What I Wore Sunday, One Step Closer at 33 weeks!

Another week gone by and another week closer to meeting our baby girl! We had a good friend of Steven's visiting this weekend and the guys enjoyed a hunting trip yesterday (well, actually it was a non-hunting trip because there were no birds). Last night was one of the few nights this week that I didn't face a few hours of insomnia in the wee morning hours. But I still woke up absolutely exhausted! I had what I'm guessing was ligament cramping as well as a crick in my neck, and so Steven suggested I rest at home while the two dads took the kids to mass. What a gift! I got to attend by myself tonight and even made it early enough for confession. Yay for graces! And yay for comfy giant black maternity slacks!

We're on the final countdown before we make our little move up north next weekend to wait for baby girl's arrival with the OB in our hometown. As I shared a few days ago, we found a nice little rental cabin where we will stay for just over five weeks. Now that I have that stress out of my mind, I've moved onto other worries, mostly related to the fact that Steven will be working here while I take care of all the kids there and wait to go into labor, hoping he makes it in time! I've spent most of the last few weeks in bed, but I'm hoping that being near the hospital will make me feel a little better about getting out with the kids. 

Each of my pregnancies has gotten more difficult, with more complications. Facing a 5th c-section is also a scary thought. But each of these children are totally worth all the discomforts and stresses and costs of their arrivals. I am still in awe that I will meet a new little family member in just a few weeks. For most of the pregnancy I felt really detached, not letting myself believe that I'd really meet a baby at the end. But as time has gone by, I've felt more comfortable talking about the "after" and getting all the little things ready for the baby. The delivery experience is always such a big hurdle to get past, both physically and emotionally after so many traumatic births. But I'm trying to think past that about the exciting things to come when we add another sweet soul to our family. 

This week will be filled with more resting, packing up for our long getaway, and a few ballet classes for the girls. I need to pay bills and get everything settled for our time away. But I've pretty much purchased almost all the needed items for the baby and am getting all that gear together. I've handed over co-op planning to the other leader. We've lost about half the families this semester, so it'll likely move locations and have a totally different structure with one large group instead of three separate classes of children. I'm sad that things didn't pan out as intended for that, but I'm just having to let go right now. Ellie is taking a break from piano, and the 4H livestock show was last week. So I'm ready to step back from everything, head back "home" to my comfort zone near family and friends, and await the baby's arrival!

A few photos from the week...

Mary Clare's first deer hunt! Story to follow.

At the livestock show

Steven took the girls to the 4H Livestock Show awards. They got lots of blue ribbons and Mary Clare placed 2nd in jewelry for a necklace she made. 

While they were at the awards, Tommy and I stayed home and he got to watch all the Netflix he wanted and got his own whole pizza (he ate almost all of it)!

Bath time brothers

More Sunday Styles over at Fine Linen and Purple:

http://www.finelinenandpurple.com/2014/01/19/what-i-wore-sunday-volume-66/

Relief

After spending the past few days in a bit of a panic, things finally came together today for our housing situation during the Baby Wait! Praise God!  It was a difficult search because we weren't sure exactly what we wanted or needed. Vacant apartments were cheapest, but how would we furnish it enough to be comfortable for a month or more? Furnished apartments and condos were just so very expensive.

Finally after some suggestions to check on vacation rental websites, I found a lovely little cottage, newly remodeled and decorated. It's very close to the hospital, is fully furnished, has a big yard, and should be a good fit for our little family. Well, I guess we're actually a big family and that's the problem! The only hiccup is that it was already booked for our second week there, so we will have to stay with family or friends for that week. 

But I am so relieved and thank you all for praying for us! My contractions have also slowed down since Saturday, so I'm feeling better overall tonight. 

In other baby news, I finally ordered an infant car seat and stroller today! It looks like it will be a fun and convenient set. 

Lime green isn't my favorite color, but it was a great deal! Ironically, my big Phil & Teds double stroller (which I need to sell!) is also a neon green. Today a little rocker seat arrived and a cover for my Boppy pillow. It's nice to check things off the list so we will be able to just enjoy these last few weeks and also try to stay on track with school!

