Ice can be Nice

Today the boys were all super excited to go sledding on the ice!

We got them all bundled up and mom even came outside (very carefully as to not slip!) to take some pictures.  Here they are ready to go sledding!

Daddy tested out our new driveway with the toboggan.  He got going pretty fast!  Usually he would fly across the street and crash into the curb!  This purple one ended up cracking, so later that day I bought a few more on clearance to have for next time.  Maverick seemed to enjoy himself.

Another hit was being pulled (or pushed) on the Radio Flyer Sled.

Chandler enjoyed running and pulling his brothers.  Maverick would have been content to ride all day long.  It was a fun morning and it was all melted by lunchtime.  

Winter Fun

Today, the snow/sleet/freezing rain is falling.  Since everybody is in a panic and doesn't want a repeat of 2005, all schools let out early and the amount of traffic on the roads was CRAZY!!

I was scheduled to go to work and both little boys had 1/2 day preschool like normal.  Chandler's school was letting out at noon, and Derek planned to pick him up.  I left work earlier than usual and it took me almost an hour to get the little boys and get home.  Luckily we are all at home now and can ride out any weather that continues to fall and not deal with the crazy people on the roads!

Yesterday, the little boys and I went to story time at the library.  It has been a long time since we went, but they boys enjoyed it and it was something to do rather than go outside in the cold.

Bubbles and handstamps afterwards.  Maverick loved the bubbles!

Brighton has been studying penguins at preschool this week.  

He brought home this cute little guy today.  

I'm sure Derek is hoping this is a non-event, because he will be the one sledding with the boys tomorrow if we have accumulation.  I will be inside where it is warm, dry, and less of a chance of me falling down!

Thirty!

Wow!  30 Weeks Today!

Here's an update on another "30" topic.  My old 30 before 30 list.  Let's see how well I did!

30 Before 30

1. Purchase a beginner piano book and learn a simple song- We'll say this one was a fail.  Not much time has been spent here :(
2. Take a train ride - took many "kiddy" train rides, but still haven't ridden a real train.  One day....
3. Walk through a corn maze
4. Write 5 handwritten letters to friends
5. Fly a kite with my boys 
6. Plant daffodil bulbs in front yard
7. Take a meal to a new mom
8. Pay it forward 
9. Visit Connor 
10. Try out a new recipe
11. Go Christmas Caroling  
12. Post my 500^th blog post  
13. Donate to a charity  
14. Have a party (not for my children) Was so glad to have this one.  We had a wonderful housewarming party in November and I can't wait to have more parties!
15. Take a good friend to lunch 
16. Do something nice for a neighbor  
17. See a movie at the theater with Derek - Amazingly this one happened.  Too bad I've only seen one movie since that time.
18. Decide where Chandler will go to Kindergarten 
19. Visit a new city 
20. Read one book for fun - I'm not really sure this one happened.  I don't have time for "books" but I have read several articles, magazines, and other things....
21. Update our mailbox - Thanks Mom & Dad!
22. Figure out how to upload videos to the blog  
23. Have a progressive dinner party - I tried for this one, but could never get it coordinated.  I'll keep this one on my "to do" list
24. Bring a meal to somebody who is sick/has sick kids
25. Try a “fancy” cupcake 
26. Volunteer at the preschool
27. Bake & Decorate cookies with my 3 messy boys
28. Have a live Christmas tree for the first time in 10+ years  
29. Visit the Biltmore House, or at least plan the trip 
30. Take a Hot Air Balloon Ride, or plan it!

So, I managed to complete all but three.  Not bad, I suppose.  Now, I need to get working on another list.  Things to complete before baby arrives!  Aahhhh!!

I guess I'll think on this one, and repost later :)

What's in a Name?

Chandler, 7 weeks, Nashville, NC

What's in a name?  Derek and I don't take the honor of naming a child for granted.  This is one thing where we really like to take our time, and pick just the right name for the next member of our family.

Before we ever got pregnant, we came up with a list of potential names that we both liked: 3 names for boys, and 3 for girls.  Well, obviously the "girl" names have never been used.  In fact, both the 3rd name for boys and girls were struck from the list after we had two children.

As this little one's birth draws near we have been settled on our two names for quite sometime.  All of the names that we've picked have been names that I have heard of, but have never personally known somebody by that name.  I like to have no preconceived ideas about who this person will be.  The boys first name is of English origin, with a more unusual middle name.  It doesn't fit our "8 letters" like all the other boys, but is 7, so close enough!

