More Christmas Day

Aunt Star with a crazy-faced Ellie

Ellie with Mom & Dad (and Agent P. and Dr. D. chattering bobble heads)

Talina and Bailey (who had JUST enough side tuft hair to try on a new gigantic bow.  And Lacy proudly displaying her present from Star.

Grandma and Grandpa with baby Bailey and the present our newly-freakishly-craft Lacy made for Mom.

How freaking cute is my niece?!

The family.

Grandma and Ellie

Aunt Star and a crazy-faced Ellie.  Again.

Annie giving Uncle David a kiss.

Random, but we have a picture of Annie wearing a Statue of Liberty foam hat.

Man, I Love These Two . . .

 And then just a quick picture tutorial of what it means to be a little brother of two big sisters . . . sometimes, they try their new Christmas robes on you . . . and you look freakishly adorable :-)

 Especially when you're helping to change laundry in your new robe . . .

Warning:  I am quite capable of bursting into spontaneous tears just looking at Isaac right now.  Despite the fact that I believe a baby brother, so close in age to him, will be one of the greatest blessings in his life, I can't help but melt down a little into a puddle of, "My poor baby's whole world is gonna be turned upside down in the next week or so, and he has no idea what happening and I don't know how to prepare him for it."  Having him be so much younger than his sisters were when they were first introduced to a younger sibling has been a big difference -- he's still a baby in so many ways.  Must stop thinking about it now, or I will start crying again.  :-)

Turned Upside Down

My last midwife's appointment didn't go quite as expected.  She measured, felt around a little, and looked a little worried.  She started looking for a heartbeat, and it was taking a lot longer than normal, and she was looking more concerned.  Finally, I heard that reassuring 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh' and I smiled at her, but she wasn't smiling back.  "These heart tones are high . . . " she said, "Not fast, but higher up on your body than they should be he's engaged.  Has you felt any big, dramatic movements recently?"  He's been active, but nothing that felt really dramatic, I thought.  Then I remembered a few days ago where I'd made Greg feel my stomach for like 20 straight minutes because there was so much more movement than normal.  But nothing that felt like he'd flipped.  She did an internal check, I'm less dilated than I was two weeks ago, and the baby was so high she couldn't positively identify the presenting body part since he was floating up so high.  This baby has been head down and further down than any of my other kids for longer than any of my other kids have been.  To hear he was just suddenly up 'floating' was really odd.  Especially since I'd been feeling so much new pressure and pelvic pain over the last couple days.  She had the receptionist call the OBs office to get me in for an ultrasound, as soon as possible.  Worst fears confirmed, and there was my little boy's butt, straight down.  Frank breech.  I couldn't believe it.  How does this full term baby who's been head down for months, suddenly flip.  And why?  Why now?  My due date is less than a week away, and I'm rapidly running out of time for him to flip back around.  And I'm frustrated, because I feel like all my options have been stripped away.  Breech births have become pretty much an automatic c-section in the obstetrics world.  Despite the fact I have lightening fast births, my babies pop out in seconds with almost no effort, and that we have a family history of successful breech births (my Mom was born breech in one push), I won't even be given the chance to try in a hospital.  I'll be numbed, strapped to a table, and be given a c-section.  I know a c-section isn't the worst thing, by any stretch of the imagination.  But all I can think of is having to stay in the hospital longer to recover, while Isaac is home even longer without me.  Then getting home after 'abandoning' him for longer than I've ever left him before, and not even being able to pick up my 17 month old son.  How do I explain that to him?  Stairs, which are plentiful in our house, will be so much more difficult, and I will have a baby and a toddler who expect to be carried up and down them every time someone needs to eat or the door bell rings, or I need anything on another floor of my house.  I know it'll all be temporary.  A few hard weeks are a blink in the eye of this life, and in the long run it won't matter that the first few weeks of Owen's life were more complicated than the other kids.  But man, those few weeks are scaring the crap out of me. 

