I am SOOOO mom of the day.

NO question, hands down, I win the award today! I took 3 kids (secretly) to the doctor this morning for flu shots. Austin started figuring it out on the way, but I did my best to distract him on the drive there by talking about random things we saw outside - this is very entertaining to him since he'll talk about anything. Anyway, I was very nervous to take them all, mostly for Austin since he is my most sensitive one - I knew he was going to flip out. So, my plan was just to try and blindsight him - which is exactly what I did. When the nurse brought everything in his eyes got real big and watery and I felt horrible! But he came and jumped on my lap and as I bear hugged him the shot was in and out in a millisecond - awesome nurse! He freaked out, but not like I thought he would. He was very brave and got to have a candy bar at 8 o'clock in the morning. Gabriella was next - my toughest of the three. She got her shot, gave the nurse a horrible dirty look, pulled up her pants and walked off. No tears, no screaming, nothing - although, if looks could kill... Ashlyn was third and she screamed the loudest, but I shoved a kit-kat in her mouth and that seemed to do the trick. Nothing like a little sugar to help a mom out. I went last, don't worry no tears on my end either. I may have shot the nurse a dirty look too though, as I don't appreciate shots any more than the next guy. Don't you think I deserve some sort of award too?? Not a bad day.
Yesterday proved to be a good day too - had another dr. appointment and it went GREAT! YIPEE! A happy, good appointment - I needed one of those! Baby is looking good and big and now it's just a sit and wait game I suppose. We are over 30 weeks now - wow! I did have one question for the doc though - "what if I go into labor?" Now, you might be thinking...ummmmm..isn't this your FOURTH kid? Well, I have 3 c-sections, never had a contraction or anything so I really don't know what to do if it happens. We got that all figured out so I guess I am good to go. The plan is of course not to go into labor, but I thought I better be prepared with this one since it seems to like giving me gray hairs already. The best part of the day was that my mom insisted that we must go out to dinner and celebrate having a happy appointment so Shawn and I got to go on a date last night! Gotta love my mom - she's been pretty amazing throughout this pregnancy. Have I told you she gets me a present to open at each dr. appointment? How cool is that? And now that we are down to appointments every other week it really rocks! I may have to secretly ask my doctor if we can have weekly appointments for awhile!
That's about all I know for now - we are having movie night here as Charlie Browns Halloween is on and the kids think that little yellow bird on there is hilarious.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

some much needed pics

I am finally going to fill you in on some much needed pics! Yeah! Before you start scrolling...I forgot to update you all on the 3 hour glucose test - I passed!! 15 hours with no food was NOT fun I would NOT recommend it, but I survived. The three hours actually went faster than I expected. I did get pretty nauseous and faint, but not until I actually started to eat again. Once the food had time to sit for a few minutes I felt much better. After getting the numbers back, the doc said I must have eaten something really weird on the day of the first test because my numbers were really low and just fine on the second test - good news! I already have another appt tomorrow - we are on our 2 week appointments already - holy cow! I haven't even pulled out a single "baby thing" yet!! Today marks 30 weeks. This pregnancy has definitely had it's trials....I think it's about time to pick a name out too. Don't worry - we won't be sharing! Ok Ok - on to the pics...

The following is my cute little Austin - what a stud!

Here's me and the hubs going out on a date last week - 29 weeks prego....

Here's me with my girls! Yes, the bald one is a girl....will she ever grow hair?! And is that the cutest little "teacher skirt" Ashlyn has on?!?! Got it for a dollar at a garage sale - I love it!

Here's Gabriella concentrating very hard on coloring her first Halloween cookie. No fun and games for her - serious work to be done - and lots of frosting to eat.



A long time ago I promised some pics of Ashlyn on her birthday (the big 3).

Here's a stroller that she got that needed to be put together. Papa Turner thought he'd just throw it together real quick...

Uncle Nick then said he would help too...it'd go quicker that way....

I think maybe it goes like this...no wait...turn just a little...hmmmm.....

Maybe Gabriella could help...She's a good helper....Nick is starting to look a bit annoyed...Are you sure this is a play stroller and not a real one??

Alright guys, move over, Shawn to the rescue....while Aunt Kim finds a piece of paper in the trash bag....the directions??? Surely between the four of them they can figure it out.

YEAH!!!!!!!!! 2 hours later we have a stroller!! Good job guys! Sorry Ash, took them so long to put together, it's bedtime now - you can play with it tomorrow...

Don't know why, just like this picture.

