Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

If you hadn't noticed, I am off on holidays. So here's to wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to the New Year!! Blessings!

WW: The Many Face's of 'R'

WW: Cousins

There is about four and a half months in age difference.

Santa?

I suppose this is post is in the season of the holidays but in contrast to some of the things mentioned in the last post. As a Christian mom, I have been trying to teach my children the true meaning and purpose of Christmas. Now for many of you that also have similar beliefs, where does Santa fit in? I am not one of those people that believes that I can keep my children away from the commercialism or the hype of a big jolly man dressed in red, especially when different members of family and friends enjoy this part of the season. I have decided that I will tell my kids of the stories (or let them watch the Christmas shows) that have Santa as the main character since I don't really want them clueless when Grandma asks if they want to put some milk and cookies out! (just an example) Along with this, I have also told my kids that Santa is not real *gasp*. The problem I have now encountered is that my soon to be 5yr old, when asked anything reguarding Santa, proudly and smugly announces "Santa's not real". Why is that a problem you ask? Often this announcement comes in the presence of children hold on to the fact that Santa is real (and shocked parents who do not want there children to find out this devistating fact). So where do I find the balance between teaching my children what I think is right and being considerate to what others are trying to teach their children?

Loving the Holidays!

I love the Christmas season!! We have enjoyed so much of it already. The decorating, the baking, the shopping, the family time, the anticipation, the gifts (we had early Christmas with my parents since we are going to my in-laws for Christmas this year), learning the true meaning of Christmas (kids bring a whole new perspective on this one!), the excitement and wonderment that the kids exude has me re-living my childhood memories :) It is always special to have just experienced childbirth close to this time of year as well - thinking of Mary travelling on a donkey at nine months pregnant!?! How much you want to bet that she could relate to my feelings of soreness and swollen feet!! Imagining having to give birth in a barn?!? And yet as a mother totally relating to the feelings of wonder while looking at your newborn baby - how much more did she treasure these feelings, knowing that she had just given birth to the Savior or this world!! Being a mom, it has sure added another dimension of meaning to Christmas!!

1 Month!!!

I cannot believe it! My little baby girl is one month already!! I know this is just the beginning and as R grows time will go by faster and faster! So I have been asked how things are with three kids, how I've been adjusting, how I've been feeling, etc. At this point things have been going well and I was able to adjust to a new 'normal' slowly and at my own pace since it just so happened that my husband didn't have work for 3.5 weeks (not by choice! I was ready to get him out of the house by 2 weeks!). So far the hardest thing for me has been dealing with K and TJ. It started off really bad since they had 3 days of no consistant parenting (when I was induced and during my stay at the hospital). As soon as I got home it was time to pull way back and get back to a disciplined life for them. It helped, but I also know that there was some acting out due to the changes in the house. I don't have AS much time for them as I normally did and that took it's toll on the kids. I feel like I'm getting much better at giving my two older kids the attention that they need (although some days it's difficult and I know I could have done better).

Altogether, I am feeling good. I am feeling positive. I am trying to keep momentum from day to day and trying to also leave behind the bad days and start on a positive note the next day. I do not feel overwelmed and take it one day at a time. I try to continue doing 'fun' stuff for me and for the kids so 'baby' does not overtake our life - plus she's at that great stage that she sleeps just about anywhere and a lot of the time, so why not get out!! I know that a more difficult time is coming.. when I have three little monkeys running around!!

More about my sweet little girl... she is really starting to look around and notice things a lot more already. R really LOVES to kick - for example, the other night she had been fussing a little (I knew it was bed time/feed time for her) so I quickly got my other two in bed and by that time she was angry with me (hehe.. it's almost cute when little ones get angry) and I thought she was hungry, so I first put her down to change her and guess what? All she wanted to do was get out of her blanket and kick.. she was totally happy just to be able to move around! Right now she is laying beside me, kicking at my leg and cooing.. sounding like a little lamb :) I am so blessed to have my sweet girl!

For All Mom's & Mom's to be!

A friend posted this video on facebook and I loved it so much I had to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Baby it's cold outside!!

-35 C with windchill! We have had such a beautiful fall and very mild weather so far... until the past few days! This morning being the coldest!! So me and the kids are in our PJ's still this morning and I'm spoiling my kids by letting them watch movies. This week we've had some excitement at our house. Me and the kids set up the Christmas tree (just with the lights on, no decorations yet) and also put up the outdoor lights too. We got our first snowfall, that stayed!! So the kids spent a little time outside yesterday, even though it was really cold.

Rhys has been doing so good, she seems to be such a content baby. She has had some incredible nights, one night even sleeping an 8hr stretch!! (although it was 8pm to 4am so I didn't get the full 8, but I got a solid 6 at least!) She has had a couple 6hr stretches but mostly it's between 3-5hr stetches (which I think is still really good!!). A typical day for her usually starts around 9, she usually cluster feeds for a while and then has some awake time. Between 1-2pm she usually goes down for a good nap (usually 3hrs). She has some awake time after supper and is usually ready for bed around 9pm, although typically she wakes up one more time (between 10-11) for one more quick feeding and change and then she's down for the night! I am glad that she has been starting to develope somewhat of a schedule :) She loves laying on her back and kicking during her awake time! She is already a Daddy's girl as well, she seems to be responding already when her Dad gives her attention :)

