My sweet big girl brought me breakfast in bed this morning. She is absolutely amazing. Savannah wanted to make sure my last day of being pregnant was as relaxing as possible. I have been asked numerous times if there is something she can do to help me. So SWEET!
The first words I heard from Lila were, "Mommy, you and Daddy are so lucky. You get to have your baby tomorrow!" I think they are all very excited. Lila also snuggled up to me yesterday and told me that I am her best Mommy and that she never wants me to die. Ugh. It is so painful to watch your children come face to face with their parents' mortality. I think there are many emotions that are swirling around in her head.
And this one, well Adeline has been the sweetest little girl too. In
between her recent bouts of whining, she has snuggled me more than ever.
She was my basketball buddy yesterday as I spent a few hours on the
couch watching the games. After all, I am two days away from giving
birth, I think I deserve some couch time. Having a little one snuggled
up close to me made it even better.
This weekend marked our last mommy and daddy centers without having a baby in the background. Who knows how that is going to change things. We really enjoy these centers. As you may remember, the girls spend a half hour with me, alex and then by themselves. We do all sorts of different activities. Whatever they want to do, we pretty much do it if we can. It is pure one on one time with each girl. We all love it.
This round consisted of Mommy playing games with Savannah, and then painting with each of the twins. I didn't take pictures of our games but did capture some artists in training. The little girls were so proud to paint on canvas. I think they did a fantastic job. Soon, these painting will be hanging in their bedroom.
Yesterday was a dose of reality. Our spring Saturdays are shaping up to be very busy. With dance, gymnastics and t-ball, I am not sure we have room for a new baby. Yesterday was the first t-ball practice. I had two very excited girls!
While Savannah was off to gymnastics, I took the girls to a local egg hunt. It was the first egg hunt that they remember doing with a large group. They were very nervous. I think Lila was convinced she wasn't going to find an egg. The egg hunt wasn't too exciting and only lasted a couple minutes. The girls thought it was great though. Another successful activity that I squeezed in before this baby!!
The twins' teacher hosts an after school knitting club where the students knit baby hats for our local hospital. The twins don't participate but in honor of their new baby sister, they were given the chance to bring two baby hats home. If you know my girls, you know which hat they each chose.
St. Patrick's Day isn't my favorite holiday but the schools sure ramp it
up in kids' heads. So what's a Mom to do. Yes, I am full term, have a
list a mile long and want to ask all the other Mom's out there. . .
"How do you squeeze in all the crafting and baking when we are still
recovering from Christmas and Valentine's Day?" but I power through. We
baked and set traps. The baking was successful but not the trap.
Those pesky leprechauns!
These two little girls really love each other!!
After drinking our green milk and juice for breakfast, we did a little math and then headed out to a local children's museum. The highlight was letting the kids paint our faces!
It is rare that I find one on one time with Adeline that lasts more than 20 minutes. Lila likes to be involved. I decided to take advantage of the time Lila spent with Daddy at Chick-fil-a and spend some time with Adeline.
We decided to bake cupcakes. It was lots of fun. She is a real easy going sweetheart.
We did it! Against my doctor's advice, against the thoughts of friends and even against our deep down intuition. . .we packed up the family and headed to Massanutten, VA for some skiing and fun. I was 33 weeks pregnant and my doctor left it the decision up to me but made it clear that I was to be thankful each day that I remained pregnant. Those worries seem like a distant memory as I sit here typing this, four days from my scheduled c-section. Before we left, we went through lots of testing: labs, ultrasound, and in office tests. I was handed my medical records and wished good luck. I was also reminded to take the car seat with us. That we did.
I am so glad that we didn't let our nerves hold us back. We had such a wonderful time. There is something about vacationing with our favorite North Carolina family! We all have so much fun. The kids adore one another and with seven, going on eight kids, in the house, there is always someone to play with and another set of hands to help.
Our first full day started with ski school. Savannah quickly excelled and was working on parallel turns and steeper terrain. The little girls did well but showed signs of their prematurity. They are weak and have a hard time isolating some movements. The snowplow is very hard for them if they don't have the tips of their skis tethered. Kids much younger are able to do this but without the skis tethered, both Adeline and Lila struggle and make a funky movement with their arms. It is really strange because their arms have nothing to do with the move but both girls do it. It is a sign that their brain knows what to do but their body won't cooperate.
Did I mention Lila got the same ski instructor as last year. She had a slight crush on him last year and was hoping to see him this year. His was the first face she saw. Love at first sight!!
Here is a clip of my little jumping beans coming down the slope in ski school.
Here are some clips from later on in the weekend. They made tons of improvement! They enjoyed night skiing with daddy. It worked out quite well because Savannah was (get ready for this) loose on the slopes with her friend. I can't believe we crossed that bridge! She doesn't have to ski with an adult. I sat in the lodge with a walkie and she called me if needed but she ended up being just fine. She had a blast with her buddy Joey!
Notice the funky arm movement. Her skis weren't tethered.
The little girls took turns with daddy and while waiting, hung with me in the lodge for a snack and break. We spent hours, on the slopes. One night, Adeline was the last skier down the hill. Leave it to my six year old night owl, to close the place!
