Week 29 with a Spill

I began Monday morning with the start of the every-two-weeks visit to the OB/GYN. It was a pretty pointless visit just to make sure everything was progressing. The doctor was impressed that I'd only gained four pounds since my last visit because everyone else had gained eight or nine pounds with Thanksgiving. Yeah?

So I went about the usual Monday routine. Chores, Xander to school, Josie to the sitter, me to school and then pick them up and head home. We arrived home and I went to check the mail. Then I took an unplanned trip.

The curb along the driveway is maybe, maybe, half of an inch high. I managed to trip over it just right so that I keeled over like a plank. No arms windmilling, no stumbling steps, just "Timber!" I landed on my hands and belly.

My first reaction was "Wow, hope no one saw that" but as I rolled over to push myself up I realized that I'd really just belly flopped on my little baby. I did not completely freak out but I was not calm and collected either. I ushered Josie inside (where I found Xander digging into the cookie stash) and set everything down. I changed my clothes, since they were nicely soaked from the puddles and realized that my belly was actually red where I'd landed on it. Hmm. There weren't any big red flags, so I stalled by looking up "Falling" in "What to Expect When You're Expecting." It pretty much said the baby was fine but call the doctor anyway.

So I called the OBGYN and left a message. The nurse called back and immediately said that I should head to Labor and Delivery at the hospital to get checked out, she even called ahead so I would be admitted.

That, of course, left me with the kids. I figured I'd be in, get the heart rate checked and be out. Still, I didn't want to haul Xander and Josie along and have to spend my time yelling at them not to touch anything. Fortunately, the first neighbor I called immediately said she and her husband could watch them. In fact, she insisted on driving me to the hospital which I accepted when I realized that I was shaking.

Off to the hospital where I was immediately checked in and strapped in to a baby heart rate monitor, contraction monitor and blood pressure monitor. Chris arrived about thirty minutes later. I had my blood drawn and ultrasounds done. It's still a girl and already weighs about 3.5 pounds. But no signs of problems. I did have to stay for about 4 hours. Poor Chris was starving by the time I was given the 'okay' to eat. But we did get to hang out and watch television while another friend took over with Xander and Josie and put them to bed.

At about 9 I was given the all clear to leave. Chris and I headed home and I headed to bed. I woke up feeling fine Tuesday morning but became increasingly sore as the day went on. Today I woke up sore but am starting to finally feel better. I am wimping out of carrying large loads or leaning over to help small children but I expect to be back to full Mom status in another couple of days.

Now I'm just paranoid about the snow.

Lessons from Dad

Tonight, after dinner, Chris taught the kids some very important lessons.

First, Chris had a talk with Xander about farting etiquette. They discussed the rules as follows:
1) No farting at the table while people are eating.
2) No farting in front of girls, including Mom, Josie and Grandma.
3) No farting in school unless you are on the playground.
4) It's always okay to fart in the basement.
5) It's okay to fart in the bathroom.

Xander then practiced excusing himself from the table to go fart in the bathroom.

Next, Chris taught the kids how to do jumping jacks. Xander and Josie love to exercise with us but they haven't quite coordinated the arms and legs. So they all gathered in the kitchen to practice in slow motion. I really need to get these things on video.

Week 28

This pregnancy is still progressing as expected. I'm 28 weeks now, still due on February 19. I have to say that this pregnancy has made me feel the most... pregnant. I had morning sickness longer than the others. I have been incredibly moody for most of this pregnancy; Chris is breathing a sigh of relief that it seems to have passed. There's the usual heartburn with the added fun of daily bleeding gums and random bloody noses. There was even a brief spat of nesting when I cleaned the vent at the bottom of the refrigerator.

At week 20 we did get an ultrasound with the results being that the baby is healthy and a girl! While we strongly suspected a girl, Chris still had to put his head between his knees and do some deep breathing.

Why does this picture keep loading upside down??

The baby is getting more and more active. I think Xander must have left a sign that says 'Kick Me Here' because this baby is getting the same spot on my right side right below the ribs.

