Maternity Pictures

With both of my boys I made a photo book showing their first month of life. I love looking through that book every now and again! I have a few pages at the beginning with ultrasound pictures and maternity pictures. Last week I started to think about it and realized that I had only taken one picture of my belly so far ... and not a good one. It was not going to look very good in a photo album for sure! After realizing that and thinking it over, I decided we should probably get a few taken before Little Miss comes this weekend. Luckily, my sweet friend Trisha was available and agreed to come take some pictures of my ginormous belly! She always does a great job and of course is good company too. :)

Thanks Trisha! It was perfect timing, because my belly decided to have a mind of it's own and got even bigger the next day! Not sure how that happens ... :)

The plan - 37 weeks

 So up until this point, the way I have this baby has been up in the air. We have kept options open to see what would work and how we wanted to approach the situation. With Ber's wedding quickly approaching and the thought of trying to make it to that and take care of a newborn, and recover from a c-section is daunting enough ... but adding in the extra thoughts of "what if I try for a vbac, labor for 24+ hours ... and then have a uterine rupture and rip both hernia repairs open all at the same time...then extend my recovery by who knows how long. How am I supposed to take care of myself, my family and my new baby ... let alone attempt to make it to Ber's wedding? How long would it even take them to repair something like that ... would they even have enough time before I lost a crazy amount of blood? So on and so forth ..."

The longer I actually thought through the possibilities of what might happen, the more I leaned toward a c-section. I feel content with that decision and feel like that would be the safer way to go. I know I recover pretty quickly and am hoping that this time will not be any different. After talking through my concerns with my doctor, she checked me and told me that even without me talking to her first about my concerns, she would have recommended a c-section. I'm not dilating yet, the baby is still really high, my pelvis is small and at a funny angle. She was concerned that I'd end up laboring for a very long time and then end up being rushed to a c-section (which would be the most dangerous situation out of all of my options). That being said, we have tentatively scheduled my c-section for July 2nd. That's the earliest she can legally schedule it for at this point (without it being medically necessary) ... but we are going to bump it up to Friday the 28th. (5 days! Holy beans...) We just have to find a reason for that to happen.

I have been extremely grateful that this pregnancy has been "normal". I haven't had the same scares and issues I've had the previous two times. My blood pressure is high, but a "normalish high". (It's much higher than most people, but has stayed steady the entire time). I have had next to no swelling until the last couple days, and even then it's just my hands and feet. My morning sickness went away at 14 weeks and hasn't shown it's ugly face since. (Thank goodness for that!). I've only gained about 17-20ish pounds and have been measuring 35ish weeks for the last 4 weeks. She thinks I will have a small to average sized baby.

That's what's going on. I know I haven't documented how this pregnancy has been going nearly as much as I did with Lincoln. That's because it hasn't been as eventful. :) I have tried to change that a little toward the end so that when I look back I will be able to remember details, even if they were uneventful.

Now on to the rest of the week.

My mom decided that she wanted to have a baby shower for me this time around. I was a little iffy about it because, well, it was my third baby. I didn't want people to feel like they had to get me a gift. It ended up being kind of last minute, and super casual. Mostly family. It was nice to just hang out and talk, and of course Little Miss was spoiled. I think I am set on clothes for a while now!

Thursday Mart decided that if the baby was going to be coming in a week that he should take the boys camping one last time before she got here. They packed up and headed up Green Canyon Friday night and spent the night. They woke up and went on a small hike and then came home around lunch time. While they were gone, I spent time with my family who were putting on a garage sale at my Grandma's house. The next morning I took myself to get a much needed pedicure. It was totally worth it just to sit in the massage chair for an hour!  It was strange to have my boys gone, but so nice to have a break for a little while.

I guess I better get moving this week and get everything finished that I've been putting off. Hopefully I have enough energy to get everything done and ready! It's amazing how the last nine months seemed to go beyond slow ... but I guarantee this week is going to speed by with everything I still need to get done!

Cooling off!

I don't know if it's just hormones or the fact that I'm 36 weeks pregnant and uncomfortable, but I have had next to no patience with my boys lately. I'm leaning more toward hormones because it's been going on for a while ... I think they know that I'm getting close and things are going to be changing too, because they haven't been angels either. We all just need to get out and do something fun.

Kace called me last week and asked if we wanted to meet her at the new splash pad so Tyler could play with Lincoln and Ethan. As it's only 2 blocks from my house, I said that I should probably get over my own attitude problem and take them to do something fun. It would be significantly easier having Kace there to help me too and water is always a good distraction for Ethan. It was a good choice. Ethan had a blast!

When we first got there, Lincoln was really hesitant and didn't want anything to do with the water. He sat by me and ate snacks and watched and talked to his best friend Mr. Tyler. 

I took over watching Zack so Kace could watch my boys in the water.

After asking several times if he wanted to go and play instead of just watching, I finally told Kace to just pick him up and take him with her or he'd never adjust or agree to go in.

He finally semi warmed up and at least walked around in it for a few minutes to cool off. 

Ethan on the other hand took no convincing and was running around like a maniac! "I'm wet Mom!"

After a few minutes he realized that all the big kids were fighting over one big water jet in the middle so he joined in on that too. 

He knows how to stand his ground, because he ended up being king of the hill for a very long time. 

Tyler would rotate between running around in the water and coming back to get more snacks from me. Toward the end, little Zack decided that he was curious and kept going to check it out. 

Right before we left, he decided that he liked it and started crawling all over the splash pad! We couldn't believe how brave he had suddenly gotten. He's such a big boy!

It was hot because there isn't any shade yet, the trees are all still too little. But my boys had a blast and were definitely worn out. Thanks Kace for inviting us, and for watching my boys! They love playing with you. It was nice to get a little sun and run around for a while. 

Freedom

George has been in jail for just shy of a year, and was finally released on May 30. Ethan has been counting down (George was too I'm sure!) and was beyond excited to see him again. He was originally supposed to be released at 8am, but for some reason they bumped it to 8pm. (They only release at 8am and 8pm). So, he had to just sit and wait all day when he thought he was getting out in the morning.

Mart's grandparents are back in town for the summer and wanted everyone to meet at the jail to welcome George back to reality. There was quite a large group, which I think overwhelmed George a little after not seeing everyone for so long. He just focused on one or two people, mainly saying hi to Ethan who just loves George.

After George filled out his release paperwork, we all headed off to get some ice cream since it was a bit late for dinner.


Yeah, it's next to impossible to get all the little boys to sit still long enough to snap a picture and smiles are definitely out of the question for all of them ... but they were having fun and loved their ice cream.

Ethan was pretty much on cloud 9!

We are happy George is finally out, it was a long year of visits to the jail and paying for his necessities each month. We hope that he can keep his head straight and clean up his act and stay out this time for good. He managed to find a job a couple weeks before he got out (he was on work release for a week or so to find a job) and I hope that he sticks with it and starts to be a little more grown up than he's been acting as of late.

Preschool

Ethan had his last day of preschool on the 31st. For the last month, I have made sure to drive him out to Richmond as much as possible to make sure he could still attend school so his routine didn't get changed up too much. He loved going to school and learned a lot. It was good for him to get out of the house and play with some other kids. 

While in school he learned to write his numbers up to 12 and count up to 29 (He thinks the number after 29 is 2010. ) He can write his name and "Mom" without help, and lots of other things as long as you write it out for him first. Toward the end, I started working with him on letters and the sounds they make to get ready for Kindergarten (I tried teaching him myself, but he didn't retain a single thing I said to him. I bought a leap frog video about letters and he knows all of the letters and sounds after only watching a handful of times! The boy definitely learns better from technology).

When I picked him up after school, she gave me a journal that he had been keeping since the beginning, a certificate and this picture she took of him the school day before. He looks so happy with himself. I just love it. What a big boy.

He's definitely been antsy since he doesn't have school to go to anymore. It doesn't help that I'm way too pregnant to do too much with him anymore. He's extremely excited to start Kindergarten, and I am beyond nervous to send him ... hopefully he does a LOT of growing up this summer!

