heart out had lunch at Costco and soaked up every waking moment we had with him.

Jaida was sure happy to have him around to read to her all her princess books. Nothing sweeter then this. When we had to say goodbye Jaida was so sad and cried and cried and cried  that she wanted to go home with him. We sure love our Uncle Cory! We miss him!

Pierce's Class Pet ~ Bongo Biondo the Monkey

 Pierce was chosen to host Bongo for a weekend of fun at our house in the month of November. He was beyond excited. First we stopped and took him shopping for some food at the grocery store. He really likes strawberries! We had dinner at our friends The Rosenberg's house.

 Brock enjoyed having him around too. Here he is giving Bongo a piggy back ride.

 Pierce read to him, of course it was Diary of a Wimpy Kid. His most favorite books.

 We played outside in the leaves with all our neighborhood cronies.

 We made mom's famous chocolate chip cookies too.

And Pierce taught him some chords on his ukulele.
Pierce was also spotlighted at school as the "Star of the week". They spent the week learning all him favorite things and reading about Bongo's journeys that we wrote about in his journal. At the end of the week he brought home some nice things that his classmates had written about him. things that included:
Pierce is respectful because he passes utensils to Ms. Biondo.
Pierce is funny because he tells jokes at lunch.
Pierce is artistic because he draws pictures good.
Pierce is cool because he plays flag football and gets touchdowns.
Pierce is silly because he makes funny faces.
And for the best one:
Pierce is CRAZY because he chases the girls a lot!
*that gave us a good laugh*

Here are some of his favorites that he wrote down:
Foods: Jello, pizza, pineapple, and the chick fil a peppermint shake
Movie: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roderick Rules
Book: Wimpy Kid books
Pets: Gracie Girl and his fish
Friends at school: Tyler, Reece, Logan and Elijah
Hobbies: Basketball
Game: Wii

Man this kid is growing up

the difference between girls and boys

This girl can play and play and entertain herself for hours. She loves her little people, she calls them her "dollies". She likes to make up little towns and fly them in the airplane all around the house. It is adorable to hear her coming up with their conversations and imagining new things all the time. I absolutely love this about her. She really lights up my life.

Crafty day

 The kids were out of school it seemed like a whole heck of a lot in November. I am not sure what the deal was with that, but it felt like they had so many days off. Keeping Brock busy is the hardest part of these days off. I let him choose our schedule this day and all he wanted to do was "create crafts" ALL DAY!

 After hitting the store for our supplies we cam home and made these cute turkeys by tracing their feet. I think they turned out pretty cute. Brock loves GLUE and TAPE. So just having those supplies on demand totally made this kid's life! I am not kidding you.. if I have those two items at his availability they are gone at the snap of a finger. He can go through an entire roll of tape in minutes and will find almost anything to glue on cue.

I also saw this cute craft online. We painted canvas with light blue and then used painters tape to block out the letters. Then I gave each of the boys each a canvas, paint and a Q-tip and they sat and dotted these for a good two hours! It was a great time consuming craft.

Most important part...

 Basketball is finally over! I say that from my and Jaida's perspective because our little booties were getting pretty sore from sitting on those hard bleachers for 2+ hours every Saturday. Our lives were pretty hectic going to and from practices and games. I guess we better get used to it because with two boys who love sports we are bound to be spending many more hours sitting and watching! The boys were both so excited for what they both deemed as the "most important" part of the season.... THE TROPHY! As you can tell by their cheeser grins they were pleasantly pleased.

It was so fun to watch them change and grow through out the season and they both played their hearts out. I was so proud of them.

Cute Husband

Every once in a while my cute husband comes home from work bearing gifts. Usually they are for the kids but on this particular day I totally scored. He came home with this silver sparkly scarf and totally cheered up my day. If you weren't aware Trent loves to shop, more than I do! I love it about him! He is actually a dang good shopper too and is always good at picking out all the good stuff. Thanks Pup.

Granny's Famous Mac n Cheese

Ever since I was little I remember my Granny Arleen making us this yummy dish. It has aways been one of my favorites. When it is chilly outside or pretty much whenever I am feeling it I make it, which is pretty often. Luckily my family enjoys eating it too! When I have shared it with others they almost always ask me for the recipe. I kind of chuckle because it really doesn't have a recipe and it is so simple. It is pretty much throwing things in the pot!

Here is how we make it:
Cook the desired amount of elbow macaroni and drain.
Layer in a pot noodles, grated cheese ( I like to use a blend like Mexican or colby jack, but whatever you have works) until the top layer is cheese. Dump milk in until you see it reach the top layer and cover with a lid (don't cover the top layer with milk). Then place back on the stove top on medium low until cheese is melted on the top. don't stir the layers together, just serve! So yummy.. of course you will have to add salt and pepper to you liking after!


I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! It always brings back memories of my Granny and my childhood. That is probably the best part!