2 months

Ethan is just over 2 months now and I can really see that he is growing.  At his appointment he weighed 12 lbs 10 oz but that only puts him in the 50% for weight.  Height??  He is chubber than I remember the girls being and I just love all his cute fat rolls.

He is starting to smile and talk to us now I just love his little noises.  He seems happiest in the morning right after he eats and coos and smiles most then.  We do bicycles with his legs mostly for gas reasons but he thinks it is funny and we can get some big smiles out of him.  The girls still love him so much they are very helpful and will do anything for him.  Savannah loves to hold him and they all love to give him kisses all day long whenever they see him.  If he is sleeping I ask them to not kiss him but Emma will say, "I just can't help it he is so cute."  He sits in his bouncer and has learned to kick the seat to get it to light up it doesn't make him smile but he enjoys it, this is one of the only things we have from the girls and was Emma's favorite thing when she was that little.

He has lots of different facial expressions which is fun to watch I wonder what he is thinking sometimes.

Smiles

On Saturday Ethan gave his first real smile.  I was playing with him after he had been fed around 8am.  I was doing bicycles with his legs and he gave me a grin.  I was sad Scott was not here to see it so I tried to get him to smile again the rest of the day but no luck.

Then tonight as I was getting him ready for his bath Scott was with me and so I was doing more bicycles with his legs and got him to smile.  This time he smiled several times and we enjoyed watching him.  I have not yet been able to capture a smile with my camera but I'll keep trying.

1 Month

Ethan turned 4 weeks old on Thanksgiving day.  He is still doing well but seems a little fussier over the past week we have started giving him gas drops and gripe water.  Scott isn't convinced it does anything but I think it is helping.

For Thanksgiving we went to my mom's house and spent the day there with family as usual.  It was a beautiful sunny and warm day.  The kids spent the whole day playing outside and having fun.  The food was especially good this year with lots of turkey.  Emma stayed and spent the night with my mom and Scott and the other 2 girls went and did some black Friday shopping at CVS.  Scott then got up around 7 and hit a few other stores but we didn't do much shopping this year we were too tired.

Ethan had his 1 month checkup yesterday and he is doing great he is growing well.  He weighs 10lbs 10oz which is 50-75% and he is 22.75 inches tall which is 90-95%.

Here is his 1 month picture.

Birth

My c-section was scheduled for 10/27 but Bethany wanted to have him born on her birthday and I thought that was sweet so I was on the waiting list for 10/26.  As it turned out our construction was very behind schedule and we were all working hard the week he was to be born.  On Tuesday the builders finished the drywall which was the part I was dreading since it would lead to a lot of dust.  I was really sweating that they would not be done before I delivered and I didn't want the dust in the house with the new baby.  I did not get to go early on Wednesday the 26th so I spent the day cleaning the drywall dust in the kitchen.  Scott's mom, my mom and I worked hard for several hours cleaning the cupboards out.   Scott was tearing up the old floor downstairs with the 'right' tool.  Long story but apparently they rented him the wrong tool so it took him forever to rip up the floor but now with the right tool has made good progress.

The night before my c-section I slept surprisingly well.  I was pretty nervous but God seemed to give me peace.  We had to be there at 5am so we were up at 4am getting ready and sneaking in to say goodbye to the girls.  The drive to the hospital was uneventful and I got settled in for some waiting.  My parents and Scott's mom came up around 7 to see me before my 7:45 c-section so Scott went out to get some coffee with them while we waited.  I got out the door to see them around 7:30 and while I was talking to them they said that they had to go back to the triage room because my surgery had been rescheduled until 9:30.  I actually slept a little while I waited and Scott went to have breakfast with my parents and his mom.  Around 9 we headed to the delivery room so I gave hugs to my parents and Scott's mom as I walked down the hall.  I was feeling a little nervous but ready to meet this little guy.

