Zone Defense

We are done counting down by months, done counting down by weeks, we are even done counting down by days...yes, this baby will be here in a matter of hours now! Tomorrow right now I should be holding a little bundle of blue...or pink...hmmmmmm....


It's finally here. I think it hit me when I was packing the bags for the hospital this morning. Or maybe it hit me when I couldn't find Ashlyn until I realized she was standing under my belly. As miserable as it is at this point in the pregnancy, I am already looking down at my big belly with a bit of sadness - I always love being pregnant (good thing, huh?).


Today is kind of wierd day - it's very strange to know the exact day and time that the baby will be here. One of my good friends, Callie, watched Austin and Ashlyn this morning so that I could run some last minute errands. (You're the best Callie!!). Speaking of good friends - I have the best mom friends in the world!! Austin and Ashlyn have a playdate Wed, Thurs and Friday so that all the grandparents can come spend some time at the hospital. Thanks to Emily, Callie and Kim for being soooo helpful and such amazing moms. I love you gals!! And of course the meals will start on Monday - my moms group makes meals for moms after they have a baby, twice a week for 4 weeks - is that awesome or what?!?!?! Almost makes me think we might have to have another kid after this one...ha!


Here's the details for tomorrow in case you haven't already heard - we will be at OP Regional - csection at 9:30. Probably have to stay until Saturday. My mom (and husband of course) will both get to witness the c-section. My mom is sooooo excited! We can't wait to see if it's a boy or girl...I'm thinking girl at this point. Wonder if I'm right?


I guess Shawn and I are as ready as we can be. We won't be able to do the man-to-man defense against the kids anymore - we are headed into "zone defense". Should be fun!!


Until the baby gets here...


Hope you are having the time of your life!


ST

Here's one last belly shot that my friend Kim took - I had no idea how big my belly was!!

ps - One more thing...I have had two speeding tickets my entire life - I got one the day before Austin was born and one the day before Ashlyn was born. I am proud to say - I HAVEN'T GOTTEN A TICKET TODAY!!! YIPEE!!

Props to the Hubby

It's true...I have the best husband in the world! As many of you know, my birthday was on Monday - the big 2-9, the last of my twenties - pretty big milestone. My mom told me this was the birthday that she just dreaded. But she also said she remembers like it was yesterday - she was out taking my brother and I for a walk -we were around 3 and 5 years old and she said that she was so upset about being 29. Just like me, she was a stay at home mom and was maybe feeling a bit overwhelmed with the kids and maybe not as successful as those out there with REAL jobs (ha!!) but the day she turned 29 she told herself, "I am a mom, and if that's what I'm going to be, then so be it - I am going to be the best mom in the world." And I have to say - she has lived up to that from the second she said it. She has raised three great kids if I do say so myself - all college graduates from K-State, 2 married and one engaged, and 4 (almost 5) grandkids. Way to go mom!

Ok, I digress....my title was props to my hubby - I guess I got sidetracked there for a bit...

Anyway - back to Monday...my day started with the usual shower at 6:15 before the kids wake up - Austin and Ashlyn began beckoning me around 6:45 (the usual). We played for awhile upstairs (they like to make me invisible breakfast and read stories before we get dressed). Around 8 am Shawn calls and says that his parents will be here around 3pm and to take care of the kids and that I was suppose to pack a bag and be ready to leave for the night! WHAT?!?!?! It took me quite awhile to get out of shock mode...Shawn has never done something like this before...I was soooo excited.

Around 9:30 myself and the kids headed over to Kim's house for Monday playgroup...and yet another surprise! When I got there, they all told me I was leaving at 10 to go to the salon for a pedicure and manicure for the morning! Are you kidding me???? And it was my usual 30 minute pedicure at the mall...no no no...my mom friends know how to do it up right! I got massaged, and paraffin waxed, and pampered all morning long. It was AWESOME!! Thanks to Callie, Emily, Kim and Laurie - YOU GUYS ROCK!!!

Back to Shawn again...we went out to the Legends for the night (big new shopping/restaurant area about 25 minutes from home) and had a nice dinner just the two of us, then we walked around the shops for awhile since it was sooo nice outside and then he took me to this amazing hotel! It was called the Chateau Avalon - it's a huge mansion where every room has a different theme. We were in the Hemingway room which had big huge furniture, a jacuzzi for two, a fireplace, and of course a huge flat screen to watch the ksu/ku basketball game on. We had the best time ever! Breakfast in bed, watched movies, just relaxed - what a great birthday! And thanks to Ed and Norma (Shawn's parents) for watching the kids for us - you're the best (I seem to say that a lot to them!)

