Kindergarten Graduation

Now I'm not personally a fan of the execution of Kindergarten graduation, after all they still have TWELVE (12) more years of school to complete before they can be released into the wild and unknown of life. Or at least that is the hope for parents everywhere. Of course they then have the option of college, which could be anywhere from 3-8 years if pursuing post graduate studies, so it really seems unnecessary in life to have a graduation for Kindergarten. Hopefully some of the kids have gone to pre-school as well so it's not their true first experience in a classroom, I know not everyone has that opportunity but still. So do we really need a graduation to celebrate the end of Kindergarten, almost a full week before school gets out? There are so many more bigger accomplishments that will happen in my child's life that I think we could let this one go. I was going to skip, but as the Room Mom I had to go.

Anyway, that is my little, shortened rant of Kindergarten graduation. We went, we watched, and we clapped. Quintten was about three hours old, ok not really, but he was about four (4) days old. You just can't stop to smell the roses or the baby powder when you give birth to number five and school is still in session. (As a side note I did make Ben take the kids to school for a week, it was nice).

As expected Kindergarten graduation lived up to it's uneventful expectations, names were read and kids walked across the stage. I'm not sure how Bear felt about the whole thing, I'm sure he could gone without it but hey, we were there to support our child. Then of course afterwards there was cake and punch. Good times were had by all I'm sure. I guess I understand that Kindergarten can be a trying experience for some kids, the separation from Mom and Dad for a prolonged period of time, learning new things and meeting new friends. The dynamic change of being a class room full of strangers and having to work together to follow the rules and learn at the same time could be a challenge but do we really have to celebrate the "successful completion" of the year in a graduation format, I'm not so sure.

Either way here are a few snapshots I was able to gather, while setting up the cake table, nursing a baby and trying hard not to fall asleep from my lack of sleep. At least I was not quite as big as a cow for this day. Plus Bear does look pretty cute in his little graduation hat.

Welcome Quintten Fisher

Well what seems like at long last, we are welcoming our little surprise into the world. After a very unsettled discovery of his impending birth, we have made it to the pregnancy finish line. So here is his birth story. After much continuous debate over little man's due date, the doctor and midwife decided they would take the "medically" acceptable route and use the due date based on the sonogram. Never mind listening to mom about this one, she might not have any idea of her own body. Oh wait, I digress. They decided that his due date would be May 9th, instead of May 15th. He made his debut on May 16th. We can look at it that he was a week late or one day late. I'll let you decide for yourself.

I was very busy all day out promoting a photography campaign and walking around, getting in and out of the car, and just being busy overall. Which was good in that I was moving and it probably helped to bring him into the world, all the constant movement. Needless to say I was having some contractions throughout the day, but was leery of letting the midwife know because I had a false alarm earlier in the week. We did not want a repeat of that one. Finally by about 4:30pm I made the decision to call in team Oma and let the Midwife know we were going to be heading up to the birth center. After we picked up the kids from school and had them deposited at the house with Oma, we grabbed the bag and food, and we're on our way. Now by the time we got there it was about 5:30pm and a sub midwife checked me out and said ". . . No I don't think you are in labor, just go to the movies, have dinner or go home and maybe we'll see you in the morning." She's pretty lucky I've grown so much otherwise I think I would have made her cry. She had no clue! I know when I'm in labor, as a general rule. I was in LABOR.

Well we decided to stick around and go to dinner. So when I say we went to dinner, I was there just to occupy a seat while Ben ate and I had contractions. I'm pretty sure the pregnant lady and her friend at a table across from us thought I was crazy. As I sat there and breathed through my contractions and tried hard not to breath in the smell of the pizza I did not eat, yuck. I really wanted that pizza too. So of course Ben has to go to the bathroom as we are leaving, and I'm pretty sure I had at least two contractions while I was waiting on him. I bet the people coming in to eat dinner were not expecting to see a laboring woman before their meal. Oh well the gift of life, right. Ben FINALLY is finished and we make our way to the car. I have a contraction right in the middle of the road, which I have to stop for, therefore holding up a car coming into park. Good times, just in case you did not figure this out, but I'm in labor.

