Quick Fill In

Hello folks!
Here's just a quick fill-in. Yesterday an hour before our nephew, Liam's birthday party Brody suddenly got a fever and became lethargic. We gave him Tylenol and warned everyone to stay away from him. He seemed to feel better, then passed out in my arms. I moved him to the playpen and he woke up throwing up about an hour later. Yay. (I blame that little Monkey Joe's trip for this, even though I scrubbed their hands as soon as they were done...)
He ran a pretty high fever all night and although he seems to only have a low grade one now, I know it could go back up again this afternoon/evening, but am keeping my fingers crossed it won't. Other than that we had a great time at Liam's party. I can't believe he's already six years old! I remember visiting him in the hospital when he was born, only a few months after Nathan and I started dating.
Ty had done a "character scrapbook" report for school a month ago, and got his grade on it, and got the highest score possible! I am so proud of him and all of his hard work!!!
Nate has been writing and spelling more and more lately. To add to his fun quirks, when he sees a sign, or billboard, or something similar, he now tries to spell his name or "find" (as he says) his name in the sign. In other words, he looks for all the letters in his name, and I think it gives him a sense of calm when he finds his name. More reasons to love Nate!
Nathan's back is still bothering him, and he'll be going to physical therapy to try and get as much relief as he can.
I'm trying to get as much done around the house as I can today (on very little sleep from being up with Brody) and disinfecting as much as I can. Nathan is headed to a going away party for one of our friends tonight (he just recently enlisted,) and I am having a relaxing night at home. My friend Kerrie is coming over, and I always have fun when we're together.
Oh, and I tripped and fell pretty much right on my stomach today (I braced as much as I could) but I got up and felt Keira move around. It has been quite the day.
We have another busy week filled with dentist appointments (my kids actually love the dentist) and if Brody is well enough, he is going back to get a shot, amongst other things. The light at the end of the tunnel is our potluck dinner/game night on Friday night which I am already looking forward to.
Hope you're all doing well!

Two Bad Backs

"The trouble with being a parent is that by the time you are experienced, you are unemployed."
Unknown

I am ready for bed. Now I just have to convince the kids that they are ready for bed as well. A few weeks ago Nathan threw out his back. He has been alternating icing it and applying heat, but it has finally reached it's peak and he had me call the doctor today to get him seen. He can barely move at the end of the day. Yesterday I was in the kitchen, leaning up against my counter, holding Brody and I (although not moving) slipped somehow, and my feet went out from underneath me. I managed to not smack the back of my head off the cabinets or counter, or fall on my butt, but I basically slid very harshly down a bit, scraping my back along the counter, and since I was holding Brody, I was much more concerned about dropping him or falling with him, so I must have twisted very quickly, because today, my back is throbbing. Brody woke up in his crib at 4:40am and I brought him into our bed, but he didn't get back to sleep until 6:45am, a very short 35 minutes before I get up in the morning to get Ty ready for school. I had to leave the house by 930 this morning to go birthday present shopping for three different parties, then rush to Nate's storytime at 11. After storytime we dashed back to the house so I could feed Nate and Brody lunch and get them in the car to wait for Ty to get off the bus (half day Wednesdays) so we could head out to Ty's friend's birthday party at Monster Mini Golf in Danvers. It is an indoor mini golf place that is all black lights and actually pretty cool. I figured since it was only a little less than two hours, I would hang around. Monkey Joe's, an indoor bouncy, jumpy place, was right next door, so I thought as a special treat for Nate, we'd go there during the party. Fifteen minutes later I regretted my decision. Brody would not stay in the big toddler jumpy thing and I was bending down, picking him up non stop for the next hour and a half. Brody loved it, but it was not something that exactly helped my back pain. Nate on the other hand was sweaty and made a friend very quickly, so I am very glad that he got the chance to have fun too. A side note, because Brody had eaten not too long before that, in his excitement, he leaned in to give me a kiss and threw up on my mouth. Yummy. At 3pm we headed back into Monster Mini Golf, only to find out they weren't even done golfing. I then held Brody for the next 45 minutes and tried to keep Nate entertained while we waited. As soon as I got in the car, I wanted to cry. I put Nathan's heating pad on my back and reluctantly got dinner ready and have gotten the kids ready for bed, and am now counting down the minutes (ten as of now) before I send them to bed and go to bed myself. I am going to try my hardest to stay awake for Lost, but something tells me I won't. Tomorrow is another day, right?

