Baby Update-Amnio Done

First of all, a few pictures from our ultrasound today. Baby keeps getting cuter and cuter!

What do you think, does it look like a boy or a girl??? :)

So, the amnio was this morning. My nerves were worse than the actual pain itself! I wasn't totally freaked out, just a little nervous about it all (and I've always had a hard time being able to turn my nerves completely off!). But, the test was pretty easy in and of itself. We should hear some results by the end of the week, and get the full results back by middle to end of next week. Of course, we will keep you all updated on that. Other than that, the doctor said that we really should be ready for Baby to come anytime now. I am not dilated at all, but when you have so much fluid, you could go into labor at any time. So, now I am trying to not freak out about how much there is to do and just do a little at a time and trust God for His timing!

Honestly, I am not sure what to pray as far as test results. So we are just praying for God's will for this precious little one, and trusting Him! Thanks for joining us in prayer. We feel so loved and prayed for.

And, just for fun, here's a picture of me from yesterday, Easter Sunday. Yes, I am measuring well beyond full term! Johnny's comment: "Well, at least we know what you'd look like with twins!" (hehe, I told you I'd put it on the blog...!)

Easter

Crashing Down

Normally this blog is about our family (mostly the kids), a way to keep family and friends updated (especially those who aren't close by). We intend to keep it this way, but have an added purpose to it now. Really, it still falls in line with our original purpose, but may seem a bit more focused on updating (and not so much of the little pictures and anecdotes as usual). Anyway...on Wednesday afternoon, when I came home, I discovered the above. One of the trees in our front yard had half fallen, brought down by the wind. I found it interesting that it was almost symbolic of the day....

I was arriving home after a doctor's appointment. On Monday, I had an ultrasound to check on Baby, since I was now measuring large. That's when they discovered I had extra amniotic fluid, and a few other concerns with Baby. Here's a picture from that day. Isn't it so cute?!?
At the appointment with the high risk doctor on Wednesday, they confirmed the excess fluid, and found several things of concern. The baby also has fluid in its lateral ventricles of the brain. The normal amount is less than 10mm. The left side had 13mm, and the right side had 21mm. Anything over 20 is considered hydrocephaly. We don't know exactly what this means for Baby once it's born, but it may mean a shunt will need to be placed to drain the fluid. Baby's head circumference isn't measuring large so far, so that's good news. They also found several other things of concern, including baby's size, eye spacing, abdominal size, chin, and possibly clubbed feet (although they now think not). Basically, they think that something may be going on with Baby, but aren't sure what. We have an amniocentesis scheduled for Monday morning, which will help us determine if it's a chromosomal abnormality, and if so, which one. It could also be a genetic issue, neurological issue, or digestive issue. The truth is, we truly won't know the full picture until Baby is born. So, in the meantime, we are closely monitoring Baby (and me) with twice weekly doctors appointments, ultrasounds, and non-stress tests. And then Baby will have further testing once it arrives (at least for the hydrocephaly, if nothing else). We should know a little more once the results come back from the amnio.

It's a lot for us to process, and still all so very new. We really feel like it's a great big question mark in many regards. We hope to be able to use this blog to keep you all updated as to our newest little one, as well as continue posts on our other bigger ones too! (Easter pictures will be soon!) So, back to the beginning, with the tree that came crashing down on Wednesday. In a sense, a lot came crashing down on us that day. Not our whole entire world...I know the news could have been much worse, and I know plenty of people who are dealing with some very big issues in life right now. But, at the same time, it's always daunting to hear that something could be wrong with your child, whether it's a baby in utero, or a grown child. However, we know that our God is big, and He is good, and nothing is out of His hands. I praise Him for how He is already taking care of our sweet little baby, and already has an amazing plan for his/her life. I know that He has us in the palm of His hands, too, and that His grace will carry us through, whatever may come.

Third Time's the Charm

So, I have been a horrible blogger lately...just no energy, I suppose! And I've been especially bad about updating about this pregnancy. So, Third Child, this one's for you!

