BP: 104/70
Weight: 163 lbs. (I actually lost 2 lbs., and over Christmas no less!)
HB: 138 BPM
Dilated: "a good 3 cm"
I had a non-eventful appointment yesterday...my doctor is on vacation so I saw one of the other doctors, which I always hate, just because I love my doctor. I signed my induction consent, which was good :) We'll see what she does with me at my next appointment - last time she said that there's a possibility of her breaking my water in the office and sending me over, and with me dilating at least 1 cm each week I could see her doing that. It all depends, I think, on how worried about the size of the baby she is. We'll just have to wait and see :)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
36 Week Appointment...
Weeks: 36
Weight: 165 lbs.
BP: 106/70
HB: 140 bpm
Dilated: Almost 2 cm and baby's head is low!
I had a great appointment yesterday! She was double-booked a it was her only day working this week, but she still took the time to sit and talk with me about our upcoming baby. Thankfully my body is getting ready to evict this little thing! When she checked me she said "the baby's head is nice and low, but you probably could have told me that" and she was right! I have had so much pressure and pain that I hope something was going on in there!
We have set an induction date, which is very nice...1-11-11!! So if nothing happens sooner, I will go in that morning to have my baby...less than three weeks away!!!
Weight: 165 lbs.
BP: 106/70
HB: 140 bpm
Dilated: Almost 2 cm and baby's head is low!
I had a great appointment yesterday! She was double-booked a it was her only day working this week, but she still took the time to sit and talk with me about our upcoming baby. Thankfully my body is getting ready to evict this little thing! When she checked me she said "the baby's head is nice and low, but you probably could have told me that" and she was right! I have had so much pressure and pain that I hope something was going on in there!
We have set an induction date, which is very nice...1-11-11!! So if nothing happens sooner, I will go in that morning to have my baby...less than three weeks away!!!
Thursday, December 09, 2010
34 Weeks...
I had my 34 week appointment yesterday...here are my stats:
Weight: 163 lbs (that means a 45 lb. weight gain so far)
BP: 110/70
HB: 145
I had heard from my sisters-in-law who had just delivered at the hospital that I normally deliver at their husbands had to leave the room when they got their epidural. This is a huge deal for me because I HATE needles, and John really helps me through any shots/ivs that I need. So I talked to my doctor about it yesterday and she said that my hospital has had a lot of changes lately that really take control away from the doctors. The hospital now has policies on how much pitocin they will give, how long they will let you labor, etc. This really ticks me off because I want my doctor making those decisions, not a hospital that knows nothing about me! So We will be touring another hospital next week, and I'm thinking I might deliver there because my doctor said that they still let the doctor control everything. I talked to my friends last night and they all seemed to have good experiences at this other hospital, so I'm not too worried, but as with anything, change does stress me out a little.
But either way, I will have a baby in the next 4 - 5 weeks, which is really just freaking me out because I'M NOT READY!!! Yeah...still no girl names...
Weight: 163 lbs (that means a 45 lb. weight gain so far)
BP: 110/70
HB: 145
I had heard from my sisters-in-law who had just delivered at the hospital that I normally deliver at their husbands had to leave the room when they got their epidural. This is a huge deal for me because I HATE needles, and John really helps me through any shots/ivs that I need. So I talked to my doctor about it yesterday and she said that my hospital has had a lot of changes lately that really take control away from the doctors. The hospital now has policies on how much pitocin they will give, how long they will let you labor, etc. This really ticks me off because I want my doctor making those decisions, not a hospital that knows nothing about me! So We will be touring another hospital next week, and I'm thinking I might deliver there because my doctor said that they still let the doctor control everything. I talked to my friends last night and they all seemed to have good experiences at this other hospital, so I'm not too worried, but as with anything, change does stress me out a little.
But either way, I will have a baby in the next 4 - 5 weeks, which is really just freaking me out because I'M NOT READY!!! Yeah...still no girl names...
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Christmas Shopping...
I have great memories from when I was younger of going Christmas shopping. The malls were always decorated like crazy and there was loud Christmas music playing everywhere. I probably didn’t like being dragged from store to store when I was younger, but thinking back, the shopping was a huge part of Christmas.
Over the last couple of years I have tried to do as much online shopping as I can. With so many kids and working, I just don’t have the time and energy to drag everyone out and about and with free shipping deals, I often get better prices online. But I get sad that I miss, and that my kids are not experiencing the Christmas shopping.
So last night I decided that we needed to go to the mall. There were three things that I needed, and really, the only way for me to find them was to walk around the mall, so I thought this would be perfect! We loaded up the kids, dropped something off somewhere, and headed to the mall. I should also mention that I decided to do this on one of the coldest days/nights so far…the high yesterday was only 25 degrees, so I’m sure it was much colder at 6:30 last night.
The first thing we did was go to the food court and get Chick-fil-A for dinner. We had such a great dinner! We sat at a table way off with no one around us, and we all talked and watched the people shopping. I told John that I was so surprised at how empty the mall was for being this close to Christmas.
After dinner we started walking. I was having such great luck finding the gifts I needed (I needed 2 sets of white elephant gifts and I needed to get my “expecting” ornament for this year). We all went into the Apple store and all three of the kids played on everything. Josh planted himself in front of an i-Pad and played football the whole time, Kylie jumped between the i-Pods and computers, and Ryan just ran around and played with the computers.
When I was getting my ornament (which happened to be right by Santa), no one was waiting to see Santa, so he motioned for the kids to come over and even Ryan ran right up to him and jumped on his lap! We walked around some more, and the boys had a blast in a couple of sports-themed stores. Finally, around 8:20 we decided we should leave so that the kids could get to bed.
I told John on the way home that while I had a lot of fun, I was so disappointed in the “Christmas shopping experience.” There weren’t a whole lot of decorations, and I could barely hear Christmas music at times. And like I said, the mall was pretty much empty.
I know times are changing, and with the economy things are crazy, but it still stinks when re-enactments don’t live up to the memories.
Over the last couple of years I have tried to do as much online shopping as I can. With so many kids and working, I just don’t have the time and energy to drag everyone out and about and with free shipping deals, I often get better prices online. But I get sad that I miss, and that my kids are not experiencing the Christmas shopping.
So last night I decided that we needed to go to the mall. There were three things that I needed, and really, the only way for me to find them was to walk around the mall, so I thought this would be perfect! We loaded up the kids, dropped something off somewhere, and headed to the mall. I should also mention that I decided to do this on one of the coldest days/nights so far…the high yesterday was only 25 degrees, so I’m sure it was much colder at 6:30 last night.
The first thing we did was go to the food court and get Chick-fil-A for dinner. We had such a great dinner! We sat at a table way off with no one around us, and we all talked and watched the people shopping. I told John that I was so surprised at how empty the mall was for being this close to Christmas.
After dinner we started walking. I was having such great luck finding the gifts I needed (I needed 2 sets of white elephant gifts and I needed to get my “expecting” ornament for this year). We all went into the Apple store and all three of the kids played on everything. Josh planted himself in front of an i-Pad and played football the whole time, Kylie jumped between the i-Pods and computers, and Ryan just ran around and played with the computers.
When I was getting my ornament (which happened to be right by Santa), no one was waiting to see Santa, so he motioned for the kids to come over and even Ryan ran right up to him and jumped on his lap! We walked around some more, and the boys had a blast in a couple of sports-themed stores. Finally, around 8:20 we decided we should leave so that the kids could get to bed.
I told John on the way home that while I had a lot of fun, I was so disappointed in the “Christmas shopping experience.” There weren’t a whole lot of decorations, and I could barely hear Christmas music at times. And like I said, the mall was pretty much empty.
I know times are changing, and with the economy things are crazy, but it still stinks when re-enactments don’t live up to the memories.
Monday, December 06, 2010
A Great Weekend!
This past weekend was busy, but a lot of fun!
Friday night we had house church. Our topic was “discipline” and it was good hearing other parents talk about what they do with their kids and what we can all do to raise the kind of kids we want to raise. We had so much fun talking afterwards that a couple of the families didn’t leave until 11:30! I love it when people stay long…I always have so much fun hanging out with everyone!
Saturday I spent the day doing laundry and taking care of the kids. John had to work at Holidays in Powell, so it was just the kids and I all day. Around 3:00 the kids and I headed over to Holidays in Powell. The first thing the kids did was drop their letters off for Santa in the huge mailbox. Then we went in and they sat on his lap. We had been prepping Ryan for this for weeks and he told us that he was not going to cry and he was going to tell Santa exactly what he wanted for Christmas. But as it was our turn, and Mrs. Clause was talking to each of the kids, Ryan did not want to get out of the stroller! Josh sat on his lap first and talked to him, and then it was Ryan’s turn. Thankfully John came over from his booth and helped me out :) He had Santa play tug of war with the candy cane with Ryan and pretty soon Ryan was laughing. After that Ryan was comfortable enough to give him a hug and then sit there and talk to him. After that I got a picture of all three, and then Kylie sat on his lap.
Once we were done with Santa, we went into the craft room and the kids did a ton of crafts! It’s such a fun time…everything is free and the kids always have such a blast! After they were all done, we headed home and I fed the kids dinner and let myself sit down for a little bit.
John came home around 6:00 and we started getting ourselves and the kids ready. We had our house church date night and all the kids were going to one house where we had two baby-sitters lined up. Then the adults were heading out for a great dinner. The kids got showers/baths and put on/packed up their PJs and we headed out. The two sitters that we had are girls from church that the kids and parents absolutely LOVE! The one girl we had nanny for us a couple of weeks this past summer.
So the adults all headed out (there were 8 of us). The restaurant was really good (J. Liu’s)! The only downside was the seated at the table next to us right after we were seated were two women and 3 little kids (ranging in age from probably 5 months to 3 years). Of all the times and all the places! Of course I love kids, but when we are out for an adult dinner, I don’t want to sit next to toddlers throwing fits. And it’s weird because this was not a child-friendly restaurant, so I’m surprised they even brought them in there (besides the fact that it was 8:45 at night!).
After our two-hour dinner, we headed over to Jenni’s ice cream and had a great dessert. Our entertainment for the night was one of the guys pumping his French press coffee and then complaining about the pieces of coffee grounds in his cup. We were still joking about that at church the next day :)
We finally got the kids at 11:30 and they were so exhausted! We got up and went to church and then came home for Joshie’s first playdate with a kid from school. After his friend left we spent the afternoon cleaning up/cooking/relaxing. Our church was having a potluck dinner/play that night, so I had to make food for it.
We left before dinnertime and headed to church. The potluck was amazing, as usual! The food was fantastic and the kids were really easy this year (compared to prior years with Ryan in a stroller, etc.). I asked John what in the world we were thinking going back to a baby again when things were getting so easy! After dinner we headed into the Rec Center theater where our church had bought out a special performance of a one-hour special “A Christmas Carol Musical.” It was cute and the kids had a lot of fun!
Afterwards we headed home and the kids got ready for bed. John and I watched some TV and hung out with Ryan who was being cute as usual.
It was really a fun weekend and not too stressful! Hopefully the next couple weekends are the same way…I don’t want to let the stress of this time of year get to me :)
Friday night we had house church. Our topic was “discipline” and it was good hearing other parents talk about what they do with their kids and what we can all do to raise the kind of kids we want to raise. We had so much fun talking afterwards that a couple of the families didn’t leave until 11:30! I love it when people stay long…I always have so much fun hanging out with everyone!
Saturday I spent the day doing laundry and taking care of the kids. John had to work at Holidays in Powell, so it was just the kids and I all day. Around 3:00 the kids and I headed over to Holidays in Powell. The first thing the kids did was drop their letters off for Santa in the huge mailbox. Then we went in and they sat on his lap. We had been prepping Ryan for this for weeks and he told us that he was not going to cry and he was going to tell Santa exactly what he wanted for Christmas. But as it was our turn, and Mrs. Clause was talking to each of the kids, Ryan did not want to get out of the stroller! Josh sat on his lap first and talked to him, and then it was Ryan’s turn. Thankfully John came over from his booth and helped me out :) He had Santa play tug of war with the candy cane with Ryan and pretty soon Ryan was laughing. After that Ryan was comfortable enough to give him a hug and then sit there and talk to him. After that I got a picture of all three, and then Kylie sat on his lap.
Once we were done with Santa, we went into the craft room and the kids did a ton of crafts! It’s such a fun time…everything is free and the kids always have such a blast! After they were all done, we headed home and I fed the kids dinner and let myself sit down for a little bit.
John came home around 6:00 and we started getting ourselves and the kids ready. We had our house church date night and all the kids were going to one house where we had two baby-sitters lined up. Then the adults were heading out for a great dinner. The kids got showers/baths and put on/packed up their PJs and we headed out. The two sitters that we had are girls from church that the kids and parents absolutely LOVE! The one girl we had nanny for us a couple of weeks this past summer.
So the adults all headed out (there were 8 of us). The restaurant was really good (J. Liu’s)! The only downside was the seated at the table next to us right after we were seated were two women and 3 little kids (ranging in age from probably 5 months to 3 years). Of all the times and all the places! Of course I love kids, but when we are out for an adult dinner, I don’t want to sit next to toddlers throwing fits. And it’s weird because this was not a child-friendly restaurant, so I’m surprised they even brought them in there (besides the fact that it was 8:45 at night!).
After our two-hour dinner, we headed over to Jenni’s ice cream and had a great dessert. Our entertainment for the night was one of the guys pumping his French press coffee and then complaining about the pieces of coffee grounds in his cup. We were still joking about that at church the next day :)
We finally got the kids at 11:30 and they were so exhausted! We got up and went to church and then came home for Joshie’s first playdate with a kid from school. After his friend left we spent the afternoon cleaning up/cooking/relaxing. Our church was having a potluck dinner/play that night, so I had to make food for it.
We left before dinnertime and headed to church. The potluck was amazing, as usual! The food was fantastic and the kids were really easy this year (compared to prior years with Ryan in a stroller, etc.). I asked John what in the world we were thinking going back to a baby again when things were getting so easy! After dinner we headed into the Rec Center theater where our church had bought out a special performance of a one-hour special “A Christmas Carol Musical.” It was cute and the kids had a lot of fun!
Afterwards we headed home and the kids got ready for bed. John and I watched some TV and hung out with Ryan who was being cute as usual.
It was really a fun weekend and not too stressful! Hopefully the next couple weekends are the same way…I don’t want to let the stress of this time of year get to me :)
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Thanksgiving 2010...
This Thanksgiving was a wonderful and relaxing time! I decided to take off Wednesday, so I only worked two days last week, which was really nice since I hadn’t had a day off since the beginning of September. I had our nanny come a little later that day, and she got the kids breakfast while I made my shopping list and went grocery shopping. After that, Ryan went over to see my dad and the nanny took Kylie and Joshie to Chuck E. Cheese’s (she had promised them this before I decided to take the day off), while I did laundry and got the groceries organized.
I got a little bit of cooking done and before I knew it John had come home and my sister had arrived from Michigan. We ordered pizza and got to work on making noodles and the crust for the apple pies and getting the sticky buns ready. I actually got to bed at a decent time, which has never happened! I’m usually up pretty late cooking.
Thanksgiving morning I woke up and got ready to watch the parade. I put out a bunch of cut-up fruit as well as cooked the sticky buns. My sister ran in the turkey trot that morning, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t convince John to join her (it was cold and rainy). After the parade, and after my sister got back, we started right in with all the cooking. We ended up eating dinner around 5:00 and it was fabulous despite some cooking snafus (but Suz and I pinky swore that we would never tell anyone about the burnt noodles and the quadrupled corn soufflé recipe :) ).
After dinner my other sister and brother-in-law came over. We ate dessert and played some games (catch phrase, rummy and BS (or “shenanigans” as we called it for the kids). We all crashed pretty hard that night!
Friday we hung out (there was no way I was going to go shopping after having been on my feet all day the day before), watched football and just played with the kids. We went to a sporting goods store to get Joshie a football that he has been wanting, and John left there making comments about what great deals they had. Apparently he really had no idea how great Black Friday was :)
That night we went over to John’s sister’s house for Thanksgiving on the other side of the family. The kids had a lot of fun playing football and playdough with their cousins.
Saturday was the Ohio State Michigan game, and my sister and I made our annual sweet potato chips. We LOVE these things and look forward to making them anytime we can! After the game I went out with my dad and got my poinsettias and candles and John brought up all the Christmas decorations. We got the tree up that night, but no decorations. The kids were disappointed, but we promised them that Sunday we would get everything done.
Sunday we had a communion service at church and then we came home and finished decorating the house. The kids got to play with the neighbors a lot, and it was just an overall relaxing day. Unfortunately my dad and Suzie had to head home late that afternoon :(
It was such a nice weekend and Monday was a hard adjustment! I had gotten used to going to bed late and sleeping in a little bit. But at least I know that in a few weeks I’ll have a whole week off for Christmas, and then 3 months off after that :)
Ryan playing "ipad" while we decorated for Christmas:
I got a little bit of cooking done and before I knew it John had come home and my sister had arrived from Michigan. We ordered pizza and got to work on making noodles and the crust for the apple pies and getting the sticky buns ready. I actually got to bed at a decent time, which has never happened! I’m usually up pretty late cooking.
