Happy Halloween!!!

I wonder if Lori is having her baby. I'm convinced she's getting the Halloween baby I wanted! LOL! Lori, I'm thinking of you. I hope that you ARE having that sweet baby and that all is going well. Can't wait to hear the news. And if you're not having the baby yet, I really hope it's soon for you, honey. I did read your blog, but I'm hoping something has happened since you posted that.

I have no pictures up yet, as this was the LEAST exciting Halloween around here EVER. I will have some tomorrow, though. I made Lu a cute little tutu and want to get the boys in their Spiderman costumes.

I hope ya'all had a fabulous Halloween. I'm looking forward to next year when I'm not stuck in the house!

I won the BEST gift ever! :)

Not that my hips, thighs, or butt NEEDED to win this, but I plan to enjoy it!

Over on MomDot, I won the contest hosted by the Cookie Boutique. (I blogged about it previously here.) I couldn't believe it when I won - and then REALLY couldn't believe it when they tried to give them away to someone else later! LOL! No worries, though, there was a huge mix up, and I was still crowned the winner of the cookies.

They came in the mail today. I hadn't told the kids what was coming, so they didn't have a clue.

When I got the box, I immediately had to open it. Inside, I found a gorgeous gift box, beautifully packaged.
I opened it up, and there was a sweet little card from Darlene (the Cookie Boutique Owner), and more beautiful packaging.
I opened up the tissue paper, and could instantly smell all of the cookies. I'm pretty sure it's what heaven is going to smell like.
We got 6 different designs: A mummy, a tombstone, a witches hat, candy corn, Frankenstein, and a pumpkin. They are SO stinking adorable, that you almost don't want to eat them. Almost.
And we didn't get just ONE of each design, we got TWO!
By this point, the kids were dying. Cookies IN THE MAIL?! They thought that was just the coolest thing ever. I let them each have their pick. Lucy grabbed the "Mommy," Zander went straight for Frankenstein, Jace wanted the pumpkin, Ash ate the candy corn, and I had the witches hat. (And then I had the tombstone later. LOL!) And for the record, the cookies tasted AMAZING. Seriously. It's a good thing I'm broke, because I could eat my weight in these cookies... and that's a LOT of cookies! ;)

Here are the kids enjoying their cookies: (And, yes. They are still in their pajamas at 2pm. We've been stuck at home since I got home from the hospital with Parker, and none of us ever get motivated enough to get dressed - unless we're going to have company which doesn't happen very often.) Anyway, ignore the jammies and just look at their very happy little faces:

A HUGE thank you to MomDot.com and Darlene at the Cookie Boutique. I've hidden the other 6 cookies and am keeping them all for myself.

Come vote for us!!

***This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for newer posts!***

We are in desperate need of a double stroller, but we can't afford to purchase a new one. So, I'm going to try like crazy to WIN one!!!

Pho for Five is having a photo contest and they are giving away a Chicco Trevi Twin Stroller!!

Being that it's a photo contest, I just had to enter. Click on this link, and leave a comment to vote for "Captain Hook."

http://www.goodhappenings.com/?page_id=487

I happen to think he's pretty darn cute!

You must leave a valid email address, and you can only vote once.

PLEASE help us win this stroller! We'd so appreciate it!!

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween Revisited!

Two of my very favorite Halloweens:

2005 - Super Family:

2006 - Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Wendy, and Tink:

Finally getting back to normal...

We said goodbye to Natalie this morning. I sure am gonna miss her. It was nice to have a grown up to talk to. Ya know, one that actually listens... not like your husband. ;) I'm sure her family is glad to have her back. Nat, thanks for such a great visit. I hope my kids didn't stress you out too much.

After she left, we dove right back into homeschooling. After a 3 week break, this was NOT an easy thing to do. Zander had a really rough time with it. It took him over 2 hours just to write down his spelling words. (He has 5 3-letter words that he has to write 5 times each.) He cried and screamed and had no desire to do it. But, he finally got it done. I'm hoping it doesn't take long to get him back into the swing of things. Ash did great. No problems from her at all. She just dove right back in like we'd never even stopped. LOVE how easy she is.

Since I haven't blogged this weekend, I've got to catch up. Parker had his first tub bath on Saturday since his cord FINALLY fell off and healed up. He wasn't too sure about it, but he survived. Here are some pictures:


He's such a little peanut. He always has his eyebrows furrowed like that, too. It's hysterical.

