Happy 5th Birthday!!!!

Our babies, they will always be my babies, turn 5 years old today. Weren't we just putting up crib tents, duct taping diapers, and locking up the Vaseline? I know I always get sentimental this time of year. I just can't help it. We have come so far and every year it just gets better.

This year is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. The kiddos will start Kindergarten, soccer, and all kinds of other fun stuff. It's also going to be a huge transition for us as a family - I'll be going back to work! As I look to the future with anticipation, I find myself smiling at the past. What a wild ride it has been and... WE SURVIVED (so far at least =)!!!!!!!

In honor of this happy day, I'd like to share a few fun qualities, that I LOVE, about each of our VERY DIFFERENT children. I think I'll go in birth order, a whole 3 minutes apart..

Russ Man

- Goofy as all get out!

- A laugh that makes you smile, even when you don't want to!

- Rough and tumble

- Dare devil

- GIANT imagination and AMAZING creativity

- Patient (especially when his sisters beg him to play "Prince Charming" in their princess games)

- Kind

- Loving

- Brilliantly artistic

- Perfect mix of a dudes dude and mommas boy!

- Loving

- Wants to be "A Dinosaur Artist," when he grows up

I could go on and on. Those are just a few of the fun things that make you special, Russel John! I love you buddy, with all my heart. I am so proud to be your mommy and I love watching the incredibly little boy you are growing up to be. Happy 5th Birthday!

XOXO Mommy

Ally Boo Boo

- Silly silly silly silly!!! We may have a future SNL star on our hands here. But, she tells me she wants to be "a singer, like Katy Perry, my favorite." God help us.

- INCREDIBLY loving and wears her heart on her sleeve

- Selfless

- Mrs. Doolittle, the animal whisperer.

- Mini Nani Lou Ann in EVERY way- keeps her memory alive and well.

- Flower child

- Fish- would likely swim in a snow storm if I'd let her

- Soulful

- Particular/picky

- Deep

- Musical

- Precious

- Passionate

- Love - is lead by her heart in everything she does.

You, Allison Ann, are a beautiful person both inside and out, a true gift on this Earth. I am so proud to be your mommy. You fill my heart with so much happiness, I think it might burst! Happy 5th birthday! I love you.

XOXO Mommy

Miss Molly

- WISE

- Mature

- Amazing

- Athletic

- Smart as a whip!

- Leader

- Friend

- Outgoing

- Loving and kind

- Thoughtful

- Competetive

- Super sensitive to other people needs.

- Heart of gold

- Says she wants to be a "Doctor, so I can help people."

I love you with all my heart, Miss Molly Lou Ann. I am more proud of you than you will ever know. Don't you ever forget it! I can't wait to see all the wonderful things life has in store for you. Happy 5th birthday to my little mamas girl.

XOXO Mommy

Little Libby

- Fiesty

- Determined

- Fast

- Cuddle LOVE bug

- Funny

- Self assured

- Fearless

- Monkey

- Sweet

- Gentile

- Stubborn

- Graceful - wants to be a ballerina, when she grows up!

- Hops, skips, jumps every where she goes

- HAPPY

- Sensitive and kind

My little Beetle. Girl, you are one hard nut to crack. But under that tough exterior you are a giant cuddly mush ball!! Libby, I love you with all my heart and am so very proud to be your mommy. You are going to do great things in this world.

XOXO Mommy

Happy BIRTHday to our 4 little miracles.

Thank you for making me a mommy and letting MY DREAMS come true.

For more bday fun check out this sweet slide show Auntie Julis and the folks at Good Day Sacramento put together for us. They have NEVER missed a birthday!!

TGIF everyone! Have a great weekend.

5 Years OLD on Friday & A Fun Chance to Win ...

Our kiddos TURN 5 tomorrow! Can you believe it!?! I've been working on their birthday post all week and still can't get through it without a few tears. Yep, I'm a mush ball!!! ;) Stay tuned for that tomorrow.

Speaking of Friday, the kiddos and I will be on Good Day Sacramento in the morning. It will be streaming LIVE HERE, if you want to catch it. The segment starts at 7am Cali time! I plan on being as upright as possible and enjoying this BIG DAY, I wouldn't miss it for anything! 5 years ago today I was fighting labor and begging to keep those babies cooking.

Also, in other fun news, before my surgery, the kiddos and I had the chance to try out this AWESOME new line from ARM & HAMMER.

Check out my review blog and enter to WIN a $100 VISA GIFT CARD! All you have to do is comment here. It's so easy!! Good luck!

