Nursery ideas

So, since we're having another boy (well another baby, actually) we've decided to move the girls' room to the playroom downstairs. We'll put Isaac and Elijah in the room the girls are in now, since it's the bigger of the 2 kids' rooms, and we'll put Jett in the room the boys are in now. The girls' bedroom walls are a purpleish-pink, so that will definitely have to change! I've been looking at bedding for a few days. I don't want anything to do with sports (we aren't really a sports related family...sports annoy me to be honest), and we've already done the whole transportation thing (planes, cars, etc.) so I wanted something different. I found a bedding set I love at Target, and even though I wasn't looking at prices, (although they are definitely something we have to consider!) I saw that this whole 10 piece set was only $129.99! It includes the bumper pad, crib sheet, comforter, 3 piece wall hanging, dust ruffle, throw, decorative pillow and the diaper stacker!!! Here's a pic of the set.

And a closer pic of the bedding...

Here's the wall hanging...

And I definitely want this monkey in the room somewhere! :)

I'd really like to get the same orange color in the bedding for the wall paint...or possibly do 3 walls the olive green color and the 4th wall green/orange stripes...or 1 orange wall with green, brown, blue, and yellow dots like the dots in the bedding. Ok, I'm just now realizing that there are alot of possiblities with this bedding set!! I'm pretty much set on it now. :)

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!

We're having another precious little boy!!! I'll be honest, the thought of having 3 boys, 3 years apart, scares me just a little. I told Mike that I don't know why God gave me 3 boys like this...He knows how paranoid I am. Of course, Mike told me it was probably God telling me I need to trust Him more. And I know that. I'm just being....well, paranoid. I'm so honored that God would choose me to be the mother of 3 little men and 2 little women. ;)

Let me introduce you to Jett Michael Hall.

It's definitely a boy!

18 weeks...again

At our ultrasound that we had last Friday, (which will be my next post, of course) the baby was measuring about 8 days behind and the u/s tech said that Dr. Lemberger usually changes the due date if it's more than 7 days away from the original due date. If so, that would actually put me at 17 weeks 6 days, I'll be 18 weeks tomorrow. And since I've already done an 18 week update, obviously I'm not going to do another one. I'm assuming she will change it because, 1 - the u/s tech said she usually does, and 2 - I'm going to tell her I really want her to change it...it would give me more time to go into labor on my own! So that's that. My next dr. appt. is on June 7th. We'll see what happens.

Uh...I meant 2 DAYS!

In my last post, I wrote that it would be 2 more weeks till the big ultrasound, but that has changed. I called the doctor's office today to see if they could fit me in this Friday since Mike would already be off of work. I was able to sweet talk them into moving my appt. from June 1st to 9:30am this Friday!!!! I can't believe it! We found out that Mike's parents won't be able to come until the 3rd week in June, and there's no way I can wait for 3 weeks to open the envelope to find out what we're having! His younger sister Sheri is coming in on Friday, so we're gonna have dinner at our house that night with my mom and one of my sisters and her family (my other sister is on vacation in Mexico!) and we'll open it all together. I'm excited, but I'm also anxious to hear that everything is fine with the baby!

I also wanted to ask you to pray for Monica. I met her in college when she was roommates with one of my good friends. She was 24 weeks pregnant with her second son when she went into the dr. because she hadn't felt him moving. They confirmed there that her precious baby boy no longer had a heartbeat. She delivered sweet Duncan Thomas on Tuesday evening. Please keep this family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of their baby boy.

18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I haven't weighed myself in a few days...who knows? I'm guessing still around 10lbs.

Maternity clothes? More and more every day

Stretch marks? No new ones yet.

Sleep: Still pretty good with Tylenol pm

Best moment this week: This has nothing to do with the pregnancy, but Chloe learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! =) It seriously only took her like 15 minutes to learn, of course she still needs to work on turning and braking!

Movement: It has slowed down a little, which is concerning me a little bit. I made an appt. this morning to go in this afternoon to check the heartbeat, but cancelled it after I felt what I thought might be flutters.

Food cravings: Mainly fruit

Gender: unknown still...thinking girl this week. :) 2 more weeks! Mike has talked me into waiting to find out with the family. :)

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly button in or out? In.

