Game day

New pictures

I gave it up

I gave up MY plan yesterday and life is so much better. It's not that I have anything in the least against formula feeding - apart from the price. It was just the fact that I had done months worth of research and decided that this was the way to go for us. Everyone says the first few weeks is hard - so I was anticipating that. What I didn't anticipate was that Matthew's struggle to feed - every time, him not sleeping well between feedings and my inability to sleep at all was taking it's toll on all of us. Because I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't making enough milk to stisfy him.
After our doctor visit yesterday - which she said he looked healthy - but sounded like we did need to supplement and come back next week for another weigh in - Mark and I decided to just go the formula route, I would continue to pump as much as I could to keep up production and give him as much as we could. Amazingly enough, after we made that decision, I felt the weight and stress just fall off!
Mom and Dad spent the night at our apt so Mom could get up with Matthew and feed him while I would try to pump. After the 11:30 feeding - Mark said - no more for me that night - I needed to stay in bed and sleep.
Thankfully, I finally fell asleep!!!!! I probably got 5 or 6 hours - that's about as much as I had had in the past three days!
Matthew is a different baby now that he can get a full tummy. This mommy has a better outlook on life and Daddy can get enough sleep now, too instead of trying to keep Matthew quiet so that I could try to sleep.
God has been very gracious to us!!!

Overwhelmed

That pretty much sums us up right now.
I have to believe that life will get better. Breast feeding is HARD with a newborn that goes ballistic when he doesn't "get it" after one or two sucks.
Matthew has his first doctors appt tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how much he weighs, since we are doing the breastfeeding thing.

We're so thankful for my parents who came down yesterday. They have been a great help!!

I'm also thankful for Cheryl - my new favorite person down here! She's is a lactation consultant that we called twice yesterday(on Christmas) when I was at my wits end with feeding. She came over and was a tremendous encouragement! I would say that this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done - I want to persevere and I want to give up.

I'm thankful to not be pregnant. Even though I'm still recovering from the C-section - and that's still sore, I feel so much better.

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. If nothing else, this experience is making me love him more than ever!

Matthew Terry

Matthew Terry came on Friday, December 21st at 9:31am via C-section. He weighed 8#12oz. 20 3/4 inches!! I had called my dr. Thursday wondering if I was coming down with a sinus infection, he asked me if I could check my BP and call him back. It was 126/86 - he decided that I needed to go get another NST at the hospital. We got the NST Thursday evening and he came by to offer a C-section the next day. He said that I was bascially uniducible - my cervix hadn't budged a centimeter at almost 42 weeks! Of course, he said that I could still wait to have the section on Monday if I wanted to. I was so relieved and happy to have the offer!!!
We checked in at 6:30 and had to wait for another planned C-section ahead of mine - that was the hardest part! Thankfully, I had bought a "search a word" puzzle book for the whole waiting process when I assumed that I would have a normal 12-13 hour labor.
Thankfully, I can say that it wasn't a bad experience at all. The hardest part was the waiting! One of the best things, apart from seeing a beautiful baby boy, of course, was being able to lay in the recovery room afterwards - for the first time in months, I was laying on my back and on not having any type of pain or discomfort! It was nice not feeling anything from about my diaphragm on down :o)
We came home this afternoon, Matthew has been fed and is currently sleeping. He is such a mystery! It's very humbling to have this responsibility, we do feel the weigt of it.
Anyway, overall, I feel good!! Thanks so much for the prayers and notes of encouragement - it really does mean so much!

Winter in the South

It's supposed to get up 68 today!! I'm not complaining, it's still a little weird.

Mark "gave birth"

We are very happy to report the birth of Mark's kidney stone yesterday evening!! What a relief. For those we have spoken to with histories of kidney stones, though, everyone is a bit tense "waiting for the next one" - Mark is no different.

I'm very proud of him - he's really doing a good job of drinking water. It's hard because he normally only drank one or two glasses a day at the most, and the rest of his fluids came in the way of Coke or Pepsi. Cola's are off limits now, Sprite and juice just isn't the same for him.

Baby's room

Thought I would share pictures of Matthew's room. Here's the deal on the crib/prison - we have two very active cats. I absolutely don't trust Mackey to stay away from the baby. I could vividly picture Mackey plopping down on Matthew's head and suffocating him. So, this was our solution. We ordered this tent through WalMart. Interestingly enough, there is a picture of a cat standing on top of the tent on the box.

His room is a hodge podge of furniture - in a perfect world, we would have all matching furniture but, alas, I'm thankful that we really didn't have to buy much. We really only had to buy the crib for the room.

We did splurge on the car seat/stroller. It's the Chicco Key Fit 30. It's ranked the highest in safety ratings and it's really easy to use - at some point you'll see a picture of it.

New perspectives

God's mercies are new every morning!! I'm so thankful for that.
It usually takes me a day to gain a broader perspective on disappointments or discouragements. I wish I could magically turn on and off those thoughts and feelings - but, we're not made that way.
As much as I think that I'm really working hard at keeping my thoughts and desires in check - the real test comes when those thoughts and desires are challenged. I'm thankful for a loving and patient God, and loving and patient family and friends!! I wish we could be closer to y'all!!

Baby update

I had my weekly checkup. Yet, again, nothing going on. My doctor wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure that he hadn't turned around for a breech presentation and do another nonstress test (NST) which is standard when you're overdue this far.

The US showed a head first presentation - we saw his heart, spine, and a leg. Thankfully, there is still enough amniotic fluid, too. He tried showing us everything but said that at this stage it's really difficult because there's just not much room.

He's estimating 8 pounds.

This afternoon we headed over to the hospital for my fourth NST. The L&D nurse that set me up on it is - from what others have said - the best L&D nurse around. It was nice to meet her. She also showed us what they were looking for on the NST and said that Baby was passing with flying colors. The other encouraging thing about having the NST was that it showed that I was having a few contractions - which I wasn't aware of. Nanette said that the contractions could help thin out my cervix.

The plan, therefore, at this point is for me to come back on Friday. If nothing is still going on, he'll admit me Sunday night and try to induce then. If that does nothing - which he wasn't too positive that it would - he would do a C-section on Monday. I can't say that I was devastated, but I was definitely disappointed.

I know that it's not that uncommon. I also know that statistically, the mortality rate goes up for babies after 41.5 weeks. I know that God is not bound by statistics. I know that his life will not be ruined by having a birthday the day before Christmas. I know that God is sovereign - and that's not really a comfort - sometimes, that's actually more frustrating for me. I know all of these things - I think I'm just tired.

