Whoa!

I haven't blogged in ages!  Too much has happened.  My brother got married.  That was an awesome time!  We are so excitied to have Lacey as a part of the family!  We went camping at Caprock Canyon with our friends the Meltons.  We hiked, cooked out, and swam at the lake.  We ran into quite a few creatures on our trip.  The first nite a freindly skunk paid us a visit and helped himself to some Chips and Hot Dog buns.  We heard some coyotes that were pretty close to our camp.  We saw lots of lizards and the boys had a grand ole time catching grasshoppers.  We even saw a couple of trantulas.   We had a great time.

It is coming that time of year again when we are trying to get organized for the new school year.  It seems like we didn't really get a break this year.  we got started late last year due to the sweet addition of the Cupcake!  Since she wasn't born until September 18th, we didn't get started til October, so we schooled for most of June.  I'm a little nervous about the upcoming year.  Teaching two children will definitly be a new challenge, but I think with lots of organization, I can do it!  I figure it will just take us a little more time to get through it all. 

Anna Kate is growing like crazy.  I couldn't beleive it a few days ago I was searching online for first birthday cake ideas.  It went by so quick!  Time to start thinking about the next little baby, *wink,wink.  She has started trying crawling on all fours now instead of the army crawl.  She is also pulling up on the furniture.  I think she'll have a fearless streak like her brother, Noah.  She tried to go over everything in her way, no going around for this girl, its over the top! 

Okay, here's Anna Kate's updates! 
~ Other names she is most often called by:  Sweet Pea, Cupcake, Sugar Pie, and Sugars.  You see a pattern?  She is just so yummy, and we loved to "eat" on her!
~ She is now 5 months old.
 She has to be the best happiest baby I've ever met.  She cries only if she's hungry.  Even when she's sick, she still has a smile. 
~ She weighs 13lbs 11 oz.  I'm not sure what her length was, but she was in the 30th percentile for both.  So, she is smaller than the boys were at this same age, but that's okay.   
~ She is totally recovered from her bout with RSV.  That was pretty scary, but I'm glad to have it behind us.   Just this last week or two has outgrown all the 3 month clothes and is on to the 6mon or larger 3-6 mon size depending on what it is.  She has a skinny tummy so the 6mon pants are a little big, but the sleepers are just perfect.  
~ Sometime while we were in the hospital, Anna Kate quit using her paci and moved on to sucking her thumb.  This is disturbs me greatly.  First, it makes me sad because she LOVED her paci, and we have so many really cute ones!  Second, thumb sucking is just gross to me, especially as she gets older and is moving around and touches things and gets dirty.  The things that could be on her thumb I don't want to think about.  Third, when she pops her thumb in, lots of times, her she pokes herself in the eye with her fingers or scratches her nose.  Lastly, I can take a paci away from her, but obviously I can't remove her thumb.   I also have no support in this matter.  Daddy, Nana, and Mimi all think its so super-de-duper cute and no big deal.  Daddy even helps her figure out how to get her thumb in there.  I am working very hard to get her to take it again.  Im hoping that right now, its a habit of convience, and that when she can manipulate putting her paci in her mouth on her own she'll choose the paci.  One can hope anyway.  
~ She has rolled from her tummy to her back a couple of times on accident, but itsn't fully rolling yet.  She can scoot around in a full circle on her back. 
~ She loves to play toys now and reaches out and grabs them.  Right now her favorite is a little stuffed dolly that her Aunt Ibby gave to her before she was born. She hugs it and rubs her face on it.   
~ She sleeps so good at night, most nights until 6am or so.  She eats and then sleeps again until 9.  I am definitly spoiled!
~ I entered her in a Baby Magazine cover photo contest.  I think she will win.  :)
This getting pretty long so I guess I should stop.  Boys are in the shower and the Cupcake is starting to wake up.

RSV

RSV.  I really don't know what that stands for but I call it Really Sucky Virus!  I do know that it hit my sweet little Cupcake really hard.  We spent days just trying to manage her breathing with seemingly no progress.  After an ambulance ride on Monday evening when she was is respitory distress, she was admitted to the hospital for 4 days.  Thankfully, she does seem to finally be on the mend.  We still have another couple of weeks of breathing treatments and cough that could persist for another 6 weeks.  She was such a strong little trooper.  Everyone on the Pedi floor thought she was the cutest little thing.  She was definitly the princess.  She smiled at everyone, even the ones who were causing her pain.  I brought her all her own blankets.  I refused to put her in the gown they gave us.  It was brown and orange with tigers on it.  So, she hung out in her pink socks, pink hairbow, and we kept her wrapped in her favorite fuzzy blankets. 

Here's something I learned through this.  I have never really been a germaphob.  For some reason, though, when Anna Kate was born, I was a little creeped out by germs flinging sanitizer like the best of them.  I would make Thomas take off his work clothes as soon as he came home.  I was even picky about who could hold her depending on where they had been and what might be on their clothes.  I was really cautious about germs and practiced lots of handwashing! And, I really didn't take her anywhere, not even to church.  We only went to the essential places and I took the sanitizer with me.  Despite all my efforts to protect this little sweet pea, somehow she still became sick.   I have never ever doubted that God was in control of my life.  However,  no matter what I do to control MY world, I am still NOT in charge.  I'm not saying God made my baby sick. I think you all know that is not the case.  Sickness is just a part of living in this fallen world.  Although I will still try to vigilant about hand washing, I will do my best to just trust God to take care of my babies.  And, He did!  Anna Kate is doing better and will back to normal soon!

