A fair princess and our castle

Life has been especially crazy.  We are finishing finals week and our house construction has started.  Construction has not changed our lives too much, other than the fact that we no longer have a full fence, so we have to walk the dogs every time they need to go out.  We have been squeezing in fun and celebration as well.  Today was a mini-shower/celebration lunch with the UHCL psychology faculty.  It was also the first grade mother's day concert.

First, the construction update.  This huge dumpster is now full in our driveway.

This is the before picture, notice the nice two level deck, the trees and the brick...

Because those are all gone now.   Well, some of the bricks are still there, but they should be gone early next week.  The foundation should be poured next week once the ground is leveled.

Next some random fun.  Zoey and I went to a splash park, but our friends cancelled and she was not a huge fan by herself in the end, so we left quickly.  We will go back when it is warmer and Sam or other friends can join for sure. 

And a pregnancy update.  I am 37 weeks today. 

I had an ultrasound at almost 33 weeks and she was still breech, which would have possibly forced a C-section.  My doctor was willing to send me for an external cephalic version if she did not turn, but luckily the home remedies worked and she turned head down.

Here is the confirmation of head down ultrasound at 35 weeks.  Zoey turned a bit late too, so I was not too worried, but they did say my fluid levels were within range, but a bit high so she could flip back.  It was suggested I cut sugar, carbs, and even high sugar fruits to lower the fluid levels.  Boo!  I was also diagnosed as a group B strep carrier.  The main issue with this diagnosis is that I need antibiotics at least 4 hours before birth to transfer, which means I have to go to the hospital if my (her?) water breaks or if contractions are 5 minutes apart, which means I cannot labor at home as long as I want.  And my labors have had some twists.  With Sam, my contractions started 2 minutes apart and it was 13 hours later that she was finally born.  That was with an epidural and her trying to come out with her elbow by her head.  With Zoey, my water did not break, but I went in thinking I was going kind of early and was 8.5 cm when I got there and she was born about 2.5 hours later.  She was high risk and needed to be monitored for the dual vessel cord.  My OB was on C-section duty and sped me up by breaking water and forcing me to push before I was fully effaced, but I really wanted him to deliver because of the high risk.  So, all that is to say it may be hard to get in when they want without going in super early and that makes interventions more likely.  But once my current OB is back in town, I may be able to work out a solution to allow me to labor at home long enough to have the natural birth I want.

Here I am at 36 weeks.  I feel huge, but a lot of people say I do not seem as far along as I am. 

And it is hard to tell much with the different shots, but here I am at 36 weeks with Sam, Zoey and Fiona. 

Yep, I let her name slip.  She will be named Fiona, which is an Irish/Scottish name meaning fair, which she should be in all versions of meaning of that word.  We will also call her Fi, Fifi, and Fin(n) I am sure.  Fin fits as well because it is end in French and she shall be our last :)

Only time will tell if she will come early or late.  Sam was 1 day early and Zoey was 3 days late.  Maybe she shall come on her due date.  I still have some grading, so it would be good if she waits at least a week or so.

Easter, WITS, and a lost tooth

The night before Easter, Sam had a super loose tooth.  Although she recently moved passed the event being truly magical, she wanted it to happen on the same night as Easter.  So she was very brave and let Nick pull it out.  He had a hard time grabbing the tiny tooth, but finally there was success.  And since it was her first, she got $5.

Zoey has spanish at school and we had to send in empty eggs to make Cascaron.  She was so excited about breaking them.  She picked Nick and Sam to be covered with confetti.

For Easter itself, we went over to a friends' house.  Martin was Nick's roommate senior year and we love hanging out with him and his family.  Sarah made a huge feast and the kids played really well.  There was even some swimming.  What an enjoyable, relaxing day.


We tried to get a picture of the 4 kids.

Sarah put on a great egg hunt.

Nick played a little basketball.

There were more confetti eggs.  We tried to get a picture of all the kids jumping, but it never worked.  Sam, Seb, and sometimes Luciana would jump on time.

And then Zoey would follow.

We told them to throw it up in the air.

