Baby Update

I had another doctors appointment on Thursday morning. Chuck's mom has been here for a week helping take care of the kids, cooking us dinner and picking up the house so I could take it easy and hopefully get my blood pressure down. (It has been wonderful having so much help!!)

When they checked my blood pressure it had dropped by 20 points on the top and 10 points on the bottom, but was still in the high category. I did not realize how high it had been because they didn't tell me, no wonder the doctor was concerned. But the craziest thing was I had LOST 2 pounds! Yes, I actually lost weight this past week. I have NEVER lost weight when pregnant, but the doctor thought it was great because I had been swelling quite a bit. He was also happy that my blood pressure had decreased. Then he checked me and I was actually dilated to a 2+. With my other kids I have never dilated this early. I have been having pretty steady contractions for a couple of weeks so I guess my body is getting ready.

So the big news is the doctor said if I was dilated to a 3 at my doctors appointment next week he will strip my membranes if I want him to. I have mixed emotions about this so I'm not sure what we will decide to do, but we MAY have our little girl here by next weekend we'll just have to wait and see what the next week brings.


My sister is also pregnant and really wanted to get a few pictures of us together. I was not very excited about this because I am HUGE and she still looks so small. But she kept bugging me because it will be the last time we are pregnant together since this is our last baby. I finally gave in and had Chuck take a few pictures of us. I knew I was big, but when I saw the pictures I was even a little surprised at how large I look! But I'm almost done!

Wonderful & Not so Great News

First the Wonderful News - My mom had surgery to remove cancer from her kidney 3 months ago and we have all had to wait for the past 4 months to see if the procedure was successful. Well, yesterday she went in for her appointment and the doctor said the cancer was gone!!!! We are so thankful for good doctors, modern technologies and answers to prayers!

Then the not so great news. I had another doctors appointment yesterday and my blood pressure is still high. The doctor told me I needed to be spending several hours a day with my feet up and resting. I started to laugh when he told me this. I reminded him that I had 3 kids at home and the oldest was 4 - it's pretty hard to kick my feet up for hours each day. He then very seriously told me I needed to get help because if I didn't get my blood pressure under control he was going to have to take this baby. Another bad thing is if he has to take it early I will end up having another c-section which I want to try and avoid if at all possible at this point. So I came home worried and then called the Grandma's. Sometimes it's hard not having family live close, but at least they are within driving distance when we need them. So I am thankful that Chuck's mom and my mom are taking turns helping me out for the next couple of weeks and praying that everything works out!

Now I just have to not worry that all my projects are not going to be completed by the time the baby gets here. At least I can steal Chuck's laptop so I can do a few things while I kick the legs up in my chair.

Day After New Years

The day after New Years we went to Zion to escape our cold, paint smelly house. (The months when the shuttle is not running is the only time I will go to Zions because it's just impossible with little kids to get everything you need for the day on a shuttle.) Luckily we still had the warmer clothes in the car from the day before because we needed them.

We were just going to hike the Riverwalk, but then I suggested that we should walk to the Weeping Wall because the walk is short and I was assuming the wall would be covered with icicles. The only problem - the trail was snow packed and slick in spots. Crazy Chuck still wanted to push Isaac in the stroller because he thought this would be easier than packing him.

Samuel wanted to bring along the hiking stick and I was really tempted when we left the car to not bring it because it was just one more thing to haul, but thank goodness I decided not to say anything. I was the one who ended up really needing the hiking stick before we got to far along the trail.

So this whole hike was not the best idea for so many reasons - slickness of the trail, one kid in a stroller, two little ones that I was worried were going to slip and fall and big ole pregnant me just praying I didn't fall down myself. Then we got to this point and for some unknown reason I let Chuck talk me into continuing. You see the barricade in the picture, well it said the trail was closed due to falling ice and see how the trail is just a shear sheet of ice. Well there were people going around the barricade and over the trees so Chuck figured we could do it too. Now why I let him talk me into this I'm really not sure because there's no way I should have been climbing over trees. Chuck had to help each of us get across one by one and luckily there was another older couple who helped with the kids and hoisting me back onto the trail at the other end.

I was the last up on the trail and Chuck had barely grabbed Isaac back from the older lady when we heard a very loud rumble and realized the ice up above us was breaking and falling down the mountain side. We could see it coming down this little shoot and so of course the adults started scampering out of the way. Chuck had Isaac in one hand and was pushing the lady up the trail with his other hand. I was trying to be quick, but not fall and then I looked and realized Samuel and Bella had not moved. They were just standing there looking up the hill at the falling ice. All I could do was holler, "Samuel, Bella run!" and probably for the first time in their lives they did what I said instantly. Luckily they didn't have to go to far to get out of the way. Chuck kept trying to make me feel better by telling me the ice would have just hit Samuel and Bella in the legs and they would have been fine. Oh sure do you see how big those chunks of ice are. But he was really glad that we had just gotten up on the trail again because the ice would have hit us in the head as it went over the edge. I guess I'll just chalk this up to another hike where Chuck has tried to kill me!

