All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Who would have thought my five year old could sing that this Christmas and really mean it!


Saturday Mikayla was bouncing on her bouncey ball and fell face first onto the laundry room floor. There was amazingly no blood. However, both her top center teeth got pushed in all sorts of funny ways. Funny enough that I called and we made an emergency visit to the dentist.

We went back in bright and early this morning. After X-rays and another exam, both top center teeth were pulled. The dentist also pulled one of her lower teeth that refused to come out on its own and already had an adult tooth growing in behind it. Mikayla did amazingly well throughout it all. 99% of her crying was just from being nervous. The one time she did feel a bit of pain, the dentist was very caring and gave her another injection to numb her gum up a bit more.

She's doing awesome tonight and not complaining at all about sore gums. I'm so thankful that it was her baby teeth that got injured and not her adult teeth. We do need to go back in 6 months so he can examine her adult teeth that take place of the pulled baby teeth. He wants to make sure there have been no injuries to them. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, but we won't know for sure until they come in.

A Texas Sized Snowman

We woke up to snow this morning! So of course, we start yelling "It's SNOWING" which makes Mikayla wake up and get dressed in a flash! Out we went to make our very own Texas Sized snowman.


Yeah, I know it is very small, but not EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas. The kids had lots of fun playing in the snow. Nice big fat flakes for about 20 minutes. Then it stopped. By the time we headed in to school the snow had turned to sleet. And of course, the snow is now melting away.

Man all the roofs sure did look nice and pretty this morning though.

Great Giveaway chance

All you baby wearing Mamas, visit Simple Finds before the 6th for a chance to win a Sleepy Baby Wrap Carrier! Looks like a great product, and I get an extra chance for telling you all about it!

Well, he's growing!

Today was David's four month well check. He weighs 18 pounds and 15 ounces! He has gained 8 ounces since last week! David is now 26" long, an amazing 6" growth in length in 4 short months. The doctor was very impressed with his bright eyes following everyone around and how much he smiled. He got his rotavirus oral vax and THREE other vaxes as well. He wasn't very happy about that, but overall he's done much better this go around than last round.

And for pictures...

Here's David on his birthday


Sick baby :(


Skinny baby getting his first tub bath!


And my big boy now!


We've come a LONG way from the tiny preemie that had a helicopter ride to Temple! Praise God he's healthy!

Happy Thanksgiving

This past year has been rough for us. We have a lot to be thankful for in spite of that. First, we have three amazing healthy children. Mikayla is in school, Bryson is a typical toddler boy, and David, well he's an amazing little baby. Thank God we made it through David's birth.

I'm thankful that we have a roof over our heads and food on the table. We have clothes to wear and lights in our house. I'm thankful that we have a large, loving family. Thankful that we have great friends who really care. And thankful that we both have decent jobs.

Apparently, Bryson is thankful for Pumpkin Pie!


(Don't worry folks, that's a butter knife!)

Chatting away

David is garnering a lot of attenion lately by talking to us.


Oh.. and just in case you were wondering what my now almost 4 month old, once very ill preemie baby now weighs.... EIGHTEEN POUNDS 7 ounces. YIKES! He is less than one pound away from TRIPLING his birth weight. Yeah. That's supposed to happen around the time they turn a year old!

Comments Please!

Because I fear I'm doing all this blogging and no one is reading.. Please oh please oh please, post a comment if you visit. I just feel like no one loves me (yeah pitiful me) and I want to know who's visiting. I added a nifty tracker so I can see where people are coming from, and it's changing every time I visit, so I *know* people are visiting, I just want to know who!

So who does he look like?

I get that question all the time about David. When he was first born, he was the spitting image of Bryson. Now, I think he looks like Mikayla. You try to figure it out. I'm not going to tell you who is who, you get to guess. And no girly clothing to give anything away either!



On other news, we're having Thanksgiving with my sister in law and my husband's side of the family on Thursday. Brad will be working, so we're also going to have a small family Thanksgiving at home on Sunday. Yummy turkey for a whole week!