35 weeks

I'm sure this post will be extremely scattered and not make a whole lot of sense, but I'll just blame it on the brain cells that seem to go missing while I'm growing a person. 

I haven't posted a whole lot about this pregnancy, mainly because it's been surprisingly uneventful. (Thank goodness! Maybe my last two were too eventful!)

I have the usual 3rd pregnancy (I assume they are usual ...) symptoms of being super uncomfortable. I feel like there is something out of alignment in my lower back/pelvic area so sometimes moving wrong is next to excruciating. I can't wait until my joints aren't all loose and moving where ever they feel like all the time.  I have gotten extremely lucky this time and haven't had morning sickness since 14 weeks. That was something I was dreading about ever being pregnant again.

At my last doctors appointment, my blood pressure was crazy low for me (near perfect), I have only gained like 17 pounds, swelling is at a minimum, and no crazy problems. It's been so bizarre but so nice! I have had contractions here and there since we started remodeling the house we are living in now, but nothing terrible. I have hit the exhaustion wall again and have a hard time making it through the entire day without feeling like I have to have a nap. I wish I had time every day to take a nap ...

Whether I end up with another c-section or a vbac is still completely up in the air, but we will start trying to determine what will be best at my appointment next week. I told her I'm a little concerned about both of my abdominal hernias ripping right open (the baby is pushing on them pretty hard already) and she said that is a valid concern and it could very well happen. I told her I would like a vbac, but honestly I am leaving it up to her to decide what would work best and be safest for both of us. 

Anyway, here is me a few days ago. I feel like I look like a beached whale as she was jutting straight out, but hopefully it won't be much longer.

 

Life keeps on going. I am ready to have my brain back ... tonight while I was making dinner and I put a pot of water on the stove to boil and turned it on high. I finished loading the dishwasher, went and used the bathroom, got some towels out of the laundry ... 20 or so minutes later I came to check on the water, and I had turned the wrong burner on ... geez. I'm not sure why growing a person sucks all the brain cells out, but I'm ready to start letting my brain work again soon. 

The other night I was roasting and went outside to try and cool off a little, and looked down and realized I don't have much longer with this view. I'm glad it's almost over and I'm excited to meet this little Miss.

 

Feelings

This is my house in Richmond. (A few years old ... I really should have taken one last summer when my flower beds were overflowing with flowers and I had green grass!) This was my first house and where I have lived for the last 6 1/2 years. I brought both of my boys home to this house. It was a huge step for me to commit to buying a house in the first place, but I was so excited. I don't do good with change, it makes me super anxious. I think it was easier because it was just me and Martin. I am sure that overflowing hormones haven't made this easier, but moving has been harder on me than I anticipated. I finally after 6 1/2 years loved where I lived. I loved the people I lived near, my ward, my fenced off yard where my dogs and my kids could play, my cute old neighbor who always wanted to share his huge garden with me. Yes, my house was over 100 years old and had some downfalls, but it was my home.

We moved all the essentials to our new house a week ago. It has been an adjustment for everyone. My dogs have to be supervised when they go outside because we don't have a fence. My kids had to adjust to sharing a room and also not having a fence. It is not the house they have grown up in. Ethan seems more than fine and likes living in the "new house". Lincoln sees pictures of our house in Richmond and says "my home!" "there it is!" "let's go home!"

When I take Ethan to school in Richmond (when I have a working vehicle) I have tried to go to the house and pack up and bring home some more stuff. Last week when I walked through the door, I just had this overwhelming wave of homesickness hit me, and I just burst into tears. Lincoln just ran all over playing with toys and running up to his room and Ethan's room.

