Hi!

Apparently I've lost my blogging voice.

I guess I've been so busy being mommy to a 7 yr old, keeping up with a toddler, gestating and trying to be a good wife, daughter and friend that I've let blogging fall to the bottom of the priority list.

Where to begin...

Sadly, I don't even remember what I've talked about over the last few months, maybe I need to read my own blog before I start writing. October, November and December have flown by. We went to Colorado for Ryan's fall break, which was awesome. We spent time with my family in the mountains the first part of the week and spent time with DM's family the second part. We flew this time, allowing us a lot more time to spend with family. It was wonderful to see everyone, and meet our nephew Sebastian for the first time.

Other than that, we've been working on home projects in preparation for the arrival of our newest family member. The kids switched rooms, giving Makenna the bigger since she'll be sharing with her younger brother at some point in the future. Ryan's room is done, and looks great. I'll post pictures soon. Makenna's room has been painted, but lacks all the finishing details. We're still working on those. DM also finished all the crown molding and trim that was installed in August. You wouldn't think it would take that long to caulk, sand and paint trim, but it does. He was thrilled when he completed that task.

I've been working on Christmas crafts and have been pretty happy with the outcome. Can't post pictures of those until after Thursday.

Pregnancy wise, I'm 34 weeks now (35 tomorrow)! Hard to believe we're almost there and we'll soon have THREE kids! My mom's group hosted a beautiful babyshower for me a couple weeks ago and our little guy got some cute outfits including a handknit hat, BPA free bottles, eco friendly diapers ,an adorable diaper cake, some cute burp cloths and personalized baby gear! By the time you get to three kids, you don't expect a babyshower, but these women are so awesome and are sure to celebrate every baby, no matter if it's a person's 1st or 5th. We also had maternity/family photos taken a few weeks ago. I haven't done this during my other pregnancies and am so glad we did it this time. I absolutely LOVE the photos and will always cherish them. The photographer gave me an album with all the photos at my shower, she apparently knows what a slacker I am about printing photos but how much I love looking at them.

Other big news is that we've decided on a name. Actually, we came up with it months ago and it's the only name we both like. We kept it a secret for awhile, trying it out and seeing how we felt. After time it became pretty obvious it was the one. So, our little guy's name will be Eli Sterling. Eli is a name we both like and Sterling is a family name. It's my brother's middle name and the name of my maternal great uncle. We both love the significance and are excited to honor my brother with a namesake. We've gotten mixed reviews about our choice, Ryan in particular has expressed his disdain. His preference is some variation of Jack, but since there are already two people with that name in my family, we needed something different.

Other than that, I'm trying to keep things pretty low key. We spent last saturday night in labor and delivery due to consistent contractions. Once there, of course they slowed down and then stalled, we did, however, discover that I've already started dialating. I was pretty embarrased to be on my third pregnancy and making my first false labor at midnight trip to the ER. Had I been a few more weeks along I probably would have waited, but at this stage, I'd rather not have a baby that has to spend a lot of time in the NICU. Anyhow, contractions have continued here and there, so I'm resting as much as possible and drinking lots of water.

The kids are starting to wake up, so I'm going to enjoy my last few moments of silence and sip a cup of tea by the lights of the Christmas tree and mantle garland. I love this time of year.

Vote!

Go Obama!!!

That is all.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I'm terrible about posting pictures, so here's one of the kids taken yesterday. We were at the Pumpkin Patch for the last time this season, it was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time. Not sure yet what they'll dress up as for trick or treating tonight. Ryan wants to be a ghost, storm trooper, batman, cowboy. We have the pieces for all those costumes so it'll be a last minute decision. Makenna will be a frog if it's cold or Princess Amadala if it's warm and Ryan is a storm trooper. Makenna missed out on the fun last year because she was sick so we're looking forward to a fun family evening.

Hair Talk

Do you know how you can tell if big changes have occured or are about to occur in a girls life? You can tell by looking at her hair. If her hairstyle changes drastically, her life is probably in transition.

Any guesses what I did today?

If you guessed that I cut my hair off, you guessed right. I also got darker lowlights along with highlights. The husband is shocked, but adapting to the new me. I'm still unsure about it, but once I fix it myself I hope I like it.

The last time I chopped it, I was pregnant with Ryan. Must be a pregnancy thing.

