I'm mostly just glad that I'm not yet looking at bed rest. Last week I took the kids to the historical farm, because though I don't really have the energy to keep up with them out at places like that, I also don't want them to be stuck at home with me for the next two months. I'm trying to take as many opportunities as I can right now to get them out and about. Not only for the looming potential of bed rest, but also for that "fourth trimester" when I can't even imagine how I'll be a functioning parent of three.

Oh, and the baby is most definitely head-down, how she will likely (and hopefully) stay from now on. She certainly has less room to move around these days. I haven't felt any full body flips in a few weeks now, but to take its place I'm getting sharp jabs in the ribs. It seems she tells me when I'm laying or sitting wrong, and she wants more room. If my belly is at all squished, I get a sharp kick in the ribs (or lungs, or whatever else is in her way) until I change position.

I took Ethan to the doctor today, as well. He's been coughing for pretty much the entire month of September, ever since Natalie started getting over the coughing she had, and over the last couple days it has gotten really bad. (And just as of today Natalie has started back with coughing...) Last night Ethan barely slept at all because he was coughing so much. So I wanted to take him in to get his lungs checked. He's been discharged from the pulmonary clinic, back in June, but they warned me that his symptoms could come back, after certain triggers. Well, maybe Ethan had some kind of virus about a month ago, because it looks to be the case that his lungs are just not recuperating from it. His doctor heard some wheezing in his lungs, but saw or heard nothing that suggests it is an allergic reaction, so she thinks it might be a viral trigger. So tonight before bed I gave him a couple puffs of albuteral. He so far seems to be sleeping better tonight. 

One more thing I wanted to mention tonight - as of last week, our "nursery" is now ready for the baby! It's amazing how, with Natalie, I was so panicked by this point in my pregnancy when I didn't have her nursery fully complete and ready to go, room painted, with her crib outfitted with mobile and other matching accessories. That fully-functioning nursery that was all but ignored for her first six months of life (at least after the first week or two, when I finally realized that surviving those first weeks DID NOT involve sitting in a rocking chair by her crib, listening to her scream and spit up in the middle of the night, while I tried in vain to "shush" her to fall back to sleep on her own...), in exchange for a bassinet placed as close to my bedside as possible (where she slept much better, and therefore, so did I). With Ethan, we had the crib up and ready, but he mainly used it for naps. At night time he slept in the pack n' play, placed at the foot of our bed, so that Phil could get up in the middle of the night to bring him to me in bed to nurse. After which he'd usually fall asleep (on top of the Boppy, with me propped almost sitting up, using about seven pillows behind me), only to have me wake a couple of hours later to discover he was still there with me. That was, compared to using the "nursery", pretty much heaven. I got tons more sleep and I don't remember even half the angst of the first six weeks as I had with Natalie. This time, I have finally found what I have been wanting, and looking for, for the last four and a half years (but just couldn't pay $200 for). I found an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper!!! At Once Upon a Child! (A used kids stuff chain around here.) These things are so rare to come across, I've literally been keeping my eye open for one (even when not nursing) since Natalie was a newborn and I discovered how nice it would have been. It's a full size, not one of the "mini" ones that are being pushed right now (which is really just a glorified bassinet that only holds up to about 15 pounds). And, it's a nice pale pink color. So let's really hope that ultrasound was right! I'm just excited that I can now say our "nursery" is ready. I'm going to put up the Pack n' Play downstairs, because it includes a changing table, and I'll need a place for her to nap down here anyway, and I'll just be setting up the Arm's Reach at my bedside. Voila - nursery is complete. We don't have to think about which kid will have to share or switch rooms for several more months now.

