FIRST BATH

There are few things that I enjoy more than bathing my sweet babies. The first few are a bit awkward with that ambilical cord, but totally worth it for the finished product.
Israel liked his first bath at home. He actually screamed through the whole thing but settled right down when I bundled him up after. All the pictures during the bath were pretty sad so I'm only posting this darling one of the finished clean babe.

We sure love this little cub and love having him around!

Israel David Fillmore

It's taken a bit of work to get this post up. For some reason, we've been really crazy busy around here. It might have something to do with preparing for Sandy/Frankenstorm and then our internet and power being out. Now it's on and here is the story of our little Israel.

My original due date was October 29th. I have never gone into labor with the other boys so I definitely didn't plan on it this time. I have been induced each time and had an induction set for the morning of the 29th. 

On Sunday, the 21st, we went to bed as usual. I had a crazy feeling that maybe I was going to go into labor. Not because I was having contractions, but I just sort of felt it. Sure enough, I woke up just before 3am to my water breaking. I wasn't quite sure if that is what was happening but after a call to my doctor and me waking up a bit more, we decided to head over to the hospital. My neighbor came over to sit with the boys and off we went. 

We luckily snapped this picture as we were walking out the door. I have steered clear of the camera for months so this is the real deal. 39 weeks pregnant.  Check out that belly! I think I look pretty calm for going into to labor for the first time.

We got to the hospital and checked in and sure enough, things had started. I was at a 2 which is sort of a big deal for me. Sterling and I both couldn't believe that it was really happening.

After my epidural not working with Gouverneur that was my next priority.  After I got my epidural I was able to relax. At 8am my doctor came in and hooked me up to some petocin to get the baby moving. By 11am, I was only at a 5 but I could tell my body was ready to have this baby. The contractions got pretty intense after that and I was super nauseous. At about noon, I told the nurse that I was ready to push. She went and called the doctor and after what seemed like forever, my doctor walked in casually eating an apple. I told her that this baby was ready to come and I needed to push. She ditched the apple and got ready to deliver this baby. After three very short pushes, our darling little boy popped out.

I'm always amazed at how fast things can happen. One minute, I was going to bed, and 12 hours later, my baby was born.

Israel David Fillmore

8 lbs. 12 oz.

21 1/2 inches 

Born at: 12:38pm

He screamed from the minute he was born. We've never had a baby cry so much. He is our biggest baby, outweighing Sterling Henry by two ounces.

 He settled down a bit when they wrapped him up. 

This staff was an all female team and it was a lot of fun. The anesthesiologist was a woman, my two doctors on call were women, and all the nurses of course were women. Dr. Lashgari, on the left,  was the one that delivered me.

Sterling left pretty soon after to go check up on the boys. My bff Sarah was watching the boys for us. (Thanks Sarah!)  Sterling got the boys and brought them in later that night to meet Israel.  These pictures are just darling. The boys really have been very excited to meet the "new" baby for quite sometime. Even Gouverneur seemed to like him.

Our new not so little family of six. I feel like one lucky momma to be surrounded by so many darling boys.

Sterling is such a proud, cute, daddy.

Here is the sweet little lamb right after his first bath in the hospital. He was super alert and calm for the first time that day.

 

Sterling spent the next day with the boys while I got to spend a lot of time by myself with Israel. I love the quiet one-on-one time that you get in the hospital. I'm usually quite anxious to get out of there, but this time it was very enjoyable. I just sat and snuggled this cherub all day long.

Sterling brought the boys in on Wednesday to bring me and the baby home. I was so happy to see my boys. I missed them so much! They were excited to see me and to bring the new baby home.

Sterling always dresses the new baby to take him home. This time I hadn't bought a coming home outfit so Sterling took the boys to the store and they picked one out.  He did a great job.

I am in love with these pictures of the boys watching dad change the new baby.

Israel is so lucky to have three big brothers to look up to.

Here we are in the car already to go home. We moved Gouverneur over and put the baby's seat in. I love this view of my two babies.

We always take a picture of Sterling with the new baby in front of our house. This daddy brings home the bacon and the babies.

The boys were happy to have him home as well. I still can't believe we have four boys. What a dream!

Grandma Hawkins flew in later that day to come take care of us. She will be here for a month and something tells me that we are going to need her.

All in all I would say that Israel's delivery was perfect. It was really fun to have my water break and go into labor. It was fun that it happened in the middle of the night. I love that my epidural worked perfectly. And most importantly, he arrived safely.

We spend all our time at home with grandma, snuggling our darling new baby. I'm not sure when we'll leave the house again, but that's fine with me.  We love you Israel and are so happy that you are in our family!

