The nursery that is – it is a pale yellow – yup I got my painting done! YEA! I spent 2 days masking (no not all day of course) and then Saturday painted for about 6 hours. I ran out of paint and it needed a second coat, so on Sunday I headed back to town for more paint (there are times it is a pain to live an hour each way to the nearest home improvement store….) and then Monday I put on the final coat. I took video, but I’ll wait to post it until I have some furniture in there – which should be soon. The bookcase arrived today, the crib is in the dining room and the big changing table/dresser thing should be arriving early next week I think. It has been shipped, but I think it is one of those things that is delivered by a delivery company and they have to call to make an appointment with you. YEA! It’s coming together! I just had the boys haul down all the bedding and baby clothes to the laundry room be washed up.

Notice I said I went to town on Sunday to get paint. Yup, that’s right, I got out all by myself to do some shopping. (that rarely happens) It was lots of fun to be on my own for a few hours. I hit the mall and did some girly clothes shopping (there were some great sales!) and then hit Sam’s club for a car load of things we have been needing for awhile. My arms were seriously tired from carrying my heavy bags by the time I got to the car! LOL

So between painting, working in the garden in our hot humid weather, and shopping I have been getting my exercise lately!

This morning I had my baby Dr. appointment and everything was great. My blood pressure was lower than it has been – not that it has been bad… It has been around 127/70 and it was 118/66 today which she was pleased with. (must be all that exercise LOL) I passed my 3 hour gestational diabetes test with flying colors – YEA! You have to pass two of the four blood draws to pass and I passed all four. And I have gained about 20 pounds which is much better than with the boys. It has been hot and I haven’t swelled up much at all – periodically in the evening, but just a tad and it is down by morning. So things are going great! She said at my next appointment in 2 weeks she will schedule another ultrasound to see how big she’s getting and to see if she has decided to turn head down yet or not – that’s what I am praying for next – that she will decide she likes it head down. It think she is still moving and trying out various positions at the moment as I feel kicks in all kinds of places. Other than that it is just a waiting game – about 10 1/2 more weeks until she’s due! The boys are starting to talk a lot more about when baby is here as well, which is fun.

After I got home from the doctor it was obvious the boys needed to get out of the house. We hadn’t really gone anywhere for probably a week. Matt had to go visit someone in Champaign at the hospital so we all hopped in the car and went along. (well, not into the hospital – we waited outside). Then we did some errands and just had a good day as a family. The boys were asking all kinds of questions about college today for some reason. It was a fun discussion. Then we came home and ate at Southside – our favorite drive-in hamburger joint in town. It was a good day and much better than staying at home listening to them fight all day long again. I try to keep them busy, but after a week at home we just needed to get out.

19 more days until school starts!

Well, I better get the boys into bed.
C-

If you subscribe to our e-mail updates and got the CW Post Cereal bog post – sorry – wrong blog! It was meant for my Menu Mom Blog, but I guess I wasn’t awake enough or something… Anyway, it is moved over now.

The boys survived the dentist yesterday – they actually did really well. My pocketbook didn’t fair so well – $496 later! Such is part of life I guess. Ryan got his back four molars sealed. It’s was Dane’s first trip and he wasn’t very excited about it in the beginning, but he sat on daddy’s lap in the big chair and did really good. Christian and Ryan were big boys and went in all by themselves this time – per their request. He said that we don’t need to pull Christian’s bottom teeth out yet – to give it another six months so that is good.

We did some errands, finished Ryan’s sports physical and went out to dinner at Monicals afterwards – YUM! Then we came home and rested a bit before the swim party. Dane and I took a short nap, and Christian should have… he was kind of crabby before we left. It’s always a great idea to leave for an event at bedtime! Once they got in the pool they of course had a great time and swimming in the dark – great fun according to them! (of course the pool had lights, but I don’t think they had ever swam in the dark before). They were freezing when they got out to eat ice-cream of all things, but then got back in and warmed up. It was a good time. The parents chatted and the kids had a blast.

