Brynlee -- the aftermath

Ive said it before that this has been the easiest recovery out of my 3 girls.  I feel the need to clarify that when I say that I mean physically the easiest. This birth has taken a toll on me emotionally way more than the others. I'm not sure if it is a 3rd child thing or due to the circumstances surrounding her birth but for some reason things are different this time. While in the hospital, marcus would leave us to go get something to eat or bring us back food, I would experience this over whelming sadness. So much so I'd begin to cry uncontrollably until he returned. I wasn't even sure why I was crying at first, especially considering I typically LOVE being alone! It was nice to have visitors to help "distract" me from my sadness.

I have to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for the phone calls, emails, texts, Facebook messages, and those of you that were able to come visit us in the hospital. It was so nice to share our newest addition with those closest to us! You really made this time special!

Thoughts kept racing through my head, everytime I closed my eyes I would relive my crazy labor and traumatic delivery. At first I didn't think her delivery was traumatic and still to this day I have trouble referring to it using that word but it was really traumatic.

this is the 1st picture we have of her, we didnt even have the camera in the delivery room this is from Marcus' phone

And I think that is one of the reasons I feel differently this time. I am trying to work through the sadness but at times it seems overwhelming, i cant even explain it because my thoughts arent even rational. I know everything is ok and I KNOW i have a beautiful baby girl and a beautiful family and a husband that loves me and everything else, but it doesnt take away how I feel.

Brynlee slept in her bassinet at the hospital one night (her 1st night) for 5 hours straight at night but besides that she refused to be separated from me. She wanted to be as close to crawling back inside me as possible. And I was ok with that! I actually soaked every second of that in. I LET her sleep in the bed with me and we both slept well. With Kaylee and Ainslee I tried the whole cosleeping thing and couldn't do it. No one would get any rest they couldn't sleep with me/us just as much as I/we couldn't sleep when they were in the bed. I think total between the two of them they slept in our bed a handful of times and only for a couple hours at a time NEVER the whole night! But this time is different.

I WANT her in the bed just as much as I think she wants to be close to me! She has slept with me every night except that one time in the hospital, she has yet to sleep in her bassinet at home. I have tried.........maybe I could try harder, but I don't want to, im content with her being next to me. It is what feels right and it is what works for right now. If things change we will adapt our plan but for now we are cosleeping and it is going good. I've never been completely against cosleeping and I've never judged those who did it, but before now I wasn't able to do it. I thought differently about it then than i do now. Brynlee has opened my eyes and made me think about alternative parenting styles. And I am content and happy with where we are. I am looking forward to the days and even the nights ahead. I know that they wont all be easy, but I have learned and seen with my own eyes that they grow fast I we need to soak in each and every minute we are given.

The big sisters have a constant eye on Brynlee. They alert me the 1st sign of any problems

So for now I am offically a cosleeping momma, and proud of it!

Sunday was my first time alone with all 3 girls during the day, Monday was my first night alone with them, and Tuesday was my first outing with them. Things move much quicker as the children pile on. I hope I am able to survive this crazy week!

8 days old

Her appointment yesterday went fantastic, she weighs a whooping 8lbs 6oz and the doc says she is doing so good that we can skip our 2 week checkup. I asked if we could still get a weigh in, so we decided to do an outpatient appointment for next week, just to check weight.



Brynlee -- the labor and delivery story

Here is the detailed description of how our 3rd beautiful daughter decided to make her entrance into our world. I am trying to be as detailed as possible as this seems to be the only way that ive been documenting our children's lives (I really need to get those baby books started)

