I thought this was a timely post since I had recently noticed how much more common the name Harper seems to be in the past couple years. Harper - as a girl's name - is one Cory and I had considered since my pregnancy with Accalia. Author Harper Lee was our inspiration. We were still contemplating it during my pregnancy with Tylan, but for whatever reason it just has never felt like the right choice. I wonder if now it's going to become rather common.

I think our kids' names will be a mix of the more common and more unique. I've never met or heard of another Accalia, although Myron says he heard a parent calling a child Accalia when we were at Disneyworld in 2002. Cole's pretty darn common, although I suppose that also depends on the part of the country you are in. Ella's somewhat common. I've never met another Ella around here, but I hear the name mentioned often with small children in the blogosphere. Tylan, I suspect won't be too common. While researching it a bit during my pregnancy, most references came up as boy's names and most were spelled Tylen.

I suppose we could keep Harper in contention if there were a baby #5, but I'm ready to be finished. Four seems to be what I can handle, and that's on the good days...

I've been trying to find a few minutes for the past couple days to sit down and blog, but it just hasn't happened.

Friday morning was a happy one because we were able to pick up the van, although it wasn't very nice to pay the nearly $500 for the repairs. It turned out there were a bunch of little things - tune up type repairs - that needed to be done in order to get the van running well again. We still have a couple belts that need to be replaced, and we'll try to get that taken care of before our Christmas travels.

Friday morning was also the first time Cole went to the art studio that Accalia has been taking classes at for the past few years. He recently started asking if he could go, so now he's going along with Accalia. He loved it, and Lita (the owner) was very impressed with his focus and intensity.

Cory worked all three days over the weekend, but they were relatively short shifts so we saw a lot more of him than we usually do. Saturday morning was the first Saturday in well over a month that we didn't have to get up to do anything. No soccer games, LLL meetings, etc. So we took it easy and Cory got our camper ready for the winter. Hopefully next year we'll get more than just one camping trip out of it! Saturday was the day that the new Discovery Bridge spanning the Missouri River and connecting Yankton with Nebraska was dedicated. We didn't attend the dedication ceremony, but we did drive over the new bridge just like most locals were doing. I was supposed to hold the monthly LLL meeting on Saturday, but the library is closed for at least a couple weeks to have new carpet and a new circulation desk installed. I guess the other thing that happened on Saturday was a trip to Goodwill with Cole, Ella, Tylan and myself. I initially wanted to find a winter dress or two for Accalia, but that didn't happen. I did find a couple things for Tylan, though, as well as a new ballet skirt for Accalia, some books, and an assortment of games and puzzles.

Sunday was supposed to be the fire station open house, but that was postponed. I think it was probably because of the weather and the forecast for rain, but it didn't end up raining until the night. It was a pretty relaxing day overall since Cory had Monday off (Native American Day), so there wasn't a bunch of rushing around or going to bed early for him.

Yesterday was a full day, which we had planned since Cory would be home. I took Tylan and went to my 8-week postpartum checkup. Everyone at the office wanted to see Tylan, which is something of a bonus of going to a smaller clinic where everyone remembers you. Everything is fine with me as far as Dr. M could see. I've lost 30 of the 50 pounds I gained during Tylan's pregnancy. I guess we'll see how it goes with those final 20. I haven't actually done anything yet to intentionally lose weight and I never have with pregnancy weight, but I have a feeling it won't be that easy this time.

In the afternoon, Cole and I took Tylan for her well child visit (she's 8 weeks today), and everything is looking good for her, too. She now weighs 11 pounds, 9 ounces (in the 90th percentile and about a 2 1/2 pound gain over 6 weeks) and is 22 inches long (in the 50th percentile and a one inch gain). Over the past couple weeks Ella has developed a case of baby acne on her face, which none of the other kids have ever had as infants. Apparently it usually starts at 4-6 weeks and may last for several months. Her doctor said that babies who develop baby acne are more likely to develop acnes as teenagers. I haven't checked that out, though, to see if that's actually the case. It doesn't see to bother Tylan, so at this point it's just a cosmetic issue. Poor thing.

Accalia had ballet later in the day and has gymnastics today. So far today we've made trips to the bank and to the grocery store. I have a couple packages ready to mail later today. That's about it for running around. The biggest challenge lately seems to be trying to maintain harmony in the home, especially between Cole and Ella. Accalia and Cole never had these problems getting along, but it's another story with Cole and Ella lately. It's basically Ella wanting to be included and Cole wanting to play alone. It doesn't help that Cole and Ella have such similar personalities and energy. Lots of clashes lately. It could be an interesting winter if we aren't able to find strategies to help.

So last night absolutely sucked. Completely. It started when I went to get Cole from tumbling. At first the van wouldn't start, and then it did and there was a weird smell. So I had Cory run to get Cole, which was not fun since Cory had to eat quit and get to work. Since the van is overdue for an oil change, I asked Cory if I should just run out to get the oil changed just in case that was a problem, and he said sure. So we went to Wal-Mart since their tire/oil express department is open until after 8 p.m. They told me it would take 45 minutes to an hour. Nearly an hour later my name was called and I walked back only to be told that they hadn't been able to start the van!

That really wasn't the best news to hear at any time, but especially not with a baby waking up and starting to fuss, a 2-year-old and 6-year-old getting pretty close to crankiness, and a 9-year-old complaining about being hungry. So, since there was nothing they could do, I first called Cory at work and told him what happened. We would have been able to keep the van at Wal-Mart overnight and have it towed in the morning, so I first tried calling the Yankton Transit Service (a fleet of mini buses), but apparently they close at 4:30. Then I tried calling a cab, but they closed at 6:30. Yeah, 24 hour public transportation is not something that happens in a small town. So then I could think of only two people who had vehicles large enough to give us a ride home. No luck getting in touch. So I went out to the van and tried starting it. It started. So I figured I'd get us all home and worry about getting it to a shop in the morning.

Well, I made it about a mile from Wal-Mart when the van died and I was able to pull over to the side of the road. I called Cory, who called back with a tow truck number after getting back from a delivery. So I called and about 20 minutes later the tow truck was there. Cory was able to come and get us and squeeze us all into his car on his way to a delivery. In retrospect, I should have left the van at Wal-Mart, not even chancing that drive and had Cory come right away even though it wasn't the safest of driving circumstances.

Now the van is at the repair shop and I hope to hear back from the mechanic today about what is wrong. Please let it be minor and inexpensive and able to be repaired quickly! This has just been a really crappy year for our vehicles.

The good news is that the kids and I are warm and cozy at home with plenty of food to eat, things to do, etc. Right now the kids are dancing to Halloween music and have been doing things like coloring and creating Halloween/autumn images to decorate the house.

Oh my gosh, I'm tired. Two late nights in a row having nothing to do with Tylan. It's all about Ella. That girl CAN NOT nap. Ever again.

Oh Ella, Ella, Ella. Some days I think it would actually be easier to have two newborns right now rather than my almost three-year-old. I'm sure it's exhausting to deal with it all. At least that's how it feels lately. It's everything from how she's interacting with her siblings (and how they do with her), her frequent uses of words such as "mine" and "No!", her being so close to wanting to use the toilet but refusing to do so, and about a million other things that are all perfectly normal for this age. Did I mention, though, that I'm tired and don't want to have to deal with any of it?

So far there hasn't been anything too spectacular going on this week. Just dance, dance, dance. Cole's all ready for tumbling in a couple hours. Tomorrow I have my first haircut since Tylan was born, and I'll be bringing the little darling with me, hoping she'll either be zonked out in her car seat the entire time or just stare lovingly at me while I hurry the stylist along.

And that is about it. I really need to take care of the dishes now that Cole has moved his elaborate play area from right in front of the dishwasher.

Both soccer games went well yesterday. Cole scored three goals!

Today is overcast. It rained a tiny bit earlier in the day. The next couple days are supposed to be rainy, and that makes me happy. I'm really ready to just hole up in the house for a few days. I'm not sure why I'm feeling like this, but maybe we've just been out and about too much lately. I'd also really like a day or two without the neighbor girls here. They've both been here this weekend, and usually at least one is gone at their dad's. It's starting to feel like summer again when they were around constantly and hardly ever gave the kids a break from their presence. They were over this morning by 9 a.m. before Accalia or Cole were even awake. They don't seem to be in very good moods today either. Actually, they're usually rather cranky since school started.

The kids and I have been putting up Halloween decorations this weekend. Cole isn't quite satisfied that our house is spooky enough, though. There's a bed and breakfast a block away that has gone all out, and that's what Cole is trying to do here.

