Petri Dishes and Updates

Ok. I am convinced that Hannah is a Petri dish. That poor child is always coming down with something. I was worried (as was my mom) about her skin rash she's had for the last couple of weeks. Mom thought it was some sort of reaction to food/etc and thought she may have some sorta allergy. I dropped Hannah off a daycare one morning at 0600 and had a call from her teacher about 9:30 saying that she had developed a rash that looked like chicken pox. Nice. So I call her Dr and get her in by 10:05. After a check and a fierce battle for a blood draw (BTW: it takes 3 people to hold Hannah down to get a draw out of her arm...), we received test results 2 days later. My little Dish contracted chicken pox. What gets me is that she's had the vaccine. Hopefully her polio, hepatitis and measles vaccines work better... Luckily Hannah hasn't been too bad off. She was the most traumatized by the blood draw; although her solace was bought for one yellow bouncy ball out of the doctor's office Treasure Box. She had a follow up appt the next day and was again bought off by a bouncy ball. So we are waiting for her tiny spots to go away. I read up on chicken pox and pregnancy (yeah...that's what a need to worry about now...) and learned that it is only really dangerous during the first trimester. There are several smaller issues that can happen in the last trimester/just before birth that I will discuss with my dr on Tuesday's appt. Especially since I woke up with several spots this morning. Forgive my pessimistic Eeyorishness, but why me? I already had these miserable things when I was 13! I'm hoping its just a breakout or some skin thing rather than the pox.





Brock has been doing well in school! Not surprised about that! We had his parent/teacher conference the other day and learned that he is right on track with his reading/math/science etc. He has made great improvements in his reading and writing. The teacher's only complaint was that Brock wants so badly to be the first one done with everything that he skips over stuff and writes sloppily in haste. This is an easily corrected problem though. Brock was proud to show off how neat his desk was, how involved his art/posters were and how much work he put into his science journal. He was using works like buoyant and viscous when they learned about liquids and solids! His teacher obviously enjoys working with Brock and has shared some great stories about how he arrives at solutions and answers to problems.







Brock also had his first Tiger Cubs award ceremony recently. He earned his first merit patch! He is thrilled to have a uniform with all the trimmings! By the way, he spilled fruit punch on his lap just before going up to get his award/posing for pictures. He was embarrassed by the wet mark on his leg poor dear.

Hannah has started gymnastics again. She picked up right where she left off! She actually responds to the instructor's directions and goes through the motions of the exercises with the class. She still has problems staying on track, waiting her turn in line and skipping ahead to the equipment she likes best. We haven't had any deviation from proper directions on the trampoline though! She loves her "M'nastics" and will squeal with delight when we drive towards the building. Hannah also adores the "libary". We've started going 2-3 times per week for story time and for checking out books/movies. They have a pretty decent selection of kids stuff and have bigger things out like a puppet theatre and a train set for the kids to play with. Hannah will hear the word library and freak right out until we go.





We are still waiting to hear back on Brian's background investigation. My patience is wearing thin (mostly due to hormones methinks...) and it is hard to remember that God is in control of all this. Whew. What a chore that alone is!





We have 36 days until Lauren is due! I cannot wait for that either! Well, I'm obviously not thrilled about the physics of it all, but I will be delighted to have her out and with us!





I think that's all have for right now. Much love to you all! Hugs!

Everyone Else Is Doing It...

OK. I am ashamed I have not updated this thing in a while. We've been trudging along with work, school, life, etc. and really haven't done anything ground-breaking. :)

We had a great time with the cousins! It was so sweet to see them all playing/fighting/etc. Ok. Maybe Hannah and Sidney clashed the most. Both of them were lemmings to any and everything Brock did! Fia sat back and took it all in. I wonder if she realizes exactly what she's related to...poor babers! Erica and I raided thrift stores seeking the latest fashions at rock bottom prices! It was great! I spent $4.30 and got enough pants for Hannah to make it through the next size. Oh yeah...I am a rebel!

We have our 3 two-week check on this coming Tues. I think we have one more 2-week wait before we go in once a week. Time is going by fast, but not nearly fast enough. At least it feels that way when I try to sleep or dare I say...get comfy? Soon now. Only 3 weeks to wait before labor is safe!

Uh...nothing new on the job front. We're waiting for the background checks to go through. There's a lot of hurdles to jump but worth it in the long run!

My Pampered Chef stuff is going well. I am hoping to make my sales quota for a new consultant by next weekend. I am stoked! So far, I've done 1 show and 1 catalog show and have earned enough money for gas for the month! This is an easy and enjoyable second job. Not to mention it gets me some time away from kids/house to spend with other women. Of course we end up talking about kids/house/etc. Ah well. Can't win them all right?