I've had trouble sleeping most of the pregnancy, and even before getting pregnant, I will wake up in the middle of the night and be awake for HOURS at a time. So on the morning of December 13th when I woke up about 1am I didn't think anything of it. I felt completely normal. I laid in bed trying to fall back asleep, but at 215 I was still awake. So I decided to get the iPad out and check a few things. I laid in bed messing around on the Internet and playing a few games when a few minutes before 3 I felt a strange pain. It was different than my Braxton Hicks I've been experiencing since about 18 weeks pregnant. I glanced at the clock and kept playing the iPad. Then the same pain came again and I looked at the clock it had been 7 minutes. The same pain came 7 minutes apart for the next 5 contractions. I decided to email Marcus and told him that I felt something weird they were 7 minutes apart, not painful, and had been going on about 30 minutes, but it was probably nothing. He emailed me back saying he was about to leave work anyways. I decided to get up at this point and monitor these contractions (which at the time I wasn't even sure if they really were contractions). I went in to the kitchen and ran the dishwasher, I cleaned up our room for a little bit, I cleaned the toilet upstairs that I've been avoiding, all while watching the clock noticing these pains were coming at regular intervals. So I decided to straighten my hair. I figured if this was the real deal I could look presentable for my pictures. Ha! At some point I called Marcus to tell him this WAS the real thing and ask how far away he was and what our plan was for the girls. He was walking out of work and he decided it would be best for my mom to come out to the house instead of me loading them up and bringing them in. I had forgotten Marcus still hadn't completely packed his bag for the hospital, so he needed to come home. I suggested that he pick my mom up on the way home, so I called mom to let her know what was going on. Our conversation went like this (at 4 am)
mom: hello
me: you awake?
Mom: I am now
me: you wanna be awake?
mom: what's going on?
Me: I think today is the day my contractions are 7 min apart and getting closer
mom: what's the plan?
Me: Marcus will pick you up on his way home and we are taking the jetta so you can have my car with the car seats.
Mom: ok I'll get ready.

