Bishop Family Update - 7/1/2007

Dear Family and Friends,

No Baby Yet! Seeing that we thought we would have this baby two and a half weeks ago because of the condition with my liver, it is painful to wait! Painful emotionally because I am anxious to meet this little one, but also painful physically because I have contracted literally for three weeks. I am sleeping very little because I wake up with a painful contraction and then I cannot fall back asleep. I may have a few contractions that feel productive and then nothing. I decided that I could not put my life on hold and watch for the pot of water to boil, but also it is tough to keep my energy up and do things because I am just exhausted. No one has ever been pregnant for longer than 46 weeks- right?

The boys and I have tried to swim at least once a week to practice their swimming lessons. Aiden is doing AWESOME! He can swim all around, and I really do not need to worry about him at all. He jumps from the side and last Wednesday when I went to my mom’s to swim, he did a front flip off the side- Hello? His 13 -I think 13- year old cousin was visiting from Florida, and he moments earlier had done the same trick. If Ri can do it, so can I- right? The reasoning of a 6-year old- gotta love it. Luckily, he cleared the side of the pool and no bones were broken. He even reported to his Dad when he got home how brave he was in the pool. As if I wanted Dad to know about the craziness that I allow our son doing. Actually, I am just kidding. He witnesses their crazy shenanigans every day so he knows about our boys.

Grey is doing better with the swimming as well. He is becoming a little braver and drinking less water than before. Gage is still reluctant if the water is cool at all, but I think he will only improve in time. Jaceroo loves his little boat and enjoys the splashing immensely. It only makes me want to get a pool even sooner, but we are learning all too well that pools cost sooooo much money. We will have to delay this gratification for at least a little while for now. It is a good thing that I have so many friends who have pools that love me.

I have been tutoring and trying to get as many sessions in before the baby comes. Last week I had a little excitement with one of my students. It was way too much excitement for my liking, though. It also happened on the day, that I, of course, had an additional child. My friend’s little boy, Alijah. was over for the day. I also need to mention, that Alijah is 20 months old and when you get a 19 month old and a 20 month old together, they create quite the mess.

Anyways…my student was complaining that his stomach hurt. This did not alarm me much because I was really working him hard and I was making him work for an hour and a half. I was anxious to teach him an additional lesson since I may not see him for a few weeks with the baby coming and all. Well when we got to the end of the lesson, he was holding his stomach. I then asked him if he was really sick. He reported that in fact he was. I then suggested he go into the bathroom and see if that would relieve his pain. Well I left him alone for a few minutes and tidied up my workspace. I went in to check on Dawson. I asked him if he had gotten sick and he said that he threw up. I asked him if he needed help and he said yes. (Dawson is 8 or 9.) When I opened the door, I was completely amazed. Although he had made it to the bathroom, he had not been able to lift up the toilet seat in time. Do you know what happens when you throw up forcefully on top of a closed toilet seat? Well I do and it is not pretty. The remants of his upset stomach were literally dripping down the walls and over nearly every outside surface of the toilet.

I also need to tell you that I had been contracting since four o’clock that morning. I knew I was already 3 cm dilated because I had been to the doctor the day before, so I was thinking that I could literally start active labor at any time. I was just utterly in shock. I reassured Dawson and he apologized for the mess. I said that no, I was sorry that I did not believe he was really sick. I felt horrible. Well while I was trying to help clean him up, he threw up again and this time, it was on me. Oh, and, of course, the four little boys (aged 4, aged 3, aged 20 and aged 19 months) were desirous to see what all the commotion was about, and I am terrified that any of them will get this stomach bug as well. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry at this point, but as my mom always says, crying does not help in a situation like this. I finished cleaning up Dawson and then isolated him from the boys with a bowl in hand. I then literally put beach towel sized rags on the floor and poor bowls of hot water on the walls to just get the mess off the walls. All the while I continually tell the babies to go play with the big kids.

I spent about a half an hour just sopping up the mess and then I needed to go and get the boys from Kindergarten so I scoured my hands, changed my clothes and threw the kids in the car. I couldn’t possibly make Dawson ride his bike so I dropped him off at the babysitters feeling horrible. I thought to myself though that she was better equipped to handle him, and I couldn’t take the risk of getting my boys sick since I may have been bringing home a newborn baby within the week. I got Aiden and Drew, dropped off Drew, and then drove back home to sanitize. It took me two hours and two rolls of paper towels. I used Comet, bleach, and Lysol. I was determined to not get anyone ill and I succeeded- none of the boys nor Alijah ever got sick. I was even more exhausted at this point and wanted to lie down for the rest of the afternoon, but I thought the babies needed some adult supervision. Silly, huh?