What I miss: Being able to listen to the radio. It's still making me sick when a song comes on that I've heard a million times.

What I am looking forward to: The u/s and Mike's little sister Sheri coming this weekend for a visit! She's never even met Isaac! Isn't that sad?!?!? :(

Weekly Wisdom: ?? I'm drawing a blank

Milestones: This is the first day in like a month that I haven't had an iced coffee in the morning to wake me up. Does that count?

Look...he/she's starting to get a little bit scrunched in there ;)

How your baby's growing:
Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Ike the Spike :)

Ok. I can't stand it when Mike calls him Ike (you'd think he would hate it too...think about it...Mike and Ike??...really??), but Ike the Spike...now that's funny.

I mean, just take a look at this face
That smile gets me every time!

17 week survey

I've seen a few people doing this survey thing on their blogs, and I thought it was much more interesting than just "well, nothing really new this week." So here goes...

How far along? 17 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: About 8-10 pounds...it varies

Maternity clothes? Here and there...I can still fit into most of my pre-pregnancy stuff, although maternity clothes are much more comfy!

Stretch marks? Uh, well...from my last 4 pregnancies, yeah...

Sleep: Usually good with Tylenol PM

Best moment this week: Definitely feeling movement!

Movement: Yeah...

Food cravings: Watermelon...and it was good!

Gender: ??...3 more weeks! I'm trying to convince Mike to let just him and I find out at the u/s and tell the family all together at dinner when his parents get in. The jury's still out on that idea...

Labor Signs: No

Belly button in or out? In.

What I miss: Not having a headache every day of my life

What I am looking forward to: The u/s

Weekly Wisdom: I'm really trying to enjoy every minute of this pregnancy, since it will definitely be my last. No, really. I know I said that when I was pg with Isaac, but I'm serious this time. ;)

Milestones: We took our first trip to Babies R Us to just look around. We bought Isaac some sandals...

17 weeks!

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Not too much new going on this week, as far as the pregnancy goes. No questions about it, I am definitely feeling this baby move! 3 weeks till the big u/s!!

Finally!!!

After 3 1/2 years of worry and fret over when I would do it, how I would do it, and how long it would take, it's finally DONE!!! My son is POTTY TRAINED!!! Yeah, I know you're thinking...well he should be if he's 3 and a half! But honestly, I have put it off for so long because it took a very long time for Elijah to talk and he's so busy, I just figured that he wouldn't really even realize he was going, or how to tell me. I have tried to start it before, but he wanted nothing to do with it, so I just stopped.
Here's how easy it was since I waited till he was ready:
He woke up last Wednesday morning and I took his diaper off and put his big boy Cars underwear on. I told him that he couldn't pee or poop in them because it would make a huge mess if he did. Of course I was concerned that he still wouldn't really know when he was going since he's gone in a diaper for so long, but boy was I wrong!!! About an hour after he woke up, he started holding himself and saying "ow ow ow" and I asked him if he needed to go and he said yes!! I took him and he went right away. Since then, he's only had ONE accident!!! He even keeps his pull-up dry at night...usually ;) He went twice at church yesterday, once for someone else during the first service and again for me during second service (I was teaching the 3 year old class). I'm so proud of my boy!!! I've been told by alot of people that boys are harder to potty train, and while Laney was pretty much this easy (although she was a full year younger), Chloe wasn't (she was a full year younger too)...Elijah is much easier! I don't know if I'll wait till Isaac is 3 to start with him, but if I start earlier and he's acting like he's not ready, I'm not gonna push it.
Yay for having only one in diapers again....till October, that is :)

16 weeks and yet another trip to the ER

Ok, so I'll start with the ER stuff this time, since it's a little more interesting...but brace yourself. It will be long!


