Guess who's here?????

I'd like to announce the newest member of our family

Lukas Henry Mrazek

January 11th   1:54 am     

7lbs 12oz    20 3/4 inches

He decided to arrive four weeks early. There were some complications with him being so early. I'll try and keep it short but want to document a little just for memory.

We went on a family hike/walk after my regular check-up that morning where I reported "everything seems to be normal". About 20 minutes into our adventure the contractions started. And never stopped. There came on full force and were about 90 seconds to 2 minutes apart. I had never really gone through labor ( I did with Max but had an epidural so I didn't feel any pain. That delivery ended in a c-section and Alex was a scheduled c-section as well). I figured it was because I was walking and needed to lay down and drink water.

We finished our afternoon outside and by the time we got to the car I was pretty sure I was in labor but insisted on trying to make the contractions go away with rest first. They were still roughly 2 minutes apart. By the time we got home I could hardly sit they were so painful.

Came home, rested, still strong. Rested more, drank water, called my Mom, still strong. Rested, ate something, still strong. Then I started bleeding and called Kaiser. They wanted me to come in right away. All hell broke loose trying to get us out of the house. I still had a month to prepare for this moment.

We figured it out and made it to the hospital where we found out they were experiencing a "birthquake". Apparently every other pregnant lady in my county went in to labor that day too. So there was some waiting. They found out the cord was under his head which meant I was "urgent but not emergent" and I was instructed not to laugh too hard (which threw me into a fit of giggles), walk to the bathroom (which got me a catheter without any pain meds...yowza!), cough, sudden moves or do anything that could make my water break.

By the time I got to the OR I thought I was going to die for sure. Contractions are PAINFUL! I guess I'm a wimp too but I could hardly move by the time they got me in there.

Then I got my spinal....and everything was perfect.

Except the baby. Being 4 weeks early  he still had some developing to do. Breathing was one of them. He was placed in their nursery (level 2 NICU...I learned it's for the "less serious" babies) and was on oxygen, feeding tube and a CPAP machine for several days. Every day we tried new things and every day he improved. Some moments took us a step backwards but in the end he fought his way through. We were there for 7 days.

It was scary but after getting to know some of the nursing staff I was was comforted that he was going to be fine. He just had some growing to do. Oh, that staff...I really miss them. Our experience there was FANTASTIC from start to finish.Every single person we came in contact with was incredible.

We have been home for 7 days and we are all adjusting to life with three boys. Hmm.. lots of growing to do on my part too. Max and Alex are in heaven with him (so far) and Lukas is doing great. He's gaining weight and his jaundice is almost gone (although in most pictures he looks like a yellow marker).

We are so in love...again... Welcome to the world Lukas!

(Well that wasn't short now was it)!

Christmas 2011

We had a fantastic Christmas this year. I posted about the Santa beard countdown's and here they are all...well...full. The boys got to choose where they wanted the cotton balls. So there you have it!

Max asked Santa for a Polar Express train several times this year. They love watching the movie, we have spent several nights watching it and drinking hot chocolate. He was thrilled when Santa granted his wish. How fun to wake up to it traveling around the tree.

They also got new bikes! They have been riding them around the neighborhood and at the school down the street having a blast with them.

We were very lucky to have a nice Christmas this year. The boys were happy and we were able to have several parties with our families. Looking forward to next year when we have three boys to make it special!

My little artists

Max: Mom, I drew a picture for you for Daddy because you are in love. (I'm pink)
Me: Oh, Max, that is great! You're right. I love Daddy very much. Will you draw him next to me?
Max: Okay Mom. (...coloring...) Daddy is taller than you, Mom. And his eyes are bigger.
Me: Yes he's taller than me (...looking at picture...). Aw, Max that is so nice.
Max: Yes it is. But you are yelling at him now.

Eh...no one's perfect.
(Maybe that's why he has big eyes? ha!)

Alex colored today too. All over the wall. Yay!

Keeping the boys busy

Just a little of what is going on with us lately.

