my christmas. new years. new baby. birthday. mother's day. anniversary present.
for the next five years.
that's right. we bought a new-to-us car. my expedition. i love it! it's perfect for our family right now and we feel so blessed to be able to call it ours.
**update. jan. 6th. i had my doctor's appointment at 2:45 today. i'm dialated to 2 now and thinned out even more. he's not going to try to stop labor now that i'm close to 37 weeks. which means, NO MORE BEDREST! although my body only allows me to do so much still. i go back to see him friday morning to do an ultrasound and to check me again. i have to monitor my contractions though and when i start having 12-15 an hour, i go to the hospital. he bet his paycheck that i'd have her before next tuesday, so we're holding him to that. the plan is to eat some mexican food and walk the mall for a little while tonight. tomorrow, i plan on cleaning. we'll see what happens. maybe tomorrow i'll actually update my blog with birthday, christmas, and new years stuff.
**update. jan. 2nd. i woke up this morning having contractions every 4 minutes. pretty painful ones at that. i waited 3 hours. still contracting. called labor and delivery b/c my doctor is out of town today. lucky me. they said to come in. checked me. put me on iv and pain meds and let me take a nap. checked me again. no change. go home and continue to rest. i'm not going back there until my water breaks! so i'm home again. still contracting. in pain. but we're alive and well.
i am only 36 weeks, so there is still time for the baby to cook, but the doc said i won't make it another 7 days, if that. they gave me steroid shots in my back-side to help the baby's lungs.
this last week and a half have been quite interesting around here and i have lots of blogs to post, but until then ... i went to the hospital monday with contractions and back pain. turns out, we almost had a baby! i had a bad bladder infection. so 3 days of hospital, i'm home this morning.
still having contractions, but not progressing much as of yet. i'm at 1+cm and 50%. so we're waiting. most likely, i'll have a baby in the next 7 days. we'll keep you posted.
christmas with a 2 year old. need i say more?
christmas eve found us at my parents' house in san antonio. tradition. i love tradition. full of family. full of joy. full of fun. and i look forward to it every single year. this year was different for us because, although karsyn is only 2, she understood more this time. she didn't quite get why people were taking gifts from each other though. my family does a gift exchange game. she wanted a huge yellow toolbox that was going around. what in the world would we do with that? she ended up with a chocolate milk mixer and a load of chocolate to go with it. maybe we should have stuck with the tool box. every 2 year old's dream, right?
my sweet grandfather made karsyn a cradle for her babies. i think it was one of her favorites and there is always a baby sleeping in it. she's even tried to lay in there herself.
christmas day. rudolph came to visit. what? you see, karsyn is afraid of santa. so when we told her santa was going to come see her, she flipped out. very traumatic. so, rudolph came. she was happy, until she saw that rudolph drank all the milk. he needed more the next morning.
christmas morning, we headed back to our house to have christmas with david's parents. our child is a little spoiled, needless to say. or very well blessed. whichever way you look at it.
today. my baby is TWO. so hard to believe. i'm going to surpass the mushy gooshy stuff though and fill you in on the events of the day.
the preparation started the night before. after she was snug in bed, we hung streamers on her door and blew up balloons until we were blue in the face. there were actually only 12 balloons i think, but when you are 9 months pregnant, there's only so much breath to use.
morning came. when she woke up, we bolted in, scaring her half to death probably. singing. "happy birthday to you. happy birthday to you. happy birthday to karsyn. happy birthday to you!" we threw the balloons in her bed and clapped. she was so excited.
and the first words out of her mouth, you ask? "birthday cake?" we feasted on waffles with whipped cream and sprinkles and TWO powdered donuts with TWO candles. we sang again and blew the candles out. i think we blew candles out 10 times before breakfast.
for lunch we ventured to the land of the unknown for us. chuck-e-cheese. never been. it was fun. karsyn had a blast. we had a few friends join us for the festivities. although the giant mouse scared her, as a mouse that size would scare any human, she blew the candle out again and went on her way. riding the carousel a million times.
i think it was a good birthday for her. if only our birthdays lasted.
dear sweet baby,
i just put you to bed for the last time as a one year old. yes, i cried. what did you expect? you are just growing up way too fast for my heart to bear. i knew your first year went by so quickly, but this year has literally flown by. i blinked. and now, tomorrow, you'll wake up a big two year old. your daddy and i absolutely love every little thing about you and are so thankful that God has allowed us these past two years to be your parents. i can only imagine what the rest of our lives together is going to be like.
i love the relationship we have. you are certainly a mommy's girl, but really enjoy your playtime with daddy. you love your daddy so much and i completely understand that love. i enjoy watching the two of you play together so much. you light up when he drives up every evening and squeal as loud as you can when he chases you down the hall. i think my favorite is watching you climb in your pink tub and ask daddy to play airplane. you fly through the house a top speed and laugh the entire time.
i love that i am able to spend every day with you. i'm so thankful to get to watch you grow and see what your mind has brewing throughout each day. i wouldn't trade our days for the world. and, should i mention your love for target. it's always been my favorite store, but recently, when you see a target store you say "i wuv taget". lights up my world every time, although i don't take you there by myself because you are quite a handful in stores.
i love how you are super independent right now and constantly say "i do it." at the same time, you love having "mommy help you." i love watching the things you can do and am amazed every day at something new that you've done. you especially want to put your own shoes on. everyday. and you put them on the right feet too, which amazes everyone. you have your mommy's perfectionist personality as well. everything has to be just so and you get terribly mad if it isn't exact.
i love to tell daddy each day what you learned just while he was at work. right now, you are really learning your abc's. one day, you belted them out "a b c b (mumbling...) l m n o p q r s (more mumbling...)". it's so cute. you also know how to sing "twinkle twinkle" but it has to be your idea to sing it. singing and dancing is one of your most favorite things to do and always has been. anytime you hear music, you dance.
i love your imagination. your favorite thing to do is play with your babies. i'm hoping this is leading up to you being a great big sister, which i know you will be. you play with your babies from morning til night every day. we take a baby with us everywhere we go too. you enjoy feeding your babies and putting them night night and you must make sure everyone is quiet so the baby can sleep. your imagination blows my mind every day.
i love how you use your manners. you are constantly saying "thank you" and "excuse me" and sometimes we get a "please". although you don't use your sign language much anymore, there's really no need for it because your words are spoken so clearly. it is such a blessing to know that you use your manners and you actually know when to use them. you have such a sweet and tender side and you give great hugs and kisses. boy do i love your hugs. that extra pat on the back always makes me smile.
i love your passion for things. you LOVE football, or "hutball" as you call it. i guess this love came from going to daddy's football games. you get excited when you see "hutball" on tv or anywhere we go. that makes daddy really happy too! and elmo is tops right now too. anything elmo rocks your world.
you are my favorite two year old ever. i love who you are and what you have brought to our family. i love how the Lord uses you to teach me daily and i absolutely love being your mommy.
happy 2nd birthday, karsyn layne!
xoxo
mommy
{here is a picture of our family the day you were born. what a blessing you are}
{my favorite picture (and outfit) of you }
{ here's you getting ready for your first birthday }
{ and here's you just a few weeks ago. almost TWO }
see the little floating baby on the side again? today it reads 34 weeks. today my belly measured 37 weeks and the doctor uttered those sweet words. "you will not make it to your due date!"
hallelujah! praise the Lord!
he did say that she's a big baby and we're on close monitoring at this point. my iron level was "borderline transfusion" low. 8.9 if that means anything to you. so more "diet" talk was in store. how much more can i "watch my diet" and how many more words can i put "quotations" around in this post?
anyways. we're watching these small contractions i'm having and doing lots of resting. good news is that i can travel for christmas. off to san antonio we will go.
i cannot count on one hand the number of women i saw today that just knew i was due any day. you should see the shock on their faces when i tell them that i'm not actually due until january 29th. oh the looks on their faces. even the ones that just knew i'm having twins. i don't think i'm THAT big, but i assure you i look that tired. miserable is a better word for it i think.
so stay on your toes folks. we could have a new year's baby, but i'm betting on the first week of january. i'd be fine with tomorrow though. my legs are shaved and my toes are painted fresh.
i finished the laundry. one goal completed.
today's frustration. retail stores. i made my trek earlier to my beloved store with the bullseye, where the workers mosey around in red shirts and khaki pants. you know the place. i'm sure it's your favorite too.
to my disbelief, what did i see? valentine's day apparel. oh yes. love was in the air alright.
to make matters worse. in the toddler section there was a rack of swimsuits. now i know not that many people go to cancun for christmas. why on earth would they be selling swimsuits ALREADY?
if they'd only let the seasons be the seasons.
now, on with my day.
at my house. it's laundry. period. end of story.
so, what do you get when you cross toddler clothing and a mom who STILL doesn't know what she's doing?
ME. you get me. you get my laundry room.
oh, and a pile of stained toddler clothing. most of which was only worn once.
bleh.
since i hate doing laundry, it's a simple task for me. throw it in. let it spin. get it out. and hope my favorite man puts it all up.
now i'm stuck with a handful of karsyn's clothes that have measly stains on them. i've sprayed some of them with oxy stain remover stuff. didn't work. i think they may have set too long.
what's the solution, oh ye moms-who've-done-this-a-million-times-before? do i need to just get off my duff and pretreat them before i wash them? is there still hope for these articles of clothing that i only bought because they were stinkin' cute and cheap.
also, the whites ... i think i'll just bleach them. is that right?
oh, how far i still need to go.
and today ... it snowed. WHAT?!?!
just a little bit of history here. it doesn't snow in our part of texas. if we do see a little white stuff, it usually melts before it hits the ground, but today was a different story. we woke up this morning to some flurries. enough to make the ground a little powdery looking.
fast forward to 3pm today. karsyn had just woke up from her nap and i noticed that it had started snowing again, which is REALLY hard to believe. i put her only jacket on and took her out to see. this was her first reaction ...
she quickly got into it and realized that the snow tasted pretty good. i can't imagine something that fell onto anything outside would taste good, but she probably ate enough to make a snowman. every other picture i got is of her licking the snow off of her fingers.
the stuff that fell on the front of my car must have tasted really good. she ate most of it.
by the time my favorite man got home from work, the snow was really falling. we went to the backyard to play on the trampoline, which was COVERED.
and here's my favorite man's poor attempt at a snowman and karsyn about to kick it over because of it's lack of shape. can you tell we don't do this very often?
seriously? what is that? well, here's what my favorite man thought of my comments.
