A letter to my 5 year old

Dear Emmy,

There is nothing eloquent about my writing (that's what you get when your mom has a math degree), but I wanted to write down a few things to let you know how much I love some of the seemingly mundane things that happen in our day to day:

·       You love to sing: real songs, made up songs or just gibberish.  I see lots of choir concerts in our future.

·       You are so confident in your decisions…NEVER lose that quality

·       You color the most beautiful pictures, I can tell that you take your time and work VERY hard

·       You love having your nails and toes painted in fun colors with lots of glitter….just like me!

·       At dance and at gymnastics, you give 100%.  Your teachers always tell me that you are a very hard worker!

·       Your kind heart shows me that you think about others

·       You have the best memory, how do you do that?  I cannot remember anything anymore!

·       You have joy in your heart.

·       Even though it’s really hard being a big sister sometimes, you try your best to be a good example and a first time listener so that Nora will do the same thing.

I love you sweet girl.  Always stay strong.  Always remember that I love you and only want you to be the best person that you can be.

Love,

Mommy

Evelyn {5 months}

Evelyn just turned 5 months old, seriously???? We are almost to a 1/2 of a year and that gives me anxiety.  So I will try not to think about it just yet.

Now onto the real reason of this post, updates on Evelyn.

Eat: Every day is a bit different at school, but we nurse in the morning and then she takes around 15-20 ounces at school.  If it's a low volume day at school then we give a small bottle at home at dinner time and then we nurse at night.
Sleep: Hmm, again- you never know with this girl.  She's almost always asleep by 7pm and wakes by 630-645.  Most nights we have a night time "all you can eat" party sometime between 2 and 5.

Naps: Most days she has about four 30-45 minute naps.

Shoes: Haven't even tried.

Clothes: Mostly 6-9 month clothes if it's a dress or 2 pieces.  The 6 month sleepers are starting to get too small though.
Diapers: Size 3 but I think we need to move up soon, they are getting a bit small.
Trips: Fayetteville on 11/22 for our annual dinner w/ Chris' grad school advisor.  We also went up to TFL for Thanksgiving.  Evelyn did GREAT with all the craziness...much better than Nora at Colorado (close to the same age)
Likes: bath time, trying to do situps from a laying position, sticking her tongue out, blowing out her diapers, being tickled on the ribs, pulling her sisters' hair, eating, smiling so sweetly and innocently at me in the middle of the night, the johnny jump up, reading Llama Llama Red Pajama at night time
Dislikes: a good long nap, when Nora kicks her or stands over her like an alpha dog, showing off her skills for the camera.  There's really not much else.  Evelyn is such a content little baby.
Milestones: Bringing all toys to mouth, trying to sit up all the time, a few displays of stranger anxiety, if we have eye contact with her and then disappear from sight- she will keep looking in our direction until we come back in sight, rolls from belly to back when she wants but is REALLY trying to get from back to belly (she's oh so close)

Health: Reflux is being managed well and we are still going to OMT appointments.  I took Nora and Evelyn in right before Thanksgiving and Evelyn had a lingering ear infection and Nora had a sinus infection.  Other than that, we are well.  Evelyn weighed in at 18.5# at that appointment.

Other: Life is moving too fast.  Dinners are still a crapshoot.  I stay up too late and wake up too early.  Every night Chris and I spend at least 30 minutes getting our house back in order- I need a daily maid.  The girls are enjoying this season of Advent and we are doing our best to instill in them the true meaning of the season (with a side of Santa and Elf on the Shelf mixed in).  Life is crazy but life is good.  I'm lucky to have Chris by my side for every bit of it.

I posted this on FB...but here is a ~5 months comparison shot.   Not identical at this point, but you can definitely tell that these girls are sisters!

And here's our 5 month collage.  So in love with this chill baby.

Evelyn {3 months}

Evelyn just turned 3 months old...how can that be???  We have had a busy month: I returned to work, Evelyn started at B'Nai, we took our first road trip and many trips to gymnastics and dance class.  Evelyn continues to be an even tempered, go with the flow baby.  Please let it stay that way!!!