Keira Update

"A grand adventure is about to begin."

Winnie the Pooh

Today was my 34 week appointment. I was flooded with new information, so I will try to get it all down. I am measuring around 36 weeks. Although this is larger than where I should be measuring, they do not consider it "too big" unless it is four weeks ahead of where you should be (for example if I was measuring at 38 weeks, they would do some more investigating.) My dr said that Keira is a "chunker" already. She has flipped back to being breech. Now although this would normally be a concern, my dr explained to me that because this is my fourth baby, my uterus is much softer than if it were my first baby, so she has a bit more flexibility to move. My dr believes she will more than likely keep flipping back and forth right to the end, if she can. My cervix has started to thin out and am almost, but not quite one centimeter yet. Because of Brody's large size, and all of the factors I have just gone through, she is sending me into Boston to get an ultrasound 3/24 at 1pm to measure the baby, get her weight, check the fluid, etc. If she is measuring the way my dr suspects she is, she will want me induced that week. So as of this week, it looks like I will be delivering the end of March... a very short 4 weeks away. If I dilate more by my next appointment, she does want me to be on as much bed rest as I can be for a week, to make it to 37 weeks. So there it is, I think.

The End of February Vacation

"I think people that have a brother or sister don't realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but to know that there's always somebody there, somebody that's family..."
Trey Parker

This weekend started our marathon of weekend events, going straight past my due date. This morning I went to the Newton Marriott for my friend Sarah's baby brunch. It was great to catch up with old friends, and get out of the house for a while. As a quick update, Brody did extremely well again in his crib in the boys' room last night... only 15/20 minutes before he was sound asleep, and the only crying he did was briefly when he watched me walk out of the room. Is it too soon to think we have escaped the crib transition horrors?
Ty and Nate have been out of control the past few days. I was prepared for this because it is school vacation week, but I am very happy it is coming to an end, and they will have a break from each other during the day. I need the routine of the week to come back into play, because it keeps not only me sane, but the kids as well.
Not much else to report.