The waves of being homesick come and go. The next day I was totally fine and felt much better and was even fine the next time I went to the house. It was just so empty and felt completely unlived in. I know this house will feel like home soon enough. It might help when we hang up some of our pictures ... but today I am homesick. Today I missed my ward so much I just wanted to leave and drive to Richmond. Today I have been anxious all day worried about my house during the crazy windstorm that we had last night. Today, I think I have too many pregnancy hormones. . . or maybe not. I have been a major hermit and it is not like I was a social butterfly in Richmond ... but I still miss it. It was my home. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Easter

Ethan has been counting down to Easter for the last week and a half. Every day he would ask if the bunny hid eggs and brought him treats. Sunday morning, we finally were able to tell him it was Easter and he was so excited! 

My matching boys after church. They look so handsome! 

Mart likes to dress to match his boys whenever he can. :) 

Okay, okay. We all ended up matching this Easter.

After my boys were tortured while they had to take pictures (Ethan kept looking around and seeing all the eggs hidden in the yard!) We went inside to find baskets.

Within just a couple minutes of finding his basket, I think Lincoln had eaten probably 10 pieces of candy. He didn't care about anything else in there, only the chocolate.

Ethan was so excited about everything. He was just being a super cheese ball.

After we found baskets and had changed clothes, we headed back outside to find eggs.

After dinner and naps, we got out the egg dye and colored eggs. Ethan was so excited to color them and it went super fast! He just couldn't wait to get them all in the dye.

Ber and Ethan waiting for me to finish getting the color ready.

Lincoln had no idea what was going on, but had fun anyway.

After they were dry, Ber and the boys stickered them up!

It was a fun day and Ethan had a blast. We are glad Ber is home and was able to come and spend the day with us! Happy Easter!

Little Monsters

**Be warned. I'm sure this will just turn into a pregnant lady rant ... **

Lately I feel like I have been living with two little monsters. Not the cute, clean, smiley ones straight out of the bath, but the ones you want to strangle before the night is over and eat lots of chocolate once they finally are asleep kind. Honestly, I don't know if it seems worse because I'm 24 weeks pregnant with extra estrogen flowing through my body, or if it is that combined with my kids are just going bonkers.

Ethan ... has been Ethan. He's so stubborn and hard headed and it just seems like he wants to battle it out with me every chance he gets. I hate having that kind of relationship with him. I feel like all we do is fight. Lincoln has always been a Mama's boy and is way easier for me to deal with most of the time. Although, he has been having his moments too. He has entered this screaming/crying phase and just cries non-stop for no reason at all. It's driving me completely crazy.

Mart hasn't had a lot of hours since November and we have been scraping by, which just adds to our stress, but thankfully (and not thankfully) they finally have enough work that he has been working lots of hours. It will be nice to finally be able to play catch up, but it's hard having him gone all day long every day when I am exhausted and my boys are missing him like crazy. By the time he gets home, the last thing he wants to deal with is screaming/crying Lincoln and defiant stubborn Ethan. I'm not sure what to do, I just keep trying to hang in there and be as patient as possible. (Not always possible).

I'm sure there are lots of things that are helping Ethan act the way he's been acting. New baby on the way, getting ready to move, remodeling, sick Mama, turning 5, Ber moving to California, Dad working a lot, etc. Hopefully once we finish the other house and move and get settled, things will start to calm down soon.

Phew. I guess that's all for my pregnant lady rant for now. I'm sure there's plenty more brewing around in my head. As for what's been going on lately, I guess I should update about that.