Okay, Ella's upset now after stumbling outside and I might try to tackle some LLL correspondence that I don't want to tackle.

Tomorrow morning are the last soccer games of the fall for Accalia and Cole. I need to get myself and Cole to bed. Lately Cole has resisted doing pretty much everything until the very last moment. It makes for a big rush at the end when he decides to put on his pjs, go to the bathroom, etc. It's not just at bedtime either. I'm not sure if this is just a phase or if it's a part of his personality that's becoming more prominent.

Speaking of phases, Ella is going through one that has driven me nuts with the older two as well - dumping things out. I'll have just picked up all of the legos or the blocks or whatever, and Ella will come along and dump everything out. For the longest time all Ella wanted to do was to put things away in their containers. I remember when Cole would do this by finding the largest container he could and emptying out the contents of all of the smaller containers. We put up our stack of puzzles when he was going through this, too, because he'd just dump out all of the pieces at once. I remember Accalia doing this while I was pregnant with Cole, and her favorite thing was to take all of our DVDS and videotapes and put them in a huge pile.

Other than those minor annoyances, things are fine. Still tired and relying too much on caffeine to keep going, but I often forget, too, that Tylan is just six weeks old. It feels as if she's been around much, much longer. The chaos of our house is driving me crazy, but I'm honestly at a complete loss as to where I should even start.

Anyway, I'm tired and know I'll be the one rushing around getting everyone ready in the morning, so I'd better sign off.

It's yet another day of being fueled by caffeine. I'm starting to feel rather sleep deprived, but my sleep at night really isn't bad at all. I could benefit from going to bed a little earlier and waking up a little later, but that's not necessarily going to happen with four kids who all vary a bit in their sleep routines.

I paid bills - most of them - this morning. Yuck.

The kids and I went out this afternoon and bought Halloween costumes. For the past couple years, they've just been using whatever we have at home since we have a variety of things to choose from, but this year they were really eager to get something new. Accalia really wants to be Hannah Montana. While she enjoys watching the show every once in a while, she's by no means a rapid Hannah fan. I think the older neighbor girl said she wants to be Hannah Montana for Halloween, so that's what prompted this wish. Cole is going as Spiderman (the black one), and Ella wants to be a princess. I'm going to have to exchange her costume, though, because the Tinkerbell costume she picked out (okay, not technically a princess) is a 3T/4T but doesn't even cover her butt. Tylan is going to be wearing a shirt that says "I love my mummy", and that'll have everyone set for the festivities.

Cole has tumbling in a few minutes (switching to a class with older boys) and then soccer practice later on. I'd better get going, I guess!

So let's say that your child has stayed home from school (or another activity) or come home from school/activity because of sickness. Now, would you let that child go over to a friend's house to play? I wouldn't, but apparently the neighbor mom doesn't feel the same. A little after 1 p.m. the doorbell rang and it was the older neighbor girl. She was only too happy to announce that she wasn't at school because she was sick and that her mom wouldn't let her go outside until she took medicine and could Accalia and Cole play and could she hold Tylan? Oh, and could she play inside? She didn't seem sick, but maybe she has a bit of a cold or had an upset stomach or something. Still, if you're sick enough to stay home from something, don't come over and spread those germs around us! That's really thoughtless of the mom IMO.

Other than that, today was a busy day with Cole's tumbling class (he loved) and Accalia's gymnastics class (she loved). Apparently all of my children love that dance studio and the teachers. Ella started crying when we left so Cole's class could start, and Tylan was held by two of the instructors and couldn't stop smiling and cooing.

It feels as if we've been out of the house more than in it today, which isn't a bad thing. It just means that nothing has gotten done and it really needs to get down. I'd be horrified to have visitors in this house right now.

While there are many things we miss by living in a small town (around 13,000) like Yankton, we definitely don't miss large amounts of violent crime. Unfortunately, that happened here Sunday afternoon when a 58 year old man allegedly (he called 911 to report the shooting and confess) shot and killed three people at an apartment complex. One of the victims lived in the same complex as the shooter, and the other two were friends of the one. The man apparently was waiting for them as they got off the elevator and shot them each multiple times. There are rumors that this was all because of the one victim playing loud music. The other two victims were planning to be married on Monday, and now they're reporting that one of the victims was pregnant. In a town the size of Yankton, it's hard to have something like this happen and not be affected personally. The one victim who lived in the complex was the son of Cory's boss at the community mental health center when he worked there.

So that seems to be what's on everyone's mind around here. In the meantime, life goes on for the rest of us as normal. That apparently means I'm going to bed increasingly late and waking up earlier and earlier. Last night was horrible with Ella. I'm not sure what was going on, but she went to bed rather early and woke up crying every half hour or so. I brought her downstairs, which didn't help, and finally took her back up. She was past the waking and crying for the rest of the night but was still up frequently.

Yesterday we went over to visit friends in the morning and to meet their new guinea pig. Accalia and Cole have decided we need a guinea pig now. Accalia had her first ballet class of the new year, and this morning Cole has his first tumbling class. Then Accalia has gymnastics later today. Monday and Tuesday are the dance studio days around here.

I guess I should try to get myself, Ella and Tylan ready since we're up.

Tylan is starting to become more interested (for very short periods of time) in things other than just nursing and sleeping. When she wakes up for one of her alert periods, she'll actively seek me out to coo at and smile at and try to see if anyone else is nearby. She smiles at Cory and the other kids, too. Her fussy periods in the evening are also becoming less frequent. It's not as if they last very long (usually), and I've been through this with three other children all around the same age. It's just nice to see that she's moving past whatever developmental phase is causing it all.

Yesterday evening Ella had her first bee sting - first of any of the kids - and was not a happy camper. Thankfully she didn't see to have any sort of bad reaction to it, although I've heard that it's the second sting that usually is when a bad reaction will appear. She had been outside with the other kids and came inside crying. I could see a red spot right below her eye and saw something black sticking out. At first I thought she may have gotten a little thorn stuck in her skin, but we quickly figured out it was a bee stinger.

Tomorrow Cole is the only one having a soccer game. Accalia's was postponed until Thursday because there was a lack of referees. Cole's age group doesn't use referees, so he's good to go. Next week is the final week for fall soccer. I'm assuming both kids will want to sign up again in the spring since they both enjoyed it so much.

Okay, time to get ready for bed so I'll be able to get up in the morning!

In the early afternoon, I could tell that there were several things going on that would quickly lead me to be a very cranky person.
1) It was a rather warm and humid day, and without the air on I was getting very uncomfortable.
2) The living room needed vacuuming and the kitchen and dining room floors needed sweeping because one of the kids had tracked in some sand.
3) There was an electronic game hiding somewhere that was turned on and beeping and I couldn't find it.
4) I really, really wanted an iced coffee but hadn't gotten one in the morning as originally planned (in my mind).

So, I closed up the house and turned on the air. Then I vacuumed and swept. Then I found that damn game beeping in a closet underneath a pile of board games. Then I changed Tylan's diaper, piled the kids into the van and went to get that iced coffee. Isn't it nice when you decide to take those simple steps to turn around your mood rather than just letting it grow darker and darker? I know I'm guilty of sometimes not wanting to take that time or use that energy and would rather stew in whatever negative energy is swirling around.

In fact, sometimes lately I feel as if I'm much, much too negative - sometimes out loud and sometimes just in my mind. So, as a way to turn that around, I'm going to list one lovely thing about each of my children that happened today:

Accalia - Today she bought something that she'd been saving up for and let Ella play with it for a while when she really wanted to have it all to herself.

Cole - There were a couple flies buzzing around the house, and Cole killed both of them with a fly swatter. Then he left them on the floor and stood watch because he thought the dead flies would attract any other flies that might come to try to rescue them. I love how his mind works.

Ella - Whenever she gets out of the van, she always stops to plant a kiss on Tylan's head and say "hiya!" as she passes by.

Tylan - She's starting to grab things with her hands in that flailing, lucky to have made the connection newborn way, and she'll grab onto me when I shift her around. I love how snuggly that feels.

It's getting late and I should eventually start getting ready for bed, I guess.

Thought I'd post a quick update while the three older kids are watching a DVD and Tylan is sleeping in the sling.

We had a very nice weekend in Mankato and made it back Monday (my 32nd birthday). It was a busy weekend as usual with lots of time spent with the cousins. There are also two girls that live across the street from my parents, and they come over to play when the kids are there. On Saturday, eleven of the grandchildren on the Eibs' side had their picture taken, and we all actually survived! It was quite the crowd.