So all in all, we are doing well and looking forward to the Christmas season!! Although if you think of me on Monday send up a quick prayer, it's offically my first day by myself with the kids. My husband has been off of work since R was born (not his choice, there was just no work until now) and is going away Sunday night. I have been 'practicing' though; I have done a lot of things with just me and 3 kids already. It's just when it becomes 'official' and I know I don't have any 'backup' it becomes the real thing! Sorry for no pictures, I'm on my husband's computer - so no pictures are loaded on here. Next time :)

Finally, the Birth Story *Warning: may be TMI*

*may be too much information for some*

So I am finally able to sit down and start sharing R's birth story. So here goes :) I was scheduled in for induction on Wednesday, October 27, as long as they had room for me. I got up at 7am and got ready for the day and by 7:20am it was time to call and see if they had room for me to come in for induction. Thankfully they did, so we continued preparing for the day as we waited for the kids sitter to come. After she arrived we hugged the kids good-bye and drove down to the hospital.

Things had changed a little in the three years that it was since I had K. After being admitted, I was sent up to OB triage where they monitered baby, I was given an IV (only because I tested positive for GBS, and yes I was fine with that) and the Dr. came in and administered the 'new' induction method. With T & K is was induced with a gel and things went very quickly with that. With R the new induction method is a product called Cervidil (google it if you're interested), it's supposed to be gentler and it is also able to be removed if it seems to agrivate the uterus. So knowing my history of typically responding well and fast to induction they kept me in triage for an extra hour than normal, but this time I was only having contractions every 15-20 minutes or so. When they wanted me to go walk around, everything stopped. So as typical with their new set-up, they sent me home with instructions to call every four hours and to come in immediately if certain things happened (example: water breaking); they sent a list home with us.

So as disappointed as I was, we arrived home in time to have lunch with the kids. After lunch I took the dog out for a nice long walk (TRYING to get things moving) and still nothing. So I decided to try take a little rest on the couch (in a reclined sitting position, since lying down is the least productive position to encourage labor, lol). Around 2:30pm I started noticing contractions were starting. By 3:30, when I was to call the OB triage and give a 'report' I told her that my contractions were 5-10 minutes apart for the last hour but I didn't think they were quite 1min long at that point. So she said to wait a little longer. I decided to start timing things so I had a better idea of where things were at. Between 4-4:30 I was pretty steady at 5mins apart and 50-60 seconds long, so at 4:30 I called a different sitter (I figured that way if things took a long time then they were at a place that they could stay overnight).

I had been sitting on the couch the majority of this whole time, so I decided to start moving around and see if things progressed or if things would slow down. Things didn't slow down, at 5pm I told my husband, we have to go now. We dropped the kids off by 5:30 and were at the OB triage by 6pm. The nurse seemed a little doubtful that things were as I said, but after 15 minutes of monitering she quickly got things into action. She quickly got my IV going and worked on getting a room ready for me in labor & delivery. By the time everything was said and done they got me into the L&D room by 7:00, the Dr. saw me at 7:15. I was at 4cm and he broke my water. All I can say is that my daughter was born at 8:35pm!! So that means I went from 4 to 10 and delivery in 1 hr 20minutes!! Delivery was fast too, basically one really long contraction!! My favorite part was when they put my new baby girl on my chest (all gooky and everything) and laid a really warm, heavy blanket on us and we just got to snuggle for at least a good 20 min. With my other children they were measured and bundled before being handed to me, so this is something different :)

Thankfully, everything went really well! Our daughter was born at a healthy weight of 8lb 3oz, much better than the 9lbs I was scared of! Although I do think she was more overdue than we thought because she had already started losing weight in utero. She went down to 7lb 13oz at the hospital, but at her first Dr. appointment had regained her birth weight. One thing I've learned to deal with is her reflux issue. I know it's fairly normal, but none of my kids have really spit up a lot before. So after feeding her I try to keep her a somewhat of an incline without putting pressure on her tummy. For now she has also been sleeping in her bouncy chair so when I do night feedings I don't have to sit up with her for 10-15 extra minutes afterwards! Adjustments seem to be going well with the kids, nothing that some structure, discipline and special one-on-one mom time can't help :) So that's pretty much our introduction of the newest little monkey in our family :)

And Baby Makes 5

Introducing our new baby girl, Rhys Sayrah Mai (in case you are wondering how to say her name, it's Reece Sarah May - I liked the different spelling). Born Oct. 27, at 8:35pm. weighing in at 8lbs 3oz, 20 3/4 inches long


I will post more about her birth later.

Anyone Want to Guess?

I am going to (try) and keep this post at the top of my blog so everyone can put in their guesses for our baby's stat's.

• When will baby arrive?
• What will baby's gender be?
• How heavy/long with baby be?

Just so everyone knows, my first baby (TJ, boy) was induced a week after my due date. Born at 5:31pm, 7lbs 1 oz., 21" long. My second baby (K, girl) was induced a week after my due date. Born at 3:17pm, 8lbs 4 oz., 20" long. My due date for this baby is Oct 16 & 23 (tricky I know, lol) Happy guessing :)

Patience is a what???

still waiting to meet baby :) Soon, very soon...

