35 Weeks-Embracing the Camera

Finally I got some belly pictures. We put the air conditioner in the one window I was using for my usual  pictures so I am going to have to do some rearranging in order to finish those! I did something a little different today. I wish I could clone myself to take photos of myself. Anthony really tries and does a really good job for the most part. I just know what I want in my head. I think its a frustration of any photographer. Anyways, the tripod and remote worked well today.

Over all feeling pretty good. I had feet in my ribs last night before bed. I ended up pushing on Ari for a good half an hour. He finally turned around and got his feet out of my ribs. It felt so much better. His kicks are now harder. He was facing my tailbone then went to facing out and this morning moved back to facing my tailbone. Not sure what that means for delivery. I can't remember. I do know other two did not do that. I was able to feel his complete little foot since he turned around last night. I love that feeling. It is just so cool. I have not felt that much with him due to his position so it was wonderful.

My body is finally accepting my medication thank goodness. I am having less and less dizzy and drowsy spells so I am happy. I feel like I can function more. Here is to 5 more weeks!! Earlier would be nice but a July 4th baby would be wonderful too! Either way when he comes he comes!! Embracing The Camera with Emily at The Anderson Crew today.

My Love for My Patriotic Baby

I don't think anybody can understand the love one feels for a child until one is pregnant or a mother. There is an insane nature to love and protect them even before they are born. We also put up with a lot to just get our little ones into the world to hold. Each pregnancy of mine has been complicated and honestly down right uncomfortable! I wish I was lucky to have easy uneventful pregnancies but it seems I am destined to always have one complication. As it is I feel down right awful. My medicine is kicking my butt. You would think in all of that I would be ready to be done being actually pregnant. The truth is I am not ready. I am not ready to share Ari with the world yet. It may be selfish but I like just having him with me. I am over being uncomfortable, but I am not over being pregnant.

All that to say I have been working on something special for him. As previously mentioned my love for him has had to grow with time. Eli and Lilliana were planned and anticipated and so hoped for. Ari came as a suprise but a welcome one. It has taken a lot to adjust to the idea of another child. Would I change it, absolutely not! I now love him so much and maybe even more so than the other two because I know the joys of another child in the home. So I have been working on a special quilt for him. He gets a lot of used things from the other kids. I wanted him to have something special for just himself. Regardless of when he is born his due date will always make him my little patriotic baby. The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday too. As silly as going completely to my due date sounds I really want him to come on the 4th of July. So all that to say his quilt is patriotic. I just finished sewing it all together today. I am waiting on the back fabric to arrive and then I can begin quilting. As I am sewing it I have been dreaming and anticipating wrapping his tiny little body in it, knowing it will be an heirloom that can be passed on. He will know it was made in love for him.

Where have we been?!?

Honestly, I feel like my head has been in the clouds the past couple of days. This week was a whirlwind that ended not so fun for me.

Last weekend we had a blast and pictures posted will be from it. Tuesday I had an appointment with my midwives. My blood pressure was better than before but still a little borderline. Wednesday marked 34 weeks pregnant and one of these days I will get a picture!

Wednesday I also had my first day at my new job. This will be very part time which is just fine with me. It was so weird going back to work. I have not worked outside of the house for somebody in four years. So crazy!! I am excited for this opportunity and can not say enough wonderful things about the owner of the store I will be working in. The staff she has hired also seems wonderful and I can't wait to get to know them. The store started out as our local cloth diaper store. I have bought a large amount of my diapers from there. She has had a dream for well over a year to exand into an eco friendly store. She finally has done it and I am so excited for her. I was approached to work for her last fall so I am so glad it is all coming together. We have had some family changes since with Ari, but we are managing and it is all working out great. The best thing is, kids get to come to work with me. It is wonderful.

Thursday brought my appointment with Dr. Herta the OB I saw with Lilliana. I was driving to my appointment on the freeway and passing a semi. Low and behold a huge softball size rock comes flying at me. It cracked my windshield really good! I have to say Praise The Lord nobody else was around because I know I swerved. It did not help the blood pressure situation but oh well.

