Christmas Eve

We have a tradition of reading the Luke story on Christmas Eve.  This year we decided to include the girls more.  Mark drew or print out pictures of the nativity scene.  The girls colored them and cut them out and then they became the actresses as we read.

They chose what they wanted to be.  Here we have Mary riding a donkey to Bethlehem.

The angel came to the shepherds while they were with their flocks.  (I didn't realize Megan was showing her belly, the little stinker!)

Then the wise men came to worship baby Jesus.

It was really fun and the girls enjoyed the story more this year than in the past.

Santa

This is the first year Kendra sat on Santa's lap!  She must really want that Merida doll with the horse.

 Megan was going to ask Santa for an Ariel doll, but then she saw a big tub of candy canes on the floor next to him.  So instead she asked him for a candy cane. 

 

Someone in nursery took this photo of Megan.  It is the cutest picture of her.  I don't know how they got her to smile like that!  Bless their hearts for taking it.

 



Little One

Kylee (which is the name we've chosen thus far) does not like ultrasounds and detests having her picture taken.  This is the best photo we've had:

At my last perinatal visit we learned that Kylee actually grew.  Amazing.  This time I hoped for her abdomen to be 11%.  My belly has grown astronomically the last few weeks so I had hoped Kylee was the reason.  Well, she was.  Her abdomen measured 31%.  I thought the ultrasound tech was lying to me.  I might actually have a kid that is over 6 lbs. this time, how exciting!

Our Little Elf

Last year we bought an 'elf on the shelf' for a new Christmas tradition.  He is such a rascal.  Look what he got into last night!

Kendra is now convinced that he is real because he ate our chocolate!

It Happens

My hips are small and my babies tend to be sideways until the very end.  This causes ligament pulls and my hip/leg bones to pop in and out.  Doesn't that sound fun?  I think it was worse with Megan.  Or maybe I just tell myself that.  The vertebrae in my spine kept popping in and out as I grew larger causing even walking to be very painful.  I haven't had that yet in this pregnancy which is nice.

Last night I couldn't get up from the couch.  I don't think Mark believed me, he probably thought I was being silly or using the "pregnancy"as an excuse for him to help him.  It's my fault, I do tease him that way.  I asked him to help me get up - it's a good thing Mark is strong because in another couple weeks I'll probably weigh more than him.  Anyway, so he pulled me to my feet.  When I put weight on my left side a huge pop sound happened.  Mark was shocked, "what was that?" Yep, my joint popped back in, but it felt better after that.

I Want What I Want!

I have spent the last month or so reviewing, comparing, and trying out different car seats and strollers.  I need a car seat that is top rated for a small infant.  Chicco and Britax are the best choices and I finally decided on Chicco.  I want a purple and gray car seat but guess what, it only comes as a travel system.  That poses a problem.   I hate strollers.   I finally found one that I love to pieces which is the Britax bagile.  Love it.  So I need a chicco car seat (preferably purple and gray) and a bagile stroller.  Oh, but they are different brands and the chicco car seat isn't compatible.  Sigh.

Solution:  I can buy a baby jogger city mini (which is very similar to the bagile) and an adaptor for a chicco car seat!  Then I can have my fave stroller with my fave carseat.  So here are my problems now: 
1.  I hate paying full price and baby jogger is excluded from all coupons and rarely, if ever, on sale.  2. Chicco is rarely on sale
3. I can get a purple and gray city mini stroller, but not a purple and gray chicco car seat.  ugh.

I also finally chose a playard/bassinet on sale for cyber monday, that is only sold online, that is purple, but is no longer available online!  I'm so bummed.

On the flip side of my frustrating hunt for what I want, I've got to give kuddos to Babies R Us.  The crib I used for Kendra and Megan had 2 recalls on it and the company went out of business.  Great.  Stores didn't have to accept it because they won't get reimbursed.  Walmart refused to take it even though that is where it was purchased.   Babies R Us took it off my hands and gave me way more in store credit than it was worth.  I exchanged it for a simple crib which is still way nicer than our previous one.  Thanks Babies R Us.  Even though Cyber Monday has been frustrating, you did good and I will return to your store.

Total Randomness

This is what we've been up to the last couple of weeks:


 We celebrated my birthday with some friends. As we walked them to the door to say good-bye Megan seized the opportunity to grab the ice cream bucket and drink the rest of the melted ice cream. I tried to get a picture of her with the bucket to her face but the little stinker caught me!

 The girls made rice crispy turkeys.

Being on my diet I just had to have some chocolaty goodness.  So I made no bake cookies with blue agave instead of sugar.  Mark didn't like the taste but they sure tasted good to me!

Our neighbors got married in Santa Fe.  This is a famous chapel there.   There is a spiral staircase in the back and legend has it that Saint Joseph himself built it.  No nails were used and the carpenter left without pay.