Mom and Marcus showed up about 515, my contractions were getting progressively more painful but still completely bearable. Oh and in the meantime kaylee had woken up and realized something was going on. I was able to convince her everything was ok and to go back to bed. So when Marcus and mom got here Marcus finishes packing his bag and changing out of his work clothes. I brief mom on what's going on and what to do with the girls. I keep walking through the contractions bracing myself for the strong ones and maybe even uttering a few profane words during them as well. I keep checking on Marcus to find out what the hold up is, and he says to me "I think I'm going to wear a polo". I said "thats fine let's get going". He said "so you think today is the day?" I chuckled and assured him this baby was coming, little did I know just HOW soon. Next thing I know Marcus is changing his shirt again! I said "can we please leave now?!" he finishes loading up the car we say our good byes and get in the car. First I tried getting in with the seat upright, and realized I would not be comfortable so I had to get out and have Marcus recline the seat, then I had a contraction and couldn't get back in the car, so we waited for it to pass and he helped me in. Off we were at about 610, getting just down the street when I realized I took my glasses off and couldn't see anything. I debated, in the middle of a contraction, whether or not to go back to get them. I opted to head to the hospital and ask mom to grab them. My contractions were getting stronger and closer together about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes apart. I was struggling to find a comfortable position while Marcus struggled watching me in pain and not being able to do anything for me. I was using any measure possible to get through each contraction my methods included banging the window which I got in trouble for (Marcus preferred I bang the door instead.......sorry babe), the profanity was coming out with each contraction as well, I was squirming in my seat, unbuckling my seat belt (that made Marcus uneasy too), clinching the seat and headrest next to me, and just breathing through them. Marcus would try to help ease my pain by gently touching/rubbing my leg, which only made things worse. Then there was the time that he turned and said to me "you think you want that epidural now?"' side note: I intended to go as naturally as possible with this one. I didn't want to be induced, I didn't want the epidural, and I wanted very specific things for my baby after the birth (all clearly noted in my birth plan). When we got about 1 mile away from the hospital the contractions were super strong and coming fast Marcus turned and said to me this will be your last one before we get there. Just then he got stopped by a red light. Then I experienced another one and I said "you lied!" I was able to keep the slightest sense of humor during all of this. So we get ready to pull up at the front door and Marcus asks what bags he should grab, I told him the camera bag, but I wanted him to walk me in before he parked the car. So he helps me out of the car and I decided I wanted to walk in because I was so miserable sitting in the car I didn't want to be in that position anymore. I proceeded to walk in by myself, and while he tried to get me checked in I fought through my contractions right there in the lobby with an interested onlooker. I'm sure more profanity came out at this point as I screamed at him to hurry up. Then. it happened, I felt the need to push. I announced this to everyone and the lady behind the desk decided to hurry faster. I have to admit I couldn't fight the urge to push so while leaning over the couch in the lobby I gave my first push. The next thing I know my wheel chair appeared and the nurse RAN me down the hall and into the very first room. As I got myself out of the chair I was yanking my clothes off. I plopped on the bed in the middle of a contraction and the nurse told me she had to check me for dilation. I asked her to wait for my contraction, which she did. Then she jammed her hand in to confirm that I was indeed 10 cm and ready to push. They tried finding the baby's heartbeat on the monitor but she was pushing on my belly so hard it was uncomfortable and I kept yelling at her and pushing her hand away. Marcus said I would yell at them and then immediately apologize. I don't remember yelling at them but I remember apologizing. So the nurses were telling me NOT to push while they held my legs together. I kept trying to roll onto my back, at this point I was still on my side barely even in the bed. I managed to roll over and I pushed with my next contraction and my water burst! When I say burst it went EVERYWHERE it was like a massive water balloon popping. This shocked me as well as Marcus, and then I had to push again, so I listened to my body and pushed as the doctor approached my bed, which by the way they never even dropped the end out of the bed. So when I pushed the 2nd time the babys head came out and seconds later I pushed again and delivered her body, then someone I'm not even sure who announced that we were the parents of another beautiful baby girl. They almost cut the cord without even asking Marcus if he would like to do the honors. Then they whisked her away to check her out and get her under the heat lamp. This was the only part of my birth plan that did not go as I wanted. But in hindsight it was probably for the best that it happened this way. They needed to check her out and I needed to be stabilized. I was shaking uncontrollably and still had my shirt on. I tried desperately to stop the shaking and I ripped my shirt off and begged for them to give her to me. Ad they did, and I kissed and snuggled and nursed her for the first time. I was instantly in love! When they weighed her and announced that she was 8lbs 11oz and I about fell out of the bed, I couldn't believe she was so big!
They gave me time to bond while we completed the paperwork and in no time I was getting cleaned up and loaded into a wheelchair. Oh yeah in the meantime my good friend bethany made it to the room and began taking pictures. I had decided after getting pregnant that I wanted her in the room to document the delivery, but because of the situation she wasnt able to make it for the actual delivery. Just as we were about to leave for my postpartum room my parents got there with the girls. They came in met their baby sister and then made the announcement to everyone who was there. We all made our way up to my room and settled in. Brynlee was having trouble getting her body temp up so skin to skin was ordered. I enjoyed spending that quality time with her, but felt bad that I couldn't let anyone hold her. Everyone waited patiently for their turn while we explained what the heck just happened.

So that's the story, it was short, only about 4 hours from the first contraction until she was born. From the time we pulled up to the hospital and the moment she was born only 12 minutes passed. And the 32 minutes we were in the car were the worst. If I could've been up walking around or anywhere but confined to the front seat of a jetta it would've been much easier. And I have to say despite everything this was by far the best and easiest labor and delivery. I wouldn't have changed anything well except to have a camera handy. The recovery has been surprisingly easy as well. I am loving being a new mommy again and brynlee is absolutely perfect!

More on the aftermath of the delivery to come in another post

Baby Brynlee Quinn Has Arrived

I can't believe I'm a mother of 3 beautiful little girls. Here is our newest addition Brynlee Quinn born December 13th at 654am weighing in at 8lbs 11oz and 21in long. She made quite an entrance into this world, and I'm dying to document all the details. But for now I have to leave you with just a sneak peak and the basics.

The time has come, the time is now....

