First day of school ~ 2014

I was just looking back on past first day of school pictures. Weren't they cute?

2011 Jack, 2011 Abigail

2012

2013

They're still pretty cute. But how much are they growing?! My babies! ... demanded a spot in the photo shoot this morning, too. She means business, this one. Here's to another year of learning!

ps-- I will try to get a post up soon about Jack and Abigail's adventures at Grandma and Grandpa's this past week. Apparently, one of them didn't want to come home. She seems happy enough to be here now, thank goodness. Mike says he got the slew of pictures from his mom's camera, so I'll have to have him show me where to find those sometime when he's home.

two little girls

I was surprised how well the little ones did in the absence of their older siblings this week. Sometimes, their being away can mean more work for me, as they're my main entertainment and helpers anymore, but the two little girls played so well together. It seemed like they didn't notice the change at all-- except for the couple of out of the blue times Iris told me she missed them. Once, when I asked Opal where Jack and Abigail were, she cocked her head and answered cheerfully, "Ummmm, upstairs?" Perhaps they were just blissfully distracted with all of the extra fun we tried to rig up this week.

One highlight: For years, Iris has glanced longingly at Build-A-Bear, if we've ever chanced to pass one in a mall. Her siblings each have an overpriced stuffed friend from this establishment (from times when some extra-special attention was called for), and on Tuesday evening, we took the opportunity to pick up Mike from work and spend the evening at the bustling, commercial phenomenon that is that mall. And while Mike oversaw Opal at the play area, Iris got to choose an overpriced friend of her very own. I may have caved and sprung a pretty penny for an outfit, too, as she was just being so sweetly bashful. She adores this pink and sparkly, Aurora-garbed kitty ("Frost") and promptly made a bed for her once we got home. Iris was very excited to learn at bedtime tonight that her siblings will be back tomorrow. She divulged that it was fun to be the big kid for the week but that she missed Jack and Abigail very much. What did she miss most? "Playing." They are super playmates. We have been so blessed with four wonderful kiddos, and we'll be glad to be back to a family of six tomorrow (and have another short visit from Grandma and Grandpa, too) before we become a family of seven! Wheeeeeee!

getting ready! (for school)

We've had a lot of special Mom and Dad time with the little two this past week (Mike took off Thursday and Friday), but I also had extra time to prepare for our new school year. Why yes, I did think that me being full term with pregnancy #5 would be an optimal time to begin our 2014-2015 school year!

As a child, I got giddy at the start of school each fall, and I can't say that a whole lot has changed now that I'm the teacher (it probably helps that it's of my own kids). I've packed away/gotten rid of old books and work, replaced them with the new (a boatload of reserves from the library, to boot), and straightened things up in general. I was in Target for an hour and a half on Wednesday night without any children, and I got ALL THE THINGS (back to school shoppers are nutso). Needless to say, we're all ready to go for next week.

Despite the fact that I'm 37+ weeks now, I'm hoping he at least holds off a week, as we have a first week back to school field trip planned with some friends to Governor Dodge State Park (look, pictures!) on Friday, which sounds like SO much fun. And it would be fantastic if we could get two full weeks under our belt before we are forced to take a new sibling vacation. All the others have held out to at least week 39, and they've been progressively sluggish in their arrivals. So I'm hopeful this little guy can hang in there, too (By the way, my ultrasound last week showed that the placenta has moved up- and everything looks good). Not that I want him take his time too much. His baptism was scheduled only nine days after the due date since his godparents would be midwest-bound anyway during that time. We'll do what we have to do. I'd hate to have to go in after him.

visitors, send-offs, & down to two kids for the week...

Mike's parents have been here the past few days, while Mike was away, and a couple of days after. As always, they've been a huge help in every way possible, making meals, watching and entertaining children, folding laundry, cleaning...

Normally, we have some tears when it's time to say goodbye, but for the first time ever, we packed the big kids up, too, and sent them off with Grandma and Grandpa. And there was much excitement upon their departure (even from Iris, who may have been promised some special surprises in their absence), and Opal, who was going with the flow. It'll be strange and quiet having only two kiddos around here (the two that actually nap on a semi-regular basis). I'm sure we'll manage. I'm sure the Holmen crew will have a blast this week, too.

36 weeks

This is most definitely, for sure the shortest pregnancy ever. How could we possibly be nearing the end already? But here we are at a week to full term, and I'll now have appointments every week 'til this little bug is here. Ack!