Xander and Josie are excited about the baby. They will randomly talk to my belly to say hi or good night. If someone asks Xander about the baby he will list all of the things he plans to teach her, such as running and basketball. He has decided to name the baby Sally so I try to give him gentle reminders that his father and I might decide on a different name. Josie loves playing with her stuffed animals and will tuck them in for a nap.

I have had the best intentions to stay healthy this pregnancy so that I don't surpass a certain predetermined weight, because I'm stubborn like that. I have three prenatal workout videos but only get to do about half of a video twice a week. And, once again, I am a carboholic and can not stop myself from eating baked sweets. Ah well, at least I am getting some exercise and nutritious food in.

Here I am at 26 weeks. I feel like I am the size of a Buick but I've been repeatedly told that I look good. Maybe people can just tell I need the compliments.

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone but I still need to document it, right? Just like I still need to document the well checks in August and the ultrasound in September. I'll get caught up eventually.

This Halloween has definitely been the most fun so far. Xander is old enough to have fun with it and Josie is old enough to know that if Xander is having fun, she should too. First up, we attended the Trunk or Treat event at school. Xander wore a Buzz Lightyear costume and Josie was a butterfly. Surprisingly, they both chose to wear the same costumes as last year. Well, Xander did have to get a bigger size, but a friend let us borrow one.

So the Trunk or Treat consisted of pizza, trick-or-treating in the parking lot and then a costume contest. My friend Mandy helped us out and the dinner went well. We were headed outside for the trick-or-treating when something strange happened. Josie stopped. I tried to coax her out the door and she just shook her head and backed up. I looked around to see if someone had a scary costume that freaked her out but didn't see anything. Again with the coaxing followed by head shaking and backing up. I finally asked her what was wrong and she replied "No outside. Trick-or-treat." To which I explained that the trick-or-treating was outside. "Oh? Trick-or-treat outside? Okay!" and she took off.

The kids had fun and it was definitely entertaining to see how all of the car (van, trucks) were decorated. Josie was most mesmerized by the disco van. Xander was too busy racing around with Chris for me to know what he thought.


Next up, Xander's class at school had a Halloween party. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to wear the Buzz costume because it was a one piece suit and not restroom friendly. So after I repeatedly asked him what he wanted to dress as for school he decided to be a super hero. He already had the cape. I pondered making a mask, cuffs, maybe a utility belt. Then the day before I realized that I wouldn't have time. So we picked up a shirt and some iron-ons to make a Super Xander shirt.

He was thrilled with it. And the shirt can worn as a regular shirt, so I feel like it was a win-win situation.

We picked up six pumpkins at the nearby nursery but didn't get to carve them until just before Halloween. We only carved one each, so there are two left over to continue the seasonal vibe until Thanksgiving. From left to right we have Chris's, Josie's (she mostly scribbled on hers and said she wanted circles), Amanda's and Xander's pumpkins. The kids were extra excited when they had candles inside them. And Xander was also excited to try toasted pumpkin seeds.

Side story: In Xander's class they counted out pumpkin seeds and glued them to a picture of a pumpkin. I'm fairly certain that Xander tried eating some of those seeds.


Finally it was time for trick-or-treating in our neighborhood which fell on Halloween this year. We nearly didn't go due to van test driving (there's another post I need to catch up on) but we got our act together at the last minute. Josie was decked out as a butterfly again, my favorite part is putting her hair into little pigtails for antennae. Xander decided to wear his super hero costume.

We needed an air traffic controller with the flying children in our house.



Some people seemed confused by Xander's costume (what, it's a homemade, original? we didn't spend oodles of money on a cheap costume that would immediately fall apart but was easily recognizable?) but that didn't deter him from flying down the sidewalks with his cape billowing behind him. Josie's little wings were a little slower, so we ended up splitting up.

I finished up the block with Josie. It took a little practice but she eventually got that she wasn't supposed to reach into the bucket and grab candy. She was hesitant to say "Trick or treat" but was always quick to say "Thank you" which earned lots of aaaaaaaaws. There were a few costumes and decorations that scared her. She would stare at something and cling to me. I tried to reassure her it was pretend but I found it was just easier to pass up the houses with scary decorations or costumes.

