Big Brother, Little Sister

 Tristan and Eden are buds.  She always gets him to give her piggy back rides and horsey rides.  Tristan always humors her and does what she asks!  He is a good big brother.  At the end of the my pregnancy I asked him to hang out with her when she wanted to go outside.  I wasn't comfortable in the patio chairs and couldn't chase her around at all.  I was glad to have him around!! 

 Riding the "horsey".  

 They would go down the slide.....

 Eden would wait and help him up....

 grab his hand.............

 run back around.....

 and do it all over again! 

They had a ton of fun together!

Eden's Hiding Spot

 Oh, this girl is a brat and a half!! lol!  This is one of her favorite things to do no matter how many times I tell her no!  This particular time she ripped one of my laundry bags all the way down the backside so it is pretty much useless now.  I decided it doesn't matter (this thing has lasted me over 12 years, miraculously!) and it is time for a new one.  So, when we move, it gets tossed out for sure!  

 Anyhow, this is her in action.  She loves to hang on the bars and flip around them.  Silly girl! 

This is her "I'm not doing anything wrong" face!

Baby Shower!

 On April 12th (yes, I am WAY behind on blogging) Trisha, Debbie, and Vanessa threw me a baby shower.  I had gotten rid of everything after Eden thinking she was my last and had nothing.  They had asked for a guest list and I had invited only people that were close to me and that I knew would come since I had went all out for the last baby girl shower.  The shower would be falling in a really busy time too so I wanted to keep in nice and simple for the ones throwing it for me too.  It was SUPER DUPER cute!! I loved the purple owl theme!  The decorations were amazing and everything was perfect.  Unfortunately, only three people showed up. :(  I was bummed mostly because I already felt like nobody cared that we were having a baby because it is our 7th and I was bummed that the Kelley girls had went to that much time and effort and then hardly anyone showed up.  But, I wanted to make the very most of it too.  It was awesome no matter how many people showed up and I really did get to celebrate with those who are closest to me too.  :)

 Trisha made the Tastefully Simple Cinnamon muffins that are pretty much like the best muffins ever.  The whole menu was just perfect.  We had a really yummy fruit salad, little smokies....oh, and a really good punch!  

 Vanessa made some really cute stuff too!!! She made this cute little "bouquet of flowers" that was made out of baby washcloths!  Super cute! 

 The games were name suggestions and actually I got some really cute ones and funny ones too!! I saved them all! 

And a guess the birthdate calendar that I saved for the baby book too....picture further down. 

 Another Vanessa creation....The sweetest little owl diaper cakes I have ever seen!  

I was super impressed with them!

 I love the bib on this one!! lol!

 One of my very best childhood friends, Tuesday McLeod (now Carstens) was able to come over from Peoria to celebrate with me!  She and I had been pregnant pretty much the whole time together.  Her and her hubby had to do invitro fertilization to get a baby.  She was due on June 9th (I think)....after me.  Exactly one week after this photo was taken, her water broke and she had her baby EIGHT weeks EARLY!!!!!  Her and baby Kylie have been doing great though!  I was so happy she got to come to my shower though.  Me and her went to Grandpa John's cafe later to catch up with Kevin Condren a bit too!  I love spending time with my besties from high school....we don't get to do it often enough! 

 The Kelley Girls!  These ladies have become my go-to pals and those that I can confide in for just about anything!  I am lucky to have them in my life! 

 Trisha's gift for baby was a gorgeous hand made crotched quilt with matching headbands and monthly growth stickers for photos!  Love it!

 This owl cup has become my "shake cup"!  Vanessa gave it to me.....along with a bunch of other cute stuff for the baby, lol!  

Grandma Boyer showed up about half way through the party too!! I was happy she was able to make it.  She said she didn't want to miss it! 

 I got a ton of super cute stuff from everyone and I loved all of it!  Nothing got returned or anything because each and everything meant too much to me.  I was really feeling sentimental after all of it.  

 Me, Tuesday, and Brielle!  Brielle is Jed Hill's wife.  Jed is another bestie from high school.  But, Brielle and I have been getting much closer lately and I was beyond happy she made it to the shower! 

 Me and my mom-ski!  We don't see eye to eye on everything but, one thing is for sure, my mom would do anything for me and me for her.  

 Trisha snapped this cute shot of Tuesday's belly!  Good thing she got it then because Tuesday didn't have it much longer, haha! 

And here is the pic of the birthday guesses!  No one guessed the actual date but, still something to keep forever!  Thanks so much everyone for everything.  It really means more to me that I can ever express because I am not real good at expressing those type of things.  But, yeah, you are all pretty awesome!

Chocolate Things

I was nursing the baby on the couch.  Cullen came over and gave her hugs and kisses.  Then he says:
"Mom, why did Heavenly Father put those chocolate things on your tummy?" 
Bahahaha!  I told him that Heavenly Father put them there so I could feed my babies.  He said "Oh." and walked away. 

