Little Man is fascinated by tongues

It was a really fun, busy weekend and I'm pooped, so here are some pictures from earlier this month.  Spencer was trying to teach Little Man how to curl his tongue. :o)

Little Man things tongues are funny and must be grabbed!

Kids Can Be Really Gross - second installment

This is a conversation Babydoll and I had while driving home from the cabin this weekend.

Babydoll: I've got a booger stuck in my teeth!

Me: Ew, how did it get there?

BD:  I bite it and I chewed it.

Me:  That's pretty gross honey.

~~ A few minutes later ~~

BD:  I got the booger out of my teeth!

Me:  Really?  how did you do that?

BD: I stuck my tongue in my teeth and got it out.

Me:  What did you do with it?

BD:  I swallowed it.   It tastes YUMMY!


Um yeah.... kids can be gross!

Turtles are the Trick

A couple weekends ago my mother-in-law offered to take me and the kids to a hotel pool in our town.  She had coupons and the kids wanted to swimming so it was perfect! 

I knew Sweet Pea would jump in and swim right away.  She's taken a few years of on and off swimming lessons and can swim well enough to have fun in the water.  I wasn't sure though how Babydoll and Little Man would do.  When BD was in the preschool level swimming lessons last summer she started off great, she was the gutsiest kid in her class, eagerly jumping off the edge into my arms, not that afraid to go under the water a little, she loved it.  She had loved it so much I bought her a pair of those little arm floaties.  You know the one's that look like giant neon biceps on a tiny child?  The next time we went swimming where we could use them, she had started doing a little bit of swimming with the floaties on and without me holding her.  Well I guess I pushed it just a little too far and she ended up scared to swim on her own.  So when we went to the pool this month, she had on a "puddle jumper" life jacket.  It's not a real life jacket, just something to make them float so they can get comfortable "swimming" on their own.  BD would not let me let go of her for a second in that pool!  Not only did I have to be holding her, but I had to have two hands on her pretty much the whole times.

This is her eating a granola bar, I didn't get any pictures of her in the water, I was holding her the whole time.

Even though she wouldn't let me let her go she had a blast!  Some of you may be saying I should have just let go of her to show her that she could do it, but I had crossed that line last summer and ruined all the progress she had made, and I needed to build that trust back, so I held on to her. 

Sweet Pea found a ball that the hotel had set out for kids to play with, and she abandoned her swimming noodle for it.  She was swimming like a fish, jumping off the sides, and having a great time. 

You saw the floaty turtle LM was in in the first photo right?  My sister got it for him for his birthday!  I had tried those types of things with both the girls when they were babies, and they didn't really care for them.  SP tolerated it somewhat, but didn't last long.  BD hated, and I mean, "don't put me in that thing if you want your ears to work again cuz I'll scream" hated our floaty.  So when my sister got LM the turtle I was hoping he would at least tolerate it for a while, and at the very least let me put him in it for 2 seconds, but wasn't too optimistic. 

You know what?  He loved it!

He would lean over and stick his hand in the water and start splashing until he started to move.  He splashed himself all around the shallow end of the pool (whether on purpose or not, he was having fun with what he was doing!) for over an hour.  I was a nervous wreck though since I had to have two hands on BD and LM had that turtle leaning so far to the side I kept thinking he was going to tip it over and be scared to death.  My mother-in-law was watching him like a hawk, but she wasn't in the pool and even if she told me the second he tipped, I knew he'd be so scared that he might not want to go back in the water.  And I still had to include Sweet Pea in our play, and get some play time with her. 

After about an hour and a half we changed clothes, packed up, picked up Spence who wasn't feeling well and had stayed home, and went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.  Yummy!!  I'm looking forward to getting the kids in pools at least a few more times this summer!  Especially since we have the floaty turtle!

Our story of Grief and Joy - Part 4

If you haven't been following along before now, click here to start with Part 1. 

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After losing two babies and having no answers as to what had happened, we were told we should wait at least 1 whole cycle before trying again.  This was tough because we were worried after trying to have a second child for over a year that it would never happen for us.  It had taken us almost a year to get pregnant the last time and I didn't want to wait any longer.  In the end we waited one full cycle before trying again... 2 months was just out of the question at this point.  I set up an appointment with my OB to go over a plan for how we would monitor the next pregnancy, and what could be done to help it along.

