Aedan: 40 Months, Week 1
This was one of those weeks where we knew it was coming, and we were ready for it, but there's a certain sadness that comes as well. It was the last week of summer break before Samantha started back for a new year. It was also Ben's first week of classes for the semester. He obviously still works over the summer, but his schedule is much more flexible, and he takes time to spend with us since he works well over a forty hour work week during the school year. The kids were definitely missing Daddy a lot during that week, and I tried to make the most of our last week together before Samantha was gone from home all day. However, there were still things that needed to be done around the house and other preparations that need to be taken care of before baby Owen's arrival.
On Monday I had my 37 week check-up, and I don't think I talked at all about it in my last post. The check-ups are pretty quick, basically just measuring my tummy, listening to Owen's heartbeat, and asking if I have any questions or concerns. Since this is my third time being pregnant, I don't come in with a list of questions like I did when I was pregnant with Samantha. Dr. Amo said everything looked good, that I was measuring right on target, and that he felt like low 6s weight-wise, but that's obviously just a guess since they can only tell so much by feeling the outside of your stomach. I feel like I'm smaller this time around, and I have definitely gained less weight overall, so maybe he will be a smaller baby. Many people say that I am just sticking out in the front with baby and that it doesn't look like I've gained much elsewhere. Samantha and Aedan were both 8 pounds 14 ounces, so we will see what this little guy turns out to be!
However, at this appointment I did find out that my test for Group B Strep came back positive. I was surprised to hear this news as this hasn't been an issue for my other pregnancies. My doctor said that it's really no big deal, that about 25% of women test positive for this, and that it's just a bacteria that can be growing in your body and doesn't really impact you, but it can impact the baby if they are infected upon delivery. So, because of that, they recommend that moms get IV antibiotics prior to delivery, preferably two doses that are spread at least four hours apart, that way your baby is prevented from being harmed if they are exposed to the bacteria during birth. Even though this is a fairly common thing for women, I spent the rest of the day feeling kind of worried, and not because I'm worried about Owen becoming infected, but more just concerned because testing positive puts more of an impetus on getting to the hospital earlier so that I can get a dose four hours before I deliver. I know that I went to the hospital too early with Samantha and Aedan, which ended up stalling out my labor and progress, leading to getting Pitocin. Since we have someone local that is going to come watch Samantha and Aedan until Ben's parents can make the drive here, I was looking forward to not feeling as much pressure to go to the hospital before I'm ready. The hospital is only five minutes away from our house, so I wanted to make sure I was through the early labor stage and at least entering active labor before going to the hospital. However, I don't know if I can guarantee that that would give me four hours before delivery. It's hard to say how fast that next stage of labor would go, especially since I got Pitocin last time to get things going. I don't want to risk waiting too long to go to the hospital and not getting the IV antibiotics in time, but I also don't want to go to the hospital too early and then have to use interventions I don't want because my labor stalled out. It's such a difficult decision to know when to head to the hospital, and now testing positive for Group B Strep throws another wrench into the plan that I didn't expect.
There was a MOPS playground play date on Tuesday morning, and at first the kids weren't too excited about the idea of going. However, I felt like they needed to get out of the house, to play with other kids, and to run around for awhile. Even though they didn't want to go, they had fun at Project Playground. I got a chance to talk with a couple other moms, and even though they mainly played with each other, Samantha and Aedan had a fun morning together.
That evening was a big deal for Samantha because it was Back to School Night. It was an open house where the kids had a chance to see their classroom and meet their teacher. Samantha was actually more nervous about it then I expected her to be. Last year she was so super excited for kindergarten to start, but this year she is much more apprehensive. I don't know what it is, but if you ask her if she's excited about school starting, she doesn't really say that she is. I think it's mostly just fear of the unexpected. Samantha has a harder time dealing with change than she lets on, and it's hard to read the way she truly feels about things at times. We have been trying to talk about first grade and how much bigger she will feel in comparison to the little kindergartners. She was somewhat reluctant to sit in her seat and have me take her picture, especially since she was busy sitting in the back of the room reading a book to Aedan, but here she is in her seat in her new first grade classroom.