I'm fine, really I am. I am thankful that we live in a relatively warm enivronment where I can walk outside comfortably. That's the plan for the week - walk, walk, walk.

Mark is home

Yea, Mark is home now. He still hasn't passed the stone, though - we'll see how that goes. Now he just has the caffiene withdraw headache and nausea and the been-laying-on-my-back-in-a-hospital-bed-for-three-days back ache.
Thanks so much for your prayers, as always, they are much appreciated.

A prayer request from us

I can understand why the Lord hasn't allowed us to have a baby to bring home yet......Mark is in the hospital with kidney stones! He called me from the office yesterday morning around 8, asking me to come pick him up.
We ended up going to the hospital (this is round 3 for his ER visits). This was the worst pain yet. I felt so bad for him!
To make a long story short - he was admitted for observation yesterday morning for pain control reasons. He finally was pain free by the evening but was struggling with nausea and vomiting.
I figured that if he could get through the night without any more pain - we'd be home this afternoon. It wasn't to be - Mark called while I was getting ready to come to the hospital to say that he started having pain again about 6:30am.....and it's continued off and on ever since.
He's an inpatient now, the hospitalist is going to try him on some different medication to see if that helps pass the stone.

With that said, I'm sure that you can guess our prayer requests = 1) that Mark would pass the stone and 2) that I would NOT go into labor - which I don't think is imminent, anway. We'd be very grateful for your petitions.
Just to let you know, I do have a friend "on call" if I would go into labor.

Still nothing going on in the baby department

My doctor did say that I would have him before Christmas - which I am expecting. Also saying that he's between 7.5-8 pounds now - that's quite enough. :o)

Attitude of gratitude

It's been a while since I've done this - figured that it was about time. I need to do this for my sake more than any other.

I'm thankful for a godly husband who is willing to let me have the bed all to myself when I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep. I'm thankful that we don't usually struggle with worrying about the same issues, either - we can help each other out - giving a better perspective.

I'm thankful that it's December - meaning - I WILL NOT be pregnant at Christmas :o)
I'm thankful that as uncomfortable as this pregnancy deal has been, it could have been much worse! My blood pressure has been fine, not a lot of swelling, Prilosec is my wonder drug, I still have food aversions - but no nausea anymore.

I'm thankful for a longsuffering God - Who is patient and merciful to me.

So many more things to be thankful for...........

Still waiting

Waiting for Matthew to decide to make his appearance - I ate jalopenos last night for dinner and had Mark rub my feet - no effect. Matthew still hasn't dropped.

Waiting for our computer to be done - should be able to pick it up today.

Absolutely nothing!

That's what my OB doc said when he checked on Monday to see if I was getting ready to go into labor.
He didn't have to say it like that!

Tagged!

Our computer crashed on Saturday - I'm sitting in Mark's office trying to catch up on e-mails and blogs :o)

These things are always hard for me to do. 5 unusual things?? I guess I don't feel like there is that much unusual about me. Maybe these are just things that you didn't know about me :o) - here it goes:

1. If we didn't truly believe that we would be destitute and living under a bridge, Mark and I would move to New York City in a heartbeat. We loved it. We stayed on the Upper West Side - close to Columbia University. It was great not having to worry about a car and all of the things that go along with it! I think that the food is fresher there than at our local grocery stores - there are markets on just aobut every corner. We could walk to any type of ethnic/diverse restaurant that we wanted - and I do admit it - the pizza is great!

2. Being pregnant - to me - is like dating. I don't particularly like it - but it's what you have to do in order to get the desired effect. (Not including adoption, of course - but we can't afford that). Don't get me wrong - it's not that I'm not thankful - I really am. Maybe it's because these situations just reveal my tendencies to worry/doubt/fear. I don't like "not knowing".

3. I'm not a kid person. Yes, that sounds just as horrible as #2. Let's just say that, given the choice, I would rather spend an afternoon at a nursing home than a daycare center.

4. This may truly be the unusual thing about me: I always have red toe nail polish on. You can take the polish off my toe nails right now and see my perpetually orange toe nails - because I'm too lazy to put a base coat on.

5. If it weren't so bad for me, I would eat dessert and skip dinner. I'm a sweets girl! Twice I have ordered dessert for my meal at a restaurant instead of dinner when out with friends. I haven't done it much, because I just felt a little silly. Why get the dinner at O'Charley's when you know you would rather have their carrot cake?!

Dumpling recipe

Here are a couple of versions of the dumpling recipe. I'll give you the easiest one first.
This is what Summer told me that she put in her dumplings:
one package of ground pork (I'm guessing about a pound)
one small green bell pepper
celery (which I didn't detect)
one green onion
a bit of soy sauce

She put everything in a blender so that the veggies were all very finely chopped and then added the meat and soy sauce. Put a little bit of the mixture in the center of a wonton wrapper and wet the edges with water then press the edges together, you can also just fold the wrapper to make a triangle, too. She put them in a big skillet with maybe 1T of vegetable oil and put the lid on. When the dumplings puffed up, she took the lid off and moved them around. They were lightly browned on the bottom. She just put the platter of them on the table and we dipped them in our own bowls of soy sauce mixed with some Chinese vinegar and some red pepper sauce.

Here is the recipe that I used: I had found a basic recipe in a Chinese cookbook
around a pound of ground pork
half a green bell pepper
one green onion
one stalk of celery
1/2 t of ginger
2T or so of soy sauce
1T of Chinese cooking sherry
dash of sugar

I put everything in the food processor - this was the easiest part.
As for cooking them, my recipe called for putting 1T of vegetable oil in the pan putting the dumplings in and then adding some stock over the dumplings. Honestly, though they tasted good - the wrappers stuck together - so it was a bit messy. None of my pans were officially nonstick - so maybe that was the difference. Mine didn't puff up like Summer's either. But like I said - they were yummy - had a little more flavor than Summer's, they were just sticky - hers weren't.
I'll have to experiment more.

Overall I do recommend them - nice for a change. It took me about 45 minutes - an hour just assemble them.

I do want to know if any of you guys try it and how they turn out!!!

Dumplings for dinner

A couple of weeks ago, our Chinese friends, Steven and Summer invited us over to their house for dinner. Summer was making dumplings for dinner for all of us. She was still making them when we arrived, so I was able to help her out. They're actually pretty easy to make - though a bit time consuming. Steven and Summer said that these are pretty common for dinner in China. They were soooo good! Even Mark used chopsticks - he's really getting the hang of them. :o)
As a treat, for Mark and me, I made dumplings for dinner tonight. I haven't cooked them yet - Mark's not home from work. But, if they turn out well, I'd like to make some up and keep them in the freezer.

