...he steals my heart every time...

How does he do it?

He can be so stubborn and ogre-ish.

But then he is so incredibly sweet and generous.  He loves to give away his "treats".  He is constantly wanting to hug his baby sister and get (and give) kisses.

The other day, we decorated the tree, put the garland and lights on the stair banisters, and hung the stockings.  That's as far as we got.  Last year, the boys - specifically Dustin - continually pulled the stockings off their hooks to stuff them with random toys and then hide them.  I was constantly going on stocking hunts, despite my reprimands to leave the stockings alone.

So this year, I gave the boys the "speech" about leaving the stockings alone again.

For a day and a half, they didn't move.  Daddy, Mommy, Joshua, Dustin, Meaghan, and Baby.  In that order.  Dustin was found at every spare moment "reading" the names on the stockings.

But then I noticed something... Meaghan's stocking was no longer next to the Baby's.  Hers is slightly different - bigger and fluffier on top - and so I noticed it pretty readily.  It took all of about 2 seconds to realize what had happened, and I didn't even have to go read the rest of the stockings.

You see, Dustin is in love with Baby Wooton.  (Remember, Meaghan was Waldo, named after Where's Waldo? Baby Wooton is named after Wooton Bassett, an Adventures in Odyssey character who is very child-like, collects Smiley Meal toys, and loves to spend time with people in unconventional ways... and, the kids haven't figured this one out yet, but Wooton also has a strained relationship with his father because he is a Christian and his dad is not.)

Dustin just wanted his stocking to be next to Baby Wooton's stocking.

He's in love with this baby.  He is the first one to tell people about the new baby, and how excited he is, and he's always saying to Meaghan, "Aren't you excited for the NEW BABY, Meaghan?  You get to be a BIG SISTER!"

This kid melts me.  I love his heart.

The latest from the doc - and other fun stuff

It'll be easier to just copy and paste what I wrote to a friend today in an e-mail:


So Graeme made me go back to the doctor today.

Sinus infection (still)
Bronchitis
Earaches (definitely plugged... infected?  Unsure - he didn't check, but they hurt like the dickens)
Asthma flaring up

Doc said that he can't do anything for me - the one or two antibiotics he would have prescribed aren't safe for pregnancy, and since I've already been on amoxil... yeah.  So Graeme has a good rapport with this doctor and actually called him and reminded him that Zithromax is in the same risk category as amoxil, not as effective as Biaxin, but more effective than amoxil... so there's apparently a prescription waiting for me at the pharmacy now.

The doctor said that other than this, to "wait it out and rest".  Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!!  Rest?  Seriously...  ha ha.  He was pretty happy about the new babe though.  If he hadn't been so happy about the baby, I'd have told him to come over and look after my kids so I can get all the rest he says I need.  :)

Thankfully, my throat feels pretty good right now.  Coughing a bit, but somehow it's not affecting my voice or singing too much - deeper, but not hoarse/squeaky/worn out.  I pray it doesn't get any worse by Sunday - I felt pretty OK on Tuesday vocally, and can only hope for "enough" on Sunday.  I am really looking forward to leading again!!


I left the house shortly after 10:00, with the intention of going to my doc's appointment running two relatively quick errands, and then scooting home.  All went according to plan until Dustin slammed his fingers in the sliding van door, and in all the chaos, I locked my keys in the van, which I didn't realize until around 1:00 (after my 2nd errand)... AMA wasn't there until around 2:15, but their quoted time told me it could be as late as 3:45... my poor kids were exhausted, but did sooooo well.  Now I'm exhausted, but sleep won't come thanks to the nattering Dollie (who has a hard time sleeping if she's kept up past her naptime, but she's not screaming her head off, just chatting to herself) and my coughing and wheezing.  Nice, hey?


And that, my friends, is my deal for today... 

Never a dull moment...

Today, Meaghan decided, after seeing Dustin use ranch dressing for dip for his pizza crust, that she needed some dip for hers also.  Then she shunned her pizza and proceeded to dip her banana in it.  She loved it and kept asking for more.  I didn't give in.  Eww.

Today, Dustin was told that naptime would be in five minutes.  I went back upstairs to put him to bed and he had pulled out a printing book and was working on it on the living room floor.  How can a mama say "naptime!" to that?  So I told him he could do two more pages and then we'd call it good.  He complied.

Today, Joshua got a random smack in the face when the bus hit a big snow bump and children went flying.  Loose tooth number two got a whole lot looser, bled like crazy, and then when he got to school, his teacher pulled it out for him.  We have parent-teacher interviews tonight, so I guess we have something else to talk about now!

