My Life

Spring Break here in Lexington. We were supposed to be in South Carolina this week with the Hamilton's, but my pregnancy issues quickly nixed our well thought out adventure. We started planning back in July 2008 and worked it out so that Rich and Todd both had the same week off during the boys' spring break. Todd had to move a conference department meeting to a different week and Kristi stood her ground when Todd's brother was planning his wedding and it was going to interfere.

It was just destined to be perfect, since so much had gone into making it just right, but that wasn't the case for us, but I'd trade the trip for a healthy baby and I know they completely understand.

Kristi found an adorable beach house that was right on the water near Charleston at a great price (Kristi is the QUEEN of bargaining....) and we were going to drive there with them yesterday and arrive today. While I didn't mind not having to endure a 8 1/2 hour (10 for them) drive with the kids while pregnant, when I called her today and they were on the beach gathering sea shells, I do admit that I was a bit saddened we weren't there to share it with them. They also are going to stop at the Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina on the way home and take a tour. I have wanted to do that for as long as we've lived in Kentucky, so I can't say I wasn't a bit jealous. Hopefully they'll have such an amazing time they want to repeat it next spring and do round two with us. One can hope.

Instead of listening to the soothing sound of the waves crashing on the ocean, I do get to enjoy an entire week with my husband home. That is a rare treat. We have a small to do list with Rich doing the majority of work (reseed the front lawn and hill and mow the back lawn) but for the most part it will be spent making memories with the kids. Today Rich took all the kids to do Laser Tag. The place was closing, so they'll have to go back tomorrow, but they ate dinner at Dairy Queen, which was a fine feast to them. We also will take them to see Monsters Vs Aliens, practice baseball with Josh, have Trey's piano lesson, go to Keeneland tomorrow for breakfast and watch the horses work out (races begin on Friday), watch Trey's soccer game on Saturday and sleep in whenever possible. It will be a wonderful week that will pass far too quickly.

The biggest event of the day was Rich mailing his application for a neuroradiology fellowship in Cincinnati. After slaving over his personal statement and CV for weeks, his information is offically in. We still have one more year of residency here at UK, but the match is early and it felt great to get it submitted. We still have the option to stay at UK and do a year fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology, so we'll have to see what Cincinnati says. I feel like Rich has been in training forever (and I know people have told my mom the same thing!), but someday it will finally come to an end. We have been married for 12 years and in school for 11. I can't imagine it any other way, but will embrace it and love it when it finally comes to a close! Two more to go!

Pregnancy things are going well. I had an ultrasound last Wednesday which was the girls birthday. I was praying for good news and knew that would be the perfect way to start their party day. After a weekend of intense bleeding old hematoma blood, I was sure things would look better. The clot's size had decreased by half. Two weeks earlier it measured 10 cm by 3 cm. This time is was down to 5.5 cm by 2.5 cm. The perinatologist was pleased with the change, but still concerned about possible preterm labor issues or premature rupture of my membranes (amniotic sac), but these things have been a worry since the beginning. Now we just have to wait and see if more clot will pass or the body will absorb the blood. I have another ultrasound a week from Wednesday. It think things should go well and I'm very optimistic. I had them double check our baby was still a boy (he is) and they did the 20 week fetal anatomy scan. He looked perfect, which is such a relief. Rich was able to read out with his attending and meet us in the parking garage and push the girls in to the appointment. We all had a good laugh when I told Brynn to look at the baby on the screen and she said, "It so pretty!" and it was a picture of the baby's forearm. She certainly is a radiologist's daughter.

As for my activity level, I am slowly doing more. While pushing strollers or grocery carts is out of the question as is lifting the girls or vacuuming, I can get around and do most things around the house with the help of the boys. Trey is 9 1/2 and Josh and Matt are almost 8, so they really have stepped up and starting doing jobs that I assign to them. On Saturday they mopped the kitchen floor, vacuumed the carpet and helped put away laundry. I cleaned two bathrooms and did more laundry and made dinner. Rich helps out with cooking, cleaning and getting the girls to bed whenever he is home. It really has worked out well and been a great teaching opportunity for the boys. Being responsible is something they just have to learn and this has been the perfect time for some serious practice.

I do have some funny stories regarding going out the the boys. I do not go anywhere alone with the girls anymore. Nope. Brynn likes to run and thinks life is a big game, and the fact I can't pick her up or chase her pretty much means we are confined to our backyard or house. Fine by me, since we can get out when Rich is around. I can go out with the boys while the girls and Rich were asleep last week since Rich was on night call, but again I am limited to what I can do.

