Lady Emma's Birthday

6 years has passed since Miss Emma made her debut. She is such a delight! We woke up and she wanted to watch Power Rangers(Oh brother) while I made pancakes. She stayed in her pajamas for half the day, requested homemade pizza with Canadian bacon for dinner and double layered red velvet cake for her dessert.

Our sweet neighbors brought Emma a gift of markers and  a coloring book. She had fun doing that while Eli took all the lids off and gave himself some body art. She eventually locked herself in the bathroom so he could color without "Eli drying her markers out."

We also took a late afternoon walk to the park, at Ruby's suggestion. She seems to know what helps me shake the afternoon grumpies. (Eli broke the ear off of my nativity set donkey. I stayed calm but felt the grumpishness inside.) Emma rode her bike to the park, and Ruby and I talked while Eli rode in the stroller. We had a great time, and I love that Emma's outfit consisted of a long sleeve shirt, a pair of capri's and snow boots on the wrong feet. She loves to dress herself, and it feels really to be able to put my control freak side on the sidelines and let her do it. :) We had a great time, but didn't stay too long because the sun was starting to set and it was getting cold.

We came home to Jed's car in the drive way. It was so happy! He took care of everyone while I got Emma's pizza made, and was able to get Eli to eat. We opened presents. One of which was really sweet Ruby made Emma a gift from items she had laying around and wrote her a really sweet card.  Emma got some church shoes, so now her smelly moccasins can be tossed in the dust bin. I am thrilled, and she got Scooby doo action figures. She has the most marvelous imagination. She will have a great time with them. We are taking the girls out for their birthday outing this weekend, but more on that later.

Here are a few words to describe Emma:
-Happy
-Kind
-Fierce
-Loyal
-Sweet
-Determined
She is our peace maker and truly helps make our home a Heaven on Earth, as long as she isn't getting sent to bed early or in trouble. If that is the case watch out, that little lady gets fierce. :)

34ish weeks

Had my 34 week appt today, I was in such a rush to get little people out the door and didn't have time to eat breakfast officially, so I quickly had a half a glass of carnation instant breakfast. Right as Eli's bus pulled up, I was doubled over the sink throwing up and peeing my pant at the same time, during which I was instructing Emma to get Eli's coat on. It was a wonderful morning, and no time to change since I have a long drive to the dr. office. So I turned on the heater in the car and hoped for the best.


When I got to the appt my pants weren't completely dry and I totally confessed because i didn't want her to think that pant peeing was my standard style. Were good friends she and I, were on a first name basis. :) She laughed and told me it happens more often than I think, most people just don't own up to it.

I put on 4 lbs, and I had to pee yet again and forgot to pee properly on the stick and so had to make due with what was left. I have a little protein in my urine, but nothing to worry about at this point. Blood pressure was borderline being high. 138/78 I thought for sure it would come down since I have been exercising religiously.

I have been having braxton hicks, my chatch aches, and I swear I have dropped. All of these things are new to me and I wonder about the possibility of me going into labor on my own. We shall see.

My Dr. was on vacation this week and the nurse that was covering for him told me I don't look 34 weeks along, even though I am measuring at 38.  I wanted to hug her. 

I have been feeling really great otherwise. We got the babies room set up and when we let Eli in to see he grabbed his blanket and asked to "get in" he was sad we wouldn't let him, by the end of the day though he was saying "babies room" the bedding and decore came from my sil Meg. It is so cute and I am really excited about it.

I am really determined to breastfeed this time and be successful at it. I told Jed I am stealing the recliner and putting it in Jaxon's room when he is born, since we have kids in and out of the house all the time, I don't want the girls need for sociality to suffer because of me and our house is the hub for playing at.  Being a little tucked away sounds better to me. I also found out that our insurance will pay for a breast pump as long as we get it from the hospital. I am hoping it will increase my chances of success.

 6 weeks to go, a little less I think. I am getting giddy. The girls are excited too and I find Emma reading my pregnancy pamphlets that came from our insurance. She is such a cutie.

Gratitude turkey and keeping it real

We got our annual Gratitude Turkey done on Sunday evening. Ruby and Emma traced all the feathers and cut them out. They did a great job and it is so fun to have both of them at a point where they participate.

These were our gratitude's this year, Jed's family at Thanksgiving each get 3 kernels of corn and says what three things they are specifically grateful for that year. I love this tradition because it is so easy to just see the big things, but I really love giving it deep thought and seeing how we have been blessed in a unique way each year.

Jed
1.Job
2.Family
3. Gospel

Ashley
1.Healthy Pregnancy
2.EMC(2)
3. Mr. Romig's hard work and dedication

Ruby
1.Nature
2.Service
3.Forgiveness

Emma
1.Family
2.Friends
3. Jesus

Eli
1.Crayons
2.Baths
3. School

Ruby in particular has been very interested in how babies are actually born. We had a really honest and open talk last night about  how it works, she also wants to know how the baby survives with out being able to breath inside me, she is very curious and thoughtful about the whole process.  When we found out we were expecting she wanted to know how a baby is made. We explained in general terms and showed her a video from pregnancy.com it was a lot of new info and I think she still doesn't have a very clear idea but is content.

