Sick :(

I'm not sick anymore, but the 24 hour bug I had cycled through the whole family. I've been okay other than an occasionally moody stomach since last Wednesday. Thursday was Christmas eve and Mia threw up shortly before we were supposed to go to Doug and Linda's for the Scott Christmas. Since I had already been sick and it's Steve's family, I stayed home with her. She only threw up one more time and we cuddled in the chair and I did laundry. She seemed back to normal by the time Steve and Ella got home and opened her presents and played with Ella's for a little bit before bed. The next morning she woke up early, so Steve got up with her and let me and Ella sleep in a little. We opened our gifts and then Steve made breakfast. Mia had half a pancake and some scrambled eggs and has been fine since then.

We headed to my parents' house that night and no one showed any symptoms. In fact, everyone was fine most of the weekend. Saturday evening we had the Atherton Christmas and got a lot of great gifts. The girls had a blast playing with their cousins and sledding earlier in the day. Sunday morning the girls were in the nursery when Susan (who was one of the nursery workers that morning) came to get me and said Ella had thrown up twice. Irene (the other lady in the nursery) helped me clean up Ella and her clothes. Ella seemed okay the rest of the day, other than not having much of an appetite. She didn't get sick again and we're still not sure if it was my bug she had or if it was a combination of too many jelly beans the night before (she found a bowl of them and none of the adults noticed until most of the bowl was gone) and leaning over the toy box.

After the Steward Christmas that afternoon, we headed home that night. The family time was great, but it's always nice to get back home and into our little routine. It snowed most of the way, so the trip was longer than normal. We saw two cars in the ditch but we made it home safely. That night Steve's stomach was upset. Sure enough, he got sick in the middle of the night. And then he got sick every few hours after that. :( The last time was 7am yesterday. Needless to say, he stayed home. I got the girls up as normal and he slept for a few more hours. He had chills and nausea off and on during the day but didn't get sick again. He took it easy and I ran some errands while the girls napped. He was able to keep soup down and had a bit of an appetite by evening so he had some peanut butter toast. Today he was okay other than being a little tired and weak from not eating very much. He's at work.

Since everyone had been sick, I thought we were done. I was relieved that the girls had each only thrown up twice and didn't have the accompanying diarrhea. Steve and I can handle the flu a bit easier than the girls can. I was sitting down with my bowl of cereal this morning when Ella threw up again. Chocolate milk and dry Life cereal. All over the living room carpet. She seems fine now. She finished her chocolate milk (I was cleaning the carpet and she drank it before I realized it was still out) and ate more cereal and seems fine. When she had the flu last year she lost her appetite and was lethargic. She's been walking around playing with her new toys all morning. So I'm not sure what to think but I'm really hoping this is the end of it.

As far as I know, we somehow didn't get everyone else sick this time. Last year we had the Atherton Christmas and almost everyone had the flu within a week, if not the next 24 hours. A month later we were all together again and half of us got sick again. This time, Leslie is the only other person who got sick (and I'm sorry we got you sick!). Luckily she only threw up once in the middle of the night and felt okay by morning. I'm praying no one else got our germs and this is our only bout of the flu this year. I do feel more prepared now. We have rolls of paper towels positioned throughout the house. There's a bucket here in the living room in case one of the girls gets sick again. We're stocked up on laundry detergent. We're just low on carpet cleaner, but it's on the list. I just hope I don't need it again soon!

End of Year Newsletter

It's been another busy year. At this point, 2010 looks like a new adventure and maybe a different sort of busy. I think we're up for the challenge. :)

Steve is working at Comcast and has been for four years now. Since last December he has worked in the business tier at the call center and very much prefers that to residential. However, there will be some restructuring next March so he'll either be moving back to residential or a new position. We're waiting for more details on that. Steve also has the opportunity to help a friend with a new computer business venture. Otherwise he keeps busy with things around the house and yard and keeping all his girls happy. :)

Paula finished her masters degree and graduated in May. She became a limited licensed professional counselor (LLPC) in July and began working part-time at Community Connections as an evaluator in August. She really likes being able to work part-time and be home with the girls the rest of the time. Fitness has been another important thing for her this year, but that has taken a backseat due to another development. She's looking forward to getting back into shape this coming year.

Ella turned three in November. She's very bright and knows all her letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. She loves to build things, color, and pretend. She has quite the imagination. She also loves books and learning new things. But more than her new accomplishments, we are proud of the little girl she's becoming. She is very empathetic and will give a hug and a kiss to make someone feel better. She's our social butterfly and absolutely loves the nursery at church.

Amelia is twenty months old and a ham. She loves to color and sing and do whatever Ella is doing. She knows all her animal sounds and loves books too. Her vocabulary is exploding and she carries on the funniest conversations. She takes time to warm up to people but loves to make people smile. She's very caring and cuddly. She's very expressive and always busy.

The biggest surprise of our year came in July, when we found out we were expecting our third child! In November, we found out that we are expecting a healthy baby girl. We're picked Nora Ann as her name and we expect her arrival in April (her due date is two days before Mia's birthday). She's active and Paula is 24 weeks pregnant now. Ella likes to listen to her heartbeat and Mia likes to kiss Mommy's belly. Luckily Steve adores all his girls and is looking forward to adding another one.

We've found a church that feels like home and have been attending there since July. We've also joined a small group that is doing the Love Dare. Our circle of friends has expanded, which we are thankful for. We've been so blessed with all the people in our lives and all the material things we have. We have a warm home, reliable vehicles, jobs with insurance, and healthy kids. We have family and friends who truly love and care for us and our girls. It's been a very good year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Scott family!
With love, Steve & Paula, Ella & Amelia

Updates

I guess I haven't updated in a while. I did finally change the profile picture. But here's some of what's happened here:
- Ella had her 3 year well-child check. She's in the 75th percentile for height and weight and perfectly healthy.
- I'm 24 weeks pregnant now. And sick with the flu. It's been pretty miserable. But after throwing up six times yesterday, I seem to be able to keep down crackers and water today. I might try Sprite in a little while. Maybe by dinner I'll try chicken noodle soup. Luckily, this seems to be a 24 hour thing, so I should be over it by this evening (I hope). I'm praying no one else gets sick! And Nora is doing fine. She's been kicking a lot (not pleasant when my stomach is upset, but it's reassuring) and despite the fact that I've managed to eat very little in the past 24 hours, she can still get all she needs from me. Amazing how that all works.
- Mia split her lip open earlier this week. Ella was pulling Mia around by the hand and Mia lost her balance and fell. Steve and I were both at work and Kat said there was a lot of blood. But Mia is doing fine. Her lip is still a little swollen and bloody but seems to be healing. Ella felt so horrible when it happened that she put herself in time-out, crying the whole time, and saying she would never pull Mia ever again. I wish they were more gentle with each other, but they sure are sweet and empathetic.
- I found a dead mouse in our kitchen yesterday. It was on the floor and I haven't seen evidence of where else it has been. It's been disposed of and I hope it was alone. Ew.

Four years later...

Four years ago today there was a double wedding in Evart. Two young couples said their vows. The father of the brides pronounced them man and wife, and man and wife. They posed for hundreds of pictures and smiled until their cheeks hurt. And they still couldn't stop smiling. They celebrated with a dinner with several hundred friends and family before one couple went to a hotel in Cadillac (I think) and the other to a bed and breakfast in Holland. It was a beautiful day and the memories are a happy blur.

Four years later, those two couples have four kids between them, with a fifth on the way. One higher education degree has been earned, a business has been started, a house has been bought, and several vehicles have been purchased. There have been some tears and much more laughter. Through experiences and the addition of kids, love has grown and deepened. I'm happy to say we're all happy. Life has been very busy and full. It feels like it's been much longer than four years (in a good way). Life before Steve and our girls feels like it was a lifetime ago. Marriage and parenthood presents a whole new set of challenges but I wouldn't trade them for what I had before.

Steve, I love you. You're more than I could have hoped for in a husband and you make me feel incredibly safe and loved. I'm so thankful I have you by my side for this adventure. Thank you for being so kind and supportive and fun. Thank you for being you. You've truly been my partner in this and I am so happy that you are mine and I am yours. I love you more everyday.

Tracy and Donovan, happy anniversary! I am so glad we shared our wedding day and all that went with it. You're our family and true friends too. Thank you for all the help, support, laughter, and memories. We love you guys. To many more years!

Sweet girls

Tonight Mia pointed to my belly, so I had her repeat, "Nora." She had a quizzical look on her face and asked, "Sleeping?" So I told her that yes, Nora is sleeping and will be for a few months. To which she responded, "Wake up?" Then she got distracted by Christmas lights out the window. A moment later she said, "Sleeping. Wake up?" And I told her we could try to wake up Nora. So Mia leaned toward my belly and said loudly, "Wake up!"