Nesting

 To say that I'm nesting with this pregnancy would be a bit of an understatement. I've gotten more accomplished in the last six weeks, than I've done in the last year. This pregnancy has been my hardest so far. I've had some complications and then tack on the hottest summer in history and a power outage (no A/C) and there you have it. The last six weeks have been dreamy with the weather and I've really enjoyed things a lot more. We are beyond excited to meet this little guy. We have just a week left.

I made a long nesting list about three months ago and almost everything has been checked off or is in the process. I'm going to brag about a few on them so that in a few months when I'm getting nothing accomplished, I can look back and feel better about things.

It all started with the boys Halloween costumes. I made these capes for the boys one weekend when Sterling was gone on the Father and Sons campout.  They are double sided with a different hero on each side. I finished their masks and shirts this week. So costumes are totally ready.

I started these little bootties for the baby this summer in Florida and only got one done. I threw in the towel when the summer heat hit in full swing. But after finishing the capes I was really motivated and finished these. So glad I did. I love them. I've made lots of pairs for little girls but these were my first boy pair.

With all the fabulous boy clothes my sister Becky gave me, I really needed to organize and sort everything I had. I bought a ton of new bins and spent two nap times sorting. I have everything perfectly sorted form 0-3 months up to 6 years. Before I had three bins that were all mixed and scattered. I got rid of anything that was worn and gross. This got me really excited for the baby to get here.

I was about to buy a new carseat canopy and decided I could make my own. This project took 25 minutes and I love it. It's blue minky on the inside and it matches my Bundle Me that my sister Marilee gave me when I had Sterling Henry. This little boy is going to be comfy and cozy all winter long!

We took two weekend nights last week and completely cleaned out and organized our basement. We have an unfinished/storage that has been the one room we close the door on. Now I love it. It has a few things left but it's almost completely organized. My food storage finally has a place that I can get to and see what I have. When I say we cleaned this out, I mean Sterling. I sat on a chair and he did it all. He rocks like that.

We're switching the boys rooms this weekend and moving the big boys both into big boy beds. Then we'll have a big boy room and a baby room. So fun to think of Gouverneur getting to share a room with the baby. He's going to love it!

I got my Romney sign out. This wasn't on my list but it should've been. Feels good to have it out. 

I went to the ballet with some friends over the weekend. We saw the Russian Mariinsky Ballet's Cinderella. It was a modern version, but very enjoyable. It was fun to be out since I'm pretty sure this won't happen again for a while. Or ever.

I did plan on having all my Christmas gifts done as well. They are not even close to being finished but I'm not too worried. Now that all the other stuff is done, the Christmas gifts and holding a sweet new baby is all I need to accomplish in the next two months. My mom gets here on Wednesday. We are all looking forward to her arrival.

We are all overly excited to meet this little guy. He cannot even get here soon enough. There is something so sweet and special about having a new baby in the house. They bring such a strong spirit with the home. We can't wait to meet you baby boy!

ALMOST 17 MONTHS

This little guy is just a week shy of 17 months. It's hard to believe that he is going to be a big brother. He is still such a baby in so many ways. With all the boys being so close, he will still be a baby for a long time. But as Sterling Henry tagged him, he will be the "old baby". Old meaning older, not old news in anyway. We love this little guy and can't wait to see him be a big brother and do the darling things that his older brother have done.

He just started using a fork and plate this last week. He has been trying for a while but I've been holding onto being the one to feed him. I finally gave in and the boy is beyond thrilled.

He's also cutting 8 teeth at once and being a trooper about it. This little boy melts our hearts everyday. He LOVES to snuggle and LOVES his daddy. We love you Gouverneur!

Lego Time

Our dad is a serious Lego fanatic. He has all his sets from his childhood with all the instructions saved and packed away nicely in our basement. He has been waiting for the day when his boys were old enough for big boy Legos. Little Man got his first real set for his birthday and has been waiting to put it together with his dad. Dellin was happy to sit and watch.

Sterling walked him through step-by-set and let him find all the pieces. It was darling to sit and watch. 

 Here are the happy boys with the finished helicopter. I'm not sure who loved it more but something tells me that these boys are going to be doing a lot more of this.

I love my boy world!

Apple Mania

We have gone apple picking every fall since we've lived here. It's a fun way to get out of town and get some really yummy apples. We usually go to a pick-your-own orchard and spend a ridiculous amount of money of apples but have a really fun time.