I think the girls had clean given up on moving a lot at this point, but this guy is not going to be inhibited by lack of wiggle room. So active. We procured a co-sleeper from someone in our homeschool group, so we won't have to kick Mike out of our bed- and were generously given a few other boys' clothes and baby items- not that we needed too much, but we did get rid of quite a few baby things and clothes before the move. One of these days, I will wash them and the newborn diapers and marvel at how itty bitty they are. I showed Opal one of Jack's old outfits the other night (this one) and told her the new baby would wear it, and wasn't it soft, and did she want to touch it? "No." "Nooo." "NOOOOO!" That one has been in a funk lately. One that she'll likely be in until her fourth birthday. Oh, but she can still be unbelievably sweet. She does still give my belly kisses when she's not being vengeful.

I have not a lot to report from my appointment this morning. His heartbeat was in the 150's. He's measuring right on. I've gained close to what I did with Jack (~25 as opposed to the 12-20 with the girlies). I'm hangry. I've also started having pretty strong, regular contractions when I lie down at night, which is what happened with Opal for weeks and weeeeeks before she was born. But all they're really doing at this point is keeping me awake. My doctor suggested I take a magnesium supplement an hour before bed to calm my "overactive uterus." Will do. I have another ultrasound on Monday to check on the status of the placenta.

Here we are, in our fleeting oneness-- (taken two days ago)

We did it!

Phew! Almost two (of five) days of Mike being in California down. Yesterday morning, and tomorrow morning, we have our mother's helper, and tomorrow afternoon, Mike's parents are coming, so that's a huge help. But I think today should go down in the records.

After morning routines, chores, and a shortened family rosary, we got ready for the day. We were supposed to go to the park with friends, but sadly, they are sick, so we decided to venture out to run some errands anyway. We left the house at 10 sharp, played/browsed for a bit at the library and checked out some new books, dropped off a package to be mailed at the P.O., drove a ways to Old Navy to finally make use of a voucher and some coupons I'd been hanging onto for some fall clothing needs (we spent a total of $3.91!), waited while Jack got a spiffy new haircut at Cost Cutters (it was getting looong, and anymore, I'd rather shell out $9- with my coupon- than deal with the botch job I'd give him, and clean-up), had lunch at Panera, went grocery shopping at Target, ALL FOUR of them went to the dentist, we made an emergency roadside pit-stop on the way home, and finally pulled back into the garage at a few minutes short of 4pm. Breathe.

Not one of them fell asleep on the way home, so Opal is now taking a late nap (At least I will tell myself she is), and the others are happily playing. Somewhere. And I am enjoying my much deserved ice cream bar. The kind with ALL the fat and the calories. A blessed and busy day. We can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow! Or for Mike to get back from California late on Friday!

(Sorry for the phone pictures) waiting for Jack to get his haircut (We had to spring for those pants for Opal at O.N. because she had a bit of an incident in the ones she was wearing. Good thing we were at a clothing store!) Getting the hang of a Toy Story video game... This Children's Dental Center rocked out to the Kinks! There was a climbing play area in the waiting room and screens playing Lego Movie above their heads while they had their teeth cleaned and examined! And because Jack, Abigail, and Iris each said that they wanted to hear a story from when the doctor was seven years old, they got extra tokens to use in those non-sweets prize machines (the kind that have those little clear plastic containers with the pop tops and plastic jewelry and bouncy balls inside). (All sets of teeth looked marvelous.) $3.91 after my voucher and coupons!

a finished baby quilt

I finished little --'s quilt today. I keep wanting to write out a name here, or at least part of it, as I've got so many nicknames for the little fella already. I'm really pleased with how his quilt turned out. It went through some preliminary stages that I wasn't completely sold on, but the addition of some contrasting fabric helped, I think. I went with a strip quilt because, well, to be honest, it seemed like the simplest thing to do, and I liked the looks of the ones I'd seen when browsing online. I cut corners here and there in other places, but you know what? It's a baby quilt, and I'm just not that concerned about the proper way to attach binding, or that it's not hand-quilted or whatnot. He's probably not going to care, either.

Here are a couple of the earlier layouts (some of the colors are misleading in the photos): I liked this, but I think one friend's suggestion that more contrast might improve it was accurate. And something about just the brown for dark didn't sit well with me.

Abigail keeps talking about how excited she is to hold her baby brother, and it's the sweetest thing. She really gets it this time around. She's going to be such a big help. Not that the others won't be, but she's most hyped about it. She really is very eager to help in any way she can around here on a regular basis. Annnd, she just asked me to teach her how to knit again, so there's that.

We're five weeks out from D-day. That's for due date. All of our kids have been within a week of that date, though they seem to be getting progressively later on average, with Jack being nearly six days early and Opal being three days late, so I'm sure he'll be hanging in there for a while yet. And we're trying to make the most of that time as a family of six before his arrival. Alas, five weeks goes by in a flash (Seriously, wasn't it JUST June?!). I best get knitting with my six-year-old.