32 weeks

I can't believe it. Eight weeks (or five weeks) until the newest addition makes his or her way into this family. I have the most mixed emotions about it. On one hand I am super excited and can't wait to meet this little person that has been kicking and rolling in my belly, but on the other hand I want to cry. Jay and I are pretty sure that this is the final addition to the family and I kind of want to make this pregnancy last a little longer. I can't imagine that after this baby arrives, I am never going to lay in bed at night and read out loud to myself just because I know the baby can hear. I can't imagine never putting on a pair of pocketless maternity pants again. I can't imagine closing this chapter of my life and moving onto the next. Though, I am pretty sure after a ton of tears, I will be totally okay with our decision. I know that money will be tight the older the kids get and I don't want to stretch our budget that far and I don't know honestly if this momma will handle more than four. I am pretty sure that every single day of the week this fall will be filled with some kind of activity. It's going to be busy, but its going to be fun. And with more than 4 kids, that doesn't leave any more days of the week for activities. :) Thats what I keep telling myself.

As for my 32 week appt today, everything went well. Not surprisingly. I told my doctor about the episode of contractions and painful movements I had on Saturday night and he said he wouldn't doubt if the baby was turning into position. And I think he might be right because now most of the movements I feel are up in the ribs and less in the hip bones. He said maybe I should start taking it a little easier and resting more. HA! Who has time for that? I measured 35 weeks, baby's hearbeat was 155 and my blood pressure was perfect. Oh and I lost 4 lbs according to their scale. Amazing!

Tonight I put together my new double stroller. Sunday I put together the diaper shelf in our bedroom and the carseat is ready to go. The baby's bag has been sitting packed for a week and my suitcase is coming on Saturday. I am sure I will have it packed by next week. I have to borrow my sister's suitcase again because it is the perfect size for a hospital visit.

I can't believe this pregnancy is drawing to an end. I CANNOT wait to meet our new baby!

One of my all time faves

I swear this is one of the best pictures I have ever taken. My sister and brother in law live on 5 acres and have "pet deer." They are rather tame and come when my sister calls them (by name of course.) In the spring, the girls and I were visiting Auntie Lisa and Cecelia saw the deer. She literally took off running after them calling out, "Dog. Woof. Dog. Arf." We have since taught her the word deer, so there will be no misunderstandings. :) It was just plain funny to see her reaction to the deer and their reaction to her. Priceless.

30/10

Thirty weeks down....Ten more to go. I can't believe it!

I had another great drs appt on Tuesday, My blood pressure was the lowest it's ever been at the drs office. I normally have really GREAT blood pressure, but for some odd reason whenever I get there, it shoots up. I think its the excitement about being there. I am odd. I look forward to each and every drs appt. I genuinely love going. Not just to hear the baby and talk baby, but because I adore everyone that works at my office.

The baby's heartbeat was 142 and I went back to measuring 32 weeks. Not too bad and maybe- just maybe this baby won't be as big as I expect he or she will be. :) Who am I kidding? I am expecting him or her to be the biggest so far. At least 10 lbs is my guess. We'll see!

Getting to the bottom of things

When we are not running around visiting, playdating, swimming, beaching, vacationing, yadda yadda, I have been cleaning. AND I MEAN CLEANING. I have taken one room at a time that I have started to deep clean. I have a goal of three garbage bags a week less of crap in our house. The bags can either be donated, pitched, recycled, sold, or shredded (old bills and stuff) These are bags on top of all the stuff that normally leaves the house as garbage or recyclables. I have to say that I am doing pretty darn good sticking to my goals. Unfortunately this cleaning rampage takes up a lot of the time I would normally be spending with the kids. Fortunately, we are making a lot of it "family time." The girls actually enjoy washing the walls and dusting. I don't toss any of their old toys in front of them however and every now and again, they catch an old magazine in the "outbox" and I have to blame it on Cecelia. Poor Cecelia. Only Elizabeth has this little thing she says everytime Cecelia does something wrong, "It's okay. She's just a baby and she doesn't know any better. We will just have to teach her not to _________anymore." So cute!

I have come to the realization that we have toooooo much stuff. Its not just my nesting kicking in, but it's just looking at the house and seeing closets bursting at the seams and useless junk everywhere. I am on a mission to make our home more liveable and welcoming and make my life a little easier and more relaxed. We had one garage sale already this year and it seems like all the "old people" came. I don't know where all the young mothers were because they are the ones I REALLY need at my garage sales. I might take a few things over to Jay's mom's in September when she has her sub sale. I am also looking to get started listing things on craigslist. I have 12ish weeks to go and I want this house in tip top shape before then. Though it would be pretty nice to get it all done before school starts. I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

Baby Update

We have a name (or two) picked out for #4. We think we have the perfect boy name and the perfect girl name. We discussed it on the way home from 4th of July weekend and we are sure that they will be the names we use. I guess you will have to wait and see come October.

Tomorrow marks the start of my 28th week already. Twelve weeks, give or take, left until our baby makes his or her debut. I am still feeling well- aside from the horrid leg cramps yesterday and today but it's my fault. Someone should have told me that big preggos shouldn't play kickball. oops.

Tomorrow I have my dr's appt and glucose test. One hour that I will get to spend at the drs office all by myself. I just have to decide what book I want to take to read. :) Though I am fairly certian that tomorrow I will get my pre enrollment papers for the hospital, so I should probably just sit and fill those out. I can't believe how fast this is all coming to an end. I am so excited to see who is in there, but I know I will be sad when its all over.

Life in the fast lane

I swear I haven't sat down in the last month- which is weird considering my legs hurt so bad, you'd think all I could do was sit. Whatever. I will have time to sit down when I am old and have nothing better to do.

We've been enjoying our July to it's fullest potential. We have squeezed in a few playdates, made a few trips to various parks and beaches and a few more trips to Busia's house to utilize the pool. It's cold, but the girls don't seem to mind. Momma does, but they are right in. Elizabeth is jumping off the diving board and doing backwards sommersaults all on her own. Emily is swimming over (and under water) unassisted. Cecelia prefers throwing rocks into the pool to anything else, but has taken a new liking to the slide. :)

We spent 4th of July weekend at our cabin up north with my parents and spent time visiting with my mom's family. These last 4 days we were lucky enough to have my brother, SIL and nephew in from Colorado visiting. Four days flew by, but we will take what we can get. We all went to my cousin's graduation party on Saturday and Sunday we spent time at my mom and dad's playing kickball and swimming.

It's been busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We are fully utilizing the summer days as they come and can't wait for August and HOPEFULLY some warmer weather. :)

July?

How can it possibly be July already?
We've had a very busy last three weeks off of school. And July isn't going to be any less busy, thats for sure.

It's amazing how quickly the year, the summer, this pregnancy is flying by. I hit 24 weeks yesterday!

We spent the last weekend in Caseville camping with the in-laws and friends. We had a great time and spent a lot of quality time together. The girls love to camp and I couldn't be happier about that. One of these days we plan on upgrading from our tent to a pop-up. That'll come in due time. First we need to pay off a few more bills and stock a little extra money in savings.

This weekend we are heading up to my family's cabin near Alpena. My parents are tagging along and I am sure we will get to spend some time with my mom's family that all lives up there. I am glad that Jay appreciates the cabin and time in the woods as much as I always have.

We're all hanging in. The girls have random fevers after coming home from Caseville. I hope nothing comes of it. I'm not rushing off to the dr just yet, but if it doesn't get better I just may have to.

More updates to follow. I HAVE to upload some pics. Jay has been doing it lately and everything is unorganized. Drives me nutty. I'll get caught up...one day.