The Haircut

"Ouch, mommy," is all I hear when I try to hack through the knots created by hours of sleep and play in my daughter's hair. Will and I kept saying that we would get her hair cut but we never got around to it until this morning's round of brushing. After many tears, we decided to do the deed today and got Mikayla really excited about getting a real haircut. Here's her before picture. The man who cut Mikayla's hair was very unsure about cutting as much as I wanted off (just below her shoulder) and we mutually agreed that cutting about 5 inches instead of 6 or so would be just as pretty. My main concern was the ease of taking care of it from now on. Mikayla was so good and sat so still while he worked his magic and it ended up being a great experience.

Here is the result of about 20 minutes in the haircutter's chair. Isn't she beautiful? Her hair does what mommy's wished mine did. Look at that bounce and layering.

Here I am with my incredible kids. Mikayla has been such a help to me and Tyler has given me TLC when I need someone to hug. I am truly blessed.

The Grass is Always Greener

Why is it that one kid always want what the other kid has? For Christmas, Tyler got the Cars characters of Guido (below) and Luigi and they're 2 of his favorite gifts. It seems that, because they look like so much fun to play with, Mikayla wants in on the action. The past few days have been a patience pusher. Every time one of them starts playing with a toy, the other one wants a "turn" too and they end up fighting over it. Let's just say I'm so glad it's Friday and I have some teamwork on the whole parenting thing. For some reason, Christmas brings out the "me too" side of my kids. I can't help but wonder why, with so many new toys, the ONE toy that is being played with is the most desirable. Hopefully it'll calm down a little in the coming days.In other news, our baby turned 2 weeks today. She's still pretty good (she wakes up only about twice a night) but she gets pretty fussy sometimes at night. It might have been the onions I had the other night for dinner. I keep forgetting the "breastfeeding diet" of no onions and no broccoli. One night of bicycling baby legs reminds me to take it easy on the gassy veggies. She's awake for more hours during the day but loves being held just like my other children. This morning I was so proud of myself. Not only did I hold the baby without a carrier, I made pancakes, served my kids and ate breakfast myself at the same time. Now that's talent!
I also had my first outing with the 3 of them. I could see people looking at me as I entered JoAnn's with my stroller and 3 offspring. I would have looked at me the same way. The stroller couldn't have taken much more weight.

I also have to mention that I still have those pregnancy moments but I think now it's carrying into postpregnancy, unfortunately. I was so proud that I had gotten them all in the stroller that I walked away from the van and forgot my purse inside. Scary.. That's in addition to the horror I felt after I drove all the way home and heard my son singing right behind me and realized that I hadn't even buckled him into his carseat.

Besides all of the mishaps, it was so nice to be able to look at fabric, my favorite thing, and just let the 2 older ones play "the monster is going to get us" in the cubbies that housed the fleece fabric and not be stressed. It wasn't as overwhelming as I thought but then my infant wasn't screaming to high heaven and my older ones were pretty well behaved. Who knows, I might attempt it again soon.

Christmas at the Lee's

It had been almost a week since we brought baby home and we still hadn't bathed her yet so we decided to attempt the infant bath a few days ago. Lynnea didn't like it very much but at least she was clean. On Sunday, Mikayla went over to my friend's, the Eck's, house to spend some girl time with Madeleine. They see each other each time Madeleine comes into town but Christmases are extra special because Madeleine's "Punkin" (grandma) makes tea for the girls and their mommies. This year 2 more girls joined in the fun but I think the mommies and Auntie Jenna enjoyed the tea part more than the girls. One of these years the girls will develop a taste for tea. They had so much fun playing with each other.Our Christmas was pretty busy, as always. We woke up Christmas morning and had our own present time but didn't take many pictures. Around 11:00 we headed out to have breakfast/lunch with Mama and Yeye. Our usual restaurant was really crowded so we went to a second favorite and had lunch of fish, vegetables and some chicken dishes. The waitresses at the restaurant were so sweet and gave Lynnea a red envelope (the tradition to say "congratulations"). We headed home after that and, after naps, drove over to Grammie and Gramp's house for the rest of the night.Cousin Mae-Mae and her family dropped by for a few minutes to give gifts and hold the baby.

