Post-Christmas, Pre-Baby

Well, in the interest of documenting this information like I did with Lynnaea and Corbin, I'll post about where things stand in my pregnancy.  Because I just went back to read theirs and am so grateful I posted it and could find it easier.  I don't know that we plan to have any more babies (on purpose), but just in case, it's nice to have stats for comparison purposes ;).

But first, I'll start with Christmas!

We had a nice Christmas.  It is a little chaotic, and Jeremy and I both tend to be wound a little tight when it comes to chaos.  We're trying to be less so, so that it can be more enjoyable all around.  But overall it was still good.  I just like to try to have controlled chaos (which, as you know, is an oxymoron.  Haha).  Our kiddos are well-loved for sure.  Dinosaurs, poster art kits, books, air spinners, an awesome stool made by their grandpa...  They got lots of really neat stuff that they really enjoy.  I got a ginormous bottle of Mexican vanilla from my in-laws -- and this is very exciting to me!  I also got other great stuff like a book about foodie holidays and a wok and a pretty cheese plate, etc.  And the kids got me and Jeremy a 1000 piece puzzle of TV history.  I'll probably break it out after Baby arrives and Jeremy is off work for a couple weeks.  I do love puzzles.

So here are a few Christmas morning pictures (we also had cinnamon rolls for breakfast).

 Well, I'm awesome...  I only took 3 pictures with my camera and the rest are on my phone.  So there you go:  three pictures from Christmas morning.  I don't want to mess with getting the pictures from my phone to the computer at the moment.  I'm just that lazy ;).

Now, this is a picture of me at 38 weeks, 1 day.  Or 2 days, technically, I guess.  Since it was taken around 2 a.m. Sunday morning (Christmas Eve) while I was up wondering if I would be waking up Jeremy to go to the hospital.  I really didn't want to be in the hospital on Christmas.  But I had contractions that kept me up for 2 hours, so I wasn't sure if they would progress and be the real thing.  They didn't.  They eventually tapered off.  I've noticed the swelling go down a bit in my feet, which is nice.  For a while there I had serious cankles and my feet were so puffy they hurt.  My blood pressure has been good, though, so there weren't big concerns about a toxic pregnancy.  It was just uncomfortable and ugly.

And this next picture is from today at 38 weeks, 6 days.  I've had another night of contractions (the night before last night), and these were more consistent and more painful.  So Tuesday night was another night of wondering if we would end up in the hospital.  The problem is that this is Jeremy's on-call week, so we kind of want to make it through this week before the baby comes.  LOL.  But we'll deal with whatever happens.

So in addition to two nights of contractions, the baby has also dropped.  A lot.  So I know it's just a matter of time.  Ergo, when I went to my doctor appointment today, I asked her to check me so I knew where things stand.  And here's where they stand at 38 weeks + 2 days.  I am about 50% effaced and at a 2/3 (though she said if she had to pick one, she'd pick 3). 

So we're aiming for Sunday, because my doctor is on-call and will deliver and that's Jeremy's last on-call day.  But it'll be what it'll be.  I'm nervous and excited all at once.  If only childbirth wasn't so painful ;)!

Born That Man No More May Die

The first Sunday of December, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a Christmas devotional.  This year, we tuned in from home, now that we've joined the throngs of people with things like Roku sticks.  It was awesome to be able to do that.  If you're interested in hearing the talks (which were amazing), you can follow this link.

The choir, in the beginning of the devotional, sang Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing.  I've heard this song a bazillion times.  I've sung it close to that many times.  Who hasn't?  But, like other things in life, sometimes you'll hear a song you've heard your whole life and suddenly something different stands out.  Something powerful.  And you'll find yourself not able to sing, because of the tears streaming down your face.

That's how it happened for me this year.  The words I used as the title for this post hit me really hard and impacted me greatly.  Perhaps it is because we lost Brad this year.  And that still seems so unreal to say (or type).  I don't go moping through life at the loss of my brother.  But there are moments that blind-side me when the grief washes over me and the pain is fresh.  I miss him terribly, and yes, my heart is still broken that he is not here.  But I know I will see him again. 

That is the power of these words.  Born that man no more may die.  What a beautiful promise.  Especially for those of us who have lost someone we cherish so much.  

