Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Easter Egg Hunt Party



From March 23rd, 2013


Ephraim and Selah's birthdays are about 3 weeks apart. Which means that while I can, I get to throw combined birthday parties. With Easter falling in between their birthdays this year, the kids decided that they wanted to have an Easter Egg Hunt party.

I made each kid attending the party their own treat bag to put the eggs in.  Each guest had a rabbit bag and Ephraim and Selah had egg bags.
Bunny crackers in carrot bags.
Annie's bunny fruit snacks.
I had some Oriental Trading crafts for the kids to do - magnet eggs and a sticker page.
Bunny cups.
The spread.
Table.
I bought these hanging eggs from Oriental Trading.  They were super cute.
The main event was the egg hunt.  Forrest and I had filled over 100 eggs with jelly beans and he hid them in the back yard.  Hiding might be an overstatement - they were all over the ground in plain sight.  :)  The older kids were told how many they could pick up (12) so that there were plenty for the younger kids.
This is the only picture of one of my kids on the day of the party.  Selah in the purple sweatshirt and rainboots.
Because the weather was so beautiful the kids chose to play outside and run around.  We came back in to cut the cake, but then they mostly went outside to play.
My kids had a blast and we are so thankful that all of their friends could make it!

34 weeks

Current Stats on 4/23

Gestational age: 34 weeks, 1 day
Weight: + 2 pounds bringing my total weight gain to 21
Blood pressure: 116/80
Fetal movement: This baby seems to be head down and break dancing on her head.  I get lots of turns and spins.

We believe that Squirt is head down.  I am getting lots of hiccups in my hips and believe that it is her bottom that spins around above my belly button on a regular basis.  Before she flipped she was a very active kicker/puncher, but now it is just more giant spinning movement and stretching.  I seem to be carrying all my weight in my tummy and it is fun to see how my stomach changes shapes.  She is pretty active at night after dinner and the kids like to feel her move.  She is a stinker and won't move when Forrest puts his hand on my belly, but he likes to watch and laugh.

I am still having headaches - although thankfully they are not every day.  However the days I do have them, they are doozies.  I am so thankful that headaches are only something I struggle with when I am in my third trimester - knowing that there is only 6 more weeks of them makes them easier to handle.

Other than the headaches I am feeling pretty fantastic.  I have the normal end of pregnancy issues - difficulty bending over to pick things up, hard time sleeping, some light discomfort in my hips and for some odd reason  morning sickness has returned.  Thankfully it is only first thing in the morning and not all day - although why my body thinks it needs to throw up a completely empty stomach is a mystery to me.

I have been having a lot of braxton hicks contractions the past week.  On Monday night they were coming every 7 minutes for 45 seconds for about and hour and a half.  They aren't painful, more super uncomfortable.  My doctor isn't concerned about them at all, and says that is going to happen a lot more frequently from now on.  I never really experienced braxton hicks this early with Ephraim or Selah so it is new and interesting.  Makes me curious to see what labor is going to be like with this one if my body is starting to practice so much sooner.

In two weeks I will go back for my 36 week appointment and have a growth scan.  It will be fun to see baby girl again - and double check to see if she is actually head down or just fooling us.  Let the six week countdown begin!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

32 weeks

Weight gain: + 2.5 pounds
Blood Pressure: 118/70

Nothing too exciting to report after this appointment.  Two weeks ago I was struggling with headaches and decided to try my doctor's suggestion of eating more quinoa.  Two days of eating quinoa and they disappeared.  It was so nice to feel fantastic after having a headache every day for over 2 weeks.  On Monday afternoon I came down with a pretty strong headache and took two of my prescribed pills (prescription strength Tylenol, caffeine, muscle relaxant combo) and woke up Tuesday feeling much better.

Baby girl (or Squirt as my kids like to call her) is believed to still be transverse.  She wasn't being super cooperative for the doctor to try to feel her position, but based on her movements, I would guess she hasn't budged.

Things are starting to get a little more uncomfortable.  We had a few nice days of no rain and were able to play in the backyard - I have a camping chair out there and it is really low to the ground and is getting hard to get out of.  I do not enjoy having to bend over to pick up toys, but am still comfortable sitting on the floor and getting up.  I am starting to experience some mild heartburn (usually at night), but have discovered Tums Refreshers which taste like a breath mint.  I have struggled with eating Tums forever, but these are actually palatable!

