Now that's it December we're officially in the Christmas holiday season and I'm feeling kindof bummed because I CAN'T DECORATE this year.  Well, technically, I could, but it just doesn't make sense since we won't even be here for Christmas AND we're moving right when we get back from our trip.  Yup, we've booked the movers for 12/29/12.  The truck is set to arrive at our place in Pacific Beach at 8:15am!  Did I mention that we fly in from Colorado on 12/28/12?  We arrive around 6pm.  No messing around!  Myke's parents will be out here for New Years and actually arrive the day before we get back from Colorado.  His mom is a teacher so she has limited time off during the holidays and has be fly back to the east coast 1/1/13.  So we're going to move while they are here visiting us.  It will be great to have the extra sets of hands!  

I think the craziest part about all of this is that means we only have 2 more weeks in our current house!  Such a bittersweet feeling!  Myke and I have lived here over 9 years and have brought all 3 of our children home from the hospital to this house.  It's sad to think of leaving it.  It has been so nice being able to walk to the beach or the bay, walk to coffee shops, bars (we did that a lot more pre-kids), restaurants, CVS, three different grocery stores, and much more.  It has been awesome when I wanted to go on a run to just run out the door and be running along the water within 5 minutes.  Ahhhhh.  I will miss those things for sure.  Myke and I have our bedroom up on the 3rd level here (and the kids are on the 2nd) and it has been nice having "the penthouse" room.  In the new house Chloë (to her delight!) will be RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO US!  That will be a change!  Hopefully, that won't mean too many late night visits just since she finds it so convenient!  

Today we went to "Charlie's Best Bread" bakery for morning snack time-

One of the perks of being able to walk to so many local establishments!

The 4 of us split a fresh-made cinnamon roll- yum!

Of course there are many benefits of the new house that we're looking forward to.  We'll be in a great school district, which is one of the top reasons for moving.  Where we are in PB we have a great elementary school, a mediocre middle school and a very poor-performing high school.  As I've mentioned before, private schools are not in the question with 4 kids so close in age.  Unless we win the lottery or something like that.  The neighborhood is very family-friendly- lots of kids!  So that will be fun for our kids to have.  There is also a huge park just a few blocks away, a preschool within walking distance, and the house is only a couple miles from the ocean.  I know I mentioned all of this before.  We're definitely most excited for the extra space in the house for our growing family.  Six people and a dog!  

So anyways, we've been spending our free time packing here and organizing since we need to have everything set to move BEFORE Dec. 22nd when we head to Colorado.  That way when we get back we are ready for GO TIME!   So the next couple weeks are pretty booked with house preparation.  Last weekend Myke and I hired a sitter for the kids and went out and got some of the big shopping done.  We picked out our bedroom set (I'm finally getting the KING bed I've always wanted!), ordered a sectional couch, and found a Murphy Bed for the guest room.  Now we just need a dining table and a refrigerator and we'll have the essentials.  We may just take the dining table we have now as a temporary fix--but it is SO NOT child-friendly as it's a big slab of glass with sharp corners that sits on 2 stands.  A disaster waiting to happen, really.  

Chloë doing a snowman project on the glass table today

When I was looking at bedroom sets for Myke and my room some of the websites has a feature where you could input the wall measurements of the room and then drag and drop the furniture pieces you were interested in onto the picture to see how it would look and make sure things would fit.  Myke was initially skeptical about a king-size bed so I sent him a photo of how it would fit just fine in the room.  After creating your floor plan you could share it via email with others.  So I sent this lovely floor plan to Myke that showed my vision of how the king bed, one dresser and one nightstand would fit gloriously into our new room.  I wish I could find what I sent him...but here is what Myke emailed back to me labeled "reality":  

Hey!, Looks good to me :)

(except for the fact that Myke has gone bald)

I am kind of glad we are getting to attend all the Pacific Beach holiday events one last time before we move.  It's a great way to end our time here.  Last weekend we went to the annual tree lighting on Crystal Pier.  They have music, craft stations and games for the kids, photos with Santa and The Grinch, hot chocolate, etc.  I love going out on the pier--even though I sometimes wonder about how stable the structure is!  The surf was HUGE that day and with every large wave the pier was shifting and moving.  A bit un-nerving!  Apparently, the pier used to go out about 100 more feet and have a large dance hall on the end.  From what I've heard there was a big storm and the entire dance hall fell into the ocean back in the mid-1900's.  Pretty crazy.  I do love the Crystal Pier though!  

On the pier watching the surf

Chloë and The Grinch

On Tuesday I had back-to-back doctor appointments, one for myself and one for Chloë.  Chloë just had to have her ears re-checked after there was some fluid that was not draining properly last month, and causing her to be deaf as a doorknob.  A month of Children's Claritin later, she passed her hearing re-test and is back to normal.  My appointment just involved an ultrasound to check the growth of the baby and the fluid...and to look at the echogenicity (brightness) and size of her kidneys.  YES, we are dealing with the whole "abnormal" kidney thing AGAIN.  With Chloë, then Owen, and now this baby, the kidneys appear "bright" and larger than normal on pre-natal ultrasounds.  Apparently, this is very rare and USUALLY means there is some kind of kidney disease or something like that.  When it happened with Chloë the doctors freaked out, told me my child would likely not live past the first few months of life, and if she did happen to live she would most likely need kidney transplant by adolescence.  It was a terrible time in our lives.  We went through the final two months of that pregnancy not knowing what was going to happen, preparing for the worst and praying for the best.  I had to have bi-weekly ultrasounds to keep an eye on her kidneys, growth and the fluid to make sure everything was functioning.  Doctors were baffled when Chloë's kidneys kept functioning "normally" although they looked so "abnormal".  Apparently, that is rare.  The birth was set up so there would be resuscitation specialists in the room in case she came out and was unable to breathe (apparently it is common for kids with these "large" kidneys to have impaired lung development and trouble breathing when they are born due to the kidneys being so big- the lungs don't have room to grow correctly), it was planned that she would spend her first hours in the NICU for observation, even if she seemed fine, just to monitor everything.  She was scheduled to have a kidney ultrasound on day 1 of life, kidney function blood tests, and then another kidney ultrasound before we left the hospital.  She came out, she came out screaming, she came out fine.  Her kidneys suddenly looked NORMAL on the ultrasounds, they weren't bright.  They were NORMAL newborn size.  She passed every test.  To be on the safe side we have had her followed by a pediatric nephrologist since birth and she has had repeat kidney ultrasounds and kidney function tests.  Always normal.  So far so good.  It's very bizarre and there are many doctors and specialists who still to this day follow our story and our family at UCSD.  So anyways, when Owen's kidneys showed up a little bright and big on one of the pre-natal ultrasounds we weren't very surprised.  Like Chloë, the doctors had him have an ultrasound and blood work after birth.  He is fine, too.  Now this baby has the same "thing".  Go figure.  Myke says we're just genetic freakshows.  I guess I'll go with that!   What are ya gunna do?   

Picture of baby at the ultrasound

Chloë doing some leisure reading while waiting for the doctor to check her ears.

Usually the pediatrician's office has Winnie the Pooh books or something like that...

Okay, going to stop rambling for the time being.  Myke is up at the new house tonight re-wiring the cable so we can hang the TV over the fireplace.  Yes, he is cutting holes in the wall and being very "HGTV".  I can't bare to look.  Kidding.  I'm sure he'll do a fine job.  He needed to get the work done before the painter starts tomorrow.  Did I mention that the previous owner has pink walls in the main living area?  Yah, needs to go!  

Goodnight! :)

New House!

Oh, man, it has been quite a week!  My head is finally going from a full spin cycle to a slower, less dizzying spin cycle.  We finally CLOSED ESCROW on Friday (yesterday) 11/30/12!  Yay!!  It was by the skin of our teeth due to some last-minute hiccups (mainly, a downpayment error in the paperwork that messed up all our numbers).  Also, on a self-pity-note, I came down with the 24-hour stomach flu in the middle of the night Monday and was re-living the first trimester of this pregnancy with my face in the toilet bowl.  So that was fun.  It knocked me off my feet!  I could NOT get out of bed Tuesday morning.  I was so exhausted, had the chills and was just nauseous.  Thankfully, a very good friend who babysits for us was able to come over for 1/2 the day and watch the kids for me so I could sleep.  Then they napped until 3pm and Myke took off work early so I was able to just rest and recover.  I finally got up the energy to get out of bed and get a hot shower around 4 or 5pm.  It was awful.  Nothing would stay down.  Luckily, I woke up Tuesday feeling back to normal.  Good thing, because it is NOT easy for a full-time mom to have a sick day.  I lucked out that it worked out.

