Abbie at 7 years old

 

My sweet Abbie,

 

I can’t believe you are already 7 years old.  I think in my mind you might be 6 forever.  But you are growing up way too quickly and it’s exciting and sad all at the same time.  It truly seems like just yesterday daddy and I were in the hospital having you, and not having a clue how to be parents or what to expect when you were born.  I’m still not 100% sure we know how to be parents, but you are teaching us along the way, that’s for sure.

 

Of all 3 of our kiddos right now, you are definitely our challenging one, but probably also the most rewarding at times too.  You have SUCH a strong personality and it’s hard to keep up with you at times.  You have a very distinct way you want things most of the time and if things don’t go your way, watch out!  We are still working on getting you to let go of the control you ALWAYS have to have and to not flip out when things (mainly Ben) don’t go your way.  You like to be in charge at all times and when Ben decides he doesn’t want to go along with your games anymore, all hell breaks loose.  We’re hoping you never lose your leadership skills and are always feisty like you are now, just maybe in different circumstances.

You are our most creative kiddo too.  Your imagination never ends and we love that.  I think you’ve pretty much taught Ben how to be creative and use his imagination as well, and there is always a story line brewing in your head.  You are also my huge helper.  I’ve given you a lot of responsibility as far as helping around the house and with your brothers, and you seem to thrive on it.  You love to help and you love to get your lists of things to do completed so you can watch a show.  You are incredibly independent and a very eager learner, which is a great combination.  You LOVE to help with Jamison and you are such a good big sister to him.  He pretty much follows you anywhere and watches you all the time.  You are always giving him hugs and kisses and telling him how cute he is.  You say multiple times a day “He makes me grit my teeth because he’s just so darn cute!”.  =) I am so excited to see how you are with your little sister too.  You talk about her all the time and frequently draw pictures of you and her together.  You also ask LOTS of questions about how she’s going to get here – what I’m going to wear when I have her, what they do with her afterwards, when you’ll get to see her, how long you do skin to skin after birth, etc.   I’m not sure who’s more excited about her arrival – daddy and me or you!

 

 

You love school, thank God.  You are eager to go every day and you love your teacher Ms. Wilson (2nd grade) and you talk about your friends all the time.  You are our social butterfly and you love to be surrounded by friends.  You are reading very well now and you love to do math and I would guess you are probably at the top of your class in both since we worked so much over the summer with you on both.  You’re in size 7-8 clothes now and you’re wearing size 2 shoes, and you are rough on all your clothes.  You play pretty hard, which is good, but kind of expensive.  You weigh around 50lbs and you’re about 51” tall.  Our tall, skinny girl.

 

You challenge me on a daily basis and you make me really reflect on who I am and who I want to become.  You have taught me more about life than anyone else, even though you are currently completely unaware of that fact.  I love you fiercely and I’m so glad that you are mine.  You’ll always be my little pippers.

 

Love,

Your mama

9 weeks in to pregnancy #4

Last Friday I had my first appointment for this pregnancy.  It was a little weird not having anything until I was almost 9 weeks, but that's how it worked out this time.  I am trying my best to just enjoy this pregnancy (since it will most likely be my last) and not let worry take over.  I've had a good "vibe" about it since I found out and I haven't been too hesitant to tell friends and family members like I was last time.

Overall, I feel pretty good.  I am tired, like I usually am in the first trimester, and I could easily sleep 20 hours a day, but other than that, I feel good.  Sometimes I don't feel great between 4-6pm, but I think it's because I get hungry.  If I eat a snack I'm usually much better, but 4-6pm is the witching hour here where I'm trying to fix dinner, the kids are going nuts, the dogs are hungry and it's just chaos.  So let's add another one to the mix.  Why not?

My new OB, Dr Klis, seems pretty nice.  The OB practice is HUGE.  There are 14 OB's there and a ton of other NP's.  It was interesting going to a place that big since all the other places I've been to are pretty small.  It has a cafe and gift shop in the waiting area its that big.  Crazy.  I had a whole list of questions for him and he answered them pretty well, although some of his answers surprised me, like I can have ibuprofen from weeks 12-32..  That was news to me, since I haven't taken it in any of my other pregnancies.  I REALLY wanted an ultrasound this time, just for peace of mind that the baby was alive and there was only one.  Dr Klis ordered one, which was great, but the place couldn't fit me in.  Luckily a lady at the front talked to the manager of the whole place and she walked me down there really quick so they could do a quick abdominal u/s.  We saw the little bean and the heart rate was 165, so I was excited about that.  It took about 3 minutes and they kept saying this isn't "official" which was fine with me.  I get a "real" u/s in 3 weeks before my next appt with the OB.

I am already showing, which is great...  I guess 4 babies will do that to you.  Ever since I found out I was pregnant I've been 4lbs heavier but I'm still in a normal BMI range so I guess that's okay.  This is my first "AMA" pregnancy (advanced maternal age) since I'm over 35, so I get special treatment because of that I guess.  I can't sleep through the night now without getting up to pee, so that's fun too...

