Baby talk

Well, I have about a half hour to see what I can get down here. I'm going to have to type fast. And sorry, no pictures tonight, but I'll try to put some on soon. Wow, where to start. I'll try to fill you in on the baby story without giving too many gory details. We went in to the hospital early Friday morning to be induced. My doctor had wanted to induce me the Monday before that because she was concerned about my fluid levels and also that the baby was getting too big. The latest weight estimate was 8 lbs. 8 oz. I was hoping to go into labour before that but I didn't and that weekend I just didn't feel good about going in on Monday for the induction. So we stressed about it, made phone calls, decided to wait and talk to the doctor on Monday. I was freaking out and nervous since we had gone against what she wanted. She was disappointed, but very gracious about it all and said she's recheck me on Monday and induce Friday if I hadn't gone on my own yet. Well, that wed. I went in for another ultrasound and this time my fluid level was more than fine and the new weight estimate was 7 lbs. 7 oz. Hmmmm... She still was going to induce Friday and by that point, we didn't want to push it. The following Wed. I started getting regular contraction and was feeling SO relieved that it seemed that I was going to go on my own and not need the induction. Thurs. the contractions were much less. = ( Bummer. So we ended up going in Friday. (Sorry for ALL the details. This is going to get long... just skip around if you're bored) So they started me on the pitocin and things started happening. The monitor that showed my contractions wasn't working right and was giving wrong information. The nurse I had was young and unhelpful and that was all rather frustrating although I remember not being very involved in that whole discussion. We were using a doula and I know her and Dave talked about it and asked repeatedly for something different. We eventually got a new nurse and she was really good. Also a different monitor. Oh, the idea was that I really wanted to go natural and we had been working with this doula who was really supportive, knowledgeable, ect. I also knew that if things got out of control, I'd be okay with getting an epidural, I just really didn't want a c-section. So anyway, the pit got things going, but little miss Aleah wasn't tolerating it very well. Apparently her heart rate would stay low for too long while I was on it. They backed off of it till I was going totally on my own and was having really hard contractions about every 3 minutes apart. I had progressed quickly from about 2 cm to 6 cm and that was good news. I was glad to be off the pit and going on my own, but the contractions we're getting pretty unbearable so I was glad that I had the 3 minutes in there. Then they decided that having them that far apart was not enough to keep things moving so they were going to add just a bit of pitocin. I was NOT impressed. I mean, if you have to you have to, but I could not imagine tolerating the contractions if they were coming any faster. I had already been moaning about an epidural and was tempted to say I wanted one for sure if they were adding pitocin, but I kept going awhile longer. The contractions, well, um, it's hard to describe. They continued to increase in intensity (both pain and pressure) and started coming about every minute. Um, they were totally awful and it was worse than I ever imagined if I'm being honest. I was nearly going out of my mind with the pain and knew that I was only at 6 so this was far from over. At that point I said I wanted an epidural for sure. I was disappointed and felt bad because the doula, Dave, and I all three were really wanting to go natural and I felt like I was failing. At the same time, I knew I couldn't keep going. So about 6 contractions after that decision, I got the epidural and it was as though I died and went to heaven. marvelous. I just laid there resting for awhile. My doctor came in at one point and said, "We have to turn the epidural off, the baby is not responding well to it." At that point the thought of going back to that level of pain - oh my - I was thinking - just give me a section now then! But I didn't say that. They decided to just back off it a little and that worked. However, I still wasn't progressing at all and the baby was not moving down like she should have. Which is so confusing because the contractions I was feeling were like later stage, pushing type things, even though I was only at a 6. So the doc told me she'd give me an hour and if I hadn't progressed, we were looking at a c-section. They couldn't increase the pit because of how baby was responding to it. So it didn't leave many options. I was disappointed, but we talked about the options and the fact that things can turn around pretty fast too. Well, turned out they didn't and around 7 they were prepping be for surgery. I couldn't believe it. I mean, all the signs the week before said I was so ready for labour and I was really hoping a little pitocin would just jump start things. But no. Anyway, the c-section was a rather intense experience. It all felt so surreal. It wasn't what I wanted, but at the same time, we finally knew we would be able to meet this baby within minutes. I got to watch them lift her out and saw she was a she about the time that Dave announced it. I was pretty surprised, thinking most of the pregnancy that she would be a he. And I could also tell right away that this was no big baby. She looked SO tiny! It was so awesome hearing her cry for the first time and seeing all her fuzzy blond hair. Her weight was 6 lbs. 14 oz. Not the huge baby they were expecting. So that didn't explain why I wouldn't progress. I asked the doctor about her position and she said that was fine as well. So it really didn't make sense. They only thing my doctor could say was that I probably have a pelvis that not shaped right for delivery and should maybe just plan on having c-sections from now on. wow. A few thoughts about the whole experience in hindsight. I really really like my doctor. She is a Christian, is wonderful interpersonally, and took great care of me through the whole ordeal. However, in hindsight it's so easy to see how there is such a different mindset about childbirth from practice to practice. This hospital is very pro-intervention, will barely let you go a day past your due date, very high c-section rate, etc. Looking at all the info we have now, there's no way I was "overdue." I had a tiny baby and everything was looking good before I was induced. I know a lot of people who have babies 2 weeks early and they weigh what mine did one week late. So is it possible that everyone just has a unique time table and trying to force a pregnancy into fitting into one specific due date isn't wise? Interestingly, a friend of mine here who was due 2 weeks later than I was just had her baby today - a 7 plus pound baby girl. Clearly she was READY to go about 2 weeks before her date - more ready than I was one week after my due date. Also the doula said there's a theory that babies themselves sort of determine the labour they need - some can handle and fast and furious labour and others can't. I was starting to have mild contractions on my own and it could be that little miss needed that to go on for another week before she was ready to move. Clearly she could have waited a while longer weight wise. Anyway, we chose the doctor we did and felt like by Friday we had to respect what she wanted to do, but looking back on it all, I would say I have a lot of unanswered questions and things I'm curious about. Of course it's possible that I could have waited and gone into labour on my own and still ended up needing a c-section. Who knows. Anyway, there's my thoughts on that. We spent 3 nights in the hospital.

