Valentines Babies, 2013!

[Kellen]

We have another tooth! Well, almost. If she opens her mouth and you look up you can see the tip of the right front tooth finally coming down. I guess this answers the question of why she has been so fussy at night.

Oddly enough last night she slept from 7pm til 2:30am without making a sound. I managed to catch her in time to just rub her back and settle her before she fully awoke. Then at 4:30 she wanted a snack. Now DH is attempting to get her to fall asleep in the swing as she is super tired, but wants to crawl while nursing... which can be rather painful if she doesn't unlatch.

 

[DragonflyWing]

I'm in Wisconsin, we didn't get tornados here, but I feel so awful for the people in IL who lost everything.

Glad to hear about all the new teeth and crawling! Gunnar has 6 teeth now, four on top and two on the bottom, but Lily only has the two bottom ones so far. They're trying to crawl, but mostly roll and scoot around on their tummies.

Lily scooted underneath the recliner the other day while I was sitting in it...and I couldn't lean forward to get her out without squishing her, and I couldn't slide her out with my feet, so I was trapped in the chair until I was able to throw myself backward and slide the whole chair back off her. It was scary for a few minutes there!

There have been lots of bumped heads while the babies have been learning to sit up; we have hardwood floors, and I try to put pillows behind them, but they are so mobile now that they still end up smacking their heads on the floor at least once a day. Most of the time they don't seem to care, but a few times we've had some crying jags and little bruises. I guess there's no way to prevent every bump and scrape. The upside is that they are sitting beautifully now, and they sit together and play with their toys for a long time (stealing them back and forth from each other lol).

Gunnar has started pulling up to stand in the crib and trying to pull up on other furniture. We had to lower the mattresses to the lowest setting, but it's still scary because he's so strong that he can lift himself off the mattress with just his arms, and he got up to his chest before he fell back down...I'm afraid he'll pull himself right over the rail!

 

[wamommy]

It's so fun to hear about all of the new teeth! It sounds like the babies are all getting pretty mobile now, too. Kellen, it sounds like teeth were Teagen's big sleep problem. Thank goodness it popped through finally! Dragonfly, how scary with the recliner. We almost crushed the family cat under our recliner as kids, and I still have a phobia of them and won't have one in the house.

This morning was Max's 9 month (well, 9.5 month) checkup. Everything looked great! He's 29 inches and 22 pounds, but the big news (according to the Doctor) was that his head is in the 97th percentile. I do have big-headed children! Other than that, the doctor was slightly concerned about his lack of "gross motor skills" like crawling and pulling up on furniture, but he said no to be too concerned. I'm honestly not, because I know he'll get it once he tries. He's just SO content to be carted around on my hip that he seldom tries to do anything else. Overall it was a good appointment. I asked how to care for/clean his penis, which was super embarrassing. I've never had a boy before, so I wanted to ask exactly what I was supposed to do. Girls are so much easier in that respect!!

It's freezing here. I think it was 39 degrees last time I was in the car... ugh. DH has to go up on the roof to spread MossOut today, too. Let's hope I don't have an ER visit to report in an hour or 2!

 

[SierraJourney]

Wamommy--glad the appointment went well! I'm interested in what your doctor said about the penis care-- I've just been wiping it after each diaper change-- is there something else your doctor suggested? It's totally new to me as well-- having only nieces-- I just go with what dh says! Lol

 

[wamommy]

I don't know if I told you guys that I had the Verifi test done 2 weeks ago. It's a new blood test that is 99.something% accurate at testing for Down Syndrome and the other 2 trisomy. I have been silently terrified about this test, and today it hit the 2 week mark, which they told me the results would definitely be in by 2 weeks. I called this morning and the nurse wasn't in. She called me back and I missed the call! The message on voice mail said, "we can't give these results out on voice mail, so you'll need to call us back." Gulp... So I called back and again the nurse was out. She JUST called me back. After 2 weeks of losing sleep over my "advanced maternal age" and rolling the dice a 4th time, our baby has officially tested NEGATIVE for trisomy 21, 18 and 13!! I am so relieved I could cry. DH can't seem to be bothered with such unimportant news, and acts like he doesn't even care. Ah well, I'm happy. I'm relieved... A fourth child is going to be hard enough. I can't even imagine having serious health concerns to add to it. I know there could still be other things, and our appointment for the anatomy ultrasound isn't until the 4th of December, but for now I celebrate!!