he knew i couldn't run fast.
here's our house.
and by 5:30pm, this is what our trampoline looked like. and my poor baby with socks on her hands. we don't buy mittens here. ok, some people do, but i didn't really think it would actually snow. her little fingers were so cold. the socks worked wonders.
sunday, we celebrated karsyn's 2nd birthday. early. her birthday isn't until the 22nd. but our schedule only allowed that day for a party. we had it at my grandparent's house since all of my family is there. we had a blast. here are some pictures from the day.
since the party was "two, two sweet" we had a table full of candy. it was a big hit!
my sweet girl wouldn't eat her cake without a fork. she doesn't like messy fingers!
and her cake was a little puppy dog, if you can't tell.
off to play hoops while eating her lollipop.
it certainly was a "two, two sweet" party. she got so many wonderful gifts and loves them all. thank you so much to karsyn's wonderful family.
i made a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. my goal is to complete all of them. some are big. some are small. but all are do-able.
starting tomorrow. december 9, 2008. 1001 days later. september 8, 2011.
1. have baby #2.
2. walk for a cause.
3. move closer to my parents.
4. use my treadmill 4 times a week for a month.
5. go on a trip with my best girl friend.
6. finish all the laundry in one day, twice a week for a month. (it usually takes me all week long).
7. watch a movie in a theatre.
8. make freezer meals to last a whole month.
9. finish karsyn and mykah's baby books.
10. go on a picnic.
11. buy a double jogging stroller.
12. go to a concert.
13. have a girls weekend with old friends.
14. potty train karsyn.
15. throw a dart at a map and go there.
16. build a sand castle.
17. have a bonfire.
18. get karsyn into her "big girl" bed.
19. go to a zoo we haven't been to.
20. eat breakfast every day for a week.
21. make one new "couple" friend.
22. become a coffee drinker.
23. take a yoga class.
24. get a safe-deposit box and use it.
25. get a manicure.
26. get a pedicure.
27. buy a new car.
28. update the family photo.
29. experience the day after thanksgiving shopping.
30. call a friend i do not normally see once a month for a year. (0/12)
31. organize all of my recipes.
32. learn how to sew.
33. buy a fire extinguisher.
34. make my bed in the morning. 50 times. (0/50)
35. donate blood.
36. learn something new in photoshop.
37. try three new foods in a month.
38. handwrite a letter to someone special.
39. buy a pair of shoes that i love.
40. lay in the sun on a white sandy beach.
41. enter a photography contest.
42. run a 5k.
43. bake an apple pie.
44. drink 3 glasses of water a day for a month. (0/31)
45. run a half marathon.
46. hand wash my car 3 times during the year. (0/3)
47. go see snow during Christmas break.
48. make a big deal out of valentine's day. not my favorite holiday.
49. visit a dermatologist.
50. mail birthday cards to family on time for a year.
51. organize the attic.
52. get my teeth whitened.
53. make dinner for friends.
54. get a massage.
55. run a marathon.
56. update my cpr certification.
57. get a facial.
58. get a library card.
59. pay off one credit card.
60. organize, print, and back up all photographs.
61. don't eat chocolate for two week.
62. actually send out family christmas cards.
63. shop online.
64. create and stick to a budget.
65. make 5 desserts from scratch. (0/5)
66. have a party.
67. keep a plant alive for one month.
68. bake cookies for someone.
69. give someone an annonymous gift.
70. start a summer family tradition.
71. buy a pair of sunglasses i actually love.
72. find the perfect tote/purse. does it exist?
73. donate to a good cause.
74. determine my career. for after the kids go to school.
75. sell something i created on etsy.
76. get weight down to 150 (or below) and keep it there.
77. purchase entire willow tree nativity set.
78. make a homemade pizza.
79. run through a sprinkler.
80. buy a new camera and lens.
81. have a family bbq.
82. start a collection.
83. buy new bedding.
84. stick to my weekly cleaning schedule for a month.
85. ride my bike once a week for a two months. (0/8)
86. take a real vacation with my favorite man.
87. make a time capsule to open in 10 years.
88. go for one month without drinking soda. (0/31)
89. stay home for one whole month without traveling.
90. beat hubby at guitar hero.
91. take a nap every sunday afternoon for a month. (0/5)
92. take every medicine and vitamin i'm supposed to daily for 6 weeks. (0/30)
93. take girls to swim lessons.
94. go 72 hours without using the computer @ home.
95. subscribe to a magazine only for me.
96. go do a disney on ice production.
97. surprise my favorite man.
98. host a game night.
99. attend my 10 year class reunion.
100. take a real family vacation as soon as both girls can enjoy it.
101. go on another cruise with my favorite man.
because i'm slow at downloading pictures, i'll post about karsyn's first 2nd birthday party from this past weekend ... tomorrow?
for now, i made a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. i will post the list below, but also create a link on my sidebar to keep track of when i complete each task.
my goal is to complete all of them. some are big. some small. but all are do-able.
starting tomorrow. december 9, 2008. 1001 days later. september 8, 2011.
1. have baby #2.
2. walk for a cause.
3. move closer to my parents.
4. use my treadmill 4 times a week for a month.
5. go on a trip with my best girl friend.
6. finish all the laundry in one day, twice a week for a month. (it usually takes me all week long).
7. watch a movie in a theatre.