Here is a video from yesterday morning – lego fun!

Take Care!
C-

Well… I survived! I woke up at 3:00 a.m. and my stomache was growling! That never happens – go figure it happens on the morning I can’t eat. Anyway, I slept okay, I was worried I wouldn’t sleep at all since I was nervous. I got up at 6:00, got out the door at 6:45, and got to registration by 7:30. I was all registered and ready to go by 7:45 and just a couple minutes later they called me back EARLY for my 8:00 a.m. appointment – YEA! I was expecting a 3 hour wait and she said it can be up to 4 hours…. they take your blood and then they have to make sure your fasting glucose level is okay before they can have you drink the syrup stuff. She said sometimes that can take an hour to have the results before you can have the drink. So, the first draw was two vials – the fasting glucose level, and some test that tells them your average sugar level for the past 3 months. (amazing they can do that!) Well, it was about 8:15 and she came out with my drink. I had asked why they don’t make them cold anymore like they did when I was pregnant with Ryan and Christian and she said this is the first place she has ever worked where they don’t refrigerate it, but that she would bring me a cup of ice. That helped get it down much better than the first 1 hour test – I much prefer it cold. Well, I don’t like it at all… but if I have to drink it… cold is better. Anyway, 5 minutes to drink it, and then blood draws at 9:15, 10:15 and 11:15. I actually had 5 pricks because she decided to try the left arm for the 2nd draw so we could alternate arms, but she couldn’t get it to work. So in the end all 5 vials came out of a single vein in my right arm – which is now very sore. My doctor said I would feel terrible throughout the test and I had read that online as well. However, I believe thanks to everyone’s prayers, I felt nauseous for about 10-15 minutes but other than that, I was fine! The nurse who draws the blood asked me each time if I felt shakey or dizzy and each time I was fine. She said that is a good sign that I will hopefully pass – so that is good news! So thank you for everyone who prayed and now I just await the results. My Dr. said if I failed she would call in 2-3 days, otherwise she’d see me at my appointment in 2 weeks – so I’m hoping for no call! Of course she said that last time for my 1 hour and she didn’t call, but still made me go in for the 3 hour. I’m just hoping to pass with flying colors and be done with it! I came home and ate and slept.

Tomorrow the boys have dentist appointments in the afternoon and we will probably try to finish out Ryan’s sports physical too. I have asked Matt to come with me since it is all three boys and it will Dane’ first time and Christian might have to get teeth pulled… Matt said I could just wait in the waiting room with the two who aren’t being examined and he would go in the main room – YEA – sounds good to me!

Tomorrow night is the swim team swimming party from 8-10 p.m. The boys usually go to bed around 8:00 (although we have been lenient in the summer) so they have been warned they have to be good if they want to go! It is supposed to get cool in the evenings coming up though, so it might be freezing for them! I think I will sit on the sidelines and watch.

Well, I’m off to watch Big Brother in bed and then zonk out.

C-

Yawn, nobody slept in our house last night – well maybe Ryan… I’m not sure what the deal was, I am guessing it was the weather front moving in, but I don’t know. This morning we had a thunderstorm and of course it was nice and dark and dreary when it was time to get up. All night it seemed just as soon as one of us would fall asleep another would wake up – I’m not sure what the deal was. Matt said he was just waiting for someone to call saying something terrible happened – he just had a weird uneasy feeling all night – who knows! So I’m blaming it on the weather because when I got up and checked the weather on My Yahoo like I do most mornings… here is what it said on July 21, 2008 at 8:25 a.m. http://www.steendahl.net/weirdweather.htm
For the record…no I didn’t see any snowflakes – I’m not sure if it was a mistake or if there really was some snow!