Well somehow we made it to Weeping Wall and yes there were icicles, but I don't think it was worth the adventure!

I was really worried about getting back down the trail, but we were fine. When we got to the bottom there were several people standing about trying to decide if they wanted to go on the trail or not. One group had 2 women, 2 men and a teenager. One of the women looked at me and said, "You went on that trail?". I told her I had, but I wouldn't do it again. So the woman turned to her husband and said, she did it, you should be fine. Then the guy had the nerve to say, "Yeah, but she has a walking stick". To which I replied, just in case he hadn't noticed, "Yeah and I'm going to have a baby in about a month". We saw this group later on the Riverwalk and as we passed them the guy said, "Hey it's you - you're crazy". I wanted to tell him it's not me that's the crazy one it's my husband!

We then decided to go on the River walk. This trail was much better and lots of people were hiking along so it wasn't really slick.

Samuel was having a great time whacking the ice with the walking stick.

The problem we ran into was the kids had had too much fun before we could get back to the car. Isaac was crying and Chuck had to hold him (poor guy was tired and cold), Bella refused to walk and I had to push her in the stroller she was also whining about being cold and Samuel was complaining something fierce. Then we got to the car and Isaac would not stop screaming. He was so tired, but had bitten a hole in his binky on the way there and so he refused to take it, yet there was not way he was going to stop screaming without it. Chuck stopped at a little market inside and park and amazingly they had a binky for sale. Chuck said that was the best $6 he ever spent!

New Years Day

New Years Day we went in search of snow so I could take Bella's picture in the Santa outfit (those pictures posted on my photo blog). We had to drive clear to Pine Valley before we saw any snow and even then there was not a lot of it. Poor Isaac had to wear Bella's red boots because we couldn't get his little fat feet in the snowboots that were his size. The tops of his feet are just too fat! I got a couple of comments on how cute his shoes were - poor guy!

Samuel was very excited to play in the snow.

The kids had a great time slidding down the hill on their bottoms. We don't have any tubing equiment, but they didn't care.

The large looking figure at the top of the hill is me. I can barely zip my coat at this point! It wasn't that cold to begin with, but then the wind started blowing and I took off to read my book in the car while Chuck stayed and played with the kids for a little while longer. They didn't last too long, but they had a lot of fun.

January & Loving It

You have to love being able to take a picture like this in January! I just really detest cold and snow so this is perfect winter weather for me! Granted it's probably not warm enough for the swimsuit Bella's wearing, but she didn't seem to notice.

The Playroom is DONE!

The Playroom is done - well as far as I'm concerned! Painting finished yesterday and carpet was installed today! The built in cabinets won't be done for another month, (thus the holes in the wall) but that's Chuck's built in entertainment area. All I care about is the toy closets.


The kids were going wild running all around wrestling each other as soon as we went down to see the finished product. The area isn't huge, but it makes for a wonderful playroom/learning time area!

My toy closets! Now we just have to get all the toys that are scattered around the house organized in their bins and put away.

And the food storage closet underneath the stairs. I won't be going in there anytime too soon. I don't think I could fit!

The kids were so excited they were already starting to pack toys downstairs. And Isaac threw this car down the stairs and nicked up the new paint. Oh Well!

I had to take this picture because the thermostat upstairs is reading 62 degrees. They started painting last week and our house has been so stinky that we've had to leave a few windows open as often as possible. We also can't run the heater because then the paint smell really gets bad. So my big decision all week has been do I freeze or do I breathe toxic fumes. Unfortunately we've been doing both. Hopefully we'll be able to get the place aired out soon and be able to actually heat the house again. Tonight the paint smell has been overpowered by carpet glue. I'm not sure which is worse. But how excited I am to be able to get things back in order!!! And check another nesting project off the list before the baby gets here!

35 Weeks - But Who's Counting!

Had another Dr's appointment today. The Dr. had a few concerns, but nothing major.

* Iron's low
* Blood pressure a little high
* Baby measuring a little big (I was hoping I wouldn't have a "Chuck" baby this go round, but looks like she'll be like all the rest. Just hoping she's smaller than Isaac and doesn't have a head in the 90th percentile like Bella.)

Just hoping the next month goes by quickly!