The girls name was always intended to honor my grandmother.  I've always wanted to use "Lee" as the middle name, as this was hers.  As time passed, I thought that having "Lee" as a middle name was not important enough and wanted to incorporate it into the first, so that is what we have done (and no, the name is not Lee)  We have also found a way to incorporate another of my grandmother's names for the middle name by changing a letter here and there.  Either way, it will remind me of her

I joked with Derek that we would give "naming rights" to our 4th child to the winner of the baby poll (see top right hand side of blog sidebar).  Unfortunately, that's a NO.  You do have the chance to win some Goodberry's ice-cream though.  What do you have to lose?  Take a shot and make a guess.  Maybe you'll win!

MLK Day

Today, all 3 boys and I headed to the L&S Museum of Durham since there was no school.  Unfortunately for Maverick this meant missing his gymnastics class.  He had enough fun to make up for it though.  Thank goodness members get in early, because with no school, there was quite the crowd today.  Luckily we were able to stay one step ahead of the crowds by getting there at 9 a.m. when they open for members, and playing inside first giving it some time to warm up before heading outdoors.  

Here's Maverick "riding" a horse (which is why it's probably blurry) inside at one of the play areas.

We then headed outside and saw the barnyard animals and the butterfly house before stopping for lunch.  Luckily we were one step ahead of the crowds here too.

Our last stop before heading home was the dinosaur trail.  Always a favorite!  The boys walked around all the dinosaurs before stopping at the dig site.  We were easily there 45 minutes and could have stayed longer.  Chandler was so proud of himself when he found a shark's tooth.  Maverick (unknowingly) found one too.  What a fun day!

Photo Time!

I've been wanting to get some updated pictures of the boys for some time now.  I think it's been a year or more since we've really tried to get some photos (other than holidays).  The day started with Chandler, Brighton, and Derek getting home haircuts.  Then all four boys took a shower and got dressed.  By this point it was easily after 10 a.m.  I decided at the last minute to attempt to put on a coordinating sweater and get in a few pictures myself.

Brighton is always so drunk serious looking, so Derek tried having him make some silly faces to get him smiling without it looking forced.  Not sure how well that worked.  

Maverick mainly ran around and didn't want to sit/stand still for anything.  In most of the shots he is holding a small blue car as a bribe to keep him happy.  

Here's Maverick pouting over by the shed and a grill.  Clearly not where we wanted him to be, but you take what you can get!

Over all, it went okay.  I'm sure Derek got a few shots that will work.  All I kept telling him is good luck when you have to get four to look at you and smile at the same time :)

The Dream

Pregnancy can cause you to have strange dreams.  Sudafed can cause anxiety (at least in me)  I'm back on the sudafed (at half the dose) to see if it will help my symptoms without all the excess anxiety.  Well, that combination led to a very scary dream last night.

I haven't disclosed this publicly yet, but I will now.  We are having a major financial burden on our family right now due to the fact that our builder owes us over $14,000.00

Yes, that is 14 THOUSAND DOLLARS.  He has essentially stolen this money from us.  We are taking steps including contacting "Five on Your Side" to recoup this loss, but the process and the road ahead looks lengthly and long.  Do I have the time for this?  No.  Do I want to do this?  No.  But will I take every measure possible to make sure he doesn't get away with this?  Yes.  I need to not let it consume my thoughts and make me so angry though and that is my problem right now.

Last night after tossing and turning for some time, I finally fell back asleep and this was my dream:

I dreamed that I was in a car as the passenger, but there was no driver and we were barreling down the highway (lack of control)  Most of the road was very steep and uphill (uphill battle mentioned above)  The car would come to toll booths and stop and I would not have the money to pay (We are lacking money right now, and we might have to spend more money to hire lawyers, etc....) and we would be turned away.  The car would then take off down another, steeper, uphill road and kept going faster and faster.  There were times I felt like there was nothing I could do.  Finally at one of the toll booths I was able to explain myself to the toll booth operator who kindly allowed me to get out of the car, get in the drivers' seat, and take a down hill road to "safety".  It (the nightmare) was finally over.

Then I woke up.

Not sure what any of this means, but please keep our family in your prayers as we try to navigate this road before us.  I want to do the right thing here, but at the same time, I need to let this go.  It is hard.

Unexpected Update

Today I am 29 weeks pregnant and had an unexpected visit to the midwives.  I'm still not feeling 100%, and when I called the midwives to see what they thought I should do they wanted to see me.

I came in for a brief visit and during that time they checked baby to see how they were.  Even though I refer to baby as "they" there is only 1 in there.  I just don't like saying he/she and definitely not "it".

Baby had flipped and was now head-down, but because of the constant flipping, they want to do an in-house ultrasound at my next appointment to confirm the baby truly is head down.  I never knew the midwives were capable of doing ultrasound, so I'm excited to see what it will look like.  I'm guessing it will be very primitive, but interesting none the less.

