Isadora Update

I feel bad the last time I blogged about Izzy was in May.

3rd baby.

Adding another kid to the mix is a lot more work than I had anticipated. Also, the first few months of her life all she wanted to do was nurse. We spent a lot of time in a chair or on the couch with a nursing pillow and the remote controls. The big kids loved all the extra screen time though - so yea?

Baby sister is a little over 9 months now and, as of right before Christmas, crawling. She sat early (around 4 months) and has been experimenting with table food for a few months. Child loves to eat. LOVES. Sausage, pancakes, eggs, bagels, spaghetti, carnitas, rice, mashed potatoes... the only thing she doesn't seem to love is peas and spinach. Her favorite food right now is anything pumpkin flavored. And cheese. She loves cheese.

Here's a video of her being very vocal about her love for cheese:

#isadorable really loves cheese. Like a lot. #nomnom

A video posted by Jessica Black Rodgers (@1981sinatra) on Dec 25, 2015 at 11:15am PST

We got her first round of pictures done around 6 months (which is later than the older two, but hey - at least we got some done, right?) and she does feature prominently on my IG account, so there's that.

Here's one of my favorite of the three kids:

Other things:
1. We went to Disneyland with all three kids in June. The drive was horrific (Izzy is not the best traveler), but the bigs had fun.

Some of yesterday's #disney fun

A photo posted by Jessica Black Rodgers (@1981sinatra) on Jul 5, 2015 at 8:07am PDT

2. Izz is daycare now and while it was a bit of a rough transition (she demanded to be held all the time) she now loves it there (no tears at drop off!). Things are easier for her day care provider now that she's crawling.
3. Sleep is... rough. I could say a lot about sleep but I won't because I don't have that kind of time right now. She has good nights (where she's up 3-4 times) and then nights like last night, where I know we were up 19 times because my shiny new FitBit tells me how many times I was "restless" at night. I'm very thankful for coffee.
4. We're still nursing (yea!) and we still get donated milk for daycare bottles. I do pump, but I don't pump enough for her daycare milk.
5. PPD/PPA comes and goes, but there are many more good days than bad days lately. I do want to eventually do a longer PPD/PPA post since it was so intense and so hard this time around, but like the sleep post - I just don't have time for that right now.
6. The bigs are adjusting well to having a baby in our lives. She LOVES them and they really love her.

All for now. Maybe more next week since I'll still be on winter break.

Good Heavens She's Seven

Alternate Title: It's been a literal age since I blogged

The sweet sissy had a birthday (also, hello - did you miss me?).

We have a tradition to ask 20 questions of the birthday child (see Penny's past answers here) and while posting them 3+ weeks post birthday, I did actually ask them on the morning of her birthday. Here are her answers:

1. What is your favorite color?   Green

2. What is your favorite toy?  Diana (her "new" American Girl doll... this cracks me up because she plays with this doll *maybe* twice a month).
3. What is your favorite fruit? Still tomatoes (as she reads last year's answers over my shoulder)
4. What is your favorite tv show?   Star Verses the Forces of Evil (this show is weird. Well, all kids shows are weird, but this one is extra odd).

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Grapes (which is a  lie. It's peanut butter & jelly, same as last year. We buy grapes a handful of times each year, and while she does enjoy grapes, she has a PB&J every day during the week. No lie. Child eats PB&J like it's going out of style).

6. What is your favorite outfit?   My new Christmas dress (which she had, at the time, not yet worn).

7. What is your favorite game? Tag
8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish (year 2 of this answer, I would have guessed an apple, since the house is littered with her discarded apple cores).
9. What is your favorite animal?  Parrot (ok, I'm recording this because she did say it, but I don't think it's true [note: I may be sad that giraffes aren't her favorite anymore]. We don't have any parrot things, she doesn't request parrot themed clothes or toys or anything. I have no idea when she started liking parrots).
10. What is your favorite song? Bad Blood (Taylor Swift). This is totally true - although now, 3 weeks after her birthday it may have changed to Hello by Adele or Exs & Ohs by whats-her-face.
11. What is your favorite book?   Harry Potter (2nd year in a row, which makes my geek heart happy but I don't really think it's true. She's been glued to her Star Wars Encyclopedia for the last month).

12. Who is your best friend?  Astarta
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios (note: Honey Nut Cheerios)  

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?   Jump on the trampoline

15. What is your favorite drink? Lemonade
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   Stuffed animals (we've reached the point where there's barely any room for her on her bed with all the stuffed animals).

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Didn't you already ask me that? (It's Cheerios, ftr)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Spaghetti (she didn't get it, I can't remember what we had but it wasn't a spaghetti night)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?   An scientist (score!) side note: she's really interested in being a zoologist lately.

Here's her favorite thing to wear:

The girls with Santa. The boy child did NOT want to meet the man in red. #xmas

A photo posted by Jessica Black Rodgers (@1981sinatra) on Dec 12, 2015 at 8:43pm PST

Izzy at Graduation

Last week was SHS's 2015 Graduation ceremony. Since this class was my class, I had to make it to gradation to see my babies all dressed up.

I consider this group extra special because they were Freshmen the year I started at Salinas... I've been their faculty adviser all 4 years and I had a good portion of them in one or more of my classes. They'll always have a special place in my heart.