My appointment went well. Dr. Herta laughed that I was back to see her. Her words are, "your back to see me so you can try not to deliver with me?" It is rather ironic but the truth. She actually was pleased with how I am doing this time. She says it is a good sign I didn't start having problems until 34 weeks. She also says it is not that bad only borderline. I did discuss the possibility of more kids as honestly, Anthony and I really do not want to be done for good. We do want to wait a bit. The biggest concern has always been my health. She said she would never

say not to have anymore kids because of this. She said this the pattern that it goes and it might come to a point I never get it. All in all it was a good visit. She put me back on medicine which is where things start to get a little fuzzy.

I had to wait two hours in town for my perscription to be filled. So I did the grocery shopping and got home late. Finally got home and took my medicine. It was also warm on Thursday. I also have had a strong desire to clean non stop. I have been spending a lot of time doing that. So I started doing that and about passed out. It is the side effects of the drug. It is frustrating beyond belief. So needless to say it has continued until right now. Right now being 5 in the morning on Sunday. I have not slept all night. Another side effect. Thankfully no more dizzy spells. My body will regulate this medicine at one point but I have felt awful and been pretty useless. I finally got the pictures saved from last week. I also began working on a quilt for Ari. I can't edit at the computer due to swelling. So I have needed something else to create. I started the quilt and have gotten a lot done. I am excited to get it finished. So our whirlwind of a week has ended in a fog. I have gotten a lot of things done in preperation for him though and slowly but surely Anthony and I are crossing things off our list. I just hope I feel better and can really get things done!!!

Last weeks pictures! Friday night I wanted ice cream!!!! I had been craving it so we headed to town and got ice cream! It was wonderful. We went to the park and enjoyed it there and the kids played.

It was a night I realized my kids were growing up. It is so bittersweet. Especially my little girl. She is not my baby anymore! I feel bad because I have been to big to really let her slide like Eli did at this age at the park. He was a daredevil though and climbing up on the big toys before he was a year old! Anthony was there though and he let her slide.

I grabbed Eli to take a couple nice pictures of him as sometimes it is hard to get him to want to.

I come back and apparantly Anthony's help was not good enough for Lilliana. Nope she wanted to do it by herself!!! She had done it once while we were taking pictures and then said, "again" and away she went!

She loves to keep up with Eli and is not going to be left behind if she has her way. Eli also climbed the rock wall for the first time. He always wants to do it but there is no way I can catch him at this point if he were to fall. Thankfully Anthony was there to help

Saturday Anthony had to work. The kids went with Anthony's mom and I enjoyed a nice quiet peaceful house! I have to say it was pretty amazing.

Sunday was another hot day and we pulled out the pool for the first time that afternoon and played.

Lilliana was not too sure and did not really spend much time playing in it. She was more interested in climbing in and out and bouncing on the side.

Eli on the other hand was a fish. He was jumping and playing and loving every minute!

After nap we were out again. This time it included popscicles. I have been eating them for a month. The kids not so much. Eli normally does not like them. He asked for one and as usual didn't really want it. Lilliana loved hers. In fact she cried very hard after Eli threw his on the ground and Kenya started eating it and we would not let her have it.

It was wonderful to play outside and I am sure we will make it out again today and tomorrow as it is supposed to be another hot one!

I also made finger puppets for Eli this past week. He asked for a snowman and caterpiller. Interesting combination. He has enjoyed playing with them all week. We will probably make more. I just have to find different glue because the foam glue I used takes a long time to dry!!

All in all it has been a busy week! I am glad it is busy because it helps the time go by quicker before I deliver! I will regret not getting any sleep tonight and hope I can stay awake in Church today! Hopefully by the end of this week I am feeling better and my body has adjusted to the medicine! Have a wonderful Memorial Day! I know we will be visiting family and relaxing!