Brody's Growing Up

"Child rearing myth #1: Labor ends when the baby is born."
Anonymous

I am not a believer in a child must be put in his or her crib right away. In fact, I guess you could say I believe in a "family bed" or that mentality a bit more. Every single one of my boys has slept in bed next to me for at least their first year. It never started out like this because of a conscious decision. Ty never liked his crib. He could easily go to sleep by himself, but not in a crib, he would only sleep in a bed. I have stated many times over, he is the best sleeper. He falls asleep right as his head hits the pillow, and despite waking early, will entertain himself until it is more of a decent time, and everyone else wakes up. When Nate was born we were so consumed with constantly checking on his breathing and worried about him because of how sick he was, that he again ended up in our bed. I should say they all stayed in a bassinet next to our bed until they were too big for the bassinet, then they just moved to our bed. It wasn't until Nate was two that he began sleeping very easily in his bed. He went to sleep without any problems and on his own. Well with Keira's arrival rapidly approaching, we knew Brody had to move into the boys' room and start consistently sleeping in his crib. Brody loves to go to sleep. If you ask him if he wants to go "night-night" he will get the biggest smile on his face, run to find a pacifier and say night night to everyone and wait at the bottom of the stairs for me. He generally goes to bed very quickly, within 10-15 minutes, but I have always stayed with him, as I did with Ty and Nate. Brody sleeps through the night for the most part, occasionally waking up because of gas, but he is and always has been very easy. We decided there was no time like the present and tried it our last night though. In his crib, in the boys' room, he went to bed with the boys last night. We let him stay up a full two hours later than usual. His normal bed time is 6/630, and he went to bed at 830 last night. Despite some crying, he did great! Now we did have to move Nate out of his room and he slept in a sleeping bag on the floor of our room, much to Nate's dismay, but just as Brody would quiet down and start to go to sleep, Nate would sing "SpongeBob Squarepants" at the top of his lungs and wake Brody up again. We gave Nate many warnings, but it takes Nate a lot longer to get himself to wind down and fall asleep. He is my night owl. Even with the distraction of Nate, it only took 45 minutes before Brody was out cold, hugging a Homer Simpson stuffed-doll thing. (Nathan also had to remove quite a few stuffed animals because he said Brody was trying to pile them to climb out of the crib and escape. It was Nate's way of trying to make Brody stop crying. Every time Brody would cry, Nate threw another stuffed animal in his crib.) Nathan and I were both positive he wasn't going to fall asleep on his own in his crib, so were were very excited. We were both positive Brody would wake up and want to come in bed with us, which we were both okay with for a while, until he got used to his crib and the boys' room, but he shocked us yet again, and didn't make a peep until 7am, when it was a bit more Ty waking him up, than him waking on his own. Now I didn't get a peaceful sleep because I was so paranoid about Brody sleeping and listening for him that I tossed and turned and woke myself up for every little noise I heard. I have been telling him all morning how proud of him I am, and I can only hope that he does as well tonight as he did last night. I know this will make things so much easier on Nathan, and make me feel so much better, when I have to be in the hospital when I have Keira. Wish us luck!!!

Disney On Ice

"Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded on performance."

Milton R. Saperstein

A friend of mine very generously offered us tickets to Disney On Ice's Worlds of Fantasy. With a big family like ours, it is really hard for us to get out to big events like this, and we were so thankful that we got the opportunity to go. The kids loved it and had so much fun. We had amazing seats, we were at the center of the ice, and very close (as you can see form the pics below.)

Nathan and his boys
We had amazing seats... the opening
Brody loved all of the lights
Me and my boys
Mickey and Donald

Cars
The Little Mermaid

The Lion King

The Tinkerbell Second Half and Finale

Brody's Latest Checkup

Brody had his 15 month checkup today. Everything went very well. Brody is doing extremely well developmentally. He is very active, walking, running, climbing and attempting to jump. He is saying more than expected at his age. Brody was in the 50th percentile for his head size (exactly average), the 75th percentile for his height (2'8".. tall for his age), and the 20th percentile for his weight, (22 lbs, on the thin side.) Dr Hoder said he's tall and skinny. You'd never guess that from looking at him!
At Brody's last visit, he was diagnosed with a tibial torsion, which basically means he is pigeon toed. He sometimes trips over his own feet, but this happens much more when he is wearing shoes than bare feet. He was re-examined today and his Dr decided to hold off on sending him to an orthopedic specialist. There is no real treatment for this, and it isn't having a great effect on Brody on a day to day basis. Apparently "pigeon toed" people are more likely to be faster that non pigeon toed people. Go figure.
Today Brody also had two shots, (he didn't cry at all!) and repeated his lead test. We had to repeat the lead test because at his last visit, although the results were still in the normal range, hi lead count was on the high end of the normal range. None of the other boys have ever had an elevated lead result, and we repeated it to see if it was just a fluke or if there is something going on. I will know more in a day or two about that. When we bought the house we basically tore everything apart, so all of the baseboards/windowsills/walls are new, so I will be curious if it is still elevated.
All in all a great checkup!
I am currently without a phone, as I mentioned before, and I will be heading out in a few minutes to get a new one, so if you can, please send me your phone numbers so I can make sure I have them in my phone. I should have most numbers saved on my sim card, but I'm not sure if any new numbers I have entered recently were saved on it. Thank you!
Hope you are all doing well!

