It's a .... BOY!! (AKA Austin gets his wish)

Hello. Shawn here. Stephanie refuses to dictate her blog to me, so here is a quick update and some pictures for you all. Lucas Eugene was born at 7:57 am yesterday, weighing in at a smooth 8 lbs 14 oz. Lucas is healthy and eating well. It is over 48 hours since the C-section and Stephanie is up out of bed right on schedule. She is feeling much better today.

Austin is excited to have a boy. He believes Lucas was named after Luke Skywalker (he wasn't). Ashlyn and Gabriella are not sure what to think yet. They all three came to the hospital yesterday afternoon to see baby Lucas and have ice cream. The ice cream may have been a bigger hit with the kids.

Of course Kim Hudson photography showed up with camera in hand to take pictures of our new little boy. Thanks for the pics Kim!

What's going through MY head?

We are down to a matter of hours before T4's arrival. I have been having my first ever contractions all day today - they are really not all they are cracked up to be. I'm just trying and praying to keep this baby in until morning so I can have my own doctor do the surgery - so far so good although we've been having contractions about every 15 minutes or so. I'm feeling good, huge, tired, excited, scared, exhausted, anxious...pretty much every emotion there is. Mostly I just want to see this baby and hold it in my arms. And I might be pretty excited to finally know what the sex is - I have gone back and forth the whole pregnancy. We finally have names picked out, although the girl name may have changed today - we still have to discuss that one...So, I am on to the fasting part, I'll get up about 4 or so and head to the hospital a little after 5, and should have a cute little button nose by 8:15 if all goes as planned. Keep your phones close by!!

A quick recap of Christmas - we had such a great week this past week. We had all the Turners here last weekend which was so much fun, as always. And of course Santa made his arrival on Christmas and made all three of my kiddos the happiest kids on the block. We had a great day of staying in our pj's all day and trying out all the new toys. After the Christmas fun we pretty quickly got all the Christmas put away and started to prepare for this new baby. We have the "baby's room" done. That would consist of putting a crib up in the office and adding in a rocking chair for nursing purposes. As soon as he/she isn't nursing so much at night it will either move in with Austin or the girls depending on the sex.

I better sign off as my hands are getting shaky and my brain is all over the place as to what to write in this post - if I continue to write, who knows what would end up on the web!!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and we'll be calling you tomorrow!!

Hope you are having the time of your life!! - YOU KNOW WE WILL BE TOMORROW!!

ST

PS - here's just a couple photos before I attempt to go get an hour of sleep...

Here's a cute one of Grandma and Papa Settle with Ashlyn after Christmas Eve mass. Does she look spoiled or what?!

And here's the big van we rented for Christmas light looking this year!! Those in attendance were, Shawn and I, Austin, Ashlyn, Gabriella, Aunt Kim, Uncle Nick, Grandma and Grandpa Turner and Grandma and Papa Settle. We had a blast!!

And this would be my belly on Christmas Eve which would make me 38.5 weeks prego - yikes! I had to wear jeans to Mass since that's all that "sort of" fit. My belly refuses to stay under any of my shirts at this point...

and all I want is a nice family pic - is that so much to ask?? Seriously!! How will I ever get a good shot when we add yet another munchkin?? Guess I better book Kim Hudson Photography, huh??

Winter finally found us...

