Cheerio Confessions

(You're supposed to sing the title to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas".)

3 Sick Boys

Yes, you read that correctly all three of my boys are sick, again. Isn't that always how it seems to go in the Cheerio household though? I'm not sure if it's better this way or not. I guess it is. I know it would definitely be much easier without the #1 down there. But I digress.

Elliott Richard

Elliott Richard was first. For all the "gory details" see this post here. He will finish up his antibiotics tomorrow. Yippee! Because even though he's on the "bubble gum" meds that most kids love he's 3 and a terrorist and therefore he enjoys being difficult.

Things were just starting to return to "normal" (not a term that usually applies to our household). Meaning that Elliott Richard was sleeping in his bed rather than on the couch in the living room with Daddy. He was sleeping through the night again. Wasn't super whiney or clingy. He was himself again. He seems to be doing much better. Although he's developing a cough, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So things were starting to look up...and then...

Emmett John

Emmett John, never one to be out-done in anything, was next. Friday afternoon he spiked a fever. By Friday night, his fever was 102.8. By Saturday morning it was 103.2 so off to see Dr. Beth we went. No ear infection or strep. It was just a virus. She said to let it run it's coarse and by Monday the fever should be gone. If Monday morning the fever was still there or his cold symptom had returned, I was to bring him back in.

So we suffered the weekend. No one slept. Emmett John screamed a lot. I considered clawing my eyes out and super-gluing my ears shut. But decided against it in the end. We all survived (I use that term loosely).

Monday morning, always the over-achiever, Emmett John still had his fever and his cold symptoms had returned with avengance so off we went to see Dr. M. But really, let's be honest here, what's a week in the Cheerio household without a visit (or two or three - keep reading) to the pediatricians' office? He checked out our young bebe and thought for sure he had strep throat so he did the swabs - rapid and 48hr. Both ended up coming back negative.

So now he's just a super-clingy grump. He doesn't really want to eat. But he downs water and juice like they are going out of style. He's exhausted but won't sleep. Wants to snuggle but doesn't want held. My fellow mommies out there know this drill well. *sigh*

Gavin

Then of course, Gavin had to jump on the bandwagon. Although truthfully, it's not like he had much of a choice, with two sick little brothers the odds were stacked against him in a major way. So a week or so ago Gavin developed a cough. As the week went on the cough got worse. The problem that Patty brought to our attention at our appointment on Tuesday was timing. The cough started about the same time that Dr. R increased Gavin's dose of Zyprexa. Patty was worried that the Zyprexa was possibly that Gavin is over-medicated and it's causing decreased respiratory function. Of course, I mean what else would you expect from a Cheerio Child?!

So I called and made an appointment with Dr. M. The appointment was actually going to work three ways. Here's what they are and why:

a.) If Gavin is over-medicated, the dose will be changed.

b.) If Gavin is sick, hopefully it's something that will be fixed with anti-biotics.

c.) Everytime Gavin gets a tickle in his throat he proclaims that he has asthma, which he does not.

So I was hoping to find answers to all three of those when we met with Dr. M. Although truth be told, Dr. H has already told Gavin on numerous occasions that he does not have asthma. Heck, even his original pediatrician Dr. Mike told him he didn't have asthma. But he's still convinced that he does.

So we went. We saw. We talked. Some of us more than others. Dr. M asked Gavin a bunch of questions to rule out asthma, which he was able to do, again. Then as Dr. M and I were talking about the cough - when it came on, the meds he's taking etc - Gavin kept jumping in with random Aspie statements. "I like pancakes." Things that given the given the context of the conversation really didn't make much sense. Gotta love those Aspies. :)

Dr. M checked him out and let us know that:

a.) He is not over-medicated. Huge relief there.

b.) He is sick.

c.) He also does not have asthma, although I don't know that this will put an end to the debate.

Apparently, Gavin has some funky form of bronchitis. The normal anti-biotics won't work on it because of the cell walls or something. And the anti-biotic they would normally prescribe is Zythromax or something in that family but Gavin is allergic to those. Even if he weren't he can't take them because they increase the levels of the Zyprexa in his blood stream. So he's on an anti-biotic I've never heard of before, which after three boys (especially Emmett John) I didn't think that was possible. lol And I have to take him back on Monday so that Dr. M can listen to his lungs and make sure that he's improving etc.

