Yarn Dolls

Sami wanted to take part in the Boutique this last weekend.  She made yarn dolls.  I thought they turned out cute.  She was very proud of them.  :)  She made five dolls and sold two of them!  Not bad, Sami!

30 weeks

Well, there's not a whole lot to report at this point.  I am feeling very pregnant these days.  Sleep, getting up, and just movement in general is getting to be more of a chore.  But I feel good.  Low on energy and a little itchy on my fingertips and toes but other than that, I have little to complain about.  We still haven't picked a name...  Any suggestions?  Jeremy is being very difficult.  Every name I've come up with, he either doesn't like or he knew someone with that name that he doesn't want to name our daughter after.  Ugh.  He says I'm being difficult, though, just because I have "too many rules."  I just want the name to be feminine and classic and three syllables.  It needs to sound well with the other three girls' names.  Plus it has to be able to be shortened to a cute nickname that ends in 'i' or 'y.'  That's not too many rules is it??? 
Another thing I've noticed that's different about this pregnancy is that I already feel nine months pregnant--not seven.  I am almost as big as I have ever gotten with the other three, I am already having random contractions, and I have days when I feel like this child might just fall out.  I hear it's all normal and gets worse with each pregnancy after the second or third, so not concerned.  It's just been different.  Two more weeks and I get to see this little gal again when they do my follow up ultrasound to check for placenta previa.  I also get to have a blood test done and find out if I have cholestasis again or not--which will give me a better idea of when to expect her arrival.  So, I'll have more news by the middle of May.  'Til then, I'm just being pregnant... 

Morning Giggles

It turns out that Sami has a bit of my sleeping genes.  She does not do mornings very well, either.  She would probably sleep until Noon if we let her.  Emmy and Ally are determined not to let her, though. 

About a week ago, we were all having a lazy morning and Jeremy and I were just hanging out in bed with the two youngest.  Ally then decided it was time to get moving and got up and left the room.  Next thing we knew, Sami was moaning from her bedroom and then we heard Sami yell, "All right, all right, I'm getting up!"  Apparently, Ally had gone in, climbed onto Sami's top bunk and began threatening to throw all the American Girl Doll stuff off the bed if Sami didn't get up right then! 

Then this morning, Sami had moved into Emmy's bed when Emmy came into my room for her early morning snuggling.  (Ally is sick with a cough and fever and kept waking Sami up so she moved to another room.)  Anyway, Emmy eventually had enough snuggling and I woke up to Emmy screaming at Sami, "Get off my bed!"  Poor Sami got pushed onto the floor and then had her pillow thrown at her by her sister--who is six years younger than her!  Emmy then returned to my room with her pillow and blanket from her bed and went back to sleep on my bed.  When I finally got up, I found Sami curled up on Emmy's floor, once again zonked out. 

These kids crack me up!

Our final snowfall

Spring is finally here and I think we may be done with any serious snow until October.   However, we did get one of our biggest snowfalls of the season just three days before Easter this year.  The girls were so excited because they happened to be on Spring Break and the snow was perfect for building a snowman!  They spent a good hour in the yard building a snowman as big as them.  It was 60 degrees the very next day, so the snowman didn't last very long.  But the girls had so much fun building him and then taking pictures of each other with him.

  Emmy was feeling jealous that the two older girls were running around the front yard, playing in the snow.  I didn't dare let Emmy (aka the Wanderer) join them without me.  And I was in no mood to get all geared up for snow, so I took her onto the back deck.  I sat on the stairs in a light jacket and my slippers and helped Emmy build her own snow structure.  We were going for a snowman at first but the whole thing reminded me of our last snowman we built on the deck that ended up being destroyed by Tux.  I haven't mentioned on here before, but we sold Tux a couple months ago.   We found him a home with a guy that just loves Schnauzers and already had a friend for him.  He now sleeps on the guys bed instead of in a kennel and has free roam of a heated garage and big back yard during the day with another Mini Schnauzer.  He doesn't get his ears and tail pulled anymore or have to deal with Emmy's wrestling.  I think he has to be much happier.

He just became too much of a hassle for a tired, pregnant woman, extremely busy guy, and three little girls.  I think we just got a dog too soon.  We weren't ready for one.  Sami and Ally just weren't up for the task of taking care of him and Emmy was always feeding him random things that would make him throw up all over my house.  (And dog throw up is the last thing I wanted to deal with--feeling rather queasy myself.)  Maybe we will try it again when our baby is past the toddler stage and I'm feeling like I don't have a baby anymore.  Because, let's face it, a dog is just another toddler that never grows up.

Anyway, I was thinking about Tux and missing him a little so instead of a snowman, we built a snowdog.  A little Miniature Schnauzer peeking through our french doors into our home, just like Tux used to, with cocked head and one ear always standing up.  Emmy loved him!  She called him, "My puppy." 

Happy Birthday Jeremy

Too Much Dora?

Emmy has gone through the Caillou stage, the Dragon Tales stage, the Curious George stage, and a few others I can't remember at the moment.  But now we are in the Dora stage.  Yes, "Dora the Explorer" is the pick of the day when TV time comes around.  However, unlike the other shows she has favored, this one is starting to have an effect at other times of the day.  For instance, whenever a task is accomplished, I hear "We did it, We did it!"  She has even added her own touch of "We did it, OH YEAH" (including the deep, jazzy voice on the 'oh yeah' part...which really made me laugh the first time and so it became an almost permanent addition.)  :)  The clincher, though, happened Easter Morning when we started the Basket Scavenger Hunt.  Emmy's first clue was "Time for Breakfast!" which was meant to take her to pantry (cereal cupboard) where she runs every morning to get me to give her some food.  However, we had just finished eating breakfast and so when she heard her clue she responded with, "Ate already, CHECK!" spoken exactly like The Map on Dora.  I couldn't stop laughing so Jeremy had to explain to her that she needed to go to where the breakfast food is kept to get her next clue.

I had to include a couple of Easter pictures I forgot to post earlier.  Above: Emmy insisted the babies needed to be in her picture.  She would not let me take one without until we had a good one with.   Below: Uncle Adam got a little goofy this year and sent us a box of goodies, complete with the ridiculous bunny mask which Emmy just loved!

Since we are on the topic of Emmy:

The deer around here are obnoxious.  They drop bombs in my yard and they eat my tulips.  They even ate my "deer proof" crocuses this year.  Anyway, somehow one tulip escaped their jaws.  I think it must have been growing close enough to the daffodil next to it to survive.  I was so excited when I saw it.  Emmy was too!  She walked right over to it, exclaimed, "Look, Mom, pretty flower!" and picked it.  Then she took it inside and malled it.  I hurried and took a picture before it was completely destroyed.  sigh.  Oh well...

Emmy's flower: