Saturday, October 23, 2010

36 Weeks and counting

I feel pretty bad about not posting about or taking any pictures of myself throughout this entire pregnancy. Now that it is almost over, I thought, "why not share with everyone how this one has gone."



When I post this, I will be 36 weeks, with 3 more weeks to go. My Doctor wants to induce me again since I have had a history of post partum hemorrhaging with my first two deliveries. She will induce me my 39th week, which will be the week of November 15. I am quite okay with being induced. It really fits my personality style. I like things to be under control, I like to be able to prepare my mind with what is to come, and being induced allows that.



I have felt pretty good most of this pregnancy. The energy level hasn't been near the same as with J and C. I think part of it is that we got pregnant with baby #3 when C was 14 months as opposed to getting pregnant with C when J was 18 months. Four months makes a huge difference! Also, C is a much more active toddler than what J was. Sometimes I don't know if its because of his personality or because he has an older brother he tries to keep up with. When I got pregnant with C, my little man J was a much more peaceful and low active child. He would just sit and play wherever you plopped him....much easier to be pregnant with that kind of baby, than with one who likes to be held ( a lot!) and who is climbing on everything.



Things I have missed or am starting to miss and things I am looking forward to:

- I can't wait to sleep on my stomach again. I am really only comfortable sleeping on my right side for some reason and that is starting to get uncomfortable.

-Working out. I was only able to workout up to 32 weeks with this one as opposed to 36 weeks with the first two. My weight gain hasn't been as much with this one, but I feel so out of shape. I can't wait to get back into running and going to Power Pump again.

-After seeing a few people have some great success with weight watchers, I think Jeff and I are going to do that together once I have the baby. After some thought, I may postpone this until after the holidays. Seriously, start WW a week before Thanksgiving and four weeks before Christmas!? I enjoy my food too much to be that dedicated. But after Christmas...for sure going to do WW.

-Being able to sit comfortably on the floor and play with the boys. I can't wait to be able to jump up and on to my feet again. I am also tired of, and I am sure other people are to, of making a grunting sound every time I have to get up.

-My regular clothes!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some names we have on our list:
Nathan
Ethan
Thomas
Ryan
Michael

More than likely, we are going to use Ellis, my maiden name, as his middle name. This has been a middle name for the last two boys but just have never used it. We have talked about having four kids, but after this pregnancy and it being a boy, we thought we should go ahead and use this as a middle name while we have the chance.

*(Since I have started this post, I have had my 36 week check up) I am 1 cm dilated and some effaced. They did some blood work to check my platelet count. This will determine whether or not I will be able to get the epidural. Please pray that the numbers are above normal (So I can get the drugs ;-)) or peace for me if I am not able to have it (Cause it gonna hurt!).

That's about all I have regarding this pregnancy. It's been pretty smooth, but this was by far the hardest pregnancy of the three. A few people I have talked to during this pregnancy told me that their third pregnancy made up their mind that they didn't want anymore. Much more difficult having to take care of two other children as opposed to none or one.

If I could, ask that you please pray for our family. Please pray for a safe, smooth, easy (if that's possible) delivery. This is about the time of my pregnancy where I get anxious and worry about everything and I don't feel like I don't breathe a sigh of relief until I know he's healthy, I am healthy, we're both safe, and we are home as a family again.

Thank you!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Our summer in Review

This summer was a great one, but boy, we were busy! Looking back, we had a lot of fun, a lot of memories, but I am honestly glad that it has come to an end. The amount of traveling really took its toll on me this summer, so I am glad that for the next couple of months, we will be staying put.

I usually enjoy my summers now that I have kiddos. I love taking them to parks, spray parks, the zoo, the beach, and Schlitterbahn, but for some reason this summer we didn't do too much of anything because I just down right didn't feel like it. This pregnancy has been a little more challenging, so the inability to get up and go at the snap of a finger, having to hold Christian quite a bit still, and the heat, just made me miserable. Needless to say, I have been looking forward to Fall since we arrived back from our trip to Colorado. Hopefully, the cooler weather(whenever that gets here) will motivate me to take the boys to the park, zoo, basically anything that is outdoors, these next couple of months.


We started the summer off with a family trip to Colorado. We had a blast and we look forward to the opportunity to go again. We were able to join my sisters in law, Courtney and Lindsay and their families. We all stayed in a cabin, in the middle of the woods and enjoyed every minute of it. It was especially fun for Joseph to have all his cousins at the same place as we were. The weather was perfect when we were there. The first night and our second day, it wasn't cool, it was cold! I had to wear a hoodie and the kids had to wear jackets. It was perfect!

