Auntie Annie & the boy cousins!

Finally the weather and being healthy permitted Annie and the boys to come down to St. Peter to meet little Miss Lauren.  We had been trying since right after she was born but almost a month later they finally were able to come.  Owen seems pretty happy holding a little baby..hint hint Annie. :)  It was great that they were able to just hang out with us for the day.  The girls love seeing their boy cousins and I thoroughly enjoy watching the non-stop energy they both exude.  And their cuteness is beyond words...LOVE LOVE those little boys.

Science Fair & Music Makers

Way back in February while I was giving birth to Lauren, Caitlin and Emily were presenting their Science Fair presentations to the judges.  Literally at the same time.  No lie. :)  From what I've heard the girls did very well in their presenting and they both won a trip to the Regional Science Fair that will be held in Mankato this next weekend.  It was Emily's first year, Caitlin's 4th and last year.  Though there were times during the research and actually doing the project that didn't seem so fun, the work that they did, did actually pay off.  It was nice to see Emily try something and surprise herself and show herself that she is a good student and that she can do something when she puts her mind to it.  Sometimes she needs a little nudging. :)

Emily's Project

Caitlin's Project

In March, the John Ireland Children's Choir and School Band performed a couple songs for their classmates, teachers and families.  The kids do an awesome job and sing so beautifully.  They practice twice a week for choir and once a week for band.

Lauren's new man

This is Lauren and her new man, Michael, who was born 8 days after her.  He weighed one ounce less and was 1/4" longer than Lauren.  In the picture it looks like she's way bigger but really she isn't.  They're going to be great friends and Michael's dad is already making arrangements for a future wedding. :)

Easter 2013

After I hard boiled 2 dozen eggs, the girls were off and running, dying them all by themselves while Brian and I painted.  They did awesome and had a great time.  Even with 24 eggs they still managed to have a fight as to who had dyed the most eggs.  ugh....sisterly love. :)

We decided to go to Easter Vigil this year, hoping the late night wouldn't affect the girls and surprisingly they did fantastic.  Mass was around 2 hours long and we didn't hear any complaining.  However I was out nursing Lauren for a good part of that time. :)  The girls looked so pretty in their coordinating outfits too!  That's the fun of having girls to dress!  Brian & I didn't look too shabby either!  Next up, Easter Egg hunts galore!!!!!

The first egg hunt took place at our house.  Since it was freezing cold on Easter morning, with snow on the ground in places, the Easter bunny was kind enough to hide the baskets and eggs around the house for the girls.  He left us with clues for the girls in case they couldn't find their baskets.  The girls could choose to use the clues if they wanted.  And the bunny sure did hide the baskets in unusual places.  So it wasn't as easy as they thought it might be!  There isn't a picture of Rachel close up because she didn't have pj pants on!  Once the hunt was  over and a few pieces of candy eaten, it was off to Gpa & Gma Moores house.

At the Moore side, Bobby, Laura and the girls were there along with Great Gma Schueller.  Mom made a fabulous dinner and Mya and Ally made and decorated cupcakes for Gpa Tom's birthday, which was on Easter Sunday.  We missed Annie Matt & the boys though.  After dinner, the kids went outside to find over 140 eggs that Bobby, Brian and Dad had hid.  The "Golden" egg was also hidden.  Who ever found this egg this year got $12.  Random number, I know.  I believe that is what mom had in her wallet. :)  The kids had a great time and got lots of fun candy and treats, some healthy.  Caitlin got two empty eggs :)  I think Bobby had gotten to them first!  Even though it was freezing cold out, they didn't come inside until they found all the eggs.  The winner of the Golden Egg this year was Emily.  She was generous enough to give $1 to all the kids and kept $7 to herself.  She was pretty excited to have found it before Caitlin did!

And for dessert a special bday cake for Dad and all his pretty little granddaughters.  He sure is lucky!!

