Baby #4 - 32 weeks

So I've made it to the part of pregnancy were I am always ready to be done but delivery is still a long way off!  Ugh!  Thankfully, I have a lot of things planned for the next 3 weeks (working, trip to NE/KS, last minute summer day trips) so I think going from 32 to 35 weeks will go by quickly!  Once I get to 35 weeks it's kind of crunch time to get things ready as I've always delivered between 37.5-38 weeks.  We'll see if #4 follows that plan. 

Anyway, how has the past month gone??

Overall, I still have very few complaints.  The worst part of this pregnancy has been heartburn.  It started early and has gotten progressively worse.  I am now taking Protonix and Zantac most days.  It helps but I really have to watch what I eat as well. 

The varicose veins on my right leg are more obvious (not terrible) but not painful so I am trying not to worry about that.  I did talk to a vein specialist who happened to be at work one day. She said, if they are going to resolve on their own, they will by 12 weeks post-partum.  If you still have them by that point then they are yours to keep.  Also, apparently each pregnancy increases your risk of varicose veins by 25%.

I'm tired and don't sleep well.  That's always a fun combination.  Thankfully, I have a supportive husband who lets me sleep in on the weekends as long as he's in town.  That helps a lot.

So if you gathered, at 32 weeks, I now feel quite pregnant. Ha!

Work is still going well.  I've been working two days a week for the past month.  I really like my job and truthfully those days are easier than my days at home.  I do miss the kids terribly and would never want to be working full time but time at work is easier in a lot of ways than time at home.

I'm still running 20-24 miles a week, taking one weight lifting class a week, and walking a few days a week.  My OB is a bit of a stickler on weight (he really doesn't want women to gain more than is recommended - never been an issue for me) so he always seems quite pleased and amused that I am still running.   I don't think I will be able to keep up the running for too much longer but we'll see.  I am still running 6 miles at a time 2-3x a week (4 miles otherwise) so I have a lot of room to cut the running back rather than completely out.

I'm up 15-16 pounds (one pound a week from 16 weeks on as always).

Nesting has started so we've finally started getting our sleeping arrangements organized.  I'm feeling a big need to get that done asap.  This means extra work and painting for Victor.  Poor guy.  

I'm so thankful for a healthy pregnancy and can't wait to meet this little (hairy,  I think) guy! 

Notable Quotes: Victor and Carson

1)  Erik went to a half day electronics camp this week.  He learned an impressive amount and came home talking about electrons and circuits and other things that I know nothing about.  Victor was especially impressed and said, "It's so amazing that he's learned about this stuff!  I didn't know some of that until I was in nuclear power school.  There's no way they teach that kind of stuff in high school." 

I had to remind Victor that the role electronics plays in education is much different in 2013 than it was in 1989 (the year Victor graduated from high school).  In fact, the "teachers" at camp are all high school age kids.  I think this may have been Victor's first "boy I'm getting old" moment as a parent.  Somewhat true as he is 41 and his eldest is just about to enter kindergarten.  

I just had to chuckle.  I'm sure we'll both have many moments during the next 20 years where we find it hard to believe how much the kids are learning in comparison to what we learned..

2)  Carson is the sweetest little guy.  I really can't describe how much joy he brings to our house.  Recently when I tell him that I love him he will respond with an enthusiatic, " I love you too Mom!"  He often runs up and gives us big hugs.  Yesterday, Victor was taking him somewhere ( I was up in DC at my OB appointment) and he shouted from the backseat, " I love Mommy!"  So so sweet.

3)  The nesting instinct has kicked in a bit for me, which unfortunately results in work for Victor.  This weekends project involved moving the kids rooms around.  We decided, after much deliberation, to have Erik and Lainey share a room.  So, we bought Erik a loft bed and yesterday moved Lainey into his room.  She will sleep on a twin bed, that's on a wood pallet. 

We are then planning to move Carson into Lainey's old room (keeping the nursery the same).  BEcause I refuse to put a boy in a pink room, this requires Victor to repaint three walls in Lainey's room (a burnt orange that Carson picked out). 

He stayed up later than normal getting a start on that last night.  Tonight E and L were squirreling around when supposed to be sleeping.  Carson was still awake as he took a long nap (he was downstairs with me).  Victor feeling tired and grumpy was just kind of shouting at the kids when they would come out of their room.  They wanted water.  So I called them downstairs, let them each get a glass of water, and then instructed them that they will be taking naps instead of going to a pizza/swimming party tomorrow if I see their faces again.  They complied and went back to bed. 