We also have been frequenting the library so that the kids can get their prizes for the summer reading program. Even Grey is reading some and loves it. Aiden has been reading books to his brothers now too. They just adore the library and it is free. I love it too. Bubs (Jace) is better now that I have learned he likes to get a few board books in his stroller and looks at them while I am helping the boys select their books and movies. Grey also learned how to write his first and last name by himself so he got his own library card as well. Gage is working hard at learning his letters and is anticipating writing his name too- brotherly peer pressure. Love it when it pushes them in a positive direction.

We got to clean the church building last weekend and I was sure that would send me into full-fledged labor, but no. The boys loved it. They especially loved crawling under the benches in the chapel and picking up the various droppings from the week before. Bubby ate the discarded Cheerios and Teddy Grahams that he found despite my trying to stop him. I guess it is better than eating cockroaches, which I think one of my boys did once. The boys loved it and they even asked when we would do it again. Are they so funny? Mitch said that we needed to get them out more :)

After the work, we took them to In and Out. They call it the arrow hamburger place. Gage has asked every day since last Saturday when we are going to the arrow hamburger place. I guess he thinks that he will eat a whole hamburger next time.

We had a well check for Aiden last week. He had to get a shot and that was traumatic. He made it though and he is delighted to hear that he needs no more shots until he is 11. The other boys came with us and Gage thinks it is hysterical that Aiden had to pee in a cup. I told him he will have to next week, but he informs me that that is not going to happen. Why is he so obstinate? He must get it from his father.

On Friday Mitch and I went to the temple with his siblings and his parents. We had a wonderful time, and even though, I was still having contractions and some were very uncomfortable, I was so glad I went. We were thinking that it may not be the best thing to do, but since I am still with child I am glad that I did not wait.

Yesterday, I took the boys to the water park while Aiden had a swim party at a new friend’s house. I even went in the water fully clothed because I was so HOT. I think it is OK and socially acceptable if it is 108 degrees outside and you are a contracting nine-month pregnant woman. No one cares, and I certainly did not. The funny thing is a friend of our new ward did see us over there and stopped by to say hello. I wonder what he thought. Since I do not have teenage children who pushed me into the water, he may have thought that it was a little strange, but he never said a thing.

While I was at the water park, Mitch was at a school board meeting- lucky him. He is compiling research for his thesis. I was just glad he could do it. He is just weeks away from being done- I am so happy for him. I almost feel like it is my joy too.

Bryan and Kim (Mitch’s brother and wife) came over for dinner last night and we had delicious homemade pizza. Mitch does great pizza. He cooks so well that it is a shame he does not cook all the time. I made a delicious zucchini bread too. After they left, Mitch and I decided we needed to drive down to the Frontier Hotel for one last time since it is closing and will be imploded in the next few months. We had a date just over 9 years ago there and Mitch told me he loved me for the first time in the atrium. We renewed our sentiments with a giggle since they have let the property go down hill in the last 9 years. There was no water and nearly all the plants were dead. I am glad that our love can outlast the Frontier.

After that, we had ice cream with the boys in their ice cream shop and I got us a drink to share. The six of us drank from one cup of soda and Mitch just laughed. He said, he felt like Clark Griswold or something. I told him that the cup of soda was $2.00 and the cup was very small. The clerk said I could refill it as much as I wanted because they were all out of the large cups. I took her up on that offer. We refilled it three times! Besides, it is just another funny memory to put in the annals of the Bishop lives.

Now I sit here typing and as I have been working on this update this morning, I have contracted more, but just like everyday for the last two to three weeks, I will probably not do much more. When I went to the doctor though on Tuesday, I was at 5 cm so I guess it will not be too much longer. No one thought I would be walking around at a 5 for a week though either. This baby will definitely be a boy for sure. No daughter of mine could be this indecisive nor cause her fair mother such pain.

Oh, many of you have asked about names—we have a whole list of boys names now- Cooper, Weston, Ridge, Ryder, Wyatt, Brennan, Justice, Carter, Cole…. Still no decisions yet. It will be Brooke if it is a girl. That much I know. Hopefully Mitch will write the next update. I like that tradition for sure.

Stories-

1. Jaceroo lifts his shirt and rubs his belly and says baby. He also says Daddy has a baby in his tummy.
2. Aiden is painfully honest. While at the Frontier, he asks why there are so many old people that smoke. While walking by a guy with long hair, in full volume says, “Whoa, that guy needs a haircut.”
3. On Aiden’s Father’s Day card, he completed a fill in the blank activity. In the section that asks what his dad’s favorite thing to do, Aiden reports, “work.”
4. In Greyson’s card, he fills in the blank, “when my daddy was little, he used to juggle.” I guess Mitch was getting ready for the circus of his life.

Love to you all-The Bishop Family