36 Weeks

These huge babies are one week away from what they consider full-term now. Today is the day of my marathon-long appt. where the babes will be scanned, measured, and hopefully booked for an induction date. Both are head-down so I am hopeful to avoid a C-section. The crib and co-sleeper are set up, green, yellow, and orange clothes are prepped and a bag including a list of names is ready for the hospital. We are getting excited for these two!

First Day

 Speaking of growing, now that Delaney is three, we decided to let her start at our school's child care center one morning a week during their preschool time. She was beyond excited and has talked about little else since our tour there a week ago.  She eagerly packed her lunch and backpack that day just like her sisters and even when she was a little intimidated, she put on her brave face.  I called to check in on her before picking her up and she was just finishing up her first project.  Glitter!  She's really a big girl now.  I am so thankful for a great place like this for her, especially when I have so many OB appointments for the babies. Once again, we are thankful for the blessing of Lutheran schools.  Happy belated National Lutheran Schools Week!

(She was really much more excited than this shows--just a little annoyed at her tearful mommy who kept interrupting her fun to snap pictures)

32 Weeks

Clearly, these babies are growing!  All signs (heartbeats, cord blood flow, and ultrasound movements/breathing) that they have been measuring for recently are good.  This week (I'm now actually 33 weeks) they will measure again for their growth.

Milwaukee Art Museum Field Trip

 I had the opportunity to occupy the older girls on their school field to the gorgeous Milwaukee Art Museum last week. What fun!  I haven't been there in years, and never with kids. There was a good bit of construction going on so not much actual art was on display.  Instead, we did an architectural tour along with time in the kids' workshop.  Each of the girls constructed their own art museum. The museum itself is a work of art (Calatrava was both an artist and engineer--work hard in math, kiddos) and is wonderful to see both inside and outside. The Chihuly sculpture was an added bonus.  This spring may be a little too ambitious, but I hope to make this a regular outing for our family.

 A pizza lunch afterwards was a hit too, especially when my girls excitedly devoured 5+ pieces Some boys in Mali's class had to be reminded to stop playing and actually eat.  Never a problem in our family!

Snow Girls

Snow forts and tunnels are the new attraction at the park around the corner. Girls are loving it!

Baby Update

We have been blessed with nothing but good news at all of our prenatal appoints so far, until this week. I went in on Thursday for a routine ultrasound and was told that one baby was only at 3% for growth, the other at 20%. A few weeks ago they were both at 40% so this was especially surprising.Fraternal twins like ours are less likely to take nutrients from each other, but this may be the case. All other signs are great (fluid levels, heart rates, movements, etc.) and my weight gain is certainly not a concern. The plan from this point on is to monitor the babies more, somewhat restrict my activity level, and increase protein.We are still very optimistic for two healthy babies carried to term and appreciate prayers in getting us to that goal.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas, Ward-Style

So, these aren't the real pictures of what our traditional family Twelfth Day of Christmas looked like, but they do explain the lack of posting. Our girls were hit hard by the stomach flu the weeks following Christmas, both during our Michigan trip and when we returned home. Poor Mali only made it back to school for a few hours before she came down with it. On a related note, she has become a devoted Price is Right Fan and is eagerly planning a family vacation there in 18 years.

We did manage to open their last gifts to celebrate that night (Karaoke CD's, a piggy bank to paint, and a Melissa & Doug sticker pad) and to have a turkey dinner for those who felt up for food. Jonathan was so excited to open his last stocking stuffer of Beer Flavored Jelly Belly beans!

And just for fun, here is a shot of our fancy girl, dressed in some of her gifts. Christmas is always beautiful, even while the world and all of its sickness may not be.

Three Years Old and Off to a Birthday Lunch

Not only does she look WAY too old to her parents in this picture, she topped off the moment by saying "I'll stand in the middle, because I'm the prettiest".

Christmas Part II

Merry Christmas again!  It's still Christmas, so we're still celebrating and hope you are too.  The stomach flu and a cold virus are trying their best to interrupt our festivities but we are carrying on.  We arrived in Michigan on Saturday and the extended Shunkwiler family was well enough to exchange gifts together right away. Such fun!  Here's a few clips:

I wish I had a few more with the fam all together but things went downhill quickly then in terms of sickness.  It was especially sweet to watch Julia open "Pat the Bunny" have her cousins read to it to her over the next few days. We are all excited to give Grandpa's new record player/CD player/MP3 player some use in the basement too very soon. So far, Brinnly's American Girl Doll CD is the only thing that's been played.

We also enjoyed an extended Shunkwiler post-Chrismas celebration at the Hinchman church including my Great-Grandma Ruth's recipe for raisin cookies.  We had big plans for a NYE date night out, but the stomach flu interferred so we delayed our plans a bit. Times like this make us especially grateful for family closer-by where even when we are sick and we stick together, cheer on our Wisconsin Badgers, and eat Christmas cookies. And thank goodness it is still Christmas--keep celebrating!  Christ is born!

Christ is born! Rejoice!

A most blessed Christmas from Jonathan, Kaethe, Amalia, Brinnly, Carrigan, Delaney Ward (and the twins as well!)

 

Christmas Part I

We started out the Christmas season with hosting the Ward side of the family for Christmas Eve and then some.  As people arrived into town we celebrated with appetizers before the candelight service at church. (The change in schedule of different activities through Mali off all day/night long!). The next day was gift-exchanging, a meal of roast beef and stuffed shells, and playing with new toys  We topped the evening off with a fire in our fireplace--with roasted Christmas peeps!

(Christmas morning with my loves)

Brinnly's new sleep mask from her Grandma Deni.  She LOVES it!

The girls each opened one gift from us that morning--Mali's was Snap Circuits like her buddy Jack has.  It was SUCH a hit.  (Brinn's pink leopard scarf, Carrigan's game of HeadBandz, and Delaney's dollhouse dolls were hits too)

 We filled up Friday with fun too including a trip to Miller Brewery for some of the crew, ice skating for a few more, and recognition of December birthdays complete with potato soup and brownies ala mode. The whole weekend was full of sweet moments and silly laughter (Elf Yourself!  "Herbal" Cheese!).  Thanks to all of my dear in-laws for making the trek to Wisconsin for us!

Carrigan's big news

So, this blond girl had begged and begged and her parents have agreed.  It is official that she now attends Kindergarten every day, all day.  Our school allows families to choose the best option for them and we saw many benefits in the older girls only attending half-days, in the mornings. But Carrigan was the only one of the eight students in her class to do so and really felt that she was missing out. She is also blending letter sounds together so well and working so hard on the rest of her reading skills that we hate for her to miss out on any opportunity to practice that. We hear her practicing that long after we have put her to bed.  So, we decided to let her spend her afternoons with her wonderful teacher and sweet Kinder-friends and it has been a good transition for all of us. (Especially for Delaney and her mommy who can now nap uninterrupted!)

Scenes from a December birthday