Such a teeny monkey

Today was Meaghan's 18 month checkup.

She has gained a whopping 6 oz in the last 6 months, but has grown almost 2 inches.

At this age, the boys were 5 lbs heavier and nearly 2" taller.  I know they're boys, but still - 5 lbs?

I love my teeny monkey.  She is still too small (light) to go forward facing in her carseat.  My delicate little girlie... NOT!!  Man, can she take her brothers to the cleaners if she wants to.  Feisty things come in small packages, apparently - nothing delicate about her!

Fair game

We've told all the "personal contact" people we've needed/wanted to tell about the baby at this point, so if you happen to let something slip on facebook, no worries now.  :)  For those of you who have known for a few weeks already, thanks SO much for humoring me and keeping it under wraps!

So Predictable...

So, like clockwork, I get really sick every single pregnancy, first trimester.

This one is no exception.

There's the whole morning sickness thing, which, admittedly, has knocked me flat on my rear end this time around.  With the first 3, my "morning sickness" was from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day, almost without exception.  This time, though, it's 24/7.  And I do mean 24 hours a day... I wake up at 3 a.m. bolting for the bathroom.  First thing in the morning.  All day long.  All night long.  I'm 15-16 weeks now, and it *might* be starting to abate a bit.

But it's hard to tell for sure, because I've had a sinus infection for over 6 weeks, and a cough that wracks my entire body, leaving me lightheaded with a burning chest and headache to rival some of the migraines I used to get when we lived in Daysland.  Thankfully, I don't have the 12-day fever I had when I was expecting Meaghan (that was around the 9-week mark with her), but for all other purposes, I'm just as sick now as I was then.

Sadly, I've been increasingly antisocial... not pushing my friends away, but holing myself away.  It's all I can do to make sure my kids eat "real food" off of "clean plates" these days.  The only reason my boys (aged 6 and 4) have clean underwear is because they know how to load the washing machine and run the dryer, and fold their own clothing.  Two of the kids, as well as Graeme, have also been really sick, but the course of their illnesses ran about 1 1/2 weeks total.  I'm over 6 weeks now.  My immune system apparently stinks during pregnancy.

I am thankful for friends who have offered to provide meals for our family - hence the "real food" part of my goal, definitely not all of my own doing.  It's hard for me to ask for help, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and when you have friends who are always telling you to call them if you need anything... well, I'm swallowing my pride and calling.

Maybe the end is in sight...

Clothes

I've officially reached that really, really awkward stage of pregnancy where none of my *new* clothes fit any more, but where my maternity stuff just falls/hangs off of me.

It is in these moments that I am *ever so grateful* that I never got to altering some of my favorite *big* clothes from before.  I dug through my "bin of things to be altered", found some pants, put them on, and literally sighed and said, "Oh, that is SO much better."

Now I can go about my day a whole lot less self-conscious than I was 10 minutes ago.

May

Soooo....

~by calendars, my due date is May 3rd.

~by other factors - length of cycle, timing of conception (sorry, too much info), etc - *they* have decided my due date is May 10th.

Meaghan's birthday is May 11th.

Good thing due dates don't matter.  I was a week overdue with both boys (from ultrasound & calendar dates, actually, which I have yet to see the u/s with this one), and two weeks from "approximate date of conception" with Meaghan (which was still beyond the u/s date anyway).

Confused yet?  Yeh.  Me, too.

So basically, even *if* I have this baby on "calendar due date", or if I go two weeks overdue from the 10th...

...this baby will be born sometime between May 3rd and May 24th.

So when someone asks me when my due date is, I tell them, "sometime in May".  'Cuz really... I have no idea when this one will come.  I can't even hazard a guess.

Just... May.

(But for most people who can't bear the explanation, I'll just tell them May 10th, give or take... that'll put me at 41 weeks.)

BTW, this is still not on facebook... I still have one more person to talk to locally before I make it *that* public...

It's Monday

Hmmm....

Either my blog followers have dwindled significantly and I'm down to, umm, two...

...or most of you didn't "get" the last line of my last post.  :)

Or if you did, you didn't know what to say....?

