Getting Restless

Only 12 more days to go.  It's probably a good thing. 
I've started getting uncomfortable - aka my back is hurting and I feel like a beached whale trying to get in an out of bed etc.  I think this is the only time I've ever actually looked forward to a spinal - knock that back pain out for 30 minutes please!
The distraction is a little ridiculous - and probably the most frustrating.  I think clearly for the first half of the day and spend the rest trying not to think only about d-day.  There are six of us {running around at least} for the next twelve days and we all have activities, save for Elizabeth who gets toted along to a lot of the activities.  There's 4H, wrestling practices, dance class, doctor apts., school activities, birthday parties, etc. going on and it helps to have a clear head {thank you planner for being there when my brain is not!}.  All of those things will continue of course once Baby Cinco arrives and even though I may not be expected to orchestrate them all, my brain is having a hard time functioning like it won't.  It's a good thing I have Jason!
Prayers that I find some inner serenity during the course of these last days - and that my family can put up with me - would be much appreciated! 

Getting Ready for Cinco

Last Saturday Grannie, Boppa, and Nana came to help us get some freezer meals ready for Baby Cinco's arrival.  Izzy was our crankiest baby to date and the idea of trying to prepare supper, help Sis and Eli with homework, and have a potentially hungry or cranky baby was a bit intimidating to me.  {J says this will probably be our most laid back baby yet but I want to be prepared just in case!}  We worked 4 or 5 hours but we put away around 9 meals, some/most of which should have leftovers.  I'm hoping those meals will buy us time to get a little adjusted to each other and hopefully find the beginnings of a new rhythm.  If nothing else it'll give this mama one less thing to be worried about!  You know, other than the girls trying to squish, squash, hold or do something else to their new sibling.  :)
Grannie and Boppa also brought down a couple of our Christmas gifts we were unable to pack into our car, including a new vacuum and a new crib bedding set for Cinco.  On the vacuum, let me just say the amount of hair it picks up is absolutely revolting.  I vacuumed with my old one before my parents came down and Jason vacuumed while they were here with the new one.  Wow and yuck.  I've vacuumed about every other day since and still picks up a crazy amount of stuff.

The crib bedding is, of course, darling.  It's browns, tans, greens and covered in African wildlife.  {How appropriate when the kids' Boppa works there half the time he's away!?}  Jason tried to surprise me by getting the crib set up while I was in the shower a few nights back.  He didn't count on a 4 year old coming in to tell me what he was up to!  :)  I made up the crib and Jason even put up the mobile {with little lions}.  It's all set, minus that I'll take the bumpers off before the baby actually sleeps in it.  They're just on for the cute factor right now.

The next thing I did this week was wash all of our cloth diapers.  They too are all set and ready for a new little one.

The last thing I did was start thinking about packing our hospital bag, complete with Baby Cinco's going home outfit.  My plan is for him/her to come home in the FHSU outfit.  If for some reason Cinco comes out too big for that {ours are usually borderline on whether they can fit in newborn stuff} I'll also throw in the bigger sized KC Chiefs outfit I bought back when I found out we were pregnant {even though our Chiefs are out of it...sigh}.  Packing the bag seemed a little to real though.  I stopped after three pairs of fuzzy socks and my hot pink frog pajama pants.  The bag is still sitting to the side in our bedroom and I keep looking at it like it's going to move or something.  Yeah, I'll finish packing later, probably after half a dozen different lists are made and revised.  You'd think I'd have this down wouldn't you?

The crib is kind of having the same effect, which is why I wanted it get it up {even though Cinco won't use it for a while}.  The feeling that we have a lot of time to prepare has been lingering on throughout this whole pregnancy for me {it's not like the first with Sis when it felt like it took forever} and I needed something that would remind me we have less than three weeks to go.  So now every time I walk into Eli's room I get that "crud, we're going to have a new baby home soon" feeling.  It also gives the kids {ahem, Iz} time to see it up and help a little with the idea that something is coming.  The big kids are thrilled about having a new brother or sister and Eli is dying to have a roommate, boy or girl.  I think he stares at the crib almost as much as I do and wastes no time in reminding his sisters the new baby is sleeping in his room.
Yea for new babies!  We are so excited to meet the newest member of our family!