We'll devote a whole post to it, but Mary Clare shot her first deer yesterday! It was a very exciting hunt, but I'll have to let Steven guest post for this one because I surely don't understand the magnitude of what an amazing shot it was. They sure had a fun daddy daughter afternoon!

Steven also took the girls to turn in their homemaking entries for the county Livestock Fair. Ellie entered four things and Mary Clare had six entries. Tomorrow afternoon if I'm feeling up to it, we will drive out to see if they won any awards. It's very competitive, so we'll see what happens. 

Now it's already after midnight so I'd better get some rest before the busy day tomorrow! Goodnight!

What I Wore Sunday, 32 weeks!

A blessed Feast of the Baptism of The Lord to all of you! We had a nice mass together this morning. None of us sang in the choir and we sat together in the front pew, although Steven had to take out our antsy 3yr old near the end. 

My favorite part of mass today was singing "O God Almighty Father" for the communion meditation. We attend a small parish and often the congregation doesn't join in much of the singing. But everyone seemed to join in the chorus today..."O Most Holy Trinity, undivided unity, Holy God, Mighty God, God immortal be adored."

We were also reminded in the homily what a gift the priesthood is and how important it is to pray for our priests! So true. 

My navy maxi dress is fitting quite different these days! But it's definitely a comfortable choice right now as my belly is sensitive to tight-fitting clothing. I'm already in PJ pants this afternoon!

I took this photo above because I was feeling really big in these stripes yesterday! I went on what will likely be my last big shopping outing for awhile. I needed some comfy things for these last few weeks and postpartum and finally found some nice pajamas and new yoga pants, plus some nursing items at Motherhood Maternity in the mall.

I also browsed around Babies R Us for a bit, but it was so overwhelming! It brought me back to the days of registering for baby gifts for Mary Clare. It seems like so much time has passed since then. Now I much prefer ordering baby gear from the comfort of my bed, rather than a busy store!

I made a little stop in Dillard's, too. After going through newborn clothes and washing them last week, it seemed like we could use a few more things for Baby Girl. My babies usually don't fit into 0-3 month clothes for a few weeks, so I wanted to find a couple newborn-sized items. I also bought a soft blanket and ruffled booties for her baptism! Ahhhh, cuteness overload!

On Friday night we took a little outing to a local Italian restaurant and the frozen yogurt store next door. It was nice to have a special family evening. I feel like things are going to be changing so soon with the temporary move in about two weeks and honestly I'm starting to panic a little. 

After all of this excitement I had a hard night last night with quite a bit of cramping/contractions. This baby needs to stay put for a good 5+ weeks, so please offer a little prayer for us. I'm already spending most of my days in bed, but it's obvious that I can't handle many big outings anymore. I'm a bit worried about starting our co-op this week, so I may have to step back from that earlier than planned. Most of all I need to rest and we need to finalize our lodging plans for our time there, so I can keep from worrying too much. 

But we had a pretty good first week back to homeschooling, and each day we're getting closer to meeting our sweet baby girl! We have a lot to be thankful for. Hope you all have a great week!

Thanks for hosting the link-up, Fine Linen and Purple!

http://www.finelinenandpurple.com/2014/01/12/what-i-wore-sunday-volume-65/#respond

Monday Motivation

Let's start with a belly pic from what I wore on Sunday...

Getting bigger and bigger! I'm 31 weeks and out of breath all the time. Mass can be exhausting and the stuffiness of the churches (and often the incense) makes me feel light headed. So I'm not singing in the choir anymore but am enjoying these final weeks with my boys, before my body and mind will be devoted to our new baby girl! We didn't do anything special for the Epiphany, although the girls are really wanting to bake a cake. Steven took Steven Joseph on a hunt with his boss last night and on Saturday we saw our first family movie together, Frozen! The boys had never been to the movie theater! It was a good weekend. 

Today we started back to homeschool and it actually went pretty well, all things considered. We even had a special visitor in the late morning. I was reading the kids a Nativity storybook when all of a sudden there was a nun at the front door bearing Christmas cookies for our family!  Apparently my kind husband paid for the nuns' items at Hobby Lobby last weekend when I was home sick, and I guess they asked everyone's names. Somehow they found out where we live and came to deliver this sweet Epiphany gift to thank him!

