3 kids = no time for blogging!

Well, I managed to peel and eat part of an orange, and was about to do this long overdue post, but alas, Carter is in hysterics downstairs and it might have to do something with his big sister bossing him around....just a guess....and now the baby is stirring from her long nap!

So, long overdue post....you must wait a little longer! So sorry, but 3 kids take up ALOT of time.

Yeah, pretty much ALL of my time.

Chou.

Look, I even managed to download one really old, but very awesome, and not so Christmassy picture! Hold onto your toes...I will manage to get all my intended posts and pictures in eventually!

There's something wrong with this picture...

We all had a really good laugh over this one...

How bout you?

Breast vs. Bottle....I think one baby got the short end of the stick here!

(we SO love that 3 little girls were born this year, Abby, Suzi, and Kya!)

So, you may or may not know...

That posterior babies are very hard to deliver!!!

Here, let me say that again...

Posterior babies are VERY HARD to deliver!

Okay, I am satisfied now.
Here are some pictures until I can find more time to tell you why this little posterior baby was so hard!

Needless to say, after delivering Kya, I swore I would  never have another baby.

And...

I totally have a whole new appreciation for women who birthed children without modern science and technology...

And yes...I did have an epidural. Very important question to answer. Women always want to know...

Anyhoo, here she is, Kya Lyn Meredith, born October 21st at 2:18 am weighing 7 lbs 5oz, 20 in.

She is a cutie, and we LOVE her!! Stayed tuned for the whole story, cuz really, you sure want to know...believe me...

37 weeks, 21 days to go

Wednesday.

A VERY anticipated day. I get to see good ol Dr. C! I gave him some of our homemade raspberry jam and a fresh loaf of homemade bread last week. He had to leave to deliver a baby right before he saw me, so I couldn't give it to him personally, but I am hoping to use such an extravagant gift as leverage...

Yeah. You know, while your feet are planted in the stirrups (and you are hoping that the shoes you wore didn't make em smell) and the good doctor is seated close enough to tell that you shaved way to quickly that morning....but seriously, who can shave at 9 months pregnant when there is a mountain in the way? Anyhoo...leverage...you think, hey doc, I SLAVED away picking those ripe luscious berries, then mashing, stirring, pouring, steaming....and my feet swelled to twice their size kneading the bread dough....so, hey, while you are down there, couldn't you help things along, eh? You know, accidentally strip those membranes? Something....try anything!!!

I don't know...on Wednesday I have got to bargain with Dr. C somehow...as long as my serious case of gassiness passes....cuz honestly, it is just wrong to try to plea bargain with the doc when you are in "stirrup" position and your intestines are loaded with gas...totally wrong.

Hmmm, I am not even sure how a woman is supposed to warn a doctor about something like that!

"Uh...whoopsiedaisy....sorry about that Dr. C!"

Yeah. Not cool.

These spider cookies, were, however, very cool, and yummy to munch on.

So. Friday night we watched the new Karate Kid movie. It was awesome. There are a rare amount of movies these days that please me, but this one succeeded. During the last half of the movie, I started having contractions. Yes! They were in my lower abdomen, you know, the cramping, aching, tightening contractions? They were coming every few minutes, lasting 30 seconds to a minute. Gradually, they intensified. Yes! This continued all the way up to the end of the movie. Even as I got up from the couch and did a few things before I went to bed, they were still coming. Yes!

Then I went to bed.
And....nothing!
Go figure.

But...it's getting close, people, really close!

As for news on the rest of my family and life, this is what's been going down:

Russ got sick a few weeks ago. To make a long story short, Friday, he had an ultrasound of his liver and gall bladder, and Wednesday he finds out the results. We are thinking right now that he has Gall stones...which most likely means surgery. Great timing huh? I will be recovering from labor and birth and he will be recovering from the absence of an organ....while he is suppsed to travel to Rexburg and continue in school this semester. (yeah...trying not to think too much about that) But, hopefully it is his gall bladder and he can return back to good health...he has had such health issues over the past 5 years and it would be nice to be done with all of that!

Anna has successfully mastered getting on the school bus in the mornings, after we bribed her with money.

I know, that sounds bad. Let me explain...
We told her that each time she got on the bus in the morning all by herself without crying or locking up her legs, thus making big prego mom carry/drag her onto the bus...then she would earn points. Once she got on the bus successfully, according to the rules we made, so many times, then she would receive a dollar.

Bribing is not recommended...