Grammie and Gramps house was super fun with all of the cousins there to play with. After dinner they had a special treat of popsicles and it was so cute to see them all there in a circle finishing their dessert.

The whole family. Thanks, Emily for taking the picture! The Nelson's dropped by since Emily's parents live about 3 blocks from my parents so we didn't have to try to set up tripods and break our legs trying to run into the picture in less than 30 seconds.
The Nelsons and us. I should have cropped out my lower half but, hey, I just had a baby. It'll get toned...in a few years. =)Tyler's first time holding Lynnea. He actually asked to hold her and it lasted for about 5 minutes. He keeps saying, "baby so cute" which comes out adorable. I'm glad the kids have taken to her well. She's been sleeping so much until the last few days that she really hasn't been an annoyance to them. Today has been a little different. The crying has started.

The train set that Grammie and Gramps got for Tyler is so cool!! Grammie and I put it together. The boys would be proud of us since there were so many screws to put in. We put them in right! The table was bought at a great price from one of Will's brothers (thanks, John!!) since his son is too old for Thomas stuff now.
Grammie holding her newest addition. Thanks for the help the other day Grammie! I greatly appreciate it. Even though you don't think you did much, just being there for me to talk to means more than you'll ever know! I love you so much!

1 Week of 3

Here she is, our 1 week old! We like to take the kid's pictures by this platypus stuffed animal to show their growth but we kind of slacked with Tyler. Hopefully I keep it up with Lynnea. She's still been sleeping quite a bit which, as you all know, I prayed for with great determination. The kids love her and Mikayla likes to hold her as much as possible. It hasn't been a huge change for us yet but I know the hard part is coming.
A few times this week, Will has taken the kids out for a jog in the stroller around the neighborhood to get them out of the house. It's been kind of cold around here lately so they get all bundled up and visit the stores at a little strip mall close to our house.

Here's daddy and his little girl. I can't wait to see the relationship blossom between all of the kids. I finally feel like my family is complete.

"Compromised"

I have a warning for all of you who read my blog. It has to do with being on the phone and using a drive-through ATM....

On my way home from the Dr's office the other day, I stopped to deposit a check into my checking account while I was on the phone with my sister. I did everything like I usually do and went on my way, so I thought...

Flash to this morning at the portrait studio in JCPenney where I took 1 week photos of Lynnea. When I reached into my wallet to get my debit card, it wasn't where it usually is. I didn't panic right away and searched my purse. Only when I thought about it for a second did I realize the last place I had been with the card-at the ATM. I hurriedly called Will who checked my account online. He said, "yeah, you deposited $40 and then took out $200," to which I said, "$200!!!! no I didn't."

I guess in my distracted state, I had left my card in the ATM when I grabbed my receipt, pulled away from the ATM and the loser behind me decided to bank on the fact that he wouldn't have to take money out of his own account when it was clearly asking him if he wanted to "make another transaction" on my card. Thankfully, the maximum amount you can take out at an ATM is $200 so nothing else was missing but now I have to file a complaint and get a new card. Tears almost fell when I rushed to the bank (especially to have this happen in a financially straining time of year) and I held it in just long enough to get home and cry into Will's shoulder. My hubby is wonderful and said it would be ok.

All this to say ALWAYS remember, when you use a bank ATM, to walk away WITH your card. You'd better believe I'll do that next time. I did tell them that they would probably see the "loser" (I used different words) if they checked their video camera. It would have had to be the guy directly behind me. The one question I have is, why couldn't it have been someone with a conscience?

In A Fog

We've been home from the hospital for 3 days now and I still kind of feel like I'm in a fog as far as life is concerned. I don't think I've quite grasped the concept that I have 3 kids and I'm finished being pregnant. I do still have some of the aches and pains from pregnancy which I'm a little disgusted with (back pain and ligament pain) but all in all, our schedule is going pretty well. I think God knew that I would have many breakdowns if my child didn't sleep so he gave me a baby whose favorite pasttime is sleeping!!!! Can you believe it?!?! I actually have to wake her up to feed her which I didn't think could come from the Lee family. Lynnea is so good and hardly cries at all. Thank you, Lord, for this Christmas blessing!