8. make freezer meals to last a whole month.
9. finish karsyn and mykah's baby books.
10. go on a picnic.
11. buy a double jogging stroller.
12. go to a concert.
13. have a girls weekend with old friends.
14. potty train karsyn.
15. throw a dart at a map and go there.
16. build a sand castle.
17. have a bonfire.
18. get karsyn into her "big girl" bed.
19. go to a zoo we haven't been to.
20. eat breakfast every day for a week.
21. make one new "couple" friend.
22. become a coffee drinker.
23. take a yoga class.
24. get a safe-deposit box and use it.
25. get a manicure.
26. get a pedicure.
27. buy a new car.
28. update the family photo.
29. experience the day after thanksgiving shopping.
30. call a friend i do not normally see once a month for a year. (0/12)
31. organize all of my recipes.
32. learn how to sew.
33. buy a fire extinguisher.
34. make my bed in the morning. 50 times. (0/50)
35. donate blood.
36. learn something new in photoshop.
37. try three new foods in a month.
38. handwrite a letter to someone special.
39. buy a pair of shoes that i love.
40. lay in the sun on a white sandy beach.
41. enter a photography contest.
42. run a 5k.
43. bake an apple pie.
44. drink 3 glasses of water a day for a month. (0/31)
45. run a half marathon.
46. hand wash my car 3 times during the year. (0/3)
47. go see snow during Christmas break.
48. make a big deal out of valentine's day. not my favorite holiday.
49. visit a dermatologist.
50. mail birthday cards to family on time for a year.
51. organize the attic.
52. get my teeth whitened.
53. make dinner for friends.
54. get a massage.
55. run a marathon.
56. update my cpr certification.
57. get a facial.
58. get a library card.
59. pay off one credit card.
60. organize, print, and back up all photographs.
61. don't eat chocolate for two week.
62. actually send out family christmas cards.
63. shop online.
64. create and stick to a budget.
65. make 5 desserts from scratch. (0/5)
66. have a party.
67. keep a plant alive for one month.
68. bake cookies for someone.
69. give someone an annonymous gift.
70. start a summer family tradition.
71. buy a pair of sunglasses i actually love.
72. find the perfect tote/purse. does it exist?
73. donate to a good cause.
74. determine my career. for after the kids go to school.
75. sell something i created on etsy.
76. get weight down to 150 (or below) and keep it there.
77. purchase entire willow tree nativity set.
78. make a homemade pizza.
79. run through a sprinkler.
80. buy a new camera and lens.
81. have a family bbq.
82. start a collection.
83. buy new bedding.
84. stick to my weekly cleaning schedule for a month.
85. ride my bike once a week for a two months. (0/8)
86. take a real vacation with my favorite man.
87. make a time capsule to open in 10 years.
88. go for one month without drinking soda. (0/31)
89. stay home for one whole month without traveling.
90. beat hubby at guitar hero.
91. take a nap every sunday afternoon for a month. (0/5)
92. take every medicine and vitamin i'm supposed to daily for 6 weeks. (0/30)
93. take girls to swim lessons.
94. go 72 hours without using the computer @ home.
95. subscribe to a magazine only for me.
96. go do a disney on ice production.
97. surprise my favorite man.
98. host a game night.
99. attend my 10 year class reunion.
100. take a real family vacation as soon as both girls can enjoy it.
101. go on another cruise with my favorite man.
tonight my eyes are filled with tears as i prepare for karsyn's 2nd birthday party. her actual birthday isn't until the 22nd, but we have to have her party a few weeks early.
my baby is turning two. i wish i could make time stand still just for a while longer. it's like within the blink of an eye she grew up. and oh how i love her so much.
i just don't want to see her grow up. that's all.
before i even had karsyn i had my mind set on my children not watching tv. i'm certainly not into characters and we don't sport character clothing. i wanted my child's knowledge to come from other sources besides tv. and i certainly didn't want their days to be filled with nothing but tv.
well. times change, so they say. karsyn never has been a tv watcher until recently. and i have to admit that it's all my fault. its so easy to put blue's clues on and have her occupied for 30 minutes at a time. and until today, we have only watched the Noggin channel, which is geared towards preschoolers. she enjoys it. but i still don't want it to be what she does all day long, even though, at this point in this pregnancy, i wouldn't mind a whole day of karsyn watching tv and me sleeping.
and we just started watching dvd's on long trips. elmo has become her favorite. she watches the same elmo movie every time and wants nothing else. so today was the day. i decided that we would try watching ...
as i turned it on, she shouted "ELMO!" much to my dismay, elmo has become her favorite character. guess it could be worse. she does know who dora is, but doesn't make special requests for her just yet. and to make it even better, today, elmo was playing football, or "hutball" as karsyn calls it.
her jaw dropped.
elmo and football. what more could a girl want?!?
as my little ticker says off to the right of the page, i'm 32 weeks today.
how do i feel though? like i've been pregnant for a lifetime and this growth inside of me is going to be a permanent fixture if it stays much longer. if you've been pregnant, you know how i feel. there comes a point when you just throw up your hands and shout "i'm done!" i proclaimed my feelings about my pregnancy to the doctor this morning and he laughed. typical man.
32 weeks. low iron. only gained ONE pound in the last 2 weeks. i've only gained 19 pounds total so far. and i return to see that lovely man again in 2 weeks. and I'M DONE. i'm tired. my body hurts. and chasing a 2 year old is NOT fun anymore.