We make it to the car, and call the midwife again to just make sure she is on her way. We can't get into the birth center without her. All I want to do is lie down. I'm so tired, from walking around all day and maybe from being 9 months (10) pregnant. We beat the midwife to the birth center, since we were about five minutes away and I think she was about 15. We waited in the car, for her to arrive. By now it's after 7pm. She gets there and we can finally get started.

I'm sure there was checking, potty breaks and lots of other good stuff. But most of that is just a memory blur. I did have to get some IV antibiotics which was fun, and we were only able to do one bag, since he came so "fast." When we would take bathroom trips, it was a "long" walk down the hallway. But we had the whole place to ourselves, since the tub in the room we were in was not working right so we had to go to the other room. At one point she shook my belly to help him move down further in the birth canal since I guess he was either up to far or turned a little bit, not quite ready to make his way down. I would have to ask Ben to make sure. Anyway that was pretty fun, and felt a little funny but over all it was pretty good. We did not labor in the birthing tub since I don't like to take baths so we waited until the very end to make our way into the tub.

I think it was about 10:20pm when I said I was finally ready to get in the tub. One more bathroom break. A quick check to see how far along I was dilated, about an eight and half (8.5) and she finally broke my water. I had been asking for that once I got there. One contraction on the way to the tub which was not far just off the bed and into the tub. I climbed in, let my body float, which was pretty cool. And a GIANT contraction and he was on his way out. No one had time to prepare to catch this baby, no gloves were on so Ben had to help him make his way out. But wait there's more. He got a little stuck so they had me turn around, and by the time I did that it helped him move and I was able to push him out right in the water. Ben got a chance to help catch him while the midwife put her gloves on. It was by far the best birthing experience yet. I told her I would let her know when he was coming but I guess once that water bag was released it took no time at all for him to arrive. Eight (8) minutes from water breaking to baby in my arms. That's all it took. So I made a point to say that we could have done that earlier and we could have all been sleeping sooner, ha, ha.

I had really low iron for a long period during my pregnancy so they were very cautions when he was birthed to get me out of the tub quickly. So I'm a little sad I don't have any tub pictures. But it's better to be safe than dead. My iron levels finally came up enough so that they felt comfortable with me birthing at the center, so it was all good. We did get mineral bath pictures, it's a special bath baby and mom get to take after delivery. It helps with the healing process, and smells a little funny but hey.

So Quintten Fisher Thesing made his debut on May 16, 2013 at 10:38 pm weighting in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and he was 21 1/4 inches long. He beat Cooper in the height but they matched for weight. His birth was awesome, I totally should have switched to a midwife when we came back to Texas but was too lazy. I loved it! I'm pretty sure Ben agrees, except for the fact that they kicked us out of the birth center at about 3am. I had to wake Ben up so we could go home. Then I had the chance to recover at home and enjoy my new bundle of joy.

First Communion

At long last, or so it seems, Isabelle is celebrating her First Communion. A special right of passage for 8 year olds or older in the Catholic faith. She could hardly wait until it was her turn. After celebrating with Gabby two years ago. She was able to share her special occasion with her grand parents and Aunt Penny, plus her crazy brothers. After four months of planning and learning her day had finally arrived and she was ready. All her preparation was well used when the day finally came and she was able to have communion for the first time. She was pretty excited about this right of passage, and could hardly wait.

