First Trip To Urgent Care

Last week we had to make our first trip to an Urgent Care clinic. I really thought I would have had to make the trip prior to now, since our kids are now 6 (and a half) and 2 (and a half). (the “and a half” is added because we are always reminded by our little Moo that she is officially “six-and-a-half” now that we have passed through September. “Because there are 12 months in a year, and I was born in March, which is the 3rd month, and since September is the 9th month, it’s past 6 months, which is half of 12 months, so I’m six-and-a-half now!” Can’t fault her logic. :-)

So, back to the Urgent Care trip. Neither of our offspring are overly graceful. But I would say they are as clumsy as average 6 and 2 year olds are, depending on the activity and the day or the moment or... I just thought I would have had to take Moo before I’d be taking Bean for some sort of injury. See, Moo can be a little dramatic. (just a tad!) She has a tendency to OVEREXAGGERATE little things. Something like catching a toe on a rug that for most people would be a little hop to catch your balance, for R1 will turn into a stumble-scramble-WOOAAHHH-arms flailing-falling-down-on-the-floor-is-everyone-watching-me-now kind of catastrophe. (those of you that know her, know this is very true) I was making dinner in the kitchen and the kids were watching a video in our bedroom. Well, Moo was watching the video, Bean was having fun making the dog go crazy around the room because the dog was chasing the little red dot from the laser pointer that Bean was controlling, while standing on the bed. Bean must have caught a toe (or something) in the bedding, because the next thing I know, the laughter turned into screaming, and Moo comes running into the kitchen, pale-faced, and tells me screams at me to come quick, “THERE’S BLOOD!”. He’d fallen and hit his head on the dresser.

I go into the bedroom and find Bean laying on the bed with half of his face covered in blood. Thankfully whatever it is that moms have that enable them to function rationally in a crisis situation kicked in, and I very calmly picked him up and took him to the kitchen. With one hand I turned on the water and grabbed a wash cloth so I could clean the blood away to see where it was all coming from, and with the other arm got him tilted back and relaxed so we could assess the situation. The poor little guy had a pretty deep, but not all that long gash above his right eye. I think to myself “Stitches…I think he might need stitches.” Then I think “Superglue. If I had some superglue and a couple of butterfly bandages, I might be able to make it stay closed.” Then comes the “I should still take him in…it’s on his face…what if it gets infected…and he probably does need stitches.” So I get J, (who was outside doing yard work) and have him come in to keep an eye on Moo and finish up dinner so I can take Bean to the Urgent Care center for a couple of stitches in his forehead. Bean has now calmed down and is ready to go “bye-bye” happy as can be. Which then makes me go back to the superglue and bandage thought, but second guess myself again.

We get to the Urgent Care where the Dr. takes a look at his forehead and tells me that it’s a judgement call on the stitches. The cut is deep enough for stitches, but only long enough for a couple, so perhaps these little steri-strip doo-dads would do the trick. It would be less traumatic for Bean, and easier to do. So with a little assistance from the nurse and mom the Dr. applies a few of the strips to pull together the cut and keep it closed. We head for home with a patched forehead and a couple of “I was a good patient” stickers to make it all better.

Things were good until we put him to bed that night. Bean likes to sleep on his tummy, which also means he sleeps on his face. At some point between 9pm when we laid him down and 11pm when I went to go check on him, the strips had loosened and he was bleeding again. Now comes the superglue and butterfly bandages! Momma sent daddy to the store at 11:30 to gather a collection of First aid supplies. (the Snoopy bandages in the medicine cabinet just wouldn’t do for this job!) Daddy held him still and Momma pulled the cut closed and slapped a couple of butterfly bandages across it to keep it together. Viola! It stayed shut. No more blood!

This fix lasted for about 3 days…until he fell again, this time on the kitchen floor, causing the cut to pop wide open and start bleeding all over again.

Urgent Care pt. 2 – A second Dr. looks at his head and tells me they stitches can only be done if they are done within the first 8 hrs of the injury. Ah. Ok. So…what do we do with his head? We apply more strips. This time they applied strips all across the cut to make a large patch over the whole thing. She tells me “I kind of overdid it…this way, if he bumps it again, hopefully they will hold.” Gee…thanks! Turns out, this time, they did. We removed the last of Bean’s “strips” last night after a bath.

As I was cleaning up some of the remaining adhesive from around the area and preparing to put some Vitamin E oil on the scar to help minimize scarring in the long term, Bean looks up at me and tells me “Chic’s dig scars.”

Let’s hope they do, buddy, let’s hope they do. Something tells me we’re not done with Urgent Care just yet.

First Loves and Trains

Tap…tap…tap. Are you still there? I know, I know, it’s been a long time. I even had trouble remembering my log in information to post this. Sorry!

I’ve been thinking a lot about posting something up here again. And I’ve spent some time considering what it is that you’d like to read about. Do you want stories about the kids, stories about the hubby, stories about me? Sometimes I just feel like rambling in general about things that are on my mind, but I’m not sure you’d really want to know. I suppose I could post it, and then you could stop reading anytime you wanted. How about you finish reading this, and then let me know what you like best about the blog. Then it’ll give me some more things to consider, and when I decide to post again (6 months to a year from now J) you may be able to come back to something you find interesting.

For now I’ll just put up a quick summary of the holidays and let you know that we are still alive and kicking.

Moo has encountered her first love. His name is Mario. He likes to wear overalls, and he and his brother have a successful plumbing business. Have you figured out if you know him yet? It’s Mario. You know, from the video game “Mario Brothers”. She has Mario games on the Wii. She has Mario games on the DS. Santa even got her the special Mario edition DSi (the one with the camera) for Christmas. It’s GREEN! (her favorite color)

I know some people frown about kids playing video games. I, as a parent of an addicted child, can see their point. However, this addiction also gives me, the parent, a much needed tool…LEVERAGE! Anytime Moo varies from her “angel” self, the threat of not getting to see Mario for an undisclosed amount of time is usually enough to get her to cooperate and put the halo back on her head.

