{pic of the girls from our recent MN trip}
The girls are completely fascinated by the thought of a little man being inside my stomach. We often talk about it… Kinley often asks if there will be a big enough “space” for the baby to come out and has even asked if the baby is naked in there. They both love to put their hands on my stomach and try to feel baby brother kick. Recently both girls have started pretending that they too have babies in their bellies.
Tonight at dinner they said some really funny things as they imagined themselves as little mommies… I tried not to crack up as it went something like this:
Myleigh: I have a tiny baby in my belly. It’s a girl baby.
Kinley: I have a baby too. Mine is a girl baby too.
Kinley: Mommy has a boy baby in her belly.
Myleigh: In a few minutes I will go to the hospital so the baby can come out.
Kinley: You are leaving to go the hospital Myleigh? To let the baby out?
Myleigh: Yes, she wants to come out.
Kinley: I’m going to name my baby “Stinky.”
Kinley: I need to eat because my baby in my belly is hungry.
Myleigh: My baby is hungry too that’s why I need to eat.
Kinley: My baby likes to eat cookies.
Kinley: Look at the baby kicking in my belly! {makes her stomach poke in and out}
Myleigh: My baby is kicking too! {same belly action as her sister}
So entertaining!
It was hot…humid…but Fun!
Here is a url for the results.
http://tinyurl.com/mwanle
Today was a blast…it really was. I got to spend some good time with the family. We took the kids to the fountains, went shopping, grilled out and are now just enjoying some quiet time around the house. Life can get a bit hectic, but my family is my ‘happy’ place.
I finally had Billy take a picture of the “belly” today while we were out and about with the kiddos. I thought I’d post it, since my last belly shot was posted at 17 weeks! I’m not as diligent this time around with getting pictures at regular intervals. I think it’s partly because we already have 3 little people to look after… and partly because I’ve gained so quickly with this one and I’m not particularly thrilled with the way I look during this pregnancy. I don’t know why the weight gain is so different this time, but I’m very determined to get it all off in the months following delivery. Come on baby boy! September can’t get here soon enough!
I had another routine Dr. appointment today. I’m actually about 2 days away from starting my 26th week. Yay!
Anyway, the baby’s heart rate was good and my weight was good (so they say -ha!). I had my finger pricked for my first “anemia” test (which I hate). It looks like all is well, but my iron is a little low. I suspect that’s because I’ve felt like garbage for almost a week and hadn’t been eating more than was needed to survive. In any case, it was nothing to worry about, so that’s a good thing. My midwife reiterated that since they found the Step B in my urine at 12 weeks, they won’t even bother with a culture now (per guidelines given by the CDC). Apparently, that means I’m a carrier and at higher risk of passing it to the baby at delivery (it can be fatal in infants). I find this interesting, since this wasn’t an issue with any of the previous 3… so weird. Anyway, this means that I have to receive antibiotics at the hospital before I deliver. Blah. I like to do things as naturally as possible, so this is an irritation that I didn’t want to deal with. I hate having an IV put in as well…such a nuisance! Hopefully the labor goes so quickly that it won’t matter. That would be the best scenario!
My next appointment will be for my glucose test. More fun!
Hopefully we’ll get another belly picture soon so I can post it 
{sick little man}
Well, as a follow-up to the previous post…. The week of vomiting went on and on. After the girls went through 36-40 hours straight of vomiting, things started to let up, or at least it appeared that way. On Tuesday night Colty started throwing up. It went on through midnight and then seemed to taper off. He actually went an entire day after that without having any real issues (he even ate) and we just kept him hydrated. The next day the vomiting started again for him and went on most of the day. Kinley and Myleigh had a few re-occurrences as well over the next few days. I think I did 12 loads of laundry just to keep up with the puking fall-out.
The whole thing started last Saturday night and FINALLY seemed to be coming to an end the following Friday. By Saturday morning, it appeared that this nasty virus/bug that was in our poor kids had finally passed. The girls had a full day of normal eating yesterday (Sat) and Colty is getting close as well. I have never seen anything like this and hope I never have to again! Thankfully, even though I felt nauseas the first few days that this started, neither Billy or I really got sick like the kids. Thanks for all the prayers!