Adulthood

Ever wish your life had an escape hatch? If not an escape hatch, an easy button?

I wish for one of those right now. We have a lot going on, most of which I can't really talk about. A few big things with a few smaller things thrown in, which only make the big things feel bigger.

I laid in bed last night tossing and turning and never really sleeping, issue after issue running through my brain. Some of the issues require a decision now, and some require us to play the waiting game. I'm not very good with either of those scenarios...I don't like forced decisions, but also really struggle with letting things go and just waiting to see what happens. Being an adult is hard some days.

On the bright side, Ryan is receiving a citizenship award at school today. I'm so proud of our boy and what a good kid he is. I'm looking forward to sitting in the bleachers watching him get recognition for being a positive role model for his peers. Moments like that make being an adult pretty great.

Look what I did...

What can you do with a little scrapbook paper, some Mod Podge and a brush?

Line the inside of your bookshelves with it! See before and after pictures, I'm thrilled with how it turned out. A project that costs less than $10 and only takes a couple hours to complete...what could be better?

History Lesson

It's Sunday, a day to sleep in, and yet my lovely children were up before 6 am. Ryan needed to ask me a very pressing question, and proceeded to wake his sister up when he got up.

The question:

"Hey mom, you know that bell, the Liberty Bell, why does it have a crack in it?"

What? How is it that a 7 year old is woken from a deep sleep by pondering the crack in the Liberty Bell? More importantly, why didn't he wake up his father, the man with the History degree?

Light The Night

I've signed up to walk the Light The Night walk again, in memory of my friend Jenna who passed away last year. The walk will be on October 16th and my goal is $100, although I'm hoping to raise more. If you'd like to sponsor me, please follow the link.

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnNashvi/2471_chandramharrison

Found it!

Camera was in the diaper bag...duh. Here's her rash. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

Missing Camera, a Rash and a Rant

Makenna's had a rash on her face for over two weeks now. I took her to the pediatrician early on and they thought it was a virus and would probably go away. They said it's possible it's an allergy, but we hadn't really changed anything...detergent, shampoo, food...all the same. I wondered if it could be related to the amount of dairy products she consumes since she seemed to have a lactose intolerance early on, our ped thought that was unlikely.

Anyhow, here we are, more than two weeks later. The rash has gotten a bit better and then worse again. I'd love to take a picture but I can't find my camera! Who loses their camera??? I try to be organized and a camera isn't a little thing. I'm annoyed at myself, and concerned about my little one's poor face, besides, I want a picture of it!

Speaking of annoyance, I'm also annoyed by an aqaintance of mine who continually calls Makenna fat. I recognize that she's a big girl and has a little chub, but according to the charts she's the appropriate weight for her height, besides the fact that she's NOT EVEN 2! This person needs to keep that opinion to herself because the next time she says it I'm going to have to get all "mama bear" on her.

One Issue...

The topic of overturning Roe v Wade was discussed with Senator McCain this morning on Good Morning America. He said he's Pro-Life and he believes the abortion discussion should be about changing the culture of America and about courage and compassion. He says we need to tell young women that if they have the courage to have a baby we will help them in every way we can and that there will be compassion for them. That would be wonderful, but overturning Roe v Wade won't magically make people have compassion for young, unwed mothers. Money won't fall from the sky to help those young women support their babies. (especially not from his camp since Republicans are generally anti welfare) People aren't going to come out of the woodwork to adopt the babies that have serious health problems because a young mother didn't take care of herself while pregnant. People aren't going to automatically change their opinions and their actions because Roe v Wade was overturned. Abortions will still occur, they'll just be illegal and unsafe. No matter how much you preach abstinance and safe sex there will still be people with unwanted pregnancies.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not pro-abortion, but I am pro-choice. Because of that belief, McCain implies that I don't have compassion for the young women who chose to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, which isn't true. I would prefer to see a young women take care of herself during pregnancy and give the child up for adoption or decide that she was going to raise it, and then have the programs available for her to do so. I also think it's her choice, not her parents, not her Supreme Court, not her doctors...her choice.

During the same interview Cindy McCain completely sidestepped a direct question about her opinion on the matter and tried to change the topic, and then proceeded to nod her head yes, showing agreement with her husband. When she's on record stating opinions on the opposite side of the matter.

