Orange Grove Kiddos

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T14:10:00.008-04:00

Saturday, we dyed eggs:

Sunday morning with the Easter baskets:

The kids all dressed up:

The boys in the matching ties I made:

The girls in the matching dresses I made:

For lunch, we had egg sandwiches with the Easter eggs. Here are the shots prior to the kids and I shelling the eggs:

Benjamin's 6th Birthday

2011-03-07T17:35:00.004-05:00

Benjamin's 6th birthday was on Thursday, February 17th, 2011. The theme was, again, Spiderman.

My husband & I had been planning to put a plywood cutout of Spiderman on Benjamin's bedroom wall since before we moved and hadn't gotten it finished yet. So, I really pushed hard to get it finished, and up, by his birthday this year. We got it finished, and put up on his birthday so I got to surprise him with it when he got home from school. He absolutely LOVES it! I drew the outline on the plywood, Jason cut it out, and I painted it. I added the rope "web" detail as well.

Plywood cutout:

Spiderman finished and up in Ben's room:

We always love having leftover cake after the party is done, and our family is pretty big even without my oldest sister and her family there (they live in Arizona...a bit far to come for a birthday party!), so I made two cakes: one white, one chocolate:

From the Dempseys:

From the Woodards:

From Grandpa and Grandma Woodard:

Some of the gifts from Daddy and Mommy:

Peter's 1st Haircut

2011-02-03T17:31:00.003-05:00

Peter's first haircut was January 22nd, 2011. Actually, it was more like a trim, but I had to take pictures:

Before, front:

Before, back:

After, front:

After, back:

Benjamin decided he wanted to pose with Peter.

Christmas 2010

2011-02-03T17:20:00.006-05:00

Yes, I know, I'm waaaay behind and trying to catch up!

My family get-together on Christmas Eve, here are all the Michigan cousins:

Christmas Eve just before bed, we give the kids their stockings:

Christmas morning:

(Peter's first real word was "Ball", he LOVES them so much!)

Christmas with Grandpa Orange 12-26-2010:

Peter's 18-month picture

2011-02-03T17:19:00.002-05:00

Peter turned 18 months on Christmas Eve, 12-24-2010:

Peter

2011-02-03T16:47:00.011-05:00

I was going to post some more recent pictures and I came across a lot of pictures I had taken of Peter that I never posted. We've been so busy with the move and fixing up the house, I hadn't taken the time to post them. Here are some Peter pictures:

First bath in the big tub, 12-12-09

Holding his own bottle, 12-15-09

He used to stick his tongue out all the time like this, getting a shot of it was difficult! 2-11-10

In his snowsuit 2-11-10

First Valentine's Day, 2-14-10

Up on all fours, 2-18-10

With R2-D2, 2-28-10

Creep/crawled out to the back door for the first time, 3-18-10

Crawling! 3-20-10

Drinking from a sippy cup, 3-22-10

Crawled up steps for the first time, 3-31-10

With his "twin", cousin Andrew. 4-3-10

4-25-10

4-30-10

5-10-10

5-30-10

6-10-10

Climbing onto the dining room chairs, 6-11-10

7-1-10

8-25-10

9-8-10

9-12-10

9-17-10

10-2-10

10-15-10

10-21-10

10-27-10

Halloween

2010-11-02T18:13:00.009-04:00

Saturday, we trick-or-treated at Meijer. After church on Sunday we carved pumpkins, got into costume & handed out candy until it was gone, then went trick-or-treating.

Meijer:

Carving Pumpkins:

Going out to trick-or-treat:

Our yard. We made tombstones to make a path up to our front door, since it isn't super obvious. We had lights that were meant to go along with the tombstones, but we didn't have enough to go the entire way.

The kids' pumpkins on the porch:

Some of the tombstones we made (I drew the patterns, Jason cut them out, I painted and decorated them) were silly, but some of them hold special meaning. This one is to honor our little niece Jessica who died when she was 6 months old:

The "forever" pumpkin I carved for Benjamin:

Peter's Snoopy pumpkin was one we found already carved at Kmart, Anna's I carved for her:

Halloween Party

2010-11-02T17:44:00.005-04:00

On Saturday, October 30th, 2010 we had our annual Halloween party with my brother & his family and my sister Becky & her family. This year, it was held at my brother's house. My family dressed as "Aladdin" characters.

Baxter, my brother's family dog:

Us, as "Aladdin" characters. I'm Jasmine(I had made necklaces for Anna & I but forgot them in the rush to get out the door), Peter as Abu, Jason as Aladdin, Anna as Jasmine (In the end of the movie outfit), and Benjamin as the Genie:

"Pre-Halloween" Trick-or-Treating

2010-11-02T17:33:00.005-04:00

The kids and I went with my sister Becky and her kids along with Grandpa and Grandma to trick-or-treat downtown again this year. Thankfully, it wasn't raining like last year!! I decided to re-use the costumes I had made the kids for Star Wars Celebration V, so we all went as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back characters. Ben was Luke, Anna was Leia (wearing her Cloud City/Bespin outfit), and Peter was Yoda. I wore my snow speeder pilot costume.

School Halloween Party

2010-11-02T17:20:00.006-04:00

Benjamin's class party was on Thursday, October 28th, 2010. I signed up to help, hoping that I could make Halloween themed sugar cookies to bring like my Mom used to do. However, I was asked to bring grapes and Ritz-type crackers because they're trying to focus on more healthy options. The kids aren't allowed to wear costumes at school, which was always the highlight of the Halloween parties for me when I was a kid, so I was disappointed about that. But, Benjamin still had a lot of fun. I was in charge of helping the kids make spiders out of pipe cleaners and Tootsie Roll Pops.

Benjamin's first "station" was making a scarecrow from a brown paper bag:

The second station Benjamin had was to dress his teacher as a scarecrow, but I didn't get a picture of that one since it wasn't in the classroom, where I was stationed.

Here is the third station Benjamin had, mine: making spiders:

This classmate of Benjamin's was particularly proud of her spider!

Benjamin with his spider:

"Pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern"

Beanbag toss:

Playing with plastic bugs and "creepy" animals in a table of shaving cream (Mommy wasn't so thrilled with this one) :

Snack-time:

Danish Festival (Belated)

2010-10-21T13:21:00.009-04:00

I was downloading pictures from the camera and came across pictures I had taken of the Fireman's Parade on Friday August 20th, 2010 and the Grand Dansk Parade Saturday August 21st, 2010. I completely forgot to post them. Every year, a theme is chosen based off of one of Hans Christian Andersen's stories. The theme for this year's Danish Festival was "The Princess and the Pea". I entered our house in the "Tivoli Town" contest, a house decorating contest. We got third place, which I thought was pretty good considering it was my first year. I wonder though, if they saw the intricate paper cut (Hans Christian Andersen did a lot of paper cut, it is sort of a traditional Danish thing) that I had done with the Princess and the Pea theme... I didn't get any pictures of my decorations, though I thought I had. :/ Here are the pictures of the parades:

This is the Fireman's parade. They go down one way with just their lights on, then come back with lights and sirens on. (It was very handy just walking down to the end of the block and there was where the parade would be!)

The Grand Dansk Parade:

Benjamin's 1st Day of School!

2010-09-08T21:29:00.005-04:00

Benjamin started Kindergarten this year! The way Greenville has the Kindergartners start, to ease them into the idea of a classroom setting, is to have half the students go to school on Tuesday and the other half go on Wednesday. Then, Thursday (and from there on), the whole class goes together. Benjamin was part of the group that started today, Wednesday.

He seemed a bit nervous about the whole idea, but we reassured him that he would have fun. I was feeling a bit guilty, like I was abandoning him. But, the end of the day made me feel better to find out how much fun he had! It certainly is something to get used to, since school schedules are something we haven't had to deal with since Daddy & Mommy were in college (we won't mention how long ago that was!!).

Finishing up breakfast before heading to school:

In front of the school sign at his school: Baldwin Heights Elementary:

At his locker, with Daddy:

At his table, in his chair:

It was kind of funny, we had to dodge around another parent who was taking pictures of her daughter's first day of school. She apologized once, as we stood waiting for our turn at the lockers, but I told her I completely understood!

