Christmas Pictures

Today Joe and I attempted the dreaded annual task of taking the kids for Christmas pictures. It did not turn out as bad as it could have been considering that Jonah completely skipped his nap time today. Does anyone else have to bribe their kids to get them to smile for the camera? Anyway, here is a preview of what they look like.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you God for:

Two healthy boys who are just a little bit spoiled
A husband with a tender heart
The new life growing inside me
Rubber gloves, so I don't have to touch the icky turkey
My family, immediate and extended
A warm fireplace
Real Christmas trees
A new (free) trashcan
Friends, old and new
Sugar free dark chocolate

These are just a few of the big and small things I am full of thanks for today. Joe said he was most thankful for me. How sweet was that? Noah says he is most thankful for his friends, except the ones that don't listen to him. (We are working on that one!) What are you thankful for today?

Our Baby This Week

Head to heels, our baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. I have another ultrasound on Monday so I will know exact measurements then. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he will start to look more and more like a newborn.

This weekend was tough for me. I had problems with my blood sugar running high and then dropping suddenly. I saw the doctor Monday and he sent me to the hospital Tuesday for a three hour glucose tolerance test. The results were a little better than I expected, I do not have to take insulin at this point. He is trying me on a pill to take once a day to help level out the highs and lows. I am testing five times a day and will see him again on Thursday to discuss the next step.

Oops, I Did It Again!

We live out in the country so we have no city services like water, sewer, or garbage pick-up. We had to drill a well, put in a septic tank, and take off our own garbage. Several years ago an independent company started a garbage collection service. For about $20.00 a month they provided a large blue trashcan on wheels (like you see in the cities) and would come by to empty it once a week. Let me tell you, it is worth every penny for this service when you have a child in diapers.

Before we moved to our new house, we lived on the back of our property, where Joe's shop is. It was about a quarter of a mile down the drive and back to get the trash can to the road for pick-up, so Joe showed me how to hook the handle of the trash can to the ball on the back of the truck and pull the can to the road. This worked very well, except that the handle of the trash can did not quite fit over the ball and sometimes it fell off halfway down the drive, spilling dirty diapers and garbage everywhere. Joe solved this problem by installing a hook on the back of the truck that I could actually place the handle into and lock it in place. What a great idea!!

A few years ago, when Noah was about three months old, my Mom offered to watch him while I went to town and did some shopping. It was trash day, so I thought I would take the trash out on my way to my mom's house. I hooked up the trash can, loaded up the baby, and off to my mom's house I went. As I was on my way to my Mom's house (about five minutes away) I noticed that there were an awful lot of people waving at me. I even went by a logging site where men were working and they were waving their arms and shouting things as I drove past. I thought to myself, "I hope my husband does not act that way when a woman drives by his work site." Anyway, I went on to my Mom's house and got out to walk around the truck to get Noah out of the back seat on the opposite side when I actually tripped over my trash can, still attached to the back of the truck! I don't think I had ever been so embarrassed in my life. The only thing I could think was, "How am I going to get this thing back home?" It was LOADED with trash and way too heavy for me to lift into the back of the truck and there was no way that I was dragging it back home the way that I had gotten it there. I did not even want to drive back by that work site without the trash can behind me, much less while pulling it once again. The whole time that I was dying of embarrassment, my family was having a good laugh at my expense. We ended up pulling the trash can to my Mom's neighbor's house who had not put out their trash that morning, and let the trash men dump it from there, then I loaded up my empty can in the back of the truck and drove home. For years I have endured teasing about the number of miles that I put on my trash can tires and about rigging up trailer lights on it so I can haul it after dark.

When we moved to our new home, much closer to the road, I was very excited to not have to deal with pulling the can down the long drive anymore, but I still used the hitch on the truck when the can was especially heavy. Yesterday afternoon, the boys and I were coming in the drive when I realized that I had not pulled my can in from being emptied the day before. I pulled the truck over, got out, hooked the can to the back, and drove around behind the house. I did not unhook the can right then because I had to get the kids in the house and down for a nap. About 5:00 yesterday evening, I realized that I was supposed to go over to Hampton to get spaghetti plates we had purchased from the Methodist Church. Yes, I forgot that my trash can was still attached. It is at least a twenty minute drive to the church and I was almost back home before I remembered that I had not unhooked my can. I remember walking around the back of the truck when I got to the church and I did not see my can then, so it must have fallen off on the way there. I retraced my path and could not find it anywhere. Keep in mind that this can was empty, so when it came off it probably took flight into the woods somewhere, or else someone saw it on the side of the road and thought that they had been blessed with a nice trash can with worn out wheels.