Tylan did a pretty good job of traveling. It was easier on the way home when we left in the morning and traveled during the time of day where she's usually napping more. Even though Tylan still sleeps the majority of the time, she's definitely past the immediate newborn phase of falling asleep no matter where she is. If she's been awake and alert, she wants to be walked around in the sling to fall asleep. Kind of hard to do driving in the van!

Yes, at five weeks old Tylan already seems so big in some ways. She's outgrown the newborn sizes of her diaper covers and the few pieces of clothing she had in that size. When she wants to stand up, she'll stiffen her body as if she's trying to stand up herself until I hold her up. Then she'll try to bounce with her feet so I move her up and down.

So much to do at home and I'm once again far behind on emails. Cory is working a lot this week and weekend, so I won't have the luxury of a second adult around much of the time to help out with the things I'm behind on. There's not a lot going on this week. Both Accalia and Cole have soccer practice, Accalia has art, and only Cole has a soccer game this weekend. Next week classes at the dance studio start up for Accalia and Cole.

We need to pack today for our trip to Mankato, and I'm really not that excited about the task. I'm sure it will go more quickly than I imagine. We're not leaving until later in the afternoon tomorrow, too, so we won't have to rush around in the morning. Look at me, I'm trying to psych myself up!

Cole has soccer practice tonight, and Cory will be around for that. So he'll either take Cole by himself or we'll all go and hang out at the soccer fields. We may end up doing that just so I can take a break from the neighbor girls. It's better now that they're in school and have to go in earlier, but spending the day in school doesn't always help out their moods. I think it would make a big difference if they came home from school and just sat inside their own house for a little bit, relaxing, having a snack, etc. That usually doesn't happen unless the older one has homework to do before she can go outside. Otherwise they rush out the second they come home.

Accalia had a soccer game on Tuesday, so the kids and I headed to that since Cory had counseling appointments. An old acquaintance from LLL was also there since her daughter was playing on the other team. We hadn't seen each other in more than a year, so it was nice to catch up. She has a new baby, too - a four-month-old girl.

Tylan has fallen back to sleep now so I'm going to try to get a shower in if she can stay asleep for a few minutes.

Tylan has been in a very conversational mood today. Normally her noises are more of the "I'm hungry, I'm tired, I want my brother or sister to stop kissing my head" grunting variety, but when she's awake and alert and content, she'll just stare at you and almost perfectly mimic a conversational tone of voice and make sounds that are similar to "hi". The other kids love that. Cole is just eager for her to do new things. When I mentioned today that Tylan is four weeks old, Cole asked if she'd start crawling next week.

Yesterday I was knocked down by the same stomach virus that Accalia had Sunday afternoon/night. I woke up early in the morning and just knew I was going to be sick. Thankfully it's a fairly fast moving virus, and the worst of it (the vomiting) only lasts 4-5 hours. I was so tired, though, and could barely stay awake when I wasn't running to the bathroom or changing a diaper or getting food for someone. I called Cory around noon to see if he could come home early (first time I've ever done that), and he was able to get home within a couple hours. It would have been sooner but he still had to do rounds before heading out. So once he got home, I took Tylan and headed upstairs to sleep for a couple hours. That helped so much, and I was actually able to keep food down by the end of the day. I just really hope that Cole and Cory stay healthy and that everyone is in good shape for our weekend in Mankato.

Mel, a big duh from me for not even thinking of trying out boys jeans on Ella! I dug out a couple old pairs of Cole's and they fit almost perfectly! So that's taken care of.

I'm trying to catch up on laundry and especially getting it put away. Accalia has a soccer game tonight, but Cory won't be able to make it since he has appointments.

While there always seem to be reasons to not be satisfied with life, I'm counting my blessings and holding them close to me. A woman I've worked with in LLL over the past few years lost her husband to a massive heart attack. I'm not sure of her husband's age, but I'm assuming it's the about the same as hers (late 30s, early 40s).

Thankfully, our lives have been pretty uneventful over the weekend. Yesterday the kids were so excited to see a huge, double rainbow in the afternoon. Today, while Cory was working just a few hours at the pizza place, we dropped in so his boss could meet Tylan. Apparently she's been asking quite often about being able to see the baby. Later in the afternoon, as we were getting ready to all go together to pick up a few groceries, Accalia declared that her stomach hurt and she felt like throwing up. So Cory stayed at home with her (she loves it to be just the two of them because they sit and play video games together), and I took the other three to get a few groceries. Accalia did indeed throw up and has continued over the course of the evening. She's been in bed since around 7 p.m.

Now I think I'll see about getting Cole, Tylan and myself to bed.

It was another busy Saturday morning. Cole had a soccer game at 9 a.m. and Accalia at 10:15 a.m. It had rained for part of the night and I wasn't sure if they would want to play games on the wet fields, but the fields were full when we arrived. I was only able to see Cole's game because I had to leave for La Leche League. Ella (and Tylan, of course) came with me while Cole and Cory cheered Accalia's team on. Two mothers attended the meeting, including one whose fourth baby arrived on Cole's birthday (Sept. 3).

Cory works for a bit today. Accalia and Cole have been outside playing with the older neighbor girl for much of the afternoon. I think tonight we're probably just going to hang out and watch a movie.

I'm still on a quest to find a pair of jeans that will actually fit Ella. I found a place online that sells jeans that fit over cloth diapers and should be roomier than the slim jeans every other store seems to sell, but unfortunately the size Ella needs was out of stock. I usually don't even bother looking for jeans for Ella since she's never fit into them as an infant or toddler, but on Saturday in Mankato all of the grandchildren on my side of the family are getting their picture taken together, and my younger brother suggested all of the kids were blue jeans and white shirts. Sure, that sounds simple enough, doesn't it? It's not as if Ella is abnormally large. She's definitely more solid than any of my other kids and doesn't have the tiny thighs or bottoms that they do. I may have found a pair from Kmart that will work, but I have to exchange the pair I bought to see if a larger size will be okay. Ella fits into a 3T for the length, but this particular brand has 3T fitting 28-33 pounds, which is way too slim for Ella. Ella's about 37 pounds right now.

Yesterday turned out to be rather eventful for both Cory and myself. A while before Accalia had soccer practice, the kids and I decided to head to the store to look for dress shoes for Cole and Accalia. About half a mile from the store, Ella started throwing up all over herself and her car seat. Of course I didn't even have wipes in the van (since I'm apparently extremely organized), but I managed to get Ella stripped of her clothes and cleaned up, and we headed back home. Over the course of the next few hours, Ella threw up three more times. I have no clue what was causing her to be so sick, but it only lasted for that time and then she was fine.

Since I really didn't want to take Ella to soccer practice if I could help it, I tried to call Cory to see if he could come home early, but he wasn't answering his cell phone. Turns out he had it off because he was in the middle of doing a cell entry with an inmate who was on suicide watch but somehow had a razor and was cutting all over himself. Cory didn't actually enter the cell but left that up to the guards who were in riot gear and used a shield to knock the inmate down. Apparently there hasn't been a cell entry in the past eight years at that prison.

Anyway, the kids and I took Accalia to soccer practice. Ella fell asleep right away. I drove to get an iced coffee for myself and an ice cream cone for Cole, and we drove back to the park to sit in the van and talk while Accalia practiced and Ella and Tylan snoozed. At least that part of the day was relaxing.

Still haven't gotten around to shoe shopping, but maybe we'll do that tomorrow. Cole has soccer practice in the evening as long as it's not raining.

More pictures of the kids...






Yesterday I woke up feeling so achy, but I don't think I'm getting sick. I think I just slept in a really poor position. I shouldn't complain about our nights at all, though. If I didn't get up to change Tylan's diaper once during the night, I probably wouldn't get up at all. She'll stir when she wants to nurse or shift positions, but at this point I don't have to get out of bed with her because she's wide awake or fussy. Of course, that will change in an instant.

Tylan has had some fussy evenings lately, and last night Accalia kept asking what was wrong. I explained that even if the diaper's dry, the belly's full, etc., sometimes babies will just cry a little bit. Once I had Tylan back in the sling and moving around, she was out almost instantly. Tylan does seem to be a rather gassy baby and spits up a bit more than Ella or Accalia did, so that might cause her some discomfort every now and then.

The other kids are doing great. The majority of the adjusting that Ella has been going through seems to have been taken care of within the past week. Not that she doesn't still have her moments, but one day last week she woke up and was back to her old self with much less clinging and whining. We'll see if this continues.

Accalia has soccer practice tonight, and we have a few errands to run, but that's about it for today. I've been feeling extremely unmotivated, although I did catch up on all thank you's that needed to be written.

Tylan's awake and not interested in sitting still at the computer, so I'm going to get moving.