I hauled Ryan off to the Dr. this morning for his football sports physical. Of course they were running 45 minutes late and then when we finally got in they wouldn’t give me the form because he forgot his glasses and couldn’t pass the vision test. UGH! So I have to bring him back in another day and they will “squeeze” him in… (Yeah, I’m picturing how long we will wait next time!) I am sooo glad we are changing doctors, I can’t stand that place. I am moving the boys over to the family Dr. I am seeing for the baby. It is a 45 minute drive instead of 20, but she is always on time, seems to know what she is actually doing and is personable. That’s worth the drive! The dr. we saw today looked in his ears, listened to him breathe and sent us on our merry way with no form. (not to mention she is always crabby)

We ventured to the garden today. Last year I was out there every day for at least a little while. This year while pregnant, I haven’t spent the time out there like I should. I was surprised to find two good size zucchini, a few pickle cucumbers, peas and TONS of green beans. We didn’t even pick all the green beans as both Matt and I were tired of bending over after a big ice cream bucket full of picking. I’m the only one in the house who likes the beans, so I’ll need to freeze some I guess. I had some steamed with dinner – yum! The weeds seem to be much worse this year with the bugs being a bit less. Mat was disappointed tonight as he sprayed $30 worth of Round-Up on the weeds around the house and then it started pouring… (it didn’t even look like it was going to rain and all of the sudden a big thunderstorm).

Tomorrow I have my 3 hour gestational diabetes test that I am so not looking forward to. I’m sure I probably won’t sleep very good tonight either since I am so nervous about it. I have to get up at 6:00 a.m to leave by 6:45, to get there by 7:30 to start testing by 8:00. I should be done around 11:00. I think I’ll take a sandwich or something along in a cooler to eat right afterwards as I’m sure I’ll need something before I make the trek home I can’t eat from 9:00 p.m. tonight until it’s over. I plan on taking a nice afternoon nap when I get home. I’m just praying I won’t feel too terrible during it and that I pass!

Well, I have a few more things to do and then I am going to try to get some sleep.

If you have a blog, my friend Nell over at Casual Friday Everyday is hosting a contest to win a blog makeover template. All you have to do is leave a comment on her post to enter. Here is the link: http://casualfridayeveryday.com/2008/07/18/win-a-blog-make-over/#comment-3931

Not that there is such a thing as a normal day around here in the summer… John and Clara safely made it home after a fun 2 week visit. The kids had a great time swimming, riding bikes, going on walks, reading books, going to the park, watching grandpa work on the tree house, helping grandma around the house etc. And hey… my laundry was completely caught up for two weeks. (thanks grandma!) I think everyone had a pretty good time!

This week is fair week. Yesterday it was “cheap” ride night, so the kids got wristbands and all they could ride from 6-10 p.m. Ryan went on every ride (many several times) including the big ones I was never daring enough to go on – like the Zipper. Christian is pretty daring himself, but passed on the Zipper and one other one this year – other than that he went on everything too. We ran into tons of people we knew – I think it was school night as there must have been 10-12 families we saw from school. We all needed the cheap night considering all the school expenses at the moment… yowza! I love the boys but they’re breaking me at the moment….

Let’s see… Like the Visa commercial
School Supplies – $160
Football Registration & Jersy – $75
Football Cleats & Socks – $40
Dentist and Physical Appointments $500
Certified Copy of a Birth Certificate for Dane to go to school – $37
School Registration and first Months Tuition (who knows – that’s coming up!) Approx $700
School Clothes (I’m not worrying about at the moment, they can wear summer ones for awhile…)
Our sweet little boys – PRICELESS!

Oh, so Ryan went on all those crazy rides and we weren’t even out of the parking lot and I hear MMMMMM, and I look back and he has his hands over his mouth. So as quick as a pregnant woman can, I jumped out and opened the door in time for him to puke everywhere. LOL (But don’t bring that up to him, Matt told a family we know and he was totally embarassed and asked us not to tell anyone else….)