Other than that, we're just trying to get back into the "norm" around here. I'm back to work (finally!!), kids are back to school, and my house is going to be back to being a mess. ;)

Hope ya'all have had a great weekend and that your week is starting off on the right foot!

Sorry so quiet!

I have a very dear friend in town. She drove all the way from Missouri to see me. (Well, to see me and Parker! LOL!) I'm spending my time with her until she leaves Tuesday morning.

I'll be back soon. Hope everyone else is well!

What's the deal with the migraines?!

Seriously? I get one EVERY DAY and it hurts like heck. I still have some prescription motrin that they gave me after I was discharged, but they don't help a bit.

Maybe it's stress? My boys are totally stressing me out right now... To the point where I'm ready to rip my hair out.

Anyone have any herbal or natural cures for migraines? I need to do something!!

Parker's first little milestone...

His little cord fell off tonight. I went to change his diaper, and it had fallen off sometime between changings.

Sniff, sniff. He's already growing up. :(

The good news is, now he can get a real bath!

Look at his sweet little belly now:

Parker and I went back to the doctor...

And we both get passing marks. Thank heavens.

Parker's weight is up. He's at 5 pounds, 9 ounces. Still such a peanut. But, it's up over his birth weight, so doc was quite happy about that.

AND, my blood pressure was in the NORMAL range!!! WOOOHOOO!!! It was 134/80. The best it's been in quite a while. Doc wants to keep me on the meds until my 6 week check up, then she'll take me off and check again in another week or two. As long as it stays down, I can stay off the meds. Won't that be a blessing?

I BEGGED her to let me go back to church starting next week, but she said no. I almost burst into tears right there. She will not let Parker out of the house until he's 30 days old. I warned her that on the 31st day, I won't be home at all. I just want out and I want to get back into church. I miss it SO much and I hate being away from there.

I am glad, however, that we seem to be on the upswing. I only wish I could get these migraines to go away.... not that the kids help those any.

I want today to just be OVER.

It has been a day around here. And not a good one, if you get my drift.

Things started out just wonderfully this morning. Apparently, the boys had woken up EXTREMELY early and decided to see just how much trouble they could cause. I'm guessing that they decided to jump on Jace's bed, because they somehow split the mattress. (It's a plastic-covered toddler mattress.) Once they got it split, they decided to see just how much of the plastic cover they could pull off. They got quite a bit.

THEN, because that just wasn't enough, they decided to empty out their art boxes and fill them with water. They took them into their room and soaked EVERYTHING. Because they had pulled most of the plastic cover off of Jace's mattress, the inside soaked up the water like a sponge. It's ruined, and we can't afford to buy a new one, since Gene's paycheck was $200 this week, and we HAD to put it toward a car payment that's already late. SO glad he had to take time off while Parker and I were in the hospital.

Jace has been awful all day. He won't obey, he pushes my buttons just to see how angry he can make me, and I am literally at my wits end. I know my mother would snicker and say that it's just payback, but I really don't know what to do with this child. Nothing works with him.

I put them both to bed immediately after dinner. I don't know what else to do. They're both in there, crying their eyes out, because Lucy is watching Krypto and they don't get to. I'm hoping that maybe it will make them straighten up, but it doesn't seem to be going that way.

Edited to add: 10 minutes later, I went into their room only to discover that Jace had sneaked into the bathroom and taken the lotion out of the windowsill. They had lotion EVERYWHERE. GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and here's the mattress:

Nice, huh?! SIGH

I just want to sit down and cry. I'm sorry to vent on here, but it's my blog, and I'm entitled to a whiny post now and then. I just really don't know how we're going to get through this week. I am praying for sanity and guidance from God above, because I just can't do this.

Wordless Wednesday: A New Baby to Love

A Cup of Friendship

Chris over at "What's in Sissy's Head" gave me the Perfect Blend of Friendship Award. To claim my fabulous prize of four cyber coffee cups full of mysterious liquid, I must answer the following questions and provide links to my unsuspecting victims:

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood? It's hard to answer this question. I still keep in touch with a lot of friends from childhood, but I'm not sure you could call them "friends" anymore. We've grown up, and we've grown apart. I do have one that's remained a very good friend since we met in 6th grade.