I feel like my whole world just got turned upside down on me, not just the baby.  What could I have done differently?  Is it the position I sleep in?  I'm going to a chiropractor today . . . what if it doesn't work?  What if it doesn't work in time?  What positions do I try, of all the millions of suggestions to be found on google, which ridiculous looking positions do I actually put myself in to try and make things conducive to turning?  (Um, I will not be standing on my head.  I'm sure it's beneficial with gravity and all, but I told Greg I couldn't do that under normal circumstances, I most definitely can't do it at 39+ weeks pregnant.)  What if he flips back around, only to turn around breech the next day?  How do I fix this?  How do I prevent it from happening again if I can somehow fix it?  How much time do I have left?  How do I know if he flipped?  I couldn't tell he had the first time, how do I know if he turns head down?  How do I get some sleep when this is all I can think about?

Please Baby, please turn again.  Mom needs you to turn again. 

Christmas Morning

Annie woke up coughing really hard around 5:30AM.  She was crying, because she thought she was going to throw up, so I brought her back into my bed with me (I'd been up since 3AM -- yay for pregnancy insomnia!), gave her some asthma medicine and cuddled up together to get back to sleep.  A few minutes later, we were both obviously still awake, and I asked her if she knew what today was.  She giggled, and whispered, "Christmas!  And I think Santa came already . . . we've all been asleep for awhile, and he comes when you're sleeping."  We cuddled up again, I told her to try and sleep a bit longer and we'd go downstairs in an hour or so.  After a minute or two of silence, she quietly started to sing, "Up on the Housetop" and smiling at me.  I think it is one of my fondest memories of the entire day.  She did fall back asleep (I did not), but Isaac woke up around 6:15 or so, Annie was awake again by then, and at 6:30 I was just like, "Let's go get Ellie and get going!"  So, I ran downstairs to get the camera out, and soon the girls, then the boys, came down the stairs . . .

 

The girls were THRILLED to find Bubble Tape in their stockings (and various other candies and treats, but gum was the high point), and were totally surprised to find a GUM BALL MACHINE under the tree for the family.  That Santa, always going above and beyond.

 Isaac was happy with his new train and animals, but mostly with his M&Ms.  The kid was SO congested, and still teething like 4 teeth (for over 8 weeks now, people!!) that he just dripped chocolatey fluids all morning.

 Me and the kids.

Greg with the two little ones -- right about the time Isaac hit his first wall.  Poor kid felt pretty miserable all day (Dad did too, they both got naps later that day while I was visiting family with the girls).

Then my family came over to open gifts, Greg's parents came over with a delicious breakfast and then went to Church with us, and then after Church we went to my parent's house where we got to Skype with my little brother in Uruguay (his reaction to Ellie, "She sounds JUST like Annie when I left!  She wasn't really talking much when I was still in Utah!")  Greg and Isaac napped most of the rest of the day while the girls and I went to my Aunt Judy's house, then to my Grandma's house.  Then we came home and Greg made my sisters, Mom and I yummy, fresh scones and we played card games until late.  I'll post more pictures from the rest of our day later, but I wanted to get some of just my cute little family up for now . . .

Merry Christmas Eve!

I think there are few things that make me happier than Christmas Eve and new Christmas pajamas!

Ellie & Annie posing in their coordinating pajamas

The girl cousins -- Annie and Ellie with baby Bailey

We even got Isaac smiling in one of the pictures!!
Oh, and there was a 'theme' running through the pajamas -- Annie hates footie pajamas, so we did regular two piece pjs for her . . . with red polka dot pants.  (She actually thinks she likes them, and will put them on, then wake up at midnight and demand a change of pajamas 'cause they bug her by restricting her feet.  So we don't buy 'em for her, even if she says she wants them!) Ellie then got polka dot footie pajamas with reindeer feet.  So they coordinate with their polka dots. Isaac got plain red pajamas with reindeer feet, and Bailey just happened to have reindeer footie jammies too.  I've found 'matching' three different kids of two different genders, with pajamas from three different size departments is a little tough, so we went with just coordinating, rather than matching this year.  Next year, with two girls and two boys, we may do matching for each gender.  We'll see.  :-)  If I was my Mom I could just make 'em all perfectly matching pajamas, but that ain't happening.  I may talk my Mom into doing it next year though :-).

"Look at me Mom! Ta da!"

Cute girls -- Annie, Bailey and Ellie.