35 Weeks {Only 4 Weeks Until Baby Cinco!}

Wow.  Only 4 weeks to go until we get to meet this precious baby face to face!  I've been happily excited and counting down...until last night when I had a minor panic moment. 
I have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this baby!!!!!
Yep, you read that right.  Nothing.  There is nothing in this house {besides my enormous bump} to suggest a baby is going to be joining this family anytime soon.  Surely I should be doing something!?
There are some things coming up in this next week or so... 
My mother {bless her!!} is coming up for a day to help me prepare about 2 weeks worth of freezer meals for my family.  My grocery list is nearly complete for that I think...and it's probably the smartest thing I'll have ever done before having a baby.  {Seriously, why have I never done this before!?}
Jason, in preparation for the influx of freezer meals, unplugged our deep freeze and is going to be scrubbing it clean prior to our needing it for storage.  He's also planning to help me clean the back room so we can use the large dining room table back there as an extra work station of sorts.
My mom will also be bringing a new crib bedding set with her that I asked for and received as a Christmas present {Thank you again Grannie and Boppa!}.  We were still using the set we bought for Sis nearly eight years ago - and no, that's not a bad thing.  This mama was just ready for a little something new.  Naturally, when the new bedding makes it here it needs a crib to go in, right?  So I'm hoping while mom and I are working away on meals, Jason {who will also be in charge of handling the requests of the other four, refereeing squabbles etc.} will hopefully be able to reassemble the crib in Eli's room.
That's preparation right!?  Surely that is all that needs done to welcome a new baby home where the last baby has barely begun to grow out of being "the baby"?  I feel just a smidge silly that I - a mom of FIVE - has the crazy desire to google the zillion lists that are probably out there for things one should do before bringing a baby home {and no, I'm not going to}.  Anyways, on to Baby Cinco.
How far along:  35 weeks
Total Weight Gain:  Around 17 pounds so far.
Maternity Clothes:  No and with only 4 weeks to go I don't plan on digging any out.  Thank you BellaBands.
Sleep:  Better actually.  Most nights I'm sleeping through the night which has been fabulous.
Best Moments:  Christmas!  We just finished our last Christmas celebration this last weekend - so I have 2 more Christmas blogs to write! 
Movement:  All. The. Time.  I was rocking Miss G last night and she was giggling uncontrollably because Cinco kept moving, kicking, and pushing her and she thought it was hilarious.
Food Cravings:  None but I'm loving the sweet stuff.
Gender:  Neutrals, blues, and pinks are scheduled to go into the wash soon!
Labor Signs:  Nope.  Just the typical Braxton Hicks contractions.  Unfortunately, they tend to happen every time I bend over, get in and out of the car etc.  Not the most comfortable thing in the world but survivable.
Our Doctor's Apt Today:  Very dull.  :)  Same low blood pressure and a heart rate of 135.  We go back in 2 weeks, then have a 1 week visit and then it's baby time!
Not the most flattering photo.  It decided to snow here and there's no way this mama {who is not a cold fan} is going outside to take our typical photo by the fence.  Yep, I'm a wimp.  So here we are at 35 weeks - only 4 weeks to D-Day!

Family Photos by Renee Miller

A couple of ways to make sure your husband is present for family photos:

1.  Have them taken while you're visiting relatives for the Thanksgiving weekend.

2.  Have a great sister-in-law {preferably one who likes to take pictures} who is more stubborn than you are about getting these things done.

Also, for those of you who may be wondering: yes, I will let the fact Jason missed family pictures the first time be forgotten - eventually - but for the time being I'm still reminding him.  :)  So, for your viewing pleasure, here is our whole family, complete with my husband!

It's been a long time since we had a nice picture of just the two of us.

My favorite people!

 

A huge thank you to Renee!  I love them and I can't wait to show them to Jason!

Baby Cinco {30/31 Weeks}

For the title, the photo below was taken at 30 weeks but my doctor's appointment isn't until 31 weeks, which is when this is going to be posted.  {Though I'll probably be the only on confused when I read the title a year down the road when it appears in our blog book.}  This doctor's appointment is our last of the 4-week visits.  After this one I'll be going in every two weeks, which will just make everything feel like it's going faster and I don't need any help with that right now!!!

 

How far along:  31 weeks when you read this.

 

Total Weight Gain:  Really, at this point I think I'll take that celebs perspective I read about in American Baby.  The "I'm busy growing a baby and my weight doesn't matter as I'm healthy for the baby".  I read this particular celeb even got on the scale at her doctor's appointments backwards so she didn't see her weight.  Go her!

 

Maternity Clothes:  Um, yes and no still.  I have caved twice and worn a maternity top.  I just can't do it.  I don't like the way they look on me at all this time and I'm too lazy to go shopping in stores my town doesn't have to look for something new.