I have mostly enjoyed returning to work.  I am so thankful to be able to work out at the Y at lunch time.  I think I've lost a little bit of weight since last month and just have about 3lbs to go!!!  I am running the Tulsa Run 5K on Oct 25th, so hopefully training for that will help with the last few lbs.

Now onto the real reason of this post, updates on Evelyn.

Eat: Yesterday Evelyn nursed at 715, then had bottles at 930 (5.5oz), 11:50 (5oz), 2:10 (5oz), 4:40 (5oz), nursed at 6pm and 715pm. 
Sleep: It's been a little rough the last week b/c of Evelyn's cold.  However, she's usually asleep by 8-9 and awake at 630-7.  It's not the most restful sleep for either of us, but I am not having to feed her in the middle of the night. At the beginning of the month she was going to bed at 1030, so we've made lots of progress here! She is currently sleeping in the rock & play b/c of congestion, but usually sleeps in the pack & play.

Naps: All over the place.  We can usually count on one good nap per day (1.5-2 hours) and then lots of catnaps.

Shoes: Haven't even tried.

Clothes: Mostly 6-9 month clothes.  Many of these clothes are hand-me-downs so I'm sure they have shrunk a little bit.
Diapers: Size 3 at home and finishing up size 2's at school.  We always move up a size when she starts to have lots and lots of blowouts!
Trips: First trip to TFL Sept 12, Girls Weekend in Ottawa Oct 3
Likes: bath time (her most active time of day, just like Nora), breathing fast when she's starting to get upset, batting at toys, smiling at familiar faces
Dislikes: the period of time between bath and bedtime (as soon as she's out of the bath she gets cranky and wants to eat), taking multiple long naps in a day (she used to take long ones at home on the weekends but they have disappeared...I don't know what we do so wrong with our kids and sleep!)...that's about it. Evelyn is such an even tempered kid.
Milestones: Likes to sit up in bumbo, bearing more weight on legs, smiles when you tickle her chest/neck, more cooing, lifts head and all of chest on tummy time, intentionally bringing hands to mouth and very interested in grabbing things, likes to stick her tongue out and "lick the air", blowing spit bubbles (started with the wonder week leap 12), started at b'nai on Sept 10, transitioned to pack & play (out of smaller cradle) on Sept 28

Health: I touched on it earlier, but Evelyn has a cold: goopy eyes, sneezing, coughing, snot, etc.  She's had it for about a week. If it's still the same at the end of the week then I'll take her in to evaluate for a sinus infection.  No fever yet, but the older girls don't run fevers very often either. Reflux seems to be about the same.  She's still very spitty but the Zantac has helped it not hurt her so much.Other: I am still off of dairy but did have a dairy meal last night b/c we were so rushed.  It has been really hard this time around to get back into the groove of making dinners.  Obviously having 3 kids makes things harder but having them in 2 different schools doesn't make things easier.  All 3 of our children are doing well with transitioning to new schools and being a part of a family of 5.  

Evelyn {2 months}

We've made it to two months!  Two months of spit up, blow out diapers, finding deeply hidden spit up in the neck, being tormented by older sisters, and two months of being cute.  Evelyn's little personality is starting to shine through and there's definitely been more interaction!

I was just looking at Nora's 2 month post to spur my memory and at this point with Nora I still had 13# to lose.  Happy to say that I only have 5-6# to go this time around.  I'm not stressing about it much at this point.  I am hoping that when I go back to work, and back to working out, I'll be able to get it off easily!

