Trees and Wii

This weekend marked the beginning of a new tradition at the Urban house...the Wii tournament. Since the weather was a bit icy, we had our first ever Wii tournament with a cookie cake, a prize bag, and lots of fun. Let's see, Brandon and I each won a tennis match and received a brand new can of shaving cream. (the kids thought that was funny) Ben won the bowling game and received a new Funky (some computer toy that he loves), and Grace won some fancy socks and bubble bath during target golf. Other prizes included a rubber snake, some side walk chalk, and other necessities. It was a great afternoon. We also went to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the movie theater.

Grace accepting her award.

Ben accepting his award.

Here is another picture from Spring Break, when the weather was actually 75 degrees and beautiful. The kids enjoyed hanging from the jungle gym, as well as nearby trees.

Monitoring Molly - ONE DAY LEFT. Yesterday I was disappointed to find that I was yet again, 2 cm's dilated and about 80% effaced. But, as the appointment went on, things changed a bit. My blood pressure was a bit high and Dr. Durland thought it best if we move up the induction to TOMORROW. No April Foolin'! If we don't get bumped because of so many deliveries, we go in tomorrow morning to be induced around 8:00 a.m. If all goes well, we should meet our Molly by the afternoon. I'm a nervous wreck today, as there is much to be done around the house. The kids need to be packed for Grandma's house. The house needs to be cleaned. The car seat needs to be installed and the cars cleaned out. The bags need to be packed for the hospital. There are soccer practices and field trips. We don't have newborn diapers yet! Oh my goodness, the list goes on, so I should stop typing and get to it. We'll keep you posted!!!!

Monitoring Molly...2 Weeks Left!

So, this past week I walked. I walked to Gracie's friend's house. I walked to Juice Stop with Brandon. I walked to the Dollar Tree and Sears with Grace. I walked down by the river with Brandon. Then I walked up what seemed like Mount Everest, but it was really just a giant hill at Clinton Lake. And this week's stats? Very little progression.

2 cm's dilated, 80% effaced. All that walking for a measly 10%! Molly's heart rate was good though, and we're counting the days until we meet her. The hospital has apparently been quite busy this March and they're expecting a lot of babies in April. So, our April 5th induction date? We may get bumped! We'll see! Maybe she'll arrive on her own.

Here's a picture of me on top of "Mount Everest".

St. Patrick's Day

Today we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade down town. Here are some pictures from the big event! We met several people from church down there, including the youth group and Megan and Barry, as well as Julia and Bryan, and Brandon's family. Ben and Grace had a great time. I ended up standing for three hours straight, which I thought might help with the baby's arrival. Instead, it just gave me fat feet and swollen ankles! We all had a good time though. Tonight we barbecued with Julia and Bryan and Megan and Barry and Isaac. Lots of food and fun!

OH Golly, Big Molly!

Monitoring Molly - 3 weeks to go!
We had a sonogram this morning to see if we could estimate the size of Miss Molly. The doc said that she was 6 lbs, 15 ounces...approximately, "give or take a pound". The "give or take a pound" comment quickly became "give a pound" when her belly measured in and around the 95th percentile. So basically, we're looking at about 7 lbs, 15 ounces, with a pound a week until delivery. I'm not that great at math, but I'm thinking that gives me at least a 10 pound baby!

Everything else looked great. We could see the hair on her head waving back and forth on the screen, so apparently she's not bald like Ben and Grace were!

And even though I'm still only 2 cm's dilated and 70% effaced, Dr. Durland assured me that although things sounded the same, they were different! (She said the baby seemed a little more head down and ready than last week...unless she was trying to make me feel better!)

Tomorrow we head to the St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Lawrence, so look for more to come then!

Seussical the Musical

Ben's second grade class performed snippits of Seussical the Musical tonight. It was a fabulous show, and here is a video from one of the songs. Ben looked great in his new blue polo shirt, which we took the time to tuck in neatly to his new khaki pants. He knew how important it was to have his shirt tucked in, but on his way out to the stage, he untucked his shirt on purpose and came out looking quite disheveled. That's our Ben!

27 days until....