Back to Emmett John

Now we get to go back to the pediatrician today. In the last 24hrs Emmett John has developed a rash that started on his back so I thought it was heat rash. Then it began to creep. It creeped to his sides, stomach and now it's creeping down both arms and legs. So I called and talked to Paula, one of the lovely nurses, and she talked to Dr. M. He said that he felt Emmett John should be seen because of Gavin and Elliott Richard both being sick. So at 4:15pm we will be back at the pediatrician's office. This time we get to see Dr. H though. Yippee! So we'll see what that brings us. Oy vay.

2 Ped Appointments

Yeah, it was 2 ped appts if you only counted Emmett John with Dr. M on Monday and Gavin with Dr. M yesterday. However, if you count Emmett John with Dr. Beth on Saturday and now Emmett John today. The grand total is now 4 ped appts but that doesn't work with my title at all. ;) lol

1 Fibromyalgia Flare

Yeah, that would be me. Of course, who else would it be. I love living in Ohio. Really, I do. Lately though, this weather, it's killing me. The ups and the downs - the weather is just crazy and it's downright killing me. I've been flaring off and on for nearly 2 weeks now. But that's another post entirely, believe me.

A Baby on the Way

Okay, so he's not so much "on the way" anymore because I started this post 5 days ago and let's face it, that's kind of a long time for active labor! (Ouch!) On Thursday, August 6th my cousin Sam went into labor with her second child, first boy. If you would like to see his stats and a picture of him head on over to her blog. Try and prepare yourself though ~ seriously.

Welcome to the World and to the Family, Mr. Evander Benjamin!

I had some crazy dreams last night.

First, I dreamt that my first love from high school, Ben, and I were arrested along with a few other people. One of them being Ben's wife. (Don't know if he's married in real life but he was in my dream.) So we were arrested (don't know what we did) and spent forever trying to get our story straight. In the end, Ben took the fall so that his wife and I could go free. Before they carted him off to jail I gave him a hug and apologized for how things between us ended - 12 years ago. lol (Things didn't end well. I was madly in love. He wasn't. It was rather ugly, which was my doing. Lately I've been wondering if I should apologize someday...)

Then I dreamt that I was at the local flea/farmers market. As I was driving around picking things up (Including a ton of tofutti ice cream - I'll explain this in another post.) I kept talking to God about the van. I kept praying/begging for him to helps us find a way. Then right before I woke up, I told him (God) that I trust him and I know that he'll help us find a way to get this van. I'm terrifies that we won't be able to make it work and we'll lose this opportunity. But I guess I should listen to my dream and just go with faith, trusting that God will fins a way to provide the van for us.

So lately I've had to start taking an Ambien at night to sleep through the contractions (that accomplish nothing) and the back pain (which also accomplishes nothing). Ambien is a wonderful thing for a 34 week bed-rest bound pregnant woman. I still wake up if I have to pee or if Elliott Richard needs me. But I do not wake up for half-hearted contractions,, charlie-horses or stabbing siatic back pain. Unfortunately, I have developed a tendancy to have off-the-wall conversations with Rob (in person) and Nikky (via text messages). (lol) And the dreams I have towards the end, when it's wearing off, are...quite...interesting.

Take last night's dream for example, I dreamt that I woke up in bed next to Rob and I had slept through most of labor and pushing! I awoke to find Tiny's head already out and looking at me!! (Ack!) In my dream, I wasn't freaked out by the fact that his head was out and he was looking up at me. He had the cutest chubby cheeks and a head full of hair. (Gavin was born completely bald. Elliott Richard had some strawberry blonde peach fuzz that was either shaved off or pulled out during IV's etc in the NICU.) I just finished pushing and out he came.

It was kind of nice because everything was very calm and peaceful. No second guessing. No running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Just pushing and snuggling. Although I prefer for that "pushing and snuggling" to take place within the safety of my local L&D. (lol)

Rob said he had a dream about Tiny being born as well. Perhaps he'll share that later because I haven't heard the details of it yet.

We are supposed to go to Mom & Dad G's tonight to celebrate Father's Day. I think it will depend on how I'm feeling as to whether or not we go. For now, I'm off to work. (haha) The cards won't make themselves, that's for sure. ;)

95 down ~ 40 to go

I am thrilled to report that I actually got more than a 45 minute stretch of sleep last night! Wooooo Whooooo!!!!!! Rob and I made it to bed at about midnight. And it helped that I had just taken my medications for my back right before we went to bed. I vaguely remember Elliott Richard waking up at one point screaming his head off. Rather than wait for me to drag my pregnant butt out of bed (which is getting more and more difficult everyday) he hopped out of bed and ran over to Rob. Then he climbed over Rob into bed between us and we all fell asleep. We just woke up about a half hour ago. I'm by no means "caught up". (And yes, I know that you can never trully "catch up" on sleep but you get the idea.) But it was nice to get some sleep. Although I'm now more exhausted that I was yesterday because my body has had that taste of sleep and realizes how much it's been missing.

I had a crazy dream too. Rob, the boys and I went on a little mini vacation somewhere. When we got home we discovered that our house had been broken into. Rob started making the phone calls (police etc) while I went and took an inventory of what was missing. Here's the odd part, nothing was missing. Whoever had broken into the house had played with Elliott's toys and gone through his clothes - making a huge mess - but they hadn't taken anything. I'm thinking it has some subconscience meaning having to do with Elliott Richard and Tiny. It was just interesting.

I don't have any big plans for today. Just laying in bed. Staying down as much as possible, which honestly isn't nearly as much as I'm supposed to be down. I've been awake a whole 45 minutes and my back is already throbbing. And could it possibly be any colder this morning?! Ick!

74 down ~ 61 to go

Let the crazy pregnancy dreams begin. I know I've had a few pregnancy dreams up to this point, however, these are different.

When I was pregnant with Gavin I had a few of the "typical" pregnancy dreams where you leave the house without the baby, drive away with the baby in the carrier on top of the car...that sort of stuff. But the main dreams I had revolved around nursing. I would dream I had had him and was nursing him. These dreams would seem so real that I would wake up devasted when I realized it was all just a dream.

With Elliott Richard my dreams revolved around the "typical" pregnancy dreams with a few nursing dreams thrown in. Mainly though I had dreams about things going horriblly wrong with the pregnancy/labor & delivery because everything with his pregnancy was so crazy and stressful.

This time around I've had a few pregnancy dreams in the beginning. I don't remember what they were about but they've been pretty "vanilla". Mainly I've had "normal" dreams but I'm pregnant in all of them. So I'm dreaming that I'm going about life as usual (or at least what passes for "as usual" in my dreams) only I'm pregnant.

Last night was my first nursing dream so far. I was trying to nurse Tiny at every feeding while in the NICU and then they refused to allow me to take Tiny home until I could produce like 40 oz in addition to what I needed to produce every three hours for feedings! So basically the NICU wanted me to feed Tiny and then immediately following that feeding they wanted me to pump 40 additional ounces before they would release Tiny to come home. At one point I was just sobbing because I kept getting so close but they still refused to release him until I pumped 40 oz. It was so stressful!

58 down ~ 77 to go

I was in a bit of a pretty major funk last night. I had just reached that point where it's all just too much. The shots. The appointments. The bed rest. My funk was so deep that I was getting irritated because Tiny wanted to show off the latest gymnastic moves and that was preventing me from slipping into a coma-like sleep. Rob went and got some Taco Bell, which I had been craving to try and pull me out of it. It just wasn't happening. So I went to bed and tried to sleep it off. (The food seemed to have lulled Tiny into a food coma. lol)

I dreamt of my Granny last night. She died on May 11, 2002. That's the day that I changed forever. But that's another post. I used to dream of her often after she died. As the years have passed I haven't had as my visits from her. This may sound crazy, or maybe it won't, either way it's what I believe so :p on you! lol I believe that my Granny visits me in my dreams. I've had visits from other family members as well. But my Granny is my only steady visitor.

I had dreams of my Grandpa C, my Mom's dad, throughout my entire pregnancy with Gavin. This is significant (to me at least) for a few reasons. First, I had never dreamt of him before that time and I have yet to dream of him since Gavin's birth. Second, Gavin was born the day before my Grandpa C's birthday. Third, I was working at Staples while pregnant with Gavin and I had a customer come in one day who could have been Grandpa C's clone. No joke. I looked as if someone had plucked this man straight out of a picture I've seen of my Grandpa. Every where I turned during that pregnancy, my Grandpa C was there. Again, this has not happened since.

The last visit from my Granny I remember vividly was just after Elliott Richard was born. I dreamt the family had a big cookout/reunion (something her side of the family has every summer for the 4th). At that reunion I was able to introduce her to the great-grandson she had never had the chance to meet (on Earth anyway). She was able to hold him and kiss him. And I felt better having had that opportunity. (Writing this is causing me to get all teary eyed.)

My Granny was a huge influence on my life growing up. I was convinced that the sun rose and set with her. She was only about 5 feet tall but her personality was so much larger! She loved life. She was creative and compassionate. I don't think she ever missed one of my swim meets or gymnastics meets or major life events, even if they were hours away. I was (and still am to this day) her only grand-daughter.

I am struggling to find words that adequately describe her and the emotions tied to her. All I can say is when she died, I was forever changed. There was honestly a moment when I thought the pain of her death was going to drown me. Someday I still feel like that.

So when I am given the opportunity to "spent some time with her" via my dreams...that marks the beginning of a good morning.

Last night I dreamt of her again. She picked me up and took me shopping for things I would need and want while on bed rest. She bought me gobs of snacks, some slippers that looked like tennis shoes (I used to have some of these but I wore them out.) and a bunch of puzzles and doo-dads to help keep me busy. Then she took my mom and I out to lunch. We all sat around the table and chatted up a storm while we ate. When we were finished Tiny was going crazy, just moving and grooving like mad. Which gave me the opportunity to have my Granny feel the movement. I woke up feeling much better and at peace with everything. The funk was gone.

I miss my Granny, every day. But I miss her most during major life moments such as these.

18 down ~ 117 to go

What Tiny is up to this week: At this point you’ve pretty much adjusted to the fact you’ve got a moving little gymnast inside of you, but now they’re going to kick up the party a notch because they can hear and react to sounds from the outside world. Sounds from your alarm clock, a thunder roll, or that darned car honking at you across the intersection can actually jar their little ears enough to elicit a kick or violent bout of squirming. Of course this also means that their little ears are picking up the sounds of your voice and those near you. So go ahead, sing a lullaby to your little angel—if they start kicking, it’s likely they just want you to stop… or maybe it was a kick of approval? You decide. Your baby's tiny taste buds are still growing and their bones are continuing to ossify (harden), their tiny veins are visible through their translucent yet wrinkly skin. (Think of it this way: they’ve been swimming in the equivalent of a long hot bath for the past 23 weeks, so you can’t blame them for being a little prune-like.)

Wow! This is my 300th post! That's pretty cool. Of course, when you're confined to a couch just about anything qualifies as cool anymore. lol

I had more crazy pregnancy dreams last night. There was one about a Ma & Pop General Store. Everyone hung out there and apparently I started some sort of group but couldn't remember doing it. Whatever I had done was causing everyone to be really angry with me for doing it. The store sold a ton of different kinds of highlighters and they all had special...abilities I guess. It was just odd.

Well I'm sitting here waiting for a nurse to call me back from Dr. D's office. I spoke to a few other medical professionals yesterday about my experience in L&D Monday and they weren't happy with the level of care I received so they urged me to call Dr. D's office first thing this morning. My big concern is since "The Man-Handler" got ahold of me, my contractions have become more intense and more consistant. I'm not having 4-6 an hour but I'm consistantly having them like 20 mins apart. To me the consistancy is just as concerning as the frequency. But we'll see. I'll update when I have more.

16 down ~ 119 to go

More crazy pregnancy dreams last night. I hate when I can't even tell where they are coming from. Like my dreams I posted about...when was that? Yesterday or the day before...something like that. Those dreams probably stem from the nagging fear that I have that I'm over analyzing everything little thing because I'm terrified I'll miss the big stuff. The memorial service dream...well, I've had similar dreams for the past 6 years. Logically, I know that my Granny died 6 years ago. Emotionally, I keep maintaining the tinest shred of hope that it was all a horrible nightmare. But last night's dreams...I'll be darned if I can figure out where they came from.

My first dream was something to do with my best friend from high school. Rob and I were at her house only she was living with her dad. I was just odd. I can't remember much of it. Then we left her house and Rob disappeared. I was me only I looked like someone else and I was trying to sneak into some top secret business. I was getting away with it for a while and then they caught me. But I got away. (I'm just that good! lol) So I ran from the top secret business and end up at McDonald's with a job a bartender! lol I was actually pretty good too.

That's all I remember. They were so odd. I wish I could remember all the details but I can't. I think the McDonald's part was my favorite. lol

Now before I go about my morning routine of eating breakfast and working on cross stich projects, I feel I must introduce you to another new blogger friend. :)

Julie ~ Julie is married to Bob and currently pregnant with their first child. She and I actually share a due date, which is always fun. Julie is also currently on bed rest (again, which is always fun). Julie is...I just feel a connection with her. Therefore it is my duty to introduce you to Julie and her blog! :)

Go! Read! Comment! Pray! :)

14 down ~ 121 to go
2 weeks down ~ 13 to go

You know it's so frustrating to be in bed, half asleep and get a dozen new ideas for blogs - really good ideas - only to wake up in the morning and have forgotten everything except the fact that I thought of them.

