Misc. March

Rachel and Kaden joined the Manila Magic Chorus for the spring session.  They had a cute concert and sang lots of fun, upbeat songs.  Kaden only joined for the end of chorus party I found out.... He says he's never joining again!  I guess the party wasn't worth all the singing.  They both did great though!

I went to work with Nate a few times while the kids were in school and he had some local jobs to do.  I would sit on a chair and hand him things while Haley and Eliza would run around the gym.  It was better than sitting at home "taking it easy" as I have had to do.

This is my only picture of St. Patrick's Day.  Green eggs is all we did.  Leprachauns don't come to our house.  I hope that's ok.  I kind of prefer it that way.  One less thing to worry about and plan for.

Nate was out-of-town and all the kids decided to watch the little picture video I made for his birthday a couple birthday's ago.  I thought it was cute.  They sure miss their dad when he's away.

One morning I went to wake up the boys and couldn't see Kaden anywhere.  I knew they had slept on their floor that night.  (Not sure why.  They have beds, I promise!)  I moved some blankets and pillows and discovered him all the way under the bed!  I woke him and he hit his head not knowing he was under the bed.  It was quite funny.  We all had a good chuckle.

Nate getting some office work done while Haley plays a game on his phone.  She looks comfy doesn't she?!  Nothing better than hanging out with dad. :)

Eliza the little snitcher!  Who can resist chocolate cake??

Since Eliza has been in a big girl bed her naps are very far and in between so we find her zonked out a lot of the time in various places.  She also gets out of bed about a million times at bedtime and often falls asleep on the floor instead.  If she would just lie still for 3 minutes at a time she would be out like a light, but she just won't!  Those big brown eyes don't help the situation.... it's hard to get too mad at her.

Have I Completely Lost My Marbles?

The answer is-- Yep, pretty much!  We got a puppy.  And by we I mean Rachel.  She lobbied and lobbied for one and her dad finally succumbed to her asking and begging, and to all her little notes and her books about dogs she would bring home.  It just so happened that my sister's neighbor had some Shih Tzu/Chihuahua mix puppies they were giving away for free and Nate took all the kids to see them while I was on "take-it-easy rest".  They all fell in love.... including Nate.  We had a family meeting because really it would be a family pet that Rachel would be responsible for and not to mention the newborn baby arriving soon.  Was everyone ready for major chaos?  The vote was 6 to 1.  Apparently I am the only one who thinks clearly!  The thought overwhelmed me, but to shoot down all the hopes of 6 other family members made me feel like a villain so I changed my vote.  Was it wise?  Probably not, but we have a cute little puppy taking over our lives so there's no turning back now.

She really is about as cute as they come!  She doesn't shed (which was a must since she's an indoor dog..... what have I done??!!)  It took 24 hours of trial and error for Rachel to decide on a name.  Maggie was the winner.  Welcome to our crazy home, Maggie!

Rachel and Maggie on the ride home.

Maggie was pretty snugly and mild the first few days.  She made herself comfy by my pregnant belly.  It was fun, I have to admit.  We are crate training her and she has done pretty well... so far.  I'll let you know how the training goes.  I have a feeling it's not going to be as easy as it seems.

Finished... Finally

We finally got the office and family room put back together.  It took almost a full month, but it's done.  Thank goodness.  Check that off the non-planned list of things to do.  I got a ton of organizing done.  Threw out mountains of papers that somehow made their way into my life and when I looked at them thought a crazy person was secretly stashing their junk in my files and drawers.  Seriously, it was rather ridiculous, especially considering I haven't looked at any of them in years and years and years.  Good riddance to junk!  My dear husband is so proud of me.  He loves to take things to D.I. and I gave him a nice pile to take.  I love to have things organized and in order, but sometimes find it hard to get it done or know where to start so things just keep piling up and get shoved in places that will never be looked at in a couple millenia.  Well, if you're having the same problem you may call my kids to come flood which ever room it is that needs some TLC.  That'll get ya going.

Before:

After:

I still have some decorating to do, but it's nice to have it done and to have some new colors.  That was the only good thing about the whole ordeal, getting to change it up a bit in the office.  The family room just got the same old paint.  That's a project for another day.... or year.

A Couple of Firsts

The first first was Eliza sleeping in a big girl bed.