As I have mentioned before, my best friend's wedding was this past Friday, May 1st, and I was the matron (there's that word again...:[ ) of honor and Laney and Chloe were the flower girls. The Wednesday evening before, Laney and I went to the mall so I could get my nails done and so we could pick up some hair clips for her and Chloe. She didn't mention to me at all that she was feeling sick, only that she was hungry, so I got her a pretzel and she ate most of it. I finished it of course...yum :) Anyway, while we were at the mall, I knew that my other kids were probably at home starving to death since I hadn't had any time to make dinner earlier. I called Mike and he said that he'd throw something together for them, and by the time we got home, Laney said that she didn't feel good, and she only ate a few bites of her corn. Side note: She had also told me earlier that day that it burned when she peed. So we started watching American Idol and she really started saying that her stomach was hurting and I felt her, and she was clearly running a fever, so I gave her some children's ibuprofen. She went to bed a little after that, and I went in to check on her when I was getting ready for bed around 11. She was on fire! I took her temp that time, and the thermometer shot up to 103 and just stopped. I don't think that thermometer went any higher. She said that her belly was hurting on her right side, so immediately I think it's her appendix. I called ask-a-nurse and of course they told me to take her in, since it was hurting on her right side and since the ibuprofen didn't help her fever at all.

So I load her in the car and she's crying because she's tired and scared that they are gonna poke her, and of course I tell her that they're not gonna do anything like that. (of course I end up being horribly wrong) We got the hospital and they check her out (her temp there was 103.4), have her pee in a cup, and did an xray and an ultrasound. The dr. comes in (we were there 4 hours total...from about 11:30 to 4:30) and says they are gonna have to transfer her to Children's Mercy because they suspect she has a kidney infection, and that she would probably be in there for a couple days. My head started spinning....what? we have a wedding we're supposed to be in on Friday...Mike has been short on work anyway, so whenever he can work, he has to, so what am I gonna do with my other kids?...how serious is this? Of course, I wanted to do whatever we needed to do to get Laney better. Her white blood cell count was really high in her urine and her white and red blood cell counts were both elevated in her blood culture. They told me that Children's Mercy was coming to get her in an ambulance and after pretty much begging them to just let me take her myself, they still said no. I rode in the front of the ambulance and Laney watched Spongebob the whole way...which she thought was cool. We got there around 5 or so, and they checked us in and all that stuff, and she went to sleep. I tried to sleep sitting up in the chair next to her...I probably would have slept better that first night (or early morning) had I known that the back of the chair went all the way down. The dr. came in around 8 that morning and told me that they were going to do a couple rounds of antibiotics and also said that they would release her after her fever stays down for 24 hours. They checked it all day Thursday, and the highest it got was 100.3 or something, and since that isn't considered a fever, we were looking good to go home on Friday morning!








Thursday night, I took Chloe to the rehearsal for the wedding and Mike stayed with Laney at the hospital. They had a Pet Pals program there, so Laney got to go downstairs and pet a few dogs and have her picture taken with her favorite! :) I was kinda sad I missed it, but at least Mike got to be there with her. I got back to the hospital around 9 or so, and Laney was feeling much better, although she kept getting tummy aches every now and then. I had a hard time getting her to eat while we were there, and that was even with the awesome room service style food. She could order whatever she wanted, any time she wanted. She did have an oreo milkshake late Thursday morning, after her breakfast, but other than that, she didn't really wanna eat too much.

Feeling well enough to take a walk


Friday morning, the dr. came in and said everything looked good, so she could go as soon as Laney took her first dose of medicine by mouth and after the nurse got the papers in order. We were out of the hospital by noon on Friday, and Laney was able to be the flower girl that night!! She was so excited! Anyway, that's my first experience with one of my kids being sick enough to be hospitalized, and thankfully it wasn't something too serious! My heart just broke every time I would see a mom or dad wheeling their child around in a wheelchair, or seeing a little kid with no hair, or hearing a code blue called. Although God only knows what is in store for each of them, I am so thankful my kids are all healthy now, and I know I will be hugging them a little tighter every day!

Talking to grandma


Getting ready to leave!!


Ok, on to the pregnancy...

How your baby's growing:
Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.





I had my 16 week dr. appt. and everything looks great! My uterus is measuring right where it should be and the baby's heartrate was in the 150's! We've scheduled the ultrasound for June 1st, and while we will be finding out what we're having, we won't be finding out that day. Let me explain. We are going to tell the u/s tech to write down the gender and put it in an envelope, along with a picture of the goods. :) Mike's parents are coming down the 2nd week in June, so we will be getting them and all of my family together for dinner, and we'll all open it together! Hopefully, we'll have the patience to wait it out a week, and not look in the envelope earlier ;) If we do, we won't tell anyone...we'll just act surprised. j/k...we won't look. maybe.