Next stop of the day, Gpa & Gma Salfers house.  They must have been getting impatient for us to get there because we got a phone call on our way over to Wabasso.  The other kids/cousins were anxiously waiting for the crazy Egg hunt at the Salfer's.  Usually eggs are hidden up in the trees, on the roof of the house, etc.  This year, again since it was cold out, the crew didn't get too creative in hiding the eggs.  Everyone found their eggs in record time and headed back inside to warm up.  The kids were in candy heaven and ate way too much during the day.  So did us adults!  We had a very FUN day with grandparents, aunts, crazy uncles and wild cousins.  We rolled back into St. Peter around 11:30pm.  What a day!

Exhausted

These are the family members who have done the most with Lauren :) Just kidding girls!

We need to get our beauty sleep too!

Visitors

And some of the people to welcome her into this world.....

Grandpa Kenny & Grandma Gladys (grandchild #21)

Grandma Elaine

Grandpa Tom

Katie & Abby Frey

Luke, Ella & Levi Gilbertson

Gina

Miss Gabby

Updates!

ok Annie...I'm finally getting to my blog so that you can be updated.  You and 2 others may be the only ones who check this on a regular basis! :)

Left off Feb 13th.  I was pregnant.  Today, Mar 13th.  I am not. :)

My due date 2/27/13

Miss Lauren Mary graced us with her presence on February 28th at 3:51pm.  7lbs 3oz 19-3/4"

Here's her story:  After a couple days of ups and downs-will I be induced? will I go on my own?  The girls disappointed faces every morning that they still saw me at home, expecting me to be gone in the morning having the baby they so eagerly wanted to meet.  We finally got the go ahead on that Thursday morning.  I was scheduled to go at 6:30am but was called off and that someone would call me with a plan later in the morning.  I wasn't expecting a call back at 7:20 but was excited that they did and wanted me to come in. :)  So Brian and I got the kids ready for school and was out the door at 7:40.  I got to the hospital around 8:20 and in my room around 8:30.  They didn't start the Potosin until around 9:40 or so.   My doctor came around 10:30? and broke my water and checked in with how I was doing.  Contractions were pretty minor at that time but were coming every 3-4 minutes.  I was enjoying this time.  But by 1pm the contractions were harder and I was getting more uncomfortable.  Back up just a bit..The nurses said I had great veins but failed 2 times to get my IV in.  (the first of many pokes)  So at 1pm I had the nurse order me the epidural.  She started me on saline.  Contractions were getting harder and I actually had to start doing the in-2-3 out 2-3 breathing.  Finally the anesthesiologist came and failed 2 times to get it in.  At this point I was pretty uncomfortable and was freezing/shaking.  My nurse and Brian were awesome though!  So that was probably around 2:30-2:45.  The epidural ended up only working on my left leg. :(  I was feeling the contractions and pelvic pressure and praying that the medicine would find my right side and area down below. No such luck.  By 3pm, my nurse called my doctor (he was at a conference) and informed him I was having a lot of pressure and felt like I wanted to push.  The only thing that silly epidural did was get me to point of pushing in a short amount of time.  Dr. Campbell arrived & checked me.  Dilated to 8-9 but fully effaced.  He had me push thru some contractions-not the kind to get the baby out but get her further down.  He and a nurse noticed that she wasn't coming down very good and figured that she was hung up on something.  Like the cord was either around her arm or leg.  Finally it came to the real pushing.  I think I pushed thru 3 contractions and on the last one my doctor told me to listen to him very carefully and stop pushing when he told me.  I'm wondering why at this point....I want her out!  Well, I didn't know about the cord thing at the time.  So got her head out (and felt everything) he had me stop and monkied around down there for a bit then had me push again, this time she came out and had the cord wrapped around her leg and arm and it had started to tie in a knot.  No wonder this felt more painful that the others!  Thankfully, she was good, had great color, beautiful dark hair, just perfect.  I was so thankful to be done.  I honestly didn't know if I could go thru with it & was hoping that it wouldn't end in a emergency c-section.  I was overwhelmed at this point & so overjoyed.  The thought that I had just had my 5th child didn't bother me anymore.  The jokes, the comments, the teasing about having so many kids didn't matter.  I felt so blessed to be chosen to be the mom of 5 healthy, beautiful daughters.  And to have a husband who felt the same as me is priceless.