Lil'Nathan has reached his first summer reading goal @ 50 books.  He also seems to have discovered non-fiction books (Yay!)  He's been restricted this year to new (new-to-him) books and is only allowed 5% re-reads.  My goodness!  How his horizons have broadened!  Prize #1:  Dunkin Donuts for all.  We enjoyed them yesterday.

Mary has also reached her 1st reading goal.  she is very eclectic. Her books run from classics (Pippi Longstocking and Robinson Crusoe) to fairy tales (Hans Christian Anderson) to non-fiction (everything there from slime mold to robotics) to biographies (Abigail  Adams and Sasha Cohen).  Her prize is pumpkin pie squares, but it's too hot to turn on the oven so she has to wait... maybe until September!

Okay, guinea pigs:

Last week, well, two weeks ago now, we had a crazy busy week.  It started Monday.  We met with my midwife in the morning and then had to run over for an unexpected, quick ultrasound.  Then it was over to PetSmart where we bought food, hay, and bedding for guinea pigs.  We met a man in the parking lot (prearranged, not by accident) and bought a bunch of build-it-yourself-cube shelving.  Next we were off to pick up 2 of our new piggies--Patches (one big pig, about 2 or 3 years old), and Silky (now 5 weeks old and very sweet).  Then we picked up some zip ties from the hardware store and an 8' x 4' piece of corregated plastic from a local sign shop. Then it was home to build a giant guinea pig cage and in went the pigs.

A cubes and coroplast cage.  We still need to figure out how to build a ramp to the second level.

Patches--the dad.

Silky--baby of Patches

When Daddy came home he was impressed with our work, but a little overwhelmed by the cramped room.  Plus, Charlie's mattress was trundling under Lil'Nathan's bed and he had no place to call his own.  Over the course of the previous  5 nights (since we'd moved the boys into real beds and off the floor) Charlie's bed had been put, at nighttime, in 4 different locations.  Poor kid.  He didn't know where to flop when throwing his fits.

Pay no attention to the date on this photo.  It is for demonstration purposes only.

So that was Monday.

Tuesday we went and picked up our third pig--2 months old and still nameless.  (This one is an abbisynian and has been known at various times and by various people as Lucky, Sparky, Checkers, Swirly, Tornado, Hurricane, Spunky, Whirlpool, and CowLick.  Feel free to throw in your suggestions.)

the unnamed adopted son/brother

We ran back to PetSmart to return a few unnecessary pig items and pick up the water bottle we'd left there the day before.  I also grilled the employees on fish filters b/c I was tired of changing the tank on Nathan's (Daddy's) goldfish.  The beast is nearly 6" long and I was changing the tank 2x/week and the filter weekly!  Home again and all three piggies met (babies first) and got along beautifully.  Then Lil'Nathan and I set to work on the new room-arrangement plan.

Step 1:  Trade fish tanks.  Lil'Nathan took the 5 gal tank for his beta and small catfish and the jumbo goldfish found himself upgraded to a 10 gal tank.  (With 2 filters, a 20 gal and a 6 gal.  And I'm still not happy.  I'll probably take the 20 gal filter back for something stronger tomorrow.)  

Step 2:  Move Lil'Nathan up to Mary's loft.  he'd just gotten O'pa's old bed a few days before, but gave it up (taking, instead, Joseph's boring bed frame) to move to Mary's room.  He got the window side and Mary took the stairs side--with the extra 3 feet of space.  They worked out those details themselves.  A few days later we added a curtain between them.

Step 3:  Once Lil'Nathan was fully moved up, we set to work thinning and organizing (again) Mary's tremendous quantity of stuff.  (She has definitely inherited the collecting gene.  It skipped a generation.)  That took the rest of the day.  And oh! what a pile Nathan had for the Salvation Army the next day.  That night Mary told me, "It's hard to get rid of stuff.  Especially stuff I like."  I asked her if the new found space was worth it.  She said nothing, but smiled and nodded.  Later I found we had no room in the boys' closet for something we'd taken from her room and told her to take it back up to her room.  She didn't want to.

Yes!  Progress has been made.

Wednesday morning we were off again, this time to pick up a bed for Charlie.  Moving Lil'Nathan up with Mary left just Charlie and Joseph in the main room and his mattress was crying out to get off the floor.  We found a lovely frame at a great price not too far away.  Charlie was a little unsure of it at first, but now he loves it... and vigorously defends it from Joseph.

Then the weather turned hot.  Wed, Thurs, and Fri were beastly!  Miserable!  Rotten and awful!

And that was the week.

Now, I mentioned a quick ultrasound (no, Mom) after my midwife appt.  Why?  She found the formerly head-down baby was suddenly transverse--hanging out sideways @36 weeks!  An ultrasound confirmed it.  So, the midwife scheduled a version for the following Mon.  But that night the baby shifted head-down again.  Wed morning it was transverse and then down again by bedtime.  Saturday morning head-down and I went to pick up an abdominal binder from the hospital... and found the baby was breech!  I stood on my head that night and by morning it was head-down again, so we put on the binder.  Monday at the midwife (I'd cancelled the version) the baby was transverse again!  She told me a chiropractor might help, acupuncture, too, if I were interested.  She also said to keep wearing the icky binder as it might be preventing the baby from going full breech.  By bedtime it was head-down.  Wed I saw a chiropractor recommended by a friend.  I saw her again Thurs and will be in touch with her following tomorrow's midwife appt.  We'll see.  The baby was a little transverse again yesterday morning, but only for about 25 mins or so.  It seems to slide on Mon, Wed, and Sat.  Why is that?

So now we wait.  I'm desperate to avoid a c-section.  The very idea of one terrifies me.  A friend told me to relax.  It's not definite and even if it happens, I'll likely feel fine in about a week--I will recover.  That did help a little, but I'm still freaked out.  I discussed the option of delivering a breech vaginally with the midwife.  It's possible at this hospital, but it will likely be an uphill battle to be able to be allowed to do so.  But a transverse presentation is not deliverable and would be a c-section.  (obviously)

I'm pretty well done with being pregnant this time, I think.  Normally I love it, but this binder takes all the fun out of feeling the baby move.  I can't play "poke the baby."  And it's getting, and staying, hot.  And these c-section/ breech worries.  I'm just ready to have the baby.  Charlie came two weeks early--that would be yesterday for this one.  And really, that makes this seem longer b/c now I know it could happen.

The other night at dinner Charlie ate two helpings of food and then climbed on my lap (or rather, what's left of it).  He was very sleepy and soon dozed a bit.  But he couldn't get comfy (wonder why) and so he climbed off and left the kitchen to lie down on the bottom step of the stairs.  (I try not to be insulted.)  After about 5 mins or so, I went to get a picture of this, but found he was gone!  he was nowhere to be seen, so I went upstairs, expecting to find him on someone's bed.  Nope.  Then I heard the toilet flush--and a wide-awake, bright-eyed, 2 yr old emerged from the bathroom with his underwear in hand, proudly proclaiming, "I go stinky-poo!"

Then he went downstairs and had 3 (Charlie-sized) helpings of fruit smoothie.

And in other funny kid stuff, here's a gem from my firstborn:

"I've discovered something really cool!  (doesn't that make you nervous?)  If my nose is really stuffy and I stick a finger way up there and then I blow really hard, I can make it whistle!  But it's really messy, so I only do it in the tub."  (oh, that makes me feel better.)

Also from Lil'Nathan:

"I've been thinking and I finally get adverbs.  This is kind of cool..."  Then, this grammar-hating child went on to describe the difference between adverbs and adjectives using examples like "hot pink car," "very big tractor," and "big blue house."  He was also impressed that "very" and most words ending in "-ly" are usually adverbs and therefore easy to identify.  This discovery of his led to a conversation later at the beach with his best friend.  He was giving Ezra advice for when he encounters "sneaky adverbs, " as they munched watermelon triangles.

In other news... Actually, that's all our news.  So you are now all updated and informed.