January highlights

Life is moving at an incredibly fast past again...so I will try to "catch up" on some highlights of the last couple weeks.

*On January 5 the kids started back up with their schools...they were all ready to go back...but I was not. I really enjoyed the slower pace of just hanging around the house with the kids & only going places we wanted to go. Being back in the car again every morning was hard to get used to again!

*The kids are finally starting to get over their coughs/colds that started the last part of xmas break. Cayden had a horrible cough over break that kept him(and us) up coughing pretty much all night long...he would cough so hard that he would throw up in his bed. Poor guy. I felt so sorry for him. We tried everything to make the cough better...hot steam in the bathroom, his inhalers, benadryl, to finally putting him to sleep sitting straight up on the upstairs couch at night. That finally seemed to do the trick. By the time school was back in session he was sleeping through the night again but still getting his energy back. He told me that a couple times he fell asleep on the bus on the way home.

*Kamryn also had a horrible cough last week as well. One day it was so bad that she could only get out a couple words & then she would go into a horrible, raspy, barky cough. She had trouble keeping things down as well...so we stuck with light foods for a couple days. She would pretty much cough all night while she slept through it...but a couple times Eric would lay straight up on the couch with her to sleep.

*Cayden started up basketball practice this past week. His team name is the Rams & he is soooo excited!! He is playing for a christian organization which is nice. At practices they do devotions & learn a memory verse...which Cayden thinks is too cool. He has practice every Thursday evening & has his first game this Saturday.

*Eric officially started his new job at Spectrum on January 5 as well. He is attending a lot of meetings so far to meet all of the people he will work with & to better know what he will be doing. He is enjoying the slower pace of his job so far!!

*We finally received our first paycheck in a month!!! We hadn't gotten a paycheck since middle to end of December!! Hooray!!

*We are all enjoying not being in the midst of busy season for the first time in 11 years!!! It seems so strange...but a wonderful strange!! I just said to Eric the other day that it seems like January is just flying by...I've never, ever said that! Usually January is Eric's busiest time in busy season & we almost never see him on the weekdays as well as the weekends. Not to mention that he was always exhausted by the weekend as was I for taking care of 3 kids all by myself 24/7. It's so wonderful to have him home.

*We've received record cold temps since last week. It has been so cold that the kids can't even go outside. Finally yesterday was in the low 20's, so Eric took Cayden & Addyson sledding in the afternoon. They had sooo much fun!! They took the snow tube which goes really fast. Both kids went twice with Eric & then the rest of the time went by themselves. I enjoyed the afternoon reading a book while Kamryn napped...nice for me too!!

*I am getting bigger & bigger by the minute it seems...and very uncomfortable. Our baby boy moves constantly!! The kids are getting anxious for him to be born...especially Addyson. I am now 31 weeks & have a dr. appn't today. Yesterday I was having some contractions which made me pretty uncomfortable & worried. I will talk to my dr. about that today. I have to wear my brace from the time I get up in the morning until before bed...it helps to support my belly...but it is also very uncomfortable as it digs into my evergrowing belly. Pray for health for me & our baby. :)

*Last night I was pretending to cry b/c Kamryn said that she was a Daddy's girl...she comes up to me to plant a kiss on my cheek & make me feel better & says "don't worry, Mom". Okay...she's only 2. She likes to pretend that she has a baby in her belly & tells us "put your hand on my tummy, feel my baby move". She is definitely 2 going on 5!!

*We received a WII from Eric's parents for Christmas which has proved to be great fun!! Cayden especially loves it!! He has a record score in bowling of 193, which he is proud of...Daddy hasn't even been able to beat that yet. He loves pitching & hitting in baseball too. I can't wait to play against the guys once our baby is born & I'm mobile again!

Cayden's 1/2 Birthday

So today is officially Cayden's 6 1/2 year birthday!! Normally we don't celebrate 1/2 birthday's...but at school the kids with summer birthdays get to celebrate their 1/2 birthday instead. Cayden requested that I make sugar cookies for his celebration...so last night I came up with the idea of making silly face cookies. I baked & frosted all the cookies & then requested the help of my wonderful hubby to draw the faces on the cookies. They turned out soooo cute!!

Today I brought the cookies along with baggies of goodies in to Cayden's class. He was so excited to celebrate along with his class! When he got home he was greeted with pictures from Mom & Addyson on the door along with a great big, long hug from his excited sister, Addyson. And he actually accepted his little sister's hug with a big smile on his face!!

Happy 6 1/2 birthday, buddy!!

It never fails...

that even when I think that I'm actually going to get out of the house on time...something happens to put an end to that. This morning I gave the girls a bath together in preparation for taking Addyson to dance class. I looked at the clock...oh good, it's still only 9:40...plenty of time to get everyone ready before departure time of 10:10.