Thanksgiving morning I woke up and got ready to watch the parade. I put out a bunch of cut-up fruit as well as cooked the sticky buns. My sister ran in the turkey trot that morning, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t convince John to join her (it was cold and rainy). After the parade, and after my sister got back, we started right in with all the cooking. We ended up eating dinner around 5:00 and it was fabulous despite some cooking snafus (but Suz and I pinky swore that we would never tell anyone about the burnt noodles and the quadrupled corn soufflé recipe :) ).
After dinner my other sister and brother-in-law came over. We ate dessert and played some games (catch phrase, rummy and BS (or “shenanigans” as we called it for the kids). We all crashed pretty hard that night!
Friday we hung out (there was no way I was going to go shopping after having been on my feet all day the day before), watched football and just played with the kids. We went to a sporting goods store to get Joshie a football that he has been wanting, and John left there making comments about what great deals they had. Apparently he really had no idea how great Black Friday was :)
That night we went over to John’s sister’s house for Thanksgiving on the other side of the family. The kids had a lot of fun playing football and playdough with their cousins.
Saturday was the Ohio State Michigan game, and my sister and I made our annual sweet potato chips. We LOVE these things and look forward to making them anytime we can! After the game I went out with my dad and got my poinsettias and candles and John brought up all the Christmas decorations. We got the tree up that night, but no decorations. The kids were disappointed, but we promised them that Sunday we would get everything done.
Sunday we had a communion service at church and then we came home and finished decorating the house. The kids got to play with the neighbors a lot, and it was just an overall relaxing day. Unfortunately my dad and Suzie had to head home late that afternoon :(
It was such a nice weekend and Monday was a hard adjustment! I had gotten used to going to bed late and sleeping in a little bit. But at least I know that in a few weeks I’ll have a whole week off for Christmas, and then 3 months off after that :)
Ryan playing "ipad" while we decorated for Christmas:
Aunt Suzie and Joshie during the OSU/Michigan game:
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A Very Special Day for Joshie...
A very monumental thing happened on Saturday night…Joshie asked Jesus into his heart!
I’ve been talking to Joshie for about a year now, explaining Heaven and hell and what you need to do to go to Heaven, but then the conversation would just end…he would never ask any follow-up questions. This Sunday was communion service at church, and so we talked to him about it again on Sunday. First I talked to him, and it was so reassuring that he knew all the answers to my questions, but again, no follow-up. Then later, John took him upstairs and that’s when it happened.
He was so cute about it and so happy. We called Kylie in and he told Kylie “I’m going to Heaven” and Kylie had a puzzled look on her face and then said excitedly “he did it?” Then she told us that when he first said it, she thought he meant he was going to Heaven right now. She was so happy for him! She’s always been so worried about him and Ryan, no matter how many times I assure her that they are still babies, and if anything were to happen to them, they would still go to Heaven.
So Joshie took his first communion on Sunday and I was so proud of him!
I’ve been talking to Joshie for about a year now, explaining Heaven and hell and what you need to do to go to Heaven, but then the conversation would just end…he would never ask any follow-up questions. This Sunday was communion service at church, and so we talked to him about it again on Sunday. First I talked to him, and it was so reassuring that he knew all the answers to my questions, but again, no follow-up. Then later, John took him upstairs and that’s when it happened.
He was so cute about it and so happy. We called Kylie in and he told Kylie “I’m going to Heaven” and Kylie had a puzzled look on her face and then said excitedly “he did it?” Then she told us that when he first said it, she thought he meant he was going to Heaven right now. She was so happy for him! She’s always been so worried about him and Ryan, no matter how many times I assure her that they are still babies, and if anything were to happen to them, they would still go to Heaven.
So Joshie took his first communion on Sunday and I was so proud of him!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
A Wonderful Zoo Lights Night!
John and I used to be pretty spontaneous about things…even when we had Kylie we would always pick up and do things when we felt like it. Waiting in lines or long drives never phased us. But now with three kids and one on the way, we have lost a lot of that spontaneity. I hate it, but I’m just as much to blame as John…at the end of the day we just want to be home (before Ryan we would be gone almost every night of the week doing something). And the weekends just beg us to stay home and play.
So I was totally caught off guard yesterday when John called me on the way home from work and said “I’m passing by the zoo and the lights look awesome and I think we should go to see the zoo lights tonight.” I had already started dinner (it was about 6:00 at this point), and the thought of walking around all night was horrible, but I was so excited that the “old” John had come out that I started getting the kids ready right away. We didn’t tell the kids where we were going, so they kept trying to guess during the 5 minute car ride down to the zoo. When we pulled in they were super excited!
The weather was GORGEOUS!!! The other times we have gone to see the lights it has been so cold, so the fact that it was 65 degrees outside made the night even more perfect!
We ended up getting a zoo pass because the cost for us to go one night was half the cost of a family pass for the year. So now the kids can go whenever they want next spring and summer, and we’ll get to see the beginning of the lights again next year!
The first place we went was the petting section. Ryan was hesitant at first, but then he had fun petting whatever that animal was :) After that we headed over to the Polar Bears, but those stinking things were nowhere to be found! We stopped along the way and grabbed snacks and then headed to the main section to watch the light show. We ended up leaving around 8:15.
The kids came home and finished up homework and took showers and went right to bed. They were all so good it made the night such a pleasure! Ryan even stayed in his stroller the whole time without whining to get out :) It was such a fabulous night!
So I was totally caught off guard yesterday when John called me on the way home from work and said “I’m passing by the zoo and the lights look awesome and I think we should go to see the zoo lights tonight.” I had already started dinner (it was about 6:00 at this point), and the thought of walking around all night was horrible, but I was so excited that the “old” John had come out that I started getting the kids ready right away. We didn’t tell the kids where we were going, so they kept trying to guess during the 5 minute car ride down to the zoo. When we pulled in they were super excited!
The weather was GORGEOUS!!! The other times we have gone to see the lights it has been so cold, so the fact that it was 65 degrees outside made the night even more perfect!
We ended up getting a zoo pass because the cost for us to go one night was half the cost of a family pass for the year. So now the kids can go whenever they want next spring and summer, and we’ll get to see the beginning of the lights again next year!
The first place we went was the petting section. Ryan was hesitant at first, but then he had fun petting whatever that animal was :) After that we headed over to the Polar Bears, but those stinking things were nowhere to be found! We stopped along the way and grabbed snacks and then headed to the main section to watch the light show. We ended up leaving around 8:15.
The kids came home and finished up homework and took showers and went right to bed. They were all so good it made the night such a pleasure! Ryan even stayed in his stroller the whole time without whining to get out :) It was such a fabulous night!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Shutterfly Promo for Bloggers...
It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I love Shutterfly. I made my first photobook as a Mother’s Day present for both my mom and my mother-in-law back in 2007 and I have been hooked ever since. Since then I have ordered many photobooks, as well as had pictures printed, ordered Christmas cards and ordered birth announcements from them. Everything has turned out wonderfully. The one time I had some pictures come all bent up right before Christmas last year (clearly the mail carrier’s fault and not Shutterfly’s), they overnighted me new pictures so that I could finish the Christmas presents that I was making without so much as a question.
They never charge you to create projects or store pictures. I also have a share site so that I can upload pictures and an e-mail goes out to everyone I have on my distribution list letting them know that there are new pictures for them to see. This comes in super handy for the grandparents!
The Christmas cards that I ordered last year were adorable, and so easy! Previously I had always taken a picture of the kids, cut them all out, bought cards and signed all of our names to each card, addressed the envelopes and included a picture in each card. Last year I addressed some envelopes and mailed the cards…super easy! And this year, with three busy kids and feeling like a whale because my fourth will be here soon, I need the super easy convenience of that again :) So check out the link and see how Shutterfly cards can make your Christmas cards a less stressful process - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
I was so excited to see the “50 free cards for bloggers” promo that Shutterfly is running (http://bit.ly/sfly2010). Since they are a company I have such faith in, it was no problem for me to write a post about my experience with Shutterfly. So for those of you that have never used shutterfly.com, take a look and give them a try…I promise you will not regret it!
They never charge you to create projects or store pictures. I also have a share site so that I can upload pictures and an e-mail goes out to everyone I have on my distribution list letting them know that there are new pictures for them to see. This comes in super handy for the grandparents!
The Christmas cards that I ordered last year were adorable, and so easy! Previously I had always taken a picture of the kids, cut them all out, bought cards and signed all of our names to each card, addressed the envelopes and included a picture in each card. Last year I addressed some envelopes and mailed the cards…super easy! And this year, with three busy kids and feeling like a whale because my fourth will be here soon, I need the super easy convenience of that again :) So check out the link and see how Shutterfly cards can make your Christmas cards a less stressful process - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
I was so excited to see the “50 free cards for bloggers” promo that Shutterfly is running (http://bit.ly/sfly2010). Since they are a company I have such faith in, it was no problem for me to write a post about my experience with Shutterfly. So for those of you that have never used shutterfly.com, take a look and give them a try…I promise you will not regret it!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
31 Weeks...
I had my 31 week appointment yesterday:
Weight: 159 lbs. (that would be a 41 lb gain so far - insane!)