Marvin K Mooney will you please go now! The time HAS come (well almost), but not quite NOW. This baby keeps teasing me with its plan to exit my body. And to be completely honest I am sort of kind of fine with it cause frankly I'm still not "ready" yet. There are boxes of gifts that haven't arrived yet, presents that need to be wrapped, and our tree is sitting ever so patiently down in our shop because the weather lately has not cooperated. Today we are in the process of getting what looks like about 3 inches of snow. And the past couple of days we have gotten somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 inches of rain. UGH it's been ugly people! Anyways back to baby news......I had another doctors appt yesterday and I've made a bit more progress. I am now walking around 4cm dialated, and measuring 2 weeks BIG again!!! It is amazing to me that I can walk around almost 1/2 way dialated and still not be in active labor! Last night I thought was the beginning of "something" but it turned out to be nothing. I was having lots and LOTS of contractions but none ever got strong. So Marcus went to work and I went to bed and nothing ever came of them, I have a feeling they were a result from being checked yesterday, we will see what today brings. I really thought yesterday would be the day, I woke up and felt different all day. Among the signs/symptoms was the need to frequent the bathroom......like ALL day! The ever mounting pressure down there and the fact that I'm dialated even more just seemed to validate all I was feeling. But it must have been a "practice round". So today, on this snowy day we are all camped out in front of the TV waiting to see if anything is going to happen. I feel bad my kids have been babysat by the TV for 2 straight days, I know they are itching to get some energy out, but I'm just plum pooped out. I will keep you all posted on the happenings around here, you know the Saturday is supposed to be a full moon. Some people have guessed baby will come that day/night. I have to say that as the day draws near the "boy" votes are outnumbering the girl votes. Oh and the names are not completely decided yet either, so it's safe to say this baby could stay inside a few more days and it will be just fine with me! Although I am very eager to meet this little one, I don't feel the need to speed things up like I have with the other two. I am so at peace with this baby arriving in his/her own time!

1st Snow and other updates

We got our 1st snow of the season last night and this morning. They predicted 1-3" but I'm not exactly sure how much actually came down. I tried telling the girls it wasn't enough to play in, but they wanted to go outside and play in it anyways.  I spent a good 10 minutes bundling and layering them up, snapped a few pics and sent them outside while I started preparing lunch. They didn't last long out there, I would say less than 10 minutes, which means it took us longer to get ready than to actually "play." Oh well! They complained that their hands were wet and cold, and I couldn't blame them for wanting to come in. We need to buy better/waterproof gloves for them. I have a pair for Kaylee i bought last year, but they are too big. I put them straight into a warm bath when they came in. They thawed out quite nicely while playing.

In other news, I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and it seems I haven't made much, if any, progress since last week. She said i could be like 3 1/2 cm but definitely not 4. I had a rough night last night after being poked and prodded at the doc. I experienced lots of pressure down low and felt like something was "happening". Needless to say I was able to sleep it off and am back to normal today. Well normal as I can be, I think Ive been over doing it a bit trying to get all things ready for baby and Christmas, as well as meet the current needs of the girls.  Today I started feeling hot, dizzy and light headed and had to lay down to let it pass. This hasnt happened to me very freguently in this pregnancy so started to become a bit nervous.  I really need to find a way to take more regular breaks during the morning. but I feel like there is just SO much to do!


We completed like our 4th day of school for the entire month of November today! We have totally been slacking in the school department. There are SO many distractions that pull us away from doing school, when we have errands to run, or I was too lazy to prepare the night before, or like today playing in the snow seemed more interesting than doing school. I have to stop putting school on the back burner and make it more of a priority. I realize it is just 4-K but I don't want to sink into any bad habits when it comes to our school schedule. It seems like the days that we DON'T do school Kaylee says "Mommy I LOOOOVE school can we please do it today!?" and the days that we DO school she complains "Mommy I really don't feel like learning today, can we please not do school?!" Guess you always want what you don't have! Not only do I want to build good schedule habits I am trying to get in as many school days as possible before this baby arrives. I know that when that happens school days will be few and far between. So I'm trying to buckle down and get as much done in the days to come.  I am comforted by the fact that I KNOW she is getting more "education" at home with me than she would be if she was in the MDO program 2 days a week that she was scheduled to attend. So it makes me feel better that she is at least on track, if not ahead, of that.  Since I last posted about school we have started our new curriculum. We are only 2 days into it, and I can tell how much harder it is for Kaylee.  Still completely doable, but it is different, and she has to learn how to deal with different! There are life lessons all around!  I am still on the hunt for a Kindergarten curriculum that will be the perfect fit for us, and am hoping to be able to attend a HS conference in April in Memphis. I feel like I can reach out to other moms as well as find some curriculum ideas. Looking forward to that!


