Farmer Files

My Baby Boy

2011-02-26T08:27:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that tomorrow, my baby boy will be ONE YEAR OLD already! How did that happen?! WHEN did that happen?! It's been such a fast year and now I see this amazing little boy who definitely has his own personality and is busy, busy, busy!

Andrew, my Baby Bear at one year:
- has 4 teeth on top and 4 teeth on bottom....a few weeks ago, when it snowed, he woke up with THREE new teeth!
-he crawls all over the place and cruises a lot, but he's still not really confident in taking steps. He's taken 5-6 steps alone, but then he'll just slooooooowly slink to the ground and crawl away at lightning speed.
- He is talking already! His first word was "uh-oh" (is that a sign of things to come?!) and he says "outside" but he copies Katelyn and says it like she says it: sounds like "eye-eyed". He says that ("dat") and he picked up the phone one day, held it to his ear and said "hi!"...but I haven't heard that one again. He also said "thank you" or at least it sounded like thank you....
-Andrew LOVES to play with his sisters. He also loves to take their stuff...typical baby brother!
- He loves to dance. As soon as he hears music, even if its just someone singing, he'll start bouncing away and dancing. The other day, my mom was rocking him to sleep, singing the Barney song to him, and he was all wrapped up in a blanket, laying in my mom's arms, seemingly ready to sleep....then he started bouncing all around, dancing and woke up! lol
-Barney is his favorite show. Katelyn LOVES LOVES Barney so we watch it all the time...Andrew has watched a lot, too, so he gets excited and starts bouncing when he hears the word Barney!
-He has recently started to SCREAM! Katelyn did this around a year and stopped when she was in speech and learned more words to communicate, so hopefully he'll drop this screaming thing soon!
- Like a typical boy, Andrew loves to play with soccer balls, basketballs, foam balls...anything round will do. He chases it, grabs for it, then it rolls away a little, so he'll crawl after it again, and repeat!
-His hair is so soft and its getting so long. He really needs a haircut, because his hair in front reaches down to his nose (even despite the cowlick in front), so I have to constantly move it out of his eyes. I decided to wait until his birthday to get his hair cut, so we'll go next week (although it occurred to me that HE will have his first haircut LONG before Katelyn ever does! lol).
-Andrew is, well, a chunk. He is a solid little (?) guy! He started out eating every 3 hours or so coming home from the hospital, but because of reflux, like Katelyn, they wanted me to feed him every two hours. Well, apparently he liked that schedule because I think he was probably 5-6months old before he outgrew that schedule!!! Well, probably 4 months because we went to the beach when he was 5 months old and it was 4 hours between bottles then. Just SEEMED like it took forever! Now, of course, he goes about 5-6 hours or so between meals, like a regular schedule.
-He loves his paci, but isnt as attached to it as Katelyn was.
-At night, the kid has NEVER really slept through the night. Madison STTN at around 3months old, Katelyn, at 7 weeks. This kid apparently never got the memo. He still wakes up at night to eat, though he's always woken up around 2 or 3 to eat, and gone right back to sleep in 5 minutes, which is awesome. If he stayed awake or was hard to get back to sleep, that would have made it even rougher. Though in the last few weeks, he's been sleeping through the night off and on....maybe 1/2 the time?
- He has been drinking from a sippy for a few weeks, trying to transistion to a sippy cup. He has done amazingly well! He still has an actual bottle at night when he wakes up most times, but last night I just gave him a sippy for a minute then he just rolled over and went back to sleep.

I am so proud of my little man. He is becoming such a big boy! I can't wait to see him start walking and becoming a toddler, though I'm a little sad he's no longer a little baby!

2011-02-03

2011-02-05T18:47:00.001-06:00

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BLACK FRIDAY!!!!

2010-11-27T23:11:00.002-06:00

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is knowing the next morning I will be out shopping and getting some GREAT deals!!! I usually make Gordon go with me, mainly bc we have a few stops to make. Last year I went to target and stood in line at 3am and gordon went to home depot next door. There were at least 100 ppl in line at target and ZERO at home depot last year. I just wanted him to make sure he got my new washer and dryer I wanted!!

This year was a bit different. I was just going to go by myself to target. Madison wasn't feeling well...she woke up with a 101 fever on Thanksgiving, so she was going to stay at my mom's anyways. Then Gordon didnt feel well, either, so all the kids stayed at my moms with me. My brother, Nabeel, went to walmart with me at 9:30 bc I thought they were starting their sales at 10pm, then another sale at 5am. I guess I got that mixed up with Toys R Us. THEY were starting at 10, Walmart was starting at midnight. So I had a friend who had texted to ask where I was going and what time and invited me to go with her to walmart at midnight. I was already there when I realized they didnt start till midnight, but ppl were already putting the super sale doorbuster stuff in their carts. I told my friend to come right away instead of waiting till 11:45 like she had planned. So when she got there, I told Nabeel he could leave and didnt have to stay with us. He is so sweet, he was worried I wouldnt find her, and stayed until she came.

I usually avoid walmart like the plague bc those ppl are NUTS! Last year an employee was trampled TO DEATH by the crowd and in a seperate store, a lady fell, and was trampled; she was pregnant and lost the baby. I remember that very distinctly bc I was 6mo pg with Andrew last BF, so it made me think i shouldnt have gone! however, this year, walmart did somethign different (no doubt due to last year's stampedes). They had sales starting at midnight, but also, the electronics didnt go on sale until 5am. THAT is where the crazies are. I steer clear of electronics on BF. Usually, it's about impossible to find a walmart person to help you. But everywhere I looked there were walmart ppl with maps to help you find the thing you were looking for (since on bf, they just put stuff in random places, like the dvd's were in front of the pharmacy. the cricut machines were in the clothing section.). I was amazed and very impressed with how calm and orderly and organized everything was and also how HELPFUL they were! I have never had any walmart person escort me to what I was looking for. Usually, IF I can find someone to help, they just kind of point me in a direction and wave that way....and I MIGHT find it. On BF, I had someone walk me over to where the item was on THREE seperate occasions!!! I had asked 3-4 people where somehting was and they very nicely, eagerly found it on their little maps. NOT the case at Target today...more on that later. >:/

It was about 11:40, so we decided we should head towards the checkout or else, we'd be stuck in the store for 2 hours trying to check out. We went to the middle lanes and I was about the 3rd person in line. We were all waiting and then at midnight they started checking people out (and some ppl were applauding, lol). I think we were out of there within 10-15 mins of the checkout starting. I was home by 1. Easiest bf shopping ever! usually I go to target, they open at 4, by the time i check out, its 6am!

I got to my parents house, and spent a half hour inthe garage looking over everything I bought and decided half of it was going back, bc I eitehr decided I didnt really need it or didnt have the price right, etc. So i'll be back at walmart to return things tomorrow.

when I got home, Andrew was wakign up, so i fed him, he went back to sleep, so I went to lay with Madison in the other bed, but she was sweating buckets. I got her some motrin and laid with her. I set my phone alarm for 3:15 (it was 2:15 at the time), but I guess I didnt hear it. I looked at it was already 4am. I thought, "target just opened, i hsould hurry and get there"...but then I guess I didnt make it, bc all of a sudden, it was 5am. i hurried out the door and hoped they'd have what I needed. What I was really wanting was a princess barbie set for Madison that was $60, on sale for $40. I figured they'd be out of it, but when I got there they had tons left. I wasnt able to get the disney my first princess doll for Katelyn, though. but that's okay, it was only $5 off and its somethign they normally carry anyways. They'll get more bf Christmas, so I'll buy it then. There were a few other things I wanted and was able to get, including a bunch of movies...got Madison some scooby movies for $2, polar express was $6, got a few movies for gifts, and i was going to get the punky brewster dvd set (I know! remember HER?!) for 1.99, but they were sold out. It's okay, though bc I bought the set on amazon for $5, bf I knew Target was goign to have it for $2. I did manage to get the kids lots of fleece jammies for $4 at walmart, for this year and next, got some at target, including Madison's nightgowns (or night-night dresses as she calls them), and jackets for next year. The thing that shocked me, was when I'd ask someone for something, they weren't the LEAST bit interested in helping and sort fo just said...ya, it's over there...pointing in a general direction. THAT is what I would have expected from walmart, and being escorted to an item is what i would have expected from walmart. Today, was an alternate universe, aparrently, bc those roles were reversed. way to go, walmart! :)

My favorite thing I got was the cricut machine. I'm not sure exactly what I'll use it for, and I sent Gordon back later to buy more cartridges that were on sale, but when I looked it up online when I got home, I found that it costs $350 and I got it on sale at $185! crazy. Oh, and a projector that looks like TONS of fun!

Still amazed!

2010-11-27T23:01:00.003-06:00

We're on day 4 of Katelyn being out of her crib and she's doing great! True she did spent the night at my parents Thanksgiving night (like always, so I could go shopping early in the morning), and last night bc Gordon wasn't feeling well. She did take naps here yesterday, though. She did cry for a few minutes and walk around her room tonight when Gordon put her to bed, but she's also not feeling well. I think she was overtired. She crawled in her bed and was out 5 minutes later.

Katelyn seems to sleep so much more soundly in the toddler bed! In the crib, she'd always move all around and wake up with the slightest noise. With the toddler bed, I've gone in there 4 times on different nights to move her around, bc she looked uncomfortable, and she never woke up! It's a little bit crazy. Now that she sleeps so well in her bed, I'm sort of feeling bad for keeping her in the crib so long!

Right now, she's using a little toddler bed her cousin gave us, which just happens to be the one that goes with her bedroom furniture, so it matches! I'm hoping to be able to buy her a big bed soon, hopefully a full bed in the next few months. Madison has a queen, just bc we had an extra queen when she needed a bed, and I wanted to buy her a good, quality set so she'd keep it until she moved out, so we splurged on a whole bedroom set. However, we'll just have to get what we can right now for Katelyn, and buy a nicer set later. Andrew's crib turns into a full bed, so if we get Katelyn a full bed, they can share sheets, etc. He didnt even get new furniture for his room...he did get a new crib, but his dressers are the ones that go with my old furniture set I had at my parents house since i was 12...but they're in amazingly perfect shape (which is the reason we went out and bought Madison that brand (broyhill) of furniture for her room. If it can last 20 years for me and still be okay, hopefully it'll last her 20 years too!). I also still have the twin bed that goes with that set, so maybe Katelyn will just have a twin for now. I just need her to have somethign other than a toddler bed, bc that way I can lay with her when she needs me to. No way can an adult lay in a toddler bed. Hmmm, maybe ill check out ikea!

Visiting Santa

2010-11-27T22:46:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, the 20th, we decided to go visit Santa since he was at the mall, I had the kids' Christmas outfits already (fell in love with them last year, so I bought them a year ahead of time!) and since it's before Thanksgiving, I figured it wouldnt be crowded. So we went to the mall. I knew already that Katelyn would be the screamer. She's old enough to get scared, and she's always been a little scared anyways...she's so little, and loud noises would bother her, so we used to call her Chicken Little! lol I thought Madison would do wonderfully and I figured Andrew had a 50/50 shot of being okay. He is just getting into that stranger anxiety phase, so it's anyone's guess. Well, Madison went and sat first; she was super excited. Then Gordon put Andrew down in Santa's lap. Then I went to put Katelyn...and they do what they call "drop and click". That is, drop your kid in his lap and they'll take the pic as fast as they can bf kid starts screaming! well, that wasnt quick enough! I put her down with her back facing him, so she wouldnt realize he was there, but she saw him and SCREAMED right away! I told them even beforehand to just take the pic, even if they were crying. After they took the pic, i rescued the babies off Santa's lap (or maybe I rescued Santa?) and let Madison have time to talk to Santa. She was SO cute, reading her little Christmas list (that we had written together; I wrote the words and drew the picture of what she was telling me, so she'd remember what it was when talking to the big guy!). She had a great time and was SO amused!

Well, that was over and we were leaving. Madison wanted to look at the picture, so i gave her one to look at. Then she tells me Santa's eyes were closed. Well, dang it! She was RIGHT! No way that's going to work!!! They let the people ahead of us use their own camera, so after riding the carousel, we went home, got my camera, and went back to the mall (bc getting them all dressed up another day, hoping it wouldnt be busy again, was just too much work!)...meanwhile, the kids got to take a 20-30 min nap...we drove slow on purpose! When we got back, we woke them up, they went to take a pic w santa again, but this time i got to take pics of them individually w/ my camera and got to take pics of my big girl...my only non screaming child...alone with Santa. she was so cute. Even when the babies were crying (again) she put her arm on Andrew to try to console him. What a sweetheart!

Afterwards, we went to have lunch in the foodcourt and my mom met us there. We had lunch, then the kids and I went with my mom to do some shopping. All in all a fun day. The babies might argue otherwise!

I'm sure there is some website of bad Santa photos...this picture SO belongs there!!! I was thinking Santa blinked in the picture, but upon further review, I think he's just closing his eyes thinking, "oh, dear God, more screaming babies!!!" lol :) We did go back and retake the pic. It's basically the same. Screaming babies, Happy Madison, but Santa did have his eyes open that time.

Now I just need to get the kids' Christmas pics done...I'm way behind this year! We always get them done the first week of November!!!

Amazing!!!

2010-11-24T23:55:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I put Katelyn's toddler bed in her room. I would bet MONEY she wouldn't stay in her bed. As I put her in her bed with her George and pacis, Barney and a book, I left quickly. To my surprise, she didnt call for me. I went downstairs and heard the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. Oh, well...it's to be expected. So I look on the monitor and she is walking around her room, playing with her nightlight (mental note: take that night light out...when she turns it off, it'll be pitch dark in there!). Then she walked back and forth from her dresser that has her diapers to her bed and back again. and again. and again...repeat. I noticed that she didnt havea pillow, so I had to go give her a little pillow. Gordon points out that she has never had a pillow (and uses the same crib mattress she's been using), but JUST bc its a bed, I feel like she needs to have her own pillow! lol So he got one from my car (yes, i have everything in there), and I took it to her upstairs. I also turned on the projector from her lullaby music thingy, to provide light in case she turned off her night light. Again...no crying for me. Weird. She always would call out for me when I left her in her crib...well, 85% of the time...but only for half a minute. This time? not at all. again, i say: Weird. Well, I figured she'd walk all around and I'd find her asleep on the floor. I was AMAZED to find her asleep. IN HER BED!!!!! Well, "in" is debatable...she was half on, half off...her legs were hanging off the bed. I was debating going in to "fix" her bc then she'd wake up. she's the world's lightest sleeper ever! Well, I decided to go in, and I fixed her and put her paci by her head, put her cover on her even, and walked out....the girl DID NOT WAKE UP! Again: WEIRD!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited (I anticipated not being able to sleep at all while she got used to it!), just pleasantly surprised!

I'm hoping she'll be good tomorrow night, too...when Madison started in her big girl bed, she was fine the first night, then the novelty wore off and she was up a few times those first few days. But Katelyn has to get with it quick...tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We all know what that means...BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!!! :) LOVE BF and plan to get up early and hit target!!! :)

Things that go THUMP in the night...well, evening.

2010-11-24T23:51:00.002-06:00

This is my day off. My first day off for Thanksgiving Break. So, of course, Madison "slept in" till 7:30. She came to my room, telling me to get up, but I was tired, so she played in my room for a few minutes. I talked to her...half awake, trying not to wake up Andrew, who was laying in bed with me. I finally managed to roll out of bed at 8am. What fabulous plans did I have for today? Well, I spent today cleaning out closets. Time to get rid of summer clothes and hang up the winter wardrobe I bought (incidentally, I decided i buy my kids WAY too many clothes...once I get their winter clothes hung up, I'll probably see that half of it is unecessary and should be returned). I managed to clean out Madison's and Katelyn's closet (meanwhile, Madison was very sad bc I was "taking her clothes away"...she must have forgotten about the mounds of clothes on the couches in the front room!), while Andrew played in Madison's room. Katelyn had spent the night at my parents bc they have the crib in a room with a queen bed, so she can be watched and wont climb out...well, if she does, she'll land on the soft bed, bc my dad pulled her crib right up next to the bed. So I get the girls' clothes cleaned out, emptied K's room from all the things she might possibly get into while in her room ALONE. I took out the rocker, humidifier, bags of old clothes, bins of clothes, put childlocks on the bathroom and closet door and also on the INSIDE of her bedroom door. I put a toddler bed in and was about to pick up Andrew to go to my mom's so we could get Katelyn. OMG. He was such a mess. Nothing like a poop explosion to start the day off right. In the tub he went...

As I quickly gave him a bath, Madison was begging for a bath (really? they JUST had a bath last night....like 12 hours ago!!! They just dont realize how much work it is! lol). We got in the car and got to Mom's but they weren't home from dropping Natalie off. So we had a special treat and went to get donuts. We met my mom there and let everyone pick out a special donut. Then Madison got to play with the boys at mom's house, while Katelyn and Andrew took naps. While they were asleep, and mom went to pick up Natalie, I got her Christmas tree out and Christian helped me put it up. We were just finishing when they came home. Madison helped by turning the tree on...with the foot pedal power button...then Katelyn went behind her and kept turning it off. I wanted it to be ON as they walked in, but Katelyn had other ideas.

I thought we should get out of the house...yes, all 8 of us...and go to target. I had to return some stuff, plus I wanted the kids to show me what they want. They had made target lists, so we printed them out and Madison got a scanner gun to register herself. Christian did too bc his wouldnt work for some reason. Natalie helped Madison and Matthew helped Christian. I had the girls scan some things for Katelyn, too. Poor Andrew...well, he doesnt NEED anything new, but i'm sure we'll find a few things. Just cause. Ooh, I also bought Madison the coolest bike for Christmas...uh, well, Santa is going to give her a bike. It's a princess bike and even has a little jumpseat (you know how ppl have a seat on the back of bikes for a kid to ride in...or they used to), for her DOLLS! :0 oh, she'll love it!!!

Meanwhile...I'm beat!!!

uh-oh, we're in trouble!

2010-11-19T23:39:00.000-06:00

Today, my mom told me that she put Katelyn down for a nap, then she thought she was sleeping, then all of a sudden, Katelyn comes sauntering out with her George and her pacis. So I was worried and thought we'd have to put her in a bed (also, that means no sleep for me, bc she will NOT stay in her bed! I'd bet money on it!). When Gordon picked up the babies, he found that the crib's side was down. Whew! That was a relief...guess she didnt climb out after all...

Well, THEN we spent the night and I peeked in on her and saw her with her leg up on the side...with the rail UP! I knew she wasn't far from climbing out....

Time to baby proof her room!

Another tooth broke through...finally!

2010-11-13T00:47:00.002-06:00

Andrew's two little bottom teeth have been swollen, on the verge of coming in for at least two weeks...maybe more. I could see the shape of the two white teeth at the bottom (as well as his top four teeth!). I've never been able to see them so clearly in the girls when teeth were about to pop through, it was always a surprise! Poor Andrew has been teething for probably 6 months! ;P Now that his second bottom tooth has come in, his gummy grins are definitely gone and now he's got that cute baby tooth thing going. He's such a cutie and still all smiles...well, sometimes he's cranky bc I figure his tooth is hurting. I just can't imagine that teething process..that has to hurt with a sharp tooth poking through your gums!!! Poor baby!!!

He has been crawling since this past weekend...a whopping 7 days ago, and today I caught him standing up!!! :0 We were at my mom's and she has the small crib in the living room, and I guess while I wasn't looking, he pulled himself to standing!!! Whatever. I quickly knocked him down....just kidding. Sort of! I just put him back on the floor..NO need for cruising anytime soon...or bc you know what THAT leads to? Walking. All over. nothankyouverymuch! I've never been in a hurry for any of my kids to walk! He can wait till his birthday to walk. 12 months is a nice average time for babies to walk! :)

My mom reminded me that my niece started crawling and did so for a very short time..maybe a week or 2-3 weeks, then all of a sudden...she.walked. Alone. All. Over! whew...I hope not!!!

Here we go!

2010-11-07T21:45:00.002-06:00

Andrew started crawling a bit yesterday. He took two little crawling "steps" then sat up. I knew that he'd be taking off soon. He has been rocking for a week or so. After yesterday's little steps, he has been ALL over today! I found him under the jumperoo when he was crying bc he was stuck! lol Poor little guy...he is just dangerous enough now to get himself in all kinds of trouble, but gets stuck and can't get out! uh, oh...this ought to be fun! The girls are going to have to watch their stuff, because little brother is on the prowl and will eat everything he can find!!! Hmmm, time to whip out a new gate to keep him in the living room, at least!

Word!

2010-10-30T23:26:00.002-05:00

Katelyn has been in speech therapy since June of this year because I called Early Childhood Intervention, since she wasn't saying ANY words, just "mamamamama" to everyone/everything in May, at 14mo. Her speech therapist, Amy, comes every two weeks and works with her for an hour. Between each two week visit, Katelyn had picked up maybe 1 or 2 words. Once, she picked up 8 words between visits, but then she never used some of those words again. The following visit, she had not only quit using THOSE words, but also hadn't picked up any new words.

This last visit, Katelyn picked up 28 new words!!! TWENTY-EIGHT! She's already picked up 4 more since Amy came...that's 32 words, which probably just doubled her vocabulare! Wow! I'm so proud of my big girl! She isn't just talking up a storm yet, but she'll randomly say new things, so she's doing great! She is repeating stuff now and it's great to hear her talk and be able to know what she wants! She used to scream. a lot. I mean a LOT. I thought maybe that was just her diva personality, but now I think it's bc she couldn't communicate very well. She doesn't scream at all any more.

So far in the month of October, she has picked up these words:

october 5th- up
6th-please "pease" or "dease", help "hep", tickle-tickle "titto, titt0", shoes "siss"
7th- Madison "mada", I don't know (she'll put her hands up and shrug her cute little shoulders!)
8th- Papa "paba", cheese (deeeeeese, like smiling for the camera, not the food)
9th-Shhhh (puts her finger over her mouth and says "ssssssss")
10th-snack "na", signed and said eat "ea"
11th-knife "knie"
12-stay "tay" (to my mom's dog whom she was training)
13-beep "bee"
14-thank you "tae too", no "nah"
15-again "gin", ouch "ow"
16-out "ow", open "oh"
17-help "hep"
18- (no new words; taking a break!)
19-bath "ba", help please "he pease"
20-bow "boo", bottle "ba", stick "tick", bye mama "by mama"
21-taking a break!
22- still on vocab vacation!
23-back "ba", here (he)
24-
25-
26-
27-Natalie "na na"
28-trick or treat "ti tor teat"
29-
30-

Amy thinks she's doing great, now we need to work on the final sounds. She'll say some words and leave the ending off, like "here" comes out as "he" and she leaves off the "r" sound. But one thing at at time. For the time being, I'm so excited for my baby who has gone from ZERO words to about 70 words in a matter of 4 months! Pretty soon, she'll be talking up a storm!!!!!

Bye-Bye, Gummy Grins!

2010-10-20T00:22:00.000-05:00

Andrew has been teething for EVER. Finally, finally his first little tip of his bottom left tooth broke through. There is just one tiny little white speck, its not through all the way yet, but it's coming! I can see both of his bottom teeth swollen under his gums and even his top teeth look like they're swollen under his gums as well. I just hope they all come through pretty quickly so my poor baby boy will be over this stinky teething phase!

A Day Off

2010-10-11T10:32:00.004-05:00

Today, we're celebrating Columbus Day. And by Celebrating, I mean taking a day off to do absolutely NOTHING! I have the day off and Madion's school is closed, so we're just chillin today.

My to do list (that I'm going to neglect today!):

1. return stuff to target, academy, walmart

2. lesson plans

3.hanging up laundry (hey, at least it's clean and layed out...just needs to be hung up/put away!)

4. dishes

I also want to try to get the kids pics taken today. They are all due for pics: Madison's 4yr, Katelyn's 18mo and Andrew's 6mo pics are all due...kind of neat that they all coincide, but I'm just trying to get outfits that coordinate...not matching, just similar. Madison found a really cute dress at Kohls the other day that has an attached tulle skirt (think Madonna in the 80s), complete with an embellished peace sign. I found Katelyn a cute dress with an attached skirt, not that it looks the same as Madison's just the same style. Now, I need to find Andrew something to wear. Surely, he has something at home he can wear in all those new clothes I bought!

So there's that. pictures. We'll do that, plus I need to mail off some fabric I found to a lady from etsy who is going to make carseat covers for Andrew. Right now, he just moved to a big boy carseat....uh, well, technically, he moved to a big GIRL carseat. He inherited his sister's old Marathon. Its yellow and flowery. Not exactly "big boy" stuff here. So instead of ordering a new "boy" cover (read: boring grey or denim), I'm ordering a custom cover for him. I found the cutest fabric that is blue plaid with sports balls all over it. super cute. Now I just have to mail it off to the lady who will make the covers. I bought the fabric the night bf we left for vacation...which was July 16th! I keep forgetting to send it off, or dont have time....so today, I'm mailing it off.

okay, well, I thought I had the day off and was goign to have an easy day...as I'm writing this, Katelyn had found Madison's bowl of syrup from this morning's breakfast. sigh. I don't have to explain the mess that an 18mo and a bowl of syrup can make. ugh. someone needs another bath. great. So much for relaxing!

It's a Pillow, It's a Pet...It's a Pillow Pet!

2010-10-11T10:12:00.000-05:00

Madison has been wanting a pillow pet for EVER. I kept telling her it'd be a reward. When we went to our church's fall festival, there was a table of pillow pets in the sanctuary where they had some tables set up for vendors. It was all I could do to get her to walk past that stinkin table. So we finally went Friday night to get her pillow pet. She picked a unicorn. She loves, loves, loves this thing! She also, decided she wants one for her brother and sister. Such a sweet girl. I told her maybe Santa will bring them one. We decided that Katelyn needs the monkey one since she is, after all, such a monkey! We also decided Andrew needs a puppy one, bc, well, little boys and puppies just make sense!!!

too.many.choices!

2010-10-03T08:31:00.002-05:00

I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say Madison has some GI issues she's always dealt with and is trying to get past....

As a reward, I told her I would take her to Toys R Us and she could pick ANYthing she wanted. My dad called and she told him that I said she could pick EVERYthing she wanted. A very important distinction, I would say! So I reminded her she could pick ONE thing. First, she picked a $1.00 little pumpkin light toy thingy. So I told her to keep looking. Then she wanted a princess set of shoes and then it was something else princess. That was before we actually got to the real toys! That was just the impulse section...you know, the dollar stuff/seasonal stuff that hits you just as you walk in the store? Well, Madison is a sucker for it (takes after her mom!)...