Yeah right!! After the bath I wrap the girls in their towels & Kamryn as usual runs into the living room away from me, thinking she is too funny. Fun stuff! Seconds later I arrive into the living room to find that she had peed all over the carpet. Ugghhh. No time to clean that all up now...so I wipe it up as best as I can & plan to attend to it later. As I'm helping Addyson get dressed Kamryn tells me that she wants fishy crackers, to which I respond "no". Seconds later I hear the pantry open, thinking that she's going to get fishies anyway. Whatever. I run to get myself dressed when Addyson runs into the room to tell me that Kamryn is eating marshmallows. Ya know...I didn't really care at that point...as long as she was being quiet & not getting into anything else in the house. At least she had already eaten a healthy breakfast!! Okay...so it's time to leave...& my independent little Kamryn would like to take her beloved bear, baby, & baby basket with her in the car. Normally I don't let her get away with this...but I simply didn't have the time to fight it. So we all piled into the car...Addyson, Mom, Kamryn, bear, & baby...

at 10:15 am. Not too bad I guess...considering!! :)

30 Weeks...

So I have finally hit the 30 week mark in my pregnancy. I feel like up until now this pregnancy has gone really fast. Now I am starting to slow down & feel the pain of the last couple months.

* I very rarely have horrible migraines anymore...thank goodness...those were really quite debilitating.
* I feel like my belly cannot possibly get any bigger than it is...and I still have 2 more months to go...not good. :) This has been quite typical with every one of my pregnancies though, at about 7 months along I look like I'm ready to give birth.
* The last couple weeks I've been in quite a bit of discomfort. In the spot in my belly where I don't have any stomach muscles I have a lot of pain...it feels like my skin cannot possibly stretch any further. By the end of the day I am really feeling it. It's so hard to do everyday tasks like picking up, going up stairs, bending. I know I do way too much...but really, as a Mom of 3 small kids do I really have a choice?? Yesterday I did around 8 loads of laundry & by suppertime I couldn't even stand up to cook dinner. Eric is always telling me to go sit down...but I am so torn...I want to be able to do things but I am physically incapable. Simple things that most people can do in pregnancy are so very hard for me, and it gets discouraging.
* Sleeping at night is already becoming very difficult as well now. I'm convinced that this baby is going to be very active...as he moves pretty much all the time! And at night he balls up on whatever side I'm sleeping on. Turning over to the other side at night has to be quite a sight...good thing Eric is sound asleep every time that happens!! :)
* I do still love to feel the baby move...I wish I could see inside my belly to know which part was moving or kicking me. What a miracle! This is the one part of pregnancy that I will miss.
* The kids have so much fun feeling the baby kick!! Last night Kamryn had her hand on my belly & felt the baby kick really hard 3 times in a row...each time she laughed so hard!! It was really cute. A couple times when I was holding Cayden & Addyson on my lap they felt the baby kick their back from inside my belly. They thought that was the coolest thing! Cayden always teases me that I'm really having a basketball. :)
* I'm 30 weeks & I just went into the lab to take my glucose test...which is supposed to be done at 25 weeks. Little late on that! I guess that's what happens with your 4th child. I'm not really too concerned either, as I haven't had any problems with the rest of my pregnancies as far as that's concerned.
* At 30 weeks I weigh about 142 lbs...which means I've gained about 26 lbs so far. I'm still not really all that hungry most of the time...although I do have some spurts where I crave chocolate.
* At 35 weeks I will be having another ultrasound to check the size of the baby. All of my babies have been pretty big...so if needed my dr. will induce a little early. Thank goodness!! Cayden was 7lbs 11oz born 3 weeks early...Addyson 9lbs 5oz born 1 week early...Kamryn 8lbs 6oz born 2 weeks early.
* Since I am counting 37 weeks being full term :) I really have 7 weeks to go. I know that's a little odd...but it truly makes me feel better to think of it in those terms. I am so anxious to meet our little one & to hold him in my arms.

Cinderella

Here are a few pictures of Addyson during Christmas Break in her new Cinderella outfit that she received from Cousin Lisa. Addyson loves playing with princesses & dressing up like a princess...she is such a girly girl!! She is also a very big helper. Whenever I ask her to help me out by cleaning or even to pick something up that I have trouble bending over to reach :) she always does it with a smile on her face. She is always helping out her little sister as well...putting away her jacket & boots when we get home, helping to wash her hands. She is sooo excited to have a baby brother to take care of as well!!

Last week I had a big talk with her about being old enough to hold our baby by herself & help out...and she was sooo excited!! She even informed TiTi(my sister) last week that Mommy told her that she can hold babies while standing up...and she also informed me when she got home from TiTi's that she held Landon standing up. She will make a wonderful Mommy someday I hope!!

Here are a couple pictures of our little Cinderella...and if you can believe it this was not planned. She happened to be dressed up in her outfit while we were cleaning the house on Christmas break. While she was sweeping I realized that she looked just like a true Cinderella!!!! :)



Just for clarification though...in case she looks back at my blog much later in life & thinks she is concerned with being clean...this she is not. Addyson has always had a knack for getting her entire face messy with everything she eats! And as for her room...well, let's just say that it pretty much looks like a tornado hit it at all times. And that is just how she likes it!!

