It's a Sick Sick Year

We have had illness in this house literally since Christmas.  Literally.  Abby just barely got over what I think was the longest cold in recorded history and one that Megan had a shorter version of.  Chopper was sick briefly and then I've started into it this weekend.  Fortunately for me it hasn't been too bad.  Then yesterday we're sitting in church and Chopper nudges me that Megan is really hot.  She's flushed, she's cuddling (always a sign that she doesn't feel well) and we have 15 minutes of church left.  So rather than pack everything up and leave right then (we sit near the front and I hate how visible that would be -- is that wrong?) we go home right after sacrament meeting and lo and behold Megan is 103.8.  And our thermometer tends to run low.  She's complaining of cold, shaky, lethargic, and says I'm hurting her when I change her clothes.  Classic flu.  And I realize now that I think I've never had a child with the flu!  I hope January takes all this illness with it and we can get back to normal lives.

But on the good side of life, the baby is kicking.  It's pretty sporadic and still mostly just twinges of "was that the baby"?  But last night Chopper and I watched the Green Lantern (kind've a weird movie by the way) and I'm curled on the couch and this little guy just goes to town kicking me over and over.  And it was hard enough that Chopper came over and felt him!!!  This is one of my favorite things about pregnancy and makes a lot of the other icky stuff worth it.

Weekly Update

That seems to be all I'm capable of at the moment.  It's a been a week busy with Relief Society "stuff", kid "stuff" , and lack of energy "stuff".  We haven't even left the house all that much either . . . 

I guess the really big deal is that I took Megan to see a therapist on Monday for an evaluation.  This is a therapist that works in occupational and sensory integration therapy.  She was recommended to me by a friend whose son has issues that sound very similar to Megan's.  Megan, somewhat unfortunately, had a GREAT day on Monday. Don't get me wrong, I treasure great days, but when you're seeing a therapist for the first time, you kind've want them to show the side that has brought you there in the first place!  Regardless, when we spoke briefly after the session, she said that she is definitely seeing some motor planing issues with Megan.  She has difficulty going from point A to point E because she can't figure out the process.  That leads to frustration which leads to tantrums which leads to angry, screaming Megan and frustrated, crying mommy.  Chopper and I will go back for a full parent conference in about a week and a half and discuss what she's seeing as well as what we see and her recommendations for therapy.  Since the rest of this week has been pretty horrendous, I have to say I am very excited to perhaps get some tools under my belt and some professional help.  For Megan and I both.

So it's been a rough week.  But these past two days have been in the mid-70s for weather and so even though we haven't been able to get out of the house much due to tantrums, we have been able to get out and play at the park.  Thank goodness being outside almost always makes my girl happy.  And being in the bathtub.  Anyway.  Today we went and played with friends and had a great time at a wonderfully enclosed park where the girls can run and I can chat.  It's nice for me to get a break too!  Yesterday we went to our little play area down the street and then explored in the trees.  I took along the camera because I know that ya'll are suffering from too many words and not enough pictures and the girls were very compliant.  Megan was so compliant that she started posing and there's some great shots of her vogue-ing out (is that a word?).  Abby will say cheese but she doesn't smile and she doesn't look at the camera when she does it.  But she's still cute as a button.

 Oh I forgot this one -- Megan was making a quilt on the floor.  She still just loves to organize fabric, use pins, play with buttons -- all those things that make her my quilting and sewing girl!

 And this was too funny to not take a picture of -- Abby after breakfast (hence the food on her face) the morning after she's had a bath and gone to bed with wet hair.  She is quite the little fuzzball and in desperate need of yet another haircut!

Action shots of course . . . 

 And then here are all the posing ones -- if you need copies, you know my phone number!!

 Posing with sticks was one of Megan's favorite things to do.

 I LOVE this one how Abby mimics her sister.  Because it happens ALL THE TIME!

 Nice little foot pop.

 And another stick picture.

Happy spring?  I don't think it's here for good but I'll take what I can get.

Pictures I found

I'm working on a quilt for Project Linus and took some pictures of the process so I can get a better perspective. When I downloaded them, I found a few that I had forgotten about!!

This was Megan's first day of dance.  It didn't go so well.  It turned out that she was assigned to a more advanced class for her age and she just did not get it.  She also resisted the teacher's instruction (no surprise there) and told me on the way home, "mommy, I'm not good at dance class."  I was a little worried.  The next week, we switched her to a more beginner's class and it went fantastically!  She has a hard time with the tap dance -- I think mainly because it's faster paced and requires movement of legs and arms at the same time (that would be the inheritance of my horrible hand-eye coordination -- sorry!!) but the ballet moves are good!  She followed along and tried and did was the teacher asked her to do.  When she came out she was so excited about how well she had done and the things she had done and very proudly told me "I had no grumpy faces, only happy ones!"  So I think we'll stick with it a little while longer and see how she does.

Ahh, Abby.  She likes to be in the bathtub.  Notice she's wearing her diaper here.  You see, I had already given her a bath and let Megan stay in longer while Abby ran around as a naked baby (with diaper of course).  When I went to check on Megan, she went with me and decided to get back in -- head first she leans in and just kind've belly flops into the tub -- without getting her head wet.  She was so glad to be in the tub again but Megan was not too happy about having her imaginary world interrupted so unceremoniously!  So out she came, with a very full diaper.