We didn't stay at school for too long, even though both kids could have just sat there and looked at books together for quite awhile. Ben and I briefly talked with Mrs. Gillett and Mrs. Folkersma, and we told them about our work with math over the summer, just as a way to give them a heads up about what Samantha would need before the school year began. Even though Samantha is a little reluctant about school, I think she will warm up to the idea soon, and she will enjoy it once she is there next week.
On Wednesday Samantha and I had an appointment to get our hair cut, but we also decided to take a trip to the library first. Samantha wanted to go one more time so she could check books out, play, and check out a movie to watch at home. We only stayed for about an hour, but it was a good way to spend some time before our appointment. Samantha and I both had appointments at the same time, which worked out well. They have a basket of toys in the waiting area, so Aedan just helped himself to playing with the toys while Samantha and I got our hair cut. She thought it was fun sitting next to each other and getting our hair cut at the same time. She decided to get her hair cut about shoulder length, and now she says that she looks just like her American Girl doll, Kit.
By the time we got back home, the kids were ready to just relax for a little while. My body has become more and more uncomfortable lately, so I was glad for the chance to relax some as well. I let the kids pick something to watch, and they picked Aedan's movie, Finding Nemo. They both got blankets from their room and curled up on the couch together to watch part of the movie. Izzy even joined them for part of the time, and Aedan thought it was wonderful that she chose to snuggle up next to him/on top of him.
By the time we got back home, the kids were ready to just relax for a little while. My body has become more and more uncomfortable lately, so I was glad for the chance to relax some as well. I let the kids pick something to watch, and they picked Aedan's movie, Finding Nemo. They both got blankets from their room and curled up on the couch together to watch part of the movie. Izzy even joined them for part of the time, and Aedan thought it was wonderful that she chose to snuggle up next to him/on top of him.
On Wednesday afternoon/evening we got an awesome chance to babysit for another family's foster child. This little girl is about 9 months old, and the kids love her. We babysat her back in the wintertime over night, and Samantha got so attached to her that she cried when it was time for her to leave. On Wednesday afternoon I woke Aedan up early from his nap so that we could go pick her up from her mom's house, then we came back home and played. Samantha was very excited to bring toys to her to play with, and she loved seeing her crawl around and pull herself up on things. We even spent some time down in Owen's room so that we would have more access to baby toys. As it started getting closer to dinnertime, we brought the baby upstairs and got the high chair set up so I could feed her some baby food for dinner before it was time for dinner for the rest of us. Samantha tried to feed her some baby food, but it's hard to get the spoon in the baby's mouth sometimes because she likes to try to knock it away or grab it herself, so you have to be quick. Ben got home from work while I was feeding the baby and helped get dinner ready. We had a simple meal that evening, and then decided to go over to campus to let the kids ride bikes and push the baby around in the stroller. She was getting tired and we figured a nice stroller ride would give her a chance to take a little nap, but not too long of a nap where she wouldn't be ready for bed that night. When we got back home, we got our kids ready for bed while the baby hung out with us until her foster mom came back to pick her up. It was fun watching her for a few hours. We were glad to help out and glad that we kept up our foster home license so that we can provide respite care in situations like this. It also gave us a little glimpse into what life would be like with three kids. Things will certainly be chaotic for awhile, but Samantha and Aedan will have each other, which will be so nice. Plus, they are both fairly independent now, and Samantha is good with helping her little brother when he needs help. She can even take him to the bathroom if I ever needed her to, so things will be much different than going from one to two kids.
