Still Waiting

Countdown continues,

16 days till my "due date"
2 days past when I had Sarah in that pregnancy
9 days past when I had Bekah in that pregnancy
6 days until my parents leave for Hawaii (until May 14) and my friend Amy arrives from Minnesota

Sunday- the day I would really, really, like to be coming home from the hospital.

I know I can't control these things, but I'm starting to get impatient.

I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to trust God's timing over the next few days.

Sarah's first haircut

I cut Sarah's hair on Saturday for the first time. It was getting very stringy in the back and getting in her eyes. I still want to brush her hair to the side, not create bangs like Bekah, but they were just really uneven. Sarah will let me put clips in her, Bekah didn't leave them in till she was 3.5, so she had to have bangs.
Bobby didn't take any pictures of Sarah after, just a video, so you'll have to wait to see pictures of the hair after. :)

Bekah's new "past time" and Sarah's first ear infection

Bekah has a new love. Baseball. It is soooo cute!! A couple weeks ago, she announced she wanted to be a basketball player, a baseball player, and a cheerleader. My mom found this cute pink and black bat and pink ball and she started using it the other night. The first ball that Bobby pitched to her she hit!! It is really cute to watch.
Sarah got her first ear infection. Bekah still has never had one. Sarah had a bit of a runny nose a few weeks ago when she was getting her 2 year molars. It seemed to go away, and then came back with a bang. I took her to the doctor today thinking that she had a sinus infection. (She wasn't pulling on her ears or anything) But it ended up being an ear infection. She was a trooper taking her medicine when we got home this evening.

37 weeks, 2 days

After tomorrow, it will be the longest I have ever been pregnant.  Sarah was born at 37.5 weeks..  Bekah was born at 36.5 weeks.  I am ready to be done!!  Can you tell?? 

(At doctor on Friday, I was dilated 2 cm, 75% effaced, and she had dropped a lot from the week before.)

Pictures of the Girls

I really like this one of Bekah, but we didn't order it because of how Sarah looks.

Last week, I took Sarah and Bekah to have Sarah's 2 year pictures taken, and a picture of the two of the them because it had been a year since they had a picture together. These are the only 2 pictures that Sarah smiled in. The second one of just Sarah, is actually of Sarah and Bekah, the photographer just zoomed in on Sarah because we really hadn't gotten anything good from Sarah by herself.

Zoo

taken by Miss Rebekah

Taken by Miss Rebekah

After my dr. appointment on Friday, my mom and I took the girls to the zoo to see the baby elephant.  We also saw a couple other animals, but we did wait 45 minutes to see the baby elephant.

36 weeks

1 cm dilated
60% effaced
"very soft cervix" as quoted by my doctor
He thinks she'll be here by next weekend

Countdown-
3 days from when I had Bekah
10 days from when I had Sarah
28 days till due date
18 days till my parents leave for Hawaii and my friend Amy arrives from Minnesota

A couple more minor things to do, but other than that, I'm very ready to not be pregnant anymore.

Happy Easter!!

taken by Miss Rebekah.

Nephew Ethan's first goal

My nephew Ethan, will be 5 at the end of May, had his first soccer game on Saturday. It was sooooo cold. The temp. was 40, but the wind chill was 32. We were freezing!! He had an awesome goal!! He also scored another goal later during the game, but it was actually for the other team. He, and several of his little teammates, didn't quite understand switching goals after half time. By the way, in case you're wondering, they don't use goalies at this age.

Pregnancy Update

34 weeks, 5 days, taken by Miss Rebekah.  :)

The countdown has begun.
38 days till due date,
14 days from when I had Bekah,
21 days from when I had Sarah,
28 days till my friend Amy and her daughter come for a week while my parents are in Hawaii,
31 days from being induced if she hasn't come yet (but the doctor and I highly doubt I will make it there),
3 potential weekends left to get things ready!!

I am getting soooo tired. There are so many things to get done, but my body is giving out on me. When I have the motivation to get things done, my legs are swollen and it hurts me more to do anything. When I have put my legs up for a bit and feel better, I no longer have the motivation to do any of the things on the "to-do" list.