Meanwhile, Victor had come downstairs to get supplies.  He was so grumpy that when Lainey asked him a question he just grumped at her instead of answering the question.  I jokingly told the kids that their daddy was a "grumpy bear" since they weren't listening and they needed to stay away from him (meaning get their water and get out of dodge quickly).  E and L didn't pay much attention to the grumpy bear comment but Carson was highly amused and for the next 30 minutes keep telling me excitedly that his Daddy was a grumpy bear.  Carson got a blanket and hid under it from the grumpy bear.  Then he heard Victor upstairs and ran as fast as he could away from the "grumpy bear" all with a big old grin on his face.  Hahaha!  Carson just cracks me up!

Joy Post

227) Beautiful weather this week - 80's and no humidity.  A rare occurrence in Maryland at this time of year.

228) Hearing joy and hope in Daron's voice.  Life's been a little easier on him this month.  I'm so grateful.

229) Watching my 5 year old jump off of the diving board and swim to the edge, twice!  We've come so far with swimming this summer.  I was in the pool to help him if need be but he did well. 

230)  Sweet friends.  Once Erik jumped off the diving board, his best buddy James' decided he could too.  In celebration I took them both for frozen yogurt.    Erik and James are, as James puts it, " the best friends in the whole wide world".  I would agree with that assessment. 

231) A healthy pregnancy that almost over. :) 32 weeks down, 8 (or preferably 6 to go).

Swimming Stars

I have had Erik and Lainey in group swimming lessons for at least 2 session a year since Erik was one.  Despite that they most definitely had no idea how to swim and overall seemed quite fearful about it. 

At the beginning of this summer Erik wasn't willing to even jump in the pool with a life jacket on, in 3 feet of water, with a parent standing in the pool ready to help him if he needed help.  So, seeing that I decided private lessons were the way to go this summer.  

The kids have gone to 7 or 8 private lesson so far and look at what they have learned!  The lessons are only 30 minutes and the kids share that time.  They have an amazing teacher!  I am so thankful for her!

Erik swimming...

Lainey swimming...

Carson jumping...
(He's not taking lessons but he sure is cute! He loves the pool!)
How I ended up taking a video of him sideways and upside down I don't know.  Annoying!

Joy Project

225) Erik's behavior recently has been difficult. He's seems tired (has been at camp a lot this week)and has more argumentative than normal. He is exactly like another person I live with, fairly easy going but stubborn as a bull when he is set on something or tired. I'll let you guess who the other person happens to be. One thing that seems to help Erik when he gets in a funk is to spend extra time with him. So, last week I went out to dinner with him all by himself (at V and my favorite restaurant). It was a nice night although it hasn't totally fixed his behavior (darn!). It did seem to impress Erik though. When he was at VBS last week they ask the kids to share any "God sightings" they have had recently. A God sighting is something positive in their life (joys and blessings). Wouldn't you know that my fairly quiet guy raised his hand and shared that "my date with mom" was a "God sighting" in his life recently. I wouldn't have known but one of my friends was a volunteer and shared that with me. I'm so glad she did as it was a major encouragement amongst many moments that are somewhat trying when parenting three (soon to be 4) small kids.

226) VBS in general was a blessing and a joy for my kids. Lainey and Erik both went. I almost didn't send them because I feel like we've been a little too busy this summer. But I am glad I did! They had such a wonderful time - best week of the summer for them I think. Our church is pretty small (200 people attend each weekend I think). This week they hosted 250 kids at VBS! Pretty impressive! Here's a video of Erik (again my shy guy) dancing along to the music this weekend.

Erik is wearing a purple shirt.  Lainey can been seen a little, she's in the front, to Erik's right, wearing a white shirt.

Notable Quote - Carson

I called Carson "Erik" the other day. Lainey caught it and called me on it. So as a joke I asked Carson if his name was Erik. He smiled big and shook his head. I then asked him if his name was Lainey, Mommy, Daddy, etc. Same response. A big grin while he shook his head no. The last one I tried was Papa. He grinned big and shook his head no but then shouted out, " I love Papa!". He's such a sweet little guy!

Oops!

Have you seen the recent news cast by KTVU in San Francisco?  If not, watch below....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrJ5YGkIp-4

Click on the link Grandma!  It's funny!


The plane crash was an awful tragedy and not something to laugh about but seriously how can you not laugh watching that newscaster read those names with a straight face.

Even funnier is the following video that my mother-in-law sent me...

Hahaha!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/511370?from=fb_share

The intern was fired.

We have had a little bit of stress in our house the past 24 hours - all is fine I am just likely going to need to find a new sitter this fall which was unplanned.  I've watched this video a few times today.  Thanks Sandy for sharing it.

