God's Perfect Plan

After I failed my glucose test and I became pre-eclamptic at 35 weeks, I thought I was definitely going to have this baby early-- I was thinking any day past February 21. I had Ray 2 weeks early and he was almost 8 lbs, so a week or two early didn't really bug me. Once February 25th hit, I realized I didn't want to have the baby close to Ray's birthday (Feb. 27) or leap day. I got off my feet a lot and prayed to get to March 1, BUT any day after March 1 sounded pretty awesome. After gaining around 40 lbs and having every maternity shirt show off my mid section, I wanted the pregnancy to be over with.

Well, March 2nd rolled around and Ray woke up with green junk coming out of both eyes. He acted fine, but still, not a good sign. By 5:00 we had a lot of junk and started eye drops. March 3rd, Ray Ray wakes up with a high fever. I gave him some Ibuprofen and thought he'd rebound fairly quick because he is such a trooper. That night Ray developed croup, and he got bad quickly. He barked all night long with cough medicine and woke up pale and lethargic with green junk coming out of everything. I called the Doc and an antibiotic was called in. Monday he got worse.... waking up pale, not eating, talking like a frog and wanting to be held all day long. Let me just say carying a 30 lb baby and occasionally a 50 lb 3 year old while holding 40 lbs from this pregnancy up the stairs makes my knees feel like they may break in half. These were some long, long days. My poor husband would race off to work to try and get as much done and race home to take care of us all. Big Joey has been completely swamped at work with switching jobs, prospecting and trying to wrap things up so he can take a week off when the babe comes.

So now it's Tuesday, March 6th and Ray has been sick since Friday. I am now praying Louisa holds off for another week. I need to get this babe healthy. When my mom brought me home from the hospital, my brother and sister both had Chicken Pox. I couldn't imagine how scared and tired she was trying to take care of everyone and keeping her sanity. You may think "Oh, kids are so resilient. You will be fine. " My experiences have been a little different. After almost losing Joey when he was 13 months old, my anxiety level and fear is so intense and I do whatever I can to avoid anything like that at all costs. I'm a changed Mom from that and I'm definitely okay with that. By 6:00pm on Tuesday Ray is coughing up junk all day and he seems to be a quick downward spiral. I call the Doc, and we go. The nurse confirms we need to do everything-- antibiotic, cough medicine, steroids, benadryl and ibuprofen. I hate hate hate chucking all of this down his poor little belly, but on the other hand, I trust science and medicine so I do it. Wednesday is worse. Ray has now woken up 4 days in a row at 5:00 a.m. and cries for 3 hours straight till he falls asleep on the floor. Big Joey and I take turns taking him to the basement for him to cry because it's so loud and disturbing. Poor Little Joey was an angel. He didn't say much and played so well by himself while we passed Ray back and forth till he fell asleep. What was wrong with Ray Ray? Was he teething, did he have something else going on, should I have taken him in for a CT or chest xray? I was at a loss. He fell asleep 4-5 different times that day on the floor and when he wasn't asleep, he was crying loudly. He had never done this before. Thursday same thing. At this point, I'm about ready to lose it. I completely forgot I was pregnant. Sleep? What sleep! I was getting about 3-5 hours a night. Ray was a 24 hour deal while being on all of these meds.

Thursday night Ray pukes on me. Really?! Did we pick up something else at the doctors? I call the Doc again. He is so congested he can barely breath, and I can feel it in his back. He had been limp all day and was not getting any better. The nurse prescribes a different antibiotic and we start breathing treatments. We all prayed. We prayed for Ray to turn a corner, we prayed Louisa would stay put and we prayed for tomorrow to get easier.

5am rolls around. Joey comes to our room "Daddy, I'm hot." Joey has a super high fever, refuses to take medicine then pukes on me. You see, Joey is not the Puke and Rally kind of kid like Ray Ray. He is devastated. He is heartbroken he puked on me, terrified he is hot and distraught we are trying to get him to take medicine. After cleaning up everything I laid down with him for the first time and we went to bed. Big Joey relieved me an hour later and the sun came up.

It's Friday by now. It's really Friday already... it was just Friday and Ray had double pink eye. Did a week really just happen and I haven't had the baby yet? Doc called in a script for Joey to be preventative and Grandma Connie Matis came over to save the morning. By now I remembered I was pregnant. Ray had a pep in his step and knowing we had the right antibiotic gave me encouragement for the weekend. The only upside to my week was when my sister-in-law Julia was shopping at Keystone and sending me pics of every counter in JCrew so I could pick up my new spring wardrobe. We call it ishopping and Leo, Jules and I had a blast!!!

