Friday has come. A nice relaxing Friday with no plans to leave the house. I'm sure that compared to most our week wasn't that busy, but for us it was. Adding a growing in-utero child puts a little more stress on things too.
I'll start with last Saturday. A day that was a great one! We drove in to St. Clair again, visiting my Grandparents. My parents were also there and we were able to spend some lovely time at the condo. My Aunt Bev was also present. There is always an abundance of Babcock girls around!! After a bit we headed to the park with the kids to let them run around and enjoy the cool weather that had settled upon the day. The children played for a long while, wearing out Grandma and Grandpa Goodhue.
My Dad took some great videos but blogger isn't letting me upload them at the moment. I'll have to post them later because they are just too cute!
After the park we said our good byes and started the drive home. Behind us on the road was my Aunt Cindy and we made a bit of a detour stopping to visit. The children helped bake cookies, destroy the clean house, and enjoy the large garden. We were even able to watch the opening Michigan football game. Noelle and Max were amazed at the size of the sunflowers, having never see any close up before! Tom hoisted them up to touch them. A picture would be great, but my camera was not close by. It is always nice seeing family!
We stayed around home for the next few days, enjoying the long weekend. Doing a bit of fall shopping, and wrestling My Pet Monster.
Tuesday rolled around, the big first day of school for my oldest two. The morning was a bit rough, as the children never want to eat and get dressed in a timely non-arguing manner. By the time we left the house, struggled with an adequate picture, and was dealing with crabby children I was ready to drop them off. On the drive, I did start to get sad as Noelle began to whimper and say she didn't' want to go. We arrived early and I was able to hang out with them for a bit before I left. Max seemed ready, and didn't mind the departure of Mommy. It wasn't as easy with Noelle. In my heart I knew she would be fine and would enjoy herself, but letting go when she has that pathetic, heart wrenching whimper and tears in her eyes was not easy.
Violette and I enjoyed our time home alone. She was uber clingy, never wanting me to put her down. Lost without her siblings, I believe. The time flew by and we returned to pick up the munchkins. Max's class was let out first and he instantly started crying and running at me. The teacher told me that he was very compassionate and whenever another little boy would cry for his mother, Max was there to comfort him and would start to tear up too. Compassionate? Max? That's a new one for us! Noelle came out shortly and she was all smiles saying that it was a great day and she couldn't wait to go back. First day success.
Wednesday was another early morning as I had an OB appointment in AA. I found out I'm a bit dilated at 3cm and almost all the way effaced. The doctor told me that he wouldn't be surprised if I went in to labor over the next few weeks. Great. Not something you want to do with when you HAVE to have a c-section. Labor is the one thing you get to get out of! You never know though, and labor is very unpredictable. In the mean time I'm supposed to put my feet up as much as possible. Sure. Whatever.
Thursday was school again for Noelle. Max wanted to go, but I convinced him shopping with me was more fun. Noelle had no problem saying bye to us and was all smiles as I left. We picked Noelle up and she was full of chatter about her great morning. We drove back in to AA for Max's orthopedic appointment at the University hospital. In the ER they had mentioned Max may only need a cast for a couple of weeks. I was hopeful, but doubtful. Getting it off would be so nice because Max isn't the most easy going child.
That place is big. I mean, really big! We managed to park and find our way with minimal difficulty and lots of walking. There's me, large stomach, with a casted two year old who loves to challenge me and run ahead in a busy parking structure, carrying Violette as she squirms to get down and chase her brother, and Noelle yelling at Max to come back. I received a few sympathetic looks, and even a few friendly offers to assist.
Tom met me after we had settled in the waiting room. They were on time, wow! The appointment was easy and they said he would need 3-4 more weeks in the cast. No permanent damage will be had and it will heal normally. Max is still doing great with the cast, annoyed at times, but a trooper through and through. The thing hasn't stopped him from still trying to hang, jump, climb, and be a typical boy! The cast extends past his elbow so he can't bend the arm, but yet he still hangs off of things! I nip that immediately for fear of popping his elbow out of socket!Yep, this is surely not the last broken bone in his life!
This weekend our goal is to move our little Violette in to a big girl bed and try to get some things ready for the new baby. Maybe we should pick a name too? Yeah, that probably should be a priority for us! I feel like we'll know for sure when we see him and I'm moving toward getting more and more excited about this last little one. I wouldn't say I'm ready just yet, a few more weeks, would be great!
Monday we met up with our playgroup at a local farm for some more fall fun. They have a large corn box that was a huge hit. Also a petting zoo and straw maze, all geared towards younger children. Noelle, Max, and Violette each picked out a pumpkin too. Not too shabby for a Monday morning! 
Tomorrow, Thursday, Max has a big appointment getting his arm x-rayed and hopefully having the cast removed! I think Tom and I are more excited because he has done wonderfully with the cast. The occasional itchiness has been the only problem we have encountered.
Here is how we bathe Max, since we have a few more weeks of it I thought I would share. Yes, it is a pain, but it has worked and he seems happy with his very own time in the sink. 
That is it for now!