Christmas decorating

Matthew and Corinne had a blast helping me decorate the tree this year. I put a hook on the ornament and gave it to Corinne who gave it to Matthew who put it on the tree. I was able to put 4 or 5 ornaments on the top branches before the kids started helping me. This is what it looked like when we were through

A close up of Matthew's favorite branches

It seems as though no matter how much effort I put into Corinne's hair, she always looks like a little lost orphan girl by the end of the day. I just don't feel like fighting her after naps to redo the hair and make it look nice. What am I going to do with 2 girls' hair to do?

Matthew found the stockings and decided to put them on because, after all, socks go on the feet!

I caught Matthew zoning out while watching Peter Pan so I decided to take advantage of the moment...

They love their sister

Can you tell that they love to hold their sister? I was worried that Corinne might be jealous of Nora since she is a mama's girl big time but that has not been the case. She has become mama's special helper with the baby and wants to hold and touch Nora all the time. That has been a great blessing!

Pizza and Pajamas

Since the temperature outside has dropped into the 20's overnight, I decided it was time to break out the fleece pajamas. Matthew and Corinne love them and Corinne even wants to wear them during the day over her clothes. I helped her put her arms through the sleeves and she was content just to run around the house with the pajamas flowing out behind her like a cape. Here she is posing for the camera (she remembered to stand right there like she did for Halloween pictures).

An action shot of Corinne running through the house with her pajama cape behind her.

Matthew and Corinne helping to make pizza! They usually get their fill by snacking on the toppings while Mommy or Daddy puts them on the pizza. It turned out so yummy--thanks Kim for the recipe!

Baby pictures

I thought it would be an interesting post to look at the 3 kids baby pictures to compare. I think Nora looks a lot like Matthew did as a baby. Corinne definitely had her own look as well as tons of hair. Nora might have to wait a while longer before I can do pigtails or clips with her. Maybe it's for the best--I sometimes struggle with doing Corinne's hair, plus when she was little she almost always had knots in the back of her hair because she squirmed all the time.

All Natural

On November 13 I was sent to the hospital by my doctor to be induced due to an amniotic fluid index of 4. I learned that having low amniotic fluid is bad because it provides for less floating room for the baby and as a result, the baby presses against the umbilical cord and decreases blood flow to the baby. After arriving at the hospital, the doctor gave me some Cervidol which is supposed to soften and dilate the cervix. After about 10 hours the contractions started. It seemed to happen all of the sudden--the contractions were a few minutes apart and pretty strong in intensity. After about 3 hours of it I couldn't even think strait and asked the nurse for some pain medicine/epidural/anything! She called the doctor and I called Jeremy (around 5 am) and the doctor arrived in what seemed like an eternity later. By this time the contractions were pretty much right on top of each other. The doctor left the room to order an epidural and as soon as she left, I had to push. The doctor was summoned back to the room and canceled anesthesia and caught Nora after about 2 pushes. Then came the stitching (yes, I tore) and cleaning the baby and putting the room back together. Just as it was all finished, Jeremy walked into the room nonchalantly--right in time to hold the calm baby. I think he may have wondered what the fuss was all about when I told him that I had the baby without pain relief. I still don't think he reailzes how traumatic it was. I don't recommend it to anyone! Don't be brave! Get the epidural!

Third

Running with Daddy

To give Mommy a break (since I am on bedrest) Daddy decided to take the kids out for a run. Here they are all decked out in their cold weather attire.

Daddy looking like an alien with his new cold weather running attire. The kids love going for rides with Daddy especially when he goes super fast down the hills! They had the cutest pink cheeks and red noses when they came home!

Bedrest!?!

I went to the doctor on Tuesday for the usual amniotic fluid ultrasound and non-stress test. At the end of the visit the doctor told me that once again my fluid level was low. As a result, I would have to be on bedrest for a couple of days and then get checked again. I wanted to say, "bedrest? Are you kidding me? Have you seen my kids?" So, I attempted bedrest for a couple of days but I really didn't take it too seriously. I still went shopping and did stuff with Jeremy and the kids. Well, on my Thursday re-check the fluid level was the same and so I'm still on bedrest. I'm trying to be more serious about it and Jeremy is trying to help me by telling me to stay on the couch when I get up to help him clean up or put the kids to bed. It's just such a drastic change for me after having done everything by myself for 3+ months and then just having to sit back and watch Jeremy do it all or just be content to let my house be a mess. It is very difficult for me to do, but I'm trying. I wish the baby would just come already!

It's always fun when Daddy's home

It was a warmer than normal day so we headed out to the park. Jeremy finally finished his college classes so he had time to play with us and the kids. They loved having Daddy their to play with them instead of Mommy, who is too big to do much of anything right now.

Daddy put them both on the handicapped swing. I thought maybe the kids would be uncomfortable squished onto it but neither of them wanted off. In fact, we got a resounding "no!" from both when we asked if they were done.

A close up of the happy faces.
Matthew having fun down the slide.
Daddy made this slide look like so much fun that all the kids wanted to join in. Daddy tried to take just our kids down but the other kids at the playground jumped on too! Whoa kids, find your own dad!

Carving pumpkins

We carved a pumpkin on Halloween. I had been preparing the kids for weeks for this by reading pumpkin books, Halloween books, and a book where a kid helps his mom carve a pumpkin. Corinne and I had been practicing by pretending to scoop out the seeds by hand and dump them into a bowl. I thought we were ready. So, when Daddy starting carving the pumpkin and took the lid off, I thought the kids would want to shove their hands into the pumpkin and pull out all the guts.

Nope. Instead they just stood there and watched Mommy do all the dirty work. Neither of them even made an attempt to even touch a seed.

At least Matthew participated by telling Daddy what shape to make the eyes, nose and mouth. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. But don't be too disappointed--it really wasn't much to look at. I'll give you a quick description--triangle eyes, a circle nose and a mouth with triangle teeth that looked like a crown. Happy Halloween!