30 weeks

I am now 30 weeks along in this pregnancy! YEA! I had another appointment with the perinatologist last Wednesday and it went really well. Wes and Elliot were both able to come with me, which made it even better. The formerly huge hematoma (165mm) was now almost unnoticeable (2mm). That is a miracle! The baby is also measuring great. In fact, it's measuring 2.5 weeks ahead of average and they estimate it's around 4 lbs already! This is also cool since the main concern with the blood clots was decreased placental function. Clearly, no problems with that at this point.

Since big babies can be a sign of gestational diabetes, I called my OB to get my diabetes test results. Turns out my numbers were just a tad high (143, "normal" is under 140). On Friday, I went and had the 3 hour glucose test done and should have those results by my appt. this Tuesday. The perinatologist doesn't seem to think the baby is big due to diabetes since I have no other signs and the amniotic fluid levels are perfect (usually increased with diabetes). We'll see...either way, I'm being good and giving up my soda. I was really good with Elliot about caffeine/soda, kinda good with the boys, and have been pretty terrible with this baby. Guess I'll suffer caffeine free the next 10 weeks :-)

Elliot's PIANO RECITAL

Elliot had her very 1st piano recital today. She takes lessons at her preschool, and the recitals were done by class. She was the only one in her class that took lessons, so she had so much fun showing off to her friends who all came to watch! She turned around and looked at everyone after every song with the biggest smile on her face! I have a bunch of videos to post. She played way more songs than I expected. It was fantastic.

After this song, one little boy said "That was scary!" HAHAHA

Mother's Day Tea

My favorite part of Elliot's entire school year is the Mother's Day Tea. They do an AMAZING job every year!! Elliot is the best at keeping secrets and kept the whole day in suspense. She made a beautiful card for me. It had a nice flower pot with sparkly flowers on it. I said, "lets count how many flowers there are" and she immediately said, "11". That girl KNEW exactly what she had made me. Her class sang a wonderful song to all of us Mommy's. It was a tear-jerker. I've had her sing it to me everyday since. I love it! Here she is:

oh, Elliot, I love you so much!!

God is bigger than Google

When I was first diagnosed with a Subchorionic Hematoma, I googled! Yup, that's what I do with LOTS of things. I quickly found sites that could scare anyone about the condition: people losing their baby's in 2nd trimester, etc. It was also obvious that people with hematoma's as large as 6 cm were considered "VERY LARGE!" At one time, I knew mine was around 8 cm and therefore quite large.

I went to my doc yesterday and he was super excited about the way things appear to be changing. You see, unbeknownst to me, 6 weeks ago my hematoma was almost 17 cm!!!! Now, that is HUGE!!! Last week it was measuring around 6cm.

I am thankful that I have faith in more than what I can read by googling subjects. I'm thankful that God can take care of me and Goldfish no matter how big or how many blood clots are in this body. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry or fear about anything I read, because God is in control and knows the outcome already. I trust Him...and am so thankful for that!

Now, if I'd start praying about everything before googling it, I'd be even better!!

1st Egg Hunt

Wes and Elliot got our Easter stuff out of the attic the other day. Later, she came up and asked, "Will Daddy be here for Easter?" When I said no, she said "Well, maybe we can have an egg hunt with him before he leaves." I thought that was just the sweetest thing ever so OF COURSE we had to do it! It was so fun to watch Elliot try to explain to the boys how to find the eggs. Love these kids!

Little Engineers

All of the kids also enjoyed helping Daddy fix things (bikes, skateboards, etc).

Daddy's Helpers

Some yard work needed to be done while Daddy was home, everyone chipped in and did a great job!

Spring Picnic

Our Moms of Multiples group had our Spring Picnic yesterday. It was SO NICE to get out of the house and sit at the park for a while. I really enjoyed the fresh air and the time with my family! It was especially nice since W was home and could gowithus and carry everything that needed to be carried, load and unload the kids, push the stroller, carry my lawn chair, etc. :-)

Rainforest & School

I am absolutely impressed with the things Elliot has learned at school this year! This week their theme was the rainforest. I figured they'd learn about waterfalls, toucans, and some basic things. Tonight, she starts telling me about the parts of the rainforest and the animals that live in them. Here's what I learned from her (I totally googled everything to see if she knew what she was talking about!):

First, you have the Rainforest Floor. Then, the Understorey, where alligators, Golden Vipers, flamingo's, & cheetah's live. Next, you have the Canopy, where monkeys and sloths live. The final part she referred to as the Pavilion. I can't find much info. on this, but based on the details she gave me, I think it's what is also referred to as the Emergent Layer. Elliot informed me it's where the huge butterflies & big eagles live.

I seriously had NO idea that a preschooler could retain so many things!! I keep thinking "Did she seriously just tell me about the layers of the Rainforest and a Golden Viper?!?!"

Another thing: she tries to spell everything now. She refers to me as "M-O-M". My dad ask her how many of something she wanted and she responds "O-N-E". What size? "B-I-G". You ask what she wants to drink, the answer may be "M-I-L-K". Tonight I was typing an email with her next to me and she starts telling me half the words I typed. "That's says "little", that says "one", etc. etc. I had started reading lessons with her a while ago, but she hasn't shown interests in doing lessons with me in MONTHS! She is just learning on her own (and maybe at school).

Everyday during her quiet time, she writes everyone in the family loves notes. They really are adorable. She writes things like "Erin: To Mommy. I love you mom. Love Elliot." She wrote "Mimi AND Papa". I didn't know she knew how to spell the word "and." She then informed me she didn't. She said she remembered her "Pup and Pop" book had the word "and" in it, so she looked at it to spell it correctly. I can't help but think that was pretty ingenious! Love this girl!

Our Days

We've had a few fun playdates this week! Thanks to everyone on Spring Break willing to share some time with us!! The kids did some art with their friends:

Elliot and Levi decided to be adorable in the front yard:

We rolled Elliot's hair for the first time. WOW! Throw back to the good ole cheerleading days!

The boys LOVE to shave with Papa. For some reason he never shaves in the bathroom. It's usually on the back porch. Today, it was the dining room. Ezra ran over, pulled up a chair right by Papa and started saying "Shave."

All of the kids are into puzzles. The boys have mastered all the little kid wooden one's we have. We are onto floor puzzles for them. (With MUCH assistance). Today they decided to "help" their big sis.

Oh yah, I'm also 22 weeks along now: