Delirious

I can't believe it's been 7 weeks since our little boy joined our family. I can't remember life without him.  It's been awesome, hectic and exhausting, hence the lack of posts. Ironically, I took on a social media freelance job last week. I'm a little rusty, but enjoy being back on Twitter a bit. There's been quite a bit of drama at work since I've been gone, so I must say I'm kind of even more glad I've been home.

Yesterday was Cinco's first Halloween. S was Merida from Brave, and Baby R was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, so since we had two princesses, a friend suggested that Chico be a prince. :) I never really got the chance to dress him up though since he slept through all the activity. But that was ok. DH took the girls around the block, and I hung out across the street with Cinco at the neighbor's fire pit. I was surprised that we didn't have very many trick-or-treaters this year.

It's such a small world - we found out that our neighbor's ex-wife went to high school with DH. And another neighbor knows our friend who does our family photography.

This is a terribly disjointed post, but as the title suggests, I'm exhausted and a little delirious. Will post updates soon.

D(elivery)-Day

Saturday morning, DH planned to work on the yard. He left around 8:15am to pick up some supplies from a sod farm/nursery while the girls and I were eating breakfast. At 8:30am, I went to the bathroom and my water broke. Still just a trickle, so nothing crazy, but for real this time. I called DH's cell phone, and it went straight to voicemail. I left him a message and texted him to let him know I was going to take a shower and would be ready to go when he got home. I called my parents and asked them to come watch the girls for a bit. Then I let the girls know we were having a baby that day and I was going to take a shower and asked S to answer my phone if Daddy called.

I got out of the shower and he hadn't called back. So I called again. And then I called my OB and he said he'd meet us at the hospital. I wasn't having any contractions, so I wasn't too worried about time, but I also knew that they didn't want to mess around with it being my 3rd c-section and the chances of rupturing being so high with spontaneous labor. I called DH again. And texted again. I had packed my bag on Wednesday night after the false alarm, so just had to grab a couple last minute things and was ready to go.

At 9am, I still hadn't heard from DH, and I was starting to panic. I looked to see if he had left his phone charging at home, but he hadn't. I couldn't figure out why it kept going to voicemail. I didn't have a backup plan. I had a 1-minute pity party and bawled then pulled it together and called one of our neighbors. They didn't answer. I called another neighbor.

"So, Mr. B, I was wondering if you might be available to take me to the hospital. My water broke and DH isn't here and I can't get ahold of him. I'm going to give him 15 minutes and then I think I need to leave."

"Fifteen minutes? Are you sure? Maybe we should go now?"

"My parents are coming to watch the girls, and they aren't here yet, but will be in a few. I think it's ok to wait."

"Are you sure? Mrs. B can watch them."

"That's ok. Fifteen minutes will be fine."

Five minutes later, Mrs. B was knocking on the door, and Mr. B was pulling into the driveway.

"We didn't want to wait 15 minutes," she said, smiling.

"Thanks," I smiled, back.

The girls were bouncing off the walls with excitement. They gave me big hugs and kisses goodbye.

I had grabbed a couple of towels to put down on the seat just in case my water broke in a big way. I walked out the front door and down the driveway when I saw our van making it's way down the block. I was so relieved. And annoyed. And panicked.

DH's phone had died. Why is it not permanently charged two weeks before we're due to have a baby?!?!?

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?"

Um, no.

He and Mr. B quickly unloaded the bags of seed and peat moss, and we backed out of our driveway at 9:15am. We got to the hospital at 9:30am.

Baby boy was born at 11:15am. Only 6lbs 13oz - WAY smaller than we expected! We still can't agree on a nickname. To appease DH, I'm calling him Cinco on the blog since I won't in real life. We are thrilled that our family is complete.

False Alarm

My c-section is scheduled for Monday the 23rd - a week from today. So you'd think we'd have everything ready to go. But as of last Wednesday, that was not the case. Partially that's because I've felt no urgency since our girls were both late. It's also largely due to the fact that this pregnancy has taken a lot out of me, and I haven't had the energy to think about finishing up preparations, much less actually completing them.

Wednesday evening I was helping S with her homework at the desk in the kitchen. I stood up to go to the bathroom and felt a trickle. Uh oh.

Now when my water broke with S, the nurse had just checked to see if I was dilated and a huge gush happened. DH and I were in awe as we watched my stomach go from looking 9 months pregnant to 6 months over a 30 minute period. It was super cool. With Baby R, my water broke in bed in the middle of the night, and my sheets were very wet. Both times, there was no question that that was what had happened.

So when this trickle happened, I thought it could be amniotic fluid, but it might just as easily be urine, since this kid has been sitting on/pushing/poking my bladder incessantly for the last couple of months. Earlier that day at work, it had been exceptionally bad.

I went to the bathroom, emptied my bladder, and tried to ascertain what exactly had leaked, but couldn't. So I called DH who had gone back to the office to give him a heads up, and then called my OB. She told me to jump up and down and see if anything else came out. The image in your head is as hilarious as it was in real life - 9 month preggo lady holding her belly and jumping up and down with her phone pinned between her ear and shoulder. Nothing more happened, so she said to keep an eye on things and if any more came out in the next hour to call her back, but if it didn't, it was probably just urine. So I hung up with her, called DH to let him know it was probably fine, and finished putting the girls to bed.

And then went into panicked frenzy mode.

I brought 8-9 boxes of newborn supplies up from the basement - clothes, towels, blankets, toys, swaddlers, bottles, nursing pump - everything that would be needed immediately if I were to really go into labor. Then I stayed up til 3am sorting through it all, pulling out all the neutral items and washing them, and packing away the girl ones. If my water was on the verge of breaking earlier, this certainly would have finished it off.

Thankfully, nothing more happened. DH was bummed - he was so ready for little man to make his appearance. I wanted to wait to start my maternity leave, so wanted him to stay put another week and a half. Plus we still had a few other important things to take care of which DH handled Friday night - installing the car seat and putting the stroller together for example. Though if Cinco had been born that day, he would have been a Friday the 13th baby like Baby R and me. But it didn't happen.

Though it turned out to be a very good thing that we did have that scare and got the urgent matters addressed before the weekend.

Can't Catch a Break

At my last OB checkup, my blood pressure was 130/90 which is at the high end of normal. While not unusual for the end of pregnancy, I never experienced it with the girls. It's really odd for me because my BP is usually a little low - 100/70. I can tell that it's higher; I've noticed that my feet are swelling a bit, and I occasionally see stars. And I felt my it rise the other day when S was being sassy and wouldn't get into bed.

Also at my last appointment I had my strep B test. And I found out I have a yeast infection. Ugh. At least I don't have any symptoms with it. Just gross.

And at my last two perinatal appointments, they've commented that my amniotic fluid level is dropping. Again, still in the normal range, just much lower than it has been.

Finally, I got my strep B test back and it was positive. I'm sure it will be fine, but it's just one more thing to worry about.

You are totally worth all this, little man, but you are stressing your mama out already! We just pray that the rest of the pregnancy goes well and you are healthy. We love you, and can't wait to meet you!

Chaos

Before we left town, DH bought some steaks and corn on the cob. We planned to leave STL Monday morning, have a leisurely afternoon unpacking and getting ready for the week and grill out for dinner. But then DH found the 10K, so we pushed back our departure time. The steaks had to wait until Tuesday.

That morning, I realized we were out of marinade, so I planned to stop at the store on the way home to pick some up. DH let me know he was going to need to go back to the office after I got home, so I told him I'd try to leave work early and suggested I feed the munchkins supper and put them to bed, then marinate the steaks, and we could have a late dinner date around 9pm when he got home.

This is a story of best laid plans.

I picked Baby R up from daycare at 5:30pm. As we were leaving, she fell and skinned her knees and hands. They were bleeding, so we went back into daycare, got her cleaned up and bandaged. So we didn't get to the store until 6:00pm.

The marinade we use was on sale, so they were sold out. I went to the customer service desk and asked them to check to see if there was any more stock in the back, but there wasn't. The woman was very kind and helpful and wrote me a raincheck, but had to go back to the shelf to see the sale price since it wasn't listed in the flyer. I appreciated it but really needed to get going.

We didn't get home until 6:30pm. And then I told DH about the marinade and he said I should have called and he would have had me pick up a different kind. Good point. Anyway, we threw the steaks in the freezer before he left for work again.

While I was quickly putting chicken strips in the toaster oven to feed our starving children, Baby R tipped over one of the kitchen chairs and broke it. It was an accident, but incredibly frustrating.

Then at bedtime, S was being sassy and disrespectful (the usual as of late - grrrr) and refused to get into her top bunk. I was so mad, I picked her up and put her in it. Bad idea, I know. Especially since my blood pressure is up (see the next post with more info on that).

About half an hour later, Baby R had a BM. I went back upstairs to change her and needed something from the nursery. There were toys in the crib. I've asked the girls repeatedly not to put toys in the baby's bassinet and crib now that I've washed the sheets and gotten things set up. It was just the final straw on an incredibly frustrating evening.

Excited for maternity leave and more time with the girls, but also a little dreading the idea of reliving this kind of day often over the next few months. Praying for the good ones to greatly outweigh the tough ones.

Trip to St. Louis

We went to St. Louis over Labor Day weekend to visit my sister, J, and my BIL and nephew. I was a little nervous since I was only 3 weeks out from d-day, but we just couldn't go sooner. They put their house on the market in the spring and then moved the weekend before S's bday. Luckily everything went fine. We got to town a little after lunch on Saturday. We relaxed that afternoon, checked out their new digs, grilled out and had great cousin time. We hadn't seen my nephew since Easter - he's 8 months old now! Such a big boy and so fun!

Sunday my sister and I took the girls to the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

The children's area had a lot of cool things for them to do. We didn't make it to all the parts - it was really hot and muggy - but we saw enough to know we'd like to go back. Their favorite parts were the tree house, the general store and the water splash area next to the store.

Afterwards we went to Fitz's for lunch.

We had great service, and good food. And the girls each got to have their own bottle of "fizz" - S had ginger ale and Baby R had grape. Then we headed back home and had a little nap time/quiet time. DH and my BIL took the girls to a River City Rascals game that evening.

J and I got to have sister time which was awesome. We splurged on an ice cream treat and watched a chick flick. "Safe Haven" was as terribly cheesy as you think it is. But it was great getting to hang out together.

Monday morning DH ran his first 10K - so proud of him! Unfortunately, he locked his keys in the trunk. Luckily, I had my copy, so my BIL was able to take them to him. When they got back, my sister took S to Macy's and spoiled her rotten with belated Hello Kitty birthday gifts. And then we headed back to KC. So thankful to have had the chance to see them.

Girls and Boys

Lately I've found myself preparing for the mind shift of having a boy soon.

DH takes the girls to Lowe's and Home Depot on most Saturday mornings for their build and grow workshops. He couldn't go last weekend, so I took them instead. S can do a lot of the building herself now. The directions are pictograms and she handles the hammer well on her own, so I spent most of my time helping Baby R. S was struggling a bit with some of it, so I finished Baby R's plane and then turned my attention to S. While working with S, Baby R was playing with her plane - flying it around, landing it, rolling it along the ground, then zooming it back up into the air.

And then...

She put it on the ground, stepped back, then scooped it up in her arms and brought it to me.

"Mama," she cooed. "Look! I found a baby plane! Can we take it home with us? Can I name it Pocahontas?"

I told her of course she could, and she cradled it in her arms all the way to the van.

I imagined the same scenario with Cinco in a few years. It's possible he could have a nurturing approach to the plane, but it seems that a boy's first inclination is to zoom it back up in the air.

And then...

Hurtle it down to the ground for a crash landing.

It will be an interesting scientific experiment when the time comes. I don't mean that in a sexist way to say that girls are always nurturers and boys are always destructive. But having seen small children play differently with the same toys leads me to believe that some of their play style is innately different. I'm intrigued to find out the results of this experiment in a few years.



I also find myself considering the implications of the male side of stereotypes and sexism like in this week's drama over Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke's performance on MTV's video music awards. My first reaction was to Miley's role only. I've worked so hard to minimize the princess influence and promote modesty and appropriateness with the girls. Luckily they're too young to know much about what happened, though I'm sure S probably has heard something about it at school. But then I realized that I need to start thinking about how to talk to Cinco about his role as a man and how Robin Thicke was equally at fault in the performance.

A blog I follow, Pigtail Pals and Ballcap Buddies, had the following comments in her post about it.

Here is what I asked of my facebook community, and you can see the discussions play out here and here.

1. Give examples of how we deconstruct this kind of media and its messages to our kids.
2. How we differentiate sexual expression vs putting raunch on display for ratings.
3. How you explain to kids why they might hear Miley taking so much heat but not Robin.
4. How you explain the difference between critiquing media and critiquing a person to your child.

Nearly everyone is focused on Miley and girls. Well, what about Robin and boys? Let’s look at this….
- How would you talk to your tween/teen BOYS about older men using younger girls like sex objects and male performers being surrounded by barely-dressed female backup dancers?
- How would your boys answer: When so many of the female performers are so scantily clad, is that self expression of sexuality or the symptom of something larger? Why were none of the men nearly naked?
- How would your boys answer: How do you feel the representations of women last night affect your female friends and family members?
- How would your boys answer: What expectations does our family have around how you will treat girls and women? Did what you see or heard about from the VMA’s live up to that or fall short?

