Ristow's 5th Birthday

My little boy is 5yrs old!

He makes birthdays fun! He is so enthusiastic and appreciative for everything, it just makes you smile. I overheard him as he saw the kitchen all decorated for his birthday "wow, this is the best birthday ever! God, thank you for how beautiful this all is!" I love that his first reaction to it was to thank God for it. It was an awesome prayer from a sincere heart.

Ristow got to take transformer cupcakes to school for his birthday and he wore a crown from burger king. His excitement poured out to everyone around him. Then after school Ristow got to choose where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner, the obvious choice for him was Snappy Tomato, a pizza buffet!

After dinner we opened presents and had ice cream! (the cake is for his kid party on saturday)

He played with his toys and built legos and had a great time.

And the best part for me was that no baby was born on Ristow's birthday! Ristow gets to keep his special day all to himself! Though, she can come anytime now, however, I would like to go to his bowling party on saturday. I know, beggars can't be choosers, but I like to at least pretend I have some control in this matter ;)

Happy Birthday to my sweet, creative, compassionate, loving boy!

I love you Ristow!

Wildhorse

Yesterday was a great day! After a great win by Ohio State, we met my parents for an early dinner at a yummy Tex Mex restaurant, where I had the mild salsa and sauces, I am too chicken to do the spicy stuff. (no matter the inducing labor myths)
Then we dropped off Ristow at this Babysitting Swap and we coerced some other friends to head down to the Wildhorse saloon for my friend Shelley's birthday celebration.
What a sight I can imagine that was! A woman who is 9 months pregnant doing the Boot Scoot, line dancing on the dance floor. Luckily I was having too much fun to notice if anyone was staring. They did play a number of slow songs for Christopher and I to dance to also. It was so great to spend a fun evening out with my wonderful husband and great friends. It has been far too long!

Unfortunately, all the dancing and jumping around did NOT send me into labor as I was hoping, but fun none the less!

The Waiting Game

It is funny that this whole pregnancy I have been so worried about this baby coming early and now that it is safe for her to come......we wait.

Many people's delivery date guesses have come and gone, today was the day that Christopher had guessed, and while the day is not over yet, it looks unlikely that today is it.

I went to the Dr. yesterday and was rewarded with the tiny progress of 1 cm. Which really means nothing, since some women are at certain stages for weeks but you never know. We are still hoping that she decides to make her debut this week or at least before thanksgiving.

But again.......we wait.

Though many of my friends are predicting that she is holding out for the full 40 weeks. I really hope not.

It is hard feeling this out of control, maybe I just need to plan a big day out with lots of important things to get done, isn't that one way to assure that plans get ruined? ;)

Anyway, I am feeling pretty good and will try to get some things done today, Ristow's birthday is in 15 days and I still have some work to do for that. Now, he has decided that he wants a surprise party even though he has been planning his birthday for months. Silly kid!

I promise to keep everyone updated.

35 Weeks

"Your baby, now as hefty as a honeydew melon at 5 1/4 pounds, doesn't have much room to maneuver in your belly. (Length: more than 18 inches, head to heel.)"

....And boy does it feel like it.

I have officially reached the uncomfortable point in this pregnancy. I am so very thankful that we are nearing the end. I will be off restriction once I reach 36 weeks and can feel much better about all these contractions and pressure. I so look forward to meeting our little girl! She is actually dancing all over the place in there as I type this, I have a feeling she is going to be full of energy.

Praise God for this glorious gift! I am also so thankful for all of the help I have been receiving during this time.... from cleaning to transportation for my son to school to preparing meals for me, everyone has been so loving and generous and for that I am truly thankful.

Halloween

This Halloween was lots of fun! We had a costume birthday party to go to in the morning, to which Ristow actually wore his new ninja costume that we bought for halloween. Then by mid-afternoon he decided he wanted to be something else. So the cowboy emerged with all his yee-hawing and ofcourse a samurai sword to boot. (whatever floats his boat) Then we hit the parade in my parent's development. Lots of great costumes. I went as the planet Saturn, mom went as a Picnic and Christopher was a pirate.
Dad made his homemade pizza which rocked, and Christopher and Ristow headed out to trick-or-treat.

My parents decided this past weekend to buy a Wii. I think they are hooked! We had Wii bowling competitions and I hear mom and dad have been enjoying the Wii boxing too! It was great. Then they showed us the karaoke channel they found on comcast on demand, and we howled our way through some classic songs, though it was the 8 minute American Pie that made us all sing even louder and decide we were done for the night. I think I even saw Ristow roll his eyes once or twice! Anyway, it made for good memories and a fun time.

Costumes and Pumpkins

I truly enjoy the fun that comes along with this time of year. Costumes are just so much fun and my son LOVES dressing up in his with his buddies. He let his friend wear his new ninja costume because he wanted to create something amazing "Super Cowboy Spiderman"! They were so funny running all over.
My other favorite thing to do as a family is carve pumpkins. This afternoon we carefully planned out the designs that Ristow wanted for our scary jack-o-lanterns. He was very pleased with the results. This is the first year that he was really into the goop and I mean "into" the goop. He loved playing with it and making goop soup. We all had a blast.

Chilly Fall Outing

Yesterday we were able to take a "walk" as a family finally and enjoy the 2mile loop at Long Hunter Park. We have borrowed a wheelchair from a friend and I feel some freedom as we are able to get a bit more out and about as a family. It was so much fun and Ristow stopped at every little marker and description of tree to learn about them and find out their names. I think we may have scared away any animals in the vicinity though with Ristow's cheers and announcements of each new tree. I even dragged my feet through the leaves in an attempt at fall leaf crunching. It made me smile and feel great! Though Ristow wanted to ride on the wheelchair with me rather than walk on his own, it was fun. I am so eager for this precious baby to come so that I can start going walking again, I know that this is just for a season and for now I am thankful that it is fall and I can be with my family. For that I am truly grateful.