A few minutes later, Ella told Steve that he is her best friend. Then that Mia is her best friend. And so am I.

On days when they act up or are difficult, it's good to remember these things. :)

Thanksgiving 2009

I'm thankful for
- my wonderful husband. He is truly my partner in life, parenting, household work, and everything. He's always been supportive of the things I want or need. He's my best friend and he makes me laugh. He even thinks I'm funny. He's a better husband and dad than I could have imagined. No, he's not perfect, but he's definitely the only person for me.

- my sweet, smart little girls. Yes, they sometimes give me fits. But Ella is so sweet and empathetic. She's smart and can build towers and buildings better than any kid I've seen. She loves books and sings first thing in the morning. Mia is expressive and full of energy. She's empathetic too and gets so concerned if anyone is upset. She's a ham and loves to throw her fists in the air and exclaim, "I did it!" She loves books too and loves to color. They're both pretty cooperative and well-mannered too.

- our new little girl on the way. She's active and healthy. She's measuring exactly on her dates too. And I'm thankful to be halfway there! But I have to say that a few friends due around the same time I am haven't received the same good news at their ultrasounds. One may have a birth defect and another may not be growing as well as she should. Another found out one baby is healthy, but there was a twin that didn't make it. I've been praying for them and it's served as yet another reminder of how blessed we are - we're very fertile, have not suffered a loss or had any complications, and have two very healthy little girls and another on the way. By the way, we discovered that Nora was my great-grandmother's name. She always went by her middle name, Alice. While we didn't plan Nora to be a tribute to Mom's side of the family, she has her name from that side (her middle name was my paternal great-grandmother's name) and will most likely be induced on my grandfather's birthday. As Grandma is getting older, I'm happy to have these little connections to her family.

- our extended families are (mostly) healthy. There's been a bit of the flu going around (regular, not H1N1) but no one is actually sick. Almost everyone has a job, and everyone at least has some money coming in to support their family. Everyone has a place to live, a vehicle, clothes to wear, and food to eat. And we're even fortunate enough to see most of them for the holidays (Annie and Thomas, we miss you and are thinking of you). In my opinion, spending the holidays with family is what makes the holidays so special.

- materially, we're blessed. We have a house that is fully furnished. Most of our things are not new but they're in good shape. We have clothes, plenty of clothes. Same situation with toys and books. To the point I'm not even sure what I want for Christmas! I don't have any unmet needs and can barely come up with things I want. We have two reliable cars and we have carseats for the girls (including an infant carrier for Nora when she comes). Steve has a good job and we have health insurance. I have a good part-time job that gives us just a little extra money.

- we have good friends. Some of them are links to who we used to be and always there when we need them. Others are newer friends, who also have families and understand that part of our lives a bit better. Some fall into both categories. They're near and far and we're thankful for them and their friendship. Life isn't about stuff, it's about the people.

I know it's common for people to run down the list of things they are thankful for this time of year. Please understand today is not the only day I am thankful for these people, these things, all these wonderful blessings. Today is a good reminder to be thankful though. I'm watching the Macy's parade while Ella builds with Lincoln Logs (a wonderful birthday present) and Mia "helps" Steve make French toast in the kitchen. Later we have the big Scott dinner and we'll go to Mom and Dad's in Grand Rapids Friday night. Life is simple and I like it this way.

Ella is 3!

Three years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital room. The day before, I had given birth to Ella after being in labor overnight. She was beautiful. And I so glad I wasn't pregnant anymore! But our lives changed a lot that day. Here's a picture of her, less than a day old. Wasn't she tiny?


Here she is on her first birthday. She wasn't too sure about the cake.


Her second birthday, reading her new book with Daddy. By the way, the bottle was Amelia's.


And here she is yesterday, blowing our her candles. Where has the time gone?


She's grown up so much in the past 3 years. She can hold conversations now and sometimes tells jokes (knock knock ones - they don't make sense but she tries). She's empathetic and so smart. She's stubborn too. She asks us a lot if we're happy. We can answer her honestly that we are. Here's another picture. Even in footie pajamas, she looks like a little girl now, not at all like an infant and less like a toddler.


Time keeps moving forward. By this time next year, we'll have three little girls. Mia will be 2.5 and Nora will already be 7 months old. Crazy, isn't it? They grow so fast, but we're so proud of the little people they're becoming. Hard to believe it's already been three years and hard to believe we've only had her for three years. Happy birthday Ella!

Good news and lots of it

- First, the ultrasound was yesterday. The baby is measuring exactly where it should be and is perfectly healthy. Baby also cooperated and posed for us, which was wonderful. And it's a girl! So our third and final baby will be Nora Ann.

- In the past week, I've reconnected with lots of friends I haven't talked to in a while. This is wonderful and involved lots of wonderful news. Jenny and Nate even came over for lunch yesterday. Sad to say, it's been over a year since that's happened. We had a great time and plan to do it more often.

- There was some news at work that was almost bad and would have resulted in a lay-off for me on December 1. Luckily, that's been fixed (we're talking Federal level Medicaid, not any sort of problem with me personally) and my job is safe. That was a huge relief, especially since the day the bad news broke, we also found out Steve has still been receiving his shift differential. So he's been paid extra for almost a year. They can't backdate it and ask for money back since it was their mistake, but his checks will be about $120 less per month. So we're very thankful my PT job is safe.

- Mia slept all night in her toddler bed last night! Nap time isn't looking so promising at the moment, but one full night is great.

- Ella is showing more interest in potty training. She'll sit bare-butted on the potty now, whereas before it was in full diaper and pants. She doesn't sit long enough for anything to happen, but it's another step in the right direction. Mia refuses to try now, but I'd rather have one fully potty trained than both half trained.

- Ella's birthday is Thursday and her party is Saturday. She's very excited to blow out candles. I'm looking forward to family and birthdays. She and Mia don't know it yet, but they have new toys and books to look forward to.

- It's small, but I get leftover Chinese for lunch today - yum! And I have a show to watch on the DVR. It's a good day and a good week.

Christmas is coming!!!

I'm excited, can you tell? Today I bought Ella boots. We have boots in sizes 5, 6, and 7. Ella needed 8s. We also have three pairs of 3T snow pants (not sure how that happened, but anyone need a pair?). I bought myself a winter coat (a big puffy, XL coat to accommodate the growing belly) and a festive Christmas mug. The Christmas decorations are up along Michigan Ave and lit already. Steve started A Very Monkey Christmas (Curious George) for the girls tonight. And the girls found a box of Christmas stuff I found after sorting through boxes of things from my old bedroom. There are ornaments, tins, some stuffed animals, a Santa soap dispenser, a string of garland, and a jingle bell necklace. Ella is wearing the jingle bell necklace and Mia unrolled the garland and dragged it around the house, leaving a trail of silver behind her. It makes the house look all Christmasy. I'll hold off until after Thanksgiving to break out the tree and the rest of the decorations and music.

I just realized that I never changed the profile pic from last Christmas either. Huh. Guess I should update that soon...with a new Christmas pic! :D

Happy news

I have had two good nights of sleep. Mia learned more of the words to "You Are My Sunshine." I had a great phone conversation with my good friend and fellow mommy Liz. I'm rereading Anne of Green Gables (I read the series through for the second time while pregnant with Ella). Ella's forehead is healing well (she tripped and smacked it on the front door on Sunday, leaving a scrape, bruise, and nice goose egg). An issue with our WIC card was resolved with minimal frustration. Ella's Gloworm is recovering from surgery ;) (the batteries were dying and needed to be replaced). Baby #3 keeps kicking. And I'm in a good mood today. :)

Insomnia

Last night was a bad night. Apparently, when pregnant, a salad for dinner followed by a large latte is a bad idea. Not enough food followed by caffeine. And I did have a bowl of cereal later, but it wasn't enough substantial food. As a result I had a horrible stomach ache. I even thought I may get sick. I didn't. But I felt pretty miserable and curled up on the couch for a while being heading to bed. I fell asleep around 11:30pm.