These belly shots are from about 31 weeks along. I am definitely bigger this time around. In fact, I've got an ultrasound scheduled for next week to check on Baby since I am measuring large now. We'll see what that determines!
Most people say that I am "all belly", which leads most people to guess it's a boy. But, that's how I carried the other two as well, and as we all know, only one was a boy! Kathryn, however, is pretty convinced it's a girl (partly due to her Aunt KK!). Jackson changes his mind every time we ask him, so his opinion isn't valid at this point! Here are a few other random facts about this pregnancy:

-It gets harder every time! I definitely feel more aches and pains this time around.
-This is by far the most active baby I've carried. I felt it the earliest, and feel more movement, and crazy, big movements, than I did with the other two.
-The baby likes to wake up as I go to bed, and whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, it will often wake up as well.
-The baby seems to respond to Kathryn's voice when she talks to it.
-If it's not clear already, we are waiting to find out the gender till Baby is born! (We found out with the other two, but decided to wait this time!)
-My cravings have been pasta, soda, fruit with cottage cheese, bagels with creme cheese, orange slices, and chocolate! (Any guesses as to the gender based on cravings??)
-We CAN'T WAIT to meet this little one!!!

St. Patrick's Day

I snapped a few cute pics of the kids on St. Patrick's Day. Notice how cool they are in their Chucks!

Quotable-Jackson!

Finally, Jackson gets a Quotable post! He is starting to talk more and more, and it's so fun! Of course, it can be frustrating when we don't know what he's trying to say. But he's doing great. It is still quite an effort for him at times, though, mostly when he's trying to say several words or a sentence. So, picture the following with adequate pauses in between each word.

At a friend's house last week we had hotdogs. Jackson had eaten a whole one, then another half of one. Then he leaned over to me and said: "Mama... Iwant......more.....dog......"

These Kids...

This girl:-is becoming quite the little mommy, keeping tabs on her little brother and letting me know what he's up to.
-is rhyming words all the time now.
-is continuing to learn to write her letters, and can now write her name all by herself.
-can count to 30 (or more), and to 10 in Spanish.
-tells me all the time how much she loves me.
-thanks me occasionally for doing things like cleaning the bathroom or folding the laundry.
-is very much into wearing dresses and skirts, and loves to accessorize her outfits as well.
-loves green olives stuffed with garlic.
-was in the 70-something percentile for height and 40-something percentile for weight at her 4-year old check-up last week...tall and skinny!



This boy:



-can count to 3, sometimes 4.
-is talking more and more.
-says "thank you" all the time.
-still loves his paci (he now calls it "poppy" or "poppies"), blanket, and lovey.
-sleeps in a big boy bed now (at night).
-has a great sense of humor.
-loves fruits and veggies.
-is working on his colors, but thinks everything is either blue or orange (wonder where he gets that color combo from...?)
-weighs 31 pounds.


These kids:-are sharing a bedroom.
-fight like crazy.
-love to play together too.
-love to wrestle and tickle each other.
-love to play outside.
-are the apple of my eye.

Kathryn's Kinderjam Program

Since the fall, Kathryn has been a part of the Kinderjam class at our church. She LOVES the music class, and was SO excited to get to perform a couple of weeks ago on the stage at church! She had seen other kids perform before, and was so excited to finally have a turn to be a part of it.

Here she is sitting with the other kids waiting for their big moment.Up on the stage...
Ringing her bell...
She made this same funny face almost the whole time. She was concentrating really hard!
What impeccable rest position!
One last concentrated ring!

Sick Days

This is what our house has looked like the past two months, on and off.

Sick days. Deep, dark, sick days. We made it through the month of December (the holidays!) with no major issues, and I kept reading on Facebook how many friends were dealing with sick kids in their homes, so it was no surprise to me when it started. But folks, it's not been stopping... It began Jan. 13th with me coming down with a stomach attack. Two days later Johnny started feeling achy, and came down with the flu. Four days after that I started with the flu. Johnny's family stepped in and took the kids that weekend so they wouldn't be exposed to me, and to help me recover. That Friday, Kathryn threw up at night. She continued to throw up, just at night, for the next several nights. The kids came back home the next Monday afternoon. She had thrown up on the way home, and the next day was pitiful. I took her to the doctor that Tuesday, but we never figured out what it was (we thought it was strep because we found out she had been exposed the previous weekend). By the next day, she was fine. I continued to recover slowly from the flu the rest of that week. That weekend, Kathryn started coughing again, and had a little cold virus that weekend (I assume something she picked up at the dr. office). I started with the cold the Monday following (my resistance was still way low due to the flu, I think). Her cold cleared up in just a couple of days. Mine turned into a sinus infection, and I was miserable for a week and a half, then had about a week afterwards till I was still feeling somewhat normal. Then we had about a week and a half of everyone feeling pretty normal. Whew! But that was all the break we had. Then Kathryn started with the flu. A few days later, Jackson started with it. And that brings us to the pictures above. The poor babies were miserable. Today Jackson's temperature was finally normal all day, so I am hopeful that by this weekend, we will all be over it all and back to being completely normal. And, I'm hoping that this will be the end of a long two-ish months for us. So I apologize for the lack of blogging lately, but I hope you understand why!