I'm not a one issue voter, but this candidate makes it difficult.

Wake me up, when September ends...

I wanted to post two pictures yesterday, but unfortunately blogger couldn't read the second so I'll have to tell you what it was.

It was an x-ray, showing a broken collar bone. Taken Tuesday afternoon. The x-ray belongs to Ryan. The poor kid can not catch a break. Next year I'm going to wrap him in a bubble for the entire month of September and hope he makes it through unscathed. The sad part, he was just playing chase and tripped on the playground. Apparently he fell just right and the bone buckled. He's been a trooper, but it's obviously very painful. His teacher said he was so brave, neither she nor the school nurse realized how badly he was hurt at first. He has a cheesy little sling from the doctor, that doesn't do much but at least tells people he's hurt. DM and Ryan went out to purchase a more "manly" sling yesterday but they couldn't find one. He'll have to deal with the "babyish" boats and the diaper pin holding it together for at least a week. Sadly, he only got to play 1 full game of this baseball season and is very concerned about how he's going to do schoolwork, since it's his right side that hurts. Our poor boy, we just want to hug him constantly.

Wordless Wednesday!

First Day of First Grade

Back from Staycation...

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus. It all started when my Mom, Stepdad and Brother arrived from different parts of the country to help us install new floors in our house. Initially we were just going to put wood laminate in the living room, but the project got much bigger quickly. We ended up ripping up every inch of floor in our house and replacing with wood laminate or tile, depending on the room. We also put crown molding in our bedroom and living room and trim around the windows in the main living area. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. DA and I were so impressed with my brother. He drove across the country with a trailer full of tools to help us complete this project, we were so lucky to have his help and expertise.

Since they left, we've spent the time trying to get our house back in shape and then we realized labor day was approaching. Anyone know what that means? If you guessed that Ryan would end up sick and having trouble breathing you guessed right. We were more proactive this year, recognizing that he's been in the hospital the last two years at this time. At the first sign of a cough we were at the pediatrician's, hoping to head it off. We still ended up at the hospital, but only spent a night in the ER. Ryan is such a trooper when all this happens, and this year he didn't even need shots or an IV. We'll be watching him closely over the next few weeks, but for now he's cleared to resume normal activity.

Baseball season began too. DA signed up to be an assistant coach, thinking he'd just man the dug out since he's never played baseball. Well, the lucky guy gets to pitch the first game, against the team Ryan was on last season...the one that won every game. He's feeling more stress that he has in quite some time and is looking forward to the game being over.

In the midst of all that, Ryan started school. He's in first grade this year and so far I like his teacher. She's organized and relates well with the kids. Plus she communicates well with the parents. Yay! The best thing about the new year, according to Ryan, is that he's riding the bus. He has to get up pretty early, but loves it so far. This should make things a bit easier when the new baby arrives.

Speaking of babies, we have two! We lost two of the bird eggs during all the construction, but two of them hatched and we've been watching the birds grow. It's been two weeks and now they're starting to get feathers. It's been fun to watch and Makenna can't walk by the fern without pointing at it and asking to see the birds. I wonder how long it will be before they start testing their wings?

I've probably lost any readers I once had, due to my lack of posting, but if you've hung in there with me I hope you enjoyed the update.

15 weeks and some change

It occurred to me that I haven't written much about this pregnancy and baby, other than that we were expecting and that I had morning sickness and was grumpy. As I enter the second trimester, I find myself starting to believe we're going to have another little one running around here and find myself wanting to document a few things about this pregnancy.

Here are a few things of note so far...