2. What do you value most about your friends? Knowing that I can go to them any time I need them.

3. Are your friends your sounding boards? Heck, yeah. I'm sure some of them are tired of listening to me, but they continue to let me sound off! ;)

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends? Just talking, hanging out, window shopping. It's just nice to be with a friend.

Since there are 4 cups of liquid, I'm keeping one for myself and passing the others along to....
1. Lori
2. Heather
3. Danielle

Thanks, Chris. You've become such a special friend to me! :)

I completely forgot to show you all!

Remember awhile back when I blogged that I won a diaper cake from Happy Panda on the Parenting Pink website?

Well, it arrived, and because of everything with the toxemia, my blood pressure, and Parker's jaundice, I kept forgetting to tell you all how awesome it is!!

Here's how it arrived, right out of the box:

It was wrapped so nicely in tulle and arrived in the perfect shape!

Here's how it looked when I opened it up:

Isn't it adorable? I almost hated to tear it apart to find all the goodies inside. But, after snapping LOTS of pictures, I took it apart, and here's when I found in it:

Isn't it AWESOME?! The onesie is absolutely adorable, and I'm praying it doesn't swim on Parker in a few weeks. I'd love to see him in it! :)

Thank you, again, to Happy Panda and to Parenting Pink for such an awesome giveaway! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

Took Parker back for another heel stick...

to check his bilirubin levels again. The lab took his blood, and I ran to the grocery store because we have NOTHING in this house, and my husband is the worst grocery shopper ever. Anyway, I called the lab after we left the store and Paker's level was 10.7. That means if it went up, it was minusculely, (is that a word?), so he is JUST FINE and can stay home. Praise the Good Lord above! May this be the start of only GOOD things to come!

Oh, and I did want to address the breastfeeding issue.... I've read a LOT about "breastmilk jaundice" on the web since we got home last night, and it seems that the fastest way to bring down a baby's levels is to take them off breastmilk for 24 - 48 hours. Parker was off less than 24 hours, and if that's what it was going to take to make him better, I had to do it. Yes, I wanted to exclusively breastfeed, BUT, I want a healthy baby more. We're back to only breastfeeding, and he's doing just fine. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Because of everything that's happened, I haven't had the chance to take his portraits for his birth announcements. I'm hoping to do that this evening when hubby gets up. If you want a birth announcement sent to you, email me at pictureperfectboutique (at) gmail (dot) com. Make sure you put "birth announcement" in the subject line, as I have 942 messages sitting in my inbox right now.

I really hope this is the last of the bad news around here. My bp is still elevated, but I have been SO stressed out this week that I'm sure it hasn't helped it any. Maybe if things make a change for the better, my bp will start to go down. The swelling has gone down a bit, and my feet are healing where they were cracked and bleeding from being stretched out so badly. Thank heavens for that, too!

Ok - I'm going to snuggle with my sweet baby for a little while longer. I've got lots of time to make up for. He was under those lights WAY too long. ;)

Thanks for all your prayers!!!

Another hospital stay for us....

Seriously, I cannot take much more of this!

I went to my doctor's appointment yesterday. My doctor is also Parker's doctor. (It's hard to find a pediatrician here, they only have "family doctors.") Anyway, we both got checked out. Doc doubled my blood pressure medicine, since my bp was still elevated. She didn't seem overly concerned about it, though. She also prescribed a water pill for me. I took one last night and it did NOTHING - except give me a migraine that hurt so badly that I could barely move all night. I'm still extremely swollen, but I will NOT be taking another water pill. No thank you.

She also checked out Parker. She was concerned at how yellow he looked, so she checked his bilirubin levels. Not 5 minutes after I got home, she called me. It's enough to scare you to death when the DOCTOR calls you - and not her assistant. She said that Parker's levels were dangerously high for as young as he is and as little. (His level was 20.3 from the office visit.) She instructed me to take him into the hospital immediately and have him put under the bili lights and on a bili blanket. She said that he had breastmilk jaundice and I wouldn't be able to nurse him the entire time he was on the lights. Luckily, the hospital had a pump so that I could keep the production up while he wasn't nursing.

We got to the hospital, and they put some shades on him. Isn't he cute? (And, yes, my hands are still swollen, too.)


We stripped him to his diaper, and they stuck him under the lights, in his special little bed:


After 6 hours on the lights, they checked his levels again. This time, it was 16.4. He didn't do well on the regular formula, though, so at this point they switched him to soy formula. He didn't do well on it, either. And, you could tell he didn't like it. Every time I held him to feed him, he tried his hardest to latch on through my shirt. Poor kid.

