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. :)

30 weeks

Normally when I get to my Dr. office they get me right back. It was quite difficult this time though, cause I had to wait for 40 minutes and this mama had to pee. Gratefully I got some fun text updates from Kim about her appt to keep my mind off the waterworks.

Everything is looking good, measuring 7 weeks ahead now and I gained 3 lbs. Feeling most accomplished I really want to stay within my last 10 lb goal we set.  Baby is super active and sometimes I swear he is up in my ribs, the girls love to feel him move around and Eli likes to give my belly loves and then he sticks his face right up next to it and screams. Perhaps then it won't be such a shock to Jax as to the noise level he will be coming home to. :)

I have all my appt scheduled now, and with that being done it feels like I am in the final stretch. My weight check ultrasound is scheduled for the 19 of Dec. and then we can make plans as to what needs to happen. I also have my last appt on the Christmas Eve which will be fun, and a little excuse to get up to my mom's house and see her in the morning.

I am also feeling extremely blessed, Jed came home last night and told me that his company has holiday pay that he has to use or lose before the end of the year. Absolutely splendid timing! We were just planning on him taking it off without pay. This however is a much better alternative.

Today I let Ruby take my picture before she left for school, apparently I have  puffed up like a toad. I am going to just say that it is my hair and the scarf. Yes that is what it is. The wardrobe choice is to blame. I will be firing my assistant today. :)

Also my new latest past time is entertaining Mr. Romig with my insane dreams while he is getting ready for work and while I am just waking up. My latest dream entails Jed hijacking a UTA bus and taking us all to his work and then telling me to drive it home and that he would appreciate me  picking him up.

I stopped by my moms house before I headed back home and it was so cute finding my dad in the kitchen with my mom baking 50 dozen cookies for the Scouting commemoration tonight. It was his idea to have them come unbaked(I think it saved him like 50 %) so he chose to stay home and help mama get them all baked. They are cute.

Students of the month and the usual

In the past two months, Emma and Ruby have been recognized as students of the month. I didn't get a picture of Emma on her special day because we had to rearrange the time for us to come in and see her get her award because Eli had a neurology appt. Emma was recognized for being an excellent student and Ruby was recognized for being a hero and not a bully.

I was very hesitant to take Eli to the award ceremony, but did anyway. He did quite well. :)


Eli loves getting his picture taken, and will readily say cheese and get as close to the camera as he can. He has also really enjoyed reading certain books. His two favorites right now are "It's not easy being small" and "The sad mule" I like when we read the sad mule because he loves to say "Not Cuuuttte" Another funny little tidbit is that he loves to run around in his diaper if we are home and just wants his clothes off, I allow it as long as he will wear clothes outside the house. When Jed has late nights with school and Eli is having a hard time sleeping,(he won't come out of his room) I go and get him and he smiles and asks for "bednet" We have a really cosy blanket on our bed from Jed's mission that has an eagle and a motorcycle and he thinks the wings look like a net. He immediately settles in and will stay put and go right to sleep. I will usually take a bath while he is going to sleep and when I am done I love coming and laying by him and watching him sleep. He is so precious.




We flaked on our wards chili cook off, Ruby mooched an invitation from the neighbors and Jed and Emma ended up going on a daddy daughter date to cold stone to use her gift card from Christmas. They had a great time, and really do look forward to having him home.Jed informed me that he and Emma had a good chat about Emma's like of giving boys kisses on the cheek in kindergarten.

We have had a fun time playing games with the girls in the evening once Eli goes to bed, (he can't leave the pieces alone) some of our favorites are Quirkle, Authors and Incan Gold. I love watching their faces as they check their cards, or as the wheels in their head are turning as they decide what the best move is, and the verbal expressions they come up with. It has also been a great opportunity to teach the girls about being good sports. It seems that we have bred incredibly competitive children.

Let's hear it for the boy

I am way late posting this, but I just wanted to give Sir Jed a shout out. There is so much I can say but perhaps that I am extremely proud of him sums it up nicely. It feels like he has been in school for forever. He did three years at the U doing undergraduate work going towards his accounting degree, got in the wrong class and found out it would be a waste of money and time, so he took the semester off and came to realize that he hated punching numbers and being behind a desk. (Which is what he did for work already) So he took a break for a while and then life happened, his job closed and the economy was a doozy, Eli was going through a lot of scary health things and we really struggled to stay afloat. We lived off our savings, and doors just didn't seem to be opening. Let's just say it was a crapshoot of a time. Because of the goodness of Heavenly Father and so many loving people around us we made it through, we really have been blessed to have what we have needed since that fateful day in 2010. I truly believe that experience has been good for us and has been the means of lifting us higher and really learning to trust the Lord and learn to ask for help and put our pride aside.

Fast forward a year and Jed realized that we were never going to be ok with out him finishing his college education. He really wanted to be a teacher but knew such a degree would not satisfy our families needs. So he put his dream on the shelf and really did some soul searching and praying about what needed to be done. He decided that Web administration and Information systems was the path he should go. He got registered, and has worked his butt off, working full time, going to school at night and having a busy church calling. In June of this year he received his associates in Web admin and has started the program towards his bachelors for Information systems.

He runs off very little sleep and has worked so hard. His GPA has never been lower than a 4.0 and he has done all of this with very little complaint. I love the boy for all that he has done and is doing. The girls always ask when daddy is going to be home and love when he is here on Wednesday nights (this semester) I often remind them that when he is not here it is because he loves them and is doing school and work so he can take care of us.