Another reason a latte in the evening is bad when pregnant: it's a diuretic. I woke up around 1am and had to use the bathroom. Then I couldn't get back to sleep because of my growling stomach. So I got up and ate some poptarts. I tried to go back to bed around 2am. Didn't work. I was wide awake. And then my mind started wandering. I'm a bit frustrated by a friend who, despite repeated voicemails, Facebook messages, and wall posts on my part, has yet to even acknowledge I am still alive, let alone pregnant again. So from there I got upset, which made it even harder to clear my mind and get back to sleep. I touched Steve's shoulder and it woke him up. I didn't mean to wake him up, but sometimes just touching his arm can make me feel a little bit better. He was not happy I woke him up (who would be? by then it was almost 3). So I came back downstairs, crying because I'm hormonal and was exhausted but not tired. I watched some tv and decided not to go back upstairs because it would wake him up and he needed his sleep. My stomach was a bit upset again. By the time that passed, I was starving again so I had another bowl of cereal. Which upset my stomach. I finally went back upstairs around 6, because I knew he'd be getting up for work soon anyhow. Climbing into bed woke him up. He asked if he could help me with anything and I broke down and cried again. Sobbed for the next hour. Over everything. My frustration with my friend, being sick 90% of the time, being emotional, being tired but not able to sleep, my worry that people will be disappointed if this is another girl, and a whole slew of other things. Steve offered to stay home with me again today so I could sleep in. Very sweet of him, but I didn't want him to use up too much of his sick time this close together. So at 7am, after 1.5 hours of sleep and 6 hours of sleeplessness, Steve got up for work and I finally fell asleep.

As predicted, the girls were awake and shrieking with giggles by 8:15. I dozed a bit and got up with them at 8:45. I got a grand total of 3 hours of sleep last night. I was scheduled to work for 6 hours tonight. Since I got half that much sleep, I didn't think that was wise. So I called in and will take a nap when the girls do today.

Physically, my pregnancies are not especially difficult, other than my pelvis separating a few months early. Emotionally, my pregnancies are very difficult. I am very blessed that I don't have physical difficulties but I am not looking forward to five more months of this. And I'm not sad in the least that this will be the last time I experience this. The bright spot is increasing kicks and I'm hoping Steve can feel one soon. (There was a hard one I felt with my hand at 1:30 this morning, but I didn't think he'd appreciate me waking him up for that. Good thing too, the baby didn't kick again that hard.) And the ultrasound. Knowing more about the little person growing in me helps. With the holidays, the next couple months should go by fairly quickly. And then I'm down to about 10 weeks, 9 if the doctor induces early. I'm 17 weeks today so only 23 more to go. I hope I can sleep better. At least I know to avoid lattes now.

Best husband ever

Steve is not perfect. No man (or woman) is. But he is wonderful. He isn't always patient with me when I'm pregnant (this is when I am most difficult), but he tries to be and apologizes when he isn't. If I'm craving something, he'll get it for me (although I've never asked him to run to the store in the middle of the night). He's great with the girls and tries to remember to tell me every day that I'm beautiful (I don't feel very attractive when I'm pregnant). He gives me alone time or workout time when I need it. When I need some girl time, he understands. He's supportive and loving. He does a lot around the house. I try to reciprocate.

Today Steve overslept and ended up calling into work. Since he was home, he got some stuff done around the house. He did the dishes and other bits of housework. He played with the girls. He fed them lunch, changed diapers, and we put them down for naps. We spent some time together before I headed to work. I got home to find he fed them dinner and cleaned everything up, had the girls entertained, and had even given them baths. He even saved me the last chocolate chip cookie. Is he great or what? :)

Halloween!

The girls love to dress up. So I was pretty excited to dress them in costumes for Halloween and take them trick-or-treating or something. Steve wasn't sold on the idea. He said they wouldn't get it so why bother? But they LOVE to dress up! So we kind of compromised. I would do the costumes and take them. I figured if I took the girls to trunk or treat in Spring Arbor, Leslie could meet me because I didn't think the logistics of pregnant me alone with two toddlers would work well. She enthusiastically agreed. Perfect.

Kat gave us an Arabian princess costume that was just a bit small for Regan last year that we thought would fit Ella. Since Steve wasn't big on the idea of a costume anyhow, I decided I wouldn't buy anything and Mia could wear her pink sweatsuit with a pair of bunny ears we have. Simple and easy.

Last week I realized Mom and Dad would be visiting during trunk or treat so I decided to ask Mom if she wanted to join us. She did. Tracy heard about our plans and decided that they should come join the fun, since Donovan isn't big on Halloween either. Perfect, we would have four adults and four kids.

So we all gathered at our house for dinner (sub sandwiches) and then dressed the girls. By the way, the watermelon isn't part of Mia's costume and the plush cell phone isn't part of Ella's. They raided Haylie's carseat and took her toys.


Chloe was a ladybug and Haylie was a flower. They were warm enough in their costumes. We took off Ella's head piece and Mia's ears (which she refused to keep on her head anyhow) and bundled them in their coats, hats, and mittens. So Mia wasn't really in costume anymore and Ella's was mostly hidden. But Ella was very excited to "go to a costume party" at "the castle." Mom rode with us and Leslie rode with Tracy. All the guys stayed at our house and watched a movie.

We got there for about the last 20 minutes of it. Most of the kids had already made their rounds and left so we got through quickly. We started out with just Ella walking. Mom was carrying Mia, Leslie was carrying Chloe, and Tracy was carrying Haylie (of course, she is only 4 mos). This was the first trunk.


Then Chloe decided to walk too. She and Ella held hands. Shortly after, Mia decided to walk too. She was so adorable and concentrating very hard on walking.


They did great walking. Ella kinda lead Chloe around and Mia and Mom followed us. Tracy moved around us taking lots of pictures (most of these are from her camera - thank you!). Then we saw the ponies. Once Ella spotted them, she bee-lined for them. It looked like they were closing down since it was almost 8pm. The man asked if anyone wanted to ride so I asked Ella and she lit up. I walked with them and she kept saying, "Mommy, I'm riding a horse!" At the end she wanted to ride all the other horses too. I had to tell her that they were going to bed soon.

While Ella was riding the horse, Mia was very concerned. She's afraid of most animals (or at least not fond of them) and kept saying, "Ella, come back!" I guess she was very relieved when Ella was safely back on the ground.


After riding the horse, Ella didn't want to hold Chloe's hand anymore, so Mia held hands with her. Those two are like two peas in a pod. They have similar coloring with reddish hair. They have similar temperaments. And they can make each other giggle. They were shrieking and giggling while they walked. The man handing out glowsticks thought it was so cute that he gave each of the girls more glowsticks. We ended up with two each.


Then it was 8pm and people started packing up and leaving. It was perfect for small kids. Some candy, extra attractions (Ella was so excited to tell Daddy about her pony ride), and a short distance to walk. We walked back to the cars and stopped for cappuccino on the way home. Short and sweet and so much fun! And because they're so cute and escaped being in most of the other pictures, here's Tracy and Haylie. Doesn't Haylie look like her mommy?


Tracy thinks we should do this again next year. I agreed, but we'll be outnumbered, unless one of the guys wants to come. I jokingly told Tracy that we could have six by next year. She didn't think so, lol. Hope you had a great Halloween too!

Little updates

I don't think there's much to update. Steve never got more than a slight cough and runny nose. Ella stayed completely healthy. Mia and I still have slight coughs that haven't gone away. I expect hers will disappear soon and mine will hang a while longer. When you're pregnant, your immune system doesn't do much. Being pregnant during cold season and hoping not to get sick is kind of like wearing a windbreaker in a hurricane and hoping you stay safe. My body is too busy growing a small human to fight off a cold. At this point it's just an annoyance. It'll eventually go away.

I've been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions, mostly first thing in the morning. This is by far the earliest I've felt them. With Ella, it took me a month to figure out that was what that was. I thought she was just balling up in my stomach. I figured it out at 34.5 weeks. With Mia, I noticed them at 21 weeks. This time it was 15.5 weeks. (Yeah, I have a notebook with all the bigger pregnancy events like that.) Since dehydration can cause them, I've started drinking more water. I'm hoping this will also help slow my weight gain. I've gained more than I would have liked so far. Watching the scale climb has been hard each time, but it's especially hard this time, after losing so much weight last year. I know it'll all come off again, but it's difficult. Yesterday I started working out again too. Tracy was kind enough to loan me a prenatal workout video. I'm thankful, but I think I may have to find a different one. Denise Austin is overly perky and I end the workout feeling like I want to kick her, not feeling energized or good about what I did for myself. I miss Turbo Jam! But the kicks aggravate my hips (my pelvis likes to separate way earlier than it needs to) and it gets my heart rate too high to be safe during pregnancy. Soon enough, right?

Mia has been super polite lately. One day she hit her head and came over to me with her hand on her head, saying, "head." So I kissed the spot where her hand had been. She said, "fanks" and walked away. Later the girls were eating lunch and I brought them forks. Mia said, "fank you Mommy." Later she had a leaky dirty diaper during nap time. I changed her diaper and pants and she said "fanks." I changed her sheets and she told me, "fank you" again and again. It's continued since then too. I like this phase. Her vocabulary is growing my leaps and bounds.