Nevermind.

Nathan has told me to stop cleaning because he said the smell of our house is giving him a headache. Today has been horrible since the minute I stopped writing my previous entry. I broke my spare phone by knocking it off the counter, our dog Liberty threw up on my white carpet in my bedroom, the kids have been arguing and tattling on each other, and I am overwhelmed with the feeling to scrub every square inch of my house.
I sent the kids outside, and put Brody in for a nap and have cried while bleaching the tile floor on my hands and knees. My floor never stays clean. This is the third time I have bleached the tile in less than a week. While I was at that level I decided our cabinets looked dirty and bleached the cabinets as well, and the baseboards because I was down there, and the windowsills, and walls. I also did the windows (because I was near the windowsills) and that is as far as I got before Nathan told me I had to stop. That made me cry more because I don't want to stop. I feel like I could go all day and not feel accomplished or even close to done. I am being honest about my severe need to clean right now, and I'm sure it is just as I have said before, nesting instincts kicked into high gear. I need to go sneak in cleaning upstairs now. I want to shampoo the carpets.

The Start of February Vacation Week

"Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child's life and it's like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities."

Gary Smalley

It is now Tuesday morning. We didn't have too much going on yesterday, which was mostly nice. By the end of the day I was kicking myself for not sending the boys for laps around the yard, but it's okay. I survived day one of February Vacation week. I got a lot of cleaning done yesterday morning and sent the boys outside to play. I watched from the window as Ty and Nate ran and slid through mud and ice, and told Nathan that I am now sure boys are just a different breed. Brody and I read and read and read 3 or 4 books over and over and over again. I even got a bit of release and went for a nice long walk around the lake with Kerrie in the afternoon. I should start off by telling you that for the past few days now I have been having some pretty major braxton hicks contractions. Sunday they were so bad that they were actually waking me up from sleeping. I'm not getting any more than 3 or 4 an hour, but not any less than that either. When I say that walking around the lake jump started a whole new set of them, that would be a bit of an understatement. They were basically non stop. To be very honest and blunt, my pelvic bone has taken the beating of it's life. Yes, I waddled all last night because I was so sore. I am sure I will put myself into labor walking the lake now, and am committed to not walking it alone anymore. It's a good thing it is still not quite warm enough to walk it every day.

I can feel my body preparing more and more, and have had my nesting instincts kick into high gear. I have been sweeping my floors four times a day.

We have another quiet day today and am debating on taking the kids out to some inevitably packed facility that will make me want to pull my hair out in ten minutes. On the other hand, I may also do crafts with the kids and send the boys out to play for a while. I wish the playgrounds were void of snow.

33 weeks and counting...

The Boys

Brody giving big hugs to TyAnd giving Ty kisses tooNate giving me a kiss (Brody thought this was funny)More kisses for TyI believe Nate was throwing this dog, and that would be me more than likely telling him to stop.Brody showing me his ear.
Ty and Nate posing.

Valentine's Day

"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories."

