Growing up

There was a time, not that long ago, when my life as a mother was basically "hands on". The job description required little in the way of, counseling, disciplining, deep talks etc.

Although it wasn't that long ago, I sometimes forget about those days. Those days which were filled with having 3 children in diapers all at once, 2 kids drinking from bottles (which were kept seperated in the diaper bag and with different kinds of nipples so wouldn't get mixed up), Ben being gone at school a lot, days spent at home because who is crazy enough to take all those kids out at once. Life was a lot of work. But it was, dare I say...simple.

I had a lot of people tell me that, it is easier when your kids get older. I don't think that is true. I think it is just DIFFERENT. You go from being completely hands on to dealing with bullies, fears, anxieties, school situations, and all that good stuff!

I may not need to run the kids bath for them...but they do need me to explain things to them.

Where is all this coming from you might ask? Well, last Saturday, Harmony spent the day at a GS activity. When we got home, we all worked to move our freezer from the garage to the house. This was a lot of trips back and forth to the house. And as we were finishing up, Ben said, " ugh, Harmony smells." I went over to her and the stench of BO was overwhelming. I sent her straight up to take a shower. PU!

And so it begins. Harmony is going to be 10 this summer. That means a lot of changes coming our way. I just ordered an American Girl book for her that goes over a lot of it.

Needless to say, this Mom is wishing she could go back in time and enjoy those days when Harmony was little, dressing up in princess outfits and cooking in her little play kitchen. **Sigh**

Nesting

You might be nesting if....

** you spend 2 hours weeding in your yard. The last time you did this was...uhm...good question

** You are cleaning out drawers and closets

** You would like to learn how to sew. Purely for craft projects. All clothes will still be purchased :)

**Looking through lots and lot of home & garden magazines

**Looking through lots and lots of organzing magazines

**Spending time on home blogs for organizing, decorating, recipes and crafting

**baking and cooking lots

**thinking of ways to change your home so you like the decor better

**planning menu's and finding new recipes to try

**walking through the baby aisles just touching stuff :) Not actually buying because you don't know the sex yet!

**thinking of things to add to your garden (adirondak chairs, garden flags etc)

** a sudden desire to learn to crochet or knit so that you can make cute little booties (or something else)

**planning out your Spring/Easter decorations

Or it could just be that you are a woman and these are the things you are interested in right now. Hmmm...what do you think?

Amazing

(cutest wolf scout EVER)

(CUTEST 7 year old EVER)
(candle-less cupcakes)

(bestest brothers)
(Harm and the birthday boy)
(Mom with her favorite grandkids!)
Like most people, our lives are so busy. Insanely busy sometimes. But it is amazing to me what all can happen in just a matter of days!!! So grab a snack and something cold to drink as I update you on our lives. It may be long, but if you don't read it all, you are going to miss out! :)

Starting from the youngest to the oldest...

Baby update. I went to get my glucose test done. I scored a 189. Unfortunatley, normal is under 100. So I have to go and take the 3 hour long test. Yippee. But we got a bit of a shock at the info that the doctor gave us. Ethan's delivery was pushed off until 37 weeks. However, Connor and Ivan were both born at 35 weeks. Because there is absolutely no NICU here, any child born within 34-36 weeks is medevaced (is that how you would spell that? hmmm?)out to Okinawa. Ben doesn't believe this will happen, because while they have come early, their health has always been good. But we all know that "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear". So we are trying to come up with any possible scenario and try to make plans accordingly. I forgot to mention that, even if the baby only needs a couple of days, we could be in Japan for up to 8 weeks because the baby can't go until it has a passport. Which is why we would have to fly someone out to take care of the other kids. It would be crazy!! So we are trying to prepare, but are hoping it doesn't come to that.

On to Ivan. Ivan had his yearly appt. with the developmental pediatrician. While they are easy to find in the states, out here they only come once a year. After talking for awhile about struggles & triumphs and letting the doctor observe Ivan, she said she is not convinced that he is autistic!!! We are ecstatic at this news. Does he have delays? yes. Does he have a lot of things he has to work on? yes. Was this still good news? Heck yeah! She felt that 1)he understands a lot more than he lets on 2) that his need for order is more just how he is personality wise, than because he is autistic. (Maybe a little OCD?)3) That he is very bright. He does crave order and so she (and his teacher) believe that if he is put on a regular routine, given lots of warnings about what is coming next, that he will really excel. So I am working on labeling all his drawers and toy buckets with pictures, coming up with a working schedule/routine with him (including pictures)so that he can have that order that he craves. Such happy, happy news!

Connor is 7 today!! I can't believe it! We went to TGIFridays the night that my Mom was here. Ivan was so tired that he fell asleep in the booth! :)He also got cupcakes on Monday. We were very laid back with his birthday. So laid back that I forgot to make sure I had candles for his cupcakes. He ended up with 7 MATCHES! I felt bad but you know what? He didn't seem to care!

The boys had their Blue and Gold banquet for Scouts while my Mom was here. It was fun to see them get awards. We enjoyed good food and good conversation.

Let's see, what else? Lots of drama from Harmony (of course).She went to a GS Valentines Day party where her leaders had made them all poodle skirts. They turned out so cute. Tomorrow we are going to go out to World Thinking Day and I am excited to see Harmony's dance. They each choose a country and do different things (dances, food, housing, etc)

To be honest, this is just a small sampling of all that is going on. But some of the more major.

