35 weeks already!

I have said it so many times before, and will say it many more, I am sure. I'm a horrible blogger.

Today I am 35 weeks pregnant. It's been a hard pregnancy for me, and I found out I was anemic, which explains a lot. I've had no energy and just been wiped out constantly. The last couple weeks have slowly gotten better, and the last couple of days I have felt pretty good. I've been trying to get more iron in my diet, and it seems to be helping. I'm getting excited to be meeting our newest addition soon, and thankful the last couple weeks of my pregnancy should stay pretty busy so I'm not going insane.

I had my first set of really consistent and pretty painful Braxton Hicks on Sunday. I was volunteering at a JBF sale I was selling at, helping them with break down, and just really over did it. It was actually the third sale I sold and volunteered at in a month (one the last weekend of September, and one just a week before this one), and it was obvious I progressed a lot between sales in my pregnancy by how much harder it got on my body. Everything sizzled out though once I got home and in bed, and I haven't had any more painful contractions since.

Not a lot of other big changes here, except that Ruth is officially in a toddler bed and I am hating it. She tried to climb the crib and I decided that was enough for me. I don't need her falling and getting hurt. She refuses to stay in bed, and figured out how to open the door yesterday, just two short days after being put in the crib, which is kind of amazing. She's never had much reason to try and open a door before, so she figured it out pretty fast.

Kids are all doing well. Awana started again, and I decided I'm just not up to helping this year. Elli and Tobiah are really enjoying it, and Naomi is starting to show a bit of jealousy that she does not get to go to Cubbies, so I am hopeful that she will do well next year when she does get to go.

We had our annual pumpkin patch trip the first Saturday of October, and the kids had a blast. It was over 70* out that day! A week later it was pouring rain and rather cold. This year we let Tobiah and Elli go off on their own a bit for the first time, it was a little nerve racking for me, but we gave them clear instructions to stay together, and I knew Tobiah would be safe with Elli. They had a blast (literally) running through the corn maze for a good half hour, and came back hot and sweaty. Ruth figured out how to use a little toddler slide and would not stay off of it. I really want to find her one for a good price, but have not completely convinced Rich. Unfortunately with how busy things have been (mostly because the consignment sales took over our lives and living room for a month), the pumpkins we got have yet to be carved, and we won't have time before tomorrow with Awana tonight. Rich took tomorrow off, and while we have a LOT packed into it, maybe if we get up early we could carve them before we are off for the day. One thing is for sure, we are going to have four tired kiddos by the end of tomorrow!

Well, I think that is it for my update. Until next time.

Ruth at one and a half

Ok, so, she won't actually be one and a half for another five days, but I am thinking about it now, and I know next week I will forget.

Ruth is so much fun these days. She loves to snuggle still, and considering the other kids don't as much anymore, we soak it up every chance we get. She is also a complete clown, loves to spin in circles, try to stand on her head, and just run around laughing. She also has started to love to play "I see you" with Naomi, where they chase each other through the house, hide, pop out at each other, and laugh incessantly.

She still puts EVERYTHING in her mouth, and it is becoming more and more obvious that there are a lot of times she does it on purpose because she knows we don't want her to. She kicked the wall through the bars of her crib every time she's in there, and has started kicking pretty hard.

She is talking a ton, really, there is not much she won't repeat, and her spontaneous vocabulary is very large. She has a couple words that are her own, like "me-me" for drink. She will point at pictures of babies and say "baby", and the other day made a possessive statement for the first time-"my baby!". She loves to drive cars, hug babies, and, most of all, play with balls. "Ball" is her favorite word. She also can say her siblings names, but, just like Naomi, refuses to say Tobiah, she calls him Bubu.

She is also big on non-verbal communication, including a couple signs, lots of pointing, waving, and the like. Considering Naomi's non-verbal communication is still basically non existent, this truly is a relief.

Ruth adores her siblings, and obviously loves Rich and I, but, rather frustratingly, she kind of hates everybody else. She has extreme separation anxiety, won't let me leave her in the nursery without going into hysteria, and flips out every time my mom comes over. Having her go from contently playing to clinging to me just because Grandma walked in the door gets old pretty fast.

She also is starting to follow directions. A couple of times she has taken things out of her mouth when told, she will run to the door when told it is time to go, and twice today ran into the playroom to happily play after I asked "go in the playroom please".

Over all, Ruth is an amazing one and a half year old, and I love her more and more every day. Who couldn't love this kid?

Chocolate ice cream!

The peach she stole from my box when I wasn't looking.

My Monkey.

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Ruth and her best friend.

Count down

4 days until: I hear Baby's heart beat again (and have to go to the dentist :/ )
6 days until: Tobiah's party
7 days until: I have a four year old again (cry)
13 days until: The first day of Fall!
16 days until: I loose my mind with two well child checks and a weight check on Nae
27 days until: Our annual pumpkin patch trip
52 days until: Trick or Treating
74 days until: Thanksgiving
83 days until: I have an eight year old (crazy!)
86 days until: Rich's birthday... yes, I HAVE to acknowledge it is that first... although this year all it is to me is my due date. :)

For Naomi

My sweet, silly little Naomi. You are my joy. You live up to your name every day of your life, and not a single day goes by that I do not thank God that He intrusted you to me. You can fill a room with joy and laughter like no other, and your sweet nature is so endearing.

I could write for hours all the things you do that bring a smile to my face. Everything from your inability to keep clothes on, which on more than one occasion has made me laugh when I suddenly see a naked bum running through the yard to the way you try and console Ruth when she cries, telling her "it's OK" in your sweet little voice.

Naomi, my heart breaks for you. You are such a special girl, one so full of life and love, and one that struggles so hard in such basic ways. I pray day and night that the Lord will make me wise in how to be a mother to you, how to help you grow into the women He has created you to be, because I am daily at a loss. I want to fix everything, make it all better, and break through your shell and show you the world.

God is faithful Naomi, He is there with us on the mountain tops, when we have moments of clarity and when He allows me to see how clever you truly are. He is there with us in the valleys, when fear still grips you, when you can't express yourself, and when your emotions get the best of you. He has brought our family so far in two and a half years, taught us all so much, and allowed so much progress already, and has given plenty of hope that things will be OK.

My joy, my Naomi. God has blessed me in allowing me to be your Mommy, and no matter what life brings, you will always be my little girl, and I will always love you.

Family fun

A few nights ago, I went to Fred Meyer to get groceries, and decided rather spur of the moment to stop by Wendy's and pick up a Frosty for everybody. My hope was that the kids were in bed, but not asleep. Could not have worked out to be better timing! Ruth was up, but Rich had just put the others to bed, so we went and got everybody back up and told them it was time for ice cream.

The kids loved this, and talked about it for a couple of days. I think I am going to start doing this every once in a while, so fun to build memories with the kiddos.

July 4th

What a long, wonderfully fun day we had!

First, the night before we had some completely unrelated fun. I've been waiting for Gymboree's semi-annual Red Balloon Sale to get some cheap fall/winter clothes for the kiddos, and it started Tuesday. We decided to make a night of it and have dinner at the mall and stop at Build a Bear. Elli got her first bear a while back, and she, Tobiah, and Naomi have been fighting over "Katie" ever since. So, we decided Tobiah and Naomi could get their own bears.

I of course had to dress the kids up to go. I realized after the fact I didn't get any of T, but really, he was just in a tee shirt and shorts. Girls really are more fun to dress...

Notice Ruth's hair? I was so excited I got it in! Elli is holding her watermelon purse, of course. :)

I didn't take my camera with me, kid of wish I had to get some pictures of the kids getting their bears, but I didn't think about it. Tobiah was really thirsty and actually cried for a water bottle the whole time they were getting their bears. After we all ate dinner, Rich took the three older ones to the play area while I took Ruth to Gymboree (which I regretted right away-she cried the whole time and I finally had to call Rich and have him come hold her while I finished up), and I think he ran a bit hard. He has that lovely habit of running himself until he is about to collapse. 110% boy, right?

Anyway, so the 4th rolled around, and the day started with my sister parking at our house and me driving her to the airport, followed right away by a drive out to Sammamish to pick up a new Lakeshore table and chairs for the kids to use for school work. It was so nice, after picking up the table I stopped at Target and walked around for a little bit, all by myself. Doesn't happen to often!

Shortly after I got home, we started getting ready for the parade. It was a blast! It always starts out with the police motorcycles, which combine two of Tobiah's favorite things-police and motorcycles.

They even stopped literally right in front of us to do their performance, driving in loops and figure 8s in front of us.

