Summer Vacations (109 photos), by Jenny Lytle

First came the pictures, now the actually words since all 3 kids are napping. for the 4th this year we decided to head up north to OK to see Mike and Christy's baby bump! yep, if I haven't told you yet they are expecting Baby Allen coming this January 14th (or some time around there). Mike and Chris were in desperate need for therapy. Their therapy is golf with beer. They were able to squeeze in 2 games while we were there! Christy, the kids and I just hung out at the house. There isn't much a girl can do with 2 crazy kids and a 4 week old. The kids loved playing with Lexi, hope she did too. We were able to meet some of their new found friends in OK as well. If you see the pictures, you can see that B and A were also in need of an Aunt Christy and Uncle Mike fix as well. And yes, B did get to show off his new golf clubs and his skills to Uncle Mike. Our last stop was an awesome Italian restaurant. It was the best Italian food I've ever had. I think I will need to go there every time I visit. While we were there, we received an offer on our house. It was our first decent offer too! We began the back and forth game only to have them withdraw a week later. It was a good deal, but not a great deal. I knew something better would come along.

Shortly after the OK trip, I decided I could pull it together and take K to Galveston. She is a wonderful baby! She sleeps anywhere, any place and rarely cries. I knew she would be good for us so why not go. I am so glad we did. The kids just love the beach. B would jump waves all day long and A would play in the sand all day if we let them. K slept all day long on the beach or in the back of the Acadia. There's pictures in the album (click the link). We went to the beach everyday for some low-key fun. One night we got dressed and went for the annual Rainforest Cafe trip. It is a fun place. We did our usual--River Adventure Ride. This was the first year that B was a scaredy-cat! He was in my lap burying his head most of the ride. The previous 2 years he wasn't scared at all. A was a little skittish, but not like her brother. And K well, she slept through the ride.

The kids had their first crab hunting night. They all had little flashlights and tried to hunt for the little transparent baby crabs. They had fun for maybe 10 minutes. It stopped when we spotted our first jellyfish. Several had washed up on shore that evening. We scooped them up and put them in the trash, but the kids we still worried about them. Then, they wanted to fight over the flashlights, someone looked at someone wrong, etc. etc. The typical fights of a 5 yr. old, 2-4 yr. old and a 2 yr old...there's always next year and more crab hunting!



I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
http://www2.snapfish.com/fbshareredirect/p=54191248026138320/l=2845026008/g=24888537/redirectURL=share/otsi=SALBBL/AlbumID=1436718008/a=24888537_24888537/usercomments=I_xqd%20like%20to%20share%20my%20Snapfish%20photos%20with%20you.%20Once%20you%20have%20checked%20out%20my%20photos%20you%20can%20order%20prints%20and%20upload%20your%20own%20photos%20to%20share./counttext=109%20photos/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

National Lampoon's NKOTB concert

Why the title? Here's why...
-everyone was running late, traffic was horrible
-shan, rachel and natalie had to get the car seats out of the Jeep (my rental) because I forgot and had to get dressed
-go to back out Jeep and CRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAK! WTH? for some reason the garage door decided to not go up all the way and it hit the luggage rack thingy on top of the Jeep. no harm done.
-traffic, but it wasn't bad
-dinner at restaurant was excellent, our server not so much. how many times did he have to re-ring our tickets? i think it took longer to get our bills corrected than it did to actually eat. i know there were 8 smokin' hot ladies at the table, but geeesh!
-find our way nicely to the venue, found our seats in front of the NKOTB crazy chicks--they had a flask!
-wonderful, awesome concert. donnie got really close to me. i'm pretty sure he tried to sweep me up with him, but i told him i couldn't go. it was great to have my long time NKOTB lovin fool, my cousin Jamie there to rock out with. it was even more fun to share all the songs with the 7 other girls that we were all with!!
-easily made it out of packed parking lot, score!
-dead locked interstates in Big D, so i try a short cut. we have a GPS...oh wait, the battery just died and no charger! DOH!
-couple of right turns and we made it to where we needed to be. no long drastic detours, thank GOD.
-girls need to potty on the way home. stop at the fabulous whataburger.
-back in the car, Jeep ready to go and WHAM! WTH, again? Oops. While backing up then trying to put it in Drive, it went to PARK. and the Coke (or pop, for you Christy) splashed on Christy's Coach! OMG!! and the Jeep, but who cares. How it went into Park, no clue.
-finally made it home safely and the garage door went all the way up this time. WHEW!


