B’s blog

Since the last post, I signed up for my last day on the next schedule before I take maternity leave and that will be April 25th, giving me 4 days to get what I need to get done around the house. I have 33 days left until I hold my baby!

Also since the last post we purchased a new van, a white 2006 Pontiac Montana and traded in our Intrepid. Today we are having a DVD/TV installed so that will be a lifesavor for our trip back to Iowa in May. Funny how far we’ve come to be able to watch TV and movies and even play video games in a moving vehicle. When we called State Farm to sign up for auto insurance on the new van, they told us they also wrote auto loans so Erik had them run the numbers and they are saving us 3% interest and a full 12 months of payments! So we’ve already paid off the loan at CarMax and refinanced through State Farm. Lots of paperwork but also a ton of money saved for us in the long run!

Last night we met for dinner with our old Life Group at CiCi’s pizza. It was nice to catch up and let the kids play. KSBJ is wanting dates in April that work for Erik and I to come in for a baby shower. So I registered at Target and although this is my 4th child, it’s really cool that they would want to throw me a shower. Erik’s mom is having a small family baby shower for the baby with the April birthdays on Easter.

Congrats to Bryon and Maggie on the birth of their daughter Samantha, last Wednesday! All my friends are just days or weeks from popping! I can’t wait to see all these new little faces!

I had a burst of energy Saturday but now it’s gone again. For the last 3 days I’ve been really exhausted with not a whole lot of motivation to do much of anything. Maybe it’s because sleeping has become a challenge lately too. Every time I need to roll over to my other side, I wake up and realize I have to pee. So I get up, pee, take a tums just in case heartburn decides to strike, and try to get comfortable enough to fall asleep for another 2 hrs before starting the cycle all over again. Pretty much this whole pregnancy I get up around 11pm, 2am, and 5am, give or take 30 minutes either way. I’m wondering if these are the times the baby will be getting up during the nights to nurse? It’s like clockwork too. I could goto be at 10:45pm and by 11:15pm I’m up having to pee again. He’s pushing my diaphram so I can’t breathe but also he’s low enough that I’m not emptying my bladder when I go therefore I have to go every half hour most days. I’m starting to have more braxton hicks contractions. Averaging about 2-3/hr and mostly just when I’m resting on the couch. I can’t tell when I’m moving around but I would dare bet I’m having them. April 30th can’t get here fast enough. The thing I’m most nervous about it getting the spinal before the surgery I think. I know I’ll hurt afterwards and it will suck getting up that first time but I also know that Kingwood medicates their patients much better than Methodist did when I had Avery. The nurses at my work told me I needed to make a wish list and they would spoil me while I was in as a patient. We’ll see. Just give me pain pills when I’m scheduled for them around the clock and I’ll be happy. I don’t want to stay the whole 4 days that insurance will allow though. I think the sooner I get home the better. I can see myself staying until May 2nd in the afternoon if I have him on April 30th, just 48 hrs or a little more. It’ll be based on how I’m moving around and how much pain I’m having. But if all they are doing is popping me with pain pills, I can do that at home. I think the hardest part about coming home will be the kids wanting to sit on my lap like they all try to still do now when I’m laying on the couch. Keeping them off me will be difficult. Also sending Erik back to work will be hard because I will definitely need him home with me helping with the other kids too. Picking them up from school mostly since I won’t be able to drive. I pray the recovery will be uneventful and I’ll be back to normal in no time. With Avery, after my c-section, I did great! But I was also 9 years younger and he was the only one so I could actually rest when he did. I hardly remember my maternity leave with him at all it was so long ago. I’m getting anxious as each day passes. I’m counting down the number of days I have left to work. I’m still debating if I want to sign up for 2 weeks of full time hours on the next schedule or not. That starts April 15th. Part of me would LOVE to start my leave early so that I can finish up things around the house but I think that would make me crazy waiting and waiting. Who knows. I’ll have to see how I feel in the next couple weeks.