 

Sleep:  The normal.  One or two kids {or dogs} up during the night which usually results in a trip to the bathroom for me.

 

Best Moments:  We finished our Christmas shopping {minus stocking stuffers for the kiddos} and Thanksgiving!  I love my mother-in-law's pies - yummy!  Also, the couple of times Eli came up to "hug the baby" kind of melted my heart.  He's a sweet kid anyway but having him wrap is arms around my middle and lay his head on my bump is just too precious.

 

Movement:  All. The. Time.  Cinco isn't shy about shifting positions and {at least several times a day} pushes so hard it hurts.  Definitely a strong and active baby!

 

Food Cravings:  Not really.  For whatever reason I've gone back to the nothing-sounds-good phase.

 

Gender:  We'll all know soon!  I bought a super-cute FHSU hair bow to go with Cinco's FHSU coming-home outfit.  I really need to get crack'n and get a little black and gold tutu ready to go {and maybe a red and yellow one for our Chiefs outfits}.  We'll be ready for anything.  :)

 

Labor Signs:  I'm sure I've mentioned we don't do "labor" in this house any more!  I get some uncomfortable contractions in the evening as I'm doing a lot of bending to pick up toys but otherwise no.  Hopefully we'll be setting Baby Cinco's c-section date soon!  I'm in full countdown mode - only 8 weeks to go probably!

 

Ah...the picture.  The first thing I notice is Cinco has gone through a growth spurt since the last one I posted {or maybe I should say the sweater is thicker than it looks!?} and wow is that gray hair starting to stand out!!  How old am I again?

As for our doctor's appointment:  I wasn't a very observant mama today, unless you count Izzy trying to use the light {ahem, the ones used for a pap exam} as a microphone {ladies, you can see how she could be confused}, or G trying to use the stool {with wheels!} to fly across the room.  :)  So other than taking care of those things I failed to hear my blood pressure {which has never been bad} or the baby's heartbeat {though the nurse had no trouble finding it and Cinco actually kicked and pushed back in protest}.  All in all, both the nurse and doctor must have been happy/satisfied with the results.
Also, the final countdown, at least in my doctor's opinion, has begun.  We go back in two weeks now instead of the usual four and he's looking at dates for Baby Cinco's birthday.  He looked at his calendar and threw a date out there but, of course, the nurse {you know, the gals who usually know the doctor's schedule better than the doctors themselves do} will call to actually schedule the surgery so the date is nothing that is set in stone.  But Cinco is coming.  Soon.  No lie, I actually left the office a little giddy knowing how close we are to holding our new wonder in our arms.

Stein Kids 2013 with Renee Miller

Aunt Renee does a great job with her camera.  She usually takes her own pictures of her kiddos and was more than willing to take some family shots for us when I asked her.  I was thinking we'd do these after Baby Cinco's arrival, but my sister-in-law said "why not both!?" and I'm never one to turn down pictures!

Now, you've heard the phase "capturing memories" from multiple photographers I'm sure, but let me tell you, when it's your aunt/sister-in-law taking the photos, they really are memories!!!  Everything about this day will probably stick in my head forever. 

It started with Jason working.  I told him we should call off the photos and just try it another time but he told me they were planning to be done and back in town by 2 or 3 p.m. {which would still give us an hour/hour and a half of good light I figured}.  "Everything will be fine", he says.  Ha!  When I texted him at 13:30 he informed me they'd be a "few hours yet".  Hoping for the best, I finished getting the kiddos ready.

Aunt Renee and her family arrived {the kids were thrilled to see their cousins!} and we headed out to start getting some shots of the kids while we waited for Jason to get back to town.  That's when I couldn't find my car keys, grabbed J's instead and locked myself out of the house {again - because for some reason we don't have a house key on that set}.  No jackets for the kids or anything {it was about 60 degrees}, but at least I'd grabbed a diaper bag complete with diapers, wipes, wallet, phone and last but not least, a Dr. Pepper.  :)  Discouraged, but sadly not overly surprised with myself, we started downtown next to fun/colorful building I took Izzy to for her 1 year photos.  Then Renee got started. 

Here she'd asked the girls to kiss Eli.  Izzy wanted nothing to do with that, instead watching the scene, and she's the one who adores her big brother!