Animal Kingdom

2010-08-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

On Wednesday August 11th, 2010 we helped set up for the R2-D2 Builders' Club room at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando for Star Wars: Celebration V which would start the next day. We were scheduled for 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, but we ended up staying until after 5:00 and the room still wasn't done. (I'll be posting those pictures on my R2's blog soon.)

We had planned to go to the Animal Kingdom after set-up, but the Animal Kingdom closes at 7:00, so we didn't have much time. It was ok, because the kids got to see a lot of really cool animals and they got to wander around the park. Originally, we didn't think we'd be able to go to all 4 parks, but thanks to a wonderful friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) we were able to go to all 4 because this friend bought us 3-day tickets (I had previously purchased tickets for the "Last Tour To Endor" party at Disney's Hollywood studios)!

After we left The Animal Kingdom we went to Downtown Disney, which we hadn't had the time to do yet so it all worked out well.

Here are the pictures we took:

Benjamin with a replica Wampa ice creature from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (CV was a celebration of ESB's 30th anniversary) :

Anna and Benjamin with a replica (smaller than life sized) AT-AT Imperial Walker (also from Empire Strikes Back) :

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life:

Pink Flamingos:

Kangaroos:

This kangaroo was digging in the dirt to bring up some cooler soil to lay down in:

Carvings in the tree of life:

A little waterfall near the "roots" of the tree of life:

Swan:

On a bridge overlooking "Asia", you can see the mountains of Expedition Everest, the newest rollercoaster in the Disney family. We didn't even try for it, since we knew the kids wouldn't meet the height requirements:

Shops in "Africa":

African Cichlids:

A hippo butt:

The front of the hippo after it came back around, but the reflections in the plexi ruined the picture:

Playing with African drums:

"Asia":

Monkeys in the trees:

Just about to leave:

On the tram to the parking lot (you are parked in Giraffe 32...that's Giraffe 32...):

At Downtown Disney, the "World Of Disney" store:

Another Disney store, this one just toys:

Jedi Mickey statue (NOT cheap!) at the Art of Disney store :

Then, we went "home" for the night in preparation for a busy day at Star Wars Celebration V.

EPCOT

2010-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

For the second day of our vacation, on Tuesday August 10th, 2010 we went to EPCOT. There were quite a few newer things we wanted to try, but with a height restriction, we just decided to spend the day doing things we all could do together.

We did get to see the updated "The Seas" attraction, featuring the "Finding Nemo" characters. The funnest part of it, I think, was the "Turtle Talk With Crush" show. They have a room set aside for people to go in and sit down and we face a screen with computer generated coral reef images, so that it looks like we're looking into the coral reef through glass. Once the show starts, Crush makes his appearance, and asks the kids sitting in the front questions. They have technology where the person talking for Crush can see and hear the crowd so he can react to the things the crowd is saying and the computer generated Crush on the screen moves his mouth/body in reaction to the things that the person speaking for him says/does. It was so much fun! Crush picked a boy out of the crowd and asked him a question. The boy's name was Evan. The second boy he asked a question to said his name was Evan. So, when Crush said "What's your name?" and the boy answered "Evan." Crush just sat (swam?) there for a while saying nothing. Then he said "Ooookay!" Then when he asked another boy a question the kid said his name was "Michael" and Crush said "Whew! I thought you were gonna say 'Evan'!". He was funny, but it was a "you had to be there" sort of thing.

Pictures!

The classic EPCOT photo op:

I was feeling bad that Magic Kingdom's Toon Town didn't have the special "Meet & Greet" Mickey Mouse thing like they used to have and I was beginning to think that the kids would miss out on meeting Mickey. While at EPCOT we came upon a "Character Greeting" spot that is indoors and has an indoor queue which was a permanent place to meet not only Mickey but Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald as well!

Peter didn't want to sit still...

Minnie signing one of the kids' autograph books:

Since Peter didn't want to sit in the pictures, I just held him. Daddy wasn't able to be in the pictures, because he was taking them, but this way all three kids were in the shots:

Inside "The Seas" ride/attraction/aquarium:

Outside "The Seas" attraction, the sign featured some "seagulls" from "Finding Nemo". I think they must have been motion activated because occasionally they would "come to life" and say their famous line from the movie: "Mine! Mine! Mine!!" It was great!

Of course, no trip to EPCOT is complete without a visit to Figment!

Figment's Upside-Down House:

While walking through "The Land" attraction, we went past a character dining restaurant where Mickey was waiting to make an entrance into the restaurant. He was gracious enough to pose and wave to those of us who didn't have the $$$ to shell out for the restaurant:

Looking across the Seven Seas Lagoon at the U.S.A section of the World Showcase:

China:

Germany:

The miniature train was parked in a tunnel because it was raining off and on that day, but the kids still enjoyed the little village:

Italy:

U.S.A. again:

Japan's coy pond:

Ever since I was 7 and my parents hosted a Japanese exchange student (the first of many from Japan) I've been fascinated by Japan, so the Japan pavilion and store are always a "must see" for me when at EPCOT. In the store, they had a display of a man's and woman's kimono. The ladies' kimono was ORANGE!! I just had to take a picture of it:

Morocco:

Paris, France:

The UK:

Canada:

While we were trying to decide what to do next, some ducks came up to us hoping we had some food to share:

Getting ready for the fireworks, lasers, fountains, and lights show:

The show:

After the sun went down they shone different colored lights on the "Spaceship Earth" globe. It really was much prettier in person:

The Magic Kingdom

2010-08-18T15:55:00.031-04:00

Saturday August 7th, 2010 we left for our trip to Orlando, Florida. We stopped for the night just past the border of Georgia. This was the longest trip we've taken any of the kids on and the first trip out of state for Anna & Peter (I went to Ohio when I was pregnant with Anna, but that doesn't count!). We got to Orlando on Sunday August 8th, 2010 and went to The Magic Kingdom park of Disney World the following morning, Monday August 9th. I wanted to get the kids Mickey ears hats with the date on it because it was their first trip and the date was pretty magical too: 8-9-10! But, they only embroider proper names on the hats, so I'll have to figure out a way to add the date myself.

Here are pictures:

On our way!

I can't remember if this was entering Ohio or leaving Ohio:

Entering Kentucky:

Entering Tennessee:

Entering Florida:

On the Monorail for the first time:

First stop, pit stop!

Cinderella and her prince in a window display:

Classic Photo Op:

When we went on our Honeymoon, Jason & I rode Cinderella's Carousel for the first thing we did. We decided that would be a nice way to start the kids' first trip to Disney World too!

Going to the Haunted Mansion. The kids don't know what "haunted" means, so I told them it was a "Halloween" ride. They always love seeing the Halloween decorations at Menard's, so I knew they'd get that concept.

After the Haunted Mansion, we came across a parade that was about to start. Just as the parade started, so did the rain! Figures. :)

After the parade, we found an uncrowded place to hang out while the worst of the rain went over. This was in Frontierland, next to a store.

We then went to Adventureland, where we got some ice cream to combat the heat & humidity.

As we ordered our ice cream, I spotted Disney's Orange bird! I didn't think Disney did anything with him anymore, but I'm pleased to see he's still around.

As we finished up our ice cream, Aladdin and Jasmin showed up across the "street" from where we were.

And, a little lizard came for a visit too:

Magic carpet rides:

Entering Pirates of the Caribbean ride:

After the ride:

Walking through Frontierland again we happened to see Jessie and Woody from Toy Story:

On the Walt Disney World Railroad:

I think this was probably the highlight of the entire trip for Anna, getting to see not one, but THREE Disney princesses, and of course one of them was Cinderella!!

Posing with Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) :

A hug from her favorite Princess:

Two Princesses:

Chatting with Belle:

Peter with his Mickey ears hat:

Anna's Minnie ears hat:

Benjamin and his Mickey ears hat:

"Cinderella" in front of her castle:

They brought back the Main Street Electrical Parade, and they made some updates, one of which was Tinkerbell and her friends:

We weren't supposed to take flash pictures, but turning off the flash on my camera resulted in blurry pictures. This was the parade train which had Mickey in back and Minnie in front.

