Baby #4

I thought it was finally time to announce that we are having another

GIRL!

We found out oh about 4.5 months ago, but this mama has failed to blog about it.

We are just thrilled to welcome our newest addition soon,

 Cody is especially looking forward to being surrounded 

by 5 females for quite some time!

Good thing he listens and lives the advice from great talks like THIS  

so that he can be the 

best darn dad to our little flock of females.

(Belly size as of 8:15pm last night!)

And now a mini recap of pregnancy #4.

After the nausea calmed down I was surprised with an early diagnosis of placenta previa and at about 4 months was forced to drop teaching my cardio classes and had to take a leave of absence from all of my classes and working out in general for a couple of weeks.

Fortunately I was able to get back to teaching my Body Pump classes shortly thereafter and am still teaching today. I'm actually scheduled to teach up until my due date, which is Dec. 30th.

Aside from that early hiccup I've enjoyed constant contractions since about 5.5 months gestation, which have become stronger and more regular with each passing week it seems.

When I was pregnant with Brinley I was under the impression that the feeling I had like I would surely explode if my stomach expanded one more tiny inch would lessen with future pregnancies, 

I've now learned x4, that for me it doesn't. 

This morning after my class I had a member say I looked like I was ready to explode.

I just looked at her, smiled and said "well that's exactly how I feel."

I'm measuring right on target, which means this will surely be our biggest baby yet.

Since Aspen was the biggest at 7lbs. 2 or so oz. I'm guessing baby will be in the high 7lb. range.

Even in light of the fun pregnancy aches and pains I've loved and tried my best to relish this sweet experience of having a little human growing inside of me. Feeling her kick and punch and hiccup all the livelong day and night is special and so cool.

What an amazing and miraculous opportunity 

it's been to grow each of our wee ones inside me.

When I hear about the NICU babies Dr. Young treats with numerous mental and physical abnormalities it further drives home the precious gift of a healthy baby.
Ultrasounds seem to indicate that this baby will not have a club foot!

SO, with this in mind I gird up my loins for a fabulous last month of pregnancy!

Happy Anniversary Darling

In our 10 years together we have welcomed 3, almost 4 babies into our lives.

#1

#1 and #2

#1, #2 and #3

We have lived in 4 states:

Ohio

California

Missouri

Utah

We have survived medical school,

residency,

and 5 months of fellowship.

 We have been to Mexico twice.

 We have enjoyed snow storms and

birthdays and
 

and holidays

and various interview seasons.

We've laughed and cried together.
We've been excited and disappointed together.
We've made major decisions together and learned to become better parents together.
We've lingered late into the night just talking to each other.
We've comforted crying children throughout countless nights together.
We've learned to communicate better and appreciate one another even more.

Darling, today, on our 10 year anniversary, I truly feel like "I Am The Luckiest!"
I love to spend time with you, to learn and grow with you and to be your biggest cheerleader.
You are my best friend and a person whom I greatly admire.

I look forward to an eternity of future memories we will create together
and a past full of memories
I will cherish for a lifetime!

Happy Birthday Handsome

Well, what a grand birthday celebration my husband enjoyed on Saturday.

He started off his day at the crack of dawn, as usual, and headed off to the 

hospital in the wee hours of the morning.

After a full day of work he came home to streamers littering the house and three girls who all wanted him to open their gift first (even though each of them gave him the same type of shirt for work).

Aspen spoiled the "surprise" by telling him what was in the wrapped packages which sparked a firestorm of tears and frustration from her elder sisters and
 the arguments over which gift to open first continued.

Patiently Cody calmed the tears and did his best to keep the ongoing fighting to a minimum as Aspen insisted she open the gifts on Daddy's behalf while Avery sat by in agony expressing her frustration at her younger sisters involvement.

After dinner the plan was to have a little family game time, which always presents more opportunities for conflict (what game to play, who goes first, Aspen playing out of turn, etc), not to mention how Brinley was completely distraught that we were going to have the birthday dessert AFTER the games and not BEFORE.