Too Much

I waited way too long to blog and there's way too much to catch up on.  i'll try to do a brief wrap up and a current "what's happening."

The first exciting thing that's happened is my brother is engaged!  We are so thrilled and can't wait to make her part of the family.  Since she teaches the boys in their classes at church, they call her Miss Lacey and they can't wait to make her Aunt Lacey! They will be getting married on June 11th, Adam's birthday.  He should never forget his anniversary, no excuses!

The night they got engaged

We had a fun Christmas with lots of family.  Here's a few of the highlights.

The boys got toy shot guns on Christmas Morning

Anna Kate isn't too sure what all the fuss is about.

We went swimming at my parent's hotel.

The baby snowman.

One of the other things I was sooooo excitied about doing was meeting our new neice Parker.  She is 7 weeks older than Anna Kate.  Tiffany and I had lots of fun playing with each others babies.  Since everyone was in town together, we had a double baby dedication.

                                     

                                      

  

                                       

                        Thomas and Parker

It's also Campaign season again.  Tom is running for re-election as County Judge.  The Head family as a whole would love and appreciate your prayers!  Campain seasons can sometimes be a time of intense warfare and spiritual attack not just against Tom but for the family as a whole.  Satan just doesn't like Godly people in leadership.  Godly leaders stand for family values and it puts a kink in satan's plan to destroy families.  We truly do covet your prayers!

                                           

              Tom at the Ballot Placement Drawing

           (he drew the 1st place!!!)

Nathan is playing basketball again.  This is his second season.  He loves competition.  He turned 7 just before Christmas and had a party with family and his buddy Trevor at Mr. Gatti's.  I can't believe he is getting so big.  He loves going to Joyful Heart tuesday school.  He's been learning about levers, music, and doing lots of art projects.

Noah is still on some restrictions while his arm is growing and healing.  He still has a little bit of a curve to his arm but the doctor expects that it will continue to straighten out as he grows. It could still take several more months.  We go back for another appointment in early March to see if he will be allowed to play soccer.  The curve in his arm makes the bones more apt to break again, but if there is lots of new bone then he should be able to play with the aid of a brace just in case.  The other day in the car he asked me, "Mom, can we please go to the park so I can just LOOK at the slide?"  This little boy is soo active and it breaks me heart to see him slowed down.  I am still pretty nervous about another break.  I try not to let it show, but Noah knows I worry.  If he falls down in another room, he comes and tells me.  "Mom, I feel down, but it was soft and I'm okay."  Such a sweet heart.

Anna Kate is 4 months old today.  She is the joy of our home these days.  She giggled for the first time a couple of days ago.  Now, everyone is making a fool of themself making silly faces and goofy talk to get her to do it again.  She doesn't go for her check up for a couple more weeks.  I will post more of her updates when I get her weighed.  Until then, here's a peek at the Cupcake.

                              

Don't you just want to eat her up?  I sure do!

1 Month Already

Everyone starts with that I think. Everyone says it, but it really does go by fast! I almost don't remember what life was like with out her. She has easily slipped into our everyday lives and activites. She has been a major trooper. She hit her first soccer game at 8 days old and hasn't missed one yet. I take her along in the sling and she just snuggles in and falls asleep.

To be honest, I thought going from 2 to 3 kids would be a MAJOR adjustment and I was a little nervous about it. No more tag-teaming the boys with daddy. The kids now outnumber the adults. However, it has been pretty much a breeze. It also helps that she is a super good baby and a really good sleeper. It's been a couple years since we had a little one in our house,but the how-to's came right back.

Nathan and Noah are in love with their baby sister. The adore her more than I ever thought they would. Nathan is so proud and wants to hold her all the time. He thinks he is big enough to carry her around and doesn't want to hold her cradle style, he wants her up over his shoulder so that he can pat her back. Yesterday at his Tuesday school, he wanted to show her to his friends and just reached up and took her from me and wanted to walk around with her all by himself. Noah did pretty good with the adjustment. He was a little extra weepy, but nothing that a little extra rocking and cuddling didn't fix. He cannot stop kissing his baby sister. He loves to give her her paci and likes rubbing the back of her head when I'm feeding her. He's very protective.

Daddy is already has a little soft spot for her. He loves to cuddle with her at night while she's sleeping. He stays up late just rocking her. His comment? "she's a princess, she needs to be spoiled" He's also super awesome about changing diapers for me in the middle of the night, and has never complained once.

Me? I'm having a grand ole time dressing her up and putting bows on her and wrapping her in matching blankets. I put a bow on her everyday whether we are going out or not, even if we just stay home and she stays in a gown all day.

What Anna Kate is up to:

~ She weighs just over 7 pounds.
~ Her eyes have stayed a deep almost navy blue, I love that! All 3 of my kids have
different colored eyes. Nathan's are hazel, and Noah's are chocolate
~ She sleeps long stretches at night. Usually from 10 til 6, then goes back to
sleep til around 9. (told you she was an awesome sleeper)
~ She hates to take a bath, but loves a shower with her mommy. She will roll her
eyes in the back of her head and sigh when I let the water spray her back. She
doesn't care if it sprays in her face, she just closes her eyes.
~ She doesn't like the swing. I'm very sad about this. The swing was a life saver
with the boys. I'm going to keep putting her in it every few days and maybe
she'll get used it
~ She has started smiling a lot and tries really hard to coo.
~ She is getting much better at holding her head up, doing it for a few minutes at
time

Im sure there's lots more things, but that's all I got for now.

Anna Kate

So my sweet little Anna Kate has finally arrived! I just finished giving the sweet pea a bath. Can you smell her? I love the smell of babies just after they've had a bath. I thought i would try to get in a quick post and picture before I go to bed, for when baby sleeps, mama should be sleeping too!

Last week on Tuesday morning a day shy of 37 weeks, I thought for sure that I was in labor, having regular contractions. My mom ditched jury duty picked up my sister and headed over. I spent the morning doing some last minute toilet scrubbing, dishes, and packing my bag. Around lunch time, we headed to the hospital. Turns out I wasn't having regular contractions, just really painful ones. They did some blood work, gave me shot of morphine and phenergan for pain and to help me relax, and would then be heading back home. The results of the blood work showed that i might have had pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure). I would spend the night to get monitored and do some more tests. Those tests showed that my kidneys were in distress from high blood pressure so I was scheduled for an amnio. My liver and kidneys were like a ticking time bomb is what dr. D said. I won't lie, I was freaked out about doing the amnio and barely slept that night. When they did the ultrasound, the doctor found that I had very little amniotic fluid and the placenta was giving out. I was scheduled to be induced the next morning. Friday morning, I headed in to L&D. Pitocin is not a very nice drug. It's really pretty mean. After getting a really great epidural, my boys came in to see me. We gave them each a Nientendo DS that we had been saving for delivery day for months. We wanted them to have something fun to do to while away the hours. However, they were not long gone from the room, before I was in pain again. My nurse decided to see how far along I was and to maybe try pushing. I told her to call the Doctor first. She said, ummmm, ok, I can do that. She came back, asked me to push once, then said. Don't push anymore. I can deliver a baby by myself, but I would prefer your doctor to be in the room. She walked out of the room and said a little more forcefully, "call her dr back and tell her to get here NOW!" I was scared to death she wasn't going to make it. My nurse assured me I would be fine that she had delivered babies by herself more than once. A few minutes later, her heart rate started dropping. She was probably laying on her chord. We were going to have to get her out soon with or without the dr. Just then, Dr. D walked into the room. I started crying; I was so relieved. A minute later she had arrived at 11:27 am on September 18th weighing in at 5lbs 15 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. I had a pretty strong reaction to the epidural after labor. I couldn't get out of bed for about 12 hours. I had no body control. I spent two more nights in the hospital. After 6 total days in the hospital, we were finally able to all be together again. Man, I missed my boys.

heres what we know about Anna Kate so far:
She loves her paci
She loves it when her brothers sing to her. She always quiets down when she hears them.
She likes to be swaddled up tightly.
She doesn't seem to cry about too much except when we undo her to change her diaper.
She likes to cuddle when she sleeps
She doesn't like to burp. She's too much of a lady her daddy says.
She is the most adorable blue eyed brown hair bundle I've ever seen :)

Fast, fast, fast

Life lately, has been, well, running a pretty quick pace! For those of you who didn't already know. On Sunday evening, Noah somehow fell off my bed and broke his arm. Actually, he broke both of the bones in his left arm. It was a clean break on both bones and nothing had to be set. It was very scary for me. I was home with the boys and Thomas was at work. I knew there was no way I could drive, support Noah's arm, and get Nathan there too. I called 911. Course, i was a little panicked too. I was very proud of my Nathan. He did such a good job of finding shoes for all 3 of us, grabbing Noah's favorite blanket, and then standing the front yard and waving down the ambulance. Of course, Nathan wasn't allowed in the back of the ambulance, so I had to let Noah go with the guys by himself while I followed with Nathan in the van. It was VERY hard for me to let Noah go. I asked him if it would be okay if he went all by himself with the guys for a ride to the hospital and that mommy would be right behind. He said, "Umm, yeah, that's ok." Course by the time EMS had arrived, my little tough guy wasn't even crying anymore. He was definitely in shock though, because he was a little weak, very pale, had a low pulse, and they had to give him a little oxygen on the way to the hospital. The EMT gave him a little bear, that Noah named Fireman. But on arrival, this is how he looked. Not scared at all, like it was something he'd done before.

At the hospital they put a soft splint on his arm to allow the swelling to go down before a hard cast was put on. I spent the next couple of days following him around trying to make sure he was staying safe and didn't injure it more. I caught him jumping from my bed, doing a headstand on the couch, running across the couch and jumping to the recliner and then to the floor. The boy wore me out!!





On Wednesday, Noah went to the pediatric orthopedic doctor. I was very nervous for him. I was afraid it would be painful for him. He gave him a good dose of his Tylenol codeine about an hour before hand just in case. He was a little nervous too I think. We had told him that we would be going to the doctor to see how his arm was healing. He told me that morning that, "mama, if somebody messes with me its going to make my arm sting." It was way worse for me than it was for him. At one point, Noah said, "ow,ow,ow." Daddy asked him, what hurts buddy? Noah said, " the doctor is hurting my hair." The doctor had rested his elbow on the side of his head and was pulling his hair. haha!