Sierra, the Doctor just told me to wipe around the penis when he goes potty or during a bath, but not to ever pull the adhered part of the foreskin. It's supposed to stay fused for a couple of years and trying to pull it back more to clean it can cause injury. I guess we're both doing the right thing! It is an awkward show and tell with the pediatrician, though, since it's a man!

On another happy note, we went to DD#1's very first parent/teacher conference today. The teacher said that she is "my little all-star... a model student." I beamed with pride! The teacher said she is ahead in her writing and already doing 1st grade level work. I had no idea! I knew she was a cheerful, well-behaved child with a fabulous attitude, but I suppose that since she's my first I didn't have anything to compare her to scholastically. I feel SO lucky today to have such wonderful children. Honestly, the teacher could have told me that she was a flunky who was WAY behind the other children and I still would have been proud, because she told me how sweet and kind DD is and how much she enjoys having her in the class. I suppose with my 8 trillion flaws I must be doing something right. A family friend made me cry the other day when we were talking about the new baby. She said, "you're such a good mother and your kids are so wonderful that God just couldn't help but send you another one."

How are all of you doing? It's been so quiet around here this week!

 

[Kellen]

Wamommy - Congrats to both you and the new baby! It is wonderful that the test didn't detect any abnormalities. I would be jumping up and down with joy too! Silly DH. And congrats to you DD1. You have every right to be proud of her for her smarts and her heart. Good job!

Dragon - Your twins sound so much fun it almost makes me want a set... almost. I think it is inevitable that babies crack their heads while learning to sit. Teagen doesn't topple too much now, except when she is tired. Now we just have to make sure she doesn't crack her head on the furniture she cruises on. Gunnar sounds so strong!

The right front tooth is almost through, but no sign of the left one. LOL. It is kind of amusing looking when you peer at her gums. Last night she didn't sleep to well, but I guess she can't be blamed seeing as she has a sharp piece of enamel attempting to erupt from her gums.

DH received an interesting phone call today. Back in June he submitted an application to our local police department for an entry level position as an officer. We didn't hear anything back so naturally assumed that he wasn't wanted. Today they called and want him to come in and test on December 5-6th. He is pretty excited. My dad was in law enforcement for 44 years (and still moonlights as a federal marshall now-and-again). DH is planning to pick my dad's brain about the test since my dad actually applied for, but did not receive a position with this same department back in 1999.

Right now DH is out enjoying a boy's night out playing "Magic the Gathering." It is a card game with dice and whatnot. He has tried to teach me, but it fails to completely hold my interest. It only took 30 min to settle Teagen down. Woot! Now I'm free to play on BNB until DH comes home.

 

[Kellen]

DH goes back to work on Sunday! Hooray! LOL. I love him, but I am so looking forward to having my routine with Teagen back on track.

Teagen is super cranky. Not only are her two front teeth trying to come through, but her two eye teeth are trying to come in at the same time.

Now she is calling for me...

 

[wamommy]

Kellen, I'm so sorry Teagen is cranky. Max had been that way all week too, but I don't see any teeth coming. Hopefully they'll spontaneously pop through and this cranky period will end! I had to put him down in the pack and play today with a toy and walk away because I just couldn't take it anymore and needed a break. He's in a really tough scratching phase. No matter how short I keep his nails he claws at my face when he's crying. ugh.

I'm terribly stressed out tonight. I'll be telling my family about the new baby tomorrow, and I have no idea how to do it. I don't want to just come out and SAY it, but I can't wait until we're all seated at dinner because I think someone will notice my tummy before then. I've tried to think of something creative, but it all seems so silly when it's baby #4. I just don't imagine any of them being super excited for me, and that's heart breaking. I'm already mildly depressed and extremely stressed about this baby, my crap marriage, and feeling like I'm not a good enough Mom. A few well-placed eye rolls from my family and I might just lose it.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a great time with family!! My girls asked me "so, what kind of presents do you get for Thanksgiving?" I had to explain to them that Thanksgiving is the holiday where we are thankful for what we already have, especially our family. They looked confused, but I think they're getting it...

 

[Kellen]

This week is hard for everyone due to the holiday. Holiday's are awesome up until you reach about 14 and are expected to start helping and then begin realizing how stressful they truly can be for the adults.

