maybel grace

meet my new niece, born one week ago...
i must say, my brother & sister-in-law make a beautiful newborn baby, huh?! check out these cheeks.
this is a horrible picture of me, but i wanted to show how small she looks, even at 7lb 2 oz. of course, the fact that she's on my ginormous belly makes her look even smaller :) baby girl was kicking her in this picture as i held her. they're gonna be best buddies for sure :)

34 weeks

my ob appointment was actually last week, as my checkups have been "off" so far on the odd weeks, but i'm just now getting around to updating :)
this appointment fell on the day after i survived the germ invasion. because of that, i still had not gained any weight and my belly measured the same as it has for the last month. this put the baby measuring right on schedule which hasn't happened really at all this whole pregnancy so far! obviously, the dehydration was a huge factor in all of that, as i was still recovering & definitely hadn't started eating or drinking normally yet. the doctor contemplated giving me some iv fluids in the office due to all the ketones in my urine, but since i was feeling better, she trusted me to catch up with my hydration as my body felt up to it. the baby remained very active throughout that whole sickness which was more nauseating at times, but also reassuring that she was okay in there. her heartrate was good & the doctor felt like she may be head down. at my next appointment, they will do an ultrasound to check her size & my fluid level. we can make sure she's head down then too! the boys have loved feeling her HUGE movements lately. they just get near my belly and she starts going crazy. she's had the hiccups a ton lately too!! baby girl now has lots of very cute clothes thanks to jerry's friends at work who had a little shower for him/us. we got a few things we needed and lots of girly things that will make her look super cute! i love this picture of jerry holding this adorable, tiny swimsuit that she will definitely be wearing at mawmaw's pool this summer!

invasion of germs...AGAIN!

so this is how it all started...
by monday night, eli was better and that's when i got it. while up in the middle of the night, vomiting while having diarrhea (tmi, i know!), abram woke up vomiting. mine lasted just about 24 hours and abram's about 12 hours. we thought we were in the clear until thursday night when caleb woke up screaming. i have to share his cuteness though, although it won't have the same effect written as it did in person with his pitiful face. here were a few of his sick boy quotes while being stuck in the bathroom over the toilet all night/day...
"mommy, you needa call my doctor right now so she can make me better."
"this is the worst day ever!"
after he would vomit or have diarrhea, he would ask, "are all the germs out yet?"
"i sure hope daddy doesn't get this."
well, daddy has managed to be the only one to NOT get it and for that we are thankful! hopefully all of the germs have left the house for good & will stay away as we prepare for the arrival of baby girl! yesterday eli brought this letter home from school which i thought was precious. he must've written it during the midst of all of this mess...
dear mommy,
i hope you feel better. if i need to, i am happy to take care of the boys. i am sorry that you got my germs. you are the best mom ever.
your son, eli

snow!!

seems like every time it has snowed, one or more of the boys have been sick or it's been too cold to play in it. so this sunny, winter day was perfect for us all to go out and enjoy some fresh air!

lots-o-boys

to finish off his birthday, we let eli take a few friends to play monster mini golf & eat at pizza king. 7 boys total= a lot of energy. they were all great though & everyone had a blast.

room makeover

as part of eli's birthday, we redecorated his room. this is the before/truck theme, which he's had since he was 2 years old!

he had a snow day, so he was home from school during the transformation. we went for the full, dramatic entrance by blindfolding him :)

and wah-lah...it's a star wars room! he was just a little excited. he's now gonna make some star wars ship models to hang from the ceiling to complete the room.

school lunch

eli was SO excited to have us come eat lunch with him yesterday for his birthday. of course, caleb & abram were just as excited to eat like the big boys do. i was quickly reminded of how loud a cafeteria full of 2nd graders can be...wow! he was happy to have us & we were glad to make his day more special :)

happy 8th birthday!

hhhmmmm...

so this is what happens when mommy's at work...
daddy found him asleep in the box, in the dora tent. just moments earlier he had asked for more to drink & was playing with his brother.

32 weeks

well despite a fall down about 8 stairs at work & some contraction action over the last few weeks, baby girl is still cookin' & doing great. it seems at my last appointment, she must've just had a growth spurt because this week i measured exactly the same as last time...no weight gain or baby growth (in cm). of course, she's still measuring big, but not like 4 weeks big, just 2 :) an ultrasound within the next few appointments will get an accurate estimate of just how big she really is so that dr j knows if an induction will be necessary & when. we will definitely be having a march baby though! my hope is that she'll wait til after the 1st day of spring so that we'll have a baby born in every season ;) dr j tried to feel if she was head-down, but she couldn't figure out where she was. in fact, her words were, "i have no idea! this baby is all over the place!" after she checked my cervix, she was able to tell that there was a body part 'down there', but she just couldn't tell what it was. baby girl has gone from being calm & gentle to a serious acrobat! she's gonna be a fiesty one! here's a 32 week belly shot, but i wasn't happy with how my shirt was just hanging there so i got a closer shot.


mommy's status: still comfortable & feeling good, some contractions w/activity, lovin' abram's favorite powdered sugar donuts :)
baby's status: heartrate in the 150's, VERY active, has a nursery, will have clean clothes ready soon!

nursery

pink has definitely invaded our house! the boys LOVE it though & can't wait to show their baby sister her room :) i may still add a few finishing touches, but for the most part it's all done!

this shelf had stars/moons on it, so i covered it with the flowers. on the other side of the cross will be a wooden letter for her name.

i hand painted the loops & pink flowers on the yellow walls.


i made this mobile type thing which was super cheap & easy....just need to straighten a few of the ribbons for the final hanging.

her view :)
i made this picture with my favorite 'baby' verse.

i'm very excited now to start washing some baby clothes & blankets to finish it all up!