We went to the toys and she wanted a train track, a playdoh thing, paint stuff, jewelry making kit, oh, then there was the barbie ATV (I guided her to the real "toys"...vehicles dont count as toys...lol), then she wanted a doll that came with a doctor tool set, then she saw the makeup/dress up stuff and she fell in love. oh, then there was a barbie (okay, it was "Jessica" not barbie) wardrobe. It had about 12 dresses all with a pair of shoes and purse to go with it. so I think there were maybe 45 things in the box altogether. plus a barbie (Jessica). She decided to get that thing over evertyhign else. I also bought her the doll, and got Katelyn her own doll (poor thing only has handmedown dolls devoid of clothes and some are covered with writing). I also got Andrew a few lovies. I've been looking for something he can use that didnt cost $20, bc every smart mom knows you have to buy several of them...in case they get lost! I have 5 of each of the girls' lovies (well, I had one of madisons, and since she got attached to it about 9mo after I received it as a gift, it was discontinued, so some nice moms online on my mommy board sent theirs to me. awesome. So when we bought Katelyn her curious george lovey at kohls- LOVE their $5 animals for that reason!- we made sure to buy several.) I found a cute cute puppy at toysrus for only $6 so I bought Andrew 5 of them...so my mom can keep some at her house for him and well have some at home, too.

The kids came home and opened their new presents...it was like Christmas morning...with ONE present! lol Well, Andrew didnt open his, so much as I just handed it to him and he started to gnaw on it. But either way, they were all thrilled. K's doll has a paci that is magnetic, so she can easily "give" the paci to the baby, and the baby's hands are magnetic too, so it looks like the baby is blowing kisses when the hand sticks to the mouth, and she can "clap" her magnetic hands together. She even "holds" her magnetic sippy cup in one hand. pretty cute.

You know what's NOT cute? Barbie having a baby. really. There was a whole family, then barbie was in maternity wear....then there was a picture of the barbie's tummy...and there was a BABY.IN.THERE. WTH?! it looked rather disturbing. I took a pic with my phone...now let me go figure out how to upload it here....it's worth the wait. trust.

Madison, my smarty smart girl!

2010-09-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

Madison just turned 4 years old and she and all of her friends from her 3 yr old class have all moved up to preK. Madison's school has TWO preK classes; one for those like her age, that just turned four and just finished the 3yo room, and there is another preK class. It is called the "advanced preK", and it's for those kids who already did preK last year, mostly for those kids who JUUUUUUUUST barely missed the cutoff to start Kindergarten this year. Well, folks, I have to say I'm proud of my big girl, bc she is a smarty McSmarty pants....they tested all the kids to make sure they put them all in the right class, and Madison landed in the ADVANCED PreK class! That's my girl! She sort of skipped the first preK class and went right up with the kids who are a year older than she is. I was very excited for her and proud that she was advanced enough to go to that class.....which is capped at 16 kids (not 24 like the other class, though they do have two teachers in that class), and this advanced preK is taught by a certified teacher. In fact, Ms. Shee is a Master Teacher...or so her biography says. I was all happy and proud.

Then the weekly newsletters started coming home. The first one says "welcome to Kindergarten" but it's scratched out and says "Pre-K"...then the next week's paper also references Kinder, and the activities are reminiscent of things I taught in Kinder: sorting, seriation, ordering numbers, comparing numbers (pretty abstract concepts for prek!). So I talked to my school's preK (4yr olds) teacher...even SHE said those were hard concepts for preK. So I talked to Madison's teacher to see how she was fitting in w/the older kids. Ms. Shee said that at first, she was concerned about Madison being so young, but that she has fit RIGHT in with the kids socially and academically, so she thinks she is doing great!

It turns out that this "advanced prek" class is ACTUALLY the school's private Kindergarten class curriculum! Hmmm...not sure how I feel about that. I'm not into rushing the kid into learning...they have the rest of their lives to learn and compete with the world. At the same time I'd hate for her to be bored in the other prek, learning shapes and numbers and such, which she already knows. So I'm glad she's being challenged this year...but then again, maybe since this is already a "kindergarten curriculum" then maybe she'll be bored NEXT year when they're learning comparisons and patterns that she already knows? Everybody (in primary education) knows we pattern the kids to DEATH in Kinder. If the kids come out of kinder knowing ONE thing, they'll know how to make a pattern and label the pattern and extend a pattern. The calendar is a pattern, people are a pattern, routines are a pattern, the clock is a pattern, number patterns, shape patterns, color patterns, AB patterns, ABC patterns, ABCD patterns....pattern, pattern, pattern. Perhaps it should be called Pattern-garten. I already see that Madison is making patterns left and right. She'll see my mom's two glasses on the table that are different colors and she tells me its a pattern. She colors in patterns (blue, red, green, blue, red, green) and predicts patterns ("...and if I had another crayon, blue would come next!"). I guess that just means I have to make sure and choose very carefully when I choose her Kinder teacher next year (I can do that since it's on my campus) and choose someone I KNOW who will meet Madison at her level. I know she'll be reading bf she hits kinder, based on what she already has in place (Voice print match, sight words, picture clues, etc) and she'll do great in math (already knows colors, shapes...even oddballs like octagon (thanks to her cousin identifying the stop sign every day a few years ago...she can even spell "stop"!), and she has one to one correspondence). Hopefully, her teacher I choose will, no wait....I KNOW the teacher I choose will give her stuff on her level. I can't say that about Mansfield ISD teachers...with my experience working in that district, everything is cookie cutter and the kids must fit into the district's mold. Fortunately, I have the choice to bring her to AISD with me (since we live in Arlington, but are in Mansfield ISD, but AISD teachers can bring their own kids in district). AISD is very much about individualized instruction, especially in the lower grades. Thankfully. Because if she had to sit through Pattern-garten in MISD, and do the SAME thing over again next year, *I* might even lose it! Enough with the patterns already! lol

Katelyn's Talkathon

2010-09-05T09:48:00.004-05:00

Katelyn has been receiving speech services from ECI since the summer started. I called them on May 15 and all she was saying was "mamamamamamamamama" to everything, not to identify me. Miss Amy has been coming out to see her every two weeks and gives us ideas of what to do for her to help her. When they initially evaluated her on June 10, they said she was functioning at the language level of an 11 mo old, and she was actually 15mo. She was also screaming a LOT! She'd get frustrated and since she can't talk, she'll scream. nice.

So far, she's learned so many words! Usually she will have picked up one or maybe two words between Miss Amy's visits. Last time, on August 11, she hadn't learned ANY words since Miss Amy had come the last visit. I was disappointed, and thought she wasn't progressing much.

THIS time, she has learned a TON of words! Miss Amy just came to visit Wednesday and since she was here last time, Katelyn has learned to say:

(word- sounds like)
Mimi-Mimi (she used to call my mom "mama" but now she actually says mimi)
bag-ba (when I take the babies to my mom's in the morning, Katelyn likes to wear her little backpack that has her and Andrew's clothes. She's so cute wearing it!)
cracker- caca (she eats crackers for a snack sometimes and says this as she's eating it)
drink- dink (she wanted my bottle of water and she pointed to it and said dink)
glasses-gaga (she picked up my mom's glasses and said it)
get it- ge de (she uses this alllllll the time. So cute!)
baby- baby (I got her out of her crib and she heard Andrew crying, she pointed and said "baby")
I Dont Know- She didnt say it with words, but she gestured with her arms up. I asked her "Where's Andrew" and she looked at me, put her arms up/out to say IDK)

She's already picked up more words since Miss Amy was here on Wednesday. She now says "gone-gone" which sounds like ga ga while she's signing "all done" and either "this" or "that"...not sure whihc one she's trying to say. She points at something and says "the" (soft e like egg).

words she's already been saying:
mama- mama
dada-dada
cup-gup
go-go
uh-oh- uh
this- dis
that-da
here-ear
more- mo
she's also signed bye, milk, more, all done

pretty soon, she'll be talking nonstop! Madison had a language explosion when she was 18months old. In that one month, she picked up 63 new words! At that point, I stopped counting. Now she's four and BOY can she talk!!!!! I'm hoping Katelyn has that pretty soon. She has stopped screaming as much. In fact, she screamed when Miss Amy was here and it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last time she screamed. That is WONDERFUL! :)

Andrew Conner, 5 months old!

2010-07-27T01:16:00.000-05:00

Happy 5 months, Andrew! :)

Today, my son turned 5 months old. He has always been the sweetest, easiest baby in the world. The biggest "problem" was that he just wanted to eat all. the. time. He's better now. I REALLY can't complain.

He came home eating every 3 hrs, then with reflux, they told me to feed every 2 hours, so he got used to it. oops. He continued at 2 hrs for ever. Just recently, he's started to go 4-5 hrs but then we went on vacation on a road trip to Port Aransas, and well, when youre on the road, any type of schedule goes out the window and all bets are off. So he ate here and there and pretty much back to 3hrs bt feedings.

Now were back and he's working on being back to "normal"!

At 5 months old, Andrew:
eats 5 oz of formula, generally every 4hrs or so
falls asleep about 30 min after eating. He doesnt really have a set schedule or a set napping time, I just know after he eats, he'll be asleep within a half hour. He's VERY predictable!
eats half a container of stage one foods...he's had rice cereal, peas and green beans so far
still sleeps in his miracle blanket, swaddled
still rides in his infant carrier (which is getting entirely too heavy!) at his 4mo checkup he was 16lbs!
Sleeps from abotu 10 or so until about 6:30 or 7 and mostly wakes up once, around 3:30 or so to eat.
JUST started sleeping in his crib last night. He slept there until he woke up to eat at night, then spent the rest of the night in our bed.
likes talking and babbling a lot
is drooling like there is no tomorrow....teeth better come soon!
is a VERY happy, smiley, friendly, social baby
has SUCH strong legs!!! He'll hold his entire body weight up on his own, I just have to hold his hands for balance!!!
can grab objects
is starting to hold his bottle
recognizes his bottle and seriously freaks out with excitement when he sees it!!!
goes from happy to hungry in .25 seconds (so you BETTER have a bottle handy!)
can sit up in the "tripod" position for half a second, but then falls, often doing a faceplant if I dont have a hand on him.
still falls asleep in the swing, swaddled when tired
loves his exersaucer
likes to grab his feet, especially when in the bumbo sitter
can hold his head up while on his tummy, but isnt really a fan
will get scared of sudden loud noises
laughs when tickled
can roll over from back to front and sometimes front to back, but most times, he'll play on his tummy till he gets tired of it, and cries for someone to turn him back over!

Pretty soon, he'll be sitting up on his own. Not sure when he'll crawl; Madison didnt crawl until 8 months, but Katelyn took off right at 6 months!!!!

Night-Night

2010-07-13T00:13:00.002-05:00

I was taking Katelyn to bed tonight, and as she crawled up the stairs (wont let me hold her...Miss Independent has to do it herself!) I told her, "Say night-night to daddy..." and she said "ni-ni" or somethign close to it. I could tell she was trying to say "night-night". We're continuing to repeat things to her a lot and sort of make sounds for her to repeat. The speech pathologist is coming out on the 16th to evaluate Katelyn to see if she needs to add herself to the plan. If she thinks not, then we'll just continue with the plan Amy has in place for us. Since we met with her last, I've noticed that Katelyn will repeat sounds like "zoom, zoom" when playing with toys. Her goal is to immitate sounds, and begin that back and forth of conversation.

Andrew Starts Solids and Sippies!

2010-07-13T00:08:00.003-05:00

I started Andrew with rice cereal this week. He is NOT a fan in case anyone was wondering. I'd feed it to him while he is in the high chair, but then he's not pleased with this STUFF in his mouth, so I had to stick the bottle in his mouth so he can wash it down, I suppose.

After a few days, he's gotten better. He doesnt seem to love it, but he'll tolerate it much better and I'll give him the bottle after...sometimes i'll let him suck on it though, bc dont you want a drink when youre eating? We'll start some fruits/veggies next week so hopefully since they have more flavor than plain ol' rice cereal, he'll like it better!

I just realized this week that since last week, Andrew has been doing much better with his feedings. Now he'll go about 4 hours between bottles, sometimes up to 5 or so. That makes things TONS easier!!! But also, I'm wondering if I should increase it now? They say he should take about twice his weight in ounces. He weighs about 16lbs, so thats 32 ounces. If he eats every 4 hours, thats about 6 feedings @4oz each, only makes 24 ounces...hmmmm, better check with doctor stacey to see what to do. dont want to overfeed him, but dont want him to be overfed, but dont want him to be underfed either. Though he usually seems satisfied...he'll try to suck after I've taken out the bottle, but if I give him his paci, he's perfectly happy. He still cluster feeds in the evenings, sometimes, but more often than not, it's a 4 hr stretch bt bottles. hmmm....

I've also started him on the Nuby sippy cup that Madison used (Katelyn wanted nothing to do with it when I tried to train her on a sippy at about a year old...now she wants to steal it from Anddrew!). He does well with sucking on it, but the liquid still comes out rather fast...I'll continue to train him on that just as I did with Madison. I'd feed the bottle, then afterwards, let the baby suck on the sippy of water for a bit. By 5.5 months, Madison no longer had a bottle...it was all sippy from there. Katelyn didnt take a sippy until about 15mo! Hopefully Andrew will be a lot sooner!

Andrew at 4 months

2010-07-01T15:11:00.002-05:00

Today was Andrew's 4 month well check. This morning, he even rolled over by himself...I'm assuming he knew Dr. Stacey was going to ask and he just wanted to show off! lol

This kid is a linebacker! He was 4 months old on the 27th, and he is 16lbs 10oz already. He is in the 80th percentile for weight...he started at 30th, then went to 75th at his last checkup at 2mo! (I THOUGHT that baby bucket was getting heavy! I can't wait till he can sit up, so I can use the convertible seat!!!). He is 27.5 inches long, which puts him in the 95th percentile for height (for those who dont remember how percentiles work, that means he's taller than 95% of kids his age!!!) and his head circumference was 17" (not really sure why that matters), and he was in the 60th I think?

He is still eating every 2.5 to 3 hours...mostly around 3 hrs, but every now and then he'll eat a bit sooner. I'm SO ready for him to stretch out his feedings! He's still taking 4 oz at each feeding, whihc he has been doing since about 2mo, I guess. at 2months old he weighed 12 lbs and was eating every two hours, except at night he'd go about 3 hrs...that means he was eating roughly 9-10 bottles a day @ 4oz each...so he was eating about 36-40 oz! hes supposed to eat twice his weight in ounces. He was 12 lbs so he should be taking 24oz. Ya, right! This kid would NOT be happy! So I just continued with 4oz and tried to stretch his feedings. Now he's closer to 3 hrs most of the time, which means about 8 feedings at 4oz and that is 32onces. He weighs 16lbs so he should be drinking exactly 32 oz. We're going to start cereal tomorrow, so hopefully that will help him go longer bt feedings, too.

I love Dr. Hull...Dr. Stacey, as we call her, everytime I go in there, its just like chatting with an old friend. She and I talked about my kids and her kids (she has two and they're 14mo apart) and how to manage with the two babies so close in age. We talked about how she is able to shop with both of them and even talked about our kids' clothes and where we buy them. LOVE that we can just sort of chit chat when we have an appt...that makes me feel very comfortable with her and its tons easier to trust her judgement on things!!!

Andrew JUST started trying yesterday and was stuck on the arm in the way, but with a little shove from me, he got over. So today, I layed him on his playmat and walked away to do some dishes. All of a sudden I heard a muffled cry and I found him like this:

I think he was pissed bc he turned over but his face was in the mat...then he was able to lift up his big ol' noggin!

Yay for my big boy!!! Pretty soon, he'll be sitting up, even!

Katelyn's already progressing!

2010-06-29T00:36:00.002-05:00

They say after the tubes are put in, the kids start picking up stuff right away.

They're not kidding! Katelyn had her surgery on Monday the 14th and she has already picked up more words. On Friday, she signed milk and signed more, then said "muh" for "more". She just learned how to drink from a straw...granted that was the day BEFORE surgery, but just wanted to note that she finally did it! She also just learned how to drink from a sippy cup the week before her surgery...she had been drinking with a sippy without the valve which, btw equals not exactly spill proof! she also handed me somethign and said "here" which was more like, "heh".

Today, she started giving kisses....she's been blowing kisses forever and in the last few weeks, she'll lean over to Andrew and give him kisses on his belly, but she'd never give us kisses (guess she likes him best!). Today, she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and did the same to Mimi. Then later this evening, she was standing on the stool in the bathroom and leaned over to Madison and gave her kisses, then wanted to keep doing it. That went on for about a minute or so....what sweet girls! She was also playign with the magnetic letters on the word whammer on the fridge today and Gordon and I swear she picked up the G and said "G" then she picked up the J and said "J"! I'm sure it was just coincidence, but it was so funny! Kind of reminds me when Madison was 2months old, and she was laying on her playmat then I just said, "Madison", kind of calling her, but not expecting anything, and I swear, it sounded like she said, "whaa?" and Gordon and I both just looked at each other and froze like, "did she just say that?!" lol.

At 16mo Katelyn can:
say hi and wave
give kisses on the cheek
blow kisses
say more "muh"
sign more
sign milk
say here
drink from a straw
drink from her sippy cup

I'm looking forward to her learning to do more and for her to keep increasing her expressive vocabulary! :)

Madison VBS at COH

2010-06-23T00:34:00.005-05:00

Madison went to our church's Vacation Bible School this week and she absolutely LOVED it! They had a Galactic Blast theme and they made all kinds of cool stuff. they did moon painting (with bubble wrap, I think), they did sand art with a rocket ship bottle, and tons of other stuff. She got her orange shirt Monday, but that was the day of Katelyn's surgery, so I was out of it this week. The next day, I put her orange shirt on her and figured out (when I saw the sea of red shirts) that I hadn't read the sheet they gave me the night before...on it, said what color to wear! she didnt want to go Tuesday night for soem reason. We got there, she got her dinner and then said she didnt feel good, so we went home and she slept. I was hoping she wasn't getting sick! We went back Wed and Thurs night just fine, then Friday night was family night, so we all went together, they did some art stuff, had dinner, hot dogs, ice cream, even got to see real astronaut stuff! They had snocones and bouncehouses...pretty much everything she needed! lol We did have to leave after about an hour an a half bc K was getting tired, it was past her bedtime. I wasn't feeling well, either, as I had a little headache. She was sad to leave, but I told her I'd blow up the bouncehouse at home (we have this little tikes one).

Then she got to go up on stage and sing along with the other kiddos at church on Sunday! She had a BLAST and loves to sing the songs, since they also gave us a copy of the CD of songs they sang that week!

My Madison and Me

2010-06-22T23:50:00.004-05:00

Today we had a meetup at the movies with our playgroup. Studio Movie Grill is having summer movies for kids that are $1 kids/$2 adults...DEAL! I thought it'd be a great special day, so I got Madison lunch while we were there...$24 later, I decided next time I'm totally sneaking in food! lol But she had such a fun time and really enjoyed the movie. By the end she was sitting in my lap, and I really liked having a little date out just with my Madison and me!

The movie was at 11, so I took her to VBC at the Mansfield church bc she seemed to REALLY like it, so I let her go for one hour. Katelyn even enjoyed the songs/dances they did at the opening, so we stayed for a bit, Katelyn got out and was kind of dancing/bouncing around. Then we left and went to Kohl's. I got Madison a buzz lightyear from their $5 stuff. They were out of the woody, but I bought the book a week or two ago...nto sure why i didnt get the woody while I was there! lol I got the babies some shorts (I have NO idea what happened to Madison's old shorts, but they are NOT in her tubs with her other clothes! K has TONS of shirts of Madison's to wear, but there is NO telling what happened to all of those shorts! I need to look in her 2T tub, maybe I put them in there bc they might have been that size, but now I remember that target shorts ran small, so i always had to buy a size up...I'll have to check when K gets up).

Madison looked SOOOOO super cute today! I put her hair in pigtails, she had her VBC round up shirt on (its a cowboy theme), with a pair of shorts and her cute, cute pink boots! Too bad we don't even own a cowboy hat!

My Poor Katelyn!!!

2010-06-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

I went to the gym today and about halfway through the class, the daycare people came to look for me (which they always do if they need you). Well, the lady looked concerned and as soon as I left my class, she told me that Katelyn had been bitten pretty badly. So I rushed down there and I was NOT prepared for what I saw. It looked like my poor baby girl had been mauled by another kid. This was no "BITE" this looked more like the kid chewed on her face or something! I CRIED when I saw that. The lady said, "she was just going down the slide on the little climber, and the other kid attacked her when she got to the bottom". I demanded to speak to a manager (after putting another icepack on her...she wasn't even crying by the time I got down there....I guess it had been a few minutes, as they had already gotten the other mom and sent her and the kid packing, before they came to get me). They hadn't shown the other parent the damage, and I wanted it documented, and nobody there had a camera (the manager did, but apparently she was on her way there, but had the camera locked up), so I took a pic.

This is what I saw when I got down there...

We went home, she took a nap, and when she woke up, it looked like this:

It clearly broke the skin, so I called the doctor and they said to bring her in. They gave her antibiotics to take for 10 days, and I bought some mederma to put on it, bc it looks like it might scar. So now for the next 3 months (according to the package directions) I need to put that on her 3x a day. Nice. But at least Katelyn doesn't seem to be bothered by it, so it doesn't seem to be hurting her (anymore). I just feel so bad for her, and was especially worried bc she JUST had surgery to put tubes in her ears a week ago....and what if that kid got a hold of her earring?! *shudder* I just have to put the "what ifs" out of my mind....at least she is happy...my sweet girl is giving kisses in the mirror on the exam table at the doctor's office...

Between the doctor visit, the antibiotics and the mederma, that just cost me $45! Not that I mind paying any amount of money to make sure my baby is okay, but that gym and that parent are going to be paying for this. That is just not right. The kid has been suspended for a few days, which according to their policy (first time: sent home for the day, next bite: suspended, next bite: suspended, next bite: suspended for a week...) that tells me this is NOT the first time this kid has bit. Apparently it's a two year old...they need to nto allow this kid back in the daycare, or if they choose to do so, they need to have someone shadow this kid!!!

This happened on June 21, about a week and a half ago, and I haven't been back bc I'm afraid to leave her there! My mom even cried when she saw it and just said she'd watch her so i wouldnt' have to take her back to the daycare (but she goes to the gym, too, in the mornings like I do, and besides, as much as we pay for this gym, AND the kids' memberships, it BETTER be a secure environment for my kiddos!!!).

Katelyn's surgery

2010-06-14T21:27:00.007-05:00

Katelyn was set to have tubes put in her ears this morning at 8:15. We had to get there by 6:15, so Gordon, the kids and I along with my parents went to Cook Children's Hospital super early this morning. We got Katelyn checked in and then Gordon and I went with the girls to the playroom and the kids played with all of the toys for a good two hours before they called us back and were ready for Katelyn.

With all of the toys there, Katelyn (the monkey) preferred climbing on and off the chairs. Madison and I played a few rounds of princess memory, and Katelyn found a door, yes, a door toy to play with (really? they make just a DOOR?!).

Then it was time for us to go back, so I went back with her and they gave her a nasal sedative, which made her pretty relaxed ( my friend said they're so out of it, King Kong could come take them and they wouldnt bat an eye...I wouldnt say it affected Katelyn THAT much, but she didn't even whine when they started wheeling her back, which normally, she would have). I put her Curious George (her lovey) and her blanket on her bed and they wheeled her away...

I walked down a very long hallway to the surgery waiting room where my parents were waiting with Andrew. My mom was feeding him, so I took him to finish, and hadn't even sat down for maybe 4 minutes before Dr. Palmer was out looking for me to tell me everything went great, he was done and she had no current infection! Wow, that was fast!!! Gordon went on to work, since she was just going to be sleeping until she woke up from the anesthesia in the PACU (post anesthesia Care unit). Now, they say kids freak out afterwards, just disoriented, and it takes about 20 minutes for them to calm down. wow. Not Katelyn! I mean she DID freak out, but it certainly wasn't 20 minutes! The poor girl was screaming for a solid HOUR!!! They even had to give her another nasal sedative to calm her. She wouldnt even let me hold her for long. She'd crawl out of my arms back onto the bed, then holding her George, she'd ALMOST fall asleep...then realize she was asleep and wake up screaming again! I went to get my dad to see if he had better luck...Katelyn adores him, as he does her. Well, she finally let him hold her and she'd fall asleep on his shoulder, but the MINUTE he tried to sit down, or even lean against the bed, she woke up crying/screaming again! So he just held her for a long time, as they were getting us discharged. He held her and walked her all the way to the car, where I had to fight a screaming baby to get her in her carseat. After we got home, she took a FIVE HOUR nap and when she got up, she was perfectly fine. I'm so glad its over and I hope it helps her speech and keeps the ear infections AWAY!!!

Getting checked in:

the girls in the playroom:
THE door.

tons of rounds of memory with my big girl

Wheeling Katelyn away! She looks so wittle on that big stretcher!

when she got out of surgery, even George had band aids (well, cotton balls with tape) on his ears, as if HE had also had ear surgery! How sweet...only at a children's hospital!

walking back to the car...my dad holding Katelyn...and Madison "helping" by holding her foot!

My dad holding Katelyn in the parking garage:

Katelyn after waking up from her 5 hour nap! She was back to her normal curious self!

and while we're on the subject of surgery/doctors...I have the CUTEST little doctor in the world! Paging Dr. Madison!!! I LOVE these jammies! lol

It even has the ONE pocket in the back on the "scrubs"! lol

Took Chicken Little to buildabear

2010-06-13T12:29:00.001-05:00

It was the day bf Katelyn's surgery to have tubes put in her ears, and even though its a minor surgery, it still makes me a bit nervous that she'll be put under anesthesia. I took her to the mall today after church, just Katelyn and me. I was going to take her to buildabear, but I got there around 11:15, and I forgot they dont' open until noon on Sundays. So she and I went to have lunch at Sonic there at the food court. While I was there, we ran into our old neighbors, Juli, Mike and their son Andy, and her mom. We all sat and had lunch and got to talk. Her son had tubes when he was about two, so she was telling me all about it. She told me it was super quick, super easy, and he did freak out after anesthesia, like they say, but she said at 20 minutes on the dot, he snapped out of it and was ready to go.

