My Life

it just is.

Today I had my 6 month OB appt. Which isn't really a big deal to me because I have an appt or an ultrasound (or both) every two weeks. But this was as the nurse said today "My Official Six Month". I just *love* the six month appointment. It's so informative and...well...PREDICTABLE. :)

This is the visit where my iron is found to be terribly deficient, even though I'm taking at least TWO iron supplements. I eat my iron rich foods...but I'm just anemic. Always.

This is the visit where they inform me that "because I've been beta strep the last three pregnancies, I'll have to be on antibiotics during the entire delivery". Right. I know that. I have delivered three other babies, remember?

Then, they put me on the scale. They check my weight, and then check my chart. "OH MY GOODNESS!"...they always say... "You have only gained ONE pound this entire pregnancy, and it was last week. Yes. I know that too. That's how it always is, don't worry lady, because the pounds will start loading up on me in 3 and 5lb increments in the coming weeks...and that's gonna freak you out too, but that's just how it is.

Fast forward to my laying down on the exam table to be measured, which by the way is slightly difficult when your back feels like it's got two knives stabbing repeatedly into it. Those tables are not made for comfort, that's for sure. The sweet nurse who incidentally I LOVE, whips out her tape and keeps the casual conversation going until she looks down at the measurement, and then she abruptly stops. She tells me to blow out and suck in. She pushes things around, flips her tape over, checks my chart, and then says "well I don't know what is going on here!". She leaves the room, and brings back the other nurse, who takes her tape out, and proudly pronounces an even BIGGER number than the first just got. "29" the new nurse proudly says. To which the first one replies..."yes, I got 28, but LOOK AT HER CHART. She's was only 24 weeks YESTERDAY".

The new nurse looks at me and says "OOOOOH."

So then they call in the Dr. (I just laugh....because this is how it always is.)

He measures me with a "Huh." He says "Well, she measures really big. Maybe her dates ARE correct after all." and then he casually walks out.

And then I say to them... "Don't worry. This is how it ALWAYS is." ;)

Coming soon:

• The visit where I fail my one-hour glucose test, but pass with flying colors my 3 hour. 

Also will be: 

• the first of many nurse shockers of how one could put on so much weight in a one week's time without eating three cheeseburgers at every meal or be on a constant I.V. drip of straight vanilla milkshakes. 

for today.

Outside my window... The chickens are squawking. I wonder if the neighbor dog has squeezed through the hole in the fence again? Should probably go check. I'm going to start making better use of my bb gun if my neighbors don't stop allowing their dogs to run wild for a few hours on their potty breaks.

I am thinking... How sometimes a cool overcast day in the middle of the summer is just what I need.

I am thankful for... The backyard. Such a lot of work, but it has made such a difference in the kid's days. They play and play out there, and it's so nice to have an extension of our home in a big fenced in area. Not to mention the fact that it allows me to lay on the couch and watch them play instead of taking them to the park...LOL

In the kitchen... There is a sink full of dishes that could use a hitchhike into the dishwasher below. Also some extremely bare cupboards that are needing a trip to the grocery store. Really, can't we just eat cereal and PBJ's for the next few weeks?

I am wearing... A shirt of Elijah's that is so comfortable but should have been thrown away three years ago, and a pair of PJ pants. And yes, it's noon here also. :)

I am planning... All the things I want to finish for the baby. New baby bag, new style of sling, new diaper covers, a quilt for him. Too bad my sewing table is covered in other projects.

I am going... To pick Cherries with the boys in 20 minutes. Guess I should get on some jeans in case someone sees me. :)

I am reading... Up on the Mittledier method of gardening. I think it might be just what we need to solve the issues we experienced this year. I cannot WAIT for this growing season to be over so we can revamp the gardens and hopefully have the garden we've been dreaming and scheming of the last two years.

I am hoping... For a solution soon to some worries on my mind.

I am hearing... Milo playing the piano, and Liam and Jude jumping into the blanket pile on the living room floor.

Around the house... Are remnants of lunch, and wrappers from granola bars. I guess it's time to have another talk with the J man about keeping FOOD IN THE FOOD ROOMS.

One of my favorite things... is listening to my boys make up and play games. 

