So, the way church usually goes...

...for me these days is I sit with Kevin during praise and worship, then Wesley wakes up and I get uncomfortable, so I head to the nursing mommy's room to sit in a rocker and rock (Wesley always falls asleep or calms down when I rock in a rocker). Yesterday, there was a mama in there with a 2 year old boy and a 5 week old boy, and she was a first time visitor! We chatted and talked, as the baby was actually her third child and I asked about transitioning, etc... Then, she had to step out with her 2 year old and handed me her little 5 week old baby boy! I about lost it, he was so tiny and I realized I hadn't held a baby in a really long time, as in probably since Micah was that itty bitty. We have babies come in to the church nursery where I work during the school year, but they are usually 6 months and up (the little ones stay with their mamas in Bible study). It made it all feel strangely real to hold a tiny baby again, as in, this will be us in about 8 weeks!

Kevin and I are starting to plan Kyle's 6th birthday party and I am torn on what to do for him, how much party do we give or allow. It's hard to have parties at our house, or that would definitely be the plan (just too small, even for 5 or 6 kids and their families). He's had a really hard time lately too, which I think is because of all the upcoming changes in the next couple weeks (starting school, new brother, turning 6, etc...). It's usually too hot for an outside party.

Micah is saying "no" and "mine" a lot. I guess that is to be expected around the age of 2! He's still talking a lot, doing everything he can do (our footstool is his ticket to freedom), and is very, very active. Kevin and I have realized that being parents of all boys is a little unique...especially when you get together with families that have boys and girls! Our boys were found to be jumping on beds and racing in to walls last night at community group...we are now focusing on what's allowed at home, as opposed to what is allowed at other people's homes (even if their kids are doing it)! Yes, our boys do jump on our furniture, race around the house, tackle, wrestle, and play ball games inside the house. That's just the way it is right now, and I hope I can remember that when my kids are older and we have active little ones visiting! They love their books, movies, and creative play with various super heroes and action figures, but everything becomes "active". Right now they are taking turns racing a remote controlled motorcycle off of various beds and tables to see if it will land right side up. The boy who isn't racing it, "catches it".

I'm exhausted and it looks like another over the top, unusually hot week here in middle TN. We are 37 weeks tomorrow and have an appointment around lunch time. I keep having braxton hicks every night, but nothing to call the midwives about. Kevin seems more anxious than me for Wes to arrive! I did finally pack a hospital bag, something I had been putting off, in denial that we will actually be driving to the hospital to have our baby and I will have to stay there for at least some length of time.

We are looking forward to taking the boys to a baseball game tonight, for as long as mommy can last! It's fun to do a few last things with them that we otherwise might not be up for here in the coming weeks.

36 weeks and change

What can I say? It's hot, but that's to be expected this time of year. Kyle is at his last week of VBS for the summer this week. Micah is more than thrilled to play and read books in their bedroom without big brother interfering in the mornings. Kevin is working as much as possible to finish up a few things before Wes arrives. I am sitting on the exercise ball drinking lots of water, eating ice, and staring at the crib that needs to be emptied and the hospital bag that needs to be packed. Everything I do takes about 3x as long as usual because I have to sit down for about 10 minutes for every 5 minutes of activity. Taking a shower and getting dressed is almost an hour long activity now; it's crazy. I have to ask Micah to hop on to a bed or couch to get him dressed and change diapers because sitting on the floor is not an option; as I am unlikely to be able to get up again! Last week I went a little overboard at Costco, but we now have some convenience dinners in the fridge/freezer/pantry so we've been able to eat at home most nights with minimal prep. There are no more ants in my kitchen: they have now migrated to my upstairs bathtub. Kevin and I have been showering in the boys bathroom while we wait for the poison to take effect. Kevin wakes up at some awful early hour, shuttles Micah in to bed with me, showers, then eats breakfast with Kyle (if he wakes up before he leaves), and takes off for the bus around 6:30 a.m.. I am more and more anxious for a second vehicle, so our schedules don't have to be so flipped around all the time and we don't all have to go everywhere, every time there are pick up/drop off conflicts.

That's about it, everything that is kind of happening around here and/or on my mind lately.

Defeated

Micah has struggled with going down for his afternoon naps the past couple days, even though he stills need one (he's out for 2 hours when he does go down easily). Also, going to bed at night has become this huge, dramatic ordeal. I let him cry for 44 minutes the other night, while Kevin was away scanning. He fell asleep on a pillow on the floor in his room. There is no place to put him; he crawls out of cribs and playpens. We don't have a play room, so if I gate him in his room for sleep time, he just plays or read books or cries. He was sleeping great in our room, but now just rolls around and talks or sings or asks to go potty. I finally told him to go play with Kyle this afternoon and he jumped up, shouted "OK!" and ran off to his bedroom.