The spinal did not go well and Scott was not in the room then.  The doctor had trouble getting it right and I could tell he was frustrated it was not a good experience.  Once Scott got there and the spinal was done things went better.  The surgery took a lot longer this time than with the triplets.  The doctor said he was taking his time and cleaning up some scar tissue from last time.  He also said he repaired a small hernia he found.  Finally at ??? Ethan came out and I heard the doctor say this is one big baby and the nurse said yes it is.  He weighed in at 9lbs 6oz basically twice the size of one of the girls.  He was 21.5 inches long.  I loved looking at him, he was adorable from the very first moment.  He had lots of dark hair and chubby little cheeks.  I instantly thought he looked most like Olivia just a much bigger version.  Being able to watch him and hold him so soon was so much better than having him whisked away and not seeing him for hours like I had to do with the girls.

In the recovery room I was doing pretty good I felt like I was more coherent than the last time and I got to hold, feed, and cuddle with Ethan.  We had planned on letting Scott take the baby out so my parents and Lynn could see him but his blood sugar was low so they would not let him leave the recovery room. My dad ended up having to leave to go to work and did not get a chance to see him. They wanted pictures but Scott and I wanted to see them when they saw him so we could see their reaction and hear their first thoughts.  I finally was able to go to my room at 2pm.  My mom and Lynn finally got to come meet little Ethan.  They were impressed with all his hair and how big he was and thought he was super cute as we knew they would.

37 weeks

So I am past the point I was with the girls, I carried them up to 34 weeks (and 1 day) and I am now 37 weeks with our baby boy.  A couple of things I notice is that 1) he is very heavy, 2) I can feel him really push out on my stomach sometimes I think there must be a bruise on the inside from where he likes to push on me (right side below my ribs).  3) I have contractions now, I may have had a few with the girls but I don't remember them coming almost every day and lasting for hours.  The contractions are mild and aren't causing any labor but they are still uncomfortable.  Last week I started getting them at night but if I got up and moved around they would get better.  This week I can get them almost anytime of day.

Good news we finished painting his room and Scott's mom and my mom both spent some time helping me get things put away and ready for baby Ethan.  I still have a few more things to get done but for the most part we are ready.

The girls are even more excited now they told me yesterday that the days are getting longer because he is coming soon and it is taking forever.  They all kiss my belly and hug it daily and they like to feel for his butt or feet.  Emma is just thrilled to have a baby brother now and talks to him and tells me she is going to love him forever.

32 Weeks

32 weeks carrying one baby is different than carrying 3 but not in all the ways you would think.  So I'm obviously not as big with 1 baby but I haven't slowed down any so I get tired and sometimes I want to be restricted to the couch.  At 32 weeks with the triplets I was on bedrest and no longer working, I also did not have any children to care for so it was easier in that aspect.  I am still working and doing most things I did before pregnancy including lifting weights (I have to keep it under 20lbs total though) and walking (no running).  Scott and I are also working every night on the renovations at our house.  The poor baby's room has not received a lot of attention so I need to focus on that soon.

1 baby on left 3 babies on right

Cheerleading

Emma and Savannah have been asking to do cheerleading since they saw the cheerleaders at their basketball games last winter at the YMCA.  We agreed to let them do it this fall instead of soccer. Olivia wanted to do soccer instead of cheerleading but with the baby coming we told her it would be difficult to try to get her and her sisters different places since I would not be able to drive for several weeks after the baby.   She then decided she would play football instead and her sisters could cheer for her.  We then had to explain that this was tackle football and she probably would not want to get tackled by the boys it might hurt some.  She agreed she didn't want to be pushed down so she said she would do cheerleading too.  We signed them up for the Matthews recreation club.

They have had several games already and seem to really be enjoying it, even Olivia.  They practice twice a week and get to work on cheers and tumbling.  Scott and I really enjoy watching their games it is very stress-free to not have to worry about making sure they know the rules and are in the right spot and paying attention.  They are also so cute in their uniforms, the whole squad is under 8 so it is a cute age.

Mountain Trip Day 1

As the summer was approaching the end I was starting to feel a little sad that we hadn't taken a family vacation this summer.  I know the girls had enjoyed their summer with Amy going to the pool practically every day she came, but I still wanted to have a trip before school started.  Emma had made a comment a few weeks ago when she saw a picture of her cousins Jayla and Aubree in front of a waterfall (it was actually just a green screen but she thought it was real).  So she said at dinner one night that she really wanted to see a waterfall.  Scott and I were both a little surprised that they had never seen a waterfall but the more we thought about it we couldn't think of a time where they would have seen one.  So we decided to take the girls to the mountains for a long weekend of waterfalls and mountain fun.

