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My Breastfeeding Badges of Honor

Elliott Richard

11:07:00 AM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Curls!!!!
Okay, I admit it. I have an obsession with Elliott Richard's curls. I just love them! And I know that when we get his hair cut they will all disappear. So I feel the overwhelming desire to snap cute pictures of them whenever the opportunity arrises. :)

Curls, waves and flips...oh my!
The bed highjacker returns to the scene of the crime...again!
He's now taken to scooting up and sitting in my pillow anytime I get up off the bed! (lol)
Elliott Richard washing his feet.
I love this one although you really can't see what's going on. He climbed up onto my bed, pointed to his feet and said "sticky". (He had spilt his juice and walked through it before we got it mopped up.) So I handed him a wipe and he went to town for a good five minutes, washing his feet. I have a really cute video of it...if I could get blogger or photobucket or someone to post it! Argh.

I admit it, I cried...

10:15:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
I love my job. I love being a stay-at-home mom, which then affords me the time I need for my other job as the President of the PTA at Gavin's school. It kills me that I can't be at the school everyday doing the simple things like checking my mailbox. (I have a mailbox, how cool is that?! lol) I love working with the staff. I love talking to them. Hearing what they need help with. What sort of things the PTA can do to make their jobs easier. I love the staff at his school. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are all angels. No one else could do what they do with the style, flair and love that they do it.

It's funny though. Maybe it's because in high school, I wasn't the most popular or the prettiest or the most outgoing (I know, who would have thought! lol) and so I don't see myself as any of those things. I never had a lot of friends. Just one best friend and few acquaintances. Maybe a boyfriend. So when I think of the staff at Gavin's school, I think of them as my friends. All of them. The principal/director, Laura, the teachers, Sensei, each and every one of them have become my friends in my heart and mind. But I just kind of figured that they humored me. (Granted, I can be a humorous girl (haha) but that's not what I meant.) I guess I always figured they talked to me, they laughed with me and then when I was gone they either forgot I was there or were like "thank God, I thought she'd never leave". These are my issues not theirs. I know that. But for better or worse, it's how I feel. I would appear that I am wrong.

I email with a few of the staff every once in a while. It's nice. To "talk" to them outside of school. To hear about their lives. To honestly get to know them as people beyond my child's educators. Well, yesterday I was reminded and shown just how wrong I truly am.

Rob went to school to pick Gavin up and help his teachers with some techno-issue. When he returned home he had a surprise for me. :)

Surprises! (Yay!)
The Goodies!
There were Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as well but they were for Rob and didn't even make it into the picture! (lol)
There was also an adorable collage of pictures on construction paper in a file folder that said "While You Were Out" on the front. I would post pictures of it (Lord knows I want to) but it has pictures of Gavin's classmates and I can't post pictures of them without permission.

This picture was made and signed by Gavin and his classmates. The flowers are tracings of their hands that they cut out and rolled to make flowers. (How stinking adorable is that?!)

Between my flowers and the collage I was crying like a baby. It was all so sweet.

I feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful, caring people involved in our lives. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Bed Rest ~ Day 47 Surviving...

9:52:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Well, as you can see from my posts all morning, I'm still here. I'm still sick but not as bad. I'm very slowly progressing through the non-productive, rib breaking hacking to the productive goo-spitting hacking. And as much as I hate vomitting, I think I'd rather vomit than hack up goo. It's just odd.

What really sucks is that Rob appears to be coming down with it now. But there isn't anything we can do until it gets to that "point of no return". And it doesn't help that Elliott Richard didn't sleep much at all last night, which means Rob didn't sleep either. Although he did go back to bed for a bit, I'm not sure that's going to help much. :(

So I'm in a crazy, picture taking mood. I've taking pictures of just about anything and everything this morning. (I'm actually in the mood to make more cards but that's far more involved than picture taking. So it will have to wait.) Let's face it, there's only so much I can do while on bed rest. So I take pictures. (My poor children are left at my picture taking mercy. *evil laugh*)

I like to call this collection: Surviving Pneumonia on Bed Rest
This is the only picture of me with pneumonia. It is also, unfortunately, the only picture from Week 26. I kept trying to get belly pictures taken but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed. (On a side note: When in God's name did I get double chins!?!?!?! Ack!)
The Pneumonia Meds
(That's the whole day's worth.)

Ice!
This was the only way I could get fluids down for a week straight. I had no idea I could cough my throat that raw.