But something else also hit me powerfully in that moment.  Again, nothing new to me.  And yet it struck me powerfully in that moment and I saw it differently.  And that is the mission of that little Baby, whose birth we celebrate this season.  Born that man no more may die.  His mission was unique.  And vital.  But the mother in me aches, because I understand that phrase.  How grateful I am that He came.  That He chose to come -- to be born -- that man no more may die.  I don't know what Mary knew or understood about the mission her baby boy was to perform.  I only know, as I sit here, very heavy with child myself, that a mother's love is indescribable.  I don't know if I could handle the magnitude of pain associated with my child being born that man no more may die, considering what that entailed.   

But I am grateful that she was strong enough to teach him; and that He was strong enough to do the will of His Father.  I am grateful for what that means for me.  I am grateful He was born that man no more may die.  I am grateful for that precious little baby boy -- the hope of the world.

(We took a better picture after this, but this one cracks me up ;)). 

Pre-Thanksgiving

I name this post thusly only because we are a mere 4 days away from Thanksgiving.  In a way, I think it hints that I may write a blog called Post-Thanksgiving...  I wouldn't hold my breath.  I'm batting about zero in my blogging lately.  It still cracks me up that I used to blog almost daily and now I'm lucky if I blog once a month!

Ah well.  Life does have its priorities.  Mine have just changed over the years.

Jeremy just finished outage.  Good gravy that was a long 5 weeks.  6 days a week on 12 hour shifts.  I was starting to feel like a single parent.  And it gave me such appreciated and admiration for those women who ARE single parents.  It's no joke how much work it is to raise littles.  I often take for granted the help that Jeremy brings to the table at the end of the day.  I sometimes don't realize just how much his presence helps our home and family run more smoothly, just because he's here to help take up some of the effort.  So it's probably good for me to have opportunities to be reminded.

Last night he and I went on a date.  We don't go on many dates, but I wanted us to squeeze in at least one more before this little girl arrives.  and time is running short.  7 more weeks until my due date, but I have already started having Braxton Hicks contractions (thankfully only one day so far).  Though I'm definitely tired and feeling quite beached-whale-like and ready to be done with pregnancy, I am not so done that I want my baby to come before she is fully ready to come.  So I'm hoping to avoid any further contractions until after the 37 week mark, when lungs are fully developed, etc.  But anyway, back to our date...  We took the kids to my parents' house where they had fun playing with cousins.  Corbin has been pretty clingy with me lately, so I am always hesitant to leave him.  But, though he had a couple of meltdowns, they said overall he did great.  My sweet little guy.  Jeremy and I went to Olive Garden for their never-ending pasta bowl (but I don't have a lot of room in my body for food these days, though you will see a picture which will make that statement seem like a lie!), so my never-ending pretty much ended after the first plate.  I did have a little of a second type, but then passed it to Jeremy (who also helped me finish the first plate).  We left with our tummies full.  And we headed to the movie theatre to see WONDER.  Jeremy is not a big movie person, so I rarely ask him to watch a movie with me at all, much less in a theatre.  But this one I kind of felt like he would like, and I really wanted to see it after I read the book and found out they were making a movie.  The book, as is typical, was better than the movie, but the movie was awesome.  Which should tell you what I think about the book.  I did my share of crying, though.  Such a heart-felt and touching movie (and book).  It is one I would recommend.  And I was right about Jeremy liking it.

In other news, since my last post, I have gotten another year older (hello, 37!) and had a blast hanging out with Julie and April in Birmingham.  I got a milkshake up there at this place called K&J's Elegant pastries that probably should have put me in a sugar coma -- and which did nothing for my waistline.  Haha.  But it was for my birthday, so I figured it was all good.  The kids had their own ice cream cones (which you'll see pictured below).

We went to the Peanut Festival, sort of.  We went on Pre-K day, so it was free.  No rides or concessions, though.  Just the educational stuff.  The kids don't know any better, so they didn't care.  They had fun.  We wanted to go as a family in the evening and let the kids experience the fair, but then Jeremy got called into work and that plan got dashed.  So we'll just do it next year when he's sure to be off during fair time.  Plus I won't be hugely preggo then, so maybe it'll be more enjoyable for me!

We also went to the parade.  It's nice that my dad lives a block off Main Street, so we can enjoy watching the parade.  I love the marching bands.  But I think I could do with about 1/3 of the pageant winners.  I always forget just how many pageants they have here until I watch the parade and see float after float of waving princesses.

