24 week check up

Need a name!

 Thanksgiving 22 weeks

-Allison

-Emmaline or Emmalyn (Emma for short)

-Evelyn

-Katelyn

-Charlette

-Buckle (Sam's choice)

    We've had 2 ultrasounds... both were inconclusive, but we're going with "girl." I've even started buying things in pink!

It's a Girl!! Well maybe :)

Gotta love how they put a question mark after GIRL. Way to leave us hanging! 

2nd Trimester!

This week I'm 17 weeks along! This pregnancy is going by too fast! I think it's because so far this has been the easiest pregnancy thus far. Sometimes I even forget I'm pregnant ;) So before this pregnancy is over and baby has sucked away all my memories due to sleep deprivation, I thought I should jot some down.

No morning sickness! Not once did I have to run to the bathroom.
My belly started popping out as soon as I peed on the stick :)
Started wearing maternity pants on my Disneyland trip (11 weeks)
For the first couple of weeks if Maddy found me drinking a Pepsi, she would replace it with water :)
First felt movement around 14 weeks! But those movements are still far and few between.
Sam thinks he has a baby in his tummy!
Christian always asks "How's baby doing in there?"
Everyone thinks this baby is a girl. We find out Oct 27th!!! At first we did not want to find out the sex, but everyone has convinced us to peek. I'm going to laugh if baby decides to cross his/her legs :)
Love that I no longer have to clean the litter box!

Well that's it for now! Not too exciting, and I hope it stays that way! I have been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, but that has always been normal for me (I have an irritable uterus.. haha.) I'm really enjoying being pregnant this time, but am still trying to wrap my brain around having 4 little ones running around here next year :0

We're going to Disneyland!

Here comes #4

We announced to the kids yesterday after our first ultrasound that we're having another baby. Dane's words were "Although we thought we were done having more kids, God decided otherwise." Of course the kids said, "what" and "huh?" So Dane spelled it out, "Mom's got another baby in her tummy!"
I was really worried about Maddy's reaction, as she likes to tell me over and over again how it's not fair that Sam turned out to be a boy. But she was very excited once she decided to believe us after seeing the ultrasound picture. Christian and her spend the rest of the afternoon deciding if it was going to be a girl or a boy.  Then we figured that since the kids now know, we mine as well tell the rest of the family as the kids never could keep a secret. Dane had a lot of fun calling his sisters to spread the news. Since he's the prankster in our big extended family, no one believed him at first. So he put the kids on the phone to verify it. It was a very fun night!
After seeing the heartbeat and telling everyone the news it feels more real now. Which I haven't decided is more or less frightening. The resolve to not have more kids was hard for me to come by. I yearned to have another but finances, space, and my sanity kept me from pursuing another baby. Now I know that Gods plan was not that of my own. I feel so much love from him, this gift is just a reminder that he knows what our hearts needs. I will trust in him that everything else will work out. I pray of course for more financial security, space, and sanity! However, that might not be his plan and since I can't see his big picture. So I guess right now I should also pray for patience :)

Oh.. I almost forgot! Sam's reaction. We tried to explain to him mommy had a baby in her tummy. I said "the baby is this big now, and when it comes out of my tummy it will be this big." "Then you can hold it." Sam not even taking a second to digest this information said, "No I'm gonna eat it, put it in MY tummy." :)

Aquatic Park

Kittens 5 weeks old

Pink Nose
Male Blue Lynx Bicolor

"Fluffy"
Female Seal Colorpoint

"Mr Green" (kids named her)
Female Blue Lynx Mitted Colorpoint
This cat is polydactyl (6 toes on both front paws)

"Mittens"
Female Blue Lynx Mitted Colorpoint

We introduced the kittens to our dog Lady today. At first there was a lot of hissing, but after a while they all became very fascinated by her wagging tail. 

Bella's 4wk old kittens

Kittens are 4weeks old today! Born on June 14th. Three girls one boy. They are such a joy to have around! And are really starting to be fun!

Girl blue color point mitted

Girl blue color point mitted

Girl seal color point mitted

Boy blue bi-color

All have blue eyes and are starting to show some lynx patterns. Just like their mom :)

My belated Mothers Day present

My belated mothers day gift. The two emeralds are for Madelyn and Samuel both born in May. Christian born in May has the middle stone. Maybe someday we can replace that with a real diamond! :)



We have kitten's

Bella had her kittens yesterday. She delivered 4 healthy ragdolls. Ragdoll kittens are born all white and don't show there color pattern until they are about a week old. I can't wait to see what colors and patterns they show. This has been such a great experience for the kids. Maddy our pet lover especially loves the kittens, spending about half her day watching Bella nurse and take care of them. How are we ever going to let these babies go!? :(



Still waiting for my flowers!