Decllan's First hair cut

Now I know that most little kids don't like to sit still and do one thing for very long but this was just ridiculous. Decllan was terrible upset about the entire experience, and screamed or cried the entire hair cut. What kid does that? He was so traumatized by the whole experience that I dread taking him to get it done again. How will he react? Will he scream or be peaceful? At least he did not do anything malicious to the hair dresser, like bite or hit her. It was just crazy! But alas he looks so much more like a big boy now that he has his hair cut. His little baby face is slowly melting away as he gets older. I can already see a difference from when we took pictures in late November to, today. My baby is getting so big. I know he won't be the baby much longer, but I still want to be able to savor these last few weeks before he becomes a big brother. Well at least now he looks the part, with his fancy first hair cut. At least I did not wait as long as I did with Isabelle to get his hair cut. They have the same type of hair, that's why I say that.

March a Month in Review

March opened up with outdoor sports starting, spring break and Easter all in one. With outdoor sports starting we are going to be very busy this Spring season. We will have three kids playing five sports. You might ask, how are you going to manage that, I'm just not sure. No just kidding it will all work out, not all games will be on the weekend and I'm sure practice will change from time to time. So here is a little preview of what a busy week would look like.

Monday - Girl Scouts for Isabelle and T-ball practice/game for Cooper
Tuesday - Baseball for Barrett

Wednesday - Soccer Practice for Isabelle

Thursday - T-ball Practice for Cooper, Soccer practice for Barrett, and/or Softball game/ practice for Isabelle


Friday - Soccer practice for Isabelle

Saturday - Baseball game & Soccer game for Barrett, T-ball Game for Cooper (one weekend Isa had softball games as well)


Sunday - Soccer game for Isabelle, Baseball Practice for Barrett

Whew what a week. And that is just our sports schedule. That does not include homework and projects for the kids schools. I know we are crazy but we love it. The kids all have a blast playing their sports and really enjoy bonding with their teammates. Isabelle is starting to really get to know the girls on her soccer team and develop relationships with them. Same with Barrett and his baseball team. Cooper loves to have Ben out there with him on the field. Sometimes we have to divide and conquer but it all gets done.

I really don't remember much from Spring Break, but I think at least one kid went to a grandparents house, maybe two of them I'm not really sure. I don't think I did much, but hey I can do that.



Easter on the other hand was great. We enjoyed Easter dinner and an egg hunt out at my parents’ house, where the kids played outside for hours and really loved every minute of it. I really want to move out to the country. I think I took a nap that day too, which I did because I can. It was a very nice day and everyone had a great time.

February a Month in Review

Well all of my days are starting to run together and I'm very behind on my blogging. I know I should try harder but there is just not enought time in the day. So I'm going to do a little month in review.

Let's see what did we do:

Basketball for Barrett, this is was much better year than last year. He played well and was not an airplane too many times on the court. The coaches, Ben and his buddy Durwood did a great job of trying to help all of their players score at least once during the season. I'm pretty sure only one player did not score, no matter how hard they all tried to help him out. One of the shortest kids on the team did the best job, and was a little spit fire on the court. I think they had a blast.




Isabelle and Ben attended the Arlington Classics Academy (ACA) Father Daughter Dance again this year and had a blast. While I took formal pictures for the event. It was actually nice this year I could see more of what was going on and got to share in the experience a little bit better since we were are all the same floor. Last year the venue was two stories. She also played indoor soccer this winter and really started rocking it in goal. She is turnig out to be a pretty good little goalie. It almost seems pretty natural for her.




Cooper was just Cooper, he is gearing up for T-ball to start in the spring and testing my limits on what he can and cannot do. Some days it's trying while others it is a real joy.



Decllan is growing up so fast. He is almost a year and half old and just keeps learning more and more new stuff everyday. He really loves Cooper, and follows him around and does pretty much everything he does. It's kind of cute and a little bit worriesome. He misses his company when Cooper is at school but at least he has Mommy. Decllan is really starting to talk and sign more each day and picks up new signs everyday, I just love it.

Happy 4th Birthday Cooper

For Cooper's 4th Birthday we held a Super Hero party at the house. He had so much fun with his friends and family being a super hero and putting their mad skills to the test. Ben made up a little super hero training course for the kids to participate in and they all did wonderful. It is truly amazing to see our kids move around and how their gross motor skills differ from kids their own age. Everyone made it through the course with flying colors and had amazing fun, playing, jumping and just being kids. We even made cards for the real heros out there who serve our country every day, away from their families.