BP: 108/62
HB: 140 BPM
It was a very quick appointment...not much going on :) I talked to her about delivery dates and she told me that if I was dialated enough and she could break my water before year-end she would. I'm not holding out much hope because I haven't been that dialated in the past at that point, but who knows with all of the holiday craziness!
I can't believe how close we're getting...my due date is 2 months from today! We still don't have a name picked out, but I do have the baby book, one new outfit and some pacis :)
I told John that I have conceded that this baby is a boy. I'm not going to lie and say that doesn't make me sad...I really wanted Kylie to have a sister. But I just feel like this is a boy and that's what I'm going to plan on and I will be pleasantly surprised if it is in fact a girl. When people ask what I want I say that I want a girl...I want Kylie to have a sister, I want to dress a girl again and we need a serious hormone balance in our house (it is so full of testosterone even now!). But I also say that I love my boys and they are such easy-going kids, whereas Kylie is very high-maintenance, so if I do have another boy, I can already feel how much I would love him, just like my other little monkeys :)
So I will be getting out Ryan's newborn clothes and getting them washed. That way, if it is a boy I will have one less thing to do when I get home. John thinks we have a name picked out, but I haven't decided if I'm 100% in love with it. He loves "Colton Joseph," which was my suggestion to begin with. I'm just used to very traditional boy names (i.e. Josh and Ryan), and I'm not sure if I'm ready to branch out...plus I'm afraid kids will call him a horse (colt???) Am I crazy? When I say the name and when I see it written out I love it, so I guess that should be enough, right?
As for girl names, we don't have a clue. Even though I think it's a boy, I will still have a girl name picked out - I was certain that Ryan was a girl and look how that turned out :) John and I had better get to work on coming up with something :)
Weight: 159 lbs. (that would be a 41 lb gain so far - insane!)
BP: 108/62
HB: 140 BPM
It was a very quick appointment...not much going on :) I talked to her about delivery dates and she told me that if I was dialated enough and she could break my water before year-end she would. I'm not holding out much hope because I haven't been that dialated in the past at that point, but who knows with all of the holiday craziness!
I can't believe how close we're getting...my due date is 2 months from today! We still don't have a name picked out, but I do have the baby book, one new outfit and some pacis :)
I told John that I have conceded that this baby is a boy. I'm not going to lie and say that doesn't make me sad...I really wanted Kylie to have a sister. But I just feel like this is a boy and that's what I'm going to plan on and I will be pleasantly surprised if it is in fact a girl. When people ask what I want I say that I want a girl...I want Kylie to have a sister, I want to dress a girl again and we need a serious hormone balance in our house (it is so full of testosterone even now!). But I also say that I love my boys and they are such easy-going kids, whereas Kylie is very high-maintenance, so if I do have another boy, I can already feel how much I would love him, just like my other little monkeys :)
So I will be getting out Ryan's newborn clothes and getting them washed. That way, if it is a boy I will have one less thing to do when I get home. John thinks we have a name picked out, but I haven't decided if I'm 100% in love with it. He loves "Colton Joseph," which was my suggestion to begin with. I'm just used to very traditional boy names (i.e. Josh and Ryan), and I'm not sure if I'm ready to branch out...plus I'm afraid kids will call him a horse (colt???) Am I crazy? When I say the name and when I see it written out I love it, so I guess that should be enough, right?
As for girl names, we don't have a clue. Even though I think it's a boy, I will still have a girl name picked out - I was certain that Ryan was a girl and look how that turned out :) John and I had better get to work on coming up with something :)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Weekend Recap - The End of Football...
Last weekend was a fun one, and a little bit sad because it was Joshie’s last football game :(
Friday night started out great with house church. We had a great planning meeting trying to figure out what we wanted to talk about all year and what activities we wanted to do. I always have so much fun getting together with everyone!
Saturday the weather was absolutely gorgeous! So we spent the day outside with our neighbors…it was nice being in a t-shirt again! Kylie’s friend came over in the afternoon, and then we headed to the mall and out to grab some dinner.
Sunday we went to church and then skipped out early because Josh had to be at his game at 11:45. Even though it was so much colder, thankfully the sun came out and the wind slowed down a little and it wasn’t too bad. The best part about the game was the Ryan decided he wanted to play and not sit on my lap the whole game! So I was able to get pictures and video and enjoy the game. Kylie was so tired from her sleepover that I looked back and found her asleep in the wagon! I couldn’t believe she put herself in there and just fell asleep! After the game the coaches called up each of the kids and they got their trophy. Josh loves his trophies so it's so cute to watch how excited he gets when he gets it :)
After the game we headed home and I had to pack because I was leaving for a conference in NYC. I really hated leaving everyone…I felt like the weekend had gone by way too fast :( Kylie was crying the whole time I was packing and making stories and pictures for me. Josh on the other hand, as I was leaving, just said to me “are you going to bring us presents?” What a difference between boys and girls :)
My plane ride was uneventful and I got to my hotel around 8:30 and hit the streets! I was so hungry as I really hadn’t eaten all day, so I went to this really good restaurant and got carryout. I also went to the HUGE Toys R Us in Times Square and did some Christmas shopping. I hated being in there without the kids…I know they would have loved it, but it was also so nice walking around at my own pace and looking at everything :)
The rest of the trip was good…the conference was not as good as it was last year, but I was able to get a bunch more Christmas shopping done and the weather was really nice for this time of year. The plane ride back was really bumpy and I have to admit I was really scared (flying is getting more and more difficult for me the older I get). But thankfully everything was fine and I made it to Kylie’s gymnastics in time to see her do her mill spin again :)
Friday night started out great with house church. We had a great planning meeting trying to figure out what we wanted to talk about all year and what activities we wanted to do. I always have so much fun getting together with everyone!
Saturday the weather was absolutely gorgeous! So we spent the day outside with our neighbors…it was nice being in a t-shirt again! Kylie’s friend came over in the afternoon, and then we headed to the mall and out to grab some dinner.
Sunday we went to church and then skipped out early because Josh had to be at his game at 11:45. Even though it was so much colder, thankfully the sun came out and the wind slowed down a little and it wasn’t too bad. The best part about the game was the Ryan decided he wanted to play and not sit on my lap the whole game! So I was able to get pictures and video and enjoy the game. Kylie was so tired from her sleepover that I looked back and found her asleep in the wagon! I couldn’t believe she put herself in there and just fell asleep! After the game the coaches called up each of the kids and they got their trophy. Josh loves his trophies so it's so cute to watch how excited he gets when he gets it :)
After the game we headed home and I had to pack because I was leaving for a conference in NYC. I really hated leaving everyone…I felt like the weekend had gone by way too fast :( Kylie was crying the whole time I was packing and making stories and pictures for me. Josh on the other hand, as I was leaving, just said to me “are you going to bring us presents?” What a difference between boys and girls :)
My plane ride was uneventful and I got to my hotel around 8:30 and hit the streets! I was so hungry as I really hadn’t eaten all day, so I went to this really good restaurant and got carryout. I also went to the HUGE Toys R Us in Times Square and did some Christmas shopping. I hated being in there without the kids…I know they would have loved it, but it was also so nice walking around at my own pace and looking at everything :)
The rest of the trip was good…the conference was not as good as it was last year, but I was able to get a bunch more Christmas shopping done and the weather was really nice for this time of year. The plane ride back was really bumpy and I have to admit I was really scared (flying is getting more and more difficult for me the older I get). But thankfully everything was fine and I made it to Kylie’s gymnastics in time to see her do her mill spin again :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
School Conferences...
As I’m sure anyone can imagine, just about every day is jam-packed busy and stressful for me. I have three kids that need my attention and help with a ton of stuff. Especially with two kids in school now, I feel like there’s never enough time in the day. I feel like there’s never enough time to get all of their school work in and I feel like I’m failing them. I know that this is semi-irrational because they don’t have a lot of homework, and Kylie does almost everything by herself before we get home, but I always feel like there’s a scramble before bedtime of trying to get everything finished.
Except for a minor setback with 2s at the beginning of the year (which was totally our fault), we have really helped keep Kylie on track with each of the things she needs to do. She’s now on “minus 6s,” which is one of the top in her class (I guess there’s only one kid ahead of her and is on “minus 7s”), and she is such a fabulous reader that I never have to worry about that. And she talks to us all the time! I always know what’s going on in school and what they are learning and what they forgot to do that day and things like that…I feel like I know where she stands.