A few plans for the rest of the week... Cherries today, maybe a few pints of jam tomorrow. Dr's appts for me twice this week. If the sun comes back, we'll be back at the pool. Hoping for another open, relaxing weekend with Elijah if he can catch up on what he needs to do around the office.

A picture to share... A rare chance to sit for a few hours on Saturday with Grandpa Stanfield, and celebrate his birthday in our backyard. Attended by almost all of the grandkids living close by and a few that happened to be in town. Jude blew out the candles for him.

enough already.

Ok, I guess I've hid out long enough...Time to get back on the bandwagon. :)

Life has been so exciting/busy/crazy the last few months, and especially the last couple of weeks. But I really hate getting behind on my journal, so it's time to make it a priority again.

First of all, Summer has started and school is out. I'm so happy to have a little break. The boys did great this year but I'm not going to lie- having them home almost full time and trying to get all their work done can be a lot to handle. But the trade-off of having them around has been so worth it. Milo is a READER now, and Liam is officially going into the third grade...I'm still wondering how that is possible. They absolutely loved their school this year, and all their teachers were so terrific.  We are already signed up for all of our classes for the '09-'10 school year, and all the paperwork is done...hopefully that will take a big burden off of me this fall when I'll be busy prepping for the baby.

The last few weeks have been really terrific- after having Elijah gone 24-7 since early April working hard on a huge project, he was able to move his office home so he could be around us a little more. Even though he still sat in front of the computer most of the day and night it was still so great to have him in the house. We escaped a few times during the day to the pool, and he was able to eat dinner with us and help me tuck everyone into bed at night. Thankfully things have slowed down for him considerably, so he's back at the office but keeping more regular hours. He even had off this weekend...and it was SO GREAT!!!! He worked so hard all day yesterday in the yard, catching up on all the things that needed to be taken care of. He's the best. REALLY. I appreciate so much all the time he puts in at the office, only to come home and work so hard here. I've been feeling a lot slower and less capable lately, and he's picking up the slack for me which I am so thankful for. :)

We've spent almost every day at the pool the last few weeks. Everyone keeps asking me how that can be relaxing, but my kids are at the perfect stages for daily pool trips. The big boys are strong swimmers and will swim for hours non-stop, and Jude isn't real fond of the water so he's pleased as punch to sit by me in a lounge chair, play with a car, or eat snacks. Emphasis on the eating snacks. ;) We have lots of friends that go to the pool so there's always someone to talk to and someone to play with. I'm skipping swim lessons this year because I can't handle having to PAY to be on such a tight time schedule for two weeks straight! I'm trying to SIMPLIFY my life right now, and so maybe we'll pick that back up next year. 

Liam went to his first Cub Scout camp this past week and loved every second of it. I am in denial that I have an eight year old! Elijah was able to go with him on Friday and they had quite a party apparently. I somehow managed to get out of going, and Jude and I went to a wedding reception of a friend's son instead...lucky me.

Things with the baby are good. He's pretty quiet in there for the most part but is easily startled when there's a big noise. He's also terribly picky about what side I lay on, and pretty much refuses to settle at night if I'm laying on my left side. As soon as I turn on my right...voila. Instantly still again. :) My appointments have stretched to every two weeks since things have been going well, and tomorrow I go back in for another ultrasound and visit with my Dr. I was having some terrible pain in my back last month and was sent in for an MRI. The results came back that I have two herniated discs...so that should make the next few months carrying this baby super fun! I still have no clue how I could have messed up my back so badly. Next week I'm seeing a specialist about it, and hopefully they can have some suggestions on how to deal with the pain I'm having, and maybe I can start seeing a physical therapist soon to help things get a little better. There's not a whole lot that can be done as long as I'm pregnant, so my expectations are pretty low. One thing for sure though...I'm glad I listened to my Dr and had the MRI, because I'd been going to the chiropractor every few days and he would crack me so hard and I'd feel awful. I've been feeling much better lately just icing it and leaving it ALONE...no cracking or touching it. :) 

My camera has sat on the top of the piano getting dusty the last few weeks...I'm going to download the card contents and see what exciting things I have to share a little later today, and I'll upload some. In the meantime, I'm going to go get some housework done while the house is still quiet.... ;) LATER!

we're alive.

Just eating up the sun, pool, backyard, fresh air, and having Elijah around more than he's been since April.

I'll update soon. :)

hello, summer.

Jude has been very obsessed with the seasons. He kept asking when Winter would be over, and then was so happy it was Spring. The last few months we kept telling him the pool opened in "the summer", so he'd ask daily if it was summer yet. We would tell him it was Spring, and summer was coming soon. Finally Saturday when he woke up we said "IT'S SUMMER!! And the pool opens today!". He wasn't convinced...until yesterday on our way home from the pool for the third or fourth time he said to everyone "GUESS WHAT! It's SUMMER NOW!". So welcome summer, Jude has accepted your arrival. Let's make it a good one. ;)

Elijah has been so so busy at work, and we have really missed seeing him at night and early in the morning. The other night he went back to work after dinner and Jude didn't see him leave. He started calling for "DAD!!!!!!" and when I told him he'd left to go to the office, he started crying and said "Dad working so SO HARD!". It was sad and sweet. These boys love their Dad so much!! We spent a nice weekend together though, going to the pool for most of Saturday (YEA!) and then we picnicked at Sacajawea park with a group of friends on Monday. The boys got to swim in the river and play with their friends...we ate LOTS of good food and had such a great time.

We had some excitement on Sunday morning when Jude came into our room right before church with his eyes and face completely swollen. We weren't really sure what to make of it, but gave him benadryl and I left him with Elijah so I could go play the organ for the meetings. When I got back an hour and a half later his face had gotten much worse, so after Elijah gave him a blessing we decided we needed to take him to the ER. We spent about an hour and a half there...one thing I found out was that if you have an allergic reaction you automatically get "fast tracked" into a room which was REALLLLY nice. ;) There was a Dr and two nurses waiting for us in the room when we got in, and they checked him out. We weren't really concerned because I'd already listened to his lungs for the last few hours and his breathing seemed fine, but we knew we didn't have the medicine to help him and with our pediatrician out of town for the holiday it just seemed easiest to take him there. They were pretty quick to tell us he was "just fine", and then we let them know our suspicions of it being an allergy to the new brand of sunscreen we'd just put on him the day before. I handed the Dr the bottle and after he pronounced it was "almost certainly" a sunscreen allergy I proceeded to get a lecture on why I put too high an spf on my kids...etc. I tried several times to explain the main reason we brought him in is because he's an Alpha 1 kid and has weak lungs and liver, and we wanted to make sure everything was ok , but he didn't seem to pay much attention to that and told me I need not be putting more than a 15-20 spf on my children. OK DUDE. Thanks...Obviously he was happy to have a captive audience to listen to him. His long winded reasoning made some sense, but I still think I'll be coating the kids down with the 50 spf when they spend hours at the pool, thank you very much. Just a different brand I guess. And we're looking into some decent sun shirts.

Anyway, he checked us out pretty fast and sent us on our way with a prescription for a drug we later found out wasn't even available in the formulation he requested because it wasn't for use for kids under 12. Nice. We called back to the hospital and he called in another prescription to the pharmacy, but the time I got back it was closed for the holiday. GOOD TIMES. I did learn two new things in this latest medical mystery.

1. From what this Dr said....Benadryl is good for redness and itching, but doesn't help with swelling or rash. You need a Histamine 2 blocker, which surprisingly is the standard medicines for ACID REFLUX...Tagamet, Zantac. Cool, eh? I would have never thought to treat an allergic reaction to something where the symptom was swelling and rash with an acid reducer. How random. SIGH. All the hospital drama the last 2 years has made me SO WANT TO BE A NURSE.
2. Don't just assume because it's a holiday weekend that your regular ER Dr's will be on. Nope. They actually take vacations too, and then random dudes that are traveling Dr's will be standing in your regular's place and know nothing about you or your history. Even better, don't get sick on a holiday weekend when your awesome pediatrician is out of town. ;)

So Happy SUMMER to you all. Here's hoping yours is great...make lots of good plans and enjoy the sunshine!

catch up.

I've been away.