Alice from the animated "Alice in Wonderland" on top of a giant mushroom. The Cheshire cat is in the process of disapearing in front of the mushroom:

The caterpillar with hookah. The caterpillar's face was projected onto the head so that he could talk and move his mouth realistically. It was much cooler in person:

Cinderella's pumpkin coach:

Very blurry Cinderella:

After Cinderella and her Prince went by, I realized that I could leave the flash turned on, but cover it with my finger to get much better results:

Captain Hook's ship:

Peter and Captain Hook dueling:

The 7 Dwarfs' mine cars full of "gems":

Snow White was walking, and very hard to get a good picture because she kept "twirling"! :)

One of the 7 Dwarfs, just as he turned around!

Pinocchio:

Pete and his dragon Elliot:

The patriotic float with a beautiful bald eagle made of lights in the back:

Back at our hotel, I decided to get a picture of my R2-D2 in his spot while he waited for CV to start:

Then it was off to bed (late, as was the trend for this trip!) and up for EPCOT the following morning!

Peter at 13 Months

2010-07-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

The day Peter turned 13 months (July 24,2010) Daddy & I were gone at a Star Wars event so my parents (who were watching the kids for us) took pictures of Peter for me:

Anna's 4th Birthday

2010-07-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Anna's 4th Birthday was Friday June 25th, 2010. Of course, the theme was Princesses, specifically Cinderella.

Here is the cake I made for the family party on the 20th. It was shared with her cousins Naomi, Katherine, and Sarah. I assigned a princess to each girl. Anna likes Cinderella, so that was her princess. Katherine likes Belle, so that was her princess. Naomi and Sarah don't have a favorite, so I assigned Aurora to Naomi and Snow White to Sarah. I picked up little figures of each princess to put on the cake.

Anna opening her presents on her birthday:

The "birthday cupcake" for her actual birthday:

Sunday, June 27th, Grandpa Orange came with a princess pillow gift:

Peter's 1st Birthday

2010-07-28T00:00:00.001-04:00

Peter's first birthday was Thursday June 24th, 2010.

This cake was actually made for the party on the 20th, but it was his "main" 1st birthday cake:

Here's my "little man" on his big day:

We had made Build-A-Bear bears for Benjamin and Anna, so we decided to have one made for Peter (the free animal coupon we got in the mail helped a lot too!).

We named his bear "Obi-Bear Kenobi" :)

Opening his present from the Dempsey family (my sister Becky forgot to bring it to the big party on the 20th, so she gave it to Peter when we all met up at the Park Party in Cedar Springs)

Peter's first birthday cupcake:

Sunday June 27th, Grandpa Orange came by with a HUGE gift for Peter:

Park Party

2010-07-27T14:00:00.001-04:00

As a bonus, we were all able to get together again for Miranda from WOTV4's Park Party at Cedar Springs.

Peter's Dedication

2010-07-27T01:00:00.000-04:00

We had Peter Dedicated to God on June 20th, 2010 at our church in Grand Rapids: Berean Baptist Church, by Pastor Duane Duhan. My parents and Grandpa Orange were able to be part of the dedication.

Family Reunion, Birthday Parties, Father's Day, and Baby Dedication...oh, my!

2010-07-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Every year since my sister Amy and her family have moved to Arizona they've made the journey back to Michigan for a couple weeks. Their weeks are always very filled with things to do and people to visit, so it is difficult to fit a family reunion in around everyone's schedule. This year, the only day that really worked was Sunday June 20th, 2010. It also happened to be Father's Day. We decided to celebrate the summer cousin birthdays: Katherine (June 7), Naomi (June 21), Peter (June 24), Anna (June 25), and Sarah (July 9)...as well as Grandpa Woodard's (June 24). We also had Peter dedicated at our church that day, so it was a rather purpose-filled gathering!

Christmas in July???

2010-07-26T21:37:00.009-04:00

I was about to post about Peter and Anna's birthdays, but I realized that I never posted about Christmas 2009! With less than 5 months until Christmas 2010, I thought it would be a good idea to post them now!

On Christmas Eve Grandpa Orange came with gifts for the kids:

Just before bed on Christmas Eve we give the kids their stockings:

Christmas morning at our house:

We had a gathering with my side of the family at my parents' house on Christmas day:

11 Month Picture

2010-05-27T00:04:00.000-04:00

Peter turned 11 months old on May 24, 2010.

10 Month Picture

2010-05-27T00:02:00.002-04:00

I was going to post Peter's 11-month picture and I realized I never posted his 10-month picture! Here he is, posing with my R2-D2:

Just Because

2010-05-06T23:17:00.002-04:00

I desperately need to download pictures and post here, but don't want to take the time. This picture, however, was just too adorable to leave on the camera for very long. Taken on Sunday May 2nd, 2010.

Easter 2010

2010-04-19T13:57:00.006-04:00

A year or two ago, I had purchased some fabric in the Red Tag section of JoAnn's for 50% off the clearance price with the idea of making matching skirts for Anna & I and ties for Daddy & Benjamin for Easter. Last Easter I was pregnant, and didn't really want my matching skirt to be a maternity skirt since I wouldn't get much use out of it. So, I decided to get the fabric out and make them for this Easter. I got to thinking that the fabric really wasn't right for ties, but we had also gotten some nice red fabric later on in the Reg Tag section for me to make Daddy a tie. So, I decided to use the red fabric for ties for Daddy, Benjamin, and Peter and the original fabric would still be for Anna and I for skirts.

We also wanted to do something nice for the kids' Easter baskets this year, the first Easter in our "new" house...

Anna discovering the baskets waiting for them:

Benjamin checking out his basket:

Anna checking out her basket:

Peter checking out his basket (I remembered seeing plastic jelly beans in previous years and knew I wanted to get them for Peter's basket because his nickname is "Jelly Bean", but I couldn't find them. Finally I found them at Menard's! So, Peter's basket has plastic jelly beans instead of plastic eggs...he's chewing on one of the green jelly beans in the picture) :

The boys wearing their matching ties:

The girls with our matching skirts:

The whole family:

Peter is 9 Months Old

2010-04-02T22:44:00.001-04:00

Peter turned 9 months old on his Daddy's birthday, March 24th.

Bear Give Away

2010-03-17T22:41:00.002-04:00

My sister loves bears, and I thought I'd enter this contest for a bear that "Bearbits" is giving away. The bear is really cute, but if I win I'll give my sister the bear, because I love her so much! :)

8-Month Picture

2010-03-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

Since Peter is almost 9 months old now, I thought I better get his 8-month picture up!

Peter's first tooth!

2010-02-24T00:00:00.002-05:00

Peter had been acting like he was working on a tooth for quite a while now, so I've been checking often to see if one had come through the surface yet. Saturday, February 20th, 2010 I noticed that one had come through! Peter has his first tooth.

(If you click on the image to see it bigger you can just barely make out the glint of white on his lower gum.)

Benjamin's 5th Birthday

2010-02-23T20:06:00.007-05:00

Benjamin's 5th birthday was February 17th, 2010. The theme was, of course, Spiderman. Since Benjamin's enjoyment of Spiderman continues, I went ahead and purchased a Spiderman cake pan. Daddy had the day off of work, so we had the party on his actual birthday. It was a bit rushed though because we had it scheduled to include Dan, Ben's uncle who wouldn't get home from work until around 5:00 pm. Also, since it was a Wednesday, we had to rush so everyone could get off to Wednesday church. But, it was lots of fun for Benjamin to have the family there to celebrate his big day. :)

A few weeks before his birthday, after a discussion about him wanting to blow bubbles but he didn't have any, I mentioned maybe he'd get some for his birthday. Benjamin told me:

"I hope so! And a spiderman toothbrush, that would be special! And a fishing pole with fish!" (Last year from Dan & Becky he got a plastic fishing pole with a magnet at the end to catch plastic fish with metal on their mouths. It didn't take long for the much-loved toy to break so this year he wanted another, which so far has lasted longer than last year's!)

Peter is 7 Months Old

2010-01-29T22:00:00.003-05:00

Wow, lately it seems the only posts I have are Peter's "month-birthdays"...I'm pretty busy, I guess I should be happy that I take the time for even those!

6 Months Old!

2009-12-29T22:56:00.003-05:00

Peter turned 6 months old on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2009. (I have lots of Christmas pictures of all three kids, but have been so busy, I only have time to post Peter's 6-month pictures...)