"but it's all worth it in the end"
that's my pregnancy complaining for today. thank you.
hallelujah!
the unthinkable has actually happened in the hill house. karsyn no longer wants asks for needs her bottle. it all started a few weeks ago. she bit a big hole in it and would no longer drink anything out of it because it came out too fast. she was sure to drown herself if she tried. i simply explained to her that she broke it and we couldn't fix it. the hole got bigger and bigger. she spit out pieces of it daily. until finally, it was too small to even suck on.
she'll say "hut happened to it? oh, it boke." ok, so she still wants to hold it when she goes down for a nap or bed, BUT it's a big improvement, right?
AND ... BEFORE she turned 2!
hallelujah!
and here she is. my BIG girl. sampling all of the baby supplies we dug out. she's tried on each bib. tested each bottle, although we threw away all of the avent ones, which were her favorite. and even used the monitors as phones. everything seems to check out ok. and look at those size 7 feet there.
i'm here. alive and well. blogging just hasn't been on my to do list lately. even if it was, it probably wouldn't get done, like everything else around here. let's just say that i'm ready to NOT be pregnant and to get back to feeling normal again.
i'll be 32 weeks on thursday and have another check up that day as well. the diabetes thing is going ok. i tend to have low sugar now though because i'm being really careful with what i eat. so i'm trying to find a median in all of that. i do still have to the end of january to reach my due date, but i'm making bets that i have her several weeks before then. we'll see.
on another note ... i just added a few other posts at the same time, so keep scrolling down. and, here's a cute fall picture of karsyn.
karsyn has always been a chatterbox, but lately she is putting that jabbering into sentences. she's almost 2 years old and thinks she's 20 years old. she says ...
"where'd daddy go?"
"daddy, come find me"
"help, please?" (we've had to work on that one a lot)
"night, night baby" (she plays with her baby dolls constantly)
"we're home!"
"daddy at work"
"daddy home"
"eat breakfast"
"i wash it" (other than playing babies, her favorite thing to do is clean things with a rag)
"i cookin'"
"what happened to it?"
"it broke"
"excuse me"
"thank you"
"i don't know"
and so much more. oh it melts my heart to think of how fast she has already grown and where the next few years will take her. we're having her 2nd birthday party this weekend, but her actualy birthday isn't until the 22nd. so there will be lots of sappy, karsyn-is-growing-up-too-fast posts to come, i'm sure.
we pulled out the fisher price nativity scene this weekend and set it out for karsyn enjoy. since her favorite pasttime these days (other than watching football) is playing with babies, she immediately went for Baby Jesus. "ooohh" she said in her sweet little voice. "it's a baby!" i explained to her that it was Baby Jesus and she immediately caught on that that was His name. she carried Baby Jesus around with her for hours that day. i think at one point He was hanging out of the top of her diaper going for a walk with her. (she thinks her diaper is a pocket) she even laid down next to Him and pretended to take a nap.
"excuse me, Jesus", she said so politely as she laid down next to Him on a blanket.
oh, the innocence of a child.
for whatever reason, i took ZERO pictures of our thanksgiving. i've been slacking, big time. i feel sorry for karsyn these days as mommy only does what needs to be done and not too much more.
thanksgiving for us was spent at my parents house in san antonio. there was about 50 of us there i believe. it's such an exciting time to get to see the whole family at once. but boy were we tired by the end of the day. karsyn ate her share of turkey and ham and licked all the marshmallows off of her sweet potatoes. she also got lots of play time with cousin noah.
speaking of noah ... he was thankful that he's going to be a BIG BROTHER! my cousin is due in july. they made the announcement at lunch that day and everyone was super excited.
the day ended with the aggie football game. sigh.
wednesday i had my three hour glucose test. i F.A.I.L.E.D miserably. so i have gestational diabetes. i've been bummed since then because i didn't want to have to think about what i was eating at all. that's not supposed to happen until AFTER baby is born, right? and exercise too? i thought my daily chasing-karsyn-picking-up-constantly was enough exercise. now i have to fit in a 30 minute walk each day. (note: yesterday that walk was through the isles of target ... today it will be INSIDE on my treadmill because it's too stinkin' cold out there).
so those THREE hours sitting in the waiting room were quite interesting. other than wanting to eat my own arm from fasting since 8pm the night before, i was able to sit and listen to people. yes, i was nosey, but they were talking quite loud. and i'm a people watcher, so it was right up my alley anyways.
the one i found most interesting (other than the 60-something year old man and 20-something year old girl who were having a baby) was two elderly sisters that came in together. i left there feeling like i knew them all my life. like they were next of kin. and they talked to anyone and everyone that sat around them. i quietly giggled everytime someone new came in and sat in the seats by them because i knew they were going to get an ear-ful. but it was such sweet conversation. these two sisters are just two of 15 children in their family. only 8 of them still live today, but they were so blessed by such a big family they say. and they went on to have big families of their own. one of them had 5 children. named donnie, lonnie, ronnie, jonnie, and one girl named connie. isn't that silly? i laughed as she told that story two or three times and she said their names so fast it was like a tongue twister almost. and she had absolutely no reason for naming them that way except that she liked it.
