20 days

I realized I haven't posted much about this pregnancy so I thought I'd give a quick update. I saw my doctor this morning. I am 36weeks and 1 day today and am measuring at 37 weeks. She is predicting he will be close to Sams birth weight (8lb 1oz). She is guessing more than 7lbs 6oz but not too much over 8lbs. I have been having contractions all day every day for two weeks---just not consistently. While going into labor is always a possibility, its not likely. I am finally starting to feel better, in some ways. I only take my nausea medication every 2-3 days. The exhaustion I was feeling has been a lot better. However, the aches, pains, discomfort, taking 5 minutes to roll over in bed at night, the swelling, bloating and feeling like a beached whale are in full swing and have been for a while. I'm really ready to have this baby out and NEVER, EVER do this again!! 20 more days and we'll have a baby. That still seems like an eternity, but it also feels like 5:30am on 10-18 will be here any minute.

She has no idea that she is about to be replaced as the baby of the family!

Busy

It feels like the past week has flown by. The majority of our time has been spent cleaning. We have turned the 3rd floor (formerly the play room) into the master bedroom. It is AWESOME!!! Its a little strange sleeping somewhere new and I feel like I can't hear whats going on in the rest of the house (which isn't always a bad thing), but its roomy, the new air conditioner works perfectly and I think its going to be a great escape!

Our old bedroom is the new play room. The boys definitely got the short end of the stick, but Ben did NOT want to leave his bedroom so he is happy. Sam is what ever Ben is, so its worked out for him too. We couldn't fit all the toys in there so we had to purge a bit which always makes me happy. I think I've finally given up on Sam taking a nap (he hasn't had one in a couple weeks) so the boys have the play room which connects to the bedroom to play in for "rest time." For now Ellie is staying where she is. The baby will be with us for a while. I'm guessing we will reevaluate the kids room situation in the spring, but I think this plan will work out well for now. On top of the moves, we have done major purging in my closet, the basement and storage areas. The living room is still filled with toys and furniture we have no room for elsewhere, but in just a few short years, we'll be able to get rid of baby stuff and live like grown ups again!! I think I'm finally starting to feel ready for a baby. We just have to get through this weekend. My baby brother is getting married to an amazing woman.

Last weekend, I took a break from cleaning and moving to take Ellie and my very pregnant self shopping with my mom to buy a new outfit for the rehearsal and wedding. It was a nice day, but I'm really looking forward to being able to see my feet again! While we were shopping Jon took the boys to Chuck E Cheese's for the very first time. I don't know how we avoided it for the first 5 years of Bens life, but something tells me it will now be a regular part of our lives.

Guitar

With a lot of help from Uncle A, Ben got a real guitar for his birthday this year. He loves Gibsons guitar and turned everything around the house into a guitar. I think he plays it every day, but with all the rain we had today, we had an extended concert! Here is a sample of my day:

Jon told Ben that uncle A offered to give him a couple guitar lessons. His response: "I already know how to play!"

In baby news, we are making huge progress in the getting things done department. I don't know if my nesting has kicked in, but after this weekend, we will have 4 completely clean bedrooms (I'm talking cleaned, mopped, blinds cleaned, furniture moved, closets organized etc!), a new play room and an almost spotless basement. I think the house will be cleaner for this baby than it was when we moved in! We have also officially decided on the name and bought the coming home outfit. All the baby clothes have been washed, but haven't made it out of the basement yet. I think we even have a plan for the kids while we are in the hospital. We still have a few minor things to do, but I'm feeling really good about bringing a baby home.

Picnic day

Today we headed down to Columbus for our adoption agencies annual picnic. We heard it was quite an event and they were right. The park is huge and beautiful. They have a pavilion, pond, massive play ground and grassy fields as far as you can see. I've been dreading this picnic because today was the day we were supposed to see Ellies birth parents for the first time since leaving the hospital. I wasn't sure how they would act--happy to see she is doing so well, sad they gave her up or 1,000 other possibilities. All that worrying was for nothing. They didn't show up. I don't know what happened to them, but no one has heard from them in a while. That left us to focus on Ellie and all the other adorable babies. It was actually amazing. We were surrounded by tons of white couples with AA and biracial babies. Of course we saw plenty of cute white babies too, but we were definitely attracted to the "mixed" families. We saw a family from our training class. We met a couple that used to live two streets away from us and a few other great families from all over the state. It was so nice to not have to explain Ellie is adopted or that we aren't crazy because we are 8 months pregnant. Everyone just got it and we met several couples that have been in our same situation. It made me realize how much the looks and the dumb questions strangers throw at you really bother me. It was a whole new community that I didn't realize I was missing out on. Now that I've experienced it, I'm almost sad we're not still with them. Everyone fell in love with Ellie (thats a given) and she loved all the attention---when she wasn't sleeping on me! We had a great time and I'm definitely looking forward to connecting with some families we met today and to next years picnic!