We left on a Thursday morning and went to Dupont Forest to do some hiking and see a few waterfalls.  I am 30 weeks pregnant so we did get some strange looks (I feel like I look closer to 36 weeks) and one lady asked Scott if he was trying to make me go into labor.  The first waterfall was very easy to access and only about 1/4 of a mile hike.  It was very long but not very tall, Emma said it wasn't as big as she thought it would be.

We had packed lunch before leaving home so we ate our lunch on some rocks at this waterfall which was called Hooker Falls.  The girls put their hands in and lots of kids were swimming but it was so cold.  We told them they could swim after we saw the other falls.


The next set of falls was called Triple Falls and was much taller than Hooker Falls.  The hike was about 1/2 a mile but was very steep so I had to take several breaks.  My body was doing ok but my lungs are pretty squished.  The girls really liked this set of falls because there were 3 of them so they each said one was theirs.  Emma had the top one but she didn't think it looked as big as the others, though we kept telling her it was just further away and really not smaller maybe bigger than the others.  We spent some time on the rocks here but one time Emma gave me a scare when she started walking off by herself toward one of the falls.  She got closer than I wanted before I could get her to hear me over the roar of the water.  We had to talk about staying close together (again).

When we got back from seeing the Triple Falls Scott went to the car to get their towels and shoes and the girls and I headed to the first waterfall so they could swim.  Before we got very far though it started to sprinkle and we had seen the dark clouds rolling in but thought we had more time.  The girls did not want to swim in the rain so we decided to go check-in to our hotel and maybe swim in the pool there.

I checked us into the hotel and we took all our bags up.  Emma's first question was where is my bed. I had booked 2 queen beds and not a suite or condo like we normally stay in for the beach.  I guess we have spoiled her and she was not impressed.  Her second question was where is the kitchen?  Then Olivia came up with her things and said where is my room?  Poor girls have to all share one room with mom and dad.  It rained and stormed for several hours after we checked in so the girls watched a movie and Scott and I had a nap.  We then went out for Mexican at a local place and afterwards the girls swam in the pool for over an hour.  They played with some boys that were a few years older who had water guns and so they took out their water guns and challenged them to a fight, it was funny Emma actually started the whole thing.

The Mall

This summer the girls have been asking about going to the mall.  I am really not sure why they want to go to the mall I tried to explain that it is a place to shop.  They don't like to go shopping with me so I am surprised they still want to go.  I think there must be some friends at school that go to the mall.

I asked my mom to join us and we took them today to Carolina Place mall.  We ate lunch in the food court, then we rode down the elevator and up the escalator and just walked around.  We went into a few stores and I bought a scented stick for my car from Yankee candle.  They each picked out a shirt on clearance from The Children's Place for their baby brother but no one asked for anything really for themselves.   I was surprised that they didn't beg us to go in the build-a-bear or Disney store.  They did stop once to look in the window at the build-a-bear but then we just kept going.

They wanted to play in the kid area which is really for smaller kids but I let them play for a while.  After a few hours we told them it was time to go and they were upset they wanted to stay.  I am still not sure I see the appeal of the mall for them but I'm glad they had a good time.

7 Year Update

We have 7 year olds which is very hard to believe and they are getting so big.  Here is an update on them.  All of the girls love swimming and Emma has really progressed this year not using her nose plug and trying to swim with a good form.  They say they want to join a swim team next year (I think the Olympics have helped them see swimming in a fun way).  They all love to do crafts and help cook, Emma especially loves to craft but she is very much a perfectionist so crafting with her is time consuming and frustrating.  Watching Garfield on their ipad has been there new favorite thing to do over the summer.  They get to watch 1-2 episodes a day and they look forward to that very much.  All of them also like playing video games with Scott, they like to do the dance game and Mario Kart.  They also love to play Pickmin but I have noticed that Scott seems to control this game and they just ‘help’ him but they still seem to love playing.  Now here is a little about each girl.

