Just goofin' around

So.....we were hoping to have had this baby by now! Last week Nate had spring break, so we thought it would be PERFECT timing! But, this baby didn't think so. The weather was also a little crummy with all the rain and wind too, and who wants to be born into that?!  And then Nate got Strep Throat and we quarantined him to the guest room for a few days. So Finn and Selah and I just hunkered down and had some good fun at home, mostly inside.


Selah played a lot of dress-up and now that she knows how to turn on the "musgik" by herself, she did a lot of dancing. Check out the video below. She's got some moves.

My latest battle with Selah is over her love of getting into my make-up. I was on the phone the other day and it got quiet in the house....which is usually an indication of Selah sneaking into something she shouldn't. This time it was some beige concealer, she used it as eye shadow and some sort of tummy rub and hand lotion I guess. It was nasty....and she was so proud of her artwork.

 Another thing Selah has been into is drawing, so we did a lot of that while it was raining. She loves to trace her own hand and then draw little faces on each finger. Her drawings also always include a bunch of teeny tiny circles. I probably keep way too many of her drawings, but I think they are so precious.

When Finn wasn't playing with his beads and pretending stuff, he was just being a goofball.

 And this picture is a little hint of the new Finn. He has befriended a couple of boys at preschool who LOVE Star Wars, so naturally he does too now! Nate was thrilled to experience watching Star Wars with Finn last night for Finn's first time. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Finn or Nate. Today I was inundated with Star Wars questions about the movie. Death Star, light-sabers, aliens, Luke Skywalker.....

Oh, and Clifford came for a visit from preschool! I can't tell here whether Clifford is being held hostage or if he's Finn's side-kick. (or kick-side as Finn would say.)

Hopefully some fun pics ahead of sunny Spring days and a new little Monley! Stay tuned!

This here pregnancy.....

I am so excited to meet this baby! I am so filled with joy about this new stage of life now. Every time I go for my swim at the gym I find myself smiling underwater, just thinking about my THREE kids and how fun and crazy life will be in a matter of DAYS now!

Less than 2 weeks to go! A few weeks ago, people seemed surprised that I was so close to the end of this pregnancy - they said I looked small. Not anymore! The comments I get from friends and passers by are, "wow, any day now, huh?" The torpedo-belly is emerging for the world to see and maybe it has something to do with the way I walk too, the tired look on my face or the involuntary grunting noises I make when I go from sitting to standing. I'm ready. Now is this baby?......

This pregnancy has been similar to the previous ones, except when you add two other kids to the mix you get a lot more exhausted along the way. I don't have a ton to complain about except heart burn, some back pain, and in the beginning some lovely puking. :-)  This MAY be our last pregnancy (no promises) so I'm trying to enjoy this time while it's here. The nightly dance sessions the baby has in my tummy cracks me up. Finn and Selah are excited for the new little one too. Selah helped me wash and fold all the burp cloths and receiving blankets last night. It was so cute. She's gonna be a great big sister. They both randomly come up to the belly to give hugs & kisses and say hello and good night to the baby. :-)

Surprises: We don't know the gender yet. It's sealed in an envelope in our room and we still haven't peeked! We probably won't at this point. I wanted the option to open it at Christmas...but we held out. I'm looking forward to the surprise now. My dad thinks it's a girl and he's been right for the last 3 grandchildren! A couple of good friends have strong feelings that it's a boy....so someone's wrong.

Names: We have some that have been at the top of our list for a while now, but this week Nate and I both went back to the drawing board. We found Selah's name the night before she was born. So it might happen like that again!

My tools: I've got a morning and nightly routine of some yoga stretches that keep me from feeling like I'm 90. Swimming twice a week has also been helpful. Tums are my best friend now, as well as Evening Primrose Oil lately. I've borrowed my friend Lindsay's HypnoBabies cds again this time. I used them with my other two pregnancies, and with Finn's it really did help, though I had to skip a couple of sessions and fast forward to the end of the cds because he came early! It was so relaxing and really helped when transitioning to "active labor". The self-hypnosis is supposed to allow you to have a painless childbirth experience. I didn't experience that exactly, but it did help. The problem is, every time I sit down to listen to a 30 minute session now, I fall asleep. But I'm getting really restful naps! If I listen to it after 9pm, I end up sleeping all night on the couch. Maybe some of the hypnosis is slipping into my subconsciousness while I'm asleep!