George Eliot

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Ours started off a little, let's see, how shall I put it, shaky, at best. The kids were in not so rare form, and Brody was up before 6am, Nathan threw his back out and could barely walk, but things got a bit better (or maybe I was just more able to deal with everything) after I took a nap with Brody. When I woke up, I had roses waiting for me, and they were beautiful, and of course made me instantly happy. I went out with Brody and picked up some last minute things for our fondue dinner, and also made a stop to get Nathan a heat/cold pad for his back. Thankfully the pad I got is amazing, and has a band to hold the pad in place so he could walk around with it on, etc. He said it made him feel much better so he wasn't stuck in one position. We decided to do an early dinner, and the kids were getting really excited and were helping hand us food and throw things away. We made a copy cat recipe from The Melting Pot, it is their Swiss cheese fondue, and served it with sourdough and french bread, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, and baby bella mushrooms. I have to admit that I thought the kids would avoid the veggies altogether, but they loved trying all the different things to see what they tasted like with the cheese. My personal favorites were the mushrooms and asparagus. We have LOTS of leftovers, and will heat it up again for lunch today. We then exchanged gifts. Nathan was really excited about his new pjs and took a bath to help his back some more and change into them. The kids were very excited about their gifts, and surprisingly didn't even ask about their candy, in part because they were stuffed and knew we still had the chocolate fondue to eat. Brody hugged his little dog I gave him for the rest of the night, and made me read his new books to him over and over and over again. The kids gave me a really cute card (Nathan gave me a really nice card also) and Nathan gave me a gorgeous necklace. It is back and red and very "me." I put it on right away, so you may be able to see it in the pictures. The kids got me earrings to match (although they are not an actual set, they go perfectly together. Again, they are very "me" and I love them so much!!! My four Valentine's made me feel very special and loved. We decided to wait until after Brody went to sleep to make the chocolate fondue, but we had to wait a bit before his bed time. I had rented Madagascar 2 the night before, so we all watched that together. (It was cute.) and Brody lasted almost half way through it before he started saying "night night" and waving to us, letting us know he was ready for bed. Nathan had made the chocolate fondue while I was putting Brody to bed, and when I came downstairs, we cut up the fruit and angel food cake and brought it into the living room to finish watching the movie. We cut up kiwi, bananas, strawberries, and grapes. The bananas, strawberries and kiwi were my favorites. The kids loved the grapes the most. After we cleaned up, we played Parcheese. This was our first time playing this game together, and it went surprisingly well. I am so happy we can do things like that now. Nathan won, with Ty coming very close to winning. We said goodnight to the kids and crashed afterwards. It was around 930 when we finished the game. We watched the movie "W." but we were both so tired, we decided to call it quits and stop the movie 1/2 way through. All in all, despite the rough start to the day, it was a really nice Valentine's Day, and I think we all felt loved.Nathan stirring the cheese, getting ready to eat.Brody enjoying his veggiesOur cheese fondue and dinnerBrody hugging his doggieBrody and meMe and TyMe and Nate

Our chocolate fondue dessert.

A Doc Update

"Before you were born I carried you under my heart. From the moment you arrived in this world until the moment I leave it, I will always carry you in my heart."
Mandy Harrison

I had my eight month appointment today. Everything was great!!! Keira has turned around and her head is very far down. Good girl Keira! I made my final appointments for the pregnancy, which makes me very excited! My next appointment is in two weeks. I have had a long day today and am honestly quite ready to call it a day.
I did the majority of my grocery shopping today. Nathan had told me last night that he was planning on making me dinner, and I told him I had something already planned. We then decided we were going to do a fondue dinner with the kids, and I'm making the baked stuffed shrimp as well. We promised the kids we would play a game with them that night after dinner and after Brody goes to sleep. I am looking forward to it!
I hope you all have a great weekend!

Nate Humor

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years."
Mark Twain

I wasn't planning on writing today, but just thought I'd share some "Joys of Nate"... more for me, so I won't ever forget. (Parents out there, I find if you don't keep track of these little things, you will forget before you know it, and they are such good memories to hold on to.)
I should start by saying that Nate woke up very early this morning. He was up before 6am and Nathan found himself being poked in the forehead quite early. Nate, as I have said before, is a late sleeper, so we knew we were in for quite a day.
He actually, despite what we thought, did fairly well today. No real melt downs to report throughout the day, and I honestly thought we were going to get away with an easy day. Right before supper, Nate threw a ball at Brody and knocked him over. I dealt with the situation, or so I thought, but as soon as I was done talking to him, he threw it at Ty. This time I put him into a time out, which he refused to go to. I had to pick him up and place him on the stairs. He of course was screaming and yelling at me. I was just finishing up dinner when all of this was happening, so I went back to the stove. Nate however, from the stairs, yelled that he no longer liked me and was going to pack his bags and run away. I said ok, if that is what you feel like you have to do, we'll miss you though. He then said "well I won't miss you."
Nice one Nate. I then said it was time for dinner and said "Too bad you're missing it Nate." Nate then replied, "Well I'm not running away yet, I'm running away AFTER dinner."
I thought this was funny, and couldn't help but laugh. It was a good thing he was upstairs and couldn't see me laugh. I then explained to him that I wasn't going to give him dinner if he didn't like me anymore and was running away. He quickly told me that he was sorry and he loved me and wasn't running away anymore. Isn't it so true, most things can be fixed with a good meal? Or, the way to a man's (or in this case, boy's) heart is his stomach.

Back to Chaos

"A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts."
Washington Irving

It is official. We have NOT ONE weekend free from now until maybe sometime in April? This is even up in the air because we have yet to get Ty's baseball schedule, but games primarily run on the weekends.
*sigh*
Ah, life. The busy keep getting busier. Brody was very interactive today in his storytime. He clapped when he was supposed to and patted his knees in tune with the songs. What an interesting journey to watch him evolve. My baby is growing up.
After storytime I picked up a new gate to trap the boys, (I'm only half joking, of course) and made a secret visit to Target to get my four Valentine's some little surprise gifts for this Saturday. I got the older boys each a coloring book, a notepad (so they can stop asking me for paper all the time), and these little flying disc things. They'll be more excited for candy than anything else. I got Brody a few little board books, and one flip book, and some new tableware. Again, he will be much more excited for the candy. I got Nathan a pj set... he has wanted one for a while and I haven't found one that I really liked until today, better yet it was on sale! I also picked up a heart shaped cake pan (got to love the cheap $1 section of Target) for their Valentine's Day cake. I am making my boys dinner and am trying my best to incorporate what everyone loves into it.I have not found a recipe yet for baked, stuffed shrimp, so if anyone out there has one, please by all means pass it on! I am making this for Nathan. I am pretty sure I'm also going to make eggplant, a big salad and some other little snacks while the boys are waiting. The boys will be more excited for the cake than anything else. They'll eat just to get to the cake.
I signed up Brody and Nate for the next storytime session. I know it is sealing my fate of being busy with a newborn too, but I know I will want to be out of the house and the boys enjoy it so much.
Tonight I am going out with two of my favorite people, Kerrie and Victoria. Discount movie night is my new favorite thing to look forward to. We are going to see "He's Just Not That Into You", so I will let you know how it is.
Now I am off to the grocery store for survival foods for the next two days. I have to wait until Thursday to do the big shopping, and when I say big, I mean astronomical. I am currently coupon hunting/meal planning in all my spare time.
I will get to another update after my doctor appointment Thursday. I hope everyone's week is going well!

Eight Long Months

Here we are...
beginning of the eighth month...
the end is getting closer and closer...

Keira's Nursery So Far

Dear Keira

"If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression in the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle."
Vincent Van Gogh

