Modified Bed Rest

...but really we all knew this was coming, right?  This is a long one, folks!

Last Friday night/Saturday morning I started feeling some pain in my back.  Since I was super lazy on Friday, I thought maybe it was from laying on the couch in the same position all day!  I laid in bed in pain for about 45 minutes before I got up and heated up my little beanbag heating pad (probably the best Christmas present I ever got from a roommate)!  The pain went away quickly, so I just went back to sleep.  I woke up with a little pain, but it went away once I got moving.  Steve went on a trip and the kids and I were just pretty lazy around the house in the morning.  I took a nap when the kids napped, but I woke up with more back pain.  That time, it didn't go away as I got moving... it got worse.  Steve called and could hear in my voice that something was wrong.  He made me call my doctor's office and I'm glad he made me I did.  So I called our great Relief Society president and took a shower and headed to the hospital.  I drove myself and I was convinced that I would return that night.  I got checked in and hooked up and watched a little "Dateline" on my phone.  They were super busy, so it was a while before the OB resident came in.  He listened to my history, ran some tests, did an ultrasound and then checked to see if I was dilated.  He, the nurse, and I were all having a good time until he said "Umm... so you're dilated to about a 2."  I was caught off guard because I was hooked up to the monitors for two hours and it did not show a single contraction!  Obviously, my back pain was moving something.  Sooo... I was staying.  Steve couldn't get home until the next morning, so his sweet sister and her son drove 5 hours to spend the night with me.

They hooked me up to IV fluids and an antibiotic (they did a strep test, but the results weren't back yet) and magnesium sulfate.  I had magnesium sulfate with Ruthie for a little while and it did very little... but they wanted to stop things until they could get the maximum effect of the steroid shots they gave me.  I felt way dizzy, so I also had my blood drawn every 6 hours for 2 days.  I also had to use a bedside commode... and it's weird trying to pee in the middle of a big room with an audience.  

After 2 days, they stopped the magnesium sulfate and started giving me an anti-contracting pill instead.  They watched me for about a day in labor & delivery and then moved me to antepartum.  Apparently they are in the process of renovating a new floor for antepartum... but for the last day it felt more like prison.  I was bored and tired of watching tv (gasp! I know!).  I think I literally saw everything worth seeing on the internet.  All the high risk doctors kept talking in "a few days" but nobody really knew what that meant.  I wanted to stay until they were sure I was ok, but I was really ready to get home!  Finally, on Wednesday around lunch time, the high risk ob said "You're not hooked up to and IV or a monitor, so I really don't see what you are doing here that you can't be doing at home!"  Hallelujah!  He gave me orders to take it easy, but doesn't want me on traditional bed rest for now because he wants me to stay strong.  The resident checked me again and I wasn't any more dilated than Saturday, so I was home by dinner time.  

Friday, the back pain started again and I was back to the hospital by dinner time.  Steve and I got to just hang out and watch Dateline.  It was pretty crazy this week.  After more tests and a few hours, they think I might have a bladder infection, so they sent me home with an antibiotic.  Thank goodness.  I feel totally normal again and I am just praying that everything stays good.  I really, really don't want to go back until it's time.

My mother-in-law was here for the week to take care of the kids and the house.  She had a trip planned that I really didn't want her to miss, so she went home for that and will be back in a few days.  Since Steve's work schedule is so unpredictable, I decided to send the kids to my sister in law's for a few days.  That was hard.  I know that I have to rest, but it's hard to think that I'm not being a very good mom to the two I already have!  I know that they will have so much fun playing with cousins and they will not need to be shuffled around like they would here this week.  Liz met us half-way and we traded babies last night.  Today has been very weird.  I haven't had a whole day by myself in almost 4 years!  Luckily, it has gone by quickly.  I am just praying that the next month goes by quickly and this little girl stays in.  

Until then, I am not really sure what I am going to do... I have watched everything worth watching on Netflix and Hulu (we don't have cable and live too far out for an antenna).  They just put a bunch of HGTV stuff on Netflix, so we'll see if I can find enough stuff I have not seen.  Any book recommendations are welcome... but I really don't even know if I like to read anymore.  I have finished 2 books in the past 4 years and they're kinda embarrassing ("Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me" and "Ask Wendy").

When we left the hospital on Friday night, we stopped by the nursery window and looked at all the sweet babies.  It hit us that we're about to have another one, but it got us both really excited to see those sweet, new babies.  This time, we want one in the regular nursery.  Wish us luck!