Yesterday Christian goes “Mom, I have bumps behind my bottom teeth” So I go to take a look and he doesn’t have bumps…. he has half grown in permanant teeth and his baby teeth aren’t even loose! All three boys go to the dentist on Wed. for their school exams, but I have a feeling Christian will be getting a couple teeth pulled – poor guy! And speaking of poor little guy…. He stepped on a pencil a couple days ago and has about an inch long gash on the bottom of his foot! Thankfully the lead was still attached to the pencil, but I was glad Matt was home to deal with the blood and screaming… He said even he felt weak kneed after that.

After we got home from fair we came home to a nice hot house (on one of the hottest days of the summer so far of course) – our air-conditioner decided to give up. It was a warm night, but thankfully the repair man was able to come this morning when I was at my Dr. appointment to fix it. After my appointment we left to go to Champaign to do some of that school shopping and so by the time we got home from fair tonight (we went to the demo derby tonight) it was nice and cool again. My feet and hands did swell up a bit today in all the heat of being outside most of the day though and after a hot night. My blood pressure was just fine at the Dr. though so that is good. However….

On Tuesday I have to take the 3 hour gestational diabetes test – BLECH! I passed the 1 hour one, but only with two points to spare and she said since Dane was so big she needs me to take the 3 hour one and to eat a non-carb diabetic diet until we get the results. (that was real fun at fair tonight… no funnel cake for me – boo hoo! I knew I should have had one last night!) So I get to leave the house at 6:45 a.m. on Tue. to get there by 7:30 for the test to start at 8:00. No food for 12 hours before. They draw blood, I get to drink that totally disgusting drink again, and then they draw blood three more times (every hour) and I can’t eat until it is over around 11:00. The Dr. said it should make me feel terrible – oh YEA! I am soooo not looking forward to that, but you can pray I pass because I really dont’ want to have to do the whole blood monitoring thing considering how much I love needles and all. At the ultrasound I was measuring right on track they say and today my fundal height was 3 weeks ahead again – so who knows… She says she isn’t letting me have a 10 pound baby so she’ll monitor with ultrasound towards the end and induce when necessary… I’m not sure how I feel about that. I really do not like being induced – labor was so much easier with Dane when it was natural, but at the same time I don’t really want a 10 pound baby either. So who knows… this little girl might be coming a couple weeks early.

We have been starting to get the nursery ready. It served as the guest room for John and Clara, but now will be transformed. We’re leaving the futon in there for the time being, but taking everything else out and adding the baby furniture of course. The crib, mattress,and car seat have arrived. We bought paint today, so things are coming along a bit at a time.

Swim Team is just about over I think. We aren’t going to the meet this Saturday since it is over an hour and a half away and only Ryan would be swimming – it just wasn’t worth the drive in my opinion and the boys are fine with it. Next Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. is the family pool party which I am sure we will attend. Other than that is the swim conference which is by invitation only so I am guessing the boys won’t make it to that. Well, for sure Christian wouldn’t because he was just in the little kids non-competitive part anyway. They both have come a long ways this summer though as a result of swim team. I think it will be an activity on our list for next year for sure.

Football starts Aug. 4th with practice every day, and the next couple weeks before then are filled with Dr. appointments, dentist appointments, church meetings & events etc. We are for sure keeping busy. Earlier in the summer we were hoping to meet my parents in South Dakota at some point this summer, but it just doesn’t look like it is happening unfortunately. Between schedules, the cost of gas, and pregnancy things just aren’t working out.

Well, I guess I need to hop in bed. I was going to do that awhile ago, but got distracted with a few things I needed to do before I fell asleep and then ended up here. It was time for an update for sure! Tomorrow we get to be without power from 9-noon as they work on our power lines right outside our house. They are replacing the old ones with new ones within I think it is a two mile radius and it is our turn.

