Emily {12 Month Photos and Stats}

Yesterday Emily had her ONE YEAR well-visit!

Here is her ONE YEAR POST.

I cannot believe my monkey-moo-moo is ONE!

Her stats:

Head - 50th percentile

Height - 75th percentile

Weight - 20 lbs 3 oz - 65th percentile

She was not a happy girl after getting three shots but she checked out nothing less than absolutely perfect {which we already knew!} !!

Here are her 12 Month Photos:

We LOVE our Emme-girl!

Emily's First Birthday: A Lady Bug Party!

I cannot believe we just celebrated Emily's very first birthday! Oh my goodness, she is growing so fast into a toddler and not a little baby anymore. It's definitely a little bittersweet, but I know Anna-Kate will be here soon to join all her sisters!

I wanted her party to be a lady-bug theme and I pretty much decided that back when she was born. I love the red, black and white color theme. 

We just had some family and close friends here to celebrate. I did all of the decor, including Emily's lady bug shirt. And my friend Shannon (here's her shop - Memorable Designs - please go check it out!!!) made the Happy 1st Birthday banner. It was nice to have a more "intimate" party! I made some homemade lasagna with Tammy's help, a cesear salad, a pasta salad and rolls. It was also nice to have a "real" dinner and not just party foods! Everything turned out perfect!

Apparently I didn't get many photos of people who were here but I did get some.

Emme's favorite person - my dad/her grandpa! All he has to do is call her name and she come immediately for him. Even if she is sitting on someone else's lap on the same couch as him, she will crawl to him!

Momma and her birthday girl!

Maddy and my sister, Christine

My mom and Ems

Emily had a great time opening her gifts with of course, lots of help from her big sisters showing her exactly what to do! Emily got lots and lots of clothes and diapers! Amen! She also got some great toys, bath soaps, a new sippy cup with her name on it, some money, books, two new pairs of big-girl shoes, ect.

Claire, and all the girls are LOVING headbands right now!!

And then it was cupcake time! Emily LOVED her cupcake! Oh my goodness, she demolished it in two minutes! I loved it!

We love our Emme-girl! Happy first birthday sweet girl!!

Happy 1st Birthday Emily!!!!!!

Saturday, January 26th, 2013!! 
It's your FIRST birthday, sweet girl! 
Happy Birthday Emily June!!!!!

Here we are...your very first birthday! How is it here already? I remember your birthday last year, like it was yesterday. What a blessing it was. What a blessing you are. You have healed so many wounds Momma had from your sisters pregnancy/birth/aftermath/post-partum. You were/are such an easy baby. It was such a blessing to have a normal VBAC, easy delivery, and keep you with me the.whole.time. NO NICU...even though one of the NICU doctors were present at your birth, that was only because Mommy was so sick and you were born with a fever! You came home with us, just like a normal baby. You breastfed, just like a normal baby. What a blessing it all was. Oh Lord, I am so thankful. I have tears in my eyes right now writing this because I honestly know why God gave me you when he did. I didn't see it when I first became pregnant with you, but soon there after, and especially after your birth, and now looking back over your first year, I know, with a million and one percent why He gave us you when He did. God's plan is always best. 

Your smile lights up our lives and although we thought you would probably complete our family, you are now going to be a big sister. We just love you to pieces, Emily. You are truly a blessing and a miracle! I remember telling your Daddy one day that I wished so badly that one day we would be able to get pregnant on our own, and of course we knew this was most likely not possible, and little did we know, I was already pregnant with you. You are truly a miracle, just like all of your sisters. When Mommy thought she may never be a Mommy, I have five sweet blessing that proved to me miracles do happen. The grace of God is one beautiful thing. Never forget that, sweet girl. You are nothing short of a perfect miracle created by God's love.

---------------------------

Emily, you are such a sweet and EASY baby, from the minute you were born! Everyone always says how laid back and easy you are and I am so lucky!

You have really come into your "big-girl personality" this past month!

You are in size 4-5 diapers.

You wear size 12M and 18M clothes. Pretty much the same sizes as your sister in some things too! :)

You still have the littlest feet in the world, and I still wonder how they are going to hold up your big thighs!

