Well, I guess I'm giving this a go. . ..

I have NO clue how successful I'll be, or how interesting it will be to read in the end, but I'm giving it a go, and seeing where the road takes me. I'd like to think I'm ok at putting my thought, feeling and emotions into writing, but we'll see. It can certainly be different when you put it out there for the entirety of the world wide web to see!!!

So, lets get the formal introductions out of the way. I'm Jamie, and I'm 26 years old. I've been married to Todd for 7 1/2 years. We're actually high school sweethearts who started dating in marching band way back in the day. Ok, so maybe not WAY back, but we've been together for almost 11 years now. We were lucky. We were best friends that kinda realized we had this connection. I personally think that we have one of the best relationships I've ever seen. I feel totally and completely lucky to have him in my life, and to know that I get to share and experience with him all the little things life has to offer. And here we stand, all these years, and four kids later! Yep, I said four kids. And yes, that makes four kids by the ripe old age of 26. Well, technically it was 4 kids by the time I was 24, since that's how old I was when the last two were born!

My kids are pretty darn amazing if I do say so myself. Dallas is my oldest. He was born May 4, 2001, a whopping 6 weeks early. My pregnancy with him was the most terrifying experience I think I've EVER gone through. I was 19 years old, pregnant, newly married, and things took a drastic turn. I found out at only 20 weeks 5 days that I was already dilated to 4 cm, and if they didn't start rushing things I was going to lose my baby. It turns out that I have a condition called incompetent cervix. They rushed me to a near by hospital, and put in a cerclage, and I was kept on strict bedrest from that day, until the day my water broke at 34 weeks. I was very lucky he held on that long! He was born weighing 5 pounds 15 ounces, and was 18 inches long. He had a condition called bradycardia that we knew about before he was born, so they treated him for that in the level 2 nursery, as well as jaundice, unable to suck/eat, and not being able to regulate his own temp. He came out of it just fine, and you'd never know now that this little boy who is about to turn 7 was the same little runt we brought home from the hospital. He is my tender heart. He's so loving and caring, and SUCH a great big brother. He loves music, and is most definitely a people person! He amazes us each and every day with just how grown up he is! He's currently a 1st grader, and he's excelling SO much. he's reading at almost a 4th grade level, and is SO smart! As part of the complications of Dallas's pregnancy, he was left with something called a mitendorf dot. This has since turned into a cataract, and we're facing surgery this summer with that. That, however, is a story for another day!

That brings me to my Gabey baby. He was our total surprise baby. I found out that I was pregnant with him when Dallas was only 6 months old. Yes, if you're doing the math, that means that my first two children are VERY close in age. Not quite Irish twins, but close! My pregnancy with Gabe was a BREEZE compared to my first. I was SO convinced it was a girl, because of how different things were! But, bouncing baby boy number 2, Gabriel was born on July 8, 2002. He weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces, and was 19 inches long! Its amazing how in that moment you entire life can change! Gabriel was a fairly easy baby, so long as we could get the right formula for him to eat. That was about his only issues. . . .until he hit 6 months old. We were out at the in laws visiting, and my mother in law said "Is this normal?" i knew instantly that it was a seizure, and off to the ER we went. The next few years that would follow would be full of random seizures, pediatric neurologist visits, and different medications. And of course, never an answer as to WHY there were seizures. He is now seizure free. Has been for almost 2 1/2 years! He's our happy go lucky 5 1/2 year old who loves donkeys, batman, and sharks, all with a fierce passion! He's currently in kindergarten where he too is excelling! He's in the top reading group, and is also a smart cookie!!

The fun thing about Dallas and Gabriel is that they never remember a day without each other, and are really truly the best of friends. They are exactly 14 months and 4 days apart, and now that we're past the piggybacking of stages they couldn't be any closer. Well, of course until you put something into the equation that they both want. Then they fight like any brothers do!

This now brings me to my youngest two munchkins. Kaleb and Kendyl. Yes, they are twins, No, we didn't name them both with K's because they are twins! Kaleb and Kendyl are the result of 2 years of infertility after Gabe was born. We had decided to try to have a third and final child about the time Gabe was 2. That way there wouldn't be much of an age gap, and the kids could all be in simular times in their life together. Of course the best laid plans don't always work. we couldn't get pregnant so we wound up going to an infertility meeting. They put me on Chlomid, and go try. Three short months later, we were pregnant. Its amazing how shocking that can be when you've tried for so long. I just stared at that positive test and thought "wow, really?" I can so vividly remember the feeling. Here was this positive test blaring back at me even though just the week before the doctor had just finished telling me she didn't think it had worked this month, we might have to up the meds, and try again. Then came the dating ultrasound. The one they need to do because the need a 100% accurate date to do the cerclage with. . . I remember laying there with Todd to my left, watching the screen knowing fully what we were watching since we'd had just a few of these things done in the past. And we were joking about the odds of twins, and how we only saw one baby on there. And just as we said that, we watched as the screen showed a truly magical thing. That one little bubble that contained one little baby, seemed to magically split. We just stared at the screen, not needing to say anything because we KNEW. It was truly a laugh or cry moment. Do you laugh because you were in that 2% risk for twins with chlomid, or do you cry because even though you know your dream of four kids really is going to come true even though you decided on 3 pregnancies. Or closer in our mind, do we cry because we know how hard of a pregnancy its going to be, knowing my condition, and how hard it is to carry ONE! We skated through the pregnancy, and managed to do so quite well if i do say so myself! July 13, 2005, Kendyl was born first, and weighed in at 5 pounds 14.4 ounces and 18 inches long(they rounded her down to 5 pounds 14 ounces) and Kaleb was born 30 seconds later weighing in at 5 pounds 14.8 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. (they rounded him up to 5 pounds 15 ounces.). The birth of the twins has forever changed us. Fortunately we'd had a mini test run with the boys as to what life with twins could be like, and I really didn't' find it that hard. It was just a matter of doing things twice. Kaleb and Kendyl were both good babies. Kaleb had a run in with RSV at 6 months that leaves us terrified any time he gets croup, or a cough, because it seems to get bad so fast. But other than that they have been healthy! Kaleb is our little clown. He will do anything in the name of humor. He regularly walks into the middle of the room, gets your attention, laughs, and then says "OH NO! I'm falling" . Only in his sweet little 2 1/2 year old Kaleb talk that many can't understand! He's also the most empathetic little person I've ever met! We don't ever have to tell him to apologize to his siblings if he's hurt them. He KNOWS when he's done wrong, and he apologizes on his own. He's also a little snuggler. He tells us every night after dinner "I 'nuggo' you now?" He loves to curl up on the couch, and just hang with us! Kendyl is our little princess. She is already a little miss mommy, and already has these boys wrapped around her little finger! She can be sweet as honey one minute, and the next she'll snap and you don't know which way she'll go. A real little lady already! She is really enjoying having girl toys in the house, now that she's old enough for some of the things that are out there. And heaven FORBID one of the boys touch it! That just can't happen in her eyes! And i suppose she's right. As the only girl with all these boys, she'll have to protect her stuff for dear life, or risk them getting blown up in the back yard just like in the movie toy story.

So there you have it. Our life in a nutshell. Happily married, stay at home mommy, with a final score of 3 boys, 1 girl.