While skiing seemed to be the focus, (we came home with our own sets of skis) we did other activities. The water park is always fun. I squeezed my over inflated body into a suit and hung with my big girl on the lazy river. The little girls hit the slides and then spent the majority of the time swimming in the warm, pool. I finally understand why my kids are always cold in pools. The less body mass you have, the colder you get. I never believed this but being the large Mommy I am right now, I have noticed that I just don't get cold like I usually do. Poor Adeline has purple hands and lips if the pools are super warm.
One morning, during a very light and pretty snowfall, we went for a hike. All the kids were looking forward to hiking but, again, mine got cold. I made the mistake of having them wear sneakers and not boots. Cold piggies cut a hike short! It was okay by me.
The trip ended on a rather sad note. Lila slammed her finger in the door. When I say slammed, I mean slammed it like I have never seen a finger slammed. It was sliced open, purple and swollen in minutes. I couldn't believe how bad it looked. I continued to burst open and bleed for days. We finally headed into the ER and thankfully, it wasn't broken. The nail has fallen off and we are hopeful that it will look normal again one day soon. Miss Lila was a tough and brave girl.
We can't wait to go back next year. Maybe my face won't be so swollen!! We love Massanutten!
Considering I only made it to 27 weeks with the twins, it is understandable that I don't remember being this large! It has been nine years since I walked around with 45 extra pounds on me.
I am ready to have this baby! I am huge and swollen but thankful that I am still pregnant and not sitting in a NICU watching my baby fight for every breath. This has been an amazing journey - a journey we never expected to take.
In honor of my last week of pregnancy, I thought I would put up a picture. It isn't as clever as past pictures but life seems too busy and has no room for clever pictures!
We don't know how this child will change our family but we know she will. We are nervous and excited at the same time. One thing is for certain, we have been so darn lucky the past few years. Life has been smooth and easy. We have three wonderful girls who fill us up with love each and everyday. We spend more hours together as a family than most with Alex working from home. His job, my lack of a job and our loving kids are all such a blessing. We know we will fall madly in love with girl #4 but for the moment, we are a little apprehensive about the change. We have such a good thing going. . .
Yes, I know, it's only going to get better with baby girl #4. I just need to hold her to fully digest the fact. As I said, SEVEN MORE DAYS!!!
Lila Grace loves Chick-fil-a. I can't say the same. In fact, no one else in our family likes the place. When our local Chick-fil-a announced they were hosting a date night with Daddy, I jumped on it. It not only gave Lila some special Daddy time, it checked Chick-fil-a off of the "Mommy when can we go to" list. It also, gave Lila some time with her friend Charlotte. Alex and Byron made it a double date for the girls.
They had a great time! Where else can you go and be treated like royalty when in a fast-food restaurant? She even came home with a carnation. Check out her pretty arm!
It's official. Savannah had her first sleepover away from home. It was fun for her and sad for us. I was surprised at how strange it felt. There was such a void. Savannah was more than ready and I guess I wasn't. Considering the girls stayed up until 2:00 am and were back awake at 6:00 am, I think I might wait awhile before she attends another one. She came home and crashed for three hours. Talk about a wasted Saturday!!
It is hard to believe that another year of gymnastics is about to wind down. It has been quite the year. Savannah was promoted to pre-team which means she practices one and a half hours twice weekly. It doesn't sound like that much but there is a 25 minute drive on either side of it which makes for a long day. She doesn't care though. She is determined to make the team. We have no room in the schedule for a "team practice schedule," so I am thankful that she has many more skills to learn before she is considered for the team. Savannah recognizes that she is taller than most of the girls out there and got a much later start (has only been doing gymnastics for one year). She doesn't let this get her down. She works very hard and is comfortable in her own skin when at practice. I love the program. They make all kids the feel like a million bucks.
The twins are on year two or three of gymnastics. Is that sad when I can't remember these things? They don't love it like Savannah but seem to have fun once they are in their class. Neither girl is driven or pushes really hard to do more than what is required. I have them in there for motor planning and strengthening. Lila has come far this year. She is starting to get command of her body. Adeline will always be weak with tight legs. You can see her limitations when she is working on specific skills. Adeline is Adeline though and she takes everything in stride with a bright smile on her face.
Each February, the gymnastics program puts on a show for parents. Her are some pictures and clips from the girls performances. It was pretty cute but appears pretty abstract and choppy because I squeezed it all into one video.
Lila just completed her last few weeks of swim. She doesn't like it but has attended once a week for the majority of the school year. This is one of those activities that we force her to do for motor planning purposes. I can say that all of these "not so loved activities" are paying off. She has changed so much this year. The clumsy Lila is fading and being replaced with a girl who has better control and balance. I see it in her dance class, especially.
Back to swim. Lila was often one of two kids in her swim clinic this year which means she got a lot of individualized attention. After weeks and weeks of swimming laps, she has declared herself as a butterfly girl. Go figure. The hardest stroke, and that's where my girl excels!? Lila has an amazing dolphin kick. She is still young to coordinate the breaths with the arms. The arms alone are really hard for a kid her age. Here is a brief clip. She is in the far lane with the yellow swim cap.
Here is another clip of her diving off the block. She wouldn't have anything to do with it back in October! She finishes out the lap but her stroke is confused. She just came off of butterfly stroke so she is using butterfly breathing instead of freestyle. Oh well!! I am pretty pleased with this girl.