All the kids LOVE to play dressup - Ashlyn got tons of dressup stuff for her b-day. That's Pirate Papa Turner and Batman in the background.

Just Ashlyn and mommy - lookin' cute!

And here's getting ready for ice cream sundaes (plus Addison on the left)

Below is Austin's preschool class at the pumpkin patch - what a fun field trip! Yup - only 2 girls in his class.

Austin and Ashlyn on a hayride!


Alright, so that should update you a bit - We are doing good here, although it's getting colder by the day. Shawn's been working hard on some pretty big bids lately. Our new kitchen is on order and we are anxiously awaiting our cabinets so we can get started. Only 9 more weeks of being prego - sad, exciting, nerve racking, tiring, anxious, and worried we are never going to come up with a name....
That's it for now - should be a fun week with the Halloween festivities around the corner! Look for some pics this week of the kids costumes.
Hope you are havin' the time of your life!
ST

Another Weekend Gone

There's something about Sunday nights. When I was school age I was always trying to get homework done at the last minute and get geered up for another week of learning. Especially in college I never enjoyed Sunday nights. They were always a bit stressful after being tired from a long weekend of "relaxing" and trying to study without falling asleep. When I was in the "real working world", it was always a bit stressful trying to remember what I was suppose to teach the next day, what games we had to play for whatever sport I was coaching. Nowadays as I live the good life, Sunday nights are pretty good. We almost always have Sunday night dinner at my parents - and it's no plain dinner - it's like Christmas/Thanksgiving dinner every week. FABULOUS. I usually try and have the house cleaned up a bit before we go down for dinner so when we come back home the kids go up for bath and Shawn and I can relax after the house is finally quiet. Not so bad! Of course, now that Austin is in school we don't get to lounge around on Monday mornings - it's up and 'atem at 6:15, get dressed, eat, brush teeth, go potty, get backpack and out the door - repeat those steps 4 times, eliminating the backpack part for the two girls and adding in put a little makeup and deodorant on for me. Oh and add do the dishes for me too - at least until Gabriella can reach the sink to help out. Crazy Sundays.
As for the weekend, Shawn accomplished quite a bit - our deck got stained - very cool! And we raked (not so much "we") and mowed. Our grass looks awesome - Shawn has worked hard on the grass this year - it's looking awesome - I hate to see it go brown during the winter ahead. The weatherman actually said it could snow flurry on Wednesday! YIPES!
Tomorrow should prove to be interesting. I am 29 weeks prego -getting pretty prego looking these days and feeling that way too. Only 10 weeks to go. And after the level 2 sono we had to have the said my due date is actually Dec 25th! We won't be changing the c-section date though. I have never gone into labor, never had a contraction...sure hope this isn't the year for it. Anyway, we had our glucose test last week, I was 3 for 3 on passing with my kiddos, but this baby just seems to enjoy giving us trouble as I didn't pass. So, tomorrow morning I have to go back for more blood tests. Doesn't sound so bad, oh wait, yes, it does. I have to fast after midnight tonight - no food (uh, no food? I'm prego....) I have to be at the doc at 8:30 to drink the yummy sugar drink, then the draw my blood, then I sit in the waiting room for 1 hour, then they draw my blood, then I sit in the waiting room for an hour, then they draw my blood, then I sit in the waiting room for 1 hour, then they draw my blood. I am not aloud to eat or drink anything. (oh - did I mention that I am prego and hungry all the time???) All in all, I sit there for 3 hours - are you kidding me??? Apparently they don't realize that I have 3 kids to take care of and that I am hungry all the time. Oh well, I am sure I will survive, I am sure I will be VERY cranky come 11:30 tomorrow, but I did go to the library and got some good books to read while sitting there. So, say a little prayer that I get through it all without being too terribly miserable, although everyone I have talked to said that isn't possible. Thanks to Michelle for waking up way before her usual time to come over and watch my kids all morning. And Shawn is going to attempt the carpool duties of picking up Austin at school tomorrow - he may need more prayers than me!
I better go have a snack before bedtime...
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Nesting...or just plain me...

I have been trying to post pics of Ashlyn's b-day, my little 3 year old now, but our computer crashed upstairs and I haven't been able to get to them - you will see them soon! Ashlyn was very excited to turn 3 - and she picked candy bars as her b-day cake when she had all her girlfriends (and boyfriends) over. Easy enough. Then we had a family party and had ice cream sundaes with all the fixins. So much fun! And Ashlyn was beaming when she opened up her presents and got 2 baby dolls and a new stroller! She's such a little mother hen!