It has been snowing all morning and we are currently up to a couple inches, according to what I can see stacked up on the kids' picnic table outside. We haven't ventured to the backyard to play yet, but probably will in the next hour. The kids can't wait! As for me, I'll just sit inside and be the official hot chocolate chef. That's much more my speed.
Update on BT4: We had our second to last dr. appt yesterday - hard to believe how fast pregnancy goes when it's not your first. It's been quite a roller coaster ride, and I'm getting quite uncomfortable. I think I will be more than ready in 12 more days. Of course, the nerves are stacking up, but I'm getting so excited to see this little one and see how it's going to fit into the Turner clan. Will it be a never ending talker like Austin? A sweet snuggler like Ashlyn, or a crazy tornado like Gabriella? Who knows - maybe a mix of all three? We did finally get the crib up and some sheets washed. I bought a boy and girl take home outfit and had the kids pick out some new baby toys to wrap up and give to it when him/her arrives. I also got the car seat out and washed. I decided not to worry about any clothes til we know the sex, all it's gonna need is some warm fuzzy pjs - and I would say it deserves some new ones anyway.
Update on Austin - Austin had his first Christmas program last week. His class sang three little songs and yes, I cried like a baby. Who knew there could be so much emotion wrapped up into "Jingle Bells". He was absolutely the cutest kid there and it was almost weird to be sitting there watching my little boy in a program - who knew this is where I would be. Time just flies as my kids are growing up - good thing we have another tiny little baby on the way!
Update on Ashlyn - Ashlyn still loves being the big kid when Austin is at school. She is very into being a "mommy" all the time which is so cute. She's still my little drama queen, but we love her just the same and she's growing up so quick trying to be just like brother. I can't believe she'll be off to preschool next year too!
Update on Gabriella - hmmmm...what can I say? This girl is nuts! We call her tornado. Even her siblings call her that. She's a little stinker, extremely clever and cute as a button. She loves getting into trouble and stretching the rules. She's got her grandparents wrapped around her finger and knows it!
Update on Shawn - Shawn has been working his tail off at work. And in the mean time he has started ripping apart my kitchen! It's going to be a slow remodel, but piece by piece we'll get it done. He's taking Thurs and Fri off this week to work on it so hopefully he can make some good progress. Then we are having the Turner Christmas here with all of his family on Saturday. I'm so excited to get to have everyone here this year - we are all looking forward to it! Then Monday night we actually rented a 15 passenger van to pile into and go look at Christmas lights. Big family tradition - you wear your new pjs, pop some popcorn, heat up the hot chocolate and crank up the Christmas music! We use to be able to fit in one little car, but we have multiplied to 9 people and I think Shawn's parents are coming too this year - soo soo fun!!! If you are looking for a new tradition - this is one of the best.
That's all I know for now - I'll try and post some pics, but I think it's time for an afternoon snooze....
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Little bits of everything

There is something I have been meaning to blog for several months and am finally getting around to it...The following pic is of a ticket to the USA softball games at the Olympics in Beijing this past summer. You'll see on the left hand side an autograph from Cat Osterman, an amazing pitcher.
Anyway, the reason I took this picture is because the autograph actually says: "To T4". Cat was in the olympics 4 years ago also and sent me an autographed ticket that was for Baby T1 (Austin). The funny thing is, in the time that Cat has been to the Olympics TWICE, I have had 4 kids...I think we're both Olympians...don't you?? And thanks to Michelle, a good friend of mine from Texas, for getting me the tickets. Cat is her niece so she has had the privelege of getting to go see the Summer Olympics the last two times. How cool is that?


And here I am in all my 35 week hugeness...I was headed out for a Christmas Bash with my gal pals! Super fun night!

And the following is from the PJ collection. I still don't have the official family pic, but should soon. Here's my mom and sis. I'm the big one on the left, but I still love my new pj's! This year we got mom and dad the old fashioned one-piece footed PJ's WITH the flap in the back. They were hilarious!

I just simply think this picture is awesome. We took the kids to Science city one morning and had a fun family day. I love the crazy faces in this one. Much more normal than if they were both standing nicely and smiling.

Yes, that's Gabriella with less hair than the baby in my belly probably has! But aren't they cute wanting to hold hands? I love it!

We had a nice weekend here, Shawn starting tearing apart the kitchen. Took off the doors, started sanding, peeled some ceiling, started taking off some paint. We had Shawn's company Christmas party on Saturday night - lots of fun, but I am still recovering from being on my feet all night and staying out too late. I was exhausted all day today - but well worth it to see my hubby in a tux!! We finally put a crib up in the office for the baby when it gets here and I even got out the crib accessories and am getting things washed up. Not too many more days until BT4 makes an arrival. I'm getting a little nervous for yet another c-section, but if I can do it three times, then I can do it four times, right? I'm excited for the kids to see this little person, even if they are going to all go nuts when it gets here. Do you think Austin will get his wish for a boy? He really really wants a "roommate" so he'll be pretty disappointed if it's a girl. We do have a boy name picked out, or at least we do for now - could change in the next 3 weeks. No idea for a girl name though - any ideas?? That's all I got for now. Time to put me and baby to bed.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

Time is flying!!