Update

So I had another Dr's appointment. Things are looking good. Dr said that baby is in a good position - which I am super thankful for!! Hopefully it won't be too much longer - thank you to my faithful readers that are waiting just as anxiously as I am :)

*Sigh*

So I am still waiting. Things are getting a little stressful today. You would think that with a planned induction things would be easier to plan. The hardest thing this time around: finding someone to watch my two kids while I'm in the hospital. It seems to be happening that I have had lots of offers to help with the kids, and yet when I can say, 'I need someone for THIS day' all I get is, 'oh sorry, I can't do it'. I mean I understand that everyone else has a life and has things planned but it's difficult. My little rant for the day.

As to Goofball's question from my last post... you will have to wait through the silence unfortunately (my husband has no idea about blogging, haha), but really once baby is born I only stay in the hospital one day (as long as there are no complications and everyone is well). So I should be able to blog at least a one liner once I get home :)

Due Date #2

Due date #2 is here. I feel like things are getting really close. I think this is the closest I have felt to labour with all of my kids.. I am kind of still hoping I can go in before induction, but it's getting closer.

Checking in

Nothing going on today with baby. I took the kids out this morning and we bought electrical stuff for the basement.. YAY!! Hopefully we can get a start on it soon!

TJ, looking at some pictures from last summer,
"Look mom, do you remember this good old day?"

Keeping Busy

Here are some things I've been doing to keep busy while waiting for our baby's arrival:

1. Taking care of my family in the obvious ways of physical needs such as meals, making sure the kids are dressed and ready for the day, have naps, and bed time :)
2. Keeping up with cleaning (so I don't have a disaster when the baby comes, because we all know that when baby's arrive, the cleanest house will fall prey to disaster!)
3. Doing small decluttering projects... ones that have been waiting YEARS for me, lol!
4. Baking. We made the best cookies today, and SO simple!! 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg. mix, roll into balls then press with fork. Bake at 350 for 10 min!
5. Doing errands to help get ready for the next step of finishing our basement - electrical :)
6. Driving my son to and from pre-school
7. Playdates for the kids
8. Doing fun activities with the kids (it was more difficult to do this with daycare kids, so I am taking advantage of the 'easier' 2 kids)
9. Trying to figure out creative ways to keep the kids busy (already, although when I run out of ideas I still send them outside!)
10. Christmas/birthday shopping. My hubby's birthday is before Christmas - this year I have completed his shopping already. Almost done the kids Christmas shopping, just need to figure out something for TJ's birthday (his bday is also right before Christmas)

When my husband is home at a decent time in the evenings (as in after 8pm), there are a few other things I am able to do with out kids:

• Attend baby showers (there were 3 in September from our church, and one bridal shower)
• spent 2 hrs browsing at a women's trade show in town
• Taking the dog for nice long walks!
• Taking long bubble baths (and reading a good book while soaking)
• After the kids are in bed, watching my favorite TV shows while putting my feet up and pigging out on cookies and delicous treats like that :) I mean someone has to eat all that baking right?

The End is Near

Yay for me!! Dr.'s appointment went super well and did NOT even have to ask about induction :) He sent me in for my non-stress test at the hospital and afterwards they called the Dr. back and booked an induction date and told me right away!! I'm not going to tell you when it is, but at the same time I'm still hoping baby will come before that :)

Wish Me Luck...

...tomorrow morning I go to see my Dr. Amongst the things that we will be talking about, I WILL have enough courage to ask him when is the soonest that we can get things going :) This may sound strange, but I really hate asking people for things - even my Dr. lol. Guess it's just one of those things about me. I will try to let you know how things go tomorrow.

The Hardest Part

You know what I find the hardest part to deal with at 40 weeks? (besides waiting) This time I've been having lots of braxton hicks ('practice' contractions) and even though I know it's good because my body is getting ready for the real thing. The hard part is that every time I have 2 or 3 in a row it gets me super excited, thinking 'this may be it'... and then things stop! This morning I had about 3 or 4 (between 5:30 - 6am), but nothing since then... *sigh* I will try to post a little something every day or every other day so that you guys know when I'm not around for a while that baby has probably made an appearance :) So anyone have any suggestions of what to do while waiting for baby's arrival?

Due Date #1

These pictures were just taken this afternoon by my kids :)
Please come soon baby! We are all excited to meet you :)

Happy (belated) Birthday!!

I know that I am REALLY late on this one.. but I figure better late than never :) Happy Birthday my baby girl!! We had a fun playdate for her the morning of her birthday and she was in love with her cake :) It was adorable!! She saw her cake and exclaimed, "Oh thank-you Mommy!!!"
See the side that is 'missing' icing? Yeah that was an early morning taste test by my daughter :) Typical of her, haha.

A few days later that week, we decided to stay at the same hotel as my parents so the kids could have extra fun time. We all had a BLAST swimming at the pool and waterslide! Afterwards Grandma and Grandpa had a gift for the birthday girl and then we had a yummy bedtime snack :)

I hope you had a wonderfully special day my precious baby girl! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and you are such a blessing in our lives each and every day!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! I know I'm a little late, I've enjoyed the family time that we have had. I did make a big Thanksgiving meal for our family, kind of hoping that baby would make an arrival but no such luck at this time. Today is our clean up day (the kids are being put TO WORK, I hope this will help stop the whinning that is happening!). So more from us later :)

"Should" "Declutter"

Two words that need to be present everyday in my life :) Following To Love, Honor and Vacuum's first challenge, I took 15 minutes and decluttered one small area of my home. It actually took a little longer just because of interruptions, but I did complete it! I had already been working on this one area of my bedroom because baby is coming soon and this space will be needed for the first few weeks of baby's life. So this was a good excuse to finish up the job.

