Due Date Come and Gone

Saturday, I couldn't sleep, but it wasn't because of contractions. I guess I was just anxious. I know babies don't come on their due date, maybe 10% of the time. I had no reason to expect she would arrive that day, but I was still disappointed when it didn't happen. So we made some plans - hoping she would interrupt them. In the morning I made waffles since I promised Amy I would if I didn't have the baby. Aaron started the sourdough. Then it was the usual stuff with chores. First Aaron let me take a nap while the girls were "cleaning their room". Then I showered and cleaned up our room. then I helped the girls finish cleaning their room.

We decided to do some more spring cleaning type things. I did extra work in the bathroom. Aaron continued with the kitchen. He cleaned out every drawer, and most of the cupboards. We tossed a bunch of things and organized things, cut up the box tops etc. I found the zesting tool I knew I had purchased, but couldn't find. He also started cinnamon rolls for the pot luck the next day. I had to convince Amy to do her chores several times. She would start, but then only finish half of what needed to be done.

Here's me at 40 weeks pregnant wondering when our little baby would arrive.

Eventually we had lunch and then I had David sweep the floor. I put Michelle down for a nap. She was so cute. When she fell asleep she had her snake and a baby cuddled up next to her.

At some point Aaron and I decided to make it a date night and go to the basketball games. It was the Regional games, and both girls and boys were playing in the city. Since David would be there for pep band, and we'd be gone for several hours we needed a babysitter. Luckily Lexi was available. Aaron dropped David off at the high school, and then came home to get me. Melanie and I frosted the cinnamon rolls. It was about 3:00 or so, and the games were at 4 and 6. It was a little early for dinner, but I didn't want to have concession stand food for dinner. So we stopped by a burger place and split a Hawaiian Teriyaki burger and sweet potato fries. Yum!!! Then we got to the game. We found a place to sit behind Rock and Jackie W* and Mr. T* (the principal). It was close to the band and student section.

The girls got behind again early, and we tried to keep up, but they just weren't playing together very well. Not only did they have a goo 2-3 inches on each of our players, but the refs calls didn't help. However neither of those would matter with all of the mistakes we made. Way too many steals, and turnovers allowed, missing rebounds, and missing shots. We couldn't keep up with them. We lost by about 20 points.

The good news is that it's not a loser out, but a double elimination. Instead of starting the state tournament on Thursday, we have to play a game on Wednesday night. Fortunately the team we play is one from our league and we have beaten easily twice this year. Let's see if we can do it again.

Then the boys game started. We played some private boarding school from Seattle. They were taller for sure. They got the first points but then we picked up the pace and scored 10 more easily. It wasn't a perfect game, but it certainly was more fun to watch. We never got up by more than about 20, but after those first 2 points, we lead the entire way.  There were surprisingly few fouls called both ways. It was a different reffing crew. We ended up winning 69-51.

After the game David had to decide between going out to McDonald's with friends from band and going to stake dance. After texing back and forth with Jared he determined that Jared was waiting to leave for the dance until Lexi was done babysitting for us. So rather than drop off David at he dance early, we drove home, and Jared picked up David and Lexi from our house.

I was impressed Lexi gave the girls baths - which they really needed, and did Melanie's hair. She even washed the dishes after dinner! So the kids were ready for bed when we got home. After David and Lexi left with Jared, we had prayers and put the kids to bed. Since this baby girl didn't seem to be coming we started looking up natural ways to induce labor. Some we had heard of already (castor oil - ick - we don't have any anyway), massage, and walking, taking a bumpy ride in a car etc. Anyway, I don't put too much stock in them. She'll come when she comes.

David got home just after 11, and we could finally go to bed.

I woke up with contractions at 12:30. These were a little different. I could feel them in my back and there were a little more intense. Still not something I needed to breathe through. Although I was having a hard time counting at the right pace, so I started using my phone as a stop watch. They were lasting between 30 and 45 seconds coming between 5 and 7 minutes apart. I thought about waking Aaron several times, but I didn't want him to worry and lose sleep if that wasn't necessary. So I waited. Then they started getting further apart, and I fell asleep again around 2:00 am. I guess it was all for nothing again. I was so disappointed, and frustrated.

It kind of put me in a grumpy mood that morning. Aaron made breakfast cake for breakfast, and I took a shower. We asked David to take a shower before breakfast so we'd have time for everyone else to shower. I was glad I didn't have to give the girls a bath. Amy also took a shower before breakfast. David somehow didn't register that when Aaron asked him to shower before breakfast that he was actually supposed to do something "I heard you say something about a shower." Then why didn't he ask for clarification??? So he didn't get in the shower until 10 minutes before breakfast was ready. So he ate after we had already started.

Aaron left around 8:30 or so for meetings, and then we left around 9:40. Most people were surprised to see me at church. Everyone wanted to know how I was feeling. I have my normal answers: tired and uncomfortable. And now a new feeling - frustrated! It didn't help when I talk to a mom of 10 whose last baby came 2 weeks late. That does not sound appealing.

The sacrament meeting program was presenting the youth theme for the year: "Peace in Christ". Four youth were asked to talk on different aspects of Peace. Michelle said she needed to go potty during the very first talk. Surprisingly she actually peed in the potty. David was the last youth speaker. His topic was service and being a peacemaker. Then the youth and leaders sang the song "Peace in Christ". I had listened to it before and remembered some of the words. So I listened to the words again, I realized that was what I was missing. I had become anxious and frustrated, because I hadn't put my faith in Christ. I didn't feel peace because I wanted things to happen on my time line. I had to remind myself that things would be fine. That it is completely normal to go over the due date, in fact two of mine were 4 days late. I needed to ask for a little more peace in my life, and accept that I can't control everything. So I am much more relaxed now. Willing to wait.