On the adgenda for the next couple of days is to finish up the Christmas shopping, put up more Christmas decorations (we started today), wrap all Christmas presents, get tree and put it up/decorate it, plan Christmas dinners, start working on the Christmas card/baby announcement (I've decided to do a combo card this year, when I considered the proximity of the 2 events, the cost of postage which will be approx $54 as well as the added work, doing one card seemed to make sense), I also have to do some grocery shopping to stock our fridge and freezer as to avoid going to the store, or sending Marcus, after the baby is born.  My lists are piling up and keeping track of them a daunting task, but Im up for it, and will be crossing many things off in the days to come............wish me luck!

Updates on Everyone and Everything

Lots has been going on around here and I feel like this ole forgotten blog needs an update, so here goes in bullet format

• I am 3cm dialated and 50% effaced. I could potentially walk around like this for weeks, but my doc seems to think Im going to go early. We will see! I have my birth plan almost finalized, I went on a tour of the new hospital and I have begun all the nesting routines around here. I think we are just about as ready (as we will ever be) to bring this baby home! My next appointment is Monday, cant wait to see if I have made anymore progress.
• The girls are trying to get sick again. Just a little head cold, but anything that makes our days harder is NOT welcome around here. I have to say they both handle being sick very well all things considered. So I cant complain too much. I just hope they are better before baby arrives.
• We STILL havent completely narrowed down names for this little one, that should probably be moved to the top of the TO DO list.
  I recently got my new stroller and am IN LOVE with it! It is the Baby Jogger City Select, I got it on super sale with the second seat and adaptor. It is so versitale and easy to use. Cant wait to cart the wee one around in it. Marcus and I decided it was our Christmas gift to each other, so we will enjoy bringing home a new baby as our Christmas gift to each other as well as giving gifts to the girls.
• Christmas shopping for everyone else is just about 1/2 finished. I would like to be farther along in this category.
• I am hoping to get the Christmas decorations down today and up over the next couple of days. I told Marcus if we dont have our tree up by next weekend we arent getting one. I really hope that he comes through and gets his girls a tree so we can decorate it.
• Oh almost forgot, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving with my family yesterday, and will celebrate with Marcus' family on Sunday. It is really nice to spread it out, cause I cant fit much in my smoshed stomach, and I just love eating Thanksgiving food!
• I am still in the process of getting Kaylee's room upstairs ready, I really wanted to have it painted by now,. but that has NOT happened. Ainslee has been asking lately to sleep in a big girl bed. She is excited about getting out of her crib. But she still doesnt try to climb out of her crib by herself......thankfully!
• One of my bestest friends is moving away from me! She is not only the closest in proximity to me, but our girls get along, and we are so similar in our beliefs and how we raise our girls. Not to mention she is my biggest home school support person. She isnt moving far from here (4 hour drive) but she will be missed more than words can describe.
• Speaking of home school it has sort of taken a back seat lately. Between me not feeling well, finishing our current curriculum, the girls spending the night out, and the holiday we havent been doing much in the school department. I still feel like she has gotten WAY more "education" at home than she would have going to MDO 2 days a week, so I dont feel too bad about taking an extended break.
• Kaylee has been more and more into watching movies lately she is still quite particular with what holds her attention. It is so adorable to watch the 2 of them watching a movie and Ainslee turning to Kaylee to ask quesitons about what is going on or why things are happening in the movie. Kaylee takes the time to explain it to her sister. They can be SO super sweet to each other it nearly makes me cry.

I know I have more updates, but once again my brain has failed me.......besides this is probably enough to bore you for one day.