Izzy is still too little to be left sans Mommy for long stretches, so she came with me. She actually did really well - although she got a wicked sunburn on her nose that still isn't fully healed (poor baby). I got burned as well, and while mine is still lobster red, it didn't blister like poor Iz's burn. Hers will heal faster than mine though, babies have amazing healing (plus I've been squirting breastmilk on it - don't knock it, it works!). I bought sunscreen and hats the day after graduation so we hopefully won't have a sunburn repeat.

Anyway, here are some pics of me & Izzy with my kids (I don't have all the pics that were taken that day, but I'm happy to have these).

Some of my yearbook seniors (Guiselle, Michelle, Jocelyn, Jacky, & Diana)

Hosea, arguably the biggest PITA of them all :)

Elena - I had her Freshmen year and she was my TA last year

If you notice I have on my FitBit. I walked over 6 miles that day. My feet STILL hurt.

Car Conversations

Griffin's car conversations, when they don't drive me absolutely crazy, are the best ever.

Today:

G - "Mommy, why don't I have six fingers?"
Me - "Because humans have five fingers."
G - "But why not six?"
Me - "Evolution. Apparently 5 fingers was the most evolutionary advantageous number of fingers."
G - "But six fingers would be cool."
Me - "Then you'd have to buy new gloves."
G - "Yeah, I guess five is ok."

A few days ago:

G - "Mommy, why is the air up and the street on the bottom?"
Me - "That's a complicated question with a complicated answer. Let's just say it has to do with mass."
G - "What's mass?"
Me - "(sigh) Mass is kinda like weight, the more mass an object has, the more it weighs. Objects that have greater mass attract other objects."
G - "Oh, you mean gravity."
Me - "Well if you knew the answer why did you ask the question?"
G - "Because." (pause) "Gravity keeps us down, right? That's why we don't float into outer space."
Me - "Yes. Exactly."
G - "Can you turn off the gravity?"
Me - "Me personally? No. And well, no one can actually. Gravity is a constant."
G - "(sigh) That's too bad."

Also a few days ago:

G - "Mommy, why didn't your borned a boy baby?"
Me - "Because your sister is a girl and she's the last baby mommy and daddy will have."
G - "But I want another baby."
Me - "Sorry dude, but until you have a partner & the two of you decide to have a child, this baby is the only one you're going to get."
G - "Well you should have had two, I want one to take care of."
Me - "You help me take care of baby sister already."
G - "Moooooom (sigh) that's not the same."
Me - "I know dude, I know."

The Conversationalist

The 4th Trimester

I was over at a friend's house this afternoon making lactation cookies, when I realized that I have blogged very little about Izzy's first few months (aka the 4th trimester). Technically she has another month left of this, my least favorite trimester, but if I wait to blog when it's over I'll: 1. likely forget to blog entirely or 2. forget something.

It's still likely I'll forget something, but here goes.

If you Google the 4th trimester, you get a lot of websites and advise on how to survive this period of time. Most of the time these articles end with something like "don't lose hope, it gets better!" (true) or "one day you will look back on this fondly" (false) or "don't forget to sleep when the baby sleeps" (a bad joke).

Usually the 4th trimester is characterized as the newborn stage - so around 0-3 months.

It's also characterized as being the most sucktacular of time periods, tying teething, in a young child's life. Which is pretty much true.

Izzy is an adorable baby. See exhibit A.

Exhibit A

But she is also challenging in all the ways babies can be and in all the ways I forgot about because of what I like to call parental amnesia.

Parental amnesia is when you forget or romanticize all the shitty stuff about pregnancy and infancy in order to convince yourself to have another baby.

I had some serious parental amnesia going when we tried for a 3rd. Bryan did not. But since he's a good guy and we make beautiful babies he signed up for #3 in spite of remembering just how awful the 4th trimester (and teething!) really are.

This is not to say that Izzy is a hard baby, she's just a normal baby.

Nursing

Child likes to nurse. Like, constantly. Which is something I forgot about breastfeeding. For all those "10 things I love about breastfeeding" posts I see everywhere, I could write a "10 things I loathe about breastfeeding." I could also write a "10 things I loathe about bottle feeding" too, because regardless of how you slice it, feeding a newborn is labor and time intensive.

Iz started off with a great latch, and she was slowly gaining so I was really hopeful we'd be able to EBF (exclusively breastfeed, for those not well versed in parenting lingo). Alas, she dropped too much weight like her brother and sister and we had to supplement.

I was lucky to have a friend who had extra milk, so Iz got breastmilk supplement and some formula. It was really only at night and occasionally during the day that she'd need the extra milk - we were only supplementing 4-10oz a day, which was hard for me (PPD and PPA this time around, which probably merit posts of their own but will have to wait another day).

After a long and annoying battle with pharmacies I was finally able to get a script for Domperidone filled (long story short: local compounding pharmacy could no longer fill, had to get a script from a Dr. in Monterey and get it through a Canadian pharmacy - alls well that ends well, I have my script and it helps my supply).

Anyway, before I was able to get my script filled, Izzy started refusing formula bottles. That was rough. We had run out of donor milk and I wasn't making enough for her, so we needed her to take the bottle but she just would.not.drink formula. Luckily another friend of mine who had recently had twins and who has an amazing oversupply has been our new breastmilk supplier. And with the DP script I'm making more and needing to supplement less (although I do still give her a bottle at night because my supply dips before bed).

I lost my train of though... where was I going with this?

Oh, yes. Izzy loves to nurse. All this to say that Izzy would happily spend 90% of her day on the breast if she could. It's exhausting. And contrary to most nursing websites, it is NOT helping me lose any baby weight.

You may be asking yourself, if 90% of her day is nursing, when does she sleep? The answer, she sleeps while she nurses.

Shh. I'm sleeping. And eating.

Sleep

I basically spend the whole day nursing her or listening to her scream in the car if I have to drive somewhere. We do take walks, and she will occasionally sleep in the stroller, but if she's napping and NOT nursing she prefers to be in the Moby. Which means I don't sleep (not that I could anyway) and the things I'm able to do during the day are rather limited.

She will give us (and by us, I mean me - another "benefit" of breastfeeding is that night time is all for Mommy... which is fine now because I'm not working and I do better on sleep dep. than B, but sharing the night time feeding with P & G was great for me). Crap, that sentence was an incomplete run-on. ANYWAY, she gives me 4-6 hours at night depending on where she's sleeping. This is awesome! Only the 6 hour stretch is if she's in bed with us with her body as close to me as she can get (she's like an inchworm, I move and she manages to inch up next to me).

During the day, I get 45 minutes to an hour of nap before she demands to nurse again.

She fell asleep nursing... when I tried to move her, she woke up and demanded to nurse.

Which is about how long it took for me to write this much, and now she's waking up and demanding to be fed. Maybe I'll finish this blog post later...

Back. 2 hours later. I hate shots. She got hers today and has wanted to nurse even more than usual.

Speaking of her visit, here are her stats.

10.8lbs, 23.25 inches

She is my peanut. While 78th percentile for height and 50-something percentile for weight, she's both shorter and lighter than her siblings at this age. Both older kids were in the 12 pound range and both over 24 inches. Baby Dora is the runt (thus far). Although she's still probably going to be taller than me when all is said and done. Oh well.

Mommy's peanut I am.

The G-Man is 5

It's that time again! Birthday questions! Here are G's 4th birthday questions, and his 3rd.

Without further ado, here are his 5th birthday questions:

1. What is your favorite color? Blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Um... my Mashables (he got them from my parents for his birthday, they're pretty awesome)

3. What is your favorite fruit? Bananas

4. What is your favorite TV show? Gravity Falls

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Cheese and mustard sandwich

6. What is your favorite outfit? A long sleeved shirt and pants

7. What is your favorite game? Lego Batman 3 (pretty much the same as last year, just a new version of the game)

8. What is your favorite snack? Oatmeal bar (same as last year) 

9. What is your favorite animal? Lions (same as last year, interestingly enough)

10. What is your favorite song? The Imperial March from Star Wars (he actually said "like Darth Vader")

He's a Sith Lord

11. What is your favorite book? My 5-minute Marvel (a book with a collection of Marvel character stories)

12. Who is your best friend? Brandon, Rafa, and Dylan

13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit Loops (same as last year)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Jump on the trampoline

15. What is your favorite drink? Gatorade (which he was introduced to when he was sick earlier this year, he's now become slightly obsessed with it).

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My A's Monkey

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Um, fruit loops?! Why did we do breakfast again?

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Pizza!

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A police officer

My big 5 year old, just lounging

And here he was at 5 minutes old:

Isadora Claire's Birth Story

Little sissy is 14 days old, so I guess it's time I wrote out her birth story.

She was due 3.14.15 and I had been having intermittent contractions for about a week before her due date. Her due date came and went, just like my contractions. It was frustrating to say the least. At 40 weeks 5 days I visited an acupuncturist to try and get things to start up for realsies. While it was very relaxing, it didn't jump start active labor like I had hoped. At 41 weeks 1 day I opted for some interventions - a membrane sweep, pressure points, and some other things.

At 41 weeks 2 days I was having contractions (painful ones) every 10 minutes. I figured it was more of the same - I had been having irregular contractions for 2 weeks and painful irregular contractions for for a few days. Bryan and I took the kids to a park, went out for lunch, and then headed home to hang out. I had planned to take a walk around the block, but at 2:30ish I felt a pop and a gush.

My water had broken - the first time in all three pregnancies/labors that I had actually felt my water break.

Bryan called the midwives and they advised him to fill up the tub and, if I had the baby before they got there, to keep the baby low until they could be there. I think that freaked him out a little.

Luckily for him, they got there in plenty of time. They arrived, set up, and I got in the tub as quickly as I could as my contractions ramped up in terms of spacing and intensity.

And it was intense. This was not my first rodeo, so I thought I knew what I was in for... but this was the only labor that caused me to curse - more than once - and in which I felt like I had to be done soon because I was having a hard time tolerating the contractions. I have been told I "sing" my babies out, but this one was more of a yelling this baby out.

From water breaking to baby's exit was 3.5 hours. It felt like this labor took the entirety of Penelope's 8 hour labor and squeezed it into 3.5 hours. It.Hurt.A.Lot.

But it was over pretty quickly.

And then she was here. The big kids were able to be in the room to see her birth (they were there on and off for the labor), and I pulled her out. Although owing to some crossed legs, exhaustion post labor, and swollen girly-bits, I actually thought she was a boy at first.

We were discussing names (and my mom started calling relatives) when I decided to re-check and discovered my error. Oops!

After that, names were easy. She looks so much more like an Isadora than a Gwendolyn.

Breastfeeding was good at first, then rocky, and now we seem to be back on track. I'm on domperidone, we have some donated milk, and she's gaining again after losing slightly over 10% of her birth weight. She has a pediatrician appt tomorrow, so hopefully we continue to see gains.

At this point she's our best sleeper (knock on wood) and I usually get a few 3 hour stretches at night before we settle in for a nurse-a-thon.