and the stories they got from others was just as interesting. there was a man and woman coming to find out the sex of their baby. their third baby, that is. their third baby BOY. we all got to celebrate with them as they just beemed. those two elderly sisters acted as if it was going to be their next grandchild. there was hugs flying. congrats being thrown everywhere.
the next couple brought their 4 year old daughter with them. they were expecting their 4th. another girl. that little girl talked to the sisters like she knew them all her life, but she told stories of her daddy taking her on boat rides and how much fun they have together. i just smiled. i hope karsyn is able to tell stories like that someday. her words of her daddy were so sweetly spoken.
i left there at noon that day, not only starving, but enlightened almost. those sisters had such kind words for everyone that crossed their path and i learned a lifetime of tales that they had experienced. oh, what you can learn in a waiting room ...
today.
my mom. my best friend. my hero. my mentor. turns 50.
and i can't be with her on this day, but we'll celebrate together next week.
and karsyn says "i wov woo nana"
50 reason "WE LOVE YOU"
i wish i could copy her blog post today.
it's so ME too.
unmotivated.
it's cold outside and nothing but a nice fire would just make my day.
well, that and a sugary cupcake. i have my 3 hour glucose test on wednesday though, so i'll stick with the fire.
i'm thinking about doing a home project and adding a fireplace myself.
hmm ... probably not the smartest idea.
until then, i'll enjoy the picture of hers.
i have my to-do list too. it's sitting there.
untouched. unmarked. un-scratched-off.
good thing i labeled it "to do this week" and not "to do today".
i have PLENTY of time.
**UPDATE: my doctor's appointment went ... not so well. my sugar was up to 199. evidently it's supposed to be around 140. i'm also measuring 34 weeks instead of the 29 that i am. that's a whole month ahead of schedule. WHAT?!?! i have to really, really, really watch my sugar intake and exercise every day. i go back next wednesday for the three hour test and to re-evaluate things. pray for baby and that she stays put for several more weeks and that i can gain control of my sugar levels. guess i'll have to bypass that cupcake afterall.
watching it go right into my mouth, that is.
i'm 28 weeks now and with that appointment is the dreaded glucose test. i failed the first one with karsyn and had to take the looooooong three hour test. luckily i passed that one, but to prepare this time, my doctor told me to start watching my sugars. actually, his exact words were "cut the sugars out completely in order to prevent failing the first test".
so tell me, how do i CUT the sugars if i CRAVE the sugars? i haven't done well watching my sugars to prepare for my appointment tomorrow morning. yes ... TOMORROW! these past few days i've been more careful, but let me tell you, i so want to eat this right now ...
my child can speak pretty clearly now and is absolutely hilarious. i'm just going to share with you a few of my favorites today though.
first of all, how bad it is that my child who isn't even two yet can spot a target store and get more excited than me? she screams "TAGET!" as loud as she can as she points to it.
today she has said "daddy hutball" all day. this comes after i told her we were going to daddy's football game tonight. this girl loves football.
and lastly, the funniest by far. i bought her some, what i call, feety pajamas. i'm sure you know what i'm talking about. karsyn says they are socks, so we call them socky jammies. jammies is obviously our word for pajamas. in karsyn words, however, they are "sessy mommies". you sound it out. i laugh every time.
when karsyn was born, i had a wooden rocking chair in her room. not recommended. this time, i was determined to have something comfortable to sit in for those middle of the night feedings. and i found one! snagged me a glider and ottoman from a consignment sale at the brazos center a few months ago.
it's not cute at all, however, it's oh-so-comfortable. i need to get the cushions recovered. can anyone help me with this? i can do the ottoman because that just pulls down and staples underneath, but the cushions? sewing is not my cup of tea.
so if you know of someone i can take it to for a recover, that'd be great!
not a big fan of halloween here. never have been, don't plan on changing. BUT fall certainly is my favorite time of year. we went to a few fall festivals at our church and one other church, a fall festival at mother's day out, and karsyn sported her costume to daddy's football game on friday. that was the extent of our halloween. we have two uncarved pumpkins on our front porch and came home with no candy. i just can't get into it.
my little pumpkin made it worthwhile though.
i make my child sound like a horrible kid. she's actually really good. a typical toddler. the toddler bed transition is going really well. we have a video monitor set up in her room so we can watch her. it's so stinking funny to watch her run from the door to her bed when she hears us coming. hilarious. what's not hilarious is her 6am wake up time this morning. she sure did get out of bed and climb in with me.
anyways, another struggle we're having is sitting down to eat. while i've always made her sit to eat, she's gotten into the bad habit of having her snacks in the living room, which has turned into her not wanting to have meals at the table. so i'm working on making mealtime, especially dinner, more interesting to her. any ideas on how to do that? i want to find her a plastic placemat that she likes, but i haven't looked many places yet. how do i get her to sit down while she eats again?
in case you are wondering, we do not go out to eat either. if we do, it is to a quick place and still not very often.
oh how i love that the seasons have changed and that fall is here. this is my favorite time of year. i, however, seem to be in a different season of life right now. i know i'm pregnant, maybe that's it. i'm in a funk right now and absolutely cannot seem to get on top of things.