Here is the before picture (which actually is better looking than the real before picture since I had 'started' working on it before the challenge - scary I know!!)

Here is the finished product. (and no I did not just shove everything into my drawers... although those drawers are on my list of areas to declutter!)

Yes I'm still here...

Things have finally slowed down a little. For that I am glad because it means I can spend a little more time with my own kids and also get a few projects done around the house! Baby is coming soon, so I will take advantage of the time I have :)

I am a frequent reader of To Love, Honor and Vacuum and this month has been dedicated to simplifying our lives. I am hoping to participate in Sheila's challenges as much as I can before the baby comes (and even after on occasion if I can) I really need this as I struggle a lot with motivation to keep things organized, because I feel that it all has to be perfect. (and it's SO far from there!!!) Perfection is not the key, it's keeping things simple and not feeling overwelmed by the whole picture (which is what I do and then nothing gets done)! I like how Sheila put things, 1. Define your calling 2. Organize yourself 3. Pare down. How simple it seems when you put things like that :) So today I want to do the first challenge of decluttering a small area.. I need to take before and after pics.. so beware of the next posts :)

Joke of the Day :)

TJ: Mo-om, what do you think of this? When it gets close to Christmas time, how about we put some Christmas lights on the car? That would be nice and pretty.

Me: How do you think we would plug them in?

TJ: Well... (pause) we could get a long extension cord. How about that? Is that a good idea?

Just thought I'd share my chuckle of the day. I'm heading out to a ladies weekend (well Friday to Saturday) without the kids (yay!). So see you all next week... oh and welcome to October :)

Family Fun in the Summer

This summer my husband and TJ went fishing quite a bit. It's been great that they can have some 'boy' time! I really appreciate that they have found something to both enjoy as father/son time is SO incredibly important in my eyes. As great as a mom can be, nothing is the same as the time they can spend together! One time me and my daughter joined the boys at a local fishing spot and the kids had a fantastic time! K caught her first fish and TJ caught about 3! It was so cute, everytime when someone caught a fish, when it first dragged up on the shore, flopping around, K would let out a loud squeal of delight!

hehe.. it looks like our dog is smelling the flowers :)

TJ trying to help K real in her line, and yes that is a Barbie, light-up fishing rod :)

TJ trying to hold onto his fish as it's flopping around, so I can take a picture :)

K's first fish!!!

Pictures to come...

This week has been crazy.. but wonderful!! Filled with pre-school, playdates, cleaning, princess birthday party, grandparents, swimming, shopping, friends, a massage (yay for me), and there is more to come. I am looking forward to seeing more family, a wedding, a Dr's appointment, dinner out. It's funny, I thought that with not having daycare kids anymore that I would have more time. Seems that I have just filled it in with more stuff :) I am enjoying it though! I might as well since once baby #3 comes around I will probably be a home-body for a little bit until things settle down :) I can't promise when pictures will be posted, as you can tell I have a full schedule :)

Frustrating!

Last night, all night and this morning I have been dealing with something really frustrating!! Lower back and tailbone/pelvic pain. This morning has been particularly difficult since I can't just do what I need to do! I am literally reduced to 1/2 a step at a time and hanging on to things in order to walk. Let me tell you when it takes 5-10 minutes to get across to the kitchen and back to get breakfast going for the little ones it's very frustrating!! I was reduced to tears between the pain and frustration of not being able to just DO what I needed to do. So much for my plans of doing Saturday cleaning today! Although I'm hoping that if I try to move around enough that it will 'warm-up' my muscles enough that I can at least walk half normal to get a few simple things done. It's kind of a weird feeling. Sometimes I can step and it doesn't feel too bad and then the next time I move in the same way (thinking it didn't hurt last time) and pain goes searing through my hips - not fun! Sorry to be a complainer today, I just really hope that I don't have to deal with this for the next 4-6 weeks!!

WW: What has been keeping me busy :)

I'm Still Here :)

I've been wanting to post for a while now but I really wanted to post a picture and as luck would have it, my kids have hidden my camera! I have looked everywhere - those little monkeys of mine like to snitch things and then they have these 'nests' where they collect various things. So far I haven't found the one hosting my camera yet, haha.

So, from my last post, I am thinking that there is a really good chance that baby has dropped. I guess we will see on Tuesday (my next Dr appointment) if my guess is correct. I have been having a lot of fun with lower back and tailbone pain (I am really hoping that this is not a preview of what's to come: back-labour). I have also recently been feeling some sciatic nerve pain (I had it with my daughter too) which is never comfortable, but thankfully not as much as when I was pregnant with her. Interesting thing, the other night when I got to go out for coffee with a bunch of ladies, I got several interesting comments. "you look so small" (thank you a million times, even if it's not 100% true it's way nicer to hear than the opposite). The other comment came from a good friend of mine, she mentioned that I was carrying much more in front versus how I carried around more with my daughter. This got me thinking. Maybe it is a boy... haha.. I guess we'll see soon enough. Just this last week 3 women in my church had babies, all three were girls! I think I am the next one due and so I am curious if I will continue the pattern or break it :)

In other news, last week was happy birthday to me :) That was the reason for the ladies coffee, there are three of us that share the same birthday. So for my birthday, I got to sleep in (YAY!!) and then as I was relaxing enjoying the quiet, my mom called to say happy birthday. So my kids, realizing I was awake, crawled into bed with me and gave me some sweet birthday snuggles and 'happy birthday's'. I just love the fact that they can now realize what birthdays are about.. it was so fun. We had a family type day. We went to the theater to see Despicable Me in 3D - they loved it :) It was very enjoyable!