Cutiepie & new words

"feep" = sleep
"sauce" = soft
"muhck" (imagine strong German sound at the end or something) = milk
"buhck" (with same German ending) = book
"bah-po" = bottle
"boh" = bowl
"tosh" = Josh
"dah-teez" = Dustin
"baaaaaaaa" = sheep
"buppy" = puppy
"Maaaaah-mee" = her friend Madi
"La-la" = her friend Talliah
"ssssss" = soother
"Noah" = no, with attitude
"sah" = sad
"ba-poo" = diaper
"bum" = bum
"rwee-rwee" = read
"nee-nee" = tortellini
"peees" = please
"behw" = bear
"boo-peez" = burpies
"buys" = boys
"dun" = done

"big sister" = meaghan

Letters

How do you continue writing letters to someone who doesn't reply?  It seems so... superficial... I don't even know how to *start* these letters any more.  Do I act as though everything is hunky-dory?  Part of me wants to start out by saying, "Hey, we're doing good, but I have no idea how you're doing since you never reply to my letters!"

Sigh.

Everything is awkward right now.

Facebook

I've discovered that when sharing news, I don't need facebook.

After all, I have Dustin.

November 11th

Today is a day of remembering.

When I was little, I was a good little public speaker.  I was chosen at least two different years to recite "In Flanders' Fields" - once over the intercom, and once in front of a school assembly.

Today, it means so much more to me.

You see, we have some friends who are serving.  Dan is serving in Afghanistan.  His wife, Christine, is also serving, here at home - trying to figure out how to live life in her husband's absence.

While I never *ever* want to downplay the significance of what Dan is doing to serve our country and fight for our freedom, the sacrifices of "those left behind" often gets forgotten.  Life is not easy for them, either - feeling disconnected, blowing in the wind, and sometimes unable to function for the mere fact that half of their hearts (and brains, as Christine would say) are elsewhere.

Dan was deployed in August (I think?) for 9 months.  He is able to come home twice - he came in October, and will come again at Christmas, but then not again until his tour is completed.  This is incredibly hard on Christine, and Dan as well, I'm sure, even though *this* is his passion - to be serving in this way.  Would you say a prayer for Dan & Christine today?

Toothless Wonder

We were out with some friends at dinner a little over a week ago.

Graeme's cell phone rang.

Nobody EVER calls us when we're on a date unless it's something really important - I think that was the second time ever that we've been called.

The first time was for discipline.

This time?

"Hi Daddy!  Guess what?  My tooth came out!!"  (It had been getting looser over the course of a month, and when he bit into a frozen banana muffin earlier in the afternoon, it had gotten considerably looser, but not loose enough that he wanted to yank it out.)

"Oh really?  That's great, buddy!"

"Yeah, Gramma pulled it out!!"

(pause)

"Joshua, did you know she was going to pull it out, or did she just do it?"

"She just wanted to look, and next thing I knew, she had pulled it out."  Turns out that she asked him if she could pull it out, he said no, she asked if she could take a look, then she said, "Oh, it'll be easy, I'll count to three and pull it out."  She yanked when she got to "two".

Mmm-hmm.

Somehow, I felt ripped off that she did that.  (He's MY son - shouldn't that have been my privilege to be there when his first tooth fall out?)  She has a *history* of saying to her children, "Let me have a look at that," and then pulling the tooth, popping the pimple, or doing some other sort of inhumane torture without her sons' permission.

Now Joshua knows better.  When she says, "Let me have a quick look," he knows to RUN!!!

But he is pretty proud of the hole in his mouth now....

Tonight I was finishing up Dustin's teeth, and he asked how many he has; I told him he has 20 teeth.  I then told him that he now has more teeth than Joshua - you should've seen Dustin's face light up!!

45 Minutes

I am so pathetic.

I've been worn to the bone, mentally exhausted beyond belief, and have been wanting to get out of the house all day long.  The kids were finally in bed, and with Graeme's offer to clean up the kitchen, I scooted.

I was gone for 45 minutes.  I am so ridiculously tired that I can't even figure out what to do, by myself, out of the house.... can't even make it an hour.

I did go and check out the new library (beautiful!! Opened today!), checked out some books, and came home.  That's as far as I got.

Pretty pathetic, hey?  Oy....

Our day with the dinos

We'd bought this season family pass to the new dinosaur park within driving distance to our home.  We got notification that there was going to be a special event for season passholders - entertainment, pancake breakfast, etc.  It was a fun morning!  (This was several weeks ago already... just now getting to posting it...)

Joshua's face painting...

And Dustin's...

Meaghan in the petting zoo... in her absolute glory!

Me and my Meggie-bear - I didn't want her to be eaten, so we opted to stay on the path.

Soaking up the love... 

Newly hatched!

Meaghan with her favorite person!

One of my favorite "displays" of all... all the displays had life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that roared and moved when you walked past them.  It was pretty awesome!!

Out of the mouth of... buried dinosaurs?

Fun day all around!