Now it's Saturday at 3:30pm. Ray is dancing again, but still has a disgusting cough. I think Joey's fever is finally gone and they only took one nap today. The perfect storm of whatever they had may finally be leaving our home (knock on wood).

Is it safe to have the baby now?? Well to tell you the truth it doesn't matter what I think. It's up to God. He obviously knows more than I do and his timing always seems to be much better than mine. I couldn't imagine having had Louisa home this week... trying to avoid getting her sick, taking care of the boys, getting zippo amount of sleep, taking care of my broken body from labor and exposing helpful family memebers to our yuckiness.

A good friend of mine had me read Psalms yesterday. Getting my Bible out during nap and thumbing through some of my favorite verses was just what I needed. God is soo soo Good, especially when you put all of your trust in him. You know, his plan for us is always so much bigger. Thank the Good Lord!!!

Ray Ray's Post

Oh Ray Ray!!!! I can't believe you are 2!! I was supposed to be in LA getting off of a plane for Molly Mesnick's wedding on ABC when I was in labor with you. You came two weeks early, and my water broke when I sneezed with you. I labored 16 hours at home and I was only at the hospital for 2 hours before having a perfect 7 lb 8 oz baby with dark red hair and baby blue eyes. For your first year of life, everyone called you Smiles... then I took you off baby food and it has been Crazy Ray ever since! You climb on the shelves in the pantry about 10 times/day, you pout face down on the ground until you think nobody is watching then you look up with a shit eating grin, you ask for my phone within minutes of getting up in the morning but never before a good morning hug. You are a lover, but you are a stinker. You are so so different than your brother and I love that about you. Below are some of my favorite pictures of you from the last few days that describe you perfectly.

How are we ever going to get a good picture with 3 kids?

This stage of our life with pictures is such a joke!

Is he pointing to the wine or the cupcake?

To The Flying Cupcake on Mass Ave with Grandma.

Only 2 left, such a sad day.

Notice Ray is always double fisting cupcakes and Joey will take one bite of his and be done.

How are they so so different??

Baby Blue Eyes

Sweet Baby Ray Ray! I pray for you every day. I pray you don't feel stuck in the middle and I pray you grow out of your stubborn phase. I pray for your health and safety. I signed you up for Pre-School next year, and I pray you don't have to sit in the Naughty Chair every day for chucking toys at other children. I pray you live a long life knowing God and loving your family and friends. I love you Ray Ray, you sweet sweet boy.

My Littlest Man

Ray Ray's actual birthday is February 27,

but we went ahead and celebrated a week early just in case Mama popped.

So Ray Ray had his 2nd Birthday party yesterday.

Who doesn't like a good Yo Gabba Gabba birthday party with Jockamo's Pizza

and cake pops on a beautiful Saturday in February??

Little Joey and I got down to business and made about

30 cake pops that were mmmh mmh good!!








Aunt KT











Nannie and Grandpa













Joey about to let the balloons go (and a beautfiul advertisement for ADT).

In case you didn't know Journeys, Journeys Kids and Spencers all have Yo Gabba Gabba... just in case you were wanting to get a few things.













When I first saw Yo Gabba Gabba on Nick Jr. 3 1/2 years ago, I swore DJ Lance had severe perio and I would never let my kids watch it. However, LJ woke up one morning yelling for Gabba Gabba Gabba Gabba, so I caved. We have loved it ever since. Nothing like learning not to bite your friends, how to fasten your seat belt, and using good manners from a few alien creatures.

Halloween and birthday parties are Ray's favorite days of the year. My dad always says, "Ray Ray has never met a piece of cake he didn't like."

Our wonderful babysitter, Laura, came too. Ray's showing off his dance moves.

Luckily the weather was nice enough for a little swingin'.

I do have a Brobee shirt on and Big Joey is sportin' a Muno shirt in case you were worried.

Ray Ray worked hard on those candles.

Of course, we had more cake pops after every one left. Oh did I forget to mention I lost my ankles yesterday?

Barely functioning, overeating

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life.... And my husband does majority of the night shift. I feel like God has really been trying to tell me 3 is enough. I feel like I'm in pure survival mode-- trying to get through life a day at a time. I'll be 37 weeks on Tuesday, but I still need to get through Ray's birthday party, Cirque du Soleil, Ray's actual birthday, and Leap Year. I'm still working a few days a week and that is actually giving my back a break from carrying these crazy kids. Joey is pumped for the baby and Ray doesn't have a clue.

We feel pretty ready at home for the baby. Both sets of Grandparents are on call if we were to go into labor at night, but Joey is planning on staying with the kids both nights. I'm really looking forward to 2 nights of rest at the hospital with all of the amazing food with my new precious baby.

