Wiley- 4 months old

4 months! In the same sentence I can confidently say that I can NOT believe that you are 4 months old already and I can NOT believe you've only been here 4 months!

 

You my son, have made your mark. You are part of this family and I can not remember life before you. I can remember pieces of anticipating your arrival, but I can not remember the day to day without you in it, and I'm certain everyone else would agree!

 

 

We LOVE you so much! We call you Smiley Wiley and there hasn't been a day that you haven't lived up to your name. Sure you get cranky or fussy, but you're still always full of smiles once you're rested, or changed or snuggled.

 

You take after your big brother with the best pouty lip I ever did see. Occasionally your older siblings play a bit rough around you, and more than once I have failed to protect you from a flinging arm or leg and you make sure to let us all know. It's hard to discipline when everyone just thinks you looks so cute with that little lip hanging out!

 

You're becoming quite the "squealer" you enjoy hearing your voice and adding to the noise in the house with your squeals of joy throughout the day. Murray especially loves this and is always encouraging you to "scream more Wiley!"

 

This month we've transitioned to you and Ginny being home all day with me while Lucy and Murray are at school. It's a bit slower pace, but also a bit busier as well. We are the ones entertaining Ginny so you've been quite busy going to play group, taking walks, helping with art projects and cooking with me from the ergo. You are easy going and enjoy the ride.

 

Early in this month (the first Friday in September), you went for your biggest adventure yet. You sir, had a renal scan. You were a champ about it and very brave as you went off without mommy and daddy and were sedated. We were especially nervous about not feeding you for so long before the test, but you did GREAT and while you were a bit angry after the test was over and the anesthesia had worn off, we allowed it, snuggled you and I nursed you and by the time we left the hospital you were our happy boy again.

 

We will be watching those kidney's of yours. They're both too big, and they both are slow at processing because of a narrowing in the ureter. So, we'll watch them and pray and we'll keep re-evaluating to see if they need to be fixed by the doctor or if they're fixing themselves as you grow.

 

Speaking of growing...you're HUGE! At your 4 month appointment you were 17 lbs already and 27 inches long. That's the 85th percentile for weight and off the charts for height. You are definitely our big little man!

 

We love you Wiley! We're so thankful that you're here and we're enjoying all you bring to our family. Can't wait to see what this next month brings!

 



In Love

We are all in LOVE with our newest addition. She's exactly what we've all been waiting for!

You can see it all over our faces! We love her from the tip of her head down to her cutest little toes!

(as an aside, if you double click on the collage it should make the pictures bigger and you should be able to zoom in even more on other pictures...the collage just lets me post more pictures at one time...let me know if there's any trouble with this and I'll try to fix it...)

Wordless Wednesday

Waiting for Baby

Keeping Cool

37 Weeks

I may regret a picture of myself in a bathing suit at 37 weeks pregnant later on...but I promised my little sister a more recent picture...Here's what I have....

37 Weeks!!!

Well...we've made it. This tiny peanut (well...not really so tiny anymore) has grown FULL TERM! I think back on that day when I first learned I was pregnant and the prayers I have said for this sweet baby already and am feeling so blessed that I will get to meet her soon. I am not naive enough to think that nothing can go wrong from this point out, but I know that she is ready...she has grown big enough to survive outside of my belly.

What a blessing!! We can't wait to meet her! The kids are over the moon for her already and my concerns are less about how they'll feel and adapt when baby comes home and more about if she'll survive the smothering of kisses and head rubs she'll get from them! Murray knows he can not pick the baby up...but he can rub her head and tickle her toes. Lucy can't wait to be the pacifier provider and has even asked to learn how to change diapers (we'll have to see on that one!).

What a blessing to grow our family. I can't wait to meet our little girl, to decide on a name and to learn all about her. Come on sweet girl...it's been 37 weeks...aren't you ready to see the outside world yet?!? We're sure ready to see you!

The Girls' Room

This weekend I got a bee in my bonnet...so to speak anyway. I decided it was time to cross off one of the bigger projects we have to do before baby. I decided to paint the purple stripes in Lucy's room to match the new bedding my wonderful mother is making for the new baby. The purple was requested by Lucy and we figured since she's giving up a lot of her space adding a color to her room was not an unreasonable request. Plus, each of our other children had a room painted for them (although Lucy waited over a year for that)...but, we figured it wasn't an absurd request.

That being said, I decided I would use the stripes we painstakingly measured out as my guide and buy the fattest paint tape I could find (3 inches) and use that to mark/measure out my stripes. So, the purple stripes are rather large, but I like them and think they freshen up Lucy's room.

I did the task on Saturday night and Lucy slept in the guest room...I did it alone because Nick had a paper to write and a few other things I knew needed his attention...it really only took me about an hour to tape and a little more than the length of an old college favorite movie playing in the background to

paint.