Rubbing it in - just a bit

Okay, anyone who has read the blog or knows me, knows that where we are geographically right now isn't exactly my preference. Thankfully, I can see baby steps of growth!! I accept my fate right now rather than being resigned to it - which I see as a step of growth. Contentment is still the goal that I am working toward.

So, please indulge me in gloating just a little - it's been in the 70's all week down here. Currently, it's in the upper sixties and humid - windows open and flip flops on.

Tomorrow the cold front comes through - it will be in the 40's and 50's for highs.

We're heading over to another couple's house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I'm bringing a pumpkin pie and homemade dog treats for their dogs(which are their children).

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!

Brotherly love

Overkill??

Today, we received a gift for Matthew(thanks Gaylene!!). I couldn't get over the fact that they(WalMart - not Gaylene) put this package of onesies in this huge box! Too funny.

Four more weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Makrothumia, please!

This past week in my Bible study (we're studying the fruit of the Spirit), we focused on patience. The Greek word for this aspect is makrothumia. It's not the hupomone or enduring under hardships type of patience, but rather the merciful, unjudgemental type of patience when dealing with people. Giving up "my right" to be angry is not usually my preference - obviously, in my head and heart, I'm justified to be angry at whomever or whatever person has injustly treated me - intentionally or unintetionally.

Boy, is that convicting!!! I have been reminded time and time again how judgemental I am - thereby - how impatient, unmerciful and unChristlike I am. I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit's convicting - you can't grow and work on something if you don't know that you need to work on something. I need to be humbled and reminded of what I truly deserve - if it were not for the mercy and patience of God, I would be going to Hell.

It's the little things

I'm so excited - my eBay win has arrived! It's a Pottery Barn Kids crib bumper. I paid $10.50 for it(not including the $10.50 for s&h)! I can imagine how much something like this would have cost retail. I didn't really have a desire to purchase a whole matching set - well, it would have been nice - but I couldn't justify a whole new matching set.

One last hurrah!!

My knight in shining armor surprised me with booking a nice hotel room in North Little Rock/Riverfront last Friday. An hour is the furthest that I'm supposed to travel these days, so this get away was perfect! We had a wonderful time!

We walked around LR's riverfront, went to the North LR mall and bought some stuff along the way. Saturday, we did more shopping and then finished the day with catching a movie on the way home - Dan in Real Life. For a predictable romantic comedy, it was one of the better ones - we both enjoyed it.

Mark is wonderful!

Done!

Yea, no more commuting. I can't say that I was sad to leave today. My DON is certain that she will be able to call me back at some point. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was okay if it didn't work out. Thankfully, I have come to the point of accepting the fact of working night shift a couple of days a week in our ER.
It would still be wonderful IF I could go back to the nursing home for a few months after the baby. I really would prefer to not start a brand new job in February - but time will tell.

Also, the department heads and LPN's did have a wonderful shower for Matthew yesterday. We recieved a lot of really useful stuff - like those bulb thingies that suck snot out, nail clippers, blankets and such. No, I didn't bring my camera. For the "cake" - it was actually cupcakes made in the shape of a blue bootie - yummy and cute. I got to bring leftovers home for Mark.

New motivation for excerising after pregnancy.......

.....just get your pictures taken for the church directory. YIKES!!! I think I'll put the picture right in front of the elliptical machine - or maybe on the fridge.

Of lay offs and kidney stones....

Tuesday was an eventful day here!

First off, with my job - ever since I had returned in August - things had been different. The paperwork that had filled half my time (and one of the two reasons why I had been hired) had been stopped. Our new administrator thought that it was a waste of time to do. That left me with my other main job - which kept somewhat busy - but not busy enough. Also, the LPN that did my job while I was gone was kept to do office type of work instead of going back to floor work. I had made more than one comment to a dear coworker and Mark that I wasn't sure that there was much of a purpose for me there anymore.
Another key factor is that census has been down for many months - low census means no revenue - even if the acuity is high - it's all about numbers.
With that said, I was called to the administrator's office on Tuesday and told by her, with my DON sitting there, too, that I was being laid off effective November 1st.
They said that if census goes back up, I would be called - but let's be honest - I won't be holding my breath on that one. My mindset is that I will be looking for a new job after adjusting to a new baby - not exactly my ideal - but - I have no other choice.
Mark and I were planning on me looking for work here in town next summer anyway. God obviously doesn't think that I need to wait until summer to do that.
Since I am being laid off, though, there is the possibility of me drawing unemployment - since I was planning on working up through November. I will be checking into that this week.
I really am trying to look at this as a blessing from God - to not have to work this coming month. I was a little concerned about the forty five minute commute - in case I would go into labor.

About the kidney stones..........Mark had decided that I needed to stay from COPE(our ESL class) that evening and rest - even before the lay off news. We usually get home from COPE around 9 or after. So, when I heard the door unlock a little after 7, I was curious. You could tell that he wasn't feeling well. He said that he almost called me to pick him up from campus - he was having so much lower abdominal pain.
I got dressed and took him to the ER. After waiting for two hours, we finally got back to see a doctor. He had some blood in his urine; the doctor suspected kidney stones. They got an IV started and the radiology tech let me go beck with him for the CT scan. The tech told me what a kidney stone would look like - and there it was - a bright white dot. Out of the hundreds of CT scans that I've seen, I had never seen a kidney stone - that was cool for me.
They sent us home with a perscription for Mepergan and a strainer. Needless to say, Mark was exhausted. Thankfully, we were in bed by midnight.
I joked with Mark that I won't be able to hold labor over him since I've heard that kidney stones are as bad if not worse than labor pains. Also, since he's had this one kidney stone, he's more predisposed to having more. Poor guy.
Of course, knowing Mark, he went to work yesterday, he did however cancel one class.