The big kids adore her and have adjusted well so far. They fight over who gets to refill my water or bring me my nursing pillow and they both like to read to her or snuggle up with us while she nurses.

I'm still doing most things one handed since she still insists on being held and won't sleep well unless she's close to someone. But that's to be expected, she's only 2 weeks old.

I'll try and post pictures soon, there are a lot on Facebook and even more on Instagram... but here's one to tide y'all over.

What Not to Say to Someone Who is Overdue

Today I am 41 weeks pregnant. I can't think of anyone who is pleased with this, but least of all me. I've been getting a lot of texts, Facebook messages, e-mails, and general questions from a lot of people. All of them mean well. But a lot of these messages and texts do more to frustrate than to actually help - I know it's not their intention, but it is what it is.

Hence this post.

So, as a public service announcement (or really, just for my own sanity), here are some things that I recommend you do NOT say to a woman who is a week (or more) overdue.

1. How are you feeling?
This question, while sounding innocuous, is unintentionally frustrating. Why? Because we don't feel good. We are tired, frustrated, & possibly angry. We likely ache. It's possible we're having really uncomfortable or painful contractions but still aren't in labor, which is pretty much a horrible feeling. We feel betrayed by our bodies and possibly the baby. We're worried that something is wrong. We are hormonal- really, REALLY hormonal. Did I mention how tired we are?

It's not a good feeling. And so we'll smile and say "fine" out of social obligation, but we're not fine and we don't really want to be reminded about how NOT FINE we are.

What should you say?
Good morning, good afternoon, you're soooooo good looking (bonus points to those who get the allusion), or really anything other than how are you feeling...

EXCEPT
2. That baby still isn't out yet?
Um, no f***ing duh. Obvious people state the obvious.

I seriously wonder if people are thinking when they say this to me. It's obnoxious. Don't ever say that. Ever. To anyone.

What should you say?
It's so nice to see you.

3. When is the baby going to come?
Lemme just get out my crystal ball or, better yet, check the meat thermometer I have pushed into my side.

The baby is not a Thanksgiving turkey, we cannot tell you when it will be done. I promise, we are not keeping it in there just to annoy you (although at this point, there are some people that have been so unintentionally annoying that if I could control when this baby was born I might just keep it in another day... no, actually, I wouldn't do that because see question #1).

That question is not helping. At all. So please stop.

What should you say?
Actually nothing. Just say nothing if this is your go-to.

4. Almost there!
Again, not helpful. Why? Because you don't know. At 41 weeks we could go another week before we get a baby. A week when you're overdue feels like a month. And the prospect of facing another 7 days of being tired, sore, hormonal, irritable, and plain miserable is not "almost there" - it is, in fact "hell on earth."

What should you say?
Would you like some chocolate?

5. (via text or e-mail or phone call) I hadn't heard anything, have you had the baby?
If we'd had the baby the world would know. It would have been posted to every social media platform know to mankind. We would have Lion King'ed that baby from the top of the tallest mountain. You would have gotten a text or a phone call.

No news means NO NEWS. You, and the 600 other people who are waiting are not nearly as impatient for this baby as we are and we are not prepared to spend our day sending out text blasts or constant social media updates to tell everyone that NOTHING IS HAPPENING. Because nothing is happening and we're significantly more upset about it that anyone else on the planet. Having to be reminded that nothing is happening by well meaning people is really, really frustrating.

And I know that all these people mean well. They love us, they love this baby, they are just excited and/or concerned and they want to reassure themselves that mom & baby are ok. I get that. I know it comes from a place of love. But while the intentions are purely good, the reality is that these notes don't really do much to help and can actually be hurtful because after the 100th message of the day we are more upset than we were after the 1st.

I will say that there are women who welcome these messages. It makes them feel good to be on someone's mind. I am not one of those people. There are a small handful of people from whom these messages are soothing - all of them are friends who have been in this spot. Mostly because it's followed up with an "I'm so sorry you're still pregnant" and "I can remember being in this place and it sucks."

What should you say (via text or e-mail)?
Just thinking of you. No need to respond. We love you.

6. Maybe this baby just isn't done cooking.
No, it's done. I'm done so it's done. Trust me.

Also, where did you get your medical degree?

And, it's not a f**king ham.

What should you say?
Here, I bought you this bottle of wine. (I mostly kid).

7. Man, you're huge. That baby will come out soon, it's out of room.
You think I'm joking with this one. People say these things.

Sometimes people are assholes. Please don't ever say this. To anyone. Ever. I've gotten so many "huge" comments throughout the pregnancy that it's a minor miracle I haven't punched anyone in the face. And 99% of these comments come from adults. The adults I WORK WITH.

What should you say?
You look lovely.

8. Have you asked your midwife/doctor about _______? I read online that...
We are in continual contact with our medical professional. But thanks for googling something.

What should you say?
This is another instance in which it's probably best to say nothing.

And again, most of the people who say, text, Facebook message, or e-mail these things mean well. They're not inquiring or making comments for the express purpose of making pregnant women feel bad or to upset them. But many of these things ARE upsetting and some of them (see #7) are really rude regardless (and yet, I hear it often).

When in doubt, send messages of love and support - things like "thinking of you" "we love you" and "I bought you some chocolate." You can even indicate that a response isn't necessary so we don't feel obligated to reply if we're too tired to think of anything to say or if we've just reached our limit on the amount of social interaction we can handle in one day. Because social niceties are exhausting, as is gestating a baby. And when you're 40+ weeks and tired, sore, frustrated, angry, weepy, and looking for signs every moment that you're in labor, it's hard to muster up enough energy to make pleasantries.

