Hospital Tour

I am so proud to say that the hospital passed the State Inspection on the 23rd. That meant a very relaxed Christmas at our house. Saturday, we had the privilege of touring the hospital that has taken so much of Eric's time. With all of us running around, it seemed like the hospital was already open. It is a psychiatric hospital. :) I might be visiting again sometime soon! It is beautiful and i am always excited to say that my husband had a hand in getting it built. In this case..... a large hand. The kids loved it and Jack even broke in a potty. Honestly, it was slightly creepy with all the cameras, seclusion rooms and all the anti-suicide equipment. Enjoy the pictures.

Christmas in Raleigh

Finally! I am slowly but surely getting around to everything. Eric went back to work today so i have been going non stop trying to get the kids rooms organized and everything back to where it migrated from. I just keep telling myself that i only have a few more rooms to go. :) By the time i finish i have to start again. HA! I love it. Now that the kids are in bed and i have a moment i can sit and share our Christmas with you. Dad, Mom and Wes got here Christmas Eve around 2. Wes had me thinking i had a few more hours before they arrived so they walked into a dirty house as i sat on the computer blogging. Oops. The kids were thrilled. It was a surprise for them. We enjoyed the rest of the day outside and hanging out. Before i knew it the day was over and we sat out Santa's milk and cookies ( and some carrots for the reindeer) then the kids headed to bed. We got everything ready for Christmas morning and got in the bed ourselves. I woke up at about 6:45 sandwiched between Jack and John. I'm not sure how that happened but i had to get up. I thought i could get out without waking the boys and get breakfast going so it would be ready. HA! Jack was up as soon as i walked out of the bedroom. He got everyone else out of bed and down they came to see if Santa had come. They played in their stockings (mostly the stocking that Uncle Wes brought. It was full of really cool toys) and with the gifts Santa left while we got breakfast together. Then we passed out the presents and everyone went wild. John was more interested in opening other's gifts. :) The day was a blast cleaning up boxes and paper and playing with all our new toys. Then it was off to the movies. We spent Friday and Saturday around town. To the malls, returning, exchanging and just visiting. Mom and I got a lot of time to just hang out which was really nice since it doesn't happen very often. Eric got to catch up on his rest and the kids had a blast with everyone. Sunday, Dad, Mom and Wes headed home and the rest of us tried to get back to the norm. It was such a beautiful day. We spent all afternoon down at our neighbors while the kids played with their bikes and scooters. The girls and i left the guys and kids to check out the sale at Old Navy. After the long weekend and afternoon with friends the kids were exhausted. Needless to say, it was a wonderful Christmas.

Full Moon

I am slowly but surely getting to the Christmas recap but this was too good not to post. Friday, we headed to the mall to get out of the house. We finally found a table by the window and sat to eat. Jack sat next to the window. I thought it was because he liked watching the people sitting at the tables right outside. As we were finishing our lunch i hear Wes ask JAck if he is scratching his butt. Then i hear Wes (through a lot of laughter) tell him to pull his pants up. Yes, Jack had somehow gotten his pants down past his hiney and was MOONING the other mall goers outside. It was totally an accident that his pants made it down that far. Wes, Dad and Eric could not stop laughing. I had the hardest time trying to get them to stop. I have to admit i had a hard time not laughing myself. I am not sure how the people eating outside felt about it. I just hope that Jack doesn't think that it was so funny he should do it again.

Sheet Snob

Sheet snob: (noun) a person who turns their nose up at uncomfortable or cheap sheets. That is a loose definition, of course. Ella is apparently a sheet snob. I can't say i blame her. Eric and i are turning into sheet snobs ourselves. Until the other night i never knew we fell into that category. I also didn't expect a lady to call Ella a sheet snob at the age of four. :) For the last few months Ella has consistently asked to come and get in our bed because "our sheets were comfortable and hers were bad. They keep her cold." Eric and i decided she needed new bedding anyway so she picked out a set and put it on her Christmas list. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa all the kids got new Pottery Barn sheets! Ella was speechless. I have never seen a girl so happy to open sheets on Christmas! We got them put on and she is now sleeping in between her sheets instead of on top of them. They were so comfortable she had to get up in the middle of the night and tell her Uncle Wes just how comfortable her sheets were. I am not sure he appreciated having to wake up to hear it. I love my little sheet snob. :)

