Lately I have been braiding Guenna’s hair on the side like this but without the little braids. But half way through the day she has these little wispy hairs that drive her nuts, I either have to re-braid her hair or do something else with it. So today I had thought about putting little clips in the front of her hair to tame down the wispies but then I had another idea, how about braiding the little wispies into a small braid and then incorporating it into her side braid, and it worked wonderfully! It was really easy and she thought she was so pretty! The boys were impressed too, which always makes it even more exciting for her :) She’s such a girl! I can’t wait for Cait to have hair long enough to do stuff with it, don’t get me wrong though, I love her little fountains, she gets a lot of compliments! :)
Okay, I got one of the last things on my To Do List done. The baby’s sheet for his little bed. I finished it tonight, it was really easy. And now you can come baby :)
I think Cait was a little bit jealous though, she really wanted me to take it off of the foam mattress and give it to her. She watched me make most of it and I’m pretty sure she thought it was for her :) But then again, what 1 1/2 year old doesn’t think the world revolves around her? At least until the next baby comes :)
So, our two contestants for today don’t appear to be winners, but maybe My Boaz’s Ruth or my sister-in-law Andrea? One can only hope :)
We’ve been extra productive today. Ever since the mama chickens hatched their eggs we’ve had a problem with them roosting their chicks in the nest boxes at night. Which means they poop in the nest boxes all night long, not good! So, it leaves the nest boxes very messy and the chickens don’t like laying eggs in the messy boxes. So today, Chris moved the nest boxes out of the coop and we built this little awning outside next to their outdoor shelter. As you can see the chickens are checking it out, I’m really hoping they will actually lay their eggs in them! We’ve been letting them run free in our yard ever since it started getting cold out, but we will pen them up for a couple weeks until they get used to their new laying/roosting arrangements. When I went out to pen them up tonight, only Mama Chicken and one of Lady’s chicks were not up on the roost, so I just picked them up and put them on the roost. I should probably only have to do that a few times before they finally “get” it :)
The red one in the front is Thomas, the speckled gray is Lady and one of her chicks in front of her, they are getting so big. I’m pretty sure they will be bigger than her. I’m anxious to see if we have any hens in the bunch! I’m hoping for three hens in the group of five chicks that we have, but that might be pushing it. We should know by the end of January, it takes about 5 months for the roosters to start crowing, that’s when you really know for sure.
Here are the ones who voted in our contest, and the dates and times they voted for. To be honest, I’m hoping for someone who voted for say the 27th of October, to be the winner! :) I just wish I knew when he was coming, then I could stop thinking, “Is THIS it?!!! Oh well, I’m sure he will come one of these days! (By the way, you can’t change your vote, and sorry for those of you who may not have seen the contest, you were supposed to vote by October 17th) The winner will win a bag of some delicious coffee :) Well, here’s to either Amy or Mother Hen ;)
Here are the votes…
October 27, 5:00am - Amy Kelley
October 27, 9:30pm - Mother Hen
October 28, 8:05am - My Boaz’s Ruth
October 28, 10:15am - Andrea Nash
October 29, 2:22am - Suzi Searles
October 30, 3:08am - Sara Halloran
October 30, 8:00pm - Jennie Powell
October 31, 4:00am - Kelly Gross
October 31, 12:00pm - Kim Cunningham
November 1, 1:00am - Robin Webberly
November 1, 4:30am - Uncle Sanford
November 1, 2:16pm - Rachel McAskill
November 2, 2:00am - Ellen Evans
November 2, 3:10am - Nana Joan
November 2, 6:30am - Christine
November 2, 8:19am - Auntie Carrie
November 2, 4:32pm - Nicole Stol
November 2, 6:00pm - Liz Kirkman
November 2, 8:45pm - Sherri Alexander
November 3, 2:20am - Auntie Tamara
November 3, 2:30am - Roberta Staigle
November 3, 5:37am - Catherine Edwards
November 4, 3:30am - Jenna White
November 4, 9:23am - Carol Easterly
November 4, 12:30pm - Adele Aguilar
November 5, 3:14am - Alecia Silva
November 6, 6:30am - Kim C
November 6, 5:36pm - Shannon Smith
November 7, 1:33am - Nana Judi
November 8, 8:00am - John Aguilar
This picture was taken today, and as you can see, I’m still pregnant. And a little tired! I had a long night last night, with two, two hour sessions of contractions an “stuff” and thinking that the baby was coming sometime soon. And even this morning, we decided not to go to church at our church (an hour away) because I continued to have strong contractions even after I got out of bed for a good couple hours. But alas, the contractions stopped and just left me tired and a little bummed that he wasn’t coming again, at least not today. Oh well. Doesn’t he know that I want to see him and hold him and I’m really ready now?!