Emma – I really love how much emotion and love Emma brings our family.  She is a very loving sister and daughter and constantly hugging and snuggling with everyone but especially me.  She tells me that she loves me so much she just can’t say how much it is so cute.  We constantly argue over who loves who more.  She showers Scott and I with kisses randomly throughout the day and I just want to bottle it all up and save it forever.  She also loves her little brother and is probably the most excited about him coming.  She kisses my belly and tells him she loves him and she is counting down the days til he is born (still 12 weeks away). Emma likes to do kind acts in secret and so often she will sneak into our room and make our bed or make her and her sisters beds.  She has a lot of joy for life and is excited by the little things, on the flip side though she is also very upset over the little things too.  She would rather play with her sisters than by herself and also likes to sleep with someone at night.  She comes and crawls in bed with us a few times a week in the wee hours of the morning.  We see her starting to enjoy running and she is fast so her confidence is building and she is taking pride in that.  Emma is very slender and she has a small frame so even though she is tall 49.5 inches and in the 75-90% for height she weighs only 47 pounds and is around 25% for weight.  Emma’s speech is also improving.  She has speech twice a week in school and it is really starting to show progress. 

Olivia – Olivia has turned into such a silly fun little girl this past year.  She talks a lot more and has really developed more opinions and personality.  I love how helpful she is and what a sweet heart she has for giving to others.  She is usually the first to volunteer to do a chore and will say ‘sure’ in such a sweet pleasant way it just makes you love her sweet spirit.  Olivia is very driven now and wants to do extra chores to get marbles (for trading in for toys/books) and will work hard for money.  She is so generous though that often she will use her marbles to get toys or books for her sisters for their birthday or just to be nice.  She is athletic and seems to have a natural talent and completive drive for sports.  She also tries really hard at things like piano lessons this summer and she was serious about practicing and while she doesn’t like to all the time she does really work at it.  Olivia is a daddy’s girl and wears her Red Socks or Star Wars shirts anytime he wears his so they can match.  She also loves to play legos and is very good at building sets by herself.  She is very strict about her legos and organizes them into little bags so that all the pieces for the set are together. Olivia is only mildly interested in having a new brother she will sometimes hug my belly and talk to him but not often.  She is afraid he is going to cry and annoy her and wake her up at night.  Olivia is tall and thin but has more a medium frame she is 50 inches tall which puts her close to the 90% and she weighs 57 pounds which is 75-90%. 

Savannah – This little girl is quite the leader and a strong-willed child and though she may seem tough she still loves to snuggle with mommy.  She is an animal lover and will follow Nana’s cats around the house trying to hold and cuddle them.  She is excited about having a baby brother, we visited their old nanny who has a 1 year old and Savannah crawled around after him and would pick him up and carry him back anytime he got too far away so I know she is going to love helping with her brother.  Savannah likes things her way and so she often decides what her and her sisters are all going to play or do.  She is also great at playing by herself though and loves playing pretend with her ponies or barbies. She seems to mature a little faster and so we are already starting to get attitude from her and little sarcastic and mean comments.  She is a very good reader and is finally finding some chapter books that interest her like The Magic Treehouse.  She will often read to her sisters, we catch her reading to Emma at night when they are suppose to be sleeping.  Savannah has a medium frame but is slightly shorter than her sisters, she is 48.5 inches tall which puts her in the 50-75% for height and she weight 54 pounds which also puts her in the 50-75% for weight.

Atlanta Trip 2016

We visited Dot Dot and Paw-Paw Dick (my great aunt and uncle) again this year in Atlanta.  We ended up coming a little later this time.  Usually we come over spring break or late May but this is the first time we've come at the end of June.  The girls were thrilled that there were vegetables to pick this time and enjoyed helping pick lots of things including; corn, potatoes (several types), okra, squash, green beans (2 types), cucumbers, and a lot of blueberries.  And of course they loved riding the tractors with Paw-Paw Dick.

The girls were also invited to their first sleep over.  The 'big' girls, Courtney and Samantha, had invited them over to have a sleep over at their house.  The adults including Nancy went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  It was a really nice meal without having to watch any kids.  We went back to Nancy's for desert with the girls and checked on everyone.  Olivia had said earlier she wasn't going to spend the night but to no one's surprise she didn't want to come back with us.  Dot, Dick, Scott and I played Mexican train when we got back and I actually won which might be a first for me.


