Now, This is a first!!

Have you ever seen this?!?

This is what I discovered in my watering

can that was sitting on our front porch.

And, it wasn't quite dead yet!!

What is it????

A BAT!!!

EWWW...

34 Weeks...The Good, The Bad, The U.G.L.Y.

So, I've made it to 34 weeks. Probably only 4 more weeks to go, or 5 if she decides to wait until her eviction date. We'll be meeting our baby girl before we know it!!


The Good: I feel pretty good still! Wow! I could not say this at 34 weeks pregnant with Graham. So, Baby Quad's being rather kind to mommy. :) I personally think I feel better simply because the boys are older and sleeping better at night and the varicose veins are not nearly as painful as they were during my last pregnancy. This is actually the first pregnancy since Patrick that I've not had another child still waking during the night!! Not that I'm sleeping like a log or anything, but at least I'm not getting up with one of the boys. I've also managed to have a perfectly uneventful pregnancy thus far- what a blessing!! Hopefully I will have a perfectly uneventful, smooth delivery and of a beautiful, healthy baby. Oh, another good- I'm pretty sure she's head down now!! Yay!! Her hiccups are felt low now, the stronger kicks are up near my ribs and I can definitely tell that she goes back and forth from having her head engaged then not engaged. My doctor said this is very typical of third, fourth, etc. babies. Something to do with the fact that the penthouse (aka my uterus!) has been nice and stretched by it's previous occupants and that my ligaments are very stretched out, as well. They say she'll probably fully engage later when she really runs out of room, or it could even be as late as when labor actually begins! I'm still guessing that she'll come about the same time her brothers have come- right at 38 weeks. I've had the lovely signs of cervical changes lately, just like with the boys, and there's been an uptick in Braxton Hicks. But, I guess you never know!


The Bad: Well, not too many bad things to report. I'm not sleeping well, but that's to be expected. It's hard to get comfortable and once I'm in a position it takes so much effort to roll over that I fully wake up. And, speaking of waking up, baby girl is still waking me up at night! I guess my constant movement during the day rocks her to sleep so she's bright eyed and bushy tailed all night long while I'm still. The varicose veins are definitely the worst looking they've been with any of my pregnancies and they're definitely painful. But, it's pretty much to be expected so I just deal with them. Over all I'm very fortunate at his point. I could be feeling a lot worse!


Now, for some updated belly pics. She's certainly growing!! And, so are other parts of my body- just ask Patrick. This morning Patrick walked in while I was getting dressed and gave me a very confused, puzzled look. He then asked why my mo-mo's were so big now (mo-mo is momma milk/boobies in our house!) I told him they were bigger because they had baby sister's momma milk in them. He then got very serious and told me that baby sister really needed to drink her momma milk. I explained to him that while baby sister is in my belly she eats whatever I eat- that we share. And, once she's out of my belly she will drink momma milk. Still confused, he looked at me and touched my belly as told me that baby sister was REALLY big now and that she was almost all the way up to my mouth. Yeah, I feel like she's that big,too, Patrick!! He then got very serious again and asked if she was going to hurt my mouth when she came out of it. I assured him that she would not hurt my mouth when she came out and that I would be ok. I'm still avoiding telling him where babies actually come out!! We'll deal with that one when he's a little older! But, he was very quick to tell me (this is not the first time he's said this) that he DOES NOT want to go back inside my belly to live when baby sister comes out! Too funny!! I assured him that no one was going back inside my belly. It's a one-way ticket out!!! :)

31 Weeks

32 Weeks

33.5 Weeks

33.5 Weeks

Is it just me or does she look a little

lopsided in this pic?!?

Now, for the U.G.L.Y. These pictures are for me to remember just how yucky my right leg was during pregnancy and also for all of those people out there that have told me how horrible their varicose veins are, only to find to out they simply have little spider veins that are totally painless and in my opinion, not that unsightly!! Get ready, it's pretty gross...

My right leg looks like this all the way

up to my groin area.

Nice looking shin, huh?

And I wonder why perfect strangers stare at my leg!

My right foot. The varicose veins are even in the arch

of my foot now. Not fun! This makes for painful walking.

But, I figure ugly, painful varicose veins are a pretty small price to pay. It could certainly be A LOT worse! Or, I could not be fortunate enough to even be pregnant for the fourth time. I will, however, get these guys taken care of this fall after she's born. They gotten to the point that even the vascular surgeon says they've got to go. And, I do have prescription compression hose. They just aren't very effective for the location of some of my problem areas so I choose not to wear them.

I've Lost One...

Me: (walking into the dining room noticing that there are only 2 children sitting at the table eating when there should be 3!) Where's Graham???

Marshall: He's on the couch, Mommy. Sleeping.

Boy, am I jealous!! Don't you wish you could just wander over to the couch and take a snooze whenever you had the urge???? And, don't you wish you'd look that cute doing it??? :)

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!! I hope all the dads out there enjoyed their special day. :) Saturday morning the boys and I baked a special Daddy's Day cake for Robert before he woke up. They boys are quite the bakers! They did a great job and were eager to decorate their master piece after lunch.

Look at those baking boys!

Marshall needed no instruction on what to do with a beater.
Lick it!! Graham is studying his every move.

Marshy's got the hang of it!