The only problem with having such a great b-day this year is...I don't how we are going to top it next year - ha!

Below is a photo of the hotel we stayed at.

Thanks for the best birthday ever! I love you!!

Hope you are having the time of your life! I sure am!

ST

Blogging Slacker

Yes, I have been slacking on the blogging...but in my defense...well...I got nothin'. I'm just a slacker. However, I do have a baby coming in just 10 days - less than that if you count by hours! This morning has consisted of cleaning up the old car seat, swing, baby bath, etc...all that lovely baby stuff that is all HUGE and takes up most of my new living room. I'm getting close to being ready for the baby to be here - now I'm mostly just getting nervous for the c-section. You kind of forget about all the little things that go along with major surgery - similar to natural child birth I suppose - (or do you not forget those contractions??) I don't know how the recovery is going to work with having two kids...hopefully I recover quickly like I did with the first two. Shawn's parents will be here while I'm in the hospital, then my mom is taking a week off to stay with me and then Shawn's parents are coming back for the next week. I'm sure Austin and Ashlyn will be sweet little angels the whole time! Ha!!



I thought you might enjoy hearing our weekly routine before it gets all changed around with Baby T3...

Monday - playgroup day! This is always the day we have playgroup with SGC - every Monday we go to some one's house and play all morning. Always a good time!

Tuesday - Scripture study day - we go up to church where Ashlyn and Austin go play with their friends and mommy gets to go to a scripture study class for 2 hours - it's a wonderful break for me, the kids have a great time playing, and I even get to enrich my spiritual life at the same time. I always walk away feeling refreshed and happy.

Wednesday - Mom's Time Out!!! This is my favorite day of the week (well, every 3rd week it's not...) Three of my friends, Callie, Kim and Emily and I have formed an MTO. Each week someone watches all the kids while the other moms get the day off. It's 7 kids to watch, but they are actually really good - we always have a great time and makes for some hard naps in the afternoon. And if you are having a rough day when it's your day to watch all the kids all you have to tell yourself is, "I get the next two weeks off!!" Yup, Love Wednesdays!!

Thursday - Every other Thursday I have MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). This is a great group of moms. We always have brunch and then have some sort of speaker or activity that helps us learn to be better moms and gives us some time to relax and rejuvenate. The kids always have a blast here too - the people who watch the kids are so great.

Friday - You never know what Friday will bring...could be Target, Walmart, Groceries, stay at home and watch a movie day...or go play at the park if it would ever warm up so the snow would melt!!



And that's a typical week here for me...Oh wait - left out a few things...I change diapers a million times, clean the house every day, do laundry, work for the textbook company, cook dinner every night (well, except for the nights we eat at my parents), hang out with my wonderful hubbie (who by the way got me TWO DOZEN roses for V-day :) and every once in a while I even shower!! I just love being a mom - wouldn't change it for the world - except last week when Austin took his diaper off two days in a row and pooped all over his room. Why won't he leave his clothes on???



We have been faithfully watching our favorite TV show 24 - actually it's the only one we watch besides K-State basketball. Every Monday night mom and dad come over and we have dinner and then wait for the show to come on. (mom and I have to nap after dinner so we can stay awake for the whole episode). We have a pretty complex way of watching it though - since the kids don't go to bed until around 8 we have to have 2 VCRs set up to tape it - that way once everyone is happy and in bed we can stop one VCR and watch it, then when it ends we watch the other tape - we like to call it the "poor man's DVR". Pretty clever huh? If you don't watch that show I highly suggest you do - quite a thriller!!



Austin is still having trouble keeping his clothes on - loves to strip naked at night...other than that he is doing great and has been telling me lately to "take that baby out mom". I guess he's ready to be a big brother again!!



Ashlyn is doing great too - finally starting to talk - has the most ornery smile in the world that is just irresistible (especially to her daddy). She is an awesome sleeper - sleeps through the night like a champ (I'm sure I just jinxed myself) and takes a great afternoon nap. She loves to play with Austin - their latest playtime even that they enjoy is wrestling - you'd be surprised! Even though Austin weighs 40 pounds and Ashlyn weighs 20, she wins every time!! That's my girl!!

I'll leave you with some pics...and keep checking back for some baby pics soon!! (c-section is Feb 28 at 9:30am!!)