don't get me wrong, i love karsyn and just being a mom. i love that i'm about to be a mom to two little girls. my favorite man is my best friend. he's super understanding, supportive, and involved. but it seems as though i can't get past this monster called life right now - cooking. cleaning. laundry. playing with karsyn. groceries. it seems as though the minute i get the dishes put away and a new load washing, karsyn has syrup fingers on the tv, spilled her "straw drink" as she calls it, and is trying to clean it up with her feety pajamas.
these certainly are the most exhausting and hardest of my life, but, at the same time, i know most of you have also gone through this and come out alive. and have done it more than once now. sometimes i feel so defeated, so overwhelmed, so incapable, and like such a failure on every level of my "job". the housework. mothering. cooking. laundry. quiet time. money. etc. etc. etc.
through all of these failures, there is a light that i do see that makes it all worth it. my child knows she is loved. she is healthy. she laughs. she explores and learns daily. my husband knows i love him. i am faithful to him. we laugh together. he's patient with me, just like the laundry is.
if only i could just get ahead for one day. so i pray that this season i am in moves on. and soon. i'm ready for the next season of my life, but i'm pretty sure i want fall to stick around for a while longer.
i'm not going to get all political here ... well, because that's just not me, BUT ...
did you?
karsyn and i spend all last week at my parent's house in san antonio so i could nurse my back and get some rest. karsyn was sick most of the time, but is doing better today. my back is better as well, but i'm still taking it easy.
it was a week well worth it. my sister was there every day to help with karsyn and when the troops came home from work each day, she had plenty of play mates. i so missed my favorite man though and we are so glad to be back at home.
i've been feeling lots of pressure lately and some cramping, but i think everything is going good with the baby. we're on the downhill slide of things, but not slowing down a bit. football season is almost over, which brings on basketball. i'm thrilled to attend my favorite man's games in air conditioning. then it's all the holidays, karsyn's birthday, the new year, and a new baby. hopefully in that order.
so it's back to life for me this week. trying to get back to our so loved routine.
here's a super cute picture of karsyn and her sweet friend, julie (aka ju ju). she lives next door and is one month younger than karsyn. they play all the time and fight like sisters. as you can tell, they picked out their outfits for the day.
on another note ... we had a not-so-exciting weekend, worth blogging about. friday night, karsyn and i ventured to my favorite man's football game. when we were leaving, i decided to be "fun mommy" and throw karsyn up in the air. my back was already weak from sitting in uncomfortable bleachers, and when i caught her, i felt immediate pain. so the rest of the weekend, i've been nursing a hurt back along with everything else. hey, i never said i was smart. i won't be doing it again though, that's for sure.
saturday, after i rolled myself out of bed and cried because it hurt, karsyn woke up with fever. she's been sick ever since. we did go to the doctor today and she has a viral infection and we basically have to let it run its course. she's been miserable all weekend and it so sad to see her little face, red-eyes and all. it was a perfect weekend for her to be sick though because when she doesn't feel good and has fever, she wants nothing more than for mommy to hold her. all day. which is all i could do anyways.
we were supposed to work the church nursery as well. we had already rescheduled and then couldn't make it because of all of our ailments. what a lazy weekend it was. pray for our recovery. my favorite man is probably ready to go back to work. and i don't blame him.
i have read/heard way to many stories lately of mom's going into labor or showing signs of early deliver around 25-26 weeks. story after story after story comes to me of this same situation. i'm starting to get a little worried here, but right now, at just over 25 weeks, me and baby are healthy. i am just so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with overall healthy pregnancies (other than the always-heard-of pains and nausea).
one story i just read is from today. a mom in beaumont. she already has a little girl about karsyn's age and is 26 weeks pregnant with her 2nd. her baby is just fine, but her cervix is showing signs that she'll deliver soon. she's going to women's hospital in houston to be on bedrest until the baby arrives. they are hoping to hold out for 6 weeks. what?!?!?! SIX WEEKS of being in bed ... at a hospital ... without your other child that is at home? i cannot imagine.
please pray for her. she says she has a heavy heart right now just thinking about the next possible three months of being without her daughter every day. she's relying on the Lord to carry her through this. i cannot even come close to imagining me being in her situation.
although i did hurt my back this evening being stupid with my own child and will regret that for the rest of the weekend. pray for my back. being pregnant and throwing a 30 pound two year old in the air isn't smart. what was i thinking?!?
i found this website today. she's giving away a fabulous quilt she made herself. go there and enter to win. it's beautiful! this picture is straight from her blog. if you win, i get half. :)
this is a random update, but at least it's something, right?
*i had my 24 week appointment today. everything was great. the baby is measuring right on track and my iron went back up. my next appointment is the sugar test for gestational diabetes. i failed the first one with karsyn and had to take the long three hour test. this time he told me i had to diet and exercise to prevent failing the first one. so, no more sweets. limit my fruit. drink lots of water and walk 30 minutes a day. after that, i'll start going every two weeks. we're on the downhill slide now, folks.
*i was just watching "little people, big world" on tv and it struck a cord. if my family was going to be on tv just once, much less a whole season or two or three, my house would be clean. i just want to go find where they leave and clean for them. holy cow. the clutter. hmmm ... i wonder if they'd pay me to come organize their house for them. what an idea! i love to clean and organize other people's spaces.
*karsyn is nearing age 2. i have said before that the terrible two's really refers to the two years between ages 1 and 3. she's at prime time right now. just trust me. she is learning manners though and doing mighty fine at it. she says "excuse me, excuse me" if someone is in her way. and she does say "please" and "thank you" regularly.