I had crazy pregnancy dreams last night. The first dream I kept going into L&D saying I was in preterm labor and begging the staff to help me. The kept blowing me off so they could have big holiday parties. Rob was too busy watching television in the family waiting area to be of any help. And our families were there but kept telling me I just wanted attention, that there wasn't really anything wrong with me or Tiny. I finally got one of the interns/residents to take me semi-seriously but he refused to discuss anything with Dr. D. I told him he would under no circumstances be "catching" Tiny. So he had better call Dr. D or I would be delivering on my own. This upset him because he "only needed one more unassisted live birth to become a doctor". I told him to go find some other pregnant woman to do his "homework" with.

Then I was being dragged out of my L&D room to attend a memorial service for my grandfather. Half way through his ceremony, they began one for my grandmother who had passed away almost 6 years ago! They kept asking me to write a note to her. But every time I would try, the space I had to write it would shrink. Once it got to be small enough to fit inside a locket, I gave up. I just remember being so confused. I couldn't understand why if she had been alive for the past 6 years no one told me. So I would start to cry (I'm actually tearing up just thinking about it...I miss her like crazy.) which would jump start my preterm labor. Then the whole dream would start all over again.

I swear I hate pregnancy dreams sometimes.

12 down ~ 123 to go

I woke up this morning with a nasty cough. Of course, I've had a persistant cough off and on for the last week or so. It's just more persistant this morning. Plus I woke up with a migraine, which is never a good thing.

Rob is doing better, little by little. He's still going to be down for the count for the next few days at least. I'll have to be sure to keep him away from Lisa when she comes on Tuesday.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet this morning. Keeping in mind that it's only 7:25am, which leaves plenty of morning for things to go horriblly wrong. But I'll try and stay positive that things will just remain calm and status quo this morning. *crosses fingers*

I had my first true crazy, pregnancy dream last night. I drempt I had already had Tiny and we all went to a big family gathering. Everyone kept taking Tiny from me and walking off, which upset me for two reasons. One, Tiny was a preemie and we were lucky a NICU stay wasn't required. And two, I was trying to nurse Tiny and people were pulling Tiny away in the middle!! It drove me crazy! It was really kind of scary that Tiny was so...well, tiny in my dream. A baby that size really should be in the NICU but no one would listen to me.

Oh well, we all know that I don't have any trouble vocalizing my concerns and whatnot when it comes to my kids in real life. ;) lol But dreams like that just don't do much to help me get enough sleep at night. I kept waking up angry and looking for Tiny. lol

It's only 8:19am and I feel as if I have been awake for ages not 45 minutes. Elliott Richard slept through the night until about 5:30am, which is an unusual occurance in our home. Sometimes I think that's worse than having to get up a dozen times with him because then my body gets a taste of what it so desperately needs. lol

I had crazy pregnancy dreams last night. I dreamt that I was sleeping and had a dream. Then I dreamt that I was living what I had dreamt in my dream. Confused? lol There was something about Kelly Rippa. I think we went to her house for a party but when I was telling my Mom that I had dreamed the whole thing, Kelly Rippa went crazy saying that I was a demon or something. There was something about me giving birth to Tiny. In my dream Tiny was a boy but I couldn't find a name I liked. (So far I've had 1 Tiny as a girl dream and 1 Tiny as a boy dream.) The hospital staff was getting really angry that I was "refusing" to name Tiny. The whole dream was just odd.

Now I'm trying desperately to wake up and failing miserably. I'm feeling really sentimental for some reason this morning. And I have that nagging feeling like something big and meaningful is going to take place today but that could be left over from my funky dream. Only time will tell I suppose.

Rob and I have been discussing returning to church. I so desperately want to return to church! It's just a burning inside - if that makes any sense. We are just momentarily clashing over the churches we should look into.

I'm thrilled to report that Gavin returned to school on Thursday. He asked Wednesday night if he was going to have school the next day. We assured him that even if we had to strap our snow shovel to the front of our car, he would have school Thursday. ;) lol I was worried that Thursday and Friday would be pretty rocky days since his schedule was thrown so far off track but he did really well. Although I don't know that they accomplished a whole lot. lol

Elliott Richard's been going stir crazy with the rest of us. Of course he almost go a one way ticket to the local Emergency Department. Lately Gavin has taken to sitting on the arm of the couch and swinging his legs over to get off the couch. As is typical with Gavin, we've told him not to sit on the arm of the couch but he forgets and does it anyway. Well the Elliott Richard decided that he would sit on the arm of the couch. Then he began to loose his balance and fall backwards. Necks don't tend to be very good at breaking a fall, they just break. As Rob puts it, my "lightning fast cat-like reflexes" (*eye roll* lol) pulled Elliott Richard off the arm of the couch just in time. Unfortunately, he conked his head on the way down but at least it wasn't anything worse.

For the most part Gavin has been...well, Gavin lately. One of our big struggles has been trying to get him to understand that Elliott Richard worships him and mimics every little thing he does. Plus we can't get him to stop doing those things that he shouldn't be doing. I've tried absolutely everything I can think of and nothing seems to stick. It's so frustrating because it was one thing when it was just Gavin because then his actions were directly effecting him. I didn't like it when he got hurt but the "natural consequences" were his and his alone. Lately though, since Elliott Richard has developed this "Gavin obsession" what should be Gavin's natural consequences have become Elliott's. And it's difficult enough to teach Gavin with natural consequences that he experiences but it's nearly impossible to teach him through natural consequences that other's experience because of him.

Techincally this is Day 6 of Gavin being home but I'm only counting weather days. With every day, I get a little bit closer to that pretty padded room I've always wanted. ;) lol

Yesterday was actually pretty quiet and laid-back. (see here, here and here to bare witness to our silliness - lol) Today is already off to a smashing success. *insert sarcasm here*

Last night was pretty calm until around 1:00am. That's when Elliott got fussy and Rob and I woke up to find Elliott half in bed and half on the floor, trying to sleep. lol Poor little guy was pretty confused. So Rob brough him to bed. That marks the end of my night. Elliott took over my Snoogle pillow and my half of the bed. So I attempted to sleep with my head and neck in odd positions all night long. I have a night of little to no sleep, a crick in my neck and a throbbing migraine to show for it all. Fun. Fun. Fun.

What little sleep I did get was peppered with crazy dreams. I dreamt that I took Elliott back to the NICU to visit. Only the hospital had been moved to a shopping mall. There was something in there about getting into another hit-skip accident (they hit me and skipped - not the other way around) and the damage to my front end some how punctured my gas tank. Which then festered for hours before exploding. (Maybe that's when my head split open with the migraine. lol) Then I woke up and toss and turned for a while before I fell back to sleep and finished the dream. (I can't seem to do this when I want to finish the dream. Only when the dream stinks!) When I fell back to sleep I jumped into the dream at a point where some random guy was stealing my charred vehicle remains. This enraged me! How dare he take the charred, useless carcass that was my car! Again the pregnancy dreams strike and confuse me. lol

Enough about my crappy night, let's talk about Jericho. I am addicted. I admit it. Apparently Grandma Gene has been singing it's praises for months, oh how I wish I had listened. The Sci-Fi channel aired the first 4 episodes over the weekend and my darling husband had the presence of mind to record it. (Thank you Honey!) I'm missing 18 episodes though before I can watch the new one from last night. *sigh* C'est la vie. If you've never watched it, YOU SHOULD. Apparently after Season 1, CBS tried to cancel it. Only to get a response similar to the outcry over My So Called Life, and we all know what happened there. Hopefully, Jericho won't fall by the wayside after Season 2. I must admit though. I don't want to see Jake with Emily. I want to see him with Heather. Emily is just too...high maintenance for my tastes.

So far we have 2-3 inches of the 6-10 inches they are predicting. The snow wasn't supposed to fall until today but it got a jump start. Next comes the wet snow and ice. Followed by the rain. This has the potential to get real ugly folks. On the bright side, I have a HUGE jar of pickles. So I'm set. ;) lol

It's also Day 2 of no school. Gavin isn't nearly as crushed today as he was yesterday, which is both good and bad. It's good because he's in a better mood today. It's bad because it means he is settling into the swing of no school and will be thrown off when school resumes. I can only pray that he isn't thrown off too much and he is able to quickly recover.

Rob was kind enough to allow me to sleep in this morning. It's such a rare treat for me to sleep in and let me tell you, it.was.heavenly! Although I had some crazy, weird dreams. Some twisted version of Harry Potter with me as Duddy Dursley and my little brother, Zach, as Harry. If that makes no sense it's because the dreams made no sense. lol

In terms of life, Elliott is constantly learning new words. He just amazes me day after day. There are moments when it really hits me how completely different Gavin and Elliott are. The other night Rob made Sheppard's Pie for dinner. (In our house, Sheppard's Pie is a layer of ground turkey, layer of corn, layer of cheese and topped with a layer of mashed potatoes.) With all of my experience with Gavin, I absolutely didn't expect Elliott to even touch it. He ate more than half of mine and then a whole another helping himself! Last night, he ate fish! At first he snubbed his nose at it. Then he ate two whole pieces!