Today, I folded and stacked ALL the clean clothes. My new laundry rule is IF YOU CAN REACH THE PLACE IT BELONGS, YOU'RE OLD ENOUGH TO PUT IT AWAY. So Mikayla can manage to put away ALL of her clothes because she can reach all of the drawers. Bryson can only manage his pants because that's the only drawer he can reach. And guess what, Brad can reach all of his drawers as well, so I'm no longer responsible for putting away his laundry.

My stress levels have risen to an all time high trying to do everything. Therefor, in addition to my new laundry rule, I also have a "stuff" rule. It goes like this I WILL ASK YOU ONE TIME TO PUT SOMETHING AWAY. AFTER THAT, I PUT IT AWAY. IN THE TRASH. AND IT STAYS THERE.

I'm also planning on using the long Thanksgiving weekend to go through the kids clothing and get rid of things that no longer fit (over half of their clothes) and things that are the wrong season (about a quarter of it) and that should leave 1/4 of the clothes currently in their drawers. I'm also going to go through all toys. If it hasn't seen the light of day and the love of kiddos hands in the past two weeks, it's leaving the house. What's left must fit in their toy drawer (each kid has one). I figure less toys will equal less stress. It worked in the past, but kids accumulate stuff.

I just don't understand...

How taking a nap can be so bad that you make yourself throw up TWELVE times. Yes folks. TWELVE times I cleaned up puke. Twice off the floor, the other ten times out of a bucket. Bryson absolutely refused his nap today, as shown by the puking. I made him spend the rest of the day as a "sick" kid. NO going outside to play. NO good snacks, only crackers and water. NO fun TV shows. Man I was mean!

Good thing I love them..

Because otherwise, I'd have to kick all the kids out of the house. Today was a bit trying with the two boys.

Today Bryson:
-peed in the trashcan just because he could.

-filled a toy bin with water and dumped it on the floor. VERY Sneaky cuz he had the water barely turned on so I couldn't hear it.

-Figured out how to open the chest freezer, take a step stool and dig around in the baskets for stuff (corn dogs and popsicles).

-poured his koolaid from his sports top bottle over every window sill in the kitchen.

-poured his koolaid from a different straw cup into a bowl full of sliced apples.

-spit chewed up apples into my hair brush (YUCK!)


However, in order to redeem himself he:

-learned how to sweep the kitchen floor because he said "It very dirty in here"

-asked for (and received) a cuddle at bed time.

David was pretty much a typical 3 month old today. Nursed all morning. Fought sleep much of the afternoon. Smiled and GIGGLED during bath time.



In other house events... Mikayla's school is having a 50s sing along on Friday and there is no way I'll be able to go with both boys and no sitters. She hasn't asked if I"m going yet though, so I'm just praying she doesn't ask so I don't have to disappoint her. Going to school has made her sassy mouth even worse. It was so bad yesterday I had to send her friends home and send her to bed early and without her TV show. Tonight was only slightly better.

As for me, I've just been doing normal keeping house sort of things (laundry, cooking, cleaning). I've also started knitting another pair of pants for David. They might be done sooner than the last pair!

Knitting~

I finally finished David's knitted pants. These pants seemed to be cursed at the beginning. I cast on the wrong number of stitches and had a pair of pants that could have fit Mikayla. So I ripped it out and started over. Forgot to use smaller needles when doing the ribbing, so I ripped again and started for the third time. The body went quickly. The legs took forever. But they're finished, and they fit, and they're fully functional!


Then I was going to do another pair of pants for David, but Mikayla complained. So, on went a hat for her. I finished the entire thing last night. She woke me up this morning with a smile on her face and a hat on her head.


Next up.. A hat for Bryson. Off to find a pattern.

My own little Al Bundy

It seems that even though my boy has NEVER seen Married...With Children, he somehow has picked up on Al Bundy's bad habits. He sleeps with his hand in his pants. Yup. Every night. Totally funny. And do NOT attempt to remove said hand from said boys pants. It will wake him up. I guess he likes to make sure nothing sneaks away in the night.

We have Pictures!