September 13, 2006
I've been getting even more indications that this is to be my last pregnancy. On top of the swollen feet and hands which have already started, I've also finally developed three other "typical" pregnancy things which I've managed to pretty much avoid through my first two. First, I've been having ever-increasing heartburn lately. I had a little with Ethan, and it got really bad during labor, but I've never had it through the pregnancy before. Yet another thing -on top of the morning sickness- that I now know about not trying to tell someone else how to solve - I'm popping TUMS, and I've tried other things like eating bananas, but it only lessens for a little while. Second, I'm noticing lovely varicose veins appearing on my legs. I was fully expecting them both of the other times, since I've read all about how they show up during pregnancy, but I never got any. Well, this third time did it. They're not really bad, but just for the fact that I've had many jobs where I stood all day, and through two pregnancies, never getting any, I thought maybe my legs were immune. I've had a little of a third thing in the past, but it's definitely worse this time: when I have a big sneeze, sometimes I have a little, shall we say, frequent sudden urge to find a bathroom. All part of the "badges of motherhood", I guess, along with the striped road map all over my belly, but everything that has gone on this pregnancy has just more and more confirmed in me that we are going to be a family with three kids and no more. Plus, as Phil mentioned last night, a former pastor of ours, who has three teenaged kids, was talking to him yesterday, and he said, "Three kids sounds like a good idea. Until they all start reaching college age at the same time." 

One of the doctors at my OB office, whom we spoke with once about making sure having three kids was permanent, tried to tell me he thought I should be dissuaded from doing the surgical option, because of my history. Not because having my tubes tied would pose any risk for me, but because it won't do anything to help my messed up cycles. Well, duh. Apparently some people believe that if you get your tubes tied, you won't have cycles anymore. Those people obviously have very little clue about their bodies. The doctor tried to tell me that there were other options we "could try", like birth control pills, or an IUD.  I would never use an IUD because it doesn't prevent pregnancy (therefore it is NOT a contraceptive), and we've already tried the lowest-dosage possible hormonal option. Apparently he hadn't fully read through my history file. Not going there again. So, yes I'm fully aware that there is nothing we can do, short of taking it all out, that is going to help with my cycles. I just want to do this so that I don't have to worry about getting pregnant again, on top of all the messed up cycle things that cause me to never really know what stage of my cycle that I am in. Yes, the chance is there that after this pregnancy, my body will suddenly, spontaneously start working correctly. But after having this be The Way Things Are ever since the age of 12, I'm really doubting that it's going to be any different after a third pregnancy. Apparently this is a decision that has to be made (and signed on paperwork) at least a month prior to delivery, if you want to have it done postpartum (which is the easiest time to have it done since everything is pushed up anyway), so I've got to make sure at my next appointment that we get this done. (I'm officially in my 8th month now, so the paperwork needs to be signed soon.) I'm going to be seeing the same doctor this time that I spoke with about it last time (the past recent months I've been meeting with each of the other doctors in the practice; since I've had to have the ultrasounds I've decided to make the best of it and at least get to know all the other doctors in the practice), so at least he'll know I've been thinking about it.  I'm also really hoping that after this appointment I'll be able to start scheduling with Liza again. I hope. I've been having more and more contractions the past several days, and they're starting to be the kind that begin down low and then radiate all around. As the doctor I met with last time said, though -- in the end, it doesn't really matter how many contractions you have - as long as they don't change the cervix much! The ones I've been having, that start at the bottom and go up, are typically the ones that cause cervical changes, but maybe they won't this time. Everything else has been completely different with this pregnancy, so maybe this will be different too. I'll find out at my next appointment, which is on the 26th.

Just in case anyone began to get the impression that my sweet, adorable little boy was ever anything but, I want to put that thought to rest. As cute and sweet that he is, he has his little moments, too, and lately they are getting more frequent. The past few days, he's taken to sweeping absolutely everything off of the coffee table with big, swooping arm movements. And usually our coffee table is jam packed with mail, books, papers, and just about everything else that could possibly end up being deposited in the front room. Maybe he doesn't like clutter. (But he apparently doesn't mind the same clutter once it's strewn all over the floor.) He also loves to throw crayons and toys all over, and the boy has got a good arm, too. He lobs them across the room, and watch out if you happen to be in his range! The other wonderful thing he just has started doing the past few days, is pretending to bite his sister. He doesn't actually bite her, but he pretends like he is going to, and then has the audacity to start gleefully chanting, "yum yum yum!" Natalie (nor I) find this to be very amusing. He's yet to become a biter, thankfully, but I don't like seeing him even pretend to. 

