Our cutie turned into a monkey....

Today Tom and I were in the dining room working on something and went into the kitchen to find Miss Julia sitting at the table on one of the kitchen chairs. It took us a second to realize how she had gotten there. (That neither of us had put her there and the boys hadn't helped her.) We took her down and pushed the chair in to which she promptly pulled the chair out and climbed the chair to be able to sit at the table. She continued climbing the chairs this evening including climbing all the way onto the table. I've been saying that this day was about to come and here it is. She climbs onto her dolly stroller and tried to sit in it. One thing I'm wondering is if she just wants her own chair to sit in. (I found her sitting in one of the toy boxes the other day.) So we've brought the Bumbo seat out for her to play with. She likes to climb into in and sits for awhile. I think we need to find her a little anywhere chair for her to sit in. She definitely wants to be doing the same things we do.

3 Little Christmas Trees

Bennett's pre-school has a birthday party for Jesus program every December. Bennett has been in the program twice already when he was in the Friday Friends & 3s classes. This year we were looking forward to seeing him in the program because we thought he might actually perform. (The last two years he just stood in the front and didn't sing.) However, he got sick with a stomach bug the day of the program and had to miss it. So I took this video of him saying one of the poems they recite at the program. It's pretty cute. Enjoy!

The Different Library

Yesterday we had a very busy day away from the house. Church, William had a birthday party to go to, errands to run, and a fun celebration at church for our friends.

Anyway, one of our errands was to return a book we had purchased at Barnes And Noble which we were unable to return because they have a lame 14-day return policy. I digress...that's not what this story is about. We all went into BN (Tom, myself, Bennett, and Julia) because we all had to take a potty break and Julia needed to eat. So we had a little bit of time that Bennett got to look at books. He really loved this one counting book and asked to get it and we said yes.

Fast forward to later that evening after the celebration at church when we picked William up at a neighbor's house because they brought him home after the birthday party. As he was getting into the van he noticed the counting book that Bennett had gotten at BN and asked Bennett, "Where did you get that book, Bennett?" To which Bennett replied, "At the different library."

His answer took me off-guard but I guess he was right, the store is somewhat like a different library. :) I guess we don't go to the bookstore very often but we do regularly go to the library. I love my Bennett and his viewpoint and take on things.

Bennett's Swimming Lessons

We enrolled Bennett in swimming lessons for a second session this fall. He had made a lot of progress this spring but over the summer we hadn't pushed him to put his face in the water. So when he started lessons this fall he wasn't doing what he should. Not to mention that we were doing lessons in the evening instead of during the day. Definitely a difference in how busy and distracting the pool can be. He has made a lot of progress (with the help of some bribery and consequences) so I wanted to share how well he is doing. Enjoy the videos.

It's a girl!

(Picture taken at the apple orchard October 16th)

So after everyone's predictions you were right! We welcomed Julia Katherine into our family on October 19th at 2:32 in the afternoon. She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz (my biggest of the three...and the latest to arrive) and was 20 3/4 inches long.

The boys love her and are adjusting well....as well as two boys can. :)

She was 5 weeks yesterday. Before I know it she will be 1! I'm trying to enjoy her, snuggle her, smell her, all while enjoying my boys and letting go of all the other things. Especially with a busy crazy holiday season approaching. Trying to focus on the true reason for the holidays and spending good time with mine and Tom's family.

Now that there aren't just boys I need to figure out a new blog name. Any suggestions?

Simple Woman's Daybook

(November 24: I just found this post in my drafts...it isn't finished but just wanted to post to see what I was thinking and feeling just before Julia was born.)

FOR TODAY (October 11, 2010)...

Outside my window...it is gloriously sunny and my computer says it's already 61 degrees. We've had a bit of a heatwave lately.
I am thinking...
I am thankful for...
From the kitchen...not much is happening here. I have no energy or desire to cook right now.
I am wearing...navy maternity yoke t-shirt (old navy), maternity jeans (The only pair that fits or look half-way decent. I just couldn't cough up the amount of money the stores wanted for a 'trendy' looking pair of jeans for a month of my pregnancy - and it's turning out to be too warm for jeans lately.)
I am creating...a beautiful baby inside of me. :)
I am going...
I am reading...
I am hoping...
I am hearing...
Around the house...
One of my favorite things...
A few plans for the rest of the week: A haircut that I desperately need, Bennett' s pre-school pumpkin patch field trip, possibly having a baby!?!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

If you'd like to do your own "Simple Woman's Daybook" list, check out this website.

