Pregnancy Update

I haven't made many pregnancy updates on my blog but figured I would give everyone the rundown of the latest happenings with this baby girl.  Up until this weekend everything has been pretty smooth - my doctor has been pleased with her growth and my health and we have our C-Section scheduled for August 23rd which we are greatly looking forward to.  My tummy is so big at this point that I can barely move and sleeping is quite difficult.  This makes for very tired days and lots of aches and pains.

Last night I started having contractions.  Now because I have delivered my other children by C-Section my body has never been in labor before so I wasn't quite sure what I was experiencing.  I knew I was having very regular contractions, although they were not painful.  Eventually we called up to the Labor and Delivery Department at the hospital and they told us to come up for some monitoring.  So, we got the girls out of bed and hopped in the van around midnight.

Well, the nurse determined that I was not having labor contractions (meaning my contractions weren't strong enough to put me into labor) but that I was definitely contracting and they needed to be stopped.  The doctor wanted the drug Terbutaline adminstered to me which would relax the muscles and keep them from contracting.  The nurse warned me that it would elevate my heartbeat a bit and I might feel a little anxiety with it but everything is normal and it would go away.  Well, after a couple of minutes I was feeling VERY strange and knew that something was wrong.  My pulse was extremely quick and I couldn't get air.  The nurse quickly laid me back in bed and gave me oxygen but by then my blood pressure had dropped to about 60/30 which is not good at all.  They called for more nurses who got me going with IV's and Mark did his best to help me relax and breathe in the oxygen deeply.  Everything started to go black but I wanted to stay aware and make sure that everything was OK with the baby.  Eventually I began coming out of it and my blood pressure raised and the heartbeat slowed down.  However, a second wave of sickness soon hit and everything started all over again - this time with extreme heat.  The blood pressure dropped suddenly and the nurses and Mark once again did their best to keep me calm and comfortable, bringing in ice packs and upping the oxygen.  Thankfully after some time this wave passed, too and the doctor came in to check on me.  She determined that I needed to stay longer through the night and get some much needed sleep since it was almost 3am by this time.  So Mark took the girls home (who were so well behaved out in the waiting room) and I did my best to sleep.  Unfortunately hospital beds are not the most comfortable and I only managed about an hour and a half.  It was a miserable night but I was able to come home about 10:00 this morning to my own bed and my sweet husband to care for me.  I have to go back tomorrow morning for more labwork and another stress test but I am so grateful for the care I received and the technology available today that allows for a speedy recovery.  We aren't sure how much longer baby girl will stay with me - we might need to deliver early, but I am confidant that all will be well - especially now that I know I am allergic to that medicine and they will never give it to me again! :)

Wallowa Lake Adventure

Last weekend we decided to take a drive and head up farther into the mountains to visit Wallowa Lake.  We love it there but hadn't been for quite a while.  It was a beautiful drive and a cool day to be on the lake. 

We didn't do any of the really fun activities that you can do on the lake like boating or swimming (due to my pregnancy) but the girls played in the sand and Mark tried to teach them how to skip rocks on the water.  Emma and Samantha love being with their daddy so much - I love this picture!

 They didn't quite get the skipping technique down but they sure gave it a good try.

Baby Shower for Shellie!

Back in February we learned the wonderful news that my sister Shellie who lives in Wyoming was expecting her first child!  What a blessing!  I have loved being pregnant along with her and we have made it a priority to talk weekly with each other over the phone to discuss our pregnancy woes and latest accomlishments.  Fortunately she and Joshua were able to come to visit the family for a week and since she was in town, we had a baby shower for her.  We had a wonderful time eating, playing games, looking at the sweet baby items, and catching up with old friends.  It was a girls day out for all the sisters and granddaughters!  Here is a picture of Shellie with all of her nieces who were available to come.  (Unfortunately Eliza was too shy for the camera and little Katie is in Arizona).

And here are all the sisters and mom, too.  Aunt Tracie was able to make the trip from Utah so we were happy to have a visit with her, too!

I miss Shellie and I am sad that I won't be close by when she welcomes her first son in November.  I wish she would be close when I deliver in the new few weeks but hopefully we'll see each other soon!

STAYcation Day #4

Today was a great day!  Mark had the day off so we headed down to Pendleton to spend some time together as a family at the Eastern Oregon Children's Museum and then the Family Aquatic Center.  Having been given a lead by a friend, I found out that the public library here in La Grande has free passes to museums in our area that you can check out.  How great is that?  Earlier this week when we hit the library, the pass to the Children's Museum was available and we checked it out!  The girls absolutely loved it there!  Here they are in the construction house.