Lip balm
My lips have been dry this entire pregnancy, no matter how much I drink. But that was nothing compared to how dry my lips were with all that hacking, which does not feel any better when your lips are cracked and bleeding. Just for the record.

And that my friends is how I managed to come out on the other side. :)

47 down ~ 88 to go

Busy, busy, busy...

9:37:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
I've been a busy girl. I decided yesterday to get some cards made that need mailing. I am now going to post pictures because I happen to like them. I will not say who is getting which card...you'll just have to wait and be surprised. :)














Some of the colors appear off in these pictures because I used the camera on my phone. So if the colors appear muted or "sickly" I promise that's not really what they look like. They are all Thank You card except for the yellow one with tiny flowers and the cream and marroon with wedding rings. Those are for two very special people. :)

My Mommy!

9:25:00 AM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »

glitter-graphics.com

I love you, Mommy!

Bed Rest ~ Day 46

10:57:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Oy!

Today has been insane since the yay-hoo called the house at 1:00am.

We woke up with hopes that we would get me to the hospital by 9:00am for my 1 hour Glucose Screen since I have to fast for a minimum of 12 hours before hand. (A very hungry woman is a very grumpy woman afterall!) We managed to get there after a few hiccups by 11:00am. Then the outpatient lab was crazy busy. I drank the stuff at 11:35am (why I had to wait to sit and chug flat pop in 30 seconds is beyond me) and then we hung out for an hour. We did some walking, which is technically a no-no but it felt good to be up and moving. Then they drew my blood for three different blood tests. Two were related to my Heparin injections. The third was the Glucose blood draw.

As it turns out (lucky me) my clotting factors still aren't where Dr. D would like to see them, which means another dosage increase for me. Rob thinks they will simply increase the dose and do it by adding a third daily injection. (double lucky me) I'm hoping that they don't increase the dose and keep it at two injections because that would likely mean moving the location of the injections from my arms to some place else. (yippee) I'm supposed to call on Monday and find out my new dose. Then I see Dr. D on Tuesday and find out that hopefully I'll learn that I've passed Glucose Hell.

Tiny is moving like mad today! (lol) We thought we had a name picked out. Then we changed it. Then we changed it again. Now we can't seem to decide on anything. Oy! Everyday this pregnancy seems more and more real to me. Tiny moves more. Developes more of a personality. This morning I got the snot kicked out of me because I had to fast for that blood work. Then there was some "River Dancing" going on after I was finally permitted to eat. :) And now I've got some "River Dance" going on again but I think it's just for fun. :) lol

God willing, I won't get woken up at 1:00am by the moron from last night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less insane day. Although Gavin is home, so the jury is still out on that one.

46 down ~ 89 to go

For my Mommy & Daddy

10:51:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »

glitter-graphics.com
Today is my Mommy and Daddy's Anniversary. Sadly, I am a bad daughter and I don't know exactly how long they've been married. However, I still wish them all the happiness in the world and many more happy anniversaries to come. :)

It begins........

8:06:00 PM Posted In , , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Gavin came home today...


He wasn't home for very long before the screaming began..........
Elliott made the "mistake" of touching Gavin. That's all he did and Gavin unleashed on him.. Elliott was met with screaming and flying elbows...I had to send Gavin to his room because he was not safe to be around..Gavin then melted down for 20 minutes and was fine after that for alittle while.

It is extremely disturbing how quickly he can turn it on and off. How are we supposed to live like this. How are we going to ensure the safety of Elliott and Tiny without some type of segregation. It has become clear that Gavin and Elliott cannot be aloud to play together. How do we make a 2 year old understand that the big brother he idolizes cannot tolerate him (not that it's Gavin's fault). How is Gavin going to react when the baby gets here. We are forced to look into additional security features for our alarm system to more closely monitor Gavin. We are having to have door chimes installed on his door so we know when he sneaks out of his room at night. We are having to add additional motion sensors through out the house and smoke detectors because Gavin has been known to play with his outlets in the past. It feels like we are living in a prison...

We love Gavin and that is why this is so painful.. When it was just the three of us Lizze and I would just do whatever was necessary because it only effected us.. But now we have an obligation to ensure that Elliott gets what he needs and is safe and happy.I was recently asked about what I see for our future. The truth is I don't see a future, if that makes any sense. We CANNOT continue to live like this. Even though Gavin is doing loads better it is still a struggle to find that balance...