Let the predicting begin....

So for those of you who want to know, my official due date is October 23rd. I don't like to give out my due date because of past experiences people I know and myself have had when people lock in on a certain day you are going to have your baby. I.E. I've heard of people getting called on the day of their due date to be asked where the baby is...what a discouraging thing. My experience with my previous pregnancies have been the opposite. I have my babies early, almost too early in my opinion. When we called people to let them know it was time they responded by saying "It isn't your due date yet." Try telling that to a baby that's ready to come.

With William, my due date was February 23rd. After an unsuccessful version we scheduled a C-section for my due date. That was at my 38 week appointment on the 11th. That evening I went into labor and we went into the hospital and had him early in the morning on the 12th.

With Bennett, he was not breech and we were all set for a VBAC delivery. My last appointment was my 37 week appointment on a Thursday I think. I went scrapbooking that weekend, didn't sleep well and was very uncomfortable...especially because I had PUPPS. The next week I labored some Monday evening which once we called the hospital the labor stopped. So I was back in waiting mode. Then on Wednesday morning I lost my mucus plug and was excited to be ready to have the baby. I went shopping with my neighbors while having contractions. Thanks to Jenny who helped me time them. :) Labor continued through Wednesday evening and Thursday during the day. We finally decided to go to the hospital Thursday afternoon. When the doctor checked me I had not progressed much. Without going into all the details we were able to asses the situation and after an epidural and breaking my water I had Bennett within a matter of hours. I can't exactly remember Bennett's due date (possibly the 28th-30th of November) but I know that I had him probably a full 2 weeks early when I was 38 weeks along.

Now for this baby. I have no idea what to expect. Right now I am 37 weeks, 5 days along. That is after early on in my pregnancy the doctor adjusted my due date by a week. That means in my mind I am a week ahead of what the doctor thinks. I'm measuring a lot smaller than I did with the boys. Everyone keeps commenting when I tell them how much longer I possibly have about how tiny I am. Well, it's all baby in there and let me tell you that it hurts when it moves. I am progressing in dilating. At my appointment the doctor said that I was about a 2 1/2 and that the head had moved down a bit. I've had contractions here and there but in my opinion I would still call them Braxton Hicks contractions and not true contractions yet. I've had other signs that my body is getting ready for labor; not sleeping well, not hungry, loosening hips, and other things I won't mention. :)

With all that being said, I am giving my blog readers the opportunity to voice what you think is going to happen. On the right side I put two polls. One where you can predict the gender and one where you can predict when I will have this baby. If you's like to comment and give me more specific predictions you may. I may just have a little prize for the person who predicts gender and birth date the closest! Happy guessing!

July 4th Fun

Here's a quick recap of our Fourth of July for 2010.

Kiddie parade followed up with popsicles at the Clubhouse.

Then the Clubhouse picnic complete with bounce house and inflated obstacle course/slide. Lots of fun with neighbors and no clean-up for mom!

Baby #3

Special Announcement

Some people already know this but the boys have something very special to tell you.

Dinosaur Train

With me not feeling well the boys have gotten to watch a fair amount of TV lately. One of their favorite shows is the PBS show Dinosaur Train. Bennett will watch an episode over and over. And William keeps track of what dinosaurs they have talked about on each show. The Children's Museum had a dinosaur exhibit that I knew the boys would love. And when I found out that Buddy, the T-rex from the show, was going to make an appearance we had to go on that day.

Buddy from a distance.

William and Bennett on one of the dinosaurs in the exhibit.

Playing with the plastic dinosaurs was a hit with Bennett.

They had a spot where you could 'dig' for dinosaur fossils too.

William with his friend Nathan whom we met up with at the museum.