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
http://www2.snapfish.com/fbshareredirect/p=510191248022052528/l=2843991008/g=24888537/redirectURL=share/otsi=SALBBL/AlbumID=1455999008/a=24888537_24888537/usercomments=I_xqd%20like%20to%20share%20my%20Snapfish%20photos%20with%20you.%20Once%20you%20have%20checked%20out%20my%20photos%20you%20can%20order%20prints%20and%20upload%20your%20own%20photos%20to%20share./counttext=54%20photos/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

our baby boy is 4!

This year B wanted to have a Lightning McQueen cake and ride horses for his party. He was very specific as he was last year about the Backyardigan's. Luckily this year my mom came up and stayed a whole week with us. We were able to have a much needed garage sale to get rid of the baby boy clothes! I was able to get the Lightning McQueen cake made Saturday morning. It turned out great! Brady loved it and was so proud to show it to all of his friends at the party. Every year I say this is the last year I will make their cakes, but to see them beaming with pride and joy makes my heart melt.

His wish came true. His friends showed up and his favorite cousins. Everyone was able to ride horses, even Antone got on one. I wish I had a picture of all the kids on the horses, but I think Kiersten kept calling my name during that time...she was hungry. After the horseback riding, the kids piled into the back of the truck and the men (yes, I said the men) took all the kids (all 11 of them) to the tanks to feed the fish. They were gone for a while and evidently had a big time. They came back telling us stories of the fish, turtles and the animal tracks they found around the tanks. It was a great party and we all had lots of fun. Thanks to everyone that made it out.

I have to explain this picture. His gift from us was his first set of golf clubs. He was not expecting it at all and was very excited. If you know B at all, you know how he loves to dress up for whatever the occasion. If he is going to watch something cowboyish--he puts on the cowboy git up. If he wants to watch or play super heroes--he now puts on his new Superman pj's. If he's in a backyardigan's mood--he has this one outfit he always puts on. I don't know why he does it, he just does. So, while he and I were doing his party invitations I put a note for the kids to bring their cowboy and cowgirl gear to ride horses. He did not want to leave our house until he was all cowboy'd up. Then, he opened his presents, got the clubs and took them straight outside to hit the ball. It didn't seem to bother him (for once) that he wasn't in his golf outfit. I thought it was too cute to see this little golfing cowboy! As soon as the newness of the clubs wore off and all the kids practiced their golf swing, then he took off for the horses.

And then there was Anna...these are a pair of brady's old boots that she has adopted. she loves them. she can pull these on herself and they are a must at the farm. earlier that day she had on cute white sandals with a flower to match her dress and her hair was in pigtails. as the day wore on, she ended up in boots and one bow on the side. i snapped a quick picture of her before she changed again. i thought it was too cute!

and yes...here is Kiersten enjoying all of the festivities at the party. no, i didn't leave her in the car seat for the party. please don't call CPS. she was asleep when we got there and i didn't want to disturb her. she stayed asleep in her seat for a good while. this is the only picture i have of her at the party.

Happy Anniversary!

6 years ago on June 14, 2003 this man became my husband. who knew that in just 6 short years we would have accomplished so much together. i love you boogers and look forward to many more happy years to come.

mysterious stain

yesterday was my first day with all 3 kids by myself. i was nervous, but it went really well. i was even able to score an hour and a half nap in the afternoon! it was great. this morning, B was up first. we were making breakfast, he loves to help scramble eggs. he likes to crack them in the bowl. it's pretty funny, but he does it. we ate and i listened to him talk on and on at the table. then we heard K wake up and he told me it was time for her to eat. so i settle in the living room to feed her and notice a big red stain with orange pieces on the living room floor. what is that? B says he has no idea, he didn't do it. he blames A and says he knows K didn't do it. I finish feeding and realize it's, you guessed it, good ol' throw up. After several tries at getting the red strawberry kool-aide out of the carpet, i was successful! thank you oxi-clean! i just hope it doesn't start reappearing. When A got up she knew she did it, but in her vocabulary we couldn't get the whole story.