Movie time

Christmas tradition. We all have them and they are all different. Eric has to leave out green sugar cookies for Santa and have pigs in a blanket for breakfast Christmas morning. I didn't have any of that. We always just went to the movies Christmas night. That is a little hard to incorporate into our family right now because they are all very young. So now we are trying to get our own family traditions going. We are giving the kids an ornament each year to open and hang on Christmas eve before they go to bed and along with the pigs in a blanket we have sticky buns/monkey bread for breakfast. At some point i would really like to take the kids to the movies as a family. Last night was the night! My Dad, Mom , and Wes were here and so the adults once again outnumbered the kids so it seemed like the right time to go. Ella and Jack have been before but i was concerned about John. He was so tired and sometimes that can lead to increased anciness. We get in and get seated for our first family movie, Bedtime Stories. I never heard any of the kids. Well..unless it was asking for another twizzler, more popcorn or drink. Dad and Wes had John and they had a system worked out. John was laid back on Wes and when John wanted another piece of candy he would throw his hand over and tap Dad on the arm and Dad would place the candy in his hand. Apparently there were times when Dad wasn't so attentive and quick to respond to John's request and John would have to throw his foot over on Dad's leg and give him a tap. :) There is no telling how much candy the kids had! The movie was good and it was a wonderful time and a nice reminder of one of the things I used to do with my family on Christmas.

Merry Christmas

I had my 29 week check up yesterday. Belly is right on schedule and Baby's heart rate was in the 140s. My blood work from the diabetes test came back good. I also found out all the other tests they ran were good too. Nice to know i haven't contracted any STDs during this pregnancy. WHAT??? Really???? Does that happen? According to the nurses i would be surprised. I don't doubt it. On to other news, Eric passed the state inspection!!! He is home and sleeping a lot. He has been working so hard the whole 10 months we have been on this job and i think there was a lot of doubt about them finishing on time but they did. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he put into the hospital but we are all glad it is over. The kids are really excited about having their daddy home and Ella is super stoked about getting to love on him all day. Everyone here is ready for Christmas. The kids are really excited. It should be a fun year since Ella and Jack are fully aware of the presents, Santa and of course Jesus' Birthday. Santa brings all the presents and we have cake for Jesus' Birthday. It is a win win situation for them. Jack still doesn't understand the wrapping and the surprise part of the presents. He likes to tell everyone what surprise we got them and they have to wait until Christmas to open it. Nice. :) Jack is also potty trained now. I guess he got it. He hasn't had an accident at all the last week or so. I am so proud! Merry Christmas to you all and i will post pictures of our Christmas soon.

Movin' on up

Most of our new furniture arrived last week and it was just in time. Kim would be in John's/guest room so now that John is in a regular bed , where would he sleep? He and Jack shared their room for the first night. It was adorable and they did just fine. They have really adjusted well and now when you tell John to go get in his bed he goes in Jack's room and gets into his big bed. :) He loves it. Last night John had a hard time getting to sleep and that kept Jack up but Eric went in to see them and all was well. I guess it is official then...John moved in with Jack.

The headboard, footboard and trundles are coming after Christmas

Speaking of loving the new beds, Eric has fallin' head over heals for his new recliner. He sleeps in it every chance he gets. I am so glad he finally found one.

In other news, Jack had taken a big leap in his potty training. He now takes himself to the potty when he need to go. I don't have to tell him to go and do it anymore. He was still going #2 in his pants but i haven't had to change a dirty pull-up on him for over a week now. He is still waking up wet but only a wet accident every few days. Yeah! He is getting so big. We will keep working with him and soon i will have two down, two to go! Speaking of #4, i am 28 weeks and now moving into my third trimester. Only 12 weeks to go. Not likely we will make it that long but you can never tell. Hopefully there will be a job for us to go to and we can get settled before the baby gets here.Now that i have blogged my limit for the week i am going to get some more work done. Hard to believe that Christmas is next week!