So world, when this baby comes you will know. It will be posted. Family will get phone calls.

And it's not that I don't love and appreciate all my family and friends, because I do. It's just that I am not in a good head space. I had PPD with Griffin, being overdue is already triggering my depression. If this baby doesn't come soon then I will become even more depressed - something I was really hoping to avoid. The thought that I may have to go into a hospital to have an induction fills me with dread, even though it may be necessary and if I don't have this baby by the weekend I will voluntarily be induced.

Not being able to nurse well with both P & G was rough on me, if I have to be induced AND I have trouble nursing then that will be very, very bad for my mental health and I cannot.stop.thinking about that. Every time I look in a mirror, pee, look down, put on shoes, have a contraction, or move I am reminded that I am still pregnant. That I am uncomfortable. That I am NOT IN LABOR. I feel betrayed by my body. By my uterus (which previously worked so wonderfully and now is being an asshole).

I am worried that my body won't be able to do it this time. That something is wrong. That I am deficient. That this is a bad omen (and I'm not a superstitious person, so this is new to me). These thoughts do not feel good. These thoughts are not helpful. And every time I get one of the above messages or phone calls or texts I am reminded and these negative feelings are reinforced.

So what should you do if you want news? Wait. Or text someone else. But better yet, wait. Good or bad news will be distributed when there's news to distribute. But no news means no news. And adding your anxiety as to when this baby will comes does not help my anxiety. It, in fact, makes it so, so much worse.

This has been your PSA for the day. Hopefully now you understand why I have ignored your text messages or phone calls or e-mails or posts. Why I haven't "liked" your latest comment on my Facebook update. Why I give one word answers to your inquiries when I do actually respond. Why I've taken a bit of a break from social media.

I am tired. I am sore. I am frustrated and angry. I am weepy. I am NOT fine and I won't be fine until I have a baby. Now you know. So now please, PLEASE send only positive thoughts or messages I don't have to respond to. Or send chocolate. Or wine.

37 weeks, stomach virus, Penny's play

I am officially 37 weeks pregnant, which means that if I go into labor I can now have this baby at home.

So that's a relief... not that I thought I was going to give birth early - there's been no signs of impending labor and I'm 100% ok with that. I still have 3 weeks left of work and a whole bunch of work-related things to do before this baby comes. Not a lot of actual birth prep yet though, I'm pretty much ready for birth. Just work. It's always work..

Anyway, for comparison, here are some pictures:

Baby #3 @37 weeks 1 day

Griffin @ 37 weeks 5 days

Penelope @ 37 weeks

I think I look the same.

I did have a dream that the baby was a girl. But I've had dreams that they were all girls and Griffin is clearly a boy. So my dreams are obviously not prophetic.

Anyway, 20 days until my EDD. I'll be counting down the minutes.

If you'd like to be a part of the guessing pool as to this baby's birth date, sex, weight, and length, go here: http://bebepool.com/sinatra1981

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Sissy and Bubs are both recovering from a wicked stomach virus. Sis went through hers in 3 days with an extra day or two of recovery/weakness. G is now on day 6, poor dude. I hate it when they're sick but I'm so, so glad that so far it seems to have left the adults alone. I don't think Grandma would do well with this one. I won't feel like we're out of the woods until G has been diarrhea free for a week though, he started his about a week after Sis recovered from hers. So either this bug has a long incubation period or he picked it up from school and not from home.

Either way, I'll be glad when the house is bug-free.

----

I was planning on blogging about Penny's play, but I'll save it for later. I don't have the pics readily available and I have grading to do before tomorrow so I should probably do that. Suffice it to say, she was cute and loved being on stage. This will not be the last production she's in, that's for sure.

Resolutions, 2015 edition

I have posted yearly resolutions for awhile now. There was 2014, 2013, 2012, & 2011. I've been mostly successful at keeping these resolutions, so I figured what the heck, lets try a new set for 2015. Only I'm tired and pregnant and busy, so lets make these really, really attainable.

So here are my 2015 New Years Resolutions.

1. Have a baby. That one will be easy to keep if not easy to actually accomplish.

2. Finish the paperwork for my Clear Credential which has been sitting on my desk for 2 years. This one I HAVE to do since my credential expires soon.

3. Run again after baby is born and I've gotten the all clear. This one I've been dying to do for ages, but since I was so sick the 1st trimester I got out of the habit and I don't think picking up running again at 30 weeks is such a good idea.

4. Try not to stress myself out over losing baby weight. This one will be the hardest, by far. It's my 3rd baby, I'm in my 30s, and losing weight won't come as easily (not like it was ever easy, but you get my drift) as it did when I was in my 20s. So I need to cut myself some slack. It will have taken 40 weeks to earn these enormous lunch lady arms, so it's gonna take awhile to make them go away.

Speaking of being 30 weeks and having lunch lady arms, here's a belly pic. Scroll down for comparison w/ G & P pregnancies.

Now w/ Penelope - only at 31 weeks

And with Griffin at 32 weeks

Things to note:
1. I miss that dress, why did I ever get rid of it?
2. Uh, that's it. So really "Thing to note."

We did have a 30 week appointment this Saturday, in addition to hosting a group prenatal at our house. Baby looks good, things are normal and boring.