We swam all morning long, then had lunch and played with friends. He fell asleep late last night and was up earlier than usual. I'm exhausted, physically and mentally. I'm sure it will work itself out. That's one thing about having kids, whatever is a trial one week, is a non challenge the next. Just pray for strength and rest for me if you think about this week/weekend. Kevin is going away on a work conference and I'm not sure what I'll do without afternoon quiet times.

35 weeks

Good gracious, can that be right? I remember having Kevin bring me the pregnancy test he swore was negative and staring at it, and thinking, "August will never be here. I can't even imagine being so pregnant in the summer, AGAIN!". Yea. You know, the woman who swore she would never have another late summer baby. And here we are...dog days of summer practically upon us and here I am all "blessed with child". I chuckled with Kevin how everyone at church is waiting for us to walk in with the baby bucket every weekend; because seriously, I am that large with child! I get ALL the comments lately, from strangers and acquaintances alike; friends have been much more forgiving.

A co worker of Kevin's had her baby today, TODAY. She was due next week, so yea, that sounds right. I'm waiting for an old friend in Tucson to give birth because we were also pregnant together with Micah and her son J, and I had Micah two weeks after she gave birth to J. She's also having another boy this summer. So ready, but not really. I am anxious to hold Wes, but it's still too early and I know that and I want my babies to stay in as long as they need to. We have the best labors/deliveries/births that I wouldn't give any of that up to hold him a couple weeks earlier. So it goes, I continue to eat (and gain loads of copious weight), work out, and love on my family that needs me here and now because it won't be long that Wesley will be demanding as much of my attention as possible outside of the womb. This is actually the easy part, being pregnant. It gets much more complicated once your child arrives, in a good way of course, but still more complicated!

Kevin attempted some pictures of me and the boys this weekend; with little luck, but a couple should turn out. We are taking the boys for their check ups/shots tomorrow morning and I am loathing it. I know Kyle is nervous. It has been a long time since he had any pokes.

To bed, hopefully. I have had two very restless nights in a row.

Another day

Father's Day

Playing at Dragon Park

Preschool graduation

We had a lot of fun in June, with my mom visiting for three weeks and old friends from Tucson swinging by on their way home from a road trip vacation! With about 5 weeks until Wesley arrives, our weekends are packed with to do lists. We have a lot of friends and neighbors who have offered to help us out, and Kevin is working on coordinating all of that! In addition, our church just started small groups this summer and of course, how could we not volunteer to lead one? We had our first get together this evening and it was awesome. There are four families with ten children between us under the age of 6, eleven children when Wes arrives! Also, and I couldn't be more excited about this, Kevin has recently been asked to play with the worship band at our church. It is so wonderful to hear him play again!

The boys are doing great; we try to get out of the house and do something fun every morning, although I am slowing waaaay down. Our daily outings might consist of the zoo, park, children's museum, storytime, swimming, bounce house, or even McDonalds if I am having a really rough morning. I look back on my past pregnancies and know that I wouldn't have even attempted leaving the house this much, especially with just five weeks to go. It's funny how things change, how you do what you need to do because it has to be done. I'm often nauseous in the mornings, since Micah weaned himself a couple weeks before his 2nd birthday in June, but I don't throw up! The boys have a doctor's appt. on Tuesday, Micah for his 2 year old check up and Kyle to get his shots for kindergarten. I am in such denial that he will be going to school in just a few short weeks (August 11th)!

This week I was so blessed to have Kevin and Kyle install a new CD radio in our car! Our car came bare bones, with a cassette player, that went kaput with the tape adapter stuck inside it several years ago. The boys are so enjoying having children's music in the car again, and it makes our drives that much better for me to hear them sing and see them dancing in their car seats! To top that off, our rocking chair arrived Friday afternoon, thanks to Nana! I know I have said this many times, but we've never had a rocking chair for any of the boys. This one is awesome, made by the same company that makes the industrial gliders for churches and daycares! I looove it, as do the boys. Micah couldn't help himself but to crawl up in to our laps during family movie night on Friday and be rocked while we watched Toy Story. And lastly, can you believe something else amazing and wonderful happened on Friday too? I won a professional photo shoot with the amazing Lillian Boeskool, who happens to be a friend too, but we haven't had any photos done since moving to TN. I am leaning towards a newborn shoot with Wesley because I so dearly enjoy our newborn photos of Micah.

What else, what else...Micah has been crawling in to bed with us sometime between 4 and 6 am and sacking out again. It doesn't bother me, he's a really quiet sleeper (unlike his big brother!). We had ants this week, ugh, which makes me so thankful we have quarterly pest control! The ants like to show up about once a year, when it gets really hot and they are searching for water. We spread some borax/sugar mixture down and that starts killing them, but the pest control guy does a great job of finding them outside and really taking care of the source of the problem!

And now I should go to bed, because I'm on my own in the morning as Kevin heads off to worship practice bright and early!