I had to find some tissues before the song was over. I then was able to enjoy the last two talks from our Young Women's president and our Young Men's president. Michelle wanted to go potty again, but she didn't go that time. She happily went to nursery, and then I was off to teach my Sunday School class. It was an interesting topic, as I was teaching them how to teach others, or rather how to get others to participate in learning. I think we had some good discussion.

Then instead of attending Relief Society class, I went to teacher's council. We had some great discussion. We finished up our class, and then it was time for the pot luck. They had decided on a hot dogs and chili theme, with cinnamon rolls for dessert. Other side dishes were welcome of course. So we had about 7 different chilis, and a few pans of cinnamon rolls. There were also salads, fruit, cookies, cupcakes, corn bread, fry bread, and other things I have forgotten. We had a great turnout, and there was even plenty left over for Aaron to eat when he was done meeting with people.

We didn't leave until after 2:00. Michelle was grumpy and tired, and didn't want to let other kids use the doll stroller. I had to convince her to come with me. By the time we got home and unloaded everything from the Yukon it was 2:15, and I figured it was a little late to get Michelle to take a nap, so I gave up and just took a nap by myself. Aaron came home to get David for home teaching, and told the kids to be quiet so I could rest. Amy played with Michelle and Melanie, and Timothy was reading. At some point I heard Melanie screaming at Timothy, who apparently didn't know I was taking a nap, and was teasing Melanie. So much for a long nap.

Aaron had a plan for dinner, so when he came home, he started on that. We decided to go for a walk to see if we could induce labor. Michelle didn't like that idea, so I had David come get her. We were only gone for about 30 minutes, we just walked up and down our gravel road, and got to talk. When we got back Michelle had fallen asleep in David's arms. I should have put her down for a nap. Now it was 5:00 and she was asleep. I had David hand her to me, and she was not happy to be moved, but settled down once I had her. I couldn't hold her very well, but I sat her next to me, and she leaned on me. Any time I tried to move her she cried, so I just sat there with her for over an hour. She did not want to be disturbed.

There is a lady at church who often brings fresh produce to share. It's the stuff about to be thrown out from the grocery store, so it needs to be used quickly. Aaron had picked up some mushrooms, so he found a stuffed mushroom recipe - yum! We also tried mustard greens for the first time. I'm glad they were free, I don't think we'll ever have those again. We had a bagged salad that was apples cheese and walnuts with an apple cider dressing - it was pretty good. Aaron also cooked up some mozzarella sticks and we had a delicious dinner. Timothy had made a "mystery dessert", which is basically a dump cobbler with several options for fruit mix in and toppings. He chose cherry and chocolate chips. Mostly because we don't have a whole lot of canned fruit. After FHE, family council and scripture study we had the dessert. It was super sweet and rich. I almost couldn't finish mine.

Then it was off to bed again. Michelle took a little longer to go to sleep, but only about 20 minutes later than usual. I was ready for bed after that!  I hoped baby would arrive that night, but she didn't. She would have shared a birthday with my cousin, and a couple of other awesome people. Oh well. She can't stay in there forever!

Getting Ready for Baby

Tuesday Michelle woke up around 2:45, but I got her back to sleep fairly quickly. Then I couldn't sleep. Then the contractions started again. Since I'd already been through false labor once I didn't expect much. I knew I was less than a week from the due date, but these seemed to be the same. every 5 or 6 minutes, lasting about 30 seconds but not getting any stronger. Aaron woke up around 3:30, so I told him what was going on, but told him not to worry too much. I'm not sure either of us got much sleep after that. I dozed off once around 4:30, and then after my alarm went off at 5:01 I fell asleep instead of making sure David was up. So when Aaron's alarm went off at 5:09, I realized David wasn't up, and I went downstairs to get him up. Obviously the contractions had fizzled a bit. I tried to sleep after that, but I couldn't. Aaron took David to seminary and I took a shower. By 7:00 I didn't have any more contractions.

It had snowed a bit overnight. Not even a 1/4 inch, but the kids were excited. The roads were icy in places, but nothing I couldn't handle by going slow, and using 4WD. So I took the kids to school, and then got the girls ready to go. Shannon agreed to watch them for me since I knew I would be having my cervix checked. I was exhausted from being up since before 3, so I set an alarm for 8:45, and took a quick nap. When I got up I made sure the girls had socks and shoes and coats. Melanie didn't want me to re do her hair - it was still in the pony tails I had done on Sunday. Michelle didn't want me to do her hair either. Usually she is excited for me to put "pig tails" in, but she refused to let me do her hair. Oh well.

They were itching to get the Brynn's, so we left a little early, and headed over to Shannon's. Then I went to my appointment. I waited about 5 minutes to check in, 5 minutes in the waiting room. The MA took my vitals, and then Raelynn came in to do a survey. Then we chatted about false labor and due dates. Then I waited at least 10 more minutes for them to tell me to undress and get ready for Dr. D*. Then I swear it was 20 minutes before he came in. I don't know for sure because I had put my phone away. I hadn't met Dr. D* before so he talked about a few things related to this pregnancy and asked if I had any contractions. I told him about the ones I'd had that morning. So he measured  my belly - 40 cm! and we listened to baby's heart beat - 142 bpm, and then he checked my cervix - never comfortable! He said 3 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. Baby was at a station -3 though, so she still has to move down a lot.

I finally got done and went to visit Aaron. Luckily I didn't have to wait for him. Everyone wanted to know how I was doing. And apparently they wanted a little more detail than I was "fine". I guess they are anxious as well since Leti had her baby so early. I guess I should just expect that I don't go early! Oh well. I had called in a RX on Saturday night, but with the holiday on Monday they hadn't called me to let me know it was ready. I decided to wait in line in case they had finished processing it. I waited 15 minutes, and it wasn't ready. I could wait for 20 more minutes, or just have Aaron pick it up later. I told them Aaron would get it later that day or the next day.