The group prenatal was interesting. Everyone brought food and we sat around and shared birth stories while the midwives pulled people into the back room for their individual visits. Overall it was nice. Exhausting, but nice. We haven't met a lot of people here outside of our respective places of employment (and more so my work than B's), so it was nice to meet people who not only had kids, but were also home birthers. While home birthers can be a diverse group, they tend to share some things in common and so it's nice to get to know people who have similar philosophies as we do. I don't know if we'll find new besties, and I doubt any group could replace the MSN/One Heart community we had out in Sacramento, but hopefully we'll get to know a few families to add to our social circle.

I'm now on bi monthly pre natal visits, so I see the midwives again in 2 weeks. Come mid-February we'll be on weekly visits until baby 3 decides to make an appearance. I'm really hopeful this one follows in its sister & brother's footsteps and comes on its EDD (3/14/15) because Pi Day is an awesome day on which to be born. We'll see. There's only so much say I have in the matter.

She is 6, going on 16

Precocious children are precocious.

Especially precocious 6 year olds.

Penelope has been reading independently since before the end of TK, but she's always still enjoyed being read to and reading with her brother and me. Until recently, when she discovered the joy of 3rd-5th grade chapter books that are well within her reading level/stamina. While she still loves Harry Potter, we're on Book 5 and those chapters are loooooong and the print is small, so she's not quite ready to read them all on her own yet (soon though, so soon). Instead she devours books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Nancy Clancy, and Neverland Stories (or something like that). She read 2 DoaWK books in 2 days - which is pretty much what I do with books.

Today she spent a good 4 hours reading either the Marvel or Wolverine Encyclopedias. Seriously. The ENCYCLOPEDIAS of Nerd-dom.**

So now she doesn't read with us anymore. She sits on her bed and flies through chapters as Bubby and I make our way through Sneeches and Green Eggs and Ham for the 1 millionth time.

I guess I can't blame her, if I could read a new book almost every night I would too.

Griffin claims he'll always want me to read to him, even when he's 30 (he also claims that he'll want to live with me then too, and help me cook). But I can see the end of this snuggle time fast approaching as well. He's already got a handful of sight words, about what Penny had at this age, and is starting to "read" the books he has memorized. I will not be shocked if he's reading by the start of Kinder in August. Maybe he'll need more time than that, but he'll definitely be reading before he's 6.

At least the baby will still want to read with me... I should probably get us some new books. But by that time, Bubby & Sis may want to read *to* the baby. Then what will I do with myself?

Maybe I should get myself some of my own books.

**Speaking of Nerd-dom, Penelope has decided to forgo the cute apricot colored skirt and shirt we bought her for Christmas and instead wants to wear the dark wash skinny jeans and Wonder Woman t-shirt her brother bought her for Christmas. I brought this upon myself, and I can't say that I'm all that upset about her superhero obsession (because I think it's awesome), but it kills me how pre-teen she is already at 6.

Penelope had a birthday party

And I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to.

But that's ok, because it was fun. And I have these, which are fun too.

The table set up with the photo shoot area in the back.

We found tea cups, saucers, and tea pots at various thrift stores, along with doilies, lace things, and a pink-ish lacy curtain that was our photo shoot backdrop. I made the cupcakes look like flowers (which was crazy easy, thanks youtube!). They also had mason jars as glasses for lemonade.

All the tea was fruit tea (peach, blueberry, etc) and they actually drank it.

The food table: fruit, rice krispy treats, lemonade, cheese & crackers, candy dipped pretzels.

I briefly thought about making scones and mini cheese sandwiches and then had to reign myself in. She's 6, I'm pregnant. This was just fine. I liked the fancy punch bowl, provided by a friend. It was a nice touch.

Table + wall and ceiling decorations

The wall garland was super cute, I wish I had gotten a better shot of it. I do still have it, but I'm not about to drag it out of the kid's room just for a picture. The pom-poms hanging from the ceiling are still up in the house. We'll see how long it is before someone finally gets annoyed with them and takes them down. They're just tissue paper, and easy (but time consuming) to make. My dad & Bryan made half of them while mom and I prepped food the night before. Proof that my dad and husband are pretty freaking awesome.

The hat decorating station

So THIS is where I went overboard budget-wise. The girls each got a hat and a feather boa. They could add ribbons & flowers to their hats to make them super-fancy and tea-party ready. I had to ship the damn hats express to get them here on time because I suck at planning (well, I just got busy), so they were much pricier than I had originally planned. BUT they turned out insanely cute, see:

Birthday Girl in her fancy hat, boa, and party dress.

And then there's these:

My mom, who is awesome.

Penelope, blowing out her candles

I have more, mostly of Sissy and her friends or of her friends posing with the background, but since I don't have permission to post those I think I'll hold off. I'll print them for each girl though and we can include them in her Thank You cards.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of the party, and it was only a 2 hour gig.

Now to start planning Bubby's 5th. I think he wants a Robot theme. Hello Pinterest!

Fun with Old Wives Tales

So the other day I came across this site which lists 10 Old Wives Tales for baby sex prediction and I thought it would be fun to go through them all and see what the Old Wives have to say and then compare once baby Tre gets here.

So, here we go!

Old Wives Tale (OWT) #1: How you carry
Apparently one carries girls high and boys low. So based on this post I think it's safe to say I'm carrying high, which means that this OWT predicts a baby girl. Although if you look at all the pictures, I carry high in all of them and Griffin is most definitely a boy.