Okay, I have a funny story to tell you about night 2 in the hospital. I'm starting a new paragraph so if you wanted so skip all that boring stuff up there, you'll for sure catch this. Saturday we were having a hard time with the feeding thing and I was exhausted. I really wanted to have Aleah in the room with us most of the time and we did for the most part, but there were 2 times when we really needed some sleep and asked if she could go to the nursery for a couple hours. The middle of the night Saturday was one of those times - just made it through a traumatic feeding and wanted a couple hours of sleep before the next one. So I sent her away, bawling because I'm a terrible mom and feeling awful about it. But the sleep was nice. This was around 2. Around 5 in the morning, the nurse wheeled the little baby bed back in the room and I got ready to start feeding away. I woke up Dave to bring me the baby. I was looking in the bed and thought - hmmm... they changed her clothes - she must have puked or something. And I noticed things in her bed that weren't ours. Odd. Dave brought sweet little baby to me and I looked, under the cover of darkness... looked again... um... Houston, we have a problem. Cute child, but definitely NOT MINE. I looked at that little nose and mouth and it was so clearly not Aleah. Um, wow - speaking of her, I wonder where she is right now and who's feeding her!?! I called Dave to come over and showed him and we checked the little guys bracelet - not my name on there! We were like freaking out but so amused by the whole thing as well - I mean, what a story. When does stuff like this ever really happen to someone you know? It's such a movie thing! So I rang for the nurse - she was a great nurse and one of our favorites - couldn't be mad at her! The system is that you ring for the nurse and they say - can I help you, and you announce what you need. Like I'm going to announce that over the loudspeaker. (ha - it's not really a loudspeaker of course, but I don't know if other people hear or not) So I said, Um, could you come in here? She asked what I needed and I just said - um, can you come in here? So she came and I'm holding this little guy and I looked at her and said, "Um, this isn't my baby." Oh, the look of horror on that woman's face. She felt absolutely awful and probably saw her job options flash before her eyes. She said she hadn't turned on the light to check the bracelet and his ID number was one off from ours. She informed us she was NEVER ever going to do that again. She got him out of there in such a hurry. And apparently our little girl wasn't taken anywhere else and just slept though the whole thing. nice. = )

So anyway we have now survived the first day at home. It went pretty well with tons of bodily fluids involved. At one point today I was feeding her and she had a big ol poop. So I was carrying her to change that while she puked all over and it was running down my hand and onto the floor. Set her down and sorta cleaned that up and tried to change her - got her diaper off and she peed all over which collected in a nice pool on the changing pad and ran all over, up her back. Fun times. But we are totally enjoying her. She seems really responsive to me - like when she's in the right mood and you talk to her, she'll just stare and take it all in. And tonight she smiled right at me when I was talking to her. What? I didn't think they did that at 4 days. She looks just like Dave's baby pictures when you look at her straight on - their mouths are identical - turned downward and a little longer on the left side. crazy. But I think her profile looks more like my side of the family. I don't see much of me in her though. Anyhoo, those are my thoughts for now. I'm off to feed little bambino and I'll try to get pics on here soon. My sister is coming tomorrow night! Whooo hooooooo!!!

Happy May 1st

Thought I'd stumble on here and just say a quick hello cause I'm sorta bored so why not bore all of you as well? Nothing too new to report. I'm finding that I have very little positive to report on the latter weeks of pregnancy. It's just sort of like, wow, this is really miserable, yes indeed, okay, another day... ho hum... Sleeping is pretty much a nightmare. But I guess some days I still feel relatively okay.

So, should I shoot for my brother and sis-in-law's anniversary (tomorrow), another brother's big 4-0 birthday (the next day), a friend's birthday, (the day after that), Cinco de Mayo (the day after that) or ummmm.... mother's day? I dunno. But I guess it doesn't matter what what I want anyway.

Today I bought some cheap, practical slippers for hospital use. I rather like them as they are cozy and such. My hubby hates them passionately and hopes I never wear them after the hospital because they look like a grandma. Now I like a guy with opinions, but seriously? I said, "You wear things I don't like," and he said, "What!?!, Tell me! I'll stop!!" So apparently he feels very strongly about these slippers. who knew. sigh. Even as I look at them I think they are kinda cute. Maybe I'll go stick my feet in his lap and see how annoyed he gets. That's always a fun little game.

It's now officially hot here. Hot and muggy. Some days I find myself wondering if summer's almost over. Then I remember this is the first of May and we won't get relief until November probably. And I think about how it's probably snowing in Red Lake and hmmmm.... I wonder where you can go where it's 70 degrees and sunny every day of the year. But I suppose if you lived in a place like that, some of the joy of 70 degree sunny days would be lost.

I need to make the bed in the guest room and clean our sinks. That what I should be doing, but I cannot drum up the motivation to do these things. See, like I said, I have not much to say, just don't feel like doing anything. Well, I guess that's it then. My mind is blank. Happy weekend and such.

Should be getting things done....

... but this seemed like more fun at the moment. And I guess it's been awhile, eh? So, life here in little ol baton Rouge... what to tell you? Well, I guess it was about a week ago now, my roommate from Indiana, Bethany, and another friend from there, Cari, came to visit. I guess I told you they were coming already so yeah, they did and it was great. Way too short, but so good to see them again and be able to catch up in person. There really isn't a great substitute for being with friends/family in person. Phones and e-mails are okay, but just not the same. Anyway, they came on Tuesday afternoon and came to where I work. We had the joy of going swimming there before coming home. On Wednesday we had a pretty relaxing day. In the afternoon we went to a plantation. It was in the same town as the one we went to with Sheldon and Sara, but a different plantation. This one wasn't quite as "earthy" - more ritzy and no turkeys wandering around. The gardens were gorgeous and it was such a pretty walk around the grounds. In the evening we went to the levee and enjoyed the beautiful evening weather (soon it will be boiling hot even at 11 at night - I love the evenings right now!) and took in the sights of the lights and Mississippi River and such. They had to leave Thursday morning so poof, it was over just like that.