Not literally, but more figuratively. Things got a little overwhelming the last few weeks, and I decided to drop a few of the balls out I've been juggling so I don't bumble them all. The blog went out, my phone turned off, and I focused on trying to make happen the few things that had to: Boys, school, laundry, food, etc. Elijah's working really crazy hours right now on a project, and when that happens I tend to circle the wagons and pull in tightly so I don't stress out that our schedule is a mess and that I miss him so much. It's really amazing what a integral part of our family he is...when he isn't home for dinner or bedtime, or is gone in the morning before we all get up it just throws us all off terribly. He makes the house so happy, and he relaxes me by helping me see when I'm stressing unnecessarily. Me? Stress? Imagine that.

So, while he's been away lots of things have been going on. The biggest and MOST exciting to me was the installation of a new, fabulous backyard...or 3500 sf of sod to be more exact. We have lived in this house with this enormous back yard that was nothing but milkweed and goat heads for almost 5 years and have dreamed of having grass for the boys to play in. Elijah's family all came in and saved the day two weeks ago Friday and laid the grass in less than 3 hours. Kate came by and helped too...and the yard looks night and day. It's cooler out there, the grass is so GREEN and so soft, and the lack of dirt that is normally tracked into my house is enough to make me cry. We can't walk on it until this weekend, but you'd better bet we'll be out there rolling on it as soon as we can. I don't have any sunny day pictures of it yet, but this is a shot during the rain right after it was laid. It's a little distorted because I laid three pictures together since my wide angle wasn't on the camera...but you can get the idea. The terrace gardens Elijah built are on the left side. Back where the grass stops we'll be installing a small retaining wall and then most of that area back there by the tramp will be fruit trees. In the far left corner we're putting in a small shed and our compost bins. Over where the enormous Jumanji weeds are will be the fire pit, and some fun play areas for the boys. The chickens are in the two tier coop over on the right side and then all along the right fence is where my Reka Blueberries are getting planted. Hopefully next week. :) The sycamore is HUGE and gives great shade to most of the grassy area which should make for a fun summer playing outside.

We've also been moving big time on the garden...the tomatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, brussel sprouts and corn are in, and we have tons of herbs and the cucumbers, spaghetti squash, beans, and a few other things will hopefully go in this week or next. I'm really excited to live off this garden this year...I'm hoping all goes well with it. We found a huge crow eating the zucchini leaves last week, so we've been reading up on how to deter those pesky things...suggestions welcome!

In other news Jude has decided to start on the road of being what he calls a "big boy baby". In other words, he goes to the "big boy potty" but is still wearing a diaper or pullup. I decided to try potty training a little bit backwards this time around, since #2 seems to always be the hard one for them to get down, we bought a big box of Speedracer cars and every day that he uses the potty for #2 he gets a car. He wanted to wear pullups, and is doing a great job keeping dry most of the time. I learned from Liam not to push the potty training thing until after 3, and so I'll just let him keep practicing and earning cars until the summer when he's 3 and then we'll knock it out. Hopefully since he's used to using the potty for #2 it won't be our nemesis this time around.

Things with the pregnancy are going fine. My weekly appts have moved to every two weeks which is a LOT easier for me. Today I had a great ultrasound and Jude went with me. If I had any shred of doubt that MAYBE Libby my ultrasound tech was wrong about the sex of the baby I was CONVINCED today. He refused to let us see his face and we got plenty of views of...uh...everything else. ;) I'm so excited to have another boy...now we just need a name for him. All suggestions welcome.

Elijah just came home to say goodnight to all of us and talk for a few minutes, so I'm going to go now...but I'll be back and more regular this week. Alicia is coming to see us for a few days, we've got a huge block yard sale this weekend we're participating in, and the boys are going for 2 days to the Father/Son camp out. Should be fun!

thank you...thank you very much.

Milo came running in today to me with a picture of this...

...and exclaimed...

"WHAT, MOM!!! I didn't know there was such things as ELVIS COINS!!!"

Apparently he was sleeping during his lesson on coins last week... :)

in case you missed the memo.