After that appointment, we attended Governor Rick Perry's grassroots campaign rally an Market Street United. People, we are truly BLESSED to have this man leading our great state of Texas! 1000 people a day are moving into our great state. That's it for my soap box for now. Noah got to have Gov. Perry sign his cast. I know he doesn't understand now, but he will have a cool story to tell when he's older. His picture also made the front page of the Lubbock paper.
http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/090309/loc_489120724.shtml


On Tuesday, Nathan started Joyful Heart Tuesday school for homeschoolers. They do Geography, Science, Art, Music, PE, and lots of other fun stuff. He goes from 9-3. For his mama, it was a sad day. I had never left Nathan anywhere before other than with a grandparent or at church. He had never attended a PDO or preschool anywhere. He did have a lot of fun. He told me when he got home that he really loved going to Tuesday school better than he loved to play the Wii. haha! that kid is obsessed with video games. He did however have one little mishap at school though. Somehow he ended up going with the wrong group and attended Music class twice and missing out on geography. He told me, "mama, i was an orange that got mixed up with the blues" haha! i think maybe the blue class had more boys in it.

Thursday morning I had a doctors appointment. Anna Kate is still doing good and I am moving along good the Dr. said. I am still so glad that I don't have to worry about having surgery anymore. Dr. D cheered and praised the Lord for answered prayers with me! I feel so blessed to have a Dr. that believes in healing and beseeches the Lord on my behalf!!!! I have about 4 1/2 weeks to go. I am actually crossing my finger though for September 25th. Both boys were born 2 weeks early on a Friday, and that is about 12 days early on Friday. It would just work out best for Thomas's work schedule and for my mom to be able to be free to be in the delivery room with me. So, you hear that little one! September 25th! I am definitely ready for her to be here.

Thursday evening Nathan had his first soccer practice for this season. This year he will be playing with more kids and on a bigger field. And, from what I hear, it starts getting much for competitive between the teams. Poor Noah was set to play his first soccer season this year. He obviously can't participate. Nathan's coach has adores little Noah and says that Noah can help him coach Nathan's team and can work out with the big boys some. Noah thinks he's pretty important. I'm excited to watch Nathan play this year. Hopefully, I won't have to miss too many games due to Anna Kate's arrival. I bought a sling to put her in at the games and I don't plan on letting anyone mess with her or passing her around.

Just 6 more!

I can hardly believe I just typed those words. Just six more weeks until my due date. Both of the boys were born 2 weeks early so if i follow that same pattern, its only 4 more weeks to go. I am SOOOOOOOOOO ready!!

First let me say that I am thanking God for his healing! I had an ultrasound on Tuesday morning to do another check on the cyst on my ovary. The cyst was completely GONE! The tech even said to me, "are you sure its on the right side and not the left? let me check the left." Nope, it was gone! I did not experience any pain at all. That means it probably did not rupture, because the doctors had said that if it did rupture, I would probably be hospitalized to manage the severe pain, and there was no free floating fluid in there as a sign of the rupture. Praise the Lord it was simply healed. Best of all, there will be no surgery post partum. I have been really stressed about pumping milk and practicing a bottle. Now, that is totally off the table! Yeah! Now I can pretty much just concentrate on getting the last of the things ready here at home and preparing for a nice normal delivery!

I have had some swelling this week. I have pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome from water retention in my hands and feet. Sometimes it feels like I'm walking around on twisted ankles. Dr. D is not concerned unless I have high blood pressure. I have a good bp moniter here at home so I've been checking it regularly. whew! this has been a whirlwind pregnancy for sure! there will be NO more babies born at the end of the summer for this mama!

The boys are excited for Anna Kate to get here. Today they went in her room and were playing with all her toys. Nathan thinks everything is "awww, so cute." he says that about everything! Nathan likes looking at how tiny her little socks are. he just holds them and says "aww, so cute." I can't wait for them to meet her.

At the ultrasound they estimated her size to be 5lbs 2oz in the 49th percentile. She's right down the middle. The boys were always in the 90 and 95th. Maybe she'll be a little more on the petite side. I am secretly hoping for a small little girl with her daddy's dark brown eyes and dark hair. We shall see.

Any bets or guesses on the birthday and time? what about the birth weight and legnth?

here's a little help:
My due date is October 7th
Boys were both 2 weeks early exactly
The times were 12:13 pm and 9:13 am
Their weights were 7lbs 1oz and 7lbs 2oz
Their lengths were both 19 inches

Trucking along

We are trucking along. Anna Kate is growing and kicking and grooving! We have 9 weeks left, although I am crossing my fingers for it to be a little more like 7 weeks. I know I've said it 500 times a day sometimes, but its just really HOT. It was a very BAD idea to have a september/ocotber baby. Course it wasn't really a plan, it was more of a "it happens when it happens" kind of thing. If there are more Head babies in the future, I will definitley be planning this a little better.