It seems that with September on the calender page, everything has become so busy! Weddings, showers, cleaning out the garden (the weather seems to be telling us that it is definitely fall!), canning, appointments. All sorts of stuff has been going on! It's not stopping either, tomorrow is my son's first day at pre-school this year. I think we are both looking forward to him going back! Next week is my daughter's birthday and my parents are coming up for part of the week and there is a family wedding that Saturday too (in two weeks, minus one day) . I will promise to try and keep up on here, posting a little here and there so you will know how things are going with baby and whether or not baby has made an appearance :)

Dropped or Not?

I have never really noticed, or known when my baby dropped (or maybe they just didn't until just before labor). This morning when I woke up I felt different. I was thinking that maybe the baby had dropped and that's why things felt a little different. Now that baby is moving around things don't feel so different anymore - so now I don't think baby dropped at all, probably just soundly asleep. (baby normally wakes up as soon as I get up, sounds weird, but at this point I can really tell the baby's sleep/awake cycle) Did you notice a definite time in your pregnancy when baby dropped? Or did it happen just before labor for you? If it happened a while before labor, how did you know for sure? Was it obvious or just slight differences? Did it happen at considerable different times for different children (early or just before labor)?

It's not that I want to go into labor yet, plus the baby engaging does not necessarily mean that you will go into labor really soon, it's just one more step to let you know that things are moving forward. Plus it definitely helps with breathing easier and less heartburn (or so I've read). On another note, I had fun yesterday folding some tiny itty bitty baby things :) I got out my newborn onesies and sleepers that are unisex in color and a few items in pink and a few in blue. I also laundered my receiving blankets as well. I figure I may as well enjoy all the tiny stuff while it's still new and fun (doing loads of tiny clothes can get tiring fast). One step closer to having my suitcase packed :)

Busy Summer

I don't know about the rest of you, but August has seemed to have disappeared!! Maybe it's just the busy time of trying to get everything 'summer' in before September. Around here September is a toss up, it may very well be beautiful with chrisp mornings and warm days but it can also be a harsh introduction to what winter may bring. Enough about that, back to our busy summer :) One weekend in August my daughter was a flower girl in my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful day!! The girls all looked so beautiful and let me tell you I was SO glad that my daughter's haircut came AFTER the wedding and not before!!
I have lots of other things to blog about, but they will have to wait since I have lots to do today :)

Week 31/32

I thought it was about time to update you all on how my pregnancy is going. I find it a lot more difficult taking (or making) the time to get belly pics. Maybe it just says something about how fast things seem to be going with this pregnancy! With two young children and 3 daycare kids and all the fun things of summer I find my time slipping by. There is always so much to do, little motivation (on my part) and little energy - so it means a lot of prioritizing. In my case I find it a lot more of a priority to have a nap in the afternoon than to clean my house, so if you were to stop by my house unannounced, be prepared :)

So this is me and my baby belly :) Not my most flattering maternity pic, I had just come inside from working in the garden (hence the 'outside' clothes and hair) and my son wanted to take some pictures, so I figured I'd put his desire to some good use :) I've been feeling really good the last while - it's the best part of pregnancy between weeks 20-30-somthing. At my last Dr's appointment (last week) my Dr. estimated that baby's weight was about 4lbs and 5oz!!! Crazy, baby gained 2 lbs in the last month - although then it doesn't make me feel so bad because the 2 out of 5 lbs I gained last month were strictly baby. I have definately been feeling that baby is becoming bigger and there is less space for him/her to move around. I've been feeling all knees, feet, elbows and hands whenever the baby moves!! Thankfully my Dr. said that baby is head down at this point, although the head is not engaged (so baby can still float around and change positions). With K, she was breech until 36 weeks (if she would have still been breech at week 36 my Dr. wanted to schedule a C-section as a back-up). I am now to the point where I see my Dr. every 2 weeks (can you believe it!!) - that seems like a big milestone to me. I got to thinking the other day that maybe I should start getting a few things in order as baby's arrival, so I made one arrangement (one of the most important). I called up a friend and asked if she would by my watch my kids, especially if I have to go in unexpectedly. I am hoping to go in unexpectly (I was induced with my other two children). A few things I still need to do:

• pack a hospital bag
• sort through my baby clothes and bring all the unisex 0-3 month stuff upstairs, and know where the boy & girl stuff is (separated and ready to bring upstairs once baby is born)
• get baby's bed and blankets ready

I think that is everything related to baby that I have to do. I have a lot of projects left to do before baby comes but if they don't get done on time, that will have to be ok :)

Discomforts I am experiencing - probably the biggest one is ligament pain. I have had it with all my pregnancies, but this one is the worst so far. For those that are not sure what this is, basically it's sore muscles by the pelvic/hip area, it is what makes it so difficult to turn over in bed, get up from sitting on the floor, going up stairs, getting off the couch, standing for long periods of time, etc. Sometimes it feels as if I can't move my legs and have to physically move them with my hands to get going. I am not complaining, I would do anything for my child but as a lot of you know pregnancy definately has it's discomforts as well as joys :) The heat we are having has also been a long of fun while being this big. Thanks to my husband that last summer (or two summers ago) he HAD to buy a portable AC unit, I didn't think we needed it, but at this point I have made a lot of use of it :) Either way we are starting to get excited about meeting this newest addition to our family!!