The past few days have been a little rough on us all, because Phil's been gone for all day (and not getting home till after the kids go to bed) for meetings for the Ohio A/G ministers. So we've been muddling through, trying to keep busy, but they've been thrown off by the change in routine. Natalie has been clingier than usual, and strangely reverting back to using baby talk. (Not just her pre-speech therapy "Natalie talk", but really baby/toddler talk, such as "Me want that", and other phrases that are driving me up a wall.) Phil finished with his meetings this morning, so hopefully this is mostly related to daddy being absent, and not something else that won't be solved by a change back to routine tomorrow. Let's hope so. I usually really like being around my kids! (Okay...most of the time.)

September 8, 2006
There are a few more things I wanted to get written down that I thought about today. Feast or famine with me, I guess -- either I write every single day or I don't say anything for nearly a month.

Ethan finally had his 2-year check up last Friday. He's a big guy, as we all know. He now weighs 31 1/2 pounds, and he is 35 1/2 inches tall. That is about the 75th percentile for weight, and 80th for height. I forgot to write down his head circumference, but it was 95th percentile. He is up to date on his shots, so he didn't even need to get any at this visit. We were glad about that, since we were leaving for our drive down to Missouri just an hour after his appointment!

Ethan is saying all kinds of things these days, as I've mentioned before. Just within the last month or so, he's really been stringing words together into just about full sentences. A few weeks ago, he surprised me by bringing me his empty cup and saying, "mo milk peas, mom!" Ethan almost always calls me "mom". (I'm not getting the "mama" bit very often from him, but I do at least every now and then.) He really likes playing the game of "hey mom?" (he asks) "Yes, Ethan?" (I respond) and back and forth we go for a long time. Everyone always said that boys tend to speak later and not as well as girls, but it doesn't seem to be the case with Ethan. Maybe I'm just not remembering what Natalie was saying at this age, but Ethan really does a good job at communicating things. One of the absolutely cutest things he's saying right now is "cuke". Nope, not as in "cucumber" -- I don't like them so it's as rare as a carrot around these parts. That's how Ethan says "thank you". As in, "cuke, Mom", and "cuke, Na-nee". He says it most of the time without even being prompted to say thank you. Yesterday he started singing the VeggieTales theme song. We were getting lunch together, and I heard distinctly from his mouth, "broc-li, ceh-ry, gah-bee, Veg-tells" He did it again at lunch today, as I was going through the veggie drawer and pushing aside the broccoli to find the veggies to serve up. Of course, in mom style, I have to have a running commentary of everything I do, so as I said "broccoli", Ethan started singing. Both kids have also lately been singing a theme song to some show I don't think they've ever seen. I half-recall seeing a preview (a "menu", as Natalie calls them) for the show on one video we got from the library recently, but not more than one preview. But boy did this song stick with them. I know nothing about the show at ALL, but lately we're constantly hearing "we're the doodlebots, OH YEAH". I don't even know if it's called "the doodlebots", or anything remotely close to that, but the kids both sing this little phrase ALL the time. Ethan especially likes the "OH YEAH" part. He often cracks himself up after singing that.

We kept really busy this week. Besides getting back from our trip at about 12:30 at night on Monday, and starting home school, we had a lot of appointments this week too. On Thursday morning I took both kids in to see their dentist. Neither were due for a cleaning, but both had little spots on their molars that we've been concerned about. Ethan did such a good job for his first time in the dentist's chair. He opened his mouth right up and let Dr. Lin have a good look. He saw the spots I had seen, but he said while there was a little pit in one of his molars, it's still very solid, so he was fine. (We are just going to keep a close watch on him for the next several months.) Natalie had one spot that looked just like Ethan's, or so I thought. She actually had TWO - one on each back lower molar. And hers were not so solid. She got two fillings. Two more fillings, that is. This time, since they are on her molars and not on the front teeth, she has the darker silver fillings. The poor kid, I've lost count of how many fillings she's already had on her little teeth. We brush and floss all the time, too, and it's not like she eats junk or sucks on juice all day. (The kids rarely get juice at all, and when they do I always water it down to more than half water.) My kids have apparently inherited my bumpy, cavity-prone teeth. Natalie goes back in October for her scheduled cleaning, and I'm going to ask about getting her teeth sealed. I don't know if they'll do it on baby teeth or not, but I don't want to see her have to go through what a couple of her friends already have had done, which is have most teeth yanked and replaced with metal. At this point, at least we're catching them early and the fillings she does have are fairly small, but still. She has always done really good at the dentist, and this week was no exception. She doesn't have any fear at all about Dr. Lin, and doesn't seem fazed at all about getting cavities filled. (He is a really good dentist, always getting the job done quickly. And besides, she gets to lay there and watch Dora. And afterwards she gets to pick out a prize or two.) The only part about it that had her a little unsure this time was the fact that she could see the fillings, since they were darker than the tooth composite stuff they've used before. More than a few times this week she's asked me to tell her, again, what the stuff was called that was on her teeth. "A filling?" I said. "NO, Mom, what's the name of it?" "Silver, I think," I said. 