So after lunch, Katelyn and I went to buildabear, and she got a monkey, bc she is very much a monkey and climbs all over EVERYTHING! I got some clothes for it, then we went to have it stuffed. The lady pushed the pedal for the stuffing machine and poor wimpy Katelyn FREAKED! I had to real quick push her stroller all the way over to the other side of the store, so she wasn't scared! My poor wimp! She's so cute, though!!! We got her monkey done and we left. She loves to hold her Curious George (her lovey) when she goes to sleep, so this cute monkey should fit right in! :)

Katelyn's 15 Month Checkup

2010-06-10T00:30:00.003-05:00

This morning I had everyone ready and we were out the door by 9:15, I dropped Madison off at school, then I was on my way to drop Andrew at my mom's so I could go to the gym, since Andrew is still too young to go to the daycare there for another week or two...he has to be 12 weeks old. As I was on my way, I remembered I heard my phone alarm ring and I assumed it was for the class at the gym I wanted to go to, but glanced at my phone anyways. Glad I did! It said I had Katelyn's 15mo checkup at 9:30...it was 9:20 at the time!!! I called the doc's office to see if they wanted to reschedule it (bc I really wanted to go to my class at the gym, and was hoping I could go to the pedi's office after gym), but they said come anyways even if were late. So we hauled it over to the office, thankfully it was the mansfield office, whihc is right around the corner. We made it at about 9:35, so we werent really that late.

K is doing well, except for her constant ear infections and she's not talking much. She'll say "mamamama" but not necessarily identifying me. I think a lot of that has to do with her fluid in her ears.

She's a little bitty thing...she weighed 20.5 lbs, and has dropped to the 15th percentile. She was in the 25th last time, but when she got her last ear infection and wasn't eating, she was down to the 10th. I asked the doc if i should worry about that, but she said she'd only start worrying if she had dropped two percentiles. (like if she dropped from 25th to 10th to 5th). Her height was 30 3/4th inches and she's in 75th percentile.

She seems to be doing great and she'll have tubes put in this coming Monday, the 14th by Dr. Palmer. I hear that after they get tubes they really start to progress a lot! I hope so! I'm starting to worry about my little monkey!

Katelyn's preop appt

2010-06-09T14:32:00.000-05:00

We went for Katelyn's preop appointment today at Cook's...she did fine in the waiting room and when they did her vitals. But then the anesthesiologist came in and she FREAKED! i'm not sure if it was the surgical cap or what, but she did NOT like it! She scooted off my lap to the floor, and kept scooting back from the guy! He was super nice and kept trying to play peekaboo with her, but she wasn't having it. He said based on her reaction today, he'll give her a nasal sedative bf the surgery, so they can put the anesthesia mask on her in order to do the surgery. I have to call Friday morning to figure out what time we have to be there for her surgery on Monday...

ENT...take TWO!

2010-06-03T01:23:00.002-05:00

Gordon and I went to take Katelyn to the ENT, Dr. Palmer this afternoon. What a difference! We didn't have to wait long, first of all...there were toys/books/tv for the kids (the other ENT had newspapers and pamphlets...can you guess how many times I picked those up while trying to fill out paperwork? ugh). We checked in, immediately went downstairs for a hearing check. Katelyn screamed when they put the thing in her ear, but that's just Katelyn. They did a short behavioral test, and we were done in about 2 minutes. The other place took at least 20 minutes (not to mention TWO different nurses/assistants!)...SO much better already! We went back upstairs, waited maybe 10 mins bf they called us back and we were only in the exam room 3-4 mins before the doc came in. He was quite the character...looked like a nutty professor kind of dude with longish white hair, a lab coat....oh, and prada shoes. LOL!!! But he totally knew what he was talking about and was very thorough. He explained what exactly would happen with tubes, how they work, how it would fall out, how the procedure would go, how long it would take, etc. I was impressed. We were done in a few minutes then went to wait for the scheduling lady.

Katelyn is set to have tubes put in June 14th. I have to go to do preop work with her the week bf, then they'll let us know what time it will be. They start at 6:45 with the youngest patient first. Um, I'm hoping she's NOT the youngest! On the other hand, if they start that early and she IS the youngest/first, then Gordon can just go in to work a little late bc it will be a total of about 3 by the time she's done, instead of having to take a day off. The doctor said the procedure will take about 2-4 minutes, and they'll do anesthesia via gas mask, so she'll come out of it quicker. I'm not really nervous about it, I'm just eager for it to be done and over so she'll feel better!

I think I have a cavity...no, wait. It's just a sinus infection!

2010-06-03T01:09:00.001-05:00

Friday night, we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. I distinctly remember that evening as the kids were playing, that my teeth felt uncomfortable...not like really hurting just sort of a twinge. By Saturday morning, I felt like I had a really bad cavity. I took tylenol, motrin, etc. By Saturday night, it was so bad, I took some leftover pain meds from when I had the baby. I was taking those and figured I'd call my dentist Monday morning. They always can get me in. The pain was so excruciating. So I called and for the first time ever, they couldn't get me in. The pain was so bad I just looked up a dentist online and went to her bc I HAD to get the cavity fixed YESTERDAY!!!

So I went that afternoon, and was actually devastated when they told me it WASN'T a cavity!! I was seriously hoping it was, bc then I knew they'd numb me up, fix it up and I'd be on my way, pain free. But that was not to be. She showed me the xray and showed how the sinus cavity sits right on top of that back tooth, where I thought I had a cavity. I had been having sinus congestions for 2-3 weeks, but was just waiting for it to go away. I guess it turned into a sinus infection. So the dentist gave me a script for a zpak sinus meds. But by Thursday, it was still hurting a LOT and I was nearly out of the pain meds she gave me, so I called for a refill. They said they'd refill it but if it wasn't better by Monday, I might need to see an endodontist bc maybe its a hairline fracture on the tooth that they couldn't see. I was just terrified of running out of pain meds through the weekend. I had been taking motrin, tylenol, hydrocodone alternately and then i'd take a tylenol PM at night, bc if i was alseep, it didnt hurt! oh, and it was pretty nice to sleep that deeply! By Monday, it was still hurting...not as bad, but definitely still hurting, but by wednesday it went away....good thing, too, bc i go back to work on Monday!!!

hmmm, a sinus infection disguised as a toothache...who knew?!

Madison's Dance Recital

2010-05-22T22:26:00.001-05:00

Madison had her second recital today! She was just the cutest thing! I was a little nervous because we had to drop her off and she stayed backstage the whole time until the end of the show. Her last recital, we just took her a few songs before her turn, then picked her up right after. She did so great and was gorgeous of course! We ended up sitting right in the second row and she came out and was right in front of us! We got some great pics (but I've mentioned my hatred of uploading pics on this site...one of these days I'll add pics to all these posts!).

Afterwards, we had to take pics, of course, then we went to lunch with my parents. Madison was kind of crabby after we took a few pics and wasn't having it. But after we got some food in her belly, she perked right up and was back to normal! Ah, the life of a 3 yr old!

I was just disappointed that they didnt have a video to buy! We bought her video last year and she has seriously asked to watch it about 5 times a week. It's ridiculous how much she likes it. She always asks to watch "my two years old dance show"! I asked her on the way if she wanted to buy a 3 yrs old dance show movie, assumign they'd have one. She replied, "No, we already have one...we don't need another one"...lucky for me!!! I think we'll go to a step in time next time for dance, bc I've heard great things about them....though I'll check to make sure they'll have a video of their recital! lol First things first, ya know!

ENT...take one...

2010-05-19T00:43:00.000-05:00

We went to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor because Katelyn has had sooooo many ear infections. Sometimes it takes weeks for the antibiotics to take effect, and sometimes, we've had to go through as many as three different antibiotics bf it cleared up...then the OTHER ear would get infected! ugh. Poor baby girl! My other concern is that she's not talking much yet. She is 14 months old and only says "mama", but not necessarily identifying me. She'll say it when looking for/wanting me, but mainly when she's upset she'll say it...and generally, its more like, "mamamamamama". She said "nigh nigh" ONCE when we were dying easter eggs bc she was super tired and falling asleep. She used to say "hey", with her hand raised up like she was trying to get someone's attention (cutest thing ever!). But mostly all she says is "mamamamama".

So we were referred to Dr. Leffingwell by Dr. Stacey. Not my fave. First of all, we went for the hearing test, and Katelyn screamed the whole time they tried to put the thing in her ear (to test to see if her eardrum was actually vibrating or something), and she was fine while they did the behavioral hearing test, where they spoke into the mic and she and I were in the soundproof booth, then she'd turn towards the direction of the sound. that whole thing was probably a good 20 minutes...not fun.

Then we went to the exam room, and lets just say its very hard to entertain a very inquisitive one year old in a non-child proofed room! First we were in one room, which was a little bigger, and it had a little bench, which Katelyn liked to climb up on...then down...then up...then down. repeat. For some reason, they switched us to a different room (we were in that first room long enough for her to explore, climb up/down, etc, THEN they changed us to the new room). In this new, smaller room, there was no bench (entertainment!) just cabinets and equipment. I tried to keep her from going in the cabinets, but then i just had to hold her. I can only hold her so long bf she starts squirming out of my arms from boredom. I mean, peekaboo is only funny the first 10 times! So I walked out in the hall with her and told the lady at the desk right there, that we just had to walk, bc I was going crazy in there (plus also, it was hot...or maybe I was just stressed...either way, uncomfortable). Well, the lady says, "you can't walk in the hall bc the sound test booth is right there", so I grabbed K and walked back to the room. The lady could tell it was annoying me and she said, "he'll be right there". So a few minutes later the doc came in.

So glad I went to this specialist because.....oh, no wait. He told me NOTHING new! He basically looked in her ears, said "you can either do tubes or antibiotics, but neither is the solution. Being a bigger person was the solution". Um, really? Was he telling me I needed to be a "bigger" person and not let my kid have surgery? WTH?! So I asked what he meant and he said basically she has to outgrow it (ie, bigger person). Well, I understand that, but I'm not about to let her suffer until she outgrows it. Then he started to walk out the door and I said, "but wait....so what is your opinion?" and he just said, "well, it's your decision". Um, ya thanks. thanks a lot. I KNOW it's my decision, but *I* am not a doctor!!! So he left and the nurse answered my questions and showed me where the fluid is retained on the diagram, etc...you know, stuff the DOCTOR should have shown me! ugh. So disappointed. i just told her I'd think about it bf deciding on tubes. I left there knowing I'd never go back. I had several friends who had a different ENT in Ft. Worth, so I called him on my way home...we have an appointment June 2.

Happy Party Day!

2010-05-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Well, we FINALLY had Katelyn's FIRST birthday party! Gordon has been in the hospital with stomach pains, and didn't know if they'd release him in time for the party...he told the doctor and he said he'd try to have him out by the party. So I had to get the house clean and get everything ready without his help. Luckily, my parents came over and helped out and they watched the kids while I got the cake done and a few other things *I* had to do.

I planned her party at 1pm, since she usually takes a nap around 10 or 11, then again around 3 or so. Wellllll, of COURSE she wouldn't take a nap on schedule on her party day! I put her down around 11, but she didnt want to sleep, so after about a half hour of her talking/playing/whining, I just picked her up. I laid her down again around noon and got her up just bf everyone got here. Right as her friends starting coming, Gordon walked in the door...just in time for the party!

She had a great time playing with the other kids. Madison had fun playing with her friends, too...except she was leaning over the little purple chair and fell and hit her eye on the train table...poor thing just about gave herself a black eye. Whenever my friends came and talked to her, she'd tell them about her hurt eye. poor girl. But then she got over it after a little bit.

When it was time for Katelyn to open her presents, she liked pulling out the tissue paper, and she'd grab whatever was in the present, mostly clothes, she'd take it and walk off with it! It was all I could do to keep her there to open her presents...I should have put a leash on her! lol

She got tons of clothes, which is AWESOME bc the kid needs ZERO toys! We have soooo many! I just put away a bunch and am really glad she didn't get a bunch more! :) I pulled down Madison's old riding toy...the princess one, that she got at HER first birthday. Katelyn loved it and likes to get on it. Madison pushes her around on it, bc Katelyn hasn't quite gotten how to scoot herself forward on it, though she can scoot backwards great...just like Madison did when she was a year old. Kind of funny, I think!

I made a topsy-turvy whimsical cake for her birthday. It was actually very easy to make and I finished it the night before her party (I am usually finishing the cake the day of the party, so I was ahead of the game!). It was a 3 tier cake that was pink, purple and yellow...so cute! I stood Katelyn next to it to blow out her candle, and the cake was almost as tall as SHE was! lol I pulled off a layer and put it on her high chair tray for her "smash cake". She wasnt too sure at first, but then just kept digging with her fingers. She had it all over her face and was whining, bc she was exhausted (did Imention she didnt take her nap as normal?), so I cleaned her off and put her to bed.

THEN I sat down. I swear, I can run and run and run all day long with no problem, but the MINUTE I sit still, I feel how exhausted I really am! Now it was time to relax...

in my spare time, I need to upload the pics from my camera to my computer, then i can put them online...*sigh* I never seem to thave the time to post many pics...

What a week...plus also, a party!

2010-05-01T23:11:00.002-05:00

Gordon has been in the hospital since Wednesday night with unexplained stomach pains...all kinds of tests run, but no answers. Doc says he'll probably be there another few days. Too bad tomorrow is Katelyn's birthday party...and this is the second time we've scheduled it! The first time, Andrew was born the day bf her party, so it was cancelled. So I've been trying to get ready for this party, take care of all three kids by myself. Madison and Katelyn both have ear infections, and Andrew just got his 2 month vaccinations. The kids have been really good, as always...especially considering it could be so much worse with them all being sick! Luckily, my parents got back into town the day Gordon went into the hospital. I have NO idea how I'd get anything done if it weren't for them!

Today my mom helped me do so much! She watched the kids while I ran a few last minute errands, then took Madison while the babies napped and I got to start on Katelyn's birthday cake. Later, we went to Costco to try Kirkland diapers (since I've always been a pampers snob, and stupid pampers has changed their diapers to this new "dry max" thing...look up the "bring back old pampers" group on fb...there are some SCARY pics of these poor babies with HUGE bloody open blisters...a "chemical burn" from these new "improved" diapers. Those things are NOT going on MY babies!!! We stopped by target to get some target brand medicine since EVERY fever reducer I have (tylenol/motrin) has been recalled. We got home, my mom got the kids dinner while I worked on the cake, then my dad came and helped while I got the cake halfway done, vacuumed, my mom did the dishes for me, and my dad helped me rearrange the furniture in the front room. They even took Madison to spend the night (and they had her cousin Matthew...she loves playing with "the kids", aka her cousins!) Again, I say I would NEVER be able to get everything done if it weren't for my AWESOME parents! :)

So now the babies are asleep...the house is clean (except for the kitchen...that will ahve to happen tomorrow..I'm exhausted!), and I have a few minutes to myself. It's late, so I really should get to bed...gotta get up super early tomorrow....it's my baby girl's FIRST birthday party!!! It's amazing that she's come from that little tiny baby with all the wires sticking out of her in the NICU to this walking, jabbering, fiesty big girl! She is such a fun baby and she definitely stands her ground! lol Happy Birthday Party, sweet girl!!!

Thanks, McNeil, thanks a lot.

2010-05-01T22:26:00.001-05:00

I just found out that every bit of Tylenol, Motrin and Benadryl that I own has been recalled. Nice. Very nice. I called McNeil who distributes the stuff, and asked about a refund. The lady said, "Sure, if that's what you'd like"....um, no...I'll just take the 10 bottles of infants/childrens tylenol, motrin and benadryl....at about $9 a pop and toss em...what's a hundred bucks?

I should mention this is particularly bad news because Katelyn has yet another ear infection (we have an appointment with an ENT next week to discuss tubes), Madison has an ear infection, and Andrew just got his two month vaccinations. Long story short: I have THREE, count 'em, THREE kids with fevers!!!! WTH am I supposed to do with no Motrin?! Luckily, the store brands are not included bc they're not distributed by the same manufacturer.

So I had to stop by target today to pick up some target brand meds. They yanked all of the tylenol/motrin/benadryl off the shelves, so it's pretty much bare....too bad they didn't pull it YESTERDAY when I bought a few boxes (for my house and moms) bc w/three sick kids you do NOT want to be out of pain meds! Oh, did I mention Gordon is still in the hospital with no answers, just running tests? Definitely don't want to be w/o pain meds...cranky babies do not a fun night make!!!

Andrew is two months old!

2010-04-27T23:50:00.002-05:00

Andrew is two months old today! He is such a wonderful baby...he is happy and never cries until he gets hungry (unless of course, you put him in the carseat...but the girls hated that thing as well...can't wait till he can sit up, bc the girls were much happier when I switched them to the convertible carseat, but that means I have to carry him around since he won't be in the infant carrier...and if he can't sit up, that's a problem! lol). Each night he has his last bottle somewhere around 10 or 11ish and he'll sleep until about 3am when he gets a bottle and he'll go back to sleep till the morning. Usually he'll wake up around 6-7:30.

My usual morning routine lately is to feed Andrew as he wakes up, then he'll go back to sleep again while I go get Madison up and downstairs, dressed and eating breakfast. While she's eating, I'll run up and get Katelyn up, dressed and put her in her high chair for breakfast. If Andrew needs a bath, THIS is the only time I have to do it! I give him a quick bath in the baby tub on the kitchen sink and by the time I'm done, the girls are done, too. We get everyone in the car and out the door and get Madison to school. Sometimes it's 8:30 when I get her there...sometimes 10...sometimes 9:30! I'm just really glad she doesn't go to real school yet where i HAVE to have her there on time!

Andrew has been a tad fussy the last few days, but they say babies go through a growth spurt around 8 weeks, so we'll blame it on that. :) He is outgrowing his 0-3mo clothes already...they still fit around him, but he's too long for them. I need to make sure not to buy tons and tons of clothes for him like i did for madison...at least with her I had the rationale that another future kid could wear it! NOT an excuse this time around! They outgrow them so quick...

He still eats every TWO hours, which is my ONLY complaint with him. He's super easy otherwise, but every time I turn around it's time to feed him again! I was giving him 4 oz, the bumped it up to 5 to see if that helped him go longer stretches. It didnt and I think maybe he was eating too much, so I knocked it down to 4 again. He seemed satisfied (I always had to sort of force him to drink the last of a 5 ouncer) but we were still at 2 hr feedings. Today I tried 5 ounces again and he did pretty well...he ate at 6:30, 10:00, 1:00, 5:30 and 9:00. its 1am and I'm about to head to bed, so I'll bring a bottle...he'll probably eat around 3am and again at 6am when its time to get up.

He hasnt started rolling over or anything yet, but he does seem more focused like he actually pays attention to me and what I'm doing when I interact with him. He lays on the baby gym mat when he can...when big sister Katelyn isn't following him! She tries to lay down with him, but she doesnt get that she can hurt him when she sits next to him (um, she AIMS to sit next to him, sometiems lands on his arm if I'm not watching!). She is getting more curious about him. The other day, He was sitting up in my lap, while I was burping him and she wanted up. She sat on my left knee, he was sitting up leaning on my hand on my right knee and I was burping him, but she pushed my hand away and SHE wanted to do it! She did it just perfectly, too! She'd pat, pat, pat, then rub, rub, rub his back! lol She's definitely been watching how I do it...she's my pensive girl!

Andrew loves the swing. Good thing our neighbor gave us her swing when she didn't need it anymore...it plugs into the wall so we dont have to go through 20000 batteries! LOVE it! I also got him this new rocker thing to sleep in since he didnt really like the bassinett (neither did the girls!). He'd sleep okay in it I guess, but he'd be moaning here and there, so I never slept well either. The only solution was to have him in our bed, and that was great and all and I loved sleeping with him in my arms, but it scared the crap out of me...you never know what happens when you're asleep. So glad he likes this sleeper thing. It is at an angle and it sort of hugs him while he sleeps, so he sleeps all night long with no grunting!

The sad part about him being two months old is that he's lost that newborn look about a month ago and really looks like a real baby. He looks like such a little boy! He'll be sitting up, crawling, walking before I know it! I'm taking it easy and enjoying these last baby days...no more babies around here! Andrew is the caboose!!! :)

Now its past 1am and being the eternal night owl that I am, I'm still awake....about to take my little two month old baby boy upstairs with me and go to SLEEP!

What timing...

2010-04-27T23:14:00.005-05:00

My Mom and dad (as well as my brother, cousins, aunt and uncle) all went to California for a wedding. More often than not, I take Madison to school and go to my mom's or go run errands with her for some portion of the day. When some evenings if Gordon's not home, I'll stay at my mom's till he's home. I wouldn't have them here this week, so it would be interesting...

...Just for good measure, Gordon got sick Thursday evening...which is when my parents were flying out. He called in the afternoon saying he went to the doctor bc his stomach was hurting really bad...like even to the touch. So then they sent him to the hospital to do some testing. I was goign to come up there, but he said since I had all three kids, he told me to wait until he's admitted. I called him a few times and they tested him, found nothing, did a CAT scan and it was negative, so they sent him home. My dad had called his friend Fred to give them a ride to the airport, since I needed to go see Gordon, and Fred showed up right as I was leaving and Gordon was discharged. They dont know what it is, but he's definitely not feeling well...he was told to see another doc to follow up, so he went this morning and they told him to follow up with a specialist on Thursday...

...As if THAT weren't enough, poor Katelyn started getting pretty cranky and just wasn't sleeping well Friday evening. She's always down by 7pm and I dont hear a peep from her until the next morning, when I wake her up. She was up at least twice, maybe three times that night. She had a slight fever and runny nose...telltale signs of an ear infection...so I set the alarm for early Saturday morning, so i could call the doc right at 8am when they opened for the saturday clinic. We were there by 9 and saw Dr. Wallace (who is soooo super sweet, but seriously looks like she's about 12 years old...and is about that tall, too)...she just confirmed what I already suspected: another ear infection. Actually, she said it wasn't all filled with pus just yet, but said, "if you had waited a day, she'd be all full of puss, and you'd have crazy high fevers!". So she gave me a script for another antibiotic (last time it took 3 or was it 4? different meds to get rid of the infection!). I told her Dr. Hull had stated last time that if she gets another one soon (her last one was early march) that she'd have us see an ENT (ear, nose and throat doctor) to see about getting tubes. :( She gave me the referral info for Dr. Leffingwell, so I called and got her an appt for May 10...stinks that it so far away, but I guess specialists are busy.

...oh, plus also, Andrew, my most perfect, easy going, laid back baby has been a little fussy. He usually goes right to sleep after eating, but he's been a little squirmy and just seems like he can't get comfortable. I mean that lasts maybe 5-10 minutes which is totally NOTHING to complain about, its just different for him...and frankly, I think I'm a bit spoiled by his perfect-ness!!! lol They say babies go through a growth spurt at 8 weeks, so I'm attributing it to that. Even still, he only wakes up once at night. I feed him around 10 or so for his last bottle, then he'll wake up about 3am, and will go back to sleep until the morning...like around 6 or 7.

So long story short, my parents (helpers!) are gone, gordon is sick and Katelyn has an ear infection, so she hasn't been sleeping well. Andrew's going through a growth spurt, but at least Madison is doing well...

My parents will be home tomorrow and their help is much appreciated and sorely missed! Even Madison has been asking for Mimi all week...we finally skyped tonight...I called my mom and taught her how to skype, except for her mic wasn't working, so we totally ghetto-skyped...using skype for video and our cell phones for sound! lol Madison loved being able to see Mimi and Papa (well, she saw him sleeping on the bed!) and she'll be sooooooooooo excited to see them at the airport tomorrow night!

For now, everyone is asleep and I should be too...we've got a playdate in the morning and I think I'm going to keep Madison home from school so she can go to the playdate with us...hmmm all three by myself at a playdate? sounds interesting...but we'll have fun!

What a fun birthday!!!

2010-04-23T00:30:00.004-05:00

I had SUCH a great birthday this year! My mom took me and the kids out to breakfast (since Ggordon was at work). We went to IHOP....YUMMO! Then after we finished, mom kept the babies and I took Madison to school. Then I had a chance to get some shopping done...there were some swimsuits I wanted to get the girls a few weeks ago at Kohls but they were $28...and today they were 65% off at $9...a birthday gift to me! lol After I got a few, I went to a different Kohls bc I wasn't really sure what size to get for Madison...she's drifting over into the little girls' department...no longer in toddler sizes! :( I was a little afraid of looking at swimsuits in the girls' dpt, bc some of the little girl stuff looks like trash! But yay...found TONS. I think I bought no less than 10 swimsuits (a few diff ones in TWO sizes of each, for TWO girls...some will be returned as soon as I figure out which size she needs!). Then, I wasn't really hungry for lunch after the great breakfast, but I did want a nice, thick strawberry milkshake, so I drove through Jack in the Crack and got a shake, then went to get my nails done. After that I went home for a bit.

The weather was SOOOOO nice...kind of overcast, almost like rain, but with a cool breeze (not humid). I sat in my driveway with my ipod going and painted that shelf for Andrew's room that i've been meaning to paint! Got it done in the nick of time, too! I had taken my watch off so the manicurist could give me a massage, then didn't have my phone with me since I was painting, so I was seriously GUESSING at the time! I got up to look and it was 2:45! I had a 90 minute massage scheduled at 3 down the road, so I had to clean up quick and get there double quick! Thankfully, I had just finished painting, so it wasn't a big deal...though i almost forgot my gift certificate (taht I've had since maybe chrismtas, but never had time to use it!!).

That massage was PERFECT!!! Or at least I THINK it was...IDK for sure, I was asleep! lol It was so relaxing, I actually fell asleep a few times during the massage!! Dimmed lights, soft music, wonderful massage...do they REALLY expect me to stay awake?! lol

After the massage, I got to go in the steam shower that is so wonderful! Though someone left it on...after waiting forever, I finally knocked only to find out there was nobody in there...someone just left it on! grrr...so when I got finished, I went home to Gordon and we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse...yum! Gordon took Madison to the bathroom as we sat down and I guess he told them it was my birthday bc as we were about to leave they came and sang. I really dont care for that, but I thought it'd be neat for Madison to see bc she always gets so excited when they sing to other ppl and she sings and claps along! So for her sake, i'm glad he told them! :)

Mom was waiting at home with a cake for my birthday. Heather and the kids came bc Joey had to study, then my dad got home from work. We got to have some yummy birthday cake and ice cream. Madison even gave me a gift...she had picked it out at the store: A glass jar candle, a loofah and some body wash...I love it when the kids pick out such random gifts! She bought it yesterday, I guess, bc last night she told me, "we have a surprise for you. It's for your birthday...its in the closet". So much for keeping secrets! lol

Katelyn was exhausted and ready for bed (it was nearly 8 when we got to mom's and K is in bed by 7 every night) so Gordon went to take her home after we did cake/ice cream...while I stayed and hung out with the fam...