5 Months

2009-11-24T21:24:00.000-05:00

Today, Peter is 5 months old.

Siblings

2009-11-24T21:16:00.003-05:00

Ben and Anna love their little brother and begged me to take their pictures with him...

Sitting!

2009-11-24T21:00:00.003-05:00

Peter has learned how to roll from his back to his tummy, but seems to have skipped the step of learning to roll from tummy to back (my other two learned this one first). Today, I was practicing with him so he could start learning to sit up on his own. I didn't think he'd get it yet, because his siblings learned it when they were 6 months old, or a bit older. I let go of him to see if and how long he could balance on his own, and he had it for several seconds! He did this several times (with cheering on from his big brother).

4 Months old!

2009-11-03T23:56:00.003-05:00

Peter turned 4 months old on October 24, 2009. He had a doctor's appointment today and weighed in at 16 pounds 8 ounces and was 26 3/4 long.

Here is a picture I took on the 24th:

On October 21st, my parents watched the older two kids for a while so it was just Peter and I in the house for a while. He was "playing" so cutely on the floor I had to take a couple pictures:

What a cutie, he's such a charmer. :)

Halloween

2009-11-02T14:56:00.006-05:00

My brother, Dean, & his family; my sister, Becky, & her family; and my family have continued the tradition of having a Halloween costume party together. We take turns hosting and this year, for the 9th annual Halloween party, it was our turn to host.

My family did a Men In Black theme (I knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to sew with fixing up the house so I went with something "easy"). Daddy, Mommy, Ben, and Anna were all [hu]men in black while Peter was Frank the pug as seen in the first movie.

I was busy finishing up dinner and ended up missing the photo sessions for my sister's family and my brother's family. Becky's family were all from Sesame Street this year.

Here come the MIBs

A shot of our living room full of party goers

Whenever these two boys are together and there's a camera around, one is obligated to get a shot like this! Peter (as Frank) and his cousin Andrew (as a Twiddlebug -minus his wings)

This was also the first year our kids went Trick or Treating, and they had a blast...even though it was very cold and windy out. I'm not sure, but I think this might be the end of the family dressing up in a matching theme. Benjamin informed me he wanted a Spiderman costume, I'm not sure what we'd all dress as to match that...I don't know about Jason but I wouldn't want to dress as the Green Goblin! lol

Pre-Hallween

2009-10-30T23:23:00.004-04:00

Today, October 30th 2009, the kids and I went with my sister, her 4 kids, and our Mom downtown Greenville to Trick or Treat. I have a MIB (Men In Black) theme all set for tomorrow (Halloween), but I wanted to make use of some other costumes that the kids had, so we did a Disney theme.

I had made the Cinderella dress for Anna for her 2nd birthday party and wanted to use it again before she outgrew it. Someone had given us the Pooh costume when I was pregnant with Benjamin but never used it as a costume for any of my babies, so I wanted to make sure Peter got a chance to use it. That left Benjamin, who had no Disney costume to wear. So, I whipped up a cow print vest, borrowed some elements from one of Daddy's costumes, used a yellow shirt and pair of jeans he already had...and viola! a Woody costume!

Comparisons

2009-09-24T15:19:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be fun to compare my three kids when they were the same age. There are similarities, but they each have their own look.

Benjamin at 3 months:

Anna at 3 months:

Peter now (at 3 months):

Three Months!

2009-09-24T15:10:00.002-04:00

It seems I was just taking Peter's 2-month pictures and it's already time to take 3-month pictures!

Cousins

2009-09-15T19:01:00.001-04:00

Here is Peter with his cousin Andrew on the 30th of August:

Two Months!

2009-09-15T18:59:00.002-04:00

Peter was two months old August 24th, 2009. I'm a bit late in posting, but here is his picture:

Our House!

2009-08-17T15:50:00.004-04:00

We signed on our house in Grenville today, and it officially became ours! I set up a blog just for it, so that we can document our progress of making it our home without taking away from the focus of this blog which is our kiddos. :) You can see the house blog her e.

Cousin Andrew

2009-08-10T14:56:00.003-04:00

My sister Becky's 4th child was born last night, August 9th 2009 at 10:15! He weighed 7 lbs 0 oz and was 19½ inches long at birth. I think it is so cool that he was only 3 oz lighter than Peter at birth and only ½" shorter! Peter was born on the hottest/muggiest day in June and Andrew was born on the hottest/muggiest day in August! I just love the irony of that. :)

Here are pictures:

Peter and Andrew: New Cousins

Peter and Andrew

Andrew and his big sisters

Anna with her newest cousin Andrew

Benjamin with his newest cousin Andrew

Peter's Announcement

2009-07-28T23:28:00.001-04:00

I realized I never posted Peter's birth announcement, so here it is:

Peter is One Month Old!

2009-07-27T17:37:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from Friday, July 24th, 2009: Peter's one month day. The last time he was weighed, he was 8 lbs 13 oz, he is growing like a weed and getting stronger every day.

Combined Cousin Birthday Celebration

2009-07-27T17:23:00.005-04:00

The second weekend in July my side of the family got together during what has become an annual "family reunion". My oldest sister Amy and her family come to Michigan from Arizona every year for a visit. This year on July 11th we had a combined birthday party to celebrate the birthdays of four of the cousins. Three of the four were born the same summer within a couple months of each other. Katherine was born in June 2004, Naomi was born in June 2004, and Sarah was born July 2004, while Anna was born June 2006.

Here are a few pictures from the four cousins' birthday celebration:

Anna's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-27T17:06:00.004-04:00

We actually celebrated Anna's birthday over the course of a few days since her actual birthday was mostly spent at the hospital after her baby brother's birth the day before.

Here are birthday pictures from celebrating with Grandpa O. and then celebrating with just Daddy, Mommy, Ben, and Peter.

Birthday celebration #1:

Birthday celebration #2:

Peter's Birth Story

2009-07-02T14:00:00.002-04:00

(This is a long story, so settle in!)

Labor was confusing for me this time around. With my previous 2 pregnancies, Braxton Hicks contractions were always centered low in my uterus, below my belly button. Real labor always started at the top & back and crept its way around & down. So, when I felt the same tightening I had been feeling for several months below my belly button, earlier on Tuesday June 23rd, I just assumed that they were practice contractions even though they were starting to get painful.

I got the kids to bed at 8:00 and set about getting some tasks done around the house while I waited for my husband to get home from work at 10:30. I started wrapping birthday presents for Anna (who's birthday is June 25th) and noticed that the "practice" contractions seemed to be coming pretty regularly. I wondered if that meant that real labor wasn't far behind. It was about 9:25 p.m. when I decided to keep track of the contractions.

The contractions, which I still thought were painful practice contractions, were coming pretty regularly at 10 minutes apart. After my husband got home, we got ready for bed and sat on the couch to "veg" for a little while before bed. Jason had gotten me a bowl of ice cream, but I just couldn't enjoy it because every 10 minutes (or less) I had a pretty intense contraction. I ended up getting up and pacing the floor because I was so uncomfortable. I was still thinking these were practice contractions because they stayed centered on my lower uterus and never left that area. After a while of that, Jason called my parents (who were going to watch the older two kids while we were at the hospital). We decided that after my Dad finished his bed-time shower they would come over and my husband & I would go to the hospital so they could check and see if it was indeed labor and if anything was progressing.

While I waited for my parents to come, I finished packing the hospital bags and got everything ready, just in case it was "go" time. I knew I felt too "good" (that word can't really apply any time during labor, but there isn't a word that describes it well enough) for it to be time to deliver soon, but I was beginning to realize that this was real labor, just different than before. After my parents and niece and nephew (who were staying with my parents for a week) came over, my husband and I left for the hospital. As soon as we got to the ER, I had a contraction which I sat and waited to finish before getting out of the van, so the guy inside the ER brought out a wheelchair. It was about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning the 24th of June when we got to the labor and delivery department of Saint Mary's hospital. They brought me to triage and hooked me up to the baby heart-rate monitor and contraction monitor.

After being checked a couple times and laying there painfully for several hours, the doctor came in and said that my progress was still just 4-5 cm and wasn't progressing at all, so there wasn't anything they could do at that point. She said they could give me some pain killers, but suggested I just go home until the contractions were more intense and closer together. I didn't really want to go anywhere, but the thought of laying around on that hard hospital bed hooked up to monitors and being poked and prodded at for hours and hours wasn't at ALL pleasant to me, so I decided to go home. My nurse urged me to go home because she knew I wanted my delivery to be as natural as possible. She told me if I stayed they'd probably want to break the bag of water and possibly try inducing, give me medicines, IVs and stuff I didn't want.

It was about 4:30 when we left for home. I stayed in the kitchen and labored on my knees with my arms resting in the seat of a chair I had at the back door. This went on for about an hour when the contractions started getting so intense I reached the "I can't do this anymore" stage. That's the point where I knew I really should be at the hospital, but at that point, I didn't want to move. I was trying to relax through a pretty intense contraction when suddenly I felt the urge to push. I said "Oh, no!" And Jason said "What?!" I said, "I feel like I need to push!" Jason said "We're GOING!" I was wearing PJ bottoms because they were more comfortable than the shorts I had been wearing, but I didn't want to take the time to change, so I just slipped on my shoes and Jason grabbed my purse and we took off for the hospital as quickly as possible. It was about 5:30 a.m. when we left for the hospital.

This time, when we got to the ER, the guy knew exactly what we needed. He brought the wheelchair again and started pushing me to the counter. The guy who brought me up to labor and delivery the first time came again this time and he said to me "Is it TIME?" I just nodded my head. It didn't take Jason long to park the van and catch up to us. They brought me up to the 9th floor/Labor & Delivery. I just wanted to go straight to a labor & delivery room. But, the nurse wheeled me to triage. Jason was protesting, saying that I already had the urge to push, but she insisted. She wheeled me to a bed and was telling me to get into a gown and get on the bed. Between contractions, I told her that I had the urge to push. She said to get on the bed because they needed to check my progress. I finished a contraction then quickly got on the bed, where I had another contraction. After that one, the nurse & Jason helped take my shorts off so my cervix could be checked. After she checked it, she said I was 7 cm dilated and said cheekily: "We're going to have a baby!" I didn't say anything, but in my brain I was saying "I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THAT!!!" She wanted a wheelchair to take me to a labor & delivery room but I refused to get out of the triage bed. So, they covered me with a blanket and wheeled the whole bed through the hall to a labor & delivery room. After they locked the bed outside my labor & delivery room and I finished a contraction, I quickly got out of bed while a nurse held the blanket around my waist. I quickly got into the labor & delivery room bed where they already had the elastic bands to hold the monitors laying on the bed. They quickly hooked up the monitors while I tried to relax through another contraction laying on my left side.

A nurse asked me if I could possibly roll to my other side because the baby's heart-rate had dropped and he seemed to like it better on the other side (this surprised me, because usually it's the left side that is the best for circulation). I rolled over, and promptly had another contraction. I think I said "Oh no!" again, because I had a very strong urge to push and I was thinking I was still only 7 cm dilated. But, my body decided that now was the time, so it pushed and pushed and suddenly I felt the water breaking and I could tell that Peter was there, probably crowning. I heard one of the nurses say "She's pushing." and someone told me to roll over onto my back. As I was rolling over, I said "I can't NOT push!" The doctor that had told me to go home (who was surprised to see me back so soon) said "That's ok, your baby is crowning." So, with Jason and the nurse's help, I partially sat up in bed and pushed. At one point, the nurse said they were going to give me an episiotomy because the baby's heart-rate had dropped and they needed to get him out as quickly as possible. God's beautiful design kicked in, and I just looked at the nurse without saying anything for a brief second before the next urge to push. I pushed, and Peter's head came out! Another push and his body was out. The urges to push were so strong this time, it almost surprised me, but I was thankful for them because I felt like I could participate more rather than just being told to push, if that makes sense.

The nurse had to hold Peter's head while his body was being delivered because we knew the cord was around his neck. As his body came out, it sort of did a little flip over his head and the doctor and nurses quickly unwrapped the cord. It had been wrapped around his neck twice and his arm once! They quickly whisked him away, much like they did with Benjamin, but this time I didn't even get to touch him for a second. They brought him to the warming bed and tried to get him to cry because he was silent when he came out. They told me it was because the delivery went so fast that he was stunned. After a while, his color improved and he began to cry. Though, they could tell he was working hard to breath.

Jason & I were told that because he was born so quickly, he didn't have the contractions that are needed to squeeze the last of the liquid out of his lungs. Because of that, they needed to put him under an oxygen hood until his breathing improved. They let us hold him for a tiny little while before they whisked him off to the nursery. He was so bundled up when they handed him to us, all we could see was his little face, but we lavished it with lots of kisses. I just wanted to hold him and never let go, but I knew he needed to be under the oxygen hood so we gave him back to the nurses.

I had been officially admitted at 5:45 a.m. I was in the labor & delivery room for 9 minutes before Peter was born at 6:00 a.m. and I only pushed for 4 minutes! Peter was 20 inches long, but they didn't get a weight on him for a long time since they hurried him off to the nursery & the oxygen hood so quickly. Later, we got the weight as 7 pounds 3 ounces.

The whole thing was so quick, I was very relieved it was over. To top it all off, things happened so fast that no one had closed the shade to the labor & delivery room, so I got to watch the sun rise through the windows as the doctor gave me my one stitch and helped deliver the placenta. It was such a beautiful moment, to know that I had safely brought my son into the world and the pain of labor was over. As I watched the beautiful colors spread across the sky it was like a special extra gift from God in celebration of Peter's birth.

Peter Pictures!

2009-07-01T19:45:00.010-04:00

Here are pictures of Peter, born June 24th, 2009 at 6:00 a.m. He came so quickly, he had a bit of trouble breathing on his own, so he had to be put under an oxygen hood for a while his first day.

Irony!

2009-06-17T15:21:00.002-04:00

My sister, Becky, is also expecting a boy (due in August). Here we are together Easter 2009 back in April. I wanted to get another "two bumps" picture before I deliver Peter, but I somehow think the next time I'll be seeing Becky is when she & her family visit us in the hospital after Peter is born.

The irony is, my OB doctor is leaving my OB office and moving to Greenville. Becky's OB office, in Greenville, is getting a new doctor. Guess who?! MY doctor! So, it could possibly end up that the doctor I've been seeing for 8+ months could be the one who delivers my nephew for Becky!

It seems Becky & I have grown up with ironies like this. We went to rival colleges and worked at rival fast foot places, at times we seemed to even share a brain, we could finish sentences in tandem. The strangest being one family get-together there was a covered dish on the table and it was questioned what was under the lid. I lifted the lid to look and both Becky & I saw that it was carrots yet we both, at the same precise moment, said "Corn." It was the oddest thing! I always say we were twins born 2½ years apart. :)

June 16, 2009 OB Appointment

2009-06-16T16:53:00.002-04:00

My OB appointment today was weird. It would figure that the last two appointments went really well with hardly any wait so now today this one should make us wait. We were there about two hours today. After about 45 minutes in the waiting room, the nurse took me back to let me give my urine sample, weigh me (I lost a tad since last week), take my blood pressure & pulse and ask me some routine questions. I explained to her about going in to the hospital and the prescription that I was given and she praised me for reading the label before taking it since it sounded like it would be harmful for the baby. When she was finished, she said the doctor would be in shortly.

Well, I've been there long enough to realize that "shortly" could mean 45 minutes later, so I got down off the table and went to sit next to Jason on the little couch in the room to work on my cross-stitch. After quite some time of waiting (and two VERY bored kids), someone came in, but it wasn't my doctor it was a student. She was there to do the basic things like measure my fundus, listen for the baby's heartbeat, and ask me more questions. I explained to her also about going to the hospital on Saturday and about my prescription. She took a bunch of notes on my file and then said the doctor would be in "shortly".

After MORE waiting for quite some time, the doctor finally came in, but she didn't really seem "all there". It is her last week, and I think she has "senioritis" (-the term we'd use in my high school for people who were about to graduate and couldn't think of anything else but "gettin' outta Dodge" and so weren't focused on school stuff at all). I tried to talk with her about my trip to the hospital and my concerns about the prescription and the nuchal cord but she didn't really seem concerned at all and seemed to want to end the appointment so she could move on.