This spring was a doozy for this family! Not only did our Oregon weather stink, and the Trail Blazers fall out early in the playoffs, this family has endured too many doctor visits!

Starting off our spring break Christian had to undergo an inguinal hernia surgery. After the surgery we discovered that he had 2 hernia's that the doctor repaired. Both a inguinal and a direct hernia's. The doctor explained that the direct hernia was a result from the first hole causing a week spot in the abdominal floor. Atleast the hernia's are closed up now and his male parts are where they should be now :) If we had not caught this abnormality his odds of testicular cancer would have gone way up!

Next we have poor Maddy. I received a call from the school nurse on Thur April 28th, asking to come get Maddy she'd hurt her arm falling off a slide on the playground. The doctor confirmed a break of her humours bone and had a sling put on, later to have it casted. The next night we got a call from an orthopedic emergency room doctor who reviewed her x-ray. He told us that her break would not heal on it's own, and she would require surgery early next week.  UUGG could things get any worse?? Yes, yes they can. That night her hand swelled up and turned purple. I rushed her to the ER at 10pm, where they had to split open the cast she was in. Imediatley the presure was relieved.  Apparently they didn't allow for enough swelling.

The following Tues. Maddy underwent her surgery to place pins inside her bones to allow better placement for healing. Not only did she not get the cast color she wanted, she was in a lot of pain that week!

Now most people don't know her "at home" personality. She hides most of her negative feelings. For instance at the hospital, she did not say a single word to the staff. If she had to voice something, like for example in the recovery room her pain was too high. She would whisper to me and I would relay the message she need more pain meds. But once we got home, OH MY she made her opinion of how much pain she was in and how awful her life was.  She refused to see any visitors, even when family members wanted to bring her ice cream and candy!

After a week of staying home, we forced her to go back to school. It turned out to be the best thing for her. You see most kids are excited to show off their casts, Maddy was embarrassed. But once she got there and was treated the same as always by all her friends, she felt better about herself and her broken arm.

Next Monday the 23rd the cast comes off. She's extremely frightened about the pins coming out.. OUCH!  I see it as a few more seconds of pain and this nightmare is over!!

They say things happen in threes. I sure hope it's true. If so I'm done with doctors for a while.

On Samuel's 3rd birthday (hey there's the number 3 again.. freaky), just before his party started he fell into a brick fireplace. His bottom teeth punctured his lip all the way through! The urgent care doctor gave us the choice of waiting for the oncall plastic surgeon to come in and stitch him up, in hopes of minimizing a scar. Or,  to durabond the cut and hope for the best. He's a boy, scares a cool! We just wanted to get back to his pirate party! What a little trooper he is!

I hope we're done with all this dramma. School is coming to and end, and we are ready for summer. No more doctors, just fun. Oh, and how about some relaxation for mom, and some sun please! Sun would be nice!

Samuel's 3rd Birthday Party!

Sam had a great birthday! Unfortunately, while waiting for the party guests to arrive, he took a nasty fall into the brick fireplace his bottom tooth punctured his lip! We had to leave and head to the ER, he was a very grumpy pirate! But once back was very excited to tell everyone the doctor glued his lip back together...got no time for stitches! I've never seen a three-year-old enjoy a party as much as he did! 

 

Another amazing cake Ga-Ga! Thank you!

Just got back from the ER. Time to get into his pirate costume!

He's been waiting patiently for this big moment. It's hard to be #3! Birthdays in our family go in the same sequence as birth order.

Samuel refused to let anyone leave his party. He'd stand at the door and say "Please don't leave my party!" 

Maddy's insight on how to skip school

Found this video on my camcorder. Maddy often takes my camcorder to make mini videos. Found this on last week when trying to make room on the SD card.

(deleted per Maddy's request)

Maddy's 8th Birthday

Maddy turned 8yrs old on May 12th!  Like we do every year we celebrate her and Grandpa Wenzel's birthday on Mothers Day.

 This drama queen keeps her mama on her toes!

A week prior to her birthday Maddy broke her arm on the playground at school. She was not happy about having a cast on for her birthday and it was not easy getting her to the party. But soon after we arrived, she was all smiles. 

My cowboy

Christian's 10th Birthday

10 years old! 

Christian loved his basket ball themed birthday party. Double digits! Can you believe it!

Future Lego engineer! Christian built this gun all on his own, using a Lego design creator program!

Time to rock out! Favorite tune to play.. Ghost Busters!



Leprechaun Trap!

We're going to catch a Leprechaun!! Maddy and I built this today. It has Lucky Charms and gold to entice the naugthy leprechaun! It even has music that plays when the top of the trap is open (used the device off of the singing halmark card)! Wish us luck!!

We had so much fun making this! Except Sam kept trying to eat the charms :)