- starting 35 weeks tomorrow -

ahniér’s getting plump & with up to 5 more weeks to grow, she’s accumulating fat at a rapid pace [on her too & not just mama’s hips!], but she’s pretty much reached the her limit in height by now, which means her skinny arms & legs are now quite plump & irresistibly, squeezably soft - back in the middle of the pregnancy, her weight was made up of only 2% fat, now that percentage has soared to closer to 15% [& will increase to up to 30% at full term] - at about 20” & just under 6#, most of her growth over the next month or so before we meet, will be in weight [with a gain of anywhere from 1 to several pounds], not height [she's pretty much reached the limit in that department] - the fat deposits are now beginning to offer form & fullness to her legs & arms – she’s taking up most of the room in mama’s uterus, so there’s a lot less room to move around – we’re impressed because that a lot of work non-stop – at this point, our little grower’s almost busting out of the womb size-wise, which make their restricted attempts to move much more challenging – of course she’s a stubborn little stinker & she’s still trying to move around as if she wasn’t in a cramped space – the accumulation of baby fat deposits are starting to level off, so our little butter ball will be padded & warm when she heads out of her snug little home

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ahniér’s now as hefty as a honeydew melon!

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also continuing to grow at an amazing pace is her brain power - luckily, the part that surrounds that amazing brain [the skull], remains soft & for good reason - a soft skull will allow her to squeeze more easily through the birth canal [god was really thinking this one through - imagine trying to push out a rock-hard head…ouch!] - also, her lungs are now completely developed & producing what’s called ‘surfactant’, a substance that helps in the exchange of oxygen in the lungs - if ahniér were to be born now, there’s a 99% chance of her surviving - congratulations!

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- FRAMING'S ALMOST FINISHED -

well, here's how our house looked at noon today when i went by - oh my goodness, i'm beyond excited!! - we didn't take the girls by yesterday so the last they'd seen was in 'slab form' - i pulled up today & said, "look girls, there's our house!" - they looked all around & said they couldn't find it - i said, "there!" [& pointed], but now they don't believe me as they're still looking for our slab!!! [ooops, maybe we should've brought them by yesterday so they could've seen it going up slowly] - spike & i are going out at 5 tonight when the work crew's all gone & i'll take more pics as i'm sure some more will be done by then - i'll keep ya posted!!

- THEY STARTED FRAMING!! -

well, they began framing our house today [yeah!!] - i'm off to bed, but wanted to share - i'll post more pictures daily :)

- THE FRAMING'S HERE -

yes, they delivered the framing package for our new home today - they also connected all the gas lines, etc. & should start framing tomorrow or wednesday depending on weather - i'm praying it holds off so i can see something moving on the lot!! - here's some pics of the wood [like you all really care about seeing that!!]

- NANNY 911, CAME TO OUR HOUSE -

well, since we're living in a little rental house, until our new home's built, we've no place for a kitchen table, so we're all eating on tv trays so to speak, in the living room - since we're all in the living room during meal times, we taped a ton of shows & we've been watching them while we eat [we'll all be so glad when this habit, we're able to break]

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one of our family favorites is nanny 911 [a reality show to help parents learn to parent better] - well, the kids really like it & seem to get upset with the children on that show & all the bad behavior that goes on

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well, we've been dealing some issues [big to our family that is], that even though they don't warrant calling nanny 911 to send someone from england to help us, we still need to work hard on curbing some of these behaviors & thought we'd use this show to help out

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spike & i were talking about it last night after the girls went to bed & he mentioned nanny 911 - he said, "what's the first thing nanny does when she goes into a home & sees what's going on?" - i said, "she gives the family a set of rules...their own family rule book" [our kids talk about the 'family rule book' during each episode too] - i said, "that's right, i'll make one for us!!"

