sometimes...

Sometimes I lose my children. yes, it is true, don't judge me.:)  I lost little sambo a few days ago and found him outside skating. He thinks he knows how to do the things his big siblings do - so he tends to sneak off to give them a try.  Apparently skating is easier to do in the nude - mommy cramped his style by throwing a diaper on for the pictures! The nerve!  Anyway, so if or WHEN you see my one of munchkins streaking down the sidewalk, remember not to judge me - most likely I  have an infant attached to me (if you know what i mean) while trying to make peanut butter sandwiches with the other hand! I am still trying to get the hang of this 5 kid thing.  sometimes i just have to laugh at the situation and snap a few pictures!

the big FIVE.

                          today you turned 5.  i can't get over how quickly you have turned from
                           toddler to this BEAUTIFUL little girl.  i wish i could just bottle you up
                           in a jar and keep you this way forever. thanks for all your hugs and kisses
                           (i really do get about a million a day from you) i wouldn't have it any other
                           way though. you really are my little ray of sunshine! love you sweet girl.
                                     love,
                                    mommy

munchkins

Rachel and Emily have been dying to have me take their pictures with Sawyer. Sam wanted in on a few of them...that didn't last long...he has the attention span of a 2 year old for sure!:) Zach wasn't home, so that's why he isn't in them. I am sure he will be SO disappointed that he missed out on this one (yeah right) :)

    this is where things went down hill...quickly. 
    sam, get your fingers out of your mouth please!!!!  notice sawyers hand on emily's chin!:)

         sam, don't eat your brother.

karate kid

Those of you who know my little zach (although he is NOT so little anymore) know that he is a quiet, people pleaser, rule follower, tender hearted 9 year old. I was surprised when he decided he wanted to join a karate class back in January.  I just couldn't see him enjoying the "fighting" that i thought went on in karate. Well, i was wrong. It has been the BEST thing for him...ever. His self confidence has quadrupled and he really, truly lives for it. He moved up to a yellow belt last week...now he thinks he is hot stuff! His instructors keep telling paul and i that he is such a good boy - VERY intense and focused for his age. We already knew that, but it was fun to hear it from him!

a vision

I have had a vision for this little shoot for months now. I even made my father in law save this tree trunk for me! He even soaked it in water and propped it up on boards to make sure the bugs would stay out of it! How cute is he? I know. he SPOILS me.:)  I have been too darn worn out to even really photograph baby Sawyer, and here he is, 3 weeks old already and almost 9 pounds! I knew if I wanted this shot... I had to do it TODAY.
i won't lie. I kinda love it.

 oh, and yes, i am in mourning over Sam's haircut. I knew it was time to cute off the mop, but he looks sooo grown up. i guess the little stink IS officially 2 now, so out came the buzzers for a summer hair do.


Yes, he does wake up occasionally....he is an amazing little sleeper.

                        it cracks me up that he literally TIPS the scale...chubba bubba!:)

little soybean...

thank you, thank you for all the sweet sawyer love!!!! We have been spoiled rotten by so many of you, i can't believe how blessed we are to have such special family and friends! we love you!

 I have had a few requests for a "birth story" i have never done that before, mainly cause my births are pretty plain jane routine. You would think by baby #5 it wouldn't be any different....wrong.

At 7:30am we checked into the hospital to be induced. The nurse checked me to make sure he wasn't breech (the doc had checked the day before as well) we were good to go! Paul and I sat and watched TV (of course i was in charge of the remote!) Around noon a nurse came into fix the monitor that was tracking his heartbeat. She tried and tried but couldn't pick up his heart. I knew that was odd, cause by this point he should be big enough to find it just about anywhere. Nurse #2 came in...same thing....nothing. I could tell they were starting to get concerned, but they were insistent that everything was alright. By the time the 3rd nurse (25min later) had taken a stab at it, i was almost sure something had gone terribly wrong. I remember looking at paul only once, for fear that his face would show it all. Finally, there there it was, she had found his little heartbeat! The on call doctor brought in an ultrasound machine to take a look - the little stinker was breech again!!! Nobody could believe it! My nurse said in 16 years she has never seen a baby flip 5 hours into labor! My doctor was called and on his way to tell me my options (he was about 25min away at his regular hospital.) We could either go home and wait for him to flip (heck no!) have a c- section, or try rotating him externally. We opted for the rotating. Before i knew it, papers were being put in front of me to sign, a shot to relax my uterus was given, pitocin turned off and the extremely painful pushing began. It took 2 male doctors to get him to flip, but at least he did! Oh, and mr. hunky young resident was invited into observe the "situation"...lovely.
  Everything was started up again and back to normal for the next 5 hours. My epidural didn't work very well at all. I could feel everything on my left side and almost everything on the right. By the time it was pushing time it was pretty much long gone! People do this natural everyday, right? I thought I could do it too.
HOLY CRAP...how do people do it???? He was posterior so he took forever to be born. My doctor kept saying "we can stop and get the anesthesiologist in here." I really didn't want to have to stop and wait for him and then wait for it to kick in again. I sucked it up and did it! Yes, hunky resident man was right there watching again! At this point I didn't care at all. I had my little baby in my arms and  at this point all i wanted was a drink of ice water and some food!!!!
My doctor said sawyer was a "little Sh***" which cracked me up, cause i have never heard him swear in the 10 years of seeing him!
  Anyway, we all made it through and are so in love with this little guy. Sam is having a really hard time, he doesn't want anything to do with me since i have been home. I sure hope he gets back to normal soon, i miss him.
  Here is round one of baby sawyer's newborn pics.:)

He's here!

It is FINALLY time to meet our newest little man...

                             sawyer alexander bolton
                              8lbs 19in....perfection.

             daddy snapped this picture of mama and her babies all together for the first time. i love it.