{poor sick girls with their puke buckets :(}
We’ve had a rough few days here in the house! Our poor little girls have had a horrible time and it seemed to come out of nowhere. On Saturday, we hung out w/ some friends, came home and let the kids nap, then went out to dinner. Around 8 p.m. Kinley said she was sick and had to throw up - and she did. About 15 minutes later Myleigh said/did the same thing. That began a 36 hour marathon of constant puking. It ranged from every 10-20 minutes to every hour- the entire time. Of course, it happened over the weekend when the Pediatrician’s office wasn’t open… so we stuck it out being careful to keep them as hydrated as possible. They drank tons of pedialyte and despite throwing up constantly were able to absorb some of the liquid (and even pee). On Sunday night they started running low-grade fevers, but their temp’s never got above 100, so we weren’t TOO concerned about it…yet. We were also happy that their sickness didn’t include the big D!
Finally after about 40 hours since the start of this horrendous puke-fest, we were able to get them into the Dr. office. The puking had subsided considerably and we’d even gotten some sleep (Billy and I had gone 2 full days with just a few hours of sleep). At the ped’s office, they decided to draw blood and see where the girls were at. Let me tell you how much fun it is to have blood drawn from a couple of girls that have been puking for days and were completely sleep deprived - FUN! Anyway, the blood tests revealed that they were well hydrated (thankfully) and that the puking had NOT been caused by some kind of bacterial thing (i.e. salmonella, food poisoning, etc.) and that it was probably some intense virus (probably highly contagious).
The girls slept all night last night with no puking and then had one more episode of puking this morning as soon as they woke up, but seem to finally be on the mend. They haven’t thrown up since then and have even asked for food (dry cheerios, applesauce and oatmeal so far). We’re hoping that we’re nearing the end of this nasty thing!!
{baby's profile w/ hand by the face}
Well, I finally had my ultrasound today! This is the day I really look forward to in the pregnancy (other than baby’s birth day, of course). Billy got to come with me as he has now with all our kiddos! The ultrasound tech did a great job despite how “busy” the baby was! Billy and I shared an iced Dunkin Donuts coffee on the way there — oops… I guess that woke the baby up a little TOO much! She took lots of shots of all vital organs, etc. and then she graciously pointed out what was already obvious to Billy and I as we were looking on…. it’s a BOY! We’re excited that as we complete our family, everyone will have a buddy Colty will have someone to play with and beat up on, and the girls have each other to play dress-up and barbies.
The ultrasound also showed that everything is perfect in our newest baby boy, which is also always a relief. Everything was there, and where it should be. Ahhhh. He is about 13 ounces now and growing. He’ll be a full pound in no time!
The kids stayed here with a friend while Billy and I went, and when we got back Kinley immediately asked “Is the baby out now?” I guess she had assumed that the doctor would be “removing” the baby for me so we could have it today. If only that were possible… still 19 more weeks to go!
As we were eating lunch today, after church, the girls started an interesting conversation about God. It went something like this….
Kinley: “God loves you very much”
Mom: “That’s right, he does”
Myleigh: “Jesus loves me very much”
Mom: “That’s right, Myleigh, Jesus loves you”
Kinley: “God is here”
Mom: “God is here and He is with us all the time”
Myleigh: “God is the big boss”
Kinley: “God is the big boss, daddy is the boss and momma is the little boss”
Mom: “God is our Father in heaven and mommy and daddy are your bosses too to help you do the right things”
Kinley: “You can’t see God”
Mom: “No, we can’t see Him… not until our bodies die and we go to Heaven”
Kinley: “I’m not going to die?”
Mom: “Not right now. Someday our bodies will die and then we will meet Jesus”
Kinley: “We won’t have eyes when we die?”
Mom: “Hmmmm”
Kinley: “We won’t be able to see God when we die if we don’t have eyes?”
Mom: “We will have perfect bodies when we die and we’ll get to see God all the time”
I love these little conversations that show that the girls are thinking about God. Their views and perceptions are so cute at this age. I pray that Billy and I can properly foster the correct view of God/Jesus as they grow older!
