Calling All Mommies!!

Ok mommies, advice time!! As most of you know, my little Dru is almost four weeks old and even though this is my fourth baby you would think I have this newborn thing down...um, wrong!! This little boy has thrown me for a loop and I am in need of some mommy advice. SOO, here's the problem, as much as I love this little man and would cuddle him all day long...HE WANTS TO BE HELD ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT LONG!!!! He's such a cuddlier and definitely loves his mama, which I can't get enough of, but that's nearly impossible with three other little ones. He falls asleep in my arms, I put him down, he wakes up two seconds later screaming, I pick him back up, he snuggles right into the corner of my arm and falls right back asleep. I was ok with this for awhile, but am getting very sleep deprived and wondering if it's to early to make him cry it out so he starts falling asleep on his own.

The baby wise book says to start letting them do this at two weeks, but that seemed so little to me. The problem is even at four weeks he seems so little and it breaks my heart!! So, is it to early to do this or is it fine to let him cry himself to sleep so he starts learning how to put himself to sleep? I go back and forth !

Besides the sleeping thing he's a great baby! We are loving him to death and are so happy he is finally here with our family. Funny how before they get here you wonder what it will be like with them, and then once they get here you forget what life was like without them. My other kidos are adjusting pretty good, Talon has his occasional fits but that was like that before Dru was here! Hope you are all enjoying your summer and doing well, we love you all!!

Two weeks old

Life as we know it, as you can imagine with four kids 5 and under...is a little CRAZY!!! Just wanted to give a quick update on how my little man is doing and how we are keeping up with it all!
Dru had his two week appointment yesterday and went from 6.15 to 7.8! He also is 20.5 in long, so has grown a whole inch! So far he's a good baby. I say 'so far' because he's only two weeks old so who knows whats in store for us. The famous question seems to always be "Are you getting any sleep?"...haha, ya right. I don't know why people even ask that question with a newborn! He's a typical newborn, wanting to eat every two-three hours. Hates having a dirty or wet diaper and loves being cuddled of course! Night time comes around and he's either sleeping in mom's arms because both of them are exhausted and fell asleep like that or in the swing because he hates being flat. Just so you know sweet boy, this is ok for a little bit longer, but your mommy is all about getting you little ones on a sleeping schedule so life around here gets back to being somewhat normal again! Don't get me wrong, I love cuddling you and am finding 3 am feedings to actually be one of my favorite times of the day because I just get to hold you in the quiet of my bedroom while you stare at me with those big baby 'who knows what color yet', while we have conversations about the type of young man you're going to be, how you're going to adore your mommy, talks about girls and so on!!...but, come morning time I'm pretty sure your other siblings get the wrath of a tired mommy..so babywise schedule time here we come!! At first I felt bad because as you know it, I never am able to nurse you sweet babies for very long. I had to supplement in the hospital because you were pretty jaundice and needed more fluids and from thereon out you decided you liked the bottle more then me anyways! I told myself I wasn't going to stress about the 'breast feeding' thing this time around, and if it worked it worked, but if not I wasn't going to beat myself up about it. About two days ago I pumped and only got ONE ounce, so you are officially a bottle fed baby and loving it!
Brooklyn, Austin and Talon are LOVING having a baby around. Brooklyn is quite the little mommy, wanting to hold Dru all of the time, and Austin is already asking when he's going to start walking so he can teach him how to play soccer and play transformers. Soon enough my dear! Honestly Talon doesn't know what to think. His favorite quotes as of right now is, "MY mommy baby Dru!!"as he glares at him while Dru is so innocently sleeping in his swing. I've had to for sure give him alot of one on one time but besides that he's doing pretty good.
We have had alot of family come into town to help. As most of you know, Ben has had to travel with work alot, yes even since Dru was born. So I'm very grateful for his family coming the first week and mine coming the next. My mom stayed for 8 days and I loved having her company and help! I have the most amazing friends who have constantly been bringing in meals, gifts, phone calls, mowing my lawn, and helping me with my other kids. This has seriously opened my eyes to the importance of serving other and when I get to the point of wondering how I'm going to do this..someone always shows a helping hand and does something such as those that brings me to tears.
Yes, the hormones are worse for me after I have my babies considering I'm living on two hours of sleep every day on top of that! All someone has to do is ask the simple question," How are you?" and I can feel my throat tighten up and can't talk. My answer for those who are wondering that question...here's my answer. Yes it's crazy with for kids, yes it's hard, yes I'm living on no sleep and have my moments when i break down and can't stop crying, yes I'm feeling super home bound and have my days when i think I'm going to loose my mind, and yes sometimes nap time and bedtime are my favorite part of the day!..BUT at the same time...yes it's wonderful and amazing, yes I feel like the luckiest mommy in the world to be able to have four healthy happy vibrant little kids who love me and i love them, yes I love feeling needed by this little baby and would hold him and cuddle him all day long if I could, and yes being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the entire world, but i wouldn't trade it for anything and know that's what i was put here to do. I think the scariest part of being a mom is messing up. I know we all have our fears, and one of mine is that I'm doing this mommy thing the wrong way and with all of the bad that is going on this scary big world of ours, I'm somehow going to ruin one of them! I'm just hoping with lost of trust in my Heavenly Father and prayers that they will turn out ok! ha ha
Thank you again to all of those who have been so wonderful and supportive. It's amazing how much even the littlest gesture means during crazy times like these, so thank you thank you. Hope you are all enjoying your summer and living it up! Here are some pics I took of my beautiful tw week old Dr, enjoy!