You have brown hair (very similar to Natalee's) and brown eyes.

You weigh just about 20 lbs!

You have 6 teeth! 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.

You sleep from 730pm-730am. And you take one nap from 12pm-3:30pm. You drink your bottle and fall asleep within five minutes of getting in your bed for naps or bedtime. BLESSED...or was that my teaching...oh yeah, it was!

You love your bath time and you love to play with your toys and splash in the water.

You really have a special bond with your Grandpa. You love him to pieces  and I don't blame you, he's pretty great!

You come when I call your name, or anyone does. I love that.

You are on ALL people food. NO baby food at all. I'd say it's been like this for at least two months now. You love all fruits and veggies. You love chicken cooked anyway and Momma's pot-roast. You are not a fan of hot dogs or bologna. You shake your head "no" when you do not want something. You also love spaghetti/pasta. You love cereal, pancakes, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, bread...pretty much everything. You had black olives for the first time last month, and loved them...just like your Momma and your big sisters!

You drink three 8-ounce bottles of whole milk through the day.

Your drink perfectly from a big-girl sippy cup all throughout the day!

You are very talkative now. When I say "Momma" you say "Dadadadadadadada". Silly girl!

You can say "uh-oh", "nanananana" (for Natalee) and you can also clap!!

You are very close to waving too.

You started standing in your crib last week (3rd week of January) and now you can easily stand up anywhere. You pull yourself up to the coffee table, couch, your toys....anything you can.

You crawl and then sit. Sit and then crawl. You can do it all with such ease.

We have been holding onto your hands and walking around with you and you honestly just want to run...oh lordy...but you do sooo good and I bet taking some steps in very close in your future!

You are a force to be reckon with in your walker. Girl, you will take anyone down in that thing. You run in it. You can back it up, turn it around, and maneuver like I have never seen from a child. We are constantly in awe of your abilities in that thing! Haha!

We learned this past month that you will now be the fourth sister of five girls in our family! You are going to be a big sister to a new little girl joining us in June! But don't worry, there will not be anymore!

You love to play with your sisters and do anything they do. You watch them very closely.

You do like to pull their hair sometimes.

Natalee still tries to undress you all.the.time. Like, EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.

Your sisters will bring you your lovie and a binki when you are sad. Or if I ask them to bring you a toy, they will share their toys with you (most of the time).

They love to say, "hi emme" which sometimes sounds like "hi meme" and they will also call you "bayboo" because Mommy and Daddy call your that all the time. They will also "pet" your head and say, "it's okay meme". LOVE!

Speaking of nicknames, we call you porky, bayboo, emme-lou, ems, emme, monkey-moo-moo...don't ask where Momma got that one from.

You love to babble all of the time.

You are very happy and hardly ever cry.

This year, let's see: 
You went to the beach for the first time.
You went to the pool a lot in the summer.
We went to the park a lot too!
You took many road trips.
You visited with all of our family in PA, and they just love you so much!
You went to Aunt Megan's bridal shower and wore one of Mommy's dresses from when she was a baby.
You went to softball games to watch Daddy play.
You spent your very first night (so far) away from Momma. :(
You went to Aunt Megan and Uncle Julian's wedding.
You went to lots of our little friend's birthday parties.
You went to the pumpkin patch.
You celebrated all of your first holidays.
You met your great-Pop-Pop for the first time!

You are such a blessing and we have no idea what we would do without you in our lives! We love you so much Emme!

Happy FIRST Birthday Emily June!!!!!

Pregnancy #3, Baby #5: Weeks 18-20

Today is Thursday, January 17th and I am 19 weeks today. The past week has been difficult to say the least. Last Tuesday morning I woke up with a little more nausea than I am used to and I knew something just wasn't right. I spent all day trying to fight it and finally by the evening, it was all over. I kept trying to eat, thinking the nausea was just morning sickness all of the sudden starting at 18 weeks, but boy was I wrong. The next few days were pretty bad. Terrible headaches, extreme nausea, vomiting, it wasn't pretty. I never had a fever that I can think of, just the occasional chills/sweats. By Thursday night, I couldn't even keep broth or water down, so I knew I needed to go to the hospital. 

