This is what happens when you break out a camera around Ceili Rain!
Smiley CeiRai
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Author Archives: Abbie
Fizzled
As soon as I laid down the contractions fizzled to pretty much nothing. I’ve had several through the night but nothing regular. Still waiting…
Don’t hold your breath, but…
I promised to live blog so I thought I’d start here. My contractions, since my doctor’s appointment have been staying steady and strong. Not sure how far apart. Still able to talk and walk. They very well could fizzle out tonight…and so, we are about to employ the “sleep test.” For those that don’t know that’s where you go to sleep and if the contractions wake you up, it’s hospital time! Praying that they wake me up!!!
I think I’ve talked Mark into trying out his “contraction app” on his phone. We’ll see how far we get before we both pass out.
Bryant Update-40 Weeks
If you’ll notice on my blog page…Bryant’s name tag states, “It’s go time!” I have officially been pregnant longer this time than I have with any other pregnancy.
So, I spent last week in quite a bit of ugly discontented attitude. Not wanting to do anything and wanting to get him here quickly. By Thursday, I realized how my attitude was unacceptable and not honoring God. God also reminded me how blessed I am with my little ones and this little one too. I gave up the whining and decided to focus on being happy with where God had me right now…and with what I have.
This weekend has been great and having my best friend come in with her kids this week has been even more fun! Trust me, pictures will be coming soon.
We are praying, though, that while she is here he makes his appearance. We shall see.
I had my doctor’s appointment today. I’ve progressed a little more to 3 1/2 cm and he was able to really strip my membranes this time. He left everything up to us.
With Ace’s birthday approaching, Dr. J going out of town, and wanting to make sure grandparents were able to come soon after or before his birth, we scheduled an induction for Friday.
Now we’re praying for a safe and healthy delivery. With my progression over the past three weeks, we are praying I’ll go on my own. So, please pray that happens (and preferably while our friends are visiting!).
So, stay tuned…Bryant will be here any day now!
Rainy Day Fun
Last month brought sweltering heat and the occasional afternoon thunderstorm or just plain rain shower. And when it was just a rain shower, this is what happened with our bunch:
and
Then Mark made his famous “Trail of Towels” and we showered the kids off and sent them to bed!
Labor Day Essentials #4
Praying that this will be the last labor day post (because I’ve pretty much gone through everything in my suitcase besides my toiletries and that’s just plain boring), before the actual labor day.
So, here are all the sewing things that I’ve been working on for our hospital stay…
The nursing cover! A must in my absolutely humble opinion!
Burp cloths…you can never have too many of these, especially if you have a “spitter!”
And a coming home outfit! I didn’t have a newborn to try the pants on, so yes, they may be a little too big. But the onesie should fit and I also have a beautiful blanket that a friend gave me that we can wrap around him.
This last item is not in the labor bag…but I did make it:
It’s a diaper bag! My first bag…and I made it with vinyl lining on the inside…not going to do that again. I found a pattern for free here.
FREEDOM
I love Facebook and visiting with our friends. I also love that I can get ideas on how our friends do things. Case in point…one of our tehcno friends from high school posted a picture of his daughter in a “freedom center” which was made with zip ties and cheap tension gates. After trying to school with Ginger and Ceili Rain terrorizing (equally mind you) the other kids, I requested one.
I could only find two gates to go with the one we had, so this is the first attempt:
It was small but served it’s purpose until I could purchase another gate. Which I did the next day. The result is a great play area/containment area for when I need to just deal with one toddler (be it canine or human). We attached Ginger’s kennel to it so she can have a little more room. We only use the kennel when we’re out. Now she has room to play or sleep and eat. And, as you can see, the kids like to get in and play with her too.
Ceili Rain loves it too. I have a box of toys that she can get out and play with while in the Freedom Center (and try to keep it specifically for that area). She’ll play for a good bit and then want out. But first, she’ll pick up all her toys and put them back in the box. And, as you can guess…the boys enjoy climbing in and playing with Ceili Rain too. (And yes, I am always around when Ceili Rain is in the center)
Disclosure: We got the name for our Freedom Center from Uncle B & Aunt B who had to build a permanent one (bolted to the floor) when the twins came along! Thanks for the name guys!
Slidin’ Fun
We love slip n’ slides! Last year, the kids got a dual slider from Ge & Granddaddy and that was a blast with the cousins and throughout the summer. However, while playing with some friends, it developed a hole. Mark’s in the process of patching it but one hot June day (and believe me we’ve had quite a few), we needed to get the kids wet. A cheap slip n’ slide was purchased and here’s the result…
It’s so much more fun when daddy flings you across the slide!
or using buckets to fill up and throw water on each other.
Ceili Rain has turned into a most loved water tot. Finally! She spent the first year pretty scared of getting wet but she loves sprinklers and getting soaked.