When I got home, I found that Gordon had bought me flowers (I hadn't been home since this morning!)...my fave: tulips! They were beautiful! :)

I had such a fun filled day, that it never occurred to me until about 11pm that having such a fun birthday still means its a birthday...which means I'm now a year older! lol Then I had to think about how old I am now! I always forget...can never remember...guess that's a good thing bc it means I dont think about my age much and let it bother me, like some ppl who hate telling how old they are. I just dont get that. oh well.....Had a great birthday with tons of sweet messages from my friends/family on FB! :)

Andrew's such a great sleeper!

2010-04-21T10:22:00.000-05:00

This wonderful little boy has always been SUCH a good sleeper...ever since he came home, he's only woken once or twice a night. I really never even had the exhaustion that usually accompanies a newborn, bc when he woke, I could lay him beside me, feed him and he'd go right back to sleep...and so would I! As much as I LOVED holding him while sleeping, it makes me nervous, so I try to put him in the bassinett. Like his sisters, he never liked it much, and grunted and squirmed, so I'd always end up laying him in my arms and we'd both drift off to sleep rather quickly. I didn't want to put him in his crib bc it's so far away from our room...I should maybe move his crib into our room...it certainly has PLENTY of room to make a little nursery for the baby there! Maybe we'll do that after I actually finish putting the accents on his room...still have to put up the valance, painted the shelf already, and the stars have several coats, but it's not looking right...someday I'll have that all finished! lol

In the meantime, I bought the fisher price rock and play or soemthing like that...it's an inclined sort of pouch kind of thing but it's on a stand...hard to explain, i'll try to find a pic. I've been putting him in htis when I go to bed, so that he's inclined (doenst spit up as much!) and I can rock him from laying in my bed if he wakes up and can't get back to sleep.

So last night, I decided to give him a bottle at night, so I'd make sure how much he was drinking and realize waht time it was when he woke. Before, i'd just nurse him in the side-laying position, so I'd fall back asleep while he was still eating...so I wasn't really sure if he was really only waking once or twice or if I'm just not remembering it! lol Turns out I fed him around 10:30 then he woke up around 4:45 to eat. not bad! not bad at all!

Egg hunts!!!

2010-03-29T23:27:00.006-05:00

Easter is so much fun for the kids. We have several egg hunts every year, and this year, our playgroup had our egg hunt at Katherine Rose park...it was SUCH a beautiful day! It was a bit chilly, and the ground was still wet, but it was really pretty. My mom went along with me to help with the kids, so I could get pics of both kiddos (since Andrew wasn't actually hunting this year!). I packed us a picnic lunch, and instead of having an actual picnic, since it was wet on the ground, we just ate at the picnic tables. The kids all went to play after eating, then some of the moms went and "hid" the eggs...some were hidden, some were just out in the open. I did keep a few eggs and didn't hide them with the group, just so that after the big kids finished, Katelyn could "hunt" for her own eggs (which i filled with baby yogurt melts, instead of candy like the rest of the eggs had in them). Andrew was SUCH a good baby! He just laid in his carrier the whole time, never made a peep. Even when we got home, I had to sort of poke him to make sure he was breathing and he was okay! lol What a good baby boy!

More teeth!

2010-03-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Katelyn has been a bit fussy sometimes and I figured it was from her ear infections...turns out she has another new tooth! This one is on the bottom, to her right of her other 3 bottom teeth. So now the little cutie has 8 little chompers!

First Day of Spring!!!

2010-03-20T22:22:00.002-05:00

Well, now this is interesting. Here it is, the first day of spring, and it's SNOWING! It's been about 35 degrees all day and now it's snowing...just flurries and not constantly..maybe 10 mins at a time, but really big flakes. Now that's just weird. Did someone forget to tell Mother Nature that this is TEXAS?! Ugh. I JUST put away all of the girls' winter clothes that they have outgrown and got some really cute springy outfits, then it gets cold. Um, excuse me, but my kids have some very cute outfits to wear and I'd appreciate some spring weather, Mr. Weatherman! kthanks!!!

Well, yesterday, Andrew let me put him down in the crib at my mom's house. He likes to be held a lot, like Katelyn did...but not to the extent that she did, thank goodness! He'll sit in the swing or the cradle thing for a while by himself, but usually he has to be asleep before I can put him down. With Katelyn, even if she was asleep, she'd wake up the instant I let go of her! Andrew slept for a while in the crib and I got to spend some time with Katelyn. I tried to put her down for a nap a little earlier, but she was having none of it. But at least she just played in there for a while, so she did get some downtime, and hopefully she wont be incredibly cranky since she didnt want to nap. I was telling my mom that Madison was always SUCH a good sleeper. Even when she didn't want to sleep, she'd always play happily in her crib for an hour or so, and that way, I could get some rest since I was tired (though I don't know WHY on earth I'd be tired...I only had ONE kid! I didnt KNOW what tired was!!! lol).

I met my mom for lunch today and when I got there, my mom had run into my cousins, so we all had lunch together. Andrew was so good, and he just slept the whole time. Then my mom and I stopped by Target to get a few things and went back to her house. Andrew is SUCH a good baby! He just about sleeps through everything (including church...which involves a live band singing songs to open the service), and just lays there. Though when he's hungry, the kid is HUUUUUUNNNNNNGRY! He goes from zero to starving in about 2.3 seconds flat! Better be ready to feed him!!! lol Its a little hard, just becuase he eats every 2 hours, like Madison did and that's tiring because by the time I finish feeding him and then change him, its about 20-30 minutes, then it's only an hour and a half until he needs to eat again! So I have to hurry and get out the door the second he's done...then if I have Madison and Katelyn home, its even harder bc I have to get them dressed, ready to get out the door, and get them in the car...by that time, its another 15 minutes that are gone on the countdown...so I basically have one hour to get to the store/run errands and be home so the baby can eat again! A lot of times, I'll go shopping with my mom and she helps a lot! I've spent time in a dressing room feeding Andrew...sometimes my mom is with me, so she takes Katelyn (Madison is at school) while I go feed him. But sometimes I've had to take my shopping cart in the dressing room and K sits there while I feed Andrew. That works out becuase then I am already at the store and dont "waste" time trying to pack the kids in the car and get to the store...so I have more time to shop, etc! lol

Hopefully, soon he'll go back to eating every 3 hours. He was eating every 3 hours since he came home from the hospital, but at his checkup a few days later, he had lost too much weight and was spitting up a lot. They told me to feed him more often and just burp him more, then to make sure he was sitting up or inclined for 45mins after eating. He's spitting up a lot less now that he's three weeks old, so maybe he'll be up to 3 hrs pretty soon...

He does cry every time we get in the car. None of my kids have EVER been big fans of the infant seat. Never. All of them have cried for the first 5-10 mins of any car ride. That stinks. I did find that a swaddle blanket I got for my shower has a hole for the belt buckle, so I've been buckling him in his carseat, then wrapping him with the swaddle blanket and that has been helping. He may cry when I put him in the carseat, but usually by the time we start going in the car, he'll be more content. I'd say about 85% of the time, he doesnt cry now. Sometimes he does, but it's definitely much better! I dont remember hold old the girls were when they outgrew that, but I hope its soon, bc that makes for a stressful car ride, since I feel so bad for the little guy and there's nothing I can do to help him! Big sister Madison tries to give him his paci, and she pushes the button on the carseat thing to play music for him...(she's such a WONDERFUL, sweet big sister!!! she tells him, "We're going, Andrew!" or "we're almost there!" lol)...but sometimes he's just not interested. *sigh* He still doesn't LOVE the "regular" pacis, but he likes this other paci that is more bulbous...perhaps as he gets older I can "train" him to like the regular paci, like I did with Katelyn! lol

Andrew at Two Weeks

2010-03-15T23:54:00.003-05:00

Today, after going to a playdate this morning, we went to see Dr. Stacey and Andrew had his two week checkup. We have had three weight checks so far. We went on March 3, our first visit after leaving the hospital and he weighed in at 7lbs 1oz (he was discharged ta 7lbs, 3oz). They wanted us back on Friday for another weight check and he was up to 7lbs, 6oz. They told us to come back again on Tuesday, the 9th and he was back up to his birth weight of 7lbs 8oz. I was worried about him not gaining enough, but today at his checkup he was up to 7lbs, 14 1/2 oz. So he is only in the 25th percentile for his weight. His length is at 21 1/2 inches, so he's gained a whole inch in two weeks, putting him at 75th percentile for height and his head circumference is 14mm, I think...it was in the 25th as well. Hopefully, he'll continue nursing well. He has been the easiest so far, but then last night about an hour after I fed him, I pumped to see how much he was getting and it was only 1 oz from each side. Yikes! So I gave him some formula in the middle of the night and then gave my mom some little bottles when I left him with her today (while I took the girls to their playdate) and told her to give him formula. When I got home and Gordon was home to help with the kids, I pumped again and got 2 oz and 4 oz while pumping, so I guess he's getting enough since they say he just needs 2 oz every 2 hrs.

He sleeps a lot during the day, only wakes to eat and he wakes up at night mabye once or twice. He sleeps in the bassinett next to us and sometimes I have to hold him while we sleep bc he wont seem to be able to get comfortable. Then, maybe I'll lay him back in his bassinett after he's calmed down. But he'll wake up to eat, and 10-15mins later, he's done and back asleep...and so am I! :) Of course, he's still at that age where he hates the carseat, like both of his sisters did. Any car ride pretty much sucks for the first 5-10 minutes bc he'll cry, won't take a paci and just screams the whole time until he either gets comforted by the lull of the car, or else he just tires himself out by crying...who knows?! After that, he's perfectly fine and I can go anywhere and he pretty much stays asleep. I even took him with me the other day to go get a mani/pedi...I've had the gift certificate that I got from Madison for Christmas, but havent gone to use it. He slept the whole time and then I even went shopping after that and got a few new shirts....he was just sleeping away! :)

I dont remember when the girls got over the screaming in the carseat/car thing, but i sure hope its soon!!!! Other than that, he's a pretty easy and calm baby!

Time for Daddy to go back to work!

2010-03-15T23:48:00.003-05:00

Wow, it seems like those two weeks went by really fast! Andrew is two weeks old, and Gordon had to go back to work today. So today was my first day with all three kids at home by myself! Fortunately, they all slept late (thank you very much, daylight savings time change!). Andrew woke up around 7:15, ate, then went back to sleep. I had time to make us some eggs for breakfast, ate mine and the kids still were asleep. It was 9:00 and we had a playdate at 10:00, so I went up and woke up Madison. After she was downstairs eating, I woke up Katelyn and they both ate breakfast. Katelyn even had some scrambled eggs. She is just now starting to eat more table food...mostly bc I've been tired (read: lazy) since I was miserably swollen and tired at the end of my pregnancy. But now, we've had more stuff that she can eat safely. She scarfed down her eggs and even ate the rest of Madison's that she didn't want.

I took Andrew to my mom's house while I took the girls to the playdate. They had fun, Madison played with her friends and Katelyn wandered around the house chewing on random items. Then we left around 12 to take Andrew to his checkup with Dr. Stacey.

I'm glad Madison got to hang out with her friends, since she never gets to while I'm working. She loves playing with them and going to her friends' houses.

Katelyn is a WALKER!!!

2010-03-06T23:11:00.002-06:00

Katelyn has been taking more and more steps lately. At the hospital, when I had Andrew, she was walking across the room. She'd fall after a while, and crawl, but a lot of the time, she'd walk. Then each day, she's been taking 15...16...17 steps and now, she'll let go of furniture and walk herself across the room to get where she wants to be.

I was waiting for her to just up and start walking full time like Madison did, but she's different. I should have known. Katelyn is definitely her own little person. So looking back, she's been walking for a few days now. Since it's the 6th now, I'd say she's been walking alone since right on her birthday. She does crawl, and she doesn't stand herself up in the middle of the room, but she'll stand herself up holding onto something, then take off walking across the room from there. It's so neat to see her growing and becoming a walker! It's definitely helpful! If I am carrying Andrew in one hand, and Katelyn wants my attention, I can hold her hand and she can walk with me to the couch, where I can hold them both. If she was still crawling, it'd be sooooooooooo much harder!!! Good girl! You walked just in time!!!

What a big girl!

Back to "Normal"

2010-03-06T21:30:00.000-06:00

It's 9:30pm. Katelyn's asleep. Gordon's asleep. And for the first time in weeks, Madison is asleep, before 10pm, too! Andrew is asleep, swaddled sitting in his carseat by me (to keep him from spitting up since he just finished eating). I am actually not exhausted! I have no inclination to go to bed right now! Now THAT'S normal for me, ever the night owl.

It's been one week since we were blessed with our sweet baby boy, and we're adjusting pretty well, so far. Of course, the fact that Madison was in preschool and my mom kept Katelyn all last week (since she was sick and we were told to keep her away from Andrew so she wouldn't get him sick), so we only had Andrew all week, probably helps tons! This next week, I plan on keeping Katelyn home with us, and Madison will still go to school, as normal. She'll continue to go to her preschool until summertime. I usually pull her out during summer, bc what's the point of being home all summer if she's in school? Besides, we do tons of things with our playgroup and I'd hate for her to miss fun playdates if she's in school. Also, that's time for me to be able to spend all day with her, which I miss during the year when I'm working. I think this summer will be tons of fun. By the time summer gets here, Andrew will be more predictable, less floppy and maybe a little more interactive with his sisters since he'll be 3 months old. I'm really itching to take a road trip and think maybe I'll see if my whole family wants to go to South Padre Island like we used to do every year. That would be a lot of fun. It's been YEARS since we've been and we used to go EVERY summer along with my uncle, aunt and cousins. Hmmm....we'll see what happens this summer.

Today, after doing our lingering laundry, which has been residing in baskets, I went through the girls' clothes and figured out they have NOTHING to wear! Madison has some jeans and a few shirts that still fit, but everything else is tight or short on her. Katelyn has virtually nothing to wear...she is tall and skinny, so her 9 month clothes fit her, but they're too short. Then the weather has been flip flopping back and forth between cold and springlike weather, so I don't want to buy more pants (not that they're available in stores...it's all summer clothes), yet it's too cool for shorts. So I fed Andrew, then, while Katelyn took a nap at home with Daddy, I took Madison (we're trying to keep her from napping, so maybe she'll go to sleep earlier, since she's been up past 10 for WEEKS!!!)and Andrew with me to Target with me....ahhh, Target. My home. My base....now THAT'S back to normal! :)

As I was walking into target, I ran into a teacher from work and she said, "You're out already?!" I told her I HAD to get out; that I go stir crazy staying at home. Doctors said dont drive for two weeks....are they CRAZY?! NO CAN DO, BUCKAROO!!! So we wandered around target for a while grabbing a few things we needed and also, I was there to get some summer clothes for the girls. First, I got Madison a few things...well, who am I kidding..."a few" isn't really accurate. ;P So I got her some clothes, then went back through and picked some clothes for Katelyn. Problem with Katelyn is she's so small, and you usually buy a size ahead, but they're HUGE on her! She's already 12 months and with most babies, you'd buy 18 months right now. Well, the 12 mo size says its from 20pounds to whatever....well, she's not even that yet, I don't think! Last time I checked, she was only almost 18lbs! So I got a few 12 months size and a few 18 mo size since they usually run small. I'll try them on her and exchange them as necessary. What's funny, is I was joking with Madison saying "let's get out of here before Mommy buys the whole store!" then I saw something else, went to look for Katelyn's size and Madison says, rather loudly, might I add, "Mommy, hurry! Let's go before you buy too much clothes!" lol Nice. way to call me out, kid! So I started to leave then saw some cute things for Andrew...poor thing, he only got about 3-4 things, but the girls each got well over 15! lol Ummmmmmm, $300 later, the girls have a new summer wardrobe! I love Target's clothes because they're all only $4 and super cute! I usually buy clothes from The Children's Place outlet or target, bc I'm too cheap to spend $20 on one outfit for a baby!

Andrew Conner...One Week Old

2010-03-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

Today, Andrew Conner is one week old! He is sleeping very well, only wakes up to eat then most times goes back to sleep...sometimes he takes a while to go back to sleep or I have to hold him/lay with him in order for him to sleep. He's SUCH a good baby! He only wakes to eat and poop...well, I take that back, he even poops in his sleep...quite loudly. So much so, that we call him "little squirt" because that's what he does! Just like Katelyn...we also nicknamed her Squirt when she was tiny! lol Today, he was nursing and "squirted" so loudly that he scared himself!!! lol

He was eating every 3 hours at first, but since he was spitting up a lot, they told me to back down to feeding every 2 hours (which makes doing anything soooooo hard! Every time I turn around, two hours has passed!). I also try to keep him sitting upright for a while after eating and put a towel under his bassinett mattress pad. He's definitely spitting up less than he had been doing. Right now, he's asleep, swaddled up, sitting in his carseat by me, until I'm ready for bed.

We're still trying to find a paci he likes. We bought a few different ones after he didn't like the nuk ones I had. It's like he hasn't learned how to suck yet (though his nursing skills beg to differ...that kid can suck!!!). :) He'll have the paci in his mouth, but then he still cries, like he can't tell it's in his mouth or something. *shrug*

Andrew was supposed to be a linebacker...the kid was 7lbs, 4 oz at my 36 week checkup and was supposed to be near 9.5lbs at birth, so we opted to induce a week early to keep from giving birth to a freakin toddler! Well, he came on his own, two weeks early and was only 7lbs, 8oz, which is actually smaller than Katelyn was; she was 7bs 9oz. He's such a tiny little guy. Even his little swaddle blanket seems huge on him. I have to wrap him in a hospital receiving blanket, then wrap the swaddler around him...guess it helps "bulk him up" enough that the swaddler doesn't swallow him!

He's a little more alert this week. His eyes are definitely a deep, deep blue (now that he opens them more, we can tell! lol) and his hair is a sandy blonde color, though sometimes it looks darker, where he has more hair, we still can't really see his eyelashes/eyebrows unless we really look for them. Not sure if he'll turn out more blonde or darker haired...time will tell, I guess! Gordon was blonde as a kid, so who knows. He does have a cleft chin, I think they call it, where there is a little dimple on his chin. I'm told one of the parents have to have that in order for the baby to, and upon inspection, I guess I have a very slight one, though I've never noticed it before! lol

I'm so happy to have my little man and can't wait for him to grow and get old enough to really play and enjoy his sisters. Madison is in love with him and wants to hold him. She likes to talk to him, especially in the car, when she's sitting next to him. Katelyn is very curious about him and wants to touch a lot. I think she thinks he's one of her baby dolls! She also tries to steal his paci!

I think they'll all have so much fun together once he's old enough to interact with them.

My Katelyn

2010-03-04T18:00:00.003-06:00

I just have to blog about my Katelyn really quick! She's gotten another tooth on the bottom in the last few days...on her bottom left side. Then I noticed she has her two teeth up top that came in also...the ones right next to the top middle teeth...all in the last week or so! Poor girl, that can't feel good. Right now she has yet another ear infection, which makes three this year alone! Hopefully, she won't get many more...otherwise I'm going to ask for an ENT soon. My friend's daughter had too many and doc never referred them...she has a speech delay and maybe due to the ear infections?

Secondly, I'd definitely say Katelyn is on her way to being a walker! She can walk all by herself lots of steps! Yesterday, on her birthday at my mom's she was up to 16 steps all alone! She can walk, stop and keep going. She doesn't choose to walk all the time, she still crawls a lot, but she's definitely on her way to being a full time walker! She'll take off any day now!

I was at home for a while today with the two babies by myself for the first time. I managed to feed Andrew, feed Katelyn a bottle and her solids, and even have a moment to blog really quick before daddy and Madison got home with dinner....time to eat!!!

Juggling Act

2010-03-04T17:16:00.000-06:00

Today, Gordon left to go get his oil changed, then he was going to pick up Madison and Katelyn, who were at preschool and my mom's. Well, since he was gone for quite a while, I fed Andrew and even gave him a sponge bath...for the most part. I did run the water over his head to wash his hair, and he did not love when it got on his face. I finished giving him a bath then my mom came over with Katelyn and Gordon got home with Madison not too long after that. Then when my mom left, Gordon went with Madison to get dinner for us and that left me with the two babies...whoa. I was feeding Andrew, Katelyn hadn't finished her bottle and the poor thing was trying to feed herself, but couldn't get the bottle up enough since it was half gone. So I got her up on the couch next to me and was feeding her and Andrew at the same time. Then he was knocked out in a milk coma, so I put him in the swing, and fed her some carrots. I even had time to blog a bit before they got home.

This is definitely going to be challenging and keep my on my toes...This newborn stage is so hard. It's like surviving the day and just waiting in between feedings for Andrew. It just wears me out. After hes a few weeks old and can hold his head up enough to lay on the floor and play it might get easier...especially as his feedings become more spread out. It's hard right now bc everytime I turn around it's time to feed him again, which makes it hard bc I'm nursing him, so nobody can help with that.

On the plus side, I weighed myself the day I got home from the hospital (and my feet were still swollen like pufferfish) and today I weighed myself again, since I can now see my veins/blood vessels in my feet again and they're not AS puffy....apparently it was mostly water weight bc I've lost 16 pounds since we came home on Monday..and it's only Thursday!!! lol That's right folks, SIXTEEN pounds in 3 days...talk about awesome! Mostly water weight, but I'm sure nursing helps...it always does. When I'm nursing the weight just melts off...at first anyways. Let's hope this trend continues! :)

Katelyn is ONE!!!

2010-03-03T23:24:00.001-06:00

Here are some pics of Katelyn...not necessarily in order, bc blogger stinks with uploading and rearranging pics, so here ya go!

My baby girl, almost a year old...in the hospital visiting her brand new baby brother!

She's a very independent, fiesty and curious little girl!

some old pics:

This is the first picture of the girls together...Madison was so stinking excited about getting to hold Baby Katelyn that she was patting the pillow and clapping her hands and was just downright giddy! Madison is such a proud big sister!

This is the first day I went back to feed Katelyn in the NICU. We were discharged but had to leave the baby in the hospital. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! I was SO excited when I got back the next day to feed her. (she has an IV in her scalp bc she had one in each foot but they dont last very long in babies since the veins are so small/fragile, so they had to put one in her scalp the day we were discharged). She came home when she was 5 days old.

This is Katelyn at about 6 weeks old...my, she looks chunky! Check out those cheeks!!! She's only in the 25th percentile for her weight at last check...even though she looks like such a chunky monkey here! Her hair was also super curly! It's still kind of curly now, but its a much looser curl. If we brush it down while it's wet, it'll just look straight. Interesting how much she's changed! Her eyes are still a bright, bright blue and she's such a sweet girl!

Okay, now....about my sweet girl...

Katelyn, my sweet Katelyn Rose is a whole year old! I can't believe it's been one whole year since my sweet baby girl was whisked away to the NICU; I cried and cried when they took her, with breathing tube in place. She just looked so awful! I finally got to hold her the next day. She has been such a wonderful little girl! I love her so much and she is such a spunky little thing. She's little, but she'll let you know what she thinks! She was only in the 50th percentile for height and only in the 25th percentile for weight at her last checkup.

Katelyn at one year:
-she loves to eat puffs
-she likes to watch her sister and laughs at her all the time
-she'll turn her head away and then back to play peek a boo
-she puts the phone up to her ear and tries to talk
-she can say mama and dada
-she has learned to SCREAM lately!!! Whew! That's not fun!!!
-she has started WALKING! She'll pull up on things, then let go and walk across the room. She really started doing that when I was in the hospital having Andrew and she came to see me. She'd start to walk then crawl, and now, she'll let go and walk herself over to wherever she wants to go!
-She has 4 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth. The bottom tooth to the left of the center teeth came in just now and then I notice that she has new teeth on either side of her top two front teeth. Those things are sneaky! Maybe they snuck in while she had an ear infection, so I attributed her runny nose and her being uncomfortable/cranky to the EI, not to teething. Poor thing, guess she went through both the EI and teething all at once. Thankfully, I know we were giving her motrin for the EI pain and hopefully that covered the teething pain, too!
-Katelyn got an awesome gift (in MY opinion) for her birthday...a brand new baby brother! Though she just thinks hes a baby doll at this point, I believe!
-She eats dinner with us around 5 or 6, then she has a bedtime bottle around 7 or so to go to sleep. She likes to be held to fall asleep, and we usually give her that bottle then lay her down in her crib.
-she doesn't always like to be laid down in her crib, but if I put an extra paci in her hand (in addition to the one in her mouth), she'll be distracted by the paci, which, of course, she'll immediately switch out for the one currently in her mouth, and she'll lay down and go right to sleep.
-she doesn't usually wake up at night, unless she has an ear infection, which she's had three of since January, so I'm on the lookout to make sure it clears up this time and doesn't recur very often. If it does, I'm definitely asking for an ENT name to take her to.
-she sleeps from about 7pm to about 8am on her own, (or until 7am, when I wake her up to put her in the car when I'm going to work).
-she is such a snuggler when she's tired, but other than that, she is a GO! GO! GO! kind of girl.
-Katelyn is such an inquisitive girl (um, ya, we just usually call her nosy!), and she wants to see and grab everything. Gordon and I call her "Grabby Hands" all the time. To keep her from getting into everything everywhere, we have bins of baby clothes downstairs (that I still need to go through) and Gordon kind of lines them up as a little baracade of sorts to keep her from wandering all across the house, since the rest of the house may or may not be baby proof with all of Madison's little toys. Katelyn goes to those bins, leans over them and watches to see what's happening when someone opens the garage door (where we usually leave).
- Katelyn has such a fun, loving personality and is such a happy little baby
-She makes me smile especially when I tickle her and she just squeals and squeals with delight!

It's been such a wonderful year with my baby girl and I can't wait to see how she'll grow and change in the coming year!

The girls meet their baby brother!

