The Waiting Game and Thankful for Everyday Life

I've made it to that point where I'm so ready to have this baby, yet apprehensive because I am fully aware of what it entails to actually birth a baby!  We're just passed the 38 week mark.  I have had some issues with high blood pressure and swelling which has put me on modified bed rest the past week and a half.  I had another check-up today and the bed rest is helping with blood pressure and swelling, but spending so much time in a reclined position isn't allowing gravity to do it's thing in progressing labor!  But, the baby is healthy and doctor isn't so worried about me.  That is good news!  I am not making any progress, so there is no possibility of induction until I start to look more "favorable".  The induction is a peace of mind thing as my labors move quickly and we are about 30 minutes from the hospital.  Because we moved during this pregnancy, it is all new to me again.  I am really liking my doctor and trust that he is taking excellent care of both me and baby.  I have heard great things about the hospital we're delivering at.  We toured it a couple months back and at least know how to get there!  That's about all the news I have on the baby front.

Now, to thankfulness in picture form!

Thankful for baby boy and making it to 38 weeks!

 

Thankful for this little guy who is about to become a big brother!  He really has no idea of what is about to happen, which is probably for the best!  He is enjoying having me laid up, though.  We've watched LOTS of Curious George and Blues Clues these past few days!

Yes, that is my belly - it's THAT big!

Thankful for a jumbo bag of pinto beans, plastic bin, miscellaneous kitchen utensils, and a bucket of dinosaurs...indoor sandbox!

 

It was really just a matter of time before he climbed in, don't you think?

Thankful for an extremely strong willed 6 year old who decided it was time to take off the training wheels...now!.  After 2 "lessons", she's got it down and doing fabulously!

Thankful for the 4 year old who lets the 2 year old push her around - literally!

Thankful for big sisters who spend hours and hours building train tracks.

Thankful for kitchen helpers who chop up veggies for soup - I just call it "home-ec" class! :-)

Thankful for teenaged artists who create works of art on the driveway!

Thankful for brotherly love!

Thankful for a family full of readers.  This little guy sees his big siblings with their noses in books all day long, so that's what he wants to do to!

See, I can read books just like the big kids!

And this is what Mom looks like when she reads her book!

So incredibly thankful for my amazing husband.  Can you tell that these little gals absolutely adore him?

And, while I don't have a picture to really capture it, thankful for my husband and older children who have really pitched in this past week to keep things running while I'm on bed rest.

Hoping that my next post will have pictures of a beautiful baby boy!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Thankful for Everyday Life

It's amazing how time keeps slipping away from me.  I thought that I'd just done a "Thankful" post and looked back to see that it was in FEBRUARY...ugh!  Without further ado, onto the thankfulness!

Man, I must be thankful to put this picture first!  I am thankful that this little baby is growing and moving. The children are so excited to meet their brother.  I almost always have some body's hand on my belly trying to feel the baby move.  By the way, this picture is about 3 weeks ago.  Needless to say, I'm even a little larger now!

Thankful for these silly girls who wanted to have big bellies like mom!

Thankful for big rolls of paper (from IKEA), markers, and stickers which occupy these little ladies for hours throughout the week.  I love to have them tell me the stories that they draw on their giant sheet of paper. 

Thankful for friends who drive an hour to visit and bring lunch!  We used to live close to each other before we moved.  That's our lovely god daughter in the center of the photo.  Isn't she lovely!?!

Thankful for GIANT snow flakes.  I am so ready for winter to be over, but this was truly beautiful!  I am most proud of myself for dropping everything and getting everyone outside to play in this winter wonderland. It's not generally in my nature to go off schedule, but I am so glad that we did.  They had a blast catching snowflakes on their tongues and being silly in the snow.

Thankful that this is what it looks like outside now!  We were finally able to get the basketball hoop put together that the kids got for Christmas.  They are having so much fun shooting hoops....

and throwing snow at each other to cool off!  I tell ya...only in Minnesota, huh?!?

Thankful for big brothers who help little sisters work on math skills.  Here Eleanor put the shapes into an array and Joseph (cleverly hiding away from the camera!) would take some shapes away.  She needed to describe the attributes of the missing shapes.

Thankful for time to explore and play to encourage learning.  By the time my children need to actually talk about shapes, patterns, angles, etc. they have it all figured out by simply working with these pattern blocks.  I am so thankful for homeschooling!

Thankful that this little guy has discovered a love for books!  And there is no shortage of older siblings willing to read to him!

Thankful for memory game time with Dad.  The kids know better than to ask me to play any sort of memory game with them. In fact, this game started with, "Dad, can you play memory with us?  Mom isn't any good at it!"  Those children are so darn honest!

Thankful for these crazy pictures I find on my camera when I sit down to do a thankful post.  

Thankful for big buttons and a box.

Who knew how long this would hold my attention?  My mom actually lost count of how many times she dumped out the buttons for me to do this over and over and over!

Thankful for my little boy who so desperately wants to be a big boy.  He genuinely believes that he can do whatever he sees me doing.  This guy really keeps me on my toes!

I'm linking up with Jamie Jo.  Make sure that you take some time today to be thankful for all the blessings in your life!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Thankful

I have long admired Jamie and all of her Thankful posts.  I read them and think how nice it is that she takes the time to document all that she has to be thankful for and think, I really should do that, and then don't. It seems that I am dealing more and more with children who are not seeing all that they have and tend to be focusing on all the "stuff" they want....soooooo, I figured perhaps it may be my lack of example in praising the Good God for all that we do have.

In no particular order, here are a few of the many, many things that I am thankful for!

I am thankful for being 26 1/2 weeks pregnant with an almost 2 year old and 4 year old who still think they are my babies!

So thankful for the family vacation we took a few weeks back to Wisconsin Dells.  We had fun in the indoor water parks, went bowling, played games and shared all this fun with another family we brought along with us!

Thankful for this big sister who helped out a pregnant momma by going on the water slides with her daring little brother!

Thankful for this big brother who puts his little brother down for nap time!

Thankful for a $2 box of Fruit Loops and the hours of entertainment it has brought for the younger girls in the house.  I mean, all of the stringing practice to develop their fine motor skills! :-)

Thankful for messages written in the snow!

Thankful for the snowy hill in our yard that the children built a "bob sled" track on.  They love sledding and then coming in for hot chocolate with marshmallows!

Thankful for little boys and remote control trains.  The best part is the "choo-choo" sounds he makes while driving this Thomas the Train all over the kitchen.

Thankful for my crafty girls. This is Madeline modeling one of the hats she has crocheted and has for sale in her etsy shop.   More to come on that in a later post!

Thankful for birthday celebrations with friends!  My wonderful husband celebrated a birthday last week and we had some friends over for supper and Dairy Queen ice cream cake - a perfect evening!

Thankful for little boys who think they are big boys. Peter will eat just about anything as long as it is not cut into "baby bites".  He prefers to push a chair up to the island, pick it up whole, and chow down!

Thankful for big sisters who spoil their baby brother.  I left to run a few errands and came home to find this picture on my camera.  Madeline and Haley got Peter his blanket, a bowl of M&M's and mini-marshmallows, and put Thomas the Train on television.  That boy has quite the life, don't you think?

This really is just the tip of the iceberg.  I am going to try and do this more often and really focus on all that I have been blessed with.

Have a blessed week and remember to take some time to count all of your blessings!

Heather :-)