So that's a very brief overview of the last month.  Now here's a few pictures.  We'll start with the big beached whale one and move onto better ones ;).  Okay, actually, that picture is the last in this group.  And I'd forgotten that we had Halloween in there too.  So here are our Halloween pictures this year.  Lynnaea wanted to be a spider.  She wore black shoes for trunk or treat, but it happened to be the same day as dance class (where she was allowed to wear her costume), so she used her ballet shoes and then changed.  Corbin was my dinosaur.  I was a magic 8 ball, because I had to do something with this gigantic stomach ;).  We only did trunk or treat and said Halloween was done.  Other than doing the Hila-ween party on my birthday, but I didn't actually snap pictures of that.

And the rest:

 Julie made me a delicious mint chocolate birthday cake.  Because I think mint and chocolate is the perfect combination.

 Corbin had blue monster ice cream in B'ham.  Lynnaea had strawberry.  In the future, I'm avoiding this much food coloring for Corbin.  I think he has a sensitivity to it, and it's not really great for our bodies anyway.

 These were at Pre-K day at the Peanut Festival.  Christina and Connor joined us.  They loved being on the tractor, and then being a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

 And here they are collecting the peanuts that were poured from the cement truck during the parade.  I love the happiness on Lynnaea's face here.

 Above is me and the kids at Aplin Farms.  We went there to pick out our pumpkin and just check out the farm animals. 

 The kids loved visiting the library while the monster was up over the book drop.  This was another dance day.  They also loved that their grandma was the one who made this monster.

 The days have gotten so much nicer, and some days we would just go out front and draw with chalk.  The kids love it.

 Again at Aplin Farms.  Same trip as above, but for whatever reason, this one loaded way down here.  Just my cute little pumpkins.

And this is at the Pre-K day at the Peanut Festival.  It was a picture taken by one of the HIPPY ladies, which is why Christina and Connor are kind of off to the side.  That was a hot day.  Blah.  I'm so glad the cooler weather has arrived and seems like it's here to stay.  For a little while at least.

So Behind

Sometimes you get so behind on blogging, you just shrug your shoulders and think eh, oh well!  The thing is, I want to blog about day-to-day things, because it's like a journal.  But I also want to blog about my thoughts sometimes.  Just because I like to let the thoughts flow out of my fingertips in the form of words.  It's therapeutic.  But I also want to sit down and read a good book.  And I want to...  About a million other things.  And there just isn't enough time in the day.  So I'm trying to commit to writing at least once a month here, on Sundays.  Which means it will probably always be the day-to-day (or should I say week-to-week) adventures of my little family.  And that's okay :).

So, one of the things I have yet to post is Halloween pictures.  So I'll get around to that today -- a whole month late.

 I decided to be Rainbow Brite.  Lynnaea wanted to be Rainbow Fish (she came up with the idea all by herself!  And Jeremy made it happen ;)).  And Corbin was a hatless Smurf.  I would have loved to put a hat on him, but he would never have tolerated it...  But it was cute enough.  And easy enough.  So that's what matters :).

 I found an authentic 1980s Rainbow Brite ribbon in my mom's old sewing stuff right after we moved here!  I kept it....  I mean, how cool is this find!?!

 Above is my little Rainbow Fish.  She is so precious.  And below are Corbin and I.  We went to our friends The Mitchells' house and trick-or-treated with them.  I'm thinking we may just do trunk or treat next year.  Same results with a lot less hassle!  I'm such an old fuddy duddy.

The following week we did a lot of the usual stuff:  play dates, library story time, etc.  We made a turkey craft.  I put a thankful tree on the wall and we've been adding leaves to it with something we were grateful for that day.  Lynnaea walked around outside with a pot on her head.  Silly goose.  Oh, and did I mention she wore a "dress-up" princess dress every day for about 2 weeks?  Unless we left the house, she was wearing one!  So thankful for kind friends who give us stuff like that when their kids outgrow it!  Because my girl LOVES them!

And then, since the Peanut Festival was in town, we went to the pre-school day!  Which I thought was going to be much smaller than it was.  Haha.  But it was free.  And cured me of my desire to pay to go back.  My main reason for going back would have been for fair food (since they didn't have concessions open during the pre-school thing).  But I couldn't see spending $20 to go back just to spend more money to eat.  Yep, old fuddy duddy.

And then I voted.  And watched Facebook blow up with hatred.  That was really a sad thing, honestly.  I'm thankful that's mostly past.

