12/6/11: 39 Weeks!

How far along? 39 weeks 

Total weight gain/loss: 35 lbs.  

Maternity clothes? I've got like two shirts that fit comfortably these days.

Stretch marks? Same.

Sleep: I'm uber pregnant, can't breath through my nose, and the girls are up sick each night.  It rules.

Best moment this week:  Induction set!

Food cravings:  McGriddles take the top prize this week!

Labor Signs: 60% effaced and 2cm and a bit more dilated

Belly Button in or out? For the most part? Out.

Movement:  Slowing down.  8-9 lb babies don't have much room.

What I miss:  Whatever I miss, I won't be missing much longer!

What I am looking forward to:  Thursday 9 am!

Weekly WTF:  OMG - We're having a 3rd baby THURSDAY!

Nesting madness:  Tomorrow will  be a busy day of last minute wrap-ups

Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy is worth every second for that end-result.

Milestones: This is my last official weekly bump photo!

12/5/11: Anywhere Chairs

These things are quite the hit lately.  The girls use them everyday.  They use them to sit in and eat, to watch TV, to read books.  At least once a day they turn them over to jump off of and slide down.  It really entertains them for hours. A great investment for small children.  Each of our girls got them for their 1st birthdays, which has since become tradition and will continue with all our children.

Plus?  How cute are they sitting in their little chairs!?!

12/4/11: Birthday Banners

 I love my Etsy customers.  I got an order this weekend for a Shrek birthday banner.  While the timing isn't great, I love being crafty and creative. While I won't be taking orders for the next few weeks, if you ever need anything for a party, check out my Etsy store in the top corner of this blog! I'll  be back and up and running after the holidays!

12/3/11: Early gifts

When Rylee was born I had Morgan pick out a present for her and Paul and I picked something out for Rylee to give to Morgan. In keeping with tradition, a few weeks ago we took the girls to Target to pick out something for Tenley.  While we were there we snuck in a few gifts for Tenley to give to the girls. The girls were so pumped to get Tenley a dog just like theirs!  I'm hoping they are just as pumped to get the gifts that Tenley got them. Can't wait for them to all meet. My three little amigos.

12/2/11: Sick Day

The girls have been sick all week long.  Morgan started on Sunday with a fever and cough and it lasted for three days.  On that third day Rylee came down with a fever and still had one this morning.  Guess who else woke up with a fever?  Daddy.  So Paul and the girls had a sick day.  Mommy probably should have had a sick day as well but since she'll be MIA at work for at least 6 weeks, she had to go take care of things.

Daddy entertained the girls by building forts for them (although apparently lame ones compared to the ones Ashley makes for them) and giving them pigtails. The wonderful thing about the girls is that even when they are sick they are still good natured and hardly act like they are.  Which is very helpful when Mommy and Daddy are sick too.

12/1/11: One last tree

Since I didn't have this tree up in time for the big, trees of the Stoicoiu house post, I didn't want it to feel left out. This is the tree that Paul and I have in our bedroom. So festive! 

11/30/11: Ruby the Elf

Ruby is our Elf on the Shelf that comes and visits each year. Last year was our first year and this year Morgan is really into it.  Every morning she wakes up the first thing she looks for is Ruby.  We've gotten a little more creative in where she finds Ruby each morning and what mess Ruby has made.  Most of the time she keeps the girls in line with threats that she will go back and tell Santa if they misbehave.

You know?  They really need to come up with something that works all year round like this!

11/29/11: 38 Weeks!

How far along? 38 weeks 

Total weight gain/loss: 33 lbs.  

Maternity clothes? I hate dressing myself these days

Stretch marks? Same.

Sleep: Absolutely awful lately.  The kids are sick and Paul and I are starting to get it.

Best moment this week:  More progress!

Food cravings:  I'm just trying to eat things that don't reflux back up these days.

Labor Signs: 50% effaced and 2cm dilated

Belly Button in or out? On the verge

Movement:  Never a dull moment

What I miss:  Feeling comfortable.

What I am looking forward to:  Meeting my little girl soon!

Weekly WTF:  I can't believe I'm 2cm.  I didn't expect that at all.

Nesting madness:  Is there such a thing as nesting anxiety?!

