Version Avoided!!

Yippee!!  Jon and I arrived at the hospital on our anniversary to see if Tater Tot needed rotated.  I suspected baby had flipped on their own due to the massive amounts of gymnastics that had been going on in my mid section.  The nurse felt my belly, and hooked me up to the monitors and found the heart beat low, and she suspected the same thing.  The doc came in and one swipe of the ultra sound showed baby in head down and ready to exit position.  Whew!  I was not looking forward to the version, especially since I had made the mistake of looking up video's the week before of versions.  Maybe it was the bowling we did for Cecilia's birthday that did the trick.

Happy 4th Birthday, Cecilia!

I really can't believe she is 4.  I know, I've probably said this on every birthday, but she is getting to be such a big girl, and I feel like she is 4 going on 14.  We celebrated the day before her birthday by going bowling as a family, with the addition of Great Ma & Pa, Grandma Cheryl, and some friends.  We had a great time!  Cecilia requested a Dora cake, and that is just what she got.

 

On her actual birthday, my parents were back in town, and Cecilia opened presents from them, got to go jump at her favorite bounce house place, and then we got to see Aunt Chelsea for lunch, who happened to be in town.  Aunt Chelsea and Cecilia are birthday buddies, so it was extra special!  We capped off the night with dinner with Grandad and left over birthday cake.  Overall, we had a wonderful time celebrating our Cecilia.  She is such a blessing in our lives, and she keeps us on our toes.

I am the Bounce House: Week 36

Before I get into the details this week, I decided to use BabyHunch.com to put together a Baby Pool where you can guess certain things such as Baby's Birthdate (date and time), Baby's Sex, Baby's Weight, etc,.  If you'd like to play, simply click the link provided below to submit your hunches!

Once you visit the page, click 'Enter New Hunches' to submit your hunches...

       Click Here for Tater Tot

For Refrence: 

Cecilia was 2 days early, 6lbs 13 oz, 20.25 inches

Lilly Jeanne was 4 days late, 8lbs 7 oz, 20.75 inches

Also, Please start praying now for an easy, short labor, with no extra complications and healthy baby and mama :)  THANKS!

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I don't have an actual 36 week belly pic for you.  Refer to any previous post and you'll see that I am most definitely pregnant.  The most recent development is that this baby moves a TON!  So much so that baby was breech as of Monday.  Baby has been flipping so much that baby will be vertical at 3pm and transverse by bed time.  At my appointment on Monday, my midwife had an ultrasound done to confirm that baby was in fact breech, and we scheduled a version for this coming Tuesday the 30th.  A version is where the doctor will try to turn the baby externally.   The procedure is done in the hospital.  They will give me an IV with a drug that will make me feel like I've drank 3 cups of coffee and ran a mile, but it will also loosen up my uterus.  Tuesday is Jon and I's anniversary, so the good news is that we will get to spend the morning together.  Although, if baby is still breech and they are able to flip baby, there is no guarantee that baby will stay head down, which could mean a C-section.  At the ultra sound baby was measuring in the 40th percentile at approximately 5lbs, 14 oz. and was measuring a 17 on the amniotic fluid scale.  To do a version, a good amount of fluid is anywhere between 11-15.  This is good news and bad news.  Baby is small and has a lot of space to move, hence all the filpping, which could also mean that baby will flip back to breach or transverse on its own.  We will see how it goes.  In the mean time, I've been doing some ridiculous exercises to try and stretch the ligaments to allow baby some more room to flip on their own.

It was really cool to see baby at 36 weeks on the ultrasound.  There was so much detail.  We could even see hair, and lots of it!  So, at least all this heartburn hasn't been for nothing :)

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of Baby: 5 lbs. 14oz. and approximately 18.5 inches long.  Think head of romaine lettuce.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 20 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Nothing new.  Although I did barrow this awesome maternity support belt from a friend.  It has been great, especially when I'm going to be doing a lot of walking and late in the afternoon when I get really sore.  At this point, I'm ready to be back in regular jeans.

Baby Movement: See above.  I am the bounce house.

Sleep:  Oh, we have a love/hate relationship at this point.  I crave sleep.  I can't wait to go to bed.  I am up half the night because my brain won't turn off and I have to pee all the time.