Then I ran over to Safeway to return the Redbox movie. I quickly scanned for clearance items, and didn't buy anything. I drove back over to Shannon's and picked up the girls. I was able to keep Michelle awake. So we had lunch and then Michelle took a nap. I probably should have napped, but I didn't.

David texted and asked if he could stay to watch the Spring musical auditions. They are doing Annie. While he doesn't want to be on stage he does want to support his friends. The sweet thing was that he asked how I was doing, and if I was still having contractions. Then he said, "I just can't wait to hold her". It made my heart melt!!! So I picked him up around 4:30 after taking the girls to the library.

I made chicken enchiladas for dinner. I figured I don't have too many more nights where I can make a nice meal, and we'd had some last minute meals lately. After dinner the girls got baths, and that's about all I can think of. Oh, I think we ended up playing a family game since we didn't really had FHE activity on Monday. At least according to Amy who was in charge that day. I think we may have watched some Olympics that night.

Wednesday was pretty normal. I helped in Amy's class one last time. They were working on area and perimeter. In the hall all of the 3rd grade classes were using shapes outlined with blue tape. The kids had to calculate the area and perimeter of each. I had 3 students out at a time, and gave them a few instructions and then let them do it in any order they wanted - there were 10 shapes. They used the square tiles on the floor as one unit. I was there to help, and then check their answers. We would go over it again if there were some that were wrong. Amy came out with the first group (even though she had completed the assignment the day before). She was done first obviously since she'd already done it once. I helped the others reminding how to count half squares, and that for perimeter you have to count each square as one and each diagonal as one. I didn't even get to finish with all 6 students. The last two didn't want help, but they were struggling. One girl was counting the perimeter with her steps rather than each square. Another boy had only done the perimeters. I was trying to help them finish up, but they needed to go back to class to work on a state assessment practice test. I got to talk to the other volunteers there. They were all excited about my upcoming due date. I know I only see them once a week, but they have become my friends. Michelle spent half of the time telling me that she needed a drink of water. Finally we could go get her a drink. I talked to Spring K* on my way out, and then Jackie W*. I told them all I hoped I would not be there the next week. We'll see if that holds up. This girl seems to be taking her time getting here.

After we got home we had some lunch and then naps. I don't remember much else. Oh, Melanie asked if we could make cookies for snack, so we did. Aaron came home early to troubleshoot some remote access issues they were having with the EMR. So he was home, but on the phone with people from EPIC. David stayed for monologue auditions, and I picked him up just before 5:00. I made broccoli soup for dinner, which everyone but Amy liked. She is super picky. Another random thought - Timothy compliments me on every meal. I'm not sure if this was a goal of his and now it's a habit, but it's kind of nice to always hear that he loved the meal and thank me for it. And if it was Aaron that made it he'll thank and compliment him.

Aaron had to be at the church 6:30, so we did scripture study early, and then he took the boys to mutual. It was the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet that night. Sometimes I miss having boys in cub scouts. I had Amy take a shower since she missed hers the day before so we could play the game. Everything else was pretty normal. I put the girls to bed, and Aaron got the boys home before bed.

A few months ago Aaron and I had cleaned out our cupboards in order to get rid of those nasty moths - weevils, or millers, or whatever you call them. However we keep finding them occasionally, like a couple times a week. we've been looking to see where they are laying eggs. That night we found some in the cupboard with all of the storage containers, and small appliances. I guess there were enough crumbs that they were laying eggs there! So we completely cleaned it out, and washed all of the storage containers, and wipes down the appliances, and washed out the drawers, and sprayed them with vinegar. OK, so it was mostly Aaron who did all of the work. It was a good time to go through and throw away extra lids, and containers without lids. There were some containers we never use, so I added them to my giveaway pile/bag. With the dishwasher running again we headed to bed.


Thursday I had more contractions between 3 and 5 am, but they went away again. This is getting really old. Aaron was a little more nervous about these contractions because he'd be in the city for most of the day. However they had completely stopped before he had to leave, so I told him to go ahead. He checked in every couple of hours. Honestly he's been doing that for the past week or so.  I had several contractions throughout the day, but they were so sporadic, it couldn't get excited about it at all.

I've been trying to finish up a few cleaning projects. Making sure I'm keeping up with the laundry, and in general trying to get ready for this little girl to arrive. I had several people text and check in with me that day. I think they are all anticipating her arrival as much as I am. I think I am ready, it's all up to her now!

The kids got home around 3:20, and Timothy had some news for me - his science teacher Mrs. E* had her baby - she's not due until March 5th. Happy for her, not happy for me... Aaron got home around 3:45 that afternoon. He had stopped by Costco to pick up some essentials. He had some phone calls to make, but then he was just home. He helped me make dinner (orange sesame chicken). He gave the girls baths so I could do the dishes before bed time, and have time for myself after they were in bed. He decided to take David driving. He had to take some things over to the church. I told him to check and make sure there were enough paper products and utensils, last time we ran out of spoons. While he wasn't too keen on taking another trip to the city, it would give David some much needed driving time. So they went back up to Costco and replenished a lot of things that were gone or close to being used up. They were back before 9. We just went to bed early, because we could.

Friday (yesterday) I had contractions between 2 am and 3 am and then they stopped. Boooo!!!! So Aaron went to work for his last day. He didn't have any patients scheduled, but was sure he could fill up the morning with people who wanted to see him, and same day appointments. My plan for today was to do the girls' and kitchen/bathroom laundry and clean out the fridge. Mission accomplished. Maybe I should try some jumping jacks.

