32 weeks

32 weeks!  

Part of me feels like I have been pregnant with this baby for a looooonnnng time, and the other part of me absolutely can't believe that it's less than two months until delivery! 

I have so enjoyed being completely up and off of bedrest!  It has been so much fun dropping my kids off and picking them up at their preschool each Tuesday.  I've enjoyed getting to know their classmates and teachers a bit more as I unpack their backpacks and watch them settle into their classrooms in the morning. When I picked up Emma a few weeks ago for the first time, she wriggled out of her teacher's hand and started running for our Tahoe.  "That's my mom!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs!  It was definitely one of my favorite moments ever.

Isaac talks to the baby a lot.  As we were getting shoes on for church yesterday morning, Isaac put his head up to my belly and said, "Baby, you're going to church this morning where you're going to learn all about Jesus."  Yesterday, he also said, "If you're a boy, I'm going to be fine.  If you're a girl, I'm going to be fine."  About a month ago, Isaac cried--with tears running down his face--for a brother.  "Mommy, I just need a brother so bad.  I need a wrestler!"  Since then, we have emphasized over and over that God is going to send us the right baby for our family, and only He knows if this baby is a boy or girl.

I was playing with Emma the other day and called her "my baby girl," and she immediately said, "I'm not a baby.  The baby is in your tummy!"  (And, she's right--she turns 3 this month and isn't really a baby at all anymore!) 

Dave and I are halfway done with our Birth Boot Camp class which we take one night each week.  We've had a lot of fun going to class together, because it has doubled as a weekly date night since we usually eat dinner together downtown by the hospital.  As of now, baby is still breech.  Baby's head has been tucked under my right ribcage for as long as we've known.  I've done a bit of reading and research on how to get baby to turn, which led me to this position earlier this weekend.  :)  I've also started going to a chiropractor who is trained in the Webster Technique to help baby to turn.  As much as we'd love for baby to turn, our primary prayer is for a healthy delivery, mom, and baby--C-section or not.     

And, baby also is a perfect little (actually, not little at all) shelf for "our" bedtime snacks.

One of my favorite things is when Isaac shares his name ideas.  

So far, here are his options:

girl:  Jenny, Landrie, Harper, Shari, Larsen, Flower, Slover Clover, Elsa

boy:  Ashton, Nolan, Buffalo, Cowboy

And, Emma has only had one idea so far: Emma :)

Our pastor started a new series based on Abraham and Sarah, and yesterday he spoke about their infertility.  As part of his message, our pastor shared a few stories of people in our church who have struggled with infertility.  One example that he shared involved an infertile woman coming to acceptance with her infertility as she realized that God was powerful enough to give her a baby, but also powerful enough to not give her a baby.  There have been countless times that I have been so thankful that God didn't answer my plans for a pregnancy on my timetable, because I absolutely can't imagine life without Isaac and Emma.  They have given David and me more joy than I ever could have imagined on my darkest days of longing for a baby.  I'm so thankful that God held back a pregnancy during that entire time so that Isaac and Emma could be in my arms.  I'm humbled and overjoyed to now share this pregnancy with them!  Praise God for His perfect plans!

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord."As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."  Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

December and January Pics & Sayings

Blogging has definitely taken a back-seat lately, especially now that I'm off of bedrest!  But, I don't want to forget the stories and sayings of my kids from the past few months.

Isaac:  Do you know King Nebuchadnezzar?

Mom-o:  Yes

Isaac:  He was very evil.  He destroyed King Solomon's temple….and, he didn't ever brush his teeth.

Isaac and I ran into Aldi one afternoon to grab just a few things.  Because we weren't buying very much, we didn't have a cart and were carrying our items.  A man in line let us go to the head of the line.  I later told Isaac that the man let us do that because he was kind and knew I was pregnant.  Isaac said, "How did he know you were pregnant?  You could just be a big-bellied woman!"

Isaac usually stays at school until 2pm, but twice in the past school year he has stayed later for "after care."  Isaac loves after care, because he enjoys playing with some of the elementary age students who are there too.  One day, when my mom went to pick him up at 2pm, he really, really didn't want to leave.  He asked my mom, "Why can't I stay for after care?  That's when the learning ends and the fun begins."  

One afternoon in December while Emma was napping, Isaac wanted to make her a present.  Before I realized what he had done, he had found an empty gift bag, stuffed it with Emma's princess pull-ups, and stuffed tissue paper all around the pull-ups.  He even drew her a card.  

Isaac was so excited to read the card to Emma and show her her present!  What little sister doesn't want (her own) pull-ups as a gift?!

making cards for Aunt Erika

Isaac received this crane for Christmas, but Emma likes it just as much as Isaac does.  One morning, Dave found her in Isaac's room at 6:30am sitting on the floor and holding the controller.  (Isaac was still asleep.)  Another afternoon, I couldn't find Emma anywhere.  Sure enough, she was again in Isaac's room playing with the crane.