Ella builds amazing towers out of blocks. Lately her towers have become metropolises. Impressive, sprawling cities. Our camera is filled mainly with pictures of her cities and the girls in dress-up clothes. This is too great to pass up: Ella just said, "Mommy, you're my hero." Granted, I just started Veggie Tales for them, but still. :) Veggie Tales seem to hold magical powers. Last night Mia brought me a bag of chips from the kitchen. I told her that we had just had dinner and to take them back to Daddy. She said no and I told her again to take them to Daddy. She stared at me. So I told her, "If you take these back to the kitchen, we can watch Veggie Tales." She gasped and RAN to the kitchen. She came back without the chips. I promise I don't bribe my kids very often.

The girls are very sympathetic too. Last night I was upset (not over anything big, just something exacerbated by pregnancy hormones) and both girls were so concerned. Mia kissed me and watched me very closely. Ella came over and let me hold her for a while. Both girls said "crying" before coming to comfort me. They've comforted me before (these hormones are not fun) and it's so sweet. I love how compassionate they are. They get concerned when other people are upset too (especially one of their beloved Veggie Tales characters). I'm proud of them.

Coming up soon: small group tonight (for the first time), the BIG ultrasound in a few weeks, and Ella's 3rd birthday party (Curious George theme, thanks to Aunt Sarah).

Tiny kicks!

Well, not kicks exactly. It's kind of like something tiny inside me bumping into the rest of my insides. I felt it for the first time a few days ago. Then I felt it again. And again, during Jeopardy. Just as I was telling Steve that I think I feel the baby moving, the baby moved again! Very exciting. I'm 15 weeks, so this is the earliest I felt something that I was sure was the baby. With Ella it was 17.5 weeks, on Father's Day, and Steve felt it a few hours later. With Amelia it was 18 weeks that I was sure she was moving and I wasn't just gassy. (Sad but true.) I feel the baby occasionally but it's pretty hit and miss at this point. I figure next week should start with more regular inside-bumping and maybe the roller coaster-belly later in the week (Ella would kick my stomach and it seriously felt like I was on a roller coaster). Kicks will get more definite over time and eventually I'll be able to poke body parts that are sticking out. With Ella, Steve would play hide and seek with her. He'd poke her until she moved. Then he'd find her and poke her again. One night he stopped and just rested his hand on my belly, until she kicked him, lol. I'm glad it'll be a while before baby is big enough for that sort of thing though. Some of those elbows and jabs really hurt.

The other news this week is Mia's 18 month check-up. She charmed the people in the waiting room and the nurses. She did not like the doctor and cried as soon as he came in the room (normal at this age). She's in the 75th percentile for height and weight and "perfect," according to the doctor. (I love our doctor. He's very reassuring and I always leave feeling like I'm doing everything right.) She did get one shot and cried, but calmed down quickly. She was very happy to get back home to play with Ella. Luckily all of Amelia's appointments now will be at the year mark, as are Ella's. But no worries, we start with regular well child checks again in April, lol. Good thing we like our doctor.

Thankful

Every so often I am struck by how blessed I am. Different things happen and bring it to my attention again. I'm glad for this because I think it helps my perspective on things. It can be so easy to get down about the little things that aren't going quite right. I'm sick, Steve is starting to get sick, Mia is still a bit sick too, Ella has no interest in potty training, my nose hurts, the economy is bad. I mean, it's not hard to find some reason to whine and complain. So I am very thankful for times when I am reminded of how many things in my life have gone well.

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. My sister, a cousin, and several other acquaintances have mentioned this. To my knowledge, I have been pregnant three times. I have two beautiful, healthy little girls and am 15 weeks into another healthy pregnancy. One in four women will lose a pregnancy. The number sounds high, but if I think about all the women I know who have lost a baby, it sounds accurate. I wish it didn't. For whatever reason, I am one of the three that hasn't lost a child. Since we plan on this being our last pregnancy, it will probably stay that way. As my heart hurts for everyone who has lost a baby, I feel incredibly grateful for my own blessings. I have no idea why my little family has been spared that particular pain but I am immeasurably thankful for my healthy kids.

From there, it expands. While three of the four of us are currently sick, we're mostly healthy. We have no chronic illnesses, no injuries, no disabilities. For the most part, that extends to our families too. Any chronic illnesses are under control. In our home, we have more toys than our girls need, enough food, heat, running water, even extras like cable and internet. Even in this economy, we are fortunate to have a full-time job with good health insurance and a part-time job. Although our two cars aren't fancy or new, they run well and get us everywhere we need or want to be. We have friends and family who are generous with their time and resources. We've even found a church and small group that are a good fit for our family. Little things don't always go the way I'd like, but overall my life has been smooth and I'm more blessed than I know.

Another thing to be thankful for: a great OB! I had an appointment yesterday. He addressed all my concerns (little aches and pains). He told me I'm measuring right where I should be and he found the heartbeat easily. The baby moved a few times while we were listening, which is nice, considering I can't feel any movement yet. Heart rate is between 140 and 150 - draw any conclusion you want from that. My ultrasound is scheduled for November 16 so I'm trying to wait until then to guess one way or another on gender. Steve already took that day off, so we're all set. Can't wait!

Sick :(

I'm sick. It started out last week as a runny nose and a scratchy throat at bedtime. No big deal. Friday I started getting more congested so I started taking Tylenol Cold (about the only thing a pregnant woman can take). Saturday it got worse. I was sneezing and blowing my nose a lot. Luckily that helped me avoid too much drainage and junk in my throat, but ugh. Sunday was worse and my voice started to go last night. Today my throat is killing me, my voice is barely there, and I'm still congested and sneezing. I called into work.

Luckily it's mostly me. Ella and Steve have had slightly runny noses and I hope that's all they get. Mia had the runny nose too, but seemed okay otherwise. Friday night she woke up crying about an hour after she went to bed (so it was 9:30). Steve tried to calm her down, then I held her while he gave her Tylenol, and finally I brought her downstairs when I noticed some raised bumps below her eye. Sure enough, Mia had broken out in hives. Part of her face, her back, her chest and stomach, her arms, and her legs. She didn't seem itchy but you could tell she was uncomfortable. Steve called his mom (our standby anytime the dr's office is closed, because after raising seven kids, she's seen every ailment there is) and she recommended a cool bath. So we stripped Mia down to her diaper and sponged her off with a cool washcloth. It seemed to help a bit and the bumps seemed to lose their redness and smooth out. Poor kid would have nothing to do with her bed though. She finally let us lay her down around 12:30. The only thing we could figure out that caused it was a blanket. It's a lightweight comforter from Kat, my wonderful friend and sitter. We hadn't washed it since she gave it to us, but she uses the same laundry detergent we do. However, they do have a dog and Mia's translucent skin is pretty sensitive. The hives never came back once we removed the offending blanket.

But that wasn't the end of our night. Mia woke up crying and coughing around 2:30. We already had a humidifier running in their bedroom, so we gave her another dose of Tylenol. But the poor kid refused to let us put her down again. Finally Steve brought her back to bed with us, where she fell asleep on his chest and he fell asleep too. He finally laid her back down in her crib around 3:30. By morning she seemed fine, other than a horrible sounding cough. To be safe, I took her to the doctor. We saw the NP in the office instead and she said Amelia seems to be doing okay and give her half a dose of Benadryl as needed. We haven't needed to give her any and she still has a bit of a cough and a runny nose. Since there's no fever and she's still having plenty of wet diapers, I'm not too concerned. I just hope we both feel better soon and we don't infect anyone else.

This and that

We don't have a lot to report right now. I'll be 14 weeks tomorrow. I started feeling better and then felt worse. I think I had some sort of bug, because I had to balance eating often with eating only bland foods in small amounts. Last week was better, but I still had a few days when I didn't feel very good. I'm hoping this week is even better.

Amelia will be 18 months this week and has her well child check. I'm hoping the two of us can get flu shots then but we'll see. Last I heard the office was out of them. Last year was the first in several years that none of us got the flu shot. None of us had the flu until last year, when we all got it twice in the span of a month. I'd really like to avoid that this year, especially while pregnant.

We've decided to back off potty training for now. I still ask Ella multiple times a day if she wants to use the potty. She always says no, maybe later. She hasn't shown signs of readiness yet and the whole process was incredibly frustrating to both of us, without any progress. So I'm hoping and praying she decides she's ready before this baby comes but we're not going to keep going in circles. I just really don't want to pay for three kids in diapers.

Ella has had a pillow on her bed all summer but we recently put a Barbie pillowcase on it. Ella loves it and keeps reading the letters off. Amelia then decided she needs a pillow too. A few nights she slept with a blanket balled up under her head. Then I folded up a towel for her to use. After a few days of repeatedly refolding the towel for her, I bought her a small Barbie pillow. She loves it.

The girls have plastic dishes and a set of wooden food. Lately they've been spreading bandanas on the coffee table and pulling up chairs to have a tea party. They do it almost everyday. With that many pieces, I am so glad I taught them early to help me pick up toys. Seriously. Some days they're less cooperative, but I never have to pick up all their toys anymore. It keeps me happy.