Today was the first Saturday morning of soccer games for the fall season. Cole had a 9 a.m. game, and Accalia had a 10:15 a.m. game. It was pretty cool for Cole's game - around 50 degrees - but it was fun watching all of the little ones running around trying to remember the correct goal towards which to kick the ball. It was warmer by Accalia's game - around 60 degrees - and Accalia seemed to have a lot of fun even though she didn't get a whole lot of time on the field. The kids will have games at the same time next Saturday, and there will be a total of three practices during the week.

This afternoon were tryouts for The Nutcracker, which Accalia had been looking forward to for a while. We got there at the time her age group was supposed to be trying out, and the school (tryouts were at the middle school) was filled with dancers of all ages. As we registered, one lady told us they were running about a half hour behind schedule. But, after sitting around for about an hour, we finally heard them calling for the age group that was supposed to try out about three hours before. We hung around for another half hour, sitting around with friends, before Accalia was accidentally hit in the mouth with a friend's knee. She had a bloody mouth, started crying and eventually decided she didn't want to sit around and wait another couple hours to try out, so we left. I don't blame her for not wanting to wait that long. I wonder if it runs that far behind every time or if this was out of the ordinary.

Ella needs a diaper change and has started screaming about something, so I need to stop.

Life is absolutely crazy right now. There's not enough time to get anything done, it seems, which is probably why our house looks like it's ready to host several archeological digs. We're all doing fairly well, though, and continuing to slowly adjust to Tylan's arrival. It feels like a tough adjustment to me. It's not that it's hard adjusting to caring for a newborn again, although it's certainly quite time consuming. It's just really hard trying to balance the needs of three other children, especially a two-year-old who definitely has her moments of showing she's having a rather rough time. It's much easier when Cory is at home and there's one of us who can fully devote ourselves to Ella (being able to carry her without a baby in the sling is a big one, it seems). It makes envy those families where both partners are at home!

Since I blogged last Friday, there have been a few things going on. The weekend was kind of a wash with Cory working so much. I guess the highlight would have been the kids and I having another movie night and watching the newest Little Mermaid movie out on dvd. They really enjoyed that.

Cory was home on Monday because of the holiday, and the most I remember from that was doing the grocery shopping. Oh, we also finished watching last season of Prison Break so we could watch this season's premiere on Monday, so that was our big accomplishment.

Tylan had her two-week check up with the pediatrician on Tuesday and is doing great. She weighs 8 lbs. 12 oz. (gained nearly a pound since leaving the hospital) and is 21 inches long (1 inch gain).

Yesterday was Cole's 6th birthday. He wanted to go up to Sioux Falls for the day, so we also got a chance to see how Tylan would travel on a longer trip. She did great, and I hope she does fairly well when we travel to Mankato in a couple weeks. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, and the older kids and Cory had a blast. Then we caught a matinee of Wall*E, which we all really liked. After that, we went to Toy R Us because there was something there that Cole wanted to spend his birthday money on. It was a really nice birthday for Cole, and I think we were all exhausted by the end of it.

Soccer is starting up this week for Accalia and Cole. Accalia had her first practice on Tuesday, and Cole has his tonight. Both kids have games on Saturday morning, but thankfully they're at different times. Accalia also has try outs for the Nutcracker Ballet Saturday afternoon. I was really hoping Cory wouldn't be working yet so he could keep Cole and Ella with him, but that's not going to happen.

Still have to get pictures off the camera. I'll try to do that soon.

Today definitely didn't start off too great, and it ended up taking more than half the day before everyone seemed to be in decent moods. Ella was just miserable for most of the morning, crying about nearly every thing that happened. I battled a near migraine most of the day, too, which definitely didn't enhance any patience I had. We've all survived, though, and are in much better moods.

Cory is working tonight, the kids had about two hours of play with the neighbors, and now everyone is either watching videos (Accalia and Cole), walking around wearing a backpack and tiara (Ella) or sleeping in the sling (Tylan). I've been doing some straightening up since I basically just sat around most of the day.

Monday will be Cory's last day at home, and that makes me sad. It's been so nice having him around so much, and it's not even because of the help he gives around the house or with the kids. We normally don't have very much time at all just to hang out and relax together, so we've been doing things like trying to watch the past season of Prison Break before the new season starts.

So Cory will go back to work on Tuesday, but he'll take Wednesday off since that's Cole's birthday. We're going up to Sioux Falls to Chuck E. Cheese and then to see Wall*E at the cheap theater.

That's about it from here. I'll try to post more pictures soon.

August is a very busy month as far as birthdays and anniversaries go among our friends and family, and with Tylan's arrival in the thick of it all I'm afraid I've neglected to send birthday and anniversary wishes to many people. I should manage to do better next year, though. Cory and I celebrated our 11th anniversary last Saturday, and by celebrating I mean it was good that we even remembered it this year. Yesterday would have been Mary's 62nd birthday.

Things are going fine. It's just busy, busy, busy adjusting to life with four children and trying to function on less sleep and still recover from childbirth. I suppose once you've had four children most people just figure it's rather run of the mill and easy enough to adjust to compared with welcoming your first baby. It is in some ways, I suppose. Actually, caring for newborn Tylan is a breeze. It's making sure the other three have their needs met and don't feel left out or overshadowed by their new sibling that is more difficult.

At nine days old, Tylan is certainly more aware than she was at the start, and the kids appreciate that little bit. They love that she'll turn toward them when she hears their voices and that she'll try to focus on their faces. I explained to them that newborns usually can't focus beyond a foot at the most during the first month or two (and then it still might be rather blurry), so Cole has been carrying around a ruler so he knows how far away a foot is when he's near Tylan. I love that when Tylan wakes up and sees me that she gets this look on her face that comes pretty close to contentment. She's also trying out that voice of hers more with lots of little coos and grunts. Other than a fussy period last night that lasted about an hour, she's been a happy and content baby so far.

Accalia and Cole are always very excited when 3:30 rolls around and the neighbor girls show up. For the most part, they've been getting along well, although I definitely notice that the girls are more tired and less patient with each other after a day at school. Thankfully they go inside at 7:30 to get ready for bed, so they usually go inside before they're too tired and cranky with everyone.

Both Ella and I are worn out today. She's napping right now, so she's definitely tired. She's been up too early two days in a row, and that's left us both dragging. Hopefully tonight will be one that requires very little from me. Thankfully Cory will be home tonight, too.

Just writing this down for the baby book.

- Tylan's cord stump fell off sometime during the night of the 24th/morning of the 25th.
- Had a short baptism ceremony for Tylan on the 25th while my parents were here since we won't get back to Mankato and our church until late September.

You know, it's hard enough getting enough sleep all of the time with a newborn, but last night we had the fun of discovering a bat flying around upstairs. That definitely cut out any extra sleep we may have gotten. We're not actually sure where it went, but Cory thinks it got trapped in the guest room. Our plan last night was to call animal control this morning, but I don't know if that's what we'll still do. I'm putting in a call to the pediatrician about whether we should be checked out or do anything since this bat probably was flying around while the kids were sleeping. No visible marks on the kids and I rather doubt the bat actually landed on anyone, but I'm a little paranoid, especially with a newborn in the house.

My parents arrived yesterday around 5 p.m. and left today around 1 p.m. So, it was a short trip, but it was very nice having them here. The older kids loved it because Grandma and Grandpa took them for walks and to the park and did all of those energetic running around things that I am not quite up to doing yet. Unfortunately Cory worked almost the entire time they were here except for a couple hours this morning.

Things have been going well, although I can tell I've been up and doing too much. I'm really looking forward to this week and having Cory home except for whatever pizza shifts he'll work. Tomorrow I think we're all going to try a short grocery shopping trip. I haven't left the house since we got home from the hospital on Wednesday, and I'm looking forward to getting out. Hopefully shopping with four children won't be too horrible the first time out.

Tylan continues to be most excellent at all of the things newborns do - eating, sleeping, etc. Today she gave one of those involuntary giggles while asleep, which was very cute. The other kids can't get enough of her yet, and Accalia is always asking if it's time to change her diaper. Wonder how long that will last...I can still tell that Ella's having the hardest time, but that only seems to come out when she's tired. All three kids are really tired today since they had to get up early to be awake for Grandma and Grandpa.

As promised, here are more pictures:

So obviously sleep deprivation is making it difficult for me to completely answer simple questions such as name pronounciation. Sorry, Mel. Tylan's name would be said as tie-luhn.