I think these are good points to keep in mind.

Reunion

What? I don't look old enough to have attended my 20th high school class reunion last weekend? Aw, thanks! So sweet of you to say. Actually, I usually don't think I look my age, or act it, for that matter. Or feel it. Time is weird.

The reunion was fun! Facebook makes it so much different than our 10 year. At that one, I hadn't heard from most of my classmates since graduation. It's a little awkward to catch up - you have no reference point, no start. But I'm friends on FB with quite a few fellow grads who I wasn't close with in school, but we've bonded over sleepless nights from uncooperative kids and acquaintances we have in common. So it felt a little warmer, a little less like strangers.

And I still say the most fun is seeing kids I went to school with from kindergarten up. You're familiar with their siblings and parents, and as one guy said, have known them for almost 35 years. Crazy! For everyone else, though, I had a much harder time remembering names or even recognizing names as being people from our class. But then stories would come up, and others were mentioned and some of the holes were filled in. Glad I was able to attend and thankful for the team who organized it.

Parent Update

So my parents' well-being continues to decline. I had hoped to get them moved this summer, but that didn't happen. I did go to several retirement communities, but ultimately, it comes down to finances. They just can't afford what they need. Dad was let go from his last job because he couldn't pass his physical (failed the eye test and has heart problems), so I'm looking into getting him disability, but I think that takes away from his social security. Not sure.

Mom's dementia is much worse. She has good days, but in general, it's looking pretty grim. She needs more care and attention than living with Dad. I started Medicaid paperwork, but after doing more research, discovered it usually only covers skilled nursing care, not memory care or assisted living.

Monday Dad had to go to the hospital to have his heart shocked back into rhythm. He's been in A-fib for a couple of weeks again, according to his Pacemaker. I wasn't able to go with him and Mom because Monday was S's first day of school. I needed to drop her off at the same time as his check-in, and pick her up over my lunch since they had early dismissal, and I had my own doctor appointment that afternoon. (I'm seriously so blessed to have such a flexible boss.)

Luckily, my older sis, D, was able to go with them. Dad called that afternoon to let me know all went well, and said D was annoyed with him. When I asked him why, he said because he mentioned something about driving. She said, "Dad, you're not supposed to drive today." He said he felt the same this afternoon as he did this morning. I told him that if the doctor told him not to drive, he shouldn't drive, and asked him where he needed to go. He said he was going to go to the store to get cookies. Oh, for the love. Yes, Dad, that makes perfect sense. You have heart problems, vision problems and are diabetic. Please drive to the store to get cookies. Sigh.

Hope to have more progress to report next time...

6th Birthday Survey

Last year, I did a survey with S on her 5th birthday. I asked her (mostly) the same questions again this year on her 6th birthday. Here's what she had to say this time around:

• What's your favorite food? Spaghetti.
• What's your favorite restaurant? Red Robin. (The result may have been skewed since we were at Red Robin when I asked the question.)
• What's your favorite TV show?  No answer.
• What's your favorite song? Journey's "Lights."
• What's your favorite movie? Monsters University
• Who is your best friend? P.
• What is your favorite thing to do? Go on bike rides and run with Daddy, and every day I want to go outside.
• What's your favorite game? Monopoly.

Next year I need to go back to the original list and ask all of the questions. Still fun to hear which things change and which stay the same. Love watching her grow up!

S's 6th Birthday Party

When S and I talked about what she wanted to do for a party last year, one of the ideas she had (ok, I suggested after seeing cute stuff on Pinterest) was superheroes. But Dora won out. This year, I asked her if she wanted superheroes, and at first, she said yes. Then after I'd designed her invitations:

She said she wanted to do a princess party. One of the reasons she was excited about the superhero idea was the capes I told her we'd have for all the kids. I reminded her that most of the kids she was inviting were boys. She said it could be princesses and giants. Sigh. I told her we could do a princess/giant party, but I couldn't do costumes for giants so that part wouldn't happen. She went back to superheroes. Whew.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to start preparing as early as I usually do, so I didn't get everything done that I wanted to. And I hardly took any pictures. :( But it turned out pretty well overall. S enjoyed it, and that's all that really matters.

A friend of mine did a superhero party for her son a few years ago, so I stole some of her ideas. We had the party in our backyard, so I put the girls' easel in the driveway with the following note on the dry erase board:

Welcome to S's birthday party. We can't wait to celebrate with you. But first, you must make your way through the 4 tests every superhero must face:

• Agility
• Marksmanship
• Balance
• Bravery

So grab a cape and get started. Good luck!

The capes were hanging on the easel, in the five colors S had decided she wanted for her theme - pink, black, blue, purple and red. I ended up buying solid-colored, large handkerchiefs in the craft section at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents each, and then using velcro on two corners. Unfortunately, I'm slow at sewing - I only got three capes done one evening. And since I'd waited til four days before the party to start making them, I had to switch to fabric glue. That worked for the short term, but didn't last. Give yourself time to sew them if you go that route. We ended up just having the kids tie them if the velcro fell off.

Once they had their capes, they started the first challenge, which took them across the driveway to the side yard.

Then moved on to the second which took them further along the side of the house towards the backyard.

I had originally planned to use water balloons or wet sponge balls of some kind and have a target that looked like Captain America's shield, but I couldn't figure out how to prop it up, nor did I have time to buy plywood, cut it out and paint it on my tight schedule. So I switched to something more basic.

The third obstacle was my favorite, and one of the ideas I stole from my friend's blog. She had used red food coloring and dry ice to make water in a kiddie pool look like hot lava. But the kiddie pool I found was blue (the perfect match to S's color palette coincidentally), so I was afraid food coloring would just make the water look purple. So I ended up putting a red plastic tablecloth in the water instead which worked well. 

Unfortunately, the uneven terrain of our yard and my inability to acquire cinder blocks in a short time span resulted in a wobbly alternative that we had to dismantle minutes before the party began for fear of someone being injured. I was disappointed, but safety first. 

Then it was on to the last challenge, and I'm bummed the photo only shows the sign because the cave turned out pretty cool.

I cut out about a dozen craft foam bats and bought some crepe paper. I hung black, two-foot streamers and the bats at varying heights from the ceiling of the girls' play set. The kids had to climb the ladder, walk through the Batcave and then go down the slide where they saw the finish line:

The great thing about having this as the intro to the party was that it kept the kids entertained while everyone was arriving. And they went through it more than once if they wanted to. I had a table with coloring pages of superheroes as well as craft foam mask kits (also from Hobby Lobby) to keep them busy til everyone was there. Then we immediately had cupcakes and bomb pops and opened gifts. The cupcake toppers looked like this:

In addition to Captain America's symbol, I made Superman, Batman, Robin, The Flash, Spiderman, and The Green Lantern. I would have liked to have incorporated more girl heroes like Elektra or Wonder Woman, but I didn't think their symbols would be as clear and the photos I could find were too adult. The cake table had water bottles with masks cut from black craft foam, and a skyline of boxes spray painted black with white paper cutouts for windows. The blue tub on the right was for the bomb pops.

I started to make a banner out of comics but didn't get it done. Which was what I was most disappointed in since I went to the trouble to find and buy some. Oh well.

The party lasted about 1-1.5 hours which was all I had energy for this year. And as usual, I forgot to pass out the party favors until after several kids had left. Doh! Since they already had their masks and capes, I just did little favors this year, plastic cups with superheroes on them from Walmart (I know! I actually had my friend take my picture to prove to my husband I really went there), superhero pencils from Michaels' and a sucker. I was planning to do these cute masks and capes on the suckers, but ran out of time. (Check out the rest of that board and the I Did It board to see where I got lots of ideas.)

For the first time in her short little life, it was not 100 degrees on the day of her party. As a matter of fact, since we had it at 9:30am like usual to avoid the heat, the kids were complaining about being cold since it was only in the 70s. Beautiful!

Thankful for the opportunity to celebrate our big girl. She's amazing, and we are so blessed by her.

Pregnancy Update

Well, they did tell me I could drop my testing down to three times a day - hallelujah! And the one plus to having the diabetes, as my OB said, is that I'm already on my post-pregnancy diet. It's turned out to be working all ready. I've only gained 7lbs, and I only have 6.5 weeks left. Granted, I'll probably gain a pound a week now like I'm supposed to, but that's still a small total. Trying to focus on the positive!

The other nice thing is that I have to get a sonogram every week. It's such a relief to see our little guy's organs pumping away each time.  He doesn't move very much compared to the girls, and because of where he's positioned, I can't always feel his movements. He's especially still in the morning, so it's comforting to have the visual confirmation.

Other than that, just really struggling with my hips and back hurting. I've scheduled a massage for Sunday, so praying that does a world of good. Especially since school starts for S on Monday - eek! First grade! Will try to post more often. Definitely need to do one soon about S's 6th bday party!

Baby Bullets: 12th Edition

S - "I will rule the land when I grow up."

Baby R's favorite song right now is "I Need A Miracle" by Third Day. S's faves are "Beautiful Things" by Gungor and "Great I Am" by Phillips, Craig and Dean.

Rushing out of Chick-Fil-A where we had a church fundraiser, Baby R fell, straddling the parking block. She stood up, grabbing herself, saying "I hurt my penis!" It was pretty hysterical, but I kept my composure. And we were late for baseball, so I corralled them to the van's door, and told her she didn't have a penis. S asked why, and I said, "Get buckled in, we're going to be late. Girls don't have penises; they have vaginas." S said, "But why?" I was getting frustrated because they were just standing there, so I raised my voice and said, "Get in the van, and buckle in!" To which S yelled, even louder, "But why do girls have vaginas?!"

DH got a new car. I drove it a few days later. S said, "Mom, you'll love the smooth ride!"

When DH pokes the girls' bellybuttons, he says, "Ding! Dong!" like it's a doorbell. The other day, Baby R said her belly button was an innie, and rang the bell. Then she said it could also be an outie, and pulled the skin out. Blech!

Poor S is just like her mama. She wanted to see how the blood glucose monitor worked, but as soon as I squeezed a drop of blood out of my finger, she got weak-kneed and told me she couldn't watch anymore. Poor kid!

We had a water balloon fight at my in-laws on July 4th. It was awesome. This was followed by a traditional meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and cake, and then a round of croquet. So fun! Anyway, my SIL let the girls bring home the leftover empty balloons. Yesterday S was (unsuccessfully) trying to fill them in the bathroom sink, and I told her she needed to be done. She wanted to dump out the two drips she'd managed to contain in one of them outside. I told her no. She asked again if she could so she could water the plants. I, again, said no, because we were getting ready to leave. She said, "But Mom! We're having a drought!" Well played little lady, well played. But still no.

Being Diabetic

I went to the appointment on Tuesday morning with lead feet that reflected my heart. I took the stairs to the second floor, on the premise that I need the exercise. Which I do. But it was mostly an instrument of any means to postpone the inevitable.

Both of my parents have late onset Type 2 diabetes. My mom kept hers under control with diet and exercise until the dementia got too much for her. Dad's solution has always been to switch from regular cookies to sugar-free ones and eat twice as many. Or just take more insulin in his shots. Sigh.

So I've seen what the daily life of a diabetic looks like, the good and the bad. I don't want either. You'd think I'd have gotten my weight under control sooner. Message received.

Having taken a nutrition class in college, I have a good understanding of how the food elements work - carbohydrates (simple and complex), proteins, fats. I knew from my mom's early diabetic days that a serving of 15 carbs for her counted as 1 of her 3-4 exchanges per meal. I knew I needed to eat protein at every meal to keep my blood sugar from spiking. Not that the dietician wasn't helpful, and she did share some interesting facts I had not been aware of before. But it's not like I was shocked when I found out what I needed to do.

Since I'd already been doing it for the last month anyway, it's not that dramatic. But adjusting my diet was just the first part. Next I met with the nurse.

She gave me my blood glucose monitor and informed me that I needed to test my blood seven times a day until my follow up appointment so they could have a baseline to work from. "SEVEN TIMES," I thought. "I only have 10 fingers! How am I going to type at work?" Not to mention, how am I going to get brave enough to intentionally make myself bleed even once, much less 98 times in the next two weeks, when I get weak at sight of blood when I cut myself shaving??

She showed me how to set it up and do the first pinprick. I thought I must not have done it right because it really didn't hurt that much. (Her suggestion to do it slightly to the side of the fingertip helped, too.) But the needle had done it's job; I just had to squeeze a little.

I'm not saying it's fun, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. My fingers are a little tender, but hopefully after my follow up appointment in two weeks 8 days! - I'll be able to switch to only 3x a day.

Cinco, you're worth every bit of struggle, buddy, but you really didn't have to start being a troublemaker like your dad already!

The Results

I'm sure you saw what was coming – such a cliffhanger!

Monday, I got the call from the doctor's office. "Well, we got your lab results. Sweetie, you did awful."

I was choking back tears as the nurse gave me my numbers and told me she had a call in to the dietician and diabetic nurse. They would be calling me to set up an appointment asap, especially with the holiday this week.

I regained enough composure to walk back into the office. (The one saving grace to having crappy cell service in the building is that no one saw my breakdown.) But then I got to my cube, and my friend and colleague asked me a question through the window in our cube wall that we'd made, and I couldn't keep it in. I spluttered it out. She told me to leave for a bit, and get some air. I needed to run to the bank anyway, so I did.

I had texted and emailed DH, but hadn't heard back from him. I drove to a park a couple of blocks away and bawled in the lot for a few minutes to get it out of my system. I got myself under control, sent texts to a few people who I knew had been praying for me about it, and then headed to the bank. I teared up and sniffled most of the time. Dang hormones – could not shake it!

On my way back, one of the friends I'd texted called. I started crying again. She was awesome about it, of course, and I wouldn't have cared except that I feel terrible complaining about any pregnancy issues to her. She and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for years. She'd had a couple of surgeries to assist things, and still only had a low chance for fertility. But miraculously, they got pregnant in the fall. She's due any day now. But she had to take progesterone shots the whole time. It has been a very rough road that she's traveled. I have no room to complain. Which just made me cry more.

I was weepy most of the day. DH never did call me. Which I was glad about because I didn't want to start crying at the office again, but also annoyed because it was a really big deal. He did text and ask me what this meant for the baby. And my first thought was, "The baby? What about me!?" Nice. Real nice. Mother of the Year. Again.

So I started to text him back and say that it would make him be bigger than normal at birth, and it could increase his odds of being an overweight kid as well as developing diabetes later in life. Then I thought, I'm not sure if that's all, maybe I should Google it.

People. You know, and I know, that that is a terrible idea. If you ever think it, ignore the thought. Push it out of your head. But even knowing that it's a bad idea didn't stop me. So I did. And I found out that the baby might be hypoglycemic after birth and need an IV. That's ridiculous torture! I hate IV's, my infant son should not be subjected to one!

Or he could have respiratory problems. Which, in my case, is almost guaranteed because DH has asthma and boys lungs develop slower than girls in utero and since it's a c-section, and he's big, he'll probably be born a little early anyway.

And, of course, the worst news for last, copied directly from BabyCenter.com (with red highlights by me):

If your blood sugar control is especially poor, your baby is at risk for polycythemia (an increase in the number of red cells in the blood) and hypocalcemia (low calcium in the blood), and your baby's heart function could be affected as well.

Some studies have found a link between severe gestational diabetes and an increased risk of stillbirth in the last two months of pregnancy. And, finally, women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk for developing preeclampsia, particularly those who are obese before pregnancy or whose blood sugar levels are not well controlled.

It sent  me into a new round of panic.

Of course, reading it today, I'm perfectly logical and calm - it's highly unlikely that these things would happen, they just have to list all the risks, etc. But that's the beauty of pregnancy hormones. Today I can have a rational conversation about it. Not so on Monday. 

I was an ineffective mess at work. 

Especially when I got the call from the dietician setting up my appointment for 8am Tuesday morning. So. Not. Ready. 

Pregnancy: Not for the Faint of Heart

Historically speaking with my previous pregnancies, when the time came for the 1-hour glucose test, I failed and had to do the 3-hour test. With S, I had no idea what I was getting into aside from the need to  have my blood taken FOUR TIMES in 3 hours. And we all know how much I love needles. What I wasn't prepared for was fasting and then only have glucola to drink for another three hours before they sucked several pints of blood out of me and I felt hot and sweaty and nauseated.

With Baby R, I knew what to expect, so I tried, half-heartedly, to "eat better" for a few days before the 1-hour test. Didn't matter.

This time around, I was determined to pass that dang 1-hour test. A couple of weeks beforehand, I basically put myself on a diabetic diet, reducing my carb intake, making sure those I was eating were complex instead of simple, avoiding sweets entirely.

The day of the test came. And then the results.

I failed.

The 3-hour test was only a week away, so I continued my diet. In the back of my mind I was worried because Cinco is already measuring big, and I knew one of the reasons could be gestational diabetes. So I needed to be more careful about what I was eating anyway.

Armed with Tina Fey's "Bossypants" to entertain me for the long morning, last Friday I went into the lab expecting the worst. I had already told my boss that even though the test would be over by lunch time, I'd need the whole day off so I could go home afterwards to eat and then nap for a few hours til I felt human again.

My nurse was a sweet gal who hit the vein the first time every time with no incident (hallelujah!). Tina kept me in a good mood, and except for right after chugging the fruit punch-flavored sugar water, I didn't feel badly at all. When it was all said and done, I grabbed a semi-healthy lunch on the go, ran a few errands and picked the girls up early from daycare, amazed I felt up to any of it. I thought to myself, "If only I had taken this approach the first two times, maybe it would have gone this smoothly!" I felt pretty confident that I would get a clear report if I felt so great.

You can guess where I'm going with this, but to keep this post from being overly lengthy, and finally getting posted, I shall close for now.

Advice for Teenagers

I love this! We always talk about how the curfews that are implemented on the Plaza and in Westport are dumb, because the teens will just find somewhere else to hang out, or get into trouble. But this is really the better answer!

Tickle the Moon

At S's baseball game the other night, Baby R and her friend, L, were playing together. R shared her coloring pages and markers, and encouraged L's artistic work often: "Good job, L!" She offered to share her fruit and other toys as well.

After awhile, they started pulling the weeds around the bleachers. They waved them at each other, saying "Tickle, tickle!" Baby R inched over to me and brushed the green, fuzzy plant against my arm. "Tickle, tickle, Mama!" Then across my round belly. "Tickle, tickle, Baby!"

She looked up at the evening sky. "Look, Mama! There's the moon!"

"Yes, baby, there it is."

She stretched her chubby arms up as high as she could, waving the weed. "Tickle, tickle, moon!"

Crazy Catch Up

So after Serve Day, things got crazy hectic. We went to a surprise birthday party for S's first daycare provider with all the kiddos from when she was there. So fun! Then it was time for M.A.D. Camp at church - Music, Art and Drama. I signed up to help, not realizing it was from 6:15pm - 9:00pm every weeknight. It was fantastic but exhausting, and I missed my munchkins. S was old enough to participate, but had baseball Monday and Wednesday, so it didn't make sense to have her miss two of the five nights.