Thursday was a day where we just had to get some grocery shopping done, as well as some laundry and things around the house. Neither kid is thrilled when we have to go grocery shopping, but it will be the last time that I will have to take both kids together. They do okay overall, and after a warning to behave close to the start of our trip, they did much better after that, even helping me find things and the shelves and cross things off our shopping list. However, I was feeling very tired that day. My body was exhausted, my back was sore, and my feet hurt. Sometimes I wondered how I worked up all the way to the end with Samantha. I tried to sit down and relax when I could, but it is definitely more difficult to do that with two kids to take care of, things to get done around the house, and Ben having his first week of class. Things were just busier, and we were all trying to adjust.
Friday was one of those days I wish I could go back and redo. I planned to take the kids to Canada so we could get new blinds for Owen's room at Home Depot, then to stop at Once Upon a Child to get some fall jackets, rain boots, shoes, and pants for Samantha. After those errands, I planned on taking them to the fun playground over there since it was going to be a warm, sunny day. However, our plans drastically changed after purchasing the blinds at Home Depot, finishing our shopping at Once Upon a Child, and then realizing that I did not have my wallet in my purse. At first I thought it had just fallen out in the shopping cart or something, but I looked around in the cart and on the floor, double checked my purse, and realized it was nowhere to be found. And that's when I started freaking out. The kids were probably very concerned as they saw me wandering around the store, searching for my wallet, and getting visually upset. I went out to the car to see if it had fallen out of my purse there, but it was not there either. I didn't know if I lost it somewhere or if somehow someone took it out of my purse. Not only did my wallet have all our means of paying for things, but it also had my driver's license and the kids' new ID cards. We were in Canada, and I had no idea how we were going to get back over the bridge and through customs to go back home. I had no idea how they would let us cross the border with absolutely no identification. The kids and I, as well as several employees and shoppers in Once Upon a Child frantically searched the floor of the store to see if it fell underneath the racks of clothes, but we had no luck. I was very clearly distraught, and I then decided to go back to Home Depot to make sure I didn't leave it in the cart or drop it on my way out of the store. No one had turned anything in, so I left my name and number in case it turned up at any point. There was also a kind lady that saw me at Once Upon a Child and actually followed us to Home Depot because she was concerned about me and wanted to help. She gave me thirty Canadian dollars to use to by lunch and get back over the bridge, and I was ever to grateful for her generosity.
I then took the time to call Ben and fill him in on what had happened. I couldn't stop myself from crying, and I knew that he wouldn't be mad, but I was frustrated and angry with myself for not keeping track of my wallet, for making everything complicated, and for all the work and money I cost us afterwards in having to replace and cancel all the items I had in my wallet. You don't realize how much you keep in your wallet until you lose it. After stopping by Once Upon a Child one more time to check and leave my information with them, we then went to the police station to file a report before stopping at Wendy's for lunch. At this point it was already 1:30, and we were all very hungry. Our plans to go play at the playground were of course ruined by me losing my wallet, so we ate our lunch and went on our way to attempt to cross back over into the U.S.
Ben was extremely helpful, as usual, and ended up coming home from working on campus to help me out. He called and cancelled our credit card and debit card, and even called border patrol to figure out what we could do to get back into the U.S. without any ID. He left copies of the kids' birth certificates and an expired passport for proof of our identity. When we pulled up to the booth, I just had to explain to them that I lost my wallet, but that my husband had left documents for me to use. We went inside the border patrol building, and it didn't take too long for them to verify our identify and let us get on our way. With it being the middle of the afternoon, and having a long day, the kids were tired and starting to lose their patience with waiting, but I was just glad that we were able to get back home with relative ease. It had been a long, emotional day for this pregnant lady, and I was ready to be back home.
Late Friday evening we had some visitors arrive at our house for the weekend: Upland Ema and Papa. They decided to make a special trip up just to see us and the kids one more time before baby Owen arrives. They wanted to give Samantha and Aedan lots of special attention, especially because the kids have really missed them lately. We saw them a lot around our vacation time in June and early July, but we hadn't seen them at all since then.