Amazing kids

Ben got a bike for his 3rd birthday. He has finally mastered it and wants to take the training wheels off. Sam likes to sit on the bike and tries to reach the pedals, but its too tall for him. Last night, Sam went out on the porch, hopped on the bike and started riding circles around the porch swing. His little legs didn't stop him. I walked him up and down the street a few times and he did great. He needed some help going up the hill, but he flew down with no problems and he's not even 3!

As if that wasn't enough, swimming started back up last night. He held dads hand the first time he jumped off the wall then wanted nothing to do with him. Sam was fearless! He's going to be a natural athlete.

Sams ready for some cooler weather!

Ellie mastered the worm crawl a long time ago, but now she has taken on the regular crawl. She is definitely slower with her belly off the ground, for now. I don't think it will be long before she takes off.

Benjamin has really been working on his reading skills. He has mastered 3 letter words and is on to double consonant words like mall or buzz and is working on blending 2 consonant words like pack.

Ben also had an awesome night at swim class. He is no longer wearing the bubble, he jumped in and picked up right where he left off last class.

Ok mom, that will be 2 dressers!

Unprepared

When we were expecting Ben, we had a completed nursery stocked with clothes, bath equipment, diapers, furniture...you name it, we had it, and it was done months before he was due. We weren't done as early with Sam, but we had plenty of waiting to do in a completed nursery before he came. To prepare the boys for Ellie, we moved them in the same room seven months before she arrived. We waited till the last minute for clothes, but we still had a completed nursery and enough unisex onesies that we could welcome a girl home at any moment. Here we are, 5 weeks away from number four and we've done nothing. Yep, nothing. Clothes aren't washed, a baby book has not been bought. We have no going home outfit for sport. We still haven't even 100% decided on a name. No rooms have been moved. In fact, we are now questioning the original room swap we had planned. We are 5 weeks away and we've done nothing to prepare for his arrival. We have 3/4 of a completed "where are the kids going while we're at the hospital plan" but 3/4 isn't making me feel confident right now. I know it will get done and I know we still have 5 weeks, but I would like to be able to say we have one thing done and ready to go.

In the mean time, we have 3 really cute kids to keep us busy!
Ben is all about hiding from us lately. He's discovered that hiding in the pillows of our bed makes him really hard to find!

Wordless Wednesday: Monkeys

The newest trick to drive me crazy!

Hair

Ellie has some crazy hair. Some is straight and the top is wild and crazy. I attempted pigtails, but its harder than I thought with a squirmy 8month old. They ended up lopsided and uneven, but she still looked darn cute!

Bad influence

Gram stopped over a few days ago with some dinner. Ellie flashed a smile and before I knew it, she had a fry in her mouth. She loved them. She sucked off every bit of salt and only left a mushy mess. I think she might be a salty girl like daddy although I haven't seen her pass up anything sweet yet!

On the mend

Jon had his hernia surgery on Thursday. He did great. He's still sore and moving slow, but he made it off the couch and into a chair today! He can't lift the boys (or anything above 20lbs) for the next two weeks and has had a rough time getting the boys to remember he has a boo boo, but they are troopers considering dad hasn't been able to do any hard core playing with them. Our family and friends have been awesome. The boys had an overnight with my parents and we've had meals offered to us left and right. We're feeling pretty blessed right now!

The other great news, is Jon found some new formula for Ellie last week. It says its designed for kids who spit up a lot. I was half skeptical and half intrigued. She's been on it for 3 days and has only spit up once! I'm trying not to get too excited because anytime we try something new we get a couple good days from her then it goes back to normal, but I'm hoping this will be our magic cure.