I’ll let you know another little secret, when she sits down to play her game, it also gives me some of that much needed “me” time that every parenting magazine and website tells you that you need to take, but always feel guilty about scheduling. This is “me” time that’s unscheduled and sporadic and it’s YUMMY! Hey- I’ll take it when I can get it.

Our little R2, or as we have fondly named him our little “Bean”, isn’t all that little anymore. He’s walking, talking (some), and has quite the personality. He thinks he can do everything his big sister can do, and will try to prove it! Our sitter swears he’s destined to be an engineer. He is very observant and loves to figure out how things work. He’s not as verbal as his sister was at this age, but he’s very good at getting his point across and understands most everything we say. One of these days he’ll just start a dissertation about trains and we’ll not be surprised at all.

Trains…I did mention trains, didn’t I? It’s become the latest obsession in our house. We have been inundated with trains, and somehow it still doesn’t seem like we have enough. Our “Tuu-Chu’s” are everywhere, and they all have a different function and place. Bean is borderline OCD with his trains and other toys. They all have to be placed just so, or you have to start all over. It’s very entertaining to simply watch him position everything when he plays.

We had a very Merry Christmas and a very good New Years. We all survived and had wonderful gatherings with friends and family.


I’ll try to do better about updating the blog more frequently.

*Hugs!*
-A

She Was Just Born Yesterday...Right?

I swear, and I’m not kidding, it was yesterday that I was in the hospital giving birth to my daughter, wasn’t it? I mean, I can remember it all like it just happened yesterday. There’s no way this much time could have passed without me realizing it, or at least the events of that day getting the slightest bit foggy, right? Then how is it that she starts kindergarten tomorrow? This isn’t right, it can’t be here this soon. She can’t be starting kindergarten tomorrow if she was just born yesterday, can she? Yesterday, she looked like this…
I remember checking into the hospital, not knowing what to expect. I remember them hooking me up to all the monitors so we could hear her heartbeat while she was still inside. I remember them telling me it was time, and to get ready to push. I remember holding her in my arms for the first time and being completely overwhelmed with love I didn’t know was possible. I remember looking into her eyes for the first time and feeling completely at peace with the world, knowing that I helped to create a miracle. I still swear that was yesterday.

Now tomorrow, I’m supposed to send her into a building made of brick that looks like a school, with a gymnasium that smells like a gym is supposed to smell, and a cafeteria that looks like a cafeteria is supposed to look, along with 600ish other children and a handful of teachers, none of whom I know anything about, and walk away without shedding a tear? Not a chance. There will be tears, and they won’t be hers.

I wouldn’t put it past my over-confident first born (newborn) to stroll into that building like she owns the place, without even a second look back at mom and dad. Knowing her, she probably will own the place soon. Or at least think she owns it. Her attitude gets her into (and out of) interesting situations all the time. But then, yesterday she couldn’t talk yet.

I still can’t believe that I just finished writing her name on what seems like 15,000 different back to school items, carefully putting them all in her backpack in preparation for tomorrow when it was just yesterday we were trying to decide what her name would be.

Tomorrow she starts kindergarten. Tomorrow she starts her school career. Tomorrow I will cry. Tomorrow I will smile and be proud of my daughter. Tomorrow will be the start of another chapter. But yesterday, she was my baby.

Fishing Stories

Well, once again I seem to have dropped the ball when it comes to blogging. Darnit. I’m sorry. This raising kids thing takes up more time than I thought it would when I decided to dip my foot in the childbearing pool. Please forgive me, and try to understand… (Facebook doesn’t help either…that takes a lot of time to update as well.)

July is almost upon us, and we now have 3 camping weekends under our belts for the summer. We’ve managed to get the camper out at least once a month since April and finally feel like we have the set up and tear down orchestrated into a fine tuned and efficient performance.

On the latest trip R1 was allowed to use live bait on her fishing pole for the first time. Last year we practiced casting with only a weight on the end of her line. This year was a different story altogether.

Ryan, Dad, Len and R1 all went down to the lake to fish. R1 was borrowing a Barbie Princess fishing pole from Ryan’s “collection” of fishing poles. They baited her hook and she cast out her line. Not 2 minutes go by and she ends up with the catch of the day. Her first Bass.

Since we weren’t sure of the limits on size, we put the fish back, just to be safe, but she will forever remember her first fish!

With her imagination and luck, she’ll be telling fishing stories with the best of them very soon. Keep checking the blog for updates!

-A

Rodents and Roatan

Wow. Sorry. It’s been awhile since the last post. I always promise to do better, and then life gets in the way. Let’s see…what have we been up to that I can sum up in one neat little package called a blog post?

Today, being Groundhog Day, the media has been obsessed with discussing the mental state and hallucinations of some silly rodent in Philadelphia. So what if it saw a shadow because today, after almost forgetting what the thing is called because it hasn’t been visible for 8 weeks, the silly sun decides to shine. So we’ll base our spirits on the news that the overgrown rat saw its shadow, which somehow scientifically affects the weather and will make it cold and snowy for at least 8 more weeks. We’ve already had one of the snowiest winters on record, so what’s 8 more weeks of the depressing white cover that quickly turns into disgusting sludge along the side of the roads and under the car? (and inevitably ends up as splatter on the back of my pants when I'm trying my best to tiptoe through it in the parking lots...grrr)

My mind is taking me back to the first week of December. I was in a much happier place then. See folks, our family decided to head south. (and I’m not talking within the U.S.) When we go south, we really go south. We went on a cruise (again) to the Caribbean. The weather was WARM (what’s that like) and while Omaha was getting slammed with the first 12” of snow for they year, we were on a beautiful sunny beach in Roatan. My biggest complaint of that day was I forgot to reapply sun block after my massage on the beach. Oh what I’d give to go back there again now.

