Growing like weeds

Landon is our first spitter-upper. As fast as he eats, he also puts it right back out. Therefore, he never has clean clothes on. I can't keep up!
I think these boys are going to look a lot alike. Garrett could not LOVE a person more than Landon. Everyday when he comes home from school, he wants to hold Landon and watch TUFF puppies. It's their male bonding time.

I have literally been to our Pediatrician 5 times in one week. Kendall had her 5 year old check-up, Alina had her 15 month, and Landon had his 2 week check-up today. They are all growing up too fast.

Landon is now up to 9 lbs, 4 oz and 22 1/4 inches. I knew he was getting bigger because the newborns are too tight. Alina is still 21 lbs, and still in the 98th percentile for height. I believe that her and Taryn are going to be tall girls. Poor Kendall on the other hand is average. That sounded bad, but I really enjoyed being tall, so I had hoped that all my girls would be tall. O-well! Kendall is perfect just the way she is.

Week 1

The first week I bring home a new baby is always eventful. Someone always gets sick, or hurt. One or two the kids completely regress, causing everyone frustration. And there always seems to be events at school, church or with our family that require attention.
Baby Landon's homecoming was no different. On the night we brought him home, Garrett came home with a high fever, cough, and aches. Great! He was sick through the weekend, and gave it to Kendall, who came home sick from school on Monday. Kendall gave it to Alina, who woke up sick on Wednesday. Alina gave it to Taryn, who woke up in the middle of the night of Friday with a fever. Then all my kids gave it to Grandma, who endured it well but was sick when she boarded the plane to go home on Sunday. Nice! Luckily, Landon and I haven't gotten it. And poor Keith has a touch of the cold but is a trooper.
Then to add to the fun of sick kids. Kendall spilled boiling hot water in her chest. I was right there to run her to the kitchen sink and shower her with water. Thank heavens it was only 1st and 2nd degree burns and they seem to be healing well.
Alina was added to with fun by getting a ear infections, but the antibiotics seem to be easing her pain.
Needless to say the first week home with baby Landon was busy, but I think we've settled in and can get back to some routine and healthy living. We desperately miss Grandma Hatch. Taryn wants to know when we can go back to the Airport to pick up Grandma.

The kids decorated the house to welcome Landon home.

Alina has really warmed up to Landon. She loves to look at him. So far, she's not that rough with him either.

Happy Day for Kendall

This year Kendall gets to have a very special Birthday. First her Grandma Hatch came to stay with us the day before her birthday and her new baby brother was born two days after her birthday. Because of all the excitement we decided to have a big family celebration.
She started the day off by opening two big presents. First Grandma Hatch gave her a beauty chair for her Ruthie, her American Doll. As you can see from the picture above, she was more than a little excited about the chair. Then Dad and I gave her a bed for her doll.

Next on the agenda for the day was a birthday cake. Grandma brought some of her old cake pans, so Kendall picked the Strawberry Shortcake cake. Grandma, Kendall, and Taryn decorated all day. Oh, what a fun mess! The end result was GREAT!
When Garrett got out of school, we all went for Chucky Cheese for some game fun, picked up pizza at Papa Johns and came home for cake and to open the rest of the presents. Good times all day!

We LOVE you Kendall Macy Jones!
Happy 5th Birthday!
Note the little finger prints where Baby Alina found a stool just high enough to get a taste.

Just how big can a pregnant women get?

Once again, here's a few pictures of just how HUGE I am pregnant, lest I forget and ever get pregnant again. Hopefully these will encourage my girls not to gain as much weight as I did.

Here's a few pictures of me and kids on the two days before I had Landon. I decided this will probably be my last time to look like this. The kids have really enjoyed the big belly. In fact, I don't think they know me any other way. They think of it as their own personal pillow.

Landon Sterling Jones

Landon Sterling Jones

born Wednesday, Febuary 2nd, 2011 at 8:48 p.m.