Yes his mouth is always like this if he's awake! Why do they just assume it's time to eat if they are awake?

He of course has HUGE hands and feet condiering his daddy is 6'4.

Come back Grandma McSpadden!! Are you sure you can't just move in for three more months?

Sometimes I get smiles already!!

Hi mom!!

Mommies attment to take some newborn pics...didn't turn out the way she hoped!! Oh well, we will try again tomorrow!

Everything is way to big on him except his socks..that's been the case with all of my babies.

This is the "please mom, i know you just fed me but I'm still starving look."

Dru Benjamin Fullmer...HE'S HERE!!!

He's here!! Dru Benjamin Fullmer was has arrived! He was born Friday July 2nd at 11:24 p.m. He weighed 6lbs 15 ounces and was 19.5 in long. We love him so much and are enjoying our new bundle of joy. Here is his story!!

I knew throughout this whole pregnancy that I was going to have this little man early! It had been a pretty rough ride with this pregnancy and the last few weeks I knew he was on his way. I had been having contractions pretty strong a few days prior and when I went into my weekly appointment I was dilated to a three, the doc stripped my membranes and we crossed our fingers. A couple of days went by and nothing seemed to change, just the same contractions and getting more anxious. The night of the first I was up all night with contractions and knew I was close, Ben went into work the next morning and the contractions had stopped so the kids and I loaded up and went to Costco and Walmart and ran some errands. When i got home the contractions were off and on, so Ben called and said he wanted to take me in just to get checked. I told him over and over I didn't want to because I knew they would just send me home because i wasn't having any contractions, but he fought me on it so I gave in and took the kids to a friends and told her I would be back soon!

We went in, the nurse checked me, and I was at a 5! She told me she was going to monitor my contractions and watch me for an hour and then they would decide what we were going to do. Just by her checking me, the contractions started and were consistently 5 min. apart. Within a half hour I went from a 5 to a 6 and they decided to admit me and start the process! By then i was in some pain and decided to get my epidural. IT WAS WONDERFUL! I seriously could have taken a nap, it relaxed me so much! After that the dilation kind of slowed down so we just waited around for our little man to come. The doc came in a little bit later, broke my water, and Dru Benjamin Fullmer was born at 11:24 pm.

We had a little of scare when he first started coming, the cord was wrapped around his neck twice and his little heart rate was dropping drastically. The doc did a MAJOR episiotomy (yea for me! haha) and out he came. They got the cord off of his neck, but he was BRIGHT blue and scared me to death. He didn't cry for a little while, so once he did it was the best sound in the world! They gave him some oxygen and watched him for awhile, but everything looked great and he was one healthy boy! As you can see in some of the pictures though, he is so so blue and completely bruised!

He has been such a good baby even though he is only five days old!! Brooklyn, Austin, and Talon are loving him. Brooklyn of course is quite the little ma-ma and wants him ALL DAY. She doesn't love it when someone else gets him and makes sure to let them know that he is HER brother. Austin is sweet to him and pays some attention to him, and Talon doesn't know what to quite think. He looks at him like he's from another planet and doesn't say much to him, but he is slowly coming around and today he even kissed him on the head so that's improvement!

