maternity Archives - Page 3 of 12

Blog, city garden, Family, kids, pregnancy, st. louis, vacation

summer nights in the city

This summer I have been avoiding the heat as much as possible. While it’s nice to stay indoors, it’s not so nice to stay indoors with 5 kids who have suctioned out every bit of my energy. My body is really starting to feel like I’m 5 weeks away from having a baby. Meanwhile, the kids are building up more energy by the day. If I could bottle up even an ounce of their energy, I think that would last me for the rest of my pregnancy and beyond.

My favorite compromise continues to be an evening trip to the Citygarden. We tried to go a couple of weeks ago on Don’s weekend. We had made it all the way up to the city and then we saw the multitudes of people in their Cardinal’s attire, heading to the game. All those fans decided to fill up every single parking space within a few blocks of the Citygarden. Let’s just say I wasn’t too happy with Cardinal’s fans at that moment. We ended up hitting up a park by our house instead.

We learned our lesson the next time around and checked the Cardinal’s schedule before heading up. Instead of parking issues, this time ended up being a cooler evening–in the 70s. So instead of herding 5 kids down multiple blocks in downtown St. Louis at night, we just had shivering kids with blue lips. I’d still say that’s a better outcome. The best part is that we had the place to ourselves pretty soon after we got there!

I’ve mentioned it before but we always go in the evening because 1) you don’t melt from the heat, 2) less crowds, 3) better lighting for pictures, and 4) the colored fountains at sunset. And nothing is better than to take your kids somewhere and be able to sit down and relax while they all play (without any fighting!!) If we can make it up there again before the baby is here, I will so take that chance.

Although, there was this small incident when Kai sprayed Liam and you can see that he wasn’t too thrilled. Does it make me a bad mom if I was cracking up at this moment? Especially at the fact that I caught his reaction on camera?

Desmond wasn’t so sure of the fountains at first. He sat on his daddy’s lap and in the stroller for a good chunk of time before he got down and experienced the joy of running close to the fountains. But if even a drop of water touched him (or he thought it was going to) he would run back to us.

We spent a solid 10-15 minutes watching big swarms of birds flying above us and around the buildings. Evangeline was positive that they were all “looking for their mommy.”

Liam wanted me to go with him to check out the “sunflowers,” as he called them. Liam’s photography skills definitely surpass anything I was able to do at 8 years old (and even still at 28!)

Those lights, though! Pictures don’t do it justice, especially with me behind the camera. Maybe with another trip and some more practice.

P.S. Because it’s worth mentioning again–5(ish) more weeks until we meet our precious baby girl!

August 31, 2016

baby, Blog, evangeline, Family, kids, pregnancy

34 week bumpdate

It’s been a while since I’ve updated with a pregnancy update. My last one was my 28 week bumpdate video. I thought about making another video this time around but I honestly can’t even watch the first one because it makes me cringe so bad. So a good old fashioned blog post is what you’ll get.

I’m 34 weeks now–only 6 weeks away from the “due date.” (Quotation marks–because I can’t stand that term. None of my babies have been born on or before their “due dates” so I think it’s just a term that sets women up for disappointment.) Last night it occurred to me how close that really is and kind of made me slightly panic. I knew we would need a new van because we will be outgrowing our 7 passenger van, but I kept pushing it to the back of my mind because “we don’t need to stress about that now.” Well now, we do. So now we’re on the search for a used minivan that will seat 8 (because I’m not ready to commit to a big, dorky van yet.)

Not much has changed since the last update. Each pregnancy had been getting harder and harder on my body until baby #6 came along. While I do have some aches and pains every once in a while, this pregnancy has been so much easier for me than any of my others! Heartburn is a rare occurrence–whereas I used to get it all day, everyday with the other kids. The back and hip pain that had me thinking “I’m never doing this again” with the past two pregnancies, has barely showed up this time around.

So exhaustion is still really my main symptom. In case you’re wondering, I’ve been using the liquid iron for almost 4 weeks and I still don’t feel a difference. I had a few days when my energy levels seemed to be improved, but not anymore. I guess the anemia is not what is making me exhausted–it’s just this mom life.

Shortly after the last bumpdate, claiming that we probably wouldn’t decide on her name until birth, baby girl was given a name! We have decided not to announce it until she is here but it has been fun to imagine a sweet name attached to a squishy little newborn.

Ice cream is still my major craving! But after seeing pictures of myself and how big I’m getting, I decided it was time to try to cut back a bit. We’ll see how that goes!

Her kicks are becoming a little stronger but I would still consider her one of the least active babies of the bunch. The kicks are always what I miss the most after it’s over so I enjoy every single one of them, even the uncomfortable ones. However, I can’t say that I’ll miss the bladder kicking.

I really am just trying to enjoy every bit of this pregnancy. And even though I look in the mirror and feel huge and swollen, I love to photograph this pregnancy as much as possible. The pictures are just so special to me!
(all these pictures were taken today–while I wasn’t wearing makeup–so I had Don cut my face out of all of the shots. #reallife)

I had to finish out this post with this little photobomber who seriously kept coming up and standing between us and the camera. It was pretty hilarious but I had to banish him to the indoors so we could quickly get a few pictures.

August 24, 2016