 I feel overwhelmed looking at these photos!  Jason and I are so incredibly blessed.  That God entrusts me with the raising of these amazing children just makes me shake my head in wonder!  They are His works of art and yet He trusts me to be the mother they need me to be.  Wow.  I definitely feel like I {as a stay-at-home-mom} have the most important job in the world.  The future is being shaped, every day.

A silly pose for some restless kiddos!  They could see the playground!

Big Creek isn't very full at the moment and the waterfall is a wee bit dry.  I'm pretty sure my kids think this is an alternate path to the playground and have no idea that water is actually suppose to be going over it!

They all got in some good play time with their cousins on the playground, about which they were very happy.  By this time the sun was setting on another beautiful fall day and I was fast admitting to myself that "family" pictures were not going to go as I had hoped.  Jason was still miles out of town, though on his way home at this point.  No lie, I was a little bummed about that, but looking at these great pictures of my kids sure makes me smile!

Not complete without Jason but here I am with the fruits of our love!

A huge thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law and her family for coming up to visit {and being chilly with me while we waited for Jason to come home with a house key}.  Getting to see our children through a fresh lens is refreshing and I appreciate it so much!  Truly an afternoon of capturing memories!



Baby Cinco - 25 Weeks

25 Weeks!!  It may not sound like much {some would say, "oh you're just over half way there"} but I'm counting backwards now instead of forward.  Only 15 weeks to go - at the most - and there will be a new little person in our midst!  Like time always does, it's pasted so quickly.

We haven't had a doctor's appointment for a couple of weeks and we have a couple of weeks to go until the next one.  At our last appointment Baby Cinco's heart rate was down to 145 and I got my wonderful drink and paperwork to do our glucose testing before our next appointment in November.  G also had fun at this last appointment talking Dr. F's leg off.  She asked him half a dozen questions, did all her cute, shy, flirty smiles and tried to steal his stethoscope.  :)  So, since I'm lacking any real "new" information, I'm resorting to some standard info.

How far along:  25 weeks or 15 weeks to go!

Total Weight Gain:  Hm.  I think as of my last appointment I'm up approximately 10lbs.

Maternity clothes:  Heck no!  Honestly, I could be.  I can't button or zip my normal jeans but there is this fabulous invention by Ingrid & Isabel called the Bella Band.  I bought two when they were on sale and they are amazing.  They go over your pants, hold them up, hide the fact your pants are not buttoned or zipped and just look like a layering piece.  I'm also pretty much living in tee shirts and sweatshirts.  Not bad for a normal day but church tops are getting a little harder.  I brought home all of my maternity clothes that were stored away and actually tried on one for church this last Sunday, but I couldn't do it.  I felt silly for some reason and promptly put on the stretchy shirt I bought for Jeremy and Ashley's wedding.  Maybe if I could talk my husband into letting me go shopping??  :)

Sleep: What's that?  Frankly, nights of good sleep went out the window about 8 years ago and have not seen it fit to return.  LOL  Let's say, not fabulous.  I still have three children that wake up in the middle of the night {and never at the same time}, two that crawl into bed with us requesting drinks and their favorite stuffed animals they've conveniently left in their rooms, and the other that wants to crawl in but there's not enough room so I usually go lay down with him in his bed for a while.  Then you have the normal pregnancy stuff like trips to the bathroom.  No, sleep is a thing of the past.  At least G and Iz occasionally nap and that allows for me to crash for 30 minutes to an hour some days.

Best Moments:  I moved Eli's furniture around to make room for the crib to go back up.  {Not sure how exciting it was.  I was a tired mama!}  Since Eli's the only occupant in his room we decided the baby would room with him either permanently or temporarily, depending on the gender.

Movement:  Strong and pretty regular.  I can't set a clock by Baby Cinco but he/she is usually very active first thing in the morning and early evening.  I feel movement off and on throughout the day as well but during those active times I can watch my belly move and the kids can see/feel it and get excited.  Some of Baby Cinco's pushing is starting to get a tad uncomfortable and that makes me cringe a little when I think of the 15 weeks ahead of us!

Food Cravings:  Oh, sweet tooth!  Jason has been teasing me about my weight and telling me to lay off the sweets but heavens it's hard!  I mean, really, Halloween is a week away and there is candy everywhere!

Gender:  We'll know when he/she gets here!

Labor Signs:  Ha!  As if I would know!  {I'm sure I'd figure it out eventually.}  I have had some pretty intense Braxton hicks contractions here and there but they are so few and far between they are hardly relevant.  Usually, it's when I've been doing "too much" like moving furniture.  Baby Cinco and I will be scheduled for a C-section at some point in the future.