37 weeks and ready to see the world!

A pregnancy update...I took myself off of bedrest 2 weeks ago. I went to the doctor and he was really rushed and as I was walking out of the building I realized he never even mentioned bedrest, and I forgot to ask (it was a seriously rushed visit, he's been better since that one). I know, how could I forget...I don't know, I'm pregnant! Anyway, so I started cooking, cleaning, shopping, and just moving more and more. It's been great. It feels so good to be moving around and not forcing myself to lie around when I feel perfectly fine! I do make myself stop and rest periodically so I don't overdue it too much, and I have noticed more swelling in my feet as I'm on them soooo much more...but really, it feels good to be moving again! I've even been told I have a healthy pregnancy glow that was missing from the grumpy tired me before, and I just look happier now. I've felt so good I even braved a trip to the aquarium by myself (well, me and the three kids). It's the letter F week here at Skelly homeschool academy and we have to see fish when Adam says, "fish say fffff." So we went. It was definitely the most walking I've done since June but it was a great visit. The kids were great. The aquarium was nearly empty. And we all can't wait to go back! Here's some pictures of our time...and by the way, all of you praying for my bedrest, thank you because I survived, my family survived and I'm still pregnant. Now if you could do me one more favor and start praying for baby to come! Yes, time to do a 180 in our thinking. It's time to deliver this baby girl!

Here's a picture Jason took of me at the aquarium. I wish I could have seen on the digital camera what a goofy face I was making. Oh well, you get a good view of my belly...

The jellyfish are always a family favorite (we used to have passes to the Long Beach Aquarium) and this tank was really fun because it was so much bigger than any we've seen.

There's this amazing tank that is the largest in the world (or second to one in Japan, I forget but it's HUGE!) and you go through a tunnel under it. It was so cool! Just look at Adam taking it all in!

And what is he looking at that they have to build such a huge tank? Whale Sharks! They were soooooo cool! I first learned about whale sharks in the book Kon Tiki (one of my favorites from high school) and I've always imagined seeing them out in the Pacific, never thought it would really happen and in an aquarium tank! I could have watched them all day. It was...there are no words for me. I just loved that I got to see them live and in person! I need to try to get a picture with some perspective on their size...It was hard to capture them!Now we didn't get to pet the whale sharks but there was plenty to touch...Here's Jason with a sea anemone.

It was fun watching the sea otters playing. One started banging his toy block on the window right in front of Jason. He thought that was hilarious and laughed pretty hard.

Beth likes to make evil growling animal noises. This is her being an alligator...Isn't she cute :)

And now we have to go back because every day since we went last Thursday, Adam has asked to see Deepo. Who is Deepo you ask? He's a Garibaldi fish, a happy orange fish that stars in his own 4-D movie. He teaches everyone that we're all connected and our (human) actions affect him and his friends in the ocean. It's a little too cute but the kids loved it and I'm sure I'll be seeing it again and again and....

The County Fair

We left California on the opening weekend of the OC County Fair. This was a bummer as the fair is really one of our family traditions. We watch them build the ferris wheel starting in June, and talk for weeks about what ride we're going to go on, which animals we're going to feed, and what junk food we're going to enjoy. The kids were disappointed to miss the fair this year but Andrew promised them that there are county fairs all over the country and we would find a fair in Georgia. And this last weekend, we did that. It was the North Georgia State Fair. And although it was not the OC fair, we had a great family day.

Same: we rode the ferris wheel (ok, Adam and I didn't but we laughed watching the others ride) and the big slide, we ate corn dogs and cotton candy, and we watched Beth pour an abundance of love on any animal she could touch (and that included a camel, an emu and a kangaroo along with the regular goats, sheep and pigs!)

Different: we saw an alligator show both exciting and educational, the pig races involve swimming as well as the running, and it was much smaller (one afternoon was plenty of time whereas, we usually went to the OC fair 2 or even 3 times!) And did I mention, Jason actually fed some goats? The exact opposite of his sister in this regard, he normally shows no interest in the animals but after giving it a try and feeding a goat, he was very excited and proud of himself (although he wasn't up for feeding the camel like his little sister, maybe next year.)

Overall, it was a good day to be together, and maybe next year we'll go to the state fair in Atlanta, we'll see...for now you can check out our posts/pictures of our OC fair trip last year. Just click here or check out the shutterfly slideshow I made last year here.

Parent note: this picture was my "safety pic." In the age of digital cameras, I try to make it a point to always take a quick pic of the kids when we first get to a new location. When I lost Jason at Disneyland (haven't heard that story? Good, pretend you never did!) they wanted to know what he was wearing, etc...I was so flustered and instead just handed the security guard my camera and the last picture I took (turns out he was taken by an employee to lost children probably a minute after I lost him. We were reunited in less than 15 minutes, no joke!) So that's my tip of the day. Many of you probably already do this but just in case, thought I would share...somehow, it always makes me feel better like I'm prepared and responsible or something. And just so you know, the guard said the pictures really help them with proper identification, but they have never had a kidnapping at Disneyland like all the wild rumors have stated. So don't be fearful, be prepared.

