January 20th.
As you can see, I’ve been getting bigger. I would put this into our nifty slideshow, but Chris is the only one that knows how to do that around these parts. I think I was about 32 weeks in this picture, but am not sure. Remember, the camera adds at least 10 lbs. And I think it’s more like 20 for pregnant women.
I’m 36 weeks now and ready to be done with pregnancy. I’ve enjoyed parts of this pregnancy more than the other two- there’s something really sweet about knowing this is probably the last time I’ll ever experience feeling a baby kick. And all that being said, I am just really ready to be done. I feel huge, though everyone assures me I don’t look it. I’m tired and ready to be able to sleep/lay on my belly again. I’m even up for the sleepless nights at this point. I just want to be done with pregnancy.
We have been super busy lately, though I know it pales in comparison to how busy I’ll feel in about 3 to 4 weeks. We’re trying to finish lots of stuff on our house before the baby comes, so that has occupied our weekends, and any other spare time we’ve had for quite a while. Thanks to my sister-in-law Caroline, we are almost completely finished with our kitchen cabinets- which is such a long time coming. Yes, people, we have been working on this project for about 10 months. May I suggest that if you are trying to remodel your whole house, you do one room at a time. Don’t start every project at one time like we did. Sometimes it feels like we will never finish.
The kids are doing well. Amai is getting really excited that summer is coming, as she usually has a long list of activities to keep her busy. This summer will be filled with swimming, ballet/tap, and gymnastics for her. I’m not sure what Asher will be doing, but this will be his first summer of activities- so it should be fun! Give me a big hollah if you see me out and about with all three of them- I’ll be the woman chasing her older two children with a baby in a snap’n'go.
I’m still getting used to the idea of Amai being in Kindergarten in the fall. I’m so happy for her (and me), but it is such a bittersweet feeling. If any of you have strong-willed children, you know what I mean. She has brought me to my knees in prayer more than almost anything else in life (apart from mom and the whole cancer ordeal.) We have worked so hard with her on things, and so it feels like a monumental event that she is graduating on to the school years part of life. This will be a big year of change for all of us. A new baby, Amai in Kindergarten in the fall, and Ashe in Mother’s Day Out two days a week. I look forward to this wild ride- let’s get it started!
Stay tuned, people. I know I’ve been absent lately, but I will post any news I have of baby girl’s impending arrival. And no- we still don’t have a name picked out yet.
I can’t believe we’re practically half way through January already! I’ve been really busy lately with various projects at home and just trying to get prepared for this baby in the midst of getting back in the swing of the kids’ schedules, etc. You know how life goes. So before Valentine’s day comes I wanted to post about our Christmas break.
I had a huge list of things that I wanted to do here at home. Since Chris was going to be off from the 23rd through the 5th, I wanted to capitalized on his availability to lift heavy things, paint, etc. So we kicked off the first night of our vacation painting our “office”. Amai had been dying to help us paint, so we let her have a go at it before we really painted.
She was so proud!
Turns out that I actually don’t like the paint color we chose and we will be re-painting at some point. :( Then I will finally be able to post pictures of this finished room! Woo hoo!
That was the night before Scott and Meredith and their kids came up for Christmas Eve day to open presents together. It was really fun, but way too short of a visit.
Waiting patiently.
Who attaches these toys to the box? Did they know someone would want to actually pry the pieces out one day?
Boone loves Christmas!
My brother Scott.
Then we had our Christmas morning at home alone with just the kids. It was so much fun this year. Every parent says the same thing, but I just have to add to the common sentiment of loving Christmas morning more and more as our kids get older. They both were so excited this year and it’s double the fun having two to share it with. I can’t imagine what it will be like in the future as our kids get to that age where they try to find their gifts and open them ahead of time like Scott and I used to.
For right now, Christmas is still very simple in their minds. Amai is starting to understand that Christmas is when we celebrates Christ’s birth. At the same time, she heartily believes in Santa Clause. I wonder when she’ll figure that one out.
Amai wrote this- it says, "For Santa"
And the next morning Santa left her a note in return.
Surprisingly, she didn't really wake up earlier than normal.
We had to wake him up.
I got them both bath robes, which were possibly their favorite gifts.
