38 weeks

Just had my weekly checkup. Baby is measuring in at about 7 lbs. 6 oz. and looking good. I'm only 1 cm dilated but 50% effaced and he stripped the membranes so hopefully that will help move things along. It hurt like the dickins and I'm feeling very sore and crampy now. I've been having fairly regular contractions about 20 mins apart and lasting about 1 minute long for the last day or two. The doctor said if I'm still prego at my appointment next Tuesday, he'll talk to me about scheduling an inducement. It's nice to see the end in sight!

37 weeks

Just got back from my weekly checkup and everything is looking good. He's about 6 1/2 pounds and measuring well. The doctor gave me the option of checking my cervix but I declined so I'm not sure if I've dilated or effaced or anything down there. I kinda feel like this guy is not coming for a while yet so why go through the miserable vag exam if it won't make anything go faster. He's wiggly and healthy and I'm huge but my Braxton hicks are still pretty weak and I just don't feel like my body is telling me he'll be here anytime soon. My guess is I'll not have him until after my due date which is ok with me at this point. In other news, we got the call today that Logan for sure got into the Ben Franklin campus closest to us. His twin boy cousins that are a month young than him are going there too so it will be fun for him to get to see them everyday. Brin was signed up for preschool at the elementary school in our neighborhood but they put her in the wrong program so it didn't end up working out for her to go. I'm going to start a preschool for her starting in September so let me know if you know of anyone interested in finding a preschool for their kid this year. It will be Tuesday's and Thursday's from 9-11 at my house in Mesa. We had some huge blessings in our family these past few weeks and I want to make sure I record them. First, we got a 401k reimbursement from Blake's last full-time job. It was just a bit more than what I usually make doing day care in a month so it will give us that much longer for blake to find a job before we have to start dipping into our savings. He's been looking for a job for over a month and a half and hasn't had a single call back until last week. He talked to the guy on the phone and it sounded like he'd have to work Sunday evenings. We normally wouldn't consider a job that required him to work on Sunday's but we prayed about it and felt like we needed to do whatever we could in this situation to support our family. He went to the interview and was offered the job and they actually changed the schedule around for him so he won't have to work on Sundays. This is such a huge blessing and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father heard and answered our prayers!

Big kids room makeover

Since my last day of daycare was Friday (yay for being able to sleep in now!) we decided to spend today making the kids room more fit for my older kids (and rehanging all the pictures and things the little daycare kid ripped off the walls in the last year or so) and giving it a deep clean. We got everything clean and even disinfected all the kids toys but it's still a work in progress as far as the decorating goes. I'm kicking myself for not taking a before picture, but here's what we've got after a day's work...

I moved in my old sewing desk to use as a kids art/learning area. The computer is password protected so they have to earn time by doing chores or working on their preschool books and then have mommy or daddy unlock the computer for them. They have a few games they can play (minecraft, asteroids, and chess) or they can play on pbskids.org. We'll have to see how it goes with leaving the craft stuff down. They usually have to ask for me to get that stuff down but I'm hoping they're old enough now that they can have access to everything without getting into too much trouble.

I made these chore charts a few weeks ago and they have worked wonders for getting the kids to help around the house. They know if they want computer time that they have to earn it and (usually) do their chores without me having to nag now. We moved this in from my room and put it by their door so they'll see it every morning and be reminded to do their chores.

All the kids toys are up in the closet so they have to clean up their current mess and ask for a new box if they want to play with something else. We've been doing this for about a year now and this seems to work great for us and it keeps the messes more manageable so we don't have meltdowns when it gets to be clean up time. I just found free clip art online to make the box labels.

When we got the kids their bunk bed last year we got them matching blankets and let them pick out fabric for pillowcases and art to hang in their area. It's nice to be able to have it all up again.

What I'd still like to (eventually) do: -line the curtains so they darken the room better and possibly shorten them a bit -touch up all the ripped up paint where the day care kid liked to peel it off -sand/paint the rocking chair and create a reading area with a spot for all the kids books -rehang the art rail (it's basically a couple of rulers with clothespins glued on for the kids to show off their art) -find a place for the vintage alphabet cards to hang I'm sure I'll find a million other things I want to do in there but that's it for now :)

Family Sleepover

On our "Summer Fun List" the kids wanted to do a family pajama party so we built a huge fort in the living room on Friday and had a sleepover. We watched a movie, ate homemade ice cream and popcorn, and used every blanket in the house to build a giant fort. The kids had a blast and I think even Blake had fun making the fort :) I opted out of sleeping in the fort but we'll have to do it again someday so I can come in too.

4th of July

I have not been very good at taking pictures lately. Plus, it seems like half the ones I do take are blurry thanks to my crappy camera. So these are all I ended up with from a fun, day long, Pedersen 4th of July party...

PS- I think Blake has photo-bombed a good half of the photos on my camera lol

Cute kids

Blake took this a few weeks ago to send to my dad for his birthday. I love how it turned out!

They are getting so grown up!

Quick week 35 update

Had a checkup yesterday and everything is looking good! Baby is head down and will most likely stay that way. He is measuring right on target for 35 weeks and the doctor said he's currently 5 lbs. 10 oz. He said I'm starting to dilate but am not effaced yet so it looks like I'll be here a while yet. I'm up about 35 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight and it definitely gives me to motivation to never let my weight get too out of control. The extra weight makes everything so much more uncomfortable and tiring. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep that feeling in mind when it comes time to lose the baby weight. I hate exercising but I hate the alternative more :) The swelling in my legs and feet is pretty much daily at this point. It is ridiculously hot and I feel like I never fully cool off even in the house. That's about all the baby news I can think of... I've got another appointment in 2 weeks so I'm hoping I'll have more exciting news at that point.

Prego update

I am 34 weeks this week and feeling pretty gross. I spent most of last week on the couch because I have been getting nausea and pretty constant, uncomfortable contractions every time I get up and try to do anything. I'm feeling a bit better today but still want to take it easy at least a couple more weeks to make sure he gets as much time in there as possible before he comes out. Once you hit 34 weeks they generally won't try and stop labor but it's still considered premature if you have him before 37 weeks. In other pregnancy news, baby boy (who obviously still has no name) is about 5 pounds this week. He is a constant mover and is getting so big it makes me queasy sometimes when he's moving around. He'll gain about 1/2 pound a week from this point on so if he makes it to his due date he could easily be 8 or more pounds like Logan was. He gets the hiccoughs a lot and the kids think it's so funny to feel him moving around in there. I got the linea negra a few weeks ago (it's a brown line that goes across the stomach vertically during pregnancy caused by the hormones I think) but it's a lot more faint than it was with my other pregnancies. It's only dark on my belly button and I've got brown spots on my chest and face that I never got with the other kids. I'm craving high protein, filling foods like meatloaf and steak. I eat all the time but I feel like I'm constantly hungry no matter what I eat. I had a freakily vivid pregnancy dream the other night where I was sitting on a couch and talking to my mom. The baby kicked his foot out so hard that you could see the outline of every toe so I lifted up my shirt to get a better look and realized his whole leg was sticking out. I pulled on his leg and he came right out. He had light brown hair about Brin's color, a more square shaped face than my other kids, and dark brown eyes with long dark brown lashes. It was a really freaky dream but it made me wonder what this guy will look like. My mom and two of my siblings have brown eyes so he probably could end up with brown eyes. I can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like! 33 weeks down and 6 to go!