Musical Trio

Lately while driving and listening to Toddler Tunes or Veggie Tales, I've overheard Adam singing along. He actually knows a lot of the words and it's so cute to listen to him singing in his adorable 2 year old voice. My current favorite is "Praise Ye the Lord, Hallelujah..." I decided I had to get his singing on video. I should have known he wouldn't quite perform on demand to my request. I tried to get him to sing Jesus Loves Me and he wouldn't but right now, right this minute, yes, he is singing it. I did get him to sing his ABC's and just to help interpret, he starts with a "Yo ho, yo ho, a Christian life for me" as suggested by his big brother:

Having given up on Adam for the time being, I had Beth sing for you (she had already interrupted Adam multiple times and was dying to be on camera. Would it be wrong of me to tell you she sings in the shower?

And then I had to give Jason a turn. He decided he wanted to sing you his own special number song. I know you'll be surprised that he made it up all by himself :) Enjoy...

Flashback: Beth's June Birthday

For Beth's 4th birthday, she wanted what many of her friends had had: a Princess tea party. But we were preparing to move across country from our friends and family and wanted a big party with everyone there so we planned a pool party. Beth didn't want a pool party so we promised to have a princess tea party sort of squeezed into the middle of it all. She had a great day and was pleased with the outcome, and that's all that matters. Here's some pictures of her special day...

There were only four princess guests compared to over 15 boys (every girl has brothers and then there are the cousins and our friends that only have boys!) The boys spent most of the time in the pool and pretty much ignored the girls. It worked great! Beth even got in the pool (for about 5 minutes).

You'd never guess these two are at all related :)

(We miss you, Caleb!)

Her cake was a Barbie cake as she requested. And then there were cupcakes for everyone, and not just any cupcakes, they were ordered to be copies of the Pinkalicious cupcakes (from a favorite book). Thank you, Nana Roberta, the results were perfect (and yummy!)

Sorry you can't see the beautifully decorated cupcake. It seems someone has eaten all the frosting already!

As for the Barbie cake, we saved it for the next day when we had lunch with Grandma & Grandpa, Great Grandma Mae, Aunt Edie and many cousins. (It was more of a farewell party for us but Beth shared her cake and got some presents, too.) So at the pool party we just pretended to blow out the candles (it was too windy for fire anyway). Beth was such a great actress!

So to my princess, June Elisabeth, happy 4th birthday! Thank you for always being you! I love that you can be dressed up as a pretty, pretty princess, yet be sword fighting with your brothers. You know what you want, yet you are open and flexible to what's necessary (future note: her soccer team this fall is green, a color she absolutely refuses to wear ordinarily but on game day she proudly wears her green uniform, pictures coming soon!) I can't wait to see you continue to grow into the wonderful woman God is creating (although you are free to take your time, I'm in no hurry!) I love you, mom

Cousins, princesses, and mud, mud, mud

A few weeks ago we had a great visit with some East Coast cousins! As much as we miss the 12 cousins we left on the West Coast, we have 5 more on this coast. And for an added bonus, they're all very close in age to our kids making fun that much more fun!

Mina and Cole came down for a week from Virginia. Their mom was here to help me while on bed rest (thanks, Marj!) She helped cook, entertain the kids, and get us more unpacked and settled. And the kids...they played, and played, and played. We all had a great week.

Adam and Cole are only 5 months apart. A year ago in the Outer Banks, that was a big age difference and they pretty much ignored each other but now, they are quite the duo. They get the giggles and just sit and laugh together over who knows what. It's so fun to watch. And then Cole had the great idea to put on princess dresses, why not? They were so cute posing and twirling around after their baths. Aren't they pretty? This is going to be so fun to share at their 16th birthday parties :)

And why did they need baths, you ask? Well, thanks to Hurricane Fay, we had some rain and the kids discovered mud! I freaked but Marj convinced me to let kids be kids. And she was right. They had so much fun, and thanks to bed rest, I wasn't the one cleaning them up :) Now we have a pile of "mud" clothes in the garage so nothing else gets ruined, and they are free to play in the mud...well, at least until we redo the lawn in the backyard...These pictures and video where taken while it was actually raining. It was their inaugural mud celebration!

the beanbag, the ball, the beast

Preparing for our move we had a lot to figure out in terms of furniture. Mainly, what do we take, what do we leave, what do we replace because, although we've moved into a house twice the size of our place in California, we already had a lot of furniture and even more stuff! The one thing we knew we needed was a couch or two or three for the increased living space. Well, Andrew came across a deal on one of his deal sites for a large memory foam bag. It was over 60% off and we thought, why not? We could put it in the playroom we were then envisioning. This bag is 80 pounds and the picture shows a family of three comfortably sitting on it so when the delivery many showed up to our tiny California home I panicked over where to store it until the move. I shouldn't have worried. The bag was packed tightly into an oversized duffel. It took a lot of willpower to not open that duffel and see how in the world it was squished in there but I resisted and the duffel made it to Georgia. I did promise I would send pictures of the explosive opening for our California friends to see. So here's what I took...