2010-02-28T23:05:00.002-06:00

Well, Katelyn couldn't care less...she just wants to explore the hospital room. Not sure an almost-one-year-old even comprehends there is another baby around! lol

However, Madison has been so excited about the baby! She was constantly talking to my belly, feeling my belly, trying to feel him kick and if he wasn't moving, she'd say, "Wake up, Andrew, I want to play!". She'd give him hugs and kisses (well, to my belly anyways) all the time. She was so excited when I told her Friday night that we were going to the doctor to get Andrew out of my belly. So when she saw him, she was so super excited! We gave her a little "princess basket" full of all things princess...pencils, paper, stickers, etc...it was a princess themed basket we won at the silet auction last year that I was going to give her as her big sister gift from Katelyn, but she had too much other stuff, so I saved it. We gave it to her, and just looking at it, her eyes got so big and she just couldn't wait to dive into all of that stuff! She was sitting on the couch in the room when I told her, "That is a gift from Andrew, he got that for you!". She stopped, looked up at me with such surprise, scooted off the couch and ran over to Andrew's bassinett and said, "THANK YOU, ANDREW!!!!"! LOL She is such a sweet girl and will no doubt, be such an awesome big sister to him! What wonderful (not to mention freaking adorable!!!!) kids I have....But I'm not biased at ALLLLLL!

Katelyn just got ROBBED!

2010-02-28T22:52:00.004-06:00

My poor, sweet baby girl...she was supposed to have her first birthday party this weekend. I kept putting off sending out a cancellation email to everyone, just in case the contractions went away and Andrew didn't end up coming after all...So finally around 3pm, after I actually had my baby boy in my arms, I finally sent out an evite email cancelling her birthday party...well, postponing it, actually. So sorry, baby girl! I can't believe my baby is a big sister...and she's not even ONE yet!!!

Hopefully, we'll adjust to having a newborn again, soon so we can have her party in a week or two. She has been walking lots and lots and has taken many more steps this weekend at the hospital. She was up to about 5 steps, but now she'll take as many as 10 steps before falling/crawling. That's right about where Madison was when all of a sudden she started taking off and walked all over the place all at once! Now, maybe Katelyn will be walking just in time for her birthday party! Her actual birthday isn't until Wednesday, so we'll see how she does...Madison walked exactly one week after her first birthday...we'll see if Katelyn follows suit!

Andrew Conner makes his grand entrance!

2010-02-27T21:38:00.002-06:00

6:30 am- Doctor Johnston came in to check me and said I had progressed to about a 4 1/2-5ish. She said they'd come back in about an hour and break my water.

7:15- Dr. Johnston came in and broke my water, which didn't hurt, it just felt gross...I remember saying "eww" when they did break it! lol So they said that, in and of itself, would make my contractions intensify and maybe progress enough. Boy they were right about that! OUCH!!! The contractions were getting stronger and stronger, so I quickly asked for my epidural and they said they called the anesthesiologist, but I needed IV fluids first. Man, those contractions were STRONG!!!! I called my mom to tell her to head up to the hospital, since she was at home with the girls.

8:30 they checked me again and I was at a 6; the anesthesiologist came in and did my epi.

9:00ish, they got the epi started, but my left leg was numb, and I could still feel my right leg...oh, great. I've heard of this happening! So they had me roll over on my right side, so the meds would numb that side with the help of gravity, and I was praying it would work!!! Finally, it did, so they started the pitocin.

9:45 The nurse checked me and said I was fully dilated and just about ready, so they started getting the room ready and bringing in the delivery stuff for the doc. I called my mom to tell her that I was about to be ready, and she was just around the corner.

10:00 Dr. Steidl (who was the same doc who delivered Katelyn) came in and they were getting everything ready. She joked and said, "I've got to catch up with you! You've had TWO babies in the time I've had ONE!" lol By the time they got everything ready and doc got suited up for delivery, it was about 10:09...

10:09 Doc said as soon as I have the next contraction, I need to push. Since I was still numb and couldn't feel it, they had to tell me when the contraction started. They said push, I pushed (counting to 10 like they always do), pushed again (for another 10 seconds).....

10:10 ...pushed again (another 10 seconds....all of this during the same single contraction) and PLOP! Out came baby Andrew Conner!!! He weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. He had lots of sandy blonde hair and his eyebrows are so blonde, you can't even see them! lol

That was the shortest delivery yet! With Madison, I pushed for a good two hours solid! With Katelyn, I pushed for exactly 12 minutes. With Andrew...one contraction, three pushes...only 30 seconds!!! wow!

I am sooooooo excited to have my little man in my arms! He is perfect and so cuddly and adorable!!!

Uh-Oh...I think Andrew wants to be a February Baby!

2010-02-26T23:06:00.001-06:00

Today was supposed to be my last day of work, then I was going to start my maternity leave a little early. I had a doctor's note, taking me out of work, starting Monday, March 1st, which would give me a week off before the planned induction on March 8th.

Just before lunchtime, around 11am, my stomach started to get a little crampy. Nothing major, I'd just notice every once in a while that I felt a little ache here and there. I went to lunch thinking this boy was coming this weekend. Then later in the afternoon, it started to be more and more achy. By the time conference time came around, I knew this little boy was coming this weekend. I was frantically trying to tie up loose ends and getting everything ready for my sub, who was starting on Monday. By the end of the day I knew I wouldn't make it past the weekend...though I was hoping! I wanted to take Madison to Camelot Faire on Saturday, I had volunteered to help with the Faire, then we had Katelyn's FIRST birthday party planned for Sunday. I was thinking, if I can JUST make it through Sunday, he's welcome to be born on Monday!

I thought i'd just go home and lay down on my left side, like they say, to make the contractions lessen or go away. Um, who was I kidding?! I had a contraction calculator app on my iphone, so I was timing the contractions. They were about 2 minutes apart, and lasted over a minute since I started timing at 4:30pm. They hurt but werent incredibly strong. I picked up Madison from school and was going to try to get her home so Gordon could change her and take her to dance class. Since I spent a little extra time at school trying to wrap things up, we were running late for dance, so by the time I got her home, dance class was starting in 10 minutes and it'd take at least 20 to get there with traffic and all...plus get her dressed, so I just told Gordon not to mention it to her! I'm glad I didn't send him to dance class with her, bc we went to the hospital within the next hour and he wouldn't have been home yet! My mom came over to help with the girls and get things ready. I had JUST packed my bag yesterday and was missing a few things, so mom and Gordon helped throw a few things in my bag, get Madison dinner, get Katelyn a bottle then by 6:30 or so we headed for the hospital. My mom had the girls and was bringing them up right behind us.

We got to triage and they said I was only at a 2, which is the same as I was on Monday at my last dr. appt. They said if I didn't progress, they'd send me home...which is what I was afraid of. This happened last time and it took forever, once they were finally convinced it was real labor, for me to get the epi...I was dying! So at 8, they checked and I was only at a 2ish..maybe 3. At 9, I was a 3, so they told me to walk around L&D for a while and at 10:00 checked and again, only a 3. Dr. Johnston was on call that night and she came in and explained that she didn't want to induce or use pitocin right now bc he was still on the early side and 20% of babies, especially boys, do not yet have fully developed lungs, so they end up in the NICU. I didn't want a NICU baby, but I also didn't want to be sent home and end up having the baby at home or in the car on the way back to the hospital or soemthing! I explained to the nurse bf the doc came in that both times prior, I did not progress much at all without pitocin, and had labored for hours, but when given pitocin, I went from a 5-10 within 2 hours...both times. I was a little disappointed or maybe afraid when they said no pit yet, since I was only 37weeks, 5 days.

About 11ish, doc said they'd keep me overnight and see what happens. She said if I progress by morning, they'd break my water andlet it go from there, but if not, they'd send me home. I was fine with that, just wanted to make sure I wasn't sitting at home having the kid in the living room!!! Contractions slowed and were further apart, but they became more intense during the night, even though they were probably about 10 minutes apart...

Pukefest, Round Two...Make That Round Three!

2010-02-21T22:09:00.002-06:00

Pukefest, Round Two: Katelyn's Turn
Saturday morning, around 1am crying a different cry and then I heard a suspicious noise and I thought she puked. I went upstairs to get her, but her clothes were dry, but I was sure I heard an odd noise, so I turned on the light and sure enough, her bed was covered in puke. Guess she must have been lying on her tummy. So another early morning shower for me, as I cleaned her off. I handed her to Gordon while I washed my hair and just as I finished and turned off the water, he came back in the bathroom with her and said "youre not done! she just puked again" so I washed her off again. Then I sat downstairs with her with a trash can. She sort of had a squeal right bf she'd puke and that was my warning sign! lol She did puke a little on the carpet, then after that every now and then she'd just spit a little. I sat on the couch with her for a while and she fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn't want to put her in her crib, in case she puked again. So I just held her.

Round Three: My Turn
Meanwhile, ever since she woke up, my heartburn had been acting up, so I took a zantac after the first shower this morning. Well, maybe it wasnt heartburn after all...around 5am as i had sat here on the couch, holding a sleeping Katelyn and sleeping sitting up, all of a sudden I felt like I was going to be sick. So I had to quickly lay her down on the couch and use that trash can for myself! Gordon came and got Katelyn and held her, rocking her back to sleep. After a while, he took her upstairs with him and I tried to go back to sleep. I guess I fell asleep, bc I woke up when they all came downstairs around 8am. I was fine at first, then a few minutes later, I puked again. It seemed like if i sat up, I was fine, but when I laid down, that's when I got sick. So I tried to sleep while sitting up, and it worked for a while, but it's much harder to sleep, obviously!

Because backaches, heartburn, swollen feet and sick kids wasn't enough at a million months pregnant, we'll just add my own puking to the mix. Ah, what fun.

I was sick all day and puked a few more times. I managed to suck on some ice chips throughout the day bc my mouth was so incredibly dry, but I didnt want to drink a lot or eat anything at all. I did manage to eat 2 crackers for dinner. I was worried poor baby Andrew was starving, but then again, even if I did eat something it'd come right back up anyways. By the time I woke up in the morning, Katelyn seemed fine and Gordon said she didnt throw up any more times that night, so I guess she was better. She acted fine. Honestly, I told her I was jealous! lol But I was hopeful that I'd be fine, soon, too! lol

By the evening, I was feeling alright, still lightheaded and a little queasy, but didnt puke any more. I went to lay down around 7pm or so, and slept for a while...until about 10, I think. Then I got up and managed to eat two more crackers and some more ice chips. Man, being sick sucks, especially when you're about 9months pregnant!!!! So glad it was only a 12 hr or so bug! I had planned on going to a MNI with my mom's group, but obviously didn't make it. Boo. :(

But we all seem to be doing well today, so I'm just glad we're not all still sick!

What happened to my feet?

2010-02-19T21:38:00.000-06:00

I swear, all of a sudden (after my last appointment, of course), my feet and hands have been swelling sooooo much! By the end of the day, my feet look like pillows, not actual feet. It's ridiculous. Tuesday, I was at my mom's in the evening while Gordon was bowling and the swelling was so bad that I could push my thumb into my skin and it would stay indented for a few minutes. MINUTES, not seconds. It is soooooo uncomfortable and every step hurts. It even kind of hurts to bend my hand enough to hold a pencil. Not fun. What's gross, is that when I walk, I can literally feel the water sloshing around in my feet. It's disgusting...truly disgusting! I remember when that happpened with Madison, my doc sent me over for a nonstress test at the hospital. Hmmm, wonder if I should be concerned?

This week has been soooo exhausting...and it was only a 4 day week, bc we had the day off for President's day. I took Madison to school and Katelyn to my mom's on President's Day since I had the day off, I was GOING to get some things done. Well, top of my list was Katelyn's bday invitation and by the time I got Madison to school, after taking her to get a special breakfast of donuts, it was already near 11am. I had my doc's appointment at 3:30, so I didn't really have that much time. I spent a few hours on the computer, SITTING DOWN, and my feet were still swollen. I fell asleep in Madison's bed while putting her to bed the other night and woke up around 3:30am....my feet were huge swollen pillows...and I had been laying down since at least 8pm when I put her to bed!!!! WTH?!

I'm soooooo not the type of person to just sit around, so it never occurred to me to take leave from work before I had the baby, like some people do. I just figured I'd work until my due date just like I did with Katelyn. Well, this week has proven to be too much with the swelling and everything. I tried to wear sandals to school (despite the fact that it snowed last week!), but that didnt help...there was just a ridge where the sandals started, where the water/swelling gathered. I put my tennis shoes on the other day, loosened them all the way and they were still tight. I finally gave up and brought slippers to school. I wear those throughout the day when I'm in class and TRY to remember to put on my real shoes bf I go out in the hall! lol I told my principal this week, that next week would probably be my last week. I told my mom tuesday that if I could, I'd take my leave already. Guess she mentioned it to my dad bc he called and told me to take off early and he'd take care of it. I was talking to Nabeel later in the week and he said the same thing. So nice to have such a supportive family. I couldn't imagine living without them!

So I was thinking I'd have to have a doc's medical excuse to start leave early, then did some research online to find that I can start leave anytime, as long as it concludes within 12 months of the birth. If I do take leave this week, though that means I'll be coming back to work a week earlier than planned and I also havent had my formal evaluation done yet. Not sure why it wasn't done last semester, probably all of this RTI and other stuff the district has piled on this year. Either way, I had one scheduled for last week, but the snowy weather prevented my VP from getting to school, so it wasn't done. I have one scheduled for this thursday, so hopefully it'll get done. I have to work Monday, then have my doc's appt that afternoon. I think I'll take Tues and Wed off as "mental health days"! Then i have to go to work Thursday for my observation...lets hope the kids arent too crazy after the sub (which will be my long term sub, so I know she'll keep them in line)...but at this point, honestly, I'm too exhausted to even care. Then I think I'll take off Friday and I'll start my leave on Monday. I just have to get my paperwork, lesson plans, etc in line this week. *sigh* I'm so done with this!

I think having a week or so with my feet up just might get me enough rest to have enough energy to have a baby!!!

Pukefest!!!

2010-02-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Thursday morning, Madison woke up around 5am crying really hard, so i rushed into her room and she was sitting up in her bed and said, "Mommy, look! My shirt got wet when I spit!" Awww, the poor thing puked all over herself, her hair and her bed!!! Poor baby had no idea what happened. :( so I whisked her into the shower really quick. I put the tv on for her and she watched her dance recital video that she loves to watch. She seemed fine, didnt have any fever, just danced all around, happy as a clam, while I got ready for work. I was on my way to my mom's where Madison was going to stay with Katelyn since she was sick. Well, we were almost at my mom's house and all of a sudden, Madison puked again...all over herself, her hair, her carseat...ugh. what a mess. So I took her out when we got to my mom's, cleaned her up, got her carseat out of my car and had to disassemble it and take the cover off so my mom could wash it while I was at work (could you imagine the stench from a puked-on carseat sitting in my car all day long? gross!). That thing took FOREVER to get off! My mom had the kids this week, but Natalie was sick, so she took the boys to school while I finished taking off the cover and parts of the carseat. Meanwhile, I called school to let them know I'd be a little late.

Nothing like a little puke to start your morning off!

Holy Moly!!!

2010-02-15T21:05:00.003-06:00

Today, we went to my 36 week checkup. I knew I was having a sonogram to check size, position and amniotic fluid, just to be sure everything looks good for the upcoming delivery. We went into the sonogram and the fluid looked good, he was head down, facing my back, all ready to go...except he's measuring at 37 weeks and 3 days, and I'm only 36 weeks, 1 day. Hmmm...so as I'm getting my stuff together, the sono tech was figuring the weight and everything, then she tells me he weighs 7lbs, 4 oz and is already 20 inches long!!!! OH, MY! And I still have FOUR more weeks to go at this point in the game, where babies grow about half a pound a week (well, about an ounce a day). If you do the math, that means nearly 2 more pounds by the due date...which means I'm looking at a 9.5 pounder!!!! YIKES!

I've been so swollen lately, I've had to even take off my wedding band (which used to always be big on me, so much so that I never wore it without my engagement ring to sort of keep it in place, bc otherwise it'd fall off!). My hands and feet/ankles are so swollen, it hurts. I went to put on my tennis shoes the other day and they hurt just to put them on. Gordon suggested I wear flip flops. I asked if he had seen the white stuff on the floor lately (um, snow?!). lol But I may just have to. I'm just going to take my shoes off at work and it just is going to have to work.

What's really ridiculous is the amount of water I've been retaining. As of last week, at my 35 week appt, I had gained 13 pounds over the whole pregnancy....in the last week, I have put on 6lbs....THAT'S about half the amount I had gained in 35 weeks...and I gained it in SEVEN DAYS!!!! This water/swelling is just driving me nuts. My hands are so tight, it hurts to close my hands at all. I had the day off today...slept till about 8 or so, we didnt leave the house until about 10. Then, after I dropped Madison at school and Katelyn at my mom's I went home to work on some stuff, namely to make Katelyn's birthday invitation. I worked on that and only that...whih means I SAT IN THE CHAIR for an hour or two while doing that and then it was time for my appointment. I got up and my legs hurt, my hands hurt...swollen from doing NOTHING! This is in addition to the constant backache! How in the heck am I going to handle another FOUR WEEKS of working...standing up all day? Gordon and the doc say to stay off my feet as much as I can. Not really feasible when teaching all day! I'm so done.

My doc says he's looking at inducing a week early. I'm due March 14, so a week early would be the 7th. He said he's on call the 28th, but that'd be a little early, since it'd be two weeks early. Besides, that is the day I planned for Katelyn's first birthday party!!! Looks like we're cutting it close!!!! So as of now, we're looking at planning to induce the week before my due date, so I'm guessing either March 8 or 9th we'll be meeting our little man! I have another appointment next Monday, the 22nd, where we'll decide for sure and pick a date to be induced. I used to be very apprehensive about induction...in fact BOTH girls were scheduled for an induction due to lack of progression at my checkups, the day before their due dates (including Katelyn, who ended up being born the very next day!!! lol) and I left the office HOPING they'd come before the induction did! With a possible 9.5lb baby and being as uncomfortable as I am, I have suddenly become a fan of induction!!! As we left the exam room, the doc jokingly said, "Well, pray for labor!" so that way we wouldn't have to do an induction at all!

I really want him to have his OWN birthday, so I am hoping he is at the very least NOT born on someone else's. Katelyn's is the 3rd of March, my dad's is the 6th and Gordon's dad's is the 7th. I don't really care what day he's born on, I just hope he isn't born on one of THOSE days, so he has his very own birthday! :)

Yikes!

2010-02-15T19:56:00.002-06:00

This is Texas. However, someone forgot to tell the weather that. It is February and it's SNOWING...not little bitty flakes where you have to sort of squint to see it, but real, huge flakes! This morning, the roads looked a little snowy, so I took both girls to my mom's house and mom was going to take Madison to school along with the other kids. I wanted to get to school early because today is my formal observation, so I dropped them off around 6:45 or so. Good thing I was early...as I stepped down from my very tall SUV, I put one foot down, but when I put the other down, they both slipped out from under me and I landed in more or less a sitting position on the ground. Did I mention it was snowing? So there was this icy/snowy mush and I just sat in it. Nice. Very nice. I left the girls with mom and dad, then ran home to grab some dry pants. All I had that I could find right away was a pair of jeans, so I changed and went to work. My back kind of hurt, but then again, when does it not?

So I went on about my day not thinking much about it, just glad I didn't fall on my belly. I had spent the morning poking and prodding the baby, trying to get him to move. He doesn't normally move much during the day anyways and today was no different. I was hoping he'd kick or something, just to relieve my mind a little. Nope. Not doing it. Well, while my kids were at the library, I had about a half hour to myself, so I just thought I'd call the doc and talk to the nurse, just to let them know and see what they say. I figured they'd just tell me not to worry about it, etc.

Boy, was I wrong! The nurse told me to hold on, while she talked to the doc...they never do that. She comes back to tell me that I really need to go to the hospital to L&D to be observed. So I went and told my VP and he is so awesome...he just said they'll take care of my class and figure something out and for me not to worry, just to go. It was just about lunch time, so I dropped my kids at the cafeteria and off I went to the hospital.

My mom was going to go with me, but since it had been snowing tons and tons and nonstop, I really didn't want her to have Katelyn out on the road, and besides, they may not even let her in L&D anyways...so I just told her I'd go by myself, since it'd probably take Gordon an hour to get to the hospital and it's probably nothing anyways. I went, got checked in and they put the monitor on my belly. As soon as I heard the heartbeat, I was so relieved and knew he was fine.

In the meantime, I was in a bed, by the window, so I got to stare out the window at the beautiful snow the whole time! That and my iphone kept me entertained while I was waiting. My dad showed up after a short while. He had left his work at USMD to come see me, and he was there for maybe 20 mins before the nurse came in and told me that the doc on call said to watch the baby on the monitor (which put out a paper strip, showing heartbeat and movement along with contractions...well, lack thereof to be exact) for another 2 hours. I sure wasn't looking forward to sitting there for two more hours, but you gotta do what you gotta do to make sure the baby is fine! So I told dad to go back to work and I'd be fine. The nurse said the baby's heartbeat and his movement looked beautiful and there were NO contractions at all, so everything looked good. About 2pm, they let me go, so I left and the funny part was when I got back to the valet to get my car, the valet guys had built a few things out of the snow including a car, a sign that said "VALET" and even a little snow puppy!

I drove home ever. so. slowly. The LAST thing I needed was to get into a wreck! lol The roads were covered with snow and I knew there was NO way we'd have school tomorrow. There was so much snow/slush on the ground, it's still snowing and it's supposed to get down to 29 overnight.

So baby is fine and I'm 99% sure we'll have a snow day tomorrow...yay for both!!! :)

My BIG baby girl!

2010-02-03T21:13:00.002-06:00

Sunday, Katelyn took ONE step trying to get from me to Gordon. It was just one step, but she's trying!!! Today, when I picked up Katelyn from my mom's she took maybe 1.5 steps...okay, so maybe it was a step and a stumble, but it LOOKS like she's trying! This evening, she stood alone for about 10 seconds, then slllooooooooowwwwwlllllyyyy slinks herself to the ground. I think she'll be walking soon...look out world, here she comes! lol

Party time!

2010-01-31T20:39:00.006-06:00

My big girl and me!

Baby boy on the way!

She was so proud to wear the "It's a boy" ribbon I had at my shower...not sure what happened to her other sock?

Tons of cute baby BOY clothes!

Such a lovebug!!!

A pic of me with the table...well, at least the cake. Guess the rest got cut off...this is why I'm usuallly behind the camera!!!

My YUMMY Costco cake! (Does it make me a nerd that I was a little irritated that they didn't use any punctuation when decorating the cake? Can I get an exclamation point for "It's a boy!" please?!)

Hehehehe...it amused me to no end to have balloons with Andrew's name on it already! :) Can't wait to meet my baby boy!

My Aunt Pat won the word game...by a landslide!!!

Here is a pic of Christy's winning baby pic she drew on her head...see pics below of her in action!

Kendra won a game...Michelle and Casey wanted nothing to do with their pictures being taken, hence the magazines covering their faces! lol

My mom and madison

Everyone is concentrating VERY hard!!! Even Madison was back there thinking of what to write!

My friend Christy won the game! They had to put a plate on their heads and draw a picture of a baby. There were definitely several interesting babies!!! lol So hard to pick the best one...should have taken more pics of them, but Christy's turned out the cutest...

Here are my friends Christy, Amers and my Aunt Pat drawing their babies!

Because I can't stand the way blogger uploads pics, and dont have time to try to scroll down and move them around, please enjoy the pics (above, no doubt, thanks to blogger), in the order in which they upload, which are not necessarily in chronological order! :)

Today was my baby shower for Andrew. My mom, my aunt Ivonne and SIL, Heather hosted it at my mom's house. I was helping my mom run some errands this morning, so I left Madison with Gordon and told him to make sure he put her down for a nap early, because the shower was at 2. Um, I'm guessing he didn't do that because when I picked her up, she was excited for "the party for Andrew" but then she tripped and fell at my mom's house, and it was all over. The world was falling apart. It took her a little while, but then she started to warm up...thank goodness!

My shower was so much fun! It was neat to see the house decorated for a BOY baby shower for once, and my fave was the helium balloons that said "Andrew" on them! hehehe. Lots of friends came to Andrew's baby shower and he got tons of cute, cute stuff! Can't wait till he gets here, so I can dress up my little man! We played lots of fun games and it was pretty funny to watch some of them. There was one game where everyone had to draw a picture of a baby on a paper plate...while holding it on top of their head, so they couldn't see what they were doing! Oh, my....THOSE were some interesting drawings! lol Christy won that game...maybe ill upload those pics sometime before the baby is born! lol

We had some yummy yummy food, too. Sausage balls, pink stuff, those salty tortilla chips I like, among other things....and my favorite: the costco cake....cream cheese icing, white cake filled with cheesecake filling...mmmmmmmmm!

I had such a great shower, and it was great to see all of my friends, but man, I should have thought that one through a little more! I didn't realize how TIRED I'd be after the shower...I really needed a day to recouperate! We should have had the shower on a Saturday, so I could "recover" bf going back to work the next day! lol

Now I really have to get crackin' to organize, wash and set up everything since I have everything we need! Better get started soon!

Wow...

2010-01-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

Last night, I fell asleep around 8:30 when I put Katelyn to bed...and stayed asleep. That never happens! So nice to get a full night's sleep! Must. do. that. more. often.

My new machines are here!

2010-01-29T20:52:00.000-06:00

We ordered my new washer/dryer back on Black Friday (bc they were something like $900 off the regular price...something ridiculous!) and they told us it'd be a while bf they were delivered, probably close to Christmas bc they were backordered. I told them it was fine, since we didn't really NEED new machines, ours were just old and BOTTOM of the line! When we got married, we pretty much walked in and bought the cheapest thing on the floor. I think we maybe paid $300 for the set! Just for comparison's sake, these new ones are normally almost $1000 each!!! So when they called a few days before the delivery date of December 22nd, I was so disappointed bc I had been looking forward to my new set! They said it'd be delivered about a month later, on January 29th. Once bitten, twice shy. As the new delivery date approached, I called them a few times to make sure they were going to be delivered. They said I should get a call the day before delivery letting me know what time they'd be delivering it. So I waited all day, no call, finally called them around 4:30 and the guy told me that the machine normally calls out to people scheduled for deliveries, somewhere betweek 5-7pm and if I hand't heard anything by 6:30 to give him a call. Well, sure enough, 5:30 rolls around and I got a confirmation call from the delivery center...yay! They said they'd call when they were about 30 mins out from delivery.