R1 is now officially a seasoned cruiser. She thinks any vacation begins once you set foot on a boat. Deuce travelled very well also. He enjoyed the sunshine and played some in the water. His favorite part was watching the ocean go by while sitting on mom’s lap on the balcony of our room. It’s in those moments that all was right with the world. (for both of us)





(Or maybe it was this moment, when he napped on the beach after his beach massage...)



We travelled with both sets of our parents as well as some friends. All together (counting the kids) there were 14 of us in our group. We danced, dined and dove the week away. It was beautiful and fantastic. We made memories that will last a lifetime. It was one of the best Christmas gifts we could have possibly given each other. Who knows, it may become a tradition. Let me know when you want me to start planning for next year! It’s only 10 months away!!

You know you live in Nebraska when...

…in the span of one month you have had high’s in the 80’s and high’s (yes, I said high’s) in the 30’s.

You know you live in Nebraska when…
…in the span of one month you have experienced the following weather phenomenon: Thunderstorms, flurries, snowstorms and rain, all within a few days of each other.

You know you live in Nebraska when…
…in the span of one month you get to see green leaves on trees, red leaves on trees, yellow leaves on trees, brown leaves on trees, then there’s no leaves on trees…

You know you live in Nebraska when…
…in the span of one day, you go from the temperature in the morning (when it’s still dark outside) of 62 degrees to the temperature when you drive home (while it’s still light outside) of 42 degrees.

You know you live in Nebraska when…
…the weatherman tells you the forecast is for possible snow flurries and you end up waking up to this…

You know you live in Nebraska when…
…your daughter walks out of the house in the morning and tells you “Mommy, it smells like snow out here!” (and then a few days later, it snows)

For the record, I love living in Nebraska.

What do you know, Bo?

Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s been awhile since I’ve update all of you on the happenings over at our place. Please understand, life has been very busy for us this summer.

A couple of months ago, our beloved dog, Ozzy, got very sick and we had to make the difficult decision to put him down. This was a very hard day for our family. Ozzy was our “test” child and he was a TERRIFIC dog. He is buried out on Grandma’s farm under a tree in the field. Rest in Peace Ozzy.

For about a week, things were very quiet after Ozzy’s passing. Then, the first night J wasn’t able to come home after work due to having to work the soundboard at the Omaha Royals Baseball game and I found myself alone with the kids at home, I decided that we needed another set of K9 eyes and ears around. There’s just something very comforting about having a dog around to see and hear things that are out of place. So I began my quest to find the next perfect dog.

We found Bo on an add on Craigslist. He was in a small town in Nebraska about a 2 hour drive from Omaha, but he was just what we were looking for. He is a German Shepherd pup mixed with Rottweiler and Brussels Griffin Terrier. He was about 2 ½ months old when we “adopted” him and has grown like a weed so far. And most importantly, he was free.

So far, Bo has been adapting well to life with us. His biggest problem is he has an unlimited supply of puppy energy. He seems to do very well in his kennel and has not had an accident while in it. (We have had a few accidents in the house, but they are becoming less frequent) He is learning to sit and lay down, although he seems to think that if he does the command for only one second that it counts. We are still working on “stay”. That one seems very hard for him to comprehend, although, I shouldn’t be surprised, he doesn’t really ever stop moving, so that command will probably be the most difficult for him to learn.

J took him out for a little target practice the other day to find out if he was at all gun-shy. Bo passed that test with flying colors. J now wants me to research how to train him to be a hunting dog in the hopes that one day he’ll be able to take him pheasant hunting or something of the sort. (one of the commands he’ll need to learn for that is “stay” so we’ll see.) It may be a bit early to start his training on that, but in the meantime we’ll keep letting him hang around when J does his target practice and see what develops.

Eerily, Bo looks a lot like Ozzy did with similar markings and coloring. He does seem to be much more “leggy” than Oz, but lacks a lot of the bulk Oz had. I’m not expecting him to get quite as big as Oz was (Oz was over 100lbs.) but I estimate he’ll get into the 80lb. range give or take 5lbs. or so. He’s got rather large feet, and doesn’t seem to be able to do anything with anything that resembles grace. We’ll see if he gets less clumsy once he grows into those feet.

So, in closing, welcome to the family, Bo. You’ve got some mighty big paws to fill.

The Girls Must Look Tired

The other morning we were rushing around like usual, getting ready to face our days at the office (and babysitter). It was a normal morning in our household, 3 of us rushing around in our semi-organized chaos and R2 silently watching it all unfold in front of him. J and I were in a state of half dress, working on getting fully dressed. R1 had instructions of her own to go get herself dressed and she wanted to join J and me in our room for a little “family” dressing time. In the usual fashion of R1, she was jabbering on about various things when I heard her say, “Mommy, I’m going to wear hanging boobs like you when I grow up.” J about lost it. But managed to keep a relatively straight face in the moment. Now a multitude of responses went through my mind in the few seconds following her remark, but I decided simple was the best approach, so I responded with “Probably so.” To which she says, “Yeah, like when I’m a teenager.” And proceeded to walk out of the room. Now the laughter that J was doing so well to hold in came bursting forth. I looked over to him, looked down at my chest, and said, “They don’t look that bad, do they?” and pulled my shirt down over my head. Finally, dressed for the day.

R1’s observation about my “girls” got me to thinking more about them. These two “gals” have been through a lot in the last few years. These magnificent mammaries have been a source of food for 2 children. R1 nursed for just a few weeks past 1 year, and R2 has preferred them to any artificial source of food or comfort (bottles and pacifiers) since his birth, just a mere 4 months ago. I’m going to brag here just a bit, but I’m still amazed that he hasn’t had to have one drop of formula during his life to date, which for a working mom is quite an accomplishment. It also means that not only have my “girls” been introduced to the wonderful art of breastfeeding, but they have also gotten to know Medela (my breast pump) very well. So well in fact, that I have over 125 oz. of milk frozen in my freezer on any given day. R2 is starting to gain and make a dent in his popsicles, but for the most part, I’m replacing what he consumes.

(I refer to breastfeeding as an art because it takes a creative mind and a little luck, to figure out how to successfully hold a squirming child with one hand while with the other hand undoing those tricky little clasps on nursing bras while lifting up a shirt AND managing to somehow keep a blanket draped over the whole event so one doesn't accidentally flash boob flesh to anyone happening to be looking.)

The girls have also served another purpose for R1 and R2. These girls have been the soft pillow for tired heads on countless occasions. They have been the padding to soften the blows of skinned knees, bumped heads, bruised shins, stubbed toes and pinched fingers. In their squishy glandular form, they have been napped on, cried on, drooled on and spit up on. Yet despite all the punishment I have put them through in the last few years, they continue to “hang around’, waiting to solve the next problem I decide to throw their way. There have been times when R2 is really fussy and just can’t seem to get that darned gassy burp all the way out. The remedy to this problem seems to be to place his belly directly on top of the left breast, push in with just the right amount of pressure and pat his lower back. This technique has produced results almost every time.

These “ta-ta's” may not always be the prettiest or the perkiest. They aren’t often seen in cutsie little tank tops or sexy lace bras. It’s not easy to find lingerie or a swimsuit in a size needed to offer them adequate support they so much deserve after their dedicated years of service, but I’m not trading them in. Nope, these gals are mine, and I’m proud of them, high or low, thick or thin, left and right, they’re not going anywhere...these peepers are keepers. I just hope they don’t start to drift below the belt. Keep your heads up girls! Stand proud! (Please??) You’ve earned it!

Lessons in Life, Through Death

Have you ever tried explaining death to a small child? It’s not as simple as you might think. There are a lot of questions involved, and it’s difficult to put emotions aside to answer them all honestly.

Grandma K (J’s grandmother) passed away recently. This was a Grandma that R1 had quite a bit of interaction with. We took her to the viewing. This was her first time seeing a deceased person that closely. (When my Grandma P passed in Dec, we didn’t go up close to the casket while it was still open, she knew her body was in the big box, but she didn’t really see it) I tried my best to prepare her for what she would see while on the way to the mortuary. Leave it to a child to provide the comic relief at such a somber event. Grandma J took R1 up to see the body, which was lying on a table with her lower half covered with a sheet, and explained to R1 that she was in heaven now with all the angels. R1 looked down at her body for a minute and asked “All of her?” Grandma J said, “Yes honey, all of her, she’s in Heaven now.” R1 looked at her body again and shook her head. “Just her legs are in Heaven, because the rest of her is still here.”

It was just the thing that Grandma J needed to hear in that moment. To be able to bring laughter to someone grieving is a talent. Seeing a smile on the tear stained face of my mother in law was priceless. I’ll forever remember the image of my mother in law holding my daughter in the funeral home crying and laughing at the same time.

I truly believe that children are God’s way of helping us find smiles and laughter during even the darkest times.

Rest in Peace Grandma, we’ll all miss you.

1th...errr...1st

The other day I was rushing around as usual in the morning, getting ready for work, and asked R1 if she had everything she wanted ready to take to the sitters for the day. She asked to take the Robot movie with her. (this is an animated musical DVD that is really neat to watch. You can check out the Animusic Videos here: http://www.animusic.com/ She's been mesmerized by both of these DVD's since we bought them when she was about 1 year old.)

Anyhoo...I went and grabbed the one that has been her favorite and tossed it in the bag of items that was to go with us to the sitters for the day. She seemed concerned that maybe I didn't grab the correct one because she asked,
"What one did you get, Mommy?"
I told her that I got her favorite one. To which she replied,
"But I want the oneth one."
"The what one?"
"The ONETH one."
"Oh, you mean the FIRST one."
"Yeah, the first one." (while holding up one finger) "Make sure you got that one."

I absolutely LOVE talking to kids. The English language is so complex to teach. But hey, she's getting the idea!

-A

BBQ Rules

This was sent to me in an e-mail from a friend. I found it so truthful and funny, I had to share it with all of you.

B B Q RULES

We are about to enter the summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity, as it's the only type of cooking a 'real' man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...

(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:

(4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine.....

(5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

Important again:

(7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine....

(8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:

(10) Everyone PRAISES and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off.' And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women....