Prayer requests:
1) Getting through the next few weeks, physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.
2) Transition from 2 to 3 kiddos. Having patience when I am exhausted!!
3) Easy delivery. I am actually praying that this delivery will be like Sarah's, fast!!! At the time, it was scary, but afterwards, I recovered so much faster.
4) A full-time job for Bobby. He is finishing up seminary in May (yah!!!) and is currently only working part time. The plan was for us to be out in July from my parents', but then this baby came along and it would be a lot easier on everyone if we could get out earlier. We just need more space.

Also, if anyone has any recipes or meal ideas for things that freeze well, I would greatly appreciate them. I don't want a lot of pasta though, so more different ideas are very helpful. My friend Amy and daughter are coming while my parents are gone to help, but I don't want Amy to have to cook every night. I want her to be able to relax and just help with the kiddos.

My sister is taking a couple days off right after to help with transition, but after that I will still be watching my nephew. Bobby will go over in the morning and get our older nephew off to school and then bring the younger nephew back to my parents' house to play with the big girls. I know this sounds crazy, but except for a few squabbles throughout the day, they actually keep each other occupied better than if nephew wasn't around.

We greatly appreciate all your prayers over the next few weeks!!!

Our silly girls!

Pictures taken outside yesterday when we got home. Such silly girls! Can't believe we're going to have another.

I went to the doctor this morning, 34 week appointment. I had an ultrasound today to check the baby's size. The tech. estimated that she is 5 lbs. 11 oz right now. If I go full term, doubt it, she will be about 8 pounds. My doctor will check me in 2 weeks to see if I'm dilated at all. I have a few more things to get done before she arrives, but I am getting more and more ready!

Weekend away with Mom and Sister

Stain glass window over whirlpool.

Mom and Melissa enjoying the robes.

One corner of the room.

Sitting area/fireplace.

Last weekend, my mom and sister and I went up to Amish Country in Ohio, mostly around Berlin. We stayed at a fabulous hotel, The Carlile Inn. We got a HUGE suite completely with a whirlpool and fireplace. We shopped, went out to dinner, swam in the pool, they went in the hot tub while I enjoyed the whirlpool in the room, slept in, ate a wonderful breakfast, shopped some more, and ate lunch. It was a nice break away from kids and husbands. It was a fun little trip before baby Leah comes.

Really Late Post, treat we made that starts with U

We are currently on Y, so you know how long ago we did this!!

On March 5th, we made Unicorn Horns. We took sugar cones and spread fat free cool whip (kroger brand) on them with a knife. Then we rolled them in mini M & M's. They were yummy!!

COSI with Grandma, March 6th

Old town where they could play old "video games" and ride old rides.

Pretending to do their own TV broadcast.

Attempt at a group picture.

On March 6th, my mom and I took the kiddos to COSI. Dylan didn't have school, and my mom knows how stressful it is to have all 4 kids at home all day, so she took the day off and we took the kiddos to do something fun. It about killed me!! So much walking and tending to children. At the beginning, my mom took Dylan (8 years old) to do some stuff by himself and I watched the other 3 for an hour by myself in the toddler room. It is huge! I never knew where all 3 of them were at once. It was probably the part that made me the most tired.

We got there around 10 am and left around 2 pm. I was exhausted that night!! Because of how tiring it was for me, I only took a few pictures there.
Even though it was tiring for me, it was really fun for the kids, and was much better than refereeing at home all day. They tend to get REALLY rambunctious when they're together for a long period of time.

Silly Sarah Part 2

Yesterday, we went to the park to play on the playground. It is a park that is reasonably close to my sister's house. We used to walk there. We drive now. I just can't keep up with them for that long of a distance.

I put Sarah up on an area where she was pretending to drive. Because it was pretty high up and the only way down is a way Sarah can't do yet, I stood pretty close watching her. There were a lot of other kids there. (it was a nice day) Two bigger kids (probably Bekah's age) came towards me, eying the route down. They decided to go through a tunnel instead. Meanwhile, Miss Sarah saw them near me and starting saying, "That's my mommy! That's my mommy!" Even after they were gone, she shook her hand in their direction and repeated, "That's my mommy!!" Such a silly girl!!