As I mentioned above (and most people know by now) that we are preparing to move. We are moving into my Mom's old house that my brother had been living in for the last several years. It honestly isn't going to give us a more room, it's just spaced out differently. At my house now, both my boys live upstairs which are basically attic type rooms. Their ceilings are slanted making it so there isn't really room to share a room once the baby arrives. The rooms are bigger and have normal ceilings at the other house so they will be able to share a room. The other perk is that there are two bathrooms. It's been a little obnoxious having only one bathroom. I'm feeling a little bad for my dogs, they are used to a fully enclosed backyard that they are the bosses of and can do what they like, but at the other house, it's not fully fenced in and when we first get there, they will have to be tied up until we can figure something out. Most likely, they will have to be in a kennel until we get a new house.
Before we could move in, the house needed quite a bit of work. It was built in the 70's and has only a handful of updates since. We removed all the linoleum flooring from the bathrooms, tore out some of the floor and had to replace it because of mold. Tiled both bathrooms. (Tiling is finished, just need to seal them now). We ripped out all the counters in the kitchen and both bathrooms and Mart has been working on new granite for the entire house in his free time at work (which hasn't been a lot the last week). We will rip out the entry at the very end and tile it (it's currently a wood pattern). We pulled off all the wood on an accent wood wall in the kitchen and are just updating it to a new wood wall. It used to be two large diamonds, but it will now be a pallet wall all going one direction. It looks much better already! After the counters go in, two new appliances will be delivered (which will be totally awesome!). I have had to paint the entire house (I'm nearly finished), remove wallpaper from one bathroom (that wasn't as bad as I pictured) and scrub the carpets. It's just been a lot of work, and we are slowly coming along. It's starting to look much better and it'll be fun to see it when it's all finished. It's the house I was born in and grew up in, so I keep thinking that it'll be weird to have my family move in and live there for a while. It will give us a much needed  cut to our expenses, which will help us catch up where we are behind, save for a new home, and help pay for this baby! (My insurance deductible is outrageous!) I'm extremely grateful my mom has this home and we have the option to move in. It took a huge weight off both of our shoulders, and my mom's as well. She's been stressing about finding renters that she trusts living there. And, like every remodeling project, we've had our fair share of problems. The most recent was when Mart was working on the pallet wall, he shot a nail into the electrical wiring and we lost all power to the kitchen ... after flipping the breaker a few times and watching sparks fly ... we realized what had happened and pulled the nail out. We haven't fixed that problem yet, but it shouldn't be too bad of a fix. As the days go on, I am becoming more pregnant and am realizing that we need to get finished and moved before I get much further along.

As for being pregnant, I am now 24 weeks! The baby is the size of a cantaloupe. (That seems a little big to me at this point, but maybe so?) She has been moving a lot, but in awkward areas. She only kicks up high around my belly button like once a week. Otherwise, she kicks extremely low, right around where my pants sit. I joke with Mart and tell him that once she starts moving often enough that people can actually feel her, someone is going to ask and I'll have to reply "sure, just stick your hand down my pants .. that's where she's sitting". Hopefully she flips around soon ... :)

I still think I'm a little in shock that we are actually having a girl. We went to the store to buy some clothes for her, and I was so overwhelmed. I'm used to two rows of boy clothes and very few options, but there was row after row after row after row after row after row ... after row of girl clothes! It was hard to look through because there were so many!  We are excited to have a girl! Mart jokes around with Lincoln and tells him when I have the baby and forget all about him, he'll be there for him. Then he told Kace one night that I'll have my own new toy to dress up and play with. It'll be fun.

We think we have decided on a name for her. Jade Careen. Since I was pregnant with Ethan, our girl name choice has been Autumn Careen, but Autumn seems to have been getting a little more popular, and over the last few years I really started to like the name Jade so I think we may have switched over. Careen is in memory of Mart's mom who passed away when he was very young. Her name was Karen, and we wanted to name a girl after her, but didn't want the actual name Karen ... so we did an off version and decided to do Careen instead.

I have been feeling alright. I'm not nauseated anymore which has been super nice, but I'm getting to the point where I'm hitting the "I'm starting to hurt" wall. I don't think it helps that she only kicks super low either. I am starting to have a little more trouble sleeping, and the last few days I've been feeling just weird and getting dizzy. Last night I was so dizzy I could barely function. I think it might be due to lack of water, so I have been trying to step it up and drink water more often. I'm still wearing my normal pants (just with the help of a rubber band) and some of my regular shirts. I'm generally more comfortable in a maternity shirt because they are a little longer.

I think that's it for now. This has turned into quite a novel, but I guess I had some catching up to do. I haven't been taking photos lately, and I really need to start taking more. We just stay home all day and hang out so there isn't a whole lot to be taking pictures of. Maybe now that it's warmer I will start to get more.