We have our camera now, so he can come :) And tomorrow is the first day that we have someone voting for a time/date for our contest. I think tomorrow would be a good day to have a baby, it’s our little neighbor Charlie’s third birthday tomorrow, wouldn’t that be fun? :)
Okay, I better get to bed! Pray for me that I will not be too impatient, and pray also that this little boy will come soon! I’m really ready to not be pregnant anymore, I’m sure all you mom’s know the feeling and can sympathize with me. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Many blessings! I will leave you with this picture of Eamon and I on our date on Friday night, we had a blast! I had taken the kids to the Children’s Museum that day to make scarecrows and got to paint their faces as well, I painted him as a little puppy dog. The kids all wanted to wear their faces to bed that night :) Little cuties!
To be honest, I was a little relieved when my contractions nearly stopped when I went back to bed at 3:00. I was feeling pretty sure though at the time, I had twice woke with the shakes along with the contractions. Which usually means my body is kind of in shoke because of the labor. I know it wasn’t all in my head, my body is definitely getting ready. Still feeling kind of crampy but nothing like early this morning so I’m thinking that today at least during the day, wont be his time. Sorry Dee, you’re probably already gone and will miss this birth :( He tried but he just wasn’t ready to meet the world. I don’t think I was ready either, I begged God to not let me be in labor yet, it was so intense and I was not feeling mentally prepared to go through labor yet. But He gave me a better perspective, and my contractions stopped, so we are going to the Children’s museum today to make scare crows :)
3:00am Friday, October 24, 2008-39 weeks pregnant…
I think, as weird as it seems to me, I might be in labor! I woke up about an hour ago feeling very crampy and sick. And for the last hour I’ve been having very crampy contractions that stop when I stand up so who knows. I’m having a few other “unmentionable” symptoms that are usually a sure sign that real labor is coming soon. But I’m kind of hoping the baby waits a little while because Charlotte has someone else in labor right now, although she has another midwife working with her so I’m not worried about that but it would just be nice to have her there :)
It would be fun to have the baby today though because if we had him early enough our neighbor Dee could come to the birth. They are leaving this morning to go to Arizona for a few weeks and she has desperately wanted to see a baby born. So maybe he’s coming for Dee :) Only time will tell but I’ll keep you posted if I decide that labor has really started. It’s pretty safe to say that if there is not another post on here in the morning, that I was able to fall asleep and he decided that some other day would be better. NOTE: I’m typing this without any glasses on so if there are a bunch of spelling errors, it’s because I can’t really see the screen :)
Another NOTE: Wouldn’t you believe, we don’t have our camera right now? I left it at our friends house on Sunday, we were going to get it from them this coming Sunday! Babies do come whenver they are ready though, not necessarily when you are ready for them to come! Please pray for a safe and “easily” delivery for us, oh there’s another good contraction, better get back to bed and rest!
I went to see the midwife tonight, I have one more appointment (next week, the day before my due date). Then after that I refuse to even think about having to go again ;) So far, I have never had to go that far after my due date. I’ve made some progress finally, I’m actually dilated to one, before that I was not dilated at all. So I guess all those braxton hicks have been doing their job. I really don’t think I will have the baby until after my due date but you never know. He’s really moving around tonight and sending sharp pains in my lower abdomen, which are definitely different than what I’ve been feeling before. And if he moves just right I get a good strong painful contraction. I guess if I can progress a little at a time over this coming week, hopefully my labor will be shorter. It’s always exciting during these last days of waiting because you never know when the baby is going to come, there is so much anticipation and wondering, “is this it?!” knowing that one of these times it will be really time! My hope is sooner rather than later. I have a few more things on my list that I need to get done, and will for sure have them done by the weekend, so anytime next week baby would be just fine:) I’ll be happy to not be pregnant anymore, whatever day you decide to come!
As you can see from my list below that I’ve been working hard these past couple weeks since I made this list. Who knows, maybe if I get it all done early he will come early, and then again maybe he wont and I will just have to add more things to my list! I should be almost done with my list by tomorrow or the next day. My mom solved the mystery of our infant car seat, we thought it had disappeared off the face of the planet, but low and behold it is in her storage unit! We had let my brother and his family borrow it at Christmas time last year and stored it in her storage unit. Thankfully we didn’t buy a new one but had borrowed one from a friend, so we can just give it back. But the foam for the baby’s bed didn’t fare as well, Chris found it in the garage and it was wet and a little moldy, not fit for a baby bed, we will figure something else out.
