Another Catch Up

I can't believe there is only 16 days until Christmas. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! It has been an interesting couple of weeks around here. Thanksgiving was fun and Black Friday was interesting, as always. We went to my mom's for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately Poppy was sick and Uncle David and Maya didn't make it down so it was just Nate, myself, and the kids, Tj, Chelse, and Tylee, Lance and Erin, Nanny, and my mom. Hopefully next year we will have a couple of new additions around the table to be thankful for (hint Erin and Chelse)! We had a great day of eating way too much, watching football and cheering on our fantasy players, and just hanging out visiting! I love lazy days enjoying good company (and great food)! We left my mom's about 4:00 and headed to Lawrence to spend the night with Nate's aunt and uncle. Nanny took the girls home with her and Brax came with us. We got there about 6:30 and stayed up until after midnight visiting! That made our 3:00a.m. wake-up call seem extra early! We had a fun day though and found lots of bargains so it made it all worthwhile.

The week after that I started having some symptoms of another Urinary Tract Infection. I put off going to the doctor hoping it was nothing and finally couldn't stand it anymore. I called the clinic on a Friday and my doctor was out of town. They said to come in for a UA and they would send the results to the doctor on call. Five o'clock came and went and since I hadn't heard anything, I assumed everything was fine. Later that evening I started feeling a lot of pressure and became pretty uncomfortable so I called my cousin who is an ER nurse. She thought I needed to go have it checked out so we headed to the ER. The ER sent me to OB since I was over 20 weeks along. They hooked my up to monitors to check the heartrate and to see if I was contracting. The did another UA and also some other uncomfortable tests that I won't go into but if you have ever had a baby, you can probably imagine what they were! About 3 hours later, the doctor came in and said I had a really bad Urinary Tract Infection!!! Very frustrating since I had been at the clinic about 12 hours previous for that exact thing. The OB doctor on call happened to be the doctor who had been on-call at the clinic as well and said my results were filed incorrectly under my out-of-town doctor and so the results had never been seen. Although it was a bit annoying, we were glad that was all it was. A shot of Rosefen (which burnt like crazy!) and a prescription to fill on Saturday, and we were on our way!

The next evening I still wasn't feeling the greatest. My dad called and wanted us to come over and eat some fish. Nate and Brax went and the girls stayed home with me. We made some cookies and cupcakes. As I was mixing the cupcake batter, Brecca says to me, " Hey Mom, when you are done with that, can me and Braylee lick the bladder clean." I even asked, "The what?" "The bladder," she said.

Our Christmas shopping is pretty much complete. I ordered a few things this week and once get those and get them wrapped, we will be completely finished. We aren't buying as much this year because of the layoff but I feel like we have picked out some pretty thoughtful gifts! This weekend is Braylee's 5th birthday! I can't believe she is going to be 5. She is having a couple of girls over on Friday night to spend the night and is so excited! Look for a birthday post coming soon!

Sono pics

I have been meaning to post these for a week and haven't taken the time to do it yet. They are not the greatest but I thought they were cute! We are going to have a 4D Ultrasound in Wichita the last part of December so hopefully we can get some good shots then! We have had that done with all 3 of our kids and have always had pretty good luck. This time we are taking the whole family! I think the kids will enjoy seeing their new baby brother/sister and so will Mom and Dad! :)

The baby had it's legs crossed. She said we still could have found out the gender if we wanted to. It's legs were only crossed briefly during the scan. Nate turned his head anytime she moved near the area and at one point she even turned the screen away from both of us so we wouldn't accidentally see anything. The first picture is an overhead view of it's crossed legs. I think the picture is pretty neat. You can see it's little knees and everything.

The second picture is of the head, arms, and legs. It is a pretty clear shot of all three. It was pretty amazing really. We could see it opening it's mouth and closing it and moving it's arms up around it's face. I can feel lots of movement but haven't made it to the point yet where it is uncomfortable. Hopefully I still have a few good weeks left!

Catch Up

This is going to be a long post with a lot of random information but I have a lot of catching up to do! I really need to get in the habit of posting more often. I get behind and then I don't know where to start so I just end up putting it off even longer!