Notable Quotes

Carson:

The other morning as I was getting Carson dressed I asked him if he thought the baby should sleep in his room.  He very quickly responded by saying, " I sleep in my room. YOUR baby no sleep in my room."   Hahaha!

What to do with sleeping arrangements is a still undecided.  9.5 weeks to go (or 7.5 if he is like his siblings).  Decisions need to be made soon!

Lainey:

Last night Lainey randomly came up to me and said, amidst giggles, " Mom, you know when you wear those red and white striped shorts (my pajamas)?  Well, they are too small on you and I can see your bottom."  Hahaha!  I thought this was kind of hilarious.  They aren't really too small, just shorter than most shorts I wear.  Apparently, this struck her as hilarious at a completely random time (I didn't have them on when she said this).

Lainey at 4!

I'm about a month late on this update but by the time I sit down at night I am too tired to blog anything lengthy (not that this will be super long but it requires more thought than most posts).

What is Lainey like at 4?

Personality:

If I had to pick one word I'd describe her as sweet.

She's been really enjoyable this year.

She is a pretty good listener, kind to her brothers and other kids, and likes to help.

She is quite competitive and wants to do whatever Erik is able to do (riding her bike, playing soccer, swimming independently, read).  She can't do everything he can do but she sure tries. 

She's still pretty quiet but confident.  She doesn't worry about what her peers think and is happy

to do things her own way.  

She is somewhat emotional and gets easily upset if she is overtired but definitely not hard to 

handle at this point. 

She loves having a younger brother and is a little mother to Carson.

They truly seem to delight in each other and are constantly playing, singing, and giggling together.

They are really best buddies. 

It's interesting to see the different relationship she has with Erik and Carson. 

With Carson she is quite "mothering" but also very playful and silly.

With Erik she participates in more "grown up" activities -riding bikes, pretending, playing games.

Lainey is so so excited to have a new baby in the house.

She asks about him all day long, gives my belly kisses, and talks about what he will do when he is here.  She originally had her heart set on a sister but without a moment's hesitation delighted in the idea of another brother! (I promise her having 3 brothers isn't too bad!)

Lainey has a deep desire for friendships and is constantly asking to have friends over or to go to a friends house. I try to arrange a get together about once a week for her.  This always amuses me because Erik never, ever cared about having friends over when he was 3.5 years old.

Overall, Lainey has been really enjoyable this year! 

School:

Lainey went to preschool two mornings a week this year and loved it.

She went to the same preschool as Erik, with the same teachers.

They are kind and wonderful!

The kids have spent 2.5 years going to preschool there and haven't 

asked to stay home (been upset about anything at all) once.  Pretty impressive. 

Lainey likes artwork and probably colors and draws something most days.

She can write all of her upper case letters and most of her lower case letters.

She can count to 30. 

She knows her letter sounds and I would expect she will be 

reading by the time she turns 5, we'll see. 

Lainey likes to sing and sings all day long, particularly when going to the bathroom and when riding in the car.  Carson loves to sing too.  They are a wonderful duet! ;)

Eating/Sleeping:

Eats well.

Still drinks almond milk, won't touch cows milk.

I eliminated wheat from her diet for the most part about 8 months ago.

I did this kind of randomly but almost immediately she stopped complaining of stomach aches and her loose stools went away (my odd stomach aches also stopped). 

I added it back into her diet for a month and had celiac serology checked which was negative. 

So I think she just has a wheat intolerance and celiac disease which is good. 

I was very surprised to see such a difference. 

She does get a serving of wheat probably 2-3 times a week still and it seems okay.

If she has a large amount of wheat 4-5 days in a row she starts complaining of 

stomach aches again and usually has loose stools.  

She is trying to give up naps.  Ahh!

She still takes a nap 3-4 days a week.

I limit them to 1.5-2 hours or she will be up really late!

She does okay without a nap as long as it's only 1-2 days in a row. 

I really need to preserve the afternoon quiet time until the baby starts sleeping 

for 4-5 hour chunks. We'll see how that goes!

We love our sweet little girl immensely!

I am so glad to have her and hope that I can make her role 

as the only girl in the family seem special (without making the boys feel bad)!

Below are a collection of photos from the past 6-8 months featuring Lainey!
Enjoy!
 

Project Joy

222)  I often lay down next to Carson and sing him a couple of songs before his naps and bed time.  Recently he's been snuggling up close, wrapping his little arm around my neck, and falling asleep before I leave the room.  So so sweet.

223) Lainey singing as loud as she possibly can while going to the bathroom, always a song she has made up.   She does this both at home and in public.  So cute!