Unfortunately Cory had to work tonight, so the kids and I have been on our own since a little before 6 p.m. The older three are all finally asleep, but of course Tylan is waking up a bit after a pretty sleepy day. Putting Ella to sleep without the ability to completely focus on her continues to be the most difficult part of this transition for both of us, but I'm confident (when I'm less tired) that it will all work itself out.

Thank you all for the congratulations! We've had a couple people ask how Tylan's name is pronounced - something I hadn't even thought about there being multiple pronounciations - and for those wondering it's a long i with Ty (as in tie your shoes).

We're doing fairly well on day three of having a newborn. Tired but good. I can definitely tell the difference in neediness with the second youngest child being 4-5 months younger than we've usually had when a new baby has arrived. It's a bit more challenging at night with Ella since she doesn't want to accept Cory's comforting if she wakes up, but it's usually easy enough to nurse her (that's usually what she wants) as long as Tylan doesn't start crying. Ella usually wants to nurse whenever she sees Tylan nursing, but that's what the other kids did, too, and I'm sure that will die down after a while.

Tylan continues to be a pretty laid back baby other than not always taking to diaper or clothing changes. For the past two nights, I've attempted to go to sleep early - 9:30ish - when it seems that Tylan is falling asleep, but that hasn't worked out very well. She seems to go through a nursing and semi active phase for a couple hours and then falls into a nursing every hour period until 3 or 4 a.m. Then she goes into deeper sleep and that's when I seem to get the most rest. I have no idea how we'll manage when we can't sleep in a bit in the mornings.

It's been great having Cory at home taking care of so many different things. He does have to deliver pizzas this weekend, but he's going to see about getting out of tonight at least. My parents are coming later tomorrow and staying overnight for a quick visit. The kids are extremely excited about that.

I'll post more pictures soon. Our camera battery died so Cory has to run out and get a new one.

I'm so happy to report that I am no longer pregnant and we are now a family of six! Poor Cole remains the only son now that our third daughter, Tylan Addison, has arrived. She was born yesterday (my due date of August 19!) at 4:55 a.m. weighing 7 lbs. 15 oz. and is 20 inches long. Right now she looks so much like Cole did as a newborn.

Labor was quick and intense. I woke at 2 a.m. with contractions and decided to try to go back to sleep or at least rest as much as possible in case this was the real deal. I didn't really sleep over the next couple hours, and around 4 a.m. could tell that the contractions had gotten more intense. I woke Cory at 4:19, told him he had to get up and call the doctor, doula and our friend who was watching the kids. Our friend was over within minutes and we headed out the door because I had to really concentrate through the contractions. We made it to the hospital, got up to the labor and delivery room, changed into a gown and then my water broke. I headed over to the bed to squat since that's the only way I could make it through contractions this time around, felt like pushing with that first contraction at the bed and suddenly felt the head. The doctor and doula weren't here yet and the two nurses started scrambling to help deliver the baby. I was on hands and knees on the bed and delivered Tylan with the next push or two (can't recall). One of the nurses exclaimed that she'd never done this before, so I was able to be the talk of the hospital.

We made it back home this morning around 10:30 a.m. and were so happy to be out of the hospital. For the most part the staff was terrific, although they had Tylan at the nursery for longer than I preferred a few times. The kids and Cory all slept over in the room last night. All of the kids were so excited to meet their sister and can't stop running over to her and kissing her, patting her head, holding her, etc. Ella has turned out to be the most protective, which really surprises me. She's pushed Cole away a couple times when she feels he's getting too close. It was hard for her to not have Tylan and myself come along when Cory would take the kids away from the hospital, but it was even harder the few times the nurses took Tylan out of the room. She sobbed and sobbed.

Thankfully we're all home and together now. Ella is taking a much needed nap, and Cole and Accalia have been playing with the youngest neighbor girl on and off. Tylan is asleep in the sling right now. She loves the sling and already seems to prefer being put in it to nurse and go to sleep. She's had a lot of alert and awake periods where she just takes in all of the voices around her, and the kids love that.

Tylan's name was chosen because Tylan is the name of one of the members of the band Girlyman, which Cory and I love. Addison is a tribute to Wrigley Field, as it's one of the streets that intersects at the Cubs' stadium.

Here's Tylan mid yawn.


An ecstatic big brother.


A very happy biggest sister.


The first time big sister.

Okay, here is the video of Accalia's gymnastics performance. I apologized to Accalia because I apparently didn't get her hat fastened firmly enough so that it wouldn't come loose. She handled it very well, though. I can't get her tap video to upload and haven't yet attempted the ballet performance.

We made it through the weekend! What a relief! I think we're all happy to have everything done and be able to move into a quieter time of year. Well, I guess it will be quieter until this baby arrives. I have a feeling it will be in the next few days, too. I had a little bit of bloody show this morning and have had a little more discharge throughout the day (sorry if that's TMI for anyone) and have had a few more contractions. If this labor goes like Ella's did, it will probably be in the next couple days. Of course, this baby may be completely different and leave us hanging for a week or more. My doula is out of town until later tomorrow - went with her family to the air show in Omaha (about 2 1/2 hours away) - so it would be nice not to rush her home, too.

Cory had been scheduled to work from 10:30 until 3 and then take a break to see Accalia's ballet performance and be back to work from 5:30-8:30. He came home around 2 p.m., though, since it was so dead and got a call a bit later that he didn't have to come back in because they would be pretty well covered. That was so nice. Accalia had a great performance and was glad to be finished with all of the dancing. She's pretty tired tonight. Ella was thrilled, too, because now that Accalia has no more performances with those costumes, they're now available for dress up. Ella has been waiting a few months to have access to those!

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to have a prenatal appointment in the afternoon. I'm assuming I'll make it there, although I wouldn't be too upset if I didn't. At this point, I'm really ready just to be past the labor and hospital stay and have this baby at home with us. I'm just not looking forward to dealing with all of the necessary parts of being a patient, but hopefully it'll be a decent nursing staff during our hopefully brief stay.

I'll try to get videos of Accalia's performances up tomorrow.

Another day of this weekend nearly finished and I think I may get through it without going into labor. Woo hoo! I'm so tired today, though. We all are. That's the tough part of this weekend. There are lots of early mornings and late nights. At least tomorrow morning the kids should be able to sleep in as late as they want since Accalia's dance performance isn't until later in the afternoon.

Last night was a late night since we watched the fireworks display (costing $1000 per minute and going for 20 minutes) from our backyard and alley, and then Accalia and Cole ended up staying up later because they had a new computer game they were trying to conquer. We were up early this morning to get to the parade route for a good spot, although we ended up being on the side of the street where the sun was shining directly on us. That made for some hot and cranky kids by the time the parade had been going for about an hour. The parade usually goes for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, so it does get long anyway. We ended up leaving early since the kids were restless and uncomfortable and headed down to the park for lunch. Then the kids did some things they had wanted to do and we wandered around a bit. We were all ready to head back home in the early afternoon, though, and Cory had to get ready to go to work.

I was really hoping we'd be able to rest and nap this afternoon, but the older neighbor girl was back from her dad's (the younger is now at her dad's), so Accalia and Cole were running around with her. Unfortunately, as always, she's usually not in the greatest mood when she returns home and that usually comes through in how she treats Cole. So, it hasn't ended up being very relaxing.

Poor Cory is probably going to be more exhausted than any of us by the end of this weekend, though. He's closing tonight and then goes in to work tomorrow morning and into the evening with a break to go and see Accalia perform.

Cory took videos of both of Accalia's performances from last night, but I can't seem to upload them to Blogger right now. I'll try again tomorrow if I have time.

No baby yet. Sorry folks. I'm just happy to have made it past the last two days with everything that is going on.

On Thursday, we had about 2 1/2 hours of dance rehearsal. For the most part, Cole and Ella were pretty content. Cole was busy climbing nearby trees and collecting sticks and rocks and berries. Ella has insisted on wearing leotards and skirts to all dance functions lately, and she was happy sitting up near the stage with the other girls. I was also glad to make it to my hair appointment so that could be taken care of before the baby arrives. Cole accompanied me to that.

Cory took today off from work at the prison, which he usually does on the Friday of Riverboat Days. He does that in part so he can take Accalia to whatever dance practice she has in the morning, and it was very nice to have him take Accalia for the hour run through for Sunday's performance. Since Accalia didn't perform until nearly 7 p.m. today, we had most of the afternoon to relax or do something that wasn't dance related. At one point, I was upstairs wrapping Cole's birthday gifts so I can have that taken care of before the baby arrives, too. His gifts were in the closet in our spare room, and when I took those out I noticed a box of books. They must have been books I bought at Goodwill or other places at some point and just never found a place for on one of our bookshelves. Then I saw a big tote that was filled with all sizes of Accalia's old clothes and another box with some bigger sizes of her clothes. It was nice to find them because some of the outfits I had wondered about while getting out clothes for Ella in the spring. I was disappointed, too, because now they're too small and Ella missed out on wearing them. I have no idea why those boxes of clothes were in that closet, but it's possible that we put them up there when we moved back in (nearly 6 years ago) and just never took them back out. Most of that closet is filled with boxes of Cory's comics, so it's entirely possible that I've just ignored them.