Fall Break

Fall Break is over. It worked out this year that my mom's Fall Break and Mark's coincided with each other. Mom and Dad got here on Thursday - we went to the Honeycomb for lunch. Honeycomb is my favorite lunch place in town, it's actually a tool for the mentally disabled in the community to learn skills and earn a little money. We went to the Hamburger Barn for dinner - per Mom's request.
Friday was fun, we went to WalMart - where else - for some shopping. For lunch, we hit TaMolly's and then came back to our apt - Dad did some fix up work for us - THANKS and then Mark and I headed to our OB appt. After that we headed up to Little Rock. We went to my favorite shopping area - Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, J Jill, etc.... For dinner, we ate at Shorty Small's - a neat BBQ place. I also wanted to show Mom and Dad the European Bakery - yummy. After that we had to go to Target, actually we went to two Targets. Then we headed back here. They wore us out :o)
Saturday we went to McD's for breakfast and then Donut Palace for treats for their trip home.
Mom and Dad brought a bounty of food - as usual, and some produce. I made 1 big loaf and 3 small loaves of zuchini bread, we're having bruschetta for dinner from the tomatoes they brought. I'm also trying a butternut squash souffle for dinner, too. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the spaghetti squash - it's a bit of a challenge for me, since the last time that I used one - I was sick - stomach-wise - so the thought of it isn't too appealing - but Mark like it.
Well, we had a wonderful time. Thanks, Mom and Dad for you generosity - the curtains look great in Matthew's room and it's wonderful to have the hot water side of the washer working again!

A plea for pictures

Since I can't come up for weddings and showers this Fall, could someone/someones post pics or e-mail pics of Mary's and Chris's showers and weddings. I'm so bummed about missing everything. Thanks

I tried

So, I saved the shower pics to My Pictures - but when I went to upload them here - I realized that the camera used must have had few megapixels because the resolution was too poor. Bummer. I was excited for you to see our COPE friends and the cute Noah's ark cake.

Autumn has arrived!

I'm so happy today! The temps are only going to be in the 70's with low humidity. I can't tell you how long it's been! I wish that I could say that I have been patiently waiting for Fall weather - but, unfortunately, I can't.

Eeks!

Mark and I had our routine OB check yesterday - you know, the one that lasts five minutes(which is fine 'cause that means that everything is okay). When we were finishing up our doctor had us make our next appt for two weeks. Yikes - we're down to two week visits!?

A surprise baby shower!

On Tuesday nights during the semester, Mark and I teach conversational English to internationals - mainly Asian students. Well, this past Tuesday, they surprised me (Mark knew about it) with a baby shower. I had no clue!
Everything about American culture is interesting to these internationals, so an American baby shower is a great opportunity to teach more about our culture - they also used a Noah's ark theme - so that gave some biblical teaching opportunities.
I didn't have my camera - or else I would have lots of pictures to share. We did have some pictures e-mailed to us - so, if I can figure out how to upload them here, I'll share them.
Mark and I love international ministry and have been so blessed through getting to know many internationals the past year we've been here!

Recall list

For those of you interested in being notified for recalls - of any kind - you can sign up to recieve e-mail updates through a government website. The nice thing is that you can decide what type of recalls you want to be notified about - whether it's for child stuff, outdoor stuff, etc...

Attitude of gratitude

I decided that it was time for another posting of thankfulness to my patient, longsuffering Savior and Father for the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in my life. Granted, there are many areas where I look and wonder if I'm ever going to "get it", but I am so thankful for the areas where I can say - "yes, by the strength and perseverence of the Holy Spirit - I am growing".

This may sound - ahem - childish - and I agree that it is - so that's why I'm so happy to say that there is growth. Mark and I are different - in that he would rather not "have to" go anywhere out of town/overnight. He is happy in his routine.
I, on the other hand, relish opportunities to "get to" go anywhere/overnight.

Considering the nature of our careers - even before we were married - I knew that Mark would "have to" go out of town several times a year for conferences, research and such. In nursing, unless you go to a conference - which is hardly ever, you don't get paid to go anywhere.

Let's just say, that I anticipated struggling with Mark "getting to" go places and me "having to" stay at home and work. And, I was right. I really did have pity parties - and no sympathy whatsoever for Mark's travel woes.

So, the good news is, I was okay with him going to Tulsa this week! Yes, I would have preferred to be able to go with - I've heard from several different sources that Tulsa is actually a cool little city. But, being in my third trimester, it was really out of the question to drive six hours away.

Praise God for growth - however small it may be to others - this was big for me!!!

Welcome to my third trimester

Here is proof that I am indeed very pregnant. I still feel yucky - in the afternoons and evenings. I still struggle with worry, though not as badly. We didn't buy a car seat/stroller because there was only a thirty day return policy. Some days I feel huge - but try not to think about it too much. I know that, Lord willing, I have less than three more months to grow our Matthew - and that really is a good thing.

You know you live in the South...

when you're listening to the radio and they say that it's 83 degrees and feels like Fall!

Autumn

Well, it's not in Arkansas, yet. Still in the 80's and humid - but I know that Autumn is coming! Autumn has always been my favorite time of the year - crisp days, lower humidity, changing colors, football, etc...
Living in Inidana, though, always brought a bit of dread, too. I knew that just around the corner was winter. Winter would be my least favorite time of the year, dreary, layers upon layers of clothes, wind chill factors, never being able to get warm where I lived because I never wanted big heating bills.
Not the case down here. Yeah, there made be some cold days, but not like North Central Indiana. I'm sure that in time I'll miss snow, but for now, I'm reveling in the thought of a mild winter.

Life is good!

Football season is underway!!!

GO COLTS!!

Shopping for gear

Mark and I made our first voyage out to Baby Depot(Burlington Coat Factory) and Toys R Us on Sunday to actually look at stuff. I had been doing research online, but this was our "hands on" trip.
Our conclusion? Most of it comes down to preference because it seems like most everything meets the safety requirements.
We have decided on getting a travel system (stroller and car seat). The practical side of me wanted to get a convertible car seat - so we wouldn't have to be buying one anytime soon, but that may not be what is necessarily best overall. Allowing a sleeping Matthew to continue sleeping when he falls asleep in the car seat seems to be the wisest decision. We did find a Graco system that allows the baby to be in it up to 34 pounds. I think that's where we're leaning at this point - most of the other ones only went up to 20-24 pounds.
We are happy to hear suggestions on this and other gear - it's a bit overwhelming to tell you the truth.

