Ammon's Birthday and 36 Weeks

Yesterday Ammon turned 3 years old!  I can't believe he is getting so big!  It's also weird to me to think that when Eden turned 3 years old, I already had Isaac, who was a little over one, and a couple of weeks later had EmmaLee as a newborn!  CRAZY!  Ammon still seems so young to me that it's weird to think how close the other kids were at that time!  It's amazing I survived! 

One thing that I love about Ammon is how imaginative he is.  He can go into the toy room and play with his toys for hours at a time, all by himself!  And, he actually role plays them!  His cars talk and play together, his Lego's act out scenes, and if he has no other toys, even his fingers will do as characters!  He's my only kid that has been so imaginative at this age, and I love it!

I don't know if it is good or bad, but Ammon has really become a mama's boy these last few months.  While I love that he loves me, I worry with a new baby on the way how he is going to take it!  I'm planning on making sure I still get good one on one time with all my kids after the baby comes, I worry that it will still be more change than he is wanting!  But, I think I worry about that with all my kids, and, surprise, surprise, things always end up working out!  The hardest part will probably be when I am at the hospital.  Ammon hasn't spent a lot of time away from me, and it always seems to upset the younger kids when they come to the hospital and see their mom hooked up to IV's and stuff!  But, again, experience has shown me that things work out, so I'm trying to not let my emotions and hormones stress me out and make me worry about it too much!!

As for my pregnancy, I had an ultrasound done at 33 weeks, and everything still looked great!  They still wanted me to follow through with weekly stress tests starting at 34 weeks, so I've now had 3 done, and every single one of them have gone great.  He is very active and my placenta seems to be holding up just fine!  He has been really low this whole pregnancy, with his head already being really far down in my pelvic region.  This has created more pressure and uncomfortableness when it comes to walking, and these last few weeks are not getting easier!  People keep saying they don't think I will make it to my scheduled c-section date because I've dropped so much, but the truth is that I really never was up!  The advantage to this is that this little guy hasn't been in my ribs as much as the other kids, but again, the disadvantage is that walking has been harder this time around!  The good news is that 3 weeks from today, this little boy will already be around 12 hours old!!!  Yeah!  We are almost there!  It's so fun to feel him moving around, but I'm so excited that it is almost time to get to hold him in my arms!  I got to hold Melanie's baby boy on Saturday for a while at a family birthday party, and it made me so excited to get to meet my own little guy!

Here's some recent pictures of Ammon:

 Ammon says that Ryder is his "best friend"!  They are so cute together, although sometimes they are more like siblings and bug and bother each other!

 I took this picture of Ammon the morning of his birthday.  Of course he has a couple of his cars with him!

He thought he was so funny when he drew with marker all over his face!  He was very proud of himself!!!  Love this boy!!!

Pregnancy Update, 29 Weeks

So, I realized that I really haven't posted any pictures of me pregnant this time around.  So, since I'm now into my third trimester, I thought I would post some!

 A side view (Ammon is reaching up to touch my belly; it's not a big smudge on my wall-those are still hidden enough to not be seen by the camera . . .)

This was actually the reason I thought of taking a picture.  I'm starting to get a few of the baby things I have washed and ready, and when I pulled this little onsie out of the dryer, it looked so small!  But, when I put it on my belly, I realized how cramped the babies really are in there and why it gets to be so dang uncomfortable!!

I'm waddling plenty, and I don't think that is going to get any better for these last two months!  But, it has been fun to feel the baby a lot stronger, especially for the kids!  It was funny to finally see Ammon's reaction when he actually felt the baby kick.  He pulled his hand away really fast and had the strangest look on his face, and then walked out of the room!  It was hilarious!  Of course, he has a baby named Ammon in his tummy that will be coming out soon, too!

We signed Isaac up for soccer this spring, the first of our kids to play it!  He has only had about 3 practices so far, but seems to really like it!  We've realized since taking this picture that the socks aren't meant to be worn so high, and that they should fold over his shin guards, which are also suppose to be worn OVER his socks, and not under them, but he's part German, so it's okay!

