Grandma Tucker's Gifts

My mother-in-law continues to amaze me with her thoughtfulness and remembering the little things that are loved.  We got a bag of Christmas presents she had purchased before her passing and in it are these sunflower seeds and earrings.  Ariana is having allergic reactions to  regular earrings but wants more sensitive solution ones and Alexis loves sunflower seeds and constantly begs for them especially when we travel.  Sue had a way of taking note when someone mentioned things they really liked, loved, or needed. Seeing these in our bag of gifts touches my heart.  Such little things but so thoughtful and personal.  That was Sue, our Grandma Tucker.  I mentioned earlier in my pregnancy while I was still really sick that the only chocolate I still craved was skor bars.  Every time I showed up at her house she had a skor bar tucked away for me.  I asked Taylor if she wrote down these things because how could she ever remember them all?  He said, 'oh yes!'  I can't remember little details like these long enough to write them down. We love you Grandma.  Thank you for even these little things that showed how much you noticed and cared.

37 Weeks

Well I spoke too soon.  Throwing up is still completely here.  My routine the last couple mornings, eat breakfast, while washing off breakfast dish throw up a little in the kitchen sink, run to the bathroom and throw up the rest of my breakfast.  Today this even involved peeing on the floor while throwing up.  Awesome!  I will say that while throwing up stinks its easier to deal with than heart burn at night so I guess I'll take the trade back to throwing up.

Taylor and I went to a Christmas party Saturday night.  It was a lot of fun.  Baby girl was extremely wiggly during the party.  My belly was moving like crazy!  I had to try and not laugh out loud at some points with the acrobatics it felt like she was trying to do.

So I am now in the safe zone to deliver at home!!! Yeah!  I still would like her to wait until January but at least now I can have the birth I've wanted.  Now that I've made it to this point its funny because I feel much less stressed about being ready.  Shouldn't it work the opposite way? 

I'm trying to remember to soak up these last few days with James as my baby.  I've realized I do want a couple maternity pictures with at least him so we're going to try and have that happen this week before the kids go to NV for the second week of winter break.

36 Weeks

Ok trying not to completely freak out.  Only a few weeks left!  If baby girl wants to come closer to her ultrasound date I'm actually 37 weeks.  Either way I'd really like her to be born January 6.  Why?  Because that's her Grandma Tucker's birthday.

Since I posted last we have been through some major events.  Saturday Nov 22, 2014 my sweet mother-in-law passed away.  We had known since March that we would lose her sometime soon due to pancreatic cancer but had hope that maybe she would make it to see the baby.  She had been doing so well and had Taylor and I had actually been discussing how and when we would go down to Utah so Grandma could see and hold baby girl after she is born.  Just a few short days after that conversation we got a call to pray for Mom because she wasn't doing well.  A week after that conversation Taylor and I had she passed quietly from this life to the next. I'm grateful she didn't have to suffer long because watching someone you love be in pain is hard.  We are sad that Grandma is gone but are extremely grateful for the life and legacy she left.  

Before Sue passed she had been doing some shopping (not a surprise to anyone who knows her because she was the queen of gift giving and parties) and she bought a few outfits for Susana.  Taylor went down to Utah this past weekend to be with his Dad and help around the house.  He came home with a bag full of presents both for Christmas and the baby that had been purchased before Grandma's health suddenly turned.  The outfits are darling and I can just see in my mind how excited Sue would have been finding them and giving them as a gift for her new granddaughter.  It will be precious to see Susana in the outfits her Grandma picked out for her.

Because of the funeral arrangements our Thanksgiving break was extremely crazy and ended up full of travel.  Friday Nov 21 Taylor, the kids and I went down to Utah.  We were able to see Grandma one last time.  Saturday we traveled to Las Vegas so the kids could spend Thanksgiving week with their Dad.  We stayed in Vegas Saturday night and Sunday morning when we got the news that Sue had passed the night before we decided that we should go see my family like we had originally planned for a few days until we knew for sure what was needed and when the funeral was.  It also gave us a little time to try and sort out if the kids would be able to come to the funeral.  So Sunday through Wednesday Taylor and I went to my family in San Diego.  Wednesday we started heading back to Utah and stayed the night in a hotel in Jean, NV.  Thursday (thanksgiving day) we finished the drive to Utah.  Dinner that night was at Cracker Barrel.  Friday we helped with the final funeral preparations and Saturday we had Sue's funeral.  The funeral was beautiful.  Saturday late afternoon we had to drive back to Las Vegas so Sunday morning we could pick the kids up.  Sunday we drove all the way from Las Vegas to Idaho Falls.  There was some major traffic delays so it was a LONG day.  I discovered the more I sat in the car my legs would fall asleep, my feet swell, and standing up hurt.  By the time we got home Sunday night my feet were huge!  They could barely get into my flip flops!  I have never seen them so big.  The swelling went down after a couple days but lets just say a couple thousand miles of travel by car so pregnant did have some consequences.     