We finally have had to really change up Ray's diet. I understand a 2 year old has a ton of highs and lows, but this kid is exhausting me. Last weekend I threw out 3 trash bags of food. I got rid of foods with high fructose corn syrup, artificial color, artificial flavor, preservatives and most hormones. You should have seen me ask the lady at Whole Foods why her syrup cost $20. Her reply, "Because it's from the actual maple tree." Check the ingredients of your syrup sometime... it's amazing what we feed our little ones once we look at the ingredients labels. It's been a challenge though. Ray still won't eat fruits or veggies, but don't think I don't stuff one in his mouth once a day just to watch him gag for 30 seconds. This kid is surviving off of vitamins, I swear. We are slowly pulling the paci "mimi" away during the day and he's doing pretty well with it. His verbal is picking up quickly and now he has more chances to bite Joey. We have started time outs and hand smacks, especially when we chuck toys at Joey's face AND cause black eyes. There is, however, only so much discipling a 36 week pregnant Mama can do. I can recall Joey getting easier around 26 months, and I'm hoping the same for Ray. Although they are completely polar opposite kids.

Little Joey has really taken to the big brother role with such a beautiful heart of gold. He is so tender hearted like his Dad and very soft spoken. At parent-teacher conferences, the teachers said he is such a joy to have in class and loves watching his face light up when asked to answer a question. Joey goes to school 2 mornings a week and loves coming home to imitate his friends at school. You should see his adorable Joey L. face. Yep, that's right, there's another Joey is his class. So, Joey truly thinks his name is Joey M dot. Recently Joey has fallen off a slide and knocked one of his front teeth causing it to turn grey. He also has been diagnosed farsighted and we are getting glasses next week. He loves his big boy bed and continually turns down sugary foods for strawberries, blueberries and green beans. We still need to get allergy tested-- in the last 3 months he has had an anaphlactic reaction where he eyes have swelled shut with over 100 hives within minutes of entering a place.

Big Joey is still catching up from switching jobs but is loving Morgan Stanley. He comes home every night pooped out saying "There isn't enough hours in the day." I honestly don't know how he does it.

For the first time in my life I can honestly say I need all the help I can get. I'm tired, overwhelmed and having a hard time doing daily activities-- I eat for energy. I'll keep praying for things to get easier and a healthy baby. Thank God I have a fantastic doctor. I think he feels so bad for me he is only making me come in every other week. Here's to trying to get a few more blogs in before I'm completely consumed with 3 adorable babes.

One Month Left

That's right folks. She will be here in a month and her closet looks like this... an absolute wreck. I'm still working on her room with any energy I can mustard up during the boys' naps, however, I'm very happy with the painting. So much of her room has been passed down from family. The flowers are from my wedding, vintage lamps from my Great Aunt Aileen, 3 foot daisies from college friends, my old bedroom furniture set, Ray Ray's portacrib, curtains from the previous home owners, and chairs from Grandma. The room is filled with a lucky blue bird, gerber daisies (my fave), lady bugs (which have followed me my entire life, and butterflies that my mother has been obsessed with and is about to buy a 100+ filled displayed of butterflies from around the world. There is a lot of meaning in this room and I feel so much peace and love from the women in my family when I sit in here.

Her name will be Louisa LaVon, and we plan on calling her Louie. We wanted a Louie boy or girl, and my dad's mom's name happens to be Louise and my mom's mom's name is LaVon, which I also happen to be Leah LaVon. From the 4-D ultrasound, I already see some resemblence, but I can't wait to see this sweet baby girl's face in the next month. Oh, you may be able to see the cloudy wording at the top of the room. It says "Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl named Louisa LaVon..."

I had my 34+ week check up today. My blood pressure finally went down and my labs finally came back normal. At my last appointment, I was showing beginning stages of preeclampsia, so we have been worried I was going to be put on bedrest. With a lot of prayers, I think I have snuck by a few more weeks. Now I'm praying for a healthy delivery, healthy baby and trying to avoid Ray's birthday, Feb. 27 and leap year.... did you know the BMV doesn't even recognize a leap year birthday?? Ridiculous!

The Fam Update

Me: I'm 33 weeks pregnant, 30 lbs heavier, preeclamptic and miserable. I started swelling last week and I'm so tired I can barely function. Joey and Ray keep me hoppin' but I try to get as much down time as possible. The baby's room is done and pictures will be posted at the next posting, along with the announcement of her name. I'm still working 2 days a week and I can't wait to clean out my closet and get rid of all of my maternity clothes. I continue to pray for a healthy baby and smooth transition with the family. Most importantly I can't wait to get to the hosptial- 2 nights of perfect sleep and the food is amazing!!