Here's the outcome...

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Baby Girl at 26.5 weeks

(it's a little fuzzy b/c she's snuggled up under my placenta...

it was much clearer on the screen in color)

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for a burst of energy! I had a huge burst of energy last night and washed all the floors in my house, cleaned the bathrooms, picked up toys, vacuumed and packed for Chicago! Whew! It was a busy night and the kids were very well behaved while I did all those chores. They even helped a bit.

I'm also thankful for a GREAT 20 week ultrasound yesterday (that will be my wordless wednesday when Nick gets the pictures scanned). I had a student technician and her supervisor doing the ultrasound which meant that it went slower and there was lots of talking and explaining going on during it...basically...a mom's dream! I was able to understand all the strange images on the screen, her kidney's, the umbilical cord, my placenta, her leg and arm bones...all the tedious parts of her heart, valves, ventricles, chambers etc.

All in all...she started out squirmy (probably the girl scout cookies I ate to reward the first chore completed...mopping), but then she calmed down and they kept saying what a beautiful baby she was to get images of. She did give them a hard time when they were trying to get her heart rate...they would get her in the right place then she would stay for just a few seconds and kick off and my sides and move away. It took a few tries, but she finally cooperated.

When they completed everything they needed and had already gotten a cute profile picture and one of her foot the student asked if I minded if she played around for a few more minutes practicing getting profiles and other fun pictures since she was being so great! Of course I said yes! Who wouldn't want to look at the beautiful baby growing for a few minutes longer?!?

The ending stats, she's in the 90th percentile and her measurements are showing she's 21 weeks...I'm not actually 20 weeks until tomorrow...so she's big already! So much for having a small baby this time with the little weight I've put on! She has no abnormalities in her heart, lungs, kidneys, limbs etc. I have enough fluid and my placenta looks healthy. All in all...we're doing great!

A lot to be thankful for this week! We're heading to Chicago tonight for Nick to go to a youth worker conference and I'm headed to have a girls night with a friend in Springfield, IL while the kids enjoy Grammy and Pop Pop all to themselves! Then I get to have a little bit of relaxation time at my parents and hopefully pick out some fabric for this little girls crib! July will be here before we know it!

Wordless Wednesday

20 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Foot with 5 adorable toes

Profile: She has her mouth open drinking

Thankful Thursdays

Today I'm thankful for a few things. First, most bluntly...I'm thankful for not puking today (yet). I've had the feeling a few times, but have managed to let it pass...that's definitely something to be thankful for (sorry if it grosses you out!).

I'm also thankful that at 3 pm I was all finished packing for my trip to Chicago this weekend. With 4 kids around the house getting things organized is definitely a feat worth being thankful for! Hopefully I have everything I need to make Greta's Bridal Shower a success on Sunday!

Third, I'm most thankful for all the fluttering I've been feeling in my belly the last 2 days. It is certainly wonderful to feel that movement daily and when I'm not feeling well to have a fun reminder as to why my body is feeling the way it will. This too shall pass and I will have a sweet little baby to cuddle when it's done...or maybe I'll start feeling better and have to wait to hold my sweet bundle...I'd be happy with that as well!

Overall while I'm pretty tired and still have a long road trip alone with the kiddos...I'm thankful that today has gone smoothly and hoping to have an easy and uneventful trip in the car this evening!

Doctor Appointments

I went to the doctor this morning for my check up. I'm 13.5 weeks and things are going well as far as the baby is concerned. My diligence has paid off and although I've been feeling awful and haven't kept all my meals in, I've maintained my weight throughout the first trimester so the doctor is super happy with that. He says hopefully my placenta will take over monitoring hormones soon and I'll start feeling better. I'm hopeful!

The baby is measuring about a week small, but the doctor assured me that at this point in the pregnancy the measurements aren't always accurate, so we'll just watch and see as the baby gets bigger. Seeing our baby on the screen this morning and hearing the heart beat made all the nauseas feelings worth it! That's what I need to keep remembering...that this feeling of being sick is temporary and the joy of another child will completely replace these yucky feelings.

My next appointment is February 21st and it will be gender day! We're so excited and I think even Lucy and Murray will come to see the baby on the ultrasound and find out if they're having a brother or a sister...then the name wars...errr...discussion can begin!

Along with a baby doctor appointment this morning Nick and I are meeting our new doctors this afternoon and now, while dressing Murray we noticed a rash, so we're headed to the pediatrician this afternoon as well. It's a day of doctors, but at least it started out well, so hopefully all the other appointments will go well also!

We got a great ultrasound picture this morning, so we'll try to get it scanned and posted this week! Such an exciting time!