That's all for now. My head hurts and I'm really tired. Thanks for listening..

What the HUH?!

1:28:00 AM Edit This 3 Comments »
It's currently 1:18am. My home phone just rang?! Here's the conversation:

Me: (half asleep and physically exhausted from hacking up goo) Hello?
Unknown Male Caller: Huh? Who are you?!
Me: WHO AM I?! You call me at 1:00am and demand to know WHO I AM?!
UMC: Uh....*click*

Someone explain it to me how he calls my home at 1:00am and wants to know who I am?! Furthermore who calls people, outside of an emergency, at 1:00am?! Fine, he obviously didn't expect me to answer the phone. But what happened to common courtesy? What happened to "Hello, is so-and-so there?" If he calls back again, so help me God...

I'm off to try and hold off the coughing and hacking long enough to fall back to sleep again. Honestly...who am I?!...*sigh*

27 weeks

2:05:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
What Tiny is up to this week: Your not-so-tiny-anymore brilliant baby(about 2 pounds and 14.5 inches long!) is slowly rotating in preparation to “head out.” Obviously, this doesn’t happen overnight, but when you start to feel an unfamiliar pressure on your cervix, you’ll know you’ve got a fully flipped baby locked and loaded for the countdown to their birthday! Even now, at the beginning of the third trimester, their little lungs are already capable of breathing air while the pulmonary vascular system can provide sufficient gas exchange and the central nervous system can generally regulate rhythmic breathing as well as their basal body temperature. For what it’s worth, at this point in a healthy pregnancy a premature child (with intensive care) could easily win on the show: “Survivor: The Early Years.”

Tiny has been a busy little bee this week. I feel the kicks and elbows and flips all the time now. Tiny doesn't seem to have the hiccups nearly as often as Elliott Richard did. The kicks and punches are growing so strong now that my whole belly jiggles afterwards (not in that jolly "bowl full of jelly" way either!), which is really cool to watch. The only problem is that Tiny seems to have a way of watching me. If Tiny is moving and grooving and I uncover my belly to watch, the movement stops. As soon as I cover my belly again, away we go! (lol) In that respect, Tiny fits right in with Gavin and Elliott Richard - independant and strong-willed and already marching to the beat of a different drummer. (lol)

*sob*

1:48:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 6 Comments »
I am so overwhelmed, over-loaded and exhausted. I have coughed my throat and vocal cords completely raw. I can't speak above a whisper without the sensation that my throat is being slit. (At least how I imagine that feels anyway.) I've lost 4 pounds in the last two weeks. Dr. D says I'll gain it back once I feel better but what if I don't have that much time? I have to choke down food to feed Tiny. I can't taste it and I hurts like Hell to swallow. But I suffer through it anyway. I live on ice cubes right now. Trying desperately to stay hydrated because they said Tuesday I was getting dehydrated. The more I improve, the more I cough. The more I cough, the worse my throat/vocal cords get. The worse they get the worse I feel and more overwhelmed I become. I'm so far beyond my limit that all I want to do is cry. Only I can't cry because it stirs up my nose and cough, which again just exacerbates the issues. So I sit here. Feeling completely alone and cut off from the world. Trying to hold it together. Trying to stay sane. Trying desperately to eat and drink enough. Trying not to cry. Patience in my household is a thing of the past at the moment. Everyone is irritating everyone else. I feel like I have no one to talk to. I don't dare turn to Rob. (You've read his posts, he's drowning as it is.) I can't call my mom because I can't talk. And while Elliott Richard is cute, he isn't much for the deep conversations.

I feel as if I'm holding the weight of the world on my shoulders. I'm not carrying it because carrying requires me to get up and move around. *sigh* I'm holding it all and I feel as if I'm being buried alive under neither the weight of it. I'm chasing my tail...Go on bed rest. Stay down. Help Rob. But don't get up. Watch Elliott. But don't get up. Keep an eye out for preterm labor. But don't over-react. Gain a lot of weight so Tiny has a better chance at birth. Crap, I lost weight. Gain it back. Can't swallow. Find a way anyhow. Can't talk. Figure it out. Appease your friends. No wait, do what you need to do to survive. But don't forget to call them or their feelings will be hurt. I just can't take it anymore!

If I knew that it wouldn't jeopardize my health or Tiny's I would say forget bed rest. I would do the laundry, the dishes, take care of Elliott Richard, take care of my duties at school, do the shopping and the running around. I would take care of all my jobs that have been dumped on Rob and are contributing to his drowning. Then I could say forget the Heparin shots too. And that would be one less thing for Rob to worry about. I would do all the things that I always did. If only I knew that I could get away with it. If only I knew that it wouldn't be an issue. If only I knew that Tiny and I would make it out okay.

Bed Rest ~ Day 45

11:06:00 AM Posted In , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I'm here. I'm alive. Throat is swollen from coughing. Slowing coughing up the goo. Patience is running thin in our household. Will post more later.

45 down ~ 90 to go

Words from Rob

11:09:00 AM Posted In , , , , , , , , , Edit This 7 Comments »
Well I haven't done an update lately so I figured that I would do it now in between loads of laundry.

First off, let me address the story of the bug battle that occurred last night. On our way home from Dr. D's yesterday we had to stop and get some health supplies for Lizze. While there I picked on one of those automatic air fresheners because of the leaking soil stack on our house doesn't always smell good and we haven't figured out how we were going to fix it. I set up this air freshener to spray every 30 minutes. So last night while watching NCIS Lizze took a potty break. While she was gone a GIANT Centipede climbed out from behind her bed and started up the wall. I wanted to take care of this before Lizze even knew about it. So...I used my special technique (patent pending) of rolling up some tape into a ball and sticking the ball onto the insect (in this case the centipede) and the insect cannot get away because it was stuck to the tape....Normally this works and keeps my freshly painted walls free from bug guts. But on this occasion just as I was reaching up to nab this thing (it was about 3 inches long) the air freshener went of behind me. The air freshener makes a relatively loud "HISS". Well as you can all imagine I have been on edge lately so it doesn't take much. At that moment it sounded like the centipede hissed at me and it scared the crap out of me. It fell on the bed and ran behind it. It's actually pretty funny now. Anyways I caught up with it a few minutes later and it was evicted from my house.....

On to Gavin now. Most of you are aware that Gavin has been spending some time at his Grandparents as we try to hold everything together and keep him from going into another manic phase.... He seems to be doing better most of the time....When he comes home he does much better the he was. We seem to have the bi-polar under control for the time being... The autistic symptoms however are another story. He does seem to get along better with Elliott lately which is great because Elliott just wants to hang out with his big brother....Gavin normally won't tolerate him at all. This is very hard on Elliott because he doesn't understand...We are noticing that when Gavin is home Elliott won't sleep at night. He is up about every hour through out the night crying..When Gavin is not home Elliott sleeps through the night without problems. This has happened every time. We haven't figured exactly what is causing this but we do know that Gavin's behaviors are scaring Elliott and stressing him. I see Dr. R in the morning and we will discuss how to handle this. When Elliott doesn't sleep we don't sleep. So we need to figure this out.

Lizze sounds terrible but her cough is becoming more progressive which is good. Hopefully she will begin feeling better soon and things will be easier for her. Elliott seems to be feeling alittle better since the antibiotics so that is also good.
My back has gone out again. But then again it is always out so that is nothing new. But I can't remember it ever hurting this bad. Whenever this happens it take me a few weeks to adjust to the pain and get used to it. So I hope the weeks go by quickly:)

That's all for now....

PS: I also wanted to say hello to the people visiting us from EBay..Thanks for looking at our auctions......

Bed Rest ~ Day 43 Wow, a desktop...

9:35:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Do you guys have any idea how long it's been since I've actually used a desktop computer? A long time. Why am I using Rob's desktop you ask? Because he's fighting (a losing battle) with a bug. So far the score is Bug:1 Rob:0. Oh...wait...he just got it and killed it. Final score is Bug: 1 and dead Rob: 1 and alive. :)

Now that the bug is gone, I'm off to finish watching my recorded NCIS marathon. :)

43 down ~ 92 to go

FYI

5:31:00 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
Lizze's laptop finally died today. She is sleeping now so she doesn't know yet. She will have to post from her phone for now until I figure something. I am passing this on so you guys don't worry if she is not posting as often. I may be able to still fix it but it will have to wait until later. I need to get her a new external usb dvd-rom drive. Her hard drive became corrupt and I can no longer boot into Windows.......I have to repair the master boot record but need to boot from dvd to do it..
.

So please don't worry she is OK.........

She can do almost anything from her phone......

Just wanted to keep you all posted.....