Fortunately throwing up has gone down a lot.  I did just throw up this morning and a couple other times over the past few weeks but not nearly as bad as before.  The replacement has been heart burn at night. Not pleasant!  Also my body has started to transition to the I sleep like a newborn baby phase.  I wish I could make a deal with my body that I really do understand I won't be sleeping once the baby is here so can I just sleep now please?  I promise I get it.  I've done this before.  Oh well.

So now these last few weeks I'm trying to balance Christmas and getting everything ready for baby.  There is still so much to do.  I got my home birth kit ready this past week minus two items so most of the essentials are ready but my house is not even close to ready.  Cue nesting/cleaning constantly phase!  James new play habits aren't helpful in this cause.  Every day he fills the house with the toys from his room.  Train tracks line the hallways and lines of cars are found every where.  Its a little dangerous walking around when James has been playing.  I have to watch where I put my feet closely and I don't dare go to bed at night if the toys haven't been cleaned up because with how often I get up I would fall all over the place if they weren't.  James is cute about the baby.  We'll see if that continues once she is actually here.  This past week he started telling me he is going to "help the baby come out."  It makes me laugh. I really just want to make it to January with this baby.  I know she could come sooner and it would be ok but I really think January would so much better ; )  Ok long entry over time to go clean and organize some more.

Festival of trees and mood lipstick

Tonight for family home evening we went to a local community event called the festival of the trees.  Each year several trees are decorated and donated to this event.  All proceeds go to a local community aide program.  It was fun to see all the trees.  They also had Santa, crafts, little items for sale etc.  It was so cute seeing James react to Santa and yell, 'there's Santa!  I see him!'  I can't wait for Christmas this year with him. 

Well as part of this event they had an area called Santa's toy workshop.  Inside was lots of little items for sale.  Ariana decided to buy a lip stick.  It looked so strange (green in the container) but hey whatever it was $1.  Of course when we got home she had to go put it on.  Soon all I could hear was crying and yelling for me to help.  The lipstick was apparently called mood lipstick and while green in the container went on clear and then changed color.  It changed color alright to BRIGHT pink and Ariana couldn't get it off her lips or hands.  She was frantically trying to scrub her lips and hands to no avail.  Her lips are really chapped right now so that didn't help at all.  She cried and cried and vowed she won't be going to school until it comes off.  I can't help just laughing at this because she is so convinced that school tomorrow is ruined and when she came up for scriptures wouldn't uncover her mouth.  Yes I tried to help get it off and did the best I could but only time is going to help with the rest.  We did get it from bright pink to a slightly lighter shade.  Alexis and I even tried the lipstick to be funny and so she wouldn't be the only one with pink lips.  (I only put a very minimal coat on so ours wasn't as bad)  we'll just have to see what the morning brings.

32 weeks

This past week went by really well with the small exception of James waking up one night from 3AM-10AM.  That night really didn't help because the night before I had been unable to fall asleep until about 3.  Funny now not so much then but at 6 AM he started jumping on and saying he needed to check his email.  After getting the girls to school he finally decided to play cars by himself and I fell asleep while he played.  I woke up and had to search the house for him.  I finally found him passed out under the kitchen table.  He stayed there until almost 1.

So aside from that day it was a great week.  I only gagged once and that involved no throwing up afterwards so hooray a week with no vomit!!!!  I've had a few times where stepping on my left foot has sent some shooting pain up my leg to my back but nothing too bad or close to what I had at this point with James.

Last Thursday we had the start of our first real snow.  Friday morning I was shoveling the driveway and my neighbor didn't like that.  She told me I wasn't allowed to have the baby in the driveway.  She said, 'I will drive you to the hospital but I don't driver babies!'  Oh if only she knew how James arrived.  She probably would have really freaked out.  Funny thing shoveling the nice fluffy snow was much easier on me than trying to pick up the leaves.  No bending required just push the shovel.