What I miss: Energy, and being able to bend over and pick things up.

Cravings:  Ice Cream.

Aversions:  Not too much.  I guess it depends on the day, or time of day.  

Symptoms:  Let's not talk about it.

Best Moment:  36 week ultrasound.  Getting out all the itty bitty clothes and baby things out for the nursery.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

We decided to extend our mini vacation to Crested Butte by heading to Colorado Springs instead of heading home on Sunday afternoon.  Our purpose for doing this was to visit the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Monday as a family.  We checked into the hotel, which the girls were fascinated by, and headed to the pool.  We had fun splashing around and Cecilia showed Daddy all her new tricks that she's been learning in swim lessons.  We also ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel, and the girls did great!  

Now, remember how I told you that I got "Mother of the Year" award for not packing any cold weather clothes.  Ya, that award was granted to me a second time when we woke up to a cold drizzle/mist with no signs of sunlight.  I guess I can't complain too much, because I have been praying for a cool summer with lots of rain since I knew I would be pregnant all summer long.  Fortunately, we were in a large city with other attractions, and Walmart.  We found an indoor bounce house place for the girls to play and I ran to Walmart and purchased long pants and shirts for the girls, a long sleeve shirt for me, and ponchos for all.  We decided we weren't going to let the rain deter us from our original plan and headed to the zoo.  

This zoo was amazing.  I've been before, but I was probably Cecilia's age, and I don't really remember it.  (All I remember was walking up up up up up and watching a bus/tram thing go by and wondering why we couldn't ride up up up up up on it.)  The exhibits are beautiful, and it is built literally into the mountain.  The first stop were the giraffes, and lucky for us they were inside to stay out of the rain.  WOW!  I think this zoo is known for its giraffe exhibit.  You can feed them and pet them, and practically kiss them if you wanted too.  There was even a baby giraffe.  This was a favorite for all of us!

As we emerged from the giraffes the rain was stopping and it was warming up a touch.  It was great because many of the exhibits have an indoor or covered component to them, so we were only out in the elements when we were walking from one animal to the next.  We saw the elephants, and lions, and bears, and oh, the mountain lions were really cool too.  They had many other kid attractions, like an old plane, a play ground area, and petting zoo.  

 

Cecilia's favorite exhibit of the day was probably the otters.  She would have stayed there all day and night if we'd let her.  They were so active, and both of the girls liked to sit and look through the glass in the "cave".    

I'm so glad we made the trek down and braved the elements.  We had a wonderful time, and will definitely be going back!

Crested Butte

I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again.  We have been so blessed to have found a Small Church Community within our parish this year.  We have really connected with these families in such a short time.  They are beginning to feel more and more like family to us.  We were fortunate enough to have all of us together for a weekend away in Crested Butte for the weekend of July 12-14.  We were missing one couple, but they are in the process of moving to Nebraska :(  Between the six families there are currently nine children all under the age of seven, with two more babies due in the next few weeks.  We had an amazing time!  One of the guys in our group, Brian, grew up in Crested Butte, and his parents still live their and have really great connections.  We were able to stay at the Catholic Church in their community center and we were able to barrow mattresses from the Baptist Church.  The community center was more than perfect for us.  Each family had their own space thanks to dividing walls, we had two large gathering spaces, and a large kitchen to prepare meals in.  We also had use of Brian's families home for a BBQ and showers.  

Upon arriving in CB, one of the first things we noticed were the abundance of amazing wild flowers and potted flowers.  Apparently, CB is known for its rich soil, and flowers thrive incredibly well.  I feel like I took so many pictures of the wild flowers this weekend, and yet not enough.