I'm having another boy. :)

Sorry to make you wait, but I was trying to get a really COOL picture to announce with by my resident graphic guru. However, he's busy and couldn't get around to it. So this is it instead. I know. BORING. ;)

We are TOTALLY thrilled, and have only received a few "I'm so sorry you're having another boy" comments in the 6 days we've known. HAHA!! SO FUNNY!! People really DO say that kind of thing. They've been saying it to me since Milo was born, so I've gotten good at my quick comebacks.

Here's the deal...As much as we think having a girl would be fun, we're #1. MOST EXCITED that we're having a healthy baby, and #2. Are slightly relieved because a girl would require a complete reworking of all sleeping arrangements in our household. Not to mention I don't own a single GIRL thing. Nor would I know how to incorporate a girl into our little boy world. Plus, apparently I've lost all my femininity since Liam declared last week that we "needed a girl since all the other 5 people in our family are boys". HA. I had to politely remind him that I am MOST DEFINITELY a girl. He said "Oooops. Sorry, Mom". LOL.

Yeah. Funny.

SO BRING ON THE BOY!

thirty.

So today...I am thirty.

And today I am so tired, but appreciate the friends who have made my day (and night before!) special. Great conversation, burritos, pie, good laughs, doughnuts, balloons, signs hung on my house, and some delicious Enchiladas. Elijah's been working the last month on one of those jobs that keeps him away...all day and night for weeks, so I didn't get to make any plans with him. So today instead I took the boys to a movie matinee, and then took them out for ice cream. Liam said "Not to be rude, Mom...but why are you being so nice to US on your birthday and doing things WE want to do?". LOL. I told him I hoped that I'm ALWAYS nice to him, but that I thought it would be fun to do some things that they liked on my day. We had a good time. Jude sat through the whole movie in the same chair. Miraculous.

And with that, I'm going to bed. Boys are asleep and I'm out of energy for the day. Here's hoping 30 will be good to me.

uh, surprise. :)

So this is potentially going to be confusing for a few moments....

But here's the details.

We are expecting #4, affectionately named "Quattro" for now until further notice when we begin to hash out names.  :) I'm almost 15 weeks, due in the middle of October.

I have been having a fair amount of problems from the start, and I ended up on bed rest the last 7 to 8 weeks on and off, so we decided to wait a while before we told our kids. Because of that, we didn't tell anyone else either, since we didn't want it to get back to them. Make sense? Today we found out that the original problem I was having has healed, but now my bleeding is from full placenta previa on the anterior side, so I'm back to no lifting, being down most of the day, and low stress. HA. HAHA. So...anyone wanna come mop my floors!? YUCK. But since the "unknown" is gone, and I'm starting to show (thanks, FOURTH child stomach!), it's time to release the confidential info. We ALSO found out the gender of the baby today....You wanna know, don't you?? ;) Mom of THREE boys....and....?? You'll have to guess for a few more hours. :)

I wrote a handful of entries between the time I found out and now, but I kept them as drafts. So now I'm going to save them as entries, but they'll be where they belong time-wise. So if you're using a reader and it suddenly says there's 5 extra entries and you don't see them...look backwards down the page. They're there if you care. Nothing exciting though...just for posterity and all. Just so you understand.

We finally told the kids today, and they were funny to say the least. I guess they finally understand why I've been hanging out like a lazy buns in my bed 15 hours a day. Or maybe they don't, but I'm hoping they do. Jude has been carrying a rock around since our trip to the park today calling it "baby". He even gave it a nice long shower complete with an entire bottle of Huggies bath wash when I wasn't looking. What a lucky baby this one will be with a big brother like Jude. :)

So. There you are.

Happy Birthday to me. Or something like that.

(edit: 7:04 pm...Ok, I lied. But for some reason the posts weren't put in proper chronological order despite my desire for them to be. Hm. Wonder what I did wrong?)

out of jail.

So today I had an ultrasound, and finally, since I've had 5 days no bleeding I was sprung from strict bed rest. The hematomas seem to be healing and I'm feeling fine. Good thing, because Jess and Tiff come into Seattle tomorrow and I have a lot of hanging out and driving to do in the next 2 weeks. My instructions are to not lift, stay off my feet as much as possible, and not get stressed. Easy, right? ;) I can handle that...at least the no lifting part.