Baby girl continues to be more wiggly and her movements are very noticeable.  She normally lays on my left side and kicks me on my right but one night she switched.  She was really active that night!

With the snow here I'm having a hard time imagining what trying to get around with James and a tiny baby will be like during the winter.

Saturday night my friends here in Idaho Falls had a little shower for me.  A lot of people were out of town so just four of us went to Garcias, a local Mexican restaurant.  It was fun!  I saw an idea on pinterest I thought was great and so dud my friends.  In leu of gifts they brought a freezer meal and recipe.  I'm so excited and very grateful to have my freezer have meals ready for when baby arrives because life gets pretty crazy those first few weeks and months.

31 weeks- Let the final count down begin!

Only nine weeks to go by my calendar due date.  This little one is my first baby that by ultrasound measures ahead so while I would normally say she will go past her due date just like my others who knows!  Both Alexis and Ariana measured a week smaller than their due date.  James was right on.  Susana (or Susanna the spelling hasn't been decided yet) measures a full weak ahead.  It will be fun to see how she ends up comparing to her siblings.  She'll come when she's ready though.

The last couple weeks have been good pregnancy wise.  I still am holding to a pattern of randomly throwing up one morning each week but I feel so much better than before so I'll take it!  My back is starting to hurt more at night so I roll around a lot and I sleep in a pillow mountain.  Baby girl is definitely getting stronger.  The past couple days some of her movements are so strong they startle me.  I love watching my belly dance.  Two nights ago I couldn't stop laughing as she made my phone and lap top bounce because they were resting on her.  Alexis still always asks if she's awake so she can feel her move.   Alexis doesn't have great timing though and rarely catches her big movements.  I love that Alexis wants to be so close though.

We hired a midwife a few weeks ago and I love her so far.  Having home based midwifery is so nice!  I love not having to drive to the Dr and that my care seems much more personal.  Yes I'm excited to be one of the people I used to think crazy for wanting a home birth.  This really is something that 10 years ago I would have rolled my eyes at and sworn that it would never be me.  

"Stop crying"

Tonight Alexis got very frustrated practicing the piano.  She ended up pouting and crying all through scriptures, prayers, brushing her teeth etc. because of this.  Right before she went down to bed she had curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor and was crying again.  We told James to go give Alexis a hug to help her feel better.  He does and then we hear him say the following, "Stop crying Lexis.  Stop crying you are not a baby!"

(So funny to hear your two almost three year old tell this to a 10 year old!!)

29 Weeks

While I was pregnant with James I posted a lot.  Pretty much weekly from 20 weeks on.  Blogger became my pregnancy journal.  I've really struggled with doing that this time for a few reasons.  For one Taylor and I did not make this pregnancy public until I was 20-21 weeks because we didn't tell Alexis, Ariana and James until then.  We waited for the end of summer to tell them because this summer was full of a different change for them.  They spent half the summer in NV with their Dad for the first time and we didn't want to add any additional confusion to that.  Also I enjoyed watching my belly grow last time but have really struggled wanting to see or take any pictures this time because of my starting weight.  I know just having a healthy baby should mater most but my weight has truly bothered me to the point that it is hard to be in pictures.  I've actually requested my doctor and now midwife to please not tell me my weight because I know I will stress in ways I shouldn't right now or just flat out start to cry.  (Ya Taylor had to deal with that one Sunday right before church.  Buckets and buckets of tears because I stood on the scale.)

This pregnancy has been very different for me.  My first trimester I was pretty sick and for a lot of it my kids were gone.  A blessing because I really wasn't very functioning but I was miserable without them so it made things a little worse.  Crying and throwing up doesn't work well.  I burst a blood vessel in my eye doing that.  I also threw up in lots of new places.  Most notable episodes so far have been: 
*  Poor old lady next door got to witness me throw up on the side of the house because I was trying to take out the super stinky trash.
*  next to a hey field on the side of the road
*  down my parents hallway after getting home really late from Disney Land (my Mom gets saint hood status in my book for insisting I go lay down and cleaning up for me)
*  In my hand on the way to school
*  On Taylor's back pack in the middle of the night (it wasn't on purpose the back pack just happened to be where I was)
*  down my own hallway and wall and James thinking and yelling to me that the dog "poopied" on the floor and wall.