She did tell me that there is something like a .00001% chance of some sort of infant problem (she said it so fast, I couldn't catch it) with taking the prescription I was prescribed by the doctor at Saint Mary's, but she said it's so remote, they prescribe it all the time for women in late pregnancy. When I told her about the nucal cord, she was very dismissive. I told her that the doctor at St. Mary's didn't even know if she wanted to tell me about it and my doctor laughed and said that she probably wouldn't have. It sort of rubbed me the wrong way, but I think she meant to lighten the mood and let me know that it was absolutely nothing to worry about.

I'll mention the nuchal cord to whomever I see next week, and the fact that my first son was born at 10 pounds, just so he/she knows where things are. I'm dissapointed that my doctor is leaving, but at the same time, it also might be refreshing to have another perspective on things.

We'll see if I even need my next appointment. I asked for a morning appointment so it wouldn't conflict with Jason's work schedule (Tuesday afternoons were all my doctor had, but now that she's leaving, I have to go with someone else anyway so I might as well pick hours that work better for us.) and the woman doing the scheduling gave me 9:10 a.m. on Friday the 26th...only 2 days from my due date. As I was about to leave she teased me and said she had to warn me that she had a preminition/feeling that a lot of "their" babies would be born this weekend. I laughed and said "So, I should keep my schedule open?!" :)

Here are some 38 weeks & 2 days baby bump pictures taken today:

A Trip To The Hospital

2009-06-15T15:46:00.005-04:00

(Warning: Long saga ahead!)

Our weekend was far from relaxing here! Friday night, between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. I noticed the start of what seemed like a migraine. I get them often (though thankfully not during this pregnancy which has been a blessing!) so I know the signs one is coming. Before we went to bed, I took two generic Tylenol thinking that mostly the sleep would do the trick because that's the best way to get rid of a migraine is to sleep it away. However, I woke up about 2 times to use the bathroom during the night and each time I woke up, the headache was just as strong (if not stronger) than when I had gone to bed. When I couldn't sleep any more, I got up and called the hospital.

My OB office is a sort of "wing" of Saint Mary's Hospital. On weekends, no one is in the office or "on call" like a regular OB office, they just refer us to the hospital directly. So, I decided to skip that step because I'd only get a phone tree anyway. However, the girl who answered the phone in the Labor and Delivery department didn't think anyone would talk to me. When I explained how my OB office worked, she handed me off to a nurse, who refused to talk to me. She told me that I needed to call my OB office because they "always have someone on call" and that she couldn't give out medical information over the phone. So, I hung up, called my OB office and got a number from the phone tree that I should call. I called that number, and the person I spoke to said "I'm transferring you to Labor and Delivery"...I couldn't help but laugh out loud when she said it because it was what I predicted would happen...I've been there, done that before. So, when I got the same girl in L&D again, I explained to her that I had called my OB office, no one was there, the number they referred me to transferred me here...she put me through to the nurse again. This time, the nurse went and got a doctor for me. :( All this while trying to think through a migraine.

The doctor I spoke to was very kind. She told me I had pretty much two options:

Come in right away to the Labor & Delivery department and they'd run some tests, take my blood pressure, etc. to make sure they weren't missing something and get me an I.V. with some medication to get rid of the headache.

Take two more Tylenol and wait about a half hour to see if it helps. If it doesn't help, come in to get checked out.

When I paused to think about which to do, she asked me "What are you thinking?" I said I was trying to figure out the best thing to do (I didn't want to spend the whole day in the hospital if it was nothing) and she said she really would rather I just came right in. I told her that we had two other kids, so we'd need to have someone watch them. She figured out where my thought train was headed and she finished the thought for me by saying that by the time I could figure out what to do with them, I'd know if the other two Tylenol would work or not. So, we sort of agreed that I would take two Tylenol and find someone to watch the kids and come in if the headache wasn't gone.

I took two Tylenol, had a small bowl of cereal, drank some water & some milk, took a warm shower...nothing helped the headache was still there. So, we called my parents who agreed to come take the kids home with them and keep them overnight if needed.

We got to the hospital just before 1:00 and they had me go right to triage. I was the only one there, so it was quiet, which was perfect for my head! They had me leave a urine sample and then get into a gown. After a while a nurse's aid came and hooked me up to the baby heart-rate monitor and the contraction monitor. She asked me some routine questions and then left. A short while later, she came back with a little cup of Coke and told me that the doctor wanted to try and see if Caffeine would help get rid of the headache and asked me to drink it all.

After a while, my nurse came in and said she was going to start an I.V. with some medication (I forgot it's name). She took a long time inspecting my veins and I was trying not to get worried. It seems whenever a nurse/blood draw person is taking a long time to find a good spot, they nearly always end up butchering my veins. The ones who find a vein right away have no problem getting it in. However, my fear was correct, because she started poking a vein in the back of my hand and it was quite painful. She must not have been getting anything (she needed to take two tubes of my blood first for tests) because she pushed the needle in further...and further...and finally she pushed it so hard and so far that I couldn't help grimace and shudder at the pain and she said "OK, I'm done there." and it felt like she left the needle in while she moved to a spot further over toward the side of my wrist. That wasn't pleasant either, but not as painful as the first spot. I could feel my blood running from the first needle, down my middle finger and onto the floor. I was trying not to look at it, because it always seems worse when you can see them butchering you. Finally, she got the second needle in, but didn't have tape to tape it down, so she left the needle while she went to get tape and told me to sit very still. Thankfully, she had taken the first needle out, which was VERY painful. She tried cleaning the blood off my hand, but she missed most of it (or maybe she got most of it, but there was just so much that it left a lot behind...? Jason said later that he saw the swabs she took away and was shocked by how much blood there was.)

After the nurse finally got the I.V. needle taped in place and most(?) of the blood cleaned up, she hooked up the I.V. with the medicine and started it going. She said that it would probably make me sleepy, which it really did. Before she left, the nurse asked if I wanted another Coke. I'm not super fond of cola, so I asked if there was anything other than Coke but they didn't have any Mountain Dew type caffeine or even Cherry Coke, so I agreed to more Coke since I wasn't about to drink coffee (yuck!). I usually allow myself one caffeinated pop (usually the generic version of Mt. Dew) a day because the caffeine is sort of like a medicine for me (I tried to go off of caffeine before and put up with migraines for over a week before I gave up...one can/glass of caffeine pop a day isn't a whole lot).

I lay in the hospital bed for what seemed like forever. Poor Jason must have been completely bored out of his head, but I love him so much for being there right by my side the whole time! After changing positions about a zillion times and drifting in and out of sleep between things beeping and the doctor and nurses coming in off and on the doctor finally came in and told me that she was going to let the rest of the I.V. go into my system and then she'd let me go home. After what seemed like an eternity longer, the nurse came in and said she was going to take the I.V. off the pump that regulated the amount of meds going into my system and just let it go while she drew up my discharge papers. It didn't take long after that before it was gone. She didn't come back, so I used the nurse page button to let them know that the I.V. was empty. But, no one came. I really needed to use the bathroom, so I unhooked myself from the baby & contraction monitors and was about to wheel my empty I.V. to the bathroom when the doctor came. I was standing between my little curtained off "room" in triage and the bathroom and she was talking to me about keeping me longer.

My heart sank when I heard what she was saying. She said that they were looking over the printouts from the baby heart-rate and contraction monitors and weren't happy with the baby's heart-rate. She said it was good, but not as responsive as they'd like. She didn't go into detail as to what that meant, but she said that they were going to send me up to ultrasound to check for amniotic fluid levels, heart beat, lung ("breathing") movement, and fetal movement. She said if the results of the ultrasound weren't what they would like they'd have to induce. I asked if they had to induce if I'd still need the I.V. because it hurt (and some of my blood had backed up into the tube). She said they could take the I.V. out since it was hurting me and if I ended up needing one, they could put a new one in later.

So, she instructed the nurse to remove the I.V. and then I was wheeled down to ultrasound. I couldn't see the screen very well while the tech was doing the ultrasound, but it was hard to make out what was what since Peter is rather cramped up inside. She pointed out things like his heart and lungs and told us what she was measuring for while she was doing it. After the ultrasound was done, she wheeled me back to triage. I was so exhausted and a little afraid of being induced, I put the hospital bed down flat and just lay there on my left side while we waited.