Wamommy - My heart goes out to you. I pray that your family accepts baby #4 with open arms and open hearts and showers you with tons of love. I know you feel stuck, but your kids love you and think you are the best mommy in the whole wide world. Obviously you are doing an amazing job as a parent or it would have reflected in your daughter's parent-teacher conference. Take heart and know that you are loved.
I'd take a bunch of raffle tickets with me and have your family bet on boy or girl. Sell them for $1 piece and then when the baby is born you get 50% of the money and who ever wins the gender and ticket number gets the other 50%. But I'm weird and a bit snarky that way...

Last night was an awesome night of sleep for us all. Then Teagen took a wonderful nap this morning. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way to town and slept for an additional hour. Then she refused to sleep this afternoon. It is now 6pm and she is cranky and overly tired. I feel bedtime arriving soon... Of course while I was dealing with baby terror DH was off taking a three hour nap. Then at our bedtime he'll be: "I don't know why I'm not tired and can't sleep."

My family took the easy way out for Thanksgiving this year. One of our favorite local restaurants was having a deal on pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinners (only $2 extra for gluten free) so we have a nice 10 person meal waiting in the fridge. My grandmother brought out her fine china from her mom and already has the table set (is this a good idea with a 9.5 month old?).

Teagen is beginning to stand by herself. She'll be playing with a toy while standing and then let go of the couch, swing, chair, etc and just stand there until she realizes that she is doing it by herself. Then she is look down and lose her balance.

I just ordered some more cloth diapers yesterday. The three covers I have is not enough. I asked DH and he agreed that I could get more so I told him that is his early Christmas present to me. Our Christmas present to our families this year will be family pictures that we are going to be having done some time in the near future. We found the cutest little dress for Teagen. Crazy girl has been growing like a weed. She is now solidly in 18 month clothes. The dress is actually 24 months as it was the smallest they had. The only part that is a wee bit too big is the shoulders, but it isn't all that noticeable.

I should go save DH now since I hid in the bedroom to eat my dinner. Teagen is being quiet... I think he gave her a piece of chicken to chew on.

 

[helena]

Hi all. Have been quiet since I travelled to England again last weekend to see mum. She is ok but had had a fall and seemed frail so am feeling a bit sad. On top of that Kiara now has 8 teeth, they just keep coming. And sleep keeps avoiding me.
Had her check up today, averge height above average weight. Happy.
Hoping you are all well.
So glad your test results came back good wamommy.
Wll write more soon, love you guys even if I don't have the time and / or energy to write x

 

[wamommy]

Helena, I'm so sorry your Mom seems frail and that you're feeling sad. I can't imagine how hard that is! I hope things get easier. It's great to hear that Kiara is growing well, though! I can't believe how many teeth she has! Is she crawling and cruising now?

I finally got up the nerve to tell my whole family about the new baby yesterday. Phew! I was SO nervous... and totally over thought the whole thing. After trying endlessly to come up with the "perfect" way to tell everyone, it ended up kind of spontaneous. We were there for about an hour when my uncle and aunt announced that they had to leave. My uncle is the chief pulminologist at Children's Hospital in Seattle, and he was on call. ANyhow, I asked everyone to come into the kitchen before he had to leave, and as they were pouring in my Mom said, "are you going to tell us you're pregnant again?" and laughed. I simply said, "yes." Everyone was silent for a second and then said, "really??" and everyone laughed or cheered. I don't know if everyone was genuinely happy, but they seemed so. Several family members took me aside to congratulate me. I am still stressed about a 4th baby, but it helps so much to not have it as a secret anymore. Sucking the bump in was getting painful, too! Everyone was especially shocked when I told them I'm 18 weeks.

How was everyone else's Thanksgiving? Are all of your tummies as sore as mine from overeating? I don't much care for dinner itself, but I absolutely LOVE pie, and always make myself sick trying every kind. I'm a cool 2 pounds up from yesterday morning, too... Ahh, the holidays.

Oh, and Helena, don't worry about not having time to write! I know things are crazy right now. I love all of you ladies, too, and am SO thankful to have had you all as friends this past year and a half.

 

[Kellen]

Helena - I am glad that you were able to see your mom again, but I'm sorry that she is doing poorly. I am glad to hear that Kiara's teething problems will (hopefully) soon be coming to an close as she fills in those pearly whites. I can only imagine with three little ones running around how much sleep you don't get.

Wamommy - I am glad to hear that your family took the news of #4 in stride. I can completely sympathize with the not being particularly fond of Thanksgiving food, but tanking up on the pie. This year instead of pumpkin pie my mom made an ooey-gooey pumpkin butter cake. It was to die for. Pretty sure I gained a couple of pounds as well. I know that last year from Thanksgiving to Christmas Teagen and I gained 16 lbs.

