COUNTDOWN: 2 weeks (hopefully less)

Two weeks to go! We're ready for this little guy to come anytime now. Hopefully we'll have a picture similar to this one (plus one more boy) soon. I can't believe how young Braeden and Carter look in this picture. Well, I guess they were young--Braeden was 3 1/2 and Carter was 1 1/2. Oh, and Tanner was like 12 hours old or something. We finally have his name figured out--I think. We'll let that be a surprise!

I think we're feeling ready though. After a morning of hard work, the house is clean. The baby stuff if all prepared and ready to go. With the other three boys I had to be induced due to low amniotic fluid. I went to the hospital for an ultrasound yesterday and I have plenty of amniotic fluid right now. So, I am starting to think that I may not have to be induced this time. We'll see. A part of me really wants to go on my own and another part of me is okay being induced. It's all I know after all. Not to mention I have little confidence that my body knows what to do. Last time my doctor checked my cervix, I was at a ZERO and I don't have very many contractions. When I have had my non-stress tests they monitor my contractions. So far it's just be one FLAT line (meaning no contractions! Yesterday when the nurse looked over my non-stress test, she said they usually see at least some contractions at this stage in the game--especially for someone's fourth. I'll get checked on Tuesday and we'll see if anything's happening. Cross your fingers for me. JP and I were kind of hoping he'd be born on the first of March. It's not likely though. Braeden keeps wondering when we're going to have our new baby. I guess he's a planner like me. I'd like to know exactly when he's going to get here too. Braeden's primary concern is the things he gets while I'm at the hospital...ie. certain food items we've been saving for when Nana comes to stay with them. I'll keep you all posted!

Other than waiting for baby boy to get here, we've just been busy keeping up with Braeden, Carter, and Tanner. Tanner is constantly wanting food. I can hardly keep up with his food demands. Jeff has noticed that every time he gets home from work, Tanner is sitting on his barstool eating. Carter is obsessed with the computer lately. He loves to play on Poptropica and Legos websites. It's amazing how well he does. He is still such a Daddy's boy while Tanner is a total Mama's boy. Braeden keeps busy with school. He likes running outside and wearing my Garmin to time himself. He has a little course he runs every time and he tries to beat his record. He is hoping to get faster for soccer and the school race in May.

I just tried running with Braeden this morning--hoping to get some contractions going. It felt great for a minute, then it was just plain painful. I miss running soooo bad! Sometimes I have dreams that I am running. Pretty soon and I'll be able to get going. I hope to run a Half in the fall sometime. That would be a great motivator for me to get back into shape!

Small, Medium, & Large

I often refer to my little guys as "Small, Medium, and Large". Soon we're going to have X-Small, Small, Medium, and Large. It's hard to believe he should be here in the next few weeks.

I'm going to miss these three little guys while I'm at the hospital. They can't even come to visit me and meet their new baby brother at the hospital. No kids under 14 allowed due to H1N1. I understand the precautions, but it's still a bummer. They'll just have to wait until we come home from the hospital to meet him.

Christmas Eve

Yes, yes, I know that we've just past Valentine's Day, but I still want to share some more pictures and memories from a while back.

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with Jeff's sis and her family. The kids all got dressed up to act out the best story ever. Braeden got to play Joseph, Carter was a shepard, and Tanner was a wise man. Tana's oldest daughter, Hallie, got to play Mary. She's lucky that there's no one to fight her for that coveted role. Then, Bronson and Jack were wiseman/shepards too. They all cooperated pretty good considering their young ages. They all just looked so cute. I love these pictures. These pictures will definitely be framed and made into ornaments for our Christmas tree.

One month to go!

There's one month left until my due date. It's getting closer. I feel like I have been pregnant FOREVER. So, I can't believe it's almost here. I am finally feeling like we are just about ready. I went to the store yesterday and bought all the baby stuff--lots of expensive newborn diapers, yummy-smelling baby powder and lotion, and a few other essentials. Even though this is our fourth baby (that's still hard for me to believe), we still have had quite a few things to buy. Today we took back our 6-year old recalled crib to Wal-Mart where they gave us a full refund to buy another crib. I know a lot of people hate Wal-Mart, but I have to say I think it was great of them to give us a full refund. It's actually not my favorite place to shop even though I shop there all the time. The lines, parking lot, and people are crazy, but I go there because I can save $$$$$. Anyways, we needed a new swing--our old one only lasted through three babies with older toddlers abusing it. The little guys just can't resist playing with the swing. When the little guy needs it, we'll have to get a new highchair--again it only made it through three kids. I always thought that after buying everything when we had our first, that we'd be set. But, I guess not. Having these little guys is pretty expensive. We're just glad they're worth every penny. So, we're pretty much ready for him to come. All the baby boy clothes (tons of hand-me-downs) are washed and ready to go. Now we just need to figure out what his name is going to be. It's hard coming up with a fourth name. I'm not sure have Jeff's parents did it--they had 7 boy names to come up with and 4 girl names!

