Announcing...

The arrival of William Frederick !  

I was totally amazed at:

10 pounds 4 oz.

21 inches long

born 7:57 am.

December 20, 2011

 

Welcome to the world Will!  I'm still trying to decide on a blog nick name.

Tomorrow!

Hi everyone!  Tomorrow's the big day when we welcome our newest baby boy into the family.  The C-section is scheduled for 7:30 am (Eastern time).  If anyone's awake at that time, I  would greatly appreciate your prayers.  This is my 4th and I'm a bit, OK a lot, nervous about it.  The last one wasn't all that much fun.
In Christ,
Kelly

I'll try to get pictures and stats updated ASAP, but I don't know if the hospital has wifi and I don't have an iphone.

9 more days!!!!

Ok, time to drive everyone crazy :)  We have our C-section scheduled for the morning of the 20th.  So, I only have 9 more days to go.  Actually 8 1/2 since it's getting later now.  Part of me is hugely relieved.  Part of me is a it sad. 

I can't wait to hold and snuggle and see this newest little one.  I'm sure he looks just like his brothers.  They're all clones of each other practically.  I'm anxious to move past the adhesion pain.  The hips, lower back, leg and sciatica pains have been driving me crazy lately.  And don't get me started with the bathroom trips ;)

And the questions!!!  "oh you must be having a girl" (as I go walking past with 3 boys).  "no?, well maybe the next one."  Are you going to have more?  You're having another one (complete with look of horror)?  You do know what causes that, right? You sure have your hands full!  So annoying, makes me want to hide until I give birth.

A part of me will really miss all the bumps, kicks, hiccups and rolls he's doing in me now.  I think this may be the last one (seriously this time), so I may never get to experience these feelings again.  I'm going to miss that.  I've even been able to feel something new with this one that I don't remember from the others.  I think I've been able to feel him "breathing".  When I'm really still and he's in a certain position, I can feel this fairly fast, rhythmical movement that really reminds me of breathing.  I know he's practicing, but it's strange being able to feel it. 

Either way, time marches on and there's nothing I can do to stop it even if I want to.  We're pretty much ready for his arrival.  I got the diapers and wipes the other day.  The clothes are washed.  The car seat, bouncy seats, swing and toys are all washed.  I even washed the bottles and nipples, though I hope and pray I don't need them.  I've started putting together a diaper bag for him and I guess now I need a list of what to bring to the hospital with me.  Coverage for the boys is lined up and we pretty much have Christmas figured out.  Everything is ordered or bought and should all be here this week.  I think hubby is going to do the wrapping this year, or we'll use the huge supply of gift bags we have :)  I just wish I could get rid of this sneaking suspicion that I've forgotten something...

Novermber 2011 Pack meeting

Our Tiger den led the flag ceremony at this month's pack meeting.  The boys did very well carrying those heavy flags :)  (that's Velcro Boy with the American Flag.  Look how proud he is...)

 The Tigers also did a presentation about the Thanksgiving craft that they made.  The kids brought handprints from their family members and wrote what they were thankful for.

Cubmaster had hiking beltloops to hand out as well as several others.

 

 

We also installed a few new denners...

The little things

Every since I started learning about Catholicism (~2007), I've always thought that God could be found best in the little things in life.  A baby's smile, a flower, the right parking space ;)  Well, you get the idea.  Then I found the saints.  Especially St. Therese de Lisieux.  She's "all about" the little stuff.  So much so, that I picked her to be my patron saint at Confirmation.  Or maybe she picked me...

Today we went to a different parish for Mass, hubby had to be at work early so we needed an earlier Mass.  So St. Therese de Lisieux church it was.  Being that the snowbirds are returning from the north, the churches are getting rather full lately and finding a "good" (non-crowded) seat is getting more difficult.  We ended up grabbing a more crowded pew than I would have liked and made the best of it.

Given that I'm 2 weeks (!!!!) away from my due date, temperature has been an issue lately.  Too warm and I feel like I'm going to pass out.  It was warm in the church today...  But just when I started to get that I'm-going-to-pass-out feeling, on comes the air conditioning.  Somehow I had ended up in the spot that the a/c blows on!  It got me through the rest of Mass fairly comfortably.

It struck me while I was sitting there that it had to be divine providence that put me in that exact spot and the air conditioning to top it all off.  So, the question becomes, was it God "showing off", or St. Therese "showering down blessings".  Either way, thanksgiving was offered up for the wonderful blessing and it reminded me to notice the little things in life.

Pack meeting ~ 10/29/11

They had a great pack meeting tonight.  Each of the dens  had to do a presentation of some kind.

My Bear brought some of his models to show off "show and tell"

My Tiger did a presentation on the food pyramid

Velcro Boy is farthest to the left

The Tigers recently took a trip to tour a fire station.  Cubmaster had a patch ready to present to each of them.

That's me!  One of a very few rare belly shots that anyone has captured.

Cub scout update

We had a semi-informal pack meeting on September 22nd.  my boys had already been busy completing their requirements...

Velcro Boy is a Tiger this year since he's "in" 1st grade.

The Tiger has to complete 15 requirements (5 in each of 3 categories) to  earn their Tiger badge.      They receive a bead for each requirement they complete,  here he is receiving some of his beads.  VB and I were busy over the summer, since I'm going to be pretty busy later this year and early next year, and he has so far earned 12 of  his requirements.

The Wolves and Bears also earn beads for the requirements they complete.    When The Professor earned his Wolf badge earlier this year, he finished  earning his yellow beads.   They earn 1 bead for every 3 requirements,  for a total of 12 requirements.   He and I were also busy this summer  and he has completed 9 of his 12 requirements, so he now has 3 red  beads earned toward his Bear badge. 