Ruthie is 2!

I'll spare you the scary hospital pictures and skip to one right before she was about to come home:

Ruthie at her 1st birthday party!

Ruthie's 2nd Birthday:

I can't believe our sweet, 3lb 12oz baby girl turned TWO last month!  I'm behind, I know!

Some things about Ruthie at 2:

-She is so loving and sweet.  She loves to give hugs and kisses.

-She is a little mommy.  She loves baby dolls and she is always trying to mother her brother!  She often brings George his pants & underwear after he goes potty.... since he thinks that is an excuse to run around naked.

-She is quick to say "sorry."

-She likes to sing and her favorite songs are "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "5 Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree" (mostly the "SNAP" part!)

-She loves to eat and will eat almost anything!  It is awesome!  She particularly loves fruit (blueberries).

-She says "enks" (thanks) for everything.

-She loves to say prayer and will kneel down and fold her arms... and then peek around with one eye.

-She loves to sleep and still sleeps 12 hours a night and takes a good 2.5-3 hour nap.

-She prefers Daddy.

-She thinks George is the funniest thing ever... and after he is mean to her and makes her cry, she's trying to play with him 5 seconds later!

-She finally loves nursery and is not as shy!

-She is starting to think that she is really, really funny.

We love our Ruthie girl and we had fun with her on her birthday!  Steve worked in the morning, so we just took it easy and took naps as always.  When he got home, we went to McDonald's and had a little family birthday dinner and then we went to the kids' favorite playground.  Ruthie got to swing on the swings as long as she wanted because it was her birthday!  We came home for yummy cupcakes and presents!  She got some gift cards from family out of town (we have had a lot of fun family nights with those)!  She got a little toy shopping cart, a puzzle, Frozen, and a Jessie (from Toy Story) doll.  I think she had fun... I know we sure did!  We watched Frozen until bed time.  I still can't believe she is 2!  Where did the time go?? She's not a baby anymore!!

Everybody Clap Your Hands!

So, one day a little bit ago, I was doing chores around the house and I had a Pandora kids' station on.  I looked over and George had stopped playing and was dancing.  This isn't the whole video (can't figure out how to get the whole thing off of my phone), but it's the funniest half.  Enjoy!

Catching Up!

I haven't blogged in almost 6 months!! I'm pregnant and lazy, so cut me some slack :)  Luckily, I have been contributing to the family newsletter... so here are our excerpts for the last few months!

March was another busy month for our family!  Steve finished his training and spent time with us while he waited for his IOE (Initial Operating Experience).  Thanks to some clerical errors and a lost employee file, we got to hang out all month!  We had Joe and Tom and Grandma and Kate and Luke and Amie all come visit in March!  We took our first trip on our very own non-rev passes!  We went to Philadelphia for a week to visit Kathleen's dad and also so Kathleen could go to a bachelorette party and bridal shower for her friend.  We went to the Musical Instrument Museum.  We have had fun playing with Matt & McKensie's family.  I think we have spent more time at their house than we have our own lately!  April is looking equally busy!  We applied for an apartment and will hopefully be moving sometime soon!

April was full of playing with cousins, traveling to Idaho for Erin's graduation, signing a lease on our new apartment, and some big news for our family!  Surprise!  We found out we're having another baby!  

May went by too quickly.  Lots of swimming and playing.  Steve flew to Dallas and drove a truck of our stuff up to our new apartment.  Week-long stomach bugs that hit Ruthie and George both (separately... so we cleaned up barf for almost 2 weeks).  Grandma and Grandpa came for to AZ for the day to pick up our car and drive it to Missouri! They are wonderful!! Kathleen went to Tampa for a few days to be the matron of honor in her friend's wedding.  Once Steve had a few days off in a row, he flew to AZ and all 4 of us flew to our new home!  Steve almost didn't make it on our flight, so Kathleen was prepping to fly by herself (and totally scared with the amount of luggage we had)!  Luckily, there was a seat for him at the last second and we all made it together!  We are not quite all moved in... we are still trying to figure out how we are going to organize everything.  We miss Matt & McKensie and the boys, but we like it here so far!  That takes us to the end of the month! 

June was a blur!  We finished our move, explored our new neighborhood, and just enjoyed being all together as a family.  We started to make new friends and took care of all of our past-due doctor's appointments!  We celebrated our 5th anniversary, father's day, and Steve's birthday!  