I've Misplaced Something Important...Myself (It's Important to Read the Labels)

Just when I thought I was getting my life under control, we go and have another baby. Now I’m back to the balancing act of managing my mommy guilt but yet still finding time in the average 24 hour day for myself. I think prior to R2 coming into my life I had finally gotten R1 to the stage of being independent enough that the “pre-mommy me” had started to peek through all the labels I had applied to myself in the last 4 years. Labels, yes, I know, I said labels. I’ve sat here trying to figure out what word I’d use if I had one word to describe myself. (my brain hurts now, by the way…) Words like: Mom, Wife, Female are all pretty obvious. Then we get into the other words that define me such as Friend, Caregiver, Sister, Neighbor, Co-Worker. Those too, are pretty obvious. I could go with Christian, Believer, Faithful, but yet those still don’t encompass who I am entirely. Optimist isn’t present very often anymore, although Determined and Strong stick around even when I don’t think they will. Hopeful tends to be present more often than I expect. Manic, Frantic, Crazy, all visit at least a few times a week - especially in the mornings while trying to get out the door on time. Spontaneous doesn’t really apply often, unless you count actually going into BK instead of hitting the drive through. I’m not sure that there even is just one-word that would define a person. I just know that the “Mother of an Infant” label that I’ve re-acquired for myself is draining my energy and ability to perform up to par on the other labels I’ve tried to live up to, or even the labels I’d like to live up to. The label of “Wife” seems to be lacking in performance as of late. The Wife label is on vacation with Friend and Employee I think. Somehow I have to figure out what beach they are on and try to get them back. (However at this point, I’m not sure if I were them, I’d want to come back right now, until the Mom label gets R2 settled into a schedule and can actually cook dinner for a family once again.) Maybe I’ve lost myself in the middle of the growing pile of fast food take out containers that seem to be piling up on my kitchen counter. In the midst of all these words and labels, I seem to have lost myself. It makes me think of the commercial line that says “Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” Only my commercial tag line is “Help! I’ve lost myself and I don’t know where to look.” (Secretly I think if I could only acquire the label of “Lottery Winner” so I could be a “Stay At Home Mom”, the old me that I’ve been looking for and missing would magically appear.)
-A

D Day. Finally!

Well, we elected to induce labor the earliest my Dr. would agree to it. Which was at 39 weeks. March 11th. At 7am J and I checked into the hospital as two, and on March 13th, we went home as 3. The short and quick timeline goes a little like this:

7am check in
10am broke water
1pm epidural
5:29pm delivery

If you want the gory details keep reading.

We checked into the hospital at 7am. the nurse started me on saline and pictocin IV drip right away, as well as hooked me up to monitors to record the heartbeat of the baby and length and time of my contractions. I was still dilated to 3cm when we started, so we elected to walk until the contractions started to get stronger and more frequent. We walked and walked and walked, and still no progress with dilating. Dr. B came in to check me around 10am, and broke my water then. (Supposedly that's supposed to speed things along as well.) It was at that point that J and I knew there was no turning back. Once your water has broken, you have 24 hours to get the baby out or risk infection for mom and baby. So after I ahemmm...."drained" the equipped me with jumbo maxi pad SUPER absorbency and the lovely hospital issue mesh underwear and sent J and I back out to walk some more. The idea behind all the walking is to put more pressure on the back side of my cervix in hopes that this pressure would help the cervix to soften and dilate faster. This walking did help me out a little, as I progressed to 4 - 5cm when we returned to the room. However at that point, the contractions were no longer comfortable (when are they ever?) and I just wanted to sit down to rest for a bit. After the nurse got back from her lunch break I elected to proceed with getting the epidural, which means you are now bed bound for the remainder of labor. But ahhhh the relief. It's quite fun to watch the monitor show you that you're having a contraction and not have any pain or discomfort along with it. Ahhh the wonders of modern medicine. The next few hours of labor were kind of boring. So nothing really to report. Aside from them checking to see how far I'd progressed, not much was really happening. Around 4:30 the Dr. called to see how I was doing. I think she was looking to decide if she was going home after she was done at the clinic or heading over to the hospital. The nurse checked me again and I was at 7cm. My nurse was a very smart woman. Since I had a good epidural where I was still able to move my legs, but not feel the pain she had me get on all fours on the bed so I could be more in a squatting position. This would allow the baby's head to put more pressure on my cervix, and in theory help me to dilate faster. Well, it worked because 20 minutes later I was at 9.5cm and almost ready to push. Once they called the Dr. in I was at 10cm. They had me turn back over onto my back and got the bed ready for delivery.

One thing they asked me this time that they didn't ask me when I delivered R, was if I wanted to watch too. They had a mirror on a stand that they could tilt so I could see what all was happening "down there". It was like my own episode of 'Special Delivery' on the Discovery Channel. When they told me to push with the next contraction, I could see the baby's head. Very freaky, but very cool as well. Then with push #2, we had a torso, and push #3 at 5:29 pm, resulted in our baby boy! They put him up on my chest right away and J was able to cut the cord. He was beautiful. There's something very magic in that moment when you get to meet your baby for the first time.

After that they took him to check his stats, weigh and measure, etc. He weighed in at 8lbs 8oz. Was 21" long, had all 10 fingers and 10 toes, and was crying as expected.

I don't post full names on this blog, but RDK is now the newest member of our family. We have started referring to him as R2. Jer is calling him Deuce. So as you read future posts, he will be referred to as one of those, or possibly just "the boy".

All of us are well, adjusting to our new addition, and we'll try really hard to post more frequently. For now, here's a photo of the little guy ready to com home from the hospital.

Welcome to our family little guy! We're glad to finally bring you home.

-AK

"Any Day Now" x 2.......Really?

“Any day now.” Yes, that was the remark from my Dr. again this week. I guess the words “Any day now” could mean 1 day or 15 days. No telling. Guess this little guy will come when he’s ready.

Now for the technical details: Still at 3cm dilated. Still 50% effaced. No progress over last week. Both the Dr. and J & I were thinking that will all the contractions I’ve been having off and on for the last few days would have meant that we’ve made more physical progress. Apparently not. Dr. did say that the baby’s head was lower in my pelvis than it was last week. (Something I could tell already due to the extra pressure I’ve been feeling in that general vicinity. I walk like you do when you try to walk with a ball between your thighs and not drop it. Sound awkward? It is.)