Annie & Ellie (being a cheeseball) with Grandpa -- and the girls are happily showing off some of the MANY new hair flowers Grandma got them.

Amazingly, they're all in bed (and quiet, although I can't guarantee sleeping) at 8:15PM.  It helps that they actually all feel pretty crappy, with some nasty colds and coughs.  But visions of Dimetapp now float in their little heads, and I'm hoping we get some sleep around here before the big day tomorrow!  (It's been elusive the last couple nights with congested kids).

I cannot wait to see when they wake up tomorrow morning!  :-)

Countdown

Feels like life is on a bit of a 'countdown'.  Somedays that countdown seems to be the countdown 'til Christmas, and sometimes it feels like the countdown to the baby.  At least we know the date on the first one! :-)

This last couple days have been more focused on Christmas, with a trip to the mall to get my niece Bailey's first pictures with Santa.  Here she is with my sister, Talina:

I am really loving having my sister be a stay-at-home Mom with me.  Especially with her living just over a mile away from me.  It's fun having someone to run errands with me, and having someone to hang out with at home.  It's just so uber-comfortable with it being my sister -- we sit around and talk, sometimes I vacuum or do dishes while we talk, sometimes she checks her email while Bailey naps in the swing and I'm changing Isaac, sometimes she plays with the kids while I run out and shovel the snow off the steps before Annie gets home, and sometimes we both fall asleep on my couches while watching cartoons with the kids.  Yeah, social interactions doesn't usually doesn't get much more comfortable than that.  :-)
(This will probably further hinder my social life though, as I don't even feel the need to change out of my pajamas to have her come over, and I don't think I've ever fallen asleep on the couch while talking to a non-related friend.)  :-)

Monday night we also had our annual Christmas Party with Greg's extended family.  The kids had fun getting to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa, and taking in all the Christmas festivities. 

 

Isaac loved watching the train go around and around the tree.  He loved the tree too.

 Isaac and Grandma enjoying the nativity set. 

 Ellie was pretty wired (shocking, I know.)  This is how she posed for pictures.

 Isaac showing off one of his classic 'grump' faces.  He was pretty grumpy when we first got there, but totally warmed up and was dancing and playing and having a blast once he settled in.

 The kids sitting with Grandma on the couch during the White Elephant exchange.

Where I had Ellie choose one of the gifts we'd brought, just to be on the safe side :-)

Merry Christmas!

I know I've plastered these all over Facebook already, but I can't get over how much I love 'em!  So, here they are again . . .

Final Countdown

Today was my 37 week appointment.  Full term.  As in 'can have this baby tomorrow or in four weeks from now' countdown.  I've always pictured having this baby a week late or so (like his older brother), so not until the first week of January.  But it's just been this last couple (increasingly uncomfortable) days that it's been dawning on me that I could actually have this baby any time now.  Especially once my midwife told me the baby is in perfect position, really far down, and I'm dilated to almost a three.  The great thing about dilation is that it tells you absolutely nothing :-)  Being dilated to a three could mean I could have this baby tonight, and it could mean I go a week overdue.  But, still.  Hearing that made me come home and pre-register at the hospital finally, and get started on packing a hospital bag.

So, I'm due January 2nd, 2012.

To recap, I had Annie on her due date, Ellie was a few weeks early, and Isaac was a full week late.

Annie was 6.5 lbs, Ellie was 6 lbs. and Isaac was 8 lbs. 1 ounce. 

Remember, last time my labor went pretty fast.  And I didn't realize I was nearing the end of labor until I suddenly yelled to the nurse who just happened to be in the room talking to us that I was pushing.  Then Isaac was born about a minute later or less.  With my midwife in the next room, and no time for her or anyone else to get into the room.  The next day my midwife said to Greg, "Hope you were paying attention . . . you may end up delivering next time."
So, do we think we'll make it to the hospital in time?
Will Greg end up delivering this baby in the car?  By himself in the hospital room?

Any guesses when I have this baby?
How big will he be?
Dramatic birth story taking place in the hospital lobby?  (Like my cousin . . . hi Marissa!)

And then just for fun, a picture one of our last family outings

(to see Christmas lights) as a family of five . . .