Anyways, back to the house.  So we closed escrow and we are now home owners!  Yay!  After breakfast this morning we piled all the kids in the car and drove up to our new house.

Let us in!

Owen testing out play time in his (and Eli's) new room

I'm at the doctor's office.  Here for the 2 hour blood glucose testing that is required around the 28th week of pregnancy.  I'm 28 1/2 weeks so it's my time.  Apparently the protocol has changed since my last pregnancies.  It used to be that you drank the orange drink (pictured above) at home first thing in the morning, then drove to the lab, had your blood drawn and that was it.  Done deal.  Now, things have changed.  You have to come to the lab after fasting 12 hours, have your blood drawn, pound down the orange drink within 5 minutes, wait an hour, have your blood drawn again, then wait another hour and have it drawn again.  So the entire thing takes up at least 3 hours of your time with the drive to the lab, etc.  I was pretty annoyed at first- very inconvenient for a full time mom since it meant either Myke has to take off work (which means he doesn't get paid) OR we have to pay a babysitter to watch the kids while I do the test.  We chose the latter.  So we're paying for a sitter and we don't even to go out on a date night!  Oh well.  It is what it is.  I asked my midwife what would be the repercussions if I decided to just NOT do the test at all.  She said it would make me be labeled as a  "high risk pregnancy" and I would have to be on all kind of monitoring during labor, and would probably have to switch to a high-risk OB instead of my midwife.  Back to Dr. Schwimmer maybe?  Anyways, I decided it was worth paying a sitter to NOT be considered a high-risk pregnancy again.  Been there, done that already!  I don't have time to be high-risk.  I have 3 little kids.  I don't have time to be on bed rest.  I barely have time to go to my monthly midwife visits.  In fact, I scheduled them all at 6pm or later on the night the clinic is open for evening hours.  That way Myke is home and no babysitter is required.     It's just so different than the last 2 pregnancies where I couldn't wait for my appointments.  Well, of course when I was on bed rest those appointments were my ticket out of bed and my ticket for a taste of the real world outside of our home.  I LOVED those appointments.  I got ultrasounds so regularly then...every week or every other week (I forget).   In this pregnancy I've had maybe 2.  This pregnancy is "normal".  Thank goodness!  

On to other news:  We ARE IN ESCROW!!   We have been looking at houses for a long time.  At least the past year or more- mainly just browsing the real estate market online and seeing what was out there.  We decided last winter that we'd stay in our condo in PB for 2 more years tops.  Then the boys would be 2 1/2 and Chloe would be turning 5.  We wanted to be settled somewhere before she started kindergarten.  Then this surprise pregnancy happened and we realized we probably had to get out of here sooner rather than later.  We started looking a little more seriously.  However, we weren't/aren't uncomfortable enough to feel desperate to get out.  We were just looking around....putting the feelers out, if you will.  We even started considering moving to another state since real estate is so pricey in southern California and we have some very specific needs (we need enough rooms for 4 kids, we need a space for Myke's office since he works from home,..and this space needs to be isolated enough from the rest of the house so he can actually get some work done, we wanted a yard, we needed good schools as private school for 4 kids so close in age is out of the question, etc.).  Anyways, to make a long story short, we ended up finding a house that we really liked in Encinitas, CA.  It's in San Diego County but is up north a bit.  From our exit to the new home's exit is a 20 minute drive if you aren't driving during rush hour times.  Anyways, we're pretty excited about the change...we are ready for it.  We love Pacific Beach but we are ready for something new.  Encinitas is a great beach community with a lot of families and great schools.  We will now be about 2.5 miles from the ocean instead of .75 of a mile...but with all our kids and gear we end up driving anyways when we go for a beach day.  It's a quiet neighborhood with a great park just a couple blocks away that we can easily walk to.  The park has a huge grass area so we can even take Kyla and let her run around.  We're so excited about that...Kyla has chunked up a bit in the past couple years....we don't get her out on as many exercise runs/walks as we used to.  Also, there are enough bedrooms for everyone.  The boys are going to have to share a room, still...but it's a really big room that could even be split into two rooms if you really wanted to.  We'll play that one by ear.  Even the new baby will get her own room.  Anyways, we'll keep everyone posted.  We don't close until next week but so far everything is looking good for a successful close.  Yay!