That afternoon we drove down to Arlington for some good time with Chris’s family. We had our Chinese gift exchange that night and the next day went back down again to take the big kids to see Polar Express at the IMAX theater in Ft. Worth. It was a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised that Amai didn’t really move around much or talk during the movie at all.
Chinese gift exchange.
Amai talkin' to Uncle Hoyt.
His matchbox cars. He plays with them all day long.
One of her favorite movies.
We had a wonderful time. And it was tiring though not exhausting. I came home ready to dig into the rest of our (my) projects.
The next day I made Chris get everything out of the attic so I could sort through it all. Sadly this is the first time since we moved into the house that I’ve really been able to sort through things. Though I thought it would be really hard, I was able to let go of most of Asher’s baby clothes. It is a little sad to know I probably will not have another little baby boy, but I love getting rid of junk so much that I wasn’t very sad for very long. I got to get out all of the infant girl clothes I had, and the rest of the clothes I kept are now catalogued and in numbered boxes by size. Yes, I love being organized when I can.
We primed the fire place and it is now ready for paint. We are getting very close to finishing the cabinets in the kitchen. I narrowed down my options for the crib bedding I will be making. I went through both kids’ closets and got them completely organized. There was even a little time to make a dent in sorting through the thousands of pictures I still have from my parents’ life together. It was great.
Now we’re on to a new year. I’ve set my goals. One of them is to be more disciplined. Disciplined with our money. Disciplined with taking care of myself in the midst of three children needing me at every waking moment. And my other goal is to enjoy life more. Chris works so hard to provide for our family and being that I am the more free-spirited one of us, I want to try and find more things we can get out and enjoy together (that are also free or cost very little.)
It’s going to be a great year. March and our (still nameless) little girl will be here in no time. This year will also be Amai’s first year in Kindergarten, as well as Asher’s first year in Mother’s Day Out. I’m looking forward to all of it. Thank you Lord for a wonderful 2008, I’m looking forward to the work and blessings you hold in store for me in 2009.
Well, I tried my best to find a way to save Asher’s tooth from being pulled. But it had to go. It was abscessed and in case your child ever has an abscessed tooth, they pull ‘em no matter what. For an adult, a dentist would try a root canal and other procedures to save your tooth. But for a child who will lose said tooth in a few years, and who wouldn’t possibly be able to go through a root canal even if you would want to spend that money on a tooth that is eventually doomed anyway- they pull ‘em.
We had to be there at 7:50 this morning. It was a mad dash to get us all dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:30 (kindergarten is going to be a rough adjustment in the fall.) We got there and after having all weekend to gather my nerves I had come to the conclusion that I would go in with him no matter how horrible it was. I would rather be with him than sitting in the waiting room listening to him scream. But the hygenist looked at my pregnant belly and said, “I think it might actually be better if his daddy comes back so he can hold him down.” So I waited in the waiting room with Amai.
By God’s grace, she had to go to the bathroom right about the time he would probably start screaming. And she took forever, so all I could do was pray for my “baby” who was surely enduring hell in the dentist’s chair. I thanked Him the whole time I was waiting for Amai to finish that I wasn’t sitting in the waiting room, listening helplessly to Asher scream.
We came out of the bathroom and had not even gotten back into our seats in the waiting room when I heard them open the door and bring my crying son out. I rushed to him, but he looked furious and wouldn’t let me hold him. His upper lip was swolen from the shot and I could see just a little blood on his lower lip, but mainly I saw that he wasn’t sad- he was throwing a temper tantrum. “This is strange” I thought.
Then I looked at the dentist and hygenist. The hygenist said, “That was just amazing. He didn’t cry once during the whole procedure. He let me put the numbing ointment on his gums without even moving. Then he let the dentist give him two shots without crying or fighting. And the tooth pulling was the same- no tears.”
“Well, what made him cry?” I asked.
“We took the toy that we let him hold away from him after it was all over.”
Figures. I’m so relieved it’s over. So sad to see that hole in his mouth. But so glad he wasn’t in pain. Just for the record- I cried when we got in the car anyway. I’m pregnant, I can’t help it!
I’ll post a picture later if I can get him to smile for me. Who knew that the tooth fairy would visit our second child first?
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