The boys have been busy with Christmas crafts, coloring, decorating, tearing apart the tree, enjoying lights, singing Christmas songs, watching Christmas movies, etc. We are really enjoying the holiday this year. The boys are "getting " it which  makes it SO FUN!

We made Advent calendar's this year. I cut everything out, they glued it all together and each day they glue on a cotton ball to make Santa's beard really long. They are having fun with it. I'll take a photo of the finished product in a couple weeks.

Getting outside for walks is  getting a little harder for me these days so when I have the energy I try to get out with them. We walked to the elementary school down the street and the boys had fun with their scooters.

Max had his first dentist visit. He did great!

We discovered a new park in town and the boys had a blast. This particular slide is a little steep, it was an immediate favorite.

We made some cookies yesterday. My original plan was for the boys to decorate them to hand out. The actual plan? We ate all of them. Oinkers.

We had some of Erik's family up over the weekend to celebrate Christmas/Santa Lucia. His sister, Nicole, and family stayed the night Saturday night and the kids had so much fun playing together. When I woke up I found a full breakfast made and these four ready to eat! Alex, Vivian, Max and Ethan.  Erik's Mom and Grandma joined us on Sunday and we had a really fun celebration. It's a nice way to start the holiday parties with family.

(I accidentally posted two of these,  for some reason I can't delete one. Sorry.)

Erik is crazy busy right now with both jobs. He's still working full time nights as a paramedic and picks up a shift or two a week with the hospital. In between that, he's applying for fire jobs. I'm learning quickly that can take up just as much time as a job. Prepping for interviews (there could be three interviews per department, then multiple testing, then physicals, etc. It's a long process), studying skills, leaning about the town, scheduling times, researching locations that are hiring, filling out applications, etc. It's nice there are so many places hiring locally, but that increases the applicants too. So there could be 300 applicants for 3 positions. We enjoy the time we have with him here and are waiting patiently for this to all calm down. Could be several months (or years?).

I'm pregnant. And feeling it. The sweet baby boy is growing quickly but doing well. I can physically feel the changes in my body (hips, etc) and am having a harder time getting around with the boys. Max is probably tired of hearing me say "Okay, Mommy has to rest for a few minutes now". I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so we've been working with that to keep my blood sugars under control. Some days it's hard and some are easy. Some days I feel like I'm following the diet perfectly and my numbers end up high, and vice versa. I really like my doctor and I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. It's a busy time of year in general so there is less time to focus on the days I have left (unless you are my sister Kristen, she has her own countdown going. Ha!).

We are very lucky this time of year to have great family, our health, employment, and a home as well as all the little "things" that make our days run smoothly. We are very blessed.

4th birthday for Max!

If You ask Max what it means to turn 4, he's tell you "Um...wellllll...It meeeeeeaaaans to be nice and polite and to be a big boy....and my voice will chaaaaaange. And that's it." He was very sad he did not wake up with a changed voice. He got over it pretty quickly though. Woke up to a table full of gifts and a fun day planned.

If you ask Alex what it means for his brother to turn 4, it means the worst day of his life. Sharing is reeeeeally hard. Even for a four-year-old.

Birthday cake...

Biiig smiles for the camera....

Spending the day playing with toys...and...sharing! Yes, sharing.

Max wanted to go bowling for his birthday. He's played bowling on the Wii and played with his own bowling pins and loves both of them. We walked into the bowling alley and his first words were "Wow! This place is so awesome!" Real bowling is a bit harder than what he's played at home but he tried his best and had a great time. He's asked to back every day.

(Alex beat all of us. We got creamed by a two-year-old. But shhh...we left with the winning birthday boy!)

He asked for Chick-fil-A  for dinner. Yum! Easy to please.

I can't believe he's FOUR! He is such a funny, smart, talented, sassy, loving sweet boy. We sure love every little part of him. Happy Birthday Max! There is a lot of four-year-old fun headed your way!

Last Minute Party

When I say last minute, I mean we planned and put this party together in under 2 hours.