The girls played and watched a show, we had lunch and nap. Then I played several games of chutes and ladders with Melanie. That's been a favorite thing of hers to do lately. The kids got home from school, and Aaron came home soon after. We had a snack, and then cleaned and played. We had pizza for dinner, and then after scripture study Aaron and David went driving again. At some point during the day I found out another friend's baby was born. 3 weeks early. Sometimes I feel like she is going to stay in there forever, even though that is obviously not the case. So much for having a small baby for once. I'm sure she'll be over 8 lbs, more likely 9.

It was a quiet evening, mostly reading to the girls. I got the girls in bed, and David and Timothy stayed up to watch some Olympics. After Michelle was asleep I did the dishes and watched a little bit of Olympics and then the news. I haven't watched the news in forever. It's usually not on until 11, but it's on a 10 during the Olympics. Then it was off to bed. Hoping for some progress overnight.

I hardly slept at all. I had contractions randomly throughout the night. One or two every hour. I also had reflux that was bothering me. I got up at midnight to take an antacid. Then I got a headache. Michelle woke up twice. By 6:00 when Michelle was up for the day I was exhausted!

District Championship, and a Dusting of Snow

So Saturday turned out to be pretty windy. I got up and made breakfast, but then forgot that it was our week to clean the church. Aaron took the girls and told me to get David up and get him started on chores. I was doing dishes and making the bed etc, and next thing I knew it was 9:00. So I got David up and I told him to get moving. I usually don't let him sleep that late. So I showered and he took his time getting ready. Aaron got home and started on painting the stairwell. After texturing the night before, he painted the whole wall he did the other side and kept going for a while. It's hard to know where to stop!

Looks like new!

Meanwhile I helped the girls clean up their room, and kept them out of the hallway. Aaron put David to work pulling everything out of the garden in the back. Eventually we had lunch and then I put Michelle down for a nap. It was super windy outside but I finally had some energy to get some work done. That and I knew I had to pick up Timothy at some point, so I couldn't take a nap. So I went out and started cutting back the roses, and raspberries. David joined me in the raspberries. I let him do the golden raspberries because all of them needed to be cut down, whereas the red raspberries, I only cut down the dead ones. When I was done there I started pruning the apple trees. Aaron had already cut off the suckers at the top. I started cutting off the ones that were growing inward, and then the ends. I didn't quite finish when I got the call from Lincoln that they were back at the church. So I put my clippers away and tried to fix my hair - haha! Then I picked up Timothy.

He came home, put his gear away and then had a quick lunch before starting on his chores. David had to be at the high school at 3:10 for pep band. Aaron decided to take Amy to the games again. I would have loved to go, but spending over an hour in the car each way did not sound comfortable. The girls' game started at 5:30. Unfortunately they got behind early and just couldn't catch back up. They ended up losing 55-50. It was heartbreaking to have an undefeated season only to lose the District championship game to a team you've beat twice that year! There is still the Regional and State tournament starting this weekend. They won't have an easy time as a 4 seed, but I hope they can pull it together.

Aaron sat across from the pep band and got a few pictures.

The boys' game started around 7:15. They took an early lead, and were able to maintain it for most of the game. Despite some questionable reffing calls, the boys were able to keep the lead. With 1.9 seconds left they were only up by 3. Somehow we got the ball back made a 3 pointer and won by 6! Close game. Aaron got a couple pictures of Brock taking his turn cutting down the net.

The boys will start the tournament as 3 seed, so they will have to work hard to get back to back state titles.

Meanwhile at home I was trying to stay awake, and made skillet mac and cheese for dinner. Then the girls got a bath and I got them ready for bed. It's so tiring to get up and down, and I'm just uncomfortable all the time. Maybe it's the false labor, but I'm so ready to be done. I'm exhausted all the time, and I can't sleep because my hips ache, and I have to use the bathroom. I try to nap at least once a day, but I still have very little energy. Notwithstanding all of this I am so excited to meet this little baby girl. In the back of my head I realize she could still have Down Syndrome since we never ruled it out, but that is the least of my worries. She will be perfect and beautiful, and I am so excited to be her mother. All of the pains, worries, and inconveniences are worth it to bring her into this world! This had not been the easiest pregnancy, but I haven't had serious health complications so that is a blessing for sure. Saturday I was at 39 weeks. I can do this!

Sunday was cold. Aaron left for meetings and the rest of us had breakfast. Michelle slept in until almost 7:00! There were 4 of us that needed to shower. By the time I got in the shower all three showers were going at once so my shower wasn't very warm. I usually like to watch Music and the Spoken Word downstairs with the girls while I do their hair, but we were running behind. So I watched it on the iPad while I got them dressed, and helped them find socks and shoes etc. I just did their hair in their room. Then it was time to get finished getting myself ready, lesson printed off, and diaper bag ready etc.

It's amazing to me that in the 5 minute drive to the church I had at least 2 kids fighting the whole time. It didn't help that when David was parking he wanted to pull up a little more, but accidentally hit the brake and Amy had already unbuckled and hit her head on the console. Not exactly how I wanted to walk into church!

Luckily things went better after that. Well except that Michelle wouldn't sit still. She kept wanting to see Bri-Ana's baby, and she and Melanie were fighting over a book, and then she said she needed to go potty. She sat on the potty, but wouldn't go. She asked to go again about 20 minutes later. Same results. I enjoyed what I heard of the talks.

The youth were practicing a song for sacrament meeting next week, so I didn't get to start my Sunday School class for about 20 minutes. I talked with Carol S* for part of that time. Eventually they were done and I only had 20 minutes for my lesson. I wished I had more time, but I thought I did ok. We talked about how to use music in teaching and learning about the plan of salvation. Then it was off to Relief Society. Jane G* had to leave with a sick grandchild, so she asked if I could lead the music and practice the song the Relief Society will be singing in a few weeks, and to let them know there would be no choir practice. So I got to lead the music, and then Cary Ann B* lead the discussion about Neill F. Marriott's talk "Abiding in God and Repairing the Breach". It was a great discussion. We talked a lot about how to repair relationships with forgiveness, humility and how we can't do it without the help of the Lord.