They called around 2:45 and my mom went to my house to wait for them. Gordon got there shortly after they did. I was going to go pick up Madison, but stopped by the house first....just to make sure they were doing everything right (read: the way I wanted! lol). All looked well, so I went to get Madison. We had dance class, so I had to get her dressed and off we went.

I stepped away from the door for a bit and I guess the lady thought (or hoped!) I had left, so they closed the danceroom door. I thought, well, maybe I'll be brave and just go run to target to pick up some HE laundry detergent, since I'm not supposed to use regular kind in these machines. I did it. I left her. I went to target, just down the road....after writing my name and phone number along with gordon's on Madison's nametag on her ballet bag! lol However, I think it just made me a nervous wreck! At first, it was fine, I got the detergent I needed, then stopped to look at something else and on the way out of the parking lot, I stopped by payless to check really quick (and NOTHING happens "quick" with two kids in the car!).... if they had some brown flats, bc mine for work are all beat up. I found a pair of brown and a pair of black I liked, but also a CUTE little pair of tennis shoes for Andrew!!! lol

However, as I was leaving payless, and there was a line of abotu 5 cars trying to get across Debbie, it hit me. I was suddenly very worried about what if I don't get back in time?! She'll be so scared! Oh, my gosh!!!! I finally got across and was back at the dance studio a good 15 minutes before her class let out, but it just made me too nervous to leave here and be gone that long!!!

When we got home, I started some laundry in my new machines, and Madison was so excited to help! When she saw the dryer drying the clothes, she said, "Mommy! It has a window!!!" bc she'd never before seen the clothes being tossed around! lol Though, interestingly enough, she did NOT look at the washer to notice it, to had a different window thatn the other machines.

Okay, seriously?

2010-01-25T20:36:00.002-06:00

Who was I kidding? None of that stuff (from post below) got done. NONE.

That is all.

updated to do list

2010-01-24T21:48:00.002-06:00

*items in RED are done!!

*items in BLUE are to be done TOMORROW!

*items in PURPLE are, well...sorta done!

Put away Christmas tree and boxes
put away all the kids' new toys, organized in some manner
put coffee table upstairs, and train table in it's place (well train table is there, but coffee table is still there too. boo.)
clear out front room
clean girls' outgrown infant clothes off the kitchen table, taking out ones to keep (um, they are in bags and ones to save are on the dining room table now...that's SOME progress!)
clean out my office...boy that'll take a while! (honestly, I don't see this one happening bf the baby is here!)
move toys from andrew's room down to my new, clean office! (moved to the gameroom)
clean corner counter in kitchen
paint andrew's room- to be done 1/2/10
get crib from my brother's house for Andrew (well, I decided to buy a new one...and it's ordered!)
order word wall words for Andrew
decorate Andrew's room
pull out boys' baby clothes that my brother gave me
get my friend's baby boy clothes she is going to give me and organize them
clean garage (sell/get rid of Christmas houses, Gordon's ab thingy, wood, wood chair, office chair, toddler bed...anyone need one?) (got rid of a lot of stuff, including office chair and wooden chair!)

whew! I have a LOT to do tomorrow after work! Let's hope it's not a hard day!!!

The best of intentions...

2010-01-24T21:35:00.002-06:00

So today on the way home from church, Gordon tells me, "We REALLY need to get Andrew's room ready, because you just never know!". Man, when the dad is telling the mom to get a move on, you know someone is realllllly behind! I've been meaning to get it done, but have been sooooo tired and my back hurts soooooooo bad! I'm about to start using that heating pad they say not to use! I got a massage and it was heaven, but by the next morning or so, it was back to pain as usual!

After church we picked up Madison (Katelyn had just fallen asleep, so I didn't want to wake her up, so we left her there) from my mom's house since the kids had spent the night. Madison had some lunch, after I practically BEGGED the child to eat (really? why is this ONLY a problem with kids? Ever see adults being begged to eat?! sigh). Then she and I went in the garage and I had a little plastic fold up table set up for us to paint on. I put the hangers on the back of the letters, and we got out the paint and painted them. Madison had a blast. I'd let her paint a letter, then when she was "finished" I'd give her a new letter...while I um, polished off, her letter she painted. The weather was soooooooooooooo nice outside, so it was perfect....well, maybe a tad bit cold, but she never complained. Gordon had gone to pick up Katelyn while we were painting and was inside feeding her. Just as Madison and I were finishing, he came outside with her and said he needed me. The poor baby looked miserable. I think she's teething pretty bad. She has a slight fever, chews on her paci on the side of her mouth, has the runny nose and is just miserable. We finished up, went inside and gave her motrin, then even though she had JUST woken up from a 2 hr nap at my dad's when he called at noon, she rested on my shoulder like she was tired. It was only 1pm, so she shouldn't have been tired, but she looked so uncomfortable. I went upstairs to our room to lay down with her...and woke up 3.5 hours later!!!! Holy geez! She slept a LONG time today...and yesterday she took a FOUR hour nap, too! Poor bunny, must not be feeling well at all! I love that I got a nap, too...don't usually get to partake in the naptime routine, but man, there goes my day!

I INTENDED to paint the letters, let them dry, hang up the mirror and clock that I got to match Andrew's bedding, put up the curtain rod that matches the valance, which goes with the bedding, and then hang up the letters once they were dry. After that I was going to get Gordon to move the furniture back into Andrew's room and I have lots of clothes to go through that people have given me from their boys. My friends Michelle and Naomi gave me their sons' clothes, and my brother brought some crates of mixed up stuff from my nephews/niece. I also have a friend at work who is bringing me a tub of clothes this week. I need to sort through those, seperate them, wash them and put them in the dressers so the kid has something to wear!!! As for now, they're still in the trash bags/crates in which they were donated! Maybe tomorrow will be better as far as getting anything done!

Okay, so there's the plan. Tomorrow. After work. gotta get the room done!!!!

wow...that reminds me...somewhere in this blog is a to do list that I've completely forgotten about! I've got to go find it and see if I've done ANYTHING on that list!!

Interesting...SAHM???

2010-01-19T22:18:00.002-06:00

So today, Gordon tells me about this plan he has to buy some little company sort of doing what his current company does, I guess. Then he says, "It should be great income and should be more than enough for what we need. If it takes off, like I think it will, you'll be able to stay home with the kids, you won't even have to work". Huh? Well, that just came out of left field! Being a SAHM has never been on my radar, so to speak. I thought about maybe working part time, but not sure I could handle being a SAHM...interesting. But then again, now is certainly not the time to be risking anything by leaving his steady job and trying to make it on his own, even with a business partner. Scary thought! Then what if it doesn't work out?? What are we going to rely on? MY salary? ha! lol We'll see what the future holds for us...

Awesome deal!!!

2010-01-19T21:57:00.003-06:00

I love getting a great deal on things. I don't exactly sit down on Sundays and cut coupons or anything, but sometimes, I find awesome deals...allow me to illustrate!

We needed to buy a new crib for Baby Andrew, bc Miss Katelyn will be in hers until she's 16....or until she climbs out! lol Then we'll either put her in the twin that we have in the garage, from when I was little, or else, we'll buy her a bedroom set at that time, like we did with Madison. So I went to order the crib. Okay, crib costs $430...ouch! NO WAY I'm paying that!!!! I'll just fix the price a little....a 20%off coupon here....used a $5 BRU dollars cpn there, plus also a $15 gift card I got free for buying diapers....and why, yes, I'd love to apply for a BRU credit card to save 10% more (another $36 off...as long as you use the cc on that purchase....well, I cheated a bit and only put ONE dollar on the card, so I could use my gift cards to buy the crib! hey, a dollar's a dollar...it counts!), and here are $250 in gift cards my brothers got me for Christmas....and the grand total I paid out of pocket? 63 bucks!!! AWESOME! Can't beat that one!!!

7-14 business days and we should have a crib here! It's a lifetime crib, so he'll be able to stay in it for a while (until age 16?) then it'll turn into a full size bed. I just need to go back and use my other 20%off coupon to buy the bedrails that go with it.

32 weeks...and counting!

2010-01-18T22:04:00.001-06:00

I went for my 32 week (already?!) checkup this morning and great news!!!! I LOST 4 pounds! lol Last time I had gained 8 pounds...and that was between visits only TWO weeks apart! yikes! Doc said they had a lot of that on that day (it was Jan 4, just after the holidays), so I told him I'm attributing it to Christmas dinner! lol He agreed and said a lot of that type of food is sodium rich, which causes water retention. Whatever...coudn't tell if he was being nice or really thought that...

So fast forward to today, and yipee! Down 4lbs...guess he was right. It WAS water weight. So as of today I have gained a total of 6 pounds in 32 weeks...not bad!!!

Of course, they also said I need to drink more water. bleh. I drank tons of water when I was pg with Madison...and tried to with Katelyn, too. Too bad I work at an Arlington school that is in Grand Prairie, and GP water tastes like dirt. Seriously. I've tried taking water bottles to school and I'll drink that one pretty quick...then I have nothing else to drink. Can't exactly add more nasty water to my bottle...I will NOT drink that quick! lol

Relief is on the way!!!!

2010-01-16T12:46:00.003-06:00

My back has been hurting soooooooooo bad lately and then I'll just be walking along, or sitting there, minding my own business (or checking FB...I consider that my business! lol) and all of a sudden I'll just jump! The kid kicks so hard lately! The other day I was in the shower with Madison, who was sitting down, playing with her bath toys, and I was holding the detachable shower head thing. Andrew kicked me SO hard, I automatically bent over and accidentally dropped the shower head thing, which went swinging and almost hit poor little Madison in the head! I mean, it's like a sudden JOLT and it HURTS! My friend joked that it's bc boys are a pain from the beginning! lol :) I was handing Katelyn to Gordon this morning...I walked up behind the couch where he was sitting and was lifting her over to him and when she was in midair, he kicked and I fell over onto the couch...luckily it was a soft couch!

Well, earlier this week, Gordon scheduled us for massages at this spa we love to go to. His is at 4 today and he scheduled me for one at 7pm. I was going to reschedule it for another day, so I didnt need to rush home to help him get the girls to bed, but he said to take my time and he'd handle getting them to sleep. That's awesome, bc they have this heavenly steam shower with the rosemary mint aromatherapy shampoo (and I'm not normally into aromatherapy, but this one is really nice) where I love to take a shower after my massage (bc all that massage oil is gross....but really, I just like the steam shower!).

I seriously cannot wait! The other day, he texted me and said, "only 3 days till you feel better!"...the countdown to my massage has been going all week! Our secretary at work asked me the other day, "are you counting down the days?" to which I replied, "like you wouldn't believe!!!". It's odd because with the girls, I was NEVER this uncomfortable! In fact, with Madison I had a prenatal massage gift certificate Gordon gave me for Valentine's Day or something and I thought I'd save it for the end when I hear it gets really bad. Well, my pregnancy NEVER got uncomfortable at all...of course, it probably helped that I was off work the last two months of my pg, since I had her over the summer! I finally went to get the massage when I was about 36 weeks, bc I thought I better use it bf I'm not even pg anymore! With Katelyn it was hard to sleep comfortably towards the end, but once I started sleeping on the couch, it was fine. Really couldn't complain, except I had a little heartburn. This one?! Holy hell! My back hurts, my hips hurt, my bones feel like they're rubbing against each other bc they've become looser, my legs are swelling, I took my rings off, the heartburn is ANYTHING BUT mild...wakes me up at night some nights...have to take zantac every morning and bf bed, it's hard to move, he kicks me so hard, I'm sure my insides are bruised (is that possible?!). I'm definitely ready to have this one already! I try to teach from my chair as much as I can lately, but in first grade, that's just not very possible!

When I went for my doc appt at 40 weeks with Madison, they didn't see any progression, so they wanted to schedule me to be induced that NIGHT! They called the hospital but they were full so she asked if I could do it the next night. I just told her I'd rather wait till next Thursday (about a week from then...bc my dad would be working at the hospital that day, and he could just pop in when he had time) and she looked at me like I had three heads! NOW I understand why!!! Most people feel like I do now....or at least those that complain do, bc I've always heard ppl complain about this part of the pg! :)

Luckily, we ended this week at school with two half days, then we're off on Monday (yay for MLK!) and we have a workday on Tuesday, so no kids, just time to work in my room...which I REALLY need! I had the kids help me clean yesterday. We just had books here and there, math games over here, cards over there, etc. Just stuff I'd put off to put away later, but never did. They were sooooooooooooo excited to help clean! lol One of mine even said, "it's weird. I don't like to clean my room, but I LOVE to help you clean our classroom!". They are so funny and can be so sweet at this age! I just had them stack a bunch of stuff on my table, so I could file it away later....90% of which was books, so now I have a big mess to walk into on Tuesday. *sigh*

Back to the grind!

2010-01-03T22:17:00.003-06:00

Dear Christmas Break, you were awesome...why do you have to end?!

Tomorrow, I have to go back to work. Wah! It's going to be realllllly hard to get up early tomorrow morning! Hopefully, dropping off Madison at school won't be too hard. She asked to go to school a few days last week and was fine when I dropped her off, so I'm hoping she'll be fine tomorrow, too. I think it'll be harder on ME to go to work all day! I'm so tired lately, so it will make for one loooooong day! I'm sure the kids and I will ALL need those two half days at the end of next week, followed by a long weekend! We have one full week this week, then next Thursday and Friday are half days since it's the end of the semester. The following Monday is MLK holiday and Tuesday is a workday, so no kids. Hopefully, the district doesn't have some more training for us to go to. I reeeeeeeeally need a workday. I have to start getting ready for my long term sub and writing my sub plans! I just couldn't force myself to work during my vacation!!! lol

Oh, My Aching Back!!!!

2010-01-03T21:50:00.003-06:00

Wellllllll, THAT was interesting! We all slept in our bedroom last night bc I didn't want the girls to be near the paint fumes from painting Andrew's room yesterday evening. We had Katelyn in the pack n play, then Madison fell asleep on the bed with Gordon. I went to lay up there, too, when Katelyn started to wake up. As I walked in, she was on all fours in the pack n play (PNP) looking around kind of like, "where the heck am I?!", but I just layed in my bed to see if she'd lay back down. She did and we all slept....for a few hours. Then around 2:30 she woke up again, so I picked her up and held her while laying down. She tossed and turned and climbed all over me, sometimes looking like she was about to pass out, sometimes looking like she was ready to play. Finally around 3:30, when she was still rolling all over, Gordon went and got her a bottle...and me some Zantac! I usually sleep on the couch lately, at an incline bc the heartburn gets really bad. Sleeping laying flat sucked! After she drank her bottle, she went to sleep and I put her back in the PNP. Then I layed my pillows up against the wall and sort of slept sitting up....later Madison got clingy, so I spent the rest of the night (morning?!) with her asleep on my arm. When I woke up, her hair was imprinted in my arm! lol I guess I fell back asleep, bc I woke up around 8:45 with Gordon telling me he was taking Madison to church with him. I woke up shortly after that, but Katelyn was still asleep. In fact, she was still asleep when they got home from church around 10:45 and Sleeping Beauty finally woke up around 11am! Ya, can't blame the kid...she was up half the night, keeping me awake for the party, too...so she was worn out! lol

When I woke up this morning, my back was soooo sore, and I could just barely even move. I think it's partly from painting yesterday (though I've painted both the girls' rooms in the past...twice for madison, since we moved...and I've never been sore afterwards) and partly from sleeping sitting up! Gordon said it didnt' look too comfortable and I told him it didn't feel very comfortable either! lol

He massaged my back with a massager this afternoon...and even showed Madison how to do it, too! lol I was laying on her little soft chair while he was massaging my back and sweet little Madison, I guess thought I was hurt, and came and sat by my head and stroked my hair saying, "Mommy, I'm sorry..." then she felt my forehead, like I do when she's sick! I guess I always feel for her temperature and I always tell her that I'm sorry she's sick...kids imitate so accurately!!! lol What a sweet girl she is, though! Then there's Katelyn who just climbed all over me the whole time...uh, guess that was her little way of showing her empathy! lol

Since we couldn't even smell the paint this morning (yay for low odor paint!) we are all back to normal sleeping arrangements this evening, thank goodness! Katelyn is asleep in her crib and has been since her normal bedtime of 7pm, Madison is asleep, I'm on the couch ready for my inclined "bed" and then there's Gordon. This evening, he started to get chills again...he's now in bed under several covers with a fever. I just went up to check on him, gave him tylenol and some milk along with a bottle of water...strange....this is how it started right before Christmas, on the 22nd, the day we had our 4D sonogram...the same day Madison came home from school not feeling well, and the day Katelyn was diagnosed with croupe and RSV. Let's hope they don't all come down with something AGAIN! I sure hope he feels better after he gets some rest! I know it sucks being sick so I feel bad for him. Plus also, I don't have the energy for him to be sick!!! I need his help! lol

Moving Right Along!

2010-01-02T21:24:00.002-06:00

Last time we painted Katelyn's room, we used Behr paint and that stuff stunk to high heaven for a good solid week!! So I was looking for a different paint this time around. I got Olympic "low odor" paint from Lowes...um, I'll be the judge of that!

I told Madison she could help me paint, so she and I put the plastic tarp down over the carpet and got all the paint things ready while Katelyn was still asleep and Daddy had run to home depot for me...I couldn't find my paint tray for some reason. I had everything else, including the disposable tray inserts, but now sturdy tray. While he was there, he was going to get me the "tester" size of the #10 paint since he went to a different home depot. After he got home, Madison was soooo excited bc she knew that meant we get to paint now!

I gave her some paint and an assigned spot on the wall and told her when the paint was gone, she was going to wait with Daddy downstairs while I finished, and she agreed to that. She was so cute painting and just talking the whole time. She'd say, "I did a good job!" and "look, i didn't even get any on my shirt!" lol What a cutie! She was doing fine, and I started to paint the other side of the room, when I looked over and saw that she was painting the inside of the window ledge...um, I didn't plan on painting that! So I really quickly wiped as much as I could off with the baby wipes I had handy...most of it came off, but it doesn't really matter bc you can't see the sides of the window once the blinds and shade are on it anyhow. She had fun and was happy as could be. What a good little painter girl!

After she went downstairs, I started to really paint (instead of paint a little, watch her, paint a bit, watch her, etc). It only took me about 45 mins to paint the whole room with the first coat. Right at the end, I started getting a headache...I thought it was supposed to be low odor, but maybe it's not really! So I went downstairs and went outside for a little while to get some fresh air. Then, I found the paint mask that was in the box from last time and put that on...it makes it so you don't breathe in a lot of fumes. Apparently, it makes it so you don't breathe in a lot of OXYGEN, either! It was hard to breathe in that thing!!! I kept it on, though, just to make sure my sweet baby boy wasn't getting the fumes! I finished the second coat in about a half hour. Just as I finished, Gordon brought the ladder upstairs to put in the room (bc he was going to get up there and do the corners by the ceiling for me, after we took the girls to my mom's. They were going to spend the night there, so they don't smell the paint, and then we'd do the touchups and be done with the room), and as he walked in, I had JUST taken the mask off and he was like, "hey! Why aren't you wearing your mask?!". I told him I had just taken it off right bf he walked in. Just then, my mom called to tell me my dad has strep throat! yikes! When HE goes to the doctor, it has to be bad!!!

So I used this edger thingy we bought and put it on the paint stick and was able to finish the rest by myself while Gordon watched the girls. Then I had to use a plain paintbrush to get the baseboards and some funky corner spots. Now it's all done and now we wait! I've got the fan running and the window open, as I've had it since I started, so hopefully it will air out pretty quickly and the smell won't linger. I'm just hoping the color I chose works out and I still like it when I go to look at it in the morning!!!

For now, we moved the pack n play into our room, and Katelyn is asleep in there. Madison fell asleep on our bed with Gordon while watching cartoons, so we were all just going to camp out in there for the night. Gordon just came downstairs bc he is coughing tons and doesn't want to wake the girls, so I suggested he go sleep in Madison's bed (not that the smell is too terribly bad, but we can handle the smell, not sure about the girls!). So I'll be going upstairs pretty soon to sleep with Madison in our bed with Katelyn in the pack n play...so glad our room is HUGE, so there's plenty of room for our King bed (where we can all four fit!) as well as the pack and play...and our room isn't even the least bit crowded! lol

Decisions, Decisions!!!

2010-01-02T17:16:00.000-06:00

This morning, I ran to home depot to see if I could get a sample of Misty Blue, which is the pottery barn color of blue that I think might work for Andrew's room. I had several colors that I tried on the wall yesterday, but don't love any of them. I do love one color, the glidden #10, but it's too dark to use for the whole wall. Of course, I can't find the PB catalog Christy gave me, so I could have Home Depot color match it, but a friend suggested that most paint stores have the fan decks of other paint companies. I went to home depot this morning, but they didn't have it. So I went to lowes and got a sample. After painting it on the wall in andrew's room, and much thought, I decided I'd use the Misty Blue color for the wall, but since I really liked the #10 color, I'd just get that in a "tester size" which is about 8 oz, and paint the letters for his name with that. Win-win! :)

After I got back from getting a sample of Misty Blue, Gordon and I (along with Madison's help!) emptied Andrew's room and put all the toys in the gameroom. Katelyn was SUCH a good baby while we did all that...she just sat in the exersaucer-like car that was in that room while the three of us went back and forth moving all the toys (that Madison has outgrown, but Katelyn has yet to use) and putting them neatly in the gameroom. Then Gordon moved the armoire and two dressers into the gameroom for a while, so I can paint today. When the girls went down for a nap (and Gordon, too!), my mom and I went to home depot and bought a few gallons of the paint for the room, but of course, they were out of the base 2 for the tester of the #10 color I wanted. Oh, well, we'll get it later...off to paint the room!

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-01T23:27:00.006-06:00

We didn't really have any plans for NYE because Katelyn usually goes to sleep at 7pm...there's no way she's going to make it an extra FIVE hours to midnight!! Madison is usually in bed by 8, so it'd be a stretch for her, too. However, when Gordon came home from work today, I was so tired, and Katelyn was hungry, so I layed on the couch to feed her a bottle, as she layed next to me. Next thing I knew, she and I were both asleep. Guess it looked too inviting, bc Madison layed on her little princess couch and fell asleep, too, I'm told. We all fell asleep around 5:30...bc I was trying to txt back to my brother, but then had to tell him I was sleeping and I'd txt him later, bc I was EXHAUSTED!!! When I woke up, it was almost 8pm!!!! Katelyn was still asleep on me and Madison was JUST waking up. Well, since we all took a late evening siesta, I decided we'd go ahead and go to my brother's house (as he was txting me earlier to tell me we could come over...since they'd be home "for the rest of the year"! lol). Gordon was tired since he worked all day and we didn't plan on doing anything, so he was going to go to bed as usual anyways. I know, we're very exciting people these days! So I took the girls with me to my brother's house since they'd be up for hours now that they've slept and Madison loves playing with her cousins anyways.
Madison ready with her confetti popper!

The Cousins ready at midnight with their confetti poppers....3...2...1! Madison, Matthew, Christian and Natalie after the confetti...Madison was getting exhausted at this point...

After it was all done, Katelyn was hungry, Madison was tired....they were both just a mess! lol Next year, we're sleeping THROUGH NYE!!!

My brother, Joey, wanted to put confetti streamers on Katelyn like all the other kids had on them. Katelyn was NOT amused. Clearly, she did NOT love the streamers on her head. Strangely enough, the SOUND of them popping didn't bother her one bit...but when the stuff touched her head...she let us know what she thought of it! But then again, it was midnight and baby girl was tiiiiiiiiiiiiired!

PICTURES!

2010-01-01T22:02:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I've found an easier, faster way of uploading pics...so maybe I'll be able to include more pictures in the future. God knows I sure don't have the time/energy to wait for blogger to upload pics...takes forEVER!!! Okay, let's see if it works...

I've gotten a FEW things done...

2010-01-01T11:59:00.000-06:00

Here is my updated to-do list...as of 1/1/10:

*items in RED are done!!
*items in BLUE are to be done TOMORROW!

Put away Christmas tree and boxes
put away all the kids' new toys, organized in some manner
put coffee table upstairs, and train table in it's place
clear out front room
clean girls' outgrown infant clothes off the kitchen table, taking out ones to keep
clean out my office...boy that'll take a while!- to be started 1/2/10
move toys from andrew's room down to my new, clean office! to be done 1/2/10
clean corner counter in kitchen
paint andrew's room- to be done 1/2/10
get crib from my brother's house for Andrew
order word wall words for Andrew
decorate Andrew's room
pull out boys' baby clothes that my brother gave me
get my friend's baby boy clothes she is going to give me and organize them
clean garage (sell/get rid of Christmas houses, Gordon's ab thingy, wood, wood chair, office chair, toddler bed...anyone need one?)

okay, why did I feel like a LOT more was done??? hmmm, well, I have tried a few different colored paints on the wall in Andrew's room, so that's making SOME progress. I'm going to try one more color tomorrow and see which of the FOUR I like. Tomorrow morning is also planned for Gordon and I to bring all the toys downstairs from Andrew's room and put it in my office...and maybe I can clean out my office? My MAIN goal for tomorrow is to paint. I am going to have Gordon put the blue tape on the baseboards in the morning and by the afternoon, I hope to be painting. The plan is to have the girls spend the night at my parents' house tomorrow night, so they don't smell the fumes of a freshly painted room!

Disclaimer: It's not nesting if it's necessary!!!

2009-12-27T23:16:00.003-06:00

I'm sure many people will claim I'm already nesting. Not true. Nesting and cleaning are two different things! The way I see it, if it NEEDS to be done, it's not nesting, it's housework. If it's crazy stuff like cleaning the baseboards with a toothbrush, then THAT is nesting! lol

Since all of madison's outgrown toys are in the "spare" room upstairs, which now is Andrew's room, I have to have somewhere to put that stuff. Our gameroom already has the swing, bouncers, jumperoo, etc in it, waiting for Andrew to use (can't WAIT till he's done with it and we can get rid of that stuff!). It will have our coffee table up there soon, since my brother is giving us their boys' train table they don't use anymore, since Madison is suddenly into trains for whatever reason. So there isn't a lot of room up there since the pool table (with Madison's outgrown 2T clothes on it!!!) is in the middle of the room. We just need to get rid of it, since we never use it. So what I really need to do is clean out my office, which we never use anymore since we got a laptop last year, and make that the spare room to put outgrown toys that are waiting for use by the next kid! Man, this is going to take a LOT of work, and I dont think it will all get done this week...my last week of vacation!