What a great long weekend, except that it went too fast (as usual). We kicked off turkey day in Waverly and had some delicious food and a great time with the Turner family. The kids had a blast and got to play with some of their cousins which they always enjoy. Thursday night Shawn and I headed back home while the kids got to spend the night at the farm. Next on the list was Black Friday. After extensive research through the billions of ads and sales, we decided to start our day out at Home Depot around 5:45am. This was for Shawn to get his Christmas present - I had to tell him about it since it was too big for me to sprint through the store and be able to carry. It's a really cool ladder that does all kinds of things. It was a hot item, a great sale, and best of all - we got one! Then it was off to about 10 other places and by 3:30 we were home and had our Christmas shopping DONE! I have never finished my shopping before Christmas Eve and this year I finished in November! We had such a fun day battling the crazy people that go shopping on Black Friday. I will say, though, that I was "a hurtin' unit" on Saturday. I was so exhausted and sore from running around all day Friday that I wasn't sure I would recover. Shawn and I were both in bed before 9 and after a good night's sleep (or at least as good as it can be when you are this prego) we both felt much better. Saturday morning we did our annual PJ Picture with the Settle side. We all got our new Christmas PJ's and did our big family portrait. I don't have any pics yet, but will be sure to post them when we get them from my brother.
Other news - I have to get a cavity filled at 7am tomorrow - what a way to start the day, huh? It's suppose to snow and sleet all day - ick. They better not cancel school!!! That's all I know for now - time to relax and hopefully get a foot rub from Shawn.
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

35 days...

5 weeks from right now we'll be fighting over who gets to hold the latest Turner Baby. Hard to believe, huh? I'm down to one week appointments now - holy smokes! Had a great weekend this past weekend, Shawn didn't have to work -yipee! We had family weekend - as Shawn put it - "I'm not letting any of you out of my sight all weekend." And we did it! We started out on Saturday morning with a trip to Science City - the kids' absolute favorite place. We have a great time there - and Saturday mornings rock - no one is there but the Turners! We played all morning into the afternoon and then finally came home. Shawn and the kids got the yard cleaned up, leaves raked and grass mowed. Shawn has put a ton of work into the yard this year and it is looking awesome. I'm kind of sad to see everything dying off with winter starting here. After church on Sunday we headed out to the Legends to the coolest McD's for breakfast and playing on the playground. I got some Christmas shopping done and picked out fabric with my mom for all new family stockings!! Very excited about this project...I'm sure mom is home stitching away as I type. Shawn and I's favorite show is 24 - and they had a 2 hour movie/episode last night - so cool. The new season doesn't start til January - this got us pretty excited for it! Now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving - we are headed to the farm on Thursday for some turkey and then the in-laws are keeping all the kids so Shawn and I can SHOP all day Friday!! YIPEE! Black Friday might be my favorite day of the year - not counting Christmas Eve, my b-day and the day I got married, and of course the days my kids were born...but anyway - I love Black Friday - I love getting up at 3:30 in the morning to head out to shop! I love the excitement and I love the crazy mean people throwing elbows in the aisles. Can you think of anything more fun?!?!? And the bestest part is that I get to spend the whole day with my husband. I am sooo looking forward to it - so in advance, thanks so much Ed and Norma!! We love you!!
I think that's about all I have to report for now - well, last week was a bit rough - Austin was having some...uhhh...discipline "issues"? Not sure how to state that. Anyway, had to go back and do some reading - read some love and logic books and some other parenting books and seem to have him back on track - well, as much on track as a 4 year old boy can be!
Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST
ps - eat up some good home cooked turkey this week!

11 days?

I feel like I just blogged yesterday, but apparently it's been 11 days already. That means I am a week and a half closer to baby 4! That would be 43 days - wow. Last week kind of flew by - I had such a great week - my wonderful, amazing in-laws took the girls to the farm for the whole week! So, that left me and Austin to fend for ourselves - it was such a welcome break and I think Austin enjoyed being king of the hill for a week too. The girls are still talking about the fun they had at the farm. I love that they get to spend so much time with their grandparents. Then reality came back on Friday and I was once again a prego mother of three...ahhhh, the break was nice though. As for this week it won't be quite as exciting. The kids and I are just ready for daddy to turn in (and win) his bid that is due Friday. He has been working round the clock so say a little prayer that it all goes well on Friday! We are all looking forward to next week with a few days off and Shawn and I get to go shopping all day on Black Friday (one of my favorite days of the year) with NO kids! Hip Hop Hooray!! And if the lines get too long, I'll just fake some labor pains - we should be done by noon! ha ha
I better go look for my three kids - things are exceptionally quiet for 8:06am...
Hope you are having the time of your life!
st