Dr. said that she would be happy to induce me once I hit week 39 which would be on March 11th. Since I was induced with R, I’d really like to experience going into labor naturally, but I am feeling very ready to have this baby…so we’ll have to weigh all the options once we’re at the 11th and still have no baby.

I’ve been trying a lot of different things that are supposed to help “jump start” labor. Proven and unproven. In the last few days, I’ve:

Eaten 2lbs of fresh pineapple
Tried massage and acupressure on pressure points to cause contractions
Eaten food with lots of hot sauce
Taken Evening Primrose
Walking – a lot more than I had been
What got baby in, is supposed to get baby out (think about it and it’ll make sense)
Warm baths, warm showers

So I suppose if you know of something else I can try, I’d be willing to give it a shot. Leave me a comment and I’ll let you know if it works or not.

Until we hear something different, I guess this is where we stand on updates.
-A

Another Hurdle Jumped - First Parent Teacher Conference

Another first . We had R’s first Parent/Teachers conferences today. I’d say it was a success. Overall, R is doing really, really well in her first year of Pre-School. She’s still 3 (granted, almost 4, but 3 yrs. 11 mo.) and on the Kindergarten assessment test she placed at 5yrs 4 mo. academically. I’d say that means she doing quite well.

Socially she still needs to be in Pre-School, but considering that this school year was the first time she’s really been in an environment where she’s had to interact with many different children for any extended period of time, she’s matured by leaps and bounds. The first few months of Pre-School were difficult for her (not to mention her teacher and her parents). They were full of time-outs and e-mails from the teacher. Her teacher did say that the last few months have been really good for R in that respect.

She also said that R likes to be in charge. If we use that to our advantage by making her the line leader or classroom helper, it really works to our benefit. J and I have noticed that at home as well. She responds much better if we ask her to help us achieve something rather than telling her to do something.

She’s competitive. She likes to be first and she likes to be right. (wonder where she gets that from??) She’s eager to answer the questions the teacher asks of the whole class, but needs to be reminded from time to time to let the other kids have a shot too. (although the teacher did say that 99% of the time she had the correct answer)

The most amusing part of the conference was part of the Kindergarten Assessment that asked her to draw a “Man”. They get 4 points for any of the items on the list that were present. Here’s a photo of R’s “Man”


When the teacher asked her what the thing was between the torso and the legs, her reply (in a whisper, shhh it’s a secret tone) was. “Those are his bottom parts. It’s where he sits.” I think that should have gotten her 4 more points under the "Other" category.

Looks like we have ourselves “One Smart Little Cookie”.

-A

Political post - Public School vs. Private School

Let me preface this post by saying it’s not my intention to make this a political blog. This blog is supposed to be about our family with updates, events and stories that we want to share with friends and family. With that in mind, I’m about to step up on my soapbox for a brief moment.

I received and e-mail from a friend yesterday telling of a new bill that is going before committee that could potentially have an impact on my family. Before we get into the specifics of the bill, I need to preface this with: I am in no way saying that public schools are inferior to private schools. I am a product of the Omaha Public School system and I feel that I was provided with good opportunities to learn and excel. In my family, both immediate and extended, are many educators that have taught for many years in public school systems in this state. I have nothing but respect for teachers and administrators who strive to provide children with the best education possible every day. My hat goes off to them. With that being said, J and I have been strongly considering private school for R. I will admit that the primary reason is because we don’t like the public elementary school in our neighborhood. I’m not saying that this school has poor teachers or administration, but I believe the kids that attend this school have uninvolved and uninterested parents. Who, in my opinion, and lack of actual knowledge probably use school as a cheap babysitter. Why do I feel this way? Try standing in my front yard anytime during the school year around 3:00 when school is dismissed and observe the kids walking home from this school. They are destructive, lack respect for themselves, others and properties. They use foul language and have a complete disregard for anyone or anything. This is not a group of children I want my daughter to sit in class with for 6-8 hours a day, nor do I want her to walk home within range of any of the kids I have had the opportunity to observe. Now again, I’m not accusing every student from this school to be this way. I’m sure there are some from good families that know how to behave and speak properly. Let me say also that I’m not trying to be one of those moms that over-shelter their children either. Our desire to have R attend a private school, specifically Omaha Christian Academy doesn’t even have to do with the “Christian” environment (although admittedly that is an added bonus), it’s for the moral character of the staff and students she’s exposed to every day.

My logic partly lies in this theory: when the parents are directly involved in the educational environment of their children, the children are more likely to succeed throughout their educational years. Parents who enroll their children in private schools have a financial investment in that education. And let’s face it. Money talks.

Now I know that if R were in Public school, I would be involved with her education. That’s the type of parent I am. J is the same way. We would talk to her and her teacher when and if we spotted any problems, before they got out of hand. We’d help her with her homework, insist on a consistent bedtime, send her to school with the appropriate supplies, make sure she’s had breakfast, etc. Basically provide her with all the tools we can to be successful in school. But that’s J and me. The problem lies in the parents of other Public School kids that don’t and won’t do those things for their children. Those children are most likely going to be the ones with discipline issues that will take the teachers attention and time away from teaching the rest of the classroom full of children that actually want to learn. Teachers spend more time disciplining kids than they do teaching anymore.

We parents need to step it up a notch. We need to realize that these teachers are not babysitters. School is not free day care. Parents need to get involved and stay involved.

With that all being said. Here is the political portion of my post. This is the e-mail I received. I urge any of you reading to contact the members of this committee and ask them to support this bill. If it will help me with part of all of the financial commitment that I make to send my child to a private school, I’m for it. I’m also very happy to continue to pay my fair share of taxes to support the public school system. I’d just like parents who would like to choose private school over public school to have a little bit of an incentive to do so, without the worries of being able to afford the tuition.