Not thinking I fed her breakfast...some of the scrambled eggs, lil smokies and toast with milk. she seemed ok, just a little lethargic and quiet. she had no fever when i checked. next up was a terrible dirty pull up. it took a while to clean all that up. then about 2 hours later, she was standing in their room while i was getting her clothes from the closet and the breakfast came back up for a visit. this time all on me and carpet in their room. all i could do was thank God that K was content sleeping in the swing. I pick us both up and head to the bathroom for yet another cleaning. I called the doctor and talked to a nurse. Of course it's just a stomach bug and it will have to run it's course. I will do my best to keep her away from K, but she wants to kiss her head all the time! I'm going to do my best for the liquid diet and then start the bananas and starch diet for her till her tummy makes it back to normal. Right now A is crashed in her bed and K is crashed out in the swing, again. B is keeping himself occupied with iphone games while I catch up on the blog. Who knows what tomorrow or tonight will bring?

just a swingin

watching Thomas with B

My water broke, now what?

Yes, I've had the baby. I just haven't had a spare minute to blog about any of it. I think it might take several entries to catch everyone up, but now for the most important one...the newest arrival story. Here it goes...

If you read my blog "i caved" then you know I scheduled to be induced on my 40 week due date, Friday June 5th. My doctor's appointment was Wednesday June 3rd. I mentioned how she tried to help me along when she checked me, but I didn't think it would do anything. Well, I was wrong! We made all of our plans with family and friends to help us out based on taking the baby Friday. We were set, went to bed and I had a day full of last minute activities to get done. At 4:45 I woke up and went to use the restroom. On my way there, I noticed I was usually wet. I immediately thought it was sweat since that was all I did no matter the time or day. But it was too wet. Thought maybe leaking urine? But no, not it. As I'm sitting there I think, OMG did my water break? it can't be. i don't know what to do now? how do i know for sure it broke? all of a sudden these thoughts were racing through my head. i changed my undies and laid back down thinking there was no "gush" of water, so maybe it's nothing. i laid there for an hour until it was time for chris to get up. i told him "i think my water broke." him "are you serious? are you sure?" so i get on the iphone googling "water broke" to find some tips as to what to do. it says to change undies (check), lay back down for at least 30 minutes (check), then get up again. I hadn't done that part. So, I go to slowly sit up and I felt a small gush and knew, it was time my friends.

I called the doctor's number just to notify them that I would be at the hospital. Chris begins to get dressed as usual. I love my husband, but sometimes his gear doesn't go high enough for me. He likes to be fully cleaned (well) and sometimes he can take longer than me to get ready. I was laying down and couldn't sit up due to a steady drip. We decide to take the kids to day care as planned and get to the hospital before we call family. We didn't want to jump to conclusions until we knew for sure what was going on. At one point I had to use the restroom again and it was a bad mistake. I just knew at that minute the head would pop out. Scared me to death. I laid back down and stayed there until it was time to dress the kids. I helped Chris out with that. I even did pigtails for A. As we were darting out the door, I took a step and the gates fell open. I was in need of beach towels, maybe several. Chris got my seat laid back and beach towels down while I straddled one towel between my legs--good look, I know. We get the kids dropped and then it was rush hour morning traffic at 7:30 on a Thursday. I was having contractions on the way there and just knew I would be dilated more. We drove up to the hospital and I just hopped out while Chris parked. I had no choice but to walk in straddling the towel. (I kept picturing my friend Lisa that did something similar to this 4 years ago. LOL)

