37 week checkup

My weeks were pretty much just off on checkups this pregnancy (towards the end). But the 37 week check up was pretty boring regardless!

Stats:
+2lbs
BP: 100/60
Baby's heart rate: 140's
Fundal Height: 39cm

I was pretty concerned as to why the jump in fundal height again! Dr Pohl explained though that with 3rd kids and beyond theres just more room for the baby to not be engaged in teh pelvis and to float a little higher, so he wasnt overly concerned.

No cervical check. Really nothing to talk about. Easy Breezy and out!

Rhyan's Pre-K Graduation!

HOW is it that it seems like just yesterday that she jumped out of the van heading off to her first day of pre-K (leaving ME in tears) and here we were already at the end of her first year of "school"!?!?

On her last day of school we sent a couple of little goodies for her teachers as a "thank you" for a great experience in pre-k! They really set the stage for Rhyan to love school and learning and I appreciate them SO much! Mrs Stacy and Mrs Amy were so loving and precious and kind and Rhyan learned so much! In their little planters was a thank you card, $5 starbucks giftcard, $5 target giftcard and a sweet treat.

That night was her graduation ceremony. She told me before we ever left that she didnt want to do the graduation and just wanted to go see her friends. We tried really hard preparing her for what graduation would be but she just kept saying "no, i dont want to do that". I was very hopeful that she would participate.

 

When we got there she did not yet have her robe on... and she cried and cried when we got to her classroom saying she didnt want to wear it. I tried gently encouraging but had to do what i always end up having to do with Rhyan... just telling her she WAS going to wear it and no more crying. So she put it on and was fine with it. Mrs Amy invited her to come sit and listen to Mrs Stacy read them all a book one last time... which happened to be a book I had brought in with Rhyan that evening... "Oh, the places you will go". So Rhyan joined in and I snuck out to find the rest of the family and get seated!

Mrs Lisa has been pre-school director for quite some time now and honestly, she does a fantastic job! She clearly loves the kids and is passionate about them enjoying their time at Hebron!

After the introductions, etc, they showed a slideshow with pics of the kids through the year.!!! Sweet!

And then the procession started. Rhyan's class was about the 3rd class to come out. Mrs Stacy was head of the line with the first kid from the class (all in alphabetical order)

When Rhyan got to the doorway, I could tell she was a little upset...

I was sitting in the end seat of our row and as soon as she saw me, she made a B-Line for me! She was done. Which was fine, really. I know I got some comments saying "I cant believe you didnt make her walk after her family came to see the ceremony!", etc. But let me just make this clear: There are a LOT of things in life that my kids will HAVE to do that they dont want to do. Pre-K graduation ceremony... NOT one of those things. As much as I hated it that family took time to come and then she wouldnt participate, in all honesty, the ceremony isnt about the family. Its a time for Rhyan to celebrate with her class her accomplishment. If she didnt want to participate, I was not about to make her go kicking and screaming. "Hey, Rhyan, great job at pre-k! Now go be miserable and perform for the family". NO. Not happening.

 

So, we watched the ceremony and I asked several more times if she wanted me to walk down with her so she could walk across the stage when they called her name but she didnt want to. Rhyan doesnt like to be the center of attention at all (unless she knows everyone!). So, she sat in my lap during the ceremony.

After, the church hosted a little cookie social to congratulate the kids! She was much more comfortable there and we got a few great pics of her with some of her favorite people!

Rhyan and Mrs Amy (gosh, she was SO precious!!)

Rhyan and her best bud/carpool buddy, Jackson!

Mrs Amy, Rhyan and Mrs Stacy (her lead teacher!)

And of course with Gran and Grandad!

Mack was in one of his "dont take my picture" moods. Oh, what a pure joy that boy is. :-/

My mom came to the ceremony as well but had to leave at the end so she didnt get to stay for the cookie social part... but she was, as we all were, super proud of Rhyan :-)

Where is time going?!

Strawberry Picking!

One of my favorite yearly traditions is taking the kids to Washington Farms for some strawberry picking! We LOVE their fresh berries and we always have fun picking (and maybe tasting) a bucket full!

I'll leave the pictures to speak for themselves.

After our little adventure, we went to check out and decided to treat the kids to some of their fresh, homemade strawberry icecream. Which Rhyan promptly told me she didnt like and asked for some berries instead but Mack gobbled right up. He's not so picky ;-)

We went on a Thursday when they had a "pick two, get one free" special because the berries were just overloading the plants! It made for a great deal and was super easy to get 3 buckets full! (Btw, we shared one bucket with my mom and another with Jeff's parents!)

What a FUN start to summer tradition!

Rhyan's 5 year checkup!!!

After the horror of the 4 year check up (where the kids get 4 shots! and are old enough to be super upset at you about letting someone poke them) I was a little leary of the 5 year check up. UNTIL! I found out... no shots! Woohoo! So this appointment was pretty easy! First, they tested her hearing. She passed :-)

And then weighed her and measured her height. 
STATS:
Weight- 43lbs (71%)
Height- 44.5" (86%)
Our tall girl ;-)

Then it was off to the exam room where she had her blood pressure taken like a BIG girl for the first time!

Dr Sheth came in and examined her and said she's healthy as can be. We discussed eating and sleeping habits and she was super pleased with both, minus my mention of Rhyan still snoring. At her 4 year checkup we discussed it being likely related to allergies and swollen adenoids... At this visit when she examined her nose she noted a good bit of swelling, as well. SO, we discussed our recent move onto property with 7 pecan trees, etc, and she suggested we have allergy testing done on Rhyan. The great thing is that IF we decided to do immunotherapy, its done at HOME through our office. No 2-3 visits per week to the dr and missing school, etc... I was open to seeing what she might be allergic to so we scheduled with the allergist... and then headed to MY dr's appt!