Here's what we are up to with Evelyn

Eat: about 7-9 times a day
Sleep: Evelyn is a night owl and usually goes down around 1030.  She wakes around 5-6am but I can usually hold her off with the paci until I wake her at 7 to eat.  I am contemplating whether this is good or not.  On one hand, it allows us to go longer between feedings but on the other hand, I am still awake the whole time b/c I have to reinsert the paci so many times. Nighttime is spent in the rock and play sleeper and some of her naps are spent in the cradle. She still likes her arms to be swaddled.
Shoes: I don't even know what tub our newborn shoes are hiding in...
Clothes: 0-3 and 3 month clothes. She is wearing the 6-9 month Gerber onesies which brings me to the question of, does anyone's baby really fit into the gerber onesie sizes at the same age?  They seem to be so teeny tiny.
Diapers: Just moved up to size 2, we were having too many blowouts in the size 1.
Trips: nothing further than Claremore
Likes: keeping her eyes closed (self defense mechanism so that big sisters don't bother her?), kicking and batting at her floor gym, a nice swaddle, spitting up, baths and being held or in a carrier
Dislikes: being hit by or having toes pulled on by Nora, being poked in the eyeball by nora...my, are we seeing a pattern?
Milestones: In the past few weeks Evelyn has tried the bumbo and at least moves head side to side on tummy time, but no vertical movement yet.  She has also just started big smiles and multiple conversational cooing sessions during the day (8 weeks).
Other: At her 2 month appt, Evelyn checked in at 23" and 14#, that means she's up 7.5# from birth!!!!  She is very calm right now and has little demands.  She does have some reflux and we just started Zantac.  We also have an OMT appointment scheduled for Friday.  Hopefully the combination will bring her some much needed relief.

Evelyn {1 month}

Here we are...third child and this blog post in three weeks late.  I had the best intentions of staying on top of the monthly updates this time around...hah


So here's what Evelyn was up to in her first month of life:

• We quickly sized up to a size 1 diaper around 3-4 weeks
• It takes her quite awhile to get all her burps and spit up out, often times 30-50mins
• She also likes to spit up through her nose..ouch!
• Evelyn's witching hour falls from about 10pm-12am.  Luckily, she was very content and sleepy from 530-730 when things are very hectic with the older girls.
• Speaking of sleep, she sleeps GREAT during the day :)
• She is growing out of most newborn clothes
• She eats every 2-3 hours during the day and goes closer to 4-5 hours at night.
• Wet hiccups, wet burps, wet gurgles...wet everything!
• At 1 month & 2 days she weighed in at 10#13oz (that's 1#/week!)
• Not very interested in cooing or playing...just sleep.  She does make eye contact for short amounts of time.
• Evelyn is an expert at grunting and breathing fast when she is upset.
• Another favorite activity is being smothered by her older sisters.

So here's what's going on with the big girls:

• So far they really love her and we haven't seen any aggressiveness toward Evelyn.
• Nora has been very sweet and compliant the past few weeks, it has been so helpful.
• Emmy wants to hold Evelyn everyday and will often cry at night if she realizes that the day has passed without her holding the baby.
• Emmy can swim proficiently without floaties, it's a whole new world.
• Nora now thinks she doesn't need floaties.  She can float on her back (when she wants to, and only for her swim teacher).
• Life has continued on as normal for the older girls: swim lessons, daycare, returning to church when Evelyn was 2 weeks old...

38 week bump and birth story {evelyn}

So let's start with the 38 week bump in all its glory...

My appointment at 37w5d was pretty uneventful.  BP was good, weight was good and I was still at about 3cm and 80% dilated (normal for me at this point in pregnancy).

Now let's jump to my appointment at 38w4d....NOPE, can't do that!  There's some story that needs to be told starting at 38w3d.

So Wednesday evening (July 2), my brother's family was in OK for the 4th and stopped by for dinner and swimming on their way to his in-laws.  They have 4 kids all around our kids ages and they all have so much fun together.  We ordered a big tray of Chick-Fil-A nuggets and the kids spent lots of time swimming.  That night when I went to bed, I could tell that my contractions were changing from Braxton Hicks (tightness all over) to a more localized pain (like severe PMS cramps, I suppose, but I don't usually have cramps).  They weren't bad and they weren't worthy of being timed, so I went to bed and got a great night's sleep.