We are obedient owners

Mark and I admit it, our cats have us trained.
Mackey and Moe play fetch and catch. They bring their little toys to us and then start off in the direction they want us to throw the toys. Then they bring it back for you to throw it again.
Another fun activity is throwing the toy into the air and then watch the cat jump up for it to catch it - either with his mouth or in his paws - imagine a dog catching a frisbee and that's pretty much what it is like.
Occaisionally, I'll round up all of the toys and put them away on the bookshelf in a big crystal vase - it doesn't take long before you see one of them picking out a toy from the vase and bringing it to you for another game of fetch.
Although they drive us crazy sometimes, Mackey and Moe are a lot of fun!

better safe than sorry

Saturday started out being a typical, uneventful day. We needed some stuff at Target and wanted to eat in Little Rock. We drove up in the afternoon, on the way up I occaisonally felt some back pain, I told Mark that my back was hurting, didn't think too much of it. I didn't really feel that great - which is not that unusual these days. We went to Chi's (chinese) to eat and while we were sitting there I kept noticing that my back pain would come and go. After a while I realized that it would come in a wave and then subside. It was what I only could describe as contractions - just guessing since the miscarriage was different.
So, by the end of the meal(or should I say Mark's meal - since I really didn't eat but a few bites) I decided that I should probably start timing the pains.
We did go ahead and go to Target, the pains were from 3-8 minutes apart. We drove home, still having the pains, but now they were consistently every 2-3 minutes apart - I was starting to get a little nervous.
When we got back, I called my OB/GYN and he told me to head to Labor and Delivery at the hospital. By the time I spoke with him, it had been about 5 minutes since the last pain.
While I was being checked in(three hours after the pains started), I felt a couple more pains, by the time I got up to my room - I really wasn't feeling anything.
They did a UA and that was fine, they hooked me up to the "contraction monitor" and we listened to Matthew's heartbeat and him kicking for an hour. No pain or contractions the whole time. A doctor's visit, three pelvics and an hour and a half later - I was on my home.
I'm glad that I called - but, you know, I just felt like an idiot. I felt like I had to prove that I really was having pain, and it really was every 2-3 minutes. Oh, well, it was a great relief to know that everything was fine, we are very thankful for that!

blue dodge spirit

Blue dodge spirit - a call him my arch nemesis when commuting. This old guy drops someone off at the university, presumably for class every morning and picks him up every afternoon. He drives the road that I do to about my halfway point to work - which is about 20 minutes. I wouldn't mind it so much except for the fact that he always(and I do mean always) drives at least 5-10 miles under the speed limit.
It is so frustrating that I leave for work early so that I won't have to encounter him on my way to work.
So, that is how I know that summer is over, I met my arch nemesis on the road when I was coming back from work yesterday ---------- and he had a line of about ten cars behind him.

An attitude of gratitude

Taking a cue from Leanne, I realize that I, too, am too often negative or sarcastic about the goings on down here (i.e. the path that God has currently brought us to). I really do want to develop a thankful heart and project a thankful attitude to those around me.
To me, it really doesn't count to say that I'm content when I'm getting the things that I want - how do I know that I'm content if life is as I think that it should be?
With that said, here is my list for right now. I would like to do this periodically - more for myself - to see it in writing, than for anything else.
1. ...for my godly husband. What a blessing to know that I can trust and respect his judgement - even when he tells me what I need to hear - not just what I want to hear.
2. ...for Mark having a job that he enjoys and not having to have taken a temporary, one-year position like most people in his position. Meaning - we would have just finished moving again - to who knows where.
3. ...for living in an area where housing cost are reasonable - so that I don't have to work full time if I don't want to (which I am not). If he had had to accept one of those one year positions in Indy or Atlanta - I really would not have had an option, not only because of housing costs, but because one-year positions don't pay much.
4. ...for being able to connect with friends and family. Those relationships so often energize me, how blessed Mark and I have been!
5. ...for the job that I do have. Yes, I would rather be working in town and not commuting, yes, I would like to be making more money. But, I actually do like the work that I do.
6. ...for the relationships that we have made/are making down here.
7. ...for our little Matthew, I love feeling him move around inside of me. I'm so glad that Mark can feel him move, now, too.
8. ...for our new central air conditioner!!

McD's vs. BK

It is my humble opinion that I think that, although the Mocha Joe Iced Coffees from Burger King are good, the large Iced Coffee from McDonald's is a better deal.

A year here

Wow, it's hard to believe that this week mark's our first year in Arkansas.
So many new experiences, so much has changed in our lives. I wish that I could say that it was been a wonderful experience, that we've found "our place", that this is where I want to be for the rest of my life.
I came into this knowing that it would be hard - not really knowing anyone, small town, different culture, etc.... I wasn't dreading it, I just knew that it would be hard - not in a pessemistic way either.
Well, I confess, it has been a really difficult year for me, particularly the last half. You know, the first six months are basically survival months, trying to figure out where everything is and how things work down here, lots of adventures. After those first six months, reality sinks in - "this is it?"
Compounded with the miscarriage, I was an angry person and God knew it. I felt like was on the verge of drowning in a sea of anger and bitterness - trust me when I say that I was pleading with God to change my heart - I don't ever want to be a bitter and angry person. And I know that my "problem" was with God and no one else.
I also know that in times like those, often it's learning to wait on God, work diligently on Pil 4:8 thinking and make myself - with the grace of the Holy Spirit - think about all of the things that I do have to be thankful for.

So, now I am happy to say that life is better than it was - in my attitude. I still have a long way to go toward saying that I am truly content - and I do want that - but, I know that God is faithfully working in my heart - despite my faithlessness to Him.
And I don't want anyone to think that I'm doing better because I'm pregnant - I don't want to come across as thinking that the pregnancy solved anything - I'm thankful that I had - by God's grace - decided before I knew that I was pregnant, that it would really be okay if I didn't get pregnant for a while.

In the end, I don't know how long God will have us here. Mark and I really do want to end up closer to our families, we know that that is in God's hands.

Nice visit

My parents came to visit last week. We had a wonderful time. They came down on Wednesday - so they were at our apt when I came back from work. We went to the infamous Burger Barn for dinner. Thursday morning, we headed up to pick Mark up at the airport - from his uneventful flight :o). We laid low the rest of the day and ad yummy vegetables from Indiana gardens for dinner. Friday afternoon, we headed down to Texarkana and had dinner at Zappata's - Mark's favorite!
I made breakfast Saturday morning and then Mom and Dad headed back be 10.
We had thought on Friday, that I had a leak in one of my tires (one of the new ones, of course). It was a fast leak, too. Upon further inspection, my detective father figured out that it was a broken valve cap - when he put it back on, you could here the air rushing out. Thankfully, that's all that it was, and 67 cents later, we have new valve caps and a full tire.
Thanks, Mom and Dad for everything we love you!!!

Pregnancy notes

I had a routine OB appt today. It worked out well because I had some spotting yesterday and this AM. My doctor did a pelvic and found a big cervical polyp. He said that that was the cause of my spotting. He sent it off and I'll call on Friday to see if results are in. Most polyps are benign, and frankly - I'm not too worried.
I didn't know if vacation would "do me in" as for weight gain - I've only gained 5 pounds in total - could be worse - all of that walking in New Haven and NYC saved me from more pounds, I'm sure.
As for Matthew Terry, we listened to his heart beat on the Doppler and the doctor was pleased.
I've been feeling Matthew on the inside moving around since about the fifteenth week. Just last Thursday or Friday I put my hand on my abd and felt him move. Mark got to feel him once last night, too. That is the fun part :o)
I have a little swelling in my feet from time to time; I thought that the nausea was all gone - but it's not - it's still not as bad as what it had been so I can't complain.
My next planned appt is Sept 7 - I will be finising my 27th week, Lord willing.
I think that I'm actually looking pregnant now - that's nice.

Pictures added

I added pictures of our journey to the entries.

Luggage returned

Just to update - I did receive my luggage yesterday afternoon.
One little thing that I didn't mention in the previous entry......somehow, I had misplaced my driver's license in the Harrisburg airport. I was convinced that it had fallen between the inner and outside liners of the suitcase - but I couldn't get it out. That was really the low point. I realized how difficult everything would be if I this itinerary didn't work out and I had to go through the whole process again.
Thankfully, I had my boarding pass by the time my license was gone - so the ticketing agent put a note on the boarding pass and I just had to have everything searched while going through security.
I was soooooo happy to be able to unzip the inner liner of the suitcase and see the license slide out!

Northwest Nightmare vs. Held Hostage by Northwest

I wasn't sure how to title this entry - so I put both on. I am sooooo happy to be in our apt!
I got back last night around 10pm - after my fifth itenerary in two days. It is a long and sad story - I won't bore you with all of it - just the highlights.
I was to fly out of Philly on Sunday - we confirmed the flight in the AM - it was "on". Mark's parents dropped me off in plenty of time it was a breeze at that point. An hour and a half before the flight - it was cancelled - that's when the craziness began. After "securing" my next flight for the next morning - I headed down to get my hotel voucher and luggage back - three hours to wait for my luggage, an hour on the phone to secure another flight for Monday because there was a miscommunication between NW and Delta and I was tired and in bed at the hotel by 10pm.
Got to the airport by 6:20 Monday - only to be told that my flight was again cancelled. The line was horrendous - I called the ticketing agent again and was told that they could get me back to AR the next day (today). At that point I asked him what other airports could I fly out of to get home that day - so, I took the Philly train to Amtrak and took that to Harrisburg - only about an hour south of Mark's parents.
Once I got there - again there was a glitch in the system and I was not booked for the flight that I was told about - I had been booked on another flight that had two Northwest connections after my flight to Cleveland. By this point, I was a wreck, I ended up going with that itenerary with much skepticism.
Thankfully, I arrived at LR at 8pm last night! My luggage, though, didn't make it out of Memphis - so I am waiting on that.
I pondered many things during this process - is it okay to cry (I did apologize to everyone that I broke down in front of - at least I could blame the pregnancy on that), am I making an idol out of wanting to go home, how is God making this work together for my good?
I am thankful for the kindess of strangers and sisters in Christ that I met in those two days - that was a blessing, I'm thankful for the safety that God provided, I'm thankful to have a wonderful, loving husand and family that were ready to do whatever to get me back to AR.

Princeton

Princeton is a nice town - the university area is very nice with lots of great shopping and restaurants. I asked Mark what the enrollment is like here - he said that it might not even be 35,000. If that's the case - Purdue is bigger. It certainly doesn't feel as big as Yale. Yale just seems huge.
I did the domestic thing yesterday - laundry at our hotel.
Pretty uneventful so far - which is fine. Apart from yesterday - and probably tomorrow - I spend my days in the Firestone library - checking e-mail and such and then heading a few back into the study room that has the new releases and best sellers along with several couches. I sit and read, and then around lunch time - I venture out across the street to the restaurants and shops. Mark and I have been heading back to the hotel at 7pm - we are able to take a shuttle from the hotel. We're heading back around 5 tonight.
Mark's parents are planning on driving over on Saturday. They'll spend the night and then take me down to Philly on Sunday to the airport. It'll be nice to spend some extra time with them - knowing that it might be a year or so before we are able to see them again.
I'm ready to get back to see the cats - not necessarily ready to go back to Arkansas or work. Reality.

NYC rundown

Yea! Back to a computer - civilization! The only computers that I could find in the city were pay ones - I refused to pay to check my email.
Anyway, thought I would give a quick rundown of our NYC adventure.

Day 1 - Tuesday - We arrived without any problems (Greyhound - only about $11/person from New Haven!) We dropped off our bags at our inn - Upper West Side - on 107th - between Amsterdam and Broadway. Mark wanted to see Transformers - soooo - we walked down to the theater around Linclon Center and saw it there. I did not enjoy it - but Mark did and that was the point. On a side note - I had an unfortuneate incident at the theater - I leaned over in the bathroom and my sunglasses fell off - right into the toilet - yuck!!!!! Needless to say - I had to throw those away. After the movie, we went to Rosa Mexciana for dinner - it was a good mexican place that was in our guide book. Mark loved it!
We walked back to the inn - and we were hot and tired!

Day 2 - Wednesday - It started out rainy, I walked up with Mark up to Columbia U - around 117th St. He got his id and we headed up to Union - another block or two. After I saw his library, I got on the subway at 110th St. I made it down to the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) without any trouble - it's on 53rd and 5th Ave.
After that I headed down to Rockafeller Plaza and rested a little before heading back up.
Somehow, I ended back up on the E subway instead of the C. I realized that I really was on the wrong one at the last stop before heading into Queens. I was off Manhatten Island. Several prayers later and reminders to myself that I am 38 years old so I shouldn't cry, I got back on the E going back into Manhatten - but, after talking with a nice New Yorker, found out that my subways had been closed down because of flooding - she said that it was due to the rain that morning - but I found out later that it was due to that steam pipe bursting. Yikes. Thank you Lord for safety. She directed me to the right subways and I made it back fine.
That night, Mark I went to a great Thai restaurant - The Lemongrass Grill - I love my chicken pad thai. Mark got the mango chicken and loved that.

Day 3 - Thursday - I decided to make this my "local" day. After walking up with Mark to Union, I walked down to Gap Kids. I knew there was one on Broadway - I didn't realize that it was on 84th, though. I found a great little outfit for our Matthew - all on sale, of course. Mark and I met for lunch at Famous Famiglia - great pizza!! I walked back down and stopped in at our little corner market and bought dinner for me - cherries and yogurt - Mark was eating my leftovers.
I rested in the afternoon. When Mark got back, we ate and then went out for dessert - Tasti D-Lite - lowfat ice cream - yummy.

Day 4 - Friday - This was my food tour day in Greenwich Village and SoHO. I went down early so I could look at some of the stuff that was in my tour book. The tour was great! I highly recommend it! We got a lot of the history of the area and tried 7 or 8 different foods!!
Also, what was fun - Mark and I met up back at MoMA after the tour. I hopped back on the subway and he walked down - crazy guy. Friday nights are free I found out - so we did that.
Dinner was a rip off, we ate at an Irish pub next to the museum - the fish and chips were good - but not as good as Claddaugh's in Indy. We decided to walk back up to our inn. We walked up the West Central Park side. We stopped at Pizzeria Uno's for dessert. Man, were we sore after all of that walking!!!

Day 5 - Saturday - Not a good night's sleep for us - our neighbor all week had a nasty habit of slamming doors - all doors! So, when she went out to party at 11pm - slam - and when she got back at 4am - slam! I was very tired Saturday. But, we pushed on. Mericfully, Mark and I took a cab to the Metropolitan Museum - very nice. After that, we walked through Central Park to get to the West Side. We stopped halfway through the park to rest - I had a hot dog and Mark a pretzel.
I decided not to got in to the American Museum of Natural History. I sat outside and read.
For dinner - we took the subway down to 50th street and walked a few blocks to the Ethiopian restaurant that our cab driver recommended. It was good, I'm glad that we went - but not too crazy about the bread - no utensils - so you had to eat the bread.
We hopped back on the subway and got off at 103rd - right nest to Ben & Jerry's. We got dessert there.

Day 6 - Sunday - Yesterday - Sad - We really liked the city - but had to leave. We spluged on McD's for breakfast and then back to Famous Familiglia for lunch and then took a cab down to Penn Station. We took the train down here to Princeton. The Holiday Inn is in a corporate area - nothing around - a stark contrast to where we had just come from.

As for today - it's raining - so I think I'm just going to hangout in this library on campus - may venture out after lunch if it stops.

Thankfully, most of the nausea is gone - I'm still sensitive to smells at times. My gums are better.

Sorry this was long, I'll post pics when I get back

Last day in New Haven

Ahh, our last day here. I will miss it - New Haven is a great college town!! I'm taking it easy today - knowing that I will be "out" the rest of the week - trying to navigate around NYC.
On a pregnant note - I woke up today with swollen, sore gums - it seems as if it's not one thing it's another. I'm rinsing with salt water a lot and that is helping. Immunosuppression in pregnancy is no small matter, I am learning. I haven't had this many "ailments" in years. I have to remind myself that pregnancy is not a disease - women do this all the time. I just have to keep it all in perspective - and not wonder why I can't be one of those women who felt the best when they were pregnant - who are these women?!
Anyway, Ikea was wonderful yesterday ................. pausing a moment to reflect.
Will see if I can find a place to get on the internet the rest of the week.

Friday

Well, it's Friday. It's a little cooler now - less humid.
I didn't do much yesterday - I think from all of the walking (it's probably a mile down from our housing to the main campus- half of it down hill)I got a little tendonitis. I mainly rested. It feels much better today.
I walked down to the Peabody-Whitney Natural History Museum - interesting. I had to take a picture of the big turtle skeleton for Mark. Thankfully, I got there before the bus loads of school kids started arriving.
Today, Mark is happy because he is getting some good information.
I am typing this in the Divinity School library, today - right next door to our housing.
We'll go to the Yale Art Gallery tomorrow and then Ikea on Sunday.
The great thing is that the Natural History Museum is the only thing that I've had to pay for - everything else is free!!

Yale

I'm sitting in one of the libraries at Yale - it's amazing! I took some pictures! It's a beautiful campus! I'm sorry I can't upload pictures along with entries!!
It's a little cooler today - mid 80's.
We're "canceling" plans to head up to Boston - just too crazy. Instead - we're going to head down to Ikea on Saturday :o) That's fine with me!
I'm wandering around campus - actually the outskirts. Our furnished apt is nice - right next to the Divinity Scool where Mark is doing research - it's a long haul up from the main campus. Definitely good exercise!!
Signing off for now - I only have a 20 minute limit on the computer.

Z-pack

We are in conneticut. I am at the Southbury library - trying not to cough every minute and annoy everyone. Mark is interviewing the guy who knew and worked with the people he is researching. Very interesting couple - both in their 90's - lots of experiences. He was a prisoner of war in WWII from the Battle of the Bulge for six months.
We head down to New Haven this afternoon - and give up our rental car - a cute little Corolla. We'll be here until next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be healthy by New York. At least we're here long enough that I don't feel like I have to cram the museums in every day.
Friday evening I started noticing a bit of a sore throat. Saturday morning, I had a major sore throat. I called my doctor and he called in a z-pack for me. Needless to say - the past couple of days have been miserable, I've still got the nausea and vomiting,too. Anyway, I woke up feeling a little better today - all of the yuck is migrating south - to my chest. So, I'm trying to drink lots of water and got cough drops.
Enough of me, though.
It's really beautiful here. Kind of idyllic - how I pictured the houses in my head. More mountainous than what I thought, also, lots of Italian names on businesses - I wasn't expecting that, either. The weather is hot here, too. In the 90's. Supposed to cool down a bit this weekend.

Bloomsburg, PA

We arrived safely in Philly as planned on the fourth. The weather has been wonderful!!!! (We haven't seen the 70's during the day for a couple of months now.)
We saw Grandma at the nursing home yesterday - will probably go Saturday, too. We're eating at all the usual favorites - May's Drive-in for lunch, Grotto pizza - we have a few more days to get other favorites in - Terrapin (Mexican) and another pizza place.
It is really a beautiful area, lots of history.
We leave on Sunday for CT.
I purchased my ticket on-line for a food tour in NYC on the 20th - that should be fun. I am a little leary of travelling the subway by myself, though.
We're having a great time - apart from the persistent nausea(it just won't go away) - it's so nice to see family again

We have a Matthew

Mark and I are thankful for the report from the ultrasound yesterday. All of the measurements are normal at this point. We saw him moving all around, though the doctor mentioned several times that he was uncooperative as far as positioning for the test. He also put my due date in early December. By his calculations, it's December 10th. Our original date is December 9th.
Hearing all of that was a great relief to us. Thanks so much for your prayers!