DH went back to work today and had a really good day, thankfully. Teagen and I had a nice day too. She got to put on her new rubber boots (which she hates) and go splash in the mud while visiting the lambs and chickens. One lamb, Bob, is much smarter than Larry but is kind of anti-social... except when I am holding Teagen. Today they were nose to nose. It was adorable. DH didn't get home until after I was trying to nurse Teagen to sleep before putting her in the crib. Now he is sitting in front of her swing trying to get her to go to sleep. I think we will be making some adjustments to bedtime as soon as his work schedule gets figured out.

We have ONE top tooth. It looks a bit silly as you can see it when Teagen smiles. The other one, along with her two canine's really want to pop through, but just haven't made the final push.

 

[helena]

Yay to having DH back to work and your time back Kellen

Last night Kiara slept 8 until 5.45!!!!!' am amazed. We left her to settle herself more at bedtime instead o giving her extra milk if she got fussy so maybe it was that, or maybe because she is eating more at dinner time - she loves spaghetti bolognaise or maybe the teeth are easing off. Either way I am happy!

 

[Kellen]

Hooray for sleep! Can you pass some of that my way? We were up every 45 minutes last night until I called it quits at 2:45.

My dad is going in for his second total knee replacement today. My mom had her second one done 3 weeks ago today.

Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop dramatically and increase our chance of a light snow and possible freezing rain. I hope we get a small dusting tomorrow during the daylight hours so I can go pose Teagen in the snow.

 

[wamommy]

Yay Kiara and some yummy sleep!! Let's hope the trend continues.

Kellen, I'm with you on the night wakings. Max has yet another cold, and he can't eat very well. He wakes up wanting to eat, tries for 2 seconds, then angrily bats the bottle away and screams at me like I'm making it hard to breathe. Poor guy.

I hope your Dad's knee replacement goes well. My Dad calls himself the "bionic man" because he's had 2 knees and 1 hip replaced. He used to run marathons for years and I think all of that pavement pounding took its toll. How is your Mom's?

Tomorrow morning is our big scan! I'm sure we'll be able to stay team yellow, but I'm still anxious about the rest of it. I sure hope baby is healthy in there. It looks like all 3 kids will be with us for the scan... My last hope for watching the girls told me last night that she can't do it. I think we'll bring the ipad and headphones and just set them up watching a movie. Max has been SO fussy the last few days.... He'll probably scream through the whole thing.

Sierra and Dragon, is everything alright? How was your Thanksgiving?

 

[SierraJourney]

I am so frustrated! My emails didn't update me when there were posts on here---so I just assumed everyone was being really quiet. So, today, I log on and low and behold I missed two pages worth of conversation! Boo!

Everything is fine here----I have my work review this week to see if I can continue working from home. (From things I hear, I'm a bit nervous because apparently people are complaining about my working from home---jealous, I think---and don't like Camden coming in for the meetings. . . so we'll see how it goes!!)

wamommy--I'm so glad things went well with telling your family! What a relief! I can't even imagine! I'm sorry to hear you've been so stressed. ..all of those things combined are a lot for one person to handle! Take things as they come and work on one thing at a time---especially with your marriage. Things take time---and worrying about them all at one time is just going to make you more stressed!

Kellen---love the mud boots image I get in my head! How fun!!

helena---I'm so sorry about your mum. That's got to be soooo very hard. I can't believe Kiara has 8 teeth! Camden still has just two bottom ones and is trying to get the two top front teeth, but they keep going back in his swollen gums. Poor kid.

 

[wamommy]

Oh no, Sierra! I'm glad all is well, though. How did Thanksgiving at your house go?

We had our big anatomy scan today and managed to stay team ! I was super tempted to ask, but kept strong. I will say, though... I had an overwhelming feeling that it's a boy while we were there. I haven't told DH, and I'm probably wrong, but I've been sure it was a girl up until today! I didn't see a penis or anything, I just FELT like I was looking at my son. Is that weird? The measurements were all spot on, if not a few days ahead, and everything looked perfect. Phew!!

Here's the little wiggler! Don't mind the misshapen head in the "thumbs up" picture. It was just a weird angle, lol.

 

[Kellen]

Wamommy - That is an adorable "thumbs" up picture. I am glad that you were able to stay strong and remain team yellow. I don't know if I would have been able to do that.