Legislative Bill 67

Legislative Bill 67 will be up for vote by the Revenue Committee soon; information about the bill is stated below. This bill would have a positive impact on Christian education. Please pray that this bill will pass. The Revenue Committee will hold a public meeting on Friday, February 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1524 of the State Capitol. If you
would like to attend the hearing and are interested in carpooling to Lincoln to attend, please contact the office and we will try to arrange a carpool system.

LB 67, the Elementary and Secondary Educational Opportunities
Act, would allow Nebraska individuals, married couples, and businesses to receive a state income tax credit for contributions to School Tuition
Organizations (or Scholarship Tuition Organizations) to assist children in enrolling at private elementary and secondary schools in Nebraska. An income tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax liability, as opposed to the treatment of a tax deduction, which only reduces tax liability by a percentage of the amount contributed. The goal of this bill is to provide scholarships to help defray the cost of private school tuition for students whose families have low or limited income and to provide an incentive to families and businesses to encourage charitable giving to nonprofit School Tuition Organizations, creating a new revenue stream with additional scholarship resources. These scholarship tax credit programs have been very successful
in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Florida, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania. Your help is needed to cause favorable treatment for LB 67 and its advancement to the full Legislature for debate.

Here is what you can do:1. Call or e-mail members of the Revenue Committee and urge them to support LB 67 and advance LB 67 to General File for debate. The Committee controls the fate of the bill
at this stage, so contact these senators even if they are not from your
district. (If you would prefer to write a letter; using regular mail, that
is fine, but act soon!)Revenue Committee members, district #, phone numbers, e-mail and mailing addresses:

Abbie Cornett (45) acornett@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2615
M.L. "Cap" Dierks (40) mdierks@leg.ne.gov, 402-471-2801
Greg Adams (24) gadams@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2756
Mike Friend (10) mfriend@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2718
Galen Hadley (37) ghadley@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2726
LeRoy Louden (49) llouden@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2725
Dennis Utter (33) dutter@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2712

Tom White (8) twhite@leg.NE.gov, 402-471-2722

Senator ______, District #____, State Capitol; Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509-46042.

Spread the word about LB 67 to other members of your school community and request that they also call or e-mail the senators on the Revenue Committee and urge them to support and advance LB 67.3. Senator Mike Friend (10) of Omaha introduced LB 67. He is a member of the Revenue Committee. In contacting Senator Friend, please thank him for sponsoring LB 67. Sen. Tony Fulton (29) of Lincoln is a co-sponsor of this bill. If you live in Senator Fulton's District (29), thank him for sponsoring this bill and let him know his efforts are appreciated. Please see the guidelines enclosed with suggested talking points for using in your message. Thank you!

For more information, please contact:Jeremy P. Murphy, Associate Director for Education Issues Nebraska Catholic Conference215 Centennial Mall South, Ste. 310Lincoln, NE 68508

(402) 477-7517JeremyMurphy@neb.rr.comwww.nebcathcon.org

Thanks again for your time. I am now stepping down from my soap-box.

-A

"Any Day Now" - not what I wanted to hear

Well, it's Tuesday. Which means we had another OB check up today. Today's report is I'm 3cm dilated and still 50% effaced. When I asked the Dr. this time if I had at least another week to go she simply smiled and said "Any day now." I said no, that's not the answer I was looking for. Can you at least tell me if I'll make it into March? That's only 5 more days. To which she smiled and said, "Any day now."

On a side note, my blood pressure was still in a good range, so she won't be inducing me at the moment. I'm still supposed to continue to monitor it on my own. If I get a high reading and am unable to get it back down on my own, I'm supposed to call. I'm assuming that means they'll look into inducing labor at that time, but this at least buys me a little more time. I mean really, all I really want to do is get into March. Is 5 days too much to ask?

Baby's heartbeat was strong and consistent with the last few readings with his heartbeat in the 140's (that's beats per minute) She's estimating his weight to be just over 7 lbs at this point. R was 7lbs 2 oz at the time of her birth (10 days before her due date) if you'd like to use that as a reference. This one isn't officially due until March 18th. He's going to be bigger than his sister.

I think I'm going to put myself on bed rest. I really want another March baby. I'm off to my happy place now. Talk to you all later.

-A

Pregnancy update

Well, we’re down to the last few weeks of this pregnancy, and overall, things have been going pretty well. I’ll admit that this one has been harder on me than R was. Not sure if it’s because it’s my 2nd pregnancy or if it’s because this one is a boy or if it’s because I’m 4 years older this time around or a combination of all-of-the-above.

The morning sickness was worse this time than with R. I still never missed a day of work because of it, and never actually threw up, but I was a lot more nauseous this time around than the first.

Around 20 weeks or so, I developed a lot of pelvic pain. My Dr. and Chiropractor both told me it was normal for a 2nd pregnancy, due to the pelvic floor muscles already being stretched out, and the baby sitting lower in my belly. Ok, great. The pain made anything requiring me to lift my legs up difficult. Putting on pants or socks, going up stairs, getting in and out of vehicles, things I need to do every day. But we’ve pushed through all of that and I’m still getting where I need to be (and fully dressed at that!).

I’ve been a little nicer to myself this time around as well. When I was pregnant with R, I was bound and determined not to let the pregnancy interfere with anything I wanted to do. It was like I needed to prove to the world and to myself that I could be pregnant and still do everything I wanted to do. This time, since I know it’s my last, I’m kind of sitting back and enjoying my “condition”. I’m taking it easy. I’m listening to my body. As a result, my blood pressure has been lower (not by much, but enough) my blood sugars are lower (enough that I passed the glucose screening and didn’t have to do the dreaded 4 hour glucose screening test that makes you feel like a human pin-cushion) I’ve been getting regular chiropractic treatments (really makes my back and hips feel much better) I’ve also been going for regular pregnancy massages every couple of weeks. Let me tell you, those totally rock! They have these special pregnancy massage tables that have a big hole in the middle so as to not put pressure on the expanding belly. They also have little holes for the breasts so you can lie on your stomach and not have your chest parts squished up under your chin. Fabulous invention.

