September 2014 Update

In September, we enjoyed the last few warm days of summer.  Through our CSA we got a lot of tomatoes and a pumpkin.  So I made lots of pasta sauce, tomato sauce, and salsa to freeze for alter.  I also made some pumpkin puree which has been used for muffins and cookies and lots of yumminess!

Alethea has been going to preschool each Monday and we are often out of leftovers and the morning just isn’t friendly for breakfast.  So we have been enjoying grabbing a bite to eat on the way.  One week we went to Krispy Kreme and the kiddos loved their donuts as well as the balloons that came with them.  We also enjoyed some muffins and bagels from Panera.  Eventually I will remember to make something over the weekend, but we have enjoyed the fun resulting from my lack of planning.

This month we went on our last trip out to the lake house during the boating season.  We were blessed enough to have not only my parents there with us but also our good friends the Manahans.  The kiddos had so much fun with Emerson and we enjoyed lots of great conversation and fun games with Lauren and Mike.  We also all ate way too much yummy food including homemade goodies as well as goodies from the local Amish bakery.  We also enjoyed a couple fun trips out on the boat, even if they were a bit on the chilly side.

We also had the opportunity to walk with friends from church in honor of their son beating Leukemia.  It was fun to join with many friends from church and support the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  I also was able to host my second Thirty-One party thanks to my sister-in-law.  It was so successful that she got a ton of great freebies and discounts and so did I!  I love all my new bags!

 One last campfire for the season

Alethea and I had the chance to go with friends from church to Disney Princesses and Heroes on Ice.  We even got to go to Wild Eggs beforehand to celebrate one of Alethea’s friend’s birthdays.  Alethea had so much fun on her princess day and she even got to dress up like a princess for the day (thanks to Mamaw).  It was a super fun getting a Mommy and me day with Alethea! Ben and Declan had some man time while we were gone too.

Princesses!

Now for the update on the kiddos.  Alethea is getting smarter every day and it is so much fun to watch her excitement for learning.  She is now able to write her name while either copying or verbally being told the letters to write.  It is not uncommon for her to ask how to write something or someone’s name so that she can write it down.  She can write most of her alphabet.  Crayons are her preferred writing tool, probably because that makes it easier for her to use than a pencil.  She does still love using markers and pencils, but they are just harder to write with.  She is very interested in the world around her and always asking questions.  Sometimes it drives me crazy, but I am thankful for her curiosity and I know it will serve her well.  She also absolutely loves preschool.  She gets so excited every time we tell her she has preschool. J  This month we also got our first mommy and me jamberry nails and she loves them.  She even asked to wear flip flops with her pants and sweater because she wanted to show them off, lol.

The biggest downfall we face lately is her attitude.  Thankfully she is mostly on good behavior when we are out and about or when she is in other’s care.  However, for us she is very challenging of our authority.  I know it is a stage, but it is definitely a hard one many days when it feels like every interaction is a battle (sometimes even when I am giving her what she wants, lol).  Often this is compounded by our other struggle, NAPS!  She is very streaky with naps lately.  She will nap for an entire week and then take an entire week.  It is totally unpredictable and sometimes drives me crazy because she is so much less whiney/hard to manage in the evenings when she naps!

Declan is still our happy little man.  He is testing his limits to see what he can/can’t do physically and with regards to his behavior.  We do a lot of redirecting, but thankfully (other than being exhausting sometimes with his persistence) we know it is all a part of the learning.  He had his 15 month appointment this month and he is 31.5 inches and 24.5lbs.  According to stats he has chunked up a bit, though I don’t really notice it in pics so it must be well spread.   A big milestone is that he weaned from his evening nursing this month.  I have bible study once a week and pumping was not replenishing the stock.  So rather than have him mad on a night when Ben didn’t have a bottle to feed, we just opted to wean after he took his last bottle.  He never even requested to nurse when we dropped so I think he was ready.   He also gained 2 new teeth this month so his total is up to 7 (4 on top and 3 on bottom).

 He has become a big fan of hugs and kisses.  It is not uncommon for him to run up to any of the three of us and give us a big hug and (as Alethea says) a wet kiss.  He is definitely a lover.  Speaking of Alethea, he wants to be around her whenever he can.  I love that they can play together so well most of the time.  It is not uncommon for them to disappear to Alethea’s room for a while to play together.  So sweet!  Now that Alethea is in preschool one day a week, Declan and I get some one-on-one time while she is gone and we have had fun with that time.  For him to get time by himself with Ben or I is rare, so I am thankful for the time preschool allows for. 

Solo shopping while Alethea is at school

He doesn't even watch the shows often, but he loves to be on the couch with her

artist!