We enjoyed my Mom's visit so much. I wish she could have stayed longer. I know she and my Dad really missed each other though. So I sacrificed and gave her up! :)

So there you go, all updated!

promise

So obviously I have neglected my blog for awhile. I have a good reason though! My mom was here, and "what the heck would you do in a situation like that?" Ignore your Mom ( who you haven't seen for about 20 months) or hang out and talk and laugh until your throat hurts? I thought so!

I will update later, after I get some things done. But I do want to say this:

HAPPY 31ST BIRTHDAY HONEY! I LOVE YOU A TON. I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Marie & baby health update

So I honestly hadn't meant to cause any concern or leave people in the dark. Here is the rundown of what has been going on...

Tuesday: As I was in there getting the IV, we had a nice long talk about my previous pregnancies and deliveries. My doctor ( who also is our family practice) said that she wanted to see if maybe I should be seen at the hospital instead. The way it is done here, is that I go to my regular doctor until 24 weeks and than you start going out to the hospital. So she put in a consult with OB up at the Naval Hospital.

Wednesday: I was dropping Ivan off at school, when I got a phone call from the hospital. They wanted me to get my OB chart from the clinic and than bring it up to the hospital. I also had to do a 24 hour urine collection ( oh the joys). So I went and did both of those.

Thursday: A nice long talk and the filling out of a lot of forms up at the hospital. Because of going into pre-term labor with Ethan, and my pre-term labors & deliveries with Connor&Ivan, they decided I should just stay at the hospital, instead of going back to the clinic.

Friday: Dropped off my nice big jug of urine and than made the appt to get my one hour glucose test. Which is standard. However I usually have to do the 3 hour one also.

So there you have it. Tomorrow ( my Monday) I go in to do my glucose and than on Thursday I have my 16 week appt.

We are fine. I just have a really cautious doctor. She is the one that caught Ivan's delays, so I appreciate her cautiousness. Is that a word? Anyway that is what has been going on. No need to worry!

Fun Facts about my Four year old

I feel like I have been out of commission for awhile. Lucky me, I have been at the hospital every day from Tues-Friday. I go again on Monday & Thursday. Oh the joys. But because of that, I really haven't been updating. It is a good thing Ivan can't read or he might wonder why I haven't blogged about his birthday yet. Sorry little man!

**Ivan is my 4th child, who just turned four, on the 4th, and has 4 letters in his name. Hmmm...

**Ivan's favorite food is cheese-hamburgers No, not cheeseburgers, cheese-hamburgers He likes them with cheese and a ketchup smiley face. Nothing else.

**Ivan knows exactly how to get to the channel he likes-Noggin. On our tv, it has a little picture next to the channel number. So he knows he has to click the button until he sees the Noggin picture.

**Ivan loves the color green. Everything has to be green Green shoes (thank heavens for crocs in a rainbow of colors), green cups, green plates, green toy bins, green everything.

**Connor wants to teach Ivan how to write. Ben and I would rather have him teach him how to use the potty.

**Ivan always has to do "jump jumps" out of the van. He can't just climb down. He has to jump.

**Ivan has no fear. A lot of this has to do with autism and the fact that he doesn't understand consequences. This has made it so that he runs off to the park by himself, is not scared to be in the ocean by himself, he doesn't get scared of animals or people he doesn't know. Obviously this has it's good points and it's bad!

**Ivan can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. If you can get him to sit still for 2-3 minutes, chances are he will be asleep.

**Ivan loves baths He stays in for hours. It is a good thing we don't pay for water here in housing. :)

**Ivan has a scar on each eye, his chin, and his cheek.

**Ivan loves his Mom. He is constanly kissing me all over. He tells me he doesn't love snuggling as he grabs his blanket to come lay with me or be rocked.

**He is my favorite little four year old.

Ivan is such a fun child. A trial at times but he fills our home with laughter He says funny things and keeps us on our toes. His progress report from his speech therapist said he is right on target for a four year old! We are so proud of his accomplishments. We love our little Jedi!

pregnancy woes

I swear, that everyone I know who is pregnant ( which is actually quite a few) are having issues. Large and small. And I get to include myself in that number. :(

Sunday afternoon I came home from church with a headache. It didn't go away. I tried everything. Not wearing contacts, drinking lots of water, staying in a dark room, rest, tylenol, and more.Nothing was working. It felt like every time I bent over, someone was pounding me in the head.

Last night I decided, that if I woke up with it, I would call the doctor. I woke up with a throbbing head ache and called the appt. line. Luckily I was able to get in with my doctor by 10.

So after a couple of bags of IV fluid, tylenol,a nausea medicine, and a big nap, I am feeling better. I feel "drugged" but ok. The nausea medicine makes you tired and so that isn't helping.

Ben and the kids have been wonderful. Thanks to our neighbor (thank you so much Tara!) who watched Ivan, Ben was able to be there with me. Once the kids got home from school, they were very concerned about me and the baby. Harmony got me a book to read and some gatorade. Ethan made me some soup (he forgot to heat it up the first time)and Connor kept me company by watching Clone Wars next to me.:)Ivan was very concerned about my bandaids. I had to have my blood drawn and they can never find my veins, so they tried 3 times.

It was a long day and I can't wait to go to sleep. Although I have to try and hold out until after The Closer. Thanks to all those who have been concerned.

And to all those other preggo mommies out there, take care of yourselves. After all, "Life is hard enough without having someone kicking you from the inside!"