At the ER they gave me two bags of fluid, some benadryl and a different anti-nausea then zofran. The zofran was giving me terrible migraines and was just making me more sick. After 7 hours, all I wanted to do was go home and get in my own bed. The fluids really, really helped me and even though I didn't eat much the next two days, I was starting to feel better. By Sunday, I was back to eating full meals and only felt a little nausea in the evening. The headaches have continued some in the evening also, but nothing like when I was sick. I don't know what it was, possibly a touch of the flu. I never felt bad, just had bad symptoms that sucked! When you are constantly throwing up and can't keep anything down, your body gets so tired and weak and I really think that was the worst part. 

But this week, I am feeling much better.

Tuesday, January 15 I had a perinatalogist appointment. All was good. Heartbeat was 155. The gender was once again confirmed! 

On Monday, January 21st I had my OB appointment. This was the first time I had seen my OB since after Emily was born. I have only seen a midwife until then. He wasn't surprised we were back so soon! :) See post here on appointment.

Today is Thursday, January 24th and I am officially 20 weeks! HALF WAY BABY! Also, 3 weeks until viability week! Amen! Feeling great this week. Feeling Anna-Kate move more and move, especially in the evenings while watching TV. Love that so much! Also, I can't believe in TWO days Emily will be ONE! EKK!!!!

20 Weeks: OB/Sono Appointment

January 21, 2013, (19w5d) I had my 20 week OB appointment and sonogram. Definitely confirmed a girl again. 100 percent! Both sonograms last week and this week, Anna-Kate has her little ankles crossed. It's seriously the cutest thing ever because all of her older sisters constantly cross their ankles. She is currently about 10 ounces and growing perfectly fine! Due date is still set for June 12th.

The photos we got aren't really worth sharing. They are blurry and not clear...and they didn't look much different than last weeks photos.

My weight is only up 6lbs half-way through! I was 138lbs, up from starting weight of 132lbs.

Dr. A was totally not surprised to see us back. Hehe, his hair was more gray than I remembered a year ago. He was super nice and we talked for a long time, although I didn't get to say much since most of the conversation was surrounding the Eagles/Flyers/Phillies with my husband. Men and their sports teams.

I did make the decision that if I have to have a c-section (praying NOT to) for some reason or another, I will have my tubes tied. Even though Tim is getting a vasectomy very soon, we want to further our chances of NOT having anymore children. :)

This week I have felt Anna-Kate more and more. Each night she is definitely growing and moving and kicking around much more....and not only can I really feel it now, I can see it on the outside of my belly too. I just love love love feeling my sweet little bean moving around in my belly. There is NOTHING better! So blessed! There is never a day that goes by that I don't thank God for my beautiful daughters and the one in my belly!

Our Fifth Daughter....

will be named....

Anna Katherine

This time around we haven't fought over our daughter's name at all, with the exception of a few little things. This is how we came to naming our fifth and last daughter,

 Anna Katherine.

I wanted something with an A.

We loved Anna, Annie, Abby, Anabelle, Amelia and Abigail.

I still loved Leah and Caroline. But we have a daughter with a "C" initial and for some reason I stopped thinking of Leah. Oh, probably because when I said, "what about Anabelle", Tim said "that's it, that is our daughter's name!!!" And I was like, wait a minute there! I wasn't totally sold on Anabelle.

So we compromised. I said I really like just Anna. And Tim said OKAY!

Katherine is my Grandma's sister's name. I have very fond memories of going to her house when my grandma would babysit my sister and I and she made little puppet dolls and we would play with them each time we went to her house. I can remember it like it was yesterday. She was a really sweet lady and a great cook. She was ten years older then my grandma and so when they were young she took care of my grandma a lot.

I still really like Abigail and I loved Amelia, but Tim says he isn't budging on Anna, so Anna it is. Amelia sounded too much like Emily people said. I don't know, I don't hear the similarities, but whatever.

And so just like that our daughter's name was born.