This was the Lewis and Clark area.  There was a covered wagon that the girls could try out.

Emma found a rainmaker which was something that was in her classroom this past school year.

Here they are at the pretend firehouse......

.....where Emma attempted to slide down the fire pole!

Emma loves science and experiments so she really enjoyed the science lab.

Unfortunately there was only room for one in this teepee.

Samantha loves crafts and was able to draw a pretty picture in the craft room.

There was lots to do at the museum and we would have stayed longer but the water and warm weather were calling our name!  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at "The Cookie Tree" and headed to the Aquatic Center.  The first thing they wanted to do was go down the water slides!  Emma had a great run!

Samantha was extremely proud of herself and she was especially giddy that Daddy was there waiting for her when she flew out!

 Both girls couldn't get enough of the water and they played very well together.  It was a busy day so they stuck together and made sure that we could see them so they could pose for the camera.

After a few hours, we knew it was time to head on home.  The only negative about the day are my poor sunburned feet.  Of all the sunblock we used, I didn't think to put any on my feet and now I am suffering the consequences!

It was wonderful to conclude our STAYcation week together as a family.  I love watching how happy my children are and it is a true testament to me of the importance of family relationships and the joy that comes from spending time together.  There really is nothing better!

STAYcation Day #3

Today was our Spa Day!  We stayed at home and "glammed" ourselves up.  We started out by straightening the girls' hair and then giving Samantha a much needed trim.  We cut off quite a bit of hair and she was very happy.  Then we moved on to our nails.  Earlier we went to the store and both girls were able to pick out a color of nail polish since they loving wearing nail polish.  Then Mommy put pretty smelling lotion on their hands and painted their nails for them.

Of course, in the summer time you have to have pretty toenails, too!  Mom did their toenails with an extra added design that they can show off when they wear their sandles.  The toes turned out pretty good in my opinion!

At lunch time we spoiled ourselves with a treat of homemade chocolate milkshakes!  Who doesn't love milkshakes?

Later on we worked on putting some jewelry together.  Emma made a beautiful necklace but Samantha got a little tuckered out of trying to put the string through the beads and eventually gave up altogether.  I think I have a budding jewelry maker on my hands!  Unfortunately, our camera gave out and I was unable to get a picture of the finished product.  So tonight we broke down and made a trip to Walmart to purchase a new camera!  We don't want to miss out on any more fun pictures!  Even though it was a lazy day at home, I am still grateful to be spending this time with my daughters.  We are surely looking forward to our day at the waterpark tomorrow!

STAYcation Day #2

Day Two of our STAYcation started off with a surprise for Emma and Samantha.  Uncle Matt and Aunt Julie came for a visit from California.  It's been a couple of years since we have seen them so we were excited to have them join us for a few days.  Today was our "Catherine Creek Day."  We loaded up the van and drove to Catherine Creek State Park about 20 minutes away and enjoyed the outdoors.  The weather was gorgeous and for the most part, we had the park to ourselves.  Mark cooked a nice BBQ for us and Uncle Matt took the girls on a little hike and also played with them along the creek which was very high and running very fast!

This picture shows just how pretty it was.  Normally at this time of year we can do a little swimming or wading in the creek but there was just too much water.  We'll try again later in the summer.

Uncle Matt attempted to teach Emma how to skip rocks on the creek.  It's pretty hard to do.  On a side note - Samantha lost her flip flops in the water while she was wading on the edge.  Mark ended up jumping in the creek to save the flip flops and got soaked!  Hooray for Daddy!

The girls have had a great time with their aunt and uncle and we wish that they could stay longer with us.

STAYcation Day #1

Because Mom is in her third trimester of pregnancy this summer, we thought it best to stay close to home with our activities instead of going on a long vacation like we normally do.  This year, the girls and I decided to plan a "STAYcation" which would enable us to have fun activities to do closer to home.  Today was Day #1 and we called it Getting to Know Your City Day.  We have lived in La Grande for five years but we have never really taken advantage of some of the local shops or restaurants.  Our first stop this morning was "The Potter's House."  (Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture there).  The Potter's House is a gift shop where local artists can sell their crafts.  Plus, the owner does his own pottery which is beautiful.  We came out with some Wild Huckleberry muffin mix and a couple of new cookie cutters that the girls picked out.  Our second stop was to a local book store called "Sunflower Books."  Emma and Sam both love reading and couldn't get enough of the children's area.  If they had their way, we would have bought out the whole store.  They really enjoyed sitting and reading some lovely books.  Unfortunately for them, Mom is a big believer in utilizing the local library instead of buying brand new books.