I get all checked in to find that I am a little more than a 3! What! That was it. Then it runs down like this...got checked in about 8:25. Started pitocin around 10:45, epidural at 11:01, baby girl arrived at 1:02. The most excruciating part is that around 12:05 I was ready to push. They went to call the doctor and she had just gone to lunch!! OMG. I laid there sweating out those lovely contractions while she made her way through traffic or whatever she was doing. It sucked, big time!! Then my sweet little nurse says, "honey we can't get you another shot of the epidural because you won't be able to push. you may feel more than you want, but we can't take the risk of giving you too much." my reply "hmm...I've heard this before, twice actually. thanks." with B i got some local shots which helped, with A I must have had some great coaches on the sidelines helping because it just went quickly. this time, I felt way more and no local shots. Oh, but it was all worth it to see that new little baby girl for the first time. It was so exciting to wait. I cried and cried when I saw her. Now we have Kiersten Joy to add to the fam.

Kiersten Joy 6-4-09 1:02 pm 8 lbs 8 oz. 19.5 inches

If you are wondering--did Christy get to make it? No, she didn't get too. Chris and I were fully prepared for him to do all the video and pictures. Around 11 or so, we called our SIL, Aunt Carrie that works near the hospital. She was going to bring Chris some lunch. I'm not sure what time she got there, but it was after the epidural. We sent Chris out of the room to eat and she sat and talked to me while I was waiting for more contractions. Right at Noon we were mid-sentence when I knew it was time to push. Poor Carrie. The look on her face was priceless as I'm sure mine was too. In the heat of the moment, Chris turns to her and says would you like to video? Thankfully she agreed and was able to help us out. Let's just say that I think June 4th will forever be Carrie's most productive extended lunch hour ever!

Later that afternoon Chris' parents brought B & A to the hospital to meet their new little sister. They were very excited. When I told B it was a sister he said, "see I told you mom!" he had been telling us all along he wanted a sister and it was a girl in my tummy. A was just excited to see a baby. She kept pointing at Kiersten saying "baby in your tummy mommy."

I had my 2 night stay at the hospital and made my way back home Saturday. We are doing well. K is a wonderful baby, for now. My milk came in on day 2 and she's growing like a weed. We took her for a check up Monday and and she was back up to 8.4 lbs and no sign of jaundice. Her next check up will be her 2 week. the kids are loving their baby sister. they want to help me or her or when she cries B will tell me, Mom it's time to feed Kiersten. I know we are truly blessed to have each other and our 3 healthy little monkeys!

i caved

today i went for my lovely 40 week check up. technically today i am 39 weeks and 5 days, Friday the 5th is when I turn 40 weeks. Anyway, i did get another centimeter dilated and finally effaced enough to give it a percent! woo hoo. she called me at a 30%, I'll take it. she asked if i wanted to schedule and i said yes, let's talk. she offered up next week. that took my breath away for a second. there was no way she could do today or tomorrow, so Friday the 5th it is. i will be induced unless something happens before then. let me just say when she "checked" me, she also tried to help a sista out in the dilating department. there's spotting involved. maybe it will get me going before Friday or at least get me another centimeter before Friday. either way, I'll take that too. i did ask that i skip the whole pitocin since it didn't work with either of my other children. i asked if i could jump right to the epidural since that is like magic for me. for those that don't know, i waited around for hours with both pregnancies and was at about a 4 when i got both epidurals. for B--i went from a 4 to 10 plus 3 in 1 hour and he was born 30 minutes later. With A, i was a 4 and to a 10 plus 3 in about 45 minutes and she was born just 7 minutes later--much faster! doctors and nurses usually say that once you get an epidural it takes about a centimeter every hour or so. i will never forget the feelings i had and the look on the nurses face when she came in to check me after one hour with B. there was no time for them to up the epi for the pushing that time. i just had to get locals to help with pain, fun times. my doctor approved for me to have my epi whenever i ask for it on Friday, so looks like this baby will be here in no time!

I'm so glad i took this week off of work. today i was able to get my roots done and a fresh new haircut for the summer. I'm all ready for those delivery room pics. christy will be there doing her photography duties. she's captured the other two for us, so she has to do the last. we're all ready to know what this baby is!!

I'll update once we get home on Sunday or maybe sooner--if there is a laptop around.