Grace was thrilled to get a thank you note from me for the baby shower gift that she got me...until she read it out loud. If you can't read what the picture says, here goes... "Dear Grace, Thank you for Molly's new outfit, her socks, her hair bows, and her rattle. I love the card that you made and I love you. 27 more days until we meet your sister!" Grace's reading skills are excellent, but I don't think she understands the use of punctuation. After seeing her frown, I asked her what was wrong. "You're only going to love me for 27 more days until we meet my new sister?" I assured her that the period between the two sentences gave each phrase its own meaning, and I assured her that I would love her every day for the rest of our lives...not just until the baby comes!

On another note, now that we're getting down to the last four weeks of pregnancy, I am going to add a little section updating you of our stats each week! The countdown begins!

MONITORING MOLLY: Today's doctor's appointment lasted nearly two and a half hours. Molly's heart rate was fluctuating from 140 to 180 to 160 to 170, etc! So I had two half-hour sessions hooked up to the fetal monitor so we could get a more accurate baseline. She finally calmed down and the heart rate leveled to a good 155, but when she kicks, it elevates a bit. Overall consensus is that she is quite an active little girl. We will continue to monitor this each week. What else?

*I am 2 centimeters dilated, 70% effaced.
*I lost two pounds over the past two weeks, which is fine by me!
*Molly is measuring big, as we expected, so we have yet another sonogram scheduled for Monday. Updates will follow then!!!

Baby shower!!!

Today I had a baby shower hosted by my dear friends Megan, Julia, and Keri. The theme for the shower was "Baby Bling!" Megan's house was decorated with fine china, bling-covered binkies and bottles, and Molly's favorite colors, brown and pink. We had a wonderful brunch that included chicken salad croissant sandwiches, quiche, scones, pastries, veggies/dip, punch, and much more! Oh, and Megan decorated a beautiful cake as well!

The morning was absolutely perfect. Grace came with me and helped open each and every gift. She even received a few of her own, including a Big Sister shirt covered in "diamonds", a Big Sister book, and some toys and candy.

Some of the gifts that Molly received included many cute outfits, bath towels/wash cloths, a bath tub, lotions, a Diaper Champ, a play gym, a thermometer, a photo album, binkies, bottles, some diapers, bibs, a dishwasher basket, blankets, crib sheets, toys, socks, a diaper bag, a Boppy, a hamper, and much much more!

Some of the highlights, (according to Brandon) were the t-shirt that has a stroller on it that says "This is how I roll" and the onsie that Barry had made that has a picture of Brandon with an afro that says "Who's my daddy?"

We all had a great time. Thank you to Julia, Keri, and Megan for all of your hard work, and thank you to friends and family for all of your gifts and well wishes!!! It won't be long now!

And the frog has left the pond...

Mrs. Kelly has a pond and each student has a frog with his or her name on it. When a student is not following directions, is being disrespectful, or breaking the rules, their frog leaves the pond. Grace is known in her class for being one of the few whose frog has not left the pond. I've even had parents of other kids in the class say things like "Oh, you're Grace's mother. You must be so proud! My son says her frog never leaves the pond!"

Well that all changed this week when Mrs. Kelly called out several kids who were talking during quiet time. After moving a few frogs and taking some recess time, she still heard a single voice above the rest. "Who's still talking?" she asked. Gracie slowly raised her little hand. Mrs. Kelly had to do a double take...."Grace?" The class went quiet. And then she was asked to move her frog out of the pond. As she walked over to the door to move her frog, her classmates "oohed" and "ahhed" in shock. Sure, Grace told the truth, did her time, and her frog eventually went back to the pond. But news spreads fast. By the time the bell rang, I had a parent who works in the building stop by my office as well as a visit from two teachers and an email from a parent, all saying "We heard Grace's frog moved out of the pond today!" Grace's reply after I asked her about it? "I'm not talking about it!"

Well, we certainly are!

Wacky Wednesday!

The kids have been celebrating Dr. Seuss week at school. Monday was hat day, Tuesday was crazy sock day, and today brought CRAZY HAIR day. Ben and Grace went all out. After Brandon struggled to give Grace a mohawk (and after he used almost an entire bottle of hair product), we decided that it just wouldn't hold in her hair long enough so we had to give her a quick bath and start over. She ended up with "sprountains"...a term that combines "fountains" and "sprouts", her daily hair terms. Ben decided to go blue for the day and for the Jayhawks. Tonight we caught him trying to wash the hair color out on his own...on Grandma's pink bath towel which she had just washed. It was indeed a WACKY WEDNESDAY.

Oh, and my wacky hair...well you can't really tell it's that wacky because my stomach is more of a distraction, don't you think?