More to Come

I have pictures sitting in my editing program waiting to be saved. I can't get to them in a timely manner. My swelling has been crazy. The kids have also been rather needy the past two days. They must sense life as we know it is about to change. It will be good change but I feel like they sense it. This week is busy with Dr. Appointments. Some training for me at the new store I will working part time at and of course the weekend. Anthony and I have lots of projects planned. We have a list and goals so hopefully after this weekend I feel more prepared for Ari's arrival.

Nesting is killing me. I have been going through drawers and everything. I also feel like I may have dropped a little today. He needs to wait at least 3 more weeks to come. It is too early right now! The way I am acting and feeling though I feel like its going to happen any day. I hope it is just anxiousness and hopefully thinking because it is too early. My uterus may be measuring big but it is not time.

All that to say we are busy. This past weekend was great and I have lots of photos and a couple stories, for now it will have to wait. I leave you with these photos though....................

This boy has been extra sensitive, whiny, and just drama the past two days. Then he smiles a smile like he just did and melts my heart. He is also silly and I love it!

This little girl is whiny also! I think she is growing because she is trying to sleep a lot. She is constantly falling asleep in weird places. I just pulled her out of her highchair from sleeping while eating. Yesterday she was mad I would not put her down for a nap at 10:00 a.m. and grabbed her blanket to sleep on the floor. She was playing with Eli and then was out.

This weekend we broke out the pool and the kids had a blast! More to come of those adventures hopefully later this week.

We are off to take naps then head to a baby appointment to check on Ari and my blood pressure.

Making Lemonade out of Lemons

This week has gone far from how it was anticipated to go. Such is life and that is ok. Last night Anthony and I prayed about it and we are just going to continue with the new plans. First, we have been praying about a mini van that has been for sale for almost 2 months. We have been praying if it is the one for us when we get one it will be there and we will get it for the price we have been praying for. Anthony and I have also been praying about timing for this. We have not felt it was the time yet. We don't want to rush this as we need to rely on this vehicle for several years. Both of us without saying anything to each other both said this weekend we felt would be the time to do it. We had plans to go on Friday to test drive and begin the process of looking.  Well Anthony's schedule has been changed and we are grateful for the over time so it looks like that is going to have to wait another week.

That was the first lemon thrown at us. The second one came on Tuesday as I had a baby appointment. Sadly my blood pressure is really high. The good news that came out of it is Ari has turned and is head down. So now I will have a consult with the OB I saw with Lilliana and more than likely be put on blood pressure medicine again. I am not looking forward to any of this. I do feel awful at the moment and the medicine does help but has some nasty side effects. I also don't have a lot of time left to deliver and won't be on the medicine as long as I was with Lilliana so that is good.

The third lemon came yesterday. Eli woke up and told us he had scratches on his feet. Anthony looked at them and saw little blisters everywhere. I asked if they were on his hands and they were. I knew right then it was hand foot and mouth disease. Another little girl I know has it and it came to my mind. So to the Drs. he went. My thoughts were confirmed. He is now contagious until the blisters are gone. Who knows how long that can take. Thankfully his case does not seem to be to bad. So in all that that means Eli can't be around other kids. This has some limitations as I have extra appointments and can't take him but he can't go to daycare at Aunt Toni's house. Needless to say everything seems to be working out. He is bored though and wants to see his friends.

Sigh its been an interesting week to say the least...............We are making the best of it though! The kids and I have enjoyed each other. I don't feel the greatest and have little energy but we are working on sock puppets and hopefully can play with those the rest of the week. We are enjoying the sunshine too and knowing all this will only last for a while! In the end we will be stronger for it.

Today is also Embrace The Camera day! Today I decided to Embrace it with my sweet little girl. She has worried me for a while as she loves boy toys and I figured I would end up with a Tom Boy. I would love a girly girl since I have two boys. Well she is becoming obsessed with girl things as of late. She loves getting ready with me in the morning. She is obsessed with my makeup and hair things. If she catches the bathroom door open she runs in and pulls everything out to play. She also loves wearing her pettiskirt and playing dress up. She wants it on everyday. She is becoming my little girly girl but still loves to play with her brother. So today we embraced the camera while we got ready for the day.