A look at the front entrance

Well, just a few more minutes until my 2nd blood draw for this glucose test.  I'm STARVING and drinking the sugary orange drink on an empty stomach has not been too fun.  It's making the baby jump all around which adds to the slight feeling of nausea I have.  I'll survive though!

Vay-Cay! We ACTUALLY Went Somewhere!

This is what we look like on vacation!!  Don't we look well-rested??  

NOT.

Oh well, nothing some coffee & tea couldn't fix :)

We went on a little family get-away to Idyllwild, CA this past weekend.  I think it was our very first "vacation" with just the 5 of us (6 if you count the dog!).  Usually our vacation time is spent visiting family (which of course we love...) but it was fun to take a little trip with just the kids.  Chloë was really excited that we were going on a vacation.  Our last vacation was to Santa Barbara for a long weekend in July so we were definitely due for a little R & R (haha, that's SUCH a joke...going on a trip with three kids three and under is in NO way a recipe that includes anything even relatively CLOSE to R & R!!).  Anyways, it was a fun time.  Idyllwild is a little mountain town in the San Jacinto Mountains, about a 2 hour drive from where we live in Pacific Beach.  It's an artsy-type of town with a lot of hiking, mountain climbing, and other active options (none of which we did with 3 small kids!).  Anyways, the whole plan was to rent a mountain cabin, go and just chill...with no expectations or busy schedules..and that's just what we did.  It was a great getaway, and we realize probably one of the last before Baby #4 makes her appearance in a few months...and I don't know if we'll actually ever go ANYWHERE with 4 kids!  So this may have been our very LAST vacation EVER!   

 (but let's hope not!)

Stopping for lunch in Temecula on the way.

Chloë in Idyllwild

Delicious fruit smoothies for snack time

Elijah

Eating dinner on our cabin wrap-around deck

Moi & Owen

Eli wandering around the Nature Center grounds

Breakfast at the big table (the boys LOVE when they don't have to sit in high chairs)

Goodbye October!

The kids in costume! 2012

I took Owen on a "date night" a couple weeks ago.  I was actually planning on taking Chloë to this Halloween carnival over at Balboa Park that Saturday night, originally.  However, she woke up from her afternoon nap in a MAJOR funk.  She was a mess.  Could not get herself together and was just ridiculously cranky for no reason.  Soooo, I took Owen instead (yes, she was dismayed, but lesson learned (I hope)).  To be honest, I know this is something Myke and I should do more often with the boys: take them out one-on-one.  It's just very difficult to do on a regular basis.  We usually either have Chloë or the boys.  Never just one of the boys.  It just doesn't happen that way.  We need to make more of a point to change that.  So Owen & I headed to the carnival...and we had an absolute blast!  I think he really liked being the "only child" for a few hours.  Most of the carnival was geared toward toddler-age kids, but we still had a good time.  Owen is a very happy little guy.  He's always up for a good time, always laughing and ready to run to you and give you hugs.  He's just an absolute joy to be around.  Such a sweetie-pie.  It was nice to get some time together...just myself and my oldest (by one minute) son :)

putting rings on the pumpkins

In other Halloween happenings, Chloë's preschool went on a field trip to the neighborhood pumpkin patch last Friday.  I decided to take the boys and walk along with the class from their school to the patch (her preschool is only a couple blocks away and the pumpkin patch is about 5 blocks past that).  It was a HOT day out, but still fun.  The school's 5th grade class accompanied the preschool class to the patch.  Each preschool child had one or two "buddies" with them.  These are the same buddies that sit with them during the all-school chapel days they attend monthly.  So I finally got to see who Chloë's "chapel buddies" where.  Two 5th grade boys!  Let me tell you, Chloë was on cloud 9 with a 5th grade boy on either side of her holding her hand!  She barely looked at me when I got there- she was just so excited!  The 5th graders were great with the little kids.  They held their hands on the entire walk down, helped them pick out their pumpkins, and just generally took their job of taking care of the kids very seriously.  I was definitely chopped liver in comparison to her new big-boy friends!  

At least Owen & Eli still need me! :)

getting her pumpkin

Owen

Eli

the kids

Chloë's 5th grade "helpers"/buddies

Chloë's buddies admiring her new Spiderman watch

Walking with her buddies

A few pictures from the Halloween Carnival at the Pacific Beach Rec Center:

My superhero boys!

