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Iced In     Mon, 4 Feb 2008 05:41 pm

After 2 snow storms this weekend that weren't supposed to happen and a couple hours of freezing rain this morning, Josiah and I were officially iced in today. Philip did manage to make it in to work, with me praying the whole time that he'd get stuck in the driveway and have to stay home with us. Since that didn't work out Josiah and I declared a PJ day and bummed around today. We snuggled on the coach (for as long as a healthy 18 month old will snuggled...about 5 minutes), read a tons of books, threw Cheerios around the kitchen and cleaned them up about a million times (guess who did the throwing and who did the cleaning), and made cookies so we could eat the dough. We were both so bored with each other by the time we got around to the cookies that all attempts to make them healthy went out the window. Does vanilla extract have any nutritional value? Josiah helped me flatten the dough out and made a mess putting sprinkles on them. We both ate more than we should have right before dinner. We had fun at a friend's Super Bowl party last night and enjoyed eating all kinds of things we probably shouldn't have. I think it's funny that I wouldn't let Josiah eat icing on his birthday cake and now I feed him meals consisting of little hot dogs, chex mix and cinnamon rolls. I suppose it's weeks like this that make those zucchini, carrot, whole wheat creations necessary. Gracie apparently did not appreciate the buffet and made sure I didn't sleep at all last night. I think we've moved from the 'fun' part of the pregnancy to the part where someone else officially takes over my body. She suddenly seems larger and those dang round ligament pains are driving me crazy. I got stuck in mid-turn over last night because I realized no matter which way I moved it felt like my middle was being cut in two. Seems like God would have equipped women with stretchier ligaments for times like this. ( 1 Comments )

Middle Child Syndrome     Sat, 2 Feb 2008 07:54 pm

I had just commented to Philip that Gracie was already suffering from middle child syndrome because of the lack of bump pictures and other info posted here when we went in for our 2nd ultrasound. Because the sonographer wasn't able to see all of Gracie's face we have another session scheduled for the 27th week. With the doc's help this kiddo will have far more pictures than Josiah did by the time she's born. We had a rather long session Friday trying to see all of Gracie because she was not in a cooperative mood. There seem to be some family similarities already showing up...she's head down (and happy to stay that way despite being poked), hands over her face, kicking and hiccuping...just like her brother was for his entire stay. Her heart and spine look just fine, which were the main things that still needed to be seen. The sonographer needed to see her face to check off a couple more things, but those hands weren't going anywhere. Hopefully she'll be on better behavior in a few weeks. It will be neat to see her so far along because by that time she'll be starting to fill out a little and look more like a baby and less like an alien with grasshopper legs (a little fat really does wonders). ( 2 Comments )

The Diaper Rash That Ate Chicago     Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:50 pm

The poor kid's hiney looks horrible. His GI system decided to flush itself out and we apparently didn't keep pace with the diapers. He now gets spackeled every few hours and is thoroughly enjoying all the bubble baths at night. He's found the jets in the whirlpool tub and thinks they are the coolest new thing. I keep trying to convince him that if he would use his potty he wouldn't get a rash like this, but our pottying protegy has decided the potty isn't so much fun anymore and wants nothing to do with it. He does, however, still like playing with his underwear. They usually have either basketballs or tractors in them. I bought him an electric toothbrush this week because I've been having a terrible time getting him to brush his teeth. He seems more interested in our brush than the normal ones I've been trying with him, so this one vibrates and has a soccer ball on it. Ironically, he won't let it get anywhere near him when it's vibrating, but he wants us to hold it and vibrate it so he can giggle. I think he's starting to realize we mean business and he looks a little weary when it comes out, but Philip and I hold him down until we can get him to open his mouth. Oh, what fun! Since he isn't big on dental hygiene I've been trying to be careful about how much sugar he's getting. I usually have some baked good I can put in Philip's lunch, but when Josiah sees them he wants them, of course. So I've been trying to make 'healthy' cookies. Our poor child is going to grow up thinking all cookies have carrots, zucchini, apple sauce and whole wheat flour in them. He actually doesn't seem to mind so far and it's given me a use for the abundance of shredded zucchini in the deep freeze. We learned the hard way that no one needs to plant more than 1 mound of zucchini! Let's see, I suppose it's time for a 'favorites' update: Word: 'Noah' and 'choo choo' Food: bananas Book: toss up between his Bible and the tractor book Game: wrestling with Daddy Show: the Toyota commercial and Veggie Tales (he only likes the tomato, who he calls 'neeno') Ok, I see on the napcam that nap time is over. Time for snack! ( No Comments Yet )

