Keeping Busy and Staying Sane

It's been a busy week here at the Boulton household.



Ezekiel is officially out of his crib. I was dragging my feet, I loved being able to just lay him in his crib and walk away for nap time and bedtime, but after showing us he could climb out of his crib even when the mattress was set as low as it could go we decided it was probably safer to put him in a bed he didn't have to climb out of.  We've never used a toddler bed before, so this is a big change for us, but he seems to like feeling like one of the big boys.

Now that David has started soccer he's pretty convinced that even to go kick the ball around in the yard he has to have his shin guards, soccer socks and cleats on.  It's cute how excited he is. I hope his enthusiasm lasts the entire season. :) He is having a hard time listening to his Byron so we've decided to implement regular dates with Daddy in order to try strengthening their relationship.

Caleb starts kindergarten next week! We know he's in afternoon kindergarten but we won't know who his teacher is until we go to orientation...the day before school starts. :/ He went to his first 2 soccer practices this week and is excited that Granny is his coach and that Uncle Charlie is on his team.  He's also thrilled to be getting his jersey soon and picked #11 so he could be like me. (somehow that ended up being my unofficial jersey number since I had it without even asking for it a couple of years in a row, then ended up just requesting it after that)

Tuesday evening my sister in law Melissa arrived to spend the night with us.  She was on her way to Cleveland for a conference and made the time to stop and see us on the way.  It was fun having her here, and we're always so happy to see family. :) Since making our 3rd bedroom the nursery our "guest bed" is now in the basement with very little to no privacy, so the boys had her up nice and early Wednesday morning.  She was a good sport about it and spent the morning playing trains with them and teaching them how to make way cooler paper airplanes than I know how to make.

Byron is loving work, but is feeling a little overwhelmed.  They have a code release coming up this month, so he's trying hard to get things done for that but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day, or this month really.  He's counting on having to take some time off when the twins come so he has been squeezing in a tiny bit of work while here at home too. He also started calorie counting again, is trying to work more exercise into his routines, and is such a blessing.  One evening this week, while trying to help me find an earring, he ended up deep cleaning our whole bedroom.  I'm pretty sure I don't know what I would do without him. Monday night Byron had invited one of his co-workers over for dinner.  She works as a receptionist/assistant to Jeff Berrie, the head honcho, and recently lost her husband, so last week while talking to her, he asked how she had been doing and she mentioned that going home in the evening was the hardest because the house was too quiet.  Byron asked her to join us for dinner, and it was a really enjoyable evening.  She was patient with me getting dinner done a little late, listened to all of the boys stories, even when they rambled on a bit, and was just a joy to be around.  She and her husband have had so many cool experiences and it was nice getting to know her a bit better.

I've been spoiled getting to spend a lot of time with family this week.  Last Saturday I helped my mom shop for some new curtains and decorations for the rooms that her foreign exchange students will be staying in.  Byron was a saint and took my 4 youngest siblings so she and I could run around without getting distracted. :) Sunday evening they came for dinner.  I made chicken parmesan for the first time in forever, and we had a wonderful time playing and talking.  Tuesday and Thursday Gabrielle came to help with the boys.  She is so fun to talk to, and is an amazing help.  Amelia covered days the rest of the week and the boys were thrilled.  She's great at helping them play and using their imaginations.  Wednesday night my mom made an amazing turkey dinner and invited us to partake in the feast.  It was so delicious, and so hard to stop eating, but these babies take up a lot of space so I didn't eat as much as my mouth wanted to. haha. Thursday I got to spend the evening with Alyssa. She's home from her summer of being an EFY counselor and it was nice getting to catch up with her. She leaves in a month for school and is looking forward to it.  Friday morning I spent a few hours at my parents house going through old pictures with my mom.  That was super fun.  Caleb is still making the same faces he made when he was a baby and it's pretty hilarious.  Saturday my incredible Mommy spoiled me with a maternity shoot.  Most of you have probably already seen the pictures on facebook, but if you haven't keep an eye out.  I'll be putting them in their own blog post. :)


Here are some pictures from our crazy fun filled week.  We love you all and hope you're doing well!

Monday Cheesecake factory was doing half price cheesecake in honor of national cheesecake day, but the place was slammed, so the girls headed over to EO Burger instead.  I had already eaten and got there a little late, so I had just gone to socialize, but it was a fun night and I loved getting to see all these fun women. <3

Ezekiel passed out on the couch watching a movie with Uncle Roger and Aunt Amber

Ezekiel loves wearing soccer cleats like his big brothers and spent an hour on the playground at the soccer field.  Byron said this was his favorite part and he just kept going back to it.

33 weeks 6 days. We'll be done by the end of the month!

My boys all love having their toenails painted.  They line up and fight over who gets to go first and if their brother is allowed to have the same color as them.  It's pretty hilarious.  Ezekiel was blowing on his toes to help them dry faster. 

2 of my favorite people on this earth. <3

These are screen grabs from a video I took of him climbing out of the crib.  My crazy little monkey.

Aunt Sissa spent the night with us Thursday evening. The boys were thrilled to discover her on Friday morning. Especially when she took them with her on a milk run and let them get chocolate milk. :)

Pregnancy Update:  Monday and Thursday I had non stress tests again.  Byron graciously took some time out of the office Monday afternoon so he could come with me and see how it was done.  It's interesting how much they are monitoring with so little information.  Just from the printout of their heartbeats they can determine whether the placenta is still functioning, and how well, in addition to just the overall health of the babies based on how frequently they move and what their baseline heart rate is.  They also monitor how much my uterus contracts and how they respond to it.  I seem to have constant braxton hicks, except when I'm in there for monitoring, then everything goes dead.  Apparently I'm pretty relaxed during those appointments. :)

Wednesday afternoon I had my 34 week appointment with my OB-GYN.  I had high hopes for scheduling an induction or c-section for 37 weeks, but he said we're all too healthy.  It's kind of one of those "Oh Drat" moments because my uterus is measuring 41 weeks, so even though my blood pressure isn't elevated, my tests all come back clean, and their heart rates indicate that all is healthy and well on the inside, I'm carrying a whole lot of baby, and it's a little bit exhausting.  I know I'll just be trading one kind of sleep deprivation for another, but at least I'll get to kiss their sweet button noses and get to know them instead of just wondering.  I'm not very good at waiting.

Byron is looking forward to the ultrasound tomorrow. We're both praying that Hannah found the room to flip head down, and I'm excited to learn how much they weigh right now.