It’s been one of those mornings. The only way to properly portray it would be to be able let you view a video… however, due to the nature of the chaos, there is no video… so I’ll just have to tell you.
It all started with a 5:24 a.m. wake up from the wee man. Most days, his little internal clock cannot get past that time. We spend the next 30-45 minutes laying him back down and listening to him scream. Finally, Billy got up at about 6:00 to put an end to all of our misery. Today, Billy was going to go in just a little later to work and let me “sleep in” until 7:30 (we discussed this last night), which doesn’t get to happen all that often for obvious reasons. The girls are usually up between 6:30 and 7:00. Billy is a great dad and he took on all three of them and their morning demands (including cooking eggs, etc. for breakfast) so I could sleep. However, things went from chaotic to horrible in a short time.
{TJ = the culprit}
At just about 7:00, from behind the UN-insulated wall in my room I could hear Billy’s voice booming at TJ, the sliding door opening, and then Billy’s running steps to the room. With Colty under his arm, he flung the door open and said, “I’m sorry, but I need your help!”. He proceeded to tell me that TJ had puked on the floor by his bed without anyone noticing (probably last night). After Colty ate breakfast and got put on the floor to play, he apparently “discovered” the puke and proceeded to plop his diapered behind right in the pile then re-distribute the puke across the floor as bits and pieces fell off his diaper through his travels…… NASTY. It was mostly grass that TJ had consumed through a fit of nausea sometime yesterday. Even so, Billy was stripping Colty for an immediate disinfecting bath and somebody needed to keep the girls at bay and do puke removal. That was me. So…. instead of sleeping in, I got to clean up puke particles from all over the floor and then follow-up with a good mopping. Good times. At least Billy had made my scrambled eggs for me, so I didn’t have to worry about making breakfast He’s a good man.
Now, Colty is back in bed since he’s very tired after his crazy baby escapades…. and it’s time for mom to have some coffee. *sigh*
Well, I’m just about in week 19 of this pregnancy (tomorrow marks the beginning of 19 weeks actually…) and I’m starting to feel more and more movement. I think I have felt a couple of kicks, and definitely feel some flip-flopping going on in there. I don’t know if the baby is big enough yet for me to feel it externally, but that will be coming soon! I drank some coffee this morning to help me cope with the early morning that the kids so graciously bestowed upon me…and I think that got the baby excited. I’ve felt a lot of moving around today especially.
{a baby at 19 wks gestation}
I’m still having headaches on a fairly regular basis. I’ve had friends tell me that they experienced headaches in their pregnancies, but this is all new to me. It probably has to do w/ all that goes on with three other little ones pulling at me constantly. I think all the tension is stored in my neck/shoulders and ultimately ends up as a headache! I hope they subside soon. It definitely has the tendency to wear you down!
I’m counting down the days to the ultrasound..May 1st… not too long now! I can’t wait to “see” the baby!
We’ve been discussing having a garden for the past year or so… but still hadn’t really done anything about it until recently. At Billy’s last Home Depot trip, he picked up a tomato plant “starter kit”. We planted the seeds in some little peat circles, watered and covered them and then let them spout. The little plants are now about 4″ high, so Billy transplanted them today into their own nice little pots with some great potting soil They are now growing (and hopefully will be thriving) in the backyard. I’m excited to have them grow and produce fruit (yes, tomatoes are fruit!). We’ll keep you posted on their progress.
Hopefully, we’ll continue on this trend and maybe grow some other basic vegetables and herbs. It is a great way to be a little self-sufficient as well as cost-conscious!
I think the title of this post pretty much sums up how I feel these days. Sorry to harp on it, but it’s my blog and it’s what’s on my mind today! I really can’t believe that I’m as big as I am (I know it’s all about perspective) at this stage in my pregnancy. I was just looking through my old pregnancy pics - particularly the ones from Colty’s pregnancy. I think I’ll have Billy take a pic of me this afternoon so I can have a better comparison. Anyway, what is interesting to me is that currently at week 17 I’m as almost big as I was at week 24 with Colty (and pretty much the other two as well). I suspect if I had taken a 22 week pic last time, that would have been right where I’m at size-wise now. That’s 5 weeks difference. Can that be right??