Over our Thanksgiving week our family was sick. And when I say our family, I mean 21 out of 26 people were in bed for days. It was hit or miss if we'd see family at planned events but it was highly contagious and it hit hard. We decided this was not an illness for wimps. It. Was. Rough.

Anyway...

We had planned a little birthday party for the cousins and had to cancel. So we decided we'd have a "come-if-you've-had-it-or-are-feeling-well-enough-to attend" party. We wanted to celebrate Addy (who was in town from San Diego), Max, Jordan, Andrew and Clay. And we pulled it off. It was pretty calm (calm for a Mills family party) and we missed the family that couldn't make it, but are sending get well wishes to them.

After everyone left Max said "This is the best birthday ever!" (His real bday is next week). He opened his first Hot Wheels toy here (first hot wheels thing other than the actual cars) and yelled "HOT WHEELS!" is the deepest, manly voice.

He also got a Monster Truck game for the Wii. He LOVES Monster Trucks and is learning the game. I've heard quite a few times "Daaaaad, when is it my turn?"

Side note: See Alex looking at a Cars book...we are having quite the lesson in sharing...it's a hard lesson to learn.

The ultimate gift. My parents gave his an ambulance. This is the ambulance he dances in front of when he sees it at Costco. I finally talked him out of sleeping with it in his bed, and convinced his next to his bed is better. The lights on the rig acted as his night light, and he kissed it good night and everything.  He sure loves his new "alabance" and taking patients to the "hoxtibal".

I absolutely love this picture of Addy. Addy's parents stayed at my parents house since they were ill so Addy got to come up without them. She had so much fun playing with her cousins and opening presents. And wearing our Pirate hat. She recently took a trip to Disneyland and she told me all about it. She is so sweet. We all wish they lived closer.

We celebrated Clay, who was counting up the dollars in his head as we went along...

..And Andrew. Who smiled a lot. And was very happy...

 ...and we celebrated Jordan too. The teenager. Who was happy with his gifts, despite his teenage expression.

Thanks to my family for making the last-minute trip to Vacaville to celebrate the kids! We had a great time!

October in Pictures

I thought I'd just upload the October pictures from the camera. They are pretty self explanatory. We had a great month.  A bit warmer than I'd like. It was over 90 degrees when we visited the Pumpkin Patch. That makes it really hard to get into the fall feeling. But, the kids still had fun.

 

Watch Out...cutest picture ever!

******************************

Our Fireman and Pirate. Um...this is Max's tough pose. And Alex wanted to lose his nose with his super sharp hook. Funny boys. They were very proud of their costumes.

***************************

Getting ready to carve.

***********

We were able to go to the Kapele's costume parade at their school on Halloween morning. My Mom brought Riley up...I mean...Snow White. They got to tag along for part of the parade and they thought it was the best thing ever!

After that, Grandma took us out for donuts and chocolate milk. Yum!

They had a great time trick-or-treating with friends too. Alex caught on quickly and was running the best he could from house to house with the bigger kids. They crashed quickly that night. It was a fun month!

We're all looking forward to a cooler time of year!

I'm having withdrawals

My Mom just got to go to Disneyland with Addy and Cohen (I'd link it, but their family blog is private. Addy and Cohen are my youngest brother's children). I loved hearing about their trip. She said they had a fantastic time and loved making new memories with them.

So with all the Disney talk, I'm missing it like crazy. I never really felt like this about Disneyland until I had kids. I have great memories of going there as a child with my family, and once with a school group. But, something changes when you can see the excitement in your own child's face.

Max fell in love with Pirates last time and repeated the song for almost an entire meal.

Then turned the park map into his treasure map. With trusty Mr. Smee by his side. (I'm pretty sure I posted this before). He sang it during his "hunt" but apparently I didn't get that part on film.

We have since printed and learned the correct words to the whole song. I often hear "Mom! Can you get the words?" We sing it frequently.

We miss you Disneyland.

Hopefully we will see you soon!