Nine weeks down, 30ish to go!

Jamison at 1 year!!

Happy birthday, little monker!  It’s amazing how fast this past year has gone by, and you are still charging full steam ahead.

We had a pretty low key celebration for your birthday.  Just the 5 of us, 8 if you count the dogs.  We gave you your first cupcake and you weren’t too sure about it.  And then you gagged a whole lot, which made Abbie go in to hysterics.  I think it was the frosting that was making you gag.  You didn’t like the texture of it too much.  But you did like the cake part of it.  Once you found that, you liked it a bit more.

You are such a good natured little dude.  If you are crabby, I can usually just hold you and snuggle with you and your are content to sit in my lap for a while.  You LOVE playing with the big kids and if they are laying on the floor, you crawl all over them.  You love it when your daddy chases you or plays “sneak around the island and surprise you”.  You get a real kick out of that.  If I smile at you from across the room, you get a big cheesy grin on your face that just melts my heart.  Daddy and I always talk about what a good little monker you are.

You are still a great little eater.  You eat pretty much anything and you’re getting good at pointing at what you want.  (You started pointing a few days after you turned a year old.)  Sometimes you point to your mouth if you want a drink, but you definitely scream and point to our food if you want some of it (which is usually).  You’re still sleeping from around 8pm to 7:30am and you usually take one nap for 2-3 hours around noon.  That would probably be different if we didn’t have to work around picking the other kids up from school, but you seem to do pretty well with it.

 

You are cruising everywhere now.  You wave bye-bye.  You usually point with both of your pointer fingers, although typically only one is pointing in the right direction.  You still love the dogs.  You love to be outside.  You will hold things in your mouth if you want to take them somewhere so you can crawl with both arms.  We got you two shots at your 12 month appointment, instead of the 5 they wanted you to get.. I’ll take you back around 15 months to get the other ones.  Your head circumference was 47cm (69%), you were 24lbs 3.5oz (71%) and you’re 31 1/4” tall (90%).  You are our biggest baby so far and your fat hammies are adorable.  Daddy and I squeeze them constantly.

You have the absolute best belly laugh and it is so easy to make you laugh.  You are a very joyful baby and I love it when you get your big cheesy grins and I can see all 8 of your front toofers.  You are like a little monkey that hangs on when we get you out of your car seat or high chair.

 

I love watching you with your curiosity of everything.  When you feel something new, it intrigues you and you are typically not afraid of it at all.  Sometimes some things gross you out a little bit and you get a funny look on your face, but more often than not, you really grab on to things and inspect them carefully.  Below you got ahold of the Cheerios and you threw them ALL over the kitchen, but you were having the best time.  You were absolutely squealing with delight when they were flying all over the place and it made me laugh.  I love seeing you have such a good time.  You pound on things and beat things together and some times you study things from a distance and then you crawl right up and get in the middle of whatever it is.  You are pretty bold and brave, and we love that about you too.

You definitely love anything that rolls.  Cars, trucks, wagons, balls.  They keep you busy for hours.  You’ve made the car noises for a good few months now, which is adorable and I have no idea who taught you that.  You’re still in 12-18 month clothes, although I could probably already move you up, and you’re in size 4 diaper.  You drink about 4 bottles a day and you don’t use your paci all that much anymore.  We could easily get rid of it, I think, but I’ll let you have it a while longer.  You’re still pretty little.

So this month, my worst parenting moment ever happened with you.  I was in Hobby Lobby’s parking lot and it was raining and I was trying to put you on my back in the Ergo.  I still don’t know exactly what happened, but I dropped you.  Right there in the parking lot in a big puddle.  I still feel terrible and I had nightmares about it for weeks.  You didn’t hit your head because I kind of caught you with my foot behind me and broke your fall.  No bumps or bruises everywhere.  You screamed and hung on to me so tightly when I picked you up that I could have let go of you and you would have hung there.  By the time I got in the store, you were done crying and back to your smiling self, but I was shaking so badly I couldn’t even get my phone out to call Mark.  I checked your pupils many times to make sure they were reactive and you didn’t have a concussion of any sort, and I shook and felt like I was going to throw up the entire hour we were in the store, but you were happy and smiling and your normal self.  I didn’t sleep well for at least 3 nights after it happened and you didn’t sleep well one of the nights, but I think that was due to teething and not to being dropped.  I felt/feel so bad.  You love being worn and I’ve put you and the other babies on my back 100 times before with no issues, but this time was different.  Thank God you’re okay and you won’t remember it.  I, however, will never forget it.

Happy first birthday, little monker.  We love you so much and you are the perfect addition to our family with your sweet personality and your big brown eyes.  I just can’t get enough of you most days!