So, some have called it nesting, but most just laugh and say - that's the Stephanie we know! Last weekend I decided I needed a project (yes, we are about to embark on the kitchen remodel as we await our cabinets to show up), but during the week we are waiting, I decided the front entry and upstairs hallway had to be painted and it had to be now. I am pretty sure Shawn wanted to ring my neck at the sound of this, but he is wise enough to know you don't mess with your 28 week prego wife. And as I finished up last night I think he is actually pretty happy about it. I worked my tail off at nap time and bedtime every day since Sunday and actually finished last night! I have started putting stuff back up on the walls and it is looking soooo much better. It's something I have been wanting to do since we have moved in here, and finally got around to it. I'm having horrible problems with my right hand and wrist due to the pregnancy. My right hand is numb about 90% of the time and just aches constantly, so painting for a week hasn't exactly helped. My justification was that it wasn't going to get better anyway. And now I have cool new paint on the wall!

Austin and Ashlyn have been invited to stay at the farm for the weekend with Grandma and Papa Turner - they are ecstatic. (Shawn and I might be a little ecstatic too!) So, Shawn and I will get to try our hand at having just Gabriella, our little tornado. Should hopefully be a productive and yet relaxing weekend. Can't wait to get it started!!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

My Baby is FOUR!

Yes, Austin officially turned 4 today - hard to believe that just four years ago I was holding my first little baby in my arms trying to figure out what the heck I had gotten myself into! I can't believe it has only been four years ago that I didn't know what it was like to have children, but then I think I can't believe how fast 4 years has flown by! All my children are very unique, but Austin, being the oldest, has had to endure some - what I like to call - "parental experimentation." First time parents are really pretty funny, but not until you have actually lived through it. I remember thinking I should "play" with Austin all the time when he was awake - no, not when he was three - when he was like 3 days old. I was sure that if I just left him lay on the floor that he would think he was on some deserted island. I would go crazy if I heard him cry - and would run to him in the middle of the night as if he had actually crawled up and out of his crib at the age of one month. Let's see....he didn't have a lick of chocolate until his 1st b-day (that could be considered child abuse I think). I put him in Gymboree at 6 months of age - he couldn't even sit up yet...what was I thinking?? Shawn and I have learned quite a bit after now going on kid #4. Not that we have it figured out - or that we ever will, because we won't, but at least we can laugh about it now. I was quite anal (yes, I admit it), but I will tell you my baby boy is loved more than you could imagine. Here's where we were just 4 years ago...Grapevine, Texas...

Alright, enough babbling...here's how the b-day weekend went...(and keep in mind I have to do this all over again with Ashlyn, as her b-day is Wednesday!)

Saturday we headed out to Crown Center for the American Royal parade - huge awesome parade! We had a great time with Grandma and Papa Settle and Aunt Kim and Uncle Nick. It has been a tradition the last three years to take the kids to Fritz's for lunch for their b-days. It's a train restaurant where a train track is up above you and a train delivers and drops your food down - very cool. They have hamburgers that have hash browns on them - holy cow they are awesome, well anything is with hash browns.

We had a fun day with the kids Saturday, and then Sunday was Austin's big day. It started around 7am with him finding a present in his bed - which just floored him, he was so excited. Then we headed to McD's a Sunday tradition where we hang out with my parents and let the kids play. After that we headed home for another present - the one Shawn and I were most excited about -

He LOVED his new Batman outfit. As we were shopping for a gift for him, we saw this and decided it was perfect - he is obsessed with dressing up as superheros lately, so what better present?? He has taken it on and off about 50 times today already. Another "cake by Kim", my sister. She is a master at frosting cakes. we did a superhero cake - can't see it too good, but the superheros are all standing on a building. I think my mom's camera has a better pic.