Since Jed went back to school he has wanted to work for EMC and went through a grueling month long interview process with them 2 years ago and then told they couldn't hire him because he didn't have his degree. So now that he has his degree he interviewed with them during the summer and was their #2 pick because the Linux system was his weak spot and happened to be the expertise of the interviewer, however he was told they wanted him to interview again in September and EMC came back to Jed's school at the end of August to meet with their "brightest students" Jed made that list and happened to meet with the same man who interviewed him during the summer. They had a really good hour long chat and he was told they would be in touch. 2 weeks later while I was busy setting off all of the fire alarms in the house while cooking stew meat Jed was taking a phone call from EMC about a job offer. This has been such an incredible blessing to us.

I really do believe that there is so much to learn as we wait for answers to our prayers. Just because they are not answered in the way we want them to be does not mean that we have been forgotten or forsaken, just perhaps that the timing isn't right. I am so grateful for this season in our lives where at times the lessons have been painful but ultimately the growth and learning has been great. God really is in the details and loves us more than we can possibly realize.

And for my closing remarks. Jed Romig is a fox, even though he will probably not ever see this, thank you for all you have done and continue to do for our family, you constantly astonish me and complete my life. I think you are nice and I like you. Congratulations on all of your accomplishments and for working towards your goals.

Uh almost 10 weeks have past.

Time has gone quick, sometimes it feels like it is going slow every time I see "what to expect when your expecting" in my room. I will be 28 weeks in 2 days and here is just a few tidbits.

-I have 11 weeks left, Dr. promised Jaxon would be here by the end of the year. Anywhere from the 27th to the 30th depending on what openings the hospital has.

-I am measuring 8 weeks ahead, but baby is measuring right on via ultrasound

-My concern about Jaxon having the same health problems as Eli was discussed with his neurologist and she said that chances are very low. So we should just plan on Jax being healthy.

-I will have an ultrasound at 38 weeks to see what the size of the baby is. I may have to have a C-section, and Dr. said if baby is showing to weigh around 9 lb then I can go for a vaginal delivery. If it is showing at 10 lb we should very seriously consider a C-section. I asked how they come up with the number just by a picture and he said they measure all parts of the baby and then make a calculation which can be a lb off in either direction. ( I am praying to avoid a c-section, for no other reason then I don't feel like I would be able to give Eli what he needed, and that worries me greatly, like getting him on and off the bus, helping him out of the tub, taking him down to his room when he needs time out, being able to help him up so I can hold him, I truly am a worry warthog, plus I don't want surgery. Everyone else would be ok.)

-I have put on 25 lbs so far which was the goal for the entire pregnancy but that has never happened to me before. I always go large and in charge. So we set a goal for me to gain another 10 lbs. That seems doable.

- I love seeing posts and blogs from good friends who are having their babies, I get giddy waiting for my turn, and I dream about the yummy smell at the hospital. :)

- I am feeling really great, just big. Jax moves a lot and just the other day I was able to feel a verifiable firm baby part pushing against my tummy from the outside. Couldn't honestly tell you what part, but a part none the less. :)

-I am also finding that the only way I can wear any maternity jeans is to roll any panel down to unmentionable levels. I am carrying him so low and and nothing fits right. I had a nice friend from my ward offer some things of varying sizes which will be really nice because my current wardrobe is not going to cut it for much longer.

18 weeks

My 18 week appt was good. I put on a whopping 9 lbs in a 4 week period, but don't feel too terrible about it. Everything is looking good, however when they measured me I was measuring at 22 weeks which is 4 weeks bigger than I should be. I did the exact same thing with Eli. My Dr. wasn't in so I just met with the nurse, I came away from the appt feeling ok, but the more I have thought about it, I have 3 thoughts running through my head

1. My baby space is probably just stretched out, from boy boy. (I have had multiple neighborhood children look at the 10 week ultrasound on the fridge and exclaim "wow! that looks like a Mickey Mouse head!" in reference to the baby's hangout location.

2. I had a moment of fear thinking that because this baby is measuring the same way Eli did, they may have the same health problems. Jed was most reassuring that if that is what happens, we have done it once before and we are given that challenge by a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we are capable handling. I like him.

3. It may be a boy, I have been so sure it is a girl but perhaps if they are growing at this rate we may have another boy.

Taking it all in stride and will be interested to hear what my Dr. thinks at my 22 week appt. Our 20 week ultrasound is in 9 days. We are excited, our girls in particular.

I have made a list of things that I need to get done when the kids are back in school, but on Sunday I decided that I can't wait 2 more weeks so Monday we started, I cleaned my closet and purged a lot of junk, cleaned our room and sent Emma spelunking under the bed, and cleaned out our drawers. I also started in the spare room which is a disaster and full of junk. The floor was scattered with hundreds of broken crayons, and magnetic doll dress ups, I cleaned the closet and organized the hall closet.

Today we sorted the toy room, separating the girls stuff from Eli's and then went to eli's room and organized the toys, put away his pack and play, put away toys that were too young for him and set up a big boy bed for him. I have decided that I am going to do a week toy rotation for him because he gets overwhelmed and then doesn't really play with anything and it all just gets scattered. 

 My mama came this afternoon and we cut fabric for one of Eli's Christmas surprises. My mother is an angel to help me. She is such a dear woman and I am so grateful we are close. We played a game with the girls, I went to vote and i prepared dinner for a dear friend who just had a baby. I will be so happy when all of our messes are sorted we are excellent at making them.

I also think my favorite time of the day is reading a chapter of Harry Potter with my girls before bedtime. It is so magical and such a special time for us just to be together. they have been most excellent helpers and complimentors of dinner lately. I think I will keep them. :)