After church Timothy stayed for Bishop Youth Council. David should have stayed but someone else went for him. Sometimes I think he cares more about his stomach than his responsibilities. We had lunch, and then David noticed the snow falling outside. It was windy again, so the snow didn't really stick but it was swirling. It snowed off and on for a while.

I tried to put Michelle down for a nap. She took an extra long time to get to sleep. It was almost 2:30! I began to wonder if it was worth it. Once she was asleep I went down to do the dishes. I started having contractions again. I didn't have a plan for dinner yet. Aaron told me to go lay down, and he'd come up with something for dinner. The contractions went away, and I did get a nap. Aaron and Amy went to the baptism which started at 4:30, and then stayed for New Beginnings. Aaron got everything ready for spaghetti. He even cut the bread and made garlic bread, got out a bag of corn and some spaghetti sauce I had made and frozen. It was easy to get dinner going. Aaron and Amy got back in time for scriptures and prayers. I had contractions off and on, but nothing consistent.

We didn't get a whole lot of snow, but it did start to stick a little. That's good enough for me!

Monday was President's Day. No school for the kids and no work for Aaron. We had a few things planned for the morning. After breakfast, Timothy and David helped Aaron load the truck with a load for the dump. Then David and Aaron went up to the city for shopping. Normally that is something I would do, but Aaron was concerned. He offered to come with me and David. I figured if he was going I could get some things done at home, and that would give David some driving time. He still has a lot of hours left to get 50 hours before his birthday. So I sent a grocery list with Aaron. David had been asking to go shopping. He needed a winter coat. Every one I purchased for him wasn't what he wanted or didn't fit. I told him he'd have to be there to pick it out. He has also been wanting to get some cologne, but I wasn't about to pick one out without him. So I left that up to Aaron to help him with that.

The plan was to watch a movie together in the afternoon, so we got chores done in the morning, and played and things like that. I decided to wash our sheets. The kids had loaded the recycle in the back of the Yukon, so I drove it over and we dumped it before lunch. It was windy and chilly.

Michelle took a nap, and then after making the bed, which takes a lot more effort after washing the sheets, I was exhausted. So I took a nap. After returning from the city, Aaron and Timothy drove over to pick up some things from a friend for the dump and then hauled it all to the dump. When they got back, Aaron had some work to do so we ended up having a snack and then starting the movie around 4:00. Aaron had picked up Wonder from Redbox. Some of them had seen it, but it was worth seeing again. We popped some popcorn, and enjoyed the movie together. By the time it was over I realized that it was almost 6:00 and I hadn't even thought about dinner. Luckily Aaron had. He cooked up some chicken nuggets, and the spinach and cheese phyllo dough appetizers leftover from New Year's. He made a salad and cooked some peas. We ate around 6:30 and then cleaned up, had scripture study and got ready for bed. After getting kids to bed, Aaron and I watched some Olympic coverage. That's about it.

Valentine's Day, and Other Things

Monday morning was another normal trip to the city for shopping. It's exciting to see that the Winco building is done (at least the exterior). I even saw a flyer in the mail advertising job openings and training.

Unfortunately I'll probably miss the grand opening since I'll have a newborn. I'll just have to send Aaron!

I won't go into details, but this is how David's afternoon went.

 He helped Aaron repair it and paid for the repairs.

We talked about talking to us before the stress gets to be too much. Oh, he has so much to learn, and we have so much to teach him. Another project Aaron didn't have time for, but did it anyway.

Well Tuesday I had another Dr. appointment. Everything is fairly normal. I told her about the contractions, but there wasn't anything else new. She said she'd do a cervix check and strip my membranes the following week. I reminded her that she wasn't available and that I was seeing Dr. D*. So she said, "Well then let's hope you have the baby before that." I think she was getting a little attached. No I understand, doctors would rather be able to see their own patients but sometimes it's just not possible. I also didn't mention that I didn't want her to strip my membranes. I've heard it's really painful, and doesn't always induce labor. But I figured I wouldn't be seeing her that day anyway, so it wouldn't matter.

I had to take a picture of Michelle. She had been carrying this book around for 2 days. She took it to every store, and to the clinic, and to Amy's class the next day.

That afternoon Aaron and Amy went to the Daddy Dessert Night at the elementary school. It's her last year to do that! Next year it will be with Melanie! They eat a dessert and make Valentine Cards.

I made Gumbo for dinner, it's our only Mardi Gras tradition. The older kids kind of understand what that means, but since it's not something we celebrate, I have to explain it to them every year.

The wall was patched by Tuesday night.

Wednesday I helped in Amy's class. It was Valentine's Day and Mrs. B* had some treats for the girls since they had so many for the class! They each got a cookie, a banana and a cheese stick. They colored some Valentine's coloring pages while I helped the kids.

We worked on a math sheet. It was a multi-step word problem. It was something about a robot who had two bowls of candy hearts. They had to add up the two numbers (both 3 digit numbers) and then figure out how many more he needed to get to 2000. Since I ended up working with each table group I had lots of variation on skill level. Some kids added and subtracted easily. Some kids did the adding fine, but really struggled with the subtraction. Starting with a number like 2000, means lots of regrouping. It was really difficult for a couple of them, and one girls was almost in tears. It was hard to hear her say, "I bet this was easy for Amy. She's so smart. I'm not smart like her." I ended up staying until 11:30 finishing up. We stopped then because that's when they go out for lunch recess.