 . . . I JUST realized that means we're going to be a family of six sometime in the next month.  That suddenly sounds huge and scary to me :-)  Think I would've done some of this math before now . . . :-)

Note Passing

I've always been a note passer.  In fifth grade, my best friend and I created an entire secret coded alphabet so we could pass notes without anyone being able to read what we wrote.  (We got fast at it too, being able to write nearly as quickly in code as in the regular alphabet, and to this day I can remember about 6 or 7 letters from it.)  My family is particularly guilty of passing notes in Church.  (Playing tic-tac-toe, number games and the 'dot game' also fall into this category.)  The first year of marriage, I carried a small notebook with me in my scripture case, and each week I'd trick Greg into getting into long winded written conversations with me during Sunday School.  I am officially a horrible influence.

And, like so many of our bad habits, I'm passing this one on to my kids.  :-)  Today was Stake Conference, and while my Dad had to rush off to fix Star's broken furnace, and Greg stayed home with a sick Isaac and a wilder-than-we-want-to-deal-with-in-a-2-hour-meeting Ellie, my Mom, Annie and I headed off, just us girls, to our meetings this morning.  It wasn't long before Annie was writing a letter to Cody, and then wanting ideas of what to write in her notebook.  To this day I'm convinced one of the reasons Annie recognized all her letters so early was because for the first two and a half years of her life, we lived in my parents Ward, and my Mom would write letters and words and names with Annie throughout Sacrament Meeting to keep her quietly entertained.  Well, today I wrote out a couple math problems for Annie, keeping them simple as to not frustrate her and cause any math-related-drama during the meeting.  But soon, my Mom was writing out problems for her, and my Mom is able to 'push' Annie a lot further than I can without tears or whining, and Annie was having fun working out math problems with Grandma.  When one got 'too hard', Grandma just bribed her with a new necklace if she'd attempt the problem, and Annie had it solved in no time . . .

The 'too hard one' was adding three numbers, instead of just two.  The problem in the middle, second row from the bottom was when Annie wanted to challenge Grandma and gave her a problem of her own to do.

 I am fairly confident that if I just let Annie attend Church with my Mom each week, I would not have to teach her anything until Junior High . . .


Grandma and Annie went on to carry on a long one-sided conversation on paper (my Mom would ask questions in writing, that Annie would have to read and then answer), and eventually the topic came around to Annie 'earning' a prize for Ellie as well (since she'd already earned a prize from doing her first page of math.)  Annie said she was willing to do ONE last math problem with Grandma, in exchange for Ellie getting a matching Christmas necklace to Annie's promised new one.  Here was the problem Grandma came up with . . .

Grandma is very tricky.  :-)

Here's a couple pages of notes from Grandma to Annie . . . 

I already mentioned Annie knew her letter because Grandma constantly wrote them for her during Church, but I should also mention I think a huge part of her ability to read came from my Mom writing her out stories and notes from a really young age . . .

The nice thing about having a 'village' to help raise your kids, is that they sure learn a lot more this way!  There are things my parents teach my kids to do that I wouldn't have even thought they were anywhere near ready to learn . . . my parents don't seem to have any of those same preconceived notions about what and when kids can learn.  I would be like, "It's too early to teach them that," and my Mom & Dad are more like, "Teach it to 'em, then they'll know it."  Which is also why Annie is currently creaming most of the extended family in the card game 'Mormon Bridge'.  Grandpa taught it to her, and it turns out she rocks at it.

Festival of Trees

My sister Talina and I took our kids to the Festival of Trees the other day.

It was fun.  We ate scones (and chocolate covered bananas, and mint brownies and cookies . . . not exactly the healthiest of outings).  Although, I don't know if I could be talked into doing it again anytime soon -- Isaac wanted to pull on and swing the white chains around the trees . . . which gets you glared out by the hostesses.  When I held him or when he was put in the stroller, he tended to scream uncontrollably.  It was a lot of Isaac-management.  I was tired when we were done. :-)

My kids favorite part had to be the kids enjoying the Christmas music performances.  Plus, it meant Isaac wasn't screaming at me, and he stayed in one general area.  And did make any old ladies glare at us.  In fact, old ladies were smiling at him.  Much better.