But in this case, it worked for us. Anna suffers from anxiety when presented with something new. Her anxiety combined with her shyness makes it difficult for her to do new things, especially when it involves other groups of people she doesn't know. She could get on the bus just fine after school. They load the kindergarten kids first. But in the mornings, there are other kids on the bus already, and her main problem was not wanting to get on because all the kids were "watching" her. (Same issues we faced with the primary program) But, she is improving greatly and becoming much more confidant, and it is GREAT to see. Even on Sunday, she said the prayer in primary, with her teacher's help, and even sang the songs during singing time, which is VERY rare for her to do! We all made sure to express to her our happiness we felt to know she participated in primary, and she was very happy too! She has faced some rough obstacles, but in return, we have seen her grow so much, and that is the most rewarding part of parenting.

Carter rides the bus to preschool, and he loves it! For him, he hasn't had any problems. He is doing great in preschool and learning so much. He loves to tease and joke. This can be a good thing, and also a very bad thing. It seems, lately, that his teasing and joking and being silly is happening at all the wrong times! And he seems to think that listening does not apply to him most recently. He is spending more time in timeout because of it. He also likes to torment Anna. He is learning she has buttons that can be pushed and the results of pushing those buttons are quite entertaining....to him. Most times she retaliates and fights or argues back with him, resulting in both of them spending lots of time in timeout! It can be an exhausting process. I am trying to teach them appropriate ways to settle disputes, but half of the time they just do things their own way. If I give them a warning like, "If you two don't stop fighting and arguing, you will have to sit in timeout" then Carter usually tells me, oh so innocently, "Mom, we not fightin, we just playin!" uh huh...sure. Carter says the darndest things, though at the moment I cannot think of anything, but he sure makes us laugh!

Carter, tired because he refused to take a nap this afternoon, says to Anna, "Stop talkin to me!"

Miss Boss replies, "Tarter...I'm not gonna stop talking to ya until you say the magic word."

Carter, "Anna...will you please stop talkin to me???"

Hey...at least the kid has manners!

Seriously, the kid is getting too smart for his own good, and for my own sanity!

That's all for now. Maybe my next post will be of a very cute pink bundle of baby! Cuz seriously folks, I can barely walk, the pressure of this baby is making it very difficult to go to the bathroom, yes, #1 and #2, I can't sleep, or sit in church with my knees together! And if I have to bend over...which I do...like 137 times a day...it feels like my belly is going to tear open! Need I say more?

35 Weeks, 34 Days (or less)

The Countdown is ON!!!

Here I am today at 35 weeks. If you were to see me in person you would immediately notice the red, bloodshot eyes, the dark circles under my eyes which I "attempt" to cover up, and the puffiness around my eyes...as well as in the whole region of my face...in my feet...and in my plump little sausage fingers!

Ahh....life is good!

I am fast running out of clothes that I find acceptable and comfortable under my certain conditions, and if I could, I would choose to just wander around half naked instead. At least I wouldn't have to worry about the seam of my pants digging into my lower abdomen, which is protruding out a great distance from where it should be!

Yesterday afternoon, I tried to play blocks with Carter....which calls for all participants to sit on the floor. Great! I was wearing some maternity capris that fit under my belly. Upon my slow and grunt-filled arrival down to the floor, a tight squeezing came upon me as I struggled to shove my swollen legs into a "said" very easy cross-legged position. (Obviously, pregnant women were not in mind) The seam of my capris, which is quite expandable, was unmercifully trying to cut my lower extremities away from my upper body. I kid you not! While my legs started to throb and swell from the lack of circulation, the mean squeezing capris left my belly and everything contained within it no other option but to shift upwards, diminishing what was left of my lung's capacity to function. I think that certain unknown organs were being shoved up into my throat too, for I felt the need to gag. The baby rebelled every time I reached forward to grab a block by pounding my ribs with her delicate little legs, causing her head to force great pressure within my pelvis, creating shooting pains in that general area where pubic bone and cervix are located. Hey, at least I knew my nerves were working...despite the tingling in my bum that was slowly going numb...and the muscle spasms radiating up and down my back...

BUT I PREVAILED.

We built lots of really cool block tunnels for Carter's cars to drive through.
Then he destroyed them!
And wanted to do it all over AGAIN...

Maybe in 34 days...or less, kido.

Then I patted him on his blond little head, wiped his nose, and resigned myself to the recliner...
AFTER....I freed my body from the awful maternity capris...and put on some of Russ's fleece pajama pants!

Ah! Now THAT is what I am talkin about...

And life is still...pretty good.

