Black Friday indeed

Oh. My. Goodness.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/28/deadly-black-friday-one-at-wal-mart-two-at-toys-r-us/print/

I am speechless....

I know you all are just DYING to know...

...that Steven Curtis Chapman and family are celebrating again! Eldest Chapman child, Emily, was married on 10-4 of this year. According to http://apostlesplace.blogspot.com/, Mom Mary Beth now announces that next-in-line, Caleb, is due to be married this next spring! Congratulations to Caleb and Julia and the rest of the Chapman family! Don't you just love his name?!? (wink, wink) Please, in all sincerity, remember the Chapmans as they go through this holiday season without their precious Maria.

Now for what you really do want to know, Timothy is doing much better. I won't go into all the details but we did make the decision to put him on the steroids and after only one dose, things are already greatly improved. Still not out of the woods yet and now, with him being on steroids, we have to be careful not to expose him to anything extremely yucky as steroids weaken the immune system.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Urgent Care

One of the moments every parent dreads....a trip to the urgent care. Timothy's had a sinus infection although was much better and was breathing normally. Started breathing his loud got-a-cold kinda breathing over the weekend again. Tonight, he sounded just awful and then we heard it....wheezing. LOUD, old-man-wheezing. We were even rushed straight back to a room when we got to the urgent care. Thankfully, this isn't in his lungs, per se. He's having no trouble breathing, oxygen saturation at 100%. After 2 -- yes, TWO -- albuterol treatments, he's still wheezing but it is a little better. He's resting comfortably now. He'll have to be taken in to the pediatrician first thing tomorrow morning for evaluation. The urgent care dr gave us a prescription for a steroid. We wouldn't have started him on it at night anyway (we've seen the nasty side effects of steroids in Jonathan -- a grown man -- so we're scared at what might happen to such a little guy) so we've decided to wait until I can talk at length to our pediatrician to make sure it's necessary. With the RSV he had last winter and the airway issue he already has, it looks like we're in for a bumpy winter. He just doesn't have the resources a typical 1-year-old would have and that's not good. And, with a dad with asthma, he could have asthma which would just compound the problem. Asthma is a 3-strikes-you're-out deal and the RSV counts as strike 1, tonight as strike 2. You don't get an asthma diagnosis from just one wheezing episode. Oh, how I'd like to never have to go through this again! Especially this winter -- #1, he's still so little and #2, I'm in the middle of a high-risk pregnancy. Thankfully, my baby wasn't turning blue or gasping for air. Jonathan's parents have seen those a number of times with him when he was little....I can't imagine. Let's just pray this doesn't get into his lungs and get serious, okay?

Not Me Monday

(If you happened to read Candace's comment on last Monday's "Not Me", then this will not be a surprise to you.) I certainly did not drive Nathan to gym class last Monday with my lights on, pull into the parking lot, drop Nathan off, and forget to turn my lights off. My lights then certainly did not continue to run for the 45 minutes Nathan was in gym class while I periodically turned the car on and off for heating purposes (me and the other kids might have been in the van watching a DVD). This certainly didn't cause my van's battery to die so I didn't need Candace and Matt to come help me. And, if certain things didn't happen, then I certainly didn't walk out of the door on a cold, snowy Monday without a coat for myself and without bringing a diaper bag for Timothy because I knew we'd only be gone an hour and 10 minutes. So Timothy didn't scream from hunger and tiredness while we didn't wait on the Bauer's to come. Nope, didn't happen.

Of course, I didn't just spill freshly made, hot tea all over my left hand and part of my ever-growing belly just now because I'm always careful.

I didn't just wash and dry a black ink pen because I always check the pockets.

I didn't say a quiet "YES!" when Nathan woke up with more coughing so that I don't have to take him to gym today because I'm tired, because I'm hip deep in laundry, and because I'm already loathing bundling up 5 children and taking them out in the cold. I'm never too tired to take my kids places, I'm always caught up on laundry, and it really doesn't bother me to bundle everyone up so they don't fit right in their car seats any more. In fact, I love winter and take the kids out as much as possible just so I can get the opportunity to do said bundling. Oh, and I would certainly never be even a little happy for one of my kids to be sick, even if it is just a virus.

And last, but not least, I did not resist the urge to oh and ah at the 2 babies we saw on the labor and delivery tour at the hospital yesterday. I'm certainly not feeling overwhelmed at the idea of having another baby and taking said tour didn't make me feeel very, very nervous. I'm totally at peace with a new baby coming, a new baby who's going to be up every few hours screaming, who's going to need diaper changes and bottles. I'm SO looking forward to doing it all over again. In fact, I may even breastfeed this time 'cause the thoughts of breastfeeding just brings dreams and images of beautiful bonding between me and my baby. The thoughts of breastfeeding don't dweeb me out at all. Not one little bit.

Ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. (can you hear the sarcasm?) Oh, and if above things were true, I'd want you all to know that my hand and belly are fine, the pen did not ruin any clothing, and Nathan is really on the mend and really does just have a virus.

Updates

Life is always interesting. Here we are 34 days from Christmas. Where has the time gone? Here's the updates on the latest 2 drs appointments:

1 -- "We're still in an observational period" with Timothy's ortho dr, his words exactly. The curve in his spine isn't any worse but still there and his 12th vertebrae isn't developed as it's supposed to be but isn't any worse, either. So, we go back in May for another set of x-rays unless he starts having trouble with being hunched over after he learns to walk.

2 -- Okay-but-not-great is how I would explain my OB visit today. Weight still under control, sugars looked good, and blood pressure was okay. They're watching me closely for some headaches I've been having and they want me to start keeping tabs, so to speak, on when I have them and the heart racing I've mentioned earlier -- what am I doing when either of them happens? Where am I? Am I physically exerting myself? Those kinds of questions....right now, it appears the heart racing is part of pregnancy and the headaches are stress/tension. As for my "zipper" (cervix), things are a little interesting, although no need to panic (yet). Cervix length for this stage of pregnancy, to be considered "normal", should be somewhere between 3 and 4 cm (or 30 and 40 mm). 3 weeks ago, I was 3.8cm and today, I fell to 3cm. While still considered normal, #1 three cm is the bottom border of normal, #2, I shouldn't drop below 3 cm anytime before 30 weeks or so (a full 8 weeks away) and #3, that's a "significant change". What happens if I've "fallen" again on 12/5 when I go back? Well, that will depend on the numbers and all the other things, like is my zipper starting to unzip. Still no guarantees -- they really can't predict with 100% accuracy when a woman is going to go into labor. I may stay at 3 cm for the duration of the pregnancy, although that's highly unlikely, especially if we make it past 30 weeks or so. These numbers are just a caliber of where things stand overall and monitoring them closely will hopefully help us to predict when we're headed for trouble so we can do something proactively. As for holiday travel, since I'm "on the border" and have had a "significant change", if we had to call Christmas today, then it would definitely be a no. Maybe, just maybe we can reevaluate things at the next appointment but that's unlikely. We're going to owe my side of the family 2 or 3 Christmases in a row once we're done having babies! :(

"Not Me" Monday

Saw this and thought it was funny. The idea is to post things on Mondays that you "never" do (which is, obviously, not true). Let's give it a try....

Nathan is not still in his pj's at 11:30 in the morning. Nope. Never happens. My children are always dressed by 9 AM. And John's never been in his nighttime diaper at this time of the day either. I always change him promptly when he wakes up.

Elizabeth is not sitting in Timothy's baby seat while said seat is sitting on the couch. That would be too dangerous, right? Besides, my older kids never play with baby toys. Especially Nathan.

I did not have to banish Nathan to his bed to do school work because he was too distracted by "The Wonder Pets" on t.v. He never watches kiddie shows like that.

I am not currently having to tell Elizabeth not to eat Timothy's baby food. She would never do that.

I am not so tired I could fall asleep sitting up at this hour of the morning. That never happens. I'm always full of energy and always so polite to the kids. And I never have to walk over dirty floors or block off the kitchen to keep Timothy off the nasty kitchen floor. I always clean them well enough you could eat off them.

Just in case....

....the new pink blog didn't tip you off or you don't keep up with us on Facebook....Yes, we're having a

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Her first picture

Everything looked great! She's the perfect size and weight for her age, right on target for a 3/31/09 due date. Wouldn't it be funny if she's born on St Patrick's Day and ends up being our only red head? (Come on, a lady can dream, can't she?!?!) Tossing around some names but no hints. It's been difficult enough since having Elizabeth. We used our favorite names for the first 3! I didn't think we'd ever name Timothy. I don't think it'll be that difficult this time, though, 'cause we haven't used that many girl names! :)