Delivery: This is so up in the air right now (not that you can ever really predict it). I had a great experience with Finn's birth for the most part. I labored all day at home (and the beach with friends, and then at home with Nate) and then went to the hospital at 8 centimeters dilated and had a wonderful natural birth. However....Finn was over 9 lbs even 10 days early, and had minor shoulder dystocia. (His shoulders were stuck briefly) All of that caused a little trauma to my body, but I recovered. When Selah's time came around, the doctors in SB were really really nervous and cautious and strongly encouraged a c-section. So we went with that. Now, the doctors and midwives here with Kaiser are encouraging me to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). They say they wouldn't have suggested a c-section last time around (frustrating....but I can't turn back time). My doctor doesn't agree with inducing labor with a VBAC either, which I'm fine with. So the plan is, a scheduled c-section on April 2nd, or if I go into labor before then, we go for the VBAC! I'm hoping for VBAC (soon) but I'll be happy with a healthy baby no matter what.

Please keep us and the baby in your prayers!

More February Fun!

February was such a fun month for us. We had some weirdly warm weather here and there, which made for some fun outside days at parks and the backyard. We had dogs for a week, and welcomed a new little baby into our group of good friends. And we had a fun visit from our good friends Jos and Jared, who are also expecting! I know so many expecting women right now - it's so fun! On Nate's side of the family alone, we will have 7 babies born within 7 months! That group of kids is going to rule the roost someday!

Here's some cute pics of our recent visit with friends.

Jos and the incredible pregnancy pillow. They lugged this thing all the way from SB and I don't blame them.  It looks like it's eating her! When she first showed it to us she said "Nate you should get one!" because everyone knows Nate sleeps with about 6 pillows every night....and I'm the pregnant one!

I almost didn't give it back.

Jared modeling off the little onesie he painted for his little buddy, baby Louie.

It's wild to think that in a few months there will be 3 babies attached to these 3 women. It's almost like we planned it! One down, two to go!

The kids have been playing so well together lately. They jump together, they play on the play structure together, ride bikes and scooter, and play some imaginary games like one they call "Spooks." They are just SO different from each other that I thought they might not ever really connect. But they do! They both share the same level of excitement for life....and they fight.

A rare moment of Finn's arms around Selah

This is one of their favorite games called "I'll save you!"

The parking lot next to our house has been getting lots of love lately with our bikes and scooter and skateboards. Finn's getting so good and fast on his bike. We are thinking of taking off the training wheels real soon! We'll see how our timid boy feels about that though.

A couple of weeks ago (on the windiest day ever) Finn's preschool had one of our favorite field trips to Safetyville USA! It's a little miniature Sacramento! We've gone before and had the tour where they teach the kids safety skills. But this time all the kids got to bring their bikes and just ride around the town. I totally wanted to be a kid again for this field trip, instead of a boring old mom standing on the corner watching. Everything is kid-size, the streets, the store fronts (you can't go in the buildings though) and timed street lights.

Safetyville is all enclosed, so for most kids you don't have to watch them all the time. They can't really get lost! However.....Selah managed to ditch her scooter and her shoes (luckily leaving a trail right to her) and tuck herself into a teeny corner behind one of the fake buildings so she could throw some rocks over the fence. That girl is so random!

Kid bus stop, perfect for a little rest.

One of most exciting parts of every day at preschool is finding out who gets to take Clifford home with them for a one-night adventure. Clifford writes about his adventure and the story is read the next day to the class.  Finn's not one of the kids who goes crazy for Clifford, but he was pretty thrilled to have his turn last month. Clifford had a good time with Finn until Finn lost interest and he was kidnapped by Selah.

I don't remember why Finn was wearing my boots. Hmm.......