*on cleaning my own house ... i'm not quite in the nesting phase of pregnancy yet, but i'm getting there. i so badly want my house to be fresh and clean, but have no motivation to get it there myself. i can get one room clean at a time, but i'm not real sure when the last time was that the whole house was clean in one day. does that even happen? is it even possible?
tonight karsyn went to friday night out at our church. david had a football game. me? i stayed home and worked on karsyn's baby book. yes, i am about to have another child and i have yet to finish my first child's baby book. the book from the first year of her life and she's about to turn two.
so, snapfish, meet erin. erin, snapfish.
i spent two hours of my evening going through karsyn's baby book to figure out which pictures i needed prints of, uploading them to snapfish (thanks to AW), and ordering prints of them. i generously ordered 122 prints and it was so easy. they'll arrive at my house in just a few days. so worth it. and i got to take a trip down memory lane looking at pictures from the moment she was born to her first birthday. my how she has grown.
here are a few shots for your viewing pleasure.
my sweet karsyn, how fast you have grown and it melts my heart to think of you growing up even more. my heart has doubled since you came into my life and i thank God every day for blessing me with you. all my love every day.
xoxo
mommy
i never officially announced that the baby's name will be spelled
mYkah reese.
at first i spelled it with an "i" instead of a "y". so there you go.
you know i'm a listmaker, so here's my list of things to do before the new baby arrives in january. we have approximately 16 weeks if she actually arrives on her due date. karsyn came two weeks early, so we're anxious to see when this one is born.
*get out newborn clothes, socks, bibs, burp cloths, and any other newborn gear
*order nursery bedding
*get dayna to decorate nursery too :)
*get play yard from mother in law
*buy swing and teach karsyn that it's not for her
*wash newborn clothes
*get infant carrier out of attic
*organize baby closet and dresser
*decide what bottles i will use this time. i dislike avent bottles. we used those with karsyn and they seem to leak. i have little patience for leaky bottles when you have a screaming, hungry baby.
*decide on a double stroller. is it necessary? do i want a double jogging stroller? will i use a jogging stroller enough for the price? what about a sit and stand stroller?
*plan and execute karsyn's 2nd birthday in december
*try NOT to grow as huge as a hippo in the next 16 weeks. i think i've gained 10 lbs so far. ugh. i feel as big as the side of a barn already.
i saw this picture online this morning and it made me crave freshness.
or maybe it was the cool, crisp morning air as karsyn and i made our visit to target. when we came back inside after enjoying the air, i gasped. the house was so musty compared to the outside air. not so cool and crisp. i opened windows quicker than ever before. i wanted to let that freshness in.
isn't this a topic that should be blogged about in spring? maybe that picture should be fall leaves. whatever the picture is, i'm liking the morning weather these days. cool and crisp.
now to clean my house and bring the outside in before it gets hot and i have to close the windows to turn on the AC. oh, how i love texas.
any ideas on how to make the inside as fresh as the outside?
this is why we have kids. so we can train them to clean and mow.
i always thought of mowing as such a chore, but karsyn actually enjoyed it. check back in about 10 years to see if that excitement is still there.
first off, i will admit that one of these wouldn't be an obstacle if i would have delt with it earlier in the year. enough about me and my faults. let's continue with the story ...
in preparation for the new baby, karsyn is in need of some upgrading, updating, moving, growing up, whatever you want to call it. i don't think i like "growing up", but we could call it adjusting. preparing. whatever, you get the idea.
here are the things we need to work on. although not a necessity, it would be easier after the baby comes if karsyn did the things soon.
yes, embarassingly i admit that karsyn still takes a bottle before nap and bed. with water. but still. does anyone else have an almost 2 year old with this habit? i guess it's no worse than a pacifier, right? i can't bring myself to take it away from her, or maybe it's because it's so dang easy to give it to her. almost like a switch. she takes her bottle and automatically goes to sleep. it'll probably be harder on me than on her to take it away. does this categorize me as a bad mom?
ok, so i know a lot of kids stay in their baby bed until they can climb out of it. karsyn stays in hers, but the new baby will need a place to sleep too. we have a toddler bed, but karsyn cries for her own bed. her baby bed. i can totally understand where she's coming from. i like my own bed too. thought about just buying a second baby bed. is that terrible? another easy way out. **thanks to my sweet friend, DN and her girls, we got the baby bed moved out of karsyn's room so we'll see how she takes to her toddler bed. she knows where it the baby bed is though! :)
this is one of those "we've tried, but she doesn't really care" kind of things. some people say to get her out of diapers before you have two in diapers. so, we have a potty. she knows. but she has no desire. and i don't think i'm in a big hurry.
we'll have our work cut out for us, that's for sure.
although karsyn is still too young to understand being a big sister or that mommy has a baby in her tummy, she does sport the big sister shirt quite well, i must say. this was taken right before our doctor's appointment when we found out we were having a girl. we bravely took karsyn with us and hoped she didn't destroy the doctor's office in the short time we'd be there.
when i took this picture, i said "show mommy your shirt!"
hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come. she chewed on her baby's hand most of that day.
i still haven't been able to scan the sonogram pictures and the video i took is still on my camera. i'm slacking i tell ya. i'm not on top of my game like i was when i was pregnant with karsyn.