Anna Katherine Gaydos

-- AKG --

We plan on calling her Anna-Kate and of course just Anna. We will see. I didn't want her middle name to only be Kate, even though I love the name Kate, because I felt it wasn't enough, so Katherine is perfect!

I love how Anna Katherine is still an old-fashioned name but still pretty modern. That was my goal with all of our girls names. 

Madelynn Christine

Claire Elizabeth

Natalee Lynn

Emily June

Anna Katherine

Simple, beautiful, unique names for our precious five daughters. And all middle names are after women on both sides of our family. It's just perfect. I hope all our girls realize how much time and effort and thought we put into naming them each as individuals. 

I couldn't have imagined God had such a perfect family in my future. I am so blessed.

Our daughter. Anna-Kate. She completes our family.

We can't wait to meet you little one!

BOY or GIRL?!?!

For those who haven't heard through Facebook, our newest little blessing is:

A BABY!

Just kidding, well it is a baby, but is it a BOY or a GIRL?

It's a.......

........

GIRL!

As much as I though it was a BOY, I was wrong. I know I shouldn't be surprised because apparently my husband only makes girls, and since this will be our fifth daughter in 2.5 years, I shouldn't expect anything but a girl. But, it still surprised me because this pregnancy has just been so different!!! No matter what, all I ask for is a healthy and happy baby! 

I feel so blessed to have been able to carry five precious miracle daughters in my womb. Three miracle triplets from IVF and two naturally conceived miracles....all in 2.5 years! A c-section and a VBAC, and hopefully another wonderful and easy VBAC this time.God's grace is purely a blessing.

Stay tuned...next up, we are revealing her name!!!! EKK!

Quick REMINDER!

Just a quick reminder that...

If you leave me questions on my blog and do not have an email attached to your profile, I cannot email you with answers!!!! This works for all blogs! 

So if you recently asked me questions, and I haven't responded, most likely I can't because there is NO email!!!!

Thanks!

Pregnancy #3, Baby #5, Weeks 13-18

Today is Thursday, December 6th and I am 13 weeks. I really have been SO tired this week. Oh my goodness, I wake up tired. I can't not seem to nap...when 1pm rolls around I can't keep my eyes open. Way more tired this time than I can ever remember with my previous pregnancies. I feel like even though my pants barely fit, I don't look too pregnant yet, which with Emily I looked pregnant right away. I have also been SO extremely thirsty all of the time. Like, oh my gosh, soooo thirsty. Also, my lower back has begun to hurt a little bit now too. Still dreaming like crazy, which I did in both of my other pregnancies. So many symptoms are so different this time around. It's amazing how the same person can have different pregnancies...but the only thing I am thinking is that IT'S A BOY!

Today is Thursday, December 27th and I am 16 weeks. FOUR MONTHS! I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I last wrote on here. Phew. Lots have been going on. I had a sonogram on Christmas Eve, December 24th and all looks great with the little bean. He/She is doing well and weighs about 4 ounces. We got a "good guess" as to the sex of the baby too! ;) My next appt is on January 21st and then I will be having the anatomy scan that day so we will know for sure then what this little bean is. I just don't like to jump to conclusions quite yet because numerous doctors and nurses told me 110% that Natalee was a boy for three weeks before finding out she was totally a GIRL!

Here is a cute little photo of our alien:

I am pretty sure that at 14w6d, I first felt a few little flutters/kicks and I swear I felt a few every few days since then.

On Christmas Eve I got sick. Only the second time this whole pregnancy. I was REALLY hungry, waited too long to eat, shoveled food in my mouth and that was that. Boo. BUT, I am SO very thankful that I am not sick like I was my last two pregnancies. What a blessing it is not to be sick all day, every day!!!

My left index finger has been numb on and off and it's driving me nuts! I know this can be a pregnancy thing and it's happened to me before.

I have been SO extremely tired this pregnancy! Oh my goodness, like not functioning tired! I could easily sleep all day!

Still very thirsty all of the time and still getting headaches pretty regularly.

I still feel like I am barely growing this pregnancy but when the doctor felt my uterus, she said I was measuring perfectly, and I was assured everything looks great!