Wordless Wed.: Mommy Cried a Little

TJ decided to try his hand at hairstyling - didn't turn out so well, so we went to the professional to get a fix up.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

Respect?

This week the Marriage Challenge is about respect. Respect, in my mind, has been a difficult thing to define - not in and of itself, but what it means to respect my husband. What does it mean to show respect, or in effect what is considered disrespectful to my husband? I do respect my husband in my heart and mind, but how can I or do I show that to him (I mean men and women think so differently!!)? This week's challenge is a good start to defining respect as an action for me.

The challenge this week is: No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home.

I am also planning on talking with my husband, to try and find out more of his perspective, what impacts him as showing him respect (building him up) or disrespectful. Some of these things listed may not bother him that much whereas other things I do might really bother and hurt him. I think I would like to particularly focus on the areas that build him up. I think if I'm focused on showing him I respect him it will be easier to not do those things that show disrespect. Either way, respect is a very important thing to work on in a marriage - how do you show your husband respect/build him up?

PS this is my 300th post :) YAY!

One Year Today

One year ago today I miscarried our third child. Like any woman that has experienced a miscarriage - you never forget that day. I had just had an ultra-sound the day before, the tech couldn't really tell me anything (because it was inconclusive). I was packing to go on a holiday to take my kids to a family reunion a province away (my parents were meeting up with us and we were planning to travel together). My Dr. called, told me the 'results' of the ultra-sound (which again, was inconclusive), and I asked if he thought it was ok to travel - he gave me some information and advice on things to watch for in case of a miscarriage. Less than an hour later I knew I was miscarrying. Being the stubborn person I am, decided to go on my holiday anyway. Even though it was hard at times, I think I made the right decision - I had time to myself while driving (I love driving, it gives me time to sort through my thoughts), crying, singing (I love singing to my music in the car, lol), and thinking. At the same time I did not have time to dwell on what was happening because with two children to take care of, they needed me. Also during my family reunion there was so much going on that I was occupied. Although I'm sure some wondered why I cried easily when my children were being difficult (remember pregnancy hormones!). I was really blessed to not have been in a lot of pain or discomfort though or to have to visit an emergency room - I did consult on the phone a few times with nurses from HealthLink (1-800 number) just to make sure about a few questions I had. Once I got home from our trip I did go in to the ER to confirm what I already knew.

That night I grieved. It was official - our baby was in heaven. Even though I know one day I will get to meet my angel baby, and I take comfort in that - one still needs to go through the process of grieving, of loss. My mom gave me some really good advice (even though she's never gone through a MC), she told me to use this to pull me and my husband together and not to let it tear us apart. I needed to hear that because I had been a bag to my husband, yelling at him about little things that really didn't matter, but because I was emotional and upset about what happened it came out as anger toward him. I made the effort to consciously change my attitude and let my husband into my cocoon of grief and it did pull us together. It helped me realize too that even if it didn't affect him like it did me, he still cared and wanted to help me by sharing my sadness. The grieving process didn't last a long time, I was only 8 weeks pregnant, but I felt the emptiness, especially as friend after friend after friend announced their pregnancy. I was happy for them, but it was a reminder of my loss. (honestly in the 6 months between my miscarriage and getting pregnant again there were about 15 announcements of friends getting pregnant, not even a joke)

I am not sharing this for pity or sympathy, but to remember (for myself) and to share with others the reality of my experience - so many women don't talk about it but SO many women experience this loss. I know many people who have suffered much greater loss, so I don't want to even suggest that I know all about life's grief, just to document my experience and journey. I found that my biggest therapy was talking to other women who had gone through similar experiences - to find someone that really understood the lonely journey and could maybe help answer some of my questions. I also have found that the more I am open about this, the more women I find that have gone through the same thing. So today marks one year, I smile at the thought that I have a child waiting for me when I get to heaven - a perfect, beautiful child that never had to go through the hardships of this world. I wonder what my child may have looked like or of the future my child could have had, but most of all, I know that my little angel is cared for by my most wonderful Lord.

Week 28/29

If you've checked my ticker you know that I am now 28 weeks (well, tomorrow), although I consider myself 29 weeks. Reason being: my official ultrasound showed baby to be a week further along than my dates, knowing what I know about conception the official ultrasound lines up better than the traditional method of calculating one's due date, also my Dr.'s ultrasound measurements are also leaning towards this fact as well. Reason why I am keeping the original due date in mind: both of my kids were overdue and I had to be induced, so I don't want to keep my hopes up that this one will be early :) I can't find my camera so I will have to update with a picture later.

How far along: 28/29 weeks (29 by my calculations)

Total weight gain/loss: I don't have a scale at home, but I'm sure it's about 20lbs by now

Maternity clothes: Mostly, although I just bought some amazing regular capri yoga pants at Costco that I love!

