The Foulds 5!

The 1st picture of the 5 of us!

Jeriah and I are home now. :) Things are going well and I am feeling better by the day. Jeriah is doing very well, eating, sleeping and filling his diapers, all the things a baby should do. We are so happy to have him here with us.
There are 5 of us now, crazy!!!!!

20 Months

I started this post early, it was the 17th when I did, I have added to it as the days have gone by, but I knew there was a very good chance by the time the 29th came around Corban would be a big brother and I would be in the hospital. Turns out that was the case.
Corban is our big boy now! I feel like he is still my baby in away though, of course he is and always will be, but he is going to seem so big once the new little one comes.
I am having a hard time knowing how he will do at his new roll as a big brother. I know he will love his little brother and I am sure he will give him lots of hugs and kisses. I do anticipate him having a little bit of a hard time though adjusting to not being "the baby" anymore and to having to share mommy. All in all I think he'll be just fine though.
He has been enjoying the time that we get together just him and I while Marin is at school. We read books, play, dance, all sorts of fun things. He likes to come with to pick Marin up, he would stay at school too if he could. On the days that he doesn't come with to pick her up he is really happy to see her when she comes through the door. He drops whatever he is doing and comes running to say hi and give her a hug. He loves Marin and loves to play with her and do whatever it is that she is doing. One cute story of the two of them playing together from this month is the other night they were riding their hobby horses around the living room/dinning room. Marin would take off running and Corban was right behind her (in the same way they trot when "riding" horses on Monty Python) , Marin would call out "Yay-Ha!" and Corban would follow with a big "Ha-Ya!". They ran around for quite a while happily "riding" their ponies. I did take a video although I am sorry I can't share it here with you as they were in their undies/diaper after just having made big messes of themselves at dinner. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was cute. :)
Corban's vocabulary has exploded this last month, I can't even count the number of words and phrases he knows. He is very good at announcing when he is "all done" dinner and that he is ready for his "cookie". He also likes to assess at the table at meal times who is done and who is not, asking "done?" to each of us. His most favorite meal right now is Spaghetti or "ghetti" as he calls it. He likes it with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on too. His favorite fruit is "peaors" (pears). He is turning into a little meat eater though and I am finding it harder to get him to eat veggies and fruit.

Corban & a cookie from Kristin Foulds on Vimeo.

He is very good at telling us what he wants which is very handy, if he doesn't know how to say what it is he wants he is quick to nod his head when we ask/list a few things for him. I love how he nods, it is very "bobble head" like. On the flip side of things he is also very good at telling/showing when is not happy about something, the boy has a bit of a temper...
He is quite attached to his soothers, "soo" as he calls them. I think we are going to have a hard time getting him to give them up whenever it is that we decide it is time that he no longer uses them.
I have said it before but it is of so true, he is such a "boy". The other day we were out shopping, we were taking our time and letting the kids check out the toy stores and just having a good time. Corban and Ian came across a bunch of animal figurines, all sorts and all sizes. Corban went right for the largest T-Rex dinosaur there was. "Saur, saur" he said as he walked around the store holding tight to it. We attempted to see if he was interested in any of the others, but no he kept going back to the "saur". Needless to say the "saur" is now his.
He also has no qualms about jumping off of anything. He tries to jump down the marble stairs in our house, so not cool! He goes head first down the slide, and likes to turn things like pillow cushions into slides and leap/slide off them head first.
Even with all his "boy-ness", he is still such a big snuggle bug, he loves to sit and snuggle and read a book or watch a DVD.
He likes books and has been doing a lot of "reading" on his own too, he often will look through a book and then once he is done bring it to us and ask to be read to.
He also has a new favorite game he calls "boo" it entails hiding under a blanket with Ian or I and having Marin and Ian or I look for him and whoever he is hiding with. While hiding under the blanket we are very "quiet" and he copies us when we put our finger to our lips to say "shhh", the way he does it is so cute, he will often use both pointer fingers for a double "shhh".
Corban is also a little dancer. Lately his favorite song to dance to is "move it, move it" he likes this one off of YouTube. He likes to have a little dance time after dinner and once he is "all done" his "cookie" he ask for "moo-it, moo-it" while wiggling his body back and forth. It is pretty much impossible to say no to his cuteness so we clean him up and off he goes to dance.
So that is a bit about our big boy for now. He is a total sweetie and we love him to bits and bites!

Some Jeriah Pics

So I (Ian) am home with Marin and Corban for the night. They had tons of fun visiting with Dave & Belky and their kids, and Cortney & Tarique and their kids, thanks so much you guys.
So as promised I am putting a few of the first pictures of Jeriah online.

He is small, but in perfect health and has already figured out breastfeeding and eats well.

Kristin is feeling much better. She is still sore of course, but she is off the heaviest of the painkillers. Every time she got up to go to the bathroom today she was more and more capable with less pain and when I called her after putting the kids in bed she had gotten out of bed to the bathroom and back all by herself. She is in good spirits.

Jeriah, like his big brother, doesn't like to have his hands swaddled and likes to have them up to sleep.

I just love this last one of Jeriah snuggling with his mummy.

Tomorrow I am taking Marin and Corban to meet their little brother and if all goes well Kristin should be coming home Friday. Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes.

He is here!

We are so happy to tell you all that Jeriah Ross has arrived!
He was born today, October 27th at 11:35am.
He weighed in at 5lbs 13oz and is 18.5 inches long.
He is doing well, Kristin could be better but she says she will get there.
Pictures to come once I am not doing this from my phone.
Ian

39 Weeks ~The end!

So this new little man has decided to keep his head up so tomorrow will be "the day", his birthday. My c-section is scheduled for 10am Oct 27th so back home in BC it will be midnight.
I am not worried about the actual c-section, the recovery is the part I am not looking forward too. Of course my fist choice would have been a natural labor and delivery, I am good at having babies. I am sure God has a reason why it is happening this way though so I will go with that.
We are of course totally excited that we will get to meet our new little man tomorrow! It is strange knowing so many of the details already when the previous 2 times we didn't really know anything. We know he is a boy, we know his birthday will be Oct 27th we know he will be born at 10:?? am, and we even know that he will weigh somewhere in the 6lbs range.
At my last doctors visit another ultrasound was done, it was confirmed again that he was still breech. The doctor did 2 separate set of measurements that both put him at over 6 lbs. That made me feel a lot better about his earlier then expected arrival, I was worried that he would be really small.
So for the last time (although I know not to say ever...) here is my baby belly.

42 3/4", with Marin I was 43" and with Corban I was the same as this time.

So this is it, I am off to bed, I am having a baby tomorrow! :)
Pray for us please and thank you. :)

Branded. ~The Answers.

How did you do?

38 weeks.

So our littlest boy is still sitting on his bottom. A c-section has now been booked for Oct 27th, one week from today! I have another doctors appointment booked for next Saturday, three days before, for another ultrasound. They will also do one last check to see if he has turned around before they do the actual c-section. I am pretty sure I'll be able to tell if he does turn though, instead of feeling his little head pushing into my ribs he will be kicking me. I would really like to be kicked in the ribs! We are still praying that he will turn around. I am not afraid of having a c-section, but I know the recovery from it will be harder and longer, I wont be able to lift Marin and Corban and that will make things difficult. I know this is the safest way to go for the baby, but I am left wondering what if...
Anyway here are a couple pictures from this week.
Measuring 42 1/2". With Marin I was 43 1/2" and with Corban I was the same as this 3rd time.

I can't believe that we are so close to meeting him! :)


If any of you "c-section survivors" have any info or advice I'd love to hear it.
If you don't want to leave it as a comment for all to read you can always send me an email, if you don't have my address you can use the one on the sidebar.
Thanks. :)

Branded.

How well do you know your brands?
For fun here are some well known brand logos in Arabic, some are much easier to tell what they are than others.
What do you think they are?

I'll post the answers in 5 days.

37 down, ? to go.

Time to update you all on what is up with little Baby Foulds #3...
his head... come on little man this is the one time Mommy is asking you to stick your bum up, please!
I had another ultrasound this past Saturday to confirm that indeed he is still breech, I was sure that was the case though. We have some waiting to do though, and some decisions to make, I'll give you the big picture scoop.
The clinic here at KAUST is capable of handling the birth of babies and the complications that can arise with that. However the OB/GYNs are only here at the clinic 2 times a week (the other days they are at the IMC in Jeddah). If a baby were to come when they are not here it would be handled by the emergency doctors. In a normal birth that would be fine, but seeing that our little one is breech that is not the best and if I did go into labor it would be a emergency c-section. Also adding to the situation is that there is a very high likely hood that this 3rd labor and delivery could go very fast for me so there is no way I am getting into a vehicle and driving to Jeddah while in labor. We have discussed with the doctors here the options, I am a "good candidate" for an external cephalic version (turning the baby), but the success rate for that is about 50/50 and there are complications that can occur with it. An ECV would be done at the latest at 38 weeks and if complication did arise then a c-section would happen right away. Adding slight worry to this also is that even though I am 37 weeks the Baby's size is measuring 36 weeks, this is not really to surprising though Marin and Corban were not big babies and they went 3 and 6 days past their due dates. So the longer this little guy can stay in there the better. I will be seeing the doctors weekly and if he hasn't turned by 39 weeks then a schedualed c-section (which would be done at the IMC in Jeddah) is most likely our safest option for him. Other wise everything else is just the way it should be, both he and I are doing great.
Here is the baby belly for you to see. :)

Measuring 42 1/4", with Marin I was 43" and with Corban I was also 42 1/4".

Thinking back on my pregnancies with Marin and Corban I know that Marin was head down for about a month before she arrived, Corban I think waited longer though so maybe his little brother is doing the same. I can't really wrap my head around that fact that in such a short time we will have a new baby, SO MUCH has already happened this year that we a haven't really had time to process the fact that we are going to have another baby! It will probably hit my like a load of bricks one night while I am up feeding him when is is 5 months old.
That being said we are very much looking forward to meeting our new little boy and finding out what he is like. It will be fun to have the 5th member of our family here and being part of our day to day life. I am sure he will fit right in and after a very sort time it will be like he was never not here.

We are praying though that this little guy will flip around and come on his own timing. Most importantly though we are praying that however he ends up arriving that he will arrive here safe and healthy. If you could pray with us that would be super. :)

Ian Bought Me Something Shiny & Blue.

Isn't it perddy? :) It is a brand new 2009 Toyota Sequoia.

Before we moved here we didn't know what we were going to want to do regarding a vehicle. Once moving here we decided that being vehicle-less was not going to work for us, we also know that many of the drivers here have sketchy driving methods so we wanted something large with good safety features. We also needed it to take 3 car seats and have extra space for when we have visitors or a big shopping trip we need to get back from Jeddah with. Other than those needs my only request was that it be blue (Marin had requested pink...). :)
After doing some online looking at the different options Ian went shopping. He went looking a couple times and on the 3rd time made the purchase, we had to wait a few days for it to arrive, blue is not a common vehicle color here so they didn't have a blue one on the lot.
Other than being blue, it has 3 universal anchorage systems in middle seat so all 3 kids can be reached from the front seat. It has side impact airbags, and sensors on all 4 corners telling us if we are within 1-2 feet of something, which makes parking such a large vehicle much easier. Also all 6 seats in the back fold down flat so there is lots of storage space, and it has many other nifty features.

We are at this point thinking that we will be bringing it back to Canada with us when the time comes. Paying for gas there will be shock to our systems I am sure, here it cost $15 to fill it up. I also really want to take it back so that I can drive it one some "real" roads. I can drive it here at KAUST, but not outside the compound. In here there are no traffic lights and the speed limit does not exceed 50 km/hour. I am going to be such a pathetic driver once I am done here...

New vehicles here are less expensive then in Canada, and there is no sales tax, bonus! Oh and "Objects in this mirror are closer then they appear" is written in Arabic on our side view mirrors, and it also came with a leather prayer mat. Ha!
So far we are really liking it, we went shopping to IKEA the other day and filled it up, I think we fit half the store in there. Marin and Corban are enjoying the fact that they are sitting up so high and can see so much out the windows (in our rental car they couldn't really see out the windows). Now they will hopefully be able to see the camels along the side of the road when we drive to Jeddah, they will be so pleased.
We still need to come up with a name for it, all our other vehicles have had names. Any ideas?

Off to (Pre)School!

Today was (finally) Marin's 1st day of preschool, she was excited to be going and had a fun 1st day. :) We had to wake up much earlier then usual, school starts a 7:45am, it will be good to have a routine though. I of course had to take pictures of her, at breakfast she said I could take 4.
As we were leaving I had her stand in front of the house to snap a few.

She was itching to go and had a hard time standing still, and wouldn't look at the camera.

I took as many as I could and then I got this look, along with "can we go now?"

So off we went.
As I expected she had no problem with me leaving and when I came to pick her up she told me that she wasn't finished playing and that she would like to stay a little longer. She is looking forward to going again tomorrow.
Such a big girl, and cute too!

A list about the cute kiddos.

1. Corban thinks that wearing Ian's glasses is really funny (and it is) every time he puts them on he gets a goofy grin on his face, looks up at me and says "cheeeeeese."

2. Marin has been calling the shuttle bus here in the neighborhood a "shuffle bus".

3. Corban likes to point out whenever he sees a "cleeock" (clock) and he knows there are both digital and analog.

4. There are little gecko like creatures that live here. Corban gets so excited when he sees one, he runs after them calling "goko, goko!"

5.Marin's current favorite song is the "Easter Bunny Hop" from the Veggietales Easter CD.
(Apparently we are a little confused with what time of year it is...)

Marin doing the "Easter Bunny Hop" from Kristin Foulds on Vimeo.

6. One of Corban's latest words is hot, he doesn't fully understand it though. When he starts to eat a meal he puts a bit of food in his mouth and no matter what it is or what temperature it is he says "ot, ot!" We blow in it for him and then it is okay to eat.

7. Marin has been playing Doctor a lot, she checks our eyes, ears, throats, reflexes, and gives us a needle. If she is checking me she pretends to do an ultrasound on my tummy.

8. Corban has started calling Ian and I mommy and daddy he still uses mama and dada too though.

9. I love watching Corban play like this.

Corban playing from Kristin Foulds on Vimeo.

10. The other night at bedtime we had read the Little Critter story "When I get bigger". Afterwords Marin looked up at me and said "If you and Daddy were not here in the house, and just Corban and I were, I would take care of Corban." It melted my heart, Ian and I told her how happy it made us to hear her say that she would look out for her little brother. Then she told us that she would feed him. I asked her what she would feed him. She thought for a bit, but didn't come up with anything, so I suggested Cheerios. She thought that was a good idea, but then she started to wonder how she would get him into his high chair... minor details, minor details.

11. Corban is still very interested in bugs, the other day he spotted a spider in the house. "Bug, bug!" he yelled excitedly and pointed to it. I went to check it out with him. He then ran to the toys in the living room and grabbed one of the shoes from Marin's teddy bear and headed back to hunt the spider.

12. Last night there was another party, this time it was held at the park and there were blow-up bouncy castles, pony rides, face painting, clowns, people dressed as Disney characters and all sorts of fun things. As we were eating dinner before going, I realized that we hadn't told Marin that we were going out to the party, or " shin-dig" as she calls them. So I said to her, "Did you know we are going out to a shin-dig at the park tonight?"
She looked up at me and said "Yes, God told me there was going to be a shin-dig."
Ian then asked her if God had also told her that she needed to listen well to what we told her to do while at the shin-dig.
"Yes He mentioned that." she replied.

13. Marin's favorite part of the "shin-dig" was the bouncy castles.

She also got a chance to sit in the big fire truck.

14. Corban's favorite part of the "shin-dig" was the pony rides.