First Up... Our chunky three month old sucking on his fist


Then.. Same chunky month old less than impressed with his Halloween costume.



What said three month old actually wore on the trick-or-treat tirade.


What the other two wore. A black cat (whose ears refuse to show up in this picture) and a frog.. Again..


What happens when 2.5 year olds play in the laundry room.


And what happens when 2.5 year olds dress themselves.

Promise we're still alive!

I promise we're still alive over here. It's just been crazy busy. I've got lots of pictures to upload. Lots of things to say. The kids are growing (too fast!) and doing well. I'm crazy with paying work and regular house work. Hubby is back to the job after being off on FMLA. Cat is insane-o.

I'll try to get those pics up for everyone soon!

An open letter to solicitors

Dear Solicitor (that means YOU who ring my doorbell while knocking incessantly),

I work full time from home. I have a newborn and a toddler as well as a Kinder student who has to be picked up daily. I don’t want the steaks from your truck freezer, no matter how cheap they are. Any newspapers go straight to recycling. I’ve already found Jesus. He lives in my heart, my children’s hearts and my husband’s heart. He also talks to the preacher two doors down. I don’t want you to do my yardwork, housework, or paint my house. I don’t have the money to buy from your child’s fundraiser. I don’t want Girl Scout cookies or a subscription to a magazine I’ll never have a chance to read. I’m lucky I can read the can I grab from the pantry for dinner.

Now. If you still feel like your product, service, or charity requires you to knock on my door. Go ahead. But be warned, I probably won’t be very chatty. You’ll be lucky if I’m civil and not downright rude. Better yet. Don’t knock. Call me and make an appointment! What, you don’t have my number? Then you really don’t need to talk to me huh?

School & Growing Babies

Mikayla's first week of Kindergarten has gone amazingly well. Her first day she was practically kicking me out of the classroom after the first minute. The second day didn't go quite as smoothly, but there were no tears and there was no major drama. By the end of the week, she had the process down. Starting tomorrow, the girl goes in on her own! Amazing ain't it!

David is growing! I was looking at his sweet face today while he was nursing and noticed that his head has gotten bigger! I'm sure it's not by much, but it was enough for me to notice. His cheeks are chubbier. His arms aren't quite as stickly, and his little chicken legs are FINALLY starting to fill out. Thank Goodness! I was getting tired of pee and poo seeping out of the leg holes of EVERY diaper I own (both cloth and disposable!) He does still have a frog look to him though. BIG ole belly and tiny little heiny. I know it will change and when it does, I'll be sad!

Diapers for Two

Doing diapers for two is, well, exhausting. And I'm using disposables part time on Bryson. I don't want to push him, but I can't wait until that boy learns how to use the potty. The above picture is ONE DAY worth of laundry. For Bryson there are 3 pockets, 1 all in one, and 4 fitteds for a total of 8 diapers. For David, there are 7 fitteds, 4 prefolds and 2 all in ones for a total of 13 diapers. And then there is the pile of wipes, extra doublers, and random pile of momma cloth on the floor. When you go through 21 diapers in one day, you have to wash diapers EVERY DAY. Just no way around it. The pail gets full and if you delayed it (because you know you have enough diapers) you'd just wind up doing two loads of diapers in one day, which would be worse.

However, with all of that said, I'll just say, Man I'm glad we use cloth diapers. I can't imagine the fortune we'd be throwing away every day if we used disposables. If you figure 17 cents per diaper (on the low end), we'd be throwing away $3.57 every day. That's $24.99 per week, $1299.48 per year. And that's if the kids don't get sick and burn through say, 15 diapers in one day with explosive poo. Knowing I've only spent something like $400 on the diapers I have in my house, I'm happy we use cloth!

Pictures for you.. Finally!

David likes his fingers!


Proud Big Brother Bryson (complete with Impetigo sores under his nose)


Big sister Mikayla holding baby brother for the first time.


David all wrapped up in my knock off Moby wrap


All three of my guys together.

Getting ready (for school)

We've really been struggling the past two days trying to get our household on a school time frame. In order for Mikayla to be ready for school on time, we have to get up at 6:30am. That hasn't happened yet. Do you know how hard it is to get up at 6:30 when your newborn fell asleep like 20 minutes before that?

David is growing well. At his checkup on Friday, he had gained 11oz since discharge from Temple and grew 1/4". The doctor was very impressed with how well he was doing considering his rough start.

I had a checkup the same day. Turns out my Super Secret Weight Loss Plan is in action again. For those who don't know, my Super Secret Weight Loss Plan is called Pregnancy followed by Nursing. For me, it leads to massive weight loss in the first 6 weeks. So far, I've lost 30 pounds. I'm down to 190! Go me!

SURPRISE! We got a boy!

I'm sure most everyone is aware by now, but David Shane was born August 1st at 6:14pm. He weighed 6lb 7oz and was 20 inches long. After a few hours of observation, it was obvious the little guy was in trouble. He wound up with a chest tube, lines in his umbilical cord and lots of monitors. After a day, he still wasn't better, so he was flown to Scott & White in Temple where he could be watched better. He recovered well and was released on Tuesday August 12.

I had a really good experience with my immediate c-section care. The spinal worked REALLY well and I can't remember ever feeling as good as I did after this section. Brad and I sat and laughed so hard in the recovery room about our little BOY who was supposed to be a girl!

Shortly after they moved me back to L&D (I was on magnesium for my blood pressure so had to be monitored closer), I was feeling great and just wanted to rest, so I sent Brad home to get himself a good night's sleep. Right around 1am on Saturday morning, things spiraled out of control for me. My blood pressure went from around 190/100 to 70/30 in less than 5 minutes. There was a code called and about 20 people swarmed into my room. I have no idea how close I was to actually dying, but I'm sure I was pretty darn close with all those people acting like they did. I rebounded after several bags of fluid (thanks to an additional IV) and stabilized for a few hours. THEN, it happened AGAIN! Throughout the entire ordeal, I never lost consciousness. It's even more scary when you see how concerned the doctors and nurses are! I was once again stabilized.

The doctors (because at that point there were at least 3 involved in my care) decided I was having some post-surgical bleeding and debated sending me back to surgery. I can't tell you how scared I was of that! Thankfully, after four, YES FOUR, units of blood and about 13 bags of saline, they decided I was stable enough to just be watched for signs of more bleeding. After several hours, and lots of blood draws, they decided I was still bleeding, but not enough to send to surgery. PRAISE GOD! I did get two more units of blood though, for a total of SIX units!

Overall, I spent from Friday afternoon until Wednesday morning in the hospital recovering from my section. I was discharged Wednesday and headed to Temple to see my little guy. I had only seen him for a few minutes during all my time at St. Joe because I was not stable enough to go to him and he was too sick to come to me.

We are all home now, and have been since Tuesday evening. I can't tell you how blessed I am to still be here to be a mother to my children and to watch them grow and learn. I'm so lucky that David and I were not any sicker than we were. It could have been SOOO much worse. Spending a week in the NICU makes you well aware of what can happen with sick babies!

I'll be back to post pictures later. I've got THREE kids to get ready for a visit to the doctor. Only one is going with us, but the other two have to be dressed to go to the neighbor's!

Today is Baby Day!

Well, baby will be arriving today! I'm 34 weeks and 6 days, so she's early, but hopefully will be very healthy. My section is scheduled for 5, but I have to be at the hospital at 3:30. Prayers for a healthy baby please:)

Feeling like Cr*p

Well today, I'm sitting around (well trying to lay around) feeling like cr*p. My blood pressure is up a bit, my head hurts like heck and I've been running to the potty like no one's business. This is crazy!

C-section Date

Well, the date is set. If nothing changes from now to then, I'll be holding Lilah on August 26th. Time is currently set for 7:30am, so I'll be holding her shortly after that. They wanted to do the section on August 25, but that happens to be Mikayla's first day of school. And I want to be there for that, so I had them change it :)

33 weeks, 2 days

I'm on modified bedrest now. Went in for a regular appointment this morning and my pressures were higher than the doctor was comfortable with. So I left on modified bedrest, instructions to call if swelling or blood pressures got worse, and a prescription for a blood pressure med. I'm having no other problems other than the high blood pressure, so I guess that's my silver lining.