224) Erik sitting my lap and then laying down next to me resting his head on my belly, as a pillow, after a long week of all day camp.  This was the first time in his life he's ever been away from me for a full day out of his comfort zone (our house, James' house, my parents house).  He had a good time but I think it's fair to say we missed each other.  This has added to my weepiness regarding kindergarten starting in a month!  It also made me appreciate even more that I've been able to spend so much time with my kids when they are little.  

"I Win!"

We took the trio mini-golfing this weekend.  It was an adventure.  Only Erik paid any attention to rules, the other two just put their ball wherever, and probably only "golfed" for 3-4 holes.  It was hot and humid so I was happy to sit out with them in the shade.  Good thing kids 5 and under were free. :)

Although Carson only made it through a few holes, he was very enthusiastic about winning.  So funny.  No one showed him this, so I'm not sure how he came up with this idea on his own.  He is a goofball!

The basement is done!

Victor and I decided to be brave and finish the basement.  By being brave I mean we decided to spend our project fund even though we knew the furlough was coming.  (More on the furlough in a future post.  It starts Monday.)  We'd had money sitting aside for the basement and although it's painful to spend it, we decided if we didn't do it before the baby was born then we probably wouldn't want to be entertaining contractors on an almost daily basis for 2 months for quite some time.


So it's done.  And completely empty! :) This four day weekend will be spent going through everything that's been sitting out in the garage for 2 months with a fine tooth comb, building a bunk bed for the boys (if it gets here), moving Erik's bed down to the basement for the guest room, giving away things we don't use (instead of storing them again).

At some point we will likely move most of the toys downstairs and then need to figure out what to do with our current playroom.  I am truthfully fairly excited about the organizing/decluttering process.  Victor probably isn't as we have fairly different theories on what should be saved vs donated. Ha!

Here are the photos of our newly finished, empty basement....

Guest room

This looks pink.  It's not, it's a light purple. 

I'm planning on putting a deep purple quilt on the bed 

(thanks Liz) and thought that wall color would go well with it.

   Large closet with built in shelves in the main room

 Cool castle under the stairs for the kids

Main room

 Bathroom - there is a full shower that you can't see 

in this photo

I love how this room turned out.

 Office

Closet with built in shelves in there too.

 There is a nice storage area too with more custom shelves and a 

large closet for the deep freezer. 

It was a very expensive project but I think we finished close to 1500 square feet.

It will be well used I think. 

 

Notable Quotes: Erik and Lainey

Erik:  

Erik was tired today.  He's been going to golf camp for three hours in the mornings this week (he loves it, and apparently is a left handed golfer) plus he was up late last night.  Anyway, this afternoon he had swimming lessons.  I am a paying for private lessons for Erik and Lainey this summer because Erik has a little anxiety about going under water and group lessons have never been very effective for him.  He has made really good progress with just a few lessons and is now willing to go underwater to get things off the bottom of the pool and is able to swim across the short length of the pool alone (no formal stroke).  This is a major improvement from 3 weeks ago.

Anyway, again today he seems tired.  When Erik is tired it generally presents as a lack of cooperation (extreme stubbornness vs hysterical tears for Lainey).  For the first 15 minutes of his lesson he did great.  The next 15 minutes, he sat on the edge of the pool, arms crossed, unwilling to cooperate.  So Lainey got extra attention.

I told him that boys that were too tired for swimming class (his excuse) would have a very, very early bedtime.  Still no cooperation.  (He went to bed at 6:30.)

On the way home, he was staring grumpily off into space when he suddenly announced, " When I grow up I am going to live all by myself!"  Hmph!

I responded by saying, " Yes, most likely you will live by yourself someday."  (Thinking post-college for a few years.)

He says, "And I am going to stay that way forever!!"

Haha!  I asked him, " You don't want to get married or have kids?"

"Nope!"  End of conversation.

Hahaha!  Apparently he just wanted to be left alone today. :)


Lainey:

When Victor came home tonight we were all sitting around the island, getting ready to eat dinner. As he usually does, he said hi, came over and gave me a kiss, and then after putting his work stuff away sat down to eat.

Lainey asked me, "Mom, why does Daddy kiss you when he comes home?"

I said, " I don't know. Why do you think he does?"

Lainey, " I think it's because he loooves you."

I smiled and said, " Are you sure it's because of that or do you think he's just trying to share his germs with me?"

Lainey, "NO. I know it's because he loves you."

At this point, Carson stands up in his chair and shouts to Victor who was across the room at the moment, " Daddy! Daddy!  Do you wuv Mommy?"

Kids are so sweet.