She is resting now so thats good...

Thanks,

Rob

Home

3:35:00 PM Edit This 2 Comments »
Dr. D said I should feel better by my appointment next week. I'm exhausted and swollen and struggling to breathe. Off to try and nap. (Please God, help me nap.)

More detailed update later.

Here we go again...

1:43:00 PM Edit This 3 Comments »
Sitting in the waiting room at Dr. D's office.

I still feel like death warmed over. Rob says I look the part too. He says my complexion is gray. No idea what is going to happen. I had to hand Rob the phone while talking to Karen because I was having another coughing fit. He said she heard me coughing and said to come in now. So here I am.

Prayers please.

Apparently...

9:19:00 PM Edit This 1 Comment »
So I've started my meds. I took my Tylenol. I still have my fever even with the Tylenol. *sigh* Apparently I'm on the Prednisone (steroids) because I have pneumonia/walking pneumonia. All told, I'll be on the Prednisone for about 3 weeks.

I've done some research into the safety of Prednisone use in pregnancy. The info I've found was split between 2 trains of thought:

1) Prednisone is a Category C drug. (Meaning it hasn't been used enough to say if it's safe or not.)

And

2) Prednisone is basically destroyed upon crossing the placenta and therefore the fetus gets none of the drug.

At this point, I trust Dr. D and I'm placing my faith in the latter belief. From what I've read on Webmd.com, Prednisone is outside of it's typical uses and used in cases such as mine (upper respiratory wise) when the cough is extreme etc. Basically, I'm really sick and the coughing is exasperbating the preterm labor and contractions...so what choice do I have?

I just hope to feel better soon. I'm predicting that tonight is going to be LONG! As long as we can keep my preterm labor under control, I'll be happy to suffer.

My sleeping beauties

4:27:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Bed head! :) lol
I snapped this picture of Elliott Richard after his 3.5 hour nap yesterday. I just love the dazed expression coupled with his bed head! :)

Close-up of my sleeping beauties.
Aren't they sweet? :)
Snuggling sleeping beauties.
And just for fun, my snuggling sleeping beauties again. :)

Bed Rest ~ Day 42 What's worse than half-dead?

3:24:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
Welcome to Day 42 and Week 6...

Does anyone know what's worse than "half-dead"? Whatever it is, that's where I'm at today...half-past half-dead.

I feel horrible. I've coughed my throat completely raw. To the point where it hurts too badly to swallow fluids or soup. In an effort to stay hydrated, I'm sucking on (basically allowing them to melt) ice cubes. So far it's working with the added benefit of numbing my throat for a moment or two. My chest is killing me! I don't know if it's from the coughing or what but it hurts to breathe, to cough, to sit here and do nothing. My fever is slowly creeping back up, which isn't a good thing. (I really need to lay off the ice cubes for a second so I can get an accurate temp but the relief on the throat keeps luring me back.) I'm just generally miserable.

I'm currently waiting on Dr. D's office to call me back. I called first thing this morning because the coughing is causing an increase in the number and strength of my contractions. Lori said that Dr. D wouldn't be in until 1:00 pm but she would talk to him then and call me back. She didn't want to call in anything or tell me to take anything without talking to him because of all the medications I'm currently taking. I hope they call me soon.

Elliott Richard is still sick as well. Although he is doing much better than myself. His cough isn't nearly as bad as mine but he's sleeping a lot. He woke up quite a bit last night and finally at about 4:00 am I came downstairs to sleep in "my bed" because it was becoming painful to try and suppress the coughing, which I had to do because it would have woken Elliott up for good. Right now he's napping on Rob's chest (pictures to follow) in the "man cave".

Dr. D's office just called. I don't know what I have. He is calling in a prescription for prednisone and an antibiotic that I've never heard of and can't remember. My fever is coming back and they want me to take Tylenol for that. I should have asked about sleeping but at this point I guess it's a moot point. I did some research on Prednisone and pregnancy. Some sites say it's a Category C, which means they don't know if it's safe during pregnancy. Other sites say that it is rendered basically ineffective upon crossing the placenta. I have found out that with symptoms like mine it's the last drug of choice. So basically when a case doesn't appear to be a good candidate for weaker medications, they go for the big guns. I trust Dr. D and as I said, I'm half-past half-dead so I guess if he feels it's necessary then I'll take it. Too bad he didn't feel a medically induced coma was necessary. (lol) The sleep and rest would be nice, that's for sure.