While I was on bedrest Nate took matters into his own hands (because he knew I was reluctant and wouldn't be able to stop him!!) and got Eliza all set up in a real bed.  It's really the top bunk of the bunk bed, but since I didn't want her climbing up on a bunk bed all the time (which she would do even though I would have her on the bottom bunk), it worked out nicely to use the rails so she wouldn't fall off.  And my hope was she would think she was still in a "crib" and not climb out.  She figured it out quickly that she wasn't trapped anymore, but she's been doing moderately well in it.  Some nights are better than others.

The second first is Haley learned how to ride a two wheeler bike.  Yay!  No more training wheels.

Our little neighbor has a bike with no pedals or training wheels and I saw her cruising around on it with no problem at all.  She also can ride a scooter just fine so I knew she had balance.  I had Nate whip the training wheels off and she took off like an old pro.  She has been having a great time and feels so big.  She IS so big.  How did that happen??

When It Rains It Pours

It seems like things just keep piling up.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  So we had the lovely flood in our basement.  A pain, but nothing that can't be fixed.  Then add the minor, but semi-annoying health problems some of my children have.  Hoping some of those will go away soon... the health problems, not the children.  Then baby boy decides he wants to start trying to join all the craziness at 32 weeks and I end up on bed rest.  Ugh!

I felt fine (fine enough that is) then woke up last Saturday (March 3rd) feeling different.  I couldn't pin point it at first, but all day was having more contractions than I normally do (which is quite a few on a regular day).  I took it easy all day.  I felt guilty.  Saturdays always have long lists of to do's not counting the extra basement construction.  By evening I decided I was okay to go out to dinner with Nate.  All I was going to do was sit and eat.  How bad could it be?  By the time we got home I was still having contractions and decided to have Nate take me to the hospital.  When I got there and told them things just felt different today and something was "off" they kind of just looked at me like I was a crazy first time mom.  Then Nate spoke up and said this was my 6th baby and every one's attitude changed.  Kinda funny.  So they hook me up to the monitors and the contractions are 4-6 minutes apart.  They check me and I'm 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced, but that could mean nothing or something they say.  Hmmm.... I'm thinking it might mean something.  I had concluded before I went to the hospital that the little mister had "dropped".  My ribs that have been killing me were no longer bothering me and I could tell my heartburn was minimal compared to just the day before.  But now have so much more pressure down low and my hips kill, kill, kill.  It's the only explanation.  And I'm convinced it's why I'm having so many more contractions.  Anyway, I end up getting 3 shots of Terbutaline to stop the contractions.  The 3rd one did the trick, but can I just say OUCH!  That stuff stings like crazy.  We were able to go home after 3 hours of hanging out in triage, but I was put on bed rest until I could meet with my doctor on Tuesday.  So I was a good little patient and stayed in bed for a few days.

Then to add to this long story, Nate's mom has a random seizure last Sunday and my mom has hurt her back.  Oh my goodness.  What is going on??  I made Nate take work off this week (meaning no traveling, but he still had plenty to do in-town) so we could figure things out.  With both our moms not being able to be our backups we were scrambling a bit.  Now, I don't want to sound like all I care about is myself because I really don't.  I am worried about them and don't find my problems any worse than theirs.  My problems are manageable without them... they are usually just the most convenient ones to have help so it put a kink in our options.

My doctor on Tuesday said I just need to take it easy.  I need to stay down more than up.  If something starts giving me contractions, stop!  No vacuuming, no heavy lifting, and Nate's favorite... pelvic rest.  Ha, ha!  Sorry, I just had to put that out there.  When Nate learns a new term like that he runs with it.  We've had a fun time joking about it. TMI?  Sorry.  Any who, I feel like a lump on a log, but the more I do the more contractions I get so I'm trying to take it easy even though I so don't want to.  Nate this week has been a fabulous dad/mom/nurse/contractor/maid/chauffeur/chef.  The list could go on.  I have seen him less in this past week than I do when he travels!  It's been busy to say the least and I feel guilty because I'm mostly sitting around.  I go from one end of the spectrum to the other... this baby will definitely come early to nope, he's going to go full term then back again.  I know I'm not the first and not the last to deal with preterm labor and this is minor compared to something happening at 24 weeks or whatever.  I know, I am aware that it could be worse and has been worse for others.  I'm not complaining.  It's just what's going on in our lives right now.  I would rather be decorating the nursery (which is still Nate's makeshift office at the moment) or enjoying the beautiful weather we are having.  Oh well.  I'm trying to enjoy this moment in time even though it's not ideal or anything that I'd choose to be doing right now.  And thank you to all my wonderful family, neighbors and friends who have offered their help, their food and their homes to my kids.  It is appreciated more than you know.