I tried to make it fun for the adults as well, by labling all of the food something different than what it actually was. So I had x-ray bites, and speed enhancer balls, and so much more. It was actually lots of fun trying to come up with names for the food to match the party. My little batman did not really care but I sure did. Plus the food was all a big hit, I'm not sure why people insist on giving kids unhealthy stuff to eat at parties, all my party goers ate like real super heros food that will help their bodies.


We did have cake, which I would normally been happy with but the red frosting looked pink. I told the girl why not use green then. Oh yeah we could have done that. Duh! Sometimes I wonder how people function. Of course the color of the frosting did not make a difference to the kids, they still ate the cake which was the point. They loved it! Overall I think Cooper turning 4 worked out great.

Bear's Concert

Shortly after the kids came back from Winter Break, the kindergarten classes held a little concert for the parents. Bear did great. He paid attention, knew all the words to the songs, and had a blast. His concert was much better than the last one Isabelle's class held. Either way, it was great to see him perform and really enjoy himself. He was a little envious of Isabelle because she had done two performance and they did not done any. Now he has and is a happy camper. He has such great tone, that I'm glad he enjoy's singing and does well at it. I hope we get to hear him sing again before the year is out.

Chinese Lantern Festival

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In January we all visited the Chinese Lantern Festival at Fair Park. It was so cool! The exhibit, it was freezing outside, everyone was bundled up and ready for the weather. I had been looking forward to this exhibit for months, I purchased discounted tickets from Groupon, well before the event started, and waited and waited, then the day finally came. So instead of me talking about what we saw I shall give you a highlight of a few of the lanterns.

The Big Surprise

It may come as a shock to some of you who have not received a Christmas card, that we are expecting number five (5). That's right something went wrong in the process and here we are again expanding our family by one more. Needless to say this has been quite a shock to me and I still don't think I have my mind wrapped around the idea of another child. I know I only have so long to get ready for this and the baby will be here before we know it.

The real stinker is that I had started getting rid of baby stuff once Decllan had reached a certain point. Mostly baby clothes, smaller diapers and things like the floor play mat and high chair. The good part, I guess, is that I still have the big stuff like the crib, dresser/changing table, car seat and stroller. I did give away every stich of maternity clothing I owned mostly because who wants to keep that around as a reminder. There has been some adjustments that have needed to been made, but I think we might make it.

The funny part was the kids did not even believe us when we told them. Since we had previously told them that we would not be having any more kids, they were like, Mommy's not pregnant she said no more. Well at least they listened to me on that.

For our big reveal on the gender I had the idea to keep it a secret from everyone and create a box that the kids would open and balloons would fly out that are the color of the gender. Pretty clever; except my kids always fight over balloons.

So this is what we did. It was pretty fun, for them, but Isabelle cried for 30 minutes, and was almost inconsolable. Pour girl, she will be one among four (4) brothers. She prayed really hard for a sister but it was just not meant to be. Bear was excited, and Cooper still thinks the baby will be a girl. Too funny!If you look you won't even see her behind the box, she is crying already.

Merry Christmas

Well it's that time of the year again were we celebrate Christmas with the birth of Christ and Santa. I know what a combination but hey it's what has happened with commercialization. Oh well, at least the kids have tons of fun. The older two both received weapons for Birthday/Holiday and can hardly wait to test them out and practice their targeting. Cooper received a new big boy bike, free of training wheels. While Decllan received some musical instruments, he really loves music.

Over all it was a pretty good day, they kids really enjoyed themselves and had a blast in the freak snow storm we had on Christmas. We enjoyed spending time at Oma and Grandpa Don's new house. While visiting with Uncle Adam and the grandparents; it was a very nice relaxing holiday for all of us. I even got in a little nap.