It’s hard to believe that I am only 10 days from my due date and really at the point where need to prepare for the baby to come any day. It’s exciting and scary all at once. What will life be like with five children, 5 and under? What will labor be like? What will the recovery be like? How will Cait adjust to having a baby brother? There are so many unknowns in life and yet that is what makes life so exciting. I really am excited about the birth. When I was in labor with Eamon I had been making apple butter that day so the house smelled like apple butter, so yummy. I wanted to do something like that but without the work. When I realize I’m in labor I am going to make spiced apple cider for my guests, in the crock pot. I juiced the last of my apples to add to the store bought cider to add some flavor and texture. Then while I’m in labor I will get to smell that lovely appley smell that is so warm and comforting. My mother in law always makes a big pot of homemade chicken soup and usually prepares some little sandwiches for the guests to snack on while they are here for the long haul, that’s one fun thing about having the birth at home, the guests are very close but not necessarily with me during labor if I need quiet. I’m going to try to labor leaning over the birth ball this time, I’m hoping that helps :) Well, enough about all that, I better get back to my list. My hope is to get all these extra things done so I can just focus on keeping my house clean and playing with my kids for the remainder of the wait. Soon our little boy will be here, I can’t wait to hold him and see his lovely little face! Here’s my almost finished list:
Store baby girl blankets
Clean off dryer
Clean off our dresser
Make labels for tubs
Attach labels
Purchase socks for baby
Make sure his crib is clean
Find foam for his crib
Purchase material for baby sheets
Make two sets of sheets for baby’s bed
Wash/change sheets in our room
Figure out what his first outfit will be
Make sure my homebirth kit is ready to go
Purchase shower liner for the bed
Clean birth ball and inflate
Purchase booster for Aidan
Install seat belt extenders/new booster in van
Get an infant car seat
Install infant car seat in van
Find straps for Cait’s new car seat
Clean out van
Find out from Charlotte if I need anything else for the birth
Letter to the baby
Organize back porch
Thorough washing of the bath tub
Make a Chore Chart for the kids
Bleach wall in kids room
Wash/change sheets in kids room
Organize and store Guenna’s new hand-me-downs
Make list, “Things to do when I go into labor”
Make phone list, “People to call when I go into labor”
Make list for babysitter for kids when I have the baby
I’m looking for a good buttercream frosting recipe. The recipes that I’ve been using for the frosting for my birthday cakes, I’ve not liked very well. I need a recipe that is really tasty, not too sweet, and stiff enough to make a good border on a cake. Anybody have a good tried and true frosting recipe with real butter? Thanks! Oh yeah, and I need it preferably tonight or tomorrow morning. Good night, I’m going to bed now!
Okay, today is Eamon’s birthday. We had a fun time visiting the midwife, going to our friends, dropping off the girls, then taking the boys to the eye doctor (Aidan has had a couple eye doctor appointments, I think he just has allergies). Then went back to our friends, visited for awhile longer, then went home and the girls napped (not long enough). Put everybody back in the car, off to daddy’s work to pick him up and then on to Red Robin to celebrate Eamon’s birthday with the traditional Red Robin Burger! Did I mention the girls didn’t sleep long enough? Yeah, Cait cried almost the whole time we were there, except of course while we were eating ice cream at the end! We still had fun but you know how it is when you have a grumpy child? So we were on our way home and I started having contractions, painful ones. Weird. Maybe it’s because it’s a full moon? Maybe it’s in my mind because it’s Eamon’s birthday? Well, we finally got the kids to bed and I’ve been having them all evening, and they are getting stronger. Wouldn’t it be so weird if I had this baby two weeks early? I’m soooo not ready to have a baby tonight! I’m sure it’s nothing but as I’m typing I’m having a really good one. Crazy, and Charlotte told me today that he’s still really high and I’m not dilated at all. If nothing else these contractions are going to make me progress some. Anyway, that’s my news, stay tuned I will let you know if anything significant is happening. Otherwise, they contractions stopped and nothing happened :) Going to make Eamon’s birthday cake!
There’s the cute birthday boy, he fell off his bike a couple days ago and landed on his face, on the brick patio! Poor baby!
UPDATE: for those of you who are curious. Tonight is not the night for baby number 5 but he had me going for awhile there! I was definitely beginning to wonder if I was going to be surprised by an early baby. But my contractions have finally nearly stopped, I’ve got Eamon’s cake baked and ready to decorate tomorrow, party as planned. To be honest, I’m a little relieved, I do NOT feel ready to have a baby this week! I have so much to do! :) Good night.