42 down ~ 93 to go
6 weeks down ~ 13 to go

Random Elliott Richard pictures and My Daffodils

10:15:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
Silly Elliott Richard! :) lol
Elliott Richard and Rob were across the street visiting our neighbor after we returned from my jail break. (Details of that are here.) When they got home they had daffodils that my neighbor Michelle had cut for Elliott to give me.

Please ignore my mess on the right. :) lol
One of my daffodils.The Highjacker returned to the scene of the crime! And highjacked my bed again! (lol)

Ah the joys of pregnancy

9:59:00 PM Posted In , , Edit This 0 Comments »
Here we have my view all day, every day. At least from this angle I can still see my feet.
And these motled look disasters are my feet after a trip up the stairs to the bath and then the kitchen for a snack. I'm slowly loosing the difference between my calves and my ankles when I get up anymore.
Ah the joys of pregnancy...

A Couple of My Cards

9:06:00 PM Posted In , Edit This 2 Comments »
I've mentioned a few times that I enjoy making cards. Rob always tells me that I should take pictures of them and keep a sort of catalog of what I can do/have done. I always mean to be never do. So I only have two to show you right now. I just thought I would share these two so you can see what I do. :)

This is one is just a basic "thank you" card. I've seen some cards that are really fancy and whatnot but I prefer the more simplistic approach, which is why my cards are just simple and basic. I like them at any rate. :)

And then this one I made for Rob's youngest brother's high school graduation. His parents got the picture from his high school (I think). It definitely shows Tim's personality. (You can see it a little better if you click on the picture and enlarge it. If your interested that is.)

The quality of the pictures isn't fantastic but you can get the general idea. :)

Care Packages...

8:36:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
So quite a few of my postings are behind schedule because I've been doing battle with my digital camera and my laptop. As I've mentioned before, they are not currently on speaking terms. I don't know why. And despite my best efforts to get them to kiss and make up, they refuse. I may have found a solution, thanks to Nikky. I received a care package in the mail the other day...

Inside I found: a digital camera, Reese's Peanut Butter cups, a Snickers (both for Rob), Silly Putty, Gummy Bugs (both for the boys), Dove Dark chocolate (for me), batteries (for the camera), an adorable onesie and two cards.


Rob was nice enough to share one of his Reese's Peanut Butter cups with me (Yum!) and thoroughly enjoyed his candy. We haven't given the boys the Silly Putty yet because Gavin has to be watched like a hawk with it (he tends to get it permanently stuck on the oddest things). And Elliott Richard has never had it before and we haven't been able to introduce him and watch him with it since he and I have been sick. They loved their Gummy Bugs though! :)






Here's a close-up of the onesie because you can't really read it in the picture above and I felt you should be able to. (lol)


I am simply amazed by the generosity of others. I haven't had a chance to play with it much because I need to get a memory card for it. But I've played with it a little bit. (I can take a picture and see it but as soon as I take another one, it disappears.) I can't wait to use it all the time. No more camera v laptop battles for me! :)

Apples! :)

3:53:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
So imagine my surprise on Thursday when the mailman brought a package to my door. Then I had to try and figure out who the mystery sender was. (I'll explain this in a bit.) After the little mystery was solved, Elliott Richard was more than willing to help me check out the contents of the package.

These are the goodies as they arrived. Cute and beautifully wrapped. This is the "Before" picture. The unwrapped gifts came that way.

Among the unwrapped gifts are: a Pooh Bear rattle and blanket teether, 2 Binkies, an Apple teether toy (one of my clues as to the mysterious sender), a blue Hawaiian onesie and a green Hawaiian onesie.

These pictures are Elliott Richard opening my gifts. He was climbing on the bed as I was trying to take the above picture. Always the curious child, he just had to see what was going on. And what fun stuff Mommy had but wasn't sharing. (lol) No sooner did I have the picture taken than he climbed up and grabbed the wrapped gifts. (lol)

Don't you just love the "Farrah Faucett" flip on the side and his "excuse me?" expression. (lol)

He was quite excited to have gifts to open though. Even if they weren't technically for him. (lol) He took great joy in ripping off a tiny piece of wrapping paper and then throwing it over his shoulder onto the floor. He didn't care where it landed so long as he got to toss it on the floor. (lol)


His face is a little blurry in this one but I love the expression. (lol) When I asked him what it was, his face lit up and he squealed, "A gook!" (a.k.a. "A book!")

And here, to the left, we have the final shot of the opened gifts. The wrapped gifts were: nesting "Caterpillar Spillers" tubby cups/toys (just above the binkies), Sweet Pea photo album (to the right of the tub toy), "Blue like Jazz" book, "Chronicles of the Cross" book.

After opening the gifts and being thrilled over the "gooks" he realized that there were toys included. (lol) He grabbed the Caterpillar Spillers and "forcefully requested" (otherwise known as "demanding") we open them. Then he sat on the floor, in the middle of the wrapping paper he so joyfully tossed on the floor and checked it out.

When I asked him to show the new toy to me, he was so engrossed in checking out the different pieces that he couldn't even be bothered with actually looking up at me! (lol)
Now I want to tell you about the mystery behind the sender. I feel like an idiot but it's actually pretty funny. At least I think it is.
Anyway, the package arrived and it had a return address on it. However, the return address only had the last name. Now it took me a few but it finally dawned on me who's last name it was. The "Apple" teether also helped, although I don't know if that was intentional or not. ;) So my address and the return address was written on an envelope about the right size for a card. I didn't think anything of it. Honestly I just figured that she didn't want to fill out one of the actual labels and went with an envelope for aesthetic reasons. Well today I was writing down everything in my written pregnancy journal (Yes, I have a written pregnancy journal and a pregnancy blog. After all, there are certain things a girl doesn't want to share with the whole world. lol) and it occurs to me that the envelope feels a little thick. So I open it and low and behold there's a card in there! (lol) So I read the card and Ta Da mystery solved. Only it took me about a week to solve it. (lol)
Thank you Apple! The boys are having a blast with the Caterpillar Spillers. I can't wait to see Tiny in the onesies. And Rob used his gift on himself, as promised. :)




Bed Rest ~ Day 41 "The Walking Dead"

8:39:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
I was going to post yesterday about it having been 40 days and 40 nights. You know, a nice little Noah's Arc referrence. I didn't get to post that blog.

I'm sick. No more "Dueling Pukers", Thank God. This is more like "The Walking Dead". Elliott Richard and I have both become members. I ran a fever all last night of about a 100-101. Then I woke up this morning still feeling like "The Walking Dead" but without the fever. I just generally feel like...well, like "The Walking Dead". I've got a horrible cough, my whole body just aches as if someone is beating me in my sleep, my head is pounding and nothing will touch it, my nose is runny...I'm just a miserable mamma-jamma. Elliott Richard too. All of that appliles to him - although I don't know about the aches or headache because he's not offering much in the way help. ;)

I just thought I would type up a quick post and let y'all know what's going down here on the HomeFront. Now I allow you to return your regularly scheduled lives as actual living people. I am not going to return to my life as a member of "The Walking Dead".

*holds arms out in my best zombie impression* Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhh....

41 down ~ 94 to go

Jail Break!

8:41:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 0 Comments »
That's right! I said it, JAIL BREAK!

I'm going stir crazy here and Rob needed to run out to the store. I went with. That's right. I broke the rules and I left the house for something other than a Dr. D appointment or a trip to L&D. All I did was walk from my bed to the car and then from the car to my bed. I was nice to just have the fresh air and have a different view for an hour.

Bed Rest ~ Day 39 There's a Full Moon on the horizon...

1:14:00 PM Posted In , , , , Edit This 5 Comments »
It's Day 39 and the full moon will be here on Sunday (according to some fancy program Rob put on my phone lol). I'm not usually a believer in this whole "full moon" thing. Although I do know from experience that L&D seems to be busier during a full moon. But my household seems to have collectively gone insane and the only answer is the pending full moon. Allow me to show you my "evidence"...

First, we have "The Burn". Now I have burned myself a lot over the years. However, I usually only suffer 1st degree burns (ie no blistering). Never have I suffered anything more than a 1st degree burn from a plate, until now. I went to pick up my dinner plate last night and it was apparently hot. I burned my right ring finger, middle finger and thumb. My middle finger and thumb are fine today. I suffered a 2nd degree burn on my ring finger. (what the heck?!)





Next, we have "The Straws". We have some curly straws. I have no idea what happened but one of these straws is not like the others. I don't know how it happened or even when exactly. But while washing bowls for lunch, I found the purple straw at the bottom of the sink. (It's supposed to look like the green one.)