The doctor came in after a while and told me that everything on the ultrasound looked good so they didn't have to induce. However, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck (called nuchal cord). She said they all debated whether they should even tell us because it sounds more horrible than it really is. She said it's likely that baby could move and untangle it between now and delivery but even if he didn't, it wasn't really a concern.

I must admit, it's hard not to freak out, thinking about what might happen, even though the chances are pretty slim. I just keep thinking about my first son, who was 10 pounds at birth, whose heart-rate dropped during labor & early stages of delivery so had to be helped out with forceps. What if Peter ended up being rather large? He already exhibits signs of an "unresponsive" heart-rate that his big brother didn't (they did a non-stress test when I was pregnant with Ben because he was over-due).

I found this article, among many others, that is pretty re-assuring: About.com And, of course, I cling to the verses that God gave me early in my pregnancy: Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

We got a couple ultrasound images, though they're hard to tell just what is going on in them.

The profile I really can't figure out. It's easier if you've seen the movement of the baby on the ultrasound screen to correlate with the still image, but I couldn't see the screen well enough and Peter was sitting very still (I think the medication must have made him sleepy too...I know it wiped me out).

I think I may have figured out what's going on, at least in part, on this Nose/Lips picture, see my Photoshopped version below...

I've outlined what I think are his little lips in pink and what I think is the cord in orange. It looks to me, if it is the cord, that it is pretty lose and more along his chin than around his neck. This image makes me think of a X-wing pilot with the helmet on and goggles down! He had his hand in front of his face, so it makes it kind of weird for the ultrasound image.

I was also prescribed an anti-biotic because I have a mild bladder infection. We went to Meijer yesterday because the Pharmacy we usually go to isn't open on Sundays. However, I was reading the paperwork that came with it and it says (I've capitalized what they had capitalized):

"FOR WOMEN: THIS MEDICINE SHOULD BE USED ONLY WHEN CLEARLY NEEDED DURING PREGNANCY. Discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor. Avoid use at or past term (38 to 42 weeks of pregnancy) and during labor and delivery. THIS MEDICINE IS EXCRETED IN BREAST MILK. DO NOT BREAST-FEED while taking this medicine..."

I have several problems with taking this, since I am at term (38 weeks) and could go into labor any moment now...and when he is born I want to breastfeed right away...I don't want to wait until the medication is no longer in my system, because my milk would probably dry up before then. :( I decided that since I'll be seeing my OB doctor Tuesday, I'd just wait to hear what her thoughts on everything were. If it isn't going to hurt Peter to let the bladder infection go, I'll put up with the mild discomfort rather than risk him getting the medicine when he shouldn't.

My appointment is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1:15, so hopefully, I can get some good answers.

June 9th, 2009 OB appointment

2009-06-10T14:14:00.002-04:00

Not much new to report. Things are still going pretty routinely. My group B strep test came back negative, which I was expecting. My doctor's last week at the OB office I go to is next week, so I won't get to see her for the very last of my appointments. Next Tuesday the 16th is probably the last time I will see her, she's moving to Greenville, the town I grew up in!

I didn't get any baby bump pictures because we ran out of time. I'll try for getting pictures next week.

June 2nd, 2009 OB appointment

2009-06-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

I had another OB appointment on Tuesday at 1:oo. We were a little early, but we got in right on time. I actually lost about a pound from last week, but I'm not worried at all because I'm sure it was a pound off of me and not Peter! There's plenty of weight there, so I was actually glad to see it go down a bit! I had the Group B Strep check, which went fairly well. My doctor also checked my cervix which was less than comfy. :/ She said I was only about 1 cm dilated, if that means anything (I have a feeling when it's time, it'll go quick). Everything seems pretty normal. I'm sure Peter has settled lower in my pelvis the last few weeks, and his head is down so that is good. I'll see my doctor again the 9th.

May 26, 2009 OB appointment

2009-06-01T18:03:00.004-04:00

I had another OB appointment May 26, 2009. It was another afternoon appointment, so I went expecting we'd have to wait a long time, but it was actually pretty short! You never know! Everything was pretty routine, which is good. My next appointment (tomorrow) will be the one where she checks for Group B Step. She'll probably also check to see if my cervix has dilated at all (which means pretty much nothing, I walked around 2-3 cm dilated for over a month when I was expecting Benjamin). Now, we're down to every week visits until BIRTH-day. :)

Here are some 35 week baby bump pictures:

Nesting!

2009-06-01T17:49:00.003-04:00

I've definitely noticed the nesting urge lately. When I was pregnant with Benjamin and then with Anna, I was able to set up the nursery the way I wanted it to be long in advance, in preparation for the baby's arrival. This time however, we're unsure exactly how we're arranging the room situation. We wanted to build a room addition to our house, but that project has stalled (due to various reasons I won't go into here). For now, Peter will share Daddy & Mommy's room with a bassinet that I used when I was a baby.

For so long, I had mentally put off preparing for his arrival because I was somehow afraid if I prepared for his arrival, we would lose him. Then, I got lost in trying to finish several costume commissions before he arrived that I didn't let myself take time to "have fun" and prepare. But then, a week or two ago, I got this overwhelming sense of feeling like I wasn't ready for Peter's arrival. I felt like "He could come any day now and I wouldn't have clothes washed, or diapers ready, or a bed for him to sleep in, I hadn't dug out the car seat, or packed for the hospital or anything. So, I've been busy "nesting" the last few days.

I've gotten the bassinet from my parents and washed it's bedding so it "smells like home". I've washed burp cloths, diapers, onesies, shirts, pants, booties, socks, hats, etc. and gotten them folded and placed in a drawer of my dresser. I even sewed a Baby Snoopy cover for a nursing pillow I got from JoAnn's. My next baby related project will be to make a Baby Snoopy diaper stacker. I am also working on a cross-stitch "birth announcement" wall hanging that will feature Baby Snoopy and Woodstock (a lot like the image at the top).

Kiddos

2009-06-01T17:45:00.002-04:00

Some new pictures of Benjamin and Anna:

Benjamin: May 26, 2009

Anna: May 26, 2009

Benjamin: June 1, 2009

Anna: June 1, 2009

2 more OB appointments

2009-05-12T23:41:00.005-04:00

I've been so busy, I haven't taken time to post about my last two OB appointments. I probably could have found the time after the appointment I had on the 24th of April, but I was so upset by how that appointment went, I didn't really feel in the mood to write about it.

My appointment time was 10:15, but we ended up getting to the office at 10:00. I was hoping that would mean we might be able to get in a little early, but I was never more wrong. We sat in the waiting room for an hour before the nurse finally called me back. They always want a urine sample, so I try not to go before leaving home -which has been instilled in me since I was a little girl. This time I really wish I had listened to my instinct and gone...my bladder was ready to burst! After the nurse weighed me, had me give my sample (thank the Lord!!), and took me back to an exam room to take my pulse and blood pressure, we waited another 35 or so minutes before the doctor came in.

I was NOT happy. I was tired, hungry, and VERY cranky. If it hadn't been for Jason stopping me, I would have walked out. On top of that, we had no one to watch the other two kids, so we had to bring them with us and they were getting very sick of waiting around. I brought each of them a little bag of toys they hadn't played with in a while and a few books, but the novelty didn't last long before they were bored and sick of being at the doctors' office. I can't say I blame them.

Here are some 30-week baby bump pictures from 4-24-09:

My appointment on the 8th of May went better. We still had to wait a while, but it wasn't nearly as long as the last appointment which took about 2 hours total. This one was just under an hour total. My doctor was able to pick up on the baby's heartbeat right away and she said it was normal. There really wasn't anything out of the ordinary for that appointment, but I guess that's a good thing. I didn't get any baby bump pictures taken, but with it only having been 2 weeks since the last ones were taken, I doubt I've changed too drastically...though I'm feeling more and more huge every day!

My next appointment is scheduled for the 26th of May.