Tally: Girl: 1  Boy: 0  No Result: 0

OWT #2: Body clues
Acne = girl
Dry hands = boy
Cold feet = boy

I have both acne and dry hands. No cold feet though, just cold hands.

So this one is a tie. No winners here.

Tally: Girl: 1  Boy: 0  No Result: 1

OWT #3: The Ring Test
You take your wedding ring, string, and see if it swings back and forth (girl) or in a circle (boy) over your belly.

Result? Back and forth. So another OWT for a baby girl.

Tally: Girl: 2  Boy: 0  No Result: 1

OWT #4: The Drano Test
You're supposed to mix your pee with Drano. How many old wives actually had Drano?
Not doing this one, counting it as a no result.

Tally: Girl: 2  Boy: 0  No Result: 2

OWT #5: Heartbeat!
If baby heartbeat is under 140, boy. Over? Girl.

We've heard it both under and over 140. So another no result.

Tally: Girl: 2  Boy: 0  No Result: 3

OWT #6: Cravings
Sweet cravings are supposed to mean a girl, while sour means a boy.

I don't actually crave much, just food. I want sweets after a meal, but I wanted that pre-pregnancy too. I do really like spicy foods when I'm pregnant, but then they give me wicked heartburn. I can say that I definitely do NOT crave anything remotely sour (except in the first trimester when pickles were one of the only things I could eat without throwing up).

So I guess this one is a "no result" as well.

Tally: Girl: 2  Boy: 0  No Result: 4

OWT #7: Chinese Gender Predictor
This is all based on mother's age at conception, or something like that.

Anyway, it says girl.

Tally: Girl: 3  Boy: 0  No Result: 4

OWT #8: Husband Sympathy Weight
If baby's daddy is gaining along with you, then you're having a girl. If he's not, then it's a boy.

Bryan doesn't gain weight. Bastard. So this one says boy.

Tally: Girl: 3  Boy: 1  No Result: 4

OWT #9: Morning Sickness
Morning sickness is supposed to indicate that you're having a girl.

What it really indicates is that evolution is an asshole.

Tally: Girl: 4  Boy: 1  No Result: 4

OWT #10: The Key Test
So you take a kay and if the pregnant person picks it up by the pointy bit, then girl (can you feel me rolling my eyes?) but if she picks it up by the rounded part then boy.

I pick up my keys by the keychain. Also, this one is stupider than the other 9. I'm calling it a "no result."

Final Tally: Girl: 4  Boy: 1  No Result: 5

Alright, so the Old Wives are just as blind about this whole thing as I am. While girl does win out over boy, No Result takes the cake and proves just how silly these things are.

Although I do kinda think it's a girl.

26 weeks

The last time I posted comparison belly pics, I was 20 weeks... I didn't have a 20 picture of my Penelope pregnancy, so I used the 26 week picture. But now that I'm 26 weeks, I have pictures of all 3 pregnancies.

So, to refresh, here's 26 weeks with Penelope

Also, I like my arms in that picture. That *never* happens.

And now 26 weeks with Griffin:

And finally, 26 weeks with baby 3:

Note: Photobucket was being a jerk and the text is on there twice. I'm too lazy to fix it.

Other than the fact that I should NEVER go without bangs again (because good lord my forehead is huge), I think I'm much rounder this time around. Other than that, they look the same to me. I'm terrible at this stuff. I still have NO idea if it's a girl or a boy and am 1,000% ok not knowing.

While this weekend was my 26 week "milestone" - it was also Penny's 6th birthday. We had a tea party and I have pics to post as soon as I can find the cord to upload them. Sissy and her friends had a good time. I still can't believe she's 6!

20 Questions for the Birthday Girl - Age 6

Here are the answers for age 4, and age 5

1. What is your favorite color?   Pink

2. What is your favorite toy?  Frosty, my American Girl doll
3. What is your favorite fruit? Are tomatoes fruit? (me: I think they are)
4. What is your favorite tv show?   Dora and Friends: Into the City

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?   Peanut butter and jelly

6. What is your favorite outfit?   My birthday party outfit (note: she hasn't actually worn this for a day yet, it's for her tea party themed birthday tomorrow)

7. What is your favorite game? Sorry
8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish I guess
9. What is your favorite animal?  Giraffes and owls (note: giraffes have been on the list for 3 years in a row now)
10. What is your favorite song? The More We Get Together, it's a nice song
11. What is your favorite book?   Harry Potter

12. Who is your best friend?  Lila
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios (note: Honey Nut Cheerios)  

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?   Go on the trampoline

15. What is your favorite drink? Water
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas! (said without hesitation)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?   My white tiger

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  I already answered that question (note: cereal, Cheerios)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  That soft bread, and we could have some chicken with it (note: she means sweet French bread)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?   An actor (note: she's recently really gotten into plays and musicals).

Below, Sissy at approximately 10 months. 

Family Pictures

Today we go for our annual family pictures, which is something that Penelope and I enjoy but Bryan and Griffin participate in solely to make me happy.

I thought I'd go back and look at the last few years of pictures before today, and they made me cry, so I decided to make a post out of it.

But before that, quick updates. I'm 23 weeks pregnant, 118 days to go. Everything still looks good. Penny had her 1st Kinder parent/teacher conference and she's doing really well (on track in some areas, above grade level in others - everything assessed in Spanish). She's bossy and popular (she only gets one of those from me and apparently none of those from Bryan - or so he says). She's writing sentences in Spanish (unprompted) and is reading at a 1 grade level in Spanish (4th grade in English). She loves math and is quite good at it. She's still taking piano and still loves it.