August 3, 2005   wednesday

We waited one cycle and now I'm on cycle day 12 of our 2nd month.  I had an appointment with Dr. Keller today to talk about fertility and sustaining the next pregnancy.  She gave me a prescription for progesterone which I take twice a day from ovulation through the first trimester (or until I get my period if I don't get pregnant).  They also did a lot of blood work - they took 8 vials of blood for the tests - which wont come back for a couple weeks.  I've been taking my temperatures each morning which have stayed fairly even, so it should be easy to tell when I have ovulated.  I'm also doing my ovulation predictor tests the same way every morning right when I wake up. 

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August 15, 2005   monday

I got my blood work results back on thursday and there was definitely something there.  It showed that I most likely have Antiphospholipid Syndrom, which is a blood clotting disorder I think.  One main symptom is repeated loss of pregnancies.  So this is the reason for my miscarriages.  When we get pregnant again I will need to see a high-risk OB, and be monitored more closely.  I am already taking one baby asprin per day and I will most likely be doing that for the rest of my life.

This is a very rare disorder and Dr. Keller said that most doctors don't know much about it.  I feel very relieved that we figured this out so that our next baby can have a better chance.

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September 28, 2005   wednesday

A second blood test showed that I don't have the disorder they previously thought, but I'm thinking of getting a third test and go 2 out of 3.

      

I found out later that the reason the first test was positive, was because it was supposed to be done after fasting for 12 hours or something, but I had eaten meals that day because no one had told me not to! Nice huh??

We found out I'm pregnant just this past Saturday (9/24/05) but already it's not looking good.  I started spotting on Monday morning.  I went in for an hcg test yesterday evening and they called me today saying it was 81, which she said is low for how far I am.  I'll go back thursday evening for more blood work and will get the results of that back friday.  My lower back, all the way around to the sides of my abdomen are achy, but that could just be my body stretching. 

If we lose this baby, I don't know how I'll make it through starting another pregnancy.

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September 30, 2005   friday

The nurse was wonderful enough to call me back right away this morning before 9:00!  Usually I wait and pace until I eventually call them to find out my results.  My hcg numbers went from 81 to 144.  It isn't doubled but it's close.  She seemed very optimistic and said it's a good number, even though it's not the 160 we were hoping for - she said it's still good.  I'm not so sure.  This spotting seems so much like last time when we lost the baby.

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October 9, 2005   sunday

I am waiting - patiently I might add - for my newest hcg levels.  Last week, tuesday I was very sick with some flu-like virus but stopped spotting for 3 days!  Thursday night I had some pink blood, but haven't been spotting since.  I had blood work done friday morning and this morning.  Hopefully I will get results soon tomorrow.  Then I have an ultrasound on tuesday.  I'm not sure what it will show though since I ovulated on day 19 or 20 instead of day 14 like  you're "supposed to". 

This period of time was so filled with hcg numbers, and waiting for phone calls, and checking for blood, and getting blood drawn (it's a good thing I'm not squeamish about blood!) and worrying, and more and more worrying. 

Can I just say that waiting for your hcg levels is a killer.  It's awful knowing that there are answers to some of your questions just sitting on someone's computer somewhere, and you have to wait for someone to call you to let you know how your pregnancy is doing.

Click here to find out the results and what happened next. 

Have any of you ever been through this experience?  It sucks... big time doesn't it.

Wishful Wednesday

~ I wish my babies wouldn't get sick.

~ I wish I could clone myself (don't we all!?).

~ I wish cookies were good for me (have I used that one before).

~ I wish we didn't have plumbing problems.

~ I wish for my good friends that just got married a lifetime of happiness and love!

Your turn!  What are you wishing for? hoping for? crossing your fingers for?

The Caterpillars are Falling

Last week the clouds parted, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and we got busy in the garden!

Another thing that came out?

Caterpillars!

Lots of caterpillars!  We found at least half a dozen every day.  They would just drop down from the trees on threads of silk, and the kids would carry them around until we would decide it was time to find them a good tree to live on.

It's a good thing we had a lot of time outside last week, because last weekend they got sick with fevers.

Get better kids!!

And the Winner is...

And the winner of the $10 Amazon giftcard is......

Mrs Thull!!

MrsThull said...



Your Face-book post about blogging were the inspiration for mine! :) I need a hit counter!


~Congratulations Mrs Thull!  Contact me to get me your email address I can send your Amazon giftcard!

You can check out her brand new blog here!