I had a major pregnancy brain fart moment this weekend. Cherri was gone this weekend to be with tiffany after she had her baby on saturday. Parker Elizabeth is very sweet and I can't wait for Anna Kate to meet her. I was Pastor Cherri and in charge of the nurseries for the weekend services. I knew that Sunday morning after church that i would be really tired and not feel like cooking lunch. Instead of planning to eat out, on saturday evening I cut up carrots and potatoes, got deer roast out of the freezer and put it all in the crock pot bowl and put it in the fridge. Sunday morning just before I walked out the door, I put the bowl in the heater and turned it to high. So easy!!! I invitied my brother adam to come eat with us. When we got home, I was expecting to have the smell of roast hit me when I opened the door. I didn't smell anything. While I had turned the crock pot on, I had failed to plug it into the wall. I was very frustrated to say the least. I sent Thomas to get Pizza, not quite as good, but it worked. we had roast for dinner.

This last week my mom, sister Jamee, and friend Tiffany came and cleaned out Anna Kate's room. They cleaned the floors, vacuumed behind the furniture, hung pictures, did a cool wall rubbing, helped me sort all the clothes my size, and washed all the laundry. I am so thankful for them! I'm not sure i would have been able to get it done on my own. I feel almost completely ready to bring her home. Actually, we couldn't bring her home right now, because we don't have a carseat. I had been planning on using the same one I had with Noah. We got it out of the closet, and Tiffany was washing and wiping it off for me. The rubber grip on the handle was really sticky. The more we rubbed on it, the stickier it got. I tried some oops off on it, and the rubber just started peeling off. I was so disappointed! My sister said her seat did the same thing. Apparently, the rubber just starts breaking down from the oil and dirt on our hands. Once we have a new seat, I plan to try and remember to clean it off regularly with a clorox wipe.

We also went to Super Siblings class at the hospital on Saturday. The boys were so sweet. They were very excited to see where their new baby sister was going to be born. They asked lots of questions and acted so grown up. Some of the other siblings were not quite so well behaved, although most of them were around 2 years old, there was more than one hissy fit on the floor of Labor and Delivery. The tour made it all very real for me. I was fighting tears in my eyes most of the time.

Saturday was a very busy day. We also signed the boys up to play soccer. This will be the start of Nathan 6th season. He has loved playing soccer so much. Noah finally gets to play this year. He has given his due to his brother over the years enduring many soccer practices and games. He was a real trooper through it all. Now, he's finally going to get his turn to play too. We got all signed up, and were headed back to the car when Noah started crying. He thought he was going to get to have a soccer practice and that we were leaving without letting him play. Poor thing, he's just so excitied. He asked me 3 times today how many more days until he gets to go to practice. It will make for a busy couple of months with 3 practices during the week and 2 games on Saturday. Not to mention, baby is coming sometime mid-season. Im just praying there will not be any overlap on practices or games.

10 years ago tonight

10 years ago today, i was sitting inside the County Line party room having dinner with my family and closest friends. It makes me somewhat sad to think that 2 people who were there that night are no longer with us. My grandpa Moe and our friend Mark have gone on to be with Jesus. We were eating Brisket, potato salad, beans, cornbread, and sipping on some ice tea. my little siblings were checking out the peacocks. i don't remember a lot of the conversation that night, but i do remember all the people who were there for me and Thomas. i remember that my 7 year old sister Mackinzie and I had on matching black and white polka dot dresses. i remember that it was pouring rain all day forcing us to eat inside rather than outside on the patio with all the peacocks. we smiled a bunch and I'm sure we laughed a lot too. My youngest sister, Elizabeth, was sitting in a high chair, she was only 9 months old. family members came from Lubbock, sundown, Dallas, Montana, north Dakota and Minnesota. many of them had never eaten barbecue before. i remember not eating much either because although i like brisket, i am not a fan of potato salad or baked beans or even cornbread. i remember getting a really sweet goodnight kiss from Thomas. i didn't sleep most of that night. i was much too excited about becoming Mrs. Thomas Van Dyke Head, Jr. the next day. 10 years ago on July 16th, i married my best friend. 10 years later we have 2 awesome boys and a precious daughter soon to join us. Life hasn't always been easy. theres been ups and downs, but its always been blessed. God has never once let us down. Thank You honey, for 10 wonderful years of wedded bliss. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the next 10 years ahead. I love You!

I was so excitied to get to see another ultrasound of my sweet little girl on Monday. she is growing good and trucking along in about the 54 percentile. my boys were always in the 90's so i'm thinking that maybe she will be a little smaller and more petite than the boys were. Thomas got to go along this time so i was glad for that. the tech gave us some ultrasound pics on a cd. i still don't know how to upload them though. thomas says he will try to put some up on our facebook page. we shall see...

as far as the cyst goes, we had a postitive report. the size is still the same, but the shape of it was different. it used to be an even round shape and now it is more of a pear shape with an uneven border. the tech said she thought that it was losing pressure inside and starting to shrink, similar to that of a helium balloon that was starting to shrivel up. i still have 12 more weeks until my due date and another 6 weeks until my post partum check up for that silly thing to shrivel up all the way and be gone. Not having surgery later would be the best!! i am praying beleiving for it to be gone BEFORE anna kate is born. i would really like to not have to worry about pumping milk ahead of time and praticing a bottle for her to have while i would be in surgery and during recovery.

thanks to all of you who've been praying for me!!

I am so thankful for my ob doctor! she really calmed my fears and concerns today. she told me today that she still feels that the best plan of action for now is to have a regular normal non-csection delivery. then, to come back 5 to 6 weeks after delivery and have a scope surgery done to remove the cyst.

and I agree completely!!!! this sounds like the best idea to me. it will give me some time to get nursing started, pump some extra milk for surgery day, and practice a little bit of the bottle before the surgery. then the surgery will only have me down for a day or two instead of the several weeks of a c-section. of course, im still praying for the cyst to just go away. dr. D thinks the only reason this would not work is if the cyst would begin to grow, it ruptures, or i would start having lots of pain. i haven't felt any true pain. i have felt some twinges and some pulling now and then, but nothing that i would have to stop and say, "i'm in pain." I still have an ultrasound on Monday with dr. A to see whats going on. i will probably see him every 2 to 3 weeks for awhile.

as a side note, Nathan has a double ear infection. on tuesday afternoon, he told us that his ear felt funny. he's had a cold for a few days so we thought maybe it was just some pressure built up. then, about 10 minutes later he comes to me and says "mom, i think you need to give me some medicine for my ear. it really hurts." i was digging in the medicine cabinet for some eardrops and tylenol when he starts crying and saying that it hurts really bad. i called or pediatrician's office hoping to get him in. it was only about 2:30. the receptionist told me dr.G was out of the office and that they were short on nurses and the other doctors in the office couldn't see him until the next morning. by this point, nathan is hysterical. we decided to take him to grace clinic. the copay there is $20 when the ER is $100. we had to wait about 20 minutes before they had us all checked in. the whole time nathan is crying and hollering rather loudly. the recptionist keeps looking at me and saying,"is he sick? does he not feel good?" duh!
He keeps crying and hollering that he hurts so bad, and keeps saying "i want to see the doctor" over and over. i am crying too because i don't know what to do for him. poor thing was in sooo much pain. finally we see the doctor. it really wasn't that long of a wait. they got us in pretty quickly, it just seems like a long time when your child is in pain. as i said, he has a double ear infection. she said that his ear canals where so swollen she couldn't even see his ear drums to tell if the infection was in the canal or behind the drum. however, at this time it was a mute point, either way he had to have antibiotics. also i found out that i wasn't giving him the right dose of tylenol. i wasn't giving him enough of a dose. that made me feel really bad that i could have helped him feel better sooner is i'd just upped the dose a little bit. live and learn, i guess.

we are getting ready for VBS next week at church. such an exciting time. it always brings me to tears to see the little ones giving their hearts to Jesus and asking Him to be the boss of their life and their forever friend. we can always use more help, so if you're not doing anything next week, come down and help us out!!

hey everyone! Just bared here. sitting in my bed, taking it easy, a little bored while the boys are taking a nap. they have been fighting off colds, so they were both pretty tired. I pumped them full of vitamin C and zinc. I would sure be mad if i had to miss out on a rockin' 4th of july party on saturday evening just because my kids had colds. Nor, do i want a cold either.

I have been enjoying listening to Gus-Gus singing the last couple of day. I am pet sitting for my parents. they brought me their Labradoodle Yogi and their parakeet. I am really digging the bird! never thought i would like to have one, but its really relaxing to hear him singing and chirping. the only problem would be T's bird dog. our cats are leaving the bird alone, but Sandy is very interested in Gus. My mom says i can't keep him when she gets home. I told T he will need to get me one though. and, poor Yogi, she doesn't seem to understand what's happened to her mommy. she darts out the front door everytime someone comes or goes. we've had to be real careful.

I got called to go to see my OB next week on thursday. she probably wants to visit some more about my options concerning the cyst situation. i will try to remember to update here. my next ultrasound with Dr. A will be on July 13th.

New status

so, i kinda have a new status from my newest ultrasound today. The cyst on my right ovary is still there. It hasn't shrunk (bad) or grown any bigger(good i guess). According to how far along I am in my pregnancy, my ovary should be about midway up my side. Mine, however is not. Dr. A said it is still down really, really low and is tucked behind my uterus. He thinks that it is a endometrial cyst, and possibly the cyst and ovary have become attached with endometrial tissue to the back of my uterus and who knows what else in there.

He then told me about a woman they treat recently, that had a similar cyst rupture at 31 weeks causing her to go into labor and then into emergency surgery to remove the ovary and tube. And, of course, landing her preemie baby in the NICU for several weeks. I am 25 weeks this week so, I have a long way to go yet.

That really scared me! I am on strict orders to have no strenuous activity and no lifting. "You just need to be really, really careful," he said. If i feel any pain, no matter how minor, I am to head to the ER right away. He said they really don't like to have to do surgery during pregnancy, but it would be better to do a scope surgery while pregnant than to have to deliver a really early baby and have emergency surgery if the cyst ruptures. As it stands, it looks like the most likely option will be delivery by c-section and doing surgery at the same time. Most likely I will lose the ovary and the tube on the right side. I will go back again in 2 weeks to check it out again. Dr. A also said he doesn't understand how I am feeling okay and not in pain all the time.

So, basically, I'm kinda freaked out. I really don't like the idea of surgery during pregnancy, having the cyst rupture and having a NICU baby, really don't want to have a c-section, nor do i like the idea of losing some of my parts. Don't really like ANY of these options at all. the option I like the best is complete and total healing of the ovary and cyst and that I can have a normal delivery and have a healthy baby and a healthy momma! I know that Dr. A and my OB are christians, so I'm sure they would choose the same option as me. so, all my blogger/facebook friends out there, please pray this for me! Thanks!!!