What else? I'm done working now for the time being, except for Saturday I'm going to put in a bunch of time because I owe some hours that I hadn't worked off yet. But not getting up at 6:30 is SO blissful. When I had my doctor appointment 2 weeks ago, she told me I could go anytime. Then a week ago she told me she doesn't think I'll be early. huh? Make up your mind woman! It'll be interesting to hear what they say tomorrow. I have to see a different doctor tomorrow because my regular one is gone. People always say the last few weeks just drag on and on, but I haven't found that to be the case, yet anyway. I think mainly because I have a lot to keep me busy and because as much a I can't WAIT to hold the baby and to not be pregnant, there's that whole labour and delivery thing that I'm not exactly skipping for joy about. So that makes the wait a little easier I think.

My car has been at the doctor all week. = ( I need to get an inspection sticker on it - something that Louisiana requires, and when I took it in for the inspection, it didn't pass. Unfortunately, it's a little pricey to get it inspection worthy. We now have it at another place waiting for a second opinion on the estimate. SO, we are finding out what it would be like to be a one car family. Pretty sad how much we depend on 2 vehicles. Dave rode his bike to school the other day and got a flat tire on the way home. bummer. Then today we realized that he has to be at school tomorrow morning and I have to be at the doctor, so I guess he'll ride my bike to school tomorrow and see if that works out any better. Nice of him to not make me ride to the doctor.

Well, I think that's all for now. Enjoy the pics and have a lovely day.

The plantation that Bethany, Cari, and I went to. It didn't have the roaming turkey effect that the one we went to with Sheldon and Sara had, but it was SO BEAUTIFUL!!
I couldn't decide which pictures to post they were just all so pretty! Oh, and these are Bethany's pics, not mind. I no longer believe in taking pictures when I have guests, I just copy their to my computer. sneeky...




The house that we toured. Our tour guide was a total grouch - probably the most grouchy of the 4 (I believe) plantations I've toured so far. But it was still fun.

And now, to completely switch gears... well, my sister is coming the 19th of May. And we're (or she, probably more accurately) going to sew for the nursery! So for all the crafty little ladies out there, this is most likely the fabric. What do you think? = ) I shall tell you my personal opionion - I love the red and the yello/orangy one. I wanted a blue that was more aqua but this is about the best I found. The shapes look pretty aqua, but I hope the background color doesn't look too boysih. I think the green is pretty, Jenni wondered if it's too light for the other colors. What I wanted was a bright, limey green, but that's the best I can find at this point. Sorry if I'm boring you to tears. Anyway, we have some fun stuff planned and I can't wait to show you when it's done!
Arg - I never know - do you write about the picture above the picture or below it? Well, I guess I'm writing above the pics for now. Here's an absolutely unflattering whale like pic for you to laugh at - 37 weeks.

So, when Bethany was here we got to talking about teaching babies to read and teaching them sign language and such. We were thinking more along the lines of things like "please" "thank you" "all done" and "more." Dave thought it sounded crazy to teach a baby sign language and told us that this -
is the sign for WOW. And wouldn't it be cool to teach a little baby THAT? Maybe you had to be there, but we laughed and laughed at the thougt of a sweet little 8 month old making this sign every time he was impressed with something. We just might try it out!
Lastly, yeah, I chopped my hair off. I'm not fishing for compliments, honestly. I knew I wasn't going to get it cut again for ages, so I went short, well, short for me, not short by most people's standards. haha. Anyway. I really like the length, but it just looks really "choppy" to me - like you can see every little cut. I had trouble getting a picture that acurately represents what it really looks like, so anyhoo, here's my best tries. Feel free to say, yes, it does look choppy. I won't be in the least offended!
Thus, our picture tour draweth to a close. Happy Thursday everyone! = )

Life in the fast lane ...

Seems to be a little blogging slump going on once again. I've been meaning to post for awhile now. Just takes time, esp. to resize pictures and all that good stuff. Anyway, what to tell you about life around here? My brother Sheldon and his daughter Sara came to visit a week and a half ago or so. You can find pictures of said trip below. We had a lot of fun and it was great to see some family. They were here from Friday evening till Tuesday morning. We had most of the world's problems solved by Sunday so the rest of the time was nice and relaxing.

Last week I switched to part time instead of full time at work. I've actually had quite a bit of time off because of my boss's schedule and her having family around. It's been really nice, but naturally, I feel like I should have way more done than I do. I really wanted to get all my pictures organized and our wedding book done before baby arrives. Now I'm thinking that's not going to happen. There's just been so many little things to take care of that before I know it, the day's gone. I'm working more toward the end of this week and the beginning of next week and then my former roommate from Indiana and another friend are going to be passing through Baton Rouge and staying for a couple days! This is by far the longest we have gone without seeing each other since we started rooming together back in um 04 was it? I haven't seen her for about a year and a half. So anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing her. Then we're down to just a few weeks. give or take.

Kumquat has been growing like crazy and making his/her presence very known. I've been feeling mostly okay during the day but nights haven't been very fun. I wake up pretty sore multiple times at night. My blood sugar has also been an issue, unfortunately. When I started checking at home, the numbers were always fine, but a few weeks ago they started getting too high. So she put me on meds and they seem to be somewhat stable, but not perfect.

Ummmmmmm.... trying to think of anything else that might be remotely interesting. I think this is all sounding sorta boring, but hey, it's an update, right? Last night Dave and I went for a lovely evening stroll. We ended up in a fenced in golf course and had to walk a little farther than anticipated. Which wasn't a big deal, but I guess my socks were too short and my shoes rubbed the skin raw on the backs of both my poor little heels (ankles? whatever you call the back of that foot area). So sad.

We had a really nice Easter weekend here. On Saturday we went to our friend's place and watched the kids hunt for eggs and had a nice lunch with them and another family. On Sunday afternoon we were invited to another family's place for lunch and had a nice relaxing visit with them. I thought it was funny - the dad and Dave his some eggs for the kids to find and they were very happy looking all over for these eggs. Later the mom said to us, "Yeah, they don't even know eggs are supposed to have candy in them - we just hide empty ones." hahaha! = ) While driving to church that morning, I was feeling very unspringy, very uneastery, very large, very annoyed at how late we were, etc. Dave was trying to cheer me up and said, "You're like an Easter egg with a treat inside!" To which I said, "good, then I should be able to hide in the bushes which is what I feel like doing!" Ah well, we amuse ourselves sometimes. Once I got to church I started feeling much more eastery, springy, and cheery, and was happy that we weren't even the last ones there.

I think that's all for now. Enjoy the pics.

odds and ends in picture form

Here's some pics of what's been going on the last while. To start, a little anecdote. My brother Sheldon and his daughter Sara were scheduled to come visit the last weekend in March. I needed something to do anyway with the young charge. Awhile back we bought some nasty natural peanut butter that was so messy I wanted to bake with it rather than try to use it for every day purposes. And I thought - yippie - company coming, I'll make some lovely cookies. What better way to spend a morning with a 2 year old. Oh. my. word. I tried out this really healthy recipe thinking maybe I could enjoy the little morsels as well. So they had stevia in place of sugar, and piles of raw, unsweetened coconut. I followed a recipe, but gracious, the results were not good. Okay, the results were hideous. The young child was absolutely adorable while helping so I had to get some pics. But upon seeing the end results, my heart sank.
I thought I would give her one and then have the camera ready for disgusted look on her face that would certainly follow. Poor kid was so proud of her cookies that turned out so nasty. It was like unto eating sawdust. Anyway, to my surprise, she took a bite and kept it in her mouth...
... and kept it there and kept it there and kept it there. FINALLY she swallowed it. I asked her if she wanted more and she was pretty sure she didn't and jumped off the chair. too funny. Dave actually ate some of the dog biscuits until I threw them in the trash. Sheldon took one bite and said, "I'll probably eat something else." I couldn't swallow a single bite. so sad.
cookie still in mouth. = P
And now for some pics from when Sheldon and Sara were here. There are all Sheldon's - I didn't take any pictures at all, but got his. This top one is a little out of order. On Sunday afternoon we went to St. Francisville and toured a plantation. This friendly turkey was roaming about.
Saturday we took in the sights downtown. I'm sure I've posted a bunch that look very similar to these, but oh well, here's some more - the capital building.

We got a big kick out of this. A statue inside the capital building and the official write up about the guy came from non other than - wikipedia. very official indeed.
The old capital building.
Check out the name of this pizza place downtown. Had to laugh. very very good pizza!
Down by the water. Sara with her eyes closed in front of the USS KIDD.
This was taken from the famous Shaw center roof/lookout area.
Down by the water again.
This concludes pictures of the Sheldon/Sara trip.
35 weeks last Friday.

Can't sleep, might as well blog...

So tonight around 7 I curled up on the couch to read about the joy of giving birth and woke up at 11. SHOOT! Now it's almost 3 and I'm wide awake. I tried to sleep, but Kumquat was rearranging the furniture I believe, while doing gymnastics and hubby was snoring ... and I got myself worked up by things I read before going to sleep. SO, here I am. I'm sure I don't have much coherent to say, but felt like floating some things out there. I went to bed feeling bla and sad about life. But I probably can't explain why very well but maybe I'll just ramble a bit (and regret it in the morning? who knows...) I got so discouraged on Facebook tonight, I think I just need to stop for awhile. So health care, I'll just utter the forbidden words - yikes. I felt like commenting all over the place and letting my opinions be known, but it just felt like what's the point really? The thing that got to me and felt quite depressing is how polarized this country really is and how when we should be working together and looking for solutions to a problem that everyone knows exists, we're not. There just seems to be so much anger and it feels like people will never ever agree and what's the point and it all seems really depressing to me (nice sentence, eh). It's like you can barely even discuss it rationally with people of differing views. It's maybe is a dumb thing to be depressed about, but right now at this moment, feels very real. One of my facebook friends posted this on her page and I really can't improve on it at all, so I'm just going to repost it here - some really good thoughts I think:

"So, healthcare reform passed. I hate to say this, but I'm really disappointed with the way much of the Christian population has responded to the news. Hear me out. I listened to a sermon on Friday about a Christian's submission to government. You can listen to it here. I urge you to listen to it. It will be 40 minutes well spent. The speaker is the lead pastor of the church James and I have been attending.

The main point of the sermon that I want to write about is found in the following verse:
Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. - 1 Peter 2:17 (ESV)

The person who was the emperor when Peter penned those words was Nero. Yes, Nero. The very same Nero who executed Christians. The apostle Peter says to honor that man. Take a minute to think to think about the things you have said over the past few days about President Obama, Nancy Peloci, and your own congressmen/represenatives

over the past few days. Was it "honoring" when you compared our president to Lenin or when you compared him to a murderer or when you called the Madame Speaker a liar? I don't mean to offend you, and if you are getting angry at my words your beef is not with me. Your beef is with the Man who penned the Holy Scriptures.

Here's another thing to think about while you are steaming mad about healthcare reform. Go back to the first century in Rome. You are standing in a Roman Amphitheater. It is loud and crowded. There are Roman soldiers and lions. You see a woman on her knees in the middle of all the chaos. You go to talk to her. Her name is Blandina. You start to tell her about how bad things are here in the US in the year 2010 because we are going to have some changes to our healthcare system. After ranting for a while, it occurs to you to ask her what is troubling her. It turns out that she is about to be fed to the lions on account of her faith. How's healthcare reform sound now? Honor the emperor. Honor our President.

I do understand that the new law may result in more abortions, which is a travesty. If that is what your main problem with the legislation is, then take up the cause for the unborn. . .but "Honor Everyone." And remember God has placed our leaders in authority, and it is God who is in control of all things.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Romans 13:1"

Okay, back to me writing again and I can't change the font or italics for some reason. Anyway, I know that my hope is not in some health care plan, but I have to remember that my security is also not in living in a country where debate is always fair, where each party always wants to listen to and respect the views of the other, and where people, especially Christians can work together striving for justice and real solutions to the issues. All of those things are what really bother me right now more than the health care issue itself. Okay, moving along...