Preparing For the Big Day

I am going to have this baby girl tomorrow.  Yep.  At my appointment on Monday Dr. Jones told me that Dr. Davis was wrong.  He had told us that the baby was only 6lbs. (for some reason, wth?!!?)  Nope.  She was 7.1 and that was two weeks ago.  Dr. Jones is thinking that she will be well over 8 lbs.  Normal for me.  He sent me to the hospital for a non-stress test and an ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid.  I guess both turned out fine, never heard back.  He also scheduled me to be induced on Thursday.  I am excited.  But, I really don't want to have pitocin.  It makes the contractions so much worse.  I had pitocin with half of my labors and there is a definite difference.  Oh well, the point is, she will be here!  We go tomorrow morning at 9am for pitocin and water breaking.  I am going to have Jeremy and Trisha there with me.  I am hoping between Trisha and I, we can get a ton of good shots to document my very last pregnancy.  It is going to be very bittersweet for me. 
I had some more false labor last night.  This pregnancy has had the most false labor I have ever had.  I am much older now.  Who knows what the reason is....whatever it is, I am sick of it.  Today I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.  I got the kids ready for school, packed lunches for field trips, signed forms, etc. and sent them on their way.  Then Eden and I laid down on the couch for some quality time with Blues Clues!  lol!  Debbie stopped by and I had to drag myself off the couch to answer the door, haha!  Now, I am trying to motivate myself to do the GAZILLION things I need to do today.  I feel like I have been hit by a truck.  I think I need some caffeine or something. 
Jeremy is in Hannibal today too which always throws my whole day off.  He wanted to get it out of the way though, which I understand. 
The kids are excited too!  Cullen keeps kissing my belly and telling the baby he loves her and can't wait to see her!  He is so sweet!  Eden rubs my tummy and says "baby in tummy" but, I'm pretty sure she is going to be shocked and amazed when we have a real, live baby! haha! 
We still don't have a name for her.  This is gonna be hard.  Cullen is hooked on Vivianne.  Which is a name I really like but, I just don't know.  Anyway, I guess I should actually do something today although I would really like to just lounge around on the day before I go birth a baby.  It is hard work and I know I am going to be exhausted.  Oh well, life goes on as it always does and somehow we catch up. 

Cereal

Cullen: "Mom, this big boy wants some cereal."  (said as he is pointing at Cedric)

Baby Update

Well, this weekend was annoying, haha!  On Friday, I was having really bad back pain and some pretty decent contractions so I had Jeremy try to check my cervix to see if anything was going on.  He said he thought I was dilated to 5!!  What the what?!!?  So, we decided we better go to the hospital and get checked out in case I was having back labor like I did with Cedric (and couple others too!).  We had my mom come sit with the kids at the house after school and headed out there.  They checked my cervix when I first got there and said that my cervix was funky right now!  It is dilating at different rates.  The cervix is shaped like a doughnut and the "outside" of it is dilated to 5-6 and the "inside" (the part closest to the baby's head) is dilated to 3.  I have to be at 4 to be admitted.  They hooked me up to the contraction machine and I was having them consistently every 3-5 mintues, sometimes faster than that actually.  I started to get a wee bit excited because the doc and nurses were saying things like "I hope you don't go too fast because this is your seventh", etc.  The doc was going to admit me but, decided to wait two hours and see where I was at after that.  So, I started to walk the halls, bounce on the birth ball, etc.  And then outta nowhere, the contractions just started to fizzle out.  They slowed way down and I made no more dilation progress.  They sent me home to "labor at home".  Joy.  I love laboring at home with all the kids and chores and everything else.  Thanks.  UGH!  So, I was at the hospital for five hours and nothing to show for it!  Why would they not just break my water or give me pitocin or something to get it over with.  Good grief, obviously something was going on and I'm dilated a lot already?!?!?! Grrrrr...  but, they gave me a prescription for vicodin.  Super.  They don't want to intervene or do anything un-natural to get the baby going but, let's pump her full of VICODIN?!?!  REALLY?!?!?  My back throbbed all weekend along with the contractions that I was still having, just not regularly.  Super annoying.
I have been trying lots of natural induction methods and old wives tales and nothing is working.....so far!  I am going to try some more things today like nipple stimulation.  That should be fun.  I am so close to trying the whole castor oil thing again. I swore I would never do it again after the time I took it when I was pregnant with Cedric, haha!  Oh my, I was stuck on the toilet forever!!! Bahbhahahaha! 
I must say though, the birthing suites at the Carthage Memorial Hospital are the nicest I have seen anywhere!  HUGE rooms, with kitchenettes and all!  Big, nice, couch beds for the dads and visitors.  HUGE bathrooms with jetted tubs and all! I can't wait to deliver there!! Come on baby girl!!!!!

Biosilk Code

Eden was looking at my BIOSILK bottle and this is what she said as she pointed at each letter.......
B- "B"
I- "One"
0- "Circle"
S- "Five"
I- "One"
L- "Lion"
K- "K for Kangaroo!"

She is so darn clever.  She gets the Lion and Kangaroo answers from her Leap Frog Laptop.  It says the letter then a word that starts with that letter.  I love the things kids pick up on.  And you should hear her say kangaroo.....it is awesome!