I am grateful that she feels confident to come to me and trust that I will answer her questions honestly. I have always told her that if she has questions that I want her to come and talk to me about them instead of talking to her peers and getting wrong information. I am so grateful for that trust she has in me, and that my mom raised me the same way, I never felt weird asking her things because she didn't act awkward about it and make a big deal she just answered my questions it worked great . I am thankful I can do the same with my kids. I did explain to Ruby that the things we talk about are personal and she doesn't need to talk to other kids about it, or share what she knows because that isn't her responsiblity.

I was really proud of her this morning when we were driving carpool and the other kids were talking about how their mom has to stay in the hospital for 24 hours after having a baby so she can get feeling better from the shot she was given and how it is like recovering from dental work. :) Ruby just listened and kept her info to herself. I like her a lot.

Early Nov. Happenings

We have been keeping pretty busy with little things here and there. My girls went to a sleep over with all the girl cousins at my parents last Friday night and Eli went to a babysitters. This provided an opportunity for Jed and I to go on a real live date, and not just a date at home. It was glorious! We had so much fun just being together, browsing through stores and it opened the gate to talk about things that we don't normally. It was lovely, it is in the game plan for us to go on a get out of the house date at least once a month.

This little outing also provided us with an other amazing gift. We found the most perfect babysitter ever!!! We have hired girls here and there, but have found that they are overwhelmed with Eli. Which is perfectly ok, I get that. I have hoped and prayed for a long time that the right girl would come along that would just love him and enjoy her time with him and the girls. We totally found that in Kallie, she is one of my YW and I love her so much.  I can now feel confident to go places without worrying  how he and the sitter are doing. She is a gift, seriously a gift.

A few days after Halloween I pureed the pumpkins and  froze it, so we can enjoy pumpkin pancakes and other pumpkin favs through the coming months.

Before Jed's parents left on their mission, Jed's mom gifted her wrapping paper and and ribbon to us. As I was sorting through it I found some clear glass ornaments among the mix. The kids and I have taken spare moments to cut ribbon and fill the ornaments it will be a fun additon to our tree this year and was a fun way to remember Grandma and Grandpa Romig while they are away.


I signed up with our insurances maternity program strictly for the gift card I get at the end. I have a nurse that calls me a couple times for the rest of the pregnancy and she just asks me questions and gives suggestions and such. She was very nice and we talked about the possibility of having a c-section and she asked me if we had considered having my tubes tied while the Dr. was "in there" since this was my 4th baby. I told her no, that I didn't think we were done and that for as young as I was the permanence of that was too frightening for me. She was from back east and I think this took her a little off guard. I am an open book so I had no problem answering all her questions, and different scenarios.

We also set a few goals for me for the next 8 weeks. I promised her I would exercise at least 3 times a week, I have been doing a Leslie Sansone walk tape and I hold 3 lb weights while I do it. It is quite pathetic how sweaty I get but I can see the benefit of it. I also told her I would be more careful with my sweets and carb  intake. I do love my sweets.

I had a baby shower last night that was thrown by my sweet friends Stephanie and Kerrie, it was low key just like I hoped and they had the most delicious chocolate desserts. I got so many cute things for Jaxon. I think I forgot how cute baby things are. It is kind of surreal to me that I am going to have a baby in a little over 7 weeks that will be wearing these things. It feels like it has been such a long time since we have had a baby. But I am so excited!

Halloweensk

Halloween was a fun day, I took a nap on accident and I liked that. :) The girls enjoyed being in the Halloween parade at school, Emma was delighted that Eli's bus driver dressed up as Mario, and that she got a treat from his other bus driver when Eli got home.

We painted pumpkins with the kids the night before. Jed helped them outline their designs. I like that he is more artistic than I. Emma painted a Flash symbol, Ruby a Batman symbol and Eli wanted numbers on his pumpkin, he would dictate and I would paint.

Jed had school last night so the kids and I went it alone. My neighbors were really nice to let us tag along but somewhere along the way, all of their kids did their own thing and Gary and Corrine stayed with us, I greatly appreciate them.

Emma would always come back and report to me when people told her she was cute. I am sure Eli caused many a back ache in our community as those who were passing out candy had to shift positions multiple times to get comfortable while he was taking his sweet time deciding what he wanted. He was very selective. Ruby explained Halloween to him while we were all cuddling in bed the other day, and taught him how to say trick or treat.

We cut the evening short and came home a little before 8, my ankle was killing me. Ever since I broke my leg it acts up at really random times and hurts so we all came home had one treat and got everyone into bed. I ended my evening with a hot bath and the last two episodes of Call the Midwife. I am finding at this point I sleep much better if I stay up a little bit later.

Today we will be sorting candy. I make the kids put away 24 treats for their advent stockings for Christmas, that whittles down their stash a bit and makes for more even eating and it keeps me in line with my cheapskate lifestyle. :)