*We had the Nuchal Ultrasound and all results came back negative. No early indication of Down's. Baby was moving all around and had a heartrate of 154 bpm. It also measured almost a full week ahead in size.
*DM is positive it's a girl, I'm just as positive it's a boy.
*We haven't even begun to talk names yet. There was one name I saw and thought it was cute, DM agreed. Not sure if it'll be for the correct gender of it we'll still like it in January.
*According to the developmental websites, the baby is about the size of an apple right now and weighs about 2.5 ounces. Unfortunately, I've already gained about 7 pounds.
*I've been thinking about my last two deliveries a lot lately. One was a vaginal birth with epidural, the other included an accidental spinal, epidural and emergency c-section. Neither was easy, but both had definite positives and definite negatives. My current doc has asked which way I want to go and I immediately thought repeat c-section. I've been doing some research just to be sure that's the right decision.
*DM and I are stressed about adding a third. Time and space are the major reasons for the stress.
*We have no idea where this little one is going to sleep, or where the other two will for that matter. We can't decide who should share a room, although we know that it won't be us. :) Neither of us sleep well when we have a baby in our room. Every little groan and rustle wakes us up. And if the next one sleeps like Makenna, we're going to need our sleep when we can get it.
*I considered not finding out the gender of the baby but DM said we had to....or at least he had to. He's right. I'm a planner and need to know so I can figure out rooms...and put him to work.
*I'm concerned about how Makenna, and Ryan for that matter, will adjust to another little one taking mom and dad's time. Although they both love babies, and seeing the two of them together lets me know it will be ok.
*I've felt a few small flutters. They've made me tear up and grin from ear to ear.
*I'm slowly getting my energy back and feeling less sick. I still have moments and days, but at least it isn't all day every day now.
*Heartburn is just starting to kick in. I've had it here and there but for the last week or so I've noticed it numerous times a day and always before bed. I'm up to three pillows under my head now and at least 4 tums a day.
*Earlier in this pregnancy I had to pee 6-8 times a night, now I'm down to 1-2. I know it'll pick up again, but I'm enjoying this. Once I'm up my mind starts and I have trouble falling asleep again so the less times up the better.
*As my m/s started getting better, the headaches increased. There isn't a day I don't wake up with one and they usually last on and off all day. I try to save caffeine for when I can't take it anymore, and it usually helps for awhile.
*This pregnancy has been really mellow, and that's been so awesome. I've enjoyed being "normal" and not having to take nightly shots, have restrictions, etc.
*Two more weeks until the next run of the mill appt. Let's hope I haven't gained too much more before then.
*Depending on what I wear, I look fat or pregnant. I like wearing the things that make me look pregnant, so I wear the same few outfits A LOT right now.
*I'm hungry all the time. In fact my stomach is growling as I type. Time to go make dinner.

They're Multiplying!

Nesting

We have two ferns hanging on our front porch. We discovered a nest in this one a week or two ago. This is what we saw today, when we watered it.
I wonder if we'll have babies?

Sadness

The mom's group I'm in has been touched by cancer again. One of the girls found out her husband has cancer yesterday, Melanoma and apparently it's progressed a fair amount. They have kids the same age as ours and have a very strong and loving relationship. I'm so sad for them, they've begun to travel down such a difficult road.

I'm not sure she'd want her name on my blog, but if you're the praying type please send a prayer up for this woman and her husband.

Our 15 seconds of fame

We went to a Fit Kids event at the local hospital today. It was sponsored by Cartoon Network, but it was all activities to get kids moving and was meant to educate about childhood obesity. Ryan had his picture taken by the local newspaper and I was interviewed by a local news station. The interview went something like this:

News Guy: How do you, as a mom, determine how much TVyour child watches?

Me: Well he watches a little when he first wakes up and some during the afternoon to chill out and rest, but other than that the expectation is that he play outside or do other things in the house.

News Guy: What does your son like to do outside?

Me: Ride his bike, ride his scooter, play in the pool, etc.

Some other random stuff and then Ryan has finished playing soccer so he gets in on the interview.

News Guy: Would you rather play on the computer and watch TV, or would you rather play outside.

Ryan: (after some thoughtful consideration) I'd rather play the computer and watch TV.

Awesome. Yes folks, another stellar mommy moment. I had to laugh. The whole point of the event was to get kids off their butts and outside playing.

News Guy: Well, that just shows what parents are up against, kids would rather sit and watch TV.

(I'm so glad we got to be an example of that.)

News Guy: What do you do to get your son outside.

Me: I plan a lot of things to get us out of the house and we attend events just like this.

Apparently it made it to the news and I missed it. Oh well, no need to live my disgrace twice. :)

As a side note, the event was small but really fun and they gave out sweet goodie bags with great water bottles for the kids. Too bad it was about a million degrees today, otherwise we might have stayed all day so Ryan could bowl and run through the obstacle course.

I just found the interview online, here's the link in case you're interested.
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8775888