One thing I forgot to mention about our trip to Missouri this weekend. We went to Springfield for Grandma Hadden's birthday, but on the way home we decided to take an extra day and go to St. Louis. We got a hotel (with an indoor pool) just outside of St. Louis. It made a nice day for us, and it really helped break up the drive back home. (It's still a little over three and a half hours to Springfield once you get to St. Louis - and more when you need to stop as much as we do.) On Sunday night, after we checked in, we drove around and went to visit a casino that was on the Missouri river. The kids were taken in by all the lights on the drive up to the parking lot. We'd never been inside one before, so that was an experience. A smoky experience, mostly. We didn't stay too long. Ever since then, Natalie has been saying (generally loudly and within earshot) "we have to stay away from smoker people", or "watch out, mom, there's a smoker person". We did like the jumping water fountain that was out in the lobby/entrance area, though. It jumped all around the fountain, making neat patterns, and sometimes shot up really high "all the way up to the top of the sky" (as Natalie said). So then we left and went to Denny's for dinner and back to our hotel for a swim. At first Ethan was so scared that he was shaking. Apparently he had forgotten how much he loved the pool at our apartment last summer! Both kids clung to one or both of us VERY tightly, but within just a few minutes Ethan decided that it was actually a lot of fun. He especially liked playing "Super Ethan", where we held onto his midsection and he put his arms and legs out to "fly". We got them pretty over excited that night, and getting them to sleep was a bit tricky. (Especially since they were sleeping in one double bed, they were in nice close whacking and hair-pulling distance of each other.) The next day we spent as much time as my body would allow at the St. Louis Zoo, which is a zoo I recommend anyone going through the area to check out. It's free, and it's very nice. Very hilly, but nice. Natalie and Ethan got to feed some giraffes, which they loved. I think we were there just a little over two hours and that was all the walking (uphill mostly, it seemed) that I could handle. We had planned on also going to a Japanese festival that was being held this weekend at a botanical garden, but when we got there we found out they were charging $10 admission to get in, so we didn't stay. We didn't want to stay in town for more than about another hour or two, so it wouldn't have been worth it just to get a couple bowls of udon. So we just drove over to the downtown area, by the arch, and had dinner at TGIFridays, and then started our drive home. I'm glad we didn't stay too much longer in St. Louis, since even with not hanging around long we still got back after midnight (and I had my OB appointment first thing in the morning). And ahhh, my queen size bed, which lately has been feeling way too cramped, felt like one big pillow that night back, too. The beds we had on our trip weren't bad, but they were all double beds, and between my -ahem- girth, my two standard pillows, and my oh-so-beloved Snoogle, there wasn't much room left to get comfortable, let alone accommodate my inability to easily turn over in bed. Once I got into position with my pillows, there was no moving the rest of the night. And that doesn't even mention that Phil was trying to find some sleeping room, too.

I **think** I'm now all caught up from the past few weeks!

