Happy Halloween

We headed over to the Calaways again this year for some trick or treating and goodies. The kids looked adorable and did a great job despite the cold night. Here are some highlights:

In case you can't tell, Ben is a ninja turtle. Sam is a dinosaur. Ellie is a ballerina--sort of. She has a home made tutu with a Halloween shirt given to her from a friend. Zach is wearing a monster outfit which was also a gift from a friend. Thanks to Becky and Debbie for the costume loans.

Zachary William

He is finally here. After 9months of disbelief, shock, panic, being scared, sick, exhausted, worried etc etc etc, he is here. Jon and I showed up at the hospital at 5:30am on Tuesday (10-18). I caught a cold (typical) so on top of everything else, I couldn't breathe. We got checked in, they did a non-stress test and got my IV going (after failing miserably once and left me looking like a druggie).

The surgery was pretty routine. It took about 1.5hrs from starting the spinal to getting us back to recovery. The only surprise was the barely 8lb baby we were supposed to have turned into an 8lb 12oz big boy! He was born at 8:02am and was 21in long.

He looks just like Sam. Same face, hair color (although Zach has slightly less hair) and expressions. Zach however, has huge feet and the longest toes I've ever seen on a baby. His toes were the first thing Jon commented on.

Zach

Sam

Overall he is healthy and perfect. We do have two issues we need to keep our eye on. 1. He lost a pound from his midnight weigh in on Tuesday to his 5am weight check this morning. He is eating a bit better than he was so they aren't worried, but we do need to take him back on Monday for a weight check. 2. He has a small issue with the roof of his mouth. The average person has a dome like roof. Zach's almost comes up to a point. The doctor thinks this has caused his top gums to get pushed forward. I don't think you can see it in the pictures, but most of the time his gum sticks out past his top lip. They are guessing this will just need more time to develop on its own. As long as he continues to eat well, we aren't going to worry. At some point we will probably take him to an ENT and/or a pediatric plastic surgeon just to have him checked and see if we might be in for any issues in the future if it doesn't correct itself.

The kids were excited to meet him and learn his name. We stuck with the plan of a Biblical name that can be shortened. He is not named after anyone. We just liked the name. My dad was William so he got his middle name from my side. Ellie has given him the evil eye a couple times, but I think she is slowly warming up to him.

We came home today. The first thing Ellie did was try to take his socks off (she has something against socks). Its a bit crazy right now. I'm slightly worried about how we are going to do this. I'm hoping things will come together once I get rid of some of this surgery soreness. I'm just really thankful I'll have Jon home with me for a while.

We are now a family of 6 and we are complete!

Adoption night

The Lakewood Department of Human Services/Division of Youth wanted to highlight adoption and foster care in the city of Lakewood. They gathered up families who qualified, bought them a ticket to the high school football game and let us walk out on the track after the first quarter. The kids got to throw mini footballs and candy into the stands and they loved it! I think they loved the pop corn and candy dad bought them a little more though. It was a fun night and I hope we were able to spark some interest in some local families.

Happy 3rd little man

Our baby boy turned three today. I still don't understand how this happened. Just yesterday he was doing the worm crawl across the floor and refusing to eat anything but bananas.

We started the day with a small party with family and friends. "Nap" time was spent playing with some of his new toys. We headed to Chick Fil A for dinner (per Sams request) and gladly let him run out all his energy in the play area. I think he had a great day, but I wouldn't mind if this next year slowed down just a little!

October 2008

October 2009

October 2010

October 2011

Sams chocolate cake with sprinkles.

Deep sleep

Jon and I usually check on the kids before we head up to bed. Last night, Jon walked in the boys room and immediately walked back out laughing. Heres why:

I don't know how he ended up that way and I don't know how that was comfortable. I picked him up and put him back in bed and he didn't flinch. We didn't hear a peep out of him till this morning.

Pregnancy brain

Yes, the pregnancy brain is in full swing and has been for a while. I just realized it is Thursday. I also just posted a Wordless Wednesday post. I think you can cut me some slack since I'm having a baby in 5 DAYS!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Blanket

It was worth the wait!

52 Pounds

No I have not gained 52lbs with this pregnancy. We went apple picking this morning and thats how many pounds of apples we came home with. We took the kids last year and they loved it. They also loved the apple sauce that we made for 2 weeks after. Last year we brought home 20ish pounds and thought it would take for ever to get through all of them. They were gone in 2 weeks. We'll see how long we can make this batch last.

Doctor day

Sam had his three year check up and Ellie had her 9month check up today. It was pretty painless. Sam is 34lbs (75%) and 36 1/4in (25%). That translates to short and chubby. His BMI backs that up which is over 90%. She is actually not worried about that. He does not look morbidly obese by any means. We just have to make sure he keeps up with his fruits and veggies. Everything else was completely normal.
Ellie is 15lbs 13oz (5%) and 26 1/2in (10%). I really thought she would have bumped her percentages up a little bit with the amount of food shes been eating recently. She is basically eating non stop. If we are at the table, she feels she needs to be eating the whole time. If anyone is eating, she should be eating too. If a commercial comes on that has food on it, she wants food. I don't know where she is putting all of it! Everything else is normal. She is standing more, doing the regular crawl more, she can now feed herself and most days her spitting up is better, but it still comes and goes. We've got a pretty healthy house full of kids.

I had my doctor appointment yesterday. I am still measuring at 37 weeks and am now 37weeks and 2 days. Yes, that means 12 days till baby. No chance this one is coming early even though all the discomfort, pain etc came extra early! She has revised her weight guess to under 8lbs, but got that after touching my stomach for all of 10seconds so I guess we'll see how accurate that method is. I go back for 1 more check next week then we head to the hospital on the 18th. We have a few more finishing touches to put on the house (when I say we, I really mean Jon. I've given him a decent to do list). Other than that, I'm ready to pop this boy out!

Chillin'

Hangin' with the boys!

The wedding

My youngest brother got married yesterday. The party (for us anyway) started at the rehearsal dinner Friday night. We took the kids to the dinner since we were leaving them home for the wedding and reception. My parents had some toys and kid friendly food waiting for them so they were actually pretty well behaved (even though they went to bed two hours after bed time) and seemed to have a good time. It was a nice dinner. The food was good and friends and family gave some very sweet speeches about the happy couple.

The outfits weren't complete with out the shades---even at 7pm!

Ellie meeting Marie for the first time.

Saturday was cold and rainy, but I don't think anything could have ruined the day. The ceremony was really nice. Tony and Marie looked so happy and in love. It was great to be a part of everything.

The reception site was beautiful and they added so many personal touches that made the evening even more special. My favorite was the flip flops to help ease sore feet--thank you for those! Instead of one large wedding cake, they had a mini cake for them and then each table got their own cake with everyones names written on the sides.

The other happy couple.

If you can't read the large napkin, it says "Don't even think about it!"

Marie is a Steelers fan (yes, we still love her) and apparently Tony found out she had a Steelers garter. After pulling it off her leg, he threw it away and pulled out a Browns garter from his pocket that was thrown to the single men.

The best part was probably the dancing. Maries family is Lebanese and HUGE! After the bridal dances, Marie and her mother started a dance and soon the floor was packed with her extended family. The video is a two for one deal so you get to see the chain starting then a break in the main dancing to high light Marie and Tony.

Unfortunately, my feet were killing me, I was exhausted and the baby was not cooperating so we left before it was over. We still had a great day. We are so proud of them and are so in love Marie. I am so proud to call her my sister!

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!