Then it was Father's Day. It was pretty low key, we got DH a couple of collectable baseballs he'd asked for and a framed photo of him with Baby R for his desk at work. The downside of the weekend was that he spent a fair amount of time car shopping. His 10-year-old, 200K-mile Accord started dying at stoplights. He thought it was the catalytic converter. We considered fixing it, but with the baby on the way, we were already planning to replace his car with one that would better fit 3 carseats in the back. We talked about a crossover or SUV since we didn't really want another minivan, but they're so expensive, he ended up getting a new Camry. It has a slightly wider, flatter backseat, so the carseats fit a little better.

Then Monday he took a daytrip to Omaha for a college World Series game. S had baseball Monday and Wednesday nights, and then Thursday I had my glucose test. Sigh. Wednesday and Thursday nights, DH was getting ready for the Lenexa BBQ this weekend.

We had planned to go to Colorado for July 4th weekend, but since we had to buy the car six months early, we can't really swing it. I'm bummed, but also looking forward to just a long weekend to chill at home after all this nuttiness!

What If the Church?

The pastor of our church along with a few others in our area decided a couple of years ago to see what it would be like if the church did what it was intended to do in the beginning. Serve together, worship together, pray for each other - regardless of denomination. They started "What If the Church?" Today there are more than 50 churches in the metro area who participate. A few weeks ago was our annual serve day, and over 3,000 volunteers helped with projects at dozens of locations in the city. 

One of the places that needed fixing up was an elementary school where one of my friends attended when we were kids, and her kids go there now. The teacher's lounge was badly in need of updating, and the landscaping needed to be - well landscaped instead of just dirt and dead plants. I helped pick up leaves and plants outside for a bit, and tape off and paint a bit inside. With a mask of course! It was fun meeting new people from other churches and seeing some old friends there. 

There was more to do than could be accomplished in one day, but we put a huge dent in the project.

So thankful to have been able to be a part of such an amazing ministry!

Bachelorette Parties

http://www.beforetheidos.com/Bachelorette-Sash-p/hbh-35402.htm

One of my best friends from middle school got married Saturday. I had so much fun over the last couple of weeks going to her shower, bachelorette party, and, of course, celebrating at the wedding. There are seven of us who bonded in 8th grade, and we all still keep in touch. We may not see each other as often as we'd like to, but we always pick up right where we left off. All but one of them was able to make it back to town for the wedding.

They're a conservative bunch, so we had a seemingly tame bachelorette party, but it was so much fun. We went to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. (Our chef was hilarious and made some interesting shapes with the fried rice). Then we went to an entertainment center where we bowled and played laser tag. We ended up back at my friend's house where we had a cake decorated with "Much Hap-penis" and watched The Princess Bride.

My husband was giving me a hard time about there being no naked men involved. It got me to thinking that I've only seen strippers twice, and neither time was for a bachelorette party. So here's a run down of the various things I have done at bachelorette parties..

Improv comedy show
We went to a family-friendly place, but there turned out to be a bachelor party there, too, so they came up with a fun skit about marriage that had plenty of suggestive humor that was appropriate for the occasion.

Camping
We burned mementos of old boyfriends in the bonfire, had a penis piñata, and told funny stories.

Riverboat casino
This was a great option because there's not only gambling there, but also restaurants and other fun activities.

Barhopping
I love going out dancing, but though this is the most common way of celebrating, it's also my least favorite overall. It's not original, and it's hard to talk to everyone.

Great Wolf Lodge
After swimming, we went back to our room, ordered pizza and played games.

Road trip
For my bachelorette party, we went to St. Louis for Mardi Gras. For my sister's, we went to Memphis and partied on Beale Street.

Slumber party
I actually had two bachelorette parties. Since my sister lives in St. Louis, Mardi Gras was reasonable since we could stay with her for free. But most of my friends from high school had kids already, so going out of town wasn't easy, and they don't drink, so Mardi Gras wasn't all that appealing to them anyway. We decided to have a slumber party at my parents' house like we did when we were kids. We played spoons and pounce, ate junk food, talked about boys, and watched a movie just like old times.

Appliance Ailments

Apparently I haven't been paying enough homage to the appliance gods because we've had a run of bad luck with them lately.

Towards the end of April, our dishwasher died. It came with the house, so we weren't sure exactly how old it was. The silver lining to that was literally silver - we bought a stainless steel one a week-and-a-half ago; now it matches the stove and fridge.

Speaking of the fridge, the day after DH installed the dishwasher - Monday morning - we were getting ready for school and work, and noticed water dripping from the ice dispenser - and a huge puddle on the floor. We frantically moved all the food to the beer fridge in the garage (thank goodness for that option since I had just bought groceries the day before). He and I were both upset about it; we bought the refrigerator 14 months ago. I was stressed out the whole day wondering if we'd bought the extended warranty on it. Beware my fury if it had just been a one-year, and we'd barely passed it!

Thankfully when I got home from work, DH had had a little time to fiddle with the settings and got it working again. We'd had a power outage the night before, so we're thinking it just didn't completely reset correctly for some reason. And he also told me he'd found the receipt and he'd gotten the extended warranty just in case it wasn't really fixed. Whew!

Having just dodged that bullet, disaster struck. The next Saturday evening, I was doing laundry. I put in a big load of towels and a blanket, and the washing machine started making a terrible grinding sound. DH lectured me on having too big of a load, but I do that size all the time. Apparently almost 4 years of it was too much. He was not pleased. Especially when he couldn't find the receipt and, therefore, the warranty info. Our friends were on their way over to watch a movie and hang out, so we put the search on hold until Sunday. Thankfully, we realized that we'd bought the washer at a different store than we were originally looking for in the receipts, and he found it. And we have a five-year warranty. Whew! But they couldn't get here to fix it until yesterday. Luckily I had finished all the clothes last week, so we barely made it through. Guess what I'm doing tonight?

Baby Bullets: 11th Edition

These are from early in the year:

Baby R started to stomp her foot when she was angry. It's so dang cute, it's hard to get upset with her.

S's new sassiness is not cute, however. She started sticking out her tongue. I about lost it the first time she did it. We had a big talk about how kids might do that at school, but we don't do that in our family.

Please-y cheesy wheezy is the new catchphrase that I think Baby R picked up at daycare and both of them say it. Funny kids!

I downloaded Pac-Man to my iTouch and when the girls were playing it one day, I started to sing "Pac-Man Fever."

Now the girls break into song on occasion.

Speaking of songs, the girls love to put on a show. When we were at my parents' house one afternoon, they took the hymnal and another set of music sheets off the piano and put on a choral concert in front of the mantle. It was the most lovely gobbledygook I've ever heard.

R putting Pull-ups on then some on her head and extra ones around her legs and being a penguin

I have no idea why Baby R started this, but she's been saying, "Okay, sir." To me. It's like Marci and Peppermint Patty. Perplexing.