I mentioned in a previous post that I have my ultrasound on May 1st. I’m SO anxious for that day to come. I’m very curious about this baby. I’m hoping that by taking a peak “inside” that just maybe I’ll get an explanation for the differences in this pregnancy. Hopefully we’ll find out either 1) I’m a lot further along than previously suspected (PLEASE!), or 2) that there is more than one baby in there. I’m not saying I’d prefer twins.. but I’d just like an explanation! I hope the explanation is not that I’m just a big mama.
Ok, check out these pics… the first is from today - I’m in week 17…. The second is from Colty’s pregnancy at 16 weeks and then the last one is at 24 weeks… do see what I’m saying here??
current pregnancy, week 17
Colty's pregnancy, week 16
Colty's pregnancy, week 24
Colty is a crazy kid. I guess all kids are crazy (esp. mine), but the fact that he is still waking up at 5:30 a.m. REALLY makes him crazy to me. This morning I went in to check on him at 5:30 when he started screaming….. no poops, no problems, no wakey wakey. So, I laid him back down and let him scream his head off until 6:30. He just needs to learn that 5:30 a.m. is not an appropriate time for anyone (but Daddy) to get up… and that’s because Daddy CHOOSES to get up that early.
When Colty finally does get up he is starving — he can’t think of anything else but food. Today at breakfast I gave him some cheerios (as he was sitting in his high chair) while I was making his scrambled eggs and oatmeal (he eats like a man). Then Myleigh woke up and needed to go potty. Not even a minute later, just as I set her on the pot, Kinley came running in and said, “Mom, Colty is standing in his chair!”. Of course I yelled “What!” and ran around the corner to find the little man standing in his high chair with a little impish grin on his face. Somehow he had squirmed and squeezed his way between the tray and the back of the chair and was fully standing, facing the back of the chair. He wasn’t content with that though… by the time I saw him, he had one of his legs swung around the back of the chair and was attempting a full-fledged escape from the high chair. I guess he was just gonna use his little monkey moves to swing himself down on the floor. I know it would have ended badly — with him landing on his head. I was so glad Kinley came to tattle on him!
Kids are crazy and have NO thoughts for the dangerous consequences of their actions in their near future… this little episode was reminiscent of the one where I walked outside for less than 30 seconds to put meat in the freezer.. walked back in and found baby Myleigh standing on top of the TV table with both hands on the screen! Have I mentioned kids are crazy? I wish I had a built in camera in my body somewhere, so I could take a picture before allowing their endangerment to go any further
Well, it’s official… we are now minivan owners…and that’s not an April Fool’s joke! After much resistance to the idea, I finally gave in (after Billy taunting me with the idea for years) and realized that 4 babies (and consequently, 4 car seats) are just NOT going to fit in the Jeep Commander… well, not without significant effort, not to mention zero room for a stroller too. So, it’s bye-bye to cool SUV and hello to the “I’m a mom of almost-4 people under 4″ minivan. I have mixed feelings about it. Of course I’ll miss the Commander and the fact that I could still drive a jeep and look cool and tough. BUT I certainly will enjoy the convenience of the minivan. Even as I near the end of this pregnancy later this year, I suspect the size of my belly would have prevented me from being able to buckle in the three kids that I already have. We just needed a better solution. There’s always a bigger SUV.. but with fuel costing what it does, that just wasn’t a realistic option.
So…. Billy wheeled-and-dealed and got us an awesome price on a brand new, white Honda Odyssey (hopefully he’ll blog about that process — I’m so proud of the way he handles himself). It has leather, power everything, back up nav in the mirror and even a sunroof. I guess in the world of minivans, it’s the “pimped out” version. It does lack a dvd system.. but if/when we want to add that, we’ll pay a few hundred dollars to have one installed versus the $2500 package that it would have taken to add it on
The kids (well, the girls) are VERY excited about the van. We rented one recently on our trip to TX and they were thrilled when they found out we were going to get to “keep” one! Kinley has already asked Billy to let her look in there repeatedly and she keeps staring at it out the window. I’m glad at least two members of the family are THRILLED with the change
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