Here he is during one of his feedings - I just loved the shades:


At 6am, they checked his levels again: 11 even. Fabulous! At noon, his levels went up a little to 11.8. Doc decided at this point to take him off the lights completely and I could start nursing him again. I don't know who was happier - me or him! It had been such an awful night.

At 5:30, they checked his levels again, and they had dropped to 10.something. Doc didn't say, but she was extremely happy and said that we could go home. We then sat there and waited for 2 HOURS for them to get the paperwork ready so we could go home.

We finally left the hospital around 7:45, and we are SO glad to be home. Last night was absolutely awful. Parker likes to be swaddled, so lying in the bed naked drove him crazy. He cried all night long, and I cried just as hard because it was killing me not being able to hold him. But, that's all over now, and we're home. We go back tomorrow for one more check, and hopefully all will be good from there on out.

I really hope this is the end of the bad stuff. I just can't take any more.

I did call the doctor today....

I've been keeping a log of my blood pressure. It's been just crazy. Here's how it's been today:

9am - 144/112, pulse: 103
11:30am - 133/104, pulse: 102 (I called the doctor right after this one)
12:30pm - 150/100, pulse: 124 (this was after I took a shower - the most I've done all day)
Around 2pm, the doctor's office called me back and told me to double my bp medicine. I took one pill after the phone call, and the second pill at 7pm)
3pm - 134/97, pulse: 105 (the best it's been since I got the bp machine)
8:30pm - 164/112, pulse: 96 (this is an hour and a half after having the second dose of medicine!)
11:15pm - 151/112, pulse: 102

I just can't win. That bottom number just wants to sky rocket. I have done nothing today... except take a shower. My feet are still extremely swollen, and I just feel miserable. It's been almost a week, and I'm no better than I was the day after I had Parker.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping I can get some answers. This is just ridiculous.

If you're a prayer, I'm begging for prayers. I'm really worried about this, and I'd really like to see it resolved. I'd like to get back to being a mom to my kids and get my butt off the couch. So, your prayers are coveted. I'll thank you in advance.

I'll let you know how the appointment goes tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday: Help me think of a caption!

There are SO many things that I could use as a caption for this photo. Let me hear some that you would come up with! :)

Is it better not knowing?

Sabrina brought over dinner tonight. Along with dinner, she brought a portable blood pressure machine. I've taken my blood pressure quite a few times tonight, and it's never fallen below 143/104. No wonder my swelling is still as bad as it is. That's as low as it's gotten - even hours after taking my bp medicine. Would it have been better if I hadn't known it was still that high? Probably not... at least this way I know to keep resting as much as possible.

I'll be calling the doctor first thing in the morning. I have an appointment on Thursday afternoon, but this is still pretty darn high for being on meds AND almost a week after delivery. If I could just get some relief from the swelling. I think if I could get rid of it, my bp would go way down.

Hubby is getting a few "props" that I'll need to take Parker's newborn photos. I wanted to do it on Monday, but we have to wait until pay day to get what we need! ;) I'll be sharing LOTS of photos soon, so be prepared.

I'll keep you posted on the BP situation. I may be going into the doctor's office bright and early tomorrow morning.

There... that looks better!

Since I'm no longer pregnant, it felt funny posting on a blog only about my pregnancy. Rather than move everything to a new blog, I've kept the link, but have changed the name and the look. What do you think? I designed this months ago and have been dying to use it. :)

I survived my first night AND day at home with 5 kids. Parker is SUCH an easy baby. Only took me 5 tries to get one! He eats really well, sleeps REALLY well, and lets the other kids just love all over him... which they do! I'm so glad he can sleep through noise because my kids do not know how to be quiet.

I am really enjoying having a newborn in the house again. I usually have the hardest time with the newborn stage, but Parker really makes it easy. I'd have 100 kids if they were all guaranteed to be just like him... AND I didn't have all the scares that I did with my pregnancy with him!

I am still swelling like crazy. It's mostly in my feet, calves, and back. It's even worse than it was during the pregnancy, though. My skin is starting to crack and bleed from stretching so far. I spent an hour with cabbage leaves wrapped around my feet, hoping to draw out some of the water, but after an hour of NO relief and only being able to smell the stinky cabbage, I gave up. I really wish I could get some relief from this. I go to the doctor on Thursday, and if it's not better by then, I'm asking about a water pill or something. This is crazy.

I'm off to bed now. Night 2 starts now. Parker just ate and fell asleep, so I'm going to grab some shut eye while I can.

More updates soon! Check my twitpic account for more pictures.

I'd like to introduce you to Parker Jacob......

Parker Jacob was born 10/10/08 at 3:26pm. He weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 inches long. He is absolutely perfect.

I posted the second picture so you could see how little he is. I've never had a tiny baby before, so this is all new to me. :)

Ok, so I'm sure you're wondering what happened. Here it is......

On Wednesday, I had posted that they found protein in my urine. On Wednesday night, I swelled up even bigger than I had been, and I had hardly peed all day - even after drinking 80 ounces of water. I called Labor and Delivery, and they told me to come in just to get checked out.

I called Gene, he left work, picked up his mom, brought her here, and then took me to the hospital. The nurse who met us at the door said that she had been trying to call us and tell us not to come in, but since we were there, she might as well monitor me for a few minutes. She took my blood pressure and it was 169/116. It stayed in that range all night long. It was pretty apparent that I had toxemia - or pre-eclampsia. Whatever you want to call it. I'll call it toxemia, because I can spell it better! ;)

So, all night long, my bp was really high. Doc came in on Thursday morning and said that they would be starting the induction process that night. I begged her to let me go home and get some stuff done, since we had NOTHING ready for this baby, but she told me I wasn't leaving the hospital until after I had a baby. Great.

So, I wrote up a list about 4 pages long and gave it to Gene. I had no choice.

They put in the cervadil about 6:30 Thursday night. It made me as sick as a dog. Nauseous, and just miserable. Did nothing to start contractions or help dilate me, either. The next morning, I was still "long, thick, and closed." I got up, took a shower, and then around 7:30, they started the pitocin. Slowly through the day, things started to loosen up, and when she checked me around 12:30, she broke my water. (Her checking me is what broke it.) We decided to go ahead and do the epidural, since it seemed like I was progressing faster.

The anesthesiologist came in and put in the epi. After an hour, only my left thigh got numb. Nothing else. So, he tried again. And then again. And then again. And then he decided to try a LONGER needle. (Poor Gene was having an awful time by this point. Imagine how I was feeling!) After sticking me 5 times, he decided to bring up the u/s machine to make sure he got it in the right place. FINALLY, I got some relief. It took, and the rest of the delivery was easy peasy.

I started pushing at 3:25pm, and Parker was born at 3:26. 2 little pushes and he was out. He was SO tiny!! He had to be on oxygen for a few minutes, but after that, he perked up and never had any more problems.

I, however, started to go downhill from there. After the delivery, they had to start me on Mag Sulfate for 24 hours. That stuff makes me miserable. I swelled up HUGE, even to the point where my eyelids were swollen. I couldn't even open my eyes.

During the night on Friday night, my blood pressure went from REALLY high to bottoming out. I really thought that I was going to die at several points, and just prayed that God would get me through it. I couldn't take care of my baby, I was just a complete mess. Needless to say, they didn't allow any visitors on Saturday morning/early afternoon. There's just no way I could have handled it.

Once they stopped the mag sulfate, things got a LOT better. I've still been swollen - even in my eyelids - and my bp still goes up a little higher than we'd like, but I'm on medicine, and things should be better in a few days.

She let us go home about 3:30 this afternoon, and by the time Parker was done nursing it was after 4 before we really left. But, we're home now, and it's SO nice to be here.

I have decided that I will never again get pregnant. Even if I wanted to before this, there is no way in heck I am going through this again. If I want another baby, I will adopt! ;) This has been the absolute worst experience of my life. Thank GOD I got Parker out of it. He more than makes up for it! :)

So, I apologize for not checking in. I had my laptop at the hospital, but they filter out certain sites and blogger is one of them.

I will post a link to pictures soon. But, Parker is HERE, and we are all so thrilled that he is just fine.

Thanks for the thoughts and well wishes. They've all been appreciated!!

Edited to add: Here's a link to some pictures: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55006&l=e2815&id=652316746 Enjoy!

Doctor appointment update....

