Valentine's Day

Once the girls got back from their trip to MD, I decided to ease up on my bed rest. The girls were sick so I didn't want to spread their germs amongst all their friends, so I kept them at home and tried to just "take it easy."

Valentine's Day was the first day I had the girls all day since the bed rest started. Whew! It was a little rough. I don't think I fully realized how much work they require. Every time I would sit dow to "rest", somebody would need something.

I did manage to whip up some pink heart pancakes for breakfast though!

I was planning on making a heart shaped pizza for dinner, but Andy suggested bringing home Lonestar instead. Sounded good to me.

I did give the girls a few Valentine's gifts, however I felt bad about not getting Andy anything. The bed rest situation kind of hindered my ability to get out and get him anything nice. However because of bed rest, I have put little miles on the minivan and not spent any money at Target in the last month. That was probably the best Valentine's gift I could give him!

Despite all the "work" my girls do require, I loved having them home and spending my days with them. They make me so happy.

My hubby also makes me happy. He has been working so hard lately to take care of me, the girls and the house, while teaching seminary and putting in extra hours at work. He is such a hard worker and always gets the job done. My mom spent the night recently and was surprised that the house was clean when she woke up because it was pretty much a wreck when she went to bed. I told her that I have a sweet little "elf" that always cleans up before bed. Thanks babe!

Road Trip

Let me just start by saying my mom is the best. I am sure those that know her will agree. 2 weeks ago she was going up to MD last week for Grandparents Day at Nicholas' school. She offered to take the girls with her. Let me just say that there is NO WAY I would drive up to MD by myself with the girls. I could just hear them whining for the entire 6 hours. However for mom, they never whined and pretty much slept the entire way. She didn't have to make one stop!! 

The girls were so excited to see their cousins. My mom took a lot of pics with her phone, but I will have to get them from her next time I see her. However she did send me this one.

Nicholas loves kissing on girls!

 They spent 2 nights at Christine's and then stayed one night at Ashley's on the way home. I read a quote somewhere today about cousins being your children's first best friends. And I agree, I am glad my girls have such wonderful cousins to be friends with.

And they are best friends with their Nana too. They talk to her everyday on the phone and she loves them so much... and they know it too, which means they use it get everything they want. :)

Emily must have been pouting because Nana was leaving.

Besides, the girls having a fun weekend with their nana and cousins, Andy and I had a great weekend together. Actually it was 3 nights. Granted I was on bed rest, but still a fun, relaxing weekend with my Valentine!

Friends

I have been so blessed to have such great help during my bed rest. We either have had family here or friends would come get the girls everyday. The girls really love spending the day with friends, especially if these friends had movies they hadn't seen yet. :)

My friend, a talented photographer, took some cute photos of the girls. it is nice to see them happy and having fun with friends.

Prison Break

So bed rest gets pretty boring, pretty quickly and can be pretty lonely too. A few weeks ago I got a break from being stuck in the house. Our friends Jennifer and Johnny came up for the day. They cleaned my house top to bottom. Seriously, they scrubbed the bathrooms and swept and mopped the floors. The girls of course enjoyed Simon and Claire. Then we all went out to Kohls -- in  a wheelchair. I was totally embarrassed, but that was the only way they would let me go. However I got to hold baby Claire the whole time, so that was worth it.

Emily wamted to push me.

Sarah wanted to ride on my lap.

Andy just took pictures while laughing and pointing at me.

32 weeks

Here is a picture of me at 32 weeks. Sadly, the only time I get out of my pj's is to go to my doctor's appointments. This week I will be 34 weeks. It is getting closer for the "safe" time for the baby to arrive. I am still dilated 2 cm, but the baby has dropped lower. I still think the baby will come around the 1st of March. Counting down the days...

My girls have been great. They have enjoyed going to friends' houses to play and spending time with their Aunt Sharon, Nana and Grandma and Grandpa.

And of course, they love being able to watch lots of movies with mommy!

The little things

Andy and I often ask Emily, "Who made you so cute?" She answers, "Jesus."
Well, tonight Emily carried her stool into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Then she flexed her arm muscles and said, "I am so strong!"
She had this silly look on her face, so I said, "You are funny, Emily. Who made you so funny?"
She said, "Nana did!"
I asked, "Well, what did Mommy make you?"
She said, "Happy!" (awwww)
Then I asked, "What did Daddy make you?"
She said, "Showy"
I said, "Showy... what does that mean."
She said, "You know, you watch shows all morning and night" Ha! Obviously Daddy watches too much TV!

Sarah is turning out to be a little more scared of things that we thought she would. For instance, she hates the merry go round (or any fair ride). She is scared of the dinosaurs at the museum. She says she is scared of dance class. But she is really scared of the Chick Fil A cow. Today Andy's parents are helping out with the girls and took them to Chick Fil A for lunch. Before they left, Sarah said, "No cow! Cow go home!" I told the cow probably wouldn't be there today that he would be home in his barn. So we she got back, I asked if the cow was there. She had a very big smile on her face and said, "No! Cow in the barn!"

I love my girls and it the little things they say and do that always brighten my day!

Bed Rest

For those that don't know... I have been on bed rest for 3 weeks. I actually can't believe I have made it this far. On Jan 3rd, I went to the doctor complaining about possibly having Cholestatis again. It was something I had with Emily and it caused me to be very itchy all over. Pretty uncomfortable. They did a blood test for that. (It turns out I don't have it and the itching has stopped. I guess I just made all that up.) Anyways, the doctor went ahead and checked me and said I was 2 cm dilated. EEK! I was only 28 weeks. They did an ultrasound and the baby looked perfect and right on schedule for 28 weeks, about 2.5 lbs. Then I did a non stress test to make sure I was not having contractions. Everything looked fine there. They gave me steriods shots to help the maturity of the baby's lungs. The doctor told me to go on bed rest so as to stop any chances of going into labor since I was already dilated

So since then, I have been on bed rest. I have been going back to the doctor weekly for them to check me. Things have been staying the same for the last few checkups. I have gone to a different doctor in the practice each time, so it has been nice to hear different opinions. The doctor last week did not seem as concerned because the baby seemed pretty high up and he did not feel any ballooning of the sac. After hearing that, I was not as strict with my bed rest. I didn't leave the house or go anywhere, but I did walk around the house doing more cleaning and taking care of the girls.
However the doctor this week said the baby has dropped to 0 position and he did feel like the sac was ballooning/bulging. He said there is a just a membrane holding things together. When that ruptures, my water would break and then the baby would be here quickly, if she follows her sisters' deliveries. Now I am trying very hard to stay on a strict bed rest and only get up to shower and use the restroom.

I am almost 32 weeks and the doctor wants me to get to Feb. 10 (34 weeks).  I have had SOOOO much help during the past 3 weeks. Somebody comes everyday to take the girls or watch them here. We have had meals brought into us. Friends have called to check on me. My mom has been great and taken time off work to help me. She has the girls at her house right now for 4 days. Andy has had to really step it up and he cleans the house everyday and takes care of me and the girls. Andy's sister has come up to watch the girls and will be coming back next week. My sweet girls have been AWESOME. They crawl in bed with me to cuddle and watch movies. They have been great about going to other people's houses. Since I hate to post without pictures. Here are my sweet, happy girls that I love so much. Yes, they love their backpacks!