Okay, today marks several momentous occasions! First of all it’s Eamon’s 4th birthday today! I can’t believe it’s been four years since that very special day! Secondly, today I am 38 weeks pregnant (only 14 days until my due date!) and really NOT trying to count down the days/hours/minutes until the arrival of this new little bundle of joy. And thirdly, today is the last day to enter the contest to win some coffee, the winner will have the closest guess as to the day/time of the baby’s birth. So head over to the Contest post and leave a comment with your guess! I will shut the comments off sometime late tonight :) So, nana Joan and the rest of you lurkers, you better get going!!!
We like to start the event out with pictures in front of this cute prop, “How Tall This Fall.” We figure if we get no other pictures because the kids are cold or tired or somebody needed a nap and didn’t get one and only lasted five minutes, at least we got these! As it turns out, we had four happy kids, almost the entire time, especially Cait, she had a blast!
Of course we needed to get one with all the Burns grandkids.
One thing we’ve learned about Eva, she hates it when her cousins scream, “CHEESE!!” So we have a lot of pictures with her crying. We’ll have to remember to teach the kids to whisper it :)
I braided Guenna’s hair before we left, isn’t it adorable?! I’ve waited a long time to be have a daughter with hair long enough to be able to braid it. She was not very impressed with the whole process, but I will say that she loved how it looked afterward and felt very pretty :) She’s such a girly girl and I love it!
Our annual family photo in the Pumpkin Patch! Our family has grown quite a bit since our first family photo at the patch in Orting :) Aidan was just a baby!
I posted several of these, mostly because of Eamon’s expressions, they are hilarious. As you can see we have a real hard time getting him to smile ;)
The kids had fun on their train ride, Cait was free but she chickened out at the last minute :)
After we bought the pumpkins we went to nana and papa’s to eat and then carve pumpkins. It was a fun day!
Thought I would end this post with a silly picture of our silly youngest daughter. She has quite the blossoming personality, I think she might be a ham, not sure where she’s acquired that trait!? :) There are more videos and more pictures, so hope you enjoy!
On Friday I was 37 weeks pregnant, so I’m 37 1/2 weeks now, only 18 days to go until my due date, yeah! Only 3 more midwife appointments, and we will have a new little family member. I can’t wait to meet him. I’m just a little nervous about the birth, but that’s only because I’ve been around this block a few times before and I know how much work and pain is involved. I always tell myself when I start to get scared to go through the delivery, it’s only a day. And when my contractions seem more than I can bear, I call on my Lord for help and He helps me to remember to take them one contraction at a time. I’m so thankful that I have an encouraging and sympathetic husband who doesn’t leave my side. Maybe I will be brave enough to let go of his hand while I’m pushing the baby out so he can catch the baby, we’ll see :) You know, if you think of it, I’m praying that Chris and I will both be really rested for this delivery. The others we have both been really tired because of lack of sleep and I would just love to go into labor not so tired. I just wonder what a difference it would make.
Well, I’m working on uploading all of our pictures from the pumpkin patch this year. We went on Saturday and got some really cute pictures.
Here’s Chris and I comparing pumpkins, I think his is bigger ;)
Last week we attended the Festival of Family Farms here in Skagit county with some good friends of ours from church, the Kirkmans (or the “Kirk-a-mans” as Guenna so dearly calls them, they are not “friends, they are the Kirk-a-mans). We had such a great time with them and they came over, with their seven wonderful children, afterward and had some chili and brownies. We love having people over, and even in our tiny little house with eleven children and four adults it wasn’t all that crazy! That what happens when you teach your children to not be wild maniacs ;)
Thanks for coming up and hanging out with us, we love you guys! I posted tons of pictures from the day, you’ll have to stop by and see. I’m heading to bed soon, we’ve had a busy and very fun weekend but I wanted to get this post up so I can post pictures from the pumpkin patch we visited yesterday. Hope you all had a wonderful Lord’s Day today!
…that Aidan has his FIRST loose tooth! I can’t believe our little boy is old enough to have a loose tooth! We were all pretty excited around here when it happened yesterday. He took a bite of a piece of ice and afterward told me that his tooth was in the “wrong place” and I felt it and sure enough, it’s loose. Still is, but it may take a little while to come out, he’s a pretty cautious guy and doesn’t want to swollow his first tooth like his friend Elizabeth :) I’m sure there will be pictures once it comes out!