I have been feeling really crafty and have been sewing up a storm.  I can't post pictures yet because I have made some things for my other pregnant friends, but believe me - they are cute and I will post pictures soon.

Sunday, April 07, 2013

Remembering

Not many know  - but back on July 27, 2012 we found out we were pregnant.  Eight days later on August 4th we miscarried.  Today would have been that sweet babe's due date.

Having now miscarried twice - I will say that this second time was different in many ways.  It was physically less painful, but was also emotionally less painful as well.  I grieved - absolutely, but there is something different about miscarrying when you have two healthy beautiful children and miscarrying when you don't have any kids.

I have been blessed both times to be pregnant again rather quickly - and this time VERY quickly.  :)  So while I am thoroughly enjoying being pregnant with this sweet baby girl who is currently kicking up a storm - I wanted to make sure that our sweet baby in heaven gets a mention - and is remembered.

Friday, April 05, 2013

A Gappy Grin - but not on purpose

On Tuesdays - Ephraim has soccer practice. It is late - from 6:30 to 7 which means that we usually come home and have breakfast for dinner. This Tuesday we decided to make waffles. The kids love to help and pulled up a chair to help me stir. Their chair was a bit far away from the counter - so to be safer I moved the chair in. This caused Ephraim to fall face first on our tile floor. It was one of those falls where you know it is bad before the child makes a sound. I wasn't sure it was his face, or one of his arms since they were at a funny angle. It was his face - one of his front teeth was pushed back at an angle.
Instead of having waffles for dinner - Ephraim ate two popsicles, had some Motrin, and watched Top Gear (US version) his favorite show while Selah and I had waffles and strawberries.

The next morning (the day before his birthday!) his mouth was still sore and I started making calls to the dentist.  Our dental insurance is good, but really persnickety.  They only cover pediatric dentists with referrals from your general dentist.  I have enough experience now with dental emergencies that I knew Eph would do better at Selah's pediatric dentist.  I called his general dentist (who he has never seen) and thankfully they sent a referral without needing to see him.  Our appointment was for 2 PM and we spent the rest of the morning going grocery shopping, getting the oil changed at Jiffy Lube, smoothies at Jamba Juice, and getting a car wash.


If you know Ephraim very well, you know that he is my more timid child, and can be a bit slow to warm up to new situations or people.  Forrest and I had talked to him alot the night before and in the morning about how he was going to see the dentist, have his picture taken, and they might take out his tooth.  I was so proud of him that he took his xray without any issues.


While we were waiting for the dentist to see us Eph hung out on the chair and watched a movie that was playing on the ceiling.  (Rise of the Guardians).

As you can see in the xray - Eph broke his tooth into two pieces.  The dentist recommended extracting the bottom piece and leaving the top piece in place.  It would be impossible to glue to pieces back together and trying to get the top piece out could possibly damage his permanent teeth - which look unharmed in the xray.  Eventually his permanent tooth will push that small piece out.

To help Eph relax before they extracted his tooth they gave him nitrous oxide (laughing gas).  He was a champ and didn't fuss at all when the hygienist put the rubber piece over his nose.  He laid still and watched his movie for about 15 minutes before the dentist came back in.  They didn't want me in the same room as the nitrous because I am pregnant, so I sat outside the door with a very wiggly three year old.  I came back in when the dentist came in and held Eph's hand while the dentist numbed his gums and pulled out his tooth.  Ephraim again did great!  The dentist told Eph he was the "bravest kid of the day" and that he could have two prizes and a balloon.  The dentist asked Ephraim not to tell anyone about the two prizes because most kids only get one.  Eph took this very seriously and was upset at me for telling Forrest about the two prizes when I called him.  
The gappy grin.  By the time we got home Ephraim was in pain and got to have some more medicine and two more popsicles.  Daddy even came home with a Costco smoothie for him.  Ephraim is getting used to having a hole in his mouth and likes to show it to anyone he can.  He was also very excited that not only did he get presents on his birthday, but that the tooth fairy also made a visit to his room.