Sewing from the past few days

So I joined a contest on one of my boards to encourage me to use all the fabric I have sitting around! So far, I've sewn a skirt and a jumper for Mikayla and made myself 25 points! WTG me! Today, I'm going to try to get some Pajamas and undies for Bryson made. I just need to trace those darn Otto patterns!

So the first thing I made was an Ottobre dress that I modified into a jumper. I had to remove the sleeves, increase the size of the sleeve holes slightly and add facings. It was a VERY quick project. I completed it from cut to finish during nap time. The fabric is a clearance lightweight cordouroy I got at Walmart. I even have enough left to make a skirt from the same fabric.

Next, I made her a quick skirt from the Twirly Skirt Tutorial. I used more material I had leftover from another project. I edited the tutorial to remove the drawstrings and add racing stripes to the side. Mikayla LOVES this skirt. And I think I have enough to make another coordinating skirt.

YUMMY fabrics...

I am in love with realistic print fabrics. I can only imagine what I would do with any one of these. I think with about a yard of each one, I could get dresses, diapers, napkins and who knows what else!

General Updates

Not a whole lot going on that's exciting over here. Mikayla is sassy as ever. I'm counting the days (well almost) until school starts. Bryson is talking SO much more. He's having little conversations with us now and it's just so sweet. Baby Lilah is growing and stealing more and more room in my body. My blood pressure is holding out. I'm starting to get a little swelling toward the end of the day, but nothing worrisome.

I've decided to quit sewing newborn diapers for Lilah and focus my sewing time on Mikayla and Bryson instead. Because.. well.. I have a LOT of newborn diapers. Now I'd LIKE some nice orange edge prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers.

We're growing a GIRL!

Well, our baby finally decided to cooperate and tell us that she was indeed a SHE. Just like I suspected all along. So now, I get to get busy making girly diapers and going through my niece's girly clothes. Thankfully, I have a dear friend who has two little girls as well and I'm sure I can sweet talk her enough to let me borrow some girly cloth diapers. I do have a list of stuff to start on though now that I know gender. And I could have as few as 4 weeks before our little girl decides to make her appearance. I do hope it is closer to the full 9 weeks she deserves though!

In case anyone is wondering.. Here's what I still need for our new girly addition.

-Two dozen newborn sized cloth diapers
-Two dozen infant sized (or yellow edge) cloth diapers
-4 newborn and 4 small diaper covers
-Nursing bras (I only have two left from Bryson that no longer fit correctly, imagine that!)
-A few simple summer dresses (newborn and 0-3 month sizes)
-A Moby Wrap (or a knock off home made one)
-And I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE an Ergo (or similar), but highly doubt I'll ever get one due to the cost

Thankfully, we have all the big stuff (carseat, crib, high chair, etc). And most of the stuff I need are things that are easy to get (as long as I'm shopping online!)

Good News!

We just got some wonderful news! My MIL's blood work came back from her cancer testing. Her initial cancer marker level was an 80. Her levels as of last week were 30! Her brain tumors have shrunk significantly as well and her sight is improving due to the release of pressure. Praise God! Prayer is working. Please, please, please keep Sally in your prayers. She's still weak and very tired.

Recent Sewing!

I've sewn up a bunch of new diapers lately. 5 for a friend having a baby next week, and one for Bryson. Bryson LOVES his new orange diaper. Now for pics!

Summer Movies!

Cinemark, one of our local theatres, has $1 movies for the kids once a week during the summer. I loaded up my two kiddos and two neighbors and we went off to go see "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." So $5 got us into the movie, $15 got us all snacks. $20 bucks for an entire morning's entertainment. Not real bad considering I could have dropped much more by going to Wal-Mart or Target. All the kids except for the shortest one (a.k.a. Bryson) were pretty good. Short dude kept tormenting the family in front of us. He was kicking their seats, trying to pull hair, all sorts of generally annoying things. We did get through the movie okay though! We ran into several friends there as well. Amazing how you seem to find everyone you now in the same places you are, especially when you're not in a small town (not that B/CS is a large city or anything).

So, now Mikayla is with a friend we saw at the movies. She won't be home until time to go to VBS. Bryson is napping. And me.. I'm trying to get work done, blog, do laundry, and everything else on my list before said Short Dude wakes up!

Well.. It's today..

Nothing really of note. Just wanted to update everyone on all the goings-on.

My MIL (who is undergoing treatment for cancer) is slightly better. Better meaning that her brain tumors have shrunk, but her lung tumors have not. She's still on oxygen, still getting chemo and getting steroids once a week. The steroids help her feel better for a day or two before she starts spiraling down again.

The belly bean is growing, kicking and causing heartburn for me. Baby refuses to share gender, so we will be having a surprise baby. Hopefully, gender will become painfully obvious at birth :)

Mikayla starts Vacation Bible School tonight. And man oh man is Bryson upset that he isn't old enough to go yet. He really, really wants to go.

We got about 15 tadpoles from a friend. They are currently living in a rubbermaid container on my kitchen counter. I've gotta figure out what to feed them before they die!

26 week OB checkup

---

Today I had my 26 week checkup. This involved a LOVELY gestational diabetes test. So the entire family (toddler, preschooler, hubby and I) get up early to make the first lab appointment at 8:30 so I can chug that miserable orange drink. I chug said drink and we head down the road to get breakfast for the kiddos and hubby. They eat, I get mine to go and we head out.

My toddler trips over the curb. Guess what. I was holding his hand. Guess who tripped over him? Yup. Me! Full on, no way to save myself or avoid the belly, I plow into the concrete driveway. After about a minute when I catch my breath, I realize I'm okay and we head back to the doctor.

Less than 5 minutes down the road, said toddler then proceeds to throw up his 3 donut holes and his sausage and cheese kolache. Great. Now I have a carseat filled with puke, a bleeding knee, and a growling tummy!

We get back to doctor, strip said icky toddler and go in. Toddler has on tennis shoes, socks and a diaper. Because we had used his spare change of clothes over the weekend and I FORGOT to pack another set.

On to the regular checkup (after the blood draw). My blood pressure was high - yeah big surprise there! It went down after about 10 minutes though. We took a quick peek at the baby to try to determine sex. Baby refused to share. Doctor sends me to the hospital to make sure baby is okay after the fall.

Get to the hospital, and baby refuses to share a good view of 1) kidneys 2) umbilical cord insert 3) spine & 4) gender. First tech calls in another tech to get the 4 pictures the first tech couldn't. We got good shots of everything but #3 & 4.

So.. after an exciting morning, a toddler covered in puke and not one, but two ultrasounds, we know both the baby and I are okay. We also do NOT know the baby's gender.

Swimmer and the Kids

Busy Week

I've been very busy "producing" things lately. Things like.. a clean chair (see previous post), a dress or two, a pair of leggings. A dozen newborn diapers. I am not producing dinner. I must admit, it's kinda embarrasing how much we have eaten out as of late. I'm just not feeling like cooking and my very understanding husband doesn't mind paying for very $$$$ takeout! Tonight will be dedicated to sewing a bunch of crayon rolls I received an order for. I'm going to try to get half of them done (ten!). We'll see how that goes!

If you thought I was a domestic goddess..

You're sadly mistaken. This post is to dispel any lingering thoughts any of you may have had. I had to take pictures it was so bad. So, in an effort to let the truth be known, here are the pictures.



This is the laundry in the laundry room. Two loads worth of jeans. A small load of whites. A small load of colors. A small load of delicates and three loads of sheets and towels. Eight loads.


Here is the pile of sheets and random blankets that will take two loads. We're up to 10 loads of dirty laundry folks!



And here is the clean laundry that needs to be folded. That is my oversized chair it is living on. There are:
-Three loads of cloth diapers
-Three loads of towels
-Two loads of whites
-At least two loads of colors, maybe three
-And I'm sure there is a load there that I"m missing
So eleven loads of clean clothes to be folded.

Anyone still think I"m a domestic goddess? I'm not even going to show you the horror that is the bathroom!

Rants from the Pregnant Lady

Today's little experiment in blogging.. Every time I have a mini- rant, I'm going to come post it along with the time. Should be fun!

-12:40 pm: I really want a stuffed pizza slice and a watermelon smoothie from Taste of the Tropics. But I don't want to go to the mall to get it.

-1:10pm: I settled for a Totonio's supreme pizza we had in the freezer. I still want the stuffed pizza though! And Bryson just wanted to play with his cars in bed. Not sleep. Being the mean mom I am, I took the cars away and made him scream.

-2:01 pm: My neck hurts.. and I'm still thirsty, but I just finished a 20 oz cup of lemonade!

Bluebonnets

It's time for bluebonnet pictures again. After a lackluster year last year, this year's blooms are GREAT! I found the perfect spot and managed to catch a really good shot just by constantly pushing the shutter button.

Mikayla still doesn't really like tee ball, but she is going and participating most of the time. I think the part she dislikes the most is the baseball pants. See the problem is.. they're not pink and they don't sparkle and they itch. I just don't think tee ball is going to be her thing.

Strawberries!

To celebrate the lovely spring weather, we met up with some friends and went to pick berries in Lexington. We had a GREAT time. The kids have eaten about a pound and a half of the 6 pounds we picked. Bryson keep trying to pick the over ripe berries. And Mikayla was so happy to be out there, she kept skipping the good ones!

Do I have to have a title?

The hardest part of the posts for me is coming up with a title. I don't like them!

Sally is back in the hospital. She's feeling very weak and can't make it to the potty by herself. The doctors suspect that it is the cancer on her spine that is causing pressure on her spinal cord thereby making her legs weak. She's slowly losing her ability to form coherent thoughts and is having trouble finding the right words to express her thoughts.

Spring Break is half over and honestly, I hadn't known it had begun. With all the Sally stuff going on, there isn't much time for anything else. I've decided the kids and I are getting out today, even if it's only to the local park for some running around time!

Ahh.. Children.

Bryson loves to sleep. Unless he's anyplace that isn't home where he is without his crib. He can be dead tired, but WILL NOT sleep. He doesn't fuss. He doesn't cry. He will play nicely in a pack-n-play for two hours, but he will not sleep. At least mama got some time without said kid stuffing elbows into overly sensitive nipples.

Mikayla hears everything you think she can't. And nothing you think she can. Aren't all 5 year olds that way. Whisper something to your husband across the room from said child, with the water running and the TV blaring, and she'll manage to hear it. IF however, you say the same thing, directly to her face, in a quiet room, while she's looking right at you, and she'll pretend she didn't hear a thing. DRIVES ME NUTS!

Independence is a wonderful thing. I realized yesterday, that if I died, my children wouldn't starve. Mikayla decided it was time for her and her brother to have a sandwich. What type of sandwich you ask? Why a peanut butter, raisin and marshmallow sandwich of course. And she even cut it in half so they could share. They would, however, only have water from the bathroom sink to drink. She's not allowed in the fridge by herself and she chooses to observe that rule!

Where did the day go?

We woke up around 8, had breakfast and I started work around 8:30. What seemed a short time later, I looked at the clock and it was 11! What the heck! Sat on the couch with the kids and I fell asleep. For TWO hours! When I woke up, Brad had fed the kids and put Bryson to bed (ain't it grand!) I had lunch and worked a bit more. Then it was FOUR! Got Bryson up and we went to run pre-birthday party errands. Man, we got home after seven. The day went by way too fast! My how time flies when you're consumed with mundane tasks!

Positive note: We did a 15 minute cleanup after dinner and now the house looks like we live here, but a tornado does not. For those who do not know what a 15 minute clean up is..You set a timer for 15 minutes and clean until it beeps. When it beeps. You're done. That's it. No more! Now that's my style of cleaning!

Baby, Cancer and Life

I had my second OB appointment today. I've gained SEVEN pounds since the last appointment! This is crazy for me. I normally lose weight up until the last two months (months 7 and 8 for me). Oh well, maybe it means I won't spend the last half of this pregnancy in bed (one can dream right?). My blood pressure was normal. What a relief! I'm supposed to start taking it twice a week just to make sure it isn't starting to creep up. Like loading up two kids and traipsing off to the local WM or Kroger isn't going to make my BP rise. Anyway. Then it's time to listen for baby. Baby isn't cooperating. Mikayla wants to "see" the baby and asks for an ultrasound. Dr. Anna says that she has lots of patients to see and not much time. I say, "Well, I want to look anyway" and explain the situation w/ my MIL. Dr. Anna quickly puts the doppler away and says "Well, we can't find the baby. Guess we get to look!" Off we go for a quick US. Baby is doing fine. Heartbeat is good and strong. This little bean is all curled up with arms and legs tucked under in the classic fetal position already. Baby's legs/arms are facing down and back is facing up. EXACT same way I carried Mikayla the ENTIRE pregnancy, up until they pulled her unwillingly from my body. I'd scan in the pic, but I can't figure out how to make our OOOOLLLLDDDD scanner (like pre-baby) work on the new Mac!

In other news, my mother-in-law was released from the hospital on Monday. She also began her cancer treatment the same day. I really feel for the lady. She's undergoing weekly chemo and daily radiation right now. She's got radiation focused on her brain and upper spine. The cancer doctor told her today that the cancer in her spine is growing very rapidly and he's concerned she may become paralyzed from it. The doctors do not normally do chemo and radiation at the same time, but due to the type of aggressive cancer Sally has, it is her only hope of remission. And even then, the hope is only a tiny little glimmer in a vast ocean of bad news. Keep her in your prayers!

In life here.. I am so thankful that Bryson loves to sleep. Honestly, I don't know may 2 year olds that LIKE going to bed. You tell him it's bed time, he says "Night Night" and runs off to his room ready to climb into the crib. He loves his crib. Really, he loves it. I've tried converting it to a toddler bed, but he just cries that he wants the side back on!

Bryson has really started talking more now! He's in the middle of a verbal explosion. Just tonight at the store, I told him not to hit me cuz it hurt and then called him a "mean little monkey" and he repeated it back to me. I've started calling him George just because. Now everybody is George. Sissy George. Mama George. DaDa George. It's really quite funny!

Mikayla is her normal self. One minute she's all smiles and laughter, the next it's DRAMA time! Any little thing can set her off, at any time. Normally, she comes right back out of it though. Her birthday party is Saturday. My baby girl is going to be FIVE! Where did the time go? I remember bringing her home from the hospital wondering how in the world spring managed to happen while I was in there with her. I remember having to keep her in a onesie, a sleeper, two knit hats, a pair of socks on her hands and feet AND wrapped in two blankets to keep her temp constant (she was 4 weeks early after all!) I remember how big she was at her first birthday party. She was already a little girl. Baby hood was WAAAYYY behind that little girl. Sentences were coming from that precious tiny mouth. She was running up and down the halls. She was the size of a two year old! Now, she's turning 5. She'll start school in the fall. And I'm excited and anxious and scared of letting go!

Wow! It's been a while.

I'm a forgetful blogger. Forgive me. Or not. Totally up to you! We've been busy. Bryson turned two, Mikayla is counting down to her birthday and we have exciting news we aren't quite ready to share.

Bryson's birthday went well. There were a LOT of people crammed in the living room and I made all the kids go out in the backyard. He got lots of toys and his very first remote controlled car.

Bryson had his two year well check today. He weighs 30 pounds and is 32 inches tall. He's at 70% for weight and about 80% for height. Not as big as his sister was, but still quite the big boy. And now he has a big boy haircut to match. I got tired of the "beauty" salons messing up his hair so I took him to a barber. Turns out the barber was one of my parent's old neighbors, so not only did Bryson get an AWESOME cut, but we (the barber and I) got all caught up with family gossip. If anyone needs a good barber, go see Theresa at Cutter's on Wellborn right next to Potato Shack.