Snow Days     Sat, 26 Jan 2008 06:29 pm

We took a few minutes today to go out and enjoy the snow with Josiah. Philip and I pulled him around the yard in his sled which is much harder than it looks like! Our workouts on the elliptical have nothing on running through snow drifts while pulling 25 pounds. Josiah loved it (until he face planted in a drift)and it was a nice change of pace from being inside. It was slightly weird to be playing on top of the garden, which is covered in a couple feet of hard snow. Well, time to put a little dude to bed. We just got home from a date while the Freitags watched Josiah and it may take a few minutes to help him wind down. ( 1 Comments )

Bouncing Off the Walls     Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:36 pm

Guess what's happening right now? It's snowing...again. Our 'morning flurries' have lasted all day and we have way more than the predicted inch of accumulation. It's beautiful, but it's driving me crazy. It's way too cold to take Josiah out in (we're somewhere in the teens with wind) and because he's still coughing like crazy we can't go anywhere where other kids might be. I got desperate yesterday and headed to the Dollar Store, just so we could get out of here for a bit. We spent about 45 minutes walking around finding all the trains, balls, Elmos and things that looked 'ummy' (yummy). When I realized we were both staring longingly at aisles of junk food I figured we better get out before I had to explain a receipt full of macaroons and chips to Philip. Today we had a special date to the coffee shop and drug store. There aren't many more stores in Mount Vernon...we may spend tomorrow morning at Ace Hardware. Grace turned 20 weeks old yesterday and is about 10 inches long. She must be really cramped in there because my belly isn't sticking out as far as I'd think would be necessary for someone that size. I've realized that labor isn't the only thing God makes you forget about. I really didn't remember having trouble sleeping this early last time, but I think it did happen. Our bed is littered with so many extra pillows to help me get comfortable each night that Philip will soon be sleeping on the floor. He's been very supportive and does his best to stay to his corner of the bed. I had also forgotten the constant bathroom trips and the panicky feeling of seeing the numbers on the scale moving quicker than I want them to. A mixture of needing snacks all the time and being bored at home is making it challenging to keep those numbers where I know they should be right now. And the constant refrain of 'don't worry about it, you're eating for two' is frustrating and not helping. One of us has a stomach the size of a teaspoon...I have never been tempted to eat just one extra teaspoon of food in my life. However, I'd also forgotten what it was like to feel a baby kicking around inside of you or how strange it is to realize that in 4.5 more months she'll be out here and we'll get to start figuring out who she looks like and what kind of temperament she'll have. The sleepless nights and battle with the scale will be worth it then. ( 3 Comments )

Sometimes you just feel icky     Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:33 pm

This round of croup is proving to be more intense than last time. Josiah still has a pretty nasty cough at times and he just doesn't feel like himself. He's been super clingy and much less energetic than usual. He actually sat beside me and watched TV for over a half hour last night! I didn't know his legs would stay still that long when he wasn't asleep. He pretty much either wants to be sitting on me or hanging off of me...no matter what I'm trying to do. Need to cook dinner? I should apparently be able to do that one-handed carrying a 25 pound weight. Go to the bathroom or get dressed? Ditto. My left arm is going to start popping out muscles like Casey soon. One of his new found passions is spotting cars. He loves showing us every car we pass while driving and is in love with the current Toyota commercial. We were in the kitchen this afternoon and he heard the first few notes of the jingle for it and started wiggling and telling me to go to the car. He also loves the train and gets excited when he can hear the one going through town. It's so snowy right now that he can't see it, but he looks for it every time. Grace will be 20 weeks old tomorrow and I'm not nearly as big as I thought I'd be, which is a good thing, but of course then my mind starts wondering if she's growing fast enough and if she's ok. I don't have any reason to think she's not and we'll get to see her at next week's visit. I was trying to get Josiah to say 'brother' this morning as I explained for the millionth time that there's a baby in my tummy. It came out as 'blah.' I'm hoping that doesn't reflect his feelings about the news. ( 4 Comments )

Emergency 101     Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:17 am

Well, this is being written from Mercy's emergency room. Josiah woke up with a really bad cough and labored breathing. After calling we were told to come in. He is doing better and we are on our way home. I will let Kim fill in the details later. (8:30 the next morning)...We woke up to Josiah crying and making weird noises, which turned out to be him trying to breath. Scary, needless to say. I ran for a steamy bathroom and Philip called the doc. He obviously had croup and was having enough trouble breathing that we headed to ER about 12:30 this morning. Josiah would pick the coldest night so far (it was about -5), so by the time we were half way to the hospital he was breathing better. He was thrilled to see cars and bubbles (the flashing yellow street lights looked like Christmas ornaments to him) and did really well in the ER. Turns out 1am on a frozen night is a great time to go...no waiting. He got a steriod shot to make sure we didn't end up coming back and then headed home. By 3am we were all back in bed, but of course Josiah woke up at his regular time this morning. He's fussy, but hearing him breath like that last night makes this easier to put up with today. We're just thanking God for taking care of him. ( 6 Comments )

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