Here's Austin having a Popsicle that Papa Settle brought him when it was snowing outside...perfect treat for a below-zero day!! He insisted he needed his sunglasses to eat it...

And here's my belly at 37 weeks - the baby has definitely dropped which is extremely uncomfortable - and yes, that thing that looks like a big button is my belly button - it seems to have popped!

And here's the cutest kids in the world - how long did they sit like this? That's a secret I will never tell...

Hope you are having the time of your life!

ST

He did it, He did it, He did it, HOORAY!

Those of you that aren't regular Dora watchers may not have understood the title to this post...it's from the theme song of none other than, Dora the Explorer. Anyway, the sleeping saga has been temporarily solved!!! Yes, Austin has been sleeping through the night IN HIS BED for the last few nights! YIPEE! The cure? Well, last Wednesday night we put him to bed and made the very difficult decision that we would NOT be going back into his room until morning. Better known as: The Cry It Out Method. Well, it was absolutely awful. Austin (and I) cried almost the entire night through. Austin lost his voice through it all. It was made very obvious to us though, that he was just wanting attention since he would be bawling and then stop to sing the K-State fight song, and then go back into bawling again. This proved to me that we were doing the right thing. So, my faithful husband held me through the night as I don't handle crying babies very well. I wanted to go in there so bad, but I knew if I did, that it would just make it worse. The next night we put him to bed and he cried for about 30 seconds and then crawled in his bed and didn't get up until morning! And he's been like that ever since! It worked! He's a smart little guy - and it only took Shawn and I about 2-3 weeks to figure out that he was playing us every night. Hopefully Shawn and I will get a bit sharper...ha! The cry it out method is definitely not the easy route to take - probably the hardest of them all, but sometimes a little tough love is the best thing you can do. And now we can all get some sleep (except for the 12 times I get up to pee in the night).

On another note, had yet another doctor's appointment today! Only 3 left! Yes, the baby will be here in just 3 weeks - yikes! I'm starting to get really antsy and am really wanting to know if it's a boy or girl - we finally have names nailed down - top secret though!! I'm feeling pretty good - definitely prego though. My belly is HUGE and I can no longer see the kids if they stand at my feet - they just hide right under my belly. I'm getting pretty tired pretty quick as the day goes on. I think I am just ready to have the baby and get the chaos going. Bring on the baby!!

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST

The Presidents Letter

As most of you know, I started up a mom's group at my church (with the help of my sidekick, Kim) called Saint Gerard's Circle. Every month we put out a newsletter in which I have to write a letter to everyone on the front page. I thought some of you might enjoy reading this one. If I knew how to attach the whole newsletter I would, but don't have time to figure that one out yet!
Here's the letter for this month...

God Doesn’t Give Us Anything We Can’t Handle…

Happy 2007! I hope this finds you all back into routine after the craziness of the holidays. As for SGC, we have gotten off to a great start this year! We had a wonderful turnout at our first meeting in January with lots of ideas flowing for some upcoming events. And, as usual, we all had a blast sitting around chatting, just taking a break from our daily lives. I look forward to seeing all of you at meetings, playgroups, parties or whatever you can make it to!

It’s always exciting to start up a new year. We ponder the events of the past and hopefully look forward to new and exciting things that are in store for us. For me, this would include getting ready to add another munchkin to the Turner Family. As Baby number 3’s arrival gets closer and closer my nerves seem to be getting tighter and tighter (as do my pants). I sit here and wonder how I am ever going to have time to go to the bathroom, or how I am possibly going to go run any kind of errand during the day (how many snacks does it take to get through Costco with 3 kids under the age of 3?). But when I start getting nervous, I try and remember that God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle. Now, of course, there are times when I think, God has never tried to go to Target with 2 small children…so how in the world does he think I can go there with three?! I know that with faith in God, lots of prayers, and all my SGC friends, I’ll make it through this crazy thing called motherhood. And although my children are 2, 1 and “almost here”, I have seen how much my children have already taught me. I feel I have become a better person because of them. My children have taught me to laugh more, sleep less, play with everything possible, and of course give at least 100 hugs and kisses a day. So, even though our lives are about to be turned upside down with yet another baby in the house, I say bring it on – I could use a few more hugs each day! As you go throughout this new year, I hope you will remember this too – when God gives you tough times, try and embrace them, learn from them and don’t be afraid to lean on your friends to get through them.

God Bless You and Your Family,
Stephanie Turner
SGC President

Hope you are having the time of your life!
ST