Yes, it's been a while!

Sorry for the long silence but we've been super busy these days.

First we had a trip to see family and had a great time. While we were there, I took Rose to a homeopathic dr. She has a constant runny nose, no matter what medications we've used, and I'm suspecting food at this point. This homeopath said it was eggs and all beef products. So we took Rose off of those two items. It's been three weeks now and she still has the runny nose. I have an appt to have her allergy tested next Thursday. Wish us luck!!

In the midst of that, we had Jade's two year birthday party. The party theme was ducks and she had a great time. She got a rocking horse, shopping cart for her baby dolls, spring clothes and a bunch of other goodies. She had a great time.

Our dishwasher broke and the repair cost just a little less than a new one so I have a new Bosch dishwasher. I have no complaints except that it's taking me a while to figure out the new loading technique as this basket is a different size than the last and it's hard to determine where bowls fit the best. ;)

We also had family come and visit this week too. So we spent a day at the zoo and a day shopping and went swimming and had some meals out - it was a mini vacation for us as well. We had a really good time together and I'm already missing them though they just left yesterday afternoon.

In other news, I hit full term last Friday. I'm 38 weeks today and hoping that baby decides to come this weekend, while my OB is on call. She rotates on call weekends with 12 other doctors, only one of whom I know (he delivered Rose). But he was on call last weekend and she is this weekend - I'm really hoping that baby either decides to make her grand entrance during the week or this weekend. ;) So send me some major labor vibes, will ya?? :) I've had lots of contractions and am at 2.5cms now so it might not take too much. lol

While we've been so busy running here and there like chickens with our heads cut off and doing Easter shopping and bday shopping and spring clothing shopping and parties and visiting with family...we have still been learning lots.

Rose practices writing her letters everyday, on her own, of course. She's sounding out words (for Daddy, of course) and is a great little counter. She could probably get to 100 by herself pretty easily.

Jade has had a burst of language finally. Or perhaps it's that the other two have gotten quiet enough for me to notice?? :) She had her two year checkup and the ped said he heard a heart murmur and wants to get an Echo on her.

Matthew has been busy working out money concepts. We started putting things in terms of Transformers. "The new dishwasher cost as much as 10 Optimus Prime's." He caught on quickly. Being a SAHM to almost 4 kids and only one income, we've been cutting back in a lot of areas this year. We don't eat out nearly as much as we used to, for example. We discuss this freely as to why we don't eat out as much and I find that Matthew is now becoming quite sensitive to money issues. I bought them an extra special treat yesterday - slushies. Matthew was worried that it cost too much and after I assured him that it was ok, he thanked me profusely for getting them a treat. This isn't where I expected (or 'wanted') our money-openness to go but it's interesting to see a 6yr old concerned about our spending habits. We went to a bookfair yesterday and he decided to put a pen back because "I'd rather Mom spend her money on something else". I'm not sure if I should encourage this or not. On the other hand, Hubby thinks it's easier to teach a money-conscious person to live a little and spend some money on themselves rather than teaching a frivolous spender to budget...and I think I'm inclined to agree. We'll see where this leads.

Matthew tends to take everything to extremes. During the year that he was 3, he had me read everything we could get our hands on about the human body. He learned all about how the body works and what can go wrong, learned about diseases and nutrition...and germs. At Jade's 2yr checkup, Matthew sat on a step stool and read a book, flipping the pages with his feet. He didn't want to touch a book in the dr's exam room that had germs all over it. I am not a germ-a-phobe but I get "that look" from people who seem to think, "What has his mother's fears done to her poor kid??" He did this all on his own. Rose is very unconcerned about germs and dirt and messes...though she does have the most dr visits in our family. ;) Though as I think back, I remember even at a very young age, Matthew never liked being messy. Didn't like food on his hands and would grunt for napkins to wipe his hands before he could even talk. I'm surprised he plays with play dough. But that's a post for another day, I suppose.

Anyway, I'll be posting baby news as soon as I can so stay tuned! :)