Our biggest bummer for Declan continues to be fevers without any other symptoms.  He had another bout of fevers early in the month.  We visited the doc and after two rounds of cbc tests the doc isn’t worried about anything.  He thinks that fevers must just be the way he fights off viruses.  We will still watch for fever syndrome by tracking his fevers, but nothing in his tests show any signs yet thankfully.  He has also been struggling with intermittent sores on his little boy parts and so we are constantly treating him with medicated cream. L  We think this may be part of the reason that he has taken a liking to waking up in the middle of the night requesting a diaper change about 3-4 times a week.  We are onto a new cream so we are hopeful he will find some permanent relief soon!

September was a busy month, but thankfully it was a great month!

Pregnancy Update: 15 weeks (Just barely into 2nd trimester...already!)

How Far Along: 

15 weeks

Due Date: 

February 28th, 2015

Weight Gain:
I am not positive, but I think it's around 7lbs which is way more than either of my other pregnancies so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out, lol!

Boy or girl: 

It will be a surprise come February!  We would love to have either and there are positives to both.  It would be fun for Declan to have a little brother close in age, but I would also love for Alethea to experience having a sister (something I never had).

Bump Picture: 

 Baby Development:  

The average fetus at 15 weeks weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 4 inches -- and his proportions are becoming even more normal, since his legs now out-measure his arms.

Symptoms:

I am feeling less and less nauseous thankfully.  Still not feeling the burst of energy I usually get in the 2nd trimester, so I will be glad when that arrives.  My worst symptom has been headaches.  They are much more intense than I ever remember with the other two kiddos.  I definitely hope this is a quickly ending phase.  

Currently craving: 

I really don't have cravings during pregnancy.  As I always say, I just want things that I always love, I just give myself the excuse to eat more of them. :-) And thankfully, I don't have any aversions this time around.  The biggest thing is that if I get to hungry, I want food and I want it right away, lol.

Currently Avoiding: 

Nothing.

Belly button status: 

In, but never went out with either kiddo, so I don't anticipate an outie. 

Movement:

I have starting feeling flutters.  Nothing crazy yet, but I can definitely tell it is baby!

Name:

We have thrown around names and we are currently discussing E names to go along with our current family theme.  (Alethea, Ben, Cori, Declan, Baby E = A,B,C,D,E!)

Any appointments?: 

Appointment on Wednesday 9/10. It is just a regular appointment so nothing crazy hopefully. 

Any baby related purchases?:

We had to buy new blankets because Declan has grown attached to my two favorite swaddling blankets.  We have also purchased new breathable bumpers because the other bumpers have been well worn (and thrown up on) by two kiddos and needed a replacement.

Alethea and Declan: 

Alethea is over the moon excited and often asks if she can do this or that with the new baby when she comes. (She is convinced baby is a girl, lol.)  She even tries to help with naming Baby E and wants to know what we are going to name him/her.  Declan is pretty much clueless.  We haven't really invested any time in explaining to him yet because I doubt he would understand.  We will probably focus more on informing him once 2015 arrives and his understanding is hopefully better.

Random:

We will be having another c-section.  It will be our first planned c-section so we will actually know the day Baby E will arrive.  As much as I wanted to have a VBA2C, that really isn't an option for me.  It isn't the safest option for me or baby and there isn't a doctor locally that will do one anyway.  We are at peace with our family being limited at 4 (should we choose to have a 4th), since it is typically suggested to only have 4 c-sections.  Though it is not my first desire, I am a bit excited about the fact that, once we get closer to due date, we will have a scheduled day for Baby E to arrive.  This is even more of a relief since Alethea's birthday is 7 days before the due date so we will be able to celebrate her birthday and, unless Baby E decides to try to come early, have Baby E afterward.

August 2014

               August was yet another busy month. We were blessed to be able to join Ben on his business trip to Atlanta.  This turned out to be so much fun.  The kids and I visited a different place each day and then came back to join Ben for dinner after his conference each night.  The first day we went to Olympic Centenial park and had a lot of fun walking around, dancing by the fountain, watching the water show, and playing on the playgrounds.  The second day was a bunch of fun and we were able to go to the Atlanta zoo.  The kiddos really enjoyed it and Alethea especially loved the pink flamingos!  The last day we went to Piedmont Park and we were able to play on two different playgrounds, have a picnic lunch, and even got to play at a sprayground.  Lots of fun was had by everyone.  Alethea and Declan both enjoyed the hotel room and being able to go up and down the elevator. Alethea especially loved the pool, but Declan enjoyed sitting in the lounge chairs outside the pool more.

                One crazy adventure we did not count on in Atlanta was Declan’s first trip to the emergency room.  He and Alethea were playing while I was getting the hotel room set up for naptime and next thing I hear is Delcan screaming.  Of course at first I told him he was okay and then it registered that the scream was different (aka real and not just whining).  I ran over to where he was , only to discover blood and lots of it.  I was trying to get the blood to stop while voice texting Ben to come help me because I wasn’t sure the bleeding was going to stop.   Ben came racing up from his conference and he said that when he walked into the room, it looked like a murder scene!  It was pretty intense, but thankfully we were able to get the bleeding to stop, get him to the hospital, and they were able to glue his head instead of stiches.  I have never seen him sit so still, but he didn’t move an inch while they glued his head. It wasn’t exactly how we wanted to end the trip, but we did get an upgraded room for the last night out of it because of all the blood.  We actually had a room with a sitting room so I got to sleep without hearing kids noises in the middle of the night!

                As if getting to go to Atlanta wasn’t fun enough, we were able to take advantage of already being so far south and visiting the Smiths in SC.  So much fun!  We had a blast just being able to catch up, see a few other friends locally,  do a little thrifting, and also had a chance to take Declan to the beach for the first time.  He loves the sand, but not so much the water.  It was precious time with friends and it was so fun to see the kiddos enjoy each other again.  The girls even got to have a sleepover in Molly and Laura’s room.  So fun!  Can’t wait til our next reunion!

                Right before we left for Atlanta, our air conditioning starting not working right.  It took several trips and lots of thawing to discover that there were several malfunctioning parts from the manufacturer.  Yay for factory warranties!  Also, big thanks to my mom for being here for one of the fixing attempts (that lasted far too long) while we were out of town!  Thankfully we have an operational air conditioner again and we didn’t have to pay anything for it!

                Continuing with travels, we spent a few weekends at home to recover and then spent the final weekend (labor day weekend) at my parents lake house with my parents, older brother, and Granpeg.  We had a lot of fun hanging out on the boat, Ben and Camden wakeboarded, we watched a few movies during the rainy parts, and we played some fun games at night.  I also got a chance to read a few books while we were there too.  Lots of rest and relaxation and overall a very good weekend.

                One adventure that started this month was that I became a consultant for Thirty-One and hosted my first kick-off party.  I have no idea how this adventure will go for me since it is totally out of my comfort zone, but I giving it a go.  I love their bags and I am trying to find ways to help contribute to our family’s finances/help offset the cost of some yard work that we really need to get done.  Looking forward to seeing what this new adventure has in store!

A few general things to note before focusing on the kiddos are that we spent several fun days at our local zoo this month with my parents, Granpeg, and Olivia.  The kiddos love just walking around the zoo and seeing all the animals.  We also ended up with many pounds of tomatoes between our small garden, our csa, and my dad’s garden.  So I had fun making salsas, tomato sauce, pasta sauce, roasted tomatoes, and more!

Now for a quick update on the kiddos.  First of all, Alethea is still managing to grow like a weed!  She is 41.75inches (off the charts for percentiles) and 38.2lbs (between 75 and 90%).  Her language is so clear these days that I rarely can’t understand what she is saying these days and, usually if she just describes it more, I end up understanding in the end. I was just telling Ben I wish I was better at writing down what she says, but thankfully I wrote a few down.  When Declan got hurt, she kept saying “Declan is an emergency” and then when we were driving in the car she said “Declan has a hole in his head, but he is still cute!”  Another cute thing she told my mom was “I just love my Mommy’s homemade bread!”  The best part about that day was that she even helped me to make it. J  She continues to love reading, always wants to know where we are going when she wakes up for the day, she loves to dance (often requesting music) , and she loves the outdoors.  She is becoming more and more independent and has recently learned to fill up her water bottle with ice and water all by herself.  She is quite proud of this accomplishment and she loves when she gets to fill up not only hers, but mine and Declan’s as well.  At last, I have to note the fact that she started preschool one day a week this month.  We are doing a preschool co-op with 4 other families from church and she loves it!

