Off bed rest, Katie's birthday, and more...

I was able to get off bed rest and just in time.  I was lucky enough to go to church on Father's Day and celebrate my hubby and the wonderful daddy he is to our girls.  And things didn't slow down from there.  The girls had swim lessons Monday-Thursday for four weeks and Katie turned 7 in the middle of it.  She chose to have a Sweet Shoppe themed birthday party and lots of my friends thought I was insane for throwing a party just after getting off bed rest... I only did it because I already had all the supplies.  It was pretty easy in comparison and my friend, Sarah, came over and set up all the decorations for me.  All I did were the invitations and the cake.  The cake turned out so cute, but it nearly sent me into labor.  I was in a lot of pain when I finished it after being on my feet for so long, but I was too stubborn to go to the hospital since it was Katie's birthday and we were going to finish the party if my water broke.  

 Jessica (Anderson), Gracie, Quincy, Katie, Brooke, Courtney, Jessica (Ashcraft)

Her new birthday dress!

It was time! We needed a bigger vehicle to fit our family and we came across this one that was in our price range and had everything we were looking for plus more.  The kids' favorite feature is the DVD system... it might be a favorite for mom and dad as well since it keeps them all happy.

For the 4th of July we went to the park for our ward breakfast.  Later in the day we had a BBQ at our house and then went to Boise for the fireworks.  We took Porter and Mikayla with us since Brandon was working and Brigetta wasn't feeling well.  It was our family along with the Klotthor's, Kruse's, and Sarah's parents, Carol and Steve.  It's become a friend/family tradition and we LOVE it!

 We let the kids play with pop it fireworks and face paint.

 We also had glow sticks and glow masks.

 I couldn't get the flash off when I took Katie's picture.

These pictures were taken one afternoon at the Grow residence.  The kids were playing there while I was at one of my doctor appointments and then we stayed for a little while.  The kids played Twister together... I tried for a few minutes but was very unsuccessful.

 The kids were making it look too easy so we sent Lyla in to help things get a little harder.

 They all had a good time!

DANCE CAMP 2014!!!
My girls LOVE dance camp and look forward to it every year.  It's put on by two teenage girls we know and I think they do such a good job.  That week was super busy between dance camp, swim lessons, and doctors appointments.  We made it through and they were so dang cute through all of it!

 Mikayla was old enough this year to participate!

 Kate Keller, Kaden Wadsworth, Ashley, Sammy, Mikayla, and Katie.

 I had to put in one of my projects!  Brigetta asked, "What's the first thing you're going to do once you're off bed rest?"  I told her I was going to the craft store.  She thought I was joking... NOPE!  I needed fabric so I could make a diaper bag.  I ended up finding super cute fabric for both my diaper bag and crib set.  I was able to finish the diaper bag and changing pad, but the crib set is going to have to wait.  It's not needed for awhile anyway.

Pregnancy Update

With the last post I announced that I could go on a dinner date with Andy and I was SO excited about that... Well, at my very next appointment my cervix had thinned to 0.6 cm and that made my doctor nervous.  I asked him if I could still go on my date and he told me no.  I was so bummed and then asked, "What if Andy wheels me around?  Then can I still go?"  He held out his hand for me to shake on it with my promise that if I was in a wheelchair then I could go.  Andy's sister and her husband, Mindy and Doug, met us at the Cheesecake Factory and we had a great time visiting with them.  Afterward I made Andy wheel me up to Motherhood Maternity so I could get a couple new shirts... this baby is getting big and I'm growing out of some clothes.  And of course you can't complete a date without stopping at Walmart.  We went in to get iron supplements (test results showed I'm anemic) and a couple things for the baby.

Last week at my appointment my doctor wasn't quite so nervous since my cervix looked stable again.  He told me just a couple more weeks and no more bed rest as long as everything was still stable.  So today was a "keep your fingers crossed" kind of day.  Guess what?!  I need to finish out this week of bed rest and then I was given the thumbs up to get off bed rest!!!  My cervix looked stable and the baby was looking good.  I still need to take it easy, but I don't have to stay down all the time.  HOORAY!!!  I got the first steroid shot today and I'll get the second one tomorrow... OUCH!!!  (Holy cow that sucker hurt!  And I've kind of gotten used to shots in my bum.)  After that we can breathe a little bit.  My doctor told me that typically he doesn't let his patients get off bed rest at this point, but he didn't want me to get off bed rest and then immediately have a c-section.  He wants me to have time to let my muscles rejuvenate a bit.  So he said to take it easy and listen to my body.  If I go into labor before 35 weeks its NICU time no matter what.  I promised I would be careful... and really I get worn out just getting cleaned up for the day so I doubt I'll be running around much anyway.

32 Weeks (and 1 day)

Now for the fun stuff!!!

Bow Ties or Pearls?  Is it a BOY or GIRL?

I know some of you have been waiting patiently to know the gender...

IT'S A

 

GIRL!

Yep!  We are four for four!  There are a few family's in our ward that have all girls and the husbands would say to Andy, "You know if you're having a boy we're kicking you out of the club, right?"  Andy would respond, "I think I can sacrifice... but I'm sure I won't be out of the club."  When we found out the ultrasound tech didn't even need to say anything.  She just moved the Doppler down to the bum area and Andy said, "Dang it."  The tech laughed and said, "You are familiar with that picture"... she already knew we had three girls at home.  I had to show excitement so I laughed and yelled, "Wahoo!!!"  I was very excited to have another girl and Andy has come to terms with it.  After I was sent to the hospital and put on bed rest he was happier about her being a girl since we have at least clothes to get her through the first 3-6 months.  That was a stress relieved with her being a girl and not a boy.  Now we just need to decide on a name. :\

 

Time to catch up

It's been awhile since I last posted and it's high time I catch everyone up on what has been going on in our lives... NOT A WHOLE LOT!!! (At least for me)

Since the last post I was in and out of the hospital a few more times, but the baby and I are doing fine.  I am still on bed rest and just taking things one day at a time.  It gets very boring sometimes and often I go stir crazy and wanting a change so bad it hurts.  The things we do for our little ones!!!

Easter came and went.  Andy was obviously in charge of all the pictures and celebrating.  Here are the girls at the ward Easter egg hunt.

 If you couldn't tell, Sammy doesn't like getting her picture taken much.

 Easter morning... Sammy being a sour puss.

 This is a picture of "egging" the Graham's house.  It's a family tradition to go and egg someone's house on Easter.  We fill plastic eggs with candy and notes telling that family or person why we love them.  This year we chose Roslyn since she has helped so much during this difficult time.  She comes in the morning and helps the girls get off to school so that Andy doesn't have to rearrange his work schedule.  She helps the girls get dressed, get their hair done, usually starts a load of laundry, and then makes sure the girls get their chores done.  We sure love her!!!

 Just before the girls and Andy left for church.

 This year they went to the Bullock's ward since our nephew, Mason, came home from his mission.  I felt so bad missing it since I missed his farewell, too.  At least I got to see him before he left for college.  A lot of Andy's family was in town for the occasion including one of our girls' favorite cousin, Shelbie.  It makes me laugh that Ashley and Shelbie tend to have a lot of the same outfits and it's never planned that way.  This dress caused tears that morning... totally my fault.  I thought for sure that I bought the yellow dress for Katie and the purple one for Ashley.  The sizes didn't match up and it was tears from Katie till I gave her an extra chapstick the Easter bunny left in my drawer.

 These are some random photos taken throughout the last 2 months.

Katie and her awesome style.

 Sammy got her hair chopped off!  I don't know exactly how much was cut, but it was a lot.

 Katie had a field trip to Babby Farms.  It's a petting zoo and Katie LOVED it!  She is holding a baby goat in this picture, but I think her favorite was a huge pig.  She is still talking about how big it was.  She came home and told me about this one pig lying in the mud "showing off all it's fatness."  I told her, "Hey!  That's like mommy!"  She laughed and said, "You're showing off your longness... You're not fat... not really."  She made me laugh!

 Random hair style for Ashley.  Roslyn was teasing about the hairstyle and Ashley really wanted it and wore it all that day.

 Just another cute picture of Katie.  Love her style!  Notice the high heels and scarf?  That is completely Katie!  She was just chillin' in her after school outfit and reading to Brigetta, Lyla, and I.

Here are my 28 week (and 1 day) profile pictures.

 And of course we need to add in a few pictures of the baby.  We get pictures every week with the ultrasounds, but these two are some of my favorites.  

I usually don't like the face shots because they kind of look a bit creepy... but this one you can totally see a big smile on the baby's face! (For those that can't depict these pictures the dark spot on the left is the forehead.  The two dark spots in the middle are the eyes.  And then the smile is on the right.  You might have to turn your head to the side.)

 I love that you can see all the bones in the baby's hand!  The Wyne genes are showing in this photo... long fingers!!!

The girls are done with school for the summer... Not exactly sure how I feel about that yet.  It's going to make a big change in our schedule and people helping out at our house.  So far we have this week covered.  We may just need to take it a week at a time.  And hopefully when we get to mid June we'll have another routine down again.  The girls will have swim lessons and dance camp to help break up their days and something to look forward to everyday.

With it being Memorial Day Andy had the day off.  He hasn't had a whole lot of time with the girls with being in school.  Now that he's out on break for a few weeks he's had a little more time.  He took advantage of the day off and the beautiful weather and took the girls to the zoo!

 Sammy being a preteen... again!

 They look like they had a great time with their daddy!  They sure have him wrapped around their little fingers.  They even suckered him into buying things for them at the gift shop.  Sammy got a stuffed monkey, Ashley a necklace, and Katie... a rubber snake!!!  Andy looked pretty happy she chose that for her toy.

 And last, but not least... We have reached our 30 week mark!!!  We are on the downhill for the pregnancy and hopefully I won't be on bed rest much longer.  Last week (Tuesday 5/20/2014) the baby was weighing approximately 3 pounds 8 ounces!  We were very excited for that weight because the bigger the better if I go into labor early.  We could even see the baby's chubby cheeks at the last ultrasound.  This week is a happy one for me since I get to go on a dinner date with Andy this weekend!  I feel like I'm turning 16 all over again counting down the days till I get to go on a date.  Maybe the next post I'll announce the baby's gender. :)