That weekend was the Peanut Festival Parade!  For the first time, I went and stayed for the whole thing.  It's mighty convenient that my dad lives right there a block off Main Street. We parked at his house and walked over to the parade.  The kids had fun.  The cement mixer that dropped out a bunch of peanuts in the middle of the road was definitely cool!  But we also really enjoyed the marching bands -- and, of course, my princess enjoyed all the princesses!  We took the double stroller so Lynnaea and Corbin had a convenient place to sit -- and it was shaded!

Then came the week of a double ear infection for Corbin (see previous post).  That was awful.  My poor little man.  Thankfully he is all better now! 

Somewhere along the way, I managed to snap some napping pictures.  Aren't these babies so sweet?  To see Corbin laying so angelic-like in his sleep you would never the boy is really hell on wheels.  LOL.  Oh, but he is the cutest little thing.  But just wait until I get to the selfie-stick story...  You'll understand what I mean.

We went to the Gaucho Farms Sustainable Farm Day with some friends...  It was fun.  But I was a little disappointed that I paid $15 for one picture...  Here's the picture.  Originally she said she always sends one initially and then you can work out a deal for the rest, but she usually just sends them all if you request it.  So I'm thinking she would send all 5 pictures eventually and it would be a great deal for the 5 minutes she spent taking our picture...  Alas, not so much.  Her email informed me that it would be an additional $15 per picture.  Well, you win some, you lose some.  I'm not planning to do business with her again, so there you go.  But at least Lynnaea had fun holding a baby chick (and Corbin had fun trying to strangle it...) and we got a picture ;).  Plus we did lots of other fun stuff!  Hayride, boardwalk, see turkeys and cows and chickens, sample stuff, zip-line, climb on hay bales.  It was good stuff.  Corbin wasn't interested in a picture at the end, though.

On Tuesday of this past week, we went to the library at our usual time, even though there wasn't story time...  Well it just so happened Russell the Hedgehog was out of his tank, and Lynnaea got to hold him and Corbin got to touch him!  I have pictures of Corbin touching him (and cheesing), but it's such a hassle to get photos from my phone to the blog that I'm just leaving it with this picture):

She was so excited to get to hold him all by herself!

That night, Jeremy figured out how to make the selfie-stick I bought (hoping to use it for my THRIVE business stuff eventually) work with my phone.  I didn't even try...  I am sure I would have eventually figured it out, but I ain't got time for that.  So I let him do it ;).  This is a dorky picture, but I post it for a good reason:  it's the only decent picture (of 4 total) I got using the selfie stick.

Because the next day I set it on the table so we could take it with us when we went to Georgia to visit family for Thanksgiving (thinking we might want to do a group picture while there)...  And Corbin found it.  And since Corbin's first instinct when he puts his hands on anything new is to see if he can break it...  We'll just say he found out the answer was yes.  He broke the bracket that's supposed to hold the phone in place right off the whole thing.  Ugh.  At least, since I always wait to buy stuff until it's not really cool and hip anymore, I got it really cheap.

So we drove to Georgia Wednesday evening when Jeremy got off work.  2.5 hours one way, and I didn't want to do it twice in one day with kids.  So we went over Wednesday and spent the night at my dad's cousin's house.  My dad went too.  We enjoyed visiting with everyone and had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner before heading home.  Got to see one of my 2nd cousins that I grew up with in Panama.  We both have kids the exact same age, just flip-flopped (he had a girl first).  So we snapped a quick picture before we left.  Also, my Aunt (she's really my cousin, but we've always called her aunt) Janie rented a humongous bouncy house for the kids.  And Jeremy.  It was a hit!

LOL...  He and I both look so tired in this picture. 

Anyway, we got home about 8:30 on Thursday.  The joy of having a potty-trained child is that they always have to pee at the most inopportune moments during a road trip... Like when you're on the back-roads of Georgia without a store in sight.  Sigh.  But we made it without accidents!  Woohoo!  Lynnaea rocks.

And last night we watched our Thanksgiving tradition show a couple days late :).  Gotta love some B.C. Thanksgiving!  I'm excited that Lynnaea is getting old enough to find it funny :).  Because I think it's hilarious!

And I'm calling this good!  I'm sure there are plenty of details that I missed.  Plenty of funny moments that haven't been documented... 