Sleep: sleeping really good, and even getting in a few naps a week

Movement: baby is moving a lot (which is reasuring!), the movements have become more pronounced, it's obvious that elbows, knees and feet are bumping around in there :)

Gender: if you check out my sidebar you will notice I have a poll for your guesses at what the baby's gender is - I am surprised that every thinks girl, although maybe it's because I am kind of thinking it's a girl (although not completely sure, some days I think boy). If you haven't voted yet, do :)

What I miss: being able to shave properly, lol

What I'm looking forward to: my next appointment (in 2 weeks)

Milestones: after my next appointment I see my Dr. every two weeks!!! also I have already done the dreaded gestational diabetes test (drinking that yucky orange 'pop') guess I'll find out soon if I have to go in for the 2hr hospital test or if I tested negative

A friend of mine forwarded this link to me. My other pregnancies I didn't really have many issues like this, but this time I am a lot bigger a lot sooner. So I won't be surprised to get interesting comments this time around. Check out the link :)

Wordless Wednesday: Camping Fun

I know this is supposed to be wordless Wednesday, but I need to explain this picture a little. To most this picture may not be significant, but let me tell you what it represents. K had just had a camper bath (=1cm of water bath, lol), and put on fresh jammies and was now jumping around on her own special bed (in Grandma's holiday trailer). The memories and nostalgia this picture evokes for me is incredible - the special fun of camping, as much as you don't want the evening to end, there is nothing like curling into your own special bed, fresh and clean after a day of exploring in the wilderness, eating too many marshmallows, discovering fire (I know, I know), hot dogs, water fights, and more snacks than Mom would normally allow!

Summer Marriage Challenge

I know that I didn't post last week about the Summer Marriage Challenge - there is a reason for that. The challenge for last week was: Make your husband a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, desert and drink are. Be sure to serve him all three one night this week. Bonus: cook his favorite dishes all week long! Not that I didn't want to do this challenge, but this week there was one day where my husband came home before 8:30pm! So it really was not feasible this week. It will have to be something that I will do at a later time for him. This week's challenge should prove to be interesting! The challenge is: Support his vision. Discuss his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years and 10 years. Share with us how you let your husband lead. First of all I would like to mention that I appreaciate that it was mentioned that: first - listen. Listen to your husband's vision for your family. Secondly - enter into their vision and share what you dream and envision. From there see where the differences may lie and flesh those out. In the places where you do not see eye to eye - let your husband lead. I am a huge believer in discussion! I also know that it is invaluable to sit and just listen (really listen, not just hear). So I like this approach much better than just that of the challenge itself.

I know this is going to be interesting because I have been trying to find out what my husband's vision is for a while, but my husband isn't really a long term planner. That or else take into account that he's a 'dreamer' type personality and his 5yr plan should actually be in the 10 or 15yr slot because of the feasibility (he doesn't necessarily have a plan of how to get there, just that he wants to be there in 5yrs, not realizing that some things just take time especially if he is going to be as particular as he is about certain things). The other issue, he doesn't think he'll live another 10 years so he doesn't think he needs to plan that far in advance. Yes I'm serious. At first this sounds morbid (that's what I thought for a long time) but taken with two other facts about him and it's understandable how he can feel that way. First, his grandfather died at 45 and a lesser second - he has no clue of his paternal health history and believes that his bio father died young as well (yes this is a whole other issue). Anyway - back to the challenge, it may take a while, but I will try my best to find opportunity for us to discuss vision - I would really like to hear his!

Guess Who is Almost 3...

That's right, K is almost 3. You don't need to remind me, she's doing that all by herself. No, it's not that she will come up to me and remind me it's almost her birthday - more like her attitude has changed into that of a "3 yr old". Most of you with kids will understand what I mean, if you have never had children, basically you hear about the terrible two's all the time but what they don't tell you about is the 3's! Let me give you some examples of what I'm dealing with:

If I ask her to do something that she doesn't want to do (like nap time or eating), I get a combination of responses like: "Mommy, I want to tell you something", "Mommy, I forgot something.", "I'm cold" (this last one I'm not sure where she got it from, but it's an excuse to get her blanket and get out of whatever she's supposed to do). Actually, all of these are excuses to delay or get out of what she's been asked to do - as innocent as they sound! I try to be patient, but I get tired of her 'excuses' and that she is just plain not listening to me and then end up raising my voice to get my point across and she shuts down (gets all sulky, curls up, cries, has hurt feelings - she is very sensitive that way). I am open to any ideas on disciplining a sensitive yet stubborn child!!

My two biggest battles these days are meal times and nap time. Meal times, it can be tough getting her to even try her food (that has always been a big thing for me, is that my kids HAVE to at least TRY the food). Also she has started refusing to eat, (even some of her past favorite foods!) and when I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere, she want's me to FEED her (I don't think so!!). I have been putting the food on her fork/spoon for her, it seems like a compromise and helps her eat. Today for example, it took K an hour to eat supper (it took TJ 15 - 20 minutes). It is very tiring for me since it is like we are moving backwards!

Nap time, well I realize that she is getting older and may need less sleep but on days where she does not have a nap she gets super cranky by around supper time (which then lends to an even more difficult meal time!!). It's been tough because the hardest thing is getting her to use the bathroom before naptime (probably because she knows that after that it's off to bed, so she figures if she stalls that she can stall nap time). She doesn't want to wear a pull-up but she also doesn't want to use the bathroom before nap time (that is required if she wants to go to bed without a pull-up on!). So it's her will against mine! Even on the days that I do get her to bed, 50% of the time she doesn't sleep (at least it's quiet time though!!).