Have a great Thursday everyone. The kids are CRAZY excited today. The older they get the more fun the birthday milestones are. We aren't having a party this year, but it will be a very special day!

Humbled & Healing

Holy smokes are we behind on the blog! For good reason, but still! Anyway, I've been chronicling the last couple weeks with my cell phone. The picture quality isn't the greatest, but I tried not to miss too much. Bare with me, this post may be all over the place, it's hard to organize almost two weeks worth of thoughts...

So, right now, I'm 13 days post surgery. I am FINALLY starting to feel human and praise the LORD have my sense of humor back!! Truthfully I'm glad I waited to write this post or I would have had to change my name to Debbie downer...

Day 2. NOT FUN.

It's amazing how much things can change in just a couple days.

Day 6 & my best Gary Busey impersonation!

(Conor DID wash that nightgown for me in between ;)

Anywho, THANK YOU to all of you for your thoughts and support. Everything went off without a hitch. Dr. Longo built me a shiny new core and removed a lot of my old skin. I still have some good stretch marks and that's okay, cuz it wasn't about that. I'm actually happy to still have plenty of war wounds to remind me of my babies. ;)

It's not pretty, but here it is..... OH and if your squeemish SKIP SKIP SKIP THE NEXT PICTURE...

Goofing around with my hip to hip incision on day 10!

I was cracking myself up (ouch) and the kids got a kick out of it too.

(I thought it best to spare you from the Day 2 pic)

Right now, I'm working on getting upright and my back is BEGGING me to get there fast. For those of you thinking of having this surgery, and also have VERY SERIOUS back issues, I will tell you right now, it has been BRUTAL on my spine. BRUUUUTAL! My poor back, I am at a loss of words for just how bad it hurts. We knew this going into the surgery, but nothing could have prepared me for the severity and discomfort of the back pain. The good news is, the worst is over and I am getting stronger every day. As soon as I can get 100% upright, that's when the real progress will begin... now if I could juuuust get my back to help me out on that one!

Now, at the risk of sounding sappy, I have to tell you how unbelievably amazing my husband, family, and friends have been. Although it has been crazy painful, it has been a completely stress free recovery. Completely.

The first 5 days were the worst. Conor took care of me night and day, a pretty gruesome task. I was sure I was dying! That man of mine is one awesome and loving dude. While Conor took care of me, my mom and sister had our children for the first few days. Thank you so much mom and Lou! We love you.

Being spoiled at Nani Donsie's house!

When the first week was over, Conor headed back to work. Grandma Deb flew down from Portland and took the reigns for ALL of week 2. That woman deserves a freaking medal!! She, with a consistent smile, single handedly kept our 4 VERY ACTIVE/WILD (almost) 5 years olds busy and moving for an entire week- while taking care of me and the house! She made me tired just watching. Bless your sweet heart, Grandma Deb. God has carved out a special place in heaven just for you!

Having fun with the wonderful Grandma Deb!

Easter Duds

On Easter Sunday, Deb took the kids to my Gramp's while Conor stayed home with me. I was so sad to miss the egg hunt. However, they took lots of pictures and had TONS of stories to share with me when they got home with the ultimate sugar high! They have each been so loving and gentile with me through this recovery. They really do have such precious hearts.

They take such good care of me!

-Molly putting lotion on me feet. God love her.

Sweet Penny has literally not left my side.

So, Grandma Deb left Sunday morning AND Auntie Erin will soon be on her way down from PTown, for week 3! Seriously, how wonderful is my family!?! See, last year, I let my stupid, stubborn pride get in the way when I had my hysterectomy. I rushed my recovery, and over did it. It was like I was out to prove I couldn't be slowed down. I was DUMB. I proved nothing and only ended up hurting myself, badly!

This year, I like to think that I've learned my lesson and can act like a grown up. I'm not rushing my healing, I'm not trying to prove how tough I am and I not trying to impress anyone but myself. Most importantly, I'm accepting help... something that is really hard for this stubborn mama to do! See, Mary S., you can teach an old dog new tricks! But, in all seriousness, all I can think about as I lay here is, I am one seriously lucky girl. God willing, this is the last surgery I will ever have and I can spend the rest of my life caring for all of those who have cared for me. I cannot wait to give back all the love I have received.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Spring and I promise to get back to blogging regularly ASAP. I didn't want to bore everyone with too many surgical details, so if anyone has any questions or would like to talk, please feel free to email me anytime at mcnulty6@gmail.com.