Mom Brain

Here is the latest picture from littlebrewster.com of Piper at 3 weeks old.



Well it is official that having three kids 3 and under has made my brain mush. I got back from taking Piper to the doctor the other day and took my shoes off by the computer. I looked down to see that I wore two different shoes out and didn't notice! I also call my three kids by the wrong names...daily! Anyone else experience "mom brain"?

First two weeks at home

The baby is 2 weeks and 1 day old and weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. today. She went from not wanting to eat often enough to eating every 2 hours and has passed her birth weight already. The older two are starting to get into a routine and are learning patience while I feed the baby. Bobby went back to work today for 5 days in a row plus overtime so this is the first time we will have a semi-normal schedule with all three girls.

My Senior Sales Director in Mary Kay, Hollie, came by to meet Piper yesterday. Here are some photos of us around the house.

A few of Linda Brewster's spectacular photos have been posted on her blog and I'd encourage everyone to check them out at littlebrewster.com. Then go into the "Little Blog" section.

Piper Lorelai Martin

What a great day. Holly and I left fore the hospital at 6:30am for her induction. She was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Dr. Smith broke her water at 7:45am and began a drip of Oxytocin an hour later. As Holly skimmed over the cafeteria menu she told him she'd be ordering off of it for lunch. The doctor, not wanting to get her hopes up, told her it would be more like the dinner menu. As a precaution, Holly ordered up the epidural cocktail at 9:50am. Shortly thereafter she said she felt like she needed to push. The doctor rushed in and 3 long pushes later Piper was born at 10:21am. It seems that the epidural only helped with the contractions as Holly said she felt everything else. She was a champ through the whole ordeal and is doing great. Piper weighs in at a Martin record of 7 pounds 6 ounces. She amazed us all with the large amount of hair on her head. I instantly questioned whether she was mine as this is another first. Quickly retracting the notion she could be anyone elses, we all marvelled by how quiet she was. Holly's mother, Linda, was there through the whole thing and has a way of calming Holly as well as helping out that is truly unmatched. She was given the honors of cutting the umbilical cord. We were also blessed to have our friend Linda Brewster who is an amazing photographer. She has documented some wonderful times in our family's lives and came to the hospital to record the event. We'll have more from her when those shots are made available.

Later Linda brought Alyssa and Reese to meet their new sister. Alyssa was so gentle and sweet. This was the exact opposite of how she was when Reese was born. Another surprise was Reese's reaction. She climbed over Holly and kissed Piper over and over again. It was unbelievable and cute. She then got a turn at holding Piper and would lean over and kiss her. Upon taking Piper out of her hands though, Reese would get all upset and cry as she held her arms out for us to return the baby to her.

A big surprise came later on in the day when a knock at the door was followed by my father from Texas who I had talked to several hours before. He had been in Dekalb, Iowa on business and decided to drive over. His ploy was to ask for the address of the hospital should anyone he knew wanted to send flowers. Dad got an opportunity to attend a Trunk or Treat at the church with Alyssa and Reese this evening and Alyssa graciously offered her bed to him so that she could take mom's spot in my bed.

So without further a due, here are some pictures and video of the new one.

Due date approaching soon...

Just a photo to show you how big I am.

Video of Reese

Alyssa loves to play games on the computer so Reese of course wants to do the same. Reese loves the mornings now after Alyssa gets on the bus and she gets mom and dad all to herself for an hour before her nap. Last night we went to a party with some friends to celebrate Diwali, a holiday in India, and we brought Alyssa. She played with the couple's 8 year old daughter for most of the night. After an hour the little girl came into the living room and said, "She asks a lot of questions." I laughed out loud because Alyssa is at the "how come..." and "why" stage for EVERYTHING. It was fun to bring just Alyssa. My mom spent the evening with Reese.

1st day of school!

This morning Alyssa had her first day at Pre-K. She woke up promptly at 7 a.m. on her own and asked if it was time to get ready for school. She got ready very efficiently and then took up a spot at the window so she could see the bus coming.


Only, the bus didn't come. After several minutes Holly called and it turns out they forgot Alyssa. I mentioned to Holly that I prayed this wasn't a usual occurrence....you know, them forgetting kids and all. So I jumped into the car and drove her 2 miles to the elementary school where her teachers awaited. The whole time, Alyssa was excited and was in no way upset about leaving mom and dad.



In the mean time, with her sister gone, Reese took to a gymnasium set up that she had seen her older sister and friends doing. Climbing on the craft chair unto the table, she would then flop over the top of our love seat and land on the cushions. She was successful about 1 in every 5 attempts.











At 11:12 a.m. Alyssa's school bus, and yes it's the short one, arrived out front. I quickly ran out side to meet her. Her first comment was, "Daddy, the bus did have seat belts, " as this was a topic of conversation before the bus was M.I.A. this morning. She said she had a great time and told us about painting and playing with noodles. She said she ate cheese and crackers for a snack and her teacher said in a note that Alyssa was a very good listener! We are proud of our little head start kiddo and welcome the quiet house while she is there.