I also read some really sad and/or traumatic birth stories right before bed. Why did I do this? I know not! It either causes a lot of fear or I just feel almost guilty at the thought of having a healthy baby when there's so much heartache out there. And then I remember I'm not guaranteed that and the fear starts again. Mostly, I just prayed for the people I read about which I think is the wisest thing anyway. I couldn't help but feeling really sad though. I can't imagine what they are going through and I hope there is an extra amount of grace for them!

Oh boy, I have to get up in 3 hours. This is going to be such a fun day. yippie! I'm really excited that this is my last week of working full time. After this week, I'll be working probably 2 - 3 days a week. I'm also excited that my brother and niece are coming to visit this weekend. I'm sure they'll love hanging out with me and my wild pace of life these days, and stopping for potty breaks every half hour. But we shall have fun regardless. Well, I should try to sleep now. Thanks for listening. I'll probably read this tomorrow and find it doesn't make much sense...

nothing much...

32 weeks and thrilled with life, yes indeed. Don't have much to say really, just thought I'd share this since the last one is about 6 weeks old. In other news, oh yeah, there is none. I'm glad it's the weekend so I have more time to stress over how there's so much to do and I'm not getting any of it done. It was nice to get out of the house bit tonight with the hubs. We skipped down the aisles of whole foods. They don't have many samples in the evenings. = ( Just some crackers that looked like they were full of bird seed, so no thank you. I'm sad about losing an hour tonight, but happy that it will be lighter longer in the evenings. Well, I should work on my list a little longer, that might be good. Next item - organizing the desk and filing important papers. And helping my poor, former roommate figure out what to do with her clock tonight. The poor dear is from Indiana where they all are still bitter that they now have to change time with the rest of the country. It's a tough concept to grasp and some need some special guidance. (if only I had the video of one such session when I still lived there. I could be rich indeed. comical I tell you!)

It's a springtime miracle....

Okay, it's not a miracle at all, but unusual that I'm not waiting a month before blogging again. Anyhoo, through a complicated chain of events that I won't bore you with, I have the day off today. It's SO nice. I have a list a mile long of things to do, and I'm fighting the urge to not crawl back into bed. But I thought I'd start the day off right and update my blog first and then tackle the list. Well, I truly started the day off right with an ultrasound appt. Oh man, so now I'm a little giddy. Here's all the baby news - this is probably boring to some so feel free to skip. My doc said I should start having ultrasounds every week starting at 32 weeks, because I failed that glucose test. However, my numbers have been fine since checking at home and she's not even convinced I have GD. But just to be on the safe said... so anyway, I went for the one today, but I think I'm going to request getting out of some of them. It seems like total overkill! The one this morning was fun though, since everything is looking perfectly great and normal. And it was so fun to see that little person in there. At one point I got to simultaneously see and feel a kick - SO neat! Little feet and hands, saw all 5 fingers, and some good close ups of the face. At one point the arm was in front of the face and then he/she moved it and I could see the face as plain as can be and the mouth was opening and closing very wide-like. It was terribly cute, but I'm sure I'm more excited about it all than the average reader. The estimate is that baby weighs 4 pounds 1 oz. FOUR POUNDS? And it's going to be in the oven another 2 months? Yikes. And the technician said she could see quite a bit of hair already so by the time baby arrives, there's should be lots and lots. = ) fun. And the head is only "slightly" larger than average. Oh Father have mercy!! So that's what's new in baby land. Can't believe how fast time is flying and how much there is to do and such. I've been feeling okay, but so ready to be done with this. I have discovered, among the many prego symptoms, 3 that I really like. 1) Obviously feeling the baby move around. And now we can actually watch it move around which is pretty neat. 2) Clear skin. 3) Okay, so no one told me about this one and it came as a total and pleasant surprise - hair that does not get greasy. Sorry if this is TMI. But seriously - I've always been a religious every day or occasionally every other day hair washer. And if I ever skip one day, it's pretty nasty by the end of that second day. Anyhoo, I started to notice that I could easily go every other day while pregnant. Then I started to realize that my hair has no oil and feels more like a wire brush, and even at the end of the second day, it's not dirty yet. Oh joy of all joys. Might as well save the time and money! I won't admit how long I go now, but it really doesn't get dirty forever. So lovely. And according to my head sniffer, never smells funny either. I hope only girls are reading this. Other random things - I could eat 40 oranges a day - LOVE THOSE THINGS. And I could cry 40 times a day. For no reason. Or maybe a 4 pound reason, I don't know. Last night I slept pretty much all evening except for a couple hours, and then went to bed and kept sleeping and got to sleep in longer than usual because of not working - so very nice. Um, so this has all been about me and baby. I'm trying to think of other interesting things that have happened lately, but not coming up with much. I'll try to keep you posted. In the meantime, I hope I haven't seriously bored the life out of you. Now I'm going to go work on my list. That way maybe the weekend can be somewhat fun and relaxing.

Hodgepodge of pictures

Here's some random pics that aren't in order from last fall and Christmas and such.
Caleb and I from the Virginia trip. Random. Had to post it cause he doesn't usually smile this beautifully for pictures. = )
Jumping back to Christmas. Our family Christmas dinner. Dave was trying to get a good picture of Hannah. And trying and trying....
BINGO! oops, sorry Jenni.
Virginia trip again.
Hannah giving a little kiss to Amanda and Andy's baby.
Back to Christmas again. I sat beside James and he positively grossed me out with his gravy overindulgence. Oh my stinkin cows. He poured it over all his food until the food was unrecognizeable, then ate the rest with a spoon. I tried to not throw up on him. He's still a cutie though. I'm wondering how many years he took off his life in that hour.
Way last fall sometime - Dave's first attempt at making pancakes. We remembered them more disastrous than this picture shows. I think they tasted okay though, if I remember correctly.
As if you cared, but Dave noticed one day long ago that we have 14 different colors of hangers hanging in our closet. So he took a picture. There you have it.

Another country heard from....

