Thankful Thursday

I'm still looking at this ...

1. The good news is, the worst news I've heard all day is, "You're still 2 cm." I should know better than to get my hopes up. I seriously woke up this morning and put our bags in the car. I finished up the laundry and dishes, swept and mopped the floor, made sure the house was spotless, and didn't thaw anything out for dinner. I was SO SURE my doctor would say, "Oh my, you're dilated to a 9. Go on over to the hospital." I was not prepared for "2 cm." But, really, what's one more week? I know her birthday is already set and I have very little to do with it and I will not be drinking any castor oil!

2. I get 2 of these very soon! Someone is ready for her little sister to get here. :)

3. Daddy found a new Veggie Tales double feature on sale for $5 that we don't already own. The kids are into VT again and I love it!

4. Aunt Angela got to come over for dinner this week and my kids were THRILLED. Love all my sisters.

Exciting times for us ahead.

Random Conglomeration of Life One Week Before Baby #4

Pains shooting down my legs immobilize me in public. "I'm okay, it happens all the time." But nothing I say alleviates the concerned, "your-crazy" stares.

One child has to go potty during our Chick-fil-a lunch, so do I take all three? Do I leave the boys at the table by themselves? At our CFA, yes, because our favorite "waitress" will keep an eye on them. :) I love my smallish town, and it pays to be a frequent visitor at CFA (caution - your waistline may also pay).

Alayna has two little plastic people she has named Jack and Jill. She calls them her jumping jacks. :)

Allergies are running high and I'm surviving on Benadryl and daily dose of caffeine.

The boys spent part of the morning in the dark bathroom with flashlights telling stories to each other (while I laid on the couch reading to Alayna who was sitting on her little potty chair trying to go #2).

I feel like I'm constantly cleaning, picking up, cooking, cleaning up, etc because what if my water breaks in 5 minutes and the house is messy?! Seriously (my water has never broken on it's own, and I've never gone into labor by myself, but it could happen).

I'm reading the Mission of Motherhood right now and loving it. Nothing like an awesome parenting book to motivate me in the midst of exhaustion and those shooting pains. Because they will only be little and squishy for so long. I was at the grocery store Saturday with Alayna. At the checkout line she chatted with the couple behind us while I loaded the groceries on the conveyer belt. With tears in their eyes they said to me, "Our baby girl is going to prom tonight." I can't hardly get my mind past this stage, but I know it's coming. Maybe I just don't WANT to think about it.

I'm teaching my last water aerobics class tonight, and so relieved.

I held my breath all weekend while my doctor was out of town running a marathon. I'm ready to go any time now. I have my next appointment Thursday afternoon. I'm hoping she'll send me on over to the hospital and break my water ... if I don't go before then. You never know :).

2 weeks

38 weeks - 2cm dilated - looks like we'll be right on time :)

Grrrreat!

We went to Walmart yesterday for a few groceries. I'm and Aldi shopper but they don't always carry everything I need. When I told the kids where we were going both boys cheered. Inevitably, we get to look at the toys at the end of our trip if they're good while we're shopping. Oh, the excitement! I even let them pick out their own cereal (we usually stick to the healthier breakfast choices and, left up to them we would be eating rieces pieces and milk for breakfast). Hudson chose Frosted Flakes and said, "I hear these are supposed to be grrreat!"

Dr Apt.

For those of you waiting on pins and needles for my doctor appointment news, the news is ... there is no news. NO PROGRESS. I did the 2 hour Zumbathon on Saturday, weeded and mulched my flower beds, and carried Alayna to the bathroom 400 times and I still have nothing to show for it. So, not only do I get pregnant just by thinking about it, I also hang on to my babies until three days after their due date.

I'm not bitter. That actually takes away any anxiety I had lingering in my head over doing too much. So, I will be at the Y this week and I will behave like a normal human being and not like this baby is about to fall out. There's no good excuse to take it easy yet. Oh well.

The Little Princess and her Journey to Princess Panties

Well, potty-training is not my favorite part of parenting, but when it's done it's so sweet. Notice how tired mommy is in the picture below ... part of that tiredness could have been that I was rearranging furniture and vacuuming every little nook and cranny, but that's another story.

We still keep the little potty chair handy when we're outside. Boys can just water the trees, but little girls have to run inside every 15 minutes and that's no fun. So we put it on the back porch and that works nicely. :) It's also nice to have three acres and no neighbors to bother.