The next morning was pretty normal and I was still feeling the same contractions, but still very irregular and not TOO painful.  I thought I had just overdone it the day before and not had enough water.  I took the girls to school and came back to the house afterwards.  The 3rd was a work holiday so I had lots of things on my to-do list:  clean inside of car and vacuum/wash floor mats, get a pedicure, grocery shopping for 4th of July parties, etc.  So when I got home I got to work on the car.  I was feeling more contractions while cleaning but didn't think too much of it since they can intensify when you are active and then dissipate when you are still.  It wasn't until I went to the bathroom that I realized something might be happening.  No, my water didn't break, but I had a slight bloody show.  It was about 1015am so I decided to head to my appointment a bit early (I had a weekly appointment already scheduled for 1045am).  

I had a few contractions on the way to the office but nothing unbearable.  When I got there I was so happy to see a friend whose due date was a week after mine.  We sat and chatted for a bit and I was able to talk through the contractions but they were definitely not comfortable.  When the nurse came to get her for the appointment, I asked the nurse what it took to get back for my appointment ASAP...it was in this time that another friend suggested by text that I start timing contractions.  So I started timing and........they were coming every 3 minutes.  Not only that, but things were starting to get much more painful.

The nurse soon came to get me (thanks friend, you must have said something to the nurse that made them realize I really did need to be seen) and I weighed in, +33lbs, left my urine sample while having 2 more contractions and got my BP taken 125/86 (about the highest it's been this pregnancy).  The doctor was soon in my room to check me (she had to time it perfectly between contractions).  She started to check and said "I'm going to say......you're fully dilated".  I replied with "are you kidding me?".  But really, why would a doctor kid about that :)  This was 1111am.

At this point she explained that they would bring a wheelchair over and take me directly to the hospital. I started texting and calling Chris but didn't hear back from him. We (me, the wheelchair and nurses) arrived at the hospital and my room was LDR4 and it was completely setup and waiting on me.  Between some more ugly-face contractions, I was able to get my clothes off and gown on (I did get some assistance with the shoes) and climbed into the bed.  I signed some paperwork (1120am) and tried calling Chris a few more times.  The L&D nurse had to go over some questions with me so I answered as many as I could in between contractions.  I must have been holding my breath a few times because I kept getting the reminder to KEEP BREATHING.  You guys, I cant even begin to explain how awesome my nurse was!

So we got to a point where the nurses start asking if there's any other family that I want to call.  Well, my sister lives 10 hours away and my parents are 3 hours away.  Chris' nearest family member was a good 30 minutes away, so family wasn't really an option at this point.  I'm not sure how they expected me to keep the baby inside, but I was asked if I wanted to wait on Chris or go ahead and deliver.  I opted to go ahead and deliver since I had no idea where he was or how fast he could get to the hospital.

And then 1143am happened.  My baby made the grand entrance into this world under the careful watch of the hospital laborist and some awesome nurses.  I had told everyone that we didn't know the sex of the baby and I was so surprised to find out that we had an EVELYN MAE SANDERS!  They placed her on my chest and we started skin to skin time.  My doctor arrived shortly after I delivered...everyone was just not on my timeline that day!  I got to cut her cord and bask in her beauty. It was euphoric.  Oh, notice how I didn't mention an epidural?  Yeah, well- I never planned it to be that way but it ended up working JUST FINE.  I can honestly say that the worst part was the last 30 minutes of contractions.

I finally heard back from Chris at 1217pm and explained that he had a baby to meet...but I didn't let him know if it was a girl or a boy.  I wanted him to experience another round of excitement when he got to the hospital.  I believe he arrived around 1235-1240 and finally got to meet Evelyn.

So that's the story folks.  I thought it was a short one, but apparently it also had lots of details.

Oh, and while we were at the hospital after Evelyn's birth we figured out why he was missing all of those calls and text messages (and why it had been happening for a few days before her delivery).  One of our older children put his phone on "do not disturb" mode. Apparently they thought that their daddy spent too much time with his phone :).  HAHA.  But really- even if he had answered the phone, there's still a chance that he would have missed it.  He was in Broken Arrow working on a job site when I was at my appointment.  That would have left him with 31 minutes to get to the hospital and to my room.  

You've made it this far, you deserve some pictures.  Thanks for reading!

37 weeks {the last}

My skirt is in the way, but I don't think the back fat is as bad this time around!!  Probably just fooling myself though :)

The size: According to Babycenter, Wilson/Evelyn should be 19 1/8" and 6lbs 5oz.

How far along: 37 weeks as of Sunday.

Total weight gain: The dr's scale had me up 32lbs on Friday, I'm getting ready to head to the Y- so I"ll compare when I get back....Back from the Y and it said I'm up 31lbs.  I'm vain, I'll go with the latter.  With Nora I was up 38lbs by this time! Wow, what a difference chasing after 2 toddlers and NO bedrest can make.

Sleep:  Not too bad.  My lower back still hurts pretty bad when I get up in the morning (lower left sacrum area)

Maternity Clothes: Pretty much all maternity tops, although some long tanks from Target still fit.  Definitely maternity pants and shorts, but taking advantage of maxi skirts this pregnancy.  Not sure why I didn't try them before this pregnancy!

Food cravings: None really.  Sweets aren't bothering my tastebuds/stomach as much anymore.

Food aversions: Food in general doesn't sound that great right now.  I eat b/c I know I need to, not because it's fun.

Symptoms: Some pretty intense Braxton Hicks contractions (although not regular) and hips/pelvis are definitely loosening.

Stretchmarks: None that I can see. 

Doctor’s Appointment: My appointments are on Fridays and I have been taking those days off from work.  It's nice to have a 3 day weekend.  I usually start the morning off with a 2 mile walk on Riverside, run errands, sew some and clean the house.  I'd like to say that I just sit at home and chill, but that's not happening.  Oh yeah, did find out at my last appointment that I'm GBS positive...so will just need some antibiotics during labor.

Movement:  Lots of movement at my bedtime...I warned Chris the other night that we probably have a night owl on our hands.

Belly Button: It's definitely out.

Best moment of the week:  Chris and I went on a date Saturday for Father's day.  We ate at Main Street Taven in BA and then had a couples massage. Also, I've been told a few times that I have one of those "basketball" bellies.  You can't tell so much just from the profile belly shots, but I guess I don't look as pregnant and wide this time from the back.

And can I throw in a "worst moment of the week"?  It would be coming to the realization that our FMLA/STD policy here at work is crap.  I'll leave it at that.

What I’m looking forward to: Being able to hop out of bed or up from a sitting position without the assistance of others and without hip/back pain.

What I miss: Enjoying sweets and carbs!

Preparations:  Hmm, I put the bouncy seat together and we were recently given a small pack of newborn diapers.  We also buckled the carseat in the back of the car (it's not installed really b/c we will be shifting carseats around once baby gets here).

It's amazing that in 3 weeks, or less, we will be meeting this little creature.  I plan to let myself go to 40 weeks + 1 day and will then schedule an induction.  My parents will be leaving for vacation the week after my due date so I really want to make sure they get to meet the baby (and so that I can cash in on my mom staying with us for a few days).  However, the past few times she has stayed with us she has gotten sick- so I'm not sure she even wants to live in our germ infested house even if just for a few days :)

Answers to FAQs

Perhaps it's the lack of sleep, perhaps it's the hormones or perhaps I'm just feeling a wee bit sprightly. I'm just going to take this time (and blog space) to answer some recurrent questions that have been asked during this pregnancy and here lately.

I'm just going to provide the answer, we can Alex Trebek this and I'll let you figure out the clue/question.

1.  No, the nursery is not ready.  Emmy and Nora and terrible sleepers and we don't know what the sleeping arrangement will be when baby is ready for his/her own room.

2.  Can you believe it?  We actually don't care if it's a boy or a girl?!?!?!  We are happy that this was a viable pregnancy and will have so much fun either way.  We just want a happy baby who is a good sleeper.

3. Yes, Emmy is so ready and excited.  Nora couldn't give a flip.  She's 2.  She hasn't been around anyone pregnant lately so it's a little hard for her to visualize what's about to happen.  We talk about the new baby and what his/her needs will be, etc, etc.