Next we walked downtown a bit and we decided it was time for a mid-morning snack.  We stopped at a cafe called "Joe & Sugar's."  It was a cute place to sit and relax and fill up on some yummy goodies - a cinnamon roll for Emma, a muffin for Mom, and a giant cookie for Samantha.

Well, it just so happened that right across the street from the cafe was another local bookstore - "Looking Glass Books."  This was a very large bookstore that also sells used books and the children's area was great fun.  Here is a picture of Emma playing with a train set.

After we left the second bookstore we headed on over to the library.  Now we are frequent patrons of our local library and this summer the girls are participating in the summer reading program.  This week is week #2 so we needed to go and exchange our books for new ones.  Sam read 13 books last week and Emma read five.  They filled up their book bags and we even picked up a free pass to the Children's Museum in Pendleton that we can use later in the week!  After the library we knew it was time for a good lunch so we walked across the street to "Mamacitas."  This is actually a personal favorite of ours and since it wasn't very busy, they let us pick where we wanted to sit.  The girls decided they wanted to sit downstairs where all the art work is and it is much quieter.  We really enjoyed ourselves and lunch was delicious!  (Samantha is always hamming it up for the camera.....)

After lunch we headed home for a short break.  We were very tired and needed to check the time for when the trolly was going to be running.  We stayed home for about 45 minutes and then headed out again.  Here are the girls waiting at the trolly stop.  Unfortunately the trolly was about 15 minutes late and ended up ignoring us at the stop.  We were too hot to keep waiting so we packed it in for our next stop.

Our final destination was "Faerie Beads."  It is a bead shop where you can go and pick from thousands of different beads or charms to make your own jewelry.  The girls had such a hard time deciding between all of the beautiful beads that were there.  We finally came up with a simple plan, thanks to the owner of the shop, and came on home.  We haven't had a chance to make our necklaces yet, but we will definitely do it later in the week.

It was a great day and I especially just loved spending time with my girls.  Hopefully they enjoyed themselves as much as I did.  Tomorrow for Day #2 we are heading to Catherine Creek and Daddy is even taking the day off of work to join us - WOOHOOOO!

New Van!

Well, with the arrival of a third child coming up we knew it was time to be on the lookout for a new vehicle.  We have had our trusty Saturn for nearly eight years and it was a great car for us.  Unfortunately it just wasn't big enough for our family of five.  A couple of months ago we started scouring the internet for a new van.  We found a few that ended up not working out but we took a chance on a van that we saw this week at a dealership a couple of hours away.  So yesterday we piled into the car and took off, hoping and praying that we would come home with something new.

As you can see, we found a van that is perfect for us and we were most grateful to drive it off the lot!  It was a bit tragic for Samantha who broke down in tears trying to say good-bye to the Saturn.  So, we talked about our favorite memories of the car and had a moment of reflection. :)  It was too cute!  Thankfully, within about five minutes of leaving town, she had completely forgotten about our old car and was grateful to be in a comfy new van.  (Of course, the DVD player that came with it helped out with that!)

Here's to many more road trips to come!  Well....maybe not too many....at least until after the baby is born!

Water Fun!

So far we haven't had that many warm days yet this summer but when it's warm, the girls have enjoyed taking advantage of it and spending time playing in the water.  They made up this little game a couple of weeks ago and decided it would be great fun to spray each other with the sprinkler while playing on the swingset.  Such creativity!

We have also kept really busy doing swimming lessons each morning.  They did so good in their lessons!  Both girls really love the water and would spend all day in the pool if we had time.  Emma is struggling a little bit with being in the deep water but I'm sure she will conquer her fears in the near future!  Samantha loves swimming so much that it was a little difficult for her to pay attention to her teacher and not play around.  Fortunately, she tried very hard and was a good student.  They have completed their first session and we'll try to do one more session before the summer is through.  It's just a bit uncomfortable for mom to sit in the hot pool on the bleachers at this point in the pregnancy.  We'll see how it goes!