Third, we have my "Funky Feeling". Not to be confused with "my funk" that I suffered a week or so ago. This is pregnancy related. I just feel "off". I'm not having timable contractions. My cramps haven't gotten any worse. My water hasn't broken. It's nothing definite like those thing. I just feel funny and off. I'm nauseous, no appetite, fatiqued...I just feel off.

And finally, we have "Cleo". She is my cat. She woke up this morning a spaz. She has been a spaz all morning/afternoon. She stalks through the house "crying and howling". She attacks anything that dares to move. Then once she pounces on it, she howls as if she's terrified of it and dashes away. Only to come back 5 seconds later and do it all over again! (lol)

I'm telling you...it's all just craziness! (lol) And just so you know, I'm mostly kidding about this post. These are just some odd and crazy things I've noticed today. :)

39 down ~ 96 to go

Daddy of the Year!

5:21:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »

I took this picture with my phone the other day. I was just playing around with the phone/settings and happened to catch this picture. I just love it!
And I'm sure there are plenty of Daddies who deserve the title but in my book he's "Daddy of the Year". Hands down.
He sacrifices everything for us. His career. His hobbies. Sometimes even his sanity and health. He has been doing the jobs of both of us for 5 weeks now and he doesn't think he's doing a good enough job. I don't agree.
He is currently upstairs "playing" Connect Four with Elliott Richard after he made us dinner and gave Elliott Richard his bath. (I would join them but Elliott ordered me out. He's all about Daddy right now.) He went grocery shopping and not only does he manage to stay on (or under) budget but he got everything I asked for and the stuff I forgot to ask for. He gives me my injections even when it kills him to do so.
He is my hero. I love him to bits. I am so grateful for everything he does and is. And I wanted to share.

My bed has been HIGHJACKED!

4:49:00 PM Posted In , , , Edit This 1 Comment »
This is my view multiple times during the day.

Cleo laying on/at my feet. Elliott Richard lounging across my lap while he watches various Noggin shows. (lol)

While the bed is great because it gives me more space. It's also horrible because it gives them more space to highjack! lol

Let's Talk Tiny and Bed Rest at 26 weeks...

9:16:00 AM Posted In , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
What Tiny is up to this Week: At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

I've been thinking a lot about my bed rest lately. And I know I've covered this topic before but there are some things I didn't think to post last time. There are things I do while on bed rest that I never would do "in real life". Things that I took for granted but now I miss.

Things I Miss
~ taking a bath or going to the bathroom without my cell phone. (I never answer it but I always take it so that if (Heaven forbid) anything should happen, I can call Rob for help.)
~ picking Gavin up from school and talking to the faculty. (I miss you all so much!)
~ going to the grocery store.
~ the days of not having to worry about "was that preterm labor" etc.
~ being able to feed Cleo without my back screaming in more agony.
~ life without injections.
Things I'm SO Grateful For
~ all the love and support I've received through this blog.
~ my darling husband, Rob.
~ everyday that Tiny stays put.
~ my parents and in-laws who are helping with Gavin.
~ the faculty at Gavin's school for being so understanding during this difficult time.

My Life Over the Past 2 Weeks
~ I've finished 125+ word search puzzles.
~ I received 32 injections.
~ Swallowed 81 pills.
~ Had 2 doctors appointments.
~ Had 2 Matria nurse appointments.
~ Drank at least 1,400 oz of water.
~ Spent 8-10 hrs/day on the internet. (That's 112-140 hr total, in case you are wondering.)
~ Felt more kicks, punches and rolls than I can count.
~ Felt Tiny's 8 cases of the hiccups.
~ Managed to keep Tiny inside for 2 more weeks. :)

Bed Rest ~ Day 37

12:59:00 PM Posted In , , , , , Edit This 2 Comments »
On the bright side, after the "Dueling Pukers" episode last night there have been no more duels. Elliott Richard and I did a whole lot of sleeping last night and this morning. He spent most of the night going between sleeping with me and sleeping with Rob. He's spent most of today going between snuggling with me and clinging to Rob. His fever seems to be slowly breaking. And we're keeping him hydrated but he does not seem to be all that interested in food. As for me, I'm starving! (lol) Tiny seems to have come out of it okay too. :)

I can't believe I'm 26 weeks today! Only two weeks to go until 28 weeks! (Yay!)

37 down ~ 98 to go

Ah...true love...

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