She fell asleep on daddy after the traumatic discovery that she had to SIT on the potty. Never thought that would be the hard part for her!

The BIG potty chair is way better. I sit on the bathtub ledge and hold her hand. After doing this 100 times a day it's good to remind myself that someday she really will go all by herself ... and so will I! Quality time, right?!

She LOVES her brothers ...

and she REALLY loves her Mimi ...

and lately, she loves her daddy a WHOLE LOT. He'll pick her up and she'll pet his face and say, "My daddy." (Yes, she's still in the "mine" phase. It's sweet when it's daddy though, and he's loving it.)

Mimi and Papa played with the kids yesterday and David and I spent a day on the town. A little shopping, a Ruby Tuesday's salad bar, and a movie. Friday matinees draw an interesting local crowd. Somehow, David and I always get the blue hairs behind us with hearing aids cranked up high and they still talk loud to each other through the movie. Bonus entertainment, right?!

A couple of weeks ago I bought an urn with my gift certificate at Pottery Barn (the $$ leftover after the shower curtain purchase). So, yesterday I filled it with flowers from "Hobbly Lobbly" (50% off sale!!! I was SO excited). I'll have to take a picture of the finished product. I'm pretty proud of myself.

And, today is Saturday so we're planning on finishing up the flower beds and other jobs that require some serious outside time. Loving this spring weather!

Monday

I'm totally wiped out these days. I went to the grocery store this morning and took a two hour nap this afternoon to recover. I have these crazy bursts of energy where I accomplish the unimaginable, but they leave me lifeless. My doctor appointment on Monday should reveal if all these contractions are paying off. I'm never early, but it's a nice thought.

Alayna did remarkably well with potty training. We've had no accidents and she's been dry every night since the first night. She sometimes wakes up at 4 in the morning to go potty, but so do I. No big deal. When she goes on the big potty chairs she always says, "It okay, my mommy gotcha." Her little legs stick straight out and when she's done she giggles and cheers. Adorable. We've replaced the special candy rewards with stickers. She LOVES stickers so the exchange was painless.

Wow, I can't wait for Monday. Does anyone ever say that?!

Easter

Potty-Training #3

"Clean and dry! Clean and dry!" - our new favorite song since Alayna's in princess panties. Day one of potty training was absolutely exhausting for both of us. She wanted to stand up like her brothers and sitting was traumatic for some reason. Once she figured out that sitting wasn't so bad, she did great. No accidents on day two and this is the morning of day three. She woke up dry ... at 6 am. As hard as day one was, she's been the easiest to train so far. She still gets a little panicky with public potty chairs. I may need to carry around the small-bottom potty chair lid for the Y and church and other people's houses. :)

I really hadn't planned on potty-training until after the baby came. Don't know why I thought that would be easier!? But Alayna's been asking to go potty for a while now, so I thought we'd give it a shot. In case anyone is interested, I use Potty Training 123 by the Ezzo's for all three kids and they've all three potty-trained within 1 to 3 days. There's nothing magical about it except that the kids are ready and the mommy is ready for the ride. The first day is intense as far as staying on top of it and dealing patiently with accidents. The second and third days are progressively easier and less messy. So, I have a bunch of size 4 diapers at my house if anybody needs that size. :)

Hudson has finished his 15 day challenge so we're headed to Old McDonald's today. Our town has a newly built MD, but the boys like the old playground better. Hudson drew a sign for Pierce with both of them jumping up and down that said, "Let's go to McDonalds!" He's pretty pumped. And AUNT SHANNON IS IN TOWN!!! We're SO excited to spend Easter weekend with my little sister.

Went to the doctor Monday. All is well with Adelle. She measures right at 35 weeks even if mommy feels about to pop. She's head down and ready to go ... in a month. I told my doctor about all the aerobic classes I'm still doing thinking maybe she would say I should take it easy or something. No. She was so pleased with me. So I'll be going to Zumba this morning. I have a tiny little umbilical hernia (looks like an outie, which I never have with babies). Supposedly I should limit my lifting. I quit lifting weights a while back, except for laundry baskets and children. I guess the giant baby will have to get used to being the big sister sooner rather than later. It's always a little bit sad.

I'll close this post with the official name agreed upon by BOTH PARENTS. I thought we'd never get to this point. Naming kids is hard! Among the ranks of Hudson Alexander, Pierce Maxwell, and Alayna Serene, we will add Adelle Sofia Frederick.