Yeah, yeah...I know there's raw eggs in there.

Patrick doesn't waste time with a puny

beater. He went straight or a fork to scoop

the batter out of the bowl!

After lunch it was time for decorating.

They each put sprinkles ALL OVER

daddy's cake. Hope daddy likes sprinkes!

And, I think they ate as many as they put on the cake.

Graham was a little hesitant at first and not too

sure about eating the sprinkles...

But, it didn't take him long to grab a handful off the cake!

Look at that master piece!!!

Now, I will say that it was one of those cakes you don't share

company, if you know what I mean! There were a lot of grubby

toddler/preschool hands in it and I can't guarantee that someone

didn't sneeze or cough all over it. But, daddy loved his special

cake. The boys just HAD to have daddy go on ahead and

cut his cake after dinner Saturday night!

Earning Some Frequent Flyer Miles...With the ER, Pediatrician and Urgent Care

Can you see my baby's little noggin knocker on

the right side of his forehead??

Just when I thought Graham's trip to get staples in his head was our major injury of the summer, he has to prove me wrong!! We spent Sunday night at Cincinnati Children's Hospital due to our latest injury. Thank God it was nothing more than a concussion and our baby is A-OK!!





What happened??? Well, we returned home to Cincinnati Sunday evening around 7:30 and around 8:30 Graham took a header into our coffee table. I'm guessing that he tripped over his own little pigeon toed feet, as his brothers were not involved and there were no toys on the floor! I heard the infamous silent cry, aka the calm before the storm, and then all heck broke loose. My poor baby had bumped his head in the same exact spot that he had bumped it just a few days before. Yeah, lightening can strike twice, at least that's what the ER doc said!


About 15-20 minutes after Graham fell he started vomiting. Not good. He was also a little lethargic and couldn't really keep his eyes open. Double not good. After a few more vomiting episodes I figured it was time to head to the hospital. Once there, they triaged us as priority and sent us to a room for observation. Graham started to perk up and was back to his baseline pretty quickly. So, once they felt it was nothing more than a concussion we were sent home. Whew. Nothing too serious, but still scary. I will say that I think I had the happiest kid in the ER that night, though! Have you ever seen a little guy SO happy, especially considering he just cracked his head and had been vomiting?!? But, the fall did make him a little loopy...

Happy as a little clam!!

Did I mention it was like 1am at this point?!?

Why Some Species Eat Their Young...

This just might be the reason. What is this?? Well, the above picture is what my entire kitchen floor, cabinets and counters looked like after one of my darling children decided to remove his diaper, open up the lining and swing it ALL OVER the kitchen and entry way. This said child is lucky I did not consume his for breakfast that day! Like I said, I think I know why some species eat their young.

But, I did learn something in the process. First, that gel goop that traps all the urine is next to impossible to clean up! Second, it very quickly fills your entire house with the wonderful smell of pee. Third, DO NOT use your vacuum to attempt to clean it up- unless you really want a very good excuse to purchase a new one! Fourth, it eventually does come up. It may require a couple of rolls of paper towels, lots of disinfectant, 8+ swiffer wetjet pads and a good final mopping, but it does eventually come up!

Beer Juice and Baby Sister

Things I have learned this week:

"Beer juice" is disgusting...Huh?...That's what I said, too. But, according to Patrick, "beer juice" is disgusting and only for a mommy or a daddy to drink. Okey dokey. Hopefully that belief will stick with him all the way through college! Marshall, on the other hand, does not think it's disgusting. He says he likes it. Someone help us now...


Baby sister arrived this week...in a box that was dropped off on our front porch. Well, at least Patrick thought this was the case! We got a package in the mail and when Patrick saw it he got super excited and squealed, "Is baby sista in there?!?" (Yes, it's sistA in our house. They boys call her baby sista instead of sister!) When Patrick thought she was in the box I couldn't help but laugh. I felt bad, but it just happened. When I settled down I explained to him that baby sister was still in my belly and that I would go to the hospital for the doctor to help take her out, she was not going to arrive in a box. After I told him this he looked at me and said, "I just kiddin' you, momma!" Yeah, because Patrick knows all about this baby having business...

When to Come Running...

Never in a million years did I imagine I'd hear some of the things I hear in my house. The incident that took place about 5 minutes ago pretty much takes the cake. I am sitting in the dining room refereeing Patrick and Graham play. Marshall is in the half bath going poo-poo. I hear him yell out to me in his super excited, high pitched little voice, "It's black and white!!!" Me: Huh??? What is black and white, Marshy??? (not quite sure if I really want to hear the answer!) Marshall: My poopie!!! Me: Oh dear Lord!

Yes, this one made me come running. And, yes, it was pretty much black and white. Quite frankly, it was striped. I'm hoping this isn't too much of a problem. Never in a million years would I have imagined the discussion I just had with Marshall about why this could be. Kind of like Patrick wondering if his you-know-what would grow bigger and bigger if he ate a bunch. Or, whey they laugh and say, "it's lookin' at you, momma!" when it's well, looking at me, if you know what I mean! And, kind of like the big boys explaining to me that only boys and daddy's have a you-know-whats and that mommy's and girls only have 'bottoms' as if it was world changing news. Kind of funny how these conversations only seem to take place when I'm the only one at home and daddy is off crunching away at numbers, huh?!?