Now let me tell you about Santa Fe.   People rave about how historical and fun it is there.  Uh-huh.  I didn't see the glamour.  I guess if you like art and stuff it'd be more fun.  The roads reminded me of San Francisco - small, one way streets, people walking all over, etc.  I would take San Fran any day over Santa Fe.  Do I like driving in San Fran?  No.  Did I like driving in Santa Fe?  No.  BUT San Fran is a super fun place to visit.  Santa Fe?  Yeah, I don't think we'll ever go back.

Unmet Expectations

I expect too much and should just be grateful.  I saw my perinatal today for another ultrasound on baby.  As a side note I just want to mention that I'm so glad I save receipts!  They had no record of my last payment of $350.  I brought my receipt with me to prove I had paid that!  The visits are cheaper now that we only have one ultrasound and one doctor to see.

Okay, so now back to my visit.  I had hoped by doing Dr. Brewer's diet that baby's abdomen would grow to 30%.  I have eaten so much food, fat, and dairy.  I was surprised to learn that I had only gained 6 pounds in the last month...how very consistent of me.  The good news is that her placenta looks good, her growth is consistent, and her heart and everything else looks great.  Her abdomen grew, but is still very small.  The doctor showed me the graph of her abdominal growth and at her first ultrasound to second it dropped dramatically.  So he's happy it hasn't dropped further.  I was bummed because I have eaten this diet, passed on white pasta, cakes, candy, etc. to see her grow.  I was so hoping she would.  I did read on the reviews that babies, whose mom did the diet, stayed consistent and didn't drop.  So perhaps the diet did help.  I wish I had a control subject.  So I'm lowering my expectations to "consistent growth" for next time.

Halloween

Halloween was a busy but fun day for us.  Here are the girls posing with their pumpkins.  When we came home from one party, before trick-or-treating, our pumpkins were there along with a full bowl of candy.  We always leave a bowl out while we're gone.  A half hour later our bowl was completely empty and Kendra's pumpkins were gone.  She was devastated.  We didn't see them smashed anywhere.  She cried and cried and after talking to her decided she would pray to find her pumpkin.  After the girls were in bed, like a half hour later, Megan's pumpkin was gone too!  The next morning Kendra was relieved to find one of her pumpkins smashed in the arroyo and the other smashed on the road.  We found Megan's too smashed on the sidewalk.   

Next year I'm going to booby trap our pumpkins.  Let's see how that teenage kid likes that!

Family photo:

Mark's watermelon.  It's amazing this plant survived after being eaten five times by a bunny! 

School carnival:

Lab Tests

When I received a call from my doctor's nurse about my failed lab results I was not surprised.  Story of my life with this pregnancy.  I failed the glucose test.  She stated that I needed to take the 3 hour glucose test - no eating after midnight and drinking oodles of sweet glucose and then waiting at the hospital for 3 hours until the lab drew my blood.  I chose to exercise my right of freedom of choice and said I would not be taking that test. 

Nurse: "He might want to send you to a perinatal doctor then."

Me: "I'm already seeing one so that's fine."  Send away!

Nurse: "Oh....Let me talk to him and see what he recommends."

Yes, you do that.  I mean what are they going to do - send me to a dietitian or nutritionist?  Go ahead - I've been on Dr. Brewer's Pregnancy Diet for the last 12 days.  No sugar, no white flour, no processed foods.  It consists of eating 4 servings of milk, 6-8 protein, 2 eggs, 5 whole grains, 2 green leafy veggies, 2 vitamin C, 1 vitamin A, 3 fats/oils, and salt, water, supplements.  So isn't that pretty close to a diabetic diet anyway?  Bring it.

I began the pregnancy diet because baby #3 is measuring small - well her abdomen at least.  It measured at 11%.  When her abdomen reaches 5% that is when the doctor takes action.  But I thought, why wait?  I love research so let's see if this diet is all it's cracked up to be.

I go in at the end of the week for a hemoglobin test instead of a 3 hour fast test.  Awesome.  Sometimes being stubborn pays off.  In a couple of weeks I'll find out if my diet is helping baby to grow.  BUT if she does happen to grow, and my hemoglobin test comes back positive for gestational diabetes, the doctors are going to think that she's growing due to the diabetes!  I just can't win!!

Which Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

Remember on Sesame Street, "one of these kids is doing his own thing.."  and you had to pick out the one that was different?  Well here are pictures of our five chickens.  They were sexed and suppose to be all hens.  Can you pick out the one that I think, and have thought all along, is a rooster?  Mark still has hope that it's a hen, but "he" does not look like the others!

First Two Weeks of October

We had a Halloween party for our ward last night.  I like to make costumes for the girls but had to make them 2 1/2 weeks early for the party! 

 They don't look like much, but it took me much longer to sew those than other projects in the past.

 See the hats?  I'm so proud of those.  I'm not that creative but check those out!

 Thank you creative person from makeitandloveit.blogspot.com.  She used this costume 2 years ago and I loved it so I recreated it for me and Mark.

 During conference Mark learned to boondoggle. 

 Mark's friend from his mission, and roommate after came to visit for a regional gymnastics competition for his son.  The girls loved having visitors.

As I struggled to finish the dresses all was quiet.  That's a bad sign.  What was Megan up to?  Putting my makeup on!