I should get going. Have some stuff to get done before I go home. Hugs to all!

Milestones

Brock had another milestone reached on Friday afternoon. He and his friend were playing in his room when I heard a gasp/squeal and his door come flying open. I heard Brock running down the hallway gasping (much like Charlotte from Sense and Sensibility when she finds out Mrs. Jennings is taking the girls to London...) and yelling something. His friend was hard on his heels yelling the same something. Being in "something's wrong with my baby mode" I prepared myself for gushing blood, missing fingers or gaping head wounds. I saw Brock covering his mouth with his hand and holding something in his other hand. I got him to slow down enough to hear "I loss my toof!" repeated over and over and over at a rate I am sure would break the sound barrier. His little friend was chiming in with "he ate dog poo!" at almost the same rate.

We got Brock's tooth/mouth cleaned up and it was time to call Dad. Brock was trying to tell Brian over the phone what happened while his friend still sang about him eating dog poo and grabbing at the phone. The two boys argued a little over who was going to tell the news before Brian got to hear what happened and why Brock was in such a lather. We put the treasure tooth in his tooth fairy container (plastic tooth on a string courtesy of his school) and made ready for the Tooth Fairy to come do her duties. As it turns out, Brock was spending the night at a friend's house and didn't get to "see" the Tooth Fairy until Saturday. So...this will be Brock's 3rd tooth he lost! And all on the bottom row! What a handsome toothy grin!



We got up for church on Sunday to find it snowing again! I found a dress in Hannah's closet she hasn't worn yet that was a gift from one of her cousins. Miracles never cease but I found a matching pair of tights and a headband. So...here's our little girl looking too much like a little girl instead of my baby. She was a hit at church and got lots of waves and hellos. All of which she returned with angelic innocence. People were convinced that we had a cherub on our hands. I am convinced my daughter is an accomplished actress... :) Brian and noticed that she is losing her baby belly and is getting lean and tall. That is NOT FAIR! She is wearing 3T clothing, speaking like a preschooler and giving orders as to how her world is to be run. Sad moment for us parents. But then again her cousins aren't that far behind. Sorry Ders...it had to be said! :)

We are waiting to hear from Brian's interview at the end of this week. I will not get a good night's sleep until then I'm sure! He feels pretty good about the whole thing. I am praying like mad that things work out. I know God will have his plan followed and that we should accept this, but it is awfully hard to imagine that this wouldn't be in his plan. Or timing. Guess it is more wishful thinking? Either way, we should have an answer by this coming Friday. It will be a long week in waiting!

Hugs to all!

A burden lifted!

Sorry if I didn't get back to you all right away. I went straight to bed after getting back from Yakima on Wednesday. I woke up that evening to have dinner with the family before going back to bed. I remember mumbling through prayers with the kids at 8. I hope I was appropriately reverent in my stupor. :)

Anyway. I called the Dr's office on Thurs and got my blood results. After putting me on hold twice, the nurse told me that she had to clear something with the doctor. Yeah...I spent the next minute convinced that I was diabetic and my baby was at risk. Silly paranoid pregnant woman. She came back with a joyous "you're all right!". WHEW! So thanks for your prayers and support. God really has blessed us on this front! I am anemic but that is easily fixed. Give it a few days and the iron should hit the blood stream and I should feel better.

The kidney thing hasn't been too bad. I am all out of my super pain killers. I haven't missed them too much as they made me feel loopy and dense. (shut it Erica...) Still waiting for the mean thing to pass. My next OB appt is on the 10th. I will be 29 weeks! Woot! Almost done! If I can make it to the 32 marker without anymore false scares (or real scares) I will be perfectly euphoric!

I am looking forward to finishing out this weekend as it will be my last weekend on nights. THANK HEAVENS! I cannot WAIT to have normal sleeping hours, a cleaner house (sorry Honey...it's just not the same when I am on nights...) and more time with the kids. It also marks the last few weeks before Lauren is due to make her grand appearance. So I am feeling pretty upbeat right about now.

And for our biggest news yet! Brian got a call from Whatcom County. He has his oral board, polygraph, interview and background check this coming Friday. They want to do everything all at once which is a good sign to us. He will probably stay with my parents overnight and will be back Saturday. We have some Valentine's Day commitments we need to stick too. :) So the end is in sight! We are both relieved and thrilled. With any luck, we will get our house sold and the pending custody battle solved without incident.

So this is me. Feeling blessed and honored. Love you all!

Nervous and an odd bedfellow.

Nervous and an Odd Bedfellow?

Tomorrow I meet a vampire. The vampire wants to check my glucose levels...