September 7, 2006
My absence has been really long. And yes, a lot has happened lately that I need to catch up on! At least about two weeks of being missing from the journal is the fault of my sister. I place the blame squarely on her...and her husband Bruce. You see, I couldn't update MY web page, because I didn't want to spill the beans before she did. She's pregnant! I couldn't very well write about all the goings-on in my family without mentioning one of the most important things, now could I? She just had an ultrasound today, confirming her due date of April 25th - just one day before my other sister's birthday, when she will turn 20. (But we all know what due dates mean in our family -- nothing other than a random estimate, either two to three weeks before or after the baby actually comes.) She's about seven weeks pregnant, and so far seems to be feeling pretty good except for the two epileptic seizures she's already had. That's been a little scary for everyone, because this is the first time in well over a year that she's had a seizure, and now two in a row. A lot of it could be caused by other stress going on right now also, but the big hormonal shifts of first trimester probably aren't helping much either. But the baby seems to be doing good - they saw a really strong heartbeat today. Yay! I'm actually going to be an aunt! (And maybe -maybe- we'll have another use for all the boxes of exceptionally cute baby boy clothes I have stacked up all around my basement!)

There's been lots of other stuff going on, and I know I'm not going to do justice to any of it because I don't want to write 20 pages worth tonight, so I'm just going to try to get the highlights. I'll start back about where I left off last time.

My mom had her gall bladder surgery a couple weeks ago. It went really well, but it was a big deal surgery. She was in the hospital for a few days, and is now at home recovering. She just got her staples out on Tuesday so she's feeling a little more mobile, but she will still be off of work for the next few weeks. We had lots of family in town for the week of her surgery, so it was nice seeing everyone, even though we were primarily having our family reunion in a non-private hospital room next to a perpetually complaining 90 year old woman. Fun fun!

This past weekend we took another little mini-vacation, this time to visit Phil's family in Springfield, Missouri. Phil's Grandma Hadden was celebrating (two months early) her 80th birthday party, and his aunt and uncle called us a couple weeks ago to ask if we would be able to make it. We've been wanting to get out of town for a couple days, and being that it likely won't happen again before at least early Spring, we took the opportunity. It was a long drive, though. With two little kids and a 27-week pregnant lady, we made lots of stops. Every about hour and half I had to get up to walk around, otherwise my hands and feet started to swell up just from sitting there. It was worth the trip, though. We got to see a lot of family, including some family Phil hadn't seen since his mom died in 1989, and Phil's dad and sister, who also came down for the weekend. Phil's dad didn't even know about the birthday party and that we were coming down there until the day before we left. He was just there to help move Julie down to Springfield, where she just got an apartment with a friend of hers. On the way down, we stopped at a Goodwill and picked Julie up some household things, since she had NOTHING at all. We were just stopping by on a break, in Terre Haute, because I needed to get out to walk around for a little while. We saw a bunch of costumes in the front window, so we decided to go in. Lately Ethan has been LOVING to play dress-up with his sister, but except for one black cowboy hat, everything we have is very girly. So he's been lately stomping around the house in dress-up heels and other sparkly things. We needed to get him some other alternatives. At the Goodwill, we found a big fuzzy green frog costume, and of course he wanted it on him right then. It's a little small- size 24 months- and also very warm since it's like a fuzzy overcoat, but that didn't stop him. We walked around the store the rest of the time, and he kept jumping and saying "hop hop hop!" everywhere he went, and looking mighty pleased as punch. We also found a SpongeBob costume (which Natalie has played with more than Ethan), and a big chocolate chip cookie which is really cute. Natalie thinks she wants to be the cookie this year for trick or treat. I would bet that we're also going to have a little green frog, too.

On Saturday morning, after eating the obligatory breakfast at IHOP (WHY, in this city of all chain restaurants imaginable, is there NO IHOP?) we went with Julie and Phil's dad to some local thrift stores to find more stuff for her. On the way out to go to the birthday party, we saw someone bringing by a twin mattress set, which looked pretty much brand new, that they were getting ready to donate, so we asked them if they would donate it to us instead. They did! We strapped it to the top of our mini-van, and that night Julie had a nice bed to sleep on instead of the bare floor.

Let's see...of course there is more.

Natalie had her first experience with the same breathing stuff that we used on Ethan when he was a baby. For the last several weeks, she had a really bad cough that just didn't go away, and kept getting worse. I took her to the doctor a couple times. The first time her cough was bad (keeping her awake at night) but she wasn't wheezing. By the end of the week it had gotten worse so I took her back, and she was wheezing. So she went through a treatment of a steroid and an albuterol inhaler. She was very good with remembering that she needed to take her medicine - she even reminded me that it was time. It took about a week, but her cough finally went away after that. Phil's had it too, and now I think Ethan is getting it. He's been coughing for about a week, and just tonight we started hearing wheezing from him, too.  

