Happy Birthday Ian

On October 5th, Ian had a birthday!! He made it 5 Years and we are praying for many more! He is a Great Kid! Happy Birthday Ian!

From: Mema & Papa

Kori, Kaden, Luke, Ace, Nia, Zech, Emmy, & Hannah

From: Kaden Valerio

The Birth of Kodah

My due date was July 23rd. Monday, all day long, me and the kids cleaned house (nesting). Tuesday, we had a really rough day. The house is Spur was getting complicated and I was an emotional wreck. Romeo had spent the night in Amarillo Monday night and drove in at 5:55 p.m. so that he could take Nia & I to my baby shower. I was super excited about my shower, a house full of Godly women whom I love so dearly, it doesn't get much better than that.

I was doing Nia's hair in the bathroom (it was 5:50 p.m.) and my water broke although I didn't think it was my water, I thought maybe it was just urine as my midwife said that could happen. I changed clothes and got ready to head to my shower. Romeo showed up just in time for Nia to tell him, "Momma's water broke she thinks and she is getting her bags packed up". I didn't want to be in OKC and be in real labor without all my bags and stuff so I took everything with me just in case. On the way I called the midwife on call which just so happened to be Ann Stewart, my midwife. I was thrilled she was on-call that night. I described what happened and she told me to go to urgent care at the L&D to check. WHAT? But what about my shower? Not today, of all days, I needed that shower for those women to lift me up from such a bad day. So I called to inform the hostess in charge that I would not be there. Funny, right, the guest of honor misses her own baby shower. And I heard the turn out was great - about 40 ladies.

At this point I wasn't having any contractions so I just knew it couldn't have been my water. 6:27 p.m. my first contraction hit but was not bad at all and the rest that came after it were pretty inconsistant and getting a little bit worse but not bad at all. We got to the urgent care for them to check and by the time I got into a room for them to check I was having more and more contractions. I was beginning to think maybe I was in labor. I was still in denial though. Romeo kept telling me to call Judy, a friend who was going to keep the kids for us until mom could get here. I was just still hoping to get to my baby shower.

You know how long it takes in hospitals. We showed up at 6:35 or so and I was still waiting to be checked by 8:00. By this time, I knew I was in labor because my contractions were getting stronger and closer together. I called everyone and mentally started preparing myself for delivery while listening to another women in a different room holler and scream for 20 minutes or so (not the best thing to listen to while waiting to have a baby).



I finally got into the birthing room at 8:45 or so and was feeling wonderful. There is a big difference between laying in a bed while having contractions and being about to get up and walk around. All the pressure is on your hiney so sitting actually is very uncomfortable and makes things worse. I tried the birthing ball - didn't like it very much. I tried swaying back and forth and that did work for 20 minutes or so. Then they started getting REALLY intense so I was just going to try the bath because sitting in the tub I thought would be uncomfortable as well. I got in and it helped take the edge off but the pain was getting worse.



With midwives, they don't check you every now and then to see how far along you are, they just depend on your body to tell you when it's time. I didn't understand this because the first two were with Dr.'s and I was checked frequently. I told Romeo to go call the nurse to check me anyway. He did but my midwife came in and asked me a lot of questions about the pressure and how I was feeling. She wouldn't check me. She kept telling me, your body will tell you when to push, don't fight the contractions (because when one would come, I would tighten every muscle in my body thinking that would help ease the pain), don't scream Amy if you need to yell keep it deep and low, focus all your energy on pushing the baby out. At this point I begged her to check me. Okay, Okay she said and she felt the babies head. She and my nurse started getting things together because it was happening!!

Romeo was there right beside the tub holding my hand and encouraging me. He was great. I turned on my side because my midwife suggested it and as soon as I did, I pushed a couple times and there you have it. Much easier said than done. He made his appearance around 10:03 on July 7th 2009, which was 16 days before my due date. They laid him on my chest, Romeo cut the cord, and they focused on getting him to take his first breath, which didn't take long.



I was up walking around in no time, feeling absolutely wonderful. No IV, no blood drawn, no catheter, no monitors, no hospital bed, I could eat & drink if I felt like it, by the way - I HATE NEEDLES! So this is the way to go for me. My midwife was telling me that she delivered twins the week before all natural.