Joshie, on the other hand, has been my worry. The worry started back when he was 15 months and refused to play with the magnetic letters on the fridge. Or how he pretty much refused to sit and listen to me read books…ever. I have heard the stereotypes about boys and girls being different, especially when it comes to school, and with John’s very strong dislike of reading, I have been preparing myself for a more difficult journey. I always admitted that we have been so spoiled with Kylie when it came to school, and I was ready (at least mentally) to have to work harder with Josh. The only area we were not concerned with him was numbers. With all of the sports he watches/plays, he knows his numbers very well. If you ask him what 6+6 is, he may not know, but if you ask him what a touchdown plus a touchdown is, he’ll tell you “12.”
We had our parent/teacher conferences last night. We had Josh’s first. We sit down with the teacher (who was also Kylie’s Kindergarten teacher), and she starts out by saying “I love having Josh in my class.” “He’s such a sweet kid and such a joy.” She went through her assessment of him and I’m amazed. I wasn’t surprised because I had received his report card and have been working with him, but to hear it and see it was still amazing. He is one of the top kids in the class. His reading level is a 3 – most kids come in at a 0 or 1, and they need to be at a 4 for first grade. He knows all of his numbers and does very well at math. She also said that his writing is fantastic! She said his attention span is great, and kids often ask him for help when reading things. Like I said, I knew this going in, but to hear it from his teacher was so different. My little boy, whom I’ve been so worried about, is doing just as well as Kylie did. Our 20 minute conference was done in 10 minutes because there was nothing really to discuss. She gave us ways to help him advance even further and we were on our way.
Next it was time for Kylie’s conference. As soon as we all sit down, the first words out of her mouth were “I love having Kylie in my class.” She said that she is her biggest helper and is always reminding her of things that they didn’t get to do that day (especially math timed-tests). She said that every night she puts a stack of papers at Kylie’s seat because Kylie is one of the first ones in there and she’s afraid she’ll get bored so she has Kylie hand out all the papers for the day or put things away, etc. She said that Kylie loves to write, and comes in every morning asking her if she can write. She showed us a couple of Kylie’s different notebooks and it was so fun going through her work. She showed us a sheet that she had each child fill out – they listed what they think their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what their goals for second grade are. The teacher said that Kylie’s strengths were definitely right on, and she laughed at the weaknesses because she thinks Kylie was being way too hard on herself and that they aren’t weaknesses for her at all (one thing she listed was not knowing the water cycle, but her teacher says she knows it very well). She said that Kylie is a fabulous reader, which doesn’t surprise me at all because Kylie LOVES to read and is always down in the playroom reading. And since Kylie has had perfect spelling tests all year, she said that she will be adding additional words for her to learn each week. Again, our 20 minute conference lasted only 10 minutes.
After the conferences we headed down to the school library for the book fair. Both Kylie and Josh had their lists and showed us which books they wanted. John and I had no problem getting them their books after those fabulous conferences and hearing about what great readers they are :) And after that, we headed to Pizza Hut with our neighbors so that the kids could redeem their Book-It certificates. We had a great dinner and I think it was such a great reward for the kids.
I went to bed last night feeling so very blessed. We are so lucky to have such great kids. I know I say it all the time, but when you have people (that aren’t related) tell you how great your kids are, it’s such a nice reinforcement that I’m not screwing up. So when I have those nights where I feel like such a failure as a mom because I feel like I can’t get all the homework done and play and feed them, I will my best to remember last night and repeat over and over to myself that I’m not failing, and my kids are turning out fabulous.
Except for a minor setback with 2s at the beginning of the year (which was totally our fault), we have really helped keep Kylie on track with each of the things she needs to do. She’s now on “minus 6s,” which is one of the top in her class (I guess there’s only one kid ahead of her and is on “minus 7s”), and she is such a fabulous reader that I never have to worry about that. And she talks to us all the time! I always know what’s going on in school and what they are learning and what they forgot to do that day and things like that…I feel like I know where she stands.
Joshie, on the other hand, has been my worry. The worry started back when he was 15 months and refused to play with the magnetic letters on the fridge. Or how he pretty much refused to sit and listen to me read books…ever. I have heard the stereotypes about boys and girls being different, especially when it comes to school, and with John’s very strong dislike of reading, I have been preparing myself for a more difficult journey. I always admitted that we have been so spoiled with Kylie when it came to school, and I was ready (at least mentally) to have to work harder with Josh. The only area we were not concerned with him was numbers. With all of the sports he watches/plays, he knows his numbers very well. If you ask him what 6+6 is, he may not know, but if you ask him what a touchdown plus a touchdown is, he’ll tell you “12.”
We had our parent/teacher conferences last night. We had Josh’s first. We sit down with the teacher (who was also Kylie’s Kindergarten teacher), and she starts out by saying “I love having Josh in my class.” “He’s such a sweet kid and such a joy.” She went through her assessment of him and I’m amazed. I wasn’t surprised because I had received his report card and have been working with him, but to hear it and see it was still amazing. He is one of the top kids in the class. His reading level is a 3 – most kids come in at a 0 or 1, and they need to be at a 4 for first grade. He knows all of his numbers and does very well at math. She also said that his writing is fantastic! She said his attention span is great, and kids often ask him for help when reading things. Like I said, I knew this going in, but to hear it from his teacher was so different. My little boy, whom I’ve been so worried about, is doing just as well as Kylie did. Our 20 minute conference was done in 10 minutes because there was nothing really to discuss. She gave us ways to help him advance even further and we were on our way.
Next it was time for Kylie’s conference. As soon as we all sit down, the first words out of her mouth were “I love having Kylie in my class.” She said that she is her biggest helper and is always reminding her of things that they didn’t get to do that day (especially math timed-tests). She said that every night she puts a stack of papers at Kylie’s seat because Kylie is one of the first ones in there and she’s afraid she’ll get bored so she has Kylie hand out all the papers for the day or put things away, etc. She said that Kylie loves to write, and comes in every morning asking her if she can write. She showed us a couple of Kylie’s different notebooks and it was so fun going through her work. She showed us a sheet that she had each child fill out – they listed what they think their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and what their goals for second grade are. The teacher said that Kylie’s strengths were definitely right on, and she laughed at the weaknesses because she thinks Kylie was being way too hard on herself and that they aren’t weaknesses for her at all (one thing she listed was not knowing the water cycle, but her teacher says she knows it very well). She said that Kylie is a fabulous reader, which doesn’t surprise me at all because Kylie LOVES to read and is always down in the playroom reading. And since Kylie has had perfect spelling tests all year, she said that she will be adding additional words for her to learn each week. Again, our 20 minute conference lasted only 10 minutes.
After the conferences we headed down to the school library for the book fair. Both Kylie and Josh had their lists and showed us which books they wanted. John and I had no problem getting them their books after those fabulous conferences and hearing about what great readers they are :) And after that, we headed to Pizza Hut with our neighbors so that the kids could redeem their Book-It certificates. We had a great dinner and I think it was such a great reward for the kids.
I went to bed last night feeling so very blessed. We are so lucky to have such great kids. I know I say it all the time, but when you have people (that aren’t related) tell you how great your kids are, it’s such a nice reinforcement that I’m not screwing up. So when I have those nights where I feel like such a failure as a mom because I feel like I can’t get all the homework done and play and feed them, I will my best to remember last night and repeat over and over to myself that I’m not failing, and my kids are turning out fabulous.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Mornings with Ky-bear...
For the past two years Kylie has had an irrational fear about being late to things. School and gymnastics cause her the most grief – she is always worried that she’s going to be late to these two things. I say it’s irrational because she’s never late to either of these. OK, there may have been a time or two that she’s gotten to gymnastics as the girls are going out to warm up, but that very rarely happens.
Because of this fear, she gets up every morning WAY before she needs to. She doesn’t need to start walking to school until 8:50, but she never gets up later than 7:00. Lately, she’s gotten up right after I’ve gotten up at 6:15.
So each morning she comes into the bathroom and sits on the stool and watches the news and talks to me. If I’m out of the shower already, she’ll come in and give me a hug and then go over to her stool. She had been keeping coloring stuff in our closet so that she could color while we got ready, but she just took that down to the playroom.
I have really gotten to love these mornings with her. Because she gets up so early, I have to put her to bed fairly early, so the time with her in the morning is a nice trade-off for the time missed with her at night. We have some great talks, and she always gets so excited if Ryan gets up while I’m still there and loves playing with him in my room while I finish getting ready. And this morning she just came up to me while I was drying my hair and rubbed my back the whole time! I was in heaven!
Thankfully on the weekends she sleeps in a little longer, and when she does wake up (and she knows it’s a Saturday), she’ll just go downstairs and watch TV until we wake up. She’s just such a sweet girl and I have just really grown to love this time with her :)
Because of this fear, she gets up every morning WAY before she needs to. She doesn’t need to start walking to school until 8:50, but she never gets up later than 7:00. Lately, she’s gotten up right after I’ve gotten up at 6:15.