When we got home I made some lunch for the kids, I was talking on the phone to Aaron and looked out the back door and saw this bag hanging from the back porch light.

There was no card, but there was a beautiful handmade blanket inside. I told Aaron about it and sent these pictures.

About an hour later he texted me to say that they were from Linda E*. She had called him to let him know she had left it at our place. 

That afternoon was a little crazy. David had interviews to do tech for the Spring musical, so he stayed after school. I dropped Amy off at Melissa F*'s for activity days at 4:00. Soon after that Aaron came home. He'd been at the dentist to get a filling done. He had been home maybe 10 minutes when David said he was ready to be picked up. So I headed over to the high school with Michelle. By the time I got there David texted again to say that he needed to stay for the results. So I sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes waiting. I told him I needed to pick up Amy soon, so he and Luca came out. We went to Melissa's and Luca's mom was there picking up Ava, so that worked out. They had barely finished their activity, and wanted to go on the zip line. It was cold outside and I didn't have a coat. David had homework to do, so I didn't want to stay long. I talked with other moms for a bit and realized Amy wasn't even going on the zip line. So I called her over and said we needed to go. Poor Michelle had been stuck in the Yukon for about an hour. I had let Aaron know it was taking me longer than I expected and hoped Melanie was letting him get some work done.

By the time I got home It was 5:15, and had less than an hour to get dinner ready. So much for the meal I had planned. So we had leftover gumbo, and I roasted some asparagus and cut up some sourdough bread. That was it. I never even got to dip the strawberries for dessert. I started to do that after Aaron and the boys left for mutual, but ended up giving up and doing baths instead. Then I put the girls to bed, and finally got to the strawberries. No one even got to try them until the next day.

This was after some people took them for lunch.

Thursday, I don't remember much during the day. I think was the day I had a little bit of the nesting instinct. I decided to wash the kitchen curtains, the ones that cover the back door by the kitchen table. They often get food spilled on them. Mostly yogurt, when a bowl falls off the table and splashes yogurt everywhere. So I got those taken care of. Aaron had spent the day in the city for work, and had taken the new car in to get some leather protection and other things like that. He was really worried about being without a car for 5+ hours in case I went into labor, but I was fine.

That afternoon while Amy was supposed to be cleaning her room, she was creating these multiplication problems and solving them. She wanted me to make sure he got them right and tell me which ones were wrong so she could fix them. I told her she had to finish her room first.

 She got them all right.

That night was Aaron's Town Hall presentation on when to go to the ER. He's done it a couple of times, but this is the first time he has been asked to do a taped interview for the local news stations. One station taped an interview on Wednesday and played it Thursday morning. Another station taped him on Friday. While he was at the Town Hall meeting I went to the rescheduled Book Club. Joan hosted since Bonnie was still sick. We enjoyed talking and eating, and discussing new ideas for books, and scheduling hostesses. I was able to get the Usborne books to Sandi (who came despite having surgery that morning!!!) and Julianna (who drove 25 minutes to come late just to be with us!)

When I got home Aaron had put the kids to bed, but Michelle still wanted me to come in and be with her. It didn't take long for her to go to sleep.

Friday was a day off of school for the kids. We didn't do anything really exciting in the morning. Timothy had a snow camp out. So he finished all of his chores and screen time before he left. I dropped him off at the church with all of his gear at 1:00. Michelle fell asleep on the way, as I thought she might.

Aaron was home much later than he intended. We were going to do an afternoon date, and then be home before dinner. But he ended coming home around 5:30. So we had dinner as soon as he came home, and then headed up to the city. We went to Party City to get some baby girl goodie bag supplies. We wanted to make some little goodie bags for the nurses and visitors like we have done in the past. So we wandered around the store and used a coupon I had gotten in my email that morning. Of course I couldn't get the email to load, so they just had take my word for it.

Then we went to Lowe's to return something Aaron had purchased, and then over to Costco. I knew it would be closed on Monday, and I wouldn't have a chance to go again until the next Thursday! So we picked up some of the usual items and a couple of other heavy things that I would have a hard time carrying by myself after having a baby. So we stocked up, and then got a vanilla soft serve ice cream to share on the way home. We got home just before 8:00 and had scriptures and prayers before putting the kids to bed. David had asked if we could stay up and watch a movie. They started without me and I joined them when Michelle was asleep. Aaron and I put together the goodie bags while we were watching the movie. It was a late night, but it's one thing we know David loves to do.

Ensemble Festival and Basketball

Saturday was pretty busy for David. The morning was pretty normal with chores and such. I had Timothy help me organize the game closet. There were too many just sitting on the bottom of the closet.

Since I wasn't having any contractions Aaron was safe to take David and his friends to the Ensemble Festival. They had a school van for the event, but not enough room for everyone so after a couple of other options fell through Aaron said he would drive them. The campus is about an hour away. They met at the high school, and then drove up.  They checked in an warmed up and then had their performance at 2:00. Aaron took a video, and I was glad I was able to watch it later. David was disappointed in their score. However I can see why they got that score. While David did a really great job there were 4 other people playing which he had no control over. They played an overused song, and couldn't play it up to speed. Mistakes were made, and they fell out of sync at the end. I still think it was a great experience for him, and I hope he will try again next year.

By the time they got back from the Ensemble Festival they had about 10 minutes before they were to meet for pep band. This time they were traveling and hour in the other direction for the basketball games. So Aaron dropped him off at the high school, and then came home for a bit. He decided to take Amy with him to the games that night. That meant I had to run dinner over to the missionaries rather than them come over for dinner. Actually Aaron arranged for them to come pick it up. They arrived at 5:00 and took some spaghetti and French Bread back home for dinner. The rest of us enjoyed our early dinner, and Amy and Aaron found something to eat along the way.