Easter

2009-04-22T20:34:00.004-04:00

Easter Sunday April 12th, 2009:

Kiddo pictures

2009-04-22T20:25:00.004-04:00

I finally got around to downloading pictures off of my camera and found several of the kids (they love to pose and ham it up when I'm taking costume pictures).

Baby Bump

2009-04-08T20:27:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple pictures of my Baby Bump taken today at 28½ weeks. The dark green curtain and my black pants sort of blend, so it's a bit hard to see clearly. I feel huge already! I have a little less than 3 months to go too! (I don't even want to admit what the scale at the doctor's office said. Let's just say that by the end of my pregnancy with Benjamin, I was only a couple pounds heavier than I am now...yikes!) Still, I'm loving every minute -especially the times I put my hand on my tummy and a little foot or hand pokes out to feel my hand. ^_^

OB Appointment

2009-04-07T17:29:00.002-04:00

I had another OB appointment today. It was originally scheduled for Friday the 3rd, but the woman who schedules called later (when we weren't home) and told us she had to change my appointment because they didn't have any doctors scheduled for Friday the 3rd (I'm not sure how they could mess that up...). She set my appointment for today, Tuesday the 7th, at 2:30. The 2:30 time conflicts with Jason's schedule, but because of FMLA, his work has to let him take the time off work to take me to the appointment without punishment. Unfortunately, today was also the day I had to go in early to drink the sugary stuff for the glucose screening -then return an hour later to have my blood drawn.

When it was finally my turn at the lab, they didn't know which glucose screening I was supposed to have and thought I was supposed to have fasted and they wanted to draw my blood prior to me drinking the sugary stuff as well as an hour after. I told them the other times I've had this done all I had to do was come in, drink the stuff, and come back an hour later for the blood draw. They finally figured out that my doctor must have written it down with the wrong wordage (I think they just didn't understand what my doctor was asking...) and decided what needed to be done. They had me drink the nasty sugary concoction (at room temperature, non the less...yuck!) and I was supposed to come back at 3:25.

We got up to my doctor's office (which was only one floor above the lab in the same building) about 4 minutes early and sat there for over a half hour! My bladder was about to burst, but I didn't want to do anything about it because the nurse always wants a sample at every appointment. Finally, they asked me back and I jokingly said "About 1 pound of my weight is probably pee...I GOTTA GO!" as I stepped onto the scale.

After we were back in an exam room, we waited for quite some time before my doctor finally came in, and by that time it was nearly 3:30...an HOUR after my appointment time. I told her I was supposed to have been downstairs to the lab for my glucose screening blood draw 4 minutes ago. She did her best to hurry things up, but when we went to schedule my appointment, there were people ahead of me, so more waiting! >_<

Oh well, we finally got out of there and on our way! I don't have baby bump pictures, since I didn't want to keep Jason from getting to work. I'll try to have him take some tomorrow.

Now, I start to see my doctor every two weeks. Though my next appointment won't be with her because she has a conference to go to that day.

OB Appointment

2009-03-12T15:55:00.004-04:00

On Friday, March 6th (my brother's birthday!) I had another routine OB visit. My doctor, again, had a hard time finding the heartbeat! Almost as soon as the Doppler wand touched my belly, Peter gave a big kick and the Doppler went "WHOOP!" really loud. My doctor and I laughed at the same time. Everything is going well, which is wonderful. I began having Braxton Hicks contractions around the 20-week mark, which was about when I started having them for my last pregnancy (Anna) so I'm not worried at all (she was born right on her due date).

My next appointment is when I'll have to have the glucose screening to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. I'm not looking forward to drinking that nasty sugary stuff, especially since my sweet tooth has somewhat disappeared during this pregnancy. But, it's all for Peter, so I'm happy to do it. :)

Here are some baby bump pictures taken the day of my appointment 2 days shy of the 24-week mark:

Benjamin's 4th Birthday

2009-02-19T15:22:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 was Ben's 4th birthday. Daddy took a vacation day that day so we were able to have the birthday party on his actual birthday, which was a lot of fun for Benjamin.

He had a Star Wars theme to his party, though we weren't able to find much in the way of Star Wars party decorations (without going to an expensive store), so we just used my Star Wars things as decorations, most of which are R2-D2. :)

We weren't able to spend a lot of money on gifts for him, but he enjoyed everything he received. I made him an ABC book using pictures of toys and objects around the house, which he loves the most I think. Another favorite toy of his is a plastic fishing pole he got from his uncle & aunt Dan & Becky. The pole has gotten a bit broken, but he still loves it and carries it around almost the entire day! I even had to tell him he couldn't sleep with it!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Birthday Preview

2009-02-16T18:22:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is Benjamin's 4th birthday (and party)! I spent the kids' naptime today decorating Ben's cake. He's having a Star Wars theme this year (it was a close run between Spiderman again or Star Wars, but the R2-D2 cake won out!) and I made him a R2-D2 cake. The cake always makes up pretty thin, and since there will be several of us eating the cake I made a second, round, cake to go under R2. I'm not 100% happy with the way it came out, but I'm sure it'll taste just fine. ;) Here are some pictures:

OB appointment

2009-02-04T13:41:00.005-05:00

Tuesday, February 3rd I had another OB appointment. It was pretty much routine. This time, even the med student was able to find the heartbeat because the baby (whom we know is Peter now) has very little room to move around!

I've been feeling it, and the ultrasound on Monday confirmed it, that Peter's head is toward my upper right side and his feet are down toward my lower left, at an angle with his head facing up. Every so often, he must stretch his head up because I can feel it pushing against my side. It feels strange, but I love it because it reminds me that he is there and moving around well.

Today (2-4-09) I felt what I describe as the first real kick. It didn't feel like flutters or gas like I've been feeling for several weeks now, it felt like a real all-out kick. He still has his feet at the bottom, which will be interesting should he end up kicking my bladder!

Here are some Baby Bump pictures, taken today at 19 weeks 4 days:

20-Week Ultrasound

2009-02-02T16:54:00.004-05:00

Today, we had the 20-week ultrasound (we're 19 weeks & 2 days pregnant, in the 20th week). The lady who did the ultrasound this time was the same one who did the ultrasound when we were 11 weeks pregnant. She remembered us from last time, which I thought was really neat. She told me that she was going to do a lot more measuring this time, but when she was done, she'd turn the monitor so that we could see better.

It was so amazing, as it always is, to see our little baby moving and growing and living inside me. We got to see the baby's heart beating, and the ultrasound tech pointed out all four chambers of the heart. She showed us just about every little millimeter of our baby, and pointed out features like the legs, knees, arms, hands, head, eyes, etc. Toward the end, the baby started to wake up and squirm a little, but it was still difficult to see the gender 100%. She came in from below the baby, to see between the legs, and was sort of nudging the baby with the ultrasound wand to get the baby to move it's legs a little for a clearer view, but the baby didn't want to move! She zoomed in and pointed out the area between the legs. She and I both agreed it looks like a little boy! :) She was pretty sure that what we were seeing between the baby's legs wasn't the cord. I remembered a similar view of our daughter Anna and her ultrasound view didn't look like this one. I'm 98% sure we're having a little boy. Which seems right, because I've been feeling like it was a boy almost from the start. In fact, the past few weeks, I've caught myself referring to the baby as "he" without stopping to think about it and then I think, "Well, we don't know yet, it might not be a 'he'!"

We got four pictures this time! One of my favorites is of his tiny little feet, which look like they'll be pretty long by the time he's born. The ultrasound tech was trying to get a cute picture of his face, but every time she'd zoom out, we'd see that his arm was right across his face. So, she had to go a little further to avoid the arm. So, the pictures of his face look more like a skull than a face, but it's still cute to see.

Here are the pictures:

We're excited to learn we're having a boy (we would have been happy with a girl too) and now we can start calling him by his name: Peter. We look forward to his birth-day and trust that God will help him grow big and strong...just not quite as big as his big brother who weighed in at 10 lbs at birth!!

Misc. pictures

2009-01-30T17:37:00.005-05:00

Here are some misc. pictures of the kids doing various cute and mischievous things...

I also found this mess one day after I came back inside from helping Daddy off to work:

Needless to say, Mommy was NOT happy, it was a huge mess and a horrible waste of ink refills. They didn't get a snack after naptime that day. Thankfully, most of the ink came off, but it took a while to clean.