On a positive note, Anna Kate is growing good and doing wonderful. She currently weighs about 1 pound 4 ounces which puts her at the 51 percentile. Right where she should be! I got to see some really good 4-D snapshots of her face. The tech even said that she looked really cute! Thomas didn't get to go with me today. Thomas and Noah spent 4am to 8am in the ER. Noah has croup and had trouble breathing but is doing fine after some meds and a shot. So, I went to this ultrasound solo.

Tomorrow is a garage sale. i am soooo ready to get this junk OUT of my house!

really needed to update

Okay, so most of you know that we are having a GIRL! We couldn't be more thrilled! Thomas wanted to take the boys with us to the ultrasound. i was not very thrilled about the idea, however, thomas thought it was important for them to be there. i let him win on this one. My appointment was at 845. we were supposed to be leaving for a vacation trip to dallas as soon as i got through with the appointment. we left our house at 800 to drop our dogs off at the kennel for the weekend. for some reason, it took FOREVER to check them in. I ended up being about 30 minutes late at the doctors office. I was NOT happy. I CANNOT stand to be late for anything, makes me feel really, really stressed out. So, i was not in the best of moods. once we finally got into a room, the ultrasound tech told us right away that we were having a girl. The boys were excitied! Thomas just looked at me and said, "i told you!" I was completely surprised. I had secretly been hoping for a girl, but didn't want to get my hopes up or to feel disappointed in any way. Needless to say, I was thrilled. The boys were really good for about 30 minutes and then they started hitting each other, arguring, and acting up. Another nurse came and took the boys out for a walk around the office and to get a sucker. i was embarrassed about that. they will Not be going with us for any follow up visits!

Our little sweetie was soooo very active. It took the tech a long time to get all the pictures that she needed. whenever she was able to get a still shot, measure the stuff she needed, and then switched back to a video shot, she would have completly flipped around to the other side. Literally, it took her 30 minutes to get the four pictures of the heart that she needed. I started to get worried that something was wrong because she was taking so long on the heart. The tech told me that the baby was just so active she couldn't get any good shots of the heart.

I did have a small problem with a large cyst on one of my ovaries. The Dr said that they become concerned when one measures 5cm or more. Mine measured 7cm. I am supposed to just be aware if I start to feel any kind of pain on that side. The concern would be that the weight of the cyst would make the ovary twist over and cause the tube to become twisted cutting off blood flow to the ovary, which would require emergency surgery. I had a 5cm cyst when I carried Noah. It went away on its own then, so I am beleiving that to be the same outcome again. I will go back at the end of June to check on things again. If by chance it doesn't go away by the time this little girl is born, I will probably be looking at surgery to remove it before I would come home from the hospital. I really don't want that to happen because I don't want anything to stop or slow down the nursing process. No bottles for my baby! I know it wouldn't be the end of the world, babies have bottles everyday, but still..... So, my prayer and belief is that by my next check the cyst will be gone!!!

After, we got finished with our appointment, we called the grandparents. Talking to my mom, is when the tears hit for me. I'm having a GIRL!!!! We headed to wal-mart and with the same tradition as with the boys, Thomas got to pick out the first girl outfit. the boys picked out a really sweet white and pink stuffed bunny.

After a few more quick errands and some lunch we were finally on the road to Dallas. This post has gotten long enough for now, and i guess i will post more about our dallas trip later.

I'm having a Girl. I'm having a Girl. Sorry, I'm just excitied. I'm having a Girl!

Help me! I need help!

Well, there is only a couple more days until we finally get to have our ultrasound. We should definitly be able to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. but, what we need some major help with, is baby names. i have a few ideas and thomas has a few himself, but there isn't anything that we both like. so, everyone, please send me some names. we like traditional names, not necessaraily bible names, but nothing too trendy or overly common. i don't really want there to be 4 of the same name in the nursery class.

again, send me you name ideas!!!!!!

Dos/Dos

That's right! Two posts in two days! This funny little thing happened today and I just had to share. Here's how the conversation went.

Thomas was sitting on the chair holding his tape measure. Noah walks up and Thomas decides to measure Noah's height.

Daddy: Wow, Noah. You sure are getting tall! 36 inches!

Noah: Let me measure you, daddy.

Daddy: I don't think you can reach, buddy.

Noah: I can. Stand up.

Thomas stands up and holds the tape measure up to his head.

Noah: starts giggling

Daddy: What does it say son? How tall am I?

Noah: Ummm, Too many pounds!

Mommy is laughing so hard she has tears in her eyes.

Daddy: Thanks alot son. Honey, that is not funny!

Again?

Okay, so once again it has been a month since i last posted. We have been busy doing I'm not really sure what.

Nathan played soccer this weekend in the Kohl's Cup. He had a game on Friday nite and then 2 games on Saturday. Noah got to spend the day at his mimi's house, while Mom and Dad hung out outside all day. We all got a little pink from the sun. During the last game, Nathan ended up with a blister on his heel. I felt so bad for him. He really wanted to play, but just couldn't handle the pain of his shoe rubbing on the broken blister. We had been pushing it a little with the soccer shoes. He probably could have used a new pair, but we thought maybe we could make through the season on the pair he had. Plus, Nathan was particularly in love with this pair of shoes. They had a dragon breathing fire across the heels. I told him that we would get him a new pair of shoes before his next practice. He said that he didn't want new ones that he loved his dragon ones. I said we'd try to find another pair just like them. He sat in my lap the rest of the game with huge tears running down his face. No sounds, just tears, as he stared at his shoes and rubbed his finger across the dragon. Broke my heart!