I bought a small trampoline off a mom site.  The girls have really enjoyed it.

Sam was selected as one of very few kids at her school to read her writing at a special event.  Her school takes part in a program called Writers in the School (WITS) in which writers come in to inspire and guide the kids in writing.  We are so proud of our creative girl.

Her poem is entitled Ballerinas.

 I could not get a good angle of her reading.

Nick filmed it but the lady in front of us kept getting in the way.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring.  We are staying super busy.  The semester ends soon, so there is a pile of work related to that.  And we are working to get our house ready for the renovations, which may start next week.  And of course, I am now under 5 weeks until my due date.  Yikes!  At times I think we are crazy to take on all this, but if we make it through 2014 and 2015, we will be strong people indeed.

Happy Easter!

The last couple of weeks have been packed!  Nick has had a lot of work things and I have had a few extra meetings.  I also took over an extra class for someone who had to have surgery, so now our Wednesdays involve kid swapping and timing classes to both teach on the same day.  I also had an interview at University of Houston Downtown.  I am not sure if it is the best fit, but am waiting to see if I get the offer and we will decide from there.

We have also had some fun stuff too.  Today we went out to a quick breakfast, did a kids workshop at Home Depot and went to a bunny picture event.  

Last weekend we had a sibling class and tour of the hospital.  We also had a neighborhood egg hunt and crawfish boil.  The girls helped hide eggs for the little ones.

Zoey was in the middle age group.

Sam was with the older ones.

Sam took a turn at the pinata.

We also did some photos on campus last weekend.  There were some pretty flowers Zoey wanted a picture in front of.

It was so hard to get both looking at me with a nice expression.

This is one of my favorites.

Sam likes to pose like a model.

This one is SO Zoey.

We hope everyone has a great Easter!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sam recently competed in a piano competition.  She was just judged versus doing her best.  She worked so hard!  She played 2 solos that she had to memorize and got a 5 on those.  She also played 2 hymns, for which she had the music.  On those she got a 5+ the highest score possible.  The competition works that if she gets a 5 for 3 years, she gets a gold cup.  Not sure if she will stick with piano that long, but her teacher says she is really good for her age and if she continues will be amazing.  She got great feedback from her judges too.

One thing about Texas is that they have a LOT of state pride.  There is a Texan day.  Zoey's school had several rodeo related events, include a song performance with buckles, hats and bolos.

It is our Spring Break.  We have a lot of work to catch up on and lots of house related stuff, but we are squeezing in some fun.  We went to San Jacinto monument.  It is the tallest monument in the country, even taller than the Washington Monument.  It was neat to see, but not worth the price to go up in the elevator for the mediocre view.

The girls on the steps.

The view of our next stop, the USS Texas.

The ship tour was neat.  We had a great guide and really enjoyed it.

We are in the final stages of planning an addition to our house.  The engineer came today to check measurements and that will finalize the designs.  It should go for permitting this week and then get approval in about 3 weeks.  HOA will be overlapping.  We are super excited to get it started, but it will be crazy because the estimate is 8 weeks, which will be right around my due date.  We will spend a lot of time at my parents, but have not figured all that out yet.  One part of the prep was moving a tree.  Nick worked so hard to get it moved, hopefully it will survive.  We originally thought we would move two, but decided one was enough.

We went to a playdate at a park in downtown Houston.  It was on a recent top 10 list.  The girls had a blast.

I love Saint Patrick's day.  This year is my first one being pregnant, luckily a friend loaned me a green shirt recently.  Corned beef is in the slow cooker and we are going to a playdate to make St. Patty's art and eat green stuff this afternoon!  I am getting bigger.  I will be at 30 weeks on Friday.

It was hard to convince Zoey to wear any green, but she did and is now on her second green outfit because she spilled bubbles all over this dress.

Have a great St. Patty's!  Enjoy a beer for me!  

Here's to a long life and a merry one

A quick death and an easy one

A pretty girl and an honest one

A cold beer and another one!

Slainte!

And a joke:

Why should you never iron a 4 leaf clover?

You don't want to press your luck.