Back to dance. We decided to go early to the amphitheater to try to get seats. Usually we don't show up until right when Accalia's supposed to be there since it's hard enough to keep the kids entertained for the length of the performances, but we decided that this year would be our best shot of being able to do it. So we showed up about a half hour before the opening ceremonies of Riverboat Days and close to an hour before the dance performances began. We found a spot, and the kids did fairly well during the three hours we were there. I was so uncomfortable by the end, though! Accalia had a great time doing her tap and gymnastics routines. I think Cory was taking pictures and/or video, so I'll try to post those this weekend. Don't worry, Diana, I also have a recent belly shot, so I'll try to post that, too.

Tomorrow, unfortunately, Cory goes in to deliver pizza at 3 p.m., so we're not going to have a lot of time to take in the festivities. We'll get up early tomorrow for the parade and head to the park right after to get our lunch. There are a few things the kids want to see and do, too, so we'll try to do all of that before Cory has to get home. Depending on how things go, the kids and I may head back there if they don't get their fill. Then Sunday will be Accalia's ballet performance and that will be the end of another Riverboat Days for us. Then this baby can come!

My LLL friend and her youngest did stop by yesterday afternoon and brought along a loaf of homemade bread, peaches from her sister's peach tree and a few tomatoes from her garden. Very yummy!

I, however, have been feeling not so great since yesterday evening. I threw up last night, too. I still feel nauseated today. So, I'm wondering if it's a sign of early labor (nothing else to accompany it like increasing contractions) or if I have the awesome timing of getting some sort of stomach virus. I've never experienced nausea during any part of late pregnancy or labor, so who knows?

I'm just happy with each day of this week that we make it through. This afternoon Accalia has run throughs for all three of her performances, so we'll be spending close to three hours (hopefully more like 2-2 1/2) down at the park amphitheater. Then I have a hair appointment tonight.

Wish me luck...

An old LLL friend and fellow Leader might be stopping by this afternoon, so it would probably make sense for me to get off of the computer and continue taking care of dishes or laundry or something while the kids are all happily occupied.

Ella has decided she wants to wear her hair in pig tails all of the time. It's pretty amazing that she actually wants me to do something with her hair because usually she just barely tolerates it. The only way I can actually brush her hair and get it out of her face is if she's sitting at the computer playing a game or watching a video. Otherwise, she'll just run away.

Cole is playing with clay and a variety of toy animals and Pokemon figures. Lately he's been going through a phase of wanting to be sure we write things down so we remember it all. Today he told me to write down that we're watching A Baby Story on TLC and that there are lots of people coming over to visit the family.

Accalia is hiding upstairs in one of the bedrooms because Ella wouldn't stop pulling off the blanket she was covered up with and Accalia wanted to be left alone. She wants the neighbors to come over and ring our doorbell - haven't seen them today - and I told her she and Cole could go over to see if they're around. She doesn't want to do that, though. She just wants them to appear at our door.

This morning we ran to the store to pick up a few groceries - I hope to avoid doing that during the busy and hectic weekend ahead - but that's about all we've done outside of the house. Cory's delivering pizzas tonight, so it'll be just the kids and I hanging around.

Last night I told Cory that I think this baby is not positioned correctly. I think the baby is still head down, but I'm starting to wonder if the little one is posterior (back facing my back) rather than anterior (back against my abdomen). The back pain and sciatica I've had this time around is so much more intense than any of the other pregnancies. I've also noticed things that usually point to a posterior presentation like not feeling the kicks into the ribs and rather feeling them more in the stomach. That's a big one because usually in later pregnancy I can't get comfortable because of the feet sticking into the ribs. So I've been focusing on doing exercises and making sure I sit in ways that promote an anterior presentation and are recommended by the optimal foetal positioning folks. I've had a hard time telling this pregnancy exactly what parts of the baby are where, and even though I sometimes feel what I'm sure is the back/spine against my abdomen, I'm not always sure. I just know that I don't want to go through back labor and spend that first stage of labor having the baby working hard to turn around to a better position rather than having my cervix open. At any rate, the exercises that I've been doing have helped relieve a lot of the pain and uncomfortableness, so we'll see how things go.

Because of the late stage of pregnancy and the fact that Cory will be working and not always able to be with me and the kids down at Riverboat Days this year, we're doing something a little different. We're paying for a parking spot ($25 for the weekend) at a lot that is right across the street from the park and the amphitheater where Accalia will be dancing. We only live 4-5 blocks from the park, but at this point there's no way I'll be able to traipse all over with the three kids (probably carrying Ella for part of the time) and lugging around all of the dance stuff. Definitely looking forward to that!

The construction workers are hard at work right outside of our house this morning. I think they're busy with the new water main, which means there will probably be no water for parts of the day. That's been happening a lot where the water will be turned off for an hour or so, and it always seems to come right at the times where I'm preparing food or washing laundry. Cory filled up a bunch of containers so we'll have extra water on hand just in case.

Yesterday we didn't see the neighbor girls until middle of the afternoon. They were at the beach swimming, and Accalia had her tap dress rehearsal. But when we did see them, the first thing they wanted to do was to come inside the house and play. Ella was sleeping on the couch, though, so I nixed that idea. Well, when they want to come inside but aren't able to, they're constantly asking Accalia or Cole to go get all sorts of things, and this probably ends up almost noisier then all of them being inside because there are screen doors slamming and kids yelling from the door and so on. Finally I told them they would have to just stay outside and not come in and out because Ella was starting to stir. They held off until after Ella was awake, but then Accalia and Cole came in for a while to eat and rest and watch a show I taped. They had been doing that for less than five minutes when the oldest was knocking at the back door and calling for Accalia.

Neighbor: Accalia!
Cole: We're watching a show and don't want to play right now!
N: Accalia!
Accalia: Just wait!
N: Come out and play!
A: Just wait!
N: What are you doing?
A: Watching something. We'll be out soon.
C: We're watching a show Mom taped!
N: So it's on tape and you can pause it?
A: Just wait! I'm coming out!

One more week until schools start. One more week. Today Cole told me he would be so happy when school started so the neighbors wouldn't ring the doorbell all of the time. Cory always tells me to just tell them that the kids can't play from such and such a time, but that really makes no difference. They'll go back home for a little bit but come back as soon as they're bored. I'm not sure if that's because neither tells time very well yet and they don't have or ask whichever adult is there to help them. At any rate, my hopes of quietly snuggling in with my family during the last week or so of pregnancy don't seem to be happening.

Today is the one day of the week where there's nothing going on - no dress rehearsals, doctors appointments, etc. I imagine the neighbors will be over early and often.

Ella completely ran out of steam around 2 p.m. after her 4 a.m. waking. Here's the photographic evidence:


She hadn't been sitting at the computer very long at all watching different videos on Youtube when I walked in the room and found her asleep.

Here's a little video:


Since Ella fell asleep right before I needed to leave for my prenatal appointment, Cory stayed home so she could keep sleeping. She slept for about three hours. Accalia wanted to stay home, too, so she and Cory could play their Gameboys together. So it was just Cole and myself. We had to wait more than a half hour to go back to a room, and we passed the time by watching a Little House on the Prairie episode that was on the tv in the waiting room. Then we ended up waiting 10 or 15 minutes longer before Dr. M actually came in to the room. After all of that waiting, it didn't take much time to determine that the baby and I are both just fine and getting closer to delivery. I could tell over the weekend that the baby dropped, and my measurements confirmed that. I've also lost a couple pounds since last week. I don't think that's ever happened before.

It's been storming most of the evening, so we've all just been hanging out inside. Made it through the last art class, a very welcome chiropractic appointment, and the first day of dance rehearsals. Tomorrow is dress rehearsal for tap.

Ella and I have been up way, way too long already this morning, and it's only 7:30 a.m. Ella was so restless and just not falling back to sleep, so I got up with her at 4:30 a.m. Ugh. Cory got up a few minutes later because he was awake, too, and decided to get into work early rather than use time off so he can come back this afternoon to come to my prenatal appointment.

I've actually been somewhat productive in the three hours since waking up. I cleaned out the fridge and balanced the checkbook. I even took a shower. Now if only someone had magically cleaned our house, too.