Tacky Neighbors

Like i said in my last post we had two parties to attend on Saturday. Gavin, our neighbor across the street, turned 3. The kids had a blast. Jack and Ella were the last two standing in the game of hot potato. Neither was quite sure but one ended up with a prize and the other with the potato so they both thought they won. :) Saturday night another neighbor was having a "Tacky Christmas" party. I was so excited but so exhausted i didn't think we would make it. After receiving a pep call from the party we went down about 10:30ish. I felt so old thinking i should have been going to bed instead going to a party. I had to tell myself how young i still am. We got there and tacky was the word. Some of the most amusing sweater vests adorned with appliques, beads, embroidery and sequins. Crushed velvet shoes and reindeer slippers (that had flashing lights), Stripped socks with flashing lights (worn by Lynette with the flashing shoes), elf aprons and really "christmasy" earrings. After lots of good conversation they broke out the game of mad gab. It was so fun. Girls won, it wasn't even close. Finally all of Conrad and Stefanie's co-workers cleared out and it was just the neighbors. A little after 2 Eric and i headed home. He had to be at work at 6:30. Even though we were so tired i am so glad we went. It is really hard to find neighbors like these.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Kim FINALLY arrived Wednesday night and we never slowed down. I finished most of my shopping and that was a big accomplishment. The only accomplishment larger than that was they all got wrapped (thanks mostly to Kim and her skills). :) Thursday we spent all day shopping and then headed to girls night at Stef's. The malls weren't too busy. Friday, we were at gymnastics all day and then home for naps. Friday night Kim kept the kids so Eric and I could go to dinner then to do the kids shopping at Toys R Us. It is amazing how many people were shopping at 10 and 11 o'clock at night! Another task off my list. We got home and wrapped until 1. Luckily my little wrapper was still up and it was a good thing since Eric's wrapping is not up to par. :) Saturday was another full day. Cleaning, errands, and then two party's. We had a birthday party at 3 and we left there to get ready to go see Santa. Eric is able to go with us and after the long anticipated wait the kids got to see Santa. Ella and Jack had a lot to say and John just looked at him. It was overall a great visit. No screaming (except in excitement, she thinks Santa is a rock star), no crying, not even a whimper. Off to pick up a few more things and then home. 9 o'clock was way later than i wanted to get home since we still had another party to attend. Kids in bed and after Eric had some technically difficulties with his computer we were out the door about 10:30ish. More on this party later. Sunday, we are up and getting ready to take Kim back to the airport. After much begging and pleading she still left. It was a wonderful and, as always, a very productive visit. I think everyone is exhausted. Eric is in the last week of the job. Final inspection is on Monday the 22nd so keep him in your prayers.

Baby Update

I had a doctor appointment today. I am 27 weeks and coming along fine. They did the diabetes test this morning and i am sure the results will be fine. The heart rate was in the 150s and sounded really good. This was the first appointment Eric hasn't gone to or kept the kids so i could go. Weird since he only went to two appointments with the other three. The two ultrasounds! It has been nice having him with me but the job is coming to an end so the kids and i flew solo today. They watched them draw my blood. I told them they were checking how much sugar was in my blood so they could tell how sweet i was. :) When they finished Jack asked where the baby was. HA!I guess he was expecting more than blood to come out of my arm. I wish it were that easy. My iron was low but not by much so i will be eating more broccoli and peanut butter. We have narrowed our lists of names. The poll clearly shows what i already knew. That Benjamin Fraser is the most awesome name. :) Eric doesn't like it. His favorite is James Eli and i don't like it so i guess we are even. We have narrowed down the lists. Mine is Benjamin, Fraser, and Joe. Eric's is James, Eli, and Jed. You can bet it will be a combination of one name from my list and one from Eric's. We will all have to wait and see when he gets here. We are getting most of the boy's furniture and Eric's chair in the morning and Kim flys in after lunch. I look forward to finishing the Christmas stuff. Busy day tomorrow so i will update again soon.

Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The kids and i had the best time making this! I know i sent it to most of your e-mails but we still love to watch it. :) Yes, my babies can get down. HA.

Early Christmas

I haven't written in a while. What was i thinking? Things have been really busy here. I guess it is that way for everyone right now. Eric is working long hours now but only two more weeks. I think that sounds great but he thinks he is going to die. Luckily, Kim is flying in this Wednesday and she will help me get everything wrapped up for Christmas so when the job is over Eric can just crash. We went and purchased some early Christmas yesterday. We met Eric at the furniture store at about 5:30 and got the boy bedroom furniture and then Eric finally got his leather recliner. He totally deserves it. I love it just as much. Here are our Christmas purchases:

Eric's Chair. I can't wait to curl up in it.

2 nightstands, dresser with mirror, two trundle beds and i think 3 mattresses later we are set. I hope.

Some of the order will be delivered Wednesday and some will be delivered after Christmas but it will be nice to have that out of the way. John seems more excited about sleeping in Jack's room than Jack does. Jack thinks Ella would be a better room mate. Ha. I still have to get all the outside lights up. I am moving as fast as i can considering all the kids here. :) Can't wait until Eric is home to spend some time with us. I have a doctor appointment in the morning and will keep you posted.