WORDY Wednesday - Baby bump

35 WEEKS

I cant believe I am technically down to days, 34 days to be exact. Maybe even less! My appointment before the trip I gained 5 lbs and was measuring 4 weeks ahead of schedule. I thought news would be even worse at my most recent appointment (last week) but thankfully all my bed eating in Washington didnt come crashing down on me. I didnt gain anything, and Im only measuring 1 week ahead of schedule. But because of the frequency and number of *contractions Ive been experiencing lately (up to 8 in an hour) my doc decided to do an exam to make sure we dont miss anything. The results amazed me, probably shouldnt but they did, i am nearly 2 cm dilated. The baby's head has been down for the past like 5 weeks, and when my baby's go head down, they typically stay that way, so hopefully that will not be an issue this go around either. my doc seems to think I will be going earlier than my due date, but again only time will tell. I have decided to do this one as naturally as possible (with the girls I was induced) so im not quite sure what it feels like to actually GO INTO labor. I would like to stay at home as long as possible for a few reasons; for comfort and to avoid the problems we had in the hospital when I delivered Ainslee. Speaking of the hospital we have our hospital tour scheduled for next Monday, where we will get to see the new facility that has been built since delivering Ainslee. Also I have MANY questions and concerns that I want addressed before going into the hospital for the birth. I have high hopes for this tour and really want everything to go smoothly. My next appointment is next week and she said she is checking me again, i am eager to see if any progress has been made in the 2 short weeks.

Based on my baby chart the baby is measuring approx 18.2in long and weighing in at 5.25lbs

So speaking of births and babies I have had 4 babies born to people close to me in the past couple weeks....a college teammate/friend had a baby boy, a high school friend/teammate had a baby boy, Marcus's cousin in Ireland had a baby girl, and a very good friend from my childhood had a baby boy.

Now if you are going on trends 3 out of those 4 were boys. I still hold my thought of this baby being a girl, but it seems that EVERYONE else thinks this little one is a boy! Kaylee even referred to the baby as "he" the other night at dinner, but it must have been a slip of tongue because this baby is ALL girl in her book. And according to her if it should be a boy, he will not be allowed to come home with us. Her plan for our family includes FOUR girls!

*the bulk of my contractions are occurring almost every night between 5-9pm sometimes more come than others, and they have yet to become strong. So my guess is this baby is coming sometime in the evening. OR I have been getting up to pee almost the same time every night, so my second guess is the baby is coming sometime around the 3AM mark.

Last night I was plagued with a debilitating head ache. It was bad people! I havent had many headaches lately so this one caught me completely off guard. It was so sweet to see the girls be so compassionate with me. Kaylee was getting me anything i needed including an ice pack for my head, she would rub my back, talk quietly (if you know Kaylee you know that in itself is a HUGE thing), they sat and played quietly without problems for over an hour. Ainslee would come and "check" on the baby, asking "baby sick mommy?" To say that the girls are excited about this baby is an understatement, I am totally looking forward to seeing the 3 of them together and seeing the bonds they build, it will be quite remarkable!

Washington Trip

Im finally getting around to posting some pics from our trip. Clearly we didnt take pictures that come even CLOSE to doing our trip justice. The sights were amazing, but none of the pics seemed to quite capture that. (i need a tutorial on my own camera, maybe that would help). I tried to pick out a few of my favorites, and when I get the pictures from my friend's camera I will try and post them in a timely manner.......I'm sure they are WAY better than ours!

We had an AMAZING time on the trip. The girls did excellent again with the travelling aspect, surprising everyone around us on the plane with how well they fly. That makes me proud! They ate well, and slept well on the trip which made me more at ease. They played well (most of the time) and overall enjoyed all that Washington had to offer. I wish I wouldve taken notes or something to remember all the things I wanted to post about, so you might just have to bear with me and my rambling, i might even have a few more posts about this trip as I remember things.

Here we are on top of Hurricane Ridge again the picture does not do the scenery justice

Our attempts at getting a good shot of all 4 girls started early on in the trip, not sure if we ever really succeeded

Hurricane Ridge

Hiking on Hurricane Ridge the girls were told to pick their Christmas tree out

Cant remember where we were for these next couple of pictures, once again I shouldve taken notes. Even though I cant tell you exactly where we were I can tell you it was BEE-utiful!

