Things are moving along...

OK, so I took posted some comparison shots of the kids around the same age. They are out of order, but I am not going to redo it to put it in order :) So here are some new and older pictures.

Ok so this came way out of order. This was around the same age as Kayley is on the tummy picture below. This is Kaiden at about 6 months. Abby looks like an exact "mix" of Kayley and Kaiden together :P

As part of Kayley's princess for the day adventure, we had a little tea party after :)

Kayley got to be "princess for the day" at the mall. I got her a dress, then took her to get some jewelry, nail polish, lunch, then ice cream.

I thought these 2 pics were funny. The top one is Abby doing the same exact thing Kayley used to do (below picture is Kayley around 6 months) above is Abby at 4.5 months.

Clint took Kaiden to Dutch Wonderland for the day. Kaiden had a blast! He got to choose whatever activities he wanted all day long.

So a little bit of an update.

Abby: She is 15 lbs now. She is about ready to crawl. She can get up to the crawling position, but just rocks back and forth. She is only 4 months! She started on solids. Although the last couple of days she wants nothing to do with solids. She rolls across the floor now as well. She has been having some sleep issues, so we started sleep training. She is now sleeping in her crib for naps, rather than on me in the rocking chair. She has only been getting up once at night to eat.

Kayley: She thinks she is a princess, and frankly, she acts like one. She is a bunch of fun though. She loves all things Cinderella now. Especially the movie. We must watch that at least once a day, sometimes more.

Kaiden: Well, this little man. I tell ya. It's always something. The most recent, he's going to have to wear glasses. He is far sighted in his right eye. The doc says if he wears his glasses regularly, then his eye could "repair" itself. I guess if his eye relaxes, the damage with focusing so much can be undone. We'll see. He is also partially deaf in his right ear. He goes back to the doc to see why he has fluid behind his ears, and if tubes will help with the hearing.

Clint: Getting closer to retirement. He is headed to Utah in August to go look for houses for us. We put in an offer on one, but it looks like there are multiple offers, so we likely won't get it. It's rather frustrating. He will be going to Buffalo in Oct. to be with his brother for a few days. They are supposed to go see a Bills game together...bleh! LOL.

I am doing well. Still nursing Abby. I am slowly losing the pregnancy weight. Not as fast as I would like. I have about 15 lbs to lose to get where I feel comfortable. I had been exercising regularly, but was not losing any weight. Then it got to be 90+ degrees. I'll get back to it again in the fall :) I know, excuses excuses. But it's nearly impossible to exercise in the house with 3 kids getting under my feet. It's too hot outside. After the "instant weight loss" from birth. I have lost 11 lbs since. Just a little more to go.

Take care :)

Picture update

So things are chugging along.
Where to start.
Abby is now 3 months old. Time is going by so fast! Abby slept through the night for the 1st time last night. It was amazing!!! She is smiling and "talking" now. She found her voice the other day and is definitely using it. She is trying to roll over, but it's a lot of work trying to roll all of her fat rolls :P Ok, she's not fat, but she is chunky. She is starting to laugh now as well. Mostly when I am about to feed her :P She generally gives a 6.5 hour stretch of sleep between feeds at night. Last night she went 8 hours. For me, sleeping through the night is considered 8 hours or more.

Kaiden's update. He is getting MUCH better about controlling his temper tantrums. It used to be 1 hour long tantrums. They are now down to about 5 minutes, if that. So a lot less stressful. He went to the genetic doc to look at some of the issues he has. Curved fingers, uneven ears, spots in his eyes, etc. From there he got sent to neurology for the 2 seizures he has had. That doc cleared him and said it likely wasn't seizures but a problem from prematurity. His nervous system shuts down with extreme emotion (could explain the long tantrums, trouble with transitioning between activities, etc.). Basically his system "glitches" for a few seconds before recovering. To make sure it's not a heart issue, he now has an appointment with cardiology. He also has an appt. pending for opthamology and audiology. His eye appt. is for the black spots he has been getting in his eyes. The audio is to make sure that his hearing isn't an issue due to the mismatched/uneven ears. I think it's fine, he's just a typical toddler that doesn't listen :P He did fail his first hearing test as a baby but then passed it the 2nd time. So we'll see.