Meanwhile, Chris took Xander a little further out. Xander's bag became so heavy that Chris had to unload some of the candy.

When we had all returned home, the kids were allowed a treat and sent off to bed. Then Chris and I delved in and helped ourselves. Because, really, we did just as much work as they did.

Abstract Dad

As Xander becomes more involved in school work, he is beginning to draw more. One focus is to be able to draw Mat Man, which is just a man formed by shapes (circle for the head and so on). Before this, Xander would draw a picture if I asked but he didn't ask for crayons and paper.

When school began he had to draw a self portrait. His first attempt was pretty decent despite the fact that he drew four legs. He explained that was because it was a picture of him dancing. I was very tempted to put a note with the picture to explain why his picture had extra legs but I refrained from doing doing so.

He now will ask to draw a picture and he continues to add little extras that he is all to happy to explain. Below is the picture he decided to draw of Chris. Interesting, I know. Allow me to explain.


You can clearly see the head. Xander did start out with Dad's eyes, nose, mouth and ears. You can just make them out if you try. The little bubble on top is a hat. The blue on the top is hair. The purple on top is the brain. Yeah. I know. The blue in the middle is Dad's beard. (Chris is currently in beard mode, in case you haven't seen him.)

The red on the ears? Ear gloves. I kid you not.

The red on his feet? Snow socks.

And, in case you haven't noticed, Dad is in a bubble.

Also, there are no arms. Xander said that Chris could add in arms but they had to be little arms. He strongly reiterated that, "Short arms, Dad!"

I can't wait to see what he thinks of me.

Highbanks Metro Park

I really wanted to go to the park to get pictures of the kids in the fall foliage and, since it was nearly 80 this weekend, I managed to drag Chris away from the patio for a few hours. The kids were excited to go to the park because in their heads park = playground. So when we started walking on the trails, they were less than happy.


Xander flat out refused to have his picture taken.




After a little teasing from Dad, Josie cheered up and had a good time.






I taught Josie how to stomp on the leaves to hear them crunch. That lead to running through the leaves. Finally, Xander cheered up when he realized he was allowed to throw the leaves.






Now I just need to work on figuring out the best settings on this fancy camera. I mean, there isn't one that says "Pictures of kids on a sunny day in a shady park" so we made due with "Auto." I did try a couple "Aperture" settings, but the pictures came out blurry.

Going Viral

About two weeks ago Josie woke up with crusties and some puss in her left eye. I cleaned it and wondered if something was in her eye or if it were the beginning of pink eye. The puss did get worse over the next few days but her eye never turned became pink and she only rubbed it occasionally. Within a week it was all gone.

A week after that Xander woke up and insisted he was cold. In fact, he was shaking so badly at breakfast that he could barely get his spoon to his mouth. After a quick confirmation of a fever I told him that he wouldn't be able to go to school. He insisted he could go, he would just tell the teacher he was cold. I had to explain that he could share his germs and then the other kids would all be cold too. So Xander missed his first day of school and spent the morning curled under a blanket and watching PBS cartoons.

That afternoon I returned home from teaching and knew just what Xander felt like. Chills, aches, sore throat, some coughing and very tired. So I curled up on the couch with him and relaxed.

The next day was Saturday and Xander was ready to go. I was not. I still felt lousy.

I finally felt better on Sunday morning. I still had a sore throat and cough but the fever finally broke and I wasn't achy any more. But wait, what's this? I woke up with crusties in my eye. I duly ignored them, put in my contacts and went about my day.

Monday I woke up coughing so hard I was short of breath. And my eye was a nice, blood shot shade of pink. Off to the doctor I went, toting along the culprits who made their mom so sick. The doctor checked it all out and said that it was a viral pink eye and I was still recovering from the flu. So no antibiotics and things should clear up within the next seven days. With the pregnancy, I just need to drink lots of liquids, watch out for fever and let them know if my symptoms are still stubbornly hanging on next week.

Isn't it great that the kids can share?