Life as we know it is kind of crazy, but a fun crazy. Give me a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll be on here in tears because of lack of sleep and insanity..ha ha. So far we are hanging in there though and feel very blessed to have such an amazing healthy baby boy. We love you all and can't thank you enough for the overwhelming support already. If I'm not on top of the thank you cards or returning phone calls right away, please know that some days we are in survival mode and just trying to get through the moment...but that I love you all and am very grateful for all of your thoughts and prayers!! Keep them coming!!!

Awaiting our baby boy!!

Right after he came!!...see, very blue and swollen, poor guy!

I only got to see him for a little bit and then

they took him away to make sure he was ok

after being without oxygen for awhile..I pretty

much bawled when they made me kiss him

and say bye..as you can see! So happy he was

ok.

My parents went out of town the day before I

had Dru so couldn't make it for the birth. I was

super sad, but thankfully my in-laws jumped

in the care as soon as they heard I was in labor

and made it just in time. Thank you SO SO much

Fullmer family, I love you all!

He has A TON of black hair!! I have never had

a baby with remotely this much hair before. I AM
lOVING IT!!!

Proud Pa-Pa! Ben was amazing, I love him

so much!

Hello there my little man, wow how I love you

so much already

My doctor obviously wasn't in when I went into

labor, so here is Dr. Cloward. She was new to the

staff and was AMAZING! I seriously am so

grateful for her!

Brooklyn meeting her new little brother, she

is head over hills!

Brother and sister meeting Dru for the first time.

First family picture

A couple of ours later, so sweet

Yes he sleeps alot...during the day... haha

Headed home!! Wish us luck!

Yes, we are all a little tired these days!!!

NOT YET

Just wanted to inform everyone that has been emailing me and sending me messages about it...NO BABY YET! I had my LAST appointment yesterday and I'm at a 3, 80% effaced and actually had the doc strip my membranes. (haha, all you mommies know hat I'm talking about at least!) It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but definitely not the funnest experience. I had contractions all night last night and this morning, I almost went in but then of course they stopped!! I have them off and on but nothing consistent...I hate the waiting game! My induction date is a week from tomorrow though so either way, one more week and Dru will be here! So, until then, I'm walking my bootie off, getting things ready and being super anxious so we will see! We will keep you informed for sure! Love you all!!!

37 Weeks!

Ok so I'm FINALLY posting a pregnancy pic of me! This is me and my baby boy at 37 weeks, so yes we are getting close! I am scheduled to be induced July 9th but am hoping to go before then..we will see! So far this pregnancy has FLOWN by and hasn't been TO bad. When I say that, I mean there were probably four weeks where I wasn't throwing up at least every day. lol For some reason I get way more sick with my boys..and lucky me...I'm going to have three! Ha! jk, we are very excited to have this little man and be able to finally have him be part of our family. Thanks to all friends and family who have helped me out with this pregnancy and with the love and support we have had through all of you. We will keep you updated and let you know when anything happens if anything does before July 9th! Wish us luck and lots of prayers please please please!!!

My Little Dancer

So this year we FINALLY signed Brooklyn up for dance. Oh my, I'm pretty sure we found her one true love! She was so excited to be able to finally be a ballerina and show off her moves! I was worried she was going to be to shy do it because she actually is a pretty shy little thing unless you know her pretty good. I thought once the competitions and recitals came around she would be to scared to actually perform in front of people. I was so so wrong! Not only was she NOT shy, but she danced like it was no body's business and wanted to do it over and over and over again! I love having a little girl. I could just sit here and watch her cute facial expressions, want to write down all the funny little attitude things she says to me all day, and watching her dance seriously brings tears to my eyes. AT FIRST when we found out this soon to be baby brother was another boy, we were both a little a little sad it wasn't a girl. BUT... we go go used to the idea and are so happy to be the only girls so we can do the fun girly things together. So, to my sweet Brooklyn, I love you princess. Thank you for being my amazing little girl and my
bestest friend forever and ever. (A saying that is said every day around here.) xoxoxo


I promise she was happy in this pic..lol






















Yes, she is the tallest in her class and will forever probably be in the back row for every picture!! I have lots more pics from my camera but our laptop has decided its going to die soon and won't let me download anymore pics...hopefully we get it figured out soon.

ONE OF THESE DAYS I WILL GET AROUND TO IT!!