Sometimes...it is okay to lie...

33 weeks.
34 lbs gained.

and...

Dr. C asks me, "Sooo...how do you feel about that?" with a deep, questioning gaze...

Hmmm...hold on a minute while I retreive another Reese's peanut butter cup from the freezer...

(*crinkle, crackle...riiiiip...crinkly-crinkle*)

Give me a moment....it's still a bit too frozen to bite yet...

little bit longer....
little bit longer....

Ah!

Now....um, let's see here...Any more questions?

That's what I thought.


And onto more very interesting things that have to do with 33 weeks and 34 lbs:

Walking. I can no longer do it. Waddling? Yes. And might I add that I waddle like a gimp....a very slow gimp. Everyone understand?

Okay then...next on the list:

It has come to my understanding that we have a hobbit in the family.
Who? Click HERE! and scroll down to the last picture.

I like hobbits. I have teased Russ for years now about his hobbit-looking feet, which I don't really like. Well, hobbit-itis is spreading. 33 weeks and 34 lbs has changed my feet too, minus the extra hair. My feet now need some mud flaps that read, "Wide load". Christmas wish-list now includes: shoes...double wide width, please.

Hmm, what else? Oh, yes...

Back to the dad-gum 34lbs gained. How? I really don't know. Let me just entertain you for a minute with a few bits of information.

Cravings have been mostly nutritional. For example: Greek yogurt with granola, celery, apples, & bananas with peanut butter, carrots dipped in ranch, Kashi whole grain crackers with cheddar cheese, whole grain toast topped with steaming hot oatmeal, strawberries, grapes, watermelon, tomatoes fresh from the garden sprinkled with salt and pepper...and at least 64 fl. oz. of water a day...yeah....I can drink almost a whole liter just at bedtime...easy-peasy.

I have indulged too, on the occasional rootbeer float, snickers ice cream bar, licorice, Oreos dipped in milk, chocolate zucchini cake....but honestly....no more than your average person.

And might I add that we hardly EVER eat out! Maybe once a month, sometimes twice, often not at all!

It doesn't quite add up. Though, I am referred to as a jersey cow when I nurse my babies. Straight cream. So....34 lbs gained...it is greatly needed....and gets used up fast!

Until then, I will keep waddling and enduring all the gawking stares from WalMart shoppers and the always occasional comments like,

"WOW! You look like you're about to POP!"

"Congrats! I looked like that 5 months ago and I am SO GLAD I don't look like that anymore!" (keep in mind this woman was smoking a cigarette and was missing her two front teeth...and possibly more.)

Patting my hand with a look of pity, "How are you feeling dear?" Fine, thanks. "Now tell me, how much longer?" Oh, 7 weeks still. "Oh my! I thought you were due this month! Hang on, we'll hope for 4 or 5 weeks!"

"Oh, I saw you come into church earlier and thought, 'Oh the poor thing!'"


So, I am beginning to think that it would just be better to start telling lies.
An example: "Oh, when is your baby due?" and instead of giving the real answer and then watching the curious look go from inquiring to horrified, lie and say, "Oh just a few more weeks."

Then hope I don't run into them for two more months...

(input big sigh)

I think I will waddle downstairs now and get myself another Reese's peanut butter cup.
Shhhhhhhhh! Don't tell Dr. C! Afterall, we did establish that sometimes it is okay to lie...

Right?

Oh...quite alot of days ago...

This little man turned THREE years old!

Woot woot!

Instead of the usual cute and perfect birthday pictures you should post, I opted out and decided to go with the whole candid thing this year....no posing or perfect hair or clothes set with the right lighting near brightly bouncing birthday balloons....just keeping it real, folks, keeping it real.

Also, might I add that this little lady turned FIVE!

It is known as common courtesy in the Meredith household to completely block out all family members as they sing to you most wholeheartedly the "Happy Birthday" song.

Thank goodness for Anna, or we would've never known the rules.

Oh...and you have to change out of your cute birthday outfit and put on pajamas instead.

Yeah, my kids like to keep it real too.

So many, many rules....

As part of our birthday celebrating, we took a trip to Temple Square.

It was very, very hot.

But we very much enjoyed it.

Especially touching almost every single body of water held within the confines of the Temple Square walls.

Then we went to Hogle Zoo the next day.

We got to smell lots of poop, and lots of stinky animal cages, and Russ was VERY disappointed to not get to see any monkeys flinging poop.

Here, the birthday kids are showing us the sibling love that runs rampant in our home!