So today after church we all went to Family Fare to get some much needed groceries & some lunch to take home. The kids seemed to be extra hyper today in the store for some reason. Cayden & Addyson were chasing each other down the aisles & Kamryn was running away from us singing Jingle Bells quite loudly. Eric & I just wanted to get home to eat & rest. After awhile a lady comes down the aisle smiling nicely & says to me "I bet you hope that baby stays in your belly for awhile longer!".

When we go out for dinner or to the stores we get a lot of smiles & stares. So here is my question of the day: are people staring at us because A. our kids are really cute B. they think we are truly insane for having 3 kids under 6 with one on the way C. they are looking at the enormous basketball I have in my belly or D. all of the above

Sometimes I can hardly even believe it myself that soon we will have 4 kids under 6...ages 6, 4, 2, & newborn. Yikes!!

But in all honesty... I can't wait to see & hold our precious baby boy in a few months...then it will all be worth it. I am already getting anxious for his arrival. Wondering what he will look like, how big he will be, praying that he will be healthy.

Brave Boy

So today I had to take Cayden into the dentist for his first filling. I don't typically get nervous about things too much anymore because A. I don't really have time in my day to worry(which is a good thing) B. over the last few years I've learned that no amount of worry is going to help or change the outcome C. I've learned to rely more on God. All these things said...I was in bed reading last night & started to really worry about Cayden's appointment today.

Cayden doesn't typically do very well with change or the unknown. It is always a struggle to get him to try something new & unknown...but once he is used to the routine of it he loves it...it's just getting him over that initial mental hurdle. Same goes for anything medical or dental. Taking him into the dentist is never too much fun. A few weeks ago I took both Cayden & Addyson in for their 6 month cleanings. Cayden went first & had tears streaming down his face when they had to do his x-rays, fluoride treatment, sealants, & cleaning. He did wonderfully considering the last time he wouldn't even open his mouth for the lady. :) Addyson on the other hand is the complete opposite...she will brave anything out without a single tear or objection. The hygienist told me after her x-rays(which was the first time she's ever had that done) that she is quite a tough little cookie. She was done in 2 minutes with a proud little smile on her face.

Same thing happened when we took all 3 kids in for their flu shots this year. Cayden got up on the table to go first & then started losing it once the shot came out. The nurse gave him 2 choices: to sit still & get the shot in his arm or to get it in his leg. Of course he chose to get it in his arm...but his actions showed otherwise. He was already crying & thrashing all around, and after 3-4 chances finally Eric pulled down his pants, held him down, while the nurse gave him the shot. All the while he's saying "I'm going to scream!!!!". I don't even really think he felt the needle go in...it's just a fear of what's coming for him. Addyson, however, got right up on the table, took the needle in her arm, never shed a tear, and jumped down with a smug little smile. The first thing she said was "Mommy, I was brave, now do I get a prize at Playworld?" Meanwhile Cayden is sitting on a chair still crying. Did I mention that they are complete polar opposite children????

Another not so fun time was about a month ago when we had to take Cayden in for allergy testing. After 90 scratches on his back(poor thing) which he hysterically screamed through every minute of it, 13 needles in one arm, and 6 in the other...we were all mentally drained. I was almost relieved(and not surprised at all) that the testing concluded that he was allergic to just about everything. That way I didn't feel as bad putting him through all the testing. On top of that he also has asthma as well. Poor guy.

Anyways...all these previous reactions led me to believe that today was not going to go too smoothly. I didn't mention a word about going to the dentist until this morning. Already we had tears before he even knew what he was going in for. I finally told him he had to get a cavity filled. I tried talking to him the entire way to the dentist telling him that it's okay to be scared...but that when he's scared he needs to tell Mommy his feelings instead of crying & carrying on. We had to arrive there an hour early so he could take a medicine that makes him sleepy(thank goodness for that stuff!). They brought him back into the room to watch cartoons...and he actually was kind of funny from the medicine. When the dentist came in Cayden's tears started rolling down his cheeks, but he remained calm. I had to go back into the waiting room because being pregnant I couldn't be exposed to the laughing gas they were going to give him. I absolutely hated leaving my boy behind...but I promised that I would be back soon. The nurse & dentist were absolutely wonderful & caring...I'm so thankful for that. The nurse held his hand while the dentist explained everything he was going to do. I read my book in the waiting room for about 20 minutes & before you know it they were completely done. They said he did wonderfully & never even shed a tear!!! Thank you Lord!!! And the dentist said he wasn't even aware that he got a shot in his mouth...amazing!!! He was soo brave. Unfortuneately we have to go through this again because he has another cavity that needs to be filled. But at least I know that this went smoothly. He is super sleepy now so we rented a couple movies to fill up our day.

Great job my brave little boy!!