Just so you know, they are feeling the baby through my belly at each visit to determine position.  That in itself is pretty amazing.  Baby's heartbeat was 150 beats/minute.

I was given another antibiotic prescription, but told to wait a few days to see if I can improve with out it, incase it's just another cold.  Who knows, but at least now I'm prepared.

Who's ready for Spring?  I know I am!

24 Hour Get-Away

Derek had to travel to NYC for a meeting/retail show from 1/11-1/17.  As part of my Christmas present I was able to join him for the weekend.  This is a big deal to me/us as this will probably be our last time away together for a very long time.  I was really looking forward to it, although I was still not feeling 100%  Unfortunately, our flight was CANCELLED for Friday night.  I could have cried!

I was so disappointed, but what could we do?  Nothing really, so we left on Saturday morning and got to NY shortly after 10 a.m.  Basically we took a taxi from the airport to the hotel where we had called and "checked in" the night before.  Turns out the room we had requested was not ready, but they did have a room ready for us.  Too bad it had only a queen bed.  There was NO WAY that for my 1-night away that me, the belly, and Derek were cramming into a queen bed.  I told them we'd wait until the original King suite was ready.

Derek had to then leave to go to the convention center to start working.  I tagged along as there was really nothing else I could do.  We were there for about 1 hour before we had to catch another taxi to Derek's next meeting.  We grabbed a quick lunch and then Derek went to a meeting.  Since it was cold, and I really wasn't in the mood for walking much, I walked to the nearby library to check it out.

Here's a statue (there were two) made of Legos.  Pretty neat.

The weather in NY was pretty dreary and cold, but at least it was in the 40's which is very warm there for this time of year.  The wind certainly had a bite to it though.  After the meeting, we walked back to the hotel and finally got a room.  We relaxed for a few hours before heading out to dinner.  Here's me in front of Radio City Music Hall.

Dinner was ok.  They were out of what we originally ordered, but the dessert I saved room for was very yummy.  I didn't care for the 150+ stairs that my 3 bathroom trips required me to climb though.  New York is definitely not the city for me!  After dinner was the best part of the trip, we got to see Wicked.  That was amazing!  Both Derek and I really enjoyed it.  It started at 8 p.m., so it was really past my bedtime when we made it back to the hotel.  I was exhausted.

The next day was Sunday and not much was open or going on until later in the morning.  We walked down to Macy's, but they didn't open until 11 a.m.  Derek had to leave for work at noon, so that didn't leave much time.  We decided to check out an aircraft carrier/museum that opened at 10 a.m.  It didn't cost us the $50 it would have to get in since we are members of the Durham Life & Science Museum, so that's really the only reason we went.  It was something to do, and some new, interesting things to see.  After another quick lunch, Derek headed in to work.  I hung around the hotel room for a few hours before heading to the airport and the flew home.

Too bad we didn't have more time, and more time together.  I was glad to be home and see the boys, but I'll be much happier when Derek is home too.

27 Weeks!

Picture at 28 weeks!

Today I'm 27 weeks along!  If this baby comes as early as Maverick, that means only 10 weeks to go!  WOW!  Time is flying by.  I've gone from feeling bad, to worse, to better, and now I'm back to miserable.  Luckily I had a midwives appointment today and they were able to get more on more antibiotics.  I hope I feel better soon!

I had been on sudafed 24 hours a day for a week now and it was making me super anxious.  I've been having a hard time sleeping and worrying about things that logically don't make sense.  I explained my concerns to the midwives and they told me NO MORE SUDAFED!  I was able to use Afrin to get me over the hump until the antibiotics kicked in.

Now for some more upbeat news:

The baby is doing and growing well.  I'm measuring right at 27 weeks and the baby's heartbeat is strong at about 150 beats/minute.  The baby is breech at this point, but they aren't concerned (yet) as the baby was literally doing somersaults during the exam.  My blood pressure and weight gain are fine, but my iron is ever-so-slightly low.  This means I will start taking a spoonful of blackstrap molasses (yuck!) daily to help increase this.  I'll have my next check up in about 1 month and then it will be every two weeks.

New Year's Resolutions 2013

Brighton made a New Year's Hat at preschool.  It reads:

I want to "drink hot cocoa" in the new year.

I'm not sure if that is a resolution or not.  Sometimes I make resolutions, sometimes not.  All I'd like to do is feel better.  I did manage to go through all the "tiny" baby clothes and sort them into 1. boy  2. girl  3. could go either way.  That made me feel a little better (for the moment)

Happy New Year!