As anyone can see, my mind is racing 100 miles a minute these days.

We had a super fun Spring Break this year with the kids. I have to admit I was a little worried that it would be filled with boredom, fighting, and tears by all but we spread out the fun and all went great. Monday was going to be a lazy day but I got a call from Erik that Mike and Susan from the Morning Show wanted to interview Avery on the radio about fun things to do for Spring Break. So we headed to the station, he was interviewed, and then we rewarded everyone with a few hours of fun at Chuckie Cheese. Monday evening when Erik got home, we let the kids paint my pregnant belly. It was fun and they enjoyed it alot. They painted my belly to look like a basketball and then a fishbowl with fish in it. They did a super job! Tuesday, Erik took off so we headed to Old MacDonald’s farm just a few miles from our house. It’s a petting zoo where you can ride the train, feed the animals (deer, pigs, cow, donkey, rabbits, chickens, horses, sheep, etc), swing on a rope swing in a huge barn filled with super soft hay, and get a horse ride. Once you are in the gates, it’s all free. They have a pool and many different play areas and equipment too. We got there just in time to spend a few hours and make it to our car before it poured down rain for the next 2 days! Wednesday I worked so they spent the rainy day inside at Erik’s mom’s house and did crafts. She said surprisingly they didn’t fight all day either. Thursday I had doctor appt and had to drag them all along so afterwards we headed to Jump Town. This was Avery’s highlight of the week. You pay for the 2 hour session and the kids get to jump on inflatible moonwalks, mazes, and climbing things until they get worn out! If they had a little place in the building for moms to get a coffee or soda and actually sit in comfortable seating, this would be my new favorite place too. It’s $6/kid to get in for a 2 hour stretch. That place is making tons of money! If Des Moines doesn’t have one, I think I’d consider moving back and opening one up because in that 2 hr stetch, that place made over $400! It’s a gold mine! First of all what kid doesn’t like to jump around on those things and what mom doesn’t like a worn out kid? Today, Friday, we were going to just do nothing but we got our tax money back and I had to run to the bank so that’s what we did. That and I cleaned my room and the kitchen and took a nap with Braden. Overall a great spring break. The weather here the last 2 days has been in the 70’s and sunny. Good thing too because I need for the pond in my backyard to dry out so Erik can mow. I work Saturday and then am off again until next Wed. I can’t wait! I hope to get some things accomplished with this stretch of time off this time around too. 6 weeks until baby comes and still I have no crib or bassinet in my possession. I’m borrowing them since I gave mine away just like I gave most of my baby stuff away. The only thing I have in my possession is a bouncy seat and soon to be a car carrier. I’m borrowing the swing, bassinet, exersaucer, and playpen but still don’t have them here at the house. Guess if worse comes to worse, I’ll have the baby sleep with us just like Braden did until we can arrange to get things picked up. No biggie.

The other big thing I have been working on this week was trying to arrange a schedule while we are back in Iowa. We have so many people to see and just not enough time to do it. Erik wanted to maybe rent a shelter somewhere and have all our friends meet there one evening for a potluck so we could all hang out. That’s great if everyone knew everyone but they don’t. And I really don’t want anyone to come there and then feel like we didn’t get to talk to them enough or hang out enough with them. And the other obsticle is that the Iowa kids that my kids want to see will still be in school which means I’ll only have afternoons and evenings to see those families. It’s just gonna be hard to spend time with those I want to spend time I have a feeling. And I have to remember that we will be on baby time this time, which means that if the baby isn’t going to cooperate and he’s gonna get overstimulated and cranky, we’ll have to slow it down. I’m sure it will work out just like it did last year. I just wish we could get back more often than once a year.

So the Hannah Montana/Cheetah Girls concert I heard wasn’t great for about a 1/4 of the crowd because in the middle of the concert, that 1/4 of the stadium lost sound! I guess if I paid $300 for a ticket, I’d be upset if I couldn’t heard the concert! The Rodeo committee is offering refunds to that section that was without so that at least is good.

Braden’s culture ended up being MRSA (Methocillin Resistance Staph Aureus). The kind of staph we see at the hospital which have to be treated with the big antibiotics because this kind of staph has a resistance to the normal medications like penicillin, methocillin, and ampicillin. He is taking his bactrim really well, not such a fight, and his bottom looks so much better. The pediatrician gave him 2 thumbs up on Monday at his recheck. She said we are lucky we caught it early and are doing a great job keeping it clean. I’m very pleased with that.

Last night Erik couldn’t pick up the kids from his mom’s which meant I had to at 7pm when I was off work. I got there and the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement because it was family night at the school. Opps! I forgot. So we headed up to the school and looked at all their artwork, projects, talked with teachers. It was so cool to see the pride these 2 have for their school and their work. Both are doing GREAT in school and both love it. Braden’s eyes were wide as he looked at all the fun stuff to do in the kindergarten room. I think he’ll love going to school when his time is here. I feel like maybe he needs to goto preschool in the next year (when he’s 4 just to get a feel for how school is before he actually goes.) Guess I will have to ask around and look into morning preschool programs for Fall of 2008.

Next week is Spring Break in Texas. Erik gets to take off Tuesday to play. We may goto the Rodeo or take the kids to the zoo. I am excited to have a family day though!

Today we took the kids to the driving range to hit a bucket of golf balls after church and lunch. Erik bought the boys each their own driver about a month or so ago and Braden is a golfin’ freak! Avery hit a few really great drives, about 100 yards, which I think is impressive for an 8 year old. Jaelyn even gave it a try and didn’t do half bad. I haven’t swung a golf club since college, when I went once with an old boyfriend. I think I swung the club then about 5 times and gave up. I sucked at it! But today Erik took some time and told me how to hold it and I did pretty good and even enjoyed myself. It’s funny how I hit better around a 30 week pregnant belly than I did when I was in better shape in college. It’s got to be that I have a way better teacher this time! I can see how hitting golf balls at the driving range could relieve stress too. Might have to go again.

Braden’s sore butt is looking so much better. The boil isn’t as hard, it’s less red, and less painful for him. He’s taking his medication better since I got it changed and now I’m not as worried about him aspirating it like I was with the first nasty medication. I’m proud of him. Monday he goes back to the doctor for a recheck on it so I’m hoping they have the official results of the culture to know if we really were dealing with staph or not. Either way, I appreciated the doctor treating him as if it was, even if it’s not because it’s so contagious. So far, no one else has come down with any weird bumps or boils so all’s good.

While Iowa has been under snow we have enjoyed beautiful weather in the 60-70’s. It’s been great eating suppers outside, grilling, and sitting in the back yard watching the kids play t-ball. Spring break will be here in a few weeks and I’m hoping for nice weather so the kids will get to play outside with friends.

For those with school age kids, you will know who I am talking about when I say Hannah Montana was here in concert tonight at The Rodeo, in downtown Houston. Tickets were being scalped for over $300 last I heard. I would have loved to take Jaelyn but there’s no way I’d pay that amount! Hannah Montana is Billy Ray Cyrus’s daughter and stars in her own show on Nickelodeon. My kids watch her daily. I guess tickets were sold out the first day they went on sale. Erik won us tickets to the Sheryl Crow concert and 4 free tickets to The Rodeo. I’d love to go to The Rodeo but not necessarily the concert. The Rodeo is just that, it’s a rodeo but also it’s like a 4 week Iowa State Fair, only Houston style! There is livestock, concerts, carnival rides, a daily rodeo, and food galore. We didn’t go last year but it sure would be fun to see. Just to get in the gates, it costs a family of 4 $70+! So free tickets in the gates was a blessing to have won, especially if we end up going. Problem is, tickets to the rodeo are extra, and then all the money a family can spend on carnival rides and foods. You can easy drop a couple hundred bucks going.