Dear baby Keira,
Yesterday we moved furniture into your nursery. It was quite the event. Your cousins Liam and Connor were here and they were playing and watching Spongebob with your brothers Ty and Nate. Brody stayed with me, because if I put him down I knew he would bolt for an empty door. Daddy, Honey, and Uncle Adam helped take down our kitchen table and put it in the basement, then bring up our third table in only one year. I promise it will be big enough to scoot away from your brothers when they have burping contests at dinner. They brought up your bureau, which was your Auntie Meryl's when she was younger. They also moved Uncle Adam's new armoir into his room, and moved the bureau he was using into your brothers' room. Your brother Ty and I put all of your brothers clothes away, and then, since it had quieted down a bit, I took Brody and let him play while I organized your clothes and put them into your bureau. One thing you should know is that I really have a pet peeve about clothes being organized into categories. You will always know which clothes are where.
Brody decided he would rather help me than play, so I have to give him credit in this too. He handed me things and even attempted to try on a few outfits, but he ended up just spinning in circles with clothes on top of his head. This made me laugh a lot, which made you move around a whole lot more inside me, which in turn only made me laugh more... you get the idea.
Daddy was really very tired after moving heavy things all day. I was subtly persistent in asking him to bring your crib box upstairs though. I then, despite daddy's request for me not to, sat in the middle of the floor, determined to start putting your crib together. I have waited for so long to see it set up. I actually got it done really quickly. I did have to go ask daddy for some help, and he thought it was really funny watching me screw things in and read the names of parts. I will admit, he was much faster and more efficient than I was, but I'd like to think I did the majority of it myself. Don't worry, daddy went around and tightened everything afterwards, so it won't collapse on you. We love your crib, and now my only anticipation is to see you in it. Daddy caved on you curtain rod. He initially got a bit upset because he thought it was too girly. I argued you are a girl, but I was going to return it anyway. Daddy explained last night that "lots of pink and Barbie Dolls reminded him of your Auntie Meryl's room growing up and dead birds." I know this sounds silly, but I'm sure Daddy will tell you (as he told me) about how much Auntie Meryl loved birds, and all animals, and that she had lots of birds that she kept re-naming Elvis. This whole association really made me laugh a lot and these silly little things make me love your daddy even more.
I hope you love your bureau and your crib and all of the memories attached to them. More than that, I hope you know that even before you are born, you are so very loved.

Have You Ever Seen the Movie 'Alien'?

All of these are just about 32 weeks. Most of the movement is on my right side. She doesn't kick much, but when she moves it's like my belly moves in waves.

Lazy Saturday

"We never know the love of our parents for us until we have become parents."
Henry Ward Beecher

I fully plan on doing as little as possible today. I'm refusing to do much cleaning until the kids are asleep. I swept and mopped not once, not twice, but three times yesterday. I also did four loads of laundry, and when I brought my last basket up, excited to be finished, I found, much to my horror, that my dog had somehow in the 15 minutes the basket was outside the door, climbed in it and peed on all the clean clothes. This is so out of character for her, and at 9pm, it was the last thing I wanted to deal with. It was quite discouraging. Brody was up early this morning, and I didn't sleep well last night. My best friend, heartburn, was really wanting to spend time with me. Nathan left for work at 630 this morning, so I have the kids all to myself. I plan on putting a movie on for the older boys and napping with Brody in a few hours and then taking a Target trip... only to return a curtain rod Nathan deemed "way too girly" (it's not) and to get a "less girly" one.
Tomorrow we are getting our third kitchen table in a year. Nathan's parents bought a new table, and we are taking the one they have now. It is a beautiful, big, round table, that we will all fit comfortably at for years and years to come. We are also getting the baby's dresser, and I may even convince Nathan to set up the crib. At the very least the crib box will no longer be on my porch, and will be up in the nursery. Yes, I promise I will post pics of the nursery once it is set up.
That is it for now... I'm going to go enjoy (if the kids let me) this day.

Thursday

"Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder. and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be."
Carrie Fisher

Good morning!
I have recovered since my last desperate post. I took a solid three hour nap that day, skipped Brody's storytime, and thankfully Nathan ran a few errands for me before he left for work. We got even more snow Tuesday (fun, fun, fun) and while I was out doing a few things, my driver's side windshield wiper decided to rebel against being used so much and broke. It wasn't the whole arm, just the easily replaceable part, but not what you want to happen in the middle of a snowstorm with all the kids in the car. I managed though, and it didn't effect my driving since the car was warm and melted the snow right away... thank God. I actually put effort into cooking a nice dinner that night, but got struck with a horrible wave of nausea mid-cooking. I had to quickly sit and have Ty turn down the burners on the stove (I was making a sauce and cooking chicken) and have Nate get me a big glass of water which I alternately drank and held up to my forehead. When I regained strength, I quickly finished up, got everything in the oven and ran to the couch with my trusty cold glass of water. Again, Nathan has been working late this week, so it has been a challenge to say the least, being this exhausted and trying to deal with dinner and homework and the inevitable bedtime arguments. I am alive and writing this now, so I have survived, but it hasn't been fun.