Half-way Hodgepodge

So, here we are -- half-way through the pregnancy (or at least, what the half-way mark should be; I shutter to think we may have already passed what will be our half-way mark). Baby is moving tons and tons which is fun. (S)he is still small enough to where I don't feel a foot in the ribs or a butt crowding my lungs. I can tell a kick from a roll but nothing like what can sometimes be misery when a nearly full-term baby starts kicking and rolling around inside of you. Braxton Hicks contractions (contractions that don't do anything other than annoy you) have already started and that's NOT fun. And I've been having moments where my heart races. They say it's normal but it certainly doesn't feel normal. I didn't have any trouble yesterday so maybe I'm over the worst of it. They say that your blood volume doubles during pregnancy and that it reaches its peak volume around the mid-way point. But, you take the good with the bad....Life, in general, isn't slowing down one little itty-bitty bit which is not fun, either. Nathan's in gym once a week on Monday afternoons and yesterday was awful (for me). Wrangling 4 kids -- including chasing the baby around the stage where we sit above the gym floor and 3 almost-bored preschoolers that got sick of me telling them to stop running -- was just exhausting and we were only there 45 minutes! There's too many steps to climb so I can't use a stroller so I have to carry Timothy in and out, too, which doesn't help and leaves me with a killer backache. Honestly, I'm thinking I might see if I can find someone that would be willing to drive Nathan to gym these next 3 Mondays before this session is over. Or else maybe borrow a travel DVD player and sit in the car with the younger 4. So that's Mondays, which are always after Sunday which is, by far, our busiest day of the week with church services and family time. Tuesdays, Jonathan meets with a man from church concerning RA's but he's so nice to schedule to meet with him at 9 pm after he's helped me get the kids in bed. Best husband in the world, hands down! :) Wednesdays are church again and Thursdays, I have a ladies meeting at church. Every other Friday night is grocery night. And that's not counting the 3 days/week that I take John & Elizabeth to Candace's for preschool. That's going soooooo well, though, that I have no desire to give that up until I absolutely have to (or until the weather gets colder -- nothing I despise more than bundling up children and stuffing them in car seats -- YUCK!). Weekends, you ask? Last Saturday was a doozy -- Jonathan and Nathan went to men's prayer breakfast at church at 8 and got home a little before 10; we dug our heals in ("we" meaning me and Jonathan) and moved beds around to clean out from behind and underneath them, cleaned out the toybox, changed sheets, etc, etc, etc; then at 3 me and Timothy went to a baby shower and Jonathan took the other kids at 5 to a birthday party. Actually nothing on the schedule for this Saturday, thank goodness! I still have a ton to do to get winter wardrobes where they need to be and dealing with the unbelievable amount of summer clothes that I have to sort through to either keep or not. Ah, life....there are days when I wish childhood was less than 18 years! But then there are days when I wish the baby days lasted more than just a few years.

Well, let's see....oh, that's what I was going to mention -- did you see the new pic at the top of the blog? (If you use Google Reader or any other RSS feeder, you'll have to actually log onto our blog to see it). Not bad, considering all the effort it takes to get 7 people looking in the same direction, especially when 4 or those 7 are 5 and under! And I usually can't stand pics including myself but this one ain't half bad.....I guess that's it! Stay tuned for the big reveal this weekend!

And a good Wednesday morning to you, too!

What's the worst wake-up call you could think of (and I'm not referring to politics at all!)? Might not be the WORST but how 'bout a nice injection in your backside? That's what I got to wake up to this morning and will wake up to every Wednesday morning at 7:45 for the next 15 weeks or so. I'm now getting weekly injections of progesterone, a hormone the body normally makes and the primary hormone responsible for keeping a woman pregnant. They believe that more progesterone may help women with histories of preterm labor stay pregnant longer so it's hoped to be preterm labor prevention. Not exactly thrilled about getting a shot at 7:45 for the next several months but gotta do whatever I can to keep this baby inside where (s)he belongs, right? Didn't hurt like I was afraid it would; needle felt small. Starting to burn a little bit and my heart is racing a little but other than that, so far, so good. The nurse was wonderful so at least she'll make the experience more pleasant than dreadful. She said there are women who have one "side" better than the other so hopefully we won't find out that my other side is uncooperative. Nothing like dreading a painful injeciton to shoot your blood pressure up! Oh well -- on with my day I go, taking Timothy to get his hearing aid and then I'll probably stay at home tonight. Timothy's still fighting some sort of cold. And no, for the record, I'm not exactly thrilled about the outcome of the election. However, I was very pleased to hear that issue 5 passed (making permanent restrictions on so called "payday loans") and issue 6 failed (no casino in Ohio!). Haven't heard yet if the tax levy for Reynoldsburg schools passed but it wasn't looking good for them last night when I went to bed (not that I voted for it anyway!). Just my two cents worth.....

And only 1 guess on what the baby is? You guys are no fun! :( 9 more days to go!

2 random pictures

First up, I had thought about putting this in a post titled "She's kinda green. I think she may BLOW!" but kept forgetting so I'll stick it in here.

Second, here's one of the few pictures of all 5 kids together before trick or treating. Timothy stole the show but the kids ended up with 2 giant bowls of candy.