Sadly throwing up hasn't gone away this time.  Its not as bad as it was weeks 1-15 and I go a week sometimes without but I'm never sure when my next 'fun' episode will come.

Another difference this time is in both ultrasounds I've had baby girl is measuring a week ahead of her due date.  We'll see what that means for delivery....

Maybe its just because its my fourth but I can't keep track of my weeks.  Saying how many weeks I am actually makes it seem like I have longer than just saying beginning of January.

Both Taylor and I are very excited about this baby.  Happily (and a relief to see) Alexis, Ariana and James are too.  There have been a few questions to answer but Alexis in particular is extremely excited for her new sister.

 

A sweet surprise

This morning I was really late waking up.  Ariana was already upstairs by the time I was getting dressed.  When I came out of my bathroom she was standing by my bed with a bowl of cereal and a bagel cut, toasted with jelly on each slice sitting nicely on a small cutting board.  She told me that she hadn't gotten the chance to give me breakfast on mothers day so she decided to do it today.  It was so incredibly sweet.  I almost cried.  Such a wonderful way to start my day.

Dandelions

I have put several hours into trying to keep our front yard dandelion free this spring (the back yard is an entirely different story).  The past few days everywhere I drive the air is full of dandelion fuzz.  To my dismay the wind has been blowing gently towards our house so that consequently this evening the front lawn is full of dandelion seeds.  The edges in particular look like the soft down of a bird.  Ugh!  So as crazy as I know I looked I dragged my vacuum outside and vacuumed the millions of seeds lining the edges of our lawn.  Yes I know it is crazy that I vacuumed our lawn but it worked great!

Morning snack

This morning when James woke up and called for me I came into his room to find him chewing.  I said, 'good morning!  What are you doing?'  He said, 'I eating.'  Me, 'what are you eating?'  Him, in a very happy voice, 'I eating buggers!'

Successful piano challenge

The mystery of the OB tampons

For the last couple weeks I keep finding my ob tampons on the bathroom floor and have been wondering why.  Today that mystery was solved.  James knows the drawer I put them in and thinks they are chapstick for his lips!!  The picture is of him showing me how to use the 'chapstick.'  I am having a hard time stopping the laughter.

'I wash dishes'

During scriptures James went into the kitchen and turned on the kitchen sink.  Going into the kitchen to see what he was doing I find him scrubbing dishes.  He looks up at me and says, 'I wash dishes.'

Silly plant

For Alexis birthday Grandpa Ashby gave her a target gift card.  One of the items Alexis bought was flower stater kits.  Some of the flowers have started to sprout.  It's fun to watch.  This morning she ran into my bedroom to show me another seed had sprouted.... out the bottom of the planter!  Silly flower!

Thomas

I'm laying in bed listening to my girls eat breakfast and talk to each other.  Alexis suddenly says, 'I'll do what I want to not what I'm told.'  Ariana asks where that was from and Alexis says, 'Thomas, Percy says it I think.'  I'm laughing because she is quoting Thomas the Train James' current favorite show.

Ariana's first soccer game

Saturday was Ariana's first soccer game ever.  For a long time I have resisted signing the girls up for sports.  I love sports but listening to my friends and how their weeknights and Saturdays are taken over by sports has left me very hesitant.  Being in Idaho has brought a lot of wonderful opportunities for our family, one of which is having time to try new activities.  Not teaching preschool and 15+ piano students has made trying to juggle multiple activities much more palatable.  Soccer has been great so far.  Several girls on Ariana's team, including the coach and his daughter live in our neighborhood.  Practices are right down the street and over half the games are scheduled at Ariana's school which is only a mile from our house.

Ariana was very nervous about her first game for several days leading up to it.  Friday she was close to tears.  Needless to say the game went just fine, aside from James trying to run on the field.  Ariana's team 'the green girls' lost 1-0 but with treat bag in hand Ariana said, 'we lost 1 to 0 but that's ok, it's only a game.'  Taylor and I had been a little afraid when the other team scored because Ariana was the goalie.  I braced for tears but was grateful when none came.  For having never played before she is doing really well and leaning very quickly. 

