Pregnancy #5-officially 3rd tri

I keep thinking I have to do a post on little Ramona Cindy! (this might probably be her name?) First trimester was halfway over by the time we left for Utah in June. So before Utah I was mostly exhausted and crashed on the couch every afternoon while the kids played around me, and I threw up hardcore for two days before my dr put me on diclegis (which didn't work very well at all with Russ) and it worked like a charm. So I was very lucky that while in Utah I didn't throw up at all and was mostly just tired and probably ornery. But I highly recommend spending your first trimester at your mom's! She fed my kids and myself, did a ton of the entertainment of children (my mom just did her thing, but my kids loved it. They followed her around while she watered the grass and flowers and garden, fed the dogs, petted the cats, swept the rocks off the driveway three times a day, picked the raspberries and strawberries and thinned the carrots, etc., etc.) and while I feel bad that I was not a bigger part of the enjoyment and that I did not have the energy to join in as much with my kids---I will be forever and eternally grateful to my parents for letting us come for the summer. It was the biggest lifesaver. My kids had the time of their LIVES!

I was into my second trimester by the time I got back to Florida, so they hurried and did a late 20 week anatomy ultrasound, the blood glucose test, etc. I still feel good except for the varicose veins. They started at about 12 weeks in Utah. But they have gotten so bad. My legs have a rush of blood the moment I stand up in the morning from sleeping that just shoots aches and pains all down my legs and then they ache pretty much all day. Wearing the v2 supporter and the medical grade compression tights help, but I still have to lay down in the afternoon or I feel like my legs are going to drop right off my body. They just ache so bad. I complain about it all the time to Sterling, poor guy, because there's not really anything you can do for it. It has definitely slowed me down lately. I usually walk my kids to and from school, and now I drive halfway and walk the last bit with them. The HEAT around here is definitely adding to the problem, I'm sure. It's been mid-90s for the past two weeks and hitting record highs and it is brutal. And then while swimming I can't wear compression tights so while it feels nice, my legs feel worse, so there's really no relief. My legs LOOK AWFUL but I'm at the point where I don't even care if I have 90 year old legs when I'm done with this pregnancy, if they would just stop hurting, thank you. 

Besides that, I have nothing to report. Baby moves a ton, especially when Russ snuggles right into me (he is the best snuggler!). I measure right on (for the very first time--I've always been small for my previous pregnancies, I'm thinking that doesn't bode well for my eventual size!) and the baby heart beat is strong, even though at my last appointment she wouldn't stay in one place long enough for them to get the 4 second reading they needed! She didn't like being prodded by the little machine so the second they found her heartbeat she'd lurch away, haha. 

The kids LOVE her. They kiss her goodnight every night and kiss her goodbye when they walk into school every morning. They never forget--it is the sweetest ever! Russell is at the very funnest stage so it makes me so excited for another one, and as this may be our last, I'm trying to enjoy every single second that I can. The whole family can't wait to meet this baby girl! 

I can't believe it's gone so fast but I've officially hit third trimester, and hopefully by the end of October it cools down a bit and I can have a nice November and December (at least weather wise) to end this pregnancy on.

YAA Museum

The Young at Art Museum was AMAZING and I'm so glad we went!

 It was free museum day for some participating museums on Saturday (yesterday Sept 22) and we decided to try this one out. It's in Davie, about a half hour from where we live, and we had a ROUGH morning, but we made it there! Only to stand in line for eternity. I seriously would have left if the kids were not so excited. I really, really want to go back another time because it was insanity on the free day. It was PACKED. I literally thought I lost Molly at one point, she had been standing RIGHT beside me and suddenly vanished and so I thought someone took her so I immediately notified the first worker who walked past right then and I was explaining that she was "four, blonde hair, super skinny, Wonder Woman tshirt, she was just right here" and then she suddenly appeared again. Nerve wracking. We had friends from our ward who came and left half an hour later because it was just so insane. But my kids LOVED it, so we stuck it out for about two and a half hours. But I feel like we were a little gypped at the awesomeness of it because of the craziness of the crowds. There were so many cool art projects you could do, but it was insane trying to find a scissor, or tape, or glue, and I'm sure on a regular day there would be plenty. So I told Sterling we have to try again. I was still very impressed and liked it a lot. Just stressful trying to count heads for two hours!

Hidden slide in the garbage to music room.

Neon hallway!

Russ would have stayed here all day. It was the worst trying to get him out of here. Oh, funny story. There was this adorable couple with two little boys while we were there and they were also trying to move their kids along. The dad went over, one-handedly picked up the 2-3 year old son on the stomach, balanced him in the air out of the sand, brought him over to a bench and then starting de-sanding. He had little black braids/dreads whatever they're called that were about 2 inches long and the dad started rubbing his head and sand was literally FLYING everywhere! I was laughing so hard! The dad looked at me, but I couldn't stop laughing! It was so cute and funny!

They had one wacky corridor that led to nowhere, but had really crazy dresses enclosed (the last dress was made out of straws and plastic spoons) and it reminded me of some unit my sister Andrea used to do for her 10th graders and she'd hang things like a boot from the ceiling. This toilet was upside down on the wall and Will could not get over it. He begged me to take a picture, haha.

Ruth's wish that she put on the wishing tree.

This was the Saturday morning cartoon exhibit. The kids loved it, but there were SO MANY KIDS! haha.

I thought I took a picture, but there was this giant wave you could climb inside, basically a massive jungle gym. My kids went inside (it was tiny entrance, not really for adults) and didn't emerge for over ten minutes. I was getting nervous, except there was nowhere for them to go but eventually back out. They LOVED it! 

Basically it was a huge success and such a great children's museum!