Quotable

Kathryn, while playing at Pump It Up (a play place with tons of inflatables to jump on), breathless: "Mama, I'm losing steam. I need to go get some more!"
---------------------------------------

Kathryn, a few days after Christmas: "Mama, now how old is baby Jesus?"
---------------------------------------


Kathryn: "Mama, when are you going to get dressed?"
Me: "After I work out a little bit."
Kathryn: "But you haven't showered yet?"
Me: "No..."
Kathryn: "So then you're still stinky?"
---------------------------------------


Kathryn came downstairs during naptime: "Mama, I changed my clock, so now it's closer to 3:30, but I don't know what time it is, so can I just stay downstairs and naptime is over?"
Me: "Kathryn, you can change the time on your clock, but you can't change time..."

Christmas-Crabtree Edition

So, I've been sick the past couple weeks, and have gotten behind on some blogging that I've meant to do. So, first off is the last of the Christmas posts.

This is my attempt at a picture of the kids with their great-grandparents. As you can see, Kathryn was not in the mood to cooperate... (These are my dad's parents.)Four Crabtree siblings, plus my kids. The story behind this picture is that when David and I were little, my mom's dear friend Barb would send us all a Christmas package in the mail with all kinds of goodies and gifts. One of the things I most looked forward to was the package of chocolate covered animal crackers in that package. Every year at Christmas, I remember those cookies, remembering how good they were. This year, I finally thought to ask her if she remembered sending them, and where she got them. I figured it was a shot in the dark. How would she remember some random cookies she used to send us all those years ago?!? Well, much to my surprise, she knew exactly what I was talking about, and was going to get some the very next week! So, being the sweet Barbie that she is, she sent some to all of us! Here we are before opening them (only I knew what was inside...!).
Opening our special gifts!
How fun to share this special thing from my childhood now with my daughter!
Not a great picture, but here we are showing our cookies!
And then we opened the rest of the gifts.
Jackson was very excited about his book!
And another attempt at a picture with my grandparents. It turned out ok, I suppose. I sure do love them!

Kathryn's Tea Party

For Kathryn's birthday this year, we had a "friend party" for the first time. (Well, last year she kind of had a "friend party", but that was more just because we had lots of friends around and made cupcakes, and not so much because we planned a party just for her...). So, this year we asked her if she'd like to have a few friends over the weekend after her actual birthday for a tea party, and of course she said "Yes!!!"

So she invited three of her friends from church, got all dressed up, bugged me all week to clean the dining room (and rest of the house) for her party, and enjoyed her special morning with her friends. Here they all are at the table that Kathryn set up all by herself. Here's a picture of the sugar cubes that the girls put in their tea (or ate by the handful...).
Kathryn insisted on serving each guest herself. As you can tell from her face, it's a very serious job.

Kylah and Kathryn.
Serving Jordan's tea.
This is Princess Kathryn (as she deemed herself) with her cupcakes.


That pink icing was super potent. As in, if you got it on your hands, it stained them for hours...!
Kylah enjoying her cupcake.
Camille enjoying her cupcake.
Jordan having a good time!
Besides the actual food portion of the party where the girls enjoyed chocolate chip scones, pink dip with pretzels and apple slices, jelly beans, cupcakes, pink strawberry-kiwi drink, and of course tea, the girls had fun playing in Kathryn's room, decorating foam heart picture frames, and played pin the top on the tea pot.
The "finished" game. (Please don't pay attention to my horrible art work...!)
Then Kathryn opened some presents and enjoyed hanging out with the girls till they left.
Thanks, ladies, for a fun morning celebrating Kathryn's 4th birthday! What a fun tea party with some beautiful little ladies!