Gavin is busy creating "inventions". He never seems to finish them because as soon as he's started one, he moves on to the next. Yesterday afternoon Gavin had Occupational and Speech Therapies with Holly and Melanie. Rob and I were stuck in traffic so we were about 5 minutes late picking him. (He doesn't like us to go back with him so we use the time to run errands and whatnot.) Once we got there, I found him hanging out behind the front desk with Melanie and some of the other therapists. He was super proud of himself because he had tried both Red and Yellow Peppers. Simply amazing. There are days when he makes so much progress, even if it seems small to everyone else. It just makes my heart a little lighter, even if it only lasts a minute.

I don't have anything to say...I think part of it is the blog going public. It feels different now. lol

It's freezing here in Ohio. Gavin didn't have school today, which he was not pleased about. We have to go out to go to the grocery store, take Gavin to speech and occupational therapy and have my Quad Screen blood work drawn. Rob read on the Weather Channel that we may get up to 6-10 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow!!! So I need my salad and pickles before that hits. I'm out and if I get snowed in without it, I'll be one seriously unhappy pregnant woman! lol

I had another crazy, creepy pregnancy dream last night. I hate the creepy ones. The strange ones, I can handle. Dreaming I left the baby in carrier on top of the car or in the house, I can handle. But creepy dreams, no thank you.

I completely forgot to post about my crazy pregnancy dream I had last night! It was just...bizarre! Various friends and family members kept taking me out to eat. Every restaurant I went to, I would order my meal (steak and potatoes, pork chops etc.). Then when my meal would come it looked like what I had ordered but it was made entirely out of white, milk and dark chocolate!!!! Some of it was molded out of chocolate, some was chocolate shavings...whatever it took to make chocolate look like food. It should have been good because chocolate is one of my favorite foods of all time. But after a while, it just got old. lol

I have a sink full of dishes calling my name. But I'm tired and didn't get much sleep last night so I'm trying to ingnore them for a while.

Okay, so it's now 4:40pm. I started this blog at 8:30am which is probably the time that will show on the final posting. This day has been crazy. Crazy. Crazy.

I'm up to my elbows in checks, order forms, cash and more order forms for the school fundraiser. All in all, we didn't do too bad. I just wish they gave me paperwork to fill out. I'm trying to come up with something on the fly to keep this info organized and it's just making the whole process more difficult.

The dishes still aren't done. Elliott Richard can't decide what he wants to do with himself. I have no idea what is for dinner. And I've got a raging migraine. I love my job as head of the PTST but I hate the stupid paperwork. It just hurts my head.

I had crazy pregnant lady dreams last night that were pretty funny. I can't remember what they were now. Story of my life.

Well it's officially 2008. I can't believe how quickly the years are flying by. I hope everyone had a safe and fun new year. :)

I just wanted to post a quick blog about *the* dream last night. I had one about this time when I was pregnant with Elliott, too. I don't remember all of Elliott's dream only that we had decided to name him "Kiernan", which is a Celtic boy's name, and I never got to actually see him. Sure enough, he was a boy. Although we obviously didn't name him Kiernan. :)

Last night I dreamt that Rob was wheeling me to the nursery and they checked my wrist band when we got to the nurses' station for the baby's name and matching numbers. I looked down and could clearly see that the name read "Tessa Diane" on my wrist band. Now there is honestly nothing about that name that I like, except maybe the "Tess" part but even that is iffy. It's merely the fact that I dreamt the name but never got to see the baby, which is exactly how Elliott's dream went too.

When I was pregnant with Gavin I never had this type of dream. In fact my dreams about Gavin were the polar opposite. I dreamt nearly every night for the first 3-4 months that Gavin was a beautiful little girl with dark brown curls all over her head. But never once did I know what the name was. I only ever got to see the baby. I think it will be interesting to see if my dreams work this time the way they worked with Elliott. :) lol

I also vaguely remember dreaming about being on "Big Brother 7" (one of my all-time favorite reality TV shows) with the "Chilltown" alliance. I got to compete in the food competition but I don't remember much else.

I swear the busier I am, the slower everything seems to go.

I'm 9 weeks and 3 days and the restrictions that have already been placed on me...well, they don't bode well for the future, that's for sure. I'm no longer allowed to pick-up or carry Elliott, which is killing us! I just want to scoop him up and carry him around like I always do. He keeps coming over, putting his little arms in the air and saying "up", "up mom". It kills me to tell him "no". I feel like I'm rejecting him.

Apparently the main concern right now is once again my blood pressure. Only this time, it's not a concern because it's too high. It's a concern because it's so low. Dr. D knows that my blood pressure is on the really low end of things (90/60) anyway but apparently they were hoping that with the increased the blood volume that my bp would increase some what. It hasn't. It's still 93/60 just like always. So I have to be extra careful getting up, laying down etc. I'm not supposed to bend over if I can help it because I could pass out. I've been getting massive migraines again, which I guess is due to the whole bp thing. It sucks though because I can't take anything until I reach 13 weeks, which is 3 1/2 weeks away. *sigh*

I'm trying to eat healthier, which is kind of difficult since I typically live on fruits and veggies anyway. But I'm trying to avoid the fast food - that sounds Oh so good - and find healthy recipes on the internet that are full of all the good stuff the baby and I need. Rob thinks I should be eating oatmeal but I just cannot get past the texture. Blech! I am drinking plenty of fluids. I drink nearly a gallon of water a day.

I've been having crazy pregnancy dreams again. The other night I dreamt my cousin Sam had another baby. We were all locked in a mall for some reason and Ben was off looking for something when she went into labor. Then she had the baby right there on the floor! She just laid down and had another daughter like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which I guess it is but not in those circumstances. I sat there watching the delivery and at that point I decided that this little "ladybug" (as I've taken to calling her) is NOT coming out. Sorry, sweetie, I hope you get cozy because there you shall stay. lol The odd thing (like the rest was so normal!) is that I've never really been afraid of labor and delivery before. I've always been terrified of the needles for the IV's and epidurals but never the actual labor and delivery itself.

Kind of like "I am woman. Hear me roar!" only different.

Gavin has been very pleased with himself lately. He informed us at dinner last night that he has a mustache. Don't worry ladies, he isn't going to shave it! He kind of likes it. ;) lol Rob and I found it difficult not to laugh. Thank God we didn't. He would have been crushed. His teacher told me today that he informed her a few days ago of his "mustache" and also that he had a pimple. He told her he was excited for the pimple. She told him that she covers them up with makeup as quickly as possible. lol

That then led to her asking how I was feeling and whatnot. She's very sweet. She's also very interested in pregnancy because she's terrified of it. She always asks me if it's really as bad as people make it out to be. I always tell her "no". So then we were laughing at how pregnancy tends to bring about a "second puberty" if you will with the acne, breast changes and whatnot. Then of course we had to talk about the mood swings! lol I mean what's a pregnancy without a few good mood swings?! ;) I told her there are moments when I feel down right homicidal, my hormones are so out of control. She laughed. I think she thought I was kidding. I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I would never intentionally harm anyone. No matter how foul a mood I may be in. However, there are fleeting moments when I just want to wipe out the world, start over and be done with it. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

Elliott has learned some new words. He started saying his name tonight. Although he hasn't figured out that it only belongs to him and not to everything he sees. I must admit it was cute watching him point and touch things while declaring "Elliott". Let's see...he's big into screaming "come back" when you leave the room, especially if you have something he wants. He's also learned "help", which he uses quite often. Oh and he noticed the other day that the rim of one of his bowls has little pictures of fruits on the edge (a banana, apple, pear, carrot (Yes, I know it's not a fruit.) and grapes). So he would point and I would label. Now he knows which one is the banana and which one is the apple. The rest he's still a bit hazy on. lol

Oh yeah, before I forget. I have been having the wildest pregnancy dreams! The other night I dreamt that Dr. D felt my uterus was too big for how far along I am. So he ordered another ultrasound. All was going well until he said "uh oh". At that point he found twins. Then triplets. Then he kept finding more babies until he maxed out at 8. That's when I screamed because I had enough and he stopped counting. Lord only knows how many more he would have found! lol I still say I'm pregnant with a singleton. Rob still believes the twin was hiding but he is hesitant to admit it because he doesn't want to be wrong. lol I have an appointment with Dr. D, my OB, tomorrow morning. I'll be sure to post and update afterwards.

Well if nothing else, the pregnancy dreams are entertaining. lol

I had a dream a few nights ago that Rob and I were having twins, one boy and one girl. Only I wasn't pregnant with them. We were using a surrogate. Then once they were born we named the boy Timothy (already taken by Rob's brother lol) and I can't remember what we named the girl. Then we gave them my maiden name as a last name.

See what happens when y'all keep pushing this twins thing? It starts messing with my dreams! Lord knows, my dreams are messed up enough on their own. lol