4th Birthday

Xander's 4th birthday was a week and a half ago but it was a long time coming. He has been asking for a Nintendo DS since Christmas. We would be in a store and he'd see something he likes and I'd remind him to ask for it for his birthday. He saw Curious George making a pinata and thought we should make one. He wanted to invite his friends from California to his party. He wanted chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream and chocolate pizza at his party.

I don't mean to make it sound like he was demanding, he was just excited for his birthday. Of course some plans were changed around. We went with a fruit pizza instead (thanks, Grandma). He decided on a chocolate and vanilla cake while we were at the store, so I bought a marble cake mix and used the penguin cupcake mold. We totally forgot to serve the chocolate ice cream.

I also let Xander pick a theme for some of the accessories. After some debate he went with Toy Story (surprise, since he hasn't been quite as obsessed with Toy Story in the past months). Xander, Josie and I made up goody bags for the kids at the party and for Xander to bring to his classmates in school. There were special Toy Story plates and cups for the kids and I splurged on a (clearance) bubble maker for in the yard. We decided to keep the party small this year since I'm always exhausted.

On the day of his birthday, he was first up and came in to our room so we could sing happy birthday to him. He was very excited to open a few gifts first thing in the morning (I will spare him the future embarrassment of posting the video of him opening Lego Star Wars underwear). After mass and a few hours of prep, the party was on!

Behold! The birthday penguin!

Blowing out the candles was easy (once we moved the cake close enough).

It passed the taste test!

The weather cooperated so after the sugar fix we sent the kids out to exercise.

Xander was all excited to get a special Sheriff Woody birthday hat. He wore it for all of ten minutes.

He received a plethora of clothes (which he needed) and board games (which he loves and wants to play every night). Then there were a few other gifts that he loved, such as the slippers.

Of course, Josie was in charge of Quality Control.

Chris loved that Xander completely forgot the remaining gifts to be opened and sat looking at the maze book until he was reminded what he was doing.

Like a good son, he pretended to love the clothes I picked out for him.

Josie was very good about waiting until Xander had opened a present and set it aside before she swooped in to check it out.

Now, off to take care of thank you cards!

First Day of School

Way back in the day Chris and I figured that we wouldn't send Xander to school until kindergarten. We weren't too hip with preschool especially since I can teach things at home. Then kindergarten became full day and I became a little nervous about going from no school to full day school with no stops in between. Then Xander became kind of smart. Granted, as my oldest I don't have other children to judge him against. However he is incredibly social with other kids and parents have occasionally commented about his speech, memory, etc. So we figure he's on the way to rocket-science-ville.

Therefore we decided to enroll Xander in prekindergarten this year. After hemming and hawing I settled on the afternoon class that meets for two and a half hours four times a week. I was, and still am, nervous because Xander is a 'young 4' meaning he turns four after the school year starts. I really think he will be ready for kindergarten as a 'young 5' so into pre-k he goes. While in California I met many a parent who was overly concerned about what age to put their child in school (as well as what school to put them in), I think it rubbed off on me a little.

We let Xander know that he'd start school this year and that announcement was met with excitement. So today when he woke up he told everyone "Today is school!" at which point I reminded him that school was after lunch. After lunch he proclaimed "Time to go to school!" and I had to rush off to change my clothes (I'm actually teaching while he's in school and Josie is with a sitter). I managed to get a few pictures in to commemorate the moment before we left.

Super excited!

Ok, I told him to look smart and maybe put his hand under his chin.

Josie is excited for Xander to go to school (and leave her alone).

Notice the nice little bruise on his forehead? He got that by running into the couch a few hours before school. Typical.

When we pulled up to the school I pointed out a mom and daughter and said that the girl was probably going to be in Xander's class. When I helped both kids out of the car, Xander raced after the girl shouting "Wait for me" and I then had to race after Xander while carrying Josie.

We went through the routine of putting his bag away, checking in and going to the restroom. At this point we were waiting in the hallway with all of the other parents and students and siblings when Xander actually became a little distraught that he wasn't in the classroom. "But Mom, I really want to go to school!"

As soon as that door opened he was off like a shot to play. I could barely get him to hug me good bye and I gave up and left. I wasn't one of the teary moms but when I got to the car I suddenly became nervous that I left him in the wrong classroom. There is only one classroom yet I somehow worried it was the wrong one.