She wants to be an astronaut or a jungle scientist, depending on the day - but she's very much into science and art and loves Harry Potter (we're in the middle of Goblet of Fire).

Griffin doesn't get p/t conferences in preschool, but we did get to chat with his teacher and he is doing well in school. He talks in both Spanish and English in class, often responding in English to a teacher's questions in Spanish. He's always singing Spanish songs at home and exclusively names his colors in Spanish. He, more so than Penny, is excited for the baby and he often talks to or "hugs" the baby. He wants to help me do *everything* - he insists on helping me put on my shoes so I don't have to bend over. He helps me cook, he helps Bryan with dishes, he helps sort socks for laundry.

The kids are only about a pound apart in weight. Sis is tall and slender (like her daddy) and Bubs is tall and solid. He's strong and can quite easily overpower his sister.

Work is fine - just got back from taking 7 girls to Washington DC for a student journalism conference. That was a trip (in all the ways that phrase implies). It's been almost a week since we got back and I'm still recovering. But it was fun - for all of us - and I'm glad we went.

Ok, so pictures. I don't have all the years scanned in, so maybe I'll revisit this in a few days and add in the ones I scan.

2009: Penelope's 1st birthday and I'm 20-something weeks pregnant with Griffin

Also, one of just Sissy because it's adorable

2010: In my parent's backyard, not professional. We did end up going to JC Penny later, but I can't find those (probably because I hid them because I hate the way I look in these, but whatever. I had birthed two children in as many years)

2011: At a park in Sacramento, Griffin's 1st birthday pics.

Also, one of the kids together and one of Bubba separately, because they're fricking adorable.

And then one of my brother teaching Penelope how to blow a dandelion because it's also totes adorbs.

2012: I don't have digitally, will have to try and scan.
2013: Griffin's 3rd birthday, on the beach in the Aptos area

2014: That's today! 2015 pics will be after baby is born.

I love seeing how much bigger they get each year. Also, my husband is HOT (and apparently doesn't age).  ;)

Halfway point - 20 weeks

Today I am officially 20 weeks pregnant with the Third Musketeer.

Comparison pics are below if you'd prefer to skip the text update.

Everything looks fine thus far. Genetic testing came back clear, ultrasound came back with nothing but good news (baby is measuring on schedule, is 50% for weight, all organs in place and looking good, pretty much a normal healthy baby from all that they can see). My uterus is measuring exactly where it should. My vitals are good.

Baby's heartbeat today was between 125-130, which is in the normal range. It's lower, so my midwives now think it's a boy; but just 4 weeks ago it was in the 160s so they thought it was a girl.

I think it's a human. Pretty sure I'm right.

We had a girls name picked, but Bryan found another he liked so we've opened up the list. Still no consensus on a boy's name. We do agree on middle names though. Claire for a girl and Vernon for a boy. So at least we agree on something.

I'm ok if we just have a list of names at delivery time and then choose that day or a few days after. Seemed to work with Griffin.

And now for the pictures.

20 weeks with Baby #3

20 weeks with Griffin

26 weeks with Penelope

Comparison Pics

It's been ages since I did a true update, but school is in session and I don't have time for much of anything. Besides, I go to bed at 8:30 lately so there's not much updated happening.

But I DID (finally) find time for this. Belly comparison pics.

Things to note.

1. I was TINY with Penny, but she was my first so duh.
2. My arms get bigger, why is that? I'm not growing a baby in my arms.
3. My belly is rounder this time, IMO.

So here's 19 weeks with Penny:

And 16 weeks with the Bubs:

And now 16 weeks with Baby #3:

Summer and reading

This post is mainly to write down some updates so that I don't forget these things later. No pics this time around, just an informational post.

This summer we enrolled both kids in a summer reading course. Griffin is in the 4-5 year old pre-K class and Penelope is in the pre-2nd grade class. For the last few months she's been reading independently and her reading level quickly progressed - the child always has a book in her hand (or a marker, she's also slightly obsessed with drawing).

It reminds me a lot of me and I've had to tell her the same things my parents used to say to me.

"Please put down the book and eat."
"Please put on your seatbelt before you start reading."
"Please close the book while you walk across the street/parking lot."
"Please close the book and go to bed."

I love that she's a bookworm, but it can be a little exasperating as a parent. She's reading everything - the baby books, the level 1, 2, & 3 books, chapter books (like this series of Nancy Clancy books), and together we've read Charlotte's Web, started the Harry Potter series, and are going to read Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Best.Stage.Ever.

She also started piano lessons today with a hilariously crazy and wonderful Russian pianist. It's going to be a great fit.

Griffin will wait another year for piano - he wants to play the drums, but we're going to have him learn piano and how to read music before we get him drum lessons.

Other than that and the disastrous swimming lessons (which we quit midway through, FTR), we've been hanging out a home. Between the trampoline and everyday errands, we keep pretty busy.

Bubby's new 2 wheel bike came in the mail the other day and we're just waiting on Sissy's. Then we'll add bike riding lessons into our daily routine. Ideally they'll be able to ride to school once the school year begins (with my Dad, of course).

We went to Wyoming again this year for B's grandma's 80th birthday and that was a mostly good trip. I have some pictures I'll try and post later in a longer post. The kids had a blast and it was nice to see some of his family that we rarely see, even when we're in WY.

That's all I can remember for now. Goodnight!