My hope is that between me and my daughter, we can get things figured out before baby is born! So I am definately open to ideas in figuring out what might work better for me and my girl :)

Wordless Wed.: Summertime Fun

Waterfight with Grandpa :)

Mom's - I need Your Help!

I need some recommendations. I am looking for a Christian book collection or audio book set that is really good for younger kids (about ages 3-6 or so). I am looking for something that teaches character and fruit of the spirit type topics. I remember listening to and reading the Agapeland, music machine books but they don't make them anymore. So I am looking to you to see if I can find something comparable.

Camping, Berries and Summer Marriage Challenge

Busy, busy, busy! I love summertime, even through the busy-ness :) We had a wonderful weekend camping with my parents! Of course the kids absolutely LOVED it!! (sorry I don't have pictures, I have to get them from my parents) It was SO warm - enough for a water fight! I was so lucky to have my parents there, because on Sunday my Dad watched the kids play at the park while me and my mom picked strawberries. I made my first batch of strawberry jam with this recipe, I tasted it on fresh bread on Tuesday and it is SO yummy!! All week I've been struggling with sore legs, not really sure why until I realized it was from squatting to pick berries. Guess it's not a position my legs are used to :)

I would like to thank Glimpse. I won tickets to Sesame Street Live through Glimpse and I took my kids to the show this month and they loved it! I was pretty impressed too. I love the quality of the show! They had brilliant colors, impressive light shows (my kids LOVED when the lights hit the disco ball and there were 'stars' moving everywhere!) and catchy songs that had most of the kids (and parents too) moving.

I know that I am late this week with the Summer Marriage Challenge, but I did get it done. Here is the challenge for this week: Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask your husband to prioritizy them for you of what is important to him. I'm not going to put my list on here, but I will tell you I was a little surprised at the results. For one thing there were two items that it seems I have to push, pull and drag to get him to participate in - those two items were at the top of his list. Another thing I want to mention is a statement from the Challenge this week. The statement was: A lot of quarrels can be kept at bay if we are willing to ask our husbands their preferences and then be mindful of them. I agree with most of the statement - we can minimize quarrels if we have better communication of priorities. The part that kind of rubs me the wrong way is that we, as wives should find out our husband's preferences and 'be mindful of them'. Now I suppose it depends on your definition of 'being mindful'. Yes, it is good to know what is considered important to your husband because it does make things easier when you are on the same page, but the insinuation I sense is that his priorities are the ones that are important and you need to then just do what he thinks is important. I am more of the view that marriage is a partnership, not a one man show. If my husband's number one priority is one thing, than he should also show that it is a priority by helping/encouraging/participating in that. Also what of a wife's priorities? Should what is important on her list not matter? Can one not take two lists of priorities and combine them in a compromise? I know this can be a controversial topic, what are your thoughts? **please be nice**

Wordless Wed.: Old Man

hehe.. don't worry it didn't stay like that, I did shave it all off :)

All about my man

So I am going to start off with a bit of a recap of last week. The challenge from the Summer Marriage Challenge was to pray for your husband everyday. They supplied a list of things to pray for and I think I did fairly well even if I didn't actually go through the whole list every day - I did pray for him every day. A day after starting the challenge my husband got some news from his boss, about his job - I asked everyone to pray. Again I don't really want to go into details, but it was pretty major and it's been a big prayer item for me (and I want to thank all of you who prayed without knowing what the situation was!). At this point things are good (I believe) but I don't know if we are out of the woods yet, so it's still on my prayer list. Otherwise, I'd say we've had a really good week.

This week's challenge is to blog about the things that I admire about my husband. An interesting thing that I have heard of before I got married, and find to be true is that often the things you like about your spouse can also drive you nuts at times :) (something for the single/dating/engaged to think about) This is going to be fun :)

1. My husband has an uncanny ability to be able to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime about anything - something I have always struggled with and even though I admire this in him, it has caused me embarressment at times, just because I would be too shy or 'proper' to say such things.


2. My husband has a generous heart. He is often doing kind gestures to others in disadvantage because he too has been there at one point in his life and he will go out of his way to do these things. Sometimes he is too generous (is there such a thing?) that sometimes he gets taken advantage of, but I suppose that is the risk of giving without expecting anything back in return.
   
3. My husband can easily say sorry when he knows he's been wrong. I admire this because I have an incredibly hard time apologizing for things.


4. I can talk to my husband about ANYTHING - where I find things awkward, he has no problem being open about.


5. I love the fact that my husband is willing and happy to watch the kids if I need a night off. Often I am a 'single' parent to my children because of my husband's job, but when he's home it's never a problem or 'hassle' for me to get out of the house to have some 'me' time. (and believe me, without it I would get completely worn out!)


6. I admire and believe that my husband is a survivor! The things he has been through in his life would break most people, and I can't even imagine going through a life like his. Even though there are scars and affects of the past (which is normal) he has become a stronger and better person through everything. Life has thrown it's worst at him, but he is still moving forward.



7. My husband is a hopeless dreamer. He has the most amazing, incredible, inventive ideas and they don't stop :) It makes me smile when I hear all of his crazy ideas :) Although some of them are really good.
   

I could go on, but I'm running out of time here. I appreciate my husband and know that I don't tell him enough. I would encourage any of you that are not participating in the Challenge to also tell your spouse what you admire about them :) **I was going to find a recent picture of me and my husband and it's been way too long that we've actually taken some together. That will be on my list of things to do :)**