Last Monday I took Matt with me to go to the mall to grab a few things at the Disney Store for the girls and then had him drop off a package at the UPS store that was too heavy for me to lift. Matt hauled around our sack of princess attire with out complaint and enjoyed some 'special' (alone) time with mom. Then we went to UPS. The box was huge and quite heavy. It was full of new maternity clothes I needed to mail back to the Gap. I did not desire to walk around a mall by myself with limited time/stamina hunting for maternity clothes (I gave every thing I had away after the girls were born!) so I just bought it all online when they had a 30% off sale a few weeks ago. Knowing that I had about a 1 in 5 chance something might fit, I bought a lot and sent 3/4 of it back. Poor Matt was the one who had to drop this massive box off. He couldn't get his arms around the square box and had to keep stopping and adjusting it so it wouldn't hit the ground. When we finally reached the door he couldn't feel his arms anymore. What a saint. As I held the door open for him the man and woman in the store were smiling at us. The woman said, "Wow, what a big helper you have!" She looked at Matt and said, "You have some seriously big muscles!" (I am sure they watched us through the large windows making our way in.) Then the older fella in the back chuckled and said, "People wonder what we did before we had TV remotes. We had children!" He was obviously referring to my resistance to lift a finger while Matt could barely manage the box. I seriously wished I had a sign on my chest that read- Pregnancy problems: cannot lift- but we just laughed and smiled and quickly left the store. Yup, I had better watch out of social services will be knocking on my door inquiring about my child abuse.

I also went to the grocery store with Josh. He is by far my biggest, strongest helper and never complains. We were desperate for food. Rich was asleep and I knew we'd starve to death if we didn't make a quick grocery run. In fact, that morning we discovered we were out of milk, eggs, chicken, beef, bread, bananas, pop (staple for me) and cereal. We ate frozen burritos and water for lunch and Rich used milk from the girls sippy cups in his oatmeal. That act alone showed how desperate he was. Anyway, we went to the store and Josh pushed the cart and gathered things as I stood by and pointed them out. He lugged milk and oranges and juice and pop and Gatorade and meat and soon we had a cart filled to the brim. He pushed the cart to the check out and began unloading it onto the belt. I put a few small, light things up, but mainly stood with credit card in hand while Josh emptied then refilled the cart. It was so obvious I wasn't helping and I could only imagine what the checker was thinking, but really who cares. Josh was very sweet and willing to help and it is only their opinion that truly matters. It's all for the best cause and thankfully won't last forever. Thank heavens for kids that can help out when I physically can't.

One last thing. I know I already wrote a lengthy post on UK's former basketball coach Billy Gillispie, but the hysteria has reached an all time high here as details are beginning to emerge that Memphis's head coach John Calipari is set to accept the basketball vacancy as early as today. He would be a PERFECT match. He loves to be idolized and worshiped and the UK fans are ready and willing to do just that. A 5 million dollar a year deal doesn't hurt either. Tonight on PTI Tony Kornheiser said Calipari could make UK a final 4 contender in as little as two years. That to UK fans is like a song sung by angels in heaven. The ESPN analyst compared it to Christmas Eve for UK fans. "It's like you've seen the presents in the closet and know what you are getting, but you can't wait to open them." A local radio hosts thoughts were played on SportsCenter. "Louisville loses and we get Calipari. Things only could have been better if North Carolina would have lost." The SportsCenter anchor had a good chuckle and said, "Well, that gives you an insight into the mind set there." It wasn't hard to know what he was really thinking- what a bunch of nuts! I think the whole thing is such a circus and I would love to see Rick Pitino share his spotlight with the likes of John Calipari. Drama for sure.

Oh, and just for the record I am 0-4 on my Final 4 picks. Painful. Very painful. And I did so well up to the Sweet 16. There's always next year.

Hope wherever you are the sun is shining and you are having a wonderful day, just like we are here in Lexington.

Birthday Fun

I have always been a firm believer that you should make a big deal about your child's birthday. It is the one day in the year that is their own personal special day, when you shower them with extra praise, love and presents. Who doesn't love that, right? Since we only get three special days for our five kiddos, you've got to make the most of them. And now that we know this new little one in my belly is a boy, I will only get one day, once a year that can be totally pink. And I'm going to live it up as long as I can.HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNN AND KAITLYN!They requested balloons and party hatsThe pile of goodies and presents. Rich was working nights, so I knew I had better leave a few things unwrapped in an attempt to delay the gift opening until Daddy arrived.They knew exactly which gifts were theirs."Oriole" and Tink for Brynn. Tinkerbell was going on top of her cake.Snow White and a purple horsey for Kaitlyn. The My Little Pony would be on the top of her cake. (I am all about easy cakes....)The princess party hat were just what they wanted. I had gone to Walmart the day before and got the supplies while Rich and the girls slept. They were thrilled by what I had picked out.After a trip to the hospital for my now routine two week ultrasound, we did drive thru McDonald's to celebrate. Happy Meal= Happy Girls!I had hoped we could save the present opening until the boys returned home from school, but that certainly wasn't what Brynn had in mind. She began sneaking off with presents and trying to open them upstairs. She was so eager I had a hard time finding the video camera and cord and get it up and running before she had tiny tears in nearly every package. It's just so fun, who wants to wait!