*wink, wink*

With so much love....gotta spread some around...

I think I can recall, on several occasions, that Russ seemed to look almost exactly like this before I kissed him! Hmmm.....

We had lots of fun, rode the carousel, which was AWESOME, bought souveniers, in which Anna lost hers the day we got home, ooohed and awed at all the right moments, and curiosity couldn't keep us from exploring the depths of the rhino nostrils.

Sadly, nothing was found.

Anyhoo...now that my kids are so much older and wiser too, they get to teach me over this next year how much I have yet to learn. Yes, more rules. I guess I just haven't gotten the whole parenting thing down...you know, according to the wise and noble three and five year olds!

Lots more to post...

hope you all are very patient and don't mind waiting...

WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised...

Noooo....we aren't getting bored this summer.....at all.....

From the mouth of babes...aka: Bubba

Carter declared after a morning kiss from momma before he climbed in bed to watch some early morning cartoons,

" Eeww, GROSS....Mommy breath!"

Thanks Bubba...I can always rely on you to boost my self-esteem and point out the obvious!

The kid never ceases to entertain us. He thinks that because Anna wears a full-body swimming suit and that mom wears one too, that naturally, he should wear one as well! Don't worry...we bought him new swim trunks and a swim shirt....and after alot of convincing...he's okay with his "boy dwimmingdoot"...We figured out that he doesn't like to go top-less...though bottom-less is another story!

He does like to, now and then, put on a "pwincess" and then hold hands with mom or Anna and dance. Once again, if mom and Anna wear "princesses" then why can't he? We are trying to keep the "princess" wearing at a minimum...mostly because Anna and Carter fight over the dresses!

Don't worry...the "fun" only lasts a moment. Then he is done.

And back to his trains, trucks, and automobiles...

Throwing balls, watching them crash into things and exclaiming, "Cool!"

Tormenting his sister...

He still thinks I ate my baby in my tummy,

Jumping on and off of people...

Let's not even mention the word "potty-training"

and other such things!

Oh, and don't forget that one MUST jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler...and keep his/her tongue out at all times...you know...in case you get thirsty...or maybe want to bite your own tongue off!

Now I must end with Carter's most recent favorite phrase of expression,

"Howly gosh!"

...and have a good one...we certainly will...

I'm in LOVE!

With this little man...

He loves his dad...

and I am pretty sure that the majority of the time he loves his sister too!

Awe heck....I am in love with the whole dad-gum bunch!

They're all just so stinkin cute!

We do make a pretty darn dad-gum stinkin cute family too...

A hammock is like a giant pea-pod!

Way too much FUN!

Thanks Chels for sharing your pea-pod with us!

We have been swinging and lounging daily!

And the results are in!!

We are very happy to announce that this little wiggly baby due November 3rd, 2010 will be named:

Kya Lyn Meredith !!!

I will post the darling pictures of her later! She's so cute!

With another girl coming to the family that makes three girls born in 2010 to Russ's parents making a grand total of 17 grandchildren, 11 girls (#10, Suzi Ruth due September 7th, and #11, Kya Lyn) and a mere 6 boys!

For my parents, Kya will be grandchild #10, 4 girls and 6 boys! And we still have my two youngest sisters who have yet to be married and have their own children!

And I have to include my grandparents, my Nanny and Grandad, who are my second set of parents:

They have 34 grandchildren with one more on the way due the end of November to my aunt Jenny, making a grand total of 35! Whew! And my Nanny manages to still remember every birthday! She's such a great grandma! Baby Kya makes a grand total of 16 great grandchildren!

And for my other set of grandparents, my mom's side, they have, including Kya, a total of 22 grandchildren!

Anyhoo...we are very VERY excited to have a sweet baby girl to dress up in bows and leggings!

Anna has lots of plans for her little sister and lots of girl stuff to do with her...

And with Carter too...

Now the poor boy will be getting it from an older and younger sister!

He really enjoys it right now...

and he's got lots of girl cousins surrounding him too...

Hopefully, someday, he'll understand women...and be a great husband!

Go on, laugh at my own expense...I did...

I totally laughed....

Did you?

That was SO not the case for me.

And this is some of what I read from the fun little emails about week 18:

By now, the top of my uterus is just below the belly button...

at this point, my belly might start to pop out a little...

Hmmm...

One thing I am puzzled by: pop out a LITTLE???

Go on, scroll back up and take a look at my 18, almost 19 wk belly!

I'd say half of a basketball does NOT qualify for such a description as "popping out a little"!!!