The kids were super excited to see them on Saturday morning when they woke up. Ben will often comment that we are no longer needed when Ema and Papa are around. The kids only want their attention and only want them to play with. We had pancakes for breakfast and then the kids played outside in the back yard with Ema and Papa, showing off their new play set and all the places they look to collect bugs.
After a little while we decided to go over on a walk to campus, with the kids riding their bikes. Samantha wanted to show off how well she can ride a bike without training wheels. It was fun to just have a relaxing morning outside. The air is starting to turn rather crisp in the U.P. Fall is settling in, which means winter is not far behind it, so we will enjoy our chances to be outside while we can.
Later that afternoon, while Aedan was napping, Ema and Papa decided to take Samantha to Walmart to pick out a new bike as a way of "buying" her old bike from her to keep at their house when kids come to visit. Now that she can ride her bike without training wheels all by herself, she was definitely way to big for her other bike. Her legs couldn't even stretch out all the way when she pedaled. We were going to just wait until her birthday to get her a new bike, since our time of riding bikes is coming to an end soon anyways, but we didn't want to pass up on the offer from Ema and Papa. Samantha was excited to pick out her bike, and she was apparently pretty sold on this one from the very beginning. :) It is a very pretty bike, and she was proud to show it off.
Jenny\
Later that evening, once Aedan was up from his nap, the kids had more fun playing outside with Ema and Papa. They are always up for playing games and being silly, and Samantha and Aedan love playing with them. It was great to hear their squeals of joy and laughter outside as they ran back and forth in the driveway. It was so nice of them to take the time to drive all the way up here to spend time with us. It was a great way to spend our last weekend of summer.
Jenny
On Sunday we all got to go to church together, and Ema and Papa stuck around through mid-afternoon so they could have more time with us, but still get back home at a decent time. The Mackinac Bridge was going to be closed from 6:30-noon on Labor Day, so they couldn't wait until the next day to head out. Samantha got some extra play time outside with them, as well as special one-on-one time with them in her room. In fact, that morning after church Aedan was playing in his room with Ema and Samantha was playing in her room with Papa. Like Ben said, when Ema and Papa are around, we are no longer needed. Before they left, Ben's mom even helped me get my new sewing machine set up so that it's ready for me to use this coming week to make the curtains for Owen's room. It is always good to have them visit, and the kids will have a great time with them when they come back to help us out after Owen is born.
Here are some funny pictures Ben took that night as we were getting ready for bed. Samantha will never turn down making a funny face for the camera.
Monday, September 4 was Labor Day, and it was nice to have a long weekend to spend together. Ben stayed home with us, which was great for we all love having Daddy around, and we decided to go have some last day of summer fun together. We got special documentation ready for me and called ahead to be sure I would be able to cross over and back with no problem. I went to get a new license on Friday, the same day I lost my wallet, but it won't come in the mail for a few weeks. They made it seem like it wouldn't be a big deal for me to cross over, so we decided to take a family trip to Canada to go swimming at the community center. We had a good time swimming for almost two hours, the kids always have a blast, and the warm water felt good on my sore (very pregnant) body.
We got some McDonald's for the kids and Jimmy John's for the adults for a quick, late lunch, and then tucked Aedan in to bed for at least a little bit of an afternoon nap. I then showered and got ready for my Mommy/Daughter with Samantha. I made us an appointment to get our nails done, and she was super excited. I had never taken her to an actual nail salon before. She picked out too different sparkly colors for her fingernails and toenails. They were pretty busy, so we had to wait for a little while, which wasn't Samantha's favorite, but I remembered to get a picture of my little girl and me while we waited.
Here's our silly boy posing on a rock on campus.
That evening we did our best to get the kids bathed and ready for bed at a decent time so that Samantha could have a good night's sleep before her first day of first grade. As with tradition, here is Samantha reading the letter from Ema and Papa before her first day of school, only this year she could read the whole letter all by herself. We are so proud of our little first grader.
(Blog about August 29-September 4, 2017)
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