I hope everyone is doing well!
C-

Well, yesterday, was our all afternoon hospital visit. We had to be there at noon for a 12:30 sonogram. The sonogram was an hour, but she was able to tell the sex right away… The baby is all folded up with it’s head and feet all right next to each other and it’s butt down. Hopefully baby doesn’t stay too comfortable in that position – head down would be good…

After the sonogram we went to lunch and Big R. Then we went back to do my gestational diabetes test – fun fun! So I got to drink that lovely drink and then wait an hour and then get my blood drawn. I am praying I pass that so I don’t have to take the 3 hour test.. I always have before, so I’m not too concerned. I ddin’t take it with Dane though and since he was over 9 pounds it was a must this time. While we were waiting the hour we went and toured the tiny maternity ward. They have two delivery rooms and maybe like 4 postpartum rooms. There was no one up there when we were there. The nurses were very nice. Chances are we will be the only ones these when we deliver, so I’m sure we’ll get plenty of attention. Of course, it seems when Ryan and Christian were born both times the hospital was packed – so who knows!

Then we went home through Watseka and picked up our veggies and did a few errands and brought home pizza.

Before we left we took a poll on the baby’s sex.
Ryan – thinks it’s a girl, but wants a boy
Christian – thinks it’s a girl, wants a boy
Dane – thinks it’s a boy, wants a boy
Matt- doesn’t know what it is – wants a boy
Mom – thinks it’s a boy – wants a girl

So……………………………………. It’s a GIRL!!! I am soooo happy!

I adore my boys, but there is just something in me that really wants that mother/daughter relationship. I want to shop for prom dresses, I want to be the mother of the bride, I want to be there when she has her first child (and it’s just different with a daughter) etc. Not to mention all the fun girly clothes and toys. I don’t think Matt really knew what to say after we found out… His main comment was – I don’t really like pink… how about purple or something…. LOL (sorry hun, I like pink! -although I’ll try to keep that in mind.) Anyway, I am ecstatic and the boys all seem okay with it too now that they know.

John and Clara arrived late Sunday night (actually early Monday morning). Their opinion on the train ride? It was LONG…. I’m glad it was them and not me… I’m guessing next time they will fly… But I could be wrong. We are enjoying having them with us. The days have felt busy, but we haven’t really done anything out of the ordinary. Swimming every day – both lessons and swim team have occupied our mornings. Monday afternoon we had naps, Tue afternoon Clara and I went to town, Wed. I had my Dr. appointments and today I think it will be naps again. John has graciously offered to take us out to dinner, so I couldn’t turn that down.

Tomorrow – the 4th we will have a fun day. We have the church breakfast at 7:00 a.m. church at 8:00 (which I am in charge of), the parade in Watseka around 10:00 or 10:30, then home for lunch and naps. Then in the afternoon/evening we will head to our friend’s for their yearly 4th get-together, which is always very enjoyable. I look forward to it every year. The swim meet for Sat. morning got cancelled and changed to Wed (which I am thankful for – I wasn’t too excited about leaving the house at 7:45 a.m. after being out late on the 4th.)

Our 2nd mommy cat has disapeared and the kittens were still tiny so we were bottle feeding them. Only 5 of the 7 left made it. I am so sad our mommy is gone – she was the one who started all the kitties by just showing up on our back porch one day. She was the nicest kitty ever. We have certainly had a rough time with kitties lately. We gave away 2 so we’re left with 3 who seem to be doing pretty well. They are eating and drinking on their own now. Other than that, I think all we have left are two adult males. I’m not sure if coyotes are getting them or what is going on.

This morning I woke up to crying – the crying where you know there is definitely something wrong – not the we’re just not getting along crying. So I rush out to find Christian completely covered in blood – hands, face, couch, carpet etc. It took me a minute and I finally determined it was coming from his nose. It turns out they were rough housing and Ryan kicked him in the nose. All I know is it was a lot of blood! I made Matt get up and help shampoo the carpets before it dried and soon Christian said he was feeling fine…

Well, I think I’m off to nap.
C-