At home we just played watched TV, and some Olympics. We had a dessert before bed time and the girls took baths. I took several videos of Michelle singing and counting, but I can't get them to upload. I don't know what's wrong. Oh well.

Aaron, Amy and David got home late that night - close to 11:00. Both the boys and girls teams won their games which put them in the district finals game the following week.

The boys ran away with this one! They had two back to back quarters with 36 points each!

Sunday I had to get everyone up and ready for church, while Aaron had meetings. I don't recall anything out of the ordinary. We made it there on time, and I enjoyed the talks in sacrament meeting. I taught my Sunday School lesson on the role of agency in the Plan of Salvation, and then enjoyed Relief Society. We discussed the Conference talk "Turn of Your Light" by Sharon Eubank. After church we had choir practice and then went home. Michelle fell asleep on the way home. After lunch I took a nap as well. Aaron came home and started on dinner. I had pulled out some steaks, and was going to make mashed potatoes or something, but then he decided to roast some potatoes on the Traeger - they were delicious. Michelle woke up and snuggled with me but then fell back asleep.

So cute!!!

We barely finished dinner by the time people arrived for Bishop Youth Discussion. Aaron led a discussion on being kind. I had made some peanut butter brownies for dessert, but didn't do a good job of checking if they were done - they were a bit gooey! Aaron also made a key lime cheesecake dessert. I played with the girls upstairs during the meeting, and then we came downstairs when they were having dessert. That's about it for the weekend.

Broken Door, Baby Shower, and False Labor

Monday Timothy told me the garage door wouldn't open. I thought he was just doing something wrong. But indeed it was stuck. I locked it and unlocked it, jiggled the handle, pushed on the door, and eventually it opened. Weird.

I was trying to get a picture of the mountain after dropping off Timothy at the middle school. It was so pretty. It was overcast on top of us, but the sun was just shining on the mountain.

I went up to the city for shopping, but made sure I was back in time to host a lunch for Julianna and Timothy. They were in town for several things, and came over to eat and play. After we got home and put away the groceries I got some things out for lunch. The girls watched Dora for a bit. When our guests arrived, we enjoyed lunch and then I put Michelle down for a nap and Timothy and Melanie played for bit before they headed out to their next appointment. It was fun to hang out with Julianna. We can just talk about anything, and I don't have to worry about it my house is messy or not. The floor really needed to be swept, and I just didn't bother. I knew it would get done later that day. 

After the kids got home we had snack and they got their chores done, and then David said the door wasn't working again. This time I tried everything. It would not budge. The handle would only go so far, but wouldn't go far enough to let the door open. It was broken. So I told them to leave it alone, and I texted Aaron to let him know. He prefers to know things ahead of time rather than be surprised when he gets home.

So we got dinner ready, and ate when Aaron got home. He was super busy, and started call that night. He had lots of notes to write. However while I was getting the kids to sleep I could hear hm banging on things and realized rather than getting work done he was fixing the door. David was helping him. And once Michelle was asleep I helped him. He had taken the handle and door lock key pad off. But the mechanism inside would not budge.

We used a hammer, chisel, crowbar, drill, and hacksaw. We even tried taking the hinges off, but the middle hinge is a spring hinge and it was not obvious how to get it out. Eventually the mechanism broke and we could open the door. I'm sure this is not how he planned on spending his evening. He said he would get new parts the next day to fix it. We couldn't guarantee the door would stay shut all night, so we had to bypass the alarm sensor for that door. It's a good thing it's an interior door. Aaron stayed up super late to finish his work. Then of course he got a call in the middle of the night. Poor guy did not get enough sleep.

Tuesday I had an OB appt at 9:15, so after dropping the kids off I showered and started getting the girls ready and then my calendar reminder went off telling me my appointment was at 9:00 - oops! So we scrambled into the Yukon and got there 5 minutes late - oh well. The appointment went well, except that I had gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks- oops. She was happy about the Beta test being negative. I told her I was having a hard time making an appointment in two weeks. She looked at the calendar with her MA and realized the was out of the office the following week except for Friday, I was sure at 39 weeks she didn't want me waiting an extra 3 days, so we set up an appointment with Dr. D* for the 20th. I haven't met him yet.

After the appt we went home for a couple of hours, and then went back to the clinic for a baby shower. Just before we headed over, Chelle stopped by with the license plates and registaration for the Mazda. She also brought over some left over pulled pork Dave had smoked the day before - yummy! That was nice not to have to worry about dinner with the busy evening we had planned.

Friends and coworkers at the clinic put on a double baby shower for Leti and me. Our due dates are only 4 days apart - mine the 24th her the 28th. Someone made some delicious Yakisoba and rice for lunch and there was salad and soda too. The girls enjoyed the lunch.

Then Leti and I opened gifts for our babies.

 Melanie and Michelle wanted to help open them or hit balloons all over the place.

 

 

 

 

We also had some cake at the end and then cleaned up. They all had to go back to work. Aaron put all the gifts in the back of the Yukon, and the girls took home several balloons. One of then stuck to the roof of he Yukon, so I had to show them how to do that with static electricity. They got a kick out of that.

It was nap time when we got home. We were all exhausted. Pictures from later that day...

 Michelle was holding 5 babies this time.

That night there was a basketball district play off game. our season passes no longer get us in free, so we decided to just take Michelle with us. David had to be there at 6:30 for pep band. So we drove separately in case Aaron got called in and then enjoyed the game. It was just the boys playing. He answered a couple of calls, but mostly was able to stay. It was nice to only have to worry about Michelle. Although she did say she needed a diaper change twice when she didn't. The boys played pretty well, and won the game easily. The game was over by 8:15 and we headed home.