Kayley update...This little girl cracks me up. One minute she is the sweetest girl, the next, she has hands on hips with a "you can't make me" attitude. She has the eye rolling, back talk thing down pretty well too. She is all set for when she becomes a teenager I guess :P She is writing a lot of letters now. She writes her name, but writes it backwards. The letters are facing the right way, but she writes from right to left instead of left to write. I guess if she lived in ancient times, she'd fit right in :) She is really starting to love being around Abby. Now that Abby interacts with her. She sings, rocks, plays with, talks to, kisses, and gives blankets to Abby. She loves playing mommy. I have to cut her off when she wants to feed Abby like mommy does though, lol.
Both kids are in summer camp for the next couple of weeks. They are loving it! I am loving the "break" too. It's not much of a break, as it is a chance for me to get things done around the house.

We're getting closer to retirement now. In one year the kids and I will be leaving DC and heading to Utah!!!! Considering how fast time is going by, this year should go by pretty quickly. The plan is still UT. but we're not entirely sure which area in UT. We still have some time to think about it.

Not really any travel plans this summer. This is the 1st summer we haven't done any major traveling since Clint and I have been married. He may head up to his family in NY for the weekend, but that's about it. We'll be doing another Great Wolf Lodge trip in the Fall. Then in Dec. we are going to Disney World :) For Christmas we will be going to Louisiana to be with my family. Clint still hasn't met my grandparents, and we've been married for over 6 years :P

I am at war with the scale. The pregnancy weight is just not coming off. I was under the impression that nursing helps you lose weight. I have talked to lots of BTDT moms and they have all said that it's not until about the 6th month that the weight comes off easier. Well lets hope so, because my body is fighting me big time on losing any weight. I have been working out a bunch, not over indulging in junk food, etc. I still don't fit in my regular clothes. But my "fat" clothes aren't as snug as they used to be. I know it's only been 3 months since Abby was born, I just have to remember that :)
We are all doing well, enjoying our kids, doing more fun things as a family and getting out more.
Take care everyone!

Sorry it's been so long....

So here's a treat :)

Abby smiles in the video and rolls on both sides for the 1st time in this video. She is just about 8 weeks old now. Things are more in a routine than before. The kids seem to adore their little sister now. Anyway, busy around here, I'll give a better update as soon as I can :)

3 weeks old...

Abby is now 3 weeks old. She is eating (a little too well) and growing like a weed. She is starting to be much more alert during the day now as well. She is such a good baby.

It's so much more different with her than it was with Kd and Ky. We're able to hold her more, and yes, spoil her more. With the kiddos, we were in survival mode. Not this time. Of course, Kd and Ky are jealous and are acting out now that she is here. They are acting like babies. It's getting very annoying.

Clint started back to work today. Hopefully the kids will get back to normal with the routine going back to normal. Anyway. Wanted to update real quick. Here is a picture of her at 3 weeks.

Ok, so if you want Abigail's birth story...

You are going ot have to email me :) I wrote the whole thing out, but for some reason it won't let me paste it on my blog. If you are my friend on Facebook I wrote it over there. Otherwise, put in a request through my comments section and I'll give you an email with the story.

Basics: She was born March 9th at 3:35 pm weighing 8 lbs 10.5 oz and 21 inches tall.

Or not...