We had a little b-day party this afternoon, he got to pick a few friends to invite over for a party. When I asked him who he wanted to invite, he insisted he have an ALL GIRL party. hmmmmm. Yes, Shawn was a proud father at that moment, but seriously. I got in a big argument with him that he must invite his boys too - he finally said ok - so funny. Anyway, we had a superhero party and they all had a blast. My mom (the saint) made superhero capes for all the kids that they got to keep - huge hit with the kids (and moms - several said thanks for the new halloween costume! - thanks Peg!) We played some games, the kids all got light sabers (from star wars, although ours were just glow sticks) and spiderman masks. Probably the most fun was two things - one - we gave all the kids a cup of sprite and told them to use their superpowers to change the color - they put colored ice cubes in that changed their drinks different colors and made them fizz up - they thought that was pretty cool. And second, I got all the kids together and told them that I had a big bucket of candy for them, but that some bad guy stole it! I gave them each a can of silly string and told them if they saw a bad guy running about that they should chase him and shoot him with their "webbing" so they could get their candy back. This was so funny - Shawn dressed up like a bad guy and ran around the yard - where was the video camera?!?! All in all it was a great day - Austin is thrilled to be four, and thrilled to have some really cool new toys, and so blessed to have such an amazing family and friends. Thanks to all for making this such a special day for him!! Hope you enjoyed the pics!

and now...I am going to bed.

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST

Here I am!!

Funny how time changes everything...when i was prego with Austin I took a picture every single week to document and mailed them to my mom and shawn's mom (since we lived in TX and they were in KS). And here's my first prego shot with BT4 - 25.5 weeks along...

With Austin in school and me starting to get exhausted at night, I've been slacking on the blogging end - I promise to be better! Things are fantastic here - we had a rough couple of weeks, possible complications with BabyT4, but found out early this week that everything is perfect and we are doing just fine. What a huge relief!! Now if we can just find somewhere for this baby to sleep when it gets here in a few months...hmmmm - and NO it will not be sleeping in my room - that's off limits at the Turner house. As a mom you pretty much get no privacy (the last time I peed by myself was...well...Austin turns 4 on Sunday....so almost 4 years ago). So, my room is for me and my hubby only. Anyway, things are good - I got back into Bible Study this year - it's been very interesting and informative and I have really enjoyed it. Austin is loving school and is REALLY excited to turn 4. He enjoys having show-and-tell at school every Wednesday - it's always a joy to hear what he has decided to take...last week he took his cowboy hat - here's a conversation between me and him after school that day...
Mom: Did you show your friends your cowboy hat?
Austin: yip
Mom: What did you tell your friends about it?
Austin: I told them this is my cowboy hat, and I put it on, I took it off, I said "yee haw!" and put it back on.
Mom: Wow - what do you want for lunch?

Cracks me up, that kid!
Ashlyn has really enjoyed the time that brother is away at school - she thinks she is one big kid and loves being the boss of Gabriella for 2 hours. It's pretty funny. Ashlyn will also be celebrating a b-day in a few days - the big 3! She is sooo into her baby dolls and purses - I can't take credit for the baby dolls, but the purse fetish could definitely have come from my genes.
Gabriella has pretty much taken over the household - the girl is crazy. She is all over the place and is constantly in trouble. The other two were never quite like her - she is giving me a run for my money. And she is talking and saying all kinds of words which is also pretty funny. She is absolutely adorable and has the cutest not-so-innocent smile, but I always seem to get a little excited when it's time for her to go to sleep ha ha.
Mom and Dad were out of town for their week long September vacation they take every year - so glad to have them back! sure did get lonely around here...
I'll leave you with a not so good pic of the kids, but well, do you really expect to get a 3,2, and 1 year old to look at the camera?? And now, I'm off to watch the Office season premiere!! yipee!!

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST

A Baby No More!!

Today was Austin's first day of Preschool!! He was super excited and couldn't wait to get there. He was "pumped" as he says, to wear his new spiderman backpack - which of course is way too big and will most likely be empty most of the time, but oh well...he looked cute as a button! He had a great time and we got to meet Grandma and papa settle for lunch and ice cream after school. Austin was extremely wound up about school when I picked him up and of course would hardly tell me a thing about his morning - typical, I suppose. He pretty much knows every kid in his class already since they are all the kids he already hangs out with all the time. Should be a fun year!! And yes, I did shed a tear or two, but mostly because Austin wouldn't even turn around to tell me goodbye!

As for other things....see below to know what we have been up to...

Who can resist a sticky ice cream cone??

We got to go on a mini vacation to Dodge City this past weekend for Grandma Casey's 90th b-day and reunion. we had a blast! Austin LOVED Dodge City - he thought staying at the hotel and swimming was a little slice of heaven! Ashlyn also enjoyed the swimming, while Gabriella was terrified to even go close to the water. Got to catch up with all my cousins and family which was awesome. What a great weekend.

And now, I am off to work on some math book stuff while the kids have "quiet time" ha ha ha ha

More later - don't forget to watch Sarah Palin tonight! wow! I bet she "makes history"...ha ha

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST