Baby Brother - Week 32

So the grueling part of the pregnancy is finally here. I'm tired! And I'm now going to appointments twice a week. The great thing is that I get ultrasounds every week, so I get to see my little buddy. Today they were wanting him to do a "practice breath" within 30 minutes. I guess they watch for his diaphragm to rise and fall. It is a pretty boring appointment because you're just waiting to see if he'll do it. He finally did it when we had 2 minutes to go! If he would've failed that test, I would've been put on the NST machine to monitor his heart rate. Ugh. So, this is what we're going to do every Thursday... practice breathing. We can all pray that he passes his breathing test and that I never have to be put on the other monitor!

The other thing they noted this morning was that I have a lot of amniotic fluid. They didn't seem to be concerned about it at all since it is something that goes along with maternal diabetes. I didn't have excess fluid for any of the other pregnancies, but then again, my sugars were more controlled. I'll be the first to admit it! I'm getting laaazzzyyy with this one. But, I guess if it puts me at risk for a cesarean or pre-term labor, then I might as well get back on the wagon. That is something they'll monitor closely as we go along. And, the doctor wasn't worried about it, he just said it will make my load heavier. Great! As if I need any more weight to carry around! ;)

Oh, and he's still in a breech position. He has a little time to turn, but we're definitely praying that he does, as that will certainly mean that we're signing up for another c-section. So Lord, please turn baby brother around soon! Other than that, he looks perfectly healthy and normal. Looking at these pictures, we think he looks like Lydia. But of course, there's lots of time for that to change. Maybe its just because he's getting chubbier... He is now 5 1/2 pounds. :)



Smiling

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ruthie!

We had the perfect weather for Ruthie's party. I intentionally planned it at the spray play at 9:30 a.m. (a little early) to beat the heat, but it ended up being really nice, even without the water! And in August!! I was very thankful! But I am even more thankful for my sweet Ruthie. We had a few melt downs that morning because she was just. so. ready. for her party. But, all in all it was great. Lots of friends showed up and we had a blast.

Ruthie wanted a purple and blue Elmo party (purple and blue are her two favorite colors, in that order), and had a hard time keeping her hands off of the cupcakes before we sang to her. She was in *love*. :)





Proud of her accomplishment with the candles...



Lydie wandered all over the place. This was one of the *many* cupcakes she had that morning. We finally had to lock her down in the stroller and it is still blue.









This is after the party, when everyone ran over to the park to play. Why do I always stress out about having enough cupcakes??? Obviously the healthy snacks weren't much of a hit. Oh well. We tried. I at least got points from other moms for trying, right???? :)

Today was a gift...

...and quite undeserved. I woke up not feeling the greatest and wasn't really into a whole day with the kids. I'm just getting so worn out lately! But today I felt worse. Anyway, before Russ left for work we prayed as usual, and I don't think I expected anything from the Lord, but it has really been a fun morning with the girls! I was all geared up to go grocery shopping, and decided that would just be frustrating, so I'll go later by myself (key words: BY MYSELF). Anyway, I was able to take a shower with no one getting hurt, screaming, dying, fighting, going outside, or getting into the sink, so that was the first victory.

Then, since we don't have much to eat in the house (grocery trip is necessary!), I decided to rummage through the freezer and see what we had. I found a bag of cut up apples and thought maybe, just maybe, they would be busy with play-dough long enough to make some apple bread muffins. It's always a crap shoot. You never know if they're just going to fight over the play-dough, if the baby will just keep eating it, if they'll get it all over the house... you just never know. But today it worked! Lydie stayed in her highchair for an hour and fifteen minutes (what?!?!?!?!) and didn't eat the play-dough! She didn't eat one piece! A HUGE gift!!! And the older two were so busy doing a cooking show that they didn't even know I was baking and didn't ask to help. Another gift! Another grace. Side note: I do like the girls to cook with me, but it takes forever --like FOR-E-VER-- and sometimes you're just not feelin' it. So I'll happily take a break from their help when I can! ;)

After that, the play-dough clean up was really easy and while I cleaned up the kitchen, they wanted to play in the garage. It has been so hot lately, that they've started to go in the garage but never unless I tell them they need to ride their bikes around for a little bit. Anyway, today they stayed in there for another 45 minutes! They didn't get into anything, and they didn't fight. Chalk this up for a victory I didn't even plan or have to set up!

That gave me enough time to prepare lunch and also take a random pregnancy shot. This poor boy will have almost no record that he was ever in my tummy for a good 9 months. I think I only have 2 other shots! Oh well. Here we are at 30 weeks. Belly is taking over!! Since I'm not buying any more maternity clothes (the subject of countless previous posts), I've become very familiar with the few outfits I have, and somehow all I have are jean skirts! I know I bought a few of them on sale, but I have like 10 maternity jean skirts! I'm not even really into jean skirts! Oh well. Since I'm hardly wearing make-up anymore, pulling my hair back everyday, and covered in chewed up goldfish, I think I can handle a few jean skirts. I'm just wondering why I have so many... Less than 60 days to go, folks!!! The countdown is on!!! (Oh, and in case you noticed the new look in the dining room, I'll post a before and after soon. We are loving the new color!)

AND...since I'm having such a great day, and was in the downloading mood, here's a few pictures from Ruthie's birthday. Her Elmo party is yet to come, but as a family we went to Chuck E Cheese, Hubee Dee's for dinner, and TCBY for icecream (Ruthie's FAVORITE!). We realized the next day that we never did candles (because the dessert was in TCBY), so we gave her candles on her waffle the next morning. And of course, she had to have it on a purple plate. I'll post more pics after her party.

Ruthie, Mom, & Brother

Daddy & Noa Jane

Surfside Beach

Last week we were so thankful to spend some family time in Surfside Beach! We weren't sure how it was going to go (kids are always a wild card - especially the sleeping part), but it isn't even 2 hours away, so we thought we would try it and if it wasn't working, we would just go home. But it worked! We had such a great time relaxing with our girls! These pictures are in no order - it already took me about 3o minutes to get them off the phones!

Ruthie with the Jellies at the Acquarium

Best Buds

We were across the street from the beach, so we just took the girls over in the wagon every morning and evening.

Snacks on the porch

Noa was very focused and worked on her sandcastles most of the time.

Lydie really liked hanging out in the wagon and opening and shutting the door. She got in the water and played in the sand too, but mostly she liked the wagon.


Uh-oh. Broke the shovel


Constant running = good naps!


Oops. Up-side-down. Back at the aquarium we found Nemo. I think they liked this stuffed Nemo more than any of the real fish.

Bad picture but FREAKY! I couldn't wait to get out of that tunnel. Bull sharks everywhere.

Noa's turn with Nemo

Ruthie's turn with Nemo

Three ducks in a row

Breakfast on the porch. Wow, look at Russ' gut in this picture! ;)

First night at Outback. It was a little bit crazy and our meal was rushed, but we prepared to be disappointed (not in the food, but with the kids) and we were! For the most part it was quick and a tad bit frustrating, but since this pregnant mom is wanting steak all the time, I still think it was worth it. :)