Well we thought things were progressing and that the baby would be here sooner rather than later. But nature is a funny thing. Once she decided to flip head down, little Miss Abby decided she was comfortable afterall. I had my doc appt. this week and haven't made any progress as far as trying to deliver her naturally. So the c-section is set for the 9th.
The doc kept commenting on how big this baby is. I am sure she will look gigantic compared to Kd and Ky. Ky was 5 lb 4 oz and Kd 3 lbs 11. So yeah, this one is already guessed to be pretty huge. We're thinking close to, if not more than 9 lbs.
Clint's mom gets here tomorrow evening. Thank goodness! I love my other kids, but they are doing everything they can to drive me insane these last few days. I don't know if they are picking up on my anxiety over this baby not coming out, if they can tell something is about to change soon or what. Hopefully with Clint's mom here, it will ease that stress a bit.
Mon. morning I go in for pre-op labs and to talk to the doc. My last hope is that if I have dialated to a 3 then she may agree to rupture the amniotic sac and see if I will labor on my own. If not, then we have to go ahead with the planned c-section. I was really hoping to go natural, but Abby seems to want to come out a different way. They can't induce with medicine because I have already had a c-section, and the strong contractions from drugs could cause my uterus to rupture, which could kill the baby and myself. So natural is the only way other than the repeat c-section. The most they can really do at this point is rupture the sac if I am dialated enough. Which I am still only at a 1. So it's likely not going to happen. However, is anyone wants to offer up some "get that girl in to labor" prayers, we will accept any and all of those prayers! We have tried every home "remedy" out there that I feel safe trying. The doc said if what we have tried hasn't made a difference, then it's just not going to happen yet.
In addition to that stress, our laptop has contracted some ugly virus. It's useless for now. Which means my time on the internet is even less than before. Add a baby in to the mix, and it could be even longer between updates!
Add to that fun; we had applied for the kids to go to preschool this next school year. They were placed in the lottery, which apparently is a very fitting name since about 500 kids apply for a class that only sits 30. We live out of boundary, so we are even lower on the list for priority. Needless to say, they didn't get in. They are waitlisted at #105 and #158. I applied for 3 schools total, the other numbers they were assigned was in the 200's. So barring some CRAZY miracle, looks like preschool is out. So much for keeping my sanity going. I don't mind paying for preschool, the problem is I just don't know of any good, safe, close preschools around here. We live in the ghetto mind you. So the school they would have automatically been accepted in would have turned them in to drug dealers by the end of the school year, so yeah, no thanks.
So the next update you get from me will likely be after the baby is born. Set your dates for March 9th :)

Moving in the right direction...

So after having a ton of braxton hicks contractions, I had my OB appt. today.
The doc said I am 1 cm dialated, cervix is completely soft (necessary for baby to come out), and the baby's head is really low. We scheduled the c-section for March 9th. He said he doubts I will make it that long though. My last OB appt. is the 3rd. I am hoping Abby comes before the scheduled c-section though!
I still have tons of contractions. So I'm hoping, wishing, praying, that this baby comes sooner rather than later. At most though, 12 days!!!

Jan. 2010 snowstorm and 35 week belly...

So we were right in the middle of the lovely snowstorm out here in DC. Here are some pics of that fun stuff. The tree you see laying on the ground, well, that tree is normally about 12 feet tall. Also included is my 35 week belly shot...

Pictures are way out of order....

But you get the point :)
I don't have the time to sort them and put them in the right order.

The following pictures are from Jan. 2nd (the kids 3rd birthday party). We had 17 kids and 12 adults at their party!

The next few pictures are from our trip to Williamsburg for Christmas. I didn't feel like playing photographer. Apparently, if I am not the one taking pictures, then pictures just don't get taken. I had to make Clint take some for Christmas, since he is in every other picture of the kids. I don't want our kids looking back asking if they had a mommy growing up because they never see my picture!

These next few pictures are from the day after the huge snowstorm we had. The kids got to build their 1st snowman :) They got some hot chocolate afterwards (I think they liked that more, lol).

On the baby front...

Abby is still kicking and dancing inside :P She makes the scene from the movie Alien look pathetic :) She has been having quite the case of the hiccups this last week. For several days she was getting them 3-4 times a day. They seemed to have calmed down some now though. I am just over 32 weeks now. I have 5 weeks to go until I am considered full term! I still have at 7 weeks before they will do a c-section though. If I decide to go that route. I m not sure at this point. I highly doubt with the amount of contractions I have been having, that I will make it to 40 weeks.

Anyway, sorry it took so long for an update. It seems as the kids get older, the crazier things get. The kiddos just started going to gymnastics here on base. They LOVE it!! They also have a small playgroup between a few friends and I that we do every week. In addition to that, we go to a HUGE playgroup on base. That playgroup easily has 30-40 kids each week. It's in a huge gym, so there is plenty of running room :)

Next month Clint and I have plans to go on a Valentines Day lunch cruise. We'll also be celebrating our anniversary at the same time :) 6 years already!!!