More blogging to come soon--hopefully. I still want to share pictures from Tanner's 2nd birthday, Christmas, and a few other things. We hope to be posting pictures of a new baby soon too!

Thanksgiving

We went to Idaho for Thanksgiving. We had a nice time with family and the boys love playing at Uncle Carl's house. My parents still have their house in Idaho and my brother Carl lives there. I made over 100 rolls for Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family. We also brought stuff for the little kids to make their own pies. It was a fun little activity for them--I think I'll do that every year from now on. I just bought the mini graham cracker crusts, snack size puddings, marshmellows, bananas, and cherry pie filling (as per Braeden's request for Cherry pie). We let the kids "make" their own pie. We had a really nice time there. We were able to spend time with both my mom and dad's sides of the family. We were really bummed that Doug and Jessica (my brother and his wife) couldn't make it. Jess was really sick then and still is not feeling very well. We are hoping and praying that Jessica gets feeling better soon. My mom and I went out at 4 in the morning to brave the crowds and freezing cold weather to get some good deals. I was happy because I got a few of the things we really wanted. Braeden and Carter got to go up a day early with Nana and Papa. So, Jeff and I had a nice, quiet ride up to Idaho with only one kid. But, then we all came home together.

Jeff's work party

We hosted Jeff's work Christmas party this year (okay it was actually last year, but I'm writing about it in 2010 finally). It was a lot of fun. His department provided the meat and everyone helped bring side dishes and desserts. People brought great food and I made homemade rolls. I was excited to pull out my fancy dishes and couldn't believe that I had the exact number we needed. There were a total of 20 people. We ate and played a few games. Jeff works with such great people. Not to sound cheesy, but we are really grateful that he has such a good job and that he works with such great people.

Question:

Should I update my blog? Can you believe how behind I am? I promise it's coming soon. I'll just say-- we are alive and doing well. Seven and a half weeks left until my due date. It can't come soon enough.

TTFN

So behind...

I'm so behind on updating my blog, I'm sure many of you stopped checking it! October was crazy with a lot of eventful, happy experiences. First, we went to AZ for Jeff's baby brother's wedding. Trevor and Ashley are such a great pair. It is fun to have another awesome sister-in-law. Their wedding was gorgeous and I love the sash on her wedding dress! It was a quick trip as we had to get home to close on our house. We thought we'd be able to close before our trip to AZ, but that didn't happen. We got home from AZ Sunday night with high hopes that we'd be able to close the next day. Finally, Monday afternoon, we closed. The seller/builder surprised us by giving us the keys before it funded. So, Jeff and I left the title company and went and got a U-Haul. We couldn't get out of that apartment fast enough. Anyways, moving was a huge process! But, we did it!

Then, Oct. 29th (a week and a half after moving in), Tanner had to go in for his surgery. It all went well, but it still was a worry. The biopsy came back just fine. So, we were thankful for that. His recovery went surprisingly well. He goes back for a follow-up appointment Dec. 2nd. At that time, the plastic surgeon, will plan out his next surgery. We are hoping to get his next surgery in before the baby comes. But, we'll see. You can see his nice scar--this is what it looked like when we got home from the hospital. It looks much better now and it has healed very nicely. It was a little stressful at first to try to keep a busy, clumsy, almost 2 year old from touching it, poking it, falling on it, etc. But, it all worked out okay.

Lastly, we topped October off with Halloween fun. Braeden and Carter wanted to be cowboys. And, Tanner was a lion, sort of. He really didn't want to have much to do with his costume. He wouldn't even let us put on the top part of his costume. He wasn't all that thrilled with trick-or-treating either. I think he was still a little tired from surgery. So, you can't blame him. He was happy to help partake of the candy though. Braeden and Carter had a blast. Carter got to dress up for Pre-School. Braeden's school doesn't allow Halloween costumes. What PARTY POOPERS! I'm sorry to all the teachers that have to deal with the huge distraction--really I am. But, honestly dressing up in my Halloween costume for school was the funnest day of the year. Bummer! Oh well, Braeden still had a fun Halloween.

November is flying by. I'll get another update in here soon. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I am making a ton of rolls. I hope they turn out perfect. I think that rolls are the crowning jewel of a nice Thanksgiving dinner. My grandma always made the best rolls ever! I mean the best. I have experience Lion House rolls and other yummy rolls, but still have yet to taste on as good as my Grandmas! I hope to someday--after years of practice--be known as a great roll maker too. I'll get lots of practice this year as I'll be making over 100 rolls for Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!

I'm such a boy mom!

It's
a
BOY!

We just found out this morning. We were grateful to see a healthy looking little guy. We just told his brothers, and Braeden and Carter were so excited--Tanner doesn't have a clue what's going on. Boy #4 is due in March. Now we've got to figure out a fourth boy name. They'll be no shopping on the other side of the store for us. I hope he likes hand-me-downs!