On a side note, we leave for the East tomorrow morning, so I don't know how often I'll be able to get to a computer for blogging or e-mail.

My summer vacation

I say that it's my summer vacation - because it will be a working vacation for Mark. Thankfully, he recieved two research grants for this summer, so his part will be paid for.
All of these plans are as the Lord wills - and I have to remind myself not to assume that all will go well that I will be able to travel - babywise.
With that said, here is the plan: We fly out on the fourth of July into Philadelphia. Mark's parents will meet us - probably at the King of Prussia Mall outside of Philly. We'll spend the afternoon shopping like good American consumers - it's our patriotic duty. I doubt we'll talk his parents into eating at The Cheesecake Factory again - they weren't impressed the last time we were there. We'll spend the rest of the week in Bloomsburg. It will be good to see everyone again! This is only my second time there.
Sunday (July 8th)we'll head up, by some means of transportation, up to Conneticut. I'm not exactly sure of the schedule - I just know that Mark has to interview a gentleman who worked with one of the guys he is researching. This gentleman is 95 years old and still working - that's Mark's goal. The other half of the time, he'll spend doing research at Yale.
On the next Tuesday (July 17), we'll take a Greyhound down to NYC. Mark has research to do at Union Theological Seminary - part of Columbia University.
And, lastly, for me, on Sunday (July 22) we'll head down to Princeton. I will be heading back on Sunday (July 29) but Mark will be staying on another week to finish out research. He'll come back to Arkansas on Saturday (Aug. 4 - happy birthday Josh and SooAnn).
If anyone has any recommendations for us - we'll be happy to hear them. :o) I can tell you one thing - we will be eating our fair share of pizza while we're out there.

Heard the heartbeat again

Today was our doctor's visit. I gained one pound(my first pound) and we heard the heartbeat again, via doppler, always a relief.
We go up to LR next Monday, July 2 for our level 2 ultrasound. I guess that's a 3D US; we were told that we will be able to see the face of our baby.
We're also planning on finding out whether "it" is a Matthew or an Elise.

Ahhhhhh, the pressure!

Okay, so, not only do I need to keep up with the blog - which is fun because I can ramble and post pictures, now I have a facebook account and am trying to learn that.
I could spend all of my time on the computer - which would not be good.
I am thankful for lots of friends and various means of trying to keep up with them. God is good.

To throw up or not to throw up

I think that I have learned that I have to distinguish between two different states that I am commonly fluctuating between. Do I feel like I could throw up, or do I just feel nauseated?
I have discovered that when I have that "I feel like I could throw up" feeling - it's better just to throw up and get it over with. Once I decide that that is what I'm feeling - I just go over to the toilet and start throwing up. And I actually start to feel plain old nauseated again.
Sounds gross, and I apologize for that - but the title should have given something away.
So, you ask - what prompted this entry? Well, I'm trying to decide right now if I'm feeling like throwing up or just plain nauseated. I won't tell you the outcome.

Not sure how to title this one

Well, last week at this time, I was on a plane in Memphis bound for Evansville. I had a wonderful time! Unfortunately, Dad wasn't feeling well, so he was at home resting while Mom and I ran around.
I was thrilled to find some maternity jeans at Goodwill! I also picked up another pair of scrubs at St. Vincent DePaul - ?sp. We also got some good deals in E'ville.
We were able to meet the Northern Hightowers and Janie up at Gray Bro's restaurant in Mooresville before heading to the wedding at Apple Works. I never had heard of Apple Works - it's a neat orchard - if you can get to it!
Nice to have Mark back on Tuesday! I didn't have to leave work early to pick him up because we have more friends visiting from Indiana this week - the Huffords - they picked him up.
We're looking forward to seeing them again tonight. I think that tomorrow we might check out the 2007 Southern Living Idea House -(click on the "homes" section to see pictures) - it's in Hot Springs!
Yes, I'm still nauseated - ugh - not much else to say there. I'm just ready to have my appt's next week to see how all is going from the "expert" point of view.

Back home in Indiana

As poor Mark slaves away in Louisville this week, grading AP (advanced placement) exams, I have the wonderful opportunity to fly to my parents!! I'm excited about coming back to Indiana for a quick trip!
As a bonus, we're planning on heading up to Indy Saturday to meet the Northern Indiana Hightowers before heading off to a wedding of a girl I used to babysit - yes, it's come to this.
I'm still nauseated most of the time - I keep thinking each day - "maybe this is the day that I won't be nauseated".................maybe tomorrow is the day.

Working out the kinks

So, I think that I figured out how to keep the baby ticker on display - it's at the bottom of the page - we'll see how this goes.

I'm pregnant - take 2

Just when you have "the conversation" - you know - let's not "work" at getting pregnant, let's just see what happens. That's when you find out that you were probably pregnant when you had that conversation.
So, with that said. I am finishing up my thirteenth week. Starting the second trimester. Happy to be this far along - but dismayed that I am still pretty nauseated.
This pregnancy has been different than the last one - I've been nauseated pretty much all day, every day. Let's just say, it's getting old.
Food has been reduced to, "I think that I can handle that" or, "no, I can't eat that". Let's not even go into smells, WalMart or the dining room at the nursing home that I work for. Just thinking about it is starting me to gag right now soooo.
My due date is tentatively December 9th. My next Dr.'s appt is June 25th. That week I'll also have to go up to LR for a level 2 ultrasound because of my age, ahem.
I had an appt last week and we heard the baby's heart beat - that was nice!

So, let me know what you think of the new blog. With my old blog, I could see that people were reading it, even though comments weren't left. I, apparently, have no way of knowing that anyone checks this out now.

Happy Birthday, Mackey and Moe

Mackey and Moe turn one this month. They certainly are not kittens anymore. They provide fun and frustration for us. The frustration comes every night while we're sleeping - Mackey thinks it's time for attention anywhere between 2 and 4 AM. Other than that, M & M are good boys and we enjoy them. To celebrate, we're heading up to LR tonight to buy them Iam's Adult cat food.

Greetings!

Welcome to the new blog! I hope that this blog is more user friendly. I defend my reasons for using the other blog. But, it was time to move on.
I am happy that now I can post pictures - for free.