6 Miles

December 7th Will lost his front tooth.  He and Alex were in bed together and, in his own words, “It wasn’t even that loose but then I knocked it loser, and then Alex knocked it even looser and then I pulled it out!”

The next day I taught him “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”. He and Alex thought that song was SO funny.  I got this picture and Will pointed out I’d not gotten one when he lost tooth #2. Whoops.

We had been told there MIGHT be  a dusting of snow overnight. We ended up getting enough to cover the driveway (not  enough to cover the long grass though) and the boys were QUITE excited.  So they were ready especially early for the bus so they could shovel the driveway while waiting (I have to document this, so int he future Ican remind them they used to WANT to shovel the driveway! )

There was more throwing of snow then shoveling.

They helped daddy by shoveling off the car (mostly).

It wasn’t the best packing snow but they TRIED to make snowballs. 

All too soon it was time for the bus to come.  Will went to school, Alex played a bit before preschool and I got a few artsy shots.

I picked Alex up and he wanted to go right back outside. He played before and after lunch, and I was able to get a few more pictures in much better lightening.

He shoveled off the deck for us.

As you can see, the snow was melting by this point. He had fun shoveling it into his dump truck and then moving it.

Will was quite sad the rest of the snow was gone by the time he got home. So we’re praying the rain/snow mix we are supposed to get on Wednesday is more snow then rain!

I realized I never updated you guys on the status of baby and me. Some of this was mentioned in a post below, but I had assumed I’d gone into more detail but realized I never did here–just in an email to family members. SO, for non-family members who might want to know, here it all is: 

• My Doctor got the results of the Specialists visit and have me coming in 2x a week for Non-Stress Tests (same thing I did with Alex). This means I go in, get 2 monitors put on my belly to  monitor baby’s heart beat and if I’m having contractions, and I hit a button to signal if baby is moving.  I’ve gone in 2x (with Alex on Monday and both boys today) and all went fine.
• The Meds are really helping! Praise the Lord! I do still need to eat a lower fat diet, I can tell when I don’t (Thanksgiving weekend) I’m much itchier, but overall I’m feeling lots better, itching is mostly down, and I’m sleeping SO much better & have lots more energy.
• Induction is scheduled for Dec. 18th, exactly at 37 weeks.  The doctors were quite willing to induce right at 37 weeks, to the day, even scheduling it for a Friday–that really surprised me, I thought they’d make me wait until Monday. This is the BEST day possible–it is the day after James is done with his big tests for his job. It’s a Friday, and he then has the weekend off so he doesn’t have to take as many days off and will be able to spend time with me.  He doesn’t have that many paid days off to use because he is new on the job. Mom doesn’t have school that day and will be able to help with the boys. It’s a Very Good Day. 
• Pray with us that the baby’s lungs develop so we can induce on this day! They will test to make sure before they induce.
• AND–that induction day means, if all goes well, Baby will be with us in TWO WEEKS! Who-hoo!

Last Sunday we decorated the tree during the Colts game.  The boys had been begging to start since we got the tree the night before.

Once we got started they were a great help for about 10 minutes, and then they were done!  They had to stick around and help me a bit more, but then I realized we had a large number of ornaments in one main spot on the tree–so I ended up moving them around after the kids were in bed.

 I finally got the ribbon around it for the finishing touch (and as silly as it sounds, it really didn’t look DONE until I did this, I promise).

I’ve fixed the ribbon so it doesn’t look as lopsided as it does here. The tree is in the living room for only year #2, but this time it’s in front of the window, not in the back corner. The computer got moved back there, but the tree isn’t huge so it isn’t taking up as much of the living room as we feared.

I was feeling artsy–want to see some favorite ornaments? (If not, you’re free to click that little red X in the upper right hand corner! )

This is a copy of our wedding invitation. A guest at our wedding shrunk it down, MADE the silver frame it’s in and made it hang-able with a silver ribbon. I have another ornament of us kissing at the wedding that I always hang right next to it (but it didn’t show up well in it’s picture, so I’m not including it).

This is from Kenya! It was picked out by our friend Kim because we weren’t sure there would be any ornaments left by the time we got there in Jan. And we were wise to have her do that. I love that each year I’ll have this to remind me of my amazing trip!

I made a several of these in different colors after Will was born, for his first Christmas…I’m proud of my crafty self that comes out every now and then.   I had hoped to make enough to give to each member of James’ family (who came out for Will’s Baby Dedication at Christmas time), but that never happened.  I still have the pieces of the ones I never finished in a box in my craft closet!

Finally, I had to include this one, since we were watching them play while we decorated!

I felt like I should give Thanksgiving it’s own tiny post–it’s a great holiday and deserves some recognition, even if I’m tired and not feeling up to it!

We all went up to Mom and Dad’s on Thursday. James had to work Friday but the boys and I stayed the night so we’d have an extra day to hang out with Mom and Dad and Heidi.

We did what we usually do on Thanksgiving–play games…

(Alex is a stinker)

…and eat! The turkey and everything else turned out great!   We all enjoyed the meal, watching football, playing more games and just hanging out together. It was a nice, relaxing day.  The next day Heidi, Mom and Dad took advantage of the Black Friday deals. I had thought about trying to do it (when Mom was originally thinking she’d not go) but realized they wanted to do A LOT and I knew I’d be worn out pretty quickly–so I gave them a list of what I wanted and stayed at the house with the boys. THAT is the way to shop!

And, for those who don’t use facebook or who aren’t ever on it (ahem, MOM and DAD), here’s a picture of me at 34 weeks pregnant:

I have a post I’m planning to put up, all about decorating the tree–maybe even mentioning Thanksgiving (we went up to my parent’s house, had a wonderful time with my sister and them, ate, played games…that was Thanksgiving!) BUT…I’m still waiting on pictures. We’re not quite done with the tree yet (I need a bit of help from someone taller then me), so until it’s DONE, I want to wait.  While we’re waiting, here are a few funny things from the last few days:

Alex and Will “got” to come with me to the Doctor’s office today. I am going in 2x a week for Non-Stress Tests, where they moniter the baby’s heart beat and I push a button everytime I feel him move.  I scheduled the appointment right during nap time/school pick up time for most of my friends so I was hesitant to ask people to watch the kids–plus, the office is right across the street and I didn’t want drive far away to drop them off some where. Anyway, they did great, they colored and chatted with the Dr. about the pictures they were drawing (pictures of rocket ships in space and lots of stars, with lots of black that got all over their hands and the table).  The doctor I was seeing today is known as Dr. Jim because his wife is in the practice as well and it helps keep them separate. As he was walking out the door, saying bye, Alex said “Bye Jim!” (I should add all is fine with the baby, I have 3 more appointments to go–two during school times for the kids– and then, Lord Willing, we’ll be inducing on the 18th! Pray with us for mature lungs but a small baby that makes for an easy labor and no problems!

Then, as I was working on scheduling for next week, the boys decided to hide under the chairs…but Alex told me they weren’t hiding, they were “blending in”.

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This morning we got a package in the mail from Grandma Lo. It included the boys Christmas presents. They have the honor of being the first gifts under the tree. The boys were a bit frustrated to see these gifts there–and not being able to open them. ”Why can’t we at least open the baby’s gift?” one of them asked at one point. (No, we’ll wait until Christmas.) Later, Will said “Why did she have to send them SO EARLY?!?” in a frustrated tone.

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Today for lunch Alex told me he wanted a cheese tortilla for lunch. Later I told him I was making a quesadilla. He said “But I wanted an umbrella!”  I looked at him puzzled for a second, and then had to laugh.  I told him he couldn’t eat an umbrella, a quesadilla is a tortilla with cheese and salsa. That made him happy.

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Tuesday the boys were playing Police-Spies. All I know is it involved lots of running around and “killing bad guys”. Later they came running out of their room with arms full of stuffed animals, telling me “We just took the bad guys stuffed animals so they won’t be able to sleep at night!”