4. Of course I'm not ready.  The car seat is in the attic, diapers have not been purchased and we have exactly 1 newborn clothing item that is gender neutral.  The swing and bouncy seat are not assembled, it will take 30 minutes of extracting other items from the attic before we find the cradle and I'm not really sure where my pump is right now (I haven't even thought about buying new parts for it).

I think that just about rounds up the top 4 questions...can you think of anything else I didn't address???

And because every post needs a picture- here's what should have been the most recent iPhone Friday collage and a glimpse of our life here lately.

35 weeks {the last}

Baby3 at 35w2d.  Belly looks lower? Or maybe it's the angle?
You can't see it here- but the belly button has popped!

I believe the emmy belly is on the left, nora belly on the right.  Back fat on both.

Baby's size: According to Babycenter, baby should be 18.2" from head to heel and weigh 5.25#. Amazing that from here on out, most of the growth is in weight (about 1/2lb per week). The girls were born around 19.5" and 7#, so I can only imagine that this one will be similar.

How far along: 35w1d

Total weight gain: EDIT: Finally weighed in towards the end of the week, weighed in at the Y at 35w4d and was up 29.4#.

At the 33 week mark, I was up about 28# according to the scale at the Y.  I didn't bring workout gear today (Just.Too.Tired) so will check later. If I were to guess, I'm going to say i'm up 30.5#.

Sleep:  What is sleep?  I was up all night with Emmy on Friday (really, all night) while she was puking.  I laid my head down to nap on Saturday and Nora woke up 2 minutes later.  Chris is home from his DDay tour trip and although I'm glad he's home, I woke up to him snoring/snorting/rolling/breathing about 10 times last night.  Whatev.  Sleep is overrated.

Maternity Clothes: I'd say I'm in 90% maternity clothes.  I can still swing non maternity shorts/pants for working out and my medium T-shirts still fit (but they are living on borrowed time).  I have also fallen in love with maxi skirts, which will be nice to wear post-partum as well.

Food cravings: In my head I want sweets, and then I eat them and they are disgusting.  In other stomach related news, I guess baby has dropped (or never was that high) b/c I feel like my stomach still has full capacity.

Food aversions: Water, carbs, sweets, anything with too much flavor

Symptoms: Still nauseous in the evenings and lower back pain (left sacrum area) and general disposition of being moody and mean and impatient and grumpy....

Stretchmarks: None that I can see, but I feel like my belly is sticking out much further than it did for the other pregnancies- so there's still time!

Doctor’s Appointment: I have an appointment this Friday.  Appointments have been pretty non eventful here lately.  I do feel like the Procardia isn't doing it's job as well as it used to, so will be surprised if there's no cervical change.

Movement: Tons of movement, mostly when I'm trying to go to sleep :)  I feel like I have an octopus in there!

Belly Button: The left side has completely popped.

Best moment of the week: My husband coming home from being gone for 10 days!

What I’m looking forward to: Eating like a cow while nursing.  

What I miss: Carbs and sweets.  I wonder what my tastebuds will do after delivery

Preparations:  I made mention of stocking up on some newborn diapers.  So at least I'm admitting that we need some things.  That's progress- right??

33 weeks {the last}

Pose isn't exactly the same, but the belly is obviously bigger!!

Baby's size: According to Babycenter, baby should be 17.2" from head to heel and weigh 4.2#. Amazing that from here on out, most of the growth is in weight. The girls were born around 19.5" and 7#, so I can only imagine that this one will be similar.

How far along: 33w2d

Total weight gain: About 30#, going to the Y today to workout so I will check there.  Pretty much right on track with Emmy and Nora's weight gain.  Yay, looks like another 40+ lb pregnancy!!!
*Just got back from the Y and it has me up 28#...I think the battery on our home scale may be going out, I'm totally sticking with the 28# for this week's gain!

Sleep:  Sleep is going fairly well.  Try to empty my bladder plenty in the evenings so that I don't wake up in the middle of the night.  The biggest sleep issue right now is Nora, who is waking up between 515 and 530 most mornings.

Maternity Clothes: I'd say I'm in 90% maternity clothes.  I can still swing non maternity shorts/pants for working out and my medium T-shirts still fit (but they are living on borrowed time).  I have also fallen in love with maxi skirts, which will be nice to wear post-partum as well.

Food cravings: None. Zero. Zip Zilch. 

Food aversions: Water, carbs, sweets, anything with too much flavor

Symptoms: Still nauseous in the evenings and lower back pain (left sacrum area) and moody and mean.

Stretchmarks: None that I can see, but I feel like my belly is sticking out much further than it did for the other pregnancies- so there's still time!

Doctor’s Appointment: I have an appointment this Thursday.  Most appointments have been pretty uneventful, which is awesome.  I will ask to see how much longer I have to stay on the procardia.  It does it's job, but makes me so hot and flushed, which has been fine until recently with the warmer weather.
Movement: Tons of movement, mostly when I'm trying to go to sleep :)  I feel like I have an octopus in there!

Belly Button: The left side has completely popped.

Best moment of the week: Hmm, pregnancy brain is making it impossible to remember anything beyond 5 minutes ago.

What I’m looking forward to: Eating like a cow while nursing.  

What I miss: Carbs and sweets.  I wonder what my tastebuds will do after delivery

Preparations:  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

iPhone Friday 05/23/14

This past week included:

1. A trip to mimi & papa's where Nora decided to be adorable long enough for a picture
2. Visiting Emmy's new school (Mayo Demonstration Academy, a Tulsa Public School)
3. Watching our plants grow, that hosta is so vain and such a show off.
4. Emmy's pre-k graduation and a field trip to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum
5. Accompanying Mimi at church while the congregation sang "Happy Birthday"

iPhone Friday 05/16/2014

This past week included:

• a weekend trip to OKC to watch the Redhawk's baseball game
• parent observation night at gymnastics
• first strawberry of the year
• mayfest (which definitely included corn dog and funnel cake eating!)
• pretty chalk art at school
• and the girls' takeover of our bed in the mornings.  No place is safe or private anymore.

31 weeks {the last}

baby surprise

Baby's size: According to Babycenter, baby should be 16" from head to heel and weigh 3.3#.

How far along: 31 weeks

Total weight gain: My home scale has me up at 26.5# or so, which is very similar to where I was with Emmy and Nora.   Yay, looks like another 40+ lb pregnancy!!!

Sleep:  Sleep is ok.  I go to bed around 1030-11 and wake a few times in the night for a bathroom trip, or Nora crying, or Chris snoring.  I have been amazed this time around how much more comfortable I am while sleeping.  We got a new mattress after Nora was born and it has made a world of difference.

Maternity Clothes: I'd say I'm in 80% maternity clothes.  I can still swing non maternity shorts/pants for working out and my medium T-shirts still fit (but they are living on borrowed time).  I have also fallen in love with maxi skirts, which will be nice to wear post-partum as well.

Food cravings: None. Zero. Zip Zilch. 

Food aversions: Water, carbs, sweets, anything with too much flavor

Symptoms: My belly button is sensitive to the touch (about 1/2 of it is poking out now).  

Stretchmarks: None that I can see, but I feel like my belly is sticking out much further than it did for the other pregnancies- so there's still time!

Doctor’s Appointment: Appt coming up this Friday.  It's a morning appointment so I might take the girls to school then sit at Starbucks for awhile until appointment time.  We had our 4d redo last week and it turned out great (Pictures here and Video here)

Movement: Tons of movement, mostly when I'm trying to go to sleep :)

Belly Button: The left side has completely popped.

Best moment of the week: Not having to do dishes last night after dinner.  It was the 3rd of my 3 Mother's Day requests and the one that turned out to be most successful.

What I’m looking forward to: Being able to move at human speed instead of tortoise speed.

What I miss: Being able to point my toes while I stretch my legs.  It's a guaranteed charlie horse if I try to point them....

Preparations:  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

SO, the girls wanted to participate in the belly photo shoot this mornings...here's how their bellies are coming along.