I have to wake up the kids in about a half hour because Accalia is going to her last summer art class this morning. Usually she goes on Fridays, but it won't work this Friday because of dance rehearsal for Riverboat Days. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, I have my prenatal appointment. After that Accalia has practice for her gymnastics and ballet performances.

Every day this week that we can get everything accomplished that is scheduled - without me going into labor - will be a very, very good thing.

This isn't ending up to be the quiet weekend I was hoping for on Friday. Usually one or both of the neighbor girls are gone at their dad's on the weekends, but they've both been here this weekend. They've even sat outside in their yard waiting for us to get back if we're gone. Apparently their mom isn't doing anything with them. Well, she's gone today so they have a babysitter. They're playing inside our house right now after begging all day yesterday to come inside and play. I felt horrible yesterday (more on that in a sec) and the girls were in such awful moods (Cole was crying within a minute of them coming over to play), so I said no. There's just no way I could deal positively with them yesterday, and I'm barely even doing that today. Can you tell I'm in the last days or weeks of a pregnancy?

For lunch yesterday we decided to actually go to a "sit down" restaurant since our chances of doing that and having it be more relaxing with a newborn are pretty slim. The kids all enjoyed it. That, and a couple trips to different stores took up our outside the house time yesterday.

That, along with being up and about all day Friday, really took its toll on me yesterday. The sciatica wasn't any better yesterday, and I was hobbling all over the place. By evening, I was having contractions - some a bit painful - and starting to wonder if I might actually go into labor before my due date. I told Cory I was going to bed early (ended up being around 11, so not much earlier) so I could lie down and either get some sleep if I was indeed going into labor or just have the chance to be still and see if the contractions would stop. The latter happened and I'm doing okay today. I still don't feel the best, and I really hope I can get in to the chiropractor tomorrow. That will make a huge difference, I think, especially with all of the running around this next week. Gosh, I'm hoping that once this baby arrives I'll be in a better mood, too! I haven't looked back over my blog entries, but I just get the feeling that I've been really negative lately. That, and having public schools back in session in 1 1/2 weeks.

Cory's working until 5 or 5:30 today, although if it's slow he may get off earlier. That would be fabulous. We don't have anything planned for tonight, but it'll just be good to have him home. I should try to tackle a LLL letter I have to get sent out, and then I'll be up to date with all of my LLL correspondence.

Most likely this will be our last fairly quiet weekend as a family of five. Next weekend is Riverboat Days, which will be packed with dance performances, other activities, and Cory unfortunately delivering pizzas. Well, I suppose I could go into labor or have the baby already, but I'm going with the assumption that I'll make it to my due date and beyond.

I think I'm going to have to make an extra trip to the chiropractor this month - hopefully Monday - because I have been in such pain from sciatica. It hasn't been a huge issue this pregnancy, but I've been hobbling around for the past few days because it's been so painful to walk. It's hard enough just doing the basics, but it's even more difficult to get motivated to do extras toward preparing the house for the baby when each step hurts.

Yesterday we were up in Sioux Falls for most of the day for Myron's shoulder surgery. Once again he's had the rotator cuff repaired. I think this may be the third surgery on that shoulder. Now he needs to have the other shoulder repaired because he blew out both shoulders at the same time trying to remove a blade from a riding lawn mower. Cory and I both hope Myron's more cautious with physical activity from now on because it seems pretty obvious that his shoulders aren't strong enough to handle certain levels of push and pull.

Cory's brother, Mark, and sister-in-law Shannon also came up for the surgery, so we were able to spend most of the day talking with them. None of their three kids were along, though, so the kids missed out on seeing their cousins. In a bit of a coincidence, Cory's uncle Rich (married to Mary's sister Pat) was in the same hospital having heart stents put in due to blockage. We haven't seen either of them for about three years since the funerals of Mary, Mary's step-father and Mary's mother. They hadn't ever met Ella either, but Pat has always said from seeing pictures that Ella looks just like Mary did as a child. When Pat saw Ella yesterday, she told Cory that Ella was the spitting image of Mary. I wish we had pictures of Mary as a child, but their family was so poor that having a camera was a luxury they couldn't afford. Anyway, Pat and Rich had three of their daughters (Cory's cousins) along, so we were also able to see them for a while. That was really nice.

We're going to have to make a point to head up north to visit Pat and Rich after the new baby arrives since we don't know how much time Pat has left. I mentioned a few months ago that she was diagnosed with amyloidosis. Along with that, Pat also has multiple myeloma, which is a cancer that often goes hand in hand with amyloidosis. Unfortunately, multiple myeloma, affects the bones, making them very brittle, and Pat recently broke her ankle. She's supposed to keep her leg elevated at heart level or higher but isn't doing a very good job according to her daughters.

We made it back from Sioux Falls just in time for Cory to rush inside and change to go off and deliver pizzas. The kids and I spent a fairly quiet evening hanging out at home, with quick trips to the store and a short visit from the neighbors. Everyone was tired.

Today Cory does work for a few hours in the evening, but I'm not sure what we'll end up doing during the day. Right now I'm just making sure Cory gets to sleep in since he hasn't been able to do that in a long, long time.

Cole's asking to play a computer game now, so I'm going to turn over the computer to the little guy.

Today was a pretty good day other than being completely annoyed by our neighbors this evening. Cory was working, and the kids and I had gone out to pick up marshmallows for Accalia. When we returned home, our neighbor and her sister were sitting in their backyard and the three kids between the two of them were playing in our yard. They were swinging on our swingset, riding in our wagon, etc. Earlier this summer, I had told the neighbor girls that we didn't want them playing in our yard when we weren't there. As far as I knew, they'd been respecting our wishes. I just don't understand how, as parents, you let your kids go ahead and play on someone's property and with their things when they aren't around and you have no prior agreement to do that. That doesn't make sense. I've always told the kids that we shouldn't be on someone's property or use their things unless they've said it's okay. That just seems like commonsense and respect to me. I guess not everyone thinks like that. As soon as I parked, Cole jumped out of the van, ran to the kids (who were near the moms) and said, "You shouldn't be playing with our things when we're not here." Who knows if that will actually be enforced? I was just amazed that there were parents outside watching the kids.

Anyway, minor annoyances aside, the kids and I had a good time on our little trip to Vermillion. We headed out right away in the morning and went to the park that they really enjoy. Since it was early and still a bit overcast, there weren't very many kids around. Most were at the nearby community pool for swimming lessons, I guess. After playing there until they were worn out and hungry, we grabbed lunch and then headed over to the W.H. Over Museum. Cole had been requesting going there. It's not a very big museum, and the kids weren't all that interested in many of the exhibits, so it was a pretty quick trip in and out. Then we went to the library because they had all of these interactive bug activities in the children's section (bugs was the theme for this year's summer reading program). I think Accalia and Cole's favorite was the huge honeycomb where they could arrange bee eggs, larva, pupa, babies, etc. in the cells.

So we were over there for part of the day until we had to get back in time for Accalia's tap class. Miss Judi, the studio owner and teacher of the tap class, pulled me aside and told me how surprised she was that Accalia had decided not to continue with tap this year. Registration for the fall semester is this week, and Accalia had decided she wanted to take ballet and gymnastics this year. She told me (and then Accalia) how wonderful Accalia is with tap, how she catches on so quickly and knows the steps so well. She told me she thought Accalia would stop with ballet before tap, and I told her I was surprised, too. After the class, I made sure to tell Accalia that she didn't need to feel pressured into taking tap just because of Miss Judi's praise, but that's not a problem with Accalia. For whatever reason, she's had enough and is ready to move on.

So that's pretty much been our day. I'm now falling way behind on emails, which I had been hoping to keep up with so I don't just go into labor and leave people waiting for my response even longer, especially with LLL stuff. Anyway, hopefully that catching up happens tomorrow since we'll be in town all day.

I imagine that I must be doing my version of nesting right now. I'd love to say I'm cleaning the house from top to bottom and perfectly organizing everything, but no. Instead, I'm attempting to keep up with more routine cleaning to make sure the house will at least be presentable if my friend K. is over here with the kids while the baby's being born and/or for anyone that may be over soon after the we come home from the hospital.

I did manage to take care of a few things on my to do list, including wrapping up the gifts that the baby has miraculously picked out for the older three, started packing a suitcase for the hospital and a backpack with some basics (clothes, etc.) for the kids. I thought there was more that I did today, but I guess not. Oh, I also got to the hospital to turn in my pre-admission form, so there's that, too.

Otherwise, it was a day mostly filled with the kids playing with the neighbors, most of the time outside but some of the time inside. I think the real indication of me trying to nest is how much I've been dreading the thought of the doorbell ringing all week, and it's only Tuesday! I just want us to be able to hole up and be done with the rest of the world for a while.

Oddly enough - based on those feelings - we're going to be out of the house for at least part of the day tomorrow. We're heading about 30 miles away to the town of Vermillion to do a few things the kids like to do and that we haven't done yet this summer. Hopefully it does end up being a fun time. I guess I can still enjoy not listening to that doorbell ring, huh?

I think I'm going to get ready for bed now.

Another week, another prenatal appointment. Today's appointment was just fine. Everything's good - blood pressure, urine, baby's heartbeat. The baby is head down, so no worries about a breach at this point. I'm measuring at 37 weeks and will be 38 weeks tomorrow. I continue to think that this baby is going to be smaller than Ella (9 lbs. 3 oz.) Part of that is because, even though I'm only two weeks from full term and feel huge often throughout the day, I still don't feel big enough to be almost ready to have a baby. No signs of impending labor, which is a good thing in my book. I want to make it at least two more weeks. I have had a few more contractions today, but I think that's just a combination of being on my feet most of the day and just being exhausted. Last night was just not a good night of sleep for any of us.

This morning the kids and I went to have two new tires put on the van and what was apparently a slow leak repaired on another one. At least now we'll have good traction for any upcoming car trips. Other than that and the prenatal appointment, most of the day consisted of playing with the neighbor girls - both inside and outside. I sat on our front steps with the younger girl, and she told me all about how she and her sister share a room, and Nick has "that" room and now another guy has moved in and "sleeps upstairs with Mama." She didn't sound exactly pleased about the whole thing.

Cole and I are the only two awake, and I'm going to be ready for bed very soon. I'm exhausted just thinking about this being the beginning of the week!

Ugh. It's 99 degrees outside and feels like 107. Not my idea of fun! Accalia and Cole just went outside with the older neighbor girl to play in the pool. After lunch I was out with the kids for a while, but other than that we've been inside. With Cory working the majority of the weekend, it's been pretty quiet. I've been lonely, too, even though I'm never alone. We even had an extra child most of the day yesterday with the older neighbor girl here most of the day.

I can't say I've really accomplished a lot of my baby preparation stuff I had hoped to, although I did find my list of things I hoped to accomplish before baby arrives. I was even able to cross off a few things. I started straightening up the guest room, too, thinking we might want that ready in case somebody stays with us for a night or two after baby is here. That would probably be my mom and/or dad, although that completely depends on when the baby is born since my mom isn't just able to take off work at a moment's notice.

This week is the last week of Accalia's regular dance classes. Then it's on to rehearsals for the Riverboat Days performances. I have a prenatal appointment tomorrow, too. Cory's dad will be having shoulder surgery on Friday, so we may all head up there to see him depending on if he'll even tell us when the surgery is scheduled. He's had procedures done before and just told us afterwards because he says he doesn't want to be a bother. It drives Cory nuts.

I think I'll continue trying to pick up a few things upstairs. Hopefully Cory will be home in a couple hours.

Right now I'm listening to the most recent Girlyman album - their live "Somewhere Different Now" - and really wish they were playing near us so I could actually see them perform again. Each of the three have such exquisitely different voices from each other. Love them.

The majority of today has been spent with the kids in the water. Accalia went to art class this morning, but after lunch the kids hopped into our pool for a while. The neighbor girls weren't around until close to 3 p.m., and at that point they came over to play for a while. The younger one then left to spend the weekend with her dad, and the older one eventually left to do some shopping with her mom. After supper, I took the kids to the kiddie pool at a local park and we were there for a couple hours until Ella fell backwards, struggled to get up and was pretty freaked out about the whole incident. When we came home, the older girl was out in her pool, so Cole and Accalia have spent another hour or so out with her. They're inside now, though, and hanging out and watching some toons. Ella's in here with me playing computer games and applauding the Girlyman songs.

Amy, I agree with you about the impact we can often have on people who enter our lives and just seem to do nothing except cause stress or other negative emotions. I think about that whenever I seem to have a lot of contact with someone who seems to cause me more stress than anything. I do hope that one day our neighbor girls can look back and remember living next door to a family who wasn't always talking down to each other or trying to control whatever was happening. Honestly, I'm very, very eager for the first day of public school - August 20th - because I know we'll at least have our sanctuary during those school hours without the on and off (or sometimes constant) presence of these girls. I know it may be difficult enough to maintain harmony as we all adjust to a new baby, so I'll need all of the help I can get in that respect.

There's nothing else too notable happening today. Cory, unfortunately, will be spending the majority of this weekend working for the pizza man. I'm not quite sure what the kids and I will be doing tomorrow or Sunday. I think I'll be trying to take advantage of one of the few remaining weekends before baby arrives to keep trying to accomplish things. LLL work seems to be picking up again, too, which is fine since that means I may be able to tie up a bunch of loose ends there before the baby arrives, too.

Speaking of pregnancy, I've noticed over the past few days that my sense of smell is returning. It's very odd after being mostly without for at least six months or longer. So I'm walking around the house smelling different smells and thinking, "How long has this smelled like that? Why didn't anyone tell me?" Not that there's anything that would completely repulse visitors, but it would still have been nice to know.

Okay, I'm going to try to tackle a few LLL emails while all of the kids are happily occupied.

For the past week, the older neighbor girl has been at her dad's, so it's just been the younger one hanging around here. Earlier this week, they got a new pool. It's not huge, but it's big enough for the kids to float in and stay cool. When the older neighbor girl is gone, the younger one becomes quite bossy, trying to control everything being done during play. I'm not sure if she's trying to recreate the dynamic between the two sisters or what, but it drives me nuts.

Anyway, Accalia and Cole have been eagerly looking forward to each day because they really like hanging out in the neighbor's pool. I think the younger one realizes this and is making sure she keeps the pool as her upper hand so she can get what she wants during play. She's turned into a little pool dictator and will tell the kids: "This is just a wading pool. It's not a fun pool! You can't splash around. You can only sit here." It goes on and on. The kicker is when Accalia and Cole aren't too eager to follow her exact instructions and she says, "I'm going to go inside and you won't be able to play in my pool ever again." I've tried gently suggesting that everyone might have a lot more fun playing if it's not just one person trying to be the boss, but that doesn't have an effect.

Well, this started happening again yesterday afternoon. We have a tiny pool that's pretty much good for some fun splashing but no floating around, and I had gotten that out because the kids were so eager to play in the neighbor's pool but the neighbor said they couldn't. I guess she changed her mind, but her mom wanted to freshen up the pool water and had the younger girl filling up the pool more. She was walking around in it holding the hose, and when Cole asked if he could do that, too, she said, "No! You're dirty. You can't be in here. I'm going to fill it up and then go inside." (For the record, Cole wasn't dirty). I was so sick of this by now, so I suggested to the kids that if they wouldn't be able to play in the pool that we should head to the pet store, which is something they'd been wanting to do for a while. As soon as the neighbor girl said this, she said, "Wait! I'll go ask my mom about the pool! No, wait! I'm going to ask her if we can go to the pet store, too!" Sigh. Isn't it sad when there's so much competition and attempt to control coming from a 5-year-old? I'm sure this is what she's used to at home, and that's even worse thinking that she'll probably bring this type of behavior to another generation if/when she becomes a parent.

We left and along the way decided that we were going to look for our own bigger pool so the kids wouldn't be at the mercy of the neighbors as far as being able to run out the door and jump in the water. Well, we discovered that there are virtually no pools left on the shelves except for the huge above ground pools. We saw the pool that the neighbors have, but I thought it might be a bit too creepy to buy the exact same pool they did less than a week later. We found another one that's not quite as big but should still give the kids more room to float around when the desire hits. We just happened to run into the neighbor girl while we were at the store. When Cole told her we were buying a pool, a desperate look came on her face as she asked why. When she saw it in our yard, though, you could see the relief as she said, "Oh, that's not so big." Cole told her that we had gotten a pool and that in this pool they could play however they wanted and not have to do just what she said. Her reply was, "Well, you can't play in my pool ever, ever again." I interjected at that point and told her we hadn't gotten a pool so the kids wouldn't want to play with her or in her pool but so they could have something when she wasn't around or able to play in her pool. "Oh," was the reply.

Well, the older girl returned last night and everyone ended up playing happily together in the neighbor's pool. Accalia told me they were waiting until tomorrow to use our pool so the water could warm up. Who knew there could be such drama surrounding little backyard pools? I think tonight I may just take the kids to the little pool at one of the parks tonight and take a break from it all.