Also, I read:

"There's a definite upswing on the fetal growth chart now, so expect some big gains in the coming weeks."

Awesome...

Great

lovely

I am only slightly whimpering...

Almost 19 weeks ago I started out at a wonderful 115 lbs.

I know! That's why I said "wonderful"!

At 16 weeks I climbed quickly to 126 lbs!

Yeah...11 pounds in 4 months...

that's big for a girl barely over 5ft.

I cringe at what my 20 week appointment will bring!

Stay posted...next post will be results from my ultrasound!!

finally a "yay"!

Some jabbertalkie...

Sooo...I am not sure I will make my blog private afterall. I seriously am getting pages and pages of emails and I am not sure how many a person is allowed to invite!! Anyone know? Yeah...so much for big talk...

The kids are growing, whining, laughing, throwing fits, swinging, racing, doing crazy flip-cartwheels on the trampoline, drawing a lot, yelling, even when you are two inches from them, using manners and sometimes needing to be reminded...alot sometimes, watching Tom and Jerry and enjoying it with mom, eating too many cashews and sneaking drinks onto mom and dad's bed and spilling the drinks and staining the new mattress...gah!!! pooping in underwear, peeing on the floor, sometimes making it to the toilet, sometimes being forced to the toilet, threatened that the "pinchie bugs" will pinch a certain bum bum in he doesn't hurry, napping and often not nowadays, not liking anything cooked for dinner and wanting Rice Crispies, bananas, "candy bars" which are actually granola bars, ice cream, popcicles, fruit snacks, or chocolate instead, being copy cats, teasing and being teased and so forth...

Yeah...you could say life has been very interesting around here!

I am now 18 weeks along and two weeks away from my first ultrasound! Yay! I have been having some wierd symptoms lately in the mornings. Feeling faint, light-headed, tingling in my legs, easily out of breath and heart racing, little energy, and lower blood pressure than normal. I made some calls, and did my own research online (cuz I research about EVERYTHING!) and started making some changes to my diet. The "episides" kept happening, so I did some more research, made some more calls. Low blood pressure can be caused by dehydration. So, I started guzzling all day long and even before bed, and then first thing in the morning. No "episodes" so far and blood pressure back to normal. I was drinking fluids all throughout the day, but obviously not enough water! Crazy how a simple thing can cause such problems with a pregnant body!

I am very grateful for Google. And for smart family members, as well as awesome staff working at the good ol Doc's office.

Anna under the "wishing tree"

I am making baked salmon and corn on the cob for dinner tonight and can't be more excited about it! I have been making better efforts to eat healthier, choosing fresh fruits and veggies over highly processed and non-perishable food items. I am trying to choose better snacks for my kids to eat rather than fruit snacks, fruit roll-ups, and stuff packed with refined sugar and no nutritional value. I feel a greater responsibility for what goes into my kids bodies and my own, and I know that in the long run, we will all be much better off by staying away from fast food, junk food, sugary drinks and pop, candies and such. I feel good about making healthier eating habits...especially knowing that it will help me and my children live longer and be happier.

Love those apple blossoms! See the ladybug?

Try some of these:

Blueberry pancakes for dinner using fresh or frozen blueberries. So yummy!

Snack on whole wheat crackers with cheddar chesse.

Add fresh fruit to your cereal like strawberries or bananas and opt out on the sugary cereals.

My kids love to snack on nuts, yogurt drinks, and craisens.

Grilled cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread instead of white bread.

Try choosing fish over red meat. My kids like salmon because it is soft and easy to chew.

Choose new foods, even if your kids don't like them at first, the more you introduce new foods and flavors, the better eaters they will grow up to be.

Have dessert occasionally. It doesn't have to be after every dinner.

Go to bed earlier, then you won't be tempted to eat late at night.

I am a stress eater. When I get too stressed, I find myself more in the kitchen. I am trying to find other outlets for stress, and if I do snack, I make sure I have fruits and veggies in the fridge and have a few instead of chips or cookies or ice cream.

Get outside! Food isn't so accessable there...you know?

My cute bubba...ignore my lack of make-up please...

Anyhoo...

We are by far perfect, and there is a pack of oreo cookies in the cupboard at this very moment. I am sure I will have some with milk. We probably watch too much television and I still haven't found the extra umph to exercise in the mornings. But I know I am making better choices with a lot of things and that's a start. One good choice eventually leads to another, habits are formed, and lifestyles are changed...little by little.

Cute....I mean...seriously....