July was a great month! We had so much fun seeing everyone at the family reunion! After the family reunion, we went to Philadelphia for a layover that ended up being a week! Kathleen and the kids hung out with her dad & step-mom while Steve had a trip. We spent a lot of time at the playground and splash pad! Steve did a lot of flying in July. We went to the St. Louis temple for the first time and then took the kids to check out the zoo... which is FREE here! July feels like it came and went so quickly! That means we are one month closer to fall!! We are ready for some cooler weather! 

August was a pretty mellow month! Kathleen had her 20 week ultrasound and we found out we're having another girl!  And no, we don't have a name picked out yet!  We have a few contenders, but we haven't chosen anything!  Kathleen and the kids flew to AZ and Steve was there for 2 days, too.  We saw Matt & McKensie and the boys, celebrated Kathleen's sister's baby shower, went to the train park, and went swimming.  It was a fun week!  Kathleen survived TWO plane rides by herself with the kids.  George is getting very interested in the new baby and asking all sorts of questions... including "how did the baby get in there?" and "how does the baby get out of there?" There are some more innocent questions, too... like "Can the baby (watch tv/eat food/hear me)?"  He is excited to have another little sister... we just wish he would be this nice to the sister he already has!  As Ruthie approaches 2, she has become much less agreeable.  She basically just wants the opposite of whatever we give her or try to get her to do.  She is talking a lot more.. and her favorite word is "no."  So... fun times around here!  

Ok, so that's the end of the newsletter blurbs... but here's more catching up... 

September so far has been great!  We celebrated my 28th birthday by going to the temple and then I got a haircut!  Steve made me delicious steak and veggies for dinner and got me a "gooey butter cake," which I guess is a St Louis thing... and it is delicious!  I had another check-up and baby is looking great!  For the first time, I have a kid with a normal-sized head!  She was measuring in the 56th percentile!  Whoa!  I was shocked!  George has a chart where he gets stars for going to bed nicely (without a fight and without it taking 2+ hours).  Yesterday, George finally earned enough stars (14) to get a lego set.  While we were grocery shopping, I took him to the toy aisle and let him pick out a duplo set.  Let's just say, we set the goal a little low for a prize that big... and next month, if he gets 20 stars, he gets a happy meal!  He loves his legos, though... they kept him occupied all day yesterday and half of the day so far today (we've been lazy and watching tv). 

Free Printable.

I know I haven't posted in a while.  March and April were busy and we did a lot of traveling.  Then I found out I was pregnant and I was lazy.  Seriously... all I did was lay on the couch and watch tv.  Next thing I knew, 6 months had passed since I updated my poor blog!  I will update in more detail later.. but for now, I want to share something I made with the Pinterest world.

So, I am trying to decorate our hall bathroom... the one that the kids use... and pretty much only the kids since we haven't had many people over yet.  It doesn't even have a shower curtain yet.  I decided on a cute printable I found on Pinterest and it said it was free.  Welllll.... I got to the website and the girl only offered it for free in one color and it wasn't the color I needed.  So I took matters into my own hands and recreated it myself... in the color I wanted.  I printed it in 8x10" and am putting it in an 11x14" frame with a mat. And now I am posting it here... for free.  Like, actual free... I hope this helps someone save an hour of their time.  I will post pictures once I am done decorating the bathroom.  Enjoy!

8x10 format:

Stuff I Like

Ok, so... being a good friend, I feel like I need to tell you about some new things that I have found and love.

Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel System - Ok, so I got an Ulta giftcard for Christmas.  I don't wear expensive makeup, so I was torn... do I splurge and get something fancy or do I stick to the drugstore-type-side and make my giftcard last the whole year?  I looked around and really wanted a microdermabrasion set... but the first one I found was just too expensive!  I settled in the middle.  I went to the drugstore-type-side and decided to go with Olay.  Can I just say that I LOVE this set?? I also use the Olay Regenerist Regenerating Serum.  At first, I used it 2x/week, like it says on the bottle, but then I took it down to once a week.  I use the serum every night after I wash my face.  I have noticed a total change in my skin.  I used Accutane in college, so my breakouts are nothing like they used to be, but I still noticed a change in my face at certain times (about once a month, ladies).  I've been using this system for about 2 months and I haven't broken out at all.  Not even during that week.  Don't buy it at Target.  For some reason, the set is $20 cheaper at Ulta.  Same stuff.  Same size bottles.  Very weird.  Also, I saw a bigger bottle of serum at Costco on sale with a coupon.  So there.  Now you know.

Call the Midwife - I have run out of tv shows to watch.  Thanks to the stupid winter olympics, all of my shows are on hiatus and I have caught up on everything.  Netflix suggested this because I like Downton Abbey.  I saw it on a Pinterest post about shows I might like, too.  So far, I am only 2 1/2 episodes in and both episodes I finished made me cry toward the end!  Confession:  I don't understand accents well and sometimes their accents are too thick... so I only understand about 3/4 of what is going on! Haha.. but I love it!

Things I don't like:

-Winter Sports

-The Winter Olympics

What We're Doing!

George is at it again.  Here are some conversations that I have to record.

George (handing me an Etchasketch):  Mom, draw Woody and Buzz.

Me:  Uhh....

(Clearly Toy Story has given him unrealistic expectations about what I should be able to do on an Etchasketch).

And in the event that you think your children aren't listening when you have small arguments in the car, check this out.

George (while stopped at a red light):  Mom.  That's a red arrow.  You said Daddy ran the red arrow and he said, "no I did not!" but you said he did.

George:  I don't know how to do the dishes.

Me:  Someday you will learn and then I will put you to work!

George:  I can't go to work!  I'm not a Daddy!"

Potty-training Update:  George is like 90% pee trained and about 0% poo trained.  He tells me he has to poo and we go to the bathroom, but he has no patience... so if he doesn't go right away, he doesn't go... and then he goes in his pants 30 seconds later.  I try to get him to spend more time on the potty, but that just leads to a lot of yelling and crying (from both of us).  We're working on it.  He also likes to visit bathrooms all over the city... whether he has to go or not.  He also hit a big milestone:  he can now pee outside when I need him to... like when we're half-way through our walk and far from home.

And some cute pictures:

Baby cousins at church!

Baby cousins playing!

Celebrating Grandma's and Henry's birthday!

All of his sippy cups were dirty, so I got creative...

I turned around for 2 seconds and she was eating a whole bag of donuts!

George & his prize for going poo on the potty the first time!

I left him alone for 30 seconds.

That is (was) a whole roll of tp.

Ruthie is helping me put sodas in the fridge!

Ruthie ate all the frosting off of that cupcake...

...with a butter knife.

We love morning walks!

My Interests, According to Pinterest.

I logged into Pinterest just now and it asked me to preview a new feature that lets me "explore [my] interests."  

Boy did I learn something about myself.  According to Pinterest, these are some of my interests:

Weekly Menus

Rosemary Bread

Yarn Wreaths

Trail Mix Recipes/Road Trip Snacks

Deep Fried Snickers

Fuzzy Socks

Toddlers (activities, menus, etc)

Joke's on you, Pinterest.  The only one of those I have ever successfully completed was a yarn wreath.  The rest are just aspirational/to make me feel better/to make me look good.

The Temple

When we lived in Texas, Steve and I would go to the temple and take turns.  One night, while I was outside with the kids, George asked if he could go inside.  I took him into the lobby and we sat on the couch and talked about Heavenly Father's house.  Then we went outside and played with bubbles in Heavenly Father's yard... haha.

Well, last week we had a special opportunity to tour the new Gilbert, AZ temple.  Once temples are completed, there is an "open house" where it is open for tours to the public.  This was the first time that I got to take sweet George into the temple.  He was very well behaved!  We talked about being reverent in Heavenly Father's house.  He liked the "white shoes" (little paper booties everyone put on over their shoes to save the carpet during the tours).  He especially liked the tile in the baptismal font... and he kept asking if there were fish in there.  Haha.. nope, no fish!  It's not a fish tank!  George and Ruthie probably won't remember their first time inside the temple, but it was a special day and I look forward to the day when we can take them back!

The local news station aired a special called "Gilbert Mormon Temple:  What Happens Inside LDS Temples."  Check it out below.  The link from ABC is here. I am trying to figure out how to embed it, but it's not working right now!)  It's a 4-part series... definitely worth watching and really well done.  To check out more about what we believe, click here.

2013!

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2013 was a good year for our little family and putting this album together was so fun!  I love looking back at pictures of my children smiling and having fun.  I especially needed it on a day like today!  I make Shutterfly books for everything,  I know... but I especially love making family albums.  I started this with our 2011 pictures, but let's be honest... we don't have any pictures before we had kids.  Enjoy!