Aaron put in the new mechanism and reinstalled the door lock and handle. It was nice to have a working door again so quickly.  His sleep was interrupted a couple of times with phone calls, and he ended up going in I think. It was a busy call week.

Wednesday I went to help in Amy's class again. It was the 100th day of school. Mrs. B* had me work with the kids 2 at a time to come up with 4 different ways to get to 100. With 24 students and the teacher they would be able to come up with 100 different ways to get to 100. I encouraged them to try different functions and combinations of functions. Some went the easy route 100x1=100 and 50+50=100. But eventually they came up with some multi function equations. I didn't quite get through all of the students, and I was there until 11:30. The girls made quite a mess with the goldfish they were snacking on. I felt bad.

Later that afternoon I decided to go check on the yard. I figured I might see some signs of spring, and I did!

 narcissus

 flowering dogwood

 the vine on the trellis

 my poor cherry tree

 apple trees

 maple tree

As for the rest of Wednesday... The boys had scouts. Timothy went with the deacons and 11 year old scouts to a meeting about the snow campout for the following weekend. Aaron stuck around until he got back and then came home. He got a few phone calls while he was out and discovered that Leti had gone into the hospital for a labor check. We had that baby shower just in time. Apparently she was having contractions all day at work. Amanda finally sent her home at 5:30 when she was gripping the desk through contractions.

The odd thing was I woke up just before 2:00 am with contractions. Very mild, but consistently about 20-30 seconds long and 5 minutes apart. I couldn't sleep. I went to the bathroom several times, but tried to remain still otherwise. Aaron woke up around 3:30, and I told him what was going on. but after 90 minutes they hadn't gotten any worse, and weren't getting longer or closer together. So I just drank some water, and tried to sleep. Aaron decided he was going to go see his patients in the hospital in case I needed to go in later than morning. While he showered I actually fell asleep for about 10 minutes, and then another 15 minutes. So the contractions were actually getting further part. He left and I had another hour of contractions about 5-7 minutes apart. He got back around 6:00 to take David and Brayden to seminary. I took a quick shower, and then was able to sleep. He took the kids to school, and I slept some more. The contractions were now about 30 minutes apart. By 7:30 they had disappeared completely. I'd never had false labor before. It was exhausting, but I wasn't quite ready for this baby to come anyway, so I was glad they stopped. I've had my hospital bag packed for a few weeks, but realized I didn't have a going home outfit or a blanket in there yet. My make-up bag is something I'll just toss in at the last second. Everything else is in there now.

So I just spend a lazy day at home. I didn't do much at all, except laundry. Aaron continually checked in with me, and made sure I was fine. He also let me know that Leti's baby boy had arrived at 9:30 pm the night before. That is awesome for her, not so much for Aaron as he know has to be without her for a couple of weeks until paternity leave. Then again it would have been sooner or later.

That afternoon my Usborne book arrived. I tried to wait patiently until Timothy came home 20 minutes later. I had him bring them up the driveway. I was just about to open the boxes when David texted and needed me to pick him up.

As soon as I could I got them out and took a picture. I still can't believe that's $600 worth of books for $114!!!

Book club was postponed for that night since Bonnie L* - who was supposed to host came down with something. That worked out for us. David had pep band for the girls game that night. The girls won again. Now it was on to the second round.

Friday Aaron got called into the hospital in the middle of the night, and got back around 3:30 am I let him sleep while I took David and Brayden to seminary. It was the first time I had driven the Mazda. It's a good thing David drove on the way there, so I had an idea of how everything worked. Of course I had to pull the seat back so my belly would fit, haha!!

When I got back home Aaron had already gotten up and was getting ready for work. He forgot he had an early meeting that morning. He was working on very little sleep.

After dropping the kids off at school I went over to the dentist office to get my filling fixed. I checked in and then Liana and Alan walked in. Alan had an appointment too. The assistants were really accommodating of my situation. They set up the TV for the girls and then did what they could while I was sitting up. Like putting the topical anesthetic on. Then I laid down to get the local anesthetic shots. Then I sat up until Dr. M* was ready. I laid down again for the drilling and then they put me back up. Then they did the filling and sat me back up, and I was done. It only took an hour and I left about the same time as Alan and Liana. The girls were really well behaved.

I called Les Schwab to see if I could come get the tires rotated. They said it would be a 30 minutes wait. When I got there I realized they meant I would have to wait 30 before they got to me with 6 people ahead of me. Oh well. I entertained the girls with water and popcorn. Although I couldn't eat any. While the girls were well behaved at the dentist office, they were a little less so at the tire place. Michelle spilled her water several times and they made a huge mess with the popcorn. They couldn't really hear the TV. The movie was the end of "We Bought a Zoo". I tried to point some things out to them. There weren't 3 seats together so Melanie sat on the other side of a display of rims. So Michelle decided to sit over there too and play peek-a-boo. I was so worried she was going to knock over the whole rack! When the movie was over the next was was a Jason Bourne movie. Melanie asked me about he movie, and of course now I didn't want her looking at the TV. So I tried to distracted them with books, and gold fish, and more popcorn. When they finally started on the Yukon they thought it was fun to watch them take the tires off. But once another car was in the way, they lost interest. Finally they were done, and recommended that we get the tires replaced in about 6 months. It's nice to get a bit of a warning rather than saying we should have done it a long time ago. So we headed home about an hour and 20 minutes after we got there. The girls watched a couple of shows and then we had lunch and nap time.

After Aaron's meeting he went to the hospital and didn't even get back to the clinic until 11:00 am! He was on call until 5:00, but came home and took a nap. He slept for a couple of hours. Meanwhile Melanie and Michelle were playing doctor - so cute!

 They set up this exam table with a stool and doll stroller!

For once we didn't have anything planned for that night. Saturday was pretty busy, so we just watched the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony for a bit and then went to bed.