My little spot of spring

After picking up thousands of leaves in the fall I looked forward to spring here in Idaho.  I had envisioned all these trees that lost their leaves full of blossoms in the spring.  It would make up for the torture of endless raking and bagging.  I imagined walking down the streets feeling like Anne of Green Gables.  Spring blossoms on trees and the blub spring flowers have always brought a sense of joy to my soul.  I have been extremely let down.  I have found one, that's right only ONE flowering tree on my street.  Almost all the trees just grow their new leaves without blossoms!  At least there are several yards with tulips, daffodils, hyacinth coming up so not all is lost.  To make up for the trees not blossoming and our yards lack of color I decided to plant my own little bit of spring in the little corner by the edge of our driveway.  These few flowers bring a smile to my face whenever I see them.  They may not be as much as I had imagined but they do still make me smile.

Love of Books

Books are very loved in our home.  As different as James has been he seems to have the same love of books which makes me very happy.  Of course the books he loves often have trains, cars or buses in them which is far different than the fairies and princesses the girls love.  Watching my girls read to James I can't help smiling.

Cuties

My girls are very independent these days which is nice but also means that things like hair and outfits are not so much my decision anymore.  This morning everyone slept in about 30 minutes longer than we should have.  As a result they requested for me to pick their outfits and let me do their hair.  I had to keep hair simple because of the time but it was fun to get them all ready this morning.  I love my two girls and think they both looked very cute today (even though Ariana refuses to smile normally for a camera).

Ok Mommy!

James speach has started to pick up.  I love listening to him talk and sing.  His latest habit that started a couple weeks ago is when he really wants something he says what he wants and follows it up with, 'ok Mommy?'  If he is mad about something he starts to yell with a very angry face, 'OK MOMMY, OK!!!'  I know he is upset but when he is yelling those words I have a hard time not laughing. 

Brandon Mull book signing

We drive A LOT these days and one thing that has truly helped with the ten hour drive from Idaho Falls to Vegas and back is listening to books on CD.  Our latest book series has been the Beyounders by Brandon Mull.  Alexis has read almost all the books he has published and loves them!   So much so that a couple months ago in school when the librarian did a pantomime activity where each student was to act out a character from a book and everyone else guess, before Alexis had even started her whole class yelled, 'Fabelhaven!'  (Brandon Mull's first series) because she was constantly reading them and carrying them around.  (she told me they got it wrong though because she thought that's what everyone would guess and picked a different book, I can't remember what she said she picked)

Tonight at dinner when I asked Alexis how her day had been she started off by telling me how disappointed she has been because she had missed the assembly with Brandon Mull today because of PACE.  I was sad for her because I know she would have loved it.  Alexis mentioned that he was doing a book signing tonight at Barnes and Nobel.  I offered to take her after dinner.  She grabbed her copy of candy shop wars and off we went.  I'm so glad it was just me had Alexis that went.  The line was huge and our group wasn't called until just before 10pm!  There is no way I would have stayed with Ariana or James that long.  Alexis and I had a wonderful night together though.  Barnes in Nobel is connected to the mall so we looked at books, window shopped, bought a cute head band and a couple more Brandon Mull books.  It was lovely spending the time alone with her!  I feet hurt so bad by the end but it was worth it for the night and her smile.  Alexis has been spending most of her freetime writing lately and was anxious to ask two questions to Brandon Mull:
When did you start writing?
How did you come up with ideas?

He told Alexis he started writing around the age of 10 after he read the Narnia series and his mind and daydreams just exploded.  He'd write them down and as he got older they got bigger and more extreme.

Sick buddy

Today right as we pulled in to Taylor's work I looked in the review mirror to see my poor little buddy throwing up several times.  Of course it was on the car seat we just bought four days ago.  After cleaning him up he fell asleep on the ride home and now fell asleep on me.  James rarely takes naps now so two in one day means he must really not feel well.  This is our first throw up illness this school year.  I love him cuddling with me but am also really hoping no one else gets it.

Birthday lunches

Its become a tradition to have a special lunch at school for your birthday.  Ariana picked panda express and doughnuts as her  lunch.  Her doughnut was a huge heart that a lunch worker said looked as big as her head.

Alexis picked KFC and it had to be today since her birthday was on a Sunday.  I forgot the drink and James pushed me to leave and go get it.  Once I had it he didn't want to share with Alexis, only me.