Pregnancy Update

For some reason a few people have been bugging me for a 'belly' picture. And since I do what people say I had Eric snap one yesterday.
 

I'm a little over 21 weeks now- so more than halfway done. I have to admit that having a couple kiddos in school and the spoiled baby at home makes days and weeks go by quickly.
This time around I'm having a midwife and a home-birth. My main reason: no laboring in the car;). Maybe not, but it does factor in!
Seriously though, it is a lot more convenient to have the midwife drive 5 miles to see me for a 45 minute visit than for me to drive 45 minutes (and arrange babysitters and such) for a 5 minute appointment. And don't worry, I've done my research: a home-birth with a low-risk pregnancy is as safe or safer than a hospital birth. :)
Plus add in the comforts of home, my own bed and pillows, eating what and how much I want, laboring how I want, no hep lock 'just in case', no worrying about the doctor tugging the placenta out without my consent (that hurts, btw!), no paying for unnecessary lab work, etc. Yeah, it's an all-around good deal in my book!
Of course if I start wanting pain meds or an epidural halfway through labor I might be wondering where my mind was when I made such a decision;)

Landyn's had a few questions about the baby. His favorite is asking me every few days how big it is. One day he asked if it was sleeping and another he asked if it liked the sandwich I was eating. A couple days ago I mentioned that I was going to shower. Landy asked if the baby was going to get wet and I told him no. He then said "open your mouth so it can have a shower, too!"

His Daddy has him convinced this baby is a boy so when I ask him what we should name 'him' he says "bull rider!". (Kit Pharo fans will understand.)  Other names he's suggested are Joe and Chance. I guess both would be better than George which Eric is insisting on.

2 Little Monkeys

I headed into the bedroom to see what the giggling and noise is about. Weirdos. 

Valentine's Day!

Landyn was super excited for Valentine's Day. The week before his teacher must have mentioned something to the class because Landyn came home talking about Balentine's and parties and asking what number day it was. Every morning when he woke up and again in the afternoon he needed to know what day it was and then he'd check the calendar to see how many days left. (His class didn't do anything for Halloween or Christmas.) And sometime in the past week we taught him how to say Valentine's correctly. 

Mason had to try on his backpack full of candy...such a goober

Checking out the loot

And a random picture of him counting out 100 pennies for the 100th day of school (today).

I decided to make a cake so we could celebrate at home as well. 

Mason saying 'cheese!"

It was an interesting cake-super dense and moist. Not sure if I messed it up or if it was supposed to be that way since I had never made a white cake from scratch before. Oh well, everybody loved it anyway!

The itty boys are growing up

Kolby and Mason love unloading the dishwasher.
All those months of emptying the cupboards has taught them where pretty much everything goes.

Kolby's teacher  has mentioned that he loves putting toys aways and that a few times they've given him the job of collecting the silverware after meals and he thinks it's the greatest thing ever!

 * * * * *
And Mason. What to do with this child?! He's started talking back and has resumed throwing a fit when he doesn't get his way. Not getting his way happens often so the fits do also. Already this morning he had to throw a fit over not having shoes on, not being able to go with the boys to school, having to take off his shoes to put clothes on, not getting any of my coffee, and not being able to wear my boots. The 'terrible twos' have arrived.

He moved all the firewood to the chair. I entered the room and said "MASE!"
He immediately says "NO, NO! Don't touch!" and starts putting it back.
Monkey.

As mentioned above, he HAS to be wearing shoes during the day. This makes changing his diaper or clothes a bit of a challenge since he starts screaming and kicking when I take the shoes off. Any of Landyn's shoes work quite nicely (for me!) since he can get them off and on easily enough without my help. Other than the cowboy boots- he likes to kick Kolby in the head when he's wearing those.

Hard work there, bud?

 At least he's cute. Otherwise I might be giving him away.;)

Snow days

On the 6th I flew out to Minnesota for a lovely week-long (and kid-free!) trip to my parents house to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday. 11 of us 13 kids made it so there was a houseful!
Thanks to my sisters for arranging my plane ticket, Eric's mom and sisters for helping with all 4 of my boys, and to Eric for keeping the little boys in line when I was gone.
And no, I never did come down with the flu that made the rounds when I was there..thankfully!

Starting in back, L to R:
Gary, Dad, Mom, David, Brian
Lorena, Brenda, Sarah, Susie
Emily, Me, Jennifer, Michael
 We are such a photogenic family.



And then back home to this which along with freezing rain gave my boys 3 snow days last week. (and power outages and my van new tires because it couldn't make it up the road...) 

Landyn had missed school the week before so I had him do a few of his worksheets every day.
When Mason saw the camera, he climbed on the chair with him and said "cheese!"

At least somebody loves it!

Reminds me of SD...but just a tad warmer

Keeping entertained with the Ipod

Kolby was reading to Bear, who in his mind is a member of the household. Bear requires hugs and kisses, diaper changes, and a bite to eat every now and again.



Today was in the 40's so hopefully it's gone soon!

Finishing up 2011

According to Kaia, it doesn't count as blogging if you only make up posts in your head and don't actually write them down. Whatever;). This year, I'll try to do a better job at staying current...the problem is finding something interesting enough to take pictures of! Because most posts without pictures are boring.

I do have an excuse for the past month though! Baby #4 is coming in July and I've been sicker than usual this time around. The worst of it is the 'motion sickness' I've been getting from everything from reading a book, to being on the computer, to of course riding in a vehicle. But it seems to be subsiding a bit, and since I'll be 12 weeks on Saturday I'm hoping it disappears soon!

The Kindergarten Christmas Program...I didn't get great pictures because I had the two little ones along and had to try keep them still on the bleachers. And of course that's Landy right in front in the white shirt. 

 

His oldest-child attitude came out when he saw kids messing around...lol.
* * * * *

 An attempt at last-minute Christmas pictures. Mason is a complete show-off. 

I love how Kolby looks like he's as bored as can be
* * * * *

 On to our little family Christmas we held on Christmas Eve...

 This last picture of Landyn was taken just hours before he got sick on Saturday. Despite eating a few bites here and there throughout the days, and drinking a lot of water up until Monday noon, he ended up in the ER Monday night with severe dehydration. We knew he had to go in when he started throwing up in his sleep, his eyes would open but were unfocused, and especially when he started stiffening up and shaking. It wasn't as bad as his seizures when he was younger, but still something you don't want to see happen to your kiddo!
Tomorrow the boys head back to school and I know it'll be a struggle getting back into routine- especially for me;)  

Winter time!

I know, I know...behind again as usual. Figured I'd upload a few pictures before I head off to my parent-teacher conference for Kolby!

Making applesauce

Landyn says "Boys, come here and sit down! I'm going to read to you!"
They came running, but once they saw he had a book they had to get their own as well.



Best friends..these kids are hilarious together.



A while back we had a couple snowstorms. I was surprised Kolby loved the snow so much!



And this is what we've had the last several days- freezing fog. Looks gorgeous!