They found protein in my urine. A LOT of it. Doc said she wouldn't have been so concerned if it had been a +1, but mine was between a +2 and a +3, and closer to the +3. She is worried about toxemia, but thinks that's odd since I've never had it with any of my other kids. And, my uterus is measuring small. I'll be 37 weeks on Friday, but I'm measuring 35 weeks. This is quite odd for me, as all of my babies have measured ahead. She did the group B strep test, and then checked my cervix - still long, thick, and completely closed. What else is new? All these stinking contractions for nothing.

Doc took a ton of blood, and then sent me over to the hospital for an ultrasound. The ultrasound tech spent almost 2 hours checking things out. All of her measurements came in at 35w 1d, and some at 35w 2 d. She said that his estimated weight is about 6 pounds right now. She also said everything looked just fine. Fluid level is still ok, he's practicing his breathing, his lungs are developing nicely, and he is "locked and loaded and in position." Too bad it won't do me any good. At least he's settled in quite nicely down there.

I have to do a 24 hour urine catch and take it into the hospital tomorrow. Depending on the results from that test and from the blood work, I may be having my little peanut this weekend. If everything comes back fine, we'll go to our appointment next Wednesday and go from there.

Guess everything is up in the air right now. Oh. I did ask the doctor how much I would have to pay her to get this baby out right now. She just laughed. I wasn't laughing.

I'll let you know what the results bring!

Wordless Wednesday: What a face!

Last night....

I got ready for our church's ladies meeting, and Gene couldn't stop laughing. He thought it was hysterical how big my belly looked in the shirt I had put on. He even made me go outside so that he could take a picture. SIGH. I'm glad he finds this funny. But, here's the picture he took:

Looks like the baby is lying sideways or something. Anyway, there's my 36 week and 3 day picture. ;)

I also got the baby shower pictures uploaded to facebook - finally! You can see them here: Shower Pics
My husband took them. He hates when I ask him to take photographs. You can tell when you look at them. LOL. But, at least we have some... that's what's important.

Doctor appointment in the morning and then hubby and I are going out to lunch. I'm going to ask the doctor how much I'd need to pay her to get this kid out now. ;)

I'll update when I get home.

A MAJOR weakness of mine....

is an iced sugar cookie. I can't help it. I see them, I have to have them. I have to stay out of the bakery section of the grocery store, because I would buy several boxes every time, and end up weighing 800 pounds.

Just my luck, momdot.com is having a contest, and they are giving away iced sugar cookies from the Cookie Boutique. SIGH. I never win on momdot, but you'd better believe that I am for darn sure going to try for this one! :)

I'm also thinking that the little pumpkin cookies (scroll down on that page) on her site would make really cute little gifts to pass out after Parker is born. You know, rather than cigars, bubblegum, or something cheesy like that? I've already contacted the lady at the Cookie Boutique to ask what it would cost to do this. I just think it would be totally original and FUN!

Ok. I need to wipe the drool off my keyboard and get my behind in bed. Head over to momdot and enter the contest for yourself. If you win and don't want the cookies, I'd be more than happy to give you my address. :)

Look what I just won!!

I am SOOOO stinking excited!!

I've had a rush of bad luck lately. I've tried winning contests over on momdot.com and can't seem to win a darn thing. I even tried to throw myself into labor over a stroller contest on their site. It was all in vain, though. My luck just doesn't hold out on that site.

Early in September, I discovered that Happy Panda - the maker of the monkey paci-plushie that I simply adore - was having a contest on Parenting Pink. I faithfully entered every day of the contest, and today, I received word that I was the winner!!!

What did I win???? I won a Halloween Design Diaper Cake!!! I thought it would be just perfect for our little "pumpkin" that's due soon.


I'll let you know when it arrives. Please go check out both Happy Panda and Parenting Pink. They both have so much to offer!!

36 weeks today!

And I feel like the baby is trying to exit through my butt! LOL Seriously. I woke up this morning with a tremendous amount of pressure down there. I don't look at though I've dropped, but I'm thinking baby found a new position that I'm not going to like very much.

36 weeks is a good thing, though. Now we have absolutely NO worries of not having my doctor deliver, having to drive almost 2 hours to the hospital or any of that drama. Our local hospital allows deliveries any time after 36 weeks. Not that we had to worry about it, but it just puts my mind at ease.