J has also been doing his part. He’s settling into his role as “Super Dad” quite nicely. R is realizing he can do more and more for her everyday, so the pressure is off of Mom to perform up to her usual standards, and Daddy can do things like make dinner, give baths, read stories and play video games. This was something we thought would be good to get going before the new little one arrives and mom’s attention will be occupied with the needs of the littlest one. Mom is still available to rock in the chair and do “fingernails” with R whenever necessary though. That’s not something either of us was willing to give up.

At my last OB appointment on Tuesday, Feb 17th I was 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. If you don’t know what that means, Google can be your friend. Dr. B said that I should most definitely make it through the rest of February, but probably not all the way to my due date of March 18th. My goal has simply been to get to March 1st and then I’m fine with any time after that. Just as long as this little guy joins the rest of his family with a birth date sometime in the month of March, this mom will be happy.

We’ll try to keep you updated on our/my progress.

They have started a baby pool at my office. Selling days for $1 each. If more than one person wants the same day, the tie-breaker is the baby’s weight. So far all but 2 days between Feb 23 – March 20th are taken. Let me know if you want in on the fun. We’ll put in your name as well.

Take care!
-A

Behold, the Power of Cheese....I mean E-Mail

It’s amazing how technology can help or hinder today’s parent. In this example, technology was a help, or at least it has the potential to be. Here’s our latest experience.

I went to pick up R from the sitters the other evening after work. When I got there, she was her usual self. So to get her attention, I told her that I got an e-mail from her teacher that day. All of a sudden she got really quiet and serious. She looked at me and asked, “Did she say I’ve been good?” She said this in a really quiet and hesitant tone. She sounded very uncertain – which for those of you that know R, is unusual. Knowing that my conversation with her teacher was actually about setting up a time slot for parent teacher conferences, but with a mention of what a joy R is to have in class, I told her that actually her teacher says she has been good lately.

With that, she pepped up again and was the same R, alive and full of energy.

The next day she had school and J went to pick her up. He got the daily report from the teacher, which was good. As soon as R heard the teacher tell J that she had a good day, R turned around and hollered back to the teacher “Make sure you e-mail my mommy and tell her!”

Perhaps knowing that mommy has the potential to interact with the teacher via e-mail is a good thing. We’ll see how things go from here.

-A

Lessons in Parenting - The Backfire

Life is full of lessons. I don’t think there’s ever a point when you really stop learning. J and I learned a very important lesson about disciplining your child last night. Let’s start at the beginning…

R was at the table, and as she does most nights at dinner, she was barely picking at her food. She would take the smallest bite possible and chew it for 5 minutes! It’s frustrating as a parent to sit and watch your child waste time like that. Then she proceeds to tell us that she has a headache (another of her stalling tricks) and that her back hurts (10 minutes ago she was running around kicking a ball) all things we knew to be untrue. So like most parents would do, we made a statement of If/Then.

If you don’t eat your dinner, then you can go to bed.
If you have a headache, then you should get some rest.
If your back hurts, then you need to lie down.
If you don’t eat your sandwich in the next 5 minutes, then you’re going to bed without any dinner.

Now, many of you that know R, know she is a “strong-willed” child. As a parent of a “strong-willed” child, you can’t make threats that you aren’t willing to follow through on. So, she was sent to bed with out dinner at 6:30.

As expected, she wasn’t sleepy. So it did take awhile for her to fall asleep, but I believe she was asleep before her usual bedtime hour. This is where our lesson as parents begins…

Somewhere around 1 o’clock in the morning, R comes into our room and tells us she can’t sleep anymore. She’s lonely and the stuffed animals in her bed just aren’t enough to keep her company. J, already suffering from a case of the guilties for sending her to bed without dinner, tells her she can lay down next to him for a little bit. (This is not something she usually gets to do, but due to the lack of sleep, one we opted for last night) This worked until about 4 o’clock when one of the cats woke us up with that hacking-up-a-hairball sound that can bring even the deepest sleeping cat owner out of a dead sleep in record time. We all, including R, decided that since we were awake, that it would be a good opportunity to go to the bathroom. Once the bathroom break was completed, R realizes that she is no longer tired and wants to watch TV. After multiple times of trying to explain to her that it’s too early for TV, and she can’t get up to play with her toys, we give up on trying to get her back to sleep in our room and send her back to her room, thinking that even if she did decide to play with things, it may buy us a little more sleep time before the evil siren, I mean, alarm sounds.

So off she goes to her room. We don’t hear much from her and we both drift into that in-between stage of awake and sleep. (I think they call it twilight sleep). Then she comes in and tells us her tummy hurts. I assume it’s because it’s been at least 12 hours since she’s had any food. I tell her to go grab the cup of milk that is in the fridge and drink some of that. (Hey-it bought me some more time in bed without having to get up, give a pregnant gal a break) Sooner than I thought it should, the alarm goes off, and J groans. Apparently he didn’t have much luck falling back to a good sleep either. He gets up and walks like a zombie down to the shower with the hope that it will help revive him some. R comes back into our room and realizes that the radio is on, which means to her that it’s time for all of us to get up.

“Mommy! It’s morning time! Get up!”

(So much for hitting the snooze button)

As my mom can tell you, I’ve never been a morning person.

Add this morning to my growing list as to why.

Lesson learned.

-A