I delivered at 10:03 but it was 3:00a.m. before we got to our room. It was well worth it for me - the pre and post were fantastic! Now the 45 minutes of torture was not fun but if I ever have another one I will do it the same way.

First family of 5 photo

Ian was trying to figure out how the baby came out.

they are so in love with KodahWe didn't have a name for him until 11:00 p.m. the night before we were to leave the hospital. We had talked about several but finally agreed on Kodah Romeo Tagle. What a blessing to our family.

By the way, this post took me 7 hours to write. I will try to keep you guys updated!

Kodah Romeo Tagle

Born 7/7/09 at 10:03 p.m. weighing 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 20" long

I will be posting more pictures and the story later but I know one very anxious person waiting to see a picture. Sorry I didn't get one with his eyes open.

What Life Is All About!

We go to church with this beautiful couple, Vernon & Betty Banks. They are so kind and loving. Nia just loves them and they love her as well along with the rest of our family. On her birthday they asked if they could take her out to eat at her favorite place. She picked Cici's Pizza and she loved it. They are two precious people that we will surely miss when we leave.

Happy 7th Birthday!

Nia is 7 years old

We were in Texas so we had a celebration there. She got a game, a coloring thing, a puzzle, & ROLLER SKATES! That is what she has been wanting for a long while. Thanks Mema!

Hard to Believe

Romeo is 30!!!!!
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday We love you!
Happy Birthday to You!!!

We celebrated his birthday today by singing to him this morning while he was still in bed. He wanted Chicken Scaloppini for supper & a Pina Colada cake for dessert. Nia made him a book with pictures of him & her, Ian drew a picture of a birthday cake, & we all committed to serving him in specific ways this next week.





To see more photos of the "party" go to Romeo's website!

UPDATES! Glasses/Spider Bite/Birthday

Nia got her glasses yesterday. What a cutie!

Yesterday Ian got a package in the mail from Mema for his birthday. She called wanting a zip code a few days ago and I asked what she was sending. All she told me was that it might involve cleanup. Thanks Mom. (At least it was a small bottle)



After posting the Spider Bite, I got some suggestions. My Papa said to slice an onion and leave it on the bite for a while. Although an odd suggestion, I sliced an onion, put it on the bite and bandaged it. She wore it to school. A few people told her she was weird. That same day I took her to the doctor. They were fairly certain it was just a spider bite and there was nothing to be done. I asked if it might be infected but they assured me it wasn't. I told them about the onion and they said they had heard that might work. I didn't see any noticeable difference but who knows. Today the ring is pink not red. I am hoping that means it is healing.


I STILL haven't found my medicine.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Ian Matthew Tagle born 10/5/04 in Lubbock, TX turned 4 today!

Tuesday we went to the doctor because Strep has been going around and we thought Ian was getting it. He had fever and sore throat. The test said no but later in the week, the symptoms got worse (even with ammox) so they put him on a stronger med. He is the best sick kid in the world. He sounds awful with his wheezing and gagging couch but no sad face, no complaining, no "mama, me sick", nothing. We had planned to go to the zoo with some friends and celebrate but he was sick so we then planned to take the cupcakes to church and share with his Sunday school class but that didn't happen either.


This morning Nia & I were getting ready for church knowing that Daddy(he is sick too) & Ian were staying home and we hear Ian, still in bed, say, "What about me? get me up too!" Every morning for the past couple months I have been waking them up by singing This is the day or Rise & Shine, so this morning he wondered why I hadn't done that and let me know that he wanted me too. So Nia & I went into his room and sang Happy Birthday to him. He ran right into the dining room where his cupcakes were and expected his party to start right then. Well, off to church Nia & I went and left Ian waiting until we returned to have his party.


We returned and saw that the couch arm was covered in fingerprinted icing and that the cupcake box had a hole in it. What happened? We asked Ian if he got into the cake and although the evidence was there, he still denied it. You can see the scoop he took out of the icing.

Instead of the usual opening of the wrapped presents, Nia & I decided to hide the unwrapped gifts and make clues to help him find the gifts. He loved that! Here they are running outside to get one out of the bed of the truck.

Then to the cupcakes! We like making this part really fun.

Later on in the day we busted a pinata. He named the pinata guy "Buddy". He picked him out and held his hand on the way home from Walmart. It was a referee, probably not intended for a kids party but it was the cheapest one there and he didn't know the difference.

This is Ian saying your welcome. Super-Cute!