we thought about what we deal with mostly at this time & targeted only those for now - as you can see from our rule book, there's 4 main problems & they're listed [no yelling, no hitting or kicking, no tattling & stay in bed]

in the rule book, there's also ways to obtain privileges & they're listed as well [5 tokens = stay up 30 extra minutes or listen to a CD when you lay down, 10 tokens = movie at naptime & 20 tokens = a date with a parent for ice cream, a walk, going to the playground, out to eat or something else special]

well, i wrote it up, printed it off & spike did the book binding [isn't he good!] & we put it in the mailbox - the girls woke up today & i said, "hey, guess what?" - they all looked at me dazed & confused - i said, "you know we've been working on some things around here & it's not been working out very well?" - kiara said, "about not obeying?" - i said, "yeah, but guess what? - one of the nanny's from nanny 911 emailed me & said they'd come to our house & left something for you in the mailbox" - their eyes were huge [except for ruby's, as with her being deaf, there's still that barrier we've to work through, so i signed what i could, but it still wasn't clicking for her] - we reminded the girls that every family gets these rule books & nanny had brought ours to our house

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we went downstairs & turned on one of these shows & paused it when nanny was handing the 'family rule book' to the family she was working with, so i could show ruby what i was talking about

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kiara went & got the mail & their eyes lit up!! - she read it to us as we signed for ruby - i also added pictures in the book to make it easier for ruby to understand as well - they all have a 'favorite nanny' out of the 3 that's always on there, so we put all 3 of their names on the front cover of the book so they'd all be happy [they asked which one sent it too!!]

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they've done pretty well today as we're taking the advise of the nanny's & when they do something [ie: yell], i'll say, "here's your warning about yelling, next time you'll take a time out" & then, if it happens again, they sit [karleigh = 4 minutes, ruby = 5 minutes & kiara = 6 minutes]

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they each earned 1 token today & i really felt bad, as i told spike tonight that tomorrow, i need to make sure they get a couple to show them how good they're doing [ie: one time karleigh said in a very whiny voice, "mommy, ruby [LONG pause]... oh never mind" & i said, "good job karleigh, you didn't tattle", but then just dropped it - i should've rewarded her for it...bummer] - nanny would've scolded 'mum' for sure on that one!!

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i'm looking forward to seeing how they do tomorrow & watching those tokens build - they're such good girls & i know some will say, "oh my, if that's all you've to deal with, you've got it lucky" & i know what people mean & we're so blessed, but still with 3 of them all doing this, it's VERY LOUD around here!!! -

- I WANT TO PLAY LONELY -

that's what kiara [6 years] kept saying today after lunch, when they were all getting ready to play - the 'twins' went upstairs & kiara came down & said, "i want to play lonely" - i said, "why do you want to play lonely?" - she said, "just because i do" - i said, "do you feel lonely?" - she looked at me weird & said, "no!" - well, the more spike & i talked to her, we found out that she didn't want to play lonely...she wanted to play ALONE!!! - silly girl!!

- THE ARTISTS IN MY FAMILY -

the other day i took the girls & let them make their own masterpiece - they all got to not only pick the item they wanted to paint, but they also got to pick their own colors as well - i picked them up yesterday & they're thrilled with what they ended up with!! - hope you all enjoy!!

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karleigh's flower in blue & purple...

her favorite colors!

ruby's bear in green & yellow...

because she could reach those colors 'all by herself',

as i told them they couldn't get the ones up high, without help

kiara's puppy in blue & purple...

those were the only 2 colors with sparkles in them

& she was sure it'd be beautiful!!

- HEY MR. WILLLLLLSON!! -

well, this' our dad [today he was known as mr wilson...you know, from dennis the menice?]

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i was over at their house for a bit today & they were telling me that new neighbors were moving in this afternoon - they'd heard it was a young couple with 2 children [a toddler & a baby]

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well, while we were sitting at the kitchen table, we heard a car drive up the alley [where the moving truck sits in the picture above, as the truck wasn't there at the time] - the lady [new neighbor] in the car, was pulling into her driveway & we were being nosey at the window & watching [you know, like gladys kravitz on bewitched...pictured below]she pulled into her driveway, all the way up to her garage door & then it was like she changed her mind & wanted to scoot her car over & into the other garage bay area - she threw it into reverse & i swear, never looked behind her at all!! - i was saying, "dad, she's heading for your fence...dad, she's not stopping...dad, she just HIT your fence!!"