I know most people who read this already know about the Ash Grove layoff. It was quite a suprise initially but we have had a couple of months to prepare for it so that did help some! Nate is officially laid-off as of yesterday. It is not a nice feeling to be pregnant with your 4th child and have an unemployed husband! Luckily the layoff is supposed to be temporary (we'll see about that!) and our insurance is still good so it isn't all bad. I have to say it is going to be nice having Nate home through the holidays although I am sure our checking account will take a serious hit!

We had a sonogram today (21 weeks) and everything looked great with the baby. We were strong and still didn't find out what we were having (Sorry Tave!). It weighed about 15 ounces and was right on track for it's gestation. The heartbeat was 147 so pretty much in the middle of the boy/girl range. I will say the girl's heartbeats were always in the 160's-170's and Brax's was always right around 140 - sometimes a little lower. I honestly don't have a clue what it is! One day I will lean toward boy and the next day I will be thinking girl, so at this point, I honestly don't have a clue! We are thankful for a healthy baby either way and are counting our blessings every day!

Brax seems certain he is getting a brother! He will not accept the possibility that it could be a girl. If you ask him what it is, his first reaction is, "It's a boy." No uncertainty there at all! We even ask him sometimes, " What if it comes out and it's a girl?" and he won't even entertain the thought! He always replies, "It's not, " very matter of factly and moves on with it. He won't even consider it! I asked him that question the other day and he informed me that if it's a girl, Nanny said she would take it. I explained to him that it is coming home with us either way - even if it is a girl! He got to go to the doctor with us last week and heard the heartbeat for the first time. He looked at Nate in amazement and said, "Is that the baby?" It was very sweet! That night he was telling Dave and Julia that he heard the heartbeat and they asked him what it sounded like. " A boy," he says. Not exactly what they were going for! :)

Brecca has started basketball again this year. She is much improved from last year! I think she has shot about 6 baskets (hasn't made one yet but is still trying!) and plays defense like crazy! She even has a couple steals! I am so impressed with her improvement and while I do have to say that she is far from the best player on the team, she has improved 100% from last year! I asked her yesterday what her favorite part of basketball was and she looked at me like I was an idiot. Finally, she said, " Duh, winning."

This evening Brecca had a hard time in the bathtub. She did something Nate had specifically asked her not to do and had to get out of the tub and go up to bed early. Of course she threw a big fit and cried and screamed for about 30 minutes before she finally gave it up. Braylee was sitting on my lap and leaned over and said, "Mom, when Brecca gets 9, do you think she is going to have a better attitude?"

I have been subbing as much as possible to hopefully make up for the lost income and also maybe get a little money saved before the new baby comes! I have been worn out but I will try to post more frequently! I know.... You'll believe it when you see it, right???? :)

Pumpkin Patch

We continued the tradition of a camping trip/pumpkin patch weekend with Nanny and Poppy last weekend (minus two special people - Chelse and Tylee). It was a pretty chilly weekend but that didn't stop us. We headed over to the lake Friday afternoon. Nate and Poppy got the camper set up and then Nanny and I headed to town to get some groceries for the weekend. We made it back and cooked some hotdogs over the fire. I should say Nate and Poppy cooked some hotdogs over the fire - it was too cold out for the rest of us. Nate had to work on Saturday so the two of us came home that night and then I got up and went back over Saturday morning.

The kids were ready to get out of the camper for the day so everybody got around and we headed to the pumpkin patch. The have a big stock tank filled with corn (known by our family as the "corn pool," not sure of the technical name) but I have to say, it is the definite highlight. They also have some farm animals, a little kiddie area with the corn pool, a little caterpillar train, a hayrack ride, a corn maze, and of course, the pumpkin patch. The kids and I went on the hayrack ride, Braylee and Brax rode the little caterpillar train, played in the kiddie area for a long time, and picked out some pumpkins. It was a fun day but it was only about 50 degrees outside so we cut the visit a little shorter than we normally would have. Rather than just heading back to the camper, we decided to go to Pittsburg and get something to eat at one of my favorite places - Freddys! It was delicious!!!

We got back to the camper and did lots of puzzles, played Uno and Yahtzee multiple times, and colored more than anybody has ever colored in one weekend!!! It was a little crowded with 4 kids and 3 adults in a camper so the kids got a little restless at times. For the most part, they were wonderful! It would have been great had the weather been a little warmer for us but it was a great weekend regardless. I love that the kids have such a special relationship with not only their grandparents, but also their great grandparents!