I was terrified of being on this rock with the girls. Clearly I am a mommy now, as 5 years ago I wouldve been up jumping around and doing flips, but this time all I could do was completely FREAK OUT at the danger!

After our adventure down by the water

Matching PJ's

Such sweet friends

And the treat they were promised

This little froggy felt left out

These are the beginning of the Seattle portion of our trip.

Here we are with a loooong time family friend (both Marcus and my family) who used to live up the street from us growing up. We were able to visit with her and then go to dinner. It was quite exciting!

Mt. Rainier

Outside the Science Museum

Self explanatory

On top of the Space Needle

Outside the Public Market

Inside the market......clearly Ainslee was amazed by the fish throwing

The "fake" green screen shot of us we got at the Space Needle

Wouldnt you know the entire reason why we made the trip in the first place was for our Godson's Baptism and I dont have a single picture of the event! I sure hope I can get those pics from my friend K.

I cant tell you enough how awesome this trip was, visiting with friends, seeing people who used to live close and now live so far away. Getting a little bonding time in with our Godson, eating FRESH amazing food. BTW most restaurants we went to served local foods mostly organic, and TONS i mean TONS of GF options! I could write an entire post on how much I ate on this trip merely because of all the GF choices!

Ok enough rambling for now, I will organize my thoughts and post again soon......

Baby Bump Update

I have said it my entire pregnancy how completely different this one has been from the others, however I am still CONVINCED there is another little girl growing inside me! Though, I have developed my sweet tooth that plagued me with both other pregnancies......as a matter of fact as I type I am enjoying a dark chocolate peanut butter cup (from Trader Joes) and a Lindt chocolate ball.  This is a step back from my usual dessert, GF graham crackers, with peanut butter and chocolate chips on top. YUM! After my doctor appointment today, I dont see myself enjoying many more of my deleciible desserts. I am now measuing a whooping FOUR weeks ahead of schedule! I am 31 weeks today and am measuring 35 weeks. So my doc was able to justify an extra ultrasound based on my measurements. We got another peek at our little darling today, and sure enough he/she is measuring perfectly. And I am just FAT!

According to the pregnancy ticker I only have 63 more days left of this pregnancy......WHAT?!? How can that be? Oh and according to my "chart" The baby weighs approx 3.3lbs now and is approx 16.2 inches long. I know those are complete approximations, but it is weird to think that I have a 3lb baby inside of me. When I told Marcus the baby's current size he thought the baby should weigh more based on the size of my belly.......thanks babe! I already know my belly is big! and that was confirmed by my doctor again today! Oh and if I looked correctly at my paperwork after the ultrasound my baby is measuring over 4lbs. So i guess I cant blame Marcus for his comments, they are totally justified!



Oh and, only a few more days until the big trip, I have the girls and myself COMPLETELY packed (well except for our "airplane bags"). We are getting more and more excited as the days fly by! And we are listed for our flight which seems to have plenty of open seats available, maybe even enough to let me sit in 1st class! YIPPEE!!!

"S" is for Spider Webs

We have been plugging along with our curriculum and Kaylee would like to show you some more of her "work".

Lately we have been driving by many cotton fields. We have watched as the crops were planted, grew, and now have been harvested. We have seen the BIG cotton collector tractors thingys driving down the road and in the fields, and we have seen the giant cotton bails sit in the field awaiting a ride, to where ever it is they go after they leave the field. We have talked on numerous occasions about cotton and what it is used for. So one day driving home I saw this one lonely plant that had ALL the cotton left on it, while the others around it were bare. I decided to stop and let Kaylee pick a few pieces to see what it felt like, and try and figure out a project we could use it for.

Here is what we came up with.......

don't ask me why she wanted to kiss the spider

We did this project on a day that Ainslee happened to be spending the night with my mom, so she didnt get to participate. But we also made spider webs by marble painting. (FYI marble painting is an AWESOME alternative to painting, super fun!). Sorry I dont have any pictures of those webs and spiders. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed each web making project.