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well, by that time dad went outside [keep in mind, 'mr. wilson's' got a hot head, sometimes a VERY hot head, but over the years he's gotten sooooo much better with it, but it still gets him sometimes, as it does with all of us...please keep this thought in mind as you continue reading]

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alright, so mr. wilson headed outside as gladys kravitz [myself] & madisyn were watching from the kitchen windows - you might ask why we didn't want to go outside with him, but think about it, we didn't want to seem rude or anything as they were new neighbors, we'd rather spy on them!!

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dad came back in [aggravated] & i asked what happened - he said, "well, i went out there & as the lady & her dad [the grandpa] was getting the kids out of the car, i said, "hey, did you know you hit my fence?" - she said, "oh, i thought i hit the pole beside it, i didn't know i hit your fence" [there was a utility pole there as well, but it didn't get hit] - all the while she was saying this, 'grandpa' was shaking dad's fence as if to say, "has it REALLY been hit?" - dad finally said, "stop shakin' it, you're making it worse!"

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she then looked up to dad & instead of apologizing or asking if they could help fix it or whatever, she said, "well, hello, i'm your new neighbor lisa [smiling cheesy]...& you are???????" [raising her eyebrows]

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dad's reply..."i'm MAD!" [& gave the same cheesy smile] - after this, dad went on to fix his fence as they literally stood inches from him [i'm NOT joking either!], watching him work & not offering to help him at all

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oh, to have them living next to each other will surely bring some great blog material!!!!

- STARTING WEEK 34 -

ahniér could be as tall as 20” right now & could weigh about 5# - it's wonderful to know that if she was born now, she has a 95% chance of full & normal survival with medical intervention…she’s on the move! - she’s been riding fairly high in mama’s stretched-out womb till now [while kindly compressing mama’s poor internal organs], but now she’s planning on making the big move to her pelvis this week - if mama hasn’t noticed it already, she’ll be feeling the weight shift that signals ahniér’s most likely out of breech position, with her head now resting on mama’s pubic bone - she’s now bulked up to the size of an average cantaloupe

ahniér’s fingernails now reach the end of the fingertips & may even curl over the tip, making a manicure one of the first things we'll need to do for our little bundle - she can grasp firmly & responds just as a newborn would by opening his eyes while awake & closing them while sleeping
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this month also offers more time for ahniér to build antibodies & for her skin to continue to thicken - although not quite fully formed, her liver’s now capable of processing a certain amount of waste - in general, most of her prenatal physical development’s pretty much up to snuff & ready for the outside world - naturally, further weight gain’s expected, so mama’s still not at maximum capacity despite probably feeling like she definitely is maxed out

- WHAT A DAY! -

well, my morning started off by staying home & getting some things done around the house, went over to my parents house to visit a bit & then picked shnaider up & took him to his doctor appointment this afternoon - after that was over, we headed home

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moving on to the afternoon...my afternoon didn't go as planned at all [not at all!] & mentally/physically drained me, but at the end of the day, when all's said & done, i feel that god had his hand in it & good things are a comin'!!

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the girls had been home all day & needed to get out & run some steam off [just what i wanted to do, let me tell ya!], so since spike was gone golfing with dustin, the girls & i went out for pizza, then to see our new house - while there, we met some very nice neighbors [christy, megan, colin & natalie] & it was very nice to talk to some friendly people :) - here's our house today as they delivered the steel beam that we've been waiting for & next they'll deliver our framing package [i'm praying it's tomorrow] - immediately thereafter, they'll start framing & i'm very excited about that

after we saw the house & visited with kristy, we went home to unwind & to just play & have fun - the girls brought baby dolls out & had a good playing - i think tomorrow we may go to the pool, but shhhh, don't tell them!!