Yesterday marked 33 weeks. As previously stated I am not feeling well and look down right exhausted. I am one week closer though! Doing my silhoutte was too much as it involves climbing a step stool and hanging a blanket and all sorts of stuff. At this point keeping my hands above my head makes me feel really funny so I opted for something different this week. Gotta love a mirror. They help when you need a quick solution to pictures.

Carnival Fun

Finally we made it to the Carnival on Friday night. Eli talked about it all day. He was so excited. The carnival is a big money pit and I promise they make it so appealing to kids so their parents spend money! Tickets seem to be rip off but the bracelets for a complete pass are $20. After discussing it we set a budget before we left and stuck to it. Eli was able to get a bracelet in the budget and we all ate.

Eli got his wristband and was ready to go. I have to say this will probably be the only year he gets a bracelet and gets to ride whatever he wants because I am not sure we will be spending $60 on rides when all 3 kids are able to ride. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there but he was one luck little boy.

 

Lilliana was stuck watching. I can't say she really enjoyed that part. She is use to doing whatever her brother does and not being able to ride made her not so happy.

From the day we started watching the carnival set up until Friday night all Eli could talk about was riding the race cars. I didn't even watch the ride before he went on. I really should have. It was the ride that whips you around the corners. After he is on before it started I thought oh man I should have not let him do this. He is going to cry. Well thankfully that was not the case!! He loved every minute of it.

Then of course he had to ride the train. The child loves trains. He rode it the most. It was slow and hardly worked so its name was fitting since it was called The Hillbilly Express.

Lilliana sat and waved at him the entire time screaming and trying to get his attention.

I am sure next year they will be best buddies riding together! Then it was time for cotton candy.

Eli did not like it. Lilliana of course did. It was a waste of money for us as we were not going to let Lilliana eat it all. I do not like it and Anthony did not want it. A lucky relative got it. We also enjoyed dinner after this. Although later that night dinner did not settle well with me! Since Lilliana didn't get to do much we got lots of pictures of her eating. The girl loves to eat.

After dinner it was back to more rides for Eli. He met a friend along the way. She helped him through the fun house and then they rode rides together for a while.

We let Lilliana out and she kept trying to go in the rides but enjoyed her freedom.

I love her little pig tails. They curl like perfect little mushrooms

Saying hi to me even though it looks like she is telling me to stop taking pictures.

Eli loved these cars. This video about sums up what he did on everything that had a horn.

She looks like she is a prisoner. Sitting at the fence watching her brother ride

It would not be the carnival without elephant ears! Although I do believe it made me sick.

 

My favorite picture of the night

All in all it was a great night. It was bittersweet as Eli is getting so big to ride rides, but I loved watching his excitement. He was so polite and even without being prompted told Anthony and I thank you for taking him. Saturday Anthony had to work. It was parade day too. The big perk of living on the main street is we can watch from our yard or inside. Eli insisted he sit outside to watch. It was pouring!!! I could not find the umbrella which figures the one time I need it. So I got out the jogging stroller and plopped them in it. They did not get wet at all. I on the other hand was soaked. Finally halfway through I opened up the porch door and had them sit there. They didn't care they loved every minute of it.

The train and race car were Eli's favorite!

Mother's Day for me was wonderful! Anthony let me sleep in although I had editing to finish up so I ended up doing that but it was nice to do it in peace. He also went grocery shopping with the kids for me. I got a card and flowers. We also went to dinner. It was perfect and he made sure I knew how much he appreciated me. Eli was absolutely adorable and kept telling me, "Happy Mother's Day." He also told me he loved me so much. It was a great day!

32.5 Weeks. He is laying really funny so makes me look huge! I am just getting big but that means he is growing so it is good.

It was a busy wonderful weekend! I am so glad we were able to have so much fun. Now to rest and relax the rest of the week.