Kaitlyn with her new purple princess nightgownKaitlyn LOVES Fisher Price Little People. Thanks to Kristi for giving us this set when she was cleaning out her house for her move.Princess ArielNew books from Grandpa and Grandma NanceShooting poppers in the backyardPrincesses in the rainWalking in her daddy's shoesKaitlyn giving our Easter Bunny some lovesMy helpers got the cakes before I did.....You can never have too much frostingPapa Johns for dinner!Josh made these cards for the girls during his free time at school. New princess shoes Decorating timeHappy Birthday to "Brynnie and Kay-en" they sing."Purple horsey cake"
"Tink cake with frostene" Best FriendsHappy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!Lovin' the dolls Grandma Blackhair sent(I think Brynn changed her clothes about 5 times that day. All the different outfits in the photos make me laugh. She is seriously quite the stylish little lady.... at least she thinks so)What a birthday! Thanks to all who made the girls feel so special and loved.

My Birthday Girls

March 25, 2009- My little girls turned three. How fast they have grown. I love seeing their personalities emerge. I marvel at their friendship and laugh at their quirky ways. I cherish their sweet loves, hugs and kisses and appreciate their differences. They are my ever present buddies. I look forward to a lifetime of making memories with my sweet baby girls. BRYNN: Older than Kaitlyn by 9 minutes. 5 lb 6 oz- my smallest baby by far. A better sleeper than her sister at first, but nowadays seems to find her way into our bed on occasion.

Nickname: Brynnie Brynn, Mini Brynnie

Favorite sayings: " I don't want to EVER!" "I love my Mommy." "I do it myself!" "Watch me!" "I a monkey." "I NOT!" "Ah, I tink (think) so."

Favorite foods: Pickles and mustard, "Mac" (Big Mac), tomatoes, sour cream, salad, french fries, ice cream, toast ("no crunchy" (crust)), nuggies (nuggets), strawberries, pears, bananas, popsies (popsicles), chocomilk (chocolate milk) and Fresca

Favorite colors: yellow and pink

Loves to: Twirl, climb, do "flips" (somersaults), play mommy with her babies by rocking them and tucking them in bed, change her clothes over and over and over, wear her Ariel dress and shoes, put on makeup, cut paper with scissors, pet dogs and cats, suck her thumb, drag around her yellow blanket, read the animal book, watch Giselle, Dora or Little Mermaid, our future possible TV junkie

Favorite Disney Princesses: Ariel and Tinkerbell

Personality: Hyper, independent, strong willed, yet silly and sweet

Dislikes: Going to bed, lightning, fireworks, doing her hair, wearing wet clothing

Wish list: To wear swimsuits around the house 24/7 and go swim in our neighborhood pool daily

Funny stories: Rich has been working nights this past week, so I was flying solo trying to get all the kids to bed. After I got the girls in their jammies I handed Brynn the dirty clothes pile and instructed her to put them in the dirty basket. Ten seconds later she returned with the laundry measuring cup 1/8 full of Tide. I told her to put it away, I wasn't going to start the laundry yet. A few minutes later I realized I could hear the laundry washing. I went in to discover Brynn had added the soap, closed the door (front loading washer and dryer) and had properly pushed two buttons to get it working. I was surprised, but not shocked by Brynn's handiwork. I stopped the load, put in the rest of the clothes and started it again.

I then went downstairs to deal with the kitchen. Brynn climbed out of bed and appeared next to me just while I was cleaning up the table. I was in by the computer gathering items when I heard the sound of the 1/2 full dishwasher going. Brynn had been my helper girl once again, even though I wasn't quite ready for her valiant efforts.

The next night as I was getting them to bed, I realized Brynn had not finished her hamburger and told her to go and get it off the kitchen table where it was in a baggie. A minute later she returned with a piping hot burger. And I knew it wasn't hot when I left it. She worked her magic with the microwave and nuked it all by herself while in the plastic. Yummy.