And because it's cute: Last night I was starting the dishes and put in a CD. Ella and Amelia were playing and watching tv. When Ella heard the music she came running. She said, "I heard the dance start and I'm going to dance. My necklace is going to help me dance." And she danced and hopped around the kitchen for probably ten minutes before returning to her toys in the living room. Amelia, the shadow, danced too and then stayed in the kitchen with me. She dragged out a chair and stool and sat in the chair with her feet up while I did the dishes. Goofy girls.

Conversations with an almost 3 year old

This morning:
Ella: Mommy, I'm eating a cookie. It's my favorite kind.
Mommy: Oh yeah? What kind is it?
Ella: Scrumptious.

Mommy: Remember yesterday how we talked about the baby in Mommy's belly?
Ella: Yeah. The baby is in your pants.

Mommy (holding a bowl just in case, because I'm not feeling so good)
Ella: Mommy, what do you have there?
Mommy: A bowl, there's nothing in it. (hold it up to show her)
Ella: Mommy, you don't have any popcorns!

Pregnancy brain

Even though it had only been maybe 30 minutes between the conversation yesterday and when I posted about it, I forgot parts of the conversation. This morning I'm remembering, after a night of weird dreams and waking up early just because.

I told Ella that Mommy has a baby in her belly. She thought for a moment and asked if the baby is in my belly button. So I explained that the baby is behind my belly button, in my belly. She was quiet and then asked if she could wake the baby up. I said I thought the baby was sleeping and probably will for a while. Then I opened the baby gate so we could all go downstairs. As I was getting Mia out of her crib, I told her there was a baby in my belly. She patted my belly and said, "baby."

Once we got downstairs Ella asked if there was a baby behind the front door (her way of asking if the baby is here). I said no, the baby is in Mommy's belly and needs to grow for a while before it comes out. I continued by telling her the baby needs to grow until it's almost as big as Haylie (Haylie is a few pounds lighter than Abigail, lol) and then it will come out. I asked if she wanted a baby to come live with us. She ignored me, lol. It'll be interesting to see what else they have to say when we're closing to D-day.

Out of the mouths of babes...

Heard today at our house:

- "'Mewia, don't eat that. It's yucky. " (Mia was putting a letter magnet in her mouth.)
- "Okay, kids. Soccer is over." (At the end of nap time...?)
- "Mommy, is the baby in your belly button?" (After I tried telling Ella I have a baby in my belly.)
- "Mommy, do the funny face!" while squishing her cheeks with her hands (It's called the chubby face and has an accompanying monologue. Leslie got it from one of her friends and it always cracked me up. The girls love it too. After I did it, Ella laughed for like five minutes.)
- "We're super heroes!" while flexing and wearing a cape (Yes, they were super heroes again - too cute.)

I love my girls. :)

My little super heroes

As you can tell by the varying moods of my recent posts, my pregnancy hormones are in full swing. (Seriously did not mean that as a pun.) Steve manages to remain patient with me and my mood swings, despite this being pregnancy #3 in as many years. I think he's nearing sainthood. Pray for him and his continued patience if you think of it.

On to the reason for the post... The girls were easier today and I'm feeling a bit better today. Not great but better. I let the girls stay up a little longer before naps, because 1. they don't fall asleep until later anyhow and 2. they had a late lunch. So they pulled out the dress up clothes. This was the result.

Aren't they cute? Ella dressed herself first, asking me to tie her "cape." Mia of course copied Ella and brought another bandanna over for me to tie on her. Ella then announced, "We're super heroes!" Their daddy would be so proud. At one point she said they were super readers (it's a show on PBS about reading). She cried when it was time to put the costumes away and said, "I don't want to stop being a super hero." I responded by telling her Daddy would be happy to be super heroes with them after nap time. After changing her diaper I asked if she was still a super hero. She said no, she wasn't. LOL.

Ella also helped Mia get her sippy cup earlier. Mia had pushed it back in the entertainment center next to the tv and her arms were too short to reach it. Ella rescued it for her. I love it when they play nice and help each other.

Then we headed upstairs for nap time. Mia's crib has a side that drops down and the sliders have grease in them so they actually work. Not a problem unless Mia wedges a toy into one of them. Before it was her doll, Foofa. We had to take it and wash it. Both girls were upset about the missing doll. Both were ecstatic to have it returned, clean. Maybe I should explain here the toys in bed situation. Both girls have certain blankets they're attached to but only for nap and bed time. Both girls have a gloworm that lights up and plays music. Both have a pink doll named Foofa. Both girls have a sheep (Ella's is cream and says a bedtime prayer, Mia's is pink). Ella has an orange Care Bear and Mia has a soft book and a plushie Eeyore blanket. Anyway, the toy in question today was Mia's sheep. It's face was streaked with grease. The rest of it is covered in loops of yarn, probably not a good idea to launder it (there were no directions on the tag). So I tossed it in the hall so I could hand wash it while the girls napped.

Ella cried. She was incredibly upset that Mia lost her sheep. More upset than Mia. So I tucked them in, tried to calm Ella down, and crossed the hall with the sheep. I got it wet and then started scrubbing with hand soap. It came clean easily enough (thank God!) and I rinsed it a few times and got it as dry as I could. I re-entered their room and both girls were so happy. Ella settled down and Mia kept holding the sheep up and saying, "Keen." (That's clean for anyone not well-versed in toddler-speak.) They're still making noise, but they're happy to have the sheep back. Ah, empathy. I can't honestly say it's easy having toddlers, but life sure is interesting.

And I'm grumpy again

It's been a rough week. I'm now 12 weeks pregnant, so I should be feeling better, right? Wrong. I feel worse than ever. I threw up Monday morning. I've felt awful the rest of the week. Today I felt like I could barely choke down my lunch.

This morning Amelia kept dropping her sippy cup of milk on the floor, on purpose. I got annoyed quickly because it spills easily. But oh no, the third time she dropped it, after I told her to stop, the lid popped off and chocolate milk exploded all over the living room floor. It's carpeted. I was mad. I yelled. She cried. No time out or punishment because she was so upset already.

Then Ella, who should be ready to potty train since she's almost three, had a dirty diaper. Not a big deal. But when I had the diaper off her and was cleaning her up, she let loose and I had to clean up a puddle. I was even more annoyed (and relieved I had bothered to grab the changing mat).

Then my boss's assistant who does the scheduling called. Since I felt awful when she called, I called her back a little later. Now, I asked for this week off. I'm not a regular employee, so this shouldn't be a problem, right? You'd think. In fact, I've turned down part-time and full-time positions there because I wanted to have more flexibility to say no when I don't want to work. But I still get called all the time to go in. I know I'm fortunate to have a good job and plenty of hours. But I also know my limits and with the pregnancy hormones coursing through my body, 12 hours a week is definitely my limit. And this glorious week (in which I of course seem to be coming down with some bug) was my week OFF. No work. Sigh. She asked me if I could work Friday. I said no, my babysitter isn't available on Fridays. She also said they had some questions on a triage I did and the agency I referred this client to keeps calling about it. Sooooo, I'm going in for a little while tonight to fix whatever questions they have. Bah. I swear, if I'm a fill-in employee, how is it that I'm so indispensable that I can't get one week off? No wonder people burn out so fast in the mental health field.

No break for the pregnant and exhausted.

Little unexpected things make life

I've been grumpy lately. Part of it is pregnancy hormones, part of it is not sleeping well, part is just, well, irritability. It often seems like a pretty even balance of good things and annoying, messy things. Overall my life is great. Steve is employed and doesn't hate it, we have insurance. I'm working and have the potential to take a full-time position if we needed me to. We have two beautiful, healthy, polite, smart little girls. We have another healthy baby on the way. We have two running cars and a nice house and more toys and clothes than our girls could ever use. We are all healthy and so are our families. But I've been irritable.

Tonight something small and unexpected happened. Steve was changing the laundry and his cell phone rang. So I grabbed it and answered it. It was his sister, Annie, who moved to Arizona back in July. It was just so unexpected and suddenly I was all excited. I think my excitement to talk to her caught her off-guard, lol. I only talked to her for maybe a minute before handing off the phone to Steve, but somehow, that little interaction improved my mood. Funny, huh? Annie, if you're reading this, I'm glad you called for Steve's computer expertise and I got to say hi. Thanks for surprising me. :)

Tracy is 24!

Happy birthday Tracy! My beautiful middle sister is 24 today. She is a good wife and great mom and I'm proud of her.