1. The bag was cut off (Andrew really had a hard time ruining what seemed to him to be a perfectly good canvas bag but that's how it had to be done. The duffel was made to be cut off.)

2. Told it would take 24 hours to reach full size, we were inpressed when within an hour or so, it had already grown quite large...3. After a full day of growth, it became the monster that can eat small children in a single squish! And although lots of use seems to squish it down, all it needs is a little rest and it grows and grows again!

It really is a fun seat. I used it for my first two weeks here. I was on bedrest and we had no couches. I had no choice but to lounge in the beanbag to beat all beanbags. Since then many others have lounged, napped, flipped over and even served timeouts in what has been called the beanbag, the ball, the beast.

Identity Crisis

I dragged my feet and refused to admit for the longest time that we were moving to Georgia but eventually I started to accept and even embrace the move. Today I conquered another hurdle toward admitting I've moved: I got a Georgia license. When Andrew first mentioned we needed to get new licenses and plates I adamantly opposed the idea. Why would I get a new license? My California license is good for many more years and I'm a California girl! I lived in DC for three years and stayed a California resident even voting absentee. Why change now? He calmly explained that I could no longer use my parent's California address and needed to admit that my car, home, etc...are insured in Georgia and they need a Georgia ID. Fine, I'll do it but I'm not in any hurry but then we got a letter from our car insurance. We had to get registered in Georgia or they would cancel our policy and to register your vehicle you must have a Georgia license, ugh! There looked to be no options. And to top it all off, I'm reading a book about recovering from moving that my sister (who had to move from California to Illinois years ago because of her husband's job) sent me. The first thing the book says to do is get a license, something about denial, whatever...So today, Andrew and I got up early and headed to the driver's license office. We brought all the paperwork and prepared to admit we live in Georgia now. To make it even more difficult they require you to relinquish your California license. Even Andrew tried to argue against that one (I think he was worried I would refuse). What really got me as I put the new license in my wallet was the license number. I've had the same license number since I got my license at 16. I kind of always assumed it would be mine, like a social security number or something but no, it's gone. Am I allowed to cry over the loss of a number? Well, at least it's a decent picture, and I was allowed to make up a number for my weight since the lady agreed with me that my current weight at 8 months pregnant will not be accurate for 5 years. Ok, it's done. I survived. I'm moving on. Sigh...

Adam loves his cousins

(I wrote this post back in June but waited until I could download the photos. I'm leaving it as written on June 16, 2008)

Adam loves his cousins...

And why wouldn't he? Whether he's going ga ga over baby Eagan (check out an old post for more on that) or jumping or playing with Gage, or swimming with Braden or riding the slides with Nick, Adam loves being with his cousins. This stinks a little since we're moving in a few weeks but I'm truly happy that he's had this opportunity to bond. It warms my heart every time one of these big boys gives Adam that extra attention. They sacrifice for him because he's family and it's great to watch.

Sleeping Beauty

Beth got this beautiful pink glittery gold dress for her birthday. When she opened it, she yelled, "A Sleeping Beauty dress!" because that's what she wanted. I saw no point in telling her that as beautiful as it is, it's not specifically a Sleeping Beauty dress. So along with all her dress-up clothes, she very happily wears her pink dress and looks beautiful. And to my surprise...it is a Sleeping Beauty dress after all (or at least she is)...

2 months or 9 weeks or should we say...63 days

I'm 33 weeks pregnant today. I've been on bedrest for exactly 2 months, and as the doctor says: I'm still pregnant! That was his diagnosis last week as he sent me home despite my cervix becoming very thin again. I've wondered from day one if bedrest would really help, was it really necessary. I'll never know..but this I do know: I'm still pregnant! So here I am nine weeks after my diagnosis. I'm still laying on the couch (or sitting at the computer :), still depending on others for breakfast and dinner (I have the most fabulous husband), and still thankful for my very patient children who are content to color and play cards all day (with a little tv thrown in for fun :) But I'm only doing this for ONE more week! One more week and I will have survived 10 weeks of bed rest, woo hoo! So today, Labor Day, I'm praising God because I am not yet in Labor!!!

(PS Beth took the picture of me after commenting that my belly popped out! And it has, some of my maternity shorts no longer fit, ugh!)