Kaitlyn: Youngest in the family (until August). 6 lb 8 oz. Hardest of my babies to push out because she was over a pound heavier than Brynn. I pushed more with her than I did the other four combined (and that only lasted for nine solid minutes....). She started out a bit more fussy than Brynn and my mom and I joked that the little onesie that said "It's all about ME" was made for her. Over the years she has shown her true colors- sweet, soft, gentle and much more relaxed than her feistier sister.

Favorite sayings: "Yeah!" "I love my daddy." "Want to play my toys? It Fun!" "Scary doggie/kitty."

Favorite Foods: Chicken nuggets, french fries, milk, hot dogs, ketchup, strawberries, frozen or cooked peas, grapes, cheese, chips, vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup

Favorite color: Purple

Loves to: Spend time with her daddy, play with her toys, push her dolls in their stroller, dress her Barbies, go to class (nursery) with daddy, suck her thumb, cuddle her blanket, picnic in the backyard, throw a ball (she has a seriously good arm!), read the animal book, look at catalogs (esp American Girl Dolls), and I love that she will wear whatever I pick out and leave her hair in all day long. What an angel!

Favorite Disney Princess: Snow White

Personality: Sweet, obedient, funny, shy around new people, but can stand her ground when Brynn pushes her buttons

Dislikes: Touching or being near animals, spicy food, going to the dentist, Brynn teasing her, clipping her toe nails

Wish list: Buying a toy shopping cart just for her and that our neighbor's cat Monroe will stay out of our backyard when she is out playing.

Funny stories: I told her to go up to her room and pick out a shirt the other day. She looked at me point blank and said, "I can't. I no climb." (Referring to Brynn's crazy scary scaling of the closet shelves every day. We lock the door now....)

She is the most expressive child. Just her facial expressions make me laugh. She raises and lowers her eyebrows, puts on a cute smirk and shrugs both shoulders. She's a hoot.

She doesn't use the pronoun 'she'. Everything is 'hers'. "Hers daddy (husband) went working."

She LOVES her daddy. "My daddy" she calls him.

She is perfectly honest. Who spilled the milk? "ME!" she exclaims. Who cut the paper into a million bits? "ME!" Who ate the cookies on the carpet?"ME!"


I could go on and on.... Love you sweet girls. You have blessed our lives for three wonderful years. We can't wait to see what adventures and fun we will have in the years ahead.

Christmas in Kentucky

Christmas Eve: December 23, 2008Santa was one smart fella this year. He got our email we sent to him and made good on his promise to bring Christmas a day early to Kentucky and then leave a few presents for the kids to open in Utah on Christmas morning. He spoiled us and then some! This was the first time ever we had part of Christmas in Kentucky. We have always flown to Utah for Christmas and had him deliver our gifts there. Rich had to work on December 24th so we had to change our plans a bit. And no one seemed to mind.I finally had a reason to buy Christmas stockings for everyone and they boys were so excited to see what he would fill them with.Brynn helped put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.Santa's sleigh seemed to have tipped over in our living room and left a pile of presents!The boys were up early. Very early. 5 AM. Did I mention we had to fly to Utah that night and land at 12 PM MST? That is 2 AM EST. Yes, we were VERY tired when we finally got there.A little breakfast to kill time until Rich agreed to come down.The boys woke up the girls (I wasn't pleased by this....) and they quickly began opening their gifts.New princess shoes. (She was SO excited that she had to take of all her clothes to try them on.)Brynn rushed upstairs and got dressed all by herself. She is modeling her new shoes and holding her new Webkinz dog and Tinkerbell Build-A-Bear.Kaitlyn loved her new Sleeping Beauty doll set, complete with "hers daddy." (aka: Prince Phillip)It was hard to get the kids to wait to open their presents. They just wanted to rush right into, and Rich was still asleep upstairs. We started with a few small gifts first that were found in their stockings.

Once Dad was awake, it was a mad house of wrapping paper and boxes.

Josh and Matt check out their new DS game.

Kaitlyn was thrilled with her Snow White barbie and Dora doll.

We had to watch Brynn. She would open ANY present that was near her, even if it didn't have a big "B" on it.

Her new Belle doll set

Matt with his new Star Wars sets and Josh and Trey with their new Nintendo DS.

Josh loves clothes and immediately tried on this new Nike sweatshirt Santa left him.Rich was the expert at getting the toys out of the boxes. He had to put in a full day of work before we flew out ot Utah that night. No break, even on our early Christmas morning on the 24th.

And the girls loved this new doll port-a-crib. The only bad part was that Santa only left ONE to share. Bad idea. After Rich left we got dressed, cleaned up the house and ran to Wal-mart and got another doll bed and trade's Josh' bat for a shorter one at Dick's. It was awesome to do our returns while the rest of the frantic shoppers were still buying their gifts. Huge perk for celebrating a tiny bit early!