A stop at the Children's Museum isn't complete without stopping at the city area. Bennett really got into pretending to be a mailman. He delivered the mail to all of the mailboxes and actually put on the outfit!

Peachy Keen....but not feeling that way

So for those of you who don't know.....I'm pregnant. Yep...expecting our third child. And while I was very excited to find out we were having another and looking forward to enjoying this pregnancy, as it will most likely be my last, it has suddenly gone downhill. Now, nothing is wrong and everything is going well with the pregnancy, it's just that I feel awful. I have been nauseous, dizzy, and had many headaches. At my last doctor appointment my doctor actually suggested anti-nausea medication for me. I was very surprised because when I was pregnant with the boys I was sick and vomiting and my doctor would just say that it was a good sign that things were going well with my pregnancy. So my doctor prescribed medication and I was very excited. I decided to fill the prescription and just use as needed. Well, the first time I used it I felt great. Maybe it was because I was excited that I was actually using medication to feel better and just a bit of a mind over matter effect. Then the next day I used it it helped but I felt a little funny. I went a few more days without using the medication and then next time I used it I felt worse. I was so dizzy that I couldn't even sit up in a chair. And I was so tired that I sat my kids in front of the tv and let them watch a movie and went into my bed and slept. For almost two hours....in the middle of the morning. After that, I decided that I could put up with the nausea instead of dealing with the side effects of the anti-nausea medication. (I then looked at the medication bottle's precautions all of which included...dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting. So glad that an anti-nausea medications side effects are nausea and vomiting!)

So I am just dealing with the nausea and trying to eat continually throughout the day but in smaller portions. (This seems to help me get through the day.) Another thing I am trying are the sea sickness bands that go on your wrists. They are supposed to work on the principal of acupressure and there are beads that press on your wrists in the acupressure point for nausea. So far I have only had them on for a couple days but they seem to be helping a little bit. It was well worth the $10 to try and start feeling a little better to make it through the day. However, I will be asking my doctor at my next appointment about possibly another type of medication that has better side effects.

Oh and I am 12 weeks along as of Saturday. According to my itouch pregnancy app the baby is the size of a peach. I found a website that gives the baby's size in fruits and vegetables throughout the pregnancy. William likes asking every week what the baby is now. i.e. What fruit/vegetable is the baby.

Bad Blogger?

So as I was checking the blogs I read on Google Reader I was innocently reading my friend's blog and about how her husband claimed that she was a bad blogger and he didn't have any new pictures of their kids that she then went on to justify why she wasn't a bad blogger. As I was reading I was feeling a little bad for my friend and that her husband was accusing her of being a bad blogger until I got to the part in her blog where she called me out! Yes my last post was dated June 14, but in all honesty I probably posted on a day in July or August. (When I post I back-date my posts so that they are accurate but it is usually very possible that I am blogging about something that happened a month ago.)

So just for my friend, right here in all of blogland I will admit that yes, I am a bad blogger. Do I have any sort of excuse? Nope. Nothing more than just the day to day activities of having my oldest start Kindergarten, keeping up with a now three-year old, and having a husband who is finishing his Master's Degree. (I will have you know that I have about two months worth of posts started but not published.)

While my organized and planner self would like to go back and fill in all those posts and what should be highlighted in the last 9 months I will have to resign myself to just starting fresh right now and keeping up with my posts. (Maybe if my family actually read my blog and people commented I would keep it up better. :))

So please keep checking here as I haven't totally fallen off the face of the earth and watch for some exciting and fun posts to come soon!

Chicago

Just a little continuation of our weekend in Chicago. On Sunday we had planned on getting up and heading out of town right away. However, we had put too much money on our train pass and were thinking that if we left right away the boys would have too much energy for the drive. So after packing everything into the van we parked at a train station and took the train into downtown Chicago. The weather was beautiful (it had rained the day before) and we had a fun time just wandering around.

A sculpture in Millenium Park.

Cloud Gate a.k.a. 'The Bean' also in Millenium Park.

I could have spent so much more time seeing all the sights and just enjoying the city. We will definitely be going back again with and maybe even without the kids.