We didn't always get along. We just did not understand each other when we were little. She cried a lot, so I always got in trouble when I picked on her. I played with Barbies and caught frogs. She carried her baby dolls everywhere. She'd steal my toys so I'd steal them back plus some of hers. We fought over everything, sometimes just because the other one wanted it. This continued through elementary school and middle school. In high school her friends spied on me and my boyfriend. I yelled at them. She got mad at me. Then senior year happened. Leslie (our baby sister) had major back surgery a month after my boyfriend dumped me. I was lonely, we were all a bit scared, and we pulled together. We started hanging out together. Sometimes. We didn't always get along, but things improved.

Then I left for college. And they missed me. And I missed them. So they'd visit me and we'd hang out when I came home. When Tracy started dating, she'd call me for advice. We suddenly had more in common. Then she graduated and we had even more in common. We talked on the phone a lot. We were becoming actual friends. Then she met Donovan, I graduated from college, and then went out on my first date with Steve. Even more in common!

About 6 weeks later, we were both engaged (five days apart). We initially said no to a double wedding. After much discussion, we realized we'd have people driving from all over the state for our weddings twice in the middle of winter. A lot of the same people. So we decided to have one wedding. Best decision ever. Now, a lot of people have told me there's no way they could share their wedding day and the spotlight with someone else. None of the four of us are spotlight people, so that wasn't a problem. And we're all very agreeable. Tracy had her heart set on certain things and I had mine set on other certain things. It all worked out very well. The best part is that my sister and friend was next to me for the whole thing, experiencing all the same things. She understood all of it. And we have this great bond that wouldn't have been as deep otherwise. We shared one of the best days of our lives.

So love, marriage, then babies, right? And we did it almost that quickly. I was pregnant two months after we got married. Tracy found out she was pregnant about six weeks later. Unfortunately, Tracy had a miscarriage. I sobbed. I immediately called and left her a message telling her how sorry I was and I was here for her but would wait for her to call me when she was ready. The last thing I wanted to do was make things harder for her. I was incredibly scared that our special bond was gone. I prayed she would conceive again before I had my baby, thinking that would make it easier for her. It didn't happen.

When Ella was born, Tracy and Donovan came to visit a few days later, right before Thanksgiving. She held Ella, he didn't. I was okay with whatever was good for them. I knew they were happy for us, even if it stung for them. On Christmas Eve, Tracy found out she was pregnant. This time things went much better, and Chloe just turned two. She's an adorable firecracker. Tracy has her hands full with her and her baby sister Haylie. Btw, Tracy gave birth to Chloe after 30 hours of labor and 4 hours of pushing, without any meds. She is seriously one of the strongest people I know, and Chloe's birth is just one example of it.

Happy birthday little sis! I love you!

Small changes

Today feels like fall. I big fuzzy heart fall. The changing leaves, the crisp air, cooler temps, the coming holidays. Jeans and hoodies at football games. I love it.

My girls are cute. They sleep with certain blankets, dolls, and gloworms. They get upset if for some reason they don't have these. Last night, Mia got very upset when Steve tried to take her pink doll. The thing looked like it got caught in the mechanism for the side of the crib and was streaked with grease. So she kept it last night. This morning I was sneaky and carried it downstairs and washed it without Mia noticing. Clean and dry by nap time. Mia went upstairs without the doll while I was changing Ella's diaper, so Ella carried the baby doll upstairs and gave it to her. Mia said thank you. They're good sisters (we'll ignore the fact that 20 minutes earlier Ella was hoarding blocks and pushed Mia).

I'm now 10 weeks pregnant and my symptoms are changing a bit. This makes me wonder if my original dates may have been correct and I'm actually 12 weeks and exiting the first trimester, but we'll see what the doc says next Monday. My nausea has subsided slightly, so I have to eat maybe every hour and a half as opposed to every hour. I feel more tired. My appetite has increased. I'm feeling more affectionate towards Steve again but less kind towards the general public. My forehead is dry and flaky, while my chin is still breaking out. Weird, but most of pregnancy is.

I'm still working. Time with adults and the money is nice but I am thrilled to have today off. I've been offered a full time position (twice now) but part time is pretty ideal for our current situation.

In sad news, Doug and Linda's golden retriever was hit by a car this morning. Biscuit was about 3 years old (a little older than Ella). She is now buried in the backyard near the dogwood tree. I'm sad for them because I know how hard it is to lose a pet. Oddly enough, Tracy and Donovan's older dog was also hit by a car last week. Doc is okay. He has a broken front leg and a nice cast, but is still trying to visit the neighbor's dog.

The girls are upstairs for naps now so I'm going to enjoy my down time and watch a little tv. Then I might try out that prenatal workout video I borrowed from Tracy...we'll see how ambitious I am today.

The change for 2010

Our family has had one big event each year. We got married in 2005, had Ella in 2006, bought our house in 2007, had Amelia in 2008, and I graduated with my masters in 2009. We thought 2010 would pass without anything quite that big, which was okay with us. We thought wrong. I'm 9 1/2 weeks pregnant with our third child, due April 13, 2010.

Without going into a lot of detail, my usually very regular cycle was messed up in July, so we were careful. At the end of the month, I bought some pregnancy tests, mainly to ease my mind because I didn't think there was any possible way I was pregnant. Wrong again. I took the test the day before I was supposed to get my period. Steve was at work and Ella was watching me and talking to me while I was waiting for the negative result. I felt a bit faint when I saw it was positive. Ella kept chattering. I got myself together and took the girls downstairs like any other morning. Steve always calls on his breaks, but he got his morning break late that morning. I was going nuts waiting for him to call. Finally he did and when I answered and said, "Finally! I thought you were never going to call!" he asked, "What's going on?" So I told him I took the test and it was positive. He was as stunned as me. Somehow we got through the day and I bought a 3-pack of tests that night. I took one that night, one the next afternoon, and one the evening after that. All immediately positive.

With my messed up cycle, we weren't sure when the baby was conceived. So after my initial doctor's appointment, he scheduled an ultrasound to date the pregnancy. The ultrasound showed the heartbeat and a baby measuring 7 weeks 3 days, putting our EDD at April 13, 2010. (That's two days before Amelia turns two.) I've had a fair number of symptoms so far, the most prominent being nausea. I've avoided actually getting sick, but feel nauseated most of every day.

So if I'm 9 1/2 weeks, why are we telling now rather than waiting until 12 weeks? Because we've known for 6 weeks already. And depending on the day/time of day/particular symptoms, I look pregnant. I'm mainly in maternity pants now - regular ones (unless I wear 2-3 sizes bigger than I was wearing) are too uncomfortable.

8 weeks 6 days

After adjusting to the idea, we like the idea of three kids. Although we didn't feel incomplete before, three kids feel like a complete family. We're still nervous. This will make three kids in three and a half years. Ella isn't potty trained yet. We were able to sleep through the night and were finished with bottles and bassinets and baby carriers. But I am glad we're having them close together. I don't think I'd want to return to cribs and diapers and car seats if we were out of that stage. But in case anyone is wondering, this will be our last. We have plans to ensure that. Three kids, especially so close together, is plenty.

In the meantime, I'm working part time and trying to feel halfway normal. At least I won't have class to deal with this time, right?

Sick kid

Last weekend was a long, holiday weekend. We had plans to go to my parents' house. Unfortunately I had to work until 7:00pm on Friday, so we packed that night to leave in the morning. Things were going well until Steve called me when I got out of the shower. Ella threw up. Other than being upset, she seemed okay. So we finished packing and left. We went to the bank and then Dunkin' Donuts and headed out of town. Ella still seemed okay but wasn't eating her donut hole. Around the time we got to Mason, she started saying, "No, mommy! No!" and threw up all over herself. Luckily we had a roll of paper towels in the van (from another eventful trip involving spilled coffee and vomit) so we stopped and mopped her and her carseat up and changed her clothes. We continued traveling, hoping things would get better from there. Once again, Ella seemed fine for a while. Then she said, "No, no, no!" and threw up again. I was trying to use paper towels to sop up the mess and she kept whipping them off her and onto the floor. So we stopped again, stripped the extra pad off the carseat, cleaned her up, changed her clothes, etc again. I went into the gas station and bought saltines and tums because I wasn't feeling so good now either. Luckily the rest of the trip was quiet and we only had another 20-25 minutes from the second stop. We washed everything from her carseat and everything she'd worn so far that day. Ella was fine after that.

That night we all went out to Old Country Buffet with almost everyone on Mom's side of the family. Grandma's birthday was Sunday and she turned 90. It was a great time and so nice to see family again. After dinner we went back to Mom and Dad's house for cake and ice cream and gifts. We got pictures of all the great-grandkids with Grandma. We would have done the grandkids too, but we were missing two. My cousins' kids are a little bit older and they had a great time playing with all our little girls. Dad of course had a great time showing off all his toys, especially his bikes.

Sunday was a quieter day. Tracy and I did a little shopping in the afternoon and then Leslie came later in the evening. We celebrated Chloe's birthday that night. The girls loved the cupcakes, party hats, and star sunglasses.