Sierra - Boo! Email alerts. Pshaw. I'm sorry to hear that your co-workers seem to be giving you a hard time and complaining. I am sure that you are keeping up with your duties just fine and they are just jealous that you have an amazing baby that you get to stay home with.

SLEEP CHILD! SLEEP! It took me two hours to get Teagen to sleep tonight. She was super tired so I started our bedtime routine an hour early. She was nice an asleep and I placed her in her crib after about 15 minutes of nursing. Two minutes later she was crawling around and crying. So I held her. Sound asleep again. Back in the crib. AWAKE! Nursed through the slats in the crib (maybe this will get her to keep her head down and stay asleep???) NOPE! WAY TOO EXCITING MOMMY! Okay, back to the couch. I'd rather poke you in the eye, Mommy. Is that okay with you? Back to the crib. Ahh... my bed. I think I'll take a 3 minute nap. Are you awake Mommy? I'd like to play. Oh, you're holding me. I'll fall asleep. Oooh, that is a crib, nope I'm awake now. SWING TIME! I love my SWING! 20 minutes later in the swing she is finally asleep.

AF decided to make an appearance today. Hence my nipples feel like they are on fire. This always happens whenever I have a huge rush of hormones. I don't want to nurse and it takes Teagen FOREVER to fall asleep. Of course DH works late tonight so I was flying solo. It does explain her frequent wakings though as I notice my milk doesn't flow as quickly during AF as it does during the rest of the month. Hopefully after the witch is gone she will start sleeping longer stretches again.

In other, more happy news: Teagen took THREE independent steps today. She was playing with one of those tables that babies stand at and play with different activities when she decided she needed a toy that was on the couch. So instead of sitting down and crawling over to the couch she took three very cautious steps and made it all by herself. I was super proud.

Our sheep are weird. They will only come talk to me if I have A) grain in a bucket or B) Teagen in my arms. If I try to approach Larry or Bob without food or a baby they want absolutely nothing to do with me. Personally if I saw someone approaching with a small wiggly, loud mass of baby I'd run the opposite direction.

 

[SierraJourney]

wamommy---what a cutie pie! You have more reserve than I do---I would have wanted to know gender NOW! I'm totally not patient

Kellen---I can't believe Teagen took 3 steps! That's amazing! We're still not crawling here! (Although, he has learned to pull himself on his hands---dragging the rest of his body behind him on our wood floors. .. haha!)

AF finally showed here too! 10 days worth! I couldn't believe it was sooooo long! I used to have 3 day periods! I hope this was just a one-time occurance because I hate 10 days of AF!

Well, I had my year end review yesterday---I was nervous as heck! BUT, they are letting me continue to work from home, with an evaluation every year around Christmas to see how it's going! My boss said "As long as you are doing work like you are doing, I won't mind if you work for the next 30 years from home!" I'm so relieved! They have asked me to come in once in a great while if we are short staffed at the office, which I told them I would (hopefully it's not that often!). And they are having a high-school coop watch Camden when I come in for short meetings every Monday (he was in the meetings with me, but since other employees were complaining, they thought it'd be best if a coop watches him at the office---which I am okay with) I finally feel like I can BREATHE! I've been walking on pins and needles this entire 9 months, wondering if I'll be able to keep working from home. . .and it turns out that they love the work I am doing! So happy!

I'm so jealous of your sheep, Kellen---I love animals. Someday I hope to move out to the country so Camden can enjoy lots of animals and room to run around.

 

[wamommy]

Sierra, what a relief that you can keep working from home!! Congrats! You must be doing a great job, and it sounds like your coworkers were just jealous. Phew! I'm glad they did this review before Christmas so you don't have to stress through the holidays!

Kellen, I'm so sorry to hear that Teagen is sleeping poorly. I read somewhere that when babies are about to make (or have just made) big advances their sleep can be disturbed. Who knows? It could also be the AF slowed milk supply. I'm sorry either way. That is SO hard. I'm amazed that she's walking, though!! Holy super baby! Max rocks on his hands and knees, and sometimes lurches a foot or two (backward) but is nowhere NEAR standing, much less walking. Silly slow boys.

It's 24 degrees right now outside! Ick. I love the snow, but this clear and freezing stuff is no fun! I ran the heater in the girls' room last night all night and couldn't get the room above 66. We may run out to get warm pajamas tonight!