Declan turned 14 months this month and is still a bit of a pipsqueak compared to Alethea but overall his growth is pretty average.  He is 31 inches (between 50 and 75%) and 23lbs (between 50 and 75%).  This month he gained tooth #5 on August 1^st.  He is beginning to trot so he is moving faster and faster each day and getting better at keeping up with Alethea.  He has started saying “ma-ma”, “da-ee” (daddy), “ha” (hi), and “bah” (bye).  He doesn’t always use words, but he does it often enough that we have noticed a pattern with these.  I love when we are outside playing and people walk by because he will wave and say “ha”, “bah”.  So cute!  This month he has also gotten really into using sounds/inflection and hand gestures to clearly communicate what he wants/needs.  He loves call, cars, and anything that Alethea is doing.  He is pretty much Alethea’s shadow most of the time and most of the time she loves that.  (She may even take advantage of that at times to get him to do things for her, but at this point he doesn’t mind, so I don’t either.)  His attachment to his blanket is only growing stronger so I think we may have a blanket boy on our hands.  He is very particular about what blanket he likes though.  Thankfully there are two satisfactory choices to choose from.  However, due to his attachment, baby #3 won’t be using the same blankets his/her siblings did unless he is willing to relinquish them. J  Two of my favorite things about this month are that he hugs for real (gives a big hard squeeze) and he attempts kisses (beyond blowing them which he has done for a while).  His kisses aren’t quite there yet though because when we ask him for a kiss, he just squishes his cheek up against ours, lol.  One final thing to note with Declan is that he is down to one nap most days.  I love the freedom that provides and I love how quickly he goes down for nap again.  Happy Mommy and happy boy is a great combo!

July 2014

July was a very busy month full of lots of traveling, sickness, and fun.  We started the month with a trip to NY and we were able to visit with Ben’s family and friends.  As always, we had a bunch of fun getting to see everyone and being able to catch up.  We had a small belated birthday party for Declan with Ben’s family and a few close friends while we were up there too.  It was fun to see how much more Alethea remembered people and to see how much more comfortable Declan was with all the new people since he was a little older.  We also got to be a part of Dave and Jane’s 50^th anniversary celebration with a boat cruise through the canal.  The kiddos really enjoyed the ride, especially Alethea!

We also spent two weekends at my parent’s lake house, one of which was a fun extended family get-together with my mom’s side of the family.  We almost missed it because of Alethea being sick, but she was finally feeling a little better so we went ahead and joined everyone at the lake.   I am so thankful we had that time with everyone, but I hope everyone is feeling better next time.

Sickness seemed to fill up much of this month.  Declan ended up sick for 5 days on our NY trip with a fever bug. He had fevers 103 or higher and really had us concerned, but after taking him to urgent care, we discovered it was just a virus.  Then 5 days after we got back from NY, Alethea ended up with the same fever bug that lasted for 4 days.  And just when we thought it was over, Declan had another 2 day bout with fevers!   Man was I glad those few weeks were over because fevery kids is definitely not fun!

Thankfully Declan’s last fever finally ended just in time for our trip to MI.  I had not seen my longtime friend, Siera, since either of us got pregnant with our boys (10 days apart in age) and it was time for that to change.  We got to spend almost 4 days with Siera, her hubby, and her two boys and it was so much fun!  It went by way to fast, but in the time we were there, we were able to do lots of catching up and we even managed to squeeze in a trip to the park and blueberry picking.  Nothing beats Michigan blueberries!  We both decided that we need to get together more often because over 2 years is too long!  A fun side note to the trip was that we were able to carpool there and back with my sister-in-law which was a lot of fun having company in the car and being able to make it possible for her to make one last trip to visit her family in MI before school started. J

One very surprising, but oh so exciting thing that happened this month was that we discovered we are expecting our 3^rd little one.  He/she will arrive sometime in late February.  We were not trying for a baby, but God’s time is perfect and we are so excited to be adding another member to our family.  The funny part about the whole thing is that a week before I discovered I was pregnant, I joined a weight-loss/fitness challenge and ended up having to drop out after a week.  Oh well, that would have been fun, but I think a baby is a pretty darn good reason to drop out. J

Two other side notes are that we love our CSA!  It brings so much variety to our meals and I love figuring out ways to use all of our fresh local produce.  We also had our van key get stuck in the ignition, only to discover that it was stuck because of a computer malfunction.  Let’s just say computer replacement on a car is not cheap!  But thankfully God provides and we had the money to fix it and it is back to normal.

I am not going to do a ton of kiddo updates since I am behind and I don’t know that I could

separate what happened in July with what is happening now.  First thing is that Declan dropped his last daytime feeding so now he is only nursing first thing in the morning and right before bed at night.  I know he won’t nurse as long as Alethea because I will wean him before new baby arrives, but I haven’t figured out when that is going to be for sure.  The only thing I know for sure is that Ben and I want a weekend away before baby comes and so the weaning will happen before then!  The other quick note is that Declan has become quite attached to his blanket.  He loves to carry it around and will just randomly plop down on the floor and lie down on it.  So cute! 

That’s all for July!