AAA Choo!

Sorry, everyone!  Just had to blow the dust of my blog.  Sorry for my long absence :(  Things have been crazy busy around here, and yet I have little to show for it.  Very few pictures and a to-do list the length of my arm.  How is it that you can work like crazy and not get anything done???

Well, I guess I *have* been doing something...gestating a baby!  The pregnancy is going great.  Healthy, active, growing baby and a healthy mom.  Three older kids that haven't killed each other or torn the house down and are generally happy and excited about their baby brother.  I guess that is a lot to show for the past several months ;)

The pregnancy has been going well.  All tests are normal, I even passed the glucose screening!  I've been having normal pregnancy "discomforts".  Frequent trips to the bathroom, lower back ache, hip ache, etc.  The biggest complaint this time around would be the nearly excruciating pain near my ribs and the corresponding location on my back.  After a very long discussion with my doctor, we've come to the conclusion that it's adhesions from prior surgery and 3 other c-sections.  Which means that there's nothing wrong.  Which also means that there's nothing he can do :(  I have to muddle through as best I can until Tiny is ready to come out.  This means lots of time resting on my left side (the only position to offer total relief) or sitting with my feet up .  Maybe that's why I'm not getting anything done!

Fortunately I only have 9 weeks and 5 days to go!  We have a c-section scheduled for December 20th, so at least I have an end-point to keep my eye on.  And I have a lot to offer up for the poor souls :)

I have a schooling update to post, hopefully I can get that up soon as well as a scouting update.

Giveaway!

They're hosting a great giveaway at Freely Educate http://www.freelyeducate.com/2011/10/giveaway-500-worth-of-science-ambooks-to-ten-winners-50-value-for-each-winner.html#comment-6a00e55098fdaf8833015435f816a4970c.  They're offering a great science program for a $50 value.  Check it out.

It's a ......

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if you can't tell, I'm over-the-moon happy about this!!!  All along I've thought this little one was a boy.  I already have been blessed with 3 others, what else could it possibly be?!? :)

Some pics...

This a cute little profile...

 His perfect little foot!  You can even count the toes :)  With all of the ultrasounds I've had with each of the boys, this is the first time I've gotten one of these shots!

Adorable little hand...again, you can count the fingers.

The tech almost wasn't able to tell the gender :(  Tiny just wouldn't cooperate, I guess he's just stubborn.  Must run in the family :)  She finally got a great shot of his you-know-what, but I'm going to respect his privacy (he he)

We got to see lots of this little guy.  At one point he even had his hand up behind his head, a familiar trademark of ALL of my guys :) 

Cub Scout Camp 2011

Earlier this month, The Professor went to a cub scout day camp.  Aside from the heat (80-90+ every day), he had a great time.  They made lots of projects, of course I only got pictures of a few things.  They did lots of activities, marshmallow guns through targets, water guns at each other, etc.  They even had a station called "concoctions".  They made slime, homemade pasta (red), scrambled eggs (green) and ice cream!  Here are some of the projects he came home with...

Windchimes!

They decorated a canvas bag, his is a plane, of course. :)

a pinwheel...

Believe it or not, this is a kite!  Also decorated with planes :)  

The green strings are the kite strings.

Overall he had lots of fun.  This was followed up with a ballgame, movie and sleepover at the local minor league baseball ballpark.  He did this with his dad, I'm so not a sleep-on-the-ground person :)

The Professor's First Communion Part 2

After the Mass, we had family back to the house.  Unfortunately, some were not able to make it due to illness and others were out of town, so it ended up being a small gathering.

The cake...

The Professor's Nana made him a bagful of stuff.  She typed up and framed his favorite scripture and his favorite Psalm.

I was looking around for cake ideas, and I came across a link to an Etsy shop that sells Lego Rosaries!  I *knew* he would love one, and I was right!!!!  He really looks forward to prayer-time now.

My favorite gift of all (even better than the reaction to the Rosary), was a spiritual bouquet my MIL gave him from her lay Carmelite community.  Those wonderful people have offered so many Masses, holy hours, Chaplets, Rosaries, etc I couldn't believe it.  When I asked her when all of these had started being offered, she said "about a month ago".  I was flabbergasted!  The conversion in his attitude and some things that had been happening around here that just stopped out of the clear blue was amazing.  It was an incredible witness to the power of prayer that continues to move me to this day.

It was such a blessed day.  It's wonderful to see the changes that have come to The Professor in just the short time since he began to receive Jesus.

The Professor's First Communion

In a beautiful Mass (what Mass isn't beautiful???) about 6 weeks ago The Professor received his First Communion. We've been rather busy since then, so I apologize for not getting pictures up sooner.


He's in the second row, second from the end. As you can see, the church (huge, BTW) was overpacked.  The pews were shoulder to shoulder with kids on laps.  People were standing two or three deep.  More were there for this than Midnight Mass or the Easter Vigil!


Just HAD to fix his jacket during the homily!!!!!!!!!!!


Second row, the one with the glasses :)


I believe the question was :Who wants to go to Heaven?




Not mine, but I thought this was funny.  Mom came chasing this kid down for across the church and the look says, "Awww, mom.  This is so not cool!" ha ha!


He's on the right.







These photos were all taken by the parish's photographer, so I hold no claim to them at all.

Introducing....

Tiny!!!!  We still don't know the gender, nor do we have a name picked out, but we do have a nickname :)  I had an ultrasound last week and thought I would share!

In this one you can see his hand up near his face toward the left and the legs are toward the right.

In about the same position, his hand is toward mid-body.

Back in May, when I was 7 weeks along I had another ultrasound done and forgot to post the pictures.  After this ultrasound we were calling the baby "dot".