Our friends, the Murrays, came to see Lynnea and spend some time with us. They brought us a yummy lunch of Chick Fil A and we will be eternally grateful. After you have a baby, especially if you have several other children, the last thing you want to do is prepare food. It was very much appreciated.
We went to my parent's house to attempt to get a good Christmas picture for our late Christmas cards. We were able to get a few shots of just the kids. Even though these smiles are kind of forced, it was one of the cutest ones. I still can't believe I have 3 kids...

The beautiful new addition. I brought her to the doctor today and she has already gained weight. She's a whopping 8 pounds. All of the nurses were amazed that a 5 day old baby had gained weight already. I'm having visions of another big baby. She did shrink a little bit to 19 1/4 inches from 21. The doctor said she's looking great. By the way, isn't this the most adorable hat in the world? Thanks Jenna!!

Big sister Mikayla. She loves her little sister. Her favorite thing to do is hold her and gently stroke her face. I am so blessed.

First Photo

The hospital provides a "first photo" of your baby that you can order if you want to. I just wanted to share it with everyone. She was actually awake to have them taken!

http://www.our365.com/WebNursery/WebNursery/Baby/BabyPage.aspx?birthid=4&babyid=0

You can either enter the birthday (December 14, 2007) or you can go to the city and type in "Whittier" and choose Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital. The second way, you can see all of the babies born within a few days of Lynnea.

Also, for those of you wondering about the pronounciation of her name, it is Lin-NAY-ya. That's as close as I can get. =)

In Honor of Lynette

When I found out I was pregnant at the end of March, it was a mix of excitement and sadness. Excitement for the new life inside me but sadness that I couldn't share it with one of my favorite people, my Aunt Lynette who passed away in February of cancer. When I was told that my due date was only one day away from her birthday in December, it made the pregnancy doubly special. In honor of her, I wanted to name our little girl after her in some way. Will came up with the name Lynnea and I loved it. Now every time I see her face and hear her name I will think of the precious person that I miss dearly. Her first middle name, Noelle, we chose for its meaning of "Christmas." It seemed to be perfect for the season.

Lynnea's second middle name is Chinese, like our other 2. Will's dad named her "Wai-Bo" which means "treasure." She is, indeed, a treasure to us and we can't wait to bring her home and start our new family of five.

Lynnea Noelle Wai-Bo Lee

Visitors

How blessed we are with all of you who have been praying for us, writing emails and loving us through this new chapter in our lives. We are so honored to have you all as friends. I wanted to post some pictures of our visitors to the hospital. Thank you for taking the time to celebrate our new little one with us!

Aly (an awesome friend from MOPS)
Mom with Mikayla (who is very excited to have a new baby sister)

Gramps

Cousin Cheryl and Auntie Cara

Emily (wonderful friend from church)

Will's parents

The Goyers

New Arrival!

It is my honor to introduce our newest family member! Lynnea Lee.

Born: 8:11am

Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz

Height: 21 inches

Mommy and baby are doing great! More details to come...from Mommy.

Feeling Good!

After just about 30 minutes, Riva is finally getting the epidural! She's been having some serious contractions and in just a few moments, she'll be in la-la land. She's now dilated to a 4! The needle is going in!

Labor Pains!

Will: Her contractions started at 1am and by 1:48, we're here in the hospital. Her contractions are between 1-4 minutes apart. She's dilated to a 3 and still no epidural, the anesthesiologist will NOT be available because he's in surgery, just our luck. I'll keep you posted.

Still Waiting...

But not for long! I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and he said I'm 1 centimeter dilated!!! That's big news for a woman whose body refuses to dilate without "help." They've scheduled me for a Friday night induction so we're bringing the kids to my parent's house Friday night and then starting the wait for an empty room. Basically we'll call the hospital at 8:00pm and they will tell us if they have room for me to get settled. Last time we had to wait until midnight but I'm hoping it won't be too late this time. Saturday morning they will start my contractions if they haven't started already and I will have our little girl, hopefully, that afternoon. Pray that all goes well and that this time I can get the epidural. My sister and my hubby will be there encouraging me in my ordeal so that will be nice. The next post should have pictures of our new baby!

I think I'm gonna be sick...

The one thing I told myself to stay away from these last few weeks was the flu-the throw-up, stomachache, gut-wrenching flu. I don't know what God is trying to teach me but just because I wanted to stay away from it doesn't mean it wanted to stay from me. We were on our way to a friend's surprise party at Cheesecake Factory and I heard a watery "splat" coming from the back of the van. When Will and I turned around, we witnessed the full volcanic eruption of our son's entire menu for the day, complete with the sippy cup of orange juice mixed in. For most of you who have experienced the complete "emptying" of your child's stomach, I'm sure you can empathize with the fact that you go completely helpless and can't even think to reach a plastic bag or towel before the inside of your van becomes a toilet. Needless to say, we headed home immediately and prepared for at least a day of nursing Tyler back to health.

My worst fears are that the family will get it but it doesn't look that bad to be honest. Mikayla and I still haven't gotten it and Tyler only threw up twice. Now he's eating everything in the kitchen and the rest of us are still healthy (knock on wood). Will was such the sacrificial dad and stayed home with the kids yesterday while I went to work for an old boss (that is not a comment on her age...love you, kathy!!) because they had a lot of work to do. Occasionally it's nice to get out and do something different for a day or two and getting paid to do it isn't bad either. I also love spending time with her when I can.

Anyway, now we're counting down the days before I get induced and hoping that I don't find myself with the stomach flu as I'm laying on the table ready to push. That wouldn't be a happy combination. Please pray for health!!!

The Verdict

I went to the doctor today to see the "status" of my impending labor and discovered, much to my chagrin, that I am not effaced or dilated in the slightest degree. This brought about a little emotion since I was hoping that my third child would come into this world earlier than my other 2, who had to be induced from me, but it looks like the pattern is continuing. Needless to say, if anyone who is pregnant and starts complaining about "wanting the baby out" at 38 or so weeks, I say, "try carrying it to full term and beyond." To ease my suffering, my wonderful husband bought me a blueberry pie from Polly's which made me feel a little better. I know it's all in God's timing but it sure is hard to wait sometimes, especially in the midst of pain and discomfort.

We can't wait to meet our little girl and covet your prayers when I do go into labor that it will be smooth and complication free. I go in next week on Wednesday to get checked again and then they will schedule me to be induced on Friday night. This means that they will start the induction process at night and then I will be ready to labor on Saturday if all goes according to plans. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Fashion Island with Grammie

A few weeks ago my mom took Mikayla on a Grammie/granddaughter day to Fashion Island. I was finally able to sit down and document the special day. Mikayla loves her Grammie and it was so much fun for her to spend an entire morning with her all by herself with no Tyler. They saw coy fish-they were huge!

And rode the merry-go-round. Mikayla's horse was the prettiest.

Then, for a special treat, Grammie bought Mikayla her first build-a-bear. She chose a cat and named her Princess, of course. She's pretty cute and so soft. Now I can go spend tons of money buying new outfits... I think the cat has cuter outfits than I do.

Thanks Grammie for a wonderful day together!

What's missing?

Unfortunately, our fish met her untimely end today after MOPS. Mikayla wanted to put some shells into the bowl so we went over to the counter and there she was, dead on the bottom of the bowl. So she lasted for at least 2 weeks! We'll probably go get another one, maybe of a different variety, soon.

How Many Pillows Does It Take?