Yesterday we went to Nate's storytime, and Brody all but passed out on my lap that hour. I think the exhaustion is getting to him too. When Ty came home (half day Wednesdays) he finished up his homework and we worked on his school project. I then realized it was WAY past Brody's nap time and we went upstairs and I put a movie on for the boys and we took a quick nap (only an hour) before starting the evening routine all over again. I'm not sure if it is just my kids, but as you may have picked up on reading this, evening is the absolute hardest time in our day. Last night was made more difficult because I got a call from my mom telling me my brother was in the hospital and was being taken in for a cat scan, something had happened at hockey. I only got bits and pieces here and there because every time she got a chance to call me, a doctor would come in and she'd have to go again. He is okay, thankfully, and although they detected a genetic abnormality with two discs at the base of his neck, he ended up with severe whiplash. It makes me very happy that my kids will not ever play hockey.

In other news, I feel more and more pregnant and ready to have this baby. I am sorry to be such a "Debbie Downer" to all of you who love being pregnant, but I can not at this point enjoy any aspects of pregnancy. I want to bend again (I guarantee I think hateful thoughts when I see someone bending at the waist), I want to not have to put effort into turning from one side to the other at night, or wake up to go to the bathroom so often at night. I fell asleep at a decent time last night, but woke up around 1am angry. I have no idea why, I couldn't put it into words, but I was very angry. Maybe I had some sort of bad dream that I do not recall. It was strange. My restless leg syndrome (which I seem to get only towards the end) has kicked into high gear. I am tired all the time, and am STILL getting sick! I know they say getting nausea is a good sign, but almost 32 weeks into it, I think I've had my fair share. I have made up for my mostly lack of nausea from my previous pregnancies. I keep telling myself, just 4 1/2 more weeks and it could be any day. God, please let it be earlier than later... for my sake, and for all who have to deal with me.

I hope you are all having a great week and thank you for reading my rants. I am looking forward to a brief warm up this weekend so I can go for a few walks around the lake and release some stress.

Right Now

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."
-Anonymous

I have been up since a little bit before 5am. I physically can not function. I have so much to do today. I really just want to cry.

Trip to the Museum of Science

"In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You need a lot of love and luck - and, of course, courage."
Bill Cosby

I reserved passes for the Museum of Science this past Sunday. I love going there as much as the boys do. We didn't take Brody. He had a special day with his G-Ma, (my mom.)

We had to make it a much shorter visit because we wanted to catch the end of the Bruins game and be home for the Superbowl. Because Nathan is usually working on the weekends, he rarely gets to go with us, so the boys were so excited to show him their favorite exhibits.

I have a million and twenty things to do around the house today, because we have such a busy week. Before I get to the pictures, here are two jokes I'd like to share with you, courtesy of Ty. Kids these days....

#1

Spell "I HOP" really fast and then add a "ness" to the end of it.

#2

Q. What's your name? (then you answer)

Q. What color is the sky? (again, then you answer)

Q.What is inside your socks? (the answer is supposed to be feet)

then Ty says... hahahaha "fill in the blank with your name "blue" feet.

(Lovely)

I asked him if he thinks these jokes are really funny and he said "I don't know but everyone says them." I guess I should just be grateful he wants to include me in these jokes

ok here are some pictures!

Ty experimenting with DNA

Nate experimenting with DNAThe boys playing with fossilsIn front of Cliff, the Hell Creek TriceratopsWatching a tornado formExperimenting with NathanThis is an exact replica of the Mars Land Rover

This I added in for fun. Brody has stripped himself of clothes again, and brought his bowl of cereal on the floor. That is his "ha take that" face to me.