Highlights from Colorado: Seeing all the kids play together; playing and BEATING Jeff at ping pong ( I haven't done that since college); intending to scare Jeff, but scaring Lindsay instead; hanging out with the adults and playing games; Holiday World(I think that's what it was called, I can never remember); being out in the woods and admiring God's wonderful creations; eating pizza; seeing a hotel named "That'll Do Motel" and a restaurant called "Ain't Notin' fancy Restaurant" (two places that will never have my services).


After Colorado, the two boys and I made some trips to Dallas. One to welcome my nephew Cooper Layne and the other to see some family from Indiana. Both trips were a lot of fun, but very tiring since Jeff wasn't able to join us. One trip that we went up there for, my mom and I took the boys to a water park. It was a lot of fun and both boys had a blast. Joseph is at such a fun age for that stuff now. He can tell you what he wants to do and then he talks about it for weeks afterwards.

Highlights from our Dallas trips: Going to Splash Kingdom; Joseph "going" off my parents diving board; Christian and his stealthiness, making his way to the very top step of my parents stairs(about 30-40 hardwood floor steps, straight down= heart stopper); meeting baby Cooper; getting to see some extended family that we haven't seen in a while; Joseph falling in love with my sisters dog, Max, and ever since that trip, has wanted a dog....really, really bad!; The electricity going out both times we were there. Now what are the odds in that? Luckily, both times it was in the middle of the night, so we didn't get too hot.




To finish up our summer, we were able to finally make it down to Galveston and go to the beach for the day. I had been wanting to do this all summer, but, like I said before, our summer has been pretty busy. Joseph loves the water, so I knew he would have a good time, and Christian we haven't taken to the beach since he was 9 months, so I was curious to see what he would do. Joseph, as expected, loved it, but Christian took a while to warm up. It could have been because he had a virus accompanied with an ear infection and double eye infection a few days before. I don't think the salty water and sand in the eyes was very pleasing to him. After sitting in my lap for a while and some tasty snacks, he perked up and started playing.






This summer, my little C-bear hit the 18 month mark. I remember Joseph so well at this age and enjoying him so much. Not that the first 17 months didn't mean anything, but it all seems like a blur to me. For some reason, for both my boys, at 18 months their personalities really started coming out, they both started to turn into boys, and it seems like they both started really talking at this age. So much fun to watch them grow, change, and learn.

Christian:
Loves to smile
Loves to suck his thumb
Loves to touch my face and play with my hair
Loves cars and any kind of dump truck, excavator, fire truck, etc.
Loves to 'cook'
Picks on Joseph....a lot!
Hugs on Joseph...a lot! (this is usually his apology after smacking, biting or pinching Joe)
Loves riding toys
Loves to climb
Can say about 10-12 words (only Jeff and I can really understand them); my favorite being 'Mo.Mo' (for more), and 'eeessh' (for please)




Joseph, is now 3 1/2, and still makes me laugh. I was able to post about him a while back, so I won't bore you with all the intimate details of what it's like having a 3 year old, just some of his new things.
Joseph:
Loves Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ( We watch it so much, he can quote most of the movie and if you see Christian, ask him what baby Brent says..he too will quote the movie) and Cars.
Loves animals....still
Loves his Cars cars....still
Wants a dog
Loves Word World
Loves candy and his newest trick, he can chew gum WITHOUT swallowing it!
Such a good big brother. Has his run-ins with C, but most of all, pretty sweet to him. He is also super sweet to his unborn brother. He will kiss my belly and talk to him.
Loves tools
Loves helping Jeff or myself with anything and everything.
Really does say the darnedest things:
*Driving around in our new van (yes, I officially became a minivan mama this summer) for the first time, Joe said, "This is really neat."
*We have a book titled 'My Grandma is wonderful." He saw it one day and started singing, "My Grandma is great, my grandma is great." I then asked, "who is your grandma?"(Meaning for him to say Mimi or Marnie). To which he responded, "Yo Mama." (I am pretty sure he meant to say 'your', but it came out as 'yo'.)
*Jeff went to our room one night after work to get changed. He turns to both boys after getting dressed and says, "lets go". Joseph then says, "But..."
Jeff, "No buts,"
Joe, (looking at his bottom) "yes, we have butts."
One of my favorite words he says right now: smarshmallows (marshmallows)

We are looking forward to this fall and everything that we have in store: Mimi and Papaw visiting, some college friends coming to visit, County Fair, Fall Festivals, Houston Air Show, pumpkin patch, and of course, Halloween....(Joseph doesn't really care to be anything, he just talks about the candy. Easy enough, huh?)
Until next post.....










Wednesday, August 4, 2010

This just in...