Our appointments coincided just perfectly so that Rhyan got to see an ultrasound! I was excited for her to get to see the profile of the baby (since this is the most recognizable thing) and hear the heartbeat!
She was instantly excited when she saw THIS Image! She said "look mommy! theres the baby!". I was so glad she was able to understand that it was like looking at the baby's shadow (we had talked about it!)

My checkup was easy and in and out. But it was so, so sweet to be able to share these appts with my girl!

A letter to our Rhyan

My Sweet Rhyan

I dont even know what words to use to tell you how grateful I am to be your Mommy! You are such a sweet sweet blessing to me and your Daddy!

This year has been a really BIG one for you! You started pre-k and did awesome! You've learned so much in school this year and I've been so proud of how you've stayed on "green" or even gone to "purple" for going above and beyond so often. You are such a big helper in school and around the house!

You love to get yourself dressed each morning and brush your own teeth. You make your bed almost every morning without being asked! We also cook together and you love to take part in pretty much anything your Daddy or I are doing!

You have also started weaning off from your daily nap this year. Its gotten to where if you take a nap, you take a really long time to fall asleep at night. But still, you cant skip it every day or you get super cranky! So we are trying to figure out what to do about that... typically we are having you "rest" each day in your room with some books, coloring things, etc. Sometimes you fall asleep, sometimes you dont. But it seems to be working pretty well for you!

This year you've also turned into my peanut butter and jelly ONLY eating kid. Where did my squash casserole baby go?! ;-) Your tastes have become much more distinct and you will only eat certain things. We continue to offer normal healthy foods and withold snacks if you dont eat well as an encouragement to get you to try different foods. And some days you love green beans and others you tell me you dont like them. Thats new for us and we just try to make sure you eat as healthy as you can...

You also learned this year that you are going to be a big sister again! And I am THRILLED at how excited you've been about it! This little baby in my belly is going to be SO lucky to have you to look after her and love on her!

You continue to love to dance and sing and play dress up. I've enjoyed many a cup of coffee from your pretend kitchen and you've also learned to build so many things with your magnatiles! Your favorite book is your bible and you love learning your memory verses each week from Church! You are finally coming out of your shell just a little and making a few little friends! And you LOVE all things disney! Princesses are for sure #1 for you!

I love that you are my best shopping buddy and that we sit on the swing and sing and laugh together. I LOVE how you give the best compliments and always remind me when we need to get our toes done together. I love you, Rhyan. You are my "angel girl" and my "favorite girl in the world"... truly, you bring so much joy to my heart and its SUCH a joy to watch you grow and learn!

Sometimes I feel badly that you're our first because we make the most mistakes with you, I'm sure. We arent 100% sure on how to handle each situation that comes up or how best to teach you certain things, but I hope that you always know that your Daddy and I ADORE you and that every decision we make is out of love for you!

I'm SO excited to see you continue to learn and grow and develop more opinions and likes and dislikes as we learn just who God created you to be!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!
Mommy and Daddy

Rhyan turn's 5!!!

HOW is my baby girl 5 already?!?!? I know we all wonder that about our kiddos but I'm telling you, I feel like it was just recently that I was holding her as a newborn. *tear*

When we got back from Disney, my #1 goal was to get the yard all cleaned up and flower beds de-weeded so that we could have her little get together in the yard! We love our yard and the back yard is always cool out under the shade of the pecan trees!

I was SO proud of how cute the gazebo turned out! Jonathan built this for Mommie several years ago... she had been wanting one for a LONG time and I think it really is super nice :-) A great set up for a party!

We planned the party for 5pm and were having hamburgers and hotdogs and the like... Well, Shlaine and Steve came a few minutes early (with some extra tables!) and immediately Steve came to the grill where I was working hard to show me his doppler radar on his phone. What was slated to be a beautiful day suddenly was about to turn wicked. There was a pretty nasty storm headed our way... in 20 minutes!

We kept an eye on the sky and continued to enjoy the outdoors for a little bit! I even got a preggo pic with my friend, Melissa. I'm SO excited that we are both having our 3rd babies together! 2 weeks apart!

For the record, I am 2 weeks farther along than Melissa... a girl for us, a boy for them. They will be betrothed ;-). Its already decided!

SO... right on time, a big storm came! :-( So the family was super nice to help us move EVERYTHING onto the front porch. We definitely tested the limits of that porch and how many people it would hold!

The wind started picking up and it was making it not so fun to be outside anymore, so we headed indoors for cake and presents. This was the first time I had a really hard time with our "new" house. Yes, I grew up there and was used to it being super crowded at Christmas, etc. But I'm used to us being able to have lots of people over comfortably and never have to worry about people feeling crowded. This was a first for me... luckily, most everyone there was family  who are also used to the tight spaces. And on the upside, it totally did NOT bother Rhyan, who had a great time, anyways!!!

Jeff helped Rhyan open all her gifts and I had to take pics with my camera phone bc (surprise surprise) I had forgotten to 1. Charge the battery and 2. Download the memory card.

Gran and Grandad bought her some super cute clothes! And had already given towards her seasons pass to Lanier World (which we took FULL advantage of this year and had a great time!)

She also racked up with a total of $60! From her uncle Jonathan, Aunt Marsha and Uncle Bobby, Grammy, and Tracy!

This face! This gift was by far the one she showed the most excitement over... from Shlaine and Steve!

A disney princess water globe! She LOVES it and its one of her favorite decorations :-)

Her Grammy also got her a little Mermaid dress up dress! She loved it!!

Sweet Avery!

We had a great time celebrating our sweet Rhyan and a huge thank you to everyone who came out!