Landon came into this world at Prince William Hospital weighting 8 lbs 10 oz, which surprised us all because of his ultrasound measurements,and my belly measurement being so big, and the fact that his two older sisters weighted 9,14 and 9,8.

Here's the details for journal purposes.

Our day began by coming in at 8:00 to be induced. Dr. Stacy Dehal, our neighbor, has been my doctor and really supportive to me through this pregnancy. This time we did it a little different then our other three inductions. This time I was already more than 50% effaced when we came in, so they said I didn't need the gel. I have to admit, I was happy about that because that stuff makes me cramp so bad, but I was worried about changing from what we already know works for me. They game me a IV and started the low levels of Pit. I started having mild but constant contractions about 4-5 minutes apart. After about 2 hours I had only dilated to a 3-4. Around 11:00 they gave me the epidural. I HATE that part because the needle and the weird pains scares me. But I LOVE the no pain that the epidural provides. I always have one place on me right side where the epidural doesn't take, but I'll take what I can get.

In the afternoon, they broke my water and upped the PIT. Off to sleep I went. I always feel a little guilty sleeping while in labor when I think about my Mom and Mother-in-law who labored with no relief. At 3:00 Stacy Dehal, my Dr., came in to check me. I'm not going to lie to you, I was bummed when I was only a 5 and the baby still hadn't "dropped" down. The nurses had me sit up a little and turn from side to side to move the baby down. Like all women, I was constantly watching the baby's heart beat and the strength of the contractions. At 6:00 p.m., Stacy came in to check and I was finally a 7 but the baby still hadn't dropped all the way down. Argh! Seriously, I thought I would go faster with this being my 5th child and having only had Alina 15 month ago. The next bummer was that Dr. Dehal was going off at 7:00 and the really nice nurse Casie who had been helping all day. They were great and stayed close and checked on me quite a bit. I could tell that Stacy was hoping to deliver, but I just didn't change. So at 7:00, my Epidural bag ran out at the same time as the nurse change, and my epidural was never the same after that. Dr. Wall came in to take over for Stacy. He upped the PIT to strengthen my contraction. And WOW did that work! I started having strong PAINful contractions every 1-2 minutes. No one was in the room, but Keith who had to hear me complain. After about 30 minutes of this and really feeling the pressure down below, I asked the nurse to check me. Yippy! I was a 10 with just a little cervix on the right. She asked Dr. Wall if I could start to push. I REALLY want to push because I hurt so bad. Because he was still so far up I don't think Dr. Wall thought I was going to get him out any time soon, because he left the room. I pushed for about 15 minutes and I could feel the burn of his head coming through. The Nurse rang for help and Dr. Wall to come, but it was too late, his head popped out. BLUE! Every thing got rather busy, painful and okay crazy for the next 4 minutes. Dr. Wall was helping another patient and couldn't rush right in. The nurses asked me to stop pushing, which I couldn't do. After a few minutes, Dr. Wall came in and had to assess what was a difficult situation. After a second of frustration, he jumped into the fray, cut the cord which was double-wrapped around Landon's head, and pulled the baby out. The nurses quickly rushed Landon over to get him oxygen and cleaned up. After another couple of minutes, Landon was turning a good color and breathing well. Keith was looking rather concerned when Dr. Wall turned to him and said, "The baby is fine."
He's first apgare was a 5 but then get got a 9. They let us hold him for a minute but then they wanted to check him out in the nursery.

Things didn't go as smooth as Alina or Kendall's delivery but I can't complain. I have a perfect, healthy, happy baby boy. I feel great even after having Landon's head sitting out of me for 3 minutes during delivery, I have no rips, no tears, no stitches, and no hemorrhoids

And then there was 5!

This sweet little man arrived on Wednesday at 8:48pm. I'll write about the details of his coming into this world tomorrow. But for now here are a few pictures him with his excited family.

Baby boy Jones born on 2-2-11, Groundhog Day weighted 8,10 and was 20 3/4 inches long.

No one more excited about his arrival than Garrett. "I like him Mom, but now I wish he was one."