4 weeks and counting...

Lucas found a thumb! What a cutie pie.What a proud daddy!

The following 2 pics are of a typical Sunday afternoon at the Turner house...anyone seen Gabriella???


Here's big brother Austin, ready to teach Lucas everything he would want to know about Star Wars and light sabers.

This is a typical look from our fireball, Gabriella.
Hey! Is that mommy in the pic? Yes, I believe it is!! That's me!! The one who gave birth to all this little Turner kids!
And the girls getting a turn to hold Lucas.
Time for another catnap...

There's a quick picture recap of what's been going on here! More words later...Lucas is screaming for milk and it's time for 24 - go Jack!!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Operation On-My-Own

This is my first week of officially being back on my own after our little family addition. I had to have help around for the first two weeks because of the c-section, but now it's just me and my four little helpers. Yesterday was a bit rough, Gabriella seems to have a gag reflex issue. She give the slightest cough and yak up everything in her tummy and yesterday seemed to be a coughing day. Then Lucas decided that he would like to become a spitter...just like my other three. Austin and Gabriella were my projectile spitters which Lucas seems to be starting - lovely. Oh well, things could be worse I suppose. What's another load of laundry at this point? Lucas is still doing awesome at night and seems to have started a trend of doing 4 to 4.5 hours of sleep for the first stretch. Yay! He has been going to bed around 9 after he eats and getting up to eat at 1am. Not bad for a 3 week old, huh? He's so advanced (ha ha). My first outing with all 4 was this morning. We went back to Bible study which we did during the fall (every Tuesday). I had all 4 kids dressed, fed and happy by 8am! Wow! I was feeling like super mom again. We even made it from the car to the building without losing anyone in the parking lot - you laugh, but that's quite a feat right now!
That's it for now - Time for some snuggle time with Lucas.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

My little Man.

Here's my little man Lucas. I think this pic is super small, but isn't he cute? I finally dressed him in "little man" clothes and not pj's. It's been so cold here since he was born that I have only dressed him in pj's. Yesterday I decided he needed to put on some real pants and a shirt. He was so cute! Today was my last day of outside-all-day help. Ed and Norma headed back to the farm this afternoon so now I am officially on my own. Thank goodness it's the weekend! They were such a huge help with the kids and the house this week - what a true blessing they are. And the kids had a blast getting lots of attention all week.On to other happenings...24 started! Yes, Jack is back. Finally. We are huge 24 fans over here, we never miss an episode. He's the best thing since MacGyver.
It snowed about 3 inches here today (yipee), but it's so dry and freezing here that it's not a very fun snow. It's suppose to be in the 40s tomorrow, so it should be gone as quick as it got here.
That's all I got for now - sooo glad it's Friday and excited for another new episode of Numbers tonight.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Is that a zipper on my pants??

Yes, today I have officially worn pants with a zipper again! For those of you who haven't been prego before, this is a big deal. I am not wearing stretchy pants today! I have graduated to wearing the post-prego pants, meaning, a size that I will never admit to anyone, but still, they are real jeans. As excited as I am about this, there has been one drawback...every time I go to the bathroom I try to just pull the pants right down because I am still not use to actually having a zipper! Oh, the trials I face each day. What more could I possibly have to post about today???
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