S had her first father/daughter dance at school - melt my heart!

Baby R had her first haircut - and went with a bob! Very dramatic change. She looks so grown up! And absolutely adorable!

We walked to S's school for the carnival, and Baby R was picking dandelions and blowing them along the way. S turned around and scolded her, "Don't pick Mother Nature!"

Ultrasound

I'm behind in posting, I know - sorry! We had our level two ultrasound a few weeks ago. S decided to stay at school because they were making ice cream that day, so Baby R was the only one who went with us.

Everything looked good which was a relief. I've been having crazy worries about the baby having issues: We have two beautiful healthy kids; why push our luck and have a third?

Baby R did a great job of being patient for an hour - the last five minutes got to be too much for her and she was ready to go. Which was a good thing, because that's when we found out the sex, and it wasn't what she had hoped for. It was, however, what DH was wanting - it's a boy! He was beaming with pride. I reached out my hand to hold it in this tender moment - and he slapped me five. Seriously. That's how excited he is.

Baby R said that it was ok. We'll have a girl next time. Sorry, kiddo, party of five is it for this family!

Ted

Everyone has funny autocorrect message stories. This one happened a couple of months ago, but came to mind recently so thought I'd share. 

Me: Can you grab a couple of bottles of aspirin for my parents today?

DH: What strength? Low dose?

Me: Ted

Me: Yes.

DH: No, this is not Ted. Try again.

Me: LOL. I don't know why an attorney at yes got auto corrected to Ted.

DH: What?

Me: Attempt

DH: Ur at an attorney?

Me: Yep, I'm leaving you got Ted.

Me: Dammit! For

DH: Finally

Weird News

May 2, 2013. The Royals are in 1st place. It's snowing. And we are completely caught up on work in my office. Either the world is coming to an end, or the stars are aligned. My boss is going to buy a lottery ticket in hopes it's the latter.

In other weird news, we had decided to sell our house before it completely collapses. There was a passionate, irrational debate about it in which DH swore he wouldn't sink another $40k into this money pit, and I cried about leaving our neighbors and walking distance to 4 parks, the school, our church and the library. And reliving the nightmare of moving 4 years ago when I was pregnant with Baby R. (This is one of the first posts that leads up to that story.) We called a realtor, signed the paperwork, and then DH decided we were going to lose all our equity and be lucky to break even. Which was exactly what I had told him at the beginning. :)

So we're staying. Which I'm happy about. Except that our crazy neighbor is at it again. (You may recall my Turf War post from last year.) The most recent issue we've had is that she built a fence along our property line in the fall. No one on our side of the block had a fence from our place to four houses down on the corner. Our visual backyard was the size of a football field. Granted, it wasn't all ours to play in, but it was a nice open space in the middle of the suburbs. It wasn't ours to keep open, but it was definitely disappointing to see it built.

But not wanting it there isn't the issue. The problem is that our understanding of where our property line was turned out to be wrong. By 2-3 feet. Thankfully DH built our raised garden beds 3 feet off the property line, but now her fence is an inch or two from them. Which is a huge pain in the butt since two of the beds along the fence are 8' - 10' long, so it's hard for us to get to everything. But we didn't plant anything this year anyway since we thought we were moving. And because the coating on her fence seems to be potentially hazardous, per the following email from another neighbor who had looked up the chemicals the fence company told her were used on it:

Don’t want to scare you…but that fence does seem to be somewhat of a health hazard…especially to pregnant people.

Here are some of the things I read today.  The possibility of the chemical washing off into your garden does seem possible. 

The lady at Guier fence said that it was unusual that the fence still had that strong of an odor.  She said it was not toxic…and that there was not anything that could be done about the smell. 

Wish we could make her take it down!  

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/wood/pubs/poisonpoles/chemicals.php

Treated with copper naphthenate.  These chemicals all have serious a adverse impacts on human health and the environment.

The oil-based wood preservatives, pentachlorophenol, creosote, and copper naphthenate are all easily absorbed through the skin, as well as through inhalation. The arsenicals are less easily absorbed through the skin, but are readily absorbed by inhalation of dusts or smoke from burning treated wood. Children may ingest all of the chemicals in soil contaminated by leaching from poles.

Wood preservatives are known to cause a variety of chronic health effects, though copper naphthenate is mostly untested. Some of the known health effects are:

·         Impair the immune system: creosote, penta, arsenicals.

·         Interfere with reproduction: creosote, arsenicals, penta.

·         Cause birth defects: penta, arsenicals.

·         Cause cancer (EPA's cancer classification): creosote (B1 - probable human carcinogen), penta (B2 - probable human carcinogen), arsenicals (A-known human carcinogen).

·         Cause genetic mutations: arsenicals, penta, creosote, copper naphthenate.

·         Interfere with hormone function: penta, creosote.

Reproductive Toxicity and Teratogenicity Chemicals may interfere with reproduction in different ways-by causing infertility, death of the fetus (fetotoxicity), low birth weights, or birth defects. Creosote, penta, and the arsenicals all interfere with reproduction, and/or cause birth defects.

Leaching potential and environmental fate Studies on the movement of wood preservatives from poles have found that they move from poles into soil and from the soil into aquatic ecosystems. The mechanisms by which the various chemicals move are different. Some of the materials are water soluble and are transported as dissolved salts. Others are adsorbed onto soil particles and are carried into streams as suspended particles in heavy rainfall. Once in an aquatic setting, the soil particles provide a steady source of contaminant.

So needless to say, we're not happy about the fence to begin with. The coup de grace happened this past Sunday. 

DH's 40th birthday was Tuesday, so Sunday night we had about 30 people over, and I made shishkabobs, corn on the cob, baked potatoes and cupcakes - yum! It was fun. Until our neighbor started walking through our yard with her dog and banging on our side of her fence with a hammer (which she does from time to time, even though it's been there less than 6 months and is in perfect condition). We were clearly having a party; people were sitting on the back porch and kids were playing in the yard. Not the time for trespassing and needless hammering.

Then she walked up to the patio door and called to DH inside and asked him to come talk to her for a minute. During this time she told him that she wanted to have her fence stained so she needed him to move the raised garden beds so the painters could get to the fence. He told her no, and she didn't understand why he wouldn't do it since he's moved them before. He told her he's never moved them. She left in a huff.

So Monday we get home from work and there's a message on our answering machine. She says she doesn't know what she did to piss us off, but she doesn't understand why we won't just move the garden beds, and she's mad that he blatantly lied to her about not having moved them before.

Um, people? I have photographic evidence that the garden beds are in the same place they've always been. Exhibit A:

This was taken the first summer we had the gardens. The red line I drew to show where we thought the property line was. The reason we thought it was there is because behind where I was standing to take the photo is an electrical box that is the corner of our yard. The red line is a straight line down the middle of our houses back to the box. You can see that it's a few feet from the edge of the gardens.

When our neighbor had her yard surveyed to put the fence up, we found out that the edge of our property is actually where the white line is, and it does a funky curve at the back to incorporate the electrical box. 

Why she thinks we moved them and where she thinks we moved them from, I have no idea. Do you realize how long it took DH to build those? And how much time and effort it would take to move them? If we had moved them, she would have seen him working on it for days. Not to mention the enormous section of our yard that would be a big dirt spot. And when did this move supposedly take place?

But the real question is, why does she care if our side of the fence gets stained? She can't see it. If we lived in a subdivision where everyone had fences, she wouldn't even be able to get to our side.

That's not even getting to the petty points of not wanting to do it because she was rude and crashed our party for this conversation. Or that she could have built the fence back to the electrical box instead of on the property line in the first place. Until she had it surveyed, she didn't know that section was hers anyway. Our yards are huge! Neither of us needs that strip of land. If we had built a fence, we would have kept it straight back simply out of common courtesy. If we didn't have garden beds there, I wouldn't care that she put the fence where it is now. It's all ridiculous. Hopefully she'll forget about it and let it go. I'm not going to get into a fight with her over it.

Perspective

I still love being pregnant, but it's funny how this time around I notice little things that I won't miss about not doing it again. Like the acne. Jeez! I don't think it was as bad before, but maybe I just don't remember. And the utter exhaustion of the first trimester. Which I kind of recalled, but was surprised by how much it knocked me out and how much better I feel now that I'm solidly in the second trimester at 18 weeks.

This time I have restless leg syndrome a bit which is new. I realized today that when Pineapple graduates from high school, I'll be 57. Which means I'll be 61 when s/he graduates from college. (If s/he takes the direct route which neither parent did.) YIKES.

When we were still on the fence about having a third baby, there were times I'd feel wistful thinking about never again experiencing the blessing of growing a little person, feeling the kicks and wiggles and stretches in utero. And even though I always said I only wanted 2 kids, I would wonder what it would be like to have 3. Knowing this is our last, I think these negatives, though fleeting, result in the contentedness I feel about that decision. So thankful for the chance to do it one last time, though.

Update

If you look back to my "Poor Pinterest Projects" post from last March, you'll see I made some homemade laundry soap. It cost about twenty bucks to make it. I used the last scoop in a load tonight. Talk about a frugal option!

On a less positive note, we had an accident in the bath tonight. The girls like to bathe in our tub because it has jacuzzi jets. After we finish washing, I let them turn on the jets for five minutes for a "bubble bath." On the wall behind the tub, hang two small shelves. One has a jar with sand in it, and the other has a jar with sea green beads in It. Tonight, the glass jar with the beads fell as we were finishing up bubble time. It shattered everywhere and some shards made small cuts across Baby R's back. I felt horrible. S was crying because she was scared of sissy being hurt. They're both fine, but I should have thought about the possibility that those could fall. Thankful it wasn't worse.

Dream A Little Dream

I had my first pregnancy dream last night. I can't remember how it started, but I ended up delivering the baby this Friday. A girl I work with is pregnant and due in two weeks. We have a pool at the office to see who can most closely guess when she'll deliver. I guessed this Friday, and another girl guessed today because it's a full moon. I'm sure much of the dream was related to that.

I was on a gurney in the hospital hallway. There weren't any rooms available because a bunch of women had gone into labor. DH wasn't there yet; he was on his way. I think it was my sister who had brought me? Anyway, there was a mirror in the hallway, and I could see some of the other women in their rooms. My labor was progressing rapidly, and I knew I couldn't keep the baby from being born any longer, and I was worried because I knew there was no way a C-section could happen. (Having had two previously, I'm at too great a risk for a VBAC now.) I could see the baby crowning in the mirror and yelled out for help. A nurse swooped in, caught the infant and placed it in my arms before rushing off to help another woman delivering nearby. It was full-term, beautiful. I realized she hadn't told me the sex. I lifted it up and saw it was a boy.

As much as my husband would like to believe my dream was psychic, I think it's also related to the girl at work. She and her husband had the sonographer write the baby's sex on a piece of paper and then took it to Party City and told them they wanted pink or blue balloons put in a box for when they came back to pick it up. Then they opened it later when they were at dinner with their families and were all surprised at the same time. The balloons were pink.

In the last week or so, several old wives tales have popped up, along with comments from other people that indicate the baby is a boy. She's started to question everything since they never saw the sono showing the baby's genitals. She said it will probably be born on April Fool's Day and be a boy. Ha! That would be funny.

Anyway, I'm not putting too much credence in my dream. But it will be fun to find out how things turn out for my friend, and for us.

Hellllllllooooooo??? Is Anybody There????

Wow. Three months. Where has the time gone? So many funny kid stories to share. I've been scribbling them on notes scattered around the house, and dictating them into my voice memos on my phone. No promises, but I'll try to transcribe them soon.

For now, the latest news with us combines, per the new norm, great highs and great lows. First, the bad news. Our house is sinking. My BIL is a structural engineer and came by last night to take a look. (Super fun way to celebrate DH's and my 8th annivesary.) He told us what we already knew. We have to get it piered to save it. DH wants to sell it and run. I don't think we can without fixing it. Which we're guessing will cost around $40k. Will get some estimates, and then decide if we can patch it a little and get out of here breaking even, or if we'd be upside down and have to suck it up and stay. I don't want to move. For the first time in my life, I love our house. But it's just a building. I can give it up. What I don't want to give up is the backyard and our neighborhood. But I just need to let it go and remember that God will provide.

Speaking of which, our latest blessing is that we're expecting again! DH had this awesome suggestion for announcing our news:

The girls can't wait. S wants a brother and Baby R wants a sister. She wants to name it Pineapple. I told her we'd talk about it. For now, that makes a good name to use instead of "it," though. So far, I'm feeling well. No nausea, but I do tend to have a sour stomach frequently. I wasn't sure if I was eating something that disagreed with me or if it was some kind of morning sickness. My doc said she had that with one of her pregnancies, too. Kooky.

More news to come sooner rather than later, I hope!

New Year

I feel badly that I didn't post much in December, especially with the Sandy Hook tragedy, and Christmas in St. Louis with my side of the family since my sis was uber preggo. My nephew was born a week ago today and is a tiny version of my BIL. So excited to go meet him tomorrow! Just a quick note to say hi, and will post again when I can. Working on a set of letters for my nephew tonight.