To wrap up his fabulous evening of birthday fun Cody proceeded
to be at the forefront of bath time.

Bath time is another great opportunity for sibling conflict, so many possible battles!
What bath to use, how high to fill the water, water temperature, what toys to play with, bubbles or none, food coloring or none, begging for more time in the bath, Aspen's tears when it comes time to wash hair, who gets out first, shall I continue?
  Certainly this was a wonderful way for Cody to finish up his  
magical evening celebration!

But wait, alas there was more in store for this birthday boy.

After tooth brushing time, stories, scriptures, prayers, songs,
kisses and last minute requests from the girls...wow, I can't believe we do this every night...
Cody retired to the very relaxing task of cramming in preparation for an hour long lecture he is giving to the residents, fellows and attendings this week.

And now I arrive at the reason why I tell the "real story" of Cody's Birthday-
As he spoke with family members that evening and they inquired as to how his birthday had been,
he pleasantly responded "oh it's been a great day." 

This is one of the reasons that I love my husband!
He didn't feel sad or down, he didn't wish for more, he was just happy and content
with the evening-time chaos and his simplified, child-centered "celebration" this year.

Another Week at the Young Home

Aspen was very proud of the grape smelling play dough she made 

at Mrs. Andrea's school the other day.

 She shared it with Avery and they made these clever creations.

These awesome bubbles were a gift to Aspen from Aunt Kelty. 

The girls love to blow them up, play with them for a few minutes, 

pop them and do it all over again and again and again!

When Cody is gone I often go simple on mealtime! 

(They did have a bagel too so don't go thinking I'm starving the children)

After a week long Pediatric Cardiology Radiology Conference 

in Toronto, Canada and a few days in Denver for a job interview,
Cody will arrive home tonight and we are so glad!

Avery gets very creative when it comes to putting away her clean laundry. 

It's amazing how many different stalling techniques she comes 

up with to prolong the process.

We have had several beautiful sunny days and the 

girls took advantage of the warmth a few nights ago.

They worked together to create this massive pile of leaves and then played it in.

Good creative clean fun makes my heart sing!

When at home Aspen prefers to be wearing a leotard at all times.

Although it was much too cool to be outside in this item of choice, 

Aspen was determined she would NOT be cold!

She was not outside for long. 

When I asked if she was coming in because she was cold she casually stated 

"Nope, just done playing outside," quite obviously unwilling to admit the truth.

Halloween 2011

Loved the warm weather so that we could carve outside this year!

Aspen was intrigued with every step of the carving process. 

After insisting that she be completely responsible for carving her pumpkin on her own,

she soon realized that it was not quite as easy as she had anticipated, 

so she gave in and let daddy help out.

Proud of their creations!

Our little trick-or-treating gang.

Brinley = Witch

Avery = Leopard

Aspen = Bell Princess

Kirsten = Pirate 

Lauren = Spanish Princess

Liam = Robot Warrior

After all was said and done the girls came home with an enormous amount 

 of cavity causing candy.

Brinley caught on that there really are no ghosts and goblins 

 who came to get their share of the candy as had been our family tradition in years past.

(Aspen displaying her feelings about eating pink nerds)

So with all of the generous energy of my heart I agreed to let them each choose 40 pieces of candy to eat when they wished. After a brief lesson about self control and then letting them each set a goal for themselves about how many pieces they would choose to eat each day, we put them to bed with their pumpkins full of candy at their disposal. 

Candy consuming report: 

Avery's candy = Gone by day #2, 

she sure enjoyed quiet time in her room the day after Halloween!

Brinley's candy = Still around, but won't last close to 40 days as she had previously decided.

Aspen = Was granted 10 pieces and still has 3 left in her pumpkin even after 

Avery's clever schemes to entice Aspen "share" several pieces with her.

PS- Have you checked out THIS cute post yet?