She's such a girlie-girl!

Owen has been lifting weights lately

Eli, Superman!

Daddy & Superman

Last but not least:  Halloween!!  

We went trick-or-treating with our friends Kara & Jon and their son, Jax (who is one of Chloë's bestest friends).  We had gone with them last year as well and had made a date to do it again this year in the neighborhood of BirdRock.  We ended up leaving Owen & Eli at home with a babysitter this year, but next year I'm sure they'll be more than ready to join the festivities.  

Chloë & Jax

Aren't Myke & I a lovely couple?!

Pre-Trick-or-Treating

Post Trick-or-Treating

Wow- am I really 25 weeks pregnant already?  That's over 6 months along.  The time has suddenly started to fly.  Unlike my past two pregnancies where I always knew EXACTLY at what point of the pregnancy I was in down to the day ("I'm 16 weeks and 3 days pregnant") and knew exactly at what point of development the baby was it, this time I'm constantly forgetting what point I'm at...or even that I'm pregnant at all.  That's just the reality of it when you have 3 other small children consuming your every waking moment (almost).  This time someone will ask how far along I am and I usually have to stop and think.  Or tell them my due date (Feb 6 or 8- have been given both dates on separate occasions) and then figure it out from there.  I just have very little time to even think about this pregnancy.

Of course this pregnancy is different from the other two pregnancies in that (SO FAR, knock-on-wood!!) it's NORMAL.  I'm not on bed rest.  I don't have  shortened cervix. I'm not getting weekly ultrasounds (in fact, I'm not sure I even get another ultrasound at all?), I go to the doctor once a month.  There is only ONE baby in there.  I feel normal.  It's great.  The 2nd trimester is great!  

I've started a yoga class that I'm taking once a week.  It's close-by so it's really convenient for us, which is great (and key).  I've only gone a few times so far, but it's great because it gives me some quiet time to myself and to really focus on the baby.  It gives me a chance to connect with her and give her a few moments of my mental time and an energy.  It's great for both of us :)  

So, since I just realized that "I turned 25 weeks pregnant", I looked on Babycenter.com to see what's going on in my belly:

Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Interesting.

Halloween is Coming!

Was just sitting here in enjoying my "break" that I get every M/W/F while Chloë is in school and the boys nap.  It's heaven!  A little ME time, which is such a rare treat.  There are always a million things I "should" do during this time, but I usually let myself take a load off and put my feet up.  I am pregnant, after all.  I have that excuse for when I feel guilty for ignoring the "should do" list.  I was just browsing around on my laptop and saw the HORRID news story about the nanny in NYC that stabbed two of the three children she cared for.  Absolutely horrific story.  It brought tears to my eyes and I just want to rush to Chloë's school and take her home to be with me. It makes me want to go wake up the boys and just hold them.  I can't even imagine how the parents are going to make it through such an awful and tragic event.  They had employed the nanny for two years and had even traveled down to the Dominican Republic with her to visit her family in the past.  The whole thing is just terrifying to even imagine.  I feel so sad for that family and what they are having to deal with.  It makes me never want to leave my kids again, no matter how fussy they are or how demanding they are or how nuts they are driving me.  Devastating.

Anyways, I won't end on such a sad note.  Halloween is coming up and all things Halloween are going on in our lives.  The kids tried on their costumes yesterday to make sure everything fit.  Chloë is going to be Spiderman.  She is super excited about it.  She's obsessed with all things Spiderman lately and she has never even seen the show, the movie, the comic book, or anything with him in it.  Who knows.  Must be popular at preschool.   Owen is also going to be Spiderman and Eli will be Superman.  Later this afternoon we have the Halloween Carnival at the PB Rec Center a few blocks from our house.  We go every year and it's always a blast (for me...and hopefully for the kids, too...and maybe Myke? Yah, not so sure about that one!).  They have games and a giant inflatable slide, moon bounce, cake walks, costume contests, a fire engine ride & food.

Some pics from the past week:

Chloë & Owen snuggling

Owen

Eli

Story time with Dad- they boys LOVE books lately

Apple the size of Owen's head

Costume try-on...No, Eli is not "sexy Superman" - his costume just came un-velcroed in the back - usually is a LITTLE more fitting!

Jax stopped by after preschool to help decorate some Halloween cookies yesterday