Look closely and you’ll see that Ceili Rain also loves sitting in mud! (and I promise that is mud)
Bryant Update 39 Weeks
Dr. J came in to my 39 week appointment and started telling us about a lady who had her seventh this weekend and it was head down until just a couple of weeks before her due date. It was one of his partners patients and she didn’t do versions…so he was called in. He offered to do it if he could but the baby turned on Friday and then Saturday turned again and her water broke. He said the foot was already coming out by the time she got to the hospital so they had to do a c-section.
After that Dr. J went out to get the doppler and then came back in and made sure Bryant was head down and he said…oh yeah he is. I think he’s wedged in there pretty tight and it would take a lot of work for him to get out and flip. Not saying he wouldn’t do it but just that it would be a lot of (painful) work.
He looked at my belly and asked about the itching. I told him it was gone and that I couldn’t see any rash at all. He said, “Well, you definitely had the beginning of PUPPS.” He then went on to say that in some women it just goes away and others just have to deliver for it to go away. I like to think that it was prayers that made mine go away. God has truly blessed this pregnancy from beginning to end! I can’t wait to meet this little guy!
So right now, I’m sitting at 2.5 cm dilated and for the first time in five pregnancies, I do not have an induction scheduled in the immediate future! It’s interesting to just be here waiting. We’re staying busy though with last minute things!
And now it’s your turn to chime in and we’ll throw in a little contest too…when do you think Bryant will be born…lock in your guesses in the comments and the one closest will win something (or other…not sure what yet so stay tuned).
Here’s our families guesses:
Mark-14th
Me-20th
Zoe-16th
Ace-20th
Liam-12th (guess he didn’t make it, huh?)
Projects…
We’ve been busy over the past few weeks trying to finish up some major projects before Bryant comes (can you tell who/what is on my mind lately). So here’s a little more show and tell of what we’ve been up to…
You’ve seen the boys’ new dresser, well, this is the other dresser in their room. We bought this several years ago at a used furniture store for something around $50 or $60. It is solid wood and, for an old outdated dresser in great shape. With three boys, it has taken a beating on the finish. I told Mark it was finally time to redecorate it if we had time. We already had the paint!
Here’s the finished result. We also got wise before putting it in the boys’ room. The sample paint is only sold in a Satin finish and we found that it was chipping really bad on the dresser we had already painted, so we bought a sealing paint (used for faux finishes) to cover the drawer fronts…It’s worked out well and the boys’ haven’t chipped it yet.
I’ve also been sewing. Not the kind of clothes making creative sewing a thoroughly enjoy…more like the money saving, repair sewing. We noticed about a month ago that Ceili Rain was leaking out of her diapers bad. I told Mark I thought the microfiber inserts had seen their last soaking up. So, we ordered a few to see if it worked…and it did, with #1 but when she did #2…well, they didn’t hold it. She had two major blow outs on a Sunday (one of which was at church), and I looked at the diapers again and realized, there was no elastic in the legs or back rise. It had basically been completely pulled apart. Not bad that the elastic has lasted almost three years and through two kids who are different sizes. Thankfully, Cotton Babies (the makers of BumGenius diapers) sells repair kits. I’m not sure but I believe they may be the only ones who sell them for their diapers. The kits cost $1. And in it includes elastic, velcro tabs and new laundry tabs (to keep the diapers from all becoming one big diaper in the washing machine). However, to get the elastic out and replaced has taken a lot of time. But, it’s almost all completely done…thanks to Grandmere loading up on some diapers to do the repairs at her home! We’ve replaced elastic and velcro tabs in 24 diapers!!! And I’m replacing all the inserts (which I happened to find priced at under $3 thanks to a sale advertisement at Diaper Pin). By the way for diaper seeking people, Cotton Babies just launched the new bumGenius 4.0s and the elastic is supposed to be waaaay easier to repair in these. I have to say, I’m a bit jealous and would like to get some just for that. Oh well, maybe in three years when these wear out again! I couldn’t pass up making virtually brand new diapers for under $5 a diaper!
I’m posting my other sewing projects on Friday so stay tuned! But lastly, I wanted to share Bryant’s sleeping headquarters (well, once he’s old enough to go in with the boys).
The bedding is thanks to Ge & Granddaddy. I spotted this bedding a while back and told Ge about it. But, because of her bum leg, she offered for me to purchase it on behalf of them. This bedding was on sale at Target and it fits the room perfectly! Especially with our shuttle pictures above the crib! The one in the middle is the picture Grandmere & Papa gave Mark for his birthday. The other two were ones we picked up when we traveled to Houston to celebrate a friend’s wedding. I love the bedding and how soft it is! Now all we need is the baby to put in it (well, in about four or so months). This is the first time we’ve ever purchased an actual crib set to go on a crib. But it had the essentials (bumper, sheet) plus a super soft blanket for floor play. And Mark actually smiled big when I showed it to him! Thank you Ge & Granddaddy for helping us get ready for Bryant’s birth!
Oh, and the crib was purchased, at consignment, for $45. I wanted a mini crib so it wouldn’t take up much room in the boys’ room but I couldn’t pass up a forty-five dollar crib that was in super great shape. Nor the mattress that was in equally great shape for $6. And yes, I’ve checked to make sure there were no recalls on it…and there aren’t.
