Getting Closer

So Andrew had to leave us again and head out to California the Monday after Thanksgiving for the week again.  I passed the time by getting all our presents wrapped (oh and I guess taking care of the kids :-)).  We had a pretty uneventful week.  The kids liked watching Christmas movies in the evenings.  Lincoln is really liking Polar Express.

I had another doctor's appointment on Thursday and again everything is going well.  Then Andrew got home Friday evening.  On Saturday, Andrew was off to Jackson's football game while Lincoln and I took Ellie to do a little Christmas tap performance .  She was a part of three groups that performed for a Christmas Tea Party for a teacher sorority.  Grandma and Granny both came to watch her and she did a great job.

Then that night we had dinner with my parents to celebrate my Dad's birthday.  My mom made a red velvet sheet cake and the kids helped Papa blow the candles out.  I, of course, really enjoyed the cake.  The next day, Andrew got to hang out with us for a little while before he headed to the office to catch up on some work for a little bit.  But before he left, he helped the kids set up Jackson's Polar Express train.

This past week, Andrew didn't have to head to California until Tuesday.  I had another ultrasound on Monday. It was a little different ultrasound, a biophysical profile that looked at different activities of the babies and they passed with flying colors.  And according to their measurements, they are now weighing in at 5lbs 4oz and 5lbs 6oz!  Then on Tuesday, we got some snow.  Again, Ellie was very excited and tried to make the most of what was leftover after she got home from school.  She tried to do a snow angel on the patio but forgot she didn't have any snow pants on, so she got a little wet.

Then that afternoon, my parents (and Caroline and Molly) were nice enough to take the kids to Columbia to see Santa and do a little shopping after school.  I couldn't decide whether or not to go, but finally decided not to since it is pretty uncomfortable to travel and I am pretty worn out by the end of the day.  I hated to miss it though.  I was able to get some stuff done around home, including getting all of our Santa gifts ready and hidden away.  The kids had a great time.  They got to go to Sam's and Lincoln was very proud to carry the receipt out and have the door greeter check it.  They had dinner at Shakespeare's (I was so lucky to get some leftovers).

They also got to see Santa and I think Jackson was the only one who talked to him.  Ellie had a breakdown before she left because she told me she was going to ask Santa for an iPad and I told her that Santa doesn't bring iPads to kids her age.  And anyways I thought she had originally wanted an iPod, not an iPad.  Anyways, Caroline sent me this picture from when they first saw Santa.  Lincoln wasn't too impressed.

Of course the picture of all of them with Santa was wonderful.

The kids drew names before they left, so the got to do a little shopping.  They put a toy store in the mall just for Christmas season and Lincoln loved it.  He also loved riding the carousel.

The kids didn't get home until close to 10, but they were still full of energy and excited to tell me about what they got for each other.  The finally got to sleep and get ready for the next day.  Ellie got to go with her class on Wednesday to the Christmas Tree Farm.  They went in the afternoon, so I had to take her back after lunch.  She was excited she got to ride the bus again.  And then that evening I led my last small group for a little while.  Next week we are just having a Christmas dinner and then we are taking a couple weeks off for Christmas.  After that, Joe and Leah are taking over for a little bit while we care for our expanding family.

Thursday ended up being a kind of an exciting day.  I had another OB appointment and since I am between 34/35 weeks, my doctor wanted to check my progress and I was at a 3 and 30-40% effaced.  So he decided to give me a steroid injection to help the babies lungs just in case I went early.  After my appointment, I picked up Jackson from school and went to my parents to get Ellie and Lincoln.  I thought I was having some actual contractions but was just hoping they would go away.  So I mentioned something to my parents and they decided maybe I should stay around for dinner and then they thought I needed to let Andrew know.  He was going to be home Friday evening.  Well the contractions kept coming, so my dad called my doctor to see if it would be fine for him to take me over to the hospital to just get hooked up to the monitors and see if anything was going on.  I felt kind of silly doing it.  I never wanted to be the one that thought I was in labor and they ended up sending me home from the hospital.  But once they got me hooked up, they decided that the contractions were coming kind of quickly.  Dr. Lockwood ended up coming in and he decided to put me on some medicine to slow the contractions down and to keep me overnight.  Amanda was trying to help Andrew find an earlier flight, but it wasn't really working out.  He felt so helpless, but after being on the medicine and getting some fluids, we didn't think he would miss anything so he decided to just keep his flight for the next morning.  My parents kept the kids overnight and I was able to get out of the hospital the next afternoon.  I did get to enjoy breakfast in bed while watching TV which never happens at home :-).  So for now I am supposed to take it easy and stay on the medication until Thursday when I see Dr. Lockwood again.  And if I go into labor after that, my doctor feels like everything would be fine.  And Andrew made it home safely and was very relieved everything was okay.  I was happy I was able to get home again because there are definitely a few more things I want to get done before Miles and Bennett arrive and we are getting some of it done this weekend.  I did miss Jackson's last football game though.  Andrew said they had a great game, so I wish I could have seen it.  Andrew took the kids out to the ranch this afternoon and Lincoln loved checking the cows with Andrew.  The kids also got to help Granny decorate a little for Christmas and make some cookies.  And then we also got a nice surprise when Leah let me know that she had people signed up to bring us some meals the next few days.  It is so nice of everyone and will be so helpful. 

So after all the excitement, I am pretty anxious for the babies to get here now.  I was sure that it wouldn't happen until after the New Year (I was very surprised that I ended up in the hospital) and I still don't want to get my hopes up but my dad thinks they should be here before Christmas.  I hope so!

And a couple stories I wanted to share.  Ellie is a fan of Albert Pujols, so when I told he wasn't playing for the Cardinals anymore she was devastated.  She actually got tears in her eyes.  And then she was sad that she wouldn't get to watch him play anymore and she has his "5" tshirt.  She said it just wasn't fair.  It was so cute.  The other little bit I wanted to share was about Jackson's new attempt to help me out.  One of his chores is to bring the laundry basket of dirty clothes down to my closet.  This last time he decided he wanted to help me out by helping me sort the laundry.  So I taught him how I do the different piles and he has helped me with it a couple times since.  This morning, I was taking a shower and he came in and told me he had already brought the laundry down and sorted it for me.  Such a sweet kid.