Anyone who knows me, knows I H-A-T-E flying. I hate everything about it. I hate the stress of getting to the airport on time, going through the lines, waiting patiently for your flight, hoping that your pilots aren't drunk, hoping that I'm not attacked by a terrorist 1000 feet up in the air, the nausea from taking off , the nausea from descending, going down in a blaze of glory, etc, etc.
Last month Jeff and I ventured out on our own for the first time since we have had kids. Planning a get away has been something we have wanted to do since Joseph first quit nursing, but when you don't sit down and pick a date, it just doesn't happen. So, having Joseph weened, turned into having Christian and then waiting for him to be done with nursing, and we almost missed our opportunity again by having another baby due soon.
So when the opportunity came up for Jeff to go to New Jersey for a job interview and my plane ticket being payed for, we didn't sit around thinking too long about whether or not I should go and make this a couple trip. Since I was young, I have always wanted to go to New York(which was a 20 min train ride from where we were in NJ). I always thought it would be cool to see everything in person, and it turned out to be a great trip for us.
Leaving the boys was so hard for me and up until the night before we left, I asked Jeff if we could reimburse ConcoPhillips for my ticket so I could stay home. Leaving the boys for the first time and doing something I hate doing, flying, equaled stress and anxiety for me.
During this experience, I took mental notes of things you don't want to see or hear as a nervous flyer. 1.) I don't want to hear males who have thick Arabic accents come over the PA system at anytime. 2.) I don't want the guy two rows in front of me (who was Arabic descent) keep looking back over his seat throughout a 3 hour flight. I had my eye on him and was going to take him out if he tried anything. 3.) I don't want the pilot to come over the speaker and sound like he just woke up..."ummm, we uh, are about, uh, 30 mile...50 miles from Newark." NOT comforting. 4.) Am wondering if it is standard for all airline employees to have to hate their life and job...those people are never happy. And I am the kind of person who you aren't going to get moving faster by having an attitude with. 5.) Why are they always patting down the whitest male and female in line? 6.) Human error. It happens. I hate that feeling. Jeff got on the plane going to NJ with his 1 inch pocket knife in his bag and was never checked. That's how things happen. On the way back, he left it ,again, in his bag, but this time his bag was searched and the knife was taken away. (Christmas gift idea for Jeff, a Swiss pocket knife).
Once we landed safely in Houston and walked into M&P's house to hug our boys, everything was worth it.
While Jeff was at the interview, I did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time....lay in bed and do nothing. I was able to sleep in till 9:30 (almost missed the free breakfast), went and ate, came back to the room and layed in bed until 2 something. Feeling like I shouldn't let a day go by without doing a single thing, I walked over to Target, that was so beautifully located in the same parking lot as the hotel. I stayed there until Jeff called me and said he was done with his interview. I purchased my things, headed back to the hotel and got ready to go for dinner with one of CP reps. We were treated to a really nice Italian dinner. I wasn't too happy about the drive to the restaurant because the parts of towns we were driving through. Needless to say, I wouldn't drive through those parts of town by myself if we lived there.
The dinner was awesome, but seriously, I am still convinced this place was frequented by the Mafia. The waiters had super thick accents, the place was dark, fancy and there was depressing music on. Let me just say this, I was glad to have been sitting in a seat that I could see the entrance, just in case there was a show down.
After the dinner, we were pretty much on our own. Friday morning we woke up early and headed to Liberty State Park in NJ. We took a ferry to Ellis Island and then Liberty Island. Such a humbling experience. After, our stop at the Statue of Liberty, we dropped off the rental and took a train from Newark to Manhattan. Once in New York, we walked across the street from the train station to our awesome hotel, The New Yorker. Checked-in, and immediately started looking for a place to grab some pizza. Yes, the pizza we had was amazing! From there we made our way to Times Square, M&M store, and then down to ground zero. After these stops, we went to the hotel, freshened up and headed to our reservation at Del Frisco's. I highly recommend this place to eat! It was a nice steak house. Let me put it to you this way, I had maternity jeans on and when I left, the spandex was super tight on my belly....I didn't know maternity pants could do that!
The next day, we had only about two hours before we had to head back to the airport, so we woke up early, grabbed breakfast to go and ate in Central Park. I felt like a cow eating my donut and watching all the super skinny bikers and runners whiz by me.
This was a fun trip and will go back one day, but I enjoy the more laid back, not having the feeling of people breathing down my neck, kind of atmosphere.








(Pictures below are the same ones from Facebook)













Friday, May 21, 2010

Stages of Life and Conversations with Joseph


I have a 3 year old. Need I say more? This age and stage of life has really made me feel like a mom. I actually have to be a parent now and it's not like just having a baby around who you just have to make sure is fed, bathed, put down for naps, and make sure they don't get themselves in to too much danger. Having a three year old keeps me busy, tired, on my toes, holds me accountable, basically, I have to do my job.





I love my little big man, but this age has had its ups and downs. I remember my wonderful sister in law, Lindsay, telling me a while back that it wasn't the 'terrible two's' for her, it was the three's that were hard. I couldn't agree more. I once had a professor that told me that she loved having children because they cause you to go through so many different feelings and emotions. They can bring love, make you laugh, cry, and even make you mad. I feel like I have finally reached that point.




You know those phrases you have heard throughout your life and you wonder, "Where did that come from?" Maybe they were said to you or maybe you just heard them in passing. For example: (Some, I am not going to finish because I try to adhere to Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up....") (FYI, I have never said any of these to any of my children.)




-"Don't make me break my foot off in......."




-"Boy, I brought you into this world, I can take you out."




-"Don't make me go country...."




-"Man, if I had a rubber hose, I would beat...."




I have come to the conclusion that these phrases were coined when these individuals were parents of three year olds. Just the down right defiance and sassiness can be challenging. But as much of a challenge this age is, I love being with him and can't imagine my day without him. Now as a mother of a three year old, I am seeing Proverbs 22:6 coming to life, "Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Before I had children I couldn't imagine at what age you would start pouring the word of God into a child's life, and now I am amazed that it starts at such a young age. As much as I want to say, "Because I said so," I am trying/learning (after all, I have only been a mother for only 3 years) to bring scripture to surface since that is more effective than the four words above.



Having a 3 year old has its challenges, but it also has its fun times, and one of those right now is the conversations we have. Below are some conversations that I wrote down the day he said them because I thought they were worth remembering.




Me: *opening up my birthday card which contained money* "Woohhooo!"


Joe:"What Mama?"


Me: "Mimi and Papaw gave me a lot of birthday money."


Joe: "You going to give it to God?"


Me: "Ummmm....."










M: *I see Joe taking bread into his room, which is a no-no* "Joe, take your bread back to your room."


J: "Huh?"


M: "Take your bread back to your room."


J: "It is!"


M: "No it's....oh, I mean take your bread back to the kitchen."








J: *See's a hummer* "Mama, look there's Papaw."


M: "That's not him, but you are right, he drives a hummer and Mimi drives a car."


J: "No, Mimi not drive a car."


M: "Yes she does."


J: "No, Mimi drives a race car."
(I tried posting a picture, but she drives 2009 Honda Accord...pretty sweet ride)









J: "Mama, can I have a drink of your coke?"


M: "Nope."


J: "Mama, you're not going to share your coke?"


I love this kid!












Thursday, April 15, 2010

Here's the Hap-Hap

Howdy there. Once again, a nice long month before another post. Sometimes, as a stay at home mom, I don't feel like I much to say unless the conversation is about bodily fluids, tantrums, stages of life, or anything baby related.

We have been doing good. Life slowing down a great deal which is nice since the weather has been gorgeous around here and we are trying to go to parks and the zoo before the temps hit 150.
I took this below picture intending to do a post, "You know when? Part 2." But since I haven't taken a lot of pictures lately, I decided to put it on this post. Monday's are my cleaning/laundry days. I had all of Joseph's shorts folded and laying on the couch. Joseph asked me to go play, but I said, "Sure, right after I put yours and Christian's clothes away." My wonderful son replied, "Mama, can I help you?" You can imagine the excitement that went through my entire body for a little person and a boy, being so kind to help his Mama out. I said, "sure Joseph, that would be great. Grab your shorts and put them in your drawers , please." I go to Christian's room and put his clothes away. I ask, "Joseph, did you put your shorts away?" He responds," Yes Mama."
Well, as you can see he almost made it. The shorts are to go in that second drawer there. I will take it though, at least he got them to his room for me. Joseph is not changing too much, but he is talking more and more. He is really trying to understand everything that comes out of our mouths and is becoming very interested in learning about everything. Joe and I have started this new routine when C takes his morning nap. Starting on Mondays we sit down and read a Bible story and then read his memory verse for the week. Then throughout the week, we review the story, do memory work and play games/or something we can't play with while Christian is awake. It has been a nice routine and fun to play and interact with just him.

Christian has started walking this week. Last week he walked around the house like a mummy, but this week he is walking around like he owns the place. He has recently been upgraded from the baby of the family to a big brother. Yeppers, we are expecting again. I tried announcing on Facebook, but I kind of snuck the below picture in with some Easter Pictures and I think it was overlooked. The third time around is pretty fun so far. I remember being pregnant with Christian and telling Jeff, 'I am so afraid I won't love this baby as much as Joseph." At the time, it was so hard for me to imagine loving another baby as much as I did Joseph. Now knowing that you can possibly love two babies the same, it makes me super excited about this one.
Everyone is thinking girl, but I looked at the Chinese Calendar (Not that I'm into voodoo, but I was given a booklet at my first visit and it had the calendar in there) and it says boy and apparently is 90% accurate. We will see ;-). People are already asking what I want, and I really don't have a preference, I just feel so blessed to be having another. But, having a boy would be fun since my sister is having a boy, a close college friend and his wife are having a boy (Being a boy, these guys would be 4 months apart), and I wouldn't have to do a single thing...no showers, no changing the rooms, etc.
But if it's a girl, I get to have another shower and get some cute stuff, I will get to paint and pretty up her room (It will be like having your first baby again), and we could potentially have her marry our best friends son and we can finally be related!
So many things to look forward to!
So far, I have been feeling okay. I get these waves of feeling blah. Mornings are pretty rough. I don't have morning sickness, but I feel like crud. I don't want to go from laying down to getting breakfast going and getting ready for the day. As you can see, that's not really an option with a 3 year old asking for ,"break-est." and a 1 year old who likes to be held for at least the first 30 minutes of waking up. Oh, and he wants to watch me make his breakfast. A lot different from the first two pregnancies.
I keep looking ahead because I know it will get better each week, but I do wish I could fast forward to 13 weeks, since my last two pregnancies were smooth sailing starting that week.

Until next month.....

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Update

Um, yeah, I know, its been a while since I last posted, but we have been so busy.
Some things that have taken place since my last post:
We celebrated Christian's First birthday. It was a nice little family party and we combined the celebration with my nephew Phillip since his birthday is two days before C's.





Took some random pictures outside St. Patricks Day.




This one makes me laugh because I kept asking Joseph to sit next to or behind Christian and this is what we could come up with.



Since my last post, I have begun to dislike our neighbor's dog. He has started digging under the fence and has gotten over in our yard twice. He is starting to leave a huge hole under the fence now and I'm not too happy about it. Here is Joseph checking Lincoln out. Joseph doesn't mind too much when he gets over in our yard.



Pitiful dog.



Have gone to Dallas to visit Mimi and Papaw. We visited the Dallas Zoo where we saw a chicken laying on a sheep. 100% cotton.





Not too much going on. Jeff is back in Mexico for business this week and hopefully this will be his last trip for a while.
I am tired and going to treat myself to a movie and popcorn. Hope to have another post soon.












Tuesday, February 2, 2010

You know....?

You know how your three year old is now able to get in and out of the frig and decides to take several bites of an apple and then put it back in the fruit drawer?

Or when your children fight all day long and you feel more like a referee more than a mom. You know where your oldest starts to figure out he is bigger, smarter and faster than his younger sibling so he torments him all day?
(Joseph won't let Christian play with his disciples, well, technically, Jesus' disciples, but you get the idea.)


You know how you spent months collecting cars for your eldest because he loves Cars, only to realize how much you dislike having them around the house and want to throw them out? You know when the youngest goes to get one and your oldest child rushes over there, even though he isn't playing with them, and shuts the case so his little brother can't get to them, only to look at you, as if to say, "What?"

You know how it is to have a super smiley baby that is a ham when the camera is rolling or snapping? You know what it's like to have a second baby and realize that the first year of his life flew by much faster than his brother's?

You know that feeling when your child learns a new trick and you just can't wait to show it off? (He can smack his lips when he kisses).

You know when you go to get a drink of your water only to realize your 3 year old has somehow managed to get pinto beans inside your glass?
Or when you go to move your husband's suitcase out of the hall after having sat there for three days to realize your 3 year has placed a bag of carrots in there?
You know the feeling when you go to brush your teeth at night and your toothbrush is gone and you look in the one place that it usually is (the tub), when it's not in the holder, only to learn it's not there. Then several days or this time, it might have been weeks, you find them in the bottom of your diaper bag while at church?
You know what it's like to have a 3 year old?
You know what it's like to have a 1 year old?
You know, right?





Monday, January 25, 2010

Our weekend and Monday

Our weekend went by very fast so I was excited about that. I had been dreading it a great deal because I thought and knew that I would really miss Jeff over the weekend.
Friday was a beautiful day, so I took the boys to the zoo and to ride the train. On Friday night, the Harrell's hosted date night daycare(we don't have a name for this yet), so I took the boys over there and I went out with one of my favorite girls, the lovely Juanita. We went and had dinner at Mimi's cafe.
Saturday, Marnie took the boys for a good part of the day while I went grocery shopping. After going shopping, we came home and hung out here for the rest of the evening.
Sunday morning we went to church, then out to eat with my in-laws.
We came home, took naps, watched the Colts win (Whoop!), and then headed over to the McDaniel's for some devotion, food, and fellowship.
While we were at the McDaniel's, Joseph didn't take a bite of his dinner and complained here and there that his stomach was hurting. I didn't really pay much attention to him not eating his dinner because when he is around other kids he is usually really distracted. The stomach hurting, I wasn't too concerned because I just thought he had to go #2, so I tried taking him while we were there, but he wouldn't go.
As we were starting to head out, he got sick all over their couch. So a quick bath and a change of clothes, we sped home and got settled for what I thought was going to be a long night. I am so thankful that he slept good and woke up pretty healthy. After we arrived home, he threw up two more times and maybe a little, early this morning, but that was it. He went shopping with me today and to Chick fil a, and he has been happy and running around since.
I finally broke down and called his pediatrician today. I called because several times last week he complained of a stomach ache. I just chalked it up to be that he had to go poop. (I am pretty sure my child has anxiety about being wiped, so therefore, he holds it for several days. FYI, if you are ever taking care of my oldest and he says he has to poop, he has to go and he has to go now.)
Then towards the end of the week, he was complaining more about it and then he said his back hurt. This raised a yellow flag for me regarding his hydronephrosis problem. When he was 9 months, the urologist said, the fluid around his kidneys was gone, but if he ever starts complaining about abdominal pain, come back in. I wasn't able to speak to the Dr. directly, but he did call back and I missed his call. He said he wanted to talk to me, so I don't know what he wants me to do with him.
I have only three more nights and our knight and shining armor will be home. I can tell you that it is going to be a mad dash for him when he arrives home.



Can you guess what C is eating?
It is something very yummy and he got to have his own tonight!

I really wanted Joseph to wear his boots to church on Sunday, so a little pep talk.."...and Jack wears boots, so does Mark, Junie, Tilly and Papaw..." and four M&M's later, I was able to get him to put them on. Go me!
(To answer your question, No, he didn't like wearing the boots or the belt.)
Alright, please continue to pray for us because I can feel God's peace and grace over this household.
Later
*Christian is eating an icecream sandwich.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Day 3 and 4

*No Pictures*

The last two days have flown by which I am super excited about. Yesterday, I started my bible study at Friendswood Community Church and it was great. After my study, Marnie, me and the boys, along with the Harrell crew went and had lunch at Chick-fil-a. It was a good time visiting and letting the kiddos run wild.
After lunch, we headed home, took some naps and then when the boys woke up we played for a while. We ate some dinner and off to church we went.

Today, we didn't do anything other than go to the Y. After that, we grabbed lunch and then the boys went down for some naps. I organized our linen closet and it looks awesome. I organized the medicine and put it all at the very top!!! (Those of you who didn't hear, Joseph got into my pre-natal vitamins a couple weeks ago. Apparently, this is very serious! We called poison control and they right away said we had to take him to the ER. But once the lady talked to us a little longer, it was determined that he would be okay. FYI, iron overdose is very fatal to children under 6. We got lucky because the vitamins were over the counter one's and not one's prescribed by my doctor for when I am pregnant.)
Once the boys woke up, I had asked Marnie to come over because I thought I might have an ear infection. Being the most awesome MIL that she is, she cancelled her night with her quilting group to come watch the boys while I went to the clinic in Walgreen's. I didn't have an ear infection, but the lady said there was a lot of drainage, but it was all clear. She thinks I ruptured my ear drum. By dinner time tonight, my left side of my face was so sore and it felt like I had been socked in the face. She prescribed an antibiotic and highly recommended me to go see my ear doctor. That's on my agenda for next week.
Tomorrow we are headed to the zoo. I hope to get some pics, but this is usually pretty hard when you are at a place like that. It's hard to mess with settings of the camera, keep the subject happy and watch the other child run wild.

Later.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Day 2

Day 2 started out a lot better. We woke up, had breakfast and played a little. Christian went down and then Joseph and I continued our study on Creation. This has been a lot of fun. I know this is only day 2, but I am really enjoying the one on one time with him and the teaching part of it.

After nap time we headed over to the property for a photo shoot with my wonderful sister in law, Lindsay. We had Christian's one year pictures done and they are so cute! Well, the one's I have seen. I really wanted to post the one's I have so far, but I decided to reveal them later. We got Christian and Phillip (my nephew who is 2 days older than C) matching Birthday Boy shirts and got a couple of pictures of them together.

After the photo shoot, we came home, the boys took naps while I organized, cleaned and hung up some pictures. I finally heard from Jeff and he was at his hotel room safe and sound. I breathed a sigh of relief. He ate some pasta and shrimp for dinner, and he was very pleased with it. The one thing I do like about his trips are the food stories. His Mexico City food experience was very interesting! While I was organizing I found Christian's birth information and realized I don't have either one of the boys birth certificates yet. Am I the only mother that has gone 3 years without getting that done?

Once the boys woke up, we took a nice little walk around the neighborhood. The boys really do love being outside and our new ride. Once we got back home, we took the tractor to the cauldesac and took some more pictures.

We then came in, heated up dinner, took baths, played and then it was bed time.

Pretty easy, laid back day. Tomorrow I will be going to my bible study class and I am looking forward to it. It is going to be a study by Kelly Minter and her book called 'No other Gods.' This should be very interesting.




This is what I see all day. Joseph looking at me like, 'What?" And Christian freaking out. (Now when I call Joseph's name, he immediately responds, "Why?" I don't know if he is asking me Why he is doing what he is doing or he just doesn't want to hear me tell him what he shouldn't be doing, and just wants to know why he can't do it.)
There is this too, throughout the day.

No, it's not his birthday. He just had the shirt on from the pictures earlier.

Boy, tractor and thumb...can't beat that.



Please continue to pray for my energy and peace. I couldn't go to sleep last night. I think I ended up going to sleep after 1 am and then woke up at 6:30. Then tonight, my ear started hurting, so hopefully, it's not becoming an ear infection.
See you tomorrow.




Monday, January 18, 2010

Day 1

Today started my first day with me and my two boys. Jeff will be out of town for ten days, and since I won't have an adult to talk to at the end of my day, I will let you all know what I did each day.

So, hold on to your seats, this goin' be excitin'.

This morning started out really rough. I will spare all the embarrassing details, but having Jeff leave is always hard for me. First, having him be away from home, having to fly, having to fly over the ocean and being in another country(Don't other countries dislike Americans?). I honestly don't feel like I breathe until he steps foot into our door.
After me trying to spend most of the morning pumping myself up for the next ten days, we had our breakfast, played and then put Christian down for his morning nap.

Today I wanted to start something new with Joseph so we did and it went pretty well. Lately,I have been feeling really convicted about getting him into the Word and him watching way too many cartoons in the morning. So, yesterday, I grabbed his little Story Bible and made a lesson plan for this week. Today we started with creation. I read the story from his book, sang a song, and then said a memory verse and then we were done. I posted the memory verse on the frig and in his bathroom and the goal is for him to memorize it by Friday. I then created a memory chart that we will fill with stickers and when he gets 10, he gets a prize.
The only thing I am conflicted on is how much of the verse should he repeat? Any suggestions? I don't want this to be stressful thing, but a fun, learning experience. When I asked him throughout the day to say his memory verse, I would start it and he would finish it. I know it's just the first day, but it made think how much of it do I want him to say, to be able to get a sticker. All, half, or just a word?
After our lesson, we loaded up and headed to the Y. That was a stress reliever for me and it was really nice to get out of the house since I was cooped up all last week with two sick boys.
We came home, had lunch and then the boys took naps. I did some chores and have started organizing like crazy! Seriously, I have been in this 'nesting' phase and I usually get that way for one of two reasons. I am pregnant or I am ready to get pregnant. Well, I can assure you that it's not the first so maybe the second.? I have been cleaning and organizing drawers, closets and today, I started on the garage. So much junk and I have even started a garage sale pile. I haven't decided if I want to have a garage sale or just wimp out and give everything to Goodwill.
After nap, the boys and I took a quick walk around the block in the new limo, as Jeff refers to it. I have debated whether or not to get a double stroller, but some Christmas money I had been saving and then a coupon to Babies-r-Us gave me a friendly nudge to go for it. After a sale and my coupon, I got $100 off this stroller. We love it!! I didn't realize how much I hadn't been doing because I dreaded hearing whining from a little someone about not wanting to walk. I used to love taking walks in the evenings after nap when it was just Joseph and I; now I can do that again because my eldest has a little place to sit.

Here is Joseph telling Christian to smile. By C's look, it is as if he is thinking, "Don't tell me what to do." Mr.Happy back to his normal self. He had an ear infection last week and man it was a long week!

I bribed him with M&M's to pose for me here.

So, one day down. I have been trying to track Jeff's flight but it never fails, "The airline code is invalid," I always get this even when I type in EXACTLY the info Jeff gives me. UGGH. Please pray for my energy and loneliness. I really miss Jeff after the boys are in bed and no one here to keep me company.
See you tomorrow.

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

My life the past four days

It has been one of those weeks with two sick children. It has been long days and a lot of worrying for the little one. It started with Joseph getting a runny nose and cough on Saturday night. That was followed with a low grade fever, and it continued on into Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, C started coughing and having a really bad runny nose. Monday Joseph started to really bounce back and started doing laps in the house. One down, one to go. As Monday carried on, Christian started getting warm and we soon discovered he had a low grade fever. Poor baby.

Starting Monday evening, he started to not eat much, which is unlike him. Then the worry starts to set in. Tuesday, no temperature was taken, but he felt warm here and there, but never bad enough for me to take his temperature. Tuesday continued with little food consumption and noses being wiped all day long!!!

Wednesday rolls around. *Third day inside the house!* Joseph is almost 100% with an occasional nastiness flowing for the nose region. Christian is looking worse and worse as the day goes on. He is beginning to cry more and every time Joseph gets near him or touches him, he cries. Not like him at all. Take his temp three or four times that day and it was at a consistent 101. He starts to eat a little more here and there and is drinking which is a sigh of relief for me. At dinner, a light bulb went off in my head and I blurted out to Jeff, I bet he has an ear infection. *Finger in nose* DUUUHHHH.

Thursday morning he wakes up and I scoop him up, eager to see if he has a fever and when I kiss his forehead it was hot. Temp was taken and we are now up to 102.5. Tylenol was given and then he was back down for a nap a couple hours later. When he woke up, he was still warm and had a fever of 101.8. I called the peds office and they got him in immediately and they discovered a single ear infection.

I hate that he is starting so early with those. Joseph didn't have one until he was over 2yrs.
I know this isn't exciting stuff, but nothing exciting has happened to me in last four days because we have been home not doing much. It has been nice, however, being in pj's until 2p and playing with Joseph's cars....errrr, watching him play. I can only sit and watch, no touch.

Sorry for no pictures. I haven't had very happy, smiley babes the last couple of days. I will try and take some this weekend and get them posted soon.

Until then....

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Adios 2009

(I forgot to add the picture first before I typed my entry, so read all the way to the bottom to see why Jeff and I are all snazzy looking.)
I can't believe another year has come and gone. We have had a great year and we are looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us.


Some highlights from 2009 (Not necessarily all great things, but things that stand out):


-C-bear joining our family.
-Joseph being sick for about 3 months straight. He had two stomach virus' that lasted 5-7 days both times, a double ear infection and a sinus infection.
-Seeing thousands of plastic eggs being dropped from a helicopter and the madness that followed.
-Taking Joseph to the beach two times this year. That kid loves the water.
-Unfortunate event in Galveston.
-Taking Joseph to Schlitterbahn for the first time.
-Joseph found a new love: Cars.
-Potty training Joseph. He has pretty much mastered it now, with the occasional accident because he is too busy playing or watching his stories.
-Christian crawling, pulling up and sucking his thumb...all day.
-Collecting Cars characters. We have become obsessed with this and we need to stop.
-Joseph hanging from the ascending garage door.
-Christian nearly falling head first out of his highchair.
-Our family trip to Great Wolf Lodge.
-Our family trip to the beach house.
-Jeff's job laying off hundred's of employees and Jeff being spared.
-My sister finding out she is expecting.
-Our good friends Mark and Megan expecting.
-Getting to see old High school and college friends this year.
-Driving through ice and snow Christmas Eve to see family.
-Jeff and I celebrating 5 years of marriage.
Speaking of our 5 year anniversary, Jeff arranged a nice evening for us (Which explains the picture). We started by going to Vic and Anthony's Steakhouse for dinner. We went out on a huge limb and ordered each of us a glass of wine. Tasted horrible, but I was able to hold it down. We then order portabello mushroom's for an appetizer. For dinner, we each ordered a steak, in which I got a loaded baked potato as a side and Jeff ordered mashed potatoes. We tried to leave room for dessert, but the food was too darn good, so we stuffed ourselves full.
After dinner, we headed on the other side of town and went to Radio Music Theatre. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a cross between, stand up comedy and improv. These three people do an entire show playing different characters which is absolutely hilarious. We went to see the show titled 'A Fertle Holiday,' which is a classic.
That pretty much sums up 2009. Hope your year was full of joy, memories and little stress.
Some things I'm looking forward to in 2010:
-Meeting baby Manning.
-Meeting baby Selby.
-Watching Christian become a little boy.
-Watching Joseph grow out of this sassiness phase.
-Watching God's work be done in our home, church and Jeff's job.
Everyone have a wonderful year!