Our Classroom

I always like seeing pictures from other Homeschool mommas, I can get ideas and suggestions that can help us be better.......we have stolen used many of our ideas from others, so I cant take credit. Our room is still a 'work in progress' but it is getting there. I could use LOTS more storage, and still waiting on hubby to help me hang one more wire (used to hang our letters on the wall).

Here are our shapes.....obviously. And below them is Kaylee's chore chart, which is a modified version of what Confessions of a Homeschooler uses. Ainslee hasn't started her official chore chart yet, she does "chores" but I don't feel like she understands the rewards yet, so I've decided to hold off on her, but the chart has room to grow when Ainslee is ready.

Next to the chart is where I keep some of my supplies and our morning routine supplies. To the left of the 2 drawers is my MESSY desk.

Here is our calendar. I'm not sure if you can see the 2 link chains hanging from the calendar. The left one is our countdown to Washington, each day Kaylee takes off a link. We are SO close to the trip that the stress is starting to build, so much to do......so little time. But we are all ridiculously excited! The 2nd link chain is our pattern chain, each day we add a new link according to the pattern. Surrounding the calendar are our color cards, weather chart, 100's chart, and our personal information sheet (phone # and address).

The bean bag chairs are the ones my mom made for the play room, but we have moved them downstairs and they have come in SUPER handy for circle time!

On the left is Ainslee's desk, she has an alphabet chart hanging in front of her desk. On the far right is Kaylee's TV tray desk. I am still in the process of finding her a more affordable/suitable one. In between the 2 desks are our supplies. Each drawer holds various items, Ainslee's drawer is the bottom one closest to her, I keep a rotation of toys/games in there for her to play with and explore. On the far right, next to Kaylee's desk is her "workbox" system. She has 7 drawers and each day she gets one "work" item in each drawer. I put all necessary supplies in the drawers so if she is cutting and gluing in drawer one, I include the scissors and glue, etc. Some days we only do 5-6 drawers and others they are all full. The drawers can include games, snacks, computer time, etc, not nevessarily all work. She knows to start with the top box and work her way down, she cant move on to the next box until she completes the box before it. After she completes a box she is required to put all supplies back into the box. It is an AWESOME way to stay organized and foster her independence. Most days she can complete most of her work with little or no "help" from me.

I still have some organizing to do with all the stuff on top of the storage system.

Above all of that is where we hang our letters, we started with the vowels and then proceeded with the rest of the alphabet in order. Under that wire rod is where I am planning on hanging a 2nd wire to accommodate the rest of our letters.

And here is a shot of my desk, it is what you would call organized chaos, but also a work in progress. I have so much to do I feel like my desk always gets pushed to the end of the list. But I'm slowly but surely working on it. I would like to hang more things above my desk, maybe make that where we display their work/projects/art but i haven't found the solution yet.......ideas anyone???

So there you have it, a peak into our school room. We love it in there, I am so fortunate to have a room that is so open and accessible to the rest of the house. There are days I can be in the kitchen prepping dinner or doing whatever while the girls do their work, I can be in the living room with Ainslee and still keep an eye on Kaylee. I have to say that Kaylee is SOOOO good about doing her work. She has truly amazed me by her focus, willingness to work and learn and do exactly what I ask of her. It makes me so happy, proud and motivated!

Wordless Wednesday - Baby bump

29 weeeks

the BIG 3-0

I cant believe I am 10 weeks away from meeting this little monster!

"M" activities and more

For the letter "M" we did a few activities with M&M's. Here is Ainslee sorting hers and displaying a LOT of self control by not eating any until the project is complete

Here is Kaylee making a design with her M&M's based on the example I gave her. (notice her smoothie on the left bottom of the pic)

The completed design

Today she was required to match all capital and lowercase letters. She was VERY proud of her completed work.

We are trucking right along with the alphabet, we only have 7 letters left to complete before we move on to our next curriculum. I am trying to get started with her "harder" curriculum with enough time to get adjusted before the baby arrives.

Today I have to say that Kaylee skip counted by 10's to 100. I was so proud of her! She seems to have my love of math, and I am hoping to purchase a curriculum that will help foster that love soon. But for now I just improvise and use as much from the Confessions curriculum I can.