I had my 27 week checkup this past Tuesday. I'm officially in my third trimester, and I'm feeling it, too -- the tiredness has returned with a vengeance. (Though some of that could be still not being recovered from the week of my mom's surgery, and then our long drive to Missouri. Time will tell - so far this week I haven't had much time to relax.) My feet have outgrown my tie-up tennis shoes, so I've only been able to wear my slip-on sandals. (Just found that out yesterday, when the weather suddenly turned to fall and I started wearing jeans again!) I also am having a hard time bending over to pick things up. It's either sideways, or not at all. In any case, things are taking much more effort all of a sudden! Several friends who saw me at church on Wednesday night mentioned that I had popped a lot more, so maybe the baby had a big growth spurt this past week. I only gained a couple pounds this month, instead of another ten, so that was good. We had another ultrasound, and found out that my cervix has shortened some, but not enough that they are getting concerned yet.  (But I am still scheduled for another check in three weeks, since it has shortened some, and I'm right at that time that everything started with the last two.) Everything is looking good though, otherwise. The baby is still head down. I think she's done a few full body flips in there (this one seems to me to be REALLY active...) but as long as she stops doing that before it gets too tight to make a full turn back to head down, it's fine with me. Her heartbeat is still right at about 160, which it has been pretty consistently since the beginning. I also had my glucose tolerance test at this appointment. Unlike the last two times when the nasty orange stuff was made somewhat more palatable by the addition of carbonation (making my brain almost think it's just really yucky orange pop), this stuff was just straight syrup. I drank it on my way to the appointment, since I had a specific time window I had to drink it in, and I barely choked it down. I had to tell the kids several times, "Don't talk to mommy right now, I've got to take this yucky medicine and I can't talk!" I just drank it down like I was doing shots - just try not to let it hit your tongue! So, anyway I am assuming the test went just fine since I haven't heard anything yet. I still have a nasty bruise on my arm where the lady attempted to stick me several times without drawing blood into the tube. She was getting some blood, though. When I looked down (I can never watch the sticking process) as she was pulling the first needle away and preparing to get a new one to try a different vein, I noticed that I had squirted drops of blood all over her gloved hand and the arm rest. Yuck! The second try went much better, thank goodness. The hardest part is just keeping a very cool, neutral face during the whole thing, because I have the two kids sitting right at my feet watching the whole thing!

I know there are other things I need to catch up on, but I'll try to think of what those are in the next couple days. The only other thing I know for sure I wanted to mention this time is that we started Natalie's kindergarten homeschool this week! We're using a curriculum called Learn at Home - Kindergarten,  and it's a full curriculum including reading, math, science, social studies, language, and a couple other things. It has lots of activities, books to read, things to cut and paste, other art projects, and just about everything else you can imagine. (Except I don't have to, because it's all written down in the daily planner. The only thing I've been adding is Bible study time.) We've almost finished the first week, and it's been really good. Natalie is enjoying it a lot, and every day has asked when we can start home school for the day. The biggest challenge so far is how to entertain Ethan so he's not a distraction while I'm trying to teach Natalie. He wants to be right there doing it along with her. Which is fine, most of the time, but he doesn't understand that he can't color on HER pages, too, and not just the ones I set aside for him. Natalie and I make sure we turn the light on in the play room for him before we start, and most of the time he's been happy to bring some toys over and play right by us, but there have been a couple times when he isn't content not being in the center of things. I'm trying to make sure all the markers and materials we're using are things he can do too, but this being kindergarten, there's a LOT of "hands on" materials around. And he wants them all open all at once. The adventure has begun! I kind of see this as our "trial year", to see how it goes and if it's something we can do. Since she's not five yet, I'm still not accountable to anyone like the local school board, so this is a good time to test the waters. It's only our first week, but we're enjoying it so far. 

There's a lot more I could write about, but it's getting very late so I'm just going to have to end this. I won't stay away so long next time!