Monday started out with all the guys leaving to go golfing. Mia was awake so we got up and let Ella sleep in. I finally checked on Ella and she was awake and just laying in bed still. So I carried her out and changed her pull-up, which was almost completely dry. She felt warm too and seemed a bit lethargic. I got her a cup of milk and some chocolate chip Teddy Grahams and she sat on the floor eating. And then it happened. She threw up, all over herself and the floor. My sisters helped me clean her up and get her clothes changed (she refused to sit up). We got her a cup of watered down Gatorade and a bucket. I moved her so she could see the movie on the tv and she barely moved for a good hour. By the time she drank most of her Gatorade, she got up and was moving around a little and seemed fine. Sure enough, she didn't throw up again. She barely ate anything during the day but I wasn't about to push food on her and she was drinking fluids. The trip home was uneventful, but we had extra plastic bags and a roll of paper towels ready just in case. We did realize partway home that Tracy had left her wallet (minus her license and debit card) in our van, but things worked out Tuesday that she got it back that day.

Whatever it was, I'm glad it seems to be gone. It seemed like something just didn't settle right Saturday morning and then riding in the car made it worse (although she doesn't usually get carsick). But with getting sick again on Monday, I don't have a clue. If it was some sort of bug, I think she would have been sick all weekend or it would have been a one day thing. I'm just glad no one else caught it this time.

Kids are fun

The girls are a lot of work but they also provide tons of entertainment. Here are a few things that have happened recently:

- Yesterday morning Steve was dressed and had the girls dressed while I was still in my pajamas. Ella, who gets very excited to go to church, asked, "Mommy, do you want to go to church with us?"

- Amelia is learning how things work. When crying for a toy Ella had didn't work, she negotiated for a trade. It worked, lol. She also has been hiding toys she doesn't want to share. This leads me to think that the toys I can't find aren't lost but stashed somewhere.

- Ella has been calling Kat (a wonderful friend who babysits so I can work a little bit) Mama. She calls me Mom or Mommy. Kat filled me in because she didn't want my feelings hurt. Apparently Ella started calling her Mama and Kat corrected her and said her name is Kat. Ella pointed to Sydney and Regan and said, "They call you Mama. Your name is Mama." Kat couldn't come up with an argument for that, so Ella now calls her Mama, lol.

- Mia is talking more and more. It's a lot of fun to have her repeat phrases in her tiny voice. Most of it's not very clear, but adorable anyhow.

- They both like to dance and have been singing. Ella has been making up her own songs too. She loves the Veggie Tales theme too.

- This is more of a brag, but Ella is learning her letters and the sounds they make. Wherever we go, she points out letters that she sees. I know reading is still a ways off, but I definitely think she'll learn to read early. I mean, she's not 3 yet and is trying to sound out words. I wish we could get her that interested in potty training!

PT working mom (kinda)

I got a job, sort of. My internship site is frequently short-staffed and has not hired people to fill the gaps left by the former interns (myself included). Normally this is more of an annoyance than anything else, but with two regulars out for surgery and one on vacation, they needed more help. So they called me and asked if I'd like to work on a part-time fill-in basis. Since I miss adult interaction and we could use some extra money, I agreed. Originally it was supposed to be 40 hours of work and 5 hours of training. To date, I have had 6.5 hours of training and worked 7 hours. The 40 scheduled hours begin next week. I've also turned down another 7 or so hours of work. Obviously it's going to be important for me to be able to say no when I need to but this is looking like a fairly promising job. Getting hours should not be a problem. I'm hoping this will be a nice balance of being a stay-at-home parent and having a fulfilling job with adult interaction and intellectual stimulation. I'll keep you posted...

Putters, tennis rackets, and (flying) bats

Last night was our adult-only dinner. It was wonderful. Since our parents get along so well, we decided it would be fun to have dinner out with all of them. Since Mom and Dad live in Grand Rapids now, we planned to meet in Lansing. Sarah, Steve's wonderful sister, just got back from Arizona but was willing to babysit Ella and Amelia and Isaac and Julia at our house. Dinner was fun and much less weird than you'd expect a triple date with your parents and in-laws to be. :) Then we found a putt putt golf place and decided to do that too. Since we had thunderstorms earlier in the day, most of the greens were waterlogged and some were partially flooded. That just made it more fun. I lost miserably but we had a lot of laughs and it was nice to have a night with both sets of parents without kids as distractions. Luckily, the girls were pretty good for Sarah too.

We got to bed late, about 12:30. Then it happened. I saw it first, when Steve had fallen asleep and I was doing electronic sudoku. I saw a dark flutter out of the corner of my eye and then saw it again, screamed, and dove under the covers. In the process I smacked myself in the forehead with my sudoku. I have a nice goose egg. Steve woke up and pulled the blankets over his head too, not sure what was going on. But there it was, a bat, circling our bed. Then we tried to decide what to do while it flew and dove over our bed. Finally we peeked and couldn't find it. Looked everywhere. Thing is, we didn't know where it came from either. So finally we both climbed into bed. After I calmed down I fell asleep. Steve kept reading and woke me up a while later to say it was back. This time we watched it in the mirror on our headboard. Thing is, by the time we were brave enough to actually look, it had disappeared again. Again, I went back to sleep while Steve stayed awake reading. That time he had a tennis racket. When it reappeared, he smacked it a few times and stunned it and pinned it on the floor with the racket. He managed to bash his knee with the racket too (apparently we're klutzes). He went downstairs and got a diaper box to slide underneath the bat and racket and carried the entire thing downstairs. Then he wasn't sure what to do so I helped him put a garbage bag over the entire thing and then opened the back door. He walked out onto the patio and whipped the whole mess into the yard. So by the time I finally got to sleep and stayed asleep, it was 3:15. Steve said he was awake until 4:00.

This morning the girls started making noise around 8:00 but we didn't get out of bed until we heard Ella shrieking at Amelia. Not sure what the problem was. But both girls were grumpy, Steve and I are both tired, it's already hot and sticky humid, and I still have a bump and headache from my sudoku puzzle. So we decided it was probably best to stick close to home today. We're enjoying our new church and the small group and will resume that on Wednesday with small group. Luckily the girls seem to be a bit more agreeable and a bit less cranky now. Praying it lasts!

Parenting is hard

Steve and I have come to the conclusion that we are officially parents now. Up until this past week, we were coasting and it was pretty easy most of the time. Seriously, taking care of two kids with the stomach flu while I had the stomach flu (twice in a month's time even) was easier than this past week has been.

Like I said in my last post, Ella has been increasingly defiant lately. It got to the point where she refused to pick up anything ever. It all came to a head on Tuesday (I think - all my days are blurring together into one big time out). She got out a plastic crib sheet and refused to put it away. I told her she was not leaving her room until she put it away. She still refused. And the standoff began. I took Mia downstairs and went back up to change Ella's diaper. Still refused to put the sheet away. I checked on her every so often to see if she'd changed her mind. Nope. The kid is stubborn. Isaac and Julia came over for a few hours and even tempting her with playing with them didn't work. I brought her a cereal bar. Isaac and Julia tried one last time to convince her to put it away before they left. I did bring her downstairs for lunch. She ate and immediately went back upstairs. Still she refused. Finally I took Mia up for nap time and changed Ella's diaper again. I reminded her that she needed to be quiet so Mia could take a nap and that she needed to put the sheet away if she wanted to come downstairs at the end of nap time. Once I checked on them and she not only still had the sheet out but had pulled all the blankets and toys off her bed. :( So I told her she also needed to put those away to come downstairs. Later during nap time Mia started crying. I went to check on her and had to give her back her blankets which she'd thrown on the floor. Then I noticed something. The plastic sheet was back where I had asked Ella to put it!!! I was so excited I hugged her and started dancing around her room. It made her start giggling. Since nap time wasn't over yet, I told her that it was still nap time and her blankets needed to be on her bed at the end but I was so proud of her for putting the sheet away! Since she'd finally obeyed me, I stashed the plastic sheets in the closet, never to cause a problem again. And so the great blanket standoff ended, a mere 7.5 hours after it began.

There were a few hiccups that evening. At the end of nap time she initially refused to put her blankets, pillow, and toys back on her bed. But it only took about 15 minutes alone in her room to decide it was best to put them away, so I consider that a victory. But later in the evening we had issues when she flat out refused to put away the books downstairs. Sigh.

Since that standoff, we've had no more issues with putting things away upstairs. However, Ella hasn't made the connection that she also needs to put things away downstairs. Or at church in the nursery. Or probably anywhere else. As a result we've had lots of time outs when it's time to put anything away. She went upstairs early for a nap yesterday because she refused to help pick up. Mia got to stay up longer and watch Curious George. I repeatedly explained to Ella that Mia got to stay up and watch Curious George because she picked up toys when I asked her to. I'm not sure it's getting through to her.