Exciting that I'm in my second trimester already!

Today is January 3, 2013, and I am 17 weeks. Feeling good. VERY, VERY, VERY tired and weak. Wouldn't surprise me if I am anemic again...and I will find out next week when I get my blood taken. I have been really focusing on eating lots of high iron foods this week.

I feel like I am finally starting to grow. Like, wow, I popped out just in the last two weeks.

Friday is my 27th birthday and the 2nd birthday in a row that I am pregnant! Phew! Four birthdays ago we were in the middle of IUI's, three birthdays ago I had just delivered the triplets only 11 days before, last birthday I was VERY pregnant with Emily and now I am in the middle of my pregnancy of this little bean. Be assured I WILL NEVER BE PREGNANT AGAIN ON MY BIRTHDAY OR ANY OTHER DAY FOR THAT!

Here I am on my 27th birthday (January 4th: 17w1d), pregnant with our fifth blessing:

The other day I was at the mall with my mom and this lady asked me if I was having my first baby and I just giggled and said, no this is my fifth. I almost fell to the when I said it. FIFTH. Like holy moly! FIVE! Sometimes it just hits me in strange ways. That was one of them. FIVE KIDS. EK! But, to be honest, I CANNOT wait to hold a new squishy little bean in my arms!!

Today is January, 10th, 2013, and I am 18 weeks. The past couple of days have bee rough. I was sick on Tuesday night after a full day of nausea and finally yesterday morning I broke down and took a zofran to be able to function throughout the day! It was not fun, but this was the first time I have needed a zofran, and for that I am VERY thankful! This pregnancy has been soooo much easier than my last two!

I am so looking forward to my appointment on Jan 21st and getting to the half-way point with this pregnancy!!! Also looking forward to so many of my friends delivering their babies in the next coming months. I have two close friends due any day and one more due in the spring! Babies, babies, babies! Couldn't ask for anything better! :)

Our New Playroom!!!!

Since the moment we moved in, I wanted to make one of our basement rooms a playroom for my girls. But instead it became a junk room. A clutter hole. Everything and anything that didn't have a place to go, went into that room. I would open the door and shake my head and shut the door. 11 months I did this, until Tim had a bunch of holiday time off and I said to him, "it's TIME!!!!" Really, he wasn't too thrilled. We were both very overwhelmed and argued for a little about what to do. If you have seen the room, you understand. And honestly I was NOT taking a BEFORE photo, because yes, I am that embarrassed by how horrible it was!

It boiled down to there are just TOO MANY TOYS. Everywhere. All over. Every inch of this house. I hate it. I needed it to be better. More organized. More put together. The OCD Momma was coming out and nothing was going to stop me!

To be honest, for awhile, I used to clean up EVERY SINGLE night after the girls went to bed. Nothing like a fresh start every day. I firmly believe that. But that got old. And then, to be honest, there were many, many evenings where I just kicked the toys over to "the play area" and that was good enough for a clean up. I hated it. I hated it so badly. I need things to be in the proper place. 

So we worked pretty hard on creating a nice space for the girls and I am pretty happy with it. I still need to do a few things. I want to get some quotes for the walls. I found some on pinterest that I really just love, but I think I may have them painted on some wood instead of put on the wall. I hated leaving my quotes in the old house, and I will not be happy when I leave this house and leave sweet quotes behind, so I am thinking of other ways. I also have to put some soft foam and fabric around the TV stand. We just wanted to build a small, low to the ground base and then cover it with fabric to make it soft and girly, so I still have to do that. And the wires behind the TV will be hidden soon too! We'll get to these things one day!

I love that I can now "teach" the girls some things and when we do activities, everything is right there and organized! AMEN!

So here are some photos!

I am so much happier with the toys that are down there and it is SO MUCH MORE organized! I have all the coloring stuff, painting stuff, stuff for other crafts in proper places (still need to do labels though) and it make me so much happier!!! We have locks on all the closets and doors, so it's completely safe!  All and all I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

They still have their play kitchen/food upstairs, and all their "riding" toys that do much better on the hardwood, but it is much more manageable at the end of the day!

Happy New Year!