My children LOVE playing in pillows. This morning, as Will was getting ready for church and I was making coffee (I think) the kids were moving every single pillow into Mikayla's room to jump on them from her bed. In this picture, Tyler is in mid-air and Mikayla's already lost in the pile. They could play for hours. Honestly, I was surprised we had that many pillows in the house but it helps when your couches are just pillows on a frame. I must admit, it did look pretty fun. If I wasn't creaking with every footstep I might have joined in the fun. Smiles all around. Guess who cleaned up the mess, though...mommy with Mikayla's attempt at "helping" me.

Sugar High

We've been baking a lot the last few weeks. First, because it keeps the kids busy and, second, because it satisfies a sweet tooth I've been the victim of lately and makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. We baked some delicious sugar cookies and smothered them with whipped cake frosting. Of course, the only part Tyler wanted was the frosting so the wet and soggy sugar cookie was thrown away after the best part was eaten. He then decided to "christen" another cookie with his sloppy finger and I ended up eating it so no one else had to endure the slobber. I love baking with the kids because they get so excited about helping me dump in the ingredients. Mikayla in her new princess christmas hat enjoying the fantastic decorating job she did on her cookie.

Aside from the fact Mikayla looks like a deer in the headlights, this is the best picture I've gotten of the 2 of them in a while. Getting them both to smile in a picture is like getting up without pain in the morning... (ok, I know it's a strange analogy but so true at this moment.)

Cousin Cheryl came over today for some hang out time and to watch the kids while I had my doctor's appointment. Nothing to report from the doctor's appointment except that they moved my due date back to the 10th (they actually had never moved it to the 7th because they don't go by the ultrasound date). I was a little sad at the fact that I felt like I'd moved backwards 3 days and still nothing is happening, contraction-wise, but I have to be ok with the fact that she will eventually come and God's timing is the best timing. I must admit I shed a few tears imagining having to wait 2 more weeks with all of the pain.

Cheryl is a Godsend to me. She graciously watched the kids and then hung out with me AND colored my hair. It was like going to a spa for the day. Thanks Cheryl!!!!! You're awesome. I'm definitely going to miss her when she goes home for Christmas.

I had to show a picture of Mikayla as I found her in the middle of her "naptime" which really doesn't involve any sleep for her usually. She spends about an hour and a half in her room playing by herself and it got really quite after a while. I opened her door to let her come out and found her dressed in all of her princess finery, asleep on the floor. So precious...

Decorating the Tree

Mikayla and I had already decorated the house for the holidays but yesterday we brought out the tree since Mikayla kept asking about it. It's her favorite part and she already has quite a few ornaments in her collection. Here is me, at 38 weeks. You know, when you don't see yourself from the side, you kind of forget how big you are...Believe me, this picture would not be included except I wanted some remembrance of what I looked like for the holidays this year. Mikayla loved the lights and loved finding just the right spot for each ornament. We went through quite a few light strands that had burnt out before we found one that actually worked.

Tyler was decorating until he found a really cool Santa car and then it was fun to just drive around the carpet with it. He was a big help when he was helping.

We're ready for the holidays!!

Resistance is Futile

When craving Auntie Anne's pretzels, their slogan really does say it all..."Resistance is Futile." I had an Entertainment Book coupon and felt like clogging my arteries so we stopped for 2 cinnamon sugar pretzels and gorged on them all the way home from Dim Sum the other day. Wow, they were good but you don't want to watch them being made. After the hot pretzel comes out of the oven, they are literally submerged in a vat of liquid butter and then doused with enough cinnamon sugar to coat a dozen donuts. That's what makes them so good but it's also what keeps you spacing out the indulgence to once every 6 months.

Mikayla enjoyed hers immensely.

We had the priviledge of having Dim Sum twice this last week and I'm all for that! The chili sauce and the soy sauce are things I have to almost intravenously feed myself during this pregnancy. This last time, Tyler finally got the hang of the chopsticks. Here's a shot by shot depiction of his success.

The Squeeze

The Approach

The Bite

Mikayla's favorite dish is the chicken feet. I can't imagine eating one but she seems to like the fatty, fleshy consistency shaped like the very thing it is. Seeing a bunch of severed limbs on a plate isn't what I would reach out and grab. More power to her...

I'll post the decorating of the house next time. We first have to put up the tree.