On Saturday morning we all slept in a little (some of us a little more than others) and then headed out around 10 to do a little shopping on the way to get the girls.  We stopped at a consignment store and several yard sales.  Each of us bought a few things but nothing too wonderful.  That evening Scott and I prepared dinner.  We fixed my mom's crispy chicken, yeast rolls, aspargus, and corn from the garden.  Dick also fixed some fried okra that was really great.  For dessert we had also used some of the blueberries to make a blueberry buckle which was really yummy.  We celebrated Father's day that evening too and the 2 father's got lots of homemade cards from the girls and some of their favorite snacks.

After dinner the girls caught fireflies for a while then we played the pie face game they had brought, Dot Dot was a good sport and played with us but Dick wasn't excited about the game and the girls shrieks and fits of laughter hurt his ears so he retreated to his room for a while.  We played a few card games with Dot and Dick and the girls afterwards.  Apparently when you reach a certain age you forget how to play go fish and old maid so they needed a little refresher.

On Sunday we went to Sunday School and the girls recited/sang the books of the New Testament for Dot and Dick's class before going to their own class.  We had hamburgers after church and the girls all got to ride on the tractor again to pick some corn to take home.  We came home with lots of good vegetables and blueberries.  The ride home was uneventful and we gave Scott the rest of his Father's Day gifts after we got home.  I hope he had a nice day, we will celebrate with my family next Sunday when my sisters will be able to come.

20 weeks

I finally took a belly picture of me at 20 weeks with Pickles. He moves around some now almost everyday but it is still too faint for the girls to really feel.  I tried to stop taking my nausea medicine but I still need it so I am taking half a dose now which seems to be working.  Otherwise everything seems to be going smoothly.  We have lots to do though before this baby comes so we are keeping busy painting rooms and putting in a hardwood floor for the guest room so we can move everything out of the baby room.

20 Week Picture with 1 baby






















19 Week Picture with 3 babies

Last Day of First Grade

Today was the girl's last day of the First Grade.  They had such a good year this year and really loved their teacher.  They all grew a lot and made new friends.

























Here is a little about each girl.

Emma: Her speech is still holding her up a little in the reading and writing.  When she tries to sound things out it sometimes gets jumbled.  When she writes she will use a 't' instead of a 'd' and she also writes backwards sometimes.  She is going to get some OT next year a few times a month to help her with writing backwards, some of this may be contributed to her having a mixed dominant side, she is left-handed but she is dominant on her right side with other things.  She does really well in math and scored the highest (by 2 points) on her math test at the end of the year.  Also her comprehension of a story and memory is great which helps her keep up even though her writing/reading is a little behind. Emma had several friends throughout the year but they seemed to change from time-to-time, she really likes playing with Aliza and we have had a few playdates with her.  One little boy really annoyed her in the beginning of school but he ended up going to another school later in the year which made Emma happy.

Olivia:  Last year Olivia was not much interested in school work and reading or writing but this year she received some extra help from one of the assistants and it really boosted her confidence.  She has improved so much this year I am so proud of her reading.  She has the best and clearest writing of her sisters and really tries to sound things out so her spelling is improving too.  She continues to excel in math and really likes to learn.  She is consistently asking us to do math games or read with her which we are happy to do.  Olivia made a friend that she hung out with most of the year, his name is Jake B. I don't know why Olivia is drawn to the boys but she picks the really sweet, gentle ones.  I really like Jake B. and it is sweet that they both seem to be very fond of each other.  She said she was going to marry him too.  Guess we better watch out.


Savannah:  This year Savannah really seemed to come out of her shell and excel.  She did great in kindergarten but this year she was challenged a little more and really did well.  Her reading is terrific she is ahead of her grade and can comprehend most books several years ahead of her.  She reads chapter books and though it has taken some time to find the right books that interest her she is starting to read more for fun.  Her writing is a little sloppy and her spelling needs work but she has gotten better in both of those areas.  Her math was a little behind at the beginning of the year but she is now doing well in that too.  She needs very little help with her homework and gets it done pretty fast.  She is a leader in her class and seems to have ideas that everyone wants to follow.  She has several close friends, Jake O. who seems to be her co-leader, Anna, Gabby, and Anath.  She and Jake O. started this whole 'Brickey' thing in the fall when they found a brick and drew a face on it and named it.  The whole class became obsessed with Brickey and made it the class pet.  The other big thing this year was the shopkins club which I think the whole class was part of but again Savannah, Jake O and maybe Anath seemed to be the leaders.

We celebrated the end of the year the same way we did last time.  The girls had remembered our water balloon fight and had asked about it before going to school but we won't say if we would do one or not.  When I drove up with them there was a little bucket on the front porch and Olivia immediately so it and started shouting 'waterballooons' the others saw it and I couldn't convince them that it was anything else, they made record time jumping out of the van.  They grabbed a waterballoon from the bucket and took off to the backyard where they knew their dad would be waiting for yet another end of year waterballoon fight.

Gender Reveal

There is a new trend for expecting moms to do a gender reveal party for friends and family.  We have been to one before and thought it was a fun idea so when we found out we were having a baby I told Scott I definitely wanted to do a gender reveal party.

At the age of 35 most insurance companies pay for the woman to have a blood test to test for things like down syndrome and trisomy 13 and 18 as well as a few other things.  Since I am now 35 I qualified so we opted to do the testing so we could be prepared if there was anything abnormal.  The test also provides you with the sex of the baby.  This allowed us to plan the party a little sooner than waiting on the ultrasound at 18 weeks.

Scott's parents had been in town over Mother's day and we had all gone to the beach.  We convinced them to stay a few extra days so we could do the party the next weekend on 5/14.  We kept it pretty low key inviting our family and just a few friends over for icecream and cake.  We had about 30 people and it was a nice day outside so there was plenty of room for the kids to play and the adults to socialize inside and out.

Scott and I had found out the sex of the baby almost 2 weeks prior to the party via a voicemail with the test results including gender.  We told everyone we didn't know the sex though hoping that way we would be able to keep the secret and no one would read into any of our actions.  It worked and we were the only ones that knew the gender.  Though Scott's mom found out the night before the party that we knew the gender already and she was analyzing our actions.  She was thinking it was a girl because I had gotten down the matching newborn clothing I had kept of the girls.  I had gone through it before knowing what we were having and noticed some things had yellow stains so I was washing it all again.  She had seen it in the laundry and thought it meant we were having a girl.

The night before the party Scott and I filled a huge black balloon with confetti the color of the baby to be. We were excited for everyone else to find out especially the girls.  Olivia has wanted a boy since she found out I was pregnant and Emma has wanted a girl, Savannah flip flips between the two but recently has been pro boy.  We knew that someone would be sad and disappointed and hoped we wouldn't have too many tears.

The party was such fun we had people wear their guess using a blue or pink clothespin and took a picture of who was on the pink team and who was on the blue team.  We also had people give us some baby name ideas for a boy and a girl.  I made some guacamole and we had salsa and chips before serving the ice cream.  After the ice cream it was time to pop the balloon.  So here is the result:

Unfortunately we did have a pretty big crying episode from Emma she was so disappointed and was throwing a little fit saying she hated boys and she didn't want a brother, etc.  She finally had to go to her room to cool off.  Bethany went up to try to cheer her up and she came down later in a much happier mood.

Baby Kicks and Pickles

5/17/2016
Tonight I was sitting on the bed folding laundry and I leaned over to put some back in the basket and I felt a hard swift pain in my stomach.  I immediately thought it was a baby kick but it was harder than I would have expected so I sat up real straight and pulled in my stomach and then I got it again but a little lower.  He kicked me again I guess I was taking his space.  It is nice to know he is healthy and strong in there kicking and moving around.  I am 16 weeks which is just about time to start feeling a few kicks but I know they aren't strong enough for anyone else to feel.

On another note I've been eating a lot of pickles and the girls noticed this a few weeks ago and decided that the baby was making me eat the pickles, which is probably true.  I know it is a very stereotypical craving but hey they are good especially the long dill spears.  The girls decided that since the baby liked pickles they were going to call they baby 'Pickles'.  So for now that seems to be the babies name, it is pretty cute I think.