Oh boy where to start! I know FOREVER AGO I said I was going to make my blog private so for all of those who wanted to be followers to leave me your address right?!! And trust me, i had EVERY intention of doing so! My life as we know it has been a little crazy as of late! A quick update!...
No baby yet, but four more weeks, if I can make it, and our little Dru Benjamin Fullmer will be here!! My induction date will be July 9th, but I don't think I will make it that long. I don't know if it's just me getting anxious or the 'motherly instinct' I have, but I think he'll probably come in the next few weeks. As some of you know me, I pretty much "nest" the whole time I'm pregnant, and the last few weeks have been kind of crazy! We have been on a few trips here and there, along with finishing pre-school, ending dance classes and recitals and all the fun things that come to an end once summer hits. I painted a couple of bedrooms, showing our house like crazy lately (still up for sale) since it's been getting warmer, and taking care of three kids during all of this! I was planning on making a trip home for my little sister's Kyli's state track meet but the night before me and my sweet little Brooklyn came down with the stomach flu...ugh, so not a pretty thing for a 8 month pregnant women!! But i do want to give a HUGE shout out to my little sis! She's a sophomore in high school for Mountain View High School which is a 5A school, and she got 2ND PLACE IN THE 200 METER DASH AND 2ND PLACE IN THE 100 METER DASH!!!!! I was able to watch it online through the Idaho sports cast, so that was fun with my kids and I all standing around the computer yelling for Aunt Kyli!!! But i do wish I could have been there! Next year when she WINS state you can believe I will be right there at the finish line for sure! The girl who took first in both of those races was a senior from Eagle, so next year will be fun!! Anyways, she's amazing and I could go on and on and on about how proud of her I am!!
Then a week later our little fam headed up to Rexburg, Idaho where we got to welcome home Ben's little brother Treagan from his mission!! We haven't seen him for two years so it was SOOOO fun to be able to see him! Talon wasn't even born when he left so that was fun for him to meet him, and Brooklyn and Austin were way little, so they loved getting to know uncle Treagan all over again. He's such a stud and we are so happy to have him back home with the fam. We went on a Thursday and stayed til the next Tuesday, so it was alot of Fullmer Family Fun time for sure! Playing cards, staying up late, meeting all of Ben's siblings girlfriends/boyfriends lol, oh and things like Tennis and golf tournaments, a very interesting Yellowstone trip where we ended up following buffalo in the middle of the road for two hours because they wouldn't move, and playing with the Dunn cousins who my kids were so excited to see! We were exhausted by the time we got home!
THEN, the fun began! This past weekend Ben and I decided that we needed a weekend getaway with no little ones!! I always like to plan a little husband/wife trip before I have another baby just because life as we all know it with a newborn is a little hectic! Ben has been working crazy hours at work, I have had alot on my plate with three little kids and being this prego trying to get things ready, so it was exactly what we needed! Our wonderful friends Dee and Haily Greenwood decided to come with us and we had so much fun! We shopped, ate out, shopped some more, slept in, ate some more, laughed alot and just relaxed. It was just what we needed, a huge break from every day life! Ben's little sister Tiara came and stayed with our kids and I'm pretty sure they already want her to come back!
So, now the countdown begins...four weeks til baby comes...ready or not. We had a scare couple of weeks ago, out of the blue I started bleeding a little. Of course my doc had me come in because they thought it could be my placenta privia issue. They did an ultra sound, couldn't see exactly what they wanted, so sent me to a specialist and they said everything looks ok. My placenta (sorry for those who don't care or find this disgusting...stop reading!! I'm just writing what most girls don't care to hear if they have done this all before. lol) has moved to the right a little but not fully so they will do one more ultra sound next week. Hopefully it will have moved a little more and depending on how that goes...I will either be having a C-section baby the following week, or waiting and having a normal birth either when he decides to come or induced July 9th. So we will see! I really don't want to have a C-section so pray hard for me pls!! I'm getting to the uncomfortable, out of breath walking up the stairs, can't bend over or sleep good at night stage, so that always seems to drag on FOREVER! But I'm very excited and can't wait to hold and love on my new little man.
Ok, so back to the "going private on the blog" part. I tried doing it a few weeks ago and it didn't work. I will probably try again soon..if I get around to it, but right now it's not the most important thing to me considering I have about ten thousand things I want or need to do along with checklists and taking care of kids going on all day around here! So, if you are new to my blog or haven't given me your address, pls do because i will make it private, could be tomorrow, could be three months from now. That's just kind of how I roll as of late! Pics of the trips, dance recitals, pre school graduating and St. George trip will be posted...one of these days...when i get around to it! Love you all!