Speaking of such great grandparents, my 78 year old grandpa (Sorry Poppy for disclosing your age!) would not let me sleep on the floor. He thought that since I was 16 weeks pregnant, sleeping on the floor would be uncomfortable for me and gave me the bed. Guess who slept on the floor instead???? You guessed it.... Poppy! Can you believe that!!! Not only did he sleep on the floor, he slept on the floor with Brax! :) I tried to protest but he was having no part of it. Thanks Poppy, it was greatly appreciated although completely not necessary! :)

Birthday Girl!

My little girl turned 7 years old at the end of September! 7 years old!!! I was ok with 6 but 7 just seems so old! I remember thinking last year how 6 wasn't old but that 7 seemed so grown up and dreading the day she turned 7. Well, the time has come!

She was so excited and had started a countdown in about July. She was having a sleepover for the first time. She only got to choose 4 friends so it was a small sleepover but she loved every minute of it. I have to admit that I kinda enjoyed it mysefl even. She was even a nice big sister and let Braylee stay too!

They had lots of fun and didn't stay up too late. We made shirts and then she opened her presents. She got a bracelet kit so that kept them entertained for quite awhile. We did cake and ice cream and then settled down to watch a movie. They were all asleep by 11:30 and didn't get up until about 8:00 the next morning. No one had to go home in the middle of the night so I considered it a big success! She had a blast though and can't wait until her next birthday sleepover!

We celebrated with family on the evening of her actual birthday. She got the Nintendo DS she had been wanting (along with some accessories) plus some other really neat stuff too. We had cake and ice cream. It is always fun to have all of your family together in one place so we enjoyed the company!

Once again, I can't believe my little girl is 7 years old! I just can't get over it. She is growing up, that's for sure. Happy Birthday sweet, sweet girl! We love you!

New friends

In case anybody may have noticed, Brecca had a birthday last week. I am going to do a post on it but it takes forever to upload pictures (I have hundreds to upload!) and I just haven't had the time! It should be coming in the (hopefully) near future! But until then....

Brax has two new friends, Jack and Jim. Jack and Jim are imaginary! It is so funny because both girls have great imaginations but have never had an imaginary friend. Yesterday, he was throwing a ball against the wall and fielding it (yes, we allow that!) and he kept saying, "Oh my gosh Jim!" Finally, I said, "Who's Jim?" and he informed me that Jim was hitting the ball and he was really good. They both play baseball for the Jayhawks. Jack and Jim spent the rest of the day, evening, night, and all day today with us. He plays with them and talks to them just like they are actually here with him. They even slept with him last night - one on each side! It will be interesting to see how long they are here for but so far it seems like they are staying awhile!

OB Appt - 13 weeks

I had my OB appointment last Thursday and got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! That is always an exciting moment. Especially when you have been throwing up for a good 7 weeks and yet you have no proof that you are really expecting! It makes the bad days worthwhile. :) Everything looked good and I have lost 17 lbs to date. Nothing really to be concerned about, considering I have 17 plus lbs to lose! Now if I weighed 110 or something I am sure he would be a little concerned but for me, it's all good! I did have a Urinary Tract Infection which is pretty typical of my pregnancies. He gave me an antibiotic for that and suggested I get some Miralax for constipation. I had tried Milk of Magnesia a couple of times with no success so it was time to try something different. Sorry if TMI but I want to document everything!

I have also been taking less and less of my Zofran. I think I have decided that it doesn't really affect the way that I feel. It does seem to help with the actual vomiting (lots of gagging and dry heaves instead of the vomiting) but I am not entirely sure that dry heaves are better than just vomiting in the first place. The only time I take it is if I am going to be subbing that day. A teacher throwing up in class???? I am sure I would never live that down!

I figured I would be over this by now but it is still hanging on! Nothing sounds good to eat and smells are hard to handle. Nate and the kids have been eating out a lot because I can't even stand for him to cook anything in the house! I am 13 weeks now though so I am expecting it to be completely gone within the next few weeks. I am hopeful it is already beginning to taper off a little bit! I guess we'll just have to wait and see....