Here is my to-do list:

put away Christmas tree and boxes
put away all the kids' new toys, organized in some manner
put coffee table upstairs, and train table in it's place
clear out front room
clean girls' outgrown infant clothes off the kitchen table, taking out ones to keep
clean out my office...boy that'll take a while!
move toys from andrew's room down to my new, clean office! lol
clean corner counter in kitchen
paint andrew's room
get crib from my brother's house for Andrew
order word wall words for Andrew
decorate Andrew's room
pull out boys' baby clothes that my brother gave me
get my friend's baby boy clothes she is going to give me and organize them
clean garage (sell/get rid of Christmas houses, Gordon's ab thingy, wood, toddler bed...anyone need one?)

whew! I think that'll take me all the way to my due date!!!

Recon

2009-12-27T22:53:00.003-06:00

Madison spent the night at my parents house last night after we had gone to my aunt's house for a Christmas party with my mom's side of the family. We played a few games, and it was quite interesting.

Gordon and I went to church this morning with Katelyn, then we stopped at my mom's house to pick up Madison. When we got home, Katelyn went to sleep and Madison played with her toys...then Gordon and I set to work on Operation: Christmas Cleanup! lol I had to clean all of the clutter and stuff off the kitchen counter, meanwhile, Gordon was opening all of the kids' new toy boxes, so we could get everything out and ready to toss the boxes for recycling/trash day tomorrow...otherwise it'd be here until next week!

TWO HOURS later, we finished and Gordon had all the boxes open and ready to take out to the trash, but it felt like we had barely made a dent! The living room DID look a tad better since the boxes were gone, but that only means the toys were all out on the floor....now, how in the world do I organize all this stuff?! What's really disappointing is that I sat there and did the dishes, cleaned the stuff off the counters, put everything away in the kitchen, then helped Gordon who was opening boxes for two hours...and it's still a mess!!! oh, well...that'll teach me to buy my kids too many presents!

I layed on the couch for a minute bc I was so tired, and I told Gordon, "Katelyn better not wake up" and he informed me it was just about time for her to get up. Figures. We just got Madison down for a nap, and now Katelyn will wake up. Tag Team Napping...gotta love it! I was lucky enough to get about an hour's nap before Katelyn actually woke up (thank you baby girl, for taking and extra long nap!!!). Madison woke up then my parents called. They were out looking for new couches my brother is buying for them (he's so sweet...he always buys these exorbitantly expensive gifts for my parents for Christmas and claims its from all three of us kids...though we know the truth...it's all him paying for it, but he's sweet to pretend it's from everyone). They were going to eat lunch and invited us to join them. Katelyn, Madison and I went, and left Daddy home so he could take a nap, since he is just getting over being sick and could probably use the rest. We got home a few hours later and we started cleaning up the Christmas decorations. I took down the stockings, put away random decorations and Gordon and Madison helped me take the ornaments off the tree. Gordon decided we should take the tree down and pull it apart after the kids went to bed, so they wouldn't be getting into it while we were trying to take it apart....well, that never happened, so now I have a bare tree. But it's okay...I'm enjoying my last night in my treelit living room...such a nice, peaceful glow...

soon I'll be off to bed and tomorrow: more recon! My dad will take the kids, mom will come over and help me put some of this stuff away and cleanup. I have so much to do!!!

Did you feel that?!

2009-12-27T22:44:00.003-06:00

Today, Madison was laying on the couch becuase she had fallen asleep in the car and didnt want to wake up. I picked her up and layed down with her on the couch, trying to wake her up. I guess Andrew didn't like that bc he started kicking away! That boy is STRONG! He is most definitely lying with his feet on my left side. I was trying to get her to wake up and I put her hand on my belly, since I had just felt him kick. I was sure he woulnd't kick, just bc I was waiting for it. lol Suddenly, I felt him kick and saw her smile so big! She was so excited that she got to feel him!!! That definitely woke her up....and in a good mood to boot! lol

Santa Came to Visit!!!

2009-12-25T22:10:00.000-06:00

This year was so neat because this is the very first year that Madison REALLY understands that the fat man in the red suit exists and will bring her presents! She was soooooooooooooo excited to see him at the mall when we went to visit him and told me "I'm so glad Christmas (Santa) is here!!!". She is so cute! Seeing her that excited is just priceless! She's been telling everyone that she asked Santa for pink boots and was super excited when she opened them. She had to put them on right away!

Christmas morning, I had just gotten to bed at 4am after getting everything ready, then Katelyn was the first to wake up...at 7am. Not too bad, but it felt really early since I had JUST gotten to sleep. I got a bottle and took her to our bed to feed her, and lucky for me, she fell asleep after eating. Madison got up around 10 and we were up for the day. I told Gordon to keep them upstairs for a minute while I put everything back (had to move their stuff I set out, bc it blocked the tv last night). I threw the monkey bread in the oven, set their stuff back up and told him to bring them down. Madison knew that Santa was coming and the anticipation was so adorable! As she walked downstairs with Daddy, she was peeking around the corner, anxious to get a glimpse of what Santa brought! She was soooooooo excited when she got down here and saw all of the new toys (Santa's big gifts are left unwrapped....his small gifts are wrapped in Santa paper under the tree). Katelyn was so cute as she crawled to her toys and started playing with them. She obviously doesn't get the whole Santa thing, but this is her very first Christmas and I was so excited for her!

It snowed all day yesterday (boy, never thought I'd say THAT!! IF it does snow here, it's never all day!!!), and by the time we all woke up, it was all bright and sunshiny, so I figured all the snow melted. NOPE! I looked outside and there was still snow out! So I real quick took the girls out for some pics in the snow bc it was too bitter cold and windy last night to take their pics. I took the lids to some plastic storage boxes and let them sit on those to take their pics, bc they were only wearing their jammies (plus coats of course) and i didnt want them to get all wet! Then we went back inside for presents. Madison opened present after present after present after present....man I didn't realize I had bought so much!!! It was never ending. But it was so neat to see her excited about her gifts! Of course, at one point, she was so tired of opening presents, she just layed down and said, "I'm tired..." *sigh* guess that means I bought too much! So we took a break and she ate breakfast (monkey bread!!! yummo!!), then she opened some more. She was almost done when she opened the spongebob pillow and blanket combo that Daddy bought for her. Then she took her pillow and her blanket, went and laid on her princess couch and decided she was done. We let Katelyn open her presents...she didn't get near as much as Madison, bc she doesn't need it, honestly and besides, her attention span would be teeny. She did open one or two, but we had to open the rest because she just wasn't interested. I thought for sure she'd be excited about pulling the paper off...eh, not so much. She just wanted to crawl around and get into the things Madison had opened. After a while, we convinced Madison to open the rest. Pretty bad when we have to try to make the 3yo open her presents! lol

As soon as she opened the pink boots she asked Santa for, she just HAD to put them on! She thought it was so neat that she asked him for them and there they were! After we finished with all the presents, Katelyn got a bottle and was out cold. So while she took a nap, I went outside in the snow with Madison...pink boots, jammies and all! She and I made a little snowma--, uh, snow baby! We used bottles for the arms, put a bib and beanie on it, used a paci for the mouth, bottle tops for eyes and even used some little baby booties for the feet! lol It was super cute and Madison had so much fun helping. After we finished the snowbaby, she just wanted to run and run around in the snow, making footprints. She had the BEST time! Too bad it doesn't snow more often! She and I even made snowballs, which she loved throwing and even threw them at the house, watching them crumble as they hit. Its funny though bc there is one picture I took of her throwing a snowball at the house...but in the background the grass is bone dry! By that time the snow was melting away and the only snow left was near the shade, which is behind the camera....just looks odd. pics to follow of course....

Later, Madison took a nap and then we went to Gordon's dad's house for his Christmas dinner. We were running a tad late, got the kids in the car, Gordon and I were in the car, he turned the key to the ignition and.....click, click, click, click......hmmm.....tried again....click......*silence*. Nothing. Then my alarm started chirping constantly. weird. We really quick got everything in Gordon's car, got the kids in his car and went to his dad's. We'll figure out the car situation later. Madison had fun at her Grandpa's. She played with her cousins and got some more neat presents. Daddy has been sick this week and when Grandpa gave her a doctor kit, she told Daddy, I'll make you feel all better! Awww, what a sweetie!!!

We went home afterwards and Daddy and Katelyn went to sleep. Madison and I stayed up for a while then we all went to bed. What a fun, but exhausting day!

The kids got so many toys that our house looks like a tornado hit. Seriously. It's horrible. Just THINKING about cleaning all this stuff up is just daunting. There are sooooooo many stupid boxes to open, I just don't know where to start. Of course, I know the darn toys are going to be tied down so tight to the boxes, a tornado couldn't knock it out of the box, even though it looks like a tornado already hit here! There is BARELY room to walk! It's just a disaster! *sigh* oh, well...cleanup is for another day...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

4am and still not to bed....

2009-12-25T22:04:00.002-06:00

We got home from my mom's on Christmas Eve at about 1am, got the kids to bed and then...the magic begins!

Well, not so much "magic" as it is "mommy labor"! I had to cleanup the living room since there was stuff alllll over! I did want the kids to actually be able to see what Santa brought! lol So I cleaned up their toys, got out the Santa gifts to set up, then remembered that we still had that art easel (that I've given to madison a few times...but it was still in the box in the garage! lol) and I wanted to make sure to get it out of the box or we'd forget about it again! So after putting out all the presents, preparing the monkey bread (our traditional Christmas morning breakfast...which i always get ready the night before, and just stick it in the fridge, so I can throw it in the oven as we wake up), then I got out the easel. I had told Gordon, "I hope it doesn't say assembly required" since the box was sort of big. No such luck. I spent another 30 minutes putting it together...and it was pretty simple, just lots of screws. I did the stockings and set everything up for the girls to walk down and see Christmas morning. I went to lay on the couch to go to sleep (since it seems to help with the pregnancy heartburn!) and realized all the stuff was in the way, bc I have to watch tv to fall asleep...even at 4am! I had to move the stuff out of the way, which means ill have to set it all up again in the morning...but at least it's out and assembled and ready to go! I even made sure to take some of Santa's cookies off the plate and left a little piece and some crumbs on his plate for Madison to see!

Best Christmas EVER!

2009-12-24T23:59:00.002-06:00

We had SUCH a fantastic time this Christmas! Watching my two sweet girls having fun, and seeing Madison really understanding presents and Santa for the first time, was just magical!

I spent Christmas Eve helping my mom cook and get ready for our big dinner party that evening. It was pretty cold in the morning, and they said we should be seeing snow flurries by noon. Ya, I've heard that one before. About a month or so ago, it snowed for about 10 minutes on the way to work, but of course, it's so warm here, it never sticks. Yesterday it was about 70 degrees, so I figured if it did ever snow, it'd melt as it hit the ground.

This morning, around 11, it was raining, and I could see some of those "raindrops" on the windshield were little snowflakes, but of course, they melted the SECOND they hit the windshield. But THEN....it started actually snowing!!! When we got home around 11:45, it was actually snowing. I told Katelyn, jokingly, "too bad it wont stick, so we won't be able to make a snow baby" bc I made one with madison after her first christmas when we had a snow day in january. But then it started snowing more and more and harder and harder. They werent huge flakes, but there was a MILLION of them! and the wind was crazy...it was blowing the snowflakes nearly straight across the yard! So we opened the blinds and cooked some yummy Christmas food while watching the snow and listening to Christmas songs. Madison and I decorated her gingerbread house, made Santa some cookies and wrapped some more presents. While we were decorating the gingerbread house, Madison said, "Mommy, you know what makes me happy? You're decorating this house with me!" and I told her she made me so happy then she said, "You know what else makes me happy? That you love me!" awww...can she BE any sweeter?! LOVE HER!!!

Later, I took the girls home, we all got showers, then took their clothes with us to my mom's house while Gordon slept. He still wasn't feeling well...had a fever and chills, so he was going to meet us at my mom's in a few hours. As he layed back down in bed, Madison told him, "Daddy, get up! You have to come with us for the party!!!" lol She was so excited! I explained that he was going to take a nap bc he didn't feel well, so he'd meet us later. She went and gave him a hug and a kiss to make him feel better. What a sweet baby girl!!!

I put her shoes on her and told her to wait there by the door while I put Katelyn and a few things in the car. I walked back in to find Madison had layed on the floor by the shoes and had just fallen asleep right there on the floor! She was sooooooooo exhausted! It was 4pm and she hadn't napped at all...not that she didn't have the opportunity! I put her in bed at my mom's house and she decided to play "10 little monkeys jumping on the bed" instead of sleeping....well, at least she didn't fall off and bump her head! lol

Around 5:00, Madison fell asleep watching TV since she hadn't napped alllll day long, then Katelyn fell asleep shortly afterwards. My family and everyone else were all going to come over at around 6:30, so it was perfect timing for them to take a nap. They were going to need it bc by the time we get done with our extended family dinner party, then open our own immediate family gifts and all, it's ALWAYS past midnight...sometimes 1am!

By the time everyone started coming, the snow on the ground was actually accumulating and it was snowing really hard! It was actually a white Christmas....on Christmas Eve...in TEXAS of all places! Wow. That is just crazy! It's fun for us, but I was thinking, when I heard the guy on the radio forecasting "blizzard like conditions", that some northerner was in tx visiting and hearing that must have made him laugh! Blizzard? Really? Come on, now, we KNOW that is NOTHING like a blizzard!!! It was windy as could be, but I'm not sure I'd call it a blizzard...though they said the wind was going to get up to 45mph, which I wouldn't argue with by the time the night ended...that wind was HARSH!!!

We all had a great time, had a great dinner, yummy desserts and then we got a pick with all the kids in front of the tree. My mom had bought them all Santa hats and it was a cute pic! Then we had our exchange, which was entertaining as always! The funniest gifts were the christmas story night light Stephanie brought and the ornament of the same variety that I brought (compliments of Madison! lol).

After everyone left, there was just my immediate family left and we opened all of our presents. My dad was playing Santa as he sat on the floor handing out all of the presents to everyone, as we opened them one at a time, so it took a while, but it's nice to see what everyone gets instead of everyone ripping into everything all at once then it's over too quick! Well, as my dad sat in front of the tree handing out things, Gordon was bringing other presents from behind the tree, stacking them for each person. When my dad thought he was done, he got up and turned around shocked to see a huge pile of gifts and said, "what the hell?!" lol It was so funny!!!! He thought we were so done opening presents, then there was a stack of at least 20 more gifts to open! We were all laughing so hard at his reaction! The kids were all really good...they usually get pretty whiny towards the end, bc well, they're tired and its usually at least midnight. But they took some game into the front room and played that while waiting for the next gifts, so they were okay. Katelyn conked out on my mom's shoulder when we first started opening gifts, so Madison was helping me open Katelyn's. It was a long night of presents, but so much fun! We all had a great time, and my brother (the doctor) was as generous as he always is, and gave everyone WAY too much. He just likes to spend his money on other people, yet never asks for anything...so hard to shop for him bc he just buys himself EVERYTHING he needs/wants! lol He even bought me a gift for Andrew...some bath toys for the new baby!

I got about $250 in Babies R US gift cards, which is awesome, bc of course we'll need it!!! My parents gave us some money and my brother did, too, so now I have $450 sitting on my counter...tomorrow I'm going shopping for a new dishwasher....I HATE mine and am sooooo ridiculously excited! I didn't want to spend more money replacing ours since we just bought the washer/dryer, but hey, since this isn't technically my money...it's a gift...it will be happily spent at home depot!! Now...gotta start shopping!!!

At the end of the night, when we were loading up the cars with all of our goodies, I was surprised to find that the snow was actually pretty thick on the grass, and the sidewalks were all ICY! I had gone to the car and almost slipped near the car! So gordon went out to take the rest of the stuff along with the kids to the car, so I didn't slip and hurt myself or the baby. Scary stuff! As I drove home with the kids in the car (Gordon had brought his car since he came later after sleeping for a while), I drove super slowly since the streets were only lit by the streetlights and I couldn't really tell if it was icy or not.

As we drove home, Madison told me that we had gotten a lot of toys. I told her, yes, her family loves her and gave her lots of presents. She said, "But Mommy, we have much toys...our house is going to broke!" lol ah, the wisdom of a three year old!!! lol Little did she know there were TONS and TONS more to come tomorrow morning!!!!

We got home about 1am and the kids (thankfully) went right to sleep...what a fun, but long night!!

Andrew Conner....LIVE....IN 4D!!!

2009-12-22T23:55:00.000-06:00

We had our 4D ultrasound today and it was so neat! I have had them done with all three of my pregnancies and it is just sooooo neat to be able to actually SEE the baby bf he is born! It's not like a 2D regular sono where you kind of have to squint and use your imagination to really see what the tech is seeing. Sometimes, it takes the tech explaining to you what she's looking at, then you can really see it, but for the most part, especially when it comes to the face, it's pretty easy to tell what it is!

The good news is, he's still a BOY! lol He is so cute and has such chubby little cheeks already! I'm 29 weeks, so he's got about 11 weeks to grow and already looks like a cute little chipmunk!!! Can't wait to meet him!

ugh. okay, so I was all ready to upload some pics, but the cd is in my purse in my car and its almost midnight and way too cold. I'll do it another day...hopefully before he comes!!

Croupe AND RSV?!

2009-12-22T23:22:00.002-06:00

Two days ago, Katelyn woke up with a very hoarse, barking cough. I thought, "hmmm, that can't be good!". Well, it sort of got better, she was coughing, but it wasnt that deep cough. She didn't seem to feel well yesterday evening and had a slight fever, so I gave her motrin and she seemed better. This morning, she didnt wake up until 9am, which is late, but she also didn't go to sleep until around 9 or so last night (and she usually sleeps at 7pm). She played for a while this morning, while I was doing yet more wrapping, then when I picked her up, I noticed she felt a little warm. I called the doctor...just in case...since my mom reminded me that the doctor's office will be closed for FOUR days over Christmas and the weekend. So I wanted to take her in, just in case...

Well, since my 3D sonogram appt ran long, since baby boy wanted to keep his hands by his face, and my mom was already babysitting Katelyn while we went, she and my dad ended up taking Katelyn to the doctor for me. I expected her to call and tell me that it was just a cold, nothing major, etc. WRONG!!! When I talked to my mom after we were done with the sonogram, she informed me that my sweet baby girl has RSV...not only that, but she also has croupe!!! She has to take steroids for three days and I need to watch her because if I see certain symptoms of it worsening, the doc said to take her to the ER!!!! OH, MY!!! I'm sooooo glad we took her in today! The poor sweet girl! What an awful way to spend her FIRST Christmas ever!!!

You'd think being sick, she'd be asleep early, but such was NOT the case! I JUST got her to sleep about 10:30! She usually falls asleep around 7pm. What the crap?! Oh, well, as long as she's asleep and not crying, not uncomfortable, I'm happy. Now if I can just get the other one to go to sleep! It's 11:30 and she's still up! Although, perhaps it's bc were staying the night at my parents' house. Right after our sono, Gordon started getting chills...like on the way out the door. Then my parents were on the way to costco, so I just had gordon drop me off there since it was right across the street and that way he could go home and sleep and rest without us keeping him awake. Well, we got home kind of late after stopping at target for Katelyn's prescription and a few other things. so my mom went to sleep, I wasn't able to get Katelyn to sleep until late and Madison is still up. I don't have my car, since Gordon dropped me off at costco, but I was going to go check on Gordon and wasnt able to since K stayed awake so long. I'm sure he's fine and sleeping. I talked to him a while ago and he said he was fine, just sleeping, and he had the nyquil handy since he had a fever of 102. Hopefully he's doing okay...I'm about to put Madison in bed and go to sleep myself. Tomorrow is full of cooking, to get ready for Christmas eve dinner.

I'll post about the 3D sono and the pics tomorrow...I hope!

I could get used to this!!!

2009-12-22T23:20:00.002-06:00

Gordon got Madison up, showered, fed, dressed and ready for school today, again, without waking me up! Wow! I could get used to this!!! I'm used to waking up at 6am, getting Madison up, convincing her to eat breakfast, trying to do her hair at the same time, then getting myself ready and getting Madison, Katelyn and myself out the door by 7:00! Waking up at 9am with Madison already ready is just a ton less work to do! I could SO get used to this!!!

Oops, I did it again!

2009-12-21T23:11:00.000-06:00

My first day of vacation started out great! Gordon is off this week and he got Madison up, fed and ready for school without even waking me up! Madison only woke me up to tell me bye (I've been sleeping on the couch...at an incline due to pregnancy induced heartburn. It's the only way I can get several hours of uninterrupted sleep!). He even remembered to bring Madison's book for her book exchange (which I had yet to wrap, so I got up and wrapped it really quick). Then Gordon was off to do some Christmas shopping. While he did that I got out all of the toys and stuff I've been buying over the past few months and put it all out on the coffee table in the front room so I could get some wrapping done before Katelyn woke up. Oops. That's all I can say. I didn't realize how much stuff I had bought!!! :) It's so bad that I even found out I have duplicates of some items! double oops!!! I even sat down with my computer and typed up a list so I'd remember what I got as I wrapped things...um, ya. So the list was FOUR pages long!!! Most of that was Madison's, some Katelyn's, of course, but oh. my. gosh! Hmmm, now to figure out what to save for later!

I did buy Madison a leapster2 and tons of games to go with it (mostly lightning deals on amazon), but I think I'll save that for March when the baby comes. That will be Madison's "big sister gift". I'm hoping that will give her something new to play with and something she'll be interested in doing when I have to take care of Katelyn or Andrew. She's getting the vmotion for christmas from Santa as well as the Fisher Price fitpark (which is like a video game...has a mat for her to run on and do activities on that go along with the game), plus also she's getting the clickstart computer...it's a keyboard that has games, but it just hooks up to the tv, not the computer. Point being, she doesn't need a handheld thing too, all at the same time.

I got a lot of wrapping done before my mom came over and we had to run some errands and buy groceries for Christmas dinner. Gordon went golfing with Derek, who is in town from NJ, then he picked up Madison after school. Now I just have to find time to wrap the REST of the presents!!!

Well, that's just craptacular!

2009-12-21T23:08:00.000-06:00

I was so excited about getting my new washer and dryer, which was to be delivered on Tuesday. Well, I got a call on Friday saying they were backordered and now, they will be delivered on January 29th. Boo. I was so looking forward to that...I don't think I've ever been so excited to do laundry. But I guess it works out because it was to be delivered the same day as Madison's school party/book exchange, which also happens to be the same day as my 3D sonogram. Oh, well...looking forward to January now!!!

The Search Has Ended!!!

2009-12-20T22:00:00.003-06:00

After MANY long months, several themes, countless websites and tons of thought all going into the decoration of Andrew's nursery, I have, in fact, decided on a theme. Halle-FREAKIN-lujah!!!!

I really wasn't looking for a theme...I just wanted some sort of a pattern, maybe a plaid or stripes, and then I'd find accessories to go around that. Well, the only thing I was able to find was too blah...maybe navy and white, or navy, baby blue and white...no red, no accent colors, just bleh. I finally found one moon/star bedding I loved, but then it was discontinued, so only a few parts of the collection could be purchased. oh, well.

I went to babies r us to finish up my registry for Andrew today and I thought we'd look at the bedding stuff- AGAIN! We've already looked several times, but it's kind of like when you're hungry and nothing in the fridge looks good....yet you go back and stand in front of the fridge again, like something is magically going to appear the second or third time you open the door!

Well, obviously, I didn't like any of the bedding sets since I didn't like them a few weeks ago when we looked again. But I just thought I'd check the seperates and see if I could throw something together bc finding a bedding set has been the most tedious portion of this pregnancy! Well, I found a smaller set that I liked, and it's better bc I don't use half the stuff they sell anyways. It always comes with a crib bumper (dont use...suffocation hazard...I use a breatheable bumper), diaper stacker (ppl really use that?!) and I have both of those things from both of the girls' bedding just sitting in their closets. This set just comes with the skirt, sheet, quilt and bumper, so the only thing im not using is the bumper. But my mom thinks she can fix that so it'll be like the fabric wall hangings a lot of sets come with. Plus the set is only $90 instead of the ridiculous $200+ most other sets are.

I wasn't really wanting to do a sports theme (even though Gordon kind of wanted that), bc I figured that'd be better for when he's older, like in a big boy bed and we could redo his room with that. But this set has a lot of colors and they're bright, not like the muted/brown color everything seems to be these days. It's bright without being babyish and I like that the skirt is just a blue plaid pattern, so if later we are tired of the sports theme, we can just do the colors. I also found a mirror with stars and sports balls on it, plus a clock with stars and the hands have a basketball and a baseball, I think, at the ends. I like that they have stars on them bc I can tie in the wall words that I have been wanting to use. It says, "twinke, twinkle, little star, do you know how loved you are?" and that is the SOLE reason I was looking for a moon/star bedding. however, I think the "allstar" thing that goes along with sports sort of ties into that. So now that I know the colors of the bedding, I can move forward!

We've been at a standstill. I couldn't order the wall words, bc I can specify colors, but didn't know what colors the bedding would be. I couldn't paint the walls, bc then again, I didn't know which color would go with the bedding, etc. Now i feel like we can get moving on his room and maybe it'll be ready by the time he gets here!!!

I found some CUTE CUTE stuff at target to go along with this sports bedding. Babies r us didn't have a whole lot to go with it, but it's a pretty generic theme, so it won't be a problem. I found a lamp at target that has a different sport on each side of the square lapshade, the base of the lap looks like the top of a baseball bat and the cutest part is that the pullstring for the lamp is a whistle on a lanyard! Madison loved it when she saw it and wanted to blow the whistle! lol It's SUPER cute!!!! A friend had suggested if i did a sports theme, I could get some faux trophies...and actually my parents still have all of our old soccer trophies at their house from when we were growing up, so I can use those and i think it'll be really neat bc they were mine! I just need to find a cute little shelf to match and put a few trophies on it! I can't wait until we have his room all put together!

ONE pound baby?!

2009-12-13T01:12:00.002-06:00

I heard on the news that Michelle Duggar (the crazy mom with all those kids) just had her 19th baby this week...the really disturbing part of that is that she was due four days AFTER my baby is due!!!! :O Her baby was born at just under a pound and a half, at 1 lb, 6 oz!!!! Holy Crap!!!!! That is absolutely insane. They said she had pre-eclampsia so they had to do an emergency csection, but wow. That is absolutely insane. I coulnd't imagine having my baby now!

Whoa!

2009-12-13T01:09:00.002-06:00

Madison brought me a book she found...it was one of those freebies the doc gives out...sort of a week by week pregnancy quick fact sort of book. I haven't been reading any of the books since I sort of know what I'm doing here! I turned to week 27 (which is what I think I am...I've sort of lost count!). Apparently, I'm now in the THIRD trimester! When did THAT happen? The baby is due in 13 weeks! My that seems incredibly soon!!!

Must be Chrismtas

2009-12-11T01:08:00.000-06:00

Katelyn's first top tooth came through on Tuesday and today when I picked her up from my mom's after school, I noticed that her other (her right) top tooth poked through, just a teeny bit on the corner. So I guess she got her wish....All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!!! Well, she got 'em! :)

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

2009-12-08T22:22:00.000-06:00

Katelyn's first top tooth finally popped through today! It's been on it's way for a while now and the poor thing has been chewing on EVERYTHING and has the runny nose to go with it. At least she didn't have the fevers that Madison always had with every tooth! She's had this BIG white bulge in her gums for weeks now, and finally, today I felt the little bitty edge of the tooth! It's her top left tooth that finally poked through, but her top right tooth isn't far behind. It's also a big swollen white bulge behind her poor red swollen gums! They don't seem to really bother her, thank goodness...Madison was a crying mess when she was teething. I can only imagine how painful it must be for something as sharp as your tooth to come bulging through your gums. That HAS to hurt! Well, maybe she'll get that second tooth in time for christmas! :)

The Amazing Rest!

2009-12-05T14:03:00.002-06:00

After the Amazing Race and telling everyone we were late bc we were going to the hospital due to contractions from all the running, (see the end of the amazing RACE post for the funny details!) my stomach was still actually aching from all that running when I got home. I layed on the couch, drank some water and then a little coke to just make sure the baby was moving, etc. They say if you're having ctx, probs, pains, etc to lie on your left side and drink water. So I did that, but also had the 24hr nurse line magnet thing next to me in case it got worse and I needed to call the nurse to see what to do. I fell asleep and woke up this morning without probs. I am still sore from all the running, so my lower belly is sore...but more like the soreness from doing 200 crunches or something. Glad to know nothing is wrong, baby is kicking away and moving well. No more Amazing Race for me anytime soon!!!

We did go to school this morning for the Holiday Extravaganzaa...we had a pancake breakfast and Madison got to sit with Santa and talk to him, take a few pics, then we went to the gym for the "shop". Half of it was craft show kind of things from parents, then the other half was a table of junk toys the kids could buy for themselves and/or their parents...just cheap stuff like .50 cents to about $5. There were also free cookies and "warm" hot cocoa for the kids, then they could buy popcorn, pickles, etc. I got some cool decorations I had been wanting. We have them in our lounge and I didn't know where to get them. They are wooden pumpkins that stand up, then on the other side, they are christmas ornaments. so cute! only $25 so we bought that for me, gordon bought an OU light thing for his dad and Madison got a little toy. She also made a craft..a little candy cane. I think we all had a good time and I'm glad Madison got to see Santa again...and asked for boots again. THAT, I can deliver (already bought her some super cute pink boots!!!) She'll be soooooooo excited that Santa brought her what she asked for! :)

ahh...what a fun start to our weekend....now, off to my one hour massage with the aromatherapy rosemary mint steam shower afterwards....niiiiiiice!!!

The Amazing Race!

2009-12-05T11:09:00.004-06:00

Our faculty decided this year to hold our own Amazing Race instead of a regular Christmas Party. We had teams of four and had to start out at Mercado Juarez to figure out a puzzle. It was one of those things where there are pictures of different things and you had to figure out what song it meant. Like there was santa in an airplane flying over some houses and that was "santa claus is coming to town". After we figured out all 20 of those, we had to turn it in to get our first clue. It said "go to West (our school) cafeteria...hope you're hungry!". So we RAN to the car and started off to the school. Being rush hour, we had to go the back way and get to arbrook. Going through the Highlands there was a lot of traffic, so at a stop sign, Wendy (our driver) was waving a person to go and Candace said, "Wendy, there's no time for being nice...GO! GO! GO!!" lol We got to the cafeteria and we had to stack cookies 15" tall unsupported, without them falling, and we could only use the one package of cookies. We thought this would be easy since first grade does an oreo project every year, including stacking cookies as high as possible....um, nope! These were the cheapie cookies that are like a flower pattern, so theyre not flat like oreos! We finally got that done and got our next clue which said to go out to the basketball court and make 3 free throws. After that, our next clue was to go to walmart just down the highway.

We went to wallmart to find Matt sitting on a bench with two envelopes, "greet" or "eat" and i said, "Um, I dont eat stuff" and was terrified of what it might make us eat!!! So instead we chose greet, and our task was to find a stranger to donate $5 to salvation army. One person in our group misunderstood and pulled out $5 to give to them, but we told her it had to be a stranger, so she found a stranger, handed him her $5 (yes, we cheated!) and he was going to put it in the bucket. then we yelled, "NO! NO! NO! We have to have a picutre!!!". Unfortunately, Walmart security man was standing there saying, "no pictures in walmart!!!", so Salvation army guy said, "well go outside" and he brought his bucket right outside the door. We took the pic, I went back inside to get the clue from Matt and Security Man got in my face and said, "you need to step outside, Miss", then he called on his little walkie talkie, "outside security....i need outside security at the east door" and i just looked at Matt like, "is he kidding?". We stepped outside, matt handed us the clue and as we drove off, I saw the security dude talking to Matt. I coudl just see the headlines now, "Local Teachers Arrested for Disturbing the Peace, Salvation Army at Local Walmart" LOL!!! Fortunately, Matt is so good in those situations. He's our vice principal and he gets all of the irate parents who just want to tell someone they're mad. He's so calm and cool and very diplomatic. He is the perfect person to diffuse a situation like that...

gotta run to the store real quick...bf our massages at 2pm so madison can scan some toys and make a wish list. going shopping for all the kids with my parents tonight so they can buy them their christmas presents. apparently her cousins made target wish lists, so now we need to...lets see if she understands to scan it but were not buying it!!! lol

the rest of the amazing race night is forthcoming... :)

okay, back from the store...sort of hard on a kid to say, "okay, show me what toys you what, but oh, btw, we're not actually buying any today!" but Madison was a good sport.

Back to the amazing race...

after we left walmart, our next clue said "go to starrett elementary, you'll get a kick out of it". So we tear off running down the main hallway when we get there...but the hallway is probably at LEAST half a football field, if not more. Well, if you think you need to pee constantly when you're pg, try RUNNING while pg! As we were running down to the very end of the hall where the gym is, we passed a faculty bathroom and I thought, "well, this is as close to a bathroom as I'm going to get tonight without losing time," so I told my team i'd meet them in the gym, and rushed into the bathroom really quick. I came out to find them standing in the hall confused. There was nothing in the gym. So we went to the cafeteria where the 6th graders were having a dance. nope. nothing. Eventually we found them outside behind the building. I stayed with the car and my team ran down past the locked gate to the game. Apparently it was really hard and they weren't able to do it right so they got penalty. When I called asking what was taking so long, they told me we got a 6 minute penalty. ugh. When they finally did come, our clue had a bunch of initials and we had to figure out what they had in common....of course, being the mature teachers we are, out of all the initials the only ones my teammates picked up on right away were "MF" as in Mother F'er and "BO" as in body odor! lol We figured out they were all presidents' initials and had to tell Matt's wife, Julie, when we got to Borders in order to get our next clue.

Wow, borders was hard. We had a list of books (from all different sections of the store, of course) and on each book, we had to look on a certain page number, and find a specific word, like "page 242, word 54" then we had to take those words and put them together to make a sentence. The words were:
to
anonymous
Mom's
be
in

unfortunately, "in" was the wrong word...our teammate who found that book miscounted, bc she didnt include the subtitle. the word should have been "pretend"...but apparently a lot of teams did the same thing. We finally left and had to run out front and run up and down the landscaping of the highlands and count all the lighted deer between borders and studio movie grill. Then off to mercado juarez.

However, on the way there, we were talking about how I had been running so fast this whole evening and I mentioned that my lower belly WAS sore from all the running. Someone had the idea to call Matt and tell them we were on the way to the hospital across the street bc all the running made me start having contractions. The way Matt is, we figured he didn't believe us anyways, so we went ahead and went in...but I folded up Candace's baby blue jacket and walked it like it was the baby. When I walked in the room everyone went, "oh!!!" lol I guess they had told everyone and they actually DID believe it. They were all worried and one of my teammates already tried to call me, and another one (who was really worried, bc both of her kids were preemies...she later told me her heart sank when she heard the "news"!) was about to call...she said she had her finger on the button to dial my phone when I walked in!!! Wow, didnt think they'd believe it! Poor things, they were actually worried about me! When I told Matt we didn't think he'd believe it, he said, "oh, I bought it...hook, line and sinker! I was worried, I asked Yleen (principal) when you were due and she said March and we started thinking, ooooh, this is NOT good!" lol hmmm, hope I don't really have any issued...they'll never believe me. I'll be like the boy who cried wolf....I'll be the mom who cried pregnant! lol

We stayed and had dinner and talked until about 10:30. Matt said he's ready to plan the next Amazing Race for our school...we thought it'd be something fun to do maybe again in the spring. It was definitely a great time! Can't wait till next year! :)

BLACK FRIDAY- Let the Madness Begin!!!

2009-11-27T22:37:00.006-06:00

Gordon and I were planning to get up and be at home depot at 4am, since they open at 6. I want to get the maytag front load washer/dryer set, but not sure how many they have. I know the kenmore I was looking at over at Sears said they only had 7, so I figure it's one of those deals. Gordon woke me up around 3:15 (note: I had only been asleep since 12:15 or so!). I made us some hot chocolate to take along, had bought a bag of hostess donuts for breakfast, and off we went. Gordon went in his car, bc he was going to check out the line at the mansfield home depot and I was going to see the one here by our house next to target. Well, I got there and there was NO LINE! lol I called Gordon and he headed over to the home depot by us. Meanwhile, I told him I was going to get in line at target since they open at 5 and home depot doesnt open till 6. Theyre usually pretty fast, so I figured I could get in and out by 6. I waited in line till they opened at 5 and we went in...but there was a crowd of people across the driveway who hadn't bothered to go in line and all the ppl in line were eyeing that crowd talking about them...I was impressed that target employees went and told those ppl to go to the end of the line. Although some of them didnt move....some walked to the end....whihc was FAR. I guess they must have told them after the line goes in THEN they can go in, bc they all stayed there while the line moved in. There was actually one lady who ignored all of that, and went in anyways, and the employees actually went in after her and escorted her out of the store, back across the street with the waiting crowd. I guess that's only fair, since we'd been in line at least an hour, and these guys just walked up at opening time! lol

Well, I went in and got a few things on my list:

-portable dvd players (got both the individual dvd portable player (2 actually) and also the dual...couldn't decide which so I'll return one later)

-um, somehting for my mom, which i wont mention bc she reads this (HI MOM!)

-some leapster games for madison

-leapster 2 for madison

-vmotion games for madison (planning on getting the $60 vmotion system for $30 later today at wally world)

-a bissell steam mop

-pj's for the kids...all three of them!

-games for madison

-fuzzy blankets (tehy are sooooooooooo warm!)

-some dvds for my brother

-some hoodies for the girls

-regular dvd player

then just as I finished and drove over to home depot, gordon said the line was just going in as i called him. I met him by the appliances and got the washer/dryer. They maytags were $599 each, normally $899, so when we bought both, it was saving $600, which is about like getting one of them free, since theyre $600 today! I also got two pedestals that were 229, on sale for 150, plus free shipping...can't beat that! We saved about $800 total with a coupon my cousin had given me...can't ask for too much more than that!!! Made getting up easy and totally worht it!!! Although, it took the lady forever to find the product number for the pedestals, but she was REALLY sweet and great, and after we got done she said come to the front later (since she usually works in the customer svc area or soemthing) and she'd give us $25 off another purchase. On our way out the door, gordon wanted to buy madison a blow up santa for the front yard. They were out of the 7' Santa, so we got the display. She is really into Santa this year, so it will be neat for her.

Then we went home to unload the car, and I asked Gordon to go with me to Kohl's bc they always have super long, slow lines. So I was planning on him standing in line as i shopped. It was about 7 when we left home depot, so I guess the crowds thinned out a little. Kohl's wasn't that bad...they had no carts, I had to get one from someone who was returning it, and the line wasn't bad, but it was a little long. We did a little shopping and got:

-washcloths/hand towels/bath towels for 50cents, 1.50 and 2.50 each...great deal and pretty colors!

-something for my mom (again, not mentioning it bc she reads this...HI MOM!)

-something else for mom

-I wanted this cute apron in the ad for madison and me...sort of coordinating, bc she LOVES to help me cook...but they were out...oh, well. We have some from last year, but this one was cute!!!

-a bracelet for me that says "a daughter is a little girl who grows up to be a friend" engraved on it.

Gordon helped me shop, then got in line bf I was done, so by the time I was done, he was being rung up already. great timing!!!

So then he took our stuff and went home. I stopped for breakfast at chicfila...yummo!!! then went to the walmart next to chicfila in mansfield. I really wanted a v.smile v.motion game console for Madison. They're $60 but they had it on sale for $30...however, I'm not anywhere near crazy enough to brave the midnight walmart crowds. nothankyouverymuch!!! So I thought I'd stop in and see what they had left. Unfortunately, they were all out of the vsmile thing...not surprisingly...it's a GREAT deal!!! But I asked a lady anyways, she said they didn't have anymore, but that I should look through the carts left around, where they had collected stray items and were reshelving them. I looked around at a few carts as I walked around and didn't see any, so I was just going to leave then I decided to go down this other aisle on my way to look for some pajamas that were on sale...and lo and behold, there was ONE v.smile v.motion game console stuck in the middle of this stray cart a lady was reshelving stuff from, so I, of course, dug it out and was so happy I found it!! I also bought some v.smile games at walmart...or maybe they were leapster games...its all a blur at the moment. lol

I found a neat light jacket for myself (shocker...never buy clothes at walmart! lol), but it is neat bc its reversible and it also has a fleece liner that you can use or take out. Also bought a puffer jacket for $7, which is nice, bc the only heavy jacket I have is a nice peacoat, so I don't want it to get dirty. But hey, for $7 the puffer can get all wet and dirty and who cares. I was going to buy the girls a puffer, too, but they were all out. Of course, it WAS 9:30 already, so you can't be too surprised. I also bought Madison this life size doll that is maybe almost 3 feet tall and comes with 2 outfits. i think she'll love that it's so big!

Yet again, I stopped at home to leave stuff at home since I was heading to the mall and didn't want to leave a ton of bags in my car, since I have no real trunk to hide things in. Then I was off to sears to look for some massaging slippers (those would SOOOOOOOOOOOO come in handy right about now!!!). I also grabbed another dvd player, and found a toaster (red!) that is just what I had been looking for. It sort of has guides for the food, so nothing falls in between the "floor" of the toaster slot and the side of it. I'm so stinking tired of pop tarts falling in between...then I hand them to madison in pieces. She's not so thrilled with it either....despite the fact that this is a "pop tarts" toaster...I mean it even has a "pop tarts" setting on the dial! you'd think they'd makeit so they dont fall in! So i'll just replace it...now I have a pretty red one to match my pretty red washer and dryer! lol then when I was checking out, I decided I'm not sure what we need another dvd player for, so i put it back since I bought one this morning at target.

I was just dragging myself back to teh car...and it was OOOOOONLY 10:30!!!! I was almost falling asleep driving home, so i called my mom to tell her I was on my way home (and to stay awake, since I was talking to someone!).

I wanted to go to staples to get soemthing for my dad, but I was just too tired...had ZERO energy to go there...i'll just pay full price for it tomorrow...or maybe it'll still be there and on sale...oh, well...too tired to care about sales anymore!

Luckily, when i got to my parents' house, Katelyn had just fallen asleep and my awesome parents told me to go take a nap. i just laid on the couch with madiosn and we both fell asleep. Then I woke up and found her drawing on some paper, and everyoen else was asleep...my mom, dad and katelyn were all out cold. I made Madison some lunch...her favorite: CANCAKES (pancakes)!!!! Just then Katelyn woke up and I fed her some yummy peas...well, pureed peas...as yummy as can be I supppose! After a while everyone was up and we were leaving to go to target. My dad said, "you were just there this morning" but I had to clarify him that BF morning is NOT time for shopping for groceries. You get in, get out and get to the next store!!! I was actually going for milk and eggs, etc this time around.

All in all it was a great Black Friday! Got some awesome deals and didn't have to stand in line too long. I can't wait for my new washer and dryer to arrive!!! They're delivering it on December 22! Yippee, Skippee!!!

Now, I'm off to bed again...well, I should say off to sleep. I don't sleep in my bed much at this point, bc the stupid pregnancy heartburn keeps me awake. I sleep on the couch with a coushin up against the side, so I can sleep inclined. I get much better sleep that way. I'm exhausted though, so even the pg heartburn probably couldn't keep me awake anyways!!! lol

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T22:17:00.000-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving today...lots of great food and family, and the girls werent too bad considering both didnt get naps. Well, they were able to catnap in the car, but pretty much didn't get naps. They were pretty wonderful for being there so long and with so many people! "Dinner" (at 1pm, is it really considered dinner?) was wonderful, and dessert was sooooo yummy! The kids all had a great time and then we all wanted to take a nap! But there was no nap in our future...well, for the kids, but not for me! We went to Gordon's dad's after my aunt's house. I didn't eat anything bc I was still full from my aunt's and Madison has been eating like a bird lately, so she hardly ate anything (is she nuts? doesn't she know what thanksgiving is for?!). She played with her cousins at my aunt's house and then with her other cousins' at Gordon's dad's house. Katelyn did great too....mostly had fun playing with the newspaper. Since they're football nuts, and just watch the game after they eat, I took advantage of that time by looking through the actual paper ads (I had previously only been looking online at bfads.net and the ads scanned in on that website). Katelyn liked "helping". I made my list, and decided on the maytag washer/dryer. Its a 4.1 cubic foot front load, high efficiency washer and a 7.3 cubic foot, high efficiency dryer in red, with pedestals. WOOHOO! Gordon's brother works for an appliance company and he said the Kenmores that i was looking at aren't good...they have some known problems. He said the LG and Maytag are better brands anyways. Makes my decision a bit easier! I think we're going to go with the maytags....now, what time should we get there? Not sure how many they have...i know sears only had 7 of the ones I wanted, so I want to get there early! Thanks to my AWESOME parents, we can do that! They'll stay at Mimi and Papa's house tonight, so we can get to bed and get up early. Well...in theory anyways...

Gordon went home from his dad's and I went to my parent's house to drop off the kids. They were both asleep when I got there so I was thinking they'd sleep for the night. Not a chance. Their cousins were there, so of course, Madison wanted to get up and play with them. Katelyn woke up to the sound of my brother and dad talking. Oh, well. So I stuck around for a while to get the kids settled after their cousins left. Katelyn was almost asleep, with my mom feeding and rocking her, and I put Madison in the bedroom laying in bed with the tv on. Sounded like a smooth night.

Weeeeeeeeellll, not 10 minutes later my mom calls bc madison is hysterically crying for me, wants me to lay down with her. I thought I could just talk to her on the phone and she'd be okay...um,no. So after talking to a hyperventilating 3 yr old, I hopped back in my car and went to see her. Sooooo glad they live exactly 2 minutes away! I layed down with her and she was out cold in about 4.3 minutes. The poor thing was just soooooo exhausted from a super long, busy day with no nap to speak of. ah, the stressful life of a 3 yr old! lol

Then I got Katelyn to sleep again and put her down in the crib...then left. again. Any normal person would of course, go to sleep...not me! I had to pour over the ads again and make my list...checking it twice! I finallly went to sleep by about 12:15 and Gordon woke me up around 3:15 and we got ready to go....

Can't wait for Black Friday!

2009-11-25T22:05:00.000-06:00

I've been looking over the websites recently and I love bfads.net. It lets you see ads by store and by category and the best part is that you can click on whatever you want and it will add it to your own master shopping list. Then when BF arrives, just print off your list and it shows you what store and what items you wanted to buy! I have waaaaay too much on my list, won't buy it all, but there are lots of great deals! Target is always first on my list...its not usually super crazy crowded, they have good crowd control and great deals. I will not go to walmart first thing in the morning. People there are just crazy...if I do decide to visit wally world, it may be later in the morning.

I have been scouting out some appliances. My washer is great...except it doesn't stop "washing"....well, spinning, technically. Sometimes, it will keep spinning and spinning and by the time I see it, the clothes are BONE dry! My dryer is just as awesome. It doesn't stop drying, sometimes. Which means the clothes are so super hot, I seriously can't even touch them. I have to leave the dryer door open to let them cool down a little. Um, can you say fire hazard? *sigh* But what can you expect? We went in when we got married and pretty much asked for the cheapest thing on the floor...I think we maybe paid $300 for the pair. 7.5 years later, they're still kickin!

There is a set at sears that is the kenmore steam washer plus the non-steam dryer, which are $800 a piece, but on BF, they're $999 for the pair. Then there is a set at home depot, the LG set, but its a smaller capacity. Then there is the maytag set, which is looking better by the minute...of course, the fact that it's red and asthetically more pleasing than the white ones, helps just a little! :)

hmmm....decisions, decisions. Kenmore, LG or Maytag? dual dvd player or two seperate portable ones? leapster 2 or Lmax? hmmmm...gotta make some quick decisions...BF is coming soon!!! but first...turkey day!

Picture Time!!

2009-11-17T22:51:00.000-06:00

Since I was taking the days off this week, I figured I better take advantage of it! I scheduled an appointment at Sears at 10:30 this morning to have the girls Christmas PJ pics done, which I've done every year with Madison, so now it's Katelyn's turn to join in on the tradition! We woke up a little later in the morning, so they were both well rested and in a great mood, so I thought it'd be perfect timing! We had breakfast, went to Sears a bit early, so I could feed Katelyn. We got there around 10:15, so I sat down, went to feed Katelyn, Madison was playing around, having a great time and interacting with another little girl there. So we're waiting, I finished feeding Katelyn, changed Madison into her clothes, changed Katelyn into hers, then Madison needed to use the potty. So we went across the entire store to the bathrooms came back and we're STILL waiting. There was this one year old baby that they were trying to take pics of, but the poor thing was just screaming the whole time...they kept on and on trying to take pictures and even changed her outfit THREE times!!! I mean, I know you have to work with the kids' schedule/temperament a little, but my goodness! It was 10:15 when I got there and they seemed well into their portrait session...then finally at 11:00 I asked how much longer we were going to have to wait (since we'd been there 45 minutes...30 minutes late for our appointment as it was) since there was no indication they were finishing any time soon. The other employee finally said, "well, I'll just take you in here" and they were obviously not planning to use that camera bc she had to set lots of stuff up. By then, it was 11:15 and poor Madison had been an ANGEL the whole time, but we'd been there an hour already. When it was her turn to sit and take her pic, she sat down on the box, but by the time we got Katelyn sat down, too, Madison got up and was hiding behind the backdrop, playing peekaboo. When i got her to sit down again, she just crossed her arms and said, "I'm done!"....*sigh* me, too, kiddo...me, too! I was so upset with the stupid place bc they made us wait SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long!!! I mean it was ridiculous and don't think I didn't tell her how I felt!!! She said she'd give me some free sheets for my trouble. I told her i had the day off to do these pics since during the week the sheets are BOGO FREE. So then I asked if she could honor the BOGO on saturday bc that's really the only time we can come again and the kids will be in a good mood...can't guarantee anything in the evenings after work/school, etc. She called her manager and she said they'd offer it and put it in writing for me. grrrr, so annoying. I had so planned this out. *sigh* stupid photographer! At some point you just HAVE to realize it's not a good day for pics and try again another time. Lord knows I've had to do that before...making that poor baby pose for an HOUR and several wardrobe changes is just stupid!

So I was going to do some shopping after pics, have lunch at the food court for Madison, take her on the carousel...but things changed since she was just in a bad mood now. I needed to find a shirt bc we had appt the next evening for family christmas pics, but I wasn't sure what to wear. Well, the girls were tired and in no mood for shopping. I did walk down the mall a little bit before deciding to leave, but in the meantime, I came across a little ornament kiosk...got one that has a snowmom holding a snowbaby in a bjorn type thing and it said "new mommy". So I got that one bc it's my first Christmas with Katelyn. They wrote her name and the year on it. There was also another one that was a bear with a very preggo belly and the christmas tree next to it had a stork at the top and a rattle, diaper, bottle, etc as decorations on the tree. the presents under the tree were pickles and ice cream. There was a little paper/scroll on the other side of the bear, opposite the tree that said, "Baby Names" and I had them write "Andrew" on it with the year. so super cute!!!

I still need to find Madison a Big sister ornament for this year, as well as a big sister to be ornament. I got katelyn a first christmas ornament, but she also needs a big sister to be ornament as well.

so we went home and the girls took naps. Meanwhile, I called Target bc I had gone there last month for Katelyn's pics and the lady did so AWESOME with her! Plus it was cheaper bc it's the same company as JC penney...i just dont like JCP bc its too cramped and the ppl arent very good. So we made an appointment for 3:30 which would be wonderful timing after naps. We got to target, Madison wanted popcorn, so I told her after she did a great job with pics, we'd go get her popcorn. Long story short, they both sat, smiled, played and did ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS with pics! There were so many good ones, it was hard to choose! That is a GREAT problem to have!!! So we ordered pics and they'll be in on Tuesday! Great photographer, great pics, cheap prices, one week turnaround...what more could you ask?! lol Can't wait to get the pics back!!!

We had an appt at sears for family pics for the BOGO, but it may just be better to go to target, since they're better with the kids, the prices are cheaper (and may sort of even out with the bogo....sheets at sears are $8 each, target is $4, so the bogo pretty much equals out), plus also, its a different background than the one we've had for 3 years! lol Yup...pretty much just need to make an appt at target and find myself something to wear!!!