I hang my head in shame once again over how long it's been since I've been on here. A month? Seriously?? How can this be? Anyway, I'm FINALLY figuring out how to resize and post pics on our borrowed computer. I did more than this, but gracious, I have to get to bed so this will have to do for tonight...
Me at 26 weeks. Yeah, a whole month ago. I was going to post awhile ago. Anyway, I don't think much has changed since then anyway.
Dave and I in TN on our way home from Kendra's wedding. We spent 2 nights in Chattanooga, TN and stayed at a motel that used to be the famous train station there. This is us eating pizza in a train car.
More TN - it was COLD when we were there and we didn't do a lot - tried to take in some scenery without having to pay to do it.
At Kendra's wedding. Didn't know that Merle and Carolyn were going to be there! Fun surprise.

Okay, so that top picture - me at 26 weeks with the help of some baby blankets and such. This is the real me. Not as impressive. People still say, oh, you're pregnant? when are you due? Um, 9 weeks?? Hello.
The dining room and living room that finally look a little more homey.
Yeah, I know, the picture to the right is too high.

I don't really like the big speakers on top of the entertainment center, but haven't found a better place for them so there they sit. There's only 2 candles in the candelabra because we can't for the life of us, find the rest. They do exist somewhere. They were all sitting out at our last place. For some reason the pics seem more grainy than before - not sure why. Anyway, I hope to post again soon, but for now, good night.

Oh my...

Where to start? I'm such a looser blogger these days. Like Jenni said, I wait a long time to blog and then feel overwhelmed and perfectionistic about it so I just don't. sigh. And I want to post pictures. And every time I blog I say I'm going to. But alas, I still don't know how on this new non-windows computer. So I still cannot. So anyway, to ramble for awhile on what's happening around here... when did I last blog? I don't remember.

I went back to work the beginning of last week after having 2 weeks off. It was a LONG and not very pleasant week to say the least. It felt like about 3 weeks smashed into one. (This week has thankfully gone by much faster) Added to the fact that I have to drag myself out of bed at some frightfully early hour, is the fact that Dave has no early morning classes this semester and 2 days he doesn't have to be in to school until afternoon. I'm sure if I was a nicer person I would lovingly stare at him sleeping there and think how peaceful and content he looks and how nice it is that one of us gets to sleep in. But um, I don't. I fight the urge to bang pots and pans in the room and scream loudly. This also means that he has fallen into the schedule that both of us naturally like to be on, but I can't right now - staying up till all hours of the night and then sleeping in. So it feels like we're on totally different schedules now and well, it's not my favorite, but oh well. If this keeps up, he can get up with the baby several times in the middle of the night before he ever goes to bed.

Speaking of my husband, the funniest thing happened the other day and I feel compelled to share it with you. We were chatting and he was standing in the "pre-bathroom" area - there's a separate room with just a sink and mirror (lest you think he hangs out in the real bathroom eating fruit...) - eating a pear. As he tends to do, he had it whittled down to barely more than some seeds. And he says "just a second" and leaves the room, and then comes back without the pear core. I just looked at him... hmmmm.... he was standing in a room with a trash can inches from his hand. I said, "Did you just throw that away in the kitchen?" And he said, "Yes." and I said, "Why didn't you just put it in the trash can that was right beside you?" And he says emphatically, "Because it doesn't GO THERE!! It goes in the kitchen trash!" WHAT? Now I'm totally confused! Here's a guy who probably lost several college roommates back in the day under piles of um, things. I've never known him to be particular about where things go under any conditions, but apparently, he's passionate about where the trash should go! Who knew? Keeps the mystery alive I guess.

In other happenings, have you heard of the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven?" A couple weeks ago Dave and I went to hear the author speak. He was a good speaker and said some challenging and meaningful things, but I admit to my hesitance in building an entire theology upon his book. Anyway, it is an incredible story. He told about being in a head on collision with a semi and a couple of his limbs were severed, one arm was in the back seat. um, gross! Anyway, he was pronounced dead at the scene but came back. He then had 34 I believe major surgeries and is pretty good to go now. I just thought I would mention it in case anyone is a huge fan of that book and I could make them jealous by letting them know I heard the real guy.

And now today's installment of "Who Let the Idiot out of the House?" Most of my 6 readers are on facebook I think so you probably saw my status update a couple days ago. Oh my was that ever fun. So I'm driving my boss' big old vehicle. BIG! The think drives me crazy! And it's not cheap so I always feel a sense of responsibility when driving it. Anyway, for a while now there's been this big old trailer parked in one of the parking spots right outside our apartment. The spots are tight to begin with. I never should have attempted getting her SUV in there. But I just wheeled in like nobody's business and didn't even hear anything go bang, but suddenly I noticed that one of the large beams holding up our patio was flying through the air and then, SMASH, crashed into a neighbor's window. I just felt sick. You have got to be kidding me! The good news is that our patio didn't crash, the landlord paid for the new window, and the dear lady didn't freak out too much about the green paint on her vehicle, although I know she was less than thrilled. With an outcome like that, I might pick a special Friday night to crash all of those beams through windows. hmmmm.....

Things are progressing mostly well in baby land. I just can't believe that I only have 13 weeks left. Time is going so much faster and I frequently freak out over everything that needs to be done. I had the glucose test at the doctor's today. Um, it was a less than joyous occasion. I suppose most of you reading this have had that test multiple times. So I shouldn't make a big deal of it and act like a big wuss. But I will anyway. I think baby has been having a major growth spurt because I've been waking up in the middle of the night very hungry. So I wasn't thrilled about the fasting idea, but whatever. So I get there this morning and they take blood before I have to drink the nasty stuff and goody, I failed right off the bat so they said instead of doing the one hour test I had to do the 3 hour. Oh my. Then I had to drink the nasty sugar stuff. I felt so sick after it was all I could do to not pass out. And I felt just weird. Like I wanted to bawl and bawl for no reason. I hope only girls are reading thing. I felt SO dumb. But anyway, after the first hour, the number was too high and they said so sweetly (not!) that YOU FAILED so I didn't have to stay all 3 hours, I just had to stay one more hour to make sure the number came down. Reacting like any sane prego woman would, I burst into uncontrollable tears. I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS! So I had to go sit in the waiting room and after awhile this sweet older lady came over and said, "I don't mean to pry, but are you okay?" = ) She probably thought I just found out the child has 2 heads or something. This is not the place for such an outburst, but what's a woman to do? ack! Anyway, gestational diabetes is not the end of the world by any stretch, it's just a big inconvenience and more money down the drain. And I'd really prefer to not have a 10 pound child. But other than that, things are going well. = )

I'm excited to be seeing some Red Lake people next weekend at a friend's (Kendra's) wedding in Virgina. Can't believe we're making the trip, but it will be good once we're there I think. Um, okay, I think that's all for now.

I've noticed a slight slump in the blogosphere so I thought I'd do my part to revive what I can. Hmmmmm... not that I feel I have much to say, but I'll ramble anyway. Let's see... Soon I hope to post some pictures. Remember long ago when I was posting pictures of our apartment, but never posted any of the living room? That's because it has yet to come together in a manner that is picture worthy. We are on our way to changing that this week. We are trying to get a lot done around here... lots more to do, but progress is being made.

We had the big ultrasound last week and that was uber fun. The child continues to be very active and everything looked great according to the technician. We resisted the urge to find out the gender which required quite a bit of will power on my part. I didn't think the technician even knew, but she did say at the end that she knew what it was and everything looked good, be it boy or girl. Then it about killed me that she knew and I didn't. ARG! Oh, here's a mildly amusing story that you probably had to be present to appreciate. After the ultrasound, Dave and I were driving around and he wanted to find a specific place to eat. We found the place but were having a hard time finding a place to park. So we're driving around this building, sort of off the beaten path, there's no where to park, so Dave turns around and we're driving driving directly into the sun. It was suddenly very difficult to see anything (we're on a back road at this point, not the main street or anything). It all happened so fast, something just did not seen right to be, I saw a flash of blue, and said, um... sweetie... then I just screamed very loudly at him, "STOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!." And slam on the brakes with great haste he did. And the sun disappeared behind the flash of blue I had seen, and behold, we were about a foot away from smashing into an enormous blue dumpster. He was horrified and I started laughing and couldn't stop. Why? I have no idea, but it's better than crying. It hit me so very funny. I suppose it's all part of my role in life - keep the genius alive so he can one day make us the big bucks. ha.

What else is new and exciting? Not much. I would write something inspiring reflective about 2009, but I'm totally uninspired at the moment. So maybe I'll just go away. This seems like a really lame post. I'm sorry. = (

Not dead, But sleeping...

What? You're unfamiliar with that sacred hymn? Anyway, I don't even know where to begin and I feel just terrible for being away so long. So here I am to say Hi, even though I don't have much profound to share. Dave and I just got back from our 3 week trip last night. We had a really good trip, and it was also good to come home, well, mostly anyway. = L Due to some frustrating events while we were gone, we don't have Internet at our house right now. So I probably won't be the most faithful blogger for awhile, but I doubt you'll notice a difference. Anyway, we flew to Iowa and then headed up to Red Lake for awhile. We had a lot of fun visiting family and realized how quiet our lives usually are. Having 4 kids around is rather loud. ha. My family got together in MN for the weekend and we had some jolly good fun there too. We spent some time with my oldest brother and family after that and then stayed one night with my niece and her hubby (okay, that just sounds so odd to say... I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to have nieces getting married, but they don't seem to care. ) It was nice to see their house and chat with them awhile. Then we headed back to Iowa to hang out with Dave's family and get in on their Christmas eve and Christmas Day traditions. I passed on the oyster stew because, um, I'm pretty sure the baby would have thrown a huge fit and it would not have been pretty. Sea food and myself don't get along well at the best of times, and lately, my oh my. But anyway, the word on the street was that it was grand. We had a nice relaxing Christmas with them. One highlight (only the women will appreciate this) was going to a really great consignment store with Dave's mom and finding lots of fun baby stuff for dirt cheap! We headed to Cincy the Monday after Christmas to spend some time with Dave's grandparents and some extended family too. It was nice to see his grandparents again. We haven't really spent any time with them since our dating days and back in the day when we were awkwardly getting to know each other, we had spent time at their place. So there were a lot of memories there. I think marriage tops dating, but I digress. We flew home yesterday from Dayton, after seeing many family friends and family people. So, now back to the daily hum drum I guess. I work all this coming week, but then have 2 weeks off. So, other than the financial ramifications, I'm really looking forward to some time to get dome some serious organizing, sorting, cleaning, hanging, purchasing?, rearranging, stuffing, folding, cramming, laughing, crying, and impeding. I think that covers most of what I want to get done. We really need to clear out our guest room and make a bit of room for baby. Speaking of baby, Kumquat has changed edible objects so many times since I last updated... um, I think pepper and banana have been in there somewhere and I think we're currently sitting at a spaghetti squash. Not too shabby, eh? The little person really started to kick while we were gone and that's been rather enjoyable for the most part. Um, well, I guess I should get going for now. Just wanted to stop by and say a long over due hello. Happy New Year to everyone. I'm pretty excited about this particular year! = )

nun good titles

Well, I was going to try to post some pictures, but can I just say I've had it with the digital age? I want to go back to good ole film and negatives I think. We have had nothing but headaches with pictures lately - can't find the files, then today I was looking through my camera to see what was on there to post and for some reason, when I try to look at a bunch of the pictures, they are all distorted and it says "Corrupted data." WHAT? So I don't really want to stick that memory card in our computer until I know what's up with that. So, no pictures I guess.

I'm sort of on the computer killing time because I don't feel like doing all the things I should be doing. Like laundry and unpacking and sorting and such. I'm having a little freak out session over what all needs to be done in the next 2 weeks. I was sort of thinking in the back of my faulty brain, that we have 3 weeks until we leave. Nope, yesterday I figured out that we leave 2 weeks from today. How is that possible. Should I mention we haven't even started Christmas shopping? ha. And there's a pile of things that I've been hoping to get done with Dave's help, such as sorting out our guest room and moving stuff around and hanging pictures in the living room, etc. etc. Not to mention shopping... but today I realize exactly how much school work he really has to get done in the next little while. So I'm thinking I'm on my own for awhile. Anyway, this all sounds really boring to me, not sure how it sounds to you.

The trip up north for my niece Alicia's wedding was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I was able to be there. I should have made myself go to bed earlier on occasion, but when there's a party goin on, I can't stand to miss it. I indented to take lots of pictures, but failed miserably. = ( It was great to see family that I haven't seen in ages - the little people changed so much. And I got to meet my 7 month old nephew who is sweet beyond words. I came back Tuesday evening and it was fabulous to see Dave again. On the way home from the airport, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel. My lesson learned - when your head is telling you you really should order a salad, but your tummy is lusting after the buttermilk biscuits and best mac and cheese in the world, listen to your mind and not your tummy!! Oh my. I didn't even eat that much of the food, but it did NOT agree with me at all. Overall I've had a lot less nausea but I'm finding that I have very little tolerance for exceptionally "heavy" food. And I can't eat very much at all in one setting. Anyway, I survived. = P I had the rest of the week off and also have some days off this next week which has been SO nice and relaxing. Good for the sanity, bad for the pocketbook you could say. I guess I haven't had any real vacation time other than days I was sick, since summer, so it's been nice - I've actually done some things like, um, what's that called again, oh yeah, cooking. strange. My nasty cough has gotten a lot better and the chest pain has been very gradually getting better. Now it's down to one small spot and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it did. What else can I bore you with - little tater tot has graduated to turnip status and is developing sweat glands. Time is going so much faster now, esp. with the holidays and time off and traveling. Well, I guess I should go get some things done. Thanks for letting me procrastinate a little longer.

Linen fresh muffins, etc.

- Where to start? Kumquat's is the size of an apple, 4 inches long from head to rump, and can sense light, so they say, if one were shine a flashlight on my stomach. Haven't tried it yet.

- I want to watch Home Improvement but I'm making myself update this first.

- Last week was a sort of busy and there were a couple night where I had to run around stay up late getting things done. After working a long day and not feeling the best in the evening, it wasn't a lot of fun. But here's the muffin story. I was under the impression that I was supposed to take food for the ladies Bible study on Thursday morning. I knew I had signed up one day in November but I didn't know which one. I hadn't received a reminder e-mail, like they had been doing, but I talked to a couple people and figured out by process of elimination, that this would be my week. Of course I couldn't just run to the store and buy something - the Mennonite in me is screaming NO. So I make 3 kinds of muffins. Because anything worth doing, is worth overdoing. (I actually just made 2 kinds and split one of them and made half blueberry, half raspberry, so it's not quite as much work as it sounds) But anyway, it took a long time and I was wishing so badly I hadn't made so much work for myself. I was also stressing over them turning out. I tried one when they were done and thought it tasted bland. Of course I had made them before and they turned out great, but if I'm making them for a whole pile of church ladies, they must turn out bland. The pumpkin ones turned out pretty well but I slightly over baked them, making them not as good as they could have been. Sigh. So I trotted off to Bible study the next morning with my 3 kinds of muffins and fruit. When I got there, someone else had also brought food. Turns out it wasn't even my week. My week had been last week, and the lady had tried to send an e-mail but it came back so she just brought something herself. SERIOUSLY? So all the work the night before was for naught?? Well, some of my muffins got eaten. Lots left over. So on the way home from the Bible study, I tried one of the raspberry ones. OH MY WORD. I took one bite and thought, "WHAT IS THAT TASTE? WHAT IS THAT SCENT? I KNOW THAT SCENT!!!!" AHA - Glade linen fresh plug in air freshener! I kid you not! We had been dealing with some strange aromas in our apartment so awhile ago I bought this thing and plugged it in right by the kitchen table (where the muffins had set the night before). The scent had totally permeated the muffin in question. It was like eating the scent in our apartment - the oddest thing I tell you! And not entirely pleasant. And then I start to freak out over what i just fed all those ladies! AHHHHHHH!!!!! I knew it wasn't in all of them, only some, but who knows how many. So then I took a bunch to the lady I work for. We tired one of the raspberry ones there and it was fine. She was thinking I was just having weird pregnancy smell/taste issues, but I assured her this was not the case. Later that night she texted me and told me that they came across another one! It's true. She said the 2 year old (who loved my muffins) took one bite and got a really funny look on her face. So she tried it and told me, yep, no mistaking that - it's definitely a linen fresh one! OH NO! So I have no clue how many people got one of those, but if they did, they must think I poured laundry soup in for the oil or something. Anyway, that's my long muffin saga. If you ever want to make linen fresh muffins, I can give you a recipe. How do these stories always get so long?

- In other news, the last few days have been rather difficult for me and I'd love it if you'd like to pray for me/us. After about a week or so (probably a little less) of not having this terrible cough, on Thursday, it suddenly came back, this time with a fever. In addition to just feeling yucky all over, my ribs are very sore and the pain is pretty excruciating when I do have to cough. Yesterday I felt very sick and was wondering about this upcoming trip to MN that I'm SO looking forward to and would really like to be healthy for (for which I should like to be healthy?). I was advised to see a doctor, esp. due to all the chest/rib pain. I went to the clinic yesterday and the doctor gave me more drugs, really wanted me to keep the temp down as that's not great for little kumquat, and said my breathing sounded pretty clear. She thought I had some brochitus but not pnemonia. And she thought I probably cracked a rib or pulled some muscles really bad from all the coughing. They didn't do x rays but there's not much to do for it anyway other than let it heal. In the meantime, it would be much more pleasant if the cough went away. ANYHOO... yesterday was a very low day, feeling so weary and tired of being sick all the time, and wanting so badly to make myself get better before this weekend. And being scared that I won't be able to go. I'm so thankful for my understanding and supportive hubby who prayed a lot. Thankfully today the fever is gone so overall I feel much better, but the deep nasty cough is still around. I would love for that to clear up asap. Maybe a cracked rib is good prep for labour, I dunno... = P

- I think I already posted about being excited to fly to MN this coming weekend. I'm still excited. Can't believe how fast it's coming!

- I'm so happy that muffin making is not in the plan for this week.

- I thought I had more to say but I don't. Tim Allen is calling my name. How pathetic am I?