I dropped the girls at ballet and Steven is picking them up now. I think it's probably best I do drop offs the next few weeks because wrangling the boys at the dance studio tends to make me feel bad in the evenings. So I came home and made a nice dinner of chicken and rice, while the boys have some Netflix time and Mary Clare is likely getting her pointe shoes checked so she can put ribbons on and wear them later this week!

We'll have about three more weeks here until we head to Houston for the baby wait. So I'm going to write down a few goals for these weeks!

1. Confirm lodging arrangements for the Baby Wait. Also, make furniture and packing lists.

2. Complete 3 weeks of homeschool and pack up books to take with us. 

3. Co-Op planning day tomorrow for the new semester. Make sure all is taken care of for my absence. 

4. 4-H Livestock show entries due next Monday.

5. Purchase a few baby items needed (car seat, etc), and pack up the things we need to bring with us (clothes, blankets, diapers, etc)

6. Register Steven Joseph for t-ball, decide on piano lesson plans for January, and pay for January ballet. 

7. Godchildren birthdays coming up and I didn't send anything for Christmas either. 

8. Take down Christmas decorations. Our tree is drooping badly!

9. Rest!

10. Meal plans this week: chicken and rice, roast and potatoes, leftovers, and that's about all I've got so far!

I think the crew is back so it's time to eat!

More Sunday outfits at Fine Linen and Purple:

http://www.finelinenandpurple.com/2014/01/05/what-i-wore-sunday-volume-64/

6th Birthday Party for Steven and J, "Army" Theme

Steven Joseph's best buddy Jude was planning his party for before we'd be in town, but in the midst of the busy holiday season, they asked if we'd like to make it a party for both of them if they postponed it a week.  Steven Joseph was all for that, but we ended up having to postpone a second time due to illness. 

Finally on the 30th, we were able to celebrate these two big boys!  About half the people that the N family invited were unable to come because of illness, and it was a chilly day, but the boys still had a blast!  Most of the decorations came from Hobby Lobby.

The boys each enrolled in the draft on the front porch and were given real dog tags that J's mom ordered!

Soon it was time for boot camp led by the daddies!

They did some jumping jacks

and some sit ups

and marched out for their first challenge, an obstacle course where they were timed!

Another challenge was to throw parachute men and try to land them on a table below...

The last challenge was some kind of freeze tag/capture the flag type game, which they played down by the lake.

We made cupcakes as well as a sheet cake in a jelly roll pan covered in Oreos and Army men.  The boys all got army men in their party bags along with some other little army toys found at Hobby Lobby, a plastic helmet (Hobby Lobby and Party City), and their personalized dog tags.

Singing to the sweet friends

And finally, time for some presents!

The kids survey the presents.

This was a fun birthday party for all of us.  It allowed us to share a few days with our good friends and to celebrate our precious boys born a week apart.  Two years ago we celebrated their 4th birthdays together with a Firefighter Party.  And I imagine we'll share many more fun birthdays and celebrations with our sweet friends.  Thanks for hosting, N family, and to all the families who attended and celebrated both our boys, even though many of the kids don't know SJ very well.  It was a special day for him!

Snapshots from Christmas Day

Continuing the blog catch-up with photos from my regular camera...

We woke up Christmas morning at my parents' house.

Santa brought Vera Bradley duffel bags for the girls (for ballet)
and Duplos and Legos for the boys.  They each got a fleece knot blanket and some games.

The girls got a doll kitchen from NeNe and PaPa

and Steven Joseph got a big piggy bank for his birthday.

They had fun playing with their new toys before we left for 11am mass downtown.

and a shot from that evening at Steven's parents' house!  A very Merry Christmas 2013!

Nutcracker Snapshots

From their first performance, the school show on Friday, Dec 6th

NeNe and PaPa drove in for this show

With their Party Girl friends in the stairwell

The Party Girls minus two (one sick and one hadn't arrived)

 

Proud mama!

Such a fun Nutcracker year!