I called the trash company this morning about getting a replacement can and spoke to a very unprofessional woman. After I explained the situation in which I had found myself, her exact words (after she stopped laughing) were, "Please tell me you don't have a dog." I was told they would have to call me back. I think she probably needed to regain her composure first and then relate my story to all of her co-workers. At least I brought some smiles to their day (and probably yesterday as well, depending on who all saw me). Joe says that along with trailer lights he is going to install a GPS on the new can so I will be able to find it. Of course Noah says that if I had put my name and phone number on it, maybe someone would have returned it. I guess I am in for a few more years of ribbing. One of these days I am going to get it together and not do stupid things anymore. But then again, what would my family talk about if it weren't for my adventures?

Our Baby This Week

Our baby is growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
In the past few weeks, the top of my uterus has risen above my belly button and is now about the size of a soccer ball. Last night was the first time that Joe felt the baby move. I go back to the doctor next week and I think I am having the glucose test done. I have been monitoring my blood sugars and they really have not been that bad at all, so unless things change between now and then, I don't think I am going to have a problem this time around!

Feeling Better

Jonah is feeling much better and Hallelujah, no one else in the family got sick! I would have posted sooner, but I believe that blogger is conspiring against me. Most days I can not even get to my blog and then when I write a post, it won't let me publish. Has anyone else been having this problem?
Things here have been hectic. I can't believe that time is passing so quickly. My Christmas tree will be delivered Friday of this week. I keep thinking that it can't be that time already. It seems like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas with a new baby in a new house and here we are a year later preparing for Christmas and a new baby to follow soon thereafter. For the kids, it can't come soon enough, but I am just wanting it to slow down so I can make sure to truly enjoy each moment before it is gone.

Our Baby This Week

Our baby is now more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that our baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as screaming children or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

First Antibiotic

Jonah has experienced yet another first this week...his first antibiotic. He has not been feeling well for the last couple of days. Since Sunday I have not been able to get him to hardly eat anything. For those of you who have spent any length of time around my boys you know that for either of them to voluntarily pass up a meal, there is a problem. Tuesday afternoon, Jonah's fever spiked and he got really listless, so I headed off to the doctor with him. Turns out he has strep throat. We finally got enough Tylenol/Motrin in him last night for his fever to break and got him started on his antibiotics. He had a better night last night than we had been having and seems like he feels a little better this morning.
Of course the doctor said to keep Jonah away from Noah to keep Noah from getting sick. This doctor obviously does not have children of his own or he would realize how ridiculously impossible it is to keep children away from each other. Hopefully, none of us will get strep, even though we spend twenty-four hours a day with each other!

Laziness

I'm not really doing very well with this blogging thing lately. It is not like I have been extremely busy or even that there is nothing worth blogging about, I just can't seem to get myself in the mood. I feel that way about a lot of things these days. I could blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I think it is just a streak of laziness. Anyway, maybe I will snap out of it soon...it is driving me crazy!
In other news, Jonah has started walking. He started taking a few steps on Halloween, and has been taking a few more every day since. He is getting really good at walking, however he still will not walk on demand. I try to get him to walk for other people and he just flops down on the floor and makes me look like a complete idiot. He only really takes off walking when he thinks no one is watching. I'm beginning to believe that he may have a slight case of stage fright.

Our Baby This Week

I think this is possibly the worst picture ever, but it was the only one I could find. At about the length of a spaghetti squash and almost 1 pound, our baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If we could see inside my womb, we would be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

In other news, I am still feeling fine. I am two weeks further along than I was with Jonah when I had to start taking two insulin shots a day, but thank the Lord, no blood sugar problems so far this time around! The back pain is becoming more manageable. I have learned what triggers it and to listen when my body says enough! Of course today I did not listen very well, as I think I overdid it carting Jonah and Noah around to get my grocery shopping done. Hopefully after a good nights rest, I will not be hobbling tomorrow.

We are still debating on baby names. We did not decide on Jonah's name until we were actually on the way to the hospital to deliver, so I guess we still have plenty of time to come up with something that we all like.