New Year's Day!

While I was still on bedrest, Isaac & I spent many afternoons building Legos on my bed while Emma napped.  I am pretty sure I had as much fun as he did.

baking muffins

Sumo wrestling with Uncle Mike & Daddy--they tucked pillows under their shirts and had a lot of fun wrestling with Isaac

I loved how Emma fell asleep holding her baby's arm

My cousin, Anna, was visiting from Minnesota when I was released from bedrest.  She watched my kids for a morning while I made a "quick" run to Target.  I hadn't been to a store for four months, so my quick trip to Target turned into two glorious hours of wandering the aisles, running into Keystone friends, and sipping Starbucks.  Thank you, Anna, for being so sweet and playing with my kiddos!

Emma dressed herself one morning!

Dave's 36th birthday!

another favorite picture of Emma sleeping & snuggling with her baby

my little artist... 

...and little mommy-in-training feeding her baby

family night out at The Rainforest Cafe

Emma Victoria in her class at Keystone Church

Isaac and I read Charlotte's Web over the past few weeks, and then last Thursday we went and saw the play at Casa Mañana. 

When the play was over, Isaac said, "Can we just sit here and watch it all again?"  

Instead, we met Daddy downtown at Five Guys for lunch!  It was so fun having a day out with Isaac.

My kids have been waking up so early lately.  Last Friday, after another very early wake-up time, we all went to the Krispy Kreme drive-through in our pajamas for doughnuts. I told Emma to go get shoes on, and she ran downstairs and put on her pink sparkly dress-up shoes over her footed pajamas.  :)  What style!

On another very early morning, we made Valentine necklaces that I found in the Target Dollar Spot.  They were so proud of them--even Isaac--that they wore them to church.  Isaac said he couldn't "wait to show all his guys his necklace"--don't worry, it was very masculine with lots of stars and robots.  

And, another early morning…snuggling in their warm blankets from Shamron!

28 Weeks

I had a sonogram on Monday morning.  Though Dave thought he might be able to meet me, he wasn't able to in the end.  So, it was the first time I've ever gone to a sonogram by myself.  In the past, the idea of going into a sonogram alone made me so nervous.  Now, though, baby is moving so much, which is a great reassurance!  Plus, Joe, the sonographer, knows our case really well.  I've lost track of how many sonograms we've had with Joe during this pregnancy, and we now feel like he's our family friend.  And, he was just about as excited as I was that he couldn't find the pocket of blood!  He looked and looked all around, and then he finally said, "I just don't see it anywhere!"  

In addition to checking out the status of the pocket of blood, I also got to see baby again!  Baby's head is still tucked under my ribs on the right side.  Joe checked baby's heart and stomach.  Baby's heartbeat was steady and strong at 161 beats per minute.   Joe measured baby's tibia bones and confirmed that baby is 2 lbs, 10 ounces.  I asked him twice if he was sure baby was that big!  (I also asked the nurse later, too.)

When I met with my doctor, she said, "Our baby is looking perfect!  I'll see you in three weeks!"  I timidly asked, "What am I supposed to do until then?" and she answered, "Whatever you want!"  I am off of bedrest!  And, I have started nesting like crazy!  (If only you could see the master to-do list I made after my sonogram.)  :) 

While I am so thankful to be up and enjoying my last trimester, I am mostly thankful for God's protection over baby.  There were so many weeks when both my doctor and the sonographer would say, "At this point we just wait…bleeds this big usually go away…but this is big...one day at a time."  I'm so grateful to our Ultimate Healer and His protection over baby, even when the pocket of blood was much, much bigger than baby.

**best moment of this week*

I woke up to feeling hiccups on Sunday morning!  It was precious.  I counted around 12 or 13 rhythmic little hiccups under my right ribs.  It's also sweet knowing exactly where baby's head is.  And, I also know where baby's feet are since baby kicks a lot now!  And, I wouldn't trade those middle-of-the-night kicks for anything.

**food cravings**

NONE!  I haven't craved anything the past few weeks.  I seem to have now have the opposite problem--nothing really sounds good, until it's in front of me.  My brother-in-law offered to bring us take-out from any restaurant we wanted the other night, and I couldn't think of one restaurant that sounded good.  He ended up bringing me my first-trimester favorite, crab wontons from Pei Wei.  Once they were here, I loved them!  :) 

 I have sorted through all our newborn boy and girl clothes.  My favorites are still in our room until I wash them.  Emma loves picking up random pieces of clothing and saying, "I give this to the baby.  The baby love this shirt."  