We both checked out

Lucas and I both had dr. appointments on Monday and we both left with clean bills of health! Lucas was already back up to his birth weight, a whopping 8 pounds and 14 ounces (holy cow!) and healthy as can be. I also had my appointment to check the incision and what not and everything looked great. We are well on our way back to normalcy here at the Turner house - oh wait, our house wasn't normal to begin with. At my doctor appointment the doctor talked to us about the c-section a bit. He said everything looked good and went very smoothly. The only prob he talked about was when he pulled Lucas out there was a "true knot" in the cord. Luckily, the knot was not pulled tight enough to cause any complications, but given enough time it could have. Sure makes me realize how blessed we are to have such a beautiful healthy baby. And let me tell you what a dream he is. He sleeps and eats like a dream. Goes to bed around 8 and gets up every 4 hours to eat and then gets swaddled up and goes right back to bed. Can't complain about that. The only complaint I have is that he poops ALL the time. Do newborns really poop that much? Did I really forget that part?? I actually asked the doctor if he was pooping too much, of which of course she laughed at. But seriously, he is notorious for pooping, getting a new diaper and before I can even pick him back up he will poop again. grrrrr. He also peed all over me today while doing a diaper change - that little peeper can shoot quite far. As for the adjustment, it has gone well. But, mom has been here everyday this week to help out. She gets here at 6am and doesn't leave until the kids are headed to bed at night. The kids must know she is here because they have been getting up way earlier than usual and racing downstairs to see if she's here. She has been a lifesaver as usual. I'm not sure how we would all survive without her!! So, the true test will be next week when I'm on my own. That could be when the mental breakdown happens - time will tell! All the kids are starting to break down as I speak so I better tend to them. Until next time...
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Bunch of pics

Here's an array of random pics I have. We don't seem to have much on my camera, but my mom has over 100 on hers and she has some great ones. Hopefully I can get those downloaded on here soon. Here's the three kids holding Baby Lucas for the first time - they were so cute! They may look young to you, but they look like teenagers to me now that we have another baby. Austin is so proud of his little brother. He is going to have a hard time waiting for him to grow up.

And here's the proud Aunt Kim and Uncle Nick!

Gabriella absolutely loves to hold Baby Lucas. She would hold him all day if I let her. She sits up so big and holds her arms out - so cute.

And of course Papa Turner checking out the latest Grandkid.

And Grandma Turner looking happy as can be -

I am pretty sure this one was taken right after the baby was pulled out. You can't tell but I have a serious case of the shakes - ick, I hate that part - more on that later.

And this is Shawn and I in the recovery room. I had a pretty hard time after the surgery, but was so happy to have it over with and have a healthy baby.

So here's a little re-cap of c-section #4. I was pretty nervous going into it as I know what to expect. I think the first one was the easiest because I didn't really know what was going on. Anyway, the spinal went in good the first time which is always nerve racking. Crazy how fast that stuff numbs you up. I had a bad case of the shakes which is from the anesthesia, my neck and back were super sore the next day from being so tense and trying not to shake. I got pretty nauseous during surgery which is an awful feeling. The worst part though was that I kept thinking I was going to sneeze. Talk about being scared! I am having my stomach cut open and I have to sneeze? Can you pick a worse time?? I asked my doctor what to do and he said as long as I could warn him we'd be ok. Well, I managed to keep the sneeze in thank goodness. It only took about 10 or 15 minutes before Dr. Moulton said to get the cameras ready. Shawn popped his head over and proudly announced - "It's a boy!!" You probably know what came next, lots of tears and relief of hearing the first cry and seeing our baby boy. We were so excited to finally reveal the name, Lucas Eugene. We decided on the name quite a while ago. We both really liked Lucas (not because of star wars) and Eugene is after both my dad and my brother. It is their middle name. I think it is perfect! Once surgery was over we had a pretty rough day of recovery. I was extremely nauseous all day and couldn't function real well. I didn't even really get to hold Lucas until Monday night when the nauseousness finally started to wear off. Once I could sit up I got to check him out - he was adorable and huge! 8 pounds and 14 ounces is way bigger than my other babies. No wonder I could hardly walk the last month! He is absolutely perfect. He has just started to open his eyes and look around. He has been one tired baby. I'm sure that will change soon - probably Monday when daddy heads back to work. It will be an interesting week trying to get back on my feet and figure things out. Everyday is a big step forward right now. Shawn has done an amazing job at home these last two days - he's cooked, cleaned, taken care of all the kids, made sure I have all my meds and don't lift a finger. He's even done several loads of laundry, taken all the kids to run errands, gone to the grocery store. He's a true super-dad! And now that I know he can do all those things....ha ha ha

It's about time to feed big Lucas again - until I find some time to blog...

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST