Still hanging in there!

I am still pregnant! 38 weeks today. This is the longest pregnancy I have ever had. I am also a lot more sore and tired and achy this time too. A lot more so than any of my others. We thought we were in labor a bit over a week ago but turns out the labor stopped after I reached 3cm. So we were sent home and now we wait for him to come. I do have a lot of false labor like I did with the others, but this time the contractions hurt like the real thing. It's all very misleading, and let's not forget to mention annoying!

I am hoping and praying that Andy will come any day now. Since he is going to be named after my grandfather, it would be very cool if he is born tomorrow because that was his birthday. We shall see...

Counting Down....

I am now 34 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Ryan was born in 2 weeks from now. Zach was 3. I had doctors appointments today and they both think that this guy will come around the same time. It's so hard to believe that I only have that short amount of time left, but at the same time, it feels like it can't come soon enough. I am tired often and achy and uncomfortable. I can't wait to have Andy join us but I also DO NOT want another NICU experience. So I wait. I have had a few painful contractions a day for the last few days and according to Dr. Neal, it has gotten me to a fingertip dialiation already. Dr. Hux saw that his head was very low into my pelvis already also. So, as much as it seems surreal that all of this is happening already, it also seems that it isn't going quick enough. Part of me feels that I should be cherishing this pregnancy and everything about it because it will be my last. At the same time, I am very anxious to have Andy in my arms and get my body back (or as back as possible when breastfeeding all the time). I know that after he comes, time flies by even faster, and that I am not looking forward to. I am just a big bag of mixed emotions right now. So much to think about and look forwad to and also to cherish. I love feeling when Andy kicks me and when he has the hiccups. I don't like when I feel like I'm waddling because he is sitting in a bad spot, cramps, not being able to see parts of my body, the swelling, not being able to sit comfortably, being so hot and sweaty all the time, charlie horses, feeling short of breath, being tired, not being able to bed over... I can go on.

I am so privledged to be creating this little life though.

((For some reason this thing just deleted a huge whole paragraph I had written on how blessed I am to be having Andy. GRRRR@ technology!!))

Sorry, but I am too tired to retype everything. I still have to get the boys in bed and I also wanted to do some knitting. If I really do only have 2 weeks left then I need to finish that blanket!!

Andy's Game

hoping that works...

If not, just go to www.expectnet.com and type in AndysGame as the game name. You can take a guess as to when this new guy will be born! The closest guess wins!

Just Stuff

So not a whole lot has been going on around here lately. We have done a bunch of yard work, including putting down a patio, but other than that, not much has happened.

I have been trying to get little things done for this baby here and there. I need to work on his blanket.

We wanted to try to do some painting this week to do the room switch, but Jim has been working so much so nothing has been started on that yet. Maybe tonight if he comes home at a decent hour... but I have been saying that for a few days now. What we are going to do is put James back in his old room, which is Ryan's room now. That one was painted with his handprints so it was great for a kid room but now that James is a teenager it just isn't cool anymore. :) So, we have to paint that one, finally getaround to painting Zach's room blue and then paint James' room with a kid theme. Zach's room will be Andy's room when he is old enough to sleep in it. Both younger boys will be going into what is James' room now. That one is just gray right now so most likely we will be painting it the same way (the handprints) as Ryan's room now. I also want to get the boys bunk beds and then put Ry on the bottom bunk and Zach in Ryan's toddler bed. And when they are older Ry can go up to the top bunk and Zach on the bottom.

Right now I am using the changing table to hold most of Zach's clothes so before Andy comes we need to get another dresser.

I just hope to get this stuff done soon! I am nesting pretty bad right now. On top of that, on Sunday I started having timeable contractions. Those usually start for me the last few weeks of being pregnant but when I getup and move or drink water they stop. The ones on Sunday didn't stop for 2 hours! I was getting a bit nervous. Thankfully they did, but that scared me a bit to get more things ready for this guy. I figure I have about just over 8 weeks til he comes, but I know with school starting in about a month, that time will go quickly.

Ok, let me go do some knitting.

Been a While

Yes, yes, I know... I've been terrible at updating this. I don't know why, but I keep forgetting to get on here. So, for some updates- it's not a girl after all. We are having another boy. Andrew William will be his name most likely. Here are some pics-

This was taken at 16 weeks 3 days.

This was taken at 16 week 5 days.

This one was the most recent at 22 weeks 5 days, last Thursday. He ws weighing 1 pound 4 ounces.

Other than that news, nothing much else has happened. Jessie and James both have their last week of school this week.

We also have a ton of house projects planned. Hopefully next weekend we are going to put a patio in in the back yard. I also want Jim to help me with planting my garden. Now that his finger is healed he can help more. He had broken it at his birthday party. I'll have to post pics of that too.

Well, just wanted to get a quick update out there. I will try to be better at updating this blog. Now thatthe kids are out of school, hopefully it will be easier for me!

It's a GIRL!!!!

I am so excited! At my apt on Thursday Dr.Hux said that we have an 80% chance it's a girl. He also said Zach was 80% a boy and sure enough he was so I am trusting that he is right again. I also just had a feeling it was a girl but I wasn't sure if that was just my wishful thinking clouding my judgment. I actually picked up two really cute little sundresses on Friday when i was in the store. They were on sale, what could I do? It's really hard for me not to refuse a good deal. So here is a picture of Miss Natalie Grace.

Oh, and we plan to get another ultrasound to confirm this in a few weeks by a family friend. It's so nice to know someone who is an ultrasound tech!

Just Catching Up

OK I know I have been gone a while. Honestly, I have not been feeling well at all lately. This pregnancy has been kicking my butt as far as morning sickness and fatigue. I was telling Jim that only a girl would be giving me this much trouble already. I am actually hoping to find out a guess about what the gender is this Thursday. I have an appointment for my NT scan and when I had one with Zach, Dr. Hux was able to say that he was 80% sure that we were having a boy. He was right, so I am hoping for another good guess this time. Actually, since girl parts are hard to see I am hoping to hear that he doesn't see anything yet.
So what else is new here... Well, Zach is talking a lot more now. He has become quite spunky and is such a character. On a sadder note, he has finished nursing. I am sad about it but he did go til he was over 17 months, which is very long as far as most people are concerned. Me too. But I am still a bit sad about it. By being pregnant, whatever little milk I had left diminished even more and he also just seemed to want to nurse less. I kinda helped the issue by stopping to nurse him in the mornings and then he just stopped the night ones himself about 2 weeks later. I can tell sometimes he still wants it, which makes me sad, but he is over it kinda quick. I really don't have any to give him anyway. :(
Ryan is still as smart as ever. He is usually found playing on his computer and learning so much. I can't believe that he will be starting school next year. His favorite word lately is absolutely and also he has been asking if we are mad at him he he doesn't listen. Otherwise it's, "Hey guys, are you happy at me?" LOL He's such a funny kid.
Jess is still doing well in school. We signed her up for softball this Spring and she is so excited about it! She has her glove, bat and ball to practice on already. Practice will start around the week we come back from vacation and then games soon after that. I'm hoping she will enjoy it. She also just finished selling cookies for Girl Scouts. She sold the most in the troop (164!). So proud of her.
James is doing good also! He is pretty much the same height as me now (oye) and you can tell by the attitude he tries to give at time that he definitely is almost a teen. He is also doing ok in school, but needs to be reminded to take his time and double check his work.
Jim is still just Jim. Not much to update on him. He hasn't changed much lately. Still working hard and busy. He has been helping out so much with house stuff and making dinner every night since I have been so out of it. He is a wonderful husband and I am so grateful to have him in my life.
I guess that's it about us for now. After I get the ultrasound picture on Thursday, I will try to remember to post it. Fingers crossed for a girl!! ;)

Sick

So morning sickness is kicking my butt. I hate this. I would rather deal with labor any day over this crap. I have no energy, and constantly nauseous and not to mention the puking. Sorry if I made anyone feel gross there. Labor for me is a total of a few hours long and only about an hour of intense can't see straight pain. I am 7.5 weeks today and I am hoping that this only lasts til 13 weeks like it did with Zach instead of 21 weeks like it did with Jessie and Ryan.
Not only am I not feeling well but Zach and Ryan and James are not feeling well also. This past weekend James came with antibiotic and decongestant because he has a sinus infection. Also about a week ago Zach started to cough a tiny bit. But it wasn't until last weekend that he started coughing more and also with a stuffy nose. And then on Monday afternoon he wakes up from his nap barking and wheezing. Croup again. I didn't have any Prednisone left from when he had it last (he gets croup about once a winter) so we had to make an apt for him on Tuesday. So Ryan is sounding better, Zach gets a squirt of decongestant stuff up his nose about twice a day to help with the snot, and I have to constantly be munching on something to help my stomach from getting totally empty and feeling even worse. But since I have no energy, and nothing actually seems appetizing, I spend most of the day not feeling well. Sigh... I can't wait for all of this to be over.

surprise!!!!!!

Jim and I got quite the surprise recently. We are pg again! yup.. #5 for us. Crazy huh? This one was totally unexpected. I was even thinking the other day that maybe it would be nice to be done. Then I realized that I might be late. Thinking maybe I'm just off... but I went out and got a test anyway. So I peed and was still thinking I'm wasting money cause it's going to say neg and then I will start the next morning. But nope- it said pregnant!
So I figured out my dd was 10/10. Ry was due 10/4 and Zach was due 10/15 so I'm guessing this one will be right inbetween Ry and Zach's bdays (the 10th and the 28th). Hopefully it will be a girl this time, since this is def our last. I am already starting to show a bit, and I do feel sick already too. But please pray for us still because I do have a history of mc's early on but I think I am pretty much past my scary point. Plus the fact that I am feeling sick reassures me even though I hate feeling this way. With my mc's I never got to the sick point. Anyway... If it's a girl we are going to use the girl name we had since I was pg with Ryan and if it's a boy we can't decide on anything but I would like to use William in there somewhere since that was my grandpa's name. But I hope it's a girl since so far boy naming seems to hard! We can't agree on anything. lol

My gradfather passed away

So... emotions are going is all sorts of directions. This man and my grandmother helped raise my sister and I for a good portion of our youth because my mom worked. I was more beat up about her passing about 14 years ago because it was fresh from being around her so much. Plus her passing was pretty sudden. My grandpa has had dimentia for the past few years so he didn't really seem like the man I grew up with. He had pneumonia back in December and has been in and out of the hospital and nursing homes since. He was just recently battling a blood infection. My mom called me on Sunday to let me know he had passed early that morning. The viewings are tomorrow at Riggs Funeral Home in Lacey from 2-4 and 7-9. The funeral service is on Thursday, same place, at 10 am. here is a link to his obituary- http://www.legacy.com/app/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=123923864

Forget SAHM (Stay at Home Mom), I'm a Mousewife!

So my sister calls me this morning and said she knows what I am. A mousewife. Check it out! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1127353/The-rise-mousewife-How-mothers-home-using-computers-beat-recession.html True, because I am doing a mystery shop today even.
On a side note- who's ready for the Superbowl? I am! I'm also sad that it will be the last of the season though. What will I watch on Sunday's now?

Just Something Cute

Check this boy out. He's too funny. He takes this thing out of the closet all the time and wants to play it anytime he hears a song on a show or sometimes even when no song is on. Not sure what is going on with the sound here but you can still appreciate it.

So Sorry!!

I know, I know! I have been terrible about keeping this up to date. I will try to be better. Honestly, though, not much has happened that was truly worthy of sharing with the world. We had a game night last Saturday with some friends and that was a lot of fun. This weekend coming up we have plans to go to The Franklin Institute to see the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit and then our annual Super Bowl party. I can post after those things happen. I have mostly just been on Facebook wasting time. lol We are selling Girl Scout cookies... I have been using the new CrockPot cook book my mom got me for my birthday to make some dinners. Did I mention in my last post about the CrockPot Lil' Dipper? She got me that for my birthday too and I used that to make some yummy spinach dip for game night. Ummm... I can't think of much else. SO- instead of rambling on and on I will end it here and go get some sleep. Yes, it really is 2:18 AM. Thank you Tiff for keeping me up. ;) jk

New Year, New 'Do

So I got a haircut. I wanted to write about this earlier but, hey, I'm a busy gal. This was a birthday present to myself. I am officially 29 now. I had a nice birthday. Jim and I went out to dinner, he got me a dozen roses and the next night we all went ice skating. He also got me a Giants shirt (don't even mention how they lost- grrrr), one of those giant cupcake molds and a Slanket. Like a Snuggly but nicer. :) My mom got me a Lil' Dipper Crock Pot, a Crock Pot cookbook, a hoodie type sweater, and something else but I can't think of it now. I'll let you know when I remember. lol

Good Times, Good Times

OK I wanted to type this a few days ago but better late than never, right?
Oh, just a side note, you all are so lucky because I am making a resolution to type the right way for this blog. I am thinking of typing the correct way from now on but we'll see how lazy I want to be when it comes to replying to all the emails I get. But if you are reading this then you get to reap the benefits of capitalization and proper punctuation.
OK, so now on to our wonderful Christmas!
On Christmas Eve, we went to church at 5 because Ryan and Jess sang a song plus Jessie had a few lines to say about the Christmas Story. I took video but it was so dark that it didn't come out at all. I did get a few pics that I had to lighten up. For some reason, they didn't have any stage lights on the kids. :( But here is a somewhat decent shot. I am a bit bummed that more didn't come out better. I did have one shot of Ryan up there signing too, but you only saw a small portion of his head, so I am not going to bother to put it up here. I will, however, post it to Snapfish and I will put a link at the bottom of this post. That way if anyone really wants to check out every single one of our pictures, they can! But anyway, after church we went to my moms for dinner and presents. My sisters were there with their kids but silly me didn't take any pictures. Sorry.

So that night Jessie and I made a gingerbread tree and Jessie and Ryan decided they wanted to sleep together on her trundle.













If you can't read the note, it says: Santa, here is a Gingerbread tree for your snack and some milk. Love, Jim, Nicole, James, Jessie, Ryan + Zach. Isn't that cute? We also left out a few Oreos because Jessie said those were his favorite. No one has touched the tree yet. I think it looks too pretty to eat.
So, yeah, if you know our house, you know that this is pretty much our entire living room. The kids made out. Big time. The kids all got Rock Band for the Wii. Jessie got a DS with a few games. Ryan got the Crayola Glow Station. James got some games for Wii plus a computer game he really wanted. My sisters got them some good gifts too. Jessie and James for Mario Kart for the Wii with wheels, Ryan got a power wheels car thing, Zach got that Fisher Price ride on Zebra. The kids also got a bunch of clothes too. James also got an anole. It has no name yet because it's a female ans James says he can't think of a name but I really think he just doesn't want to think of a girl name. I got Jim some clothes, Horton Hears a Who (very funny!) and a rotisserie because he's been saying he wants one for a few years now. That thing cooks pretty well! Jim got me a new camera (one of those nice Nikon Cool Pix) and a new phone! I love it. I'm wondering what kind of suprises he has up his sleeve for my birthday.
Later on in the day we went to Jim's mom's house for dinner and some more presents.
We had a wonderful Christmas. Our New Years was very nice as well. We had plans that fell through, so instead we spent the night at home which was nice and relaxing. From my family to yours- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Here is the link to all the pictures. I hope it works! http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=264330991/a=9189183_9189183/fromupload=true/imagecount=73/videocount=0/t_=9189183