Lots of catching up!

It's been a busy couple months to say the least! I'll try to catch things up beginning with Easter. Easter was very nice and laid back for us. We went to a brunch at church and it was so nice to sit around and chat with friends. It was also nice to see so many faces that I often don't get to see. I had the kids all dressed similar and it was so funny to see the looks on peoples faces when they saw I was pregnant and asked if it was my first and I said "nope, that one, that one, and that one over there are mine too". The kids participated in the church's Easter egg hunt too. We went home and they took their Sunday marathon naps which lasted from about 1:00-5:00 that evening. When they woke up, we did an Easter egg hunt in the house and had a nice dinner. I finally broke the news about the Easter bunny not being real to Kiley. I did offer an explanation of why the bunny represents Easter, spring, and new life. I also threw the tooth fairy in. I am sure Kiley had already begun to figure these things out. She has drilled me about Santa and every other holiday mascot since last year and I keep trying to pass it off to the grandma's to explain, ignore it all together, or find someway to mix a little bit of the truth in without answering to honestly. Finally, I figured she is 9 1/2, all her friends keep telling her they aren't real, and she continues to ask (I think just to put me on the spot). She didn't seem to care at all and now she can participate in the fun for her younger siblings.

Mother's day could have been better. Chad has gone to skiing and golfing ( a Colorado thing-since there aren't many places you can go skiing in the morning and then golf in 70 degree weather in the afternoon) the day before, so I hadn't gotten much done around the house since he was gone all day. Cort got very sick around 5pm that night and I heard the infamous croup cough. I normally wouldn't get too worried about something like this, but he was having a very difficult time breathing and so I took him into the E.R. (Sadly, ruining my streak of never having to take a child to the E.R). He had a fever of 104 and was feeling pretty miserable. We stayed until around 1am. They gave him meds and a breathing treatment and observed him for several hours before giving us the okay to head home. He was sick for about 5 days after and then Creighton got it and was sick with it for another 5 days. My Mother's day weekend was spent cuddling my sick babies....but, I wouldn't have even considered leaving them for a minute when they were feeling so sick. I meant to go get a pedicure another weekend and have a Mother's day re-do, but things haven't really calmed down here long enough for me to sneak away.

Creighton moved to his "big boy" bed. About a year ago, we put a twin bed in his room along with his crib. He loves to lay in his bed and watch movies, but when he gets tired, he asks to sleep in his crib. I can't bring myself to force him out of his crib before he is ready. Finally, around his 3rd birthday, he showed much more of an interest in his bed than his crib. He's been doing great since moving to his bed! We haven't had any problems with him coming down at night or anything. I think that my belief in following their cues instead of pushing them into something they aren't ready for is still the best way. He goes to bed at 7pm, no tears or complaining, and sleeps until 7am, when he gets himself up and dressed and makes his way downstairs.

The basement is making good progress. All the rooms are framed. There is now a clearly defined office/study (that is much larger than a typical office-but it's also a conforming bedroom that we will use as an office and it has to be large enough to fit two desks and a drafting table) It's 12 X 12, the size of a large bedroom. There is another 12 X 12 bedroom that will be a guest room, a living room, a play room/area off the living room, a bathroom, a storage room, and a workout room! Chad's done nearly all of it himself and has only injured himself twice-once shooting a nail through his finger with a nail gun and another time by getting his finger stuck between two walls. I think getting a tetanus booster would be a good idea! I am excited to see the progress, but it will take another 6 months to a year to completely finish.

The pregnancy is winding down. I am 37.5 weeks now. A week ago, I hurt my stomach....One would think that with baby #4 I would have an idea of where my stomach was, but nope. I am constantly bumping it on things. I just don't seem to have a good idea of where it ends! I hurt it at around 8am and it was pretty sore. I thought I would give it all day to see how it felt later. As the day went on, the pain became pretty intense and at 6pm, I decided I should just go in and make sure there was no serious damage. I never go to the Dr. with complaints and NEVER go to the E.R., but I was feeling pretty bad and was concerned for the baby. My Dr. had me go to LDR for an extended non-stress test. Once I was all hooked up, they realized I was in labor. I had pretty bad contractions every 3 min......maybe that was what was hurting so bad :). I ended up being admitted and staying overnight. After about 6 hours the contractions stopped and I was able to go home the next day. I had to go in for a follow up 2 days later. An ultrasound showed my amniotic fluid was very low. My Dr. did not want to induce me at that point so she gave me the option of going back to LDR for 1-2 days to get fluids or to go home for the weekend and drink 120 oz of water each day and stay off my feet and be re-checked on Monday. I opted to go home. Monday's visit showed no change in the fluid level and that my fundal height was measuring 34 instead of 37. I go back in on Friday to have both re-checked. We are just taking it day by day now. If the fluid drops or there is no growth in my fundal height, an early induction may be the best option. Also, I am full term, so I could go into labor on my own. I have already made it further than I did with Cort. Even if there is no induction, my due date is only 15 days away!!! We are ready, but I'd like to get through next week and the end of the school year. We shall see!!!