So each morning she comes into the bathroom and sits on the stool and watches the news and talks to me. If I’m out of the shower already, she’ll come in and give me a hug and then go over to her stool. She had been keeping coloring stuff in our closet so that she could color while we got ready, but she just took that down to the playroom.
I have really gotten to love these mornings with her. Because she gets up so early, I have to put her to bed fairly early, so the time with her in the morning is a nice trade-off for the time missed with her at night. We have some great talks, and she always gets so excited if Ryan gets up while I’m still there and loves playing with him in my room while I finish getting ready. And this morning she just came up to me while I was drying my hair and rubbed my back the whole time! I was in heaven!
Thankfully on the weekends she sleeps in a little longer, and when she does wake up (and she knows it’s a Saturday), she’ll just go downstairs and watch TV until we wake up. She’s just such a sweet girl and I have just really grown to love this time with her :)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Ry-Ry...
I often make photobooks (through Shutterfly.com – I absolutely LOVE them!). I’m so far behind in scrapbooking, and they let me get some pictures together in a very nice book so I at least have something recent around for people to look at.
Ryan has taken a big interest in these books. I keep them on a little table we have in our family room, so he can go and get them whenever he wants and he’ll look through all of the pictures and point out everyone he knows. The other day he pulled out the first one that I made. Since I hadn’t started blogging yet (or was at the very beginning of it), I had written a bunch of memories on one of the pages. Kylie started reading that page and I started to tear up. I talked about Kylie being potty trained and learning how to ride her bike, and I talked about phrases that little Joshie was saying that were so cute. I had forgotten some of them, and I loved reading them and remembering.
I realized I haven’t kept up really well on here with things that Ryan is saying and doing. So I’m going to try harder to make sure I’m updating more often, because between those photobooks and the blog book that I made for my first two years of blogging, I love that these memories are being recorded.
So what’s going on with Ryan lately? He’s freaking adorable, that’s what! He is copying everything that Joshie does. He especially likes to play football (he loves to put Joshie’s flags on and run around the house holding the football) and he loves to play hockey with Josh. Last night we were all down in the playroom and Ky and Josh started really wrestling each other (side note – I can’t wait until I’m done being pregnant so that I can participate 100% with them – I hate that I spend so much time trying to protect my stomach when I wish I could be rolling around with them!). Ryan kept trying to join in, and for the most part, it was fine (I had to keep reminding the big kids to be careful with him). He so often forgets that he’s only 2 :)
He’s sitting in a booster chair when he eats, and most of the time he’s drinking out of a “big boy cup” (only uses sippy cups about 15% of the time). I think he’s ready to be potty trained – we just need to find a weekend that we are home the whole time and can do it. He sleeps pretty well (although not near as good as he did when he had his pacis). He amazed the doctor with his vocabulary and his many-word sentences when he went in for his check-up last month and he is constantly talking, and asking so many questions!
He loves to be read to (like Kylie, unlike Joshie at this age), and will play with the Leap Frog letter thing on the refrigerator (again, like Kylie but unlike Joshie). He is obsessed with trains and cars, and is really getting into Toy Story and Buzz and Woody. He always wants to follow us around. If I tell him that I have to run upstairs to get something really quickly and to stay there, he will already be climbing up the stairs saying “I come with Mommy.”
He knows how to operating the ipad 100% on his own. John can just hand it to him, and he will take it over to the couch, unlock it, and find which game he wants to play. He also knows how to get on youtube to watch trains or cars.
He is my baby, and I love spending time with him. He always puts a smile on my face. The big kids go to bed around 8:30, and that’s usually when John will sit on the couch and watch some type of sports (depending on what season it is), and I’ll head up to our room to watch my shows. Our house is set up so that when I’m lying in bed I can easily see John sitting on the couch. So Ryan will usually start down there with him, and then see me and say “I go see Mommy.” Then he’ll climb up the stairs and sit in bed with me and watch “Mommy’s show” (although he does always try to get me to put Thomas on). And then after a little bit he’ll go back down with John. He usually does this until John or I get annoyed and make him stay in one spot. When he’s with me, he’ll look at me and say “snuggle wif me,” and that means he wants me to face him (both of us on our sides) and put my arm around him. I seriously can’t get enough of this kid :)
Some of his current phrases are:
“wanna pay wif me?”
“what Daddy/Joshie/Kylie/Woody/Buzz doing?”
“that’s silly guy” (about any character that he doesn’t have a name for that looks silly)
“butchacow” (when he’s pretending to be Lightning McQueen)
“me do it”
“Ry-Ry’s house”
“Play ipad?”
When he’s super excited, he starts so many sentences with “so so so…”
Everyone is always mesmerized by his beautiful, big blue eyes, and I’m no exception. All he has to do is look at me and smile and I’m whipped! I love the age he’s at and I always have so much fun with him, even if he can be exhausting!
Ryan has taken a big interest in these books. I keep them on a little table we have in our family room, so he can go and get them whenever he wants and he’ll look through all of the pictures and point out everyone he knows. The other day he pulled out the first one that I made. Since I hadn’t started blogging yet (or was at the very beginning of it), I had written a bunch of memories on one of the pages. Kylie started reading that page and I started to tear up. I talked about Kylie being potty trained and learning how to ride her bike, and I talked about phrases that little Joshie was saying that were so cute. I had forgotten some of them, and I loved reading them and remembering.
I realized I haven’t kept up really well on here with things that Ryan is saying and doing. So I’m going to try harder to make sure I’m updating more often, because between those photobooks and the blog book that I made for my first two years of blogging, I love that these memories are being recorded.
So what’s going on with Ryan lately? He’s freaking adorable, that’s what! He is copying everything that Joshie does. He especially likes to play football (he loves to put Joshie’s flags on and run around the house holding the football) and he loves to play hockey with Josh. Last night we were all down in the playroom and Ky and Josh started really wrestling each other (side note – I can’t wait until I’m done being pregnant so that I can participate 100% with them – I hate that I spend so much time trying to protect my stomach when I wish I could be rolling around with them!). Ryan kept trying to join in, and for the most part, it was fine (I had to keep reminding the big kids to be careful with him). He so often forgets that he’s only 2 :)
He’s sitting in a booster chair when he eats, and most of the time he’s drinking out of a “big boy cup” (only uses sippy cups about 15% of the time). I think he’s ready to be potty trained – we just need to find a weekend that we are home the whole time and can do it. He sleeps pretty well (although not near as good as he did when he had his pacis). He amazed the doctor with his vocabulary and his many-word sentences when he went in for his check-up last month and he is constantly talking, and asking so many questions!
He loves to be read to (like Kylie, unlike Joshie at this age), and will play with the Leap Frog letter thing on the refrigerator (again, like Kylie but unlike Joshie). He is obsessed with trains and cars, and is really getting into Toy Story and Buzz and Woody. He always wants to follow us around. If I tell him that I have to run upstairs to get something really quickly and to stay there, he will already be climbing up the stairs saying “I come with Mommy.”
He knows how to operating the ipad 100% on his own. John can just hand it to him, and he will take it over to the couch, unlock it, and find which game he wants to play. He also knows how to get on youtube to watch trains or cars.
He is my baby, and I love spending time with him. He always puts a smile on my face. The big kids go to bed around 8:30, and that’s usually when John will sit on the couch and watch some type of sports (depending on what season it is), and I’ll head up to our room to watch my shows. Our house is set up so that when I’m lying in bed I can easily see John sitting on the couch. So Ryan will usually start down there with him, and then see me and say “I go see Mommy.” Then he’ll climb up the stairs and sit in bed with me and watch “Mommy’s show” (although he does always try to get me to put Thomas on). And then after a little bit he’ll go back down with John. He usually does this until John or I get annoyed and make him stay in one spot. When he’s with me, he’ll look at me and say “snuggle wif me,” and that means he wants me to face him (both of us on our sides) and put my arm around him. I seriously can’t get enough of this kid :)
Some of his current phrases are:
“wanna pay wif me?”
“what Daddy/Joshie/Kylie/Woody/Buzz doing?”
“that’s silly guy” (about any character that he doesn’t have a name for that looks silly)
“butchacow” (when he’s pretending to be Lightning McQueen)
“me do it”
“Ry-Ry’s house”
“Play ipad?”
When he’s super excited, he starts so many sentences with “so so so…”
Everyone is always mesmerized by his beautiful, big blue eyes, and I’m no exception. All he has to do is look at me and smile and I’m whipped! I love the age he’s at and I always have so much fun with him, even if he can be exhausting!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
29 Weeks...
I had my 29 week doctor's appointment on Monday...here are the stats:
Weight: 155 lbs (yikes again!)