Oh!  But I did find out something exciting!  So for the last 3 months, THRIVE Life has had a contest for anyone who wants to participate.  Basically you create a new recipe using at least one of the items in the monthly specials.  Naturally, because I love my THRIVE and I love experimenting and trying new things in the kitchen, I decided to try it out!  I submitted a recipe for Cauliflower Tots.  And I won!!!  It was so awesome!  I won the 3 ingredients from November's specials that I used in the recipe (cauliflower, scrambled egg mix, and Chef's Choice seasoning blend) plus some freeze dried cookie dough bites!  Which is really exciting for me :).  Anyway, they posted a video on their facebook page and everything -- and granted, they totally mispronounced my name...  But that's just to be expected.  I still am really excited about winning :).  If you want to check out the recipe, you can do so here.

So yep, that's that!

Christmas Chaos -- in Pictures

Well, to keep this brief, I will mostly just post some pictures.  As it is, it takes eons for the pictures to load and blogger has gotten weird with pictures.  So it will take me much longer than I'd like it to, I'm sure. 

But for the record:  I'm 20 weeks pregnant today, so halfway there.  But based on last Monday's ultrasound, Baby is measuring a week ahead.  So I'm hoping to go early, if my choices are going early or having a gigantic baby.  All looks good, though.  We will be having another ultrasound at about 32 weeks (so about 3 months from now) to find out if my placenta has moved up with uterus growth.  Because as of last week, the placenta was a bit lower than they'd like -- which can mean placenta previa.  Which would mean they'd probably do a c-section.  I'm not overly concerned at this point.  My uterus has a lot of growing to do.  And whatever happens happens.  No point in agonizing over it.

So now on to pictures of Christmas.  Brad and his family came and stayed with us for a week.  We live in about 1000 square feet, so it was close quarters.  9 people:  4 adults, 2 toddlers, and 3 kids ages 8 to 13.  The dinner table was packed -- and pulled out as far as it will go!  It was good.  Just crazy around here.

So this was the day they arrived.  Which was also the day we had gone out to Jeremy's parents' and picked out our tree.  And also the day I decorated it :).  Lynnaea was so cute when I flipped the lights on.  She just couldn't believe it!

Because it's fun to be silly with my munchkin :).

This was right after Brad, Angie, and Vivienne arrived.  The tree was the place to be!

Lynnaea loved having so many cousins here.  She was buds with all of them.

We had Christmas Even at Jeremy's parents' house.  Lynnaea learned how to eat stuff off the table.  And her cousins thought it was hilarious.  So she kept doing it.  Turkey girl.

She tried on one of her uncle's hats.  She's so stinkin' cute.  Oh -- and Grandma saved the day with those pajamas (which were her Christmas present)!  On the way down, she had a blow-out.  Like the first in 7 or 8 months.  And I was completely unprepared for that!

Opening her shape sorter present.  She liked the tissue paper a lot.

It was a late night...  She was tired.  But going strong!  I think we could have a pianist on our hands ;).

Christmas morning at our house.  These are mostly the presents for Brad's kids.  They were here for Christmas morning, but they actually let everyone sleep until about 8!

So here we go with Christmas morning.

Here's all the kids plus Brad and Jeremy.

Most of the kids.  Vivienne was opening a present I guess.

Vivienne liked this present of Sam's better than she liked her own.  Lynnaea liked Vivienne's presents better than she liked her own.  Haha.

Angie and Vivienne, and me and Lynnaea.  Did I mention Vivienne was sick most of the time they were here?

Another of me and Lynnaea.  I was a beaut Christmas morning, obviously.

More pictures of the kids.  Samuel, Ben, and Brad.

Lynnaea with her "Big Girl Panties" book that April got her!  She loves this book.  She also got an Elmo Potty and big girl panties from Lea and Chuck.  Yep, it's the beginning of potty training!  It's been going okay.  Mostly we are just getting her used to the potty.  But she'll ask to sit on it -- because she knows she can use the tablet while sitting on the potty.  We have had 2 successful poopies and 2 peepies.  We still have a long way to go though.  Funny story:  before she actually peed in the potty for the first time, she'd been sitting on it for about 5 minutes, playing the tablet.  She told me she was all done and wanted to get up (having done nothing).  I got her up and told her to come to the room to get a new diaper on.  After about a minute I hear her say "uh-oh."  She had peed on the floor in the bathroom.  Hahaha...  It's fun stuff ;).

So anyway, that's all the pictures I took from Christmas.  We had Christmas with my family at my mom's house Christmas afternoon.  But I didn't take any pictures there.  Oh well.