I'll be picking up Jess, Tiff, and their fam in Seatac tomorrow morning, and then we'll have one night before we have to head down to Emily's wedding. I'm really excited to go have fun with the family, and it's going to be the first time I see EVERYONE in a long time.

The kids have been super sick the last few days (hence the lack of posts), with fevers and vomiting, and thankfully Elijah has been able to stay close and be a lot of help. Today is the first day they all seem to be doing better so I think I'll be ok taking them down with me.

My house is a mess from the weeks of not doing anything but ruling from my bedroom, but I'm hoping my house guests can look past that and hopefully we will all have a ball. I miss Jess and Tiff so much, and I am SO excited tonight I'm going to have a hard time sleeping!

So on that note I'm going to try and hit the sack. The kids are hanging out with Kate tomorrow until I get back from the airport and hopefully they won't trash the house in the meantime. I haven't packed a bit for the trip down to Twin, but I'll try and get some time tomorrow when we cruise in.

NIGHT!

anatomy of a backyard renovation.

One of the main things that attracted us to this house when we bought it four years ago was the size of the backyard. It was just....HUGE! The sycamore tree in the middle of the yard gave gave it such great shade, and the 6 foot fences all the way around provided privacy and security that we could just let the boys RUN and not have to worry.

However, it has never had real GRASS, and from the start was incredibly bumpy and sloped. We finally got around to having 18 lloads of dirt trucked in so the slope would be a little less, but due to the busyness of the summer last year never got around to seeding. We talk about grass, we dream about grass, we CANNOT STOP THINKING about grass for our backyard. The kids have NEVER lived in a house that had a backyard with grass and that's what we are dying to give them. And I'm DYING to have it because right now anytime anyone so much as even LOOKS at the backyard at least a gallon of dirt and dust comes flying through the backdoor and is trucked in little footprint and piles of dusty dirt all over my house. The hardwood floors have suffered tremendously because of the wear from the dirt and I'm sick to DEATH of mopping.

So this year, come hell or highwater...this family is getting grass. AND SOON. We've gone back and forth between sod/seed/hydroseed and although sod is expensive I'm pretty sure that's what we're going to do if I have my way. Tee hee. I just can't imagine waiting for 5 weeks for my kids to go outside. Elijah finally was able build the terrace for the raised garden beds and all we need to do now is bring in dirt for them, and then decide what and how we're going to do this grass. The frustrating part is, he's about to start a major project at work that will take him away pretty much all nights AND weekends so I feel like I have to be the one to get it moving. Which is hard when you're on bedrest. I sit in bed and do a lot of thinking and scheming, and it gets me pretty much...NOWHERE. ;)

The scouts are earning money locally and Elijah has worked out for them to come and help til the ground to prep it for the seed/sod, and hopefully that will be done in the next few weeks. I've taken some great before/afters for posterity, and I'm excited to put them up here once the grass is officially IN. CROSS YOUR FINGERS, PEOPLE!

In baby news, we still have not told the kids, and will probably wait until my birthday or so. Which also means we're not telling anyone else so that way they don't accidentally slip and tell the kids. Because of continued bleeding my weekly ultrasounds have continued, and I'm starting to feel so much better on the new medicine they've prescribed for my thyroid. Here's hoping the stuff actually WORKS this time around. I have good faith it will. I'm getting really excited to find out the sex of this baby, either way will be SO fun but I just love KNOWING. I'm sooo not good at surprises... ;)

ultrasounds and progesterone.

Two things this pregnancy will be full of.

Yesterday was Sunday. I wasn't feeling too hot, and had gotten a sub for the organ and stayed home in bed. Elijah took the kids to church and was in the middle of meetings when I started frantically calling his cell phone. I had gotten up to get a drink and had started bleeding badly. I called my Dr right away and he asked me to come into his office for a quick ultrasound. After shuffling the kids around Elijah and I went over and he got right to looking. He found a heartbeat, and quickly decided the bleeding was coming from a subchorionic hematoma inside my uterus. He decided to send me home for BEDREST and to come back in three days for another ultrasound, after that, until I stop he'll do weekly ultrasounds to check that the baby is growing properly and is doing ok. He also sent me over for labs to check my progesterone, which of course was super low so he went ahead and prescribed me oral progesterone. Which is great, because the shots make me so miserable. Also, I talked to him briefly about my thyroid and he agreed to take me off of Armour and to put me on Synthroid with a small dose of Cytomel...a new therapy some endo's are using now for people who seem to be t-4 resisitant. YAY. I hope it works, because I'm so symptomatic right now it's driving me batty.

I've been in bed for exactly 17 hours since then, and I'm already going nuts. How do women do this for their entire pregnancies? My kids are doing nothing but watch TV and wander the house making messes. Elijah is taking on extra work at work AND here at the house, and he's being such a trooper.

Here's hoping this doesn't last too long.

Because of my past history we usually don't tell our kids/friends about being pregnant until it's a. OBVIOUS or b. I'm comfortable with how far along and how well it's going, and we've decided to do the same for the most part with this one. We need to get another month or so to make sure this is actually going to continue. So, we won't be telling our kids for a while, probably until at least my birthday. For now we're just saying that I'm sick and the Dr needs me to rest. They're accepting that, most likely because it's allowing them WAYYY more time to watch shows than they normally get. HAHA.  I'll also be pulling all pregnancy related blog posts for now so that way someone doesn't accidentally slip and tell them. :) I'll put them all back up after they know.

Cross your fingers for me.

peace.

I read this today on Tara's blog. And I just had to repeat the sentiment because it really hit home for me.



PEACE.

it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work.

it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

-unknown

I am working so hard on feeling peace in my life right now. And the small glimpses of peace that I'm feeling makes all that work worth it.

I hope you can find a little peace in your life too.

i do.

Oh, how I love this kid.

Gappy, crooked teeth, chappy face, bright shiny eyes. Always sneaking in the freezer for gogurts, loves to wear pajamas all hours of the day, and despises socks and shoes (gets those last two from his Mama!).

The last few months he's been talking endlessly about Speed racer, Mach 5, and the Mach 6. He wants to look at "his Speed racer dot coms", he sings the theme song under his breath all day. He carries three different sizes of Speed's cars piled in his arms constantly, needing to have them with him at ALL times. Every day he begs me to watch the movie with him. EVERY DAY. Most of the time I get out of it...

He's the master of conversation, much more than any other two year old I've encountered lately. I think he realized early on that he'd have to keep up with all of us if he didn't want to be left behind, and he impresses me every day with his comprehension of the conversations surrounding him.  I think part of him realized he could be an advocate for his needs by speaking up too, I'm amazed how often he voices his concerns to people while in his Dr's appointments and tests, and how well he articulates his feelings to people. He chats with me all day long with me about how he's happy, or how he's scared, loves to talk about the things I'm doing and why I do them. When he gets in trouble for things he always revisits the situation later "Mom, why you yell at me and Milo? Why you be mad at us?" or "Daddy spank my bum because I do mean things to Liam?". He likes to understand things and makes sure to ask if he doesn't. Sometimes I forget in conversation with him...that he's two.

(Btw, I NEVER yell at my kids. Hee hee...)

Lately, one exception to the genius of his language skills (I KID, I KID!!) is he's been using "I DO" and "I DON'T" a lot, except he says them in place of "I AM" or "I'm NOT".

"Jude, get back in your bed, please".
"MAMA, I DO".

"Don't throw things at your brother, Jude".
"I DON'T MAMA".

I almost don't mind because it's not as abrasive coming out of his little mouth as "I AM" would be, but still it makes me shake my head each time he says it. He's a funny guy. He thinks he's terribly grown up.

"I DO, MOM!!"

The time we've had with him doing so well has given our family a much needed break from all the stress that the last few years have left on us, and I've been so excited to see him break out of his shell more and be able to venture out into public occasionally. He LOVES people and being outside of the house so much, and it's fun to see him interacting with other kids from time to time. We've started taking him to the first hour of church most weeks, and even have let him go to nursery a few times in the last couple of months. I'm looking so forward to the summer because he is always dying to get outside and I'm hoping he'll keep up his "well" streak. The longer he goes without getting sick the better his body seems to deal with illness when it comes, so fingers crossed.

Anyway. Just had to share my favorite picture of the day. :)