I knit both Isaac & Emma hats for Christmas, but the sizing on both was wrong.  I was able to fix Isaac's by adding a few more rows.  I put Emma's hat on her head to see if I could somehow modify it, but she took it off and handed it right back to me.  She said, "You can give it to the baby."  Emma always refers to the baby as a "she," while Isaac lets us know that he really needs a brother.  He even cried about it a few weeks ago and said, "But Mommy, I just need a brother, because I need another wrestler to wrestle with Daddy."  While I was sorting the newborn clothes in our room, Isaac sat beside me and said, "I really wish we were having two babies.  But, one is good too."  

Isaac and Emma wanted to give the baby stickers

23 weeks at the doctor's office (December 4, 2014)
baby weighed 1 lb, 3 ounces

24 weeks at the doctor's office (December 11, 2014)
the pocket of blood was significantly smaller at this appointment--only 5 cm long and less than 1 cm  in height

26 weeks on Christmas Eve

Christmas 2014

Christmas 2014! 

My sister and her husband flew in on Christmas Eve day, and our Christmas festivities started late that afternoon with my mom's traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  We all loved her Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes.  :)

I love this family!  

Last year, I had Isaac and Emma pick out gifts for each other, but I didn't have any plans of that this year being on bed rest.  The day before Christmas Eve, Isaac went to Target with our babysitter, Paris, to get a few groceries.  Before I went to bed that night, I went to check on him.  Isaac was wide awake and said, "Mom, Paris wouldn't let me buy Lambie Band-Aids at Target today for Emma.  And it was my only chance to buy Emma a present for Christmas."  My heart just about broke!  I explained that Paris was only supposed to buy what was on the list, so it wasn't her fault.  The next morning I asked Paris to take Isaac back to Target to buy the BandAids for Isaac to give to Emma.  He also picked out a reindeer ornament and reindeer gift bag to wrap them in.  When Isaac got home, he found tissue paper, wrote both his and Emma's name on the gift tag, and stuffed the ornament & BandAids in the bag.  I am pretty sure this was my very favorite gift of Christmas.   

(I wish these pictures weren't so blurry!)  

giving Emma her special gift

"Thank you, Isaac!" 

 Emma loved the BandAids!  She loved opening them and applying them to everyone's imaginary owies, and the box was empty by the next day.  :)

Since Isaac had a gift for Emma, we quickly switched one of the gifts that was originally from David and me and had Emma give it to Isaac.

It was a Schleich flying dragon to accompany the castle Isaac received from us, and he loves it!

dishcloths I knit for Mom

When Isaac saw that I was knitting dishcloths, he asked if I would knit him a green hat.  I would do anything for this boy! 

Isaac and Emma were so excited to open their hats!  

And, I need to add a few more rows to both of their hats--but especially Emma's!

Christmas Eve aftermath!

We spent the night at my parents on Christmas Eve!

Dave took this picture before we went to bed on Christmas Eve.  I just can't get enough of sleeping pictures of my kids--so sweet.  

Our family opens most of our gifts on Christmas Eve, but we each saved one gift for Christmas morning.  I love how my mom wrote Isaac's name on this gift!

This gift was a huge, remote-controlled crane that was a HIT--Dave and my dad operated it just as much as Isaac.  ;)

watching a Christmas sing-along while waiting for Christmas dinner

Kym, Bernie, Amanda, Jon, Nate, Anna, and my friend Shamron all came for Christmas dinner.  

I remember sitting on the piano bench at the end of the table at family dinners with my cousins.  Isaac was so excited to sit next to Amanda on the piano bench!

My dad has been talking about the Christmas Day pool jump for weeks!  This was Isaac's first time jumping, though he couldn't wait for the actual jump.  Isaac jumped in--and right back out--a few times before everyone ran and jumped.

  

One of Emma's favorite gifts was her pink jacket from Uncle Nate!  It is a pink Carhartt, and Nate also bought Isaac a new Carhartt since he has outgrown the last one Nate gave him. 

Shamron gave me this scarf on Christmas Day.  The Scripture on it says, "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her" (Luke 1:45).  I gave Shamron her scarf a few weeks ago as an early Christmas present.  I'm thankful for this friend & for how much she loves our family!

These three little cousins were quite the entertainers on Christmas Day!  They laughed, played, practiced sharing their new toys, ran around the yard, and only had a few squabbles.  :)

Nate and Anna came home with us at the end of Christmas Day to spend the night.  Isaac was especially excited because Uncle Nate slept on his bottom bunk…but not until Isaac convinced him to read at least five stories from one of his new books.  

Nate and Anna helped Dave clean all the leaves from our yard the next morning.  After that, they relaxed and watched another of Isaac's animal documentaries.  

Before Emily and Caleb returned home to Chicago, we spent a lot of time together playing card games, and we even watched some of "Anne of Green Gables" (Caleb and Dave's favorite).  We all went to Rockfish for lunch yesterday.  I was so excited to be out in public!

coloring and waiting for lunch to be served

My heart is full of thankfulness for this wonderful Christmas.  Both Emily & I had our share of tears saying "goodbye" yesterday, but baby will be here the next time she visits!