BP: 116/64
HB: 143
I also had to have my Rhogam shot since I'm Rh-.
I can't believe that I'm already 29 weeks, which is evidenced by the fact that we do not have any names picked out, nor have I bought a single thing for this baby. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by, and I know that the next 2 months are going to absolutely fly by with the holidays. The baby is moving around like crazy, and that is making me more and more excited about meeting it in around 9 weeks :)
Ryan has decided that he also has a baby in his belly. He tells me that the baby is crying, and that it's kicking. He will yell at his belly "stop kicking baby." We were also laying in bed the other day and he told me that his belly is "huge." He's such a cute little guy!
Weight: 155 lbs (yikes again!)
BP: 116/64
HB: 143
I also had to have my Rhogam shot since I'm Rh-.
I can't believe that I'm already 29 weeks, which is evidenced by the fact that we do not have any names picked out, nor have I bought a single thing for this baby. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone by, and I know that the next 2 months are going to absolutely fly by with the holidays. The baby is moving around like crazy, and that is making me more and more excited about meeting it in around 9 weeks :)
Ryan has decided that he also has a baby in his belly. He tells me that the baby is crying, and that it's kicking. He will yell at his belly "stop kicking baby." We were also laying in bed the other day and he told me that his belly is "huge." He's such a cute little guy!
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Halloween Weekend 2010...
Halloween weekend was great, despite the cold weather!
Friday night we started up with House Church again. We had a fire going outside and cooked up some hot dogs and tried our best to stay warm. The kids all jumped on the trampoline, some of them in short sleeves! After we were done eating and the fire was dying, we all moved inside and the guys played cards while the girls chatted.
Saturday Josh had football practice, and then John took him and Kylie down to the OU game. So Ryan and I were left to spend the day together! We went grocery shopping with my dad, and then while Ryan was taking his nap, my mom and I went shopping. I desperately needed some new clothes…I’ve never had a winter baby before and I was sick of my pants hurting me every day at work and not really having any casual clothes to wear. So we spent 2 ½ hours in the store and a boatload of money. I hate spending that time and money on things that I will wear for 2 months and that I will then get rid of – at least with the other babies I’ve always felt better knowing that I would use the clothes again, but not this time! But so far I think it was worth it…I feel so much better now! After we were done shopping, we went home and picked Ryan up and went to dinner where he was amazing! He played with his toys and ate his dinner and it was such a pleasant experience!
Sunday we went to church and then headed to brunch before Joshie’s football game. The sun was out, and it looked pretty outside, but the temperature was only around 48 degrees, and I just HATE cold weather! But we bundled up and watched a great game. Joshie’s team seemed to be missing something and didn’t do that great. Joshie did really well though…he scored their only touchdown with a very long catch and super fast run. He also pulled 5 flags and ran a kid out of bounds, so I was super proud of him. I so desperately tried to get a picture of his catch, but unfortunately, Ryan fell asleep on my lap all bundled up under the blanket, and I was trying to take the picture with one hand and only got a tiny little shot of him :( My belly is so big that with Ryan sitting on it, I had to keep another hand on him to make sure he didn’t fall off!
After the game we went home and the kids got in their costumes and we got the food all ready for our annual trick-or-treat potluck. At 5:00 we started eating…we had moved everything to the garage with the heater, so it wasn’t too bad. The kids got some good food in them and the adults had a great time eating and talking too. At 6:00 we headed out and by the first court the guys took the big kids and ditched us. My neighbor and I took the two little ones and we had so much fun! Poor Ryan was so sick of getting in and out of the wagon, but he just couldn’t keep up with Zora! They were so cute together though :) By the time we made it around one side of the neighborhood and back by our house, I asked Ryan if he was done and he quickly said “yeah” shaking his head emphatically (we had been out an hour). Zora decided she was done too so we took them back to the warm garage and the fire pit. The two of them played and we waited for the big kids to come back.
The guys and the older kids came back around 8:00 and immediately went into the house to trade candy. I was amazed to learn that John had never done this as a kid. He didn’t understand what they were doing since they all had the same candy. I had to explain to him that they would trade out the candy they didn’t like with each other. When they all poured out all of their candy, I couldn’t believe how much they had gotten! The sad thing is my kids will never eat even close to all of their candy…they just aren’t huge candy-kids.
After they were done the kids got baths and everyone crashed into their beds. It had been a long weekend with a very happy ending!
Friday night we started up with House Church again. We had a fire going outside and cooked up some hot dogs and tried our best to stay warm. The kids all jumped on the trampoline, some of them in short sleeves! After we were done eating and the fire was dying, we all moved inside and the guys played cards while the girls chatted.
Saturday Josh had football practice, and then John took him and Kylie down to the OU game. So Ryan and I were left to spend the day together! We went grocery shopping with my dad, and then while Ryan was taking his nap, my mom and I went shopping. I desperately needed some new clothes…I’ve never had a winter baby before and I was sick of my pants hurting me every day at work and not really having any casual clothes to wear. So we spent 2 ½ hours in the store and a boatload of money. I hate spending that time and money on things that I will wear for 2 months and that I will then get rid of – at least with the other babies I’ve always felt better knowing that I would use the clothes again, but not this time! But so far I think it was worth it…I feel so much better now! After we were done shopping, we went home and picked Ryan up and went to dinner where he was amazing! He played with his toys and ate his dinner and it was such a pleasant experience!
Sunday we went to church and then headed to brunch before Joshie’s football game. The sun was out, and it looked pretty outside, but the temperature was only around 48 degrees, and I just HATE cold weather! But we bundled up and watched a great game. Joshie’s team seemed to be missing something and didn’t do that great. Joshie did really well though…he scored their only touchdown with a very long catch and super fast run. He also pulled 5 flags and ran a kid out of bounds, so I was super proud of him. I so desperately tried to get a picture of his catch, but unfortunately, Ryan fell asleep on my lap all bundled up under the blanket, and I was trying to take the picture with one hand and only got a tiny little shot of him :( My belly is so big that with Ryan sitting on it, I had to keep another hand on him to make sure he didn’t fall off!
After the game we went home and the kids got in their costumes and we got the food all ready for our annual trick-or-treat potluck. At 5:00 we started eating…we had moved everything to the garage with the heater, so it wasn’t too bad. The kids got some good food in them and the adults had a great time eating and talking too. At 6:00 we headed out and by the first court the guys took the big kids and ditched us. My neighbor and I took the two little ones and we had so much fun! Poor Ryan was so sick of getting in and out of the wagon, but he just couldn’t keep up with Zora! They were so cute together though :) By the time we made it around one side of the neighborhood and back by our house, I asked Ryan if he was done and he quickly said “yeah” shaking his head emphatically (we had been out an hour). Zora decided she was done too so we took them back to the warm garage and the fire pit. The two of them played and we waited for the big kids to come back.
The guys and the older kids came back around 8:00 and immediately went into the house to trade candy. I was amazed to learn that John had never done this as a kid. He didn’t understand what they were doing since they all had the same candy. I had to explain to him that they would trade out the candy they didn’t like with each other. When they all poured out all of their candy, I couldn’t believe how much they had gotten! The sad thing is my kids will never eat even close to all of their candy…they just aren’t huge candy-kids.
After they were done the kids got baths and everyone crashed into their beds. It had been a long weekend with a very happy ending!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Gymnastics/Football Weekend...
Last weekend was a whirlwind of a weekend. On top of all the craziness, I was so sick and just felt miserable on Friday. But that night, John and I helped out at the school’s carnival at a picture booth. We were there for 3 hours and while we had a lot of fun, being sick was just horrible.
Saturday we woke up and took it easy for the beginning of the day. I cleaned out my scrap room and then we took a whole bunch of stuff to Goodwill. Ryan was over at my parents’ house, so we decided to leave Ky and Josh home by themselves while we dropped the stuff off (it’s 5 minutes down the road). At first they were scared and didn’t want to do it (which surprised us…we thought they would be so excited!). But then they decided to do it, and I talked to Kylie on the phone most of the time we were gone (which was a total of 10 minutes). It was such a neat feeling knowing that my kids are growing up , and there will be a day that John and I can leave the house without all of them in tow :)
Saturday night I had my friends over for a scrap night. John took the kids to the city bonfire, and we all had a great time. I’m working on my sister’s wedding present, a scrapbook of the whole wedding process, so it was good to make some progress on that.
Sunday we woke up to chaos. I had lost the e-mail that Kylie’s gym had sent about her meet (her first one was that day), and when I called to get the information, the info the girl gave me just didn’t sound right. So Sunday morning I called again and found out they were about to start warming up! I thought I still had another hour! So John took her over there and I quickly finished getting ready and took the boys over there. The meet was cute…they did an intersquad meet for their first one and Kylie did really well! The coaches were the judges and they gave out candy instead of ribbons. She was just so cute out there!
