Lots to Be Thankful For...

I had my 30 week checkup on Monday. Nick went with me and brought along his "telescope" (stethoscope). He had to listen to Cara's heartbeat before the doctor came in. My blood pressure is still great, and my iron count went up to 11.3. I'm still anemic, but not as severe as last time. Cara's heartrate was between 148-153. She DID NOT like to have her heartrate taken and moved so hard to get away from the doppler that my entire stomach shifted violently to one side. Temper, temper. My doctor also told me after looking at the veins on my legs that my body could not handle having any more children. Guess it's a good thing Chris and I had decided to stop after this one. I've also started to drop some. My measurements dropped about 2-2 1/2 cm in two weeks. The good news is that she doesn't expect me to go into labor, so I don't have to worry about that and because she's sitting so low, I don't really have to worry about her turning breech.

Here's Nick playing doctor.

Chris and I went for a 4D ultrasound on Wednesday to see what our daughter will look like when she's born. Again that stubborn streak showed, and she refused to move away from my belly button. No matter what we tried, she refused to turn. We go back next week to try again. I also found out on Wednesday that my best friend Amanda is having a girl this time too. We both had boys the first time around, and now we get to learn about little girls. GO PINK!!!

Here's one picture that came out. We aren't really sure who she looks like, but she is definitely a SHE. Of course she'd show her girly parts to the world, just not her face.

Thanksgiving always brings food - especially my favorite food, dessert. Nick helped me make cookies.

And sampled them to make sure they tasted okay.

Here's my little turkey Harris.

Both my boys.

We headed to Chris's family for lunch. Here are Nick & Harris's cousins.

Then it was another meal with my parents. Harris and Big Dan bonded over the telephone.

How blessed we are this year!

Quick update

Not much going on this past week. Harris has two new loves - chair surfing and his barn. He loves making his or his brother's chair tip over so he can go flying out. No cuts or bruises yet.

He's also become fascinated with this soft play barn I bought before he was born. He takes out the animals, squeezes them to get them to make noise then laughs. He tries to imitate the sounds but still prefers to bark like a dog.

We took the kids to the Biltmore House on Saturday thinking Nick would love seeing the decorations. He was only partly impressed and quite upset he couldn't eat the gingerbread Biltmore House in the basement. Harris could have cared less and made his feelings quite evident. Here's my one picture of our adventure.

I'll post pictures later in the week. Chris and I are going on Wednesday for our 4D ultrasound. We're really excited to see who this child looks like. We'll also post Turkey day pictures with our families.

New Colors / Nakedness / Week 28 Update

Chris has been busy painting for the last two weeks. Nick moved to a new bedroom because his is becoming Cara's nursery. Nick loves that he's a big boy now. He keeps asking when he's getting pictures on the wall... his room is still a work in progress.

Here's Nick's old room when it was still a nursery.

Now it's PINK - I'm so excited to have girly stuff in my house. Her room is still a work in progress as well, but here's a sneak peak. I wasn't sure if I liked the color, and bless my wonderful husband; he offered to repaint it if I didn't like the finished result. Once we got her furniture in though, I'm really happy with it.

To celebrate all the newness of our house, Nick put on his swim goggles.

And the kids ran around naked. It will be so nice to have something other than weiners in my house (dogs and boys).

Harris even tried on my bra. My brother wore women's clothes too at a time, so I'm not too worried.

I had my 28 week check up this past Monday. All looks good with Cara. Heart rate is still in the low 150s. I'm measuring 28-28 1/2 cm (right on target). My iron count is still dropping. It went from 10.9 to 10.2. I was told I had to take some iron pills. I tried and I got sick just like I did with the boys, so I'll be adding meat and spinach to my diet. Nick's been playing with his Diego pretend stethoscope and listening to Cara's heartbeat, so I'm going to take him to my next appointment. He ought to get a kick out of that.

Here I am at 28 weeks. You can't tell if I'm getting really big or not because of the sweater. I can tell she's getting bigger because some of her kicking (which seems to be non-stop these days) is almost painful.

NCCAT - November 3 - 7, 2008

Our blog is usually about the kids, but I was gone all week so no pictures were taken. I had the opportunity to spend 5 days in Cullowhee, NC at NCCAT (North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teachers) taking a book making class. Spending an entire week away from the craziness of everyday life with 25 amazing women, teachers, and mothers was wonderful. We talked about books and teaching and learned how to create books for both personal and classroom use. I showed Chris some of what I'd made over the week, and he says, "So my tax dollars were spent on you sitting around scrapbooking for a week. Did you actually learn anything?" Typical. I met two wonderful authors - Joyce Moyer Hoestetter who wrote a book called Blue based on the polio hospital in Hickory, NC in 1944 and Carole Boston Weatherford who has written many children's books including Moses and Freedom on the Menu about the 1960 Greensboro Sit Ins. Our book making instructor was Joyce Sievers, a woman beyond patient with all my questions. I thought I would be miserable leaving my boys for a week, but once I was away, I realized how nice it was to have some "me" time. I won't be having a lot of that come February. So for all my friends who are teachers - go to NCCAT for a week and be pampered and respected as a professional.

Absolutely gorgeous this time of year

My handmade book.  I can't wait for my students to create some in the classroom.

Three wonderful teachers I met while there.

When I got back, we celebrated the 9th anniversary of my 25th birthday. I think Nick was as excited about the cake as he was with Mommy being home.

I have my 28 week doctor's appointment on Monday. My diabetes test was negative. Now the concern is all the extra weight from having so much food last week. I'll post pictures and and update later.

Halloween 2008 / Week 26

I love Halloween more now as a mom than I ever thought. It's so much fun dressing up the boys and watching their faces light up with all the candy. Plus, when they go to bed, I can raid their candy stash and take some of the good stuff.

As usual, I got the chance to dress the boys alike for Halloween.

My handsome BIG boy Nick.

Happy little Harris

They love being together and making each other laugh.

My little cow. Some of you may recognize this as the costume that Nick wore two years ago. We'll be recycling costumes until they are old enough to pick something out on their own.

DARTH VADER - He hasn't actually seen a Star Wars movie, but he was quite insistent in what he wanted to dress up like.

I know, I know. The light saber should be red the color of evil instead of blue the color of good. Sorry Brandon. Where were you when I was picking out the costume?

Aren't they cute?

We went over to my best friend Amanda's before heading out with some church friends to trick or treat. Her son Zach had already left to go to the ASU game.

Amanda is pregnant with me again. She's due about 8 weeks after me. We were suppose to find out what she's having, but the little booger wouldn't cooperate. So it's another 4 weeks. Nick says she's having a boy.

It's been a while since I did a baby update. I had my diabetes test at my 26 week appointment on Monday. I'm good on that, but I am anemic again like I was with the boys. I guess that means lots of red meat and green veggies in my future. Heartbeat was 149 bpm. We weren't sure if we'd get a heartbeat because she kept moving every time the doctor tried to find her. Right now she's about 14 1/2 inches long and weighs about 2 pounds. I questioned the doctor about her size at birth and was told she would probably follow in her brothers' footsteps. I'm still measuring over - 27 cm at 26 weeks. Sorry Dad, your 6 1/2 pound estimate is most likely shot.

Here's a belly picture at 26 weeks. All of you were worried when I didn't show early on. Don't worry, she's caught up with her brothers.