Today it was shoes. I made it clear to Ella that she needed to put them all back when she was done playing with them. No dice. So she went into time out. Mia helped me pick up the shoes and I left two for Ella to put away. Ella kept refusing so she went to the time out corner. Unfortunately, while she was in time out, Mia put those shoes away. So what do I do now? I tried to make it clear to Ella that I was disappointed that she didn't do what I asked and that she's very lucky to have Mia for a sister. Then the battle became Ella telling Mia thank you. I figure that Ella got out of putting the shoes away and the least she could do is tell Mia thank you. So she stayed in time out for two hours, in increments of two minutes. Every time the timer went off I asked if she was ready to tell Mia thank you. She would say no and I'd restart the timer. Finally I decided it was time for lunch and explained to her that if she wouldn't say thank you to Mia then immediately after lunch, she was going upstairs. Family time is a privilege earned by being part of this family, meaning she has to help pick up the messes she makes. So Ella has already been upstairs for an hour. Mia stayed down here with me and got to watch Curious George. She helped me pick up shoes when I asked her to. It's almost nap time and Mia will go upstairs.

I feel worst for Mia. She hates to see Ella get in trouble, which is why she keeps cleaning up after her. And she doesn't like being downstairs if Ella isn't down here too. So her "reward" is more like punishment I'm afraid. Poor kid adores her sister.

I'm hoping today's time outs help Ella learn that she needs to pick up things downstairs too. I don't like this defiant child she's becoming. Every day feels like a long battle of wills, one that I am just barely winning. My best trait in this is my own stubbornness and refusal to give in and let my two year old daughter win.

It's becoming a bit of a bedtime issue too. She doesn't want to do anything we ask. We started a small group last night that ran until 8:30, so it was around 9 when we got home. Normally the girls go to bed between 8 and 8:30. Ella had refused to put a toy away at the nursery but we let that go. Then we got home and she fought having her diaper and clothes changed. Then she refused to go upstairs. What began as a simple "no" became an all-out screaming tantrum. We mostly ignored it and Steve waited for her to come to the bottom of the stairs while I helped Mia brush her teeth. It was horrible. I have never seen Ella so worked up and she was letting out bloodcurdling screams. We read that we should not punish for tantrums - tantrums are the way that toddlers deal with their big emotions until they learn better ways to handle them. But once Ella finally flopped to the bottom of the stairs, Steve let her know in no uncertain terms that it's okay to be upset but screaming like that is NOT allowed. She cried through brushing her teeth and once in bed refused to say good night or I love you. Even worse, she even refused to kiss or hug us. Sigh. This is not fun but I'm trusting right now that she'll learn and things will get better.

On a happier note, I took a break from writing this post to take Mia upstairs for her nap. I figured I'd have to let this morning go and not push Ella to say thank you to Mia, but at the same time I wasn't sure that was the best thing either. Once in their room, Mia immediately ran to Ella's bed to hug her. I asked Ella if she could say thank you to Mia and she kinda smiled and said "thank you 'Mewia." I told her how proud I was that she said it and hugged and kissed her. Just when I think there's not going to be any improvement, she surprises me. Thank God for that, because this is what keeps me hopeful and trusting that we're doing the right thing and she's learning, even if it's more slowly and painfully than I'd like.

Little bits of news

Okay, so I said I'd post about the family reunion. I still might, just not right now. There are some other things I wanted to say instead.

I'm licensed now! I have my resume and cover letter together, I just need to send them in now. I have a few places to send them. Honestly, I could have been applying for the past 7 weeks while I waited for my license but I procrastinated. I figured I had plenty of time. I'm hoping to find some contractual counseling work. Even part-time at a decent rate would help immensely with money issues and my sanity. Financially things are just a little tighter than we'd like. Not unexpected with the economy, but contractual work for me should solve it.

As far as my sanity, I feel a need to clarify. I love the girls and for the most part I love being home with them. However, I don't get a lot of adult conversation right now and don't get out of the house much either. That is starting to wear on me. Actually that has improved somewhat in the last two weeks. But Ella has been increasingly difficult. Typically she is sweet and cooperative, with the occasional defiance (read: she says "no!" but does what we ask). Lately though, she has this whiny quality to her voice and her cry - few things push my buttons faster than whining. And she will flat out refuse to do anything we ask - pick up toys, go upstairs, go downstairs, go to the diaper change area, go to her high chair. She throws herself on the floor, crosses her arms, pouts, and whines. If you try to move her, she starts screaming. If it was just a tantrum, I'd just leave her there and ignore her. But when she refuses to do something we ask, I feel like it warrants discipline because she's disobeying us. We've tried taking toys away. We've tried time outs. We've tried talking. We've even tried the occasional light spanking. Still it continues. I'm frustrated. So even though counseling tends to be a taxing job, it would be a welcome change right now and I would have more patience when I am home with her. (Mia has been more cooperative. It's like she's trying to cover for Ella because she doesn't like to see her get in trouble. She has been saying "no" more often though which I'm not pleased with.)

On a happier note, we tried a new church last Sunday. The teachings were sound, the people were friendly, the church was small enough we didn't go unnoticed, and Ella loved the nursery (Mia even stayed in there for a little while - something she's refused to do for months). We're planning on going again this Sunday.

That's most of the news here. Oh, I turned 26 on Monday. Steve made sure this birthday was better than last year. :) My parents stopped by and dropped off a deep freezer. Steve made me breakfast and bought me flowers. The middle of the day was unplanned and I got to relax for a while. After nap time we drove the girls out to Doug and Linda's campsite and then the two of us went out for dinner, mini golf, and ice cream before returning for the girls. It was a good day. :)

The ZOO!!!

We've been talking about taking a trip to the zoo since I was pregnant with Ella three years ago. The first summer after she was born, she was still a bit young for it. By the following summer, we had Amelia and she was even younger. So we decided this summer would be the time to do it. They both know some of the animals and they'd be old enough to enjoy. So would Chloe. Of course, now Tracy and Donovan also have Haylie, who wasn't even a month old at that point, but the rate we were going, there was always going to be an infant in the family. Plus kids are free until they turn three, which Ella does in November. And my parents now live in GR, about 15 minutes from the John Ball Park Zoo. We were planning to be there during the day on Friday anyhow, so it worked out wonderfully.

As it turned out, Leslie had to work over the weekend (and pick up Paul) and Reid only took a half day on Firday. Mom had a meeting in Reed City so she couldn't go either. So it ended up being Dad, Steve, Ella, Amelia, Tracy, Donovan, Chloe, Haylie, me, and three strollers (two singles and one double). Pretty early on, Chloe rebelled against the stroller, so she walked or Donovan carried her. Ella wanted to walk then too. I wasn't sure about it, especially when Ella refused to hold my hand, but she let Chloe hold her hand and they walked along together, albeit very slowly.

Shortly after this we found the petting zoo. The only animals to pet were goats. Ella didn't touch the goats much, but chattered continuously to whichever one was closest. The one in the picture gently headbutted Ella in the belly. She kinda fake laughed and said, "that tickles." Steve brought Amelia in too, but I'm not sure she touched any of them or even let him put her down. She seems to be deathly afraid of animals, even my parents' 16 year old cat.


Ella kept asking about the lions. When we got to them, she didn't seem very interested. Of course, they were pretty far back in the habitat so she couldn't see them very well. I did get this great picture though.
She did like the tiger though.


Shortly after looking at the lions, we ran into Cameron Hoover, who is one of Evart's former band directors. Unfortunately, Tracy wasn't with us then and the rest of us didn't really know him well.
Next up were the monkeys, which Ella LOVED. The one in the picture was just hanging out with his back to the glass. Then he turned around and I got a picture. Shortly after that, he swung away to the other side of the habitat. Ella started clapping and shouting, "Look at the wunkey go! Go wunkey! Good job wunkey!" It was hilarious and she was SO excited. Some of the other parents there got a good laugh out of it too. :)


We also saw this monkey. It's a howler monkey and I caught it mid-howl in the picture. I saw wild ones in Guatemala.
And because they're cute, here's a picture of the girls in the stroller. This one was mid-trip. The one at the end did not turn out well. We had a diaper mishap with Ella and Mia was just tired. So here's the funny face picture. I'm not sure what either of them was doing in the picture but it makes me smile. :)
I'll post more pictures from the weekend later, since I took a lot at the Atherton reunion the next day. But this post is already pretty long. We'll probably make zoo trips a yearly thing since it's so close to Mom and Dad. Considering we made the trip with four girls under three, it went pretty smoothly. Btw, there were a lot of other animals that I either didn't take pictures of or didn't post pictures of. The zoo's website has a map posted and all the other info you'd need to know. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!