After the meet we went home and chilled for a little bit before Joshie’s football game. I still felt sick, so I laid down for a while and thankfully felt better after a little bit. I put a pot roast in the oven and off we went to the game. The weather was so gorgeous! The Bears won, and Joshie had an awesome, long touchdown run, as well as a touchdown catch!
When we got home we had a nice family dinner (my sister was in town so that was nice) and then just relaxed the rest of the day. I have been so busy and stressed at work that it was so nice to have some down time, especially since this past week has not been any better.
This is Ryan and the sister of one of the other players (who also happens to be good friends of ours). They are so cute together!
Saturday we woke up and took it easy for the beginning of the day. I cleaned out my scrap room and then we took a whole bunch of stuff to Goodwill. Ryan was over at my parents’ house, so we decided to leave Ky and Josh home by themselves while we dropped the stuff off (it’s 5 minutes down the road). At first they were scared and didn’t want to do it (which surprised us…we thought they would be so excited!). But then they decided to do it, and I talked to Kylie on the phone most of the time we were gone (which was a total of 10 minutes). It was such a neat feeling knowing that my kids are growing up , and there will be a day that John and I can leave the house without all of them in tow :)
Saturday night I had my friends over for a scrap night. John took the kids to the city bonfire, and we all had a great time. I’m working on my sister’s wedding present, a scrapbook of the whole wedding process, so it was good to make some progress on that.
Sunday we woke up to chaos. I had lost the e-mail that Kylie’s gym had sent about her meet (her first one was that day), and when I called to get the information, the info the girl gave me just didn’t sound right. So Sunday morning I called again and found out they were about to start warming up! I thought I still had another hour! So John took her over there and I quickly finished getting ready and took the boys over there. The meet was cute…they did an intersquad meet for their first one and Kylie did really well! The coaches were the judges and they gave out candy instead of ribbons. She was just so cute out there!
After the meet we went home and chilled for a little bit before Joshie’s football game. I still felt sick, so I laid down for a while and thankfully felt better after a little bit. I put a pot roast in the oven and off we went to the game. The weather was so gorgeous! The Bears won, and Joshie had an awesome, long touchdown run, as well as a touchdown catch!
When we got home we had a nice family dinner (my sister was in town so that was nice) and then just relaxed the rest of the day. I have been so busy and stressed at work that it was so nice to have some down time, especially since this past week has not been any better.
This is Ryan and the sister of one of the other players (who also happens to be good friends of ours). They are so cute together!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Weekend Recap...
Last Friday we headed down to Athens for OU Homecoming. It was such a whirlwind trip...we got to my parent's house and ate a late dinner and went to bed, got up early the next morning and went to the parade, then went to the football game, and then came home. I was exhausted!
We had two missions while we were down there: 1.) get a coming home outfit for the baby, and 2.) get the annual picture of the kids walking towards Baker Center. We got the picture, but when it came to the outfit (the thing I was most concerned about), I couldn't find anything! This is the first time I will have to buy a sleeper for the baby, as opposed to a onesie (since it is my first winter baby), and they had so many cute onesies, but only one sleeper and I thought it was ugly :( I guess I'll have to keep looking online and hope they come out with something in the next couple of months!
Sunday we went to church and then off to Joshie's football game. The weather was absolutely perfect! The Bears lost, but they played so well and played a really good team.
Here are the old pictures:
Here are the new ones (and yes, Ryan is wearing the jersey that Josh was wearing in the previous pictures):
We had two missions while we were down there: 1.) get a coming home outfit for the baby, and 2.) get the annual picture of the kids walking towards Baker Center. We got the picture, but when it came to the outfit (the thing I was most concerned about), I couldn't find anything! This is the first time I will have to buy a sleeper for the baby, as opposed to a onesie (since it is my first winter baby), and they had so many cute onesies, but only one sleeper and I thought it was ugly :( I guess I'll have to keep looking online and hope they come out with something in the next couple of months!
Sunday we went to church and then off to Joshie's football game. The weather was absolutely perfect! The Bears lost, but they played so well and played a really good team.
Here are the old pictures:
Here are the new ones (and yes, Ryan is wearing the jersey that Josh was wearing in the previous pictures):
Monday, October 18, 2010
Contest Winner...
Using a random number generator, the following comment who was made by "anonymous" was selected:
I am a teacher and this kit sounds like it would be perfect to use as part of a lesson before Halloween. To take the "scary" out of Halloween, our school has decided NO COSTUMES...it is wear orange and black day to celebrate instead.
If you could contact me with your mailing information (dstickel at mihomes dot com), I will have the kit sent out to you ASAP! If I don't hear from you by end of day Wednesday, I will select another winner.
Thanks!
I am a teacher and this kit sounds like it would be perfect to use as part of a lesson before Halloween. To take the "scary" out of Halloween, our school has decided NO COSTUMES...it is wear orange and black day to celebrate instead.
If you could contact me with your mailing information (dstickel at mihomes dot com), I will have the kit sent out to you ASAP! If I don't hear from you by end of day Wednesday, I will select another winner.
Thanks!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
A Contest!!!
I was asked to review Joy Berry’s Taking the Scary Out of Halloween Kit. I was sent a kit and received it a couple of days ago and it is really neat! The kit includes the Taking the Scary Out of Halloween book, 10 safety guides for Halloween, “make and do” activities for costumes and make-up, simple Halloween night recipes, glow-in-the-dark stickers, glow whistle, glow necklace and bracelet, and a flashlight with Halloween-themed interchangeable lenses.
My kids love the flashlight and the book has some really neat tips for kids on how to be polite while trick-or-treating and staying safe.
I have been given an extra kit to give as a giveaway, so leave a comment and I’ll randomly select a winner on Friday!
My kids love the flashlight and the book has some really neat tips for kids on how to be polite while trick-or-treating and staying safe.
I have been given an extra kit to give as a giveaway, so leave a comment and I’ll randomly select a winner on Friday!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Another Great Weekend!
Last weekend was a really good weekend – the weather was warm, and the entire weekend wasn’t jammed packed with stuff to do.
Friday night we got home from work and hung out with the neighbors for a while. The weather was so nice and the kids had a ton of fun. We ended up going to BW3s for dinner with our one neighbor and kids which was a lot of fun.
Saturday morning Josh and John headed to football practice, and Kylie, Ryan and I headed to Yutzy’s and Dings and Dents. After that John loaded Kylie and Josh up and headed down to the OU game. So Ryan and I got to spend the whole day together! For the most part, we played outside with his little girlfriend and her mom and I sat outside and just watched them play. My dad also hung out with us for most of the day. That night was so calm…I fed Ryan, went and grabbed some food for me, and then John and the kids got home and we all just sat around for a little bit before everyone headed to bed.
Sunday was our busy day! We had church in the morning, immediately followed by football pictures and Josh’s game. It was so gorgeous outside! I was hot in my jeans, but I didn’t dare complain because it definitely beat the bitter cold weather we sat through the week before! The Bears ended up winning their game and Josh pulled three flags and caught a touchdown pass!
After the game we were so beat that we went home and just relaxed for an hour. Then we headed out to get the kids winter coats, Kylie some jeans, and to get the rest of the baby gifts for John’s sisters. We finally got home around 7:15, ate dinner, finished homework and then collapsed into bed :) It was such a busy Sunday, but definitely a lot of fun!
Friday night we got home from work and hung out with the neighbors for a while. The weather was so nice and the kids had a ton of fun. We ended up going to BW3s for dinner with our one neighbor and kids which was a lot of fun.
Saturday morning Josh and John headed to football practice, and Kylie, Ryan and I headed to Yutzy’s and Dings and Dents. After that John loaded Kylie and Josh up and headed down to the OU game. So Ryan and I got to spend the whole day together! For the most part, we played outside with his little girlfriend and her mom and I sat outside and just watched them play. My dad also hung out with us for most of the day. That night was so calm…I fed Ryan, went and grabbed some food for me, and then John and the kids got home and we all just sat around for a little bit before everyone headed to bed.
Sunday was our busy day! We had church in the morning, immediately followed by football pictures and Josh’s game. It was so gorgeous outside! I was hot in my jeans, but I didn’t dare complain because it definitely beat the bitter cold weather we sat through the week before! The Bears ended up winning their game and Josh pulled three flags and caught a touchdown pass!
After the game we were so beat that we went home and just relaxed for an hour. Then we headed out to get the kids winter coats, Kylie some jeans, and to get the rest of the baby gifts for John’s sisters. We finally got home around 7:15, ate dinner, finished homework and then collapsed into bed :) It was such a busy Sunday, but definitely a lot of fun!
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