These actually I did just take today.  I "commissioned" my sister-in-law Denise Gasser who is a fabulous artist, to draw some birds for the girl's room.  I am so pleased with the results!!

Close-up

I love them -- they're bold and graphic and don't have any green in them!  I love the green on the girls' walls but it is a little bright!  Now I just need to do Abby's quilt, and get birds and a tree on her wall opposite Megan's and we will be ready to move her in.  And then I can start working on a boy's room!!!  Yay!  I'm very excited about all of the decorating and creating in my future!

Random Things

I just need to write these down or I'll forget.

For pregnancy: 

I'm not about 2 days away from 14 weeks and the nauseousness is pretty much gone!  And the headaches!  I did lose my breakfast this morning after brushing my teeth but it's something about brushing my teeth -- I have no idea what.  And I still don't really feel like eating a lot.  I'm not in the mood for food.  That's made cooking a problem and somehow I'm still managing to put on 2 pounds a week.  Maybe it's because I don't feel like cooking and so we've been doing a lot of eating out.  That needs to stop.

Yesterday when I came home and showed Megan the pictures of the baby (she loves seeing the pictures of the baby) we talked about it being a baby brother.  She was fine with that, which surprised me because for the most part when we ask her she wants it to be a girl.  Then she said, "and when he gets bigger, he will turn into a girl!"  Ahhh, that explains it!

She also says some things that I've learned to ignore because she's picked them up but doesn't mean it.  I don't think she understands the context behind what she says.  But randomly she'll say "what's the big idea?" or "what's the deal?"

I am going to put more effort into Family  Home Evening because I'm TERRIBLE at it!  So maybe to help keep myself accountable, I'll start posting what we do.  Our Relief Society meeting tonight is going to focus on that so maybe I'll get the some good ideas.  The problem is the execution for me though.  I just don't get it done!!  Well, try try again.

Abby's favorite new word is "gosh".  We still have to repeat pretty much everything she says or she continues saying it.  You can't acknowledge with "ok" or "uh-huh" you have to repeat.  So she'll come up to me and say "gosh, mommy, gosh" and I just have to say gosh back.  It's also pretty funny to hear her ask for her vitamins and probiotics in the mornings.  I don't know if I can even get it out so you can say it phonetically.  I might have to see if I can get her to do that one on camera.

She also loves to be a naked baby.  Thank goodness Megan is getting past that phase.  But Abby loves to be a naked baby and run run run!  (Yes, there's a diaper on).  She pitched a major fit today when I finally wrangled her down to get dressed.  And speaking of fits, even that is different between the two!  When Abby doesn't get what she wants -- she screams.  Loudly and defiantly!

Oh but one very good side -- Megan is learning how to scratch backs and comb hair.  Soon Chopper and I will be in heaven -- for 30 seconds at a stretch!!

Do You Want to Know????

So I opted for a first trimester screening that took place today.  It was NOT an amniocentesis -- those are too scary.  This was just an ultrasound where they measured the skin of the neck and then did some bloodwork on me (which had to happen anyway).  So the baby looks good -- most likely does not have Down Syndrome or Trisomony 18 (spelling?).  I don't know how likely it is, but with Abby we had some concerns about half-way through so I thought it would be nice to just get that out of the way.

Although I admit that I had other motivations!!

A friend of mine had this done and they were able to tell at 13 weeks what the baby was.  Hmmmm, I like that idea.  Well this little turkey of ours was upside-down, fast asleep.  The doctor did a lot of poking and prodding (I'm a little sore honestly!) and I did a lot of coughing to shake the uterus and finally, eventually, we got a slow roll that showed us . . . (drum roll please) . . . 

A BABY BOY!!!

I did get the standard -- we're only 90% sure and we'll confirm at 17 weeks -- but to me that's pretty good.  Good enough that I bought some little boy onesies to tell Chopper and am spreading the news.

We're excited.  Very!  I always said I wanted -- ok needed -- to have at least one daughter and after that I didn't care.  With Abby, I was excited for the prospect of sisterhood.  And now with this one, I am genuinely excited to experience what a little boy will be like and look forward to all the things that kind've come with boys -- trains and trucks and scouting and missions.  It's going to be awesome.  Chopper's already talking camping and guns too.

And yes, we're discussing names and kind've already think what we're going to name this little guy.  I don't know if we'll tell yet or not honestly.  That's another thing I don't really worry about keeping secret but maybe I should at least wait until we see it again??

But it's fun to play with Lloyd a little bit -- there are some great combinations out there -- Lloyd Byron, Lloyd Voldemort, Lloyd of the Rings . . . we'll see what happens!

I've been tired

Today I am 32 years old!  Wahoo!

I decided for my birthday I wanted something very quiet -- cheesecake and a good girl movie and sleeping in tomorrow.  I just am so tired.  I guess I shouldn't complain though -- after all, I'm 13 weeks and hardly sick at all anymore.  But I find myself wondering how I'm going to do this with 3 kids when the thought of just taking my 2 for a quick trip to get groceries or run to the library exhausts me.  I have a feeling that my eating habits in the morning are also messing with my thyroid so that probably isn't helping.  

Sorry, enough griping.  But it's also why I'm not posting a ton.  I just don't feel up to it.

Maybe I'll give it a another week.