I've been dealing with the pain in my side again tonight. It's gotten pretty bad, too. I had to drive up to my Aunt and Uncle's house to feed their cats (there's no way I'm walking up our 1/2 mile long driveway and then up their driveway, too!), and on the ride down, I burst into tears because it just hurts so badly. The muscle relaxers the doctor gave me are doing nothing, so I'll definitely be talking to her about this on Wednesday at my next appointment. I just wish I knew what this was.

And, take a look at THIS:

That is my foot. As I was sitting on the couch, (with my feet propped up, mind you), I could feel it just expanding and swelling up. My feet are freaking huge. Now, I am not a skinny person any more - by any means, but I do not weigh anywhere near what this foot implies one would weigh. I told you the swelling was out of control. How is this normal? It hurts to walk, it hurts to stand, it hurts to touch my feet. My hands are still swollen, too, but not like my feet. And, it's been cooler here today, so I'm thinking the heat doesn't have much to do with the swelling.

3 weeks from Monday, I'll be induced. 3 weeks from Monday, I'll be induced. 3 weeks from Monday, I'll be induced.

I just have to make it 3 more weeks... and a few days.

Ashley is camping for the very first time tonight. In a tent, on the ground... the whole shebang. It has been FREEZING here the last few nights, and I can't imagine being outside right now. But, I talked to her a little while ago and she's having a ball. Better her than me.

Sorry to gross you out with my foot, but I felt the need to prove I'm not making this up!

Enjoy your weekend. I'll post again if anything interesting happens! :)

Our very own version of "Barnyard."

"Randall, there is a cow outside."
"It's a cow farm. You're gonna find cows outside."
"No, I mean right outside. Looming. Like a ghost... Like a... a reaper."
"Naw, cows don't like houses much. They prefer it out in the meadow, where they can get a graze on!"

We really had a cow "right outside." Not so sure that it was looming as much as it was eating up our lawn, but there was a cow out there.

I did my darnedest to get the cow back in the pasture through the gate, but it was to no avail. Apparently, I look too much like an unwelcome relative and she retreated up the driveway. I woke up hubby and sent him after her. He got to the top of the driveway just in time to watch a car honking its horn, scaring the cow even farther down the road.

These are not our cows, but someone who rents the land from my grandpa. Unfortunately, these cows have tried - on more than one occasion - to take over our yard. The do-wappy little fence we have around our yard isn't enough to keep them out.

"Stupid Suzy" - as I like to call her - is back in the pasture now, and the cows' owner has fixed the fence - for now. But, it's been our experience over the last year, that once a cow gets into our yard once, she's back in there several times again. Unless he takes this cow to another one of his pastures, I fear we'll have more dealings with Suzy looming in our yard.

What a way to start the day!

What a rotten night last night....

I do not understand why my children don't sleep. What I do know is that it's killing me.

Last night, I went and picked up the Rx the doctor called in for the pain in my side. I didn't want to take it until I was ready for bed, because I was afraid it would knock me out. I took Tylenol around 8 to get me through until after Night Shift was over. So, from 8pm until midnight, I contracted, ran a fever, had a migraine, and had a horrible pain in my side.

At midnight, I took the muscle relaxer and went to bed. I lay there for an HOUR and a HALF before I even started to get drowsy. I finally drifted off, and not 10 minutes later, Jace was in our room. Hubby was home last night, so I made him get up and deal with Jace. He put him back in his bed, and Jace proceeded to come back into our room 10 more times over the next hour and a half. We FINALLY get Jace back in his bed and asleep, and Zander comes in. Z was in our room 4 times over the next hour. Around 5am, they BOTH came in our room. It was at this point that hubby couldn't take it anymore, and he put them on the couch and turned on cartoons. We both finally fall asleep, and at 6:30, Lucy wakes up because she's soaked completely through her diaper. There was no trying to go back to sleep after that.

I started having the pain in my side again around noon, so I took another muscle relaxer. It did nothing. My side has been killing me all afternoon and evening. Sitting on the hard pew at church hurt so badly. So, I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow and telling her that it must not be a muscle.

Tonight, as soon as church ended, Jace burst into tears, saying that he was afraid to sleep in his room. He screamed and cried the entire way home. I really don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't sleep tonight. If I don't get some sleep, I'm going to become a crazy person.

I.need.sleep. PLEASE pray that I get it. And pray that this new baby is a sleeper. I think I'm about due for one!

Wordless Wednesday: He just looks rotten!

This was Jace back in May, 2005. He wasn't even a year old yet here. This photo still cracks me up!