When I picked him up at the end of the day, Xander very happy with school. When asked what he did today he replied "I drank chocolate milk!" Good to know.

Have You Heard the News?

Chris Clone #3 is on the way!

We found out in June, while we were still in California. I've put up some of the posts we made along the way, you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

I want to say the kids are excited but that isn't necessarily the case. When I first tried to explain to Xander that we'd have a new baby he misunderstood and thought we were going to get rid of Josie so we could have a new baby. Even now if we ask him if he's excited about the baby he won't answer but will take an adamant stand to keep Josie. However, if you ask him what we should name the baby he will have a ready answer. Right now he will say some made up version of Alexander such as Alejeho. There was a week that he wanted to name the baby Krista Elmo.

If you talk about the baby with Josie, she will insist that she is a baby and will want to pretend sleep in your arms or be burped. I'm not quite sure how to handle it but will look into ideas a little later.

By the way, the due date is officially February 19. Place your bets now!

Here are the previous posts:
Trio
She Didn't Believe Him
All the Cereal I Can Eat
Which Trimester is This?

Which trimester is this?

Well, here we are at 15 weeks pregnant. I want to put up all of the pregnancy posts but we wanted to make sure to tell family first so that it's not a surprise when we put up the posts (or I make some comment on Facebook). There is still one branch that doesn't know. That seems a little silly since I'm in my second trimester, so hopefully that news will be shared soon.

Speaking of trimesters, it doesn't seem much like I'm in the second right now. Last week I was still able to wear 'normal' clothes. I'm not saying I was comfortable, I'm just saying that it happened. And two weeks ago I saw a friend for the first time in a year who commented "Look at you, no baby bump this year!" She was quickly corrected, I can't have her thinking I'm fat. That's how most people are looking at me right now. It does depend on the outfit but I'm definitely at a point where most people want to ask if I'm pregnant but are still a little too afraid.

On the flip side, I already have several third trimester tendencies. I crave certain foods. I already need Tums, especially with all of the bending I do to talk to the kids or to pick up Josie. I already have insomnia. It's not every night, but it's not uncommon for me to wake up and toss and turn for a couple hours.

Tomorrow is my second doctor's visit so hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Contact

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Between packing, moving, unpacking and lack of internet we have not been able to blog. But unpacking is nearly done and the lack of internet has been remedied. More to come soon!

Family Farm Groupon

Mom is still busy, so Dad is taking care of the blog.....

We bought a Groupon for a Family Farm nearby. They had lots of fun stuff for us to play with and on.

First we fed some goats that haven't been fed in weeks. They were a bunch of starving mongrels.


The safest place to feed goats is from back here.


Then we practiced jumping in a bounce house.


And there was a rocking horse too. I didn't have the setting right for this pic, there is a little too much light. I was fiddling with the ISO and it's hard to tell if you have it right on the LCD.


Of course the best way to go down a slide is on your belly. I taught her that, of course her mom wasn't pleased.


Someone had fun in the hay bale maze....


....and someone else wasn't as entertained by such trivial activities....


And there was a rocking horse that kept giving me a frigging heart attack every forward swing.


Family photo!

Grandma Beck visited

Grandma Beck visited in the beginning of July.

We had lots of fun visiting the city again.

We had another trip into the city and drove down Lombard street.

Then we had a trip to the beach and played (and ate sand).


Then we went and visited Portola State Park and saw some redwoods.






Then we had an interesting drive back into the valley. It was a nice view, but some little girl inherited her mom's stomach and dislike for twisty mountain roads. We had to stop a couple of times to clean up vomit.


But it was a nice view despite the vomit.

Aunt Trisha visited

Mom is busy so Dad is catching up on blogs.

Aunt Trisha visited last month.

Amanda and the kids took her into the city to see the bridge.



Aunt Trisha was worried Josie was going to fall off the bridge.



Went to Ghiradelli Square and had (wore) ice cream sundaes.



We played in the sprinkler ball.



Josie showed off at the park.


And we told Aunt Trisha how awesome mornings are!!