Going along with my last post of Ammon being tired, I had to share this photo of Ammon sleeping.  He loves his puppy wee-wee (blankee), but not to actually cover him.  No, he either sleeps on top of it bunched up like a pillow, or wears it like a wig!  

Ammon has really grown a lot these last few months, which is good since he isn't going to be the baby of the family much longer!  He wrestles, talks so much more, and just loves life!  Lately, he has started thinking he shouldn't have to wear a shirt much (what is it with boys taking off their shirts?), and frankly it hurts too much for me to bend over and pick it up multiple times to fight the battle, so there are some days when he goes shirtless!  This was one of those days!  He decided that while a shirt wasn't necessary, a hat and shield were!

Finally, I thought I would share this photo of all the kids being, well, themselves!  They sure keep me on my toes (and hands, knees, and everything in-between!), but I sure love them and love that we have each other!

Tired!

So, I thought this would be an appropriate title for this post for two reasons!  

The first reason is because Ammon has stopped taking naps on a daily basis, and most of the time this works well and he goes to sleep earlier at night.  But, there are still those days where he just can't make it, so I find him sleeping in funny places and ways! 

This bottom picture is of Ammon (on the couch) and Lex (on the floor), who is Ammon's cousin that is only about 2 1/2 weeks younger.  So, it must be a stage thing. . .

The second reason for the title is because I have been tired lately!  I can't complain; in some ways I feel better this pregnancy than any of the other five.  But, I am getting older, this is my sixth pregnancy, I still have four small children at home, I'm trying to finish school, and I'm TIRED!  It's hard to keep up with the daily must do's to keep my home functioning, and frankly I'M not keeping up with it.  Thank heavens my husband is home and is an angel and does SO much!  He is usually the one putting the kids to bed at night, making at least half the meals or more, and I don't think I've touched the vacuum in months!  He does the homeschooling with Isaac at least half the week, and I'm honestly so grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful man!  We celebrated our 11th anniversary on March 1st, and while we were not able to do anything fancy for it, I am more grateful and in love with him than I would have ever dreamed when we first got married!  We have gone through so much together, and I know we can get through anything!  He is an AMAZING father and a supportive husband, and my best friend!

It's A . . .

Boy!!!  It only took number six to break our pattern of boy, girl, etc., but it is officially broken!  No club feet, and my placenta is attached at the back (which is a good thing instead of by my scar)!  The only issue that came up has to do with the umbilical cord.  I guess there are normally 3 veins/arteries that go through the cord; two leaving the baby with old blood and one going  back in with new blood.  My cord only has two; one going in and one going out.  The doctor at the ultrasound said that most of the time there is no problems associated with this defect itself, but what they have found is that when there is one defect, there is usually at least two.  A common defect associated with the cord one is a heart defect.  But, at least according to the ultrasound, everything else, including the heart, looks perfect and totally normal!  So, hopefully that means there really isn't another one!  He also said that typically with the cord defect women start going in weekly starting at 34 weeks for stress tests to check on the baby later in development for signs of stress, and get another ultrasound at 34 weeks to make sure the baby has continued to grow and develop normally and to make sure the baby doesn't need to be taken earlier.

Everyone is excited, although EmmaLee was the most disappointed when we found out it was a boy.  She really wanted a girl!  But, I told her this meant that she still gets to be my baby girl, and that seemed to cheer her up!  She's been talking to my stomach ever since, telling her brother that she loves him!!  We are so excited for our new guy to join us!  Now we just have to figure out a name; we had a girl name all ready, but nothing for a boy!

Finally, it was kind of ironic because my doctor's office actually scheduled my ultrasound appointment, but yesterday when we got the ultrasound was Caydin's 10th birthday.  It actually made finding out what the baby was even more special.  I think a lot about how how Caydin and this new spirit that will join our family are together.  It helps me feel closer to Caydin knowing that our two worlds are really not that far apart.  I also can't believe that Caydin would have been turning 10 years old!  I have been a mother now for a decade!  How it flew by, much faster than many of the days felt!  Happy birthday, Caydin, and I hope you and your newest brother had a blast celebrating on your end!!  Love you!