I am still pretty sick and it doesn't seem to last just in the morning.  I feel pretty bad most of the morning and evening so lunchtime is my best time.  The doctor did give me some medicine that is helping some but I still have a lot of food aversions like meat which is strange because I love meat. I eat a lot of frozen chicken pot pies and fruit.

Baby News - Part II

We had planned on waiting until I was out of my first trimester to tell my extended family that I was pregnant but we also knew we would see them all at Easter and wouldn't have a chance to see them all again until probably July.  This also meant we would need to tell the girls before Easter so we decided to tell them on Saturday night before Easter.  I really wasn't sure how the girls would react to this news.  None of them have ever asked for a baby brother or sister.  Scott recorded it while we told them so we could capture their reaction.  We gave them each an egg with the little cute light-up chicken and a piece of paper.  Emma's paper said, "Mommy has" and Olivia's said, "a baby", and Savannah's said "in her belly".  We had them read their papers but the didn't get it the first time through.  So we told them to do it again, this time Emma was starting to figure it out and she was the first to put it together and she came over and patted my belly and said "does she really?"  I said yes and she said "she really does!".  It was sweet Emma was instantly excited, Olivia was not sure and kept saying things like 'are you sure' and 'are you teasing us' so I don't think she was buying it. Savannah just sat there a little confused and surprised.  After a little bit though they were running around telling their stuffed animals and super excited.

So we decided to tell them with the eggs like we had done for our parents and my friends.  This time we put little chicken peeps in each egg for the kids and then we put a peep and put a slip of paper that said, 'Something is hatching for the Roux family 11.02.2016' in the eggs for the adults.  The girls helped me hand them out.   Some people got the message right away and others didn't open their eggs or figure it out for several minutes.  Most everyone was surprised and happy for us.  Bethany and Jesse were probably the most excited.  Jesse even came up to me and said I've been praying for a baby cousin and Jamie said he really has.  Jesse said he was hoping it was a boy poor guy being the only boy in the family I'm sure he is ready for another boy even if it will be a lot younger.

Baby News - Part I

On Scott's birthday I took a pregnancy test that came back positive, it was pretty faint so I took 2 more over the course of the next week and each time it was a little darker.  I called the doctor after the third positive and scheduled an appointment.  Scott came with me to the first appointment because if they were going to check for multiples he wanted to be there.  I meet with a new doctor and she confirmed my pregnancy result was positive.  She did an exam and scheduled my ultrasound for 2 weeks later.

The question in our minds of course was how many were in there this time.  Later that week I went to dinner with my 2 close friends and told them the news but swore them to secrecy. I had found a cute idea on Pinterest using an Easter egg and chicken which seemed appropriate since Easter was only a few weeks away.  JL said that if I had 4 she would take 1 (very comforting thought).

We had planned on waiting to tell our families until after the ultrasound mainly because we wanted to make sure everything was ok.  I am older now and know the risks are slightly elevated, also it seems that a lot of my friends have had miscarriages and I just wanted to play it safe.

I had second thoughts though on waiting since I thought my mom might want to come to the ultrasound.  So we ended up telling her on Sunday March 20th in case she wanted to come on Tuesday to the ultrasound.  She and my dad were pretty surprised they didn't think they would have any more grandkids.  We had not told the girls yet so we made them keep quiet too.  That night we called Scott's parents and told them via facetime.  They were also pretty surprised but excited.

On Tuesday our ultrasound went well.  On the way there my mom said she was hoping for twins and Scott said he wouldn't mind twins he just didn't want to do 3 again.  I said I really just wanted one I want to know what having one child is like. The same lady that had told us we were pregnant with triplets was there to do the ultrasound.  She recognized us immediately and was so excited to see us again.  I told her not to find more than 1 this time.  She told us that she has been there for 30 years now and we are the only set of triplets that she has ever found.  I gave her a new picture of the girls to hang on the wall since she still had one up from when they were around 18 months old.  When she started looking around Scott and I were very focused on the screen we knew what we were looking for this time!  To my relief there was just one little baby in there.  It had a good heart beat and was measuring right on schedule so we were relieved.