Noah is still driving my batty with the whole potty accident thing. I've finally decided that if he's playing really hard, he just doesn't want to take the time out to got to the potty. And, he does NOT care if he sits in wet pants. The boys got new bunk beds a couple of weeks ago. I think it was on the third day that he climbed the ladder and fell off. He really hasn't been back up there since. I can't believe my boy is going to be 4 years old in a 2 months. He surprises me every day with things he knows. He can count in Spanish, recognizes all his letters and numbers, knows the sounds of nearly all the letters. I expect he'll be reading small words soon like his brother did when he was 4.

We gained a new addition to our household this month. Thomas adopted a new puppy from the humane society. She is a chocolate lab mix, mixed with German short hair pointer, we think. I was planning on buying Thomas a hunting dog for his birthday or our anniversary this summer, we just happened to find her a little early. She seems to be a pretty sweet dog. She is scared of big balls and loves to pester my Lucy and chase the cats. Its definitely more work training a puppy. Lucy was an older dog when we got her, and she was already house broken, knew how to sit, and didn't chew up stuff.

The baby and I are trucking along pretty good. I am 16 weeks along. I can't wait til we can find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I have been having lots of headaches. The doctor thinks its migraines. Of course, I can't take anything for them. Thomas rubs my shoulder and neck as much as he can. I feel guilty for asking him all the time. If he grumbles though, I just tell him, "hey, I'm growing a human. what super hero things did you do today?" that usually works. Since my deductible on our insurance has been met a long time ago, I am going to physical therapy twice a week for massage therapy. Today was my first day, it felt pretty good, but I am a little sore. I'm taking my mom to my dr. appointment on wednesday to hear the heartbeat. She's pretty excited.

Noah has a little friend named Jonah in his class at church. His mama wrote the sweetest little blog about him this morning. So cute! Go here to read it. I can't figure out how to do a link, sorry. www.thefamilytoots.blogspot.com

Just sittin' here

So, I'm just sitting here doing nothing really. I am watching College Basketball. Yeah! Since we don't have cable, I don't get to watch much basketball at all. March Madness is the best of the best of college games. Although, secretly, I really do prefer the NBA. however, I will not turn down the chance the watch ANY good basketball game. It's freezing outside right now. It's been blowing snow off and on theis afternoon and evening. Nothing sticks of course. But, I am glad to be inside.

This afternoon Thomas went in to get an epidural steroid shot in his back. He's been having some pain for about 3 months, and it started affecting his sleep and his everyday activities. Last week, the doctor sent him for an MRI and they found that he has 2 bulging disks inbetween the L4 and L5 and then between the L5 and S1. Basically, the one just above his tailbone and the one above that. He's been having trouble sleeping and has a lot of pain when he goes from sitting to standing and vice versa. Today, he had trouble just tying his tennis shoes. I'm glad he's getting some releif. He's been waking me up at night with his tossing and turning, and we have a king size bed so he's gotta do a lot of moving around to really wake me up. So, today, they put him under a giant C shaped xray machine and injecting a dye so they could see the epidural space and then injected a steroid. I couldn't go in with him since they were using the xrays. He's also on some muscle relaxers, and now he's asleep on the couch. In about a week, he will start going to physical therapy to help strengthen his back muscles. For about 2 months now, he has taken control over my heating pad. I told him tonight that he has to buy me another one, or he's going to have a fight on his hands.

I went to my first real checkup with Dr. Devine this week. We took the boys along so they could hear the baby's heartbeat. The morning of the appointment, Noah was coughing and I told Thomas that maybe we shouldn't take the boys and that they go the next time. Noah started crying, "Nooooo, I wanna go hear the baby's heart beep." I thought it was soo cute. The termanoloy at our house it seems will be permantly changed to a heart beep instead of a heart beat. The heart beat was 166, so apparently that means a girl, but its only right about half the time. We shall see. I don't get to go have another ultrasound until probably the end of May. I will have to learn to be patient I guess. Ugg, I can't wait to find out what it is so that I can start talking about names.

Oklahoma is totally Whooping up on Syracruse! I guess I will go now and get my boys ready for bed. They didn't nap today, and they will be ready for sleep early.

New Day, A New Post

My sister in law, Tiffany and her husband were here in town for a couple of days. We had a really good time visiting. She is pregnant too, so we talked a lot of baby talk. I shared with her some the stuff that I had wished someone had told me to expect about childbirth and after. You moms know what I'm talking about, all those yucky gross things that no one fills you in on but you wish that they had....

Noah has been potty trained for quite awhile now, but the last couple of weeks, he's decided to forget and has been having an accident at least a couple times a week. It's starting to become a little frustrating. Nathan had a time of regression for a while but that was when Noah was a newborn and he was 2 1/2 not almost 4 like Noah. Could this be an early reaction to another baby coming into the house and him wanting to still be the baby? I wouldn't think so, but I'm no expert. Anyone else have any thoughts?