Last year was the first year I made applesauce and we went back to the orchard twice to get more apples. This year we decided that we needed to find a way to get a ton for a way better deal. We found the perfect place, Richard's Orchard. They have a huge selection of pre-picked apples. Their seconds were half the price of what we paid last year. We were amazed at just how great the seconds were. I don't think we'll ever buy "firsts" again.

We ended up getting seven bushels. A bushel is about 40 lbs. I probably would have gotten 3 or 4 had I gone alone, but in true Fillmore fashion, more is better and usually the right amount. We got a selection of Fugi, Golden Delicious, and York. All perfect for sauce.

 

The boys loved the whole thing. They also had a darling market where we picked up a few pumpkins as well. The boys eating their first of many apples that day. 

I use to be pretty stressed about babies eating apples but Gouverneur is a pro. Plus, the boy is addicted to apples. Not a bad addiction to have.

 We put the boys to bed that evening and sorted them all. In all seven bushels there were only 3 or 4 that we threw out because they were bad.

Here is a picture of why some of these apples are seconds. The skin discoloration makes them less desirable. The flavor is amazing and perfect for eating or sauce.

Here is what I did all week, prepared batches to go into the crockpot. I crockpot my applesauce for 5-6 hours and then bottle it. We bought 2 additional crockpots this year to speed it up. I add cinnamon and nutmeg to my sauce. It gives it a real golden color and tastes delicious. I don't add any sugar and they are plenty sweet since they cook down for so long

 

Here is a close-up of the finished product.

 

Here the boys are with all the finished sauce. We ended up with 63 quarts. Seems like a lot, but with 5 boys in the house, I hope it's enough!

Until we have apple trees of our own, I think we'll be buying seconds. I'll still amazed that they were such a good deal. Thank you Richard's Orchard!

Sterling Henry's Birthday recap

 I love how much kids look forward to their birthdays and it's fun to make sure they really enjoy it. Sterling Henry had a wonderful birthday. He has a timeline of all the fun things happening in the next few months and his birthday is the first thing to start the fun.

We always do a special birthday breakfast, and balloons are always hanging from the ceiling. I had intentions of making a birthday banner that will work for all the birthdays but that is on the back burner for now. This year, Little Man wanted German Pancakes and sausage. It's not a combo that we do ever so he was thrilled to have it on his birthday.

Here's the breakfast gang.

I already posted this picture but I have to post it again. Here is the big boy. He is growing up way too fast.

I made these cupcakes for him to take to preschool to share with all his classmates. On the car ride home I asked him if the kids liked the cupcakes. He said, "they did like them but some of my friends ate the paper part..." Gotta love preschool. His teacher made him a super fancy crown that he loved.

 Such a happy cute boy.

 Make. A.

 WISH!

The cake. It's supposed to be a race car track but I'm just learning the ropes of cake making. Lucky for me, he knew exactly what it was and loved it. 

Opening presents. This one came in the mail on his birthday from Grandma and Grandpa Fillmore

Here is the birthday loot. He got his first big boy Lego set. Dad has been waiting for years to give his son a big boy Lego set. This will be the first of many I'm sure. He also got a bin of army guys, finger puppets from Dellin, M&Ms from Gouverneur and a big book of Bernstein Bears from Grandma and Grandpa Fillmore. He was thrilled with it all.

 He had his 4 year old checkup the day after his birthday and he was mighty brave. He got three shots and didn't cry at all! His stats keep him in the 90%, not that we're worried about his size.

Weight: 43.2 lbs.

Height: 33 1/2 inches.

20/20 Vision

We sure love our Little Man. He has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined. Looking forward to what the next year will bring for this darling boy.

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY LITTLE MAN!!

Our darling Little Man turns four today. These last four years have flown by way too fast. He is growing up right in front of us. He amazes us daily with all the things he's able to do. He is a perfect older brother and so good to his younger brothers. They look up to him in every way and it's easy to see why. He loves reading and is getting the hang of it. He loves to write his name. He loves Nascar, The A Team, trucks, trains, playing baseball in the backyard, his dad, and preschool. He is a very social little guy.

 Little Man was born at 11:45pm. We woke up the next morning in our room to him just looking at us through the glass in this baby bed. He wasn't crying or anxious. He was perfectly content just looking at us. This image will forever be in our minds.

 First birthday.

Second birthday. 

Third birthday. Just last year. He has grown up so much in just one year. 

 Here is our new 4-year-old this morning. Happy Birthday!

 We love you Sterling Henry and LOVE raising you. We look forward to watching you grow up and seeing who you will become. Thanks for making our job as parents so easy and fun!