Big Joey: Well, he's had a lot going on. His team recently resigned from Bank of America and are now working for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney about 10 floors down in the Chase tower. His father, his father's best friend and Joey make up the only 401K team for Morgan Stanley in Indiana and are pumped for the service Morgan Stanley has to offer their clients. As scary as it is to be switching jobs right now, Joey feels really good about the transition and his clients are excited too! Joey has been my angel this pregnancy- he is definitely Dad of the Year! He lets me sleep in every day and takes all of the work off of my shoulders at night, including the toilets and mopping. He is amazing and I'm soooo lucky!!

Little Joey: LJ has turned into a big boy over night. He finally transitioned into a big boy bed and hasn't missed a beat. He loves school and the teacher says he is a joy to have in class. Most of his day consists of playing with trains, acting like Buzz Light Year, painting or playing on the 6 foot basketball goal in our garage. He doesn't stop talking about the baby and shows every person that walks through the door the new baby's room.

Ray Ray: Oh goodness, Ray Ray!! He has thrown me through the hoopty this past month. He is stubborn, crazy and into everything. He can be sweet, but usually chooses to make me play the guessing game for anything he wants. He still never gets up at night so I do feel blessed. We finally took him off the bottle, but still hasn't had milk in a sippy cup. His diet consists of cereal and cereal bars. He is the Junk Food King! He will be 2 next month and we are having a Yo Gabba Gabba party after hosting an all family CPR class. I pray he starts to have a better diet and doesn't gouge the baby's eyes out.

I have a few weeks to get everything in order for the baby and I'm trying to get my 2010-2011 scrapbook done. Every weekend is crazy and we count down the days for the Super Bowl to be here! I thank the Good Lord every day for our health and safety, and I can't wait to share this little baby girl with you all!

Christmas in Rewind

The magic of Christmas is back in full swing over here. We usually rock out to Christmas songs in the morning. Some of our favorites are Justin Beiber's Drummer Boy, obviously Mariah Carey, Ray Charles Rudulph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and anything Wiggles.
Ray Ray has either entered into the Terrible Two Phase or he's cutting his last molars. He has been nuts!! Our little laid back baby has turned into a stubborn, high maintenance mess! However, he still is a joy and will probably take the "class clown" roll while Joey stays more introverted.

Joey isn't an introvert at home though. We enjoyed most of the common Christmas festivities-- cookie making, Christmas lights, Polar Express train ride, 7 Santa visits, snowman making, Live Nativity scene searching, Elf on the Shelf, wrapping presents, ornament making, Eiteljorg's Jingle Rails and reading every Christmas book we could get our hands on. We fell in love with Mother Mary, Father Joseph and Baby Jesus this year and insisted on telling everyone we met them at the Live Nativity Scene.

Joey continues to dance on tables while my back is turned. He claims he is Buddy the Elf from the movie, Elf. Awesome.

We made a ton of cookies, but only ate the icing.

We went to a million Christmas parties and sported Uncle Bo Bo's shirts that he wore as a little boy! Super comfy.

We went black and white on Christmas morning. I have a picture wall where all of my pics are black and white. It has been impossible for me to get to Sam's club to convert pics so I went ahead and went black and white on the Rebel.

After both kids refused to go to bed until 3 hours passed their bedtime, they woke at at 7am to a ginourmous train table Santa brought them. The plan was to put it in basement, but at 12:30am I gave up on trying to figure out how it'll fit downstairs and it is taking up my dining room (but only until I resell it back on Craiglists in a few years). The boys love it and it's big enough to have a few friends over and nobody fights over tracks or trains. How wonderful!

This was me attempting to get a cousin pic. Unsatisfactory.

We ate Santa's leftovers. Ray can sniff sugar a mile away.

We made sure Santa didn't leave any milk.

We (minus me) drank lots of wine with Aunt KT, Aunt Sherry and fam from the new decanter.

We drank our last bottle!! Woot woot!

We got lots of new clothes from Nannie and loved trying them all one with Sloanie!

We played Doctor with Sydney.




































We played McDonalds with Sloanie and she was the mad customer that had to come back through the drive thru because her order was wrong. Wonder where she got that from.

We played kitchen.

And puppet show.

And basektball at the Matis indoor court.

And attempted a snowman, and bawled when we woke up the next day and he was melted.

Oh, and finally a picture. 30 weeks. BLUH!

Merry Christmas loves. I think this was my first year of being absolutely exhausted and drained after Christmas day. It's almost depressing when it ends. The entire month of December was a blast and there was so much to do. Now, it's January... bluh. There's a lot to do around here before the babe comes. I'll be sure to post pics of her room soon. Meanwhile, I'll continue to thank the Good Lord for a wonderful 2011. God is Good.