It will be nice to get it over with, but I am not really at peace with the whole thing. It's really the poo-poo frosting on the crap cake that has been my January. With the exception of having family over of course! That was not crap-cake! :P I get off work at 0600 and will go home to get Hannah and Brian ready to go. We hope to be back in town before Brock gets out of school.

Oh yeah! We should be able to get our poor window fixed on the Dingo. It has been taped up (very ghetto-chic) for almost a month now.

We had to wait for the money to fix it. Heh heh heh. That'll be nice to get that all done too.

At some point tomorrow I hope to grab a quick nap. Mmmmm...naps....

Napolean ruined my peaceful morning too! MEAN DOG! Brian's alarm didn't go off this morning, so I stayed at work until he made it in at 0630. By the time I dropped Hannah off at preschool and got home, it was after 7. Napolean went outside to do his thing while I worked on taxes and some bran flakes. I brought the pooch back in and made a bee line for bed. As best a bee line that one can make in a drunken sleep-deprived stupor that is. Anywho, I brushed my teeth and threw myself into bed. I woke up about an hour later to the rancid smell of dog fart. Oh yeah. I forgot to shut the dog up in the laundry room while I napped. Napolean slunk into my room and helped himself to Brian's side of the bed. His butt was facing my feet (thank heavens) and his dog-breath face was facing away. At least he was this thoughtful right? I yelped in surprise at his being my bedfellow which made him melt into a submissive and rather apologetic puddle of smelly breath and rotten butt. I ordered him off the bed. He responded by whipping his tail up and down on the bed while presenting me with his stomach. Being less than honored by such a gift, I started to push his carcass towards the edge of the bed. Napolean strained against my pushing, unwilling to give up his plush lounge. He arched his back and presented me with more tummy and a lolling tongue inside his rather empty head. I will admit I raised my voice and in a very un-lady like manner ordered the *&#!@#* dog to get his )(@#*(!@(# smelly butt off my bed.

This got through to him that I meant what I said. He dripped off the bed and slunk to the laundry room door. He went in without protest and gave me very sad droopy eyes as I shut the door. It reminded me of Puss in Boots from Shrek. See what I mean:

Let him foul up his own bed!!!! I returned to my bed and fanned away the stubborn residue of Napleon's gastric trespasses. It took about 10 mins for the room to properly ventilate. Gross...I finally got to sleep about 8ish. I have learned the hard way to put that mutt in his room before I go to bed. Thanks Napolean.

So now I sit at work waiting for the 0600 hour to bring me freedom from this drudgery for 2 days. Then another work weekend is upon me. But take heart! It is the last rotation on graves for me! Thank heavens this trial is almost over!

Hope this finds you well....

What's next?

Ok. Forgive my pity-party, but what is life going to throw at us next? Does everything have to hit at once? I have a note saying I don't have to play. I'll call my mom! Seriously!

To add to the lovelies of kidney stones (dirty little buggers...) I now have a new fun tidbit to share. I took my glucose test on Monday afternoon. I thought it was going to be easy sailing as it turned out to be a fasting test. I ended up being awake with sick Hannah all night and didn't eat until dinnertime Monday. So we jotted to Yakistan, took the test and came home. Oh yeah...the drink is just as nasty as I remember. It's pretty bad when the drink burns on the way down because of the sugar taste. Ick! Hannah was sitting on my lap trying to mooch a sip. Poor kid! I didn't dare let her try it! They told me that they would get results Wed/Thurs and would call if something were amiss.

Anyway, I got a call today saying I have to come in for the 4 hour test as my sugar was too high. By a lot too high. So much for my fasting levels. The nurse also said that my iron was practically non-existent which would explain my constant tiredness. I read up on gestational diabetes and found that it is not so bad if controlled with diet/exercise and insulin if needed. I would dearly love for this all to be a fluke and am holding out hope that things will be ok. It seems so odd since I have been trying to be careful to eat healthy and do more active things. I did lose those 7lbs in 2 weeks, but I thought that was due to being sick. I guess I have a selfish indignation to be offended by something that a lot of women everywhere have to deal with. I will have to adjust my attitude I guess. *sigh* I would dearly love to avoid those lovely insulin shots though...hmmm...maybe I can bribe the lab tech to magically fix everything.

Thanks for attending my pity party. I know God will work his way in things but it sure feels like all this stuff is dumping at once. I need my jammies, a week off, my Mommy and my der ders. I would say some ice cream but sweets and food in general has been gross. Maybe a chick flick and the above-mentioned. :)

Hope you all are well! Glad to hear about the progress of your babies, jobs, schooling and family stuff. Thanks for posting often too! It helps bridge the gap since we don't see each other regularly anymore. Love you guys!

A Jonah Day

After being awake for 3 days straight I decided to call in sick to work and try to sleep the night away.I had spent most of my time at home/work trying to pass a rather stubborn kidney stone too. My scheme was to get dinner around for the family, then be in bed after Brian got off work at 6pm. My plan backfired and in a big way! Brian had to work until 10pm to cover my not being there. To add fuel to my crumby fire, Hannah spike a temp of 102.3 just after dinner. Brock was an angel and was ready for bed by 8. We called Daddy, said our prayers and went to bed. So began the longest night of my week.

Brian stumbled in the door after putting in a 16 hour work day. Hannah was in our bed stripped down to her diaper as she was burning up. She had fallen into a restless sleep but managed to wake up when Daddy came in the room. She got some more medicine and some water. Daddy even brought her Bunny and kiki! Thanks Dad! Hannah's cat nap made it possible for her to chat and sing until 11:30pm. Brian fell asleep almost right away, but kept waking up to tell her to be quiet. I drug the overheated hyper baby to the couch where we laid in the dark and said thankful prayers over and over. It was about 1am when I finally came to and noticed she had nodded off. I tried to sneak her to our bed so we could both sleep. Ah yeah. Her head hit the pillow and she was wide awake. More songs, jabber and thrashing ensued. About 2am, I had enough. Sick or not, I took that half naked baby to her bed and told her to GO TO SLEEP! I lurched back to my side of the bed and passed out until I heard Brock get up at 7.

Hannah was passed out on her floor and was only a little warm. Of course she heard me open her door and was thrilled to see someone setting her free from her cell. She got another dose of medicine and her morning sippy of milk. She came to bed with me where we laid and chatted quietly until Brian was awake. He got up and showered while the kids watched cartoons. I remember hearing the door shut as he left the room. The next thing I knew it was was 1:30pm. Yikes! I hastily showered and we beat street for Yakima and our OB appointment. The drive down was full of Hannah's conversation and Brock trying to get a word in edgewise. We made it to Selah before that baby fell asleep. She slept until we got in the elevator to go up to the doctor's office. Then more chats and songs. Seriously. Why wasn't she as tired as me? The appointment took a lot longer as they did my blood glucose test. That drink is as nasty as I remember! It is so sweet it burns going down! GROSS! The kids and Brian sat in the exam room with me until Hannah needed a new butt. About 20 mins later, the nurse came in and drew my blood. I was free to go! Woot! The kids and Brian were waiting in the car almost a half hour. Brian is so patient!

The drive back put Brock to sleep but kept Hannah talking about helicopters and trees. Once at home, I reheated dinner. Hannah didn't each much and Brock decided he was full. He doesn't really care for the dish so his stomach shrinks.*sigh* He was told he was to have NO food until breakfast. This includes whatever treats they may be serving at his Cub Scouts meeting. Man I am sick of fighting that kid over food. It would help if his mother fed him something other than McDonalds and chicken nuggets. Some people...The kids helped with dishes and I started a batch of bread. Brian and Brock went to Cub Scouts while I got Hannah bathed and ready for bed.

So now I am keeping an eye on Hannah as she tries to hide and poop her pants. She is walking around without pants/diaper because we have no more diapers/money for diapers until Friday. I wish she wouldn't fight us about going poop in the toilet! I have told her several times that her kids had better do this to her when she is older. Poor dear.

All in all it has just been kind of a blah day. Some silver linings though: The doctor said that being 40% efaced and 1cm dialted is nothing to worry about unless I am having contractions. What a load off! He said some women who have had more than one child can walk around for 2 months 3cm dialted! I hope this means that my labor will be shorter! I got measured for the first time today too. I have no idea what my numbers were. I told the nurse I felt like a Christmas turkey being measured like that. We heard a nice heartbeat (150bpm) and the baby moved around a lot for them. I weighed in (sad moment) and found that I lost 7 pounds since my last visit. The nurse weighed me twice because she couldn't believe it. I do. The last 2 weeks for me have been painful and the thought of food generally gross. So major happiness on the baby front. All is well.

I feel like a total nerd, but I am thrilled to have found some wheat flour in my freezer. I have been making bread for the last 2 months and am really sick of white bread. I don't have enough wheat flour to make straight wheat bread, but I put some in with the regular flour to give it some substance. So yeah. Happy about that too. What a dork!

Brian did laundry today which is one less thing I have to accomplish tomorrow!

We have family coming this weekend!

OK. I have to go. Hannah is playing in some water in the bathroom. What scares me is that I know both the sink and the tub are dry...*sigh* Hugs!

By the way, Brock has lost 2 more teeth since the fist picture. And whatever happened to that cute little baby in the blue dress?