Weekly Wisdom: Clear your schedule for the last month of pregnancy as you will  not feel like doing much of anything but sleeping...haha.

Milestones: Actual dilation PRE-LABOR!

11/28/11: It's official

I'm officially the Assistant Treasurer at Stow school district! This was such a great opportunity for our family and for me that I could not pass it up.  So far I have loved every minute of the people and the work and look forward to a successful career here!

11/27/11: Rylee Lou is 18 Months

This photo shoot went pretty much how I thought it might go. There comes an age in this monthly photo shoots where one just doesn't want to cooperate. We are at that age. As you can tell by the third picture one of the skills Rylee has pick up since 12 months is the ability to throw a temper tantrum. She's very good at it, it's very dramatic and if it wasn't so ridiculously fake, I might feel bad for her.

Ornery is a word we use to describe Rylee a lot.  I'm beginning to think that is an understatement. She finds everything she does hilarious and likes to scream a lot.  She loves to dance and will play with anything that plays music for hours. She wants anything her big sister has these days and wants to do anything she does.  We are in the monkey see, monkey do phase. Overall she is a pretty easygoing child. I'm not sure how well she will adapt at first to Tenley because she definitely enjoys being the baby of the family right now. We are also just beginning our "No!" phase these days which is getting old really fast.

It's hard to believe she's already 18 months and a full blown toddler these days. She is extremely independent and doesn't like anyone doing anything for her or trying to help her.  She is also quite the agitator. Many of these skills I assume she inherited from her Grandpa Ralph.

Happy 18 months Rylee Lou!

11/26/11: The Polar Express

This was right when they turned the lights out...haha

Today was the Polar Express ride to the North Pole. Morgan has been so excited for this for weeks.  We've watched the movie at least 10 times before today.  Morgan knows the words to all the songs and loves to sing them to (and with!) me. While we enjoyed our time this year, I think it was more organized and more enjoyable last year. 

The point is the girls enjoyed themselves. Morgan kept asking for the hot chocolate from the minute the train left the station. We got to hear the story read to us by the elves.  Shortly after they served us our cookies and hot chocolate. As much as she asked for it she didn't care that much for her hot chocolate.  Rylee on the other hand dove right in to hers. After that we were at the North Pole!  All the elves and reindeer were out waving at the kids and even Santa and Mrs. Claus drove by in their sleigh.

Santa even got on the Polar Express and took pictures with the kids and gave them each a bell.  I will say this particular Santa was not friendly by any means which is why the kids do not look thrilled to be sitting with him. I was a bit disappointed. After that we were on our way back but before we reached the station the kids got to put on a pajama fashion show.

As noted by our last picture the kids really enjoyed themselves..;)  In reality they did enjoy themselves but it was past bedtime at this point and they were ready to go.

Now that today is over we are free to have this baby at any time!

11/25/11: Deck the Halls

Today we got our living room and basement trees up.  The living room is always a bit of a process because it's so big in involved bringing in the ladder to set it up and decorate the top. Paul usually handles the tree duties while I hang the stockings and other decorations. Yes, each of our animals has a stocking that is why there are so many. The girls loved helping this year (well Rylee loved destroying more so than helping) and each got their first present, a personalized ornament.

We switched up the downstairs tree this year and converted it to an Ohio sports tree.  Indians, Browns, Cavs, and Buckeyes.  I've slowly been collecting new decorations this year and I really love how it turned out. There are some close ups of some of the ornaments we got over the year.  Hopefully we will be able to add some neat things to it over the next few years.

11/24/11: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  Our family has been truly blessed this year and have lots to be thankful for.  Hope everyone enjoyed their day with friends and family!

11/23/11: 6th Annual Friends Thanksgiving

I will start by apologizing.  I was totally remiss in getting any good pictures from this evening.  These are from the cleanup.  Today marks the 6th year we have held our Friends Potluck Thanksgiving. What started as a small gathering has turned into a guest list of sometimes over 60 people.  This is by far one of  my favorite days of the year. Paul and I make the turkey (or two!), mashed potatoes, dessert, rolls, and salad.  Everything else brings some sort of side dish or dessert to share.  It is such a nice time to get so spend with friends that we don't always get to see. What started with no kids, now has tons of kids running around playing and laughing.  What could be better than good food and good friends?  Looking forward to next year!