The kids did have a lot of fun. They started out sitting nicely together. It did not last too long, of course. Tobiah and Elli were up and down, not to mention running after candy and climbing on and off Nana. Tobiah also spent a good part of the parade in my lap, which I did not mind one bit.

A while later, the baby just lost it and we had to take her out, followed pretty fast by Naomi getting upset she was the only one left restrained. 

 The kids really did enjoy the parade a lot. I think this was the easiest and most enjoyable year yet, probably because we didn't have a child under the age of one for the first time. (Doesn't bode well for next year, I suppose) It was a blast, and it has left me really looking forward to next year.

Funny side note, my dog will NOT let me take his picture! I tried hard, but he hates looking at the camera. I think he is scared of it. So, the only one I got of him was when he was licking Tobiah.

  

One last event of the parade-Ruth threw her first real hissy fit. I was walking around with her a bit, but did not want to go past the (rather long) line of our group, as I did not want to be walking back and forth in front of strangers. I think that is pretty rude. Ruth was so mad that I would not let her go further, and kept trying to pull away from me. She finally screamed, tried to pull away, then threw herself on the ground, actually on top of my feet. She did end up rolling around all over the filthy road whining and screaming, throwing her little fit. I just stood there and laughed.

After the parade, we went to our friend's house for a big party. I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to it as much as I could have just because I hate big parties, but it was a lot of fun, and I was a little bummed when it was time to go. We did end up leaving kind of early (and long before fireworks) since two of our kids don't really handle staying up late very well. Elli got to hang out for the fireworks, and my awesome friend gave her a ride home, despite it being around 11:30pm. Thanks again to the Tronson family, you guys made it a very special 4th for my biggest baby!

Yes, I put it up again. :)

She was saying "I want to see" (the picture).

Pop Rocks! (Yes, I know they are Pop-Its)

Dinner, shirtless for the Littles.

Then my camera died. The kids had fun running around, using Pop-Its (which I grew up calling Pop Rocks), making daisy chains, eating lots of food, and playing with friends. It was a fun time. I think by far the best 4th of July I've ever had.

Better than peaches?

Last year, I purchased 96lbs of peaches and spent an entire weekend canning them in various ways. I never did get my blog up about it, perhaps I will do that sometime soon. We made so much peach jam, and it was to die for! Although I think after 10.5 months of eating it, we're all a little tired of it.

Yesterday I took the kids to a strawberry u-pick, something none of us had ever done. We all started out strong, picking and having fun.

Did not take Ruth long to melt down, and Naomi kept trying to eat the berries, so it quickly became a three man operation.

At this point, Rich took the little girls to walk around. When he came back, he tried to pick some more, but it was just not happening, so he went to the car to get Ruth's car seat and see if she'd like that more than the ergo. Tobiah went with him, which made picking go a lot faster. Even after he came back, Ruth just would not have anything to do with it, so Rich again decided to go for a walk, this time taking all four of the kids while I stayed and picked as fast as I could. I came out picking probably 85% of the 15lbs or so we got, with Elli doing 10%, which I was pretty proud of, and Rich doing the last 5%. Tobiah picked about ten berries I pointed out to him. What can I say, he's three.

While I was picking alone, Rich took the kids to see some really friendly horses, and ultimately had the three older kids run laps between two porta-potties. He of course had stashed the camera in the car after the above photos were taken, so sadly, no pictures of it. I guess Tobiah ran himself so hard he almost threw up. At that point Rich decided to take the kids back to the car, and Elli can and found me. She picked a few more berries, then I sent her to the car with Ruth's car seat, which had been left in the field with me, so I wouldn't have to make three trips (two boxes of strawberries=two trips), and I picked for a few more minutes. When all was said and done, I picked strawberries for two hours, and let me say, my legs are not letting me forget that. Bending/squatting for that long took it's tole on my poor legs, and I am stiff today!

After coming home, I was exhausted and took a nap. In that time, the kids and Rich inhaled most of the box the kids had picked into (I, too, picked many of those berries, as we started with one box, but the second box was just mine, and therefor all "good" berries ;) ). When I got up, I decided I better go ahead and make a batch of jam, as I did not want all those wonderful, best-I-have-ever-tasted berries going to waste. I let Elli stay up way past her bedtime to help/watch.

The end result? Seven half pints of the BEST strawberry jam I have ever tasted! Definitely rivaling with that peach jam from last year... ;)