On Friday afternoon, we headed to the base of the ski mountain via bus and took a free chair lift ride to the top.  Now, this is the part where I get "Mother of the Year" award.  I have somehow been brainwashed by my parents mountain home into thinking that summer in the mountains means warm weather clothes all the time.  WRONG!  I completely forgot to pack any type of cold weather clothes for my family whatsoever.  Thankfully, my smart, non-pregnant, friends who also have kids my size did pack for such cooler mountain weather and let us barrow pants and jackets.  Way to go, Beth!  It was raining and cloudy for practically the entire afternoon.  The girls did pretty good on the chair lift.  Lilly Jeanne gave me a heart attack on the way back down though.  She was so wiggly, and was arching her back to try and get off way before it was safe too.  At the top of the mountain, we admired the cloudy view, played with sticks, let the kids run and explore, and watched all the mountain bikers head down the trails.  When we got back to the base of the mountain, their was a live band that invited the kids to come up on stage with them.  It was adorable to see our kids up on stage.  I think Cecilia really loved it, she was smiling so big.

 Saturday morning we went for a hike to Judd Falls.  It was a fairly simple hike, and I did way better than I thought I would.  I'm so glad I had my maternity support belt!  The water fall was not fully accessible, we hiked to an overlooking point, which was beautiful.  It was a wonderful moment when we all took time as a group to take in the beauty around us and pray.

Lilly Jeanne took a little snooze in the backpack on the way to the falls.  Cecilia did pretty well.  (She was pretty grumpy and ornery all weekend.  Looking back through the pictures, I see that she was probably fighting a bug because there is something off about her eyes.)  Both girls were covered in dirt by the time we got back, Cecilia especially! 

Saturday afternoon all of the ladies escaped to shop the town a bit.  We were just about to head back to the church when the rain started pooring down.  It was like a monsoon!  Luckily, Jon came to get us and we plowed into the van.  It was so fun to get out with just the girls.

The rains cleared and Saturday night we had a campfire at Brian's parents home.  The kids played on bikes in the street, we ate burgers and brats, and we were introduced to woofum's.  This is a new campfire treat for us.  You wrap a crescent roll dough piece around a wooden cork and roast it until its cooked, then you fill the bread cup with pudding and whipped cream and "woof" if down.  They were pretty yummy, but I think I still might prefer the traditional s'more.

Our evenings were spent staying up late after the kids went to bed playing games and chatting.  Sunday we went to Mass as a group and hit the art and farmers market in town.

We are so blessed to have had this time with these wonderful people in this beautiful place!!

Happy 50th Birthday, Mom!

My amazing and beautiful Mom turned 50 this year!  We celebrated a week early with a small BBQ with family and close friends from my parents house.  It was a perfect weekend filled with lots of smiles, celebrating, cake, toe painting, tractor rides, chicken feeding, and a night of "camping" for Cecilia and Jon.

34 Weeks

Mom's actual birthday was on the following Friday, the 12th.  I coordinated a balloon surprise with my Dad and my brothers.  Each of us wrote 10 things that we love about Mom and I filled 50 balloons with these sentiments for her to read.  

 

A few of these included:

• You make the best lasagna!
• I can always call Mom to talk, or vent, laugh or cry.
• I love your appreciation for natural beauty, the mountains and the ocean.
• I even love when my mother cackles in public
• I love long car rides and praying the rosary with mom.
• I love how mom is such a fighter and never gives up.
• I love Dark 'n Stormy's with Mom.
• Mom has a wonderful smile that can brighten a room.
• I love how mom would sing "Its time to rise and shine" to wake us up when we were little.
• Mom, I love that you have the guts to pick up a snake.
• Mom, I love that you keep God first and taught us to do the same
• Mom, you taught us how to cook.  Thank you for teaching me so I could eat well on a practical budget. 
• You have taught me the value of volunteering in my community.
• You have taught me how to be a good wife.
• You have shown me how to take care of myself so I can take care of my family, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
• You are an amazing Mamma!

Happy Fiftieth, Mom!  You are truly a blessing to so many, and we love you so much!!

Tiny Town

We had the chance to go to Tiny Town with my Magnificat Moms group and all the kids.  We had so much fun exploring all the little houses.  The girls loved it!  Lilly's favorite house had a Christmas scene inside.  She stopped to look in it twice, once on the way down the town and once on the way back.  Cecilia had fun with her friends, Beau and Sienna.  The three of them were practically inseparable.  We explored the town and rode the little train.  I also got to see my friend Amanda.  She happened to be coming to play the same day.  It was a treat to see her, especially since I haven't seen her since March, and I haven't seen her kids since December!  I wish we got a picture together...