Say it ain't so!

I was expecting a very routine appointment today at the baby doctors.  Turns out that wasn't in the cards.  First off was an apology from the doctor saying that she had given the wrong info to the nurse who called with my glucose results.  I did in fact fail the glucose test unlike I was told.  BOO!  Because of that I now get to go in for the 3 hour glucose test.  With that I lost all positivity over the situation.  I've come to accept the inevitable that I'm going to have the gestational diabetes and another big baby with the possibility of a c-section.

The second disappointment was to find out that I'm measuring a 33 when I should only be measuring a 29.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.  I've worked really hard this pregnancy on watching what I eat.  In fact I've only gained between 10 - 15 lbs.  VERY good for me.  Apparently though none of this is helping the baby.  She is still going to be big.  

Lastly the doctor said there isn't much she can do about the problem I am having with the iron pills.  I'm in pain from them most days to the point that I can't do anything but lay down.  She can't take me off of the pills because I need the iron and the dose I am taking is the lowest dose offered.  Gah!!!

In the end though I was a bit cheered up when we got out to the car and Allie smiled at me and said, "Baby go boom-boom!"  She apparently had enjoyed hearing baby sis's heartbeat.  I know I've said this a lot lately, but it is true so I'm going to say it again!  I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father to give me this simple little tender mercies when I need them most.  I'm positive he inspired Allie to say what she did when she did because he knew I needed to hear it or else I would completely lose it!  Heavenly Father truly cares about each of us!

Tender Mercy

I was feeling a bit blue today when picking up Lily from school.  I think most of that was a result of not getting much sleep from this iron pill I'm taking.  Lily was a bit of a pill about getting ready for dance class which did not make my mood any better.  When we arrived home I instantly had to start dinner so it would be ready on time.  

While I make dinner the girls are usually on their own since our kitchen is walled in, instead of open to the whole house.  However, today I was cutting up potatoes and decided to sit in the living room to do this.  Lily plopped down next to me and started bringing me all the things I needed for dinner.  She even got out my frying pan and glass lid without me asking.  She just knew what I needed, and got it for me.  After getting the prep work done I had to leave the girls and cook.  I heard them giggling and figured they were okay.  Comes to find out they were MORE than okay.  They were working on a surprise for mommy....and daddy.  They cleaned up all their toys in the living room, bedroom, and kitchen.  Plus they made their beds.  

How nice it was to walk out to the living room when Russ got home to see it spotless instead of chaotic like normal.  Russ commented on how wonderful it looked as well.  Lily and Allie were so excited about their accomplishment and the compliments they were getting.  And you know what?  These little helpful things Lily had done for me improved my mood greatly.  Heavenly Father knew what I needed today, and provided me with it through my wonderful children!

I a Choo-choo Guy!

 The girls had gotten out the dress up box and were trying on fun things.  Allie came running out with this hat on, and yelled, "Look ma, I a choo-choo guy!"  Personally I think she makes a cute choo-choo guy, backwards hat and all!

27.5 weeks

As of two weeks ago I am officially going every two weeks to the doctor.  The doctor has never really said why I need to do this so early on.  I'm assuming because of my big babies in the past they are considering me high risk, and want to keep an eye on me so this one doesn't get too big to deliver.

My appointment on Thursday was a long one because I had to do the glucose test.  The appointment lasted for two hours.  Allie was a gem the whole time!  She even charmed the nurses into giving her a cookie and sticker.  The actual time seeing the doctor was quick.  She did take the time to measure my belly and I'm measuring a 30 {ie two weeks ahead in size}  Nothing too surprising to me about this since I measured ahead like this with both Lily and Allie.  However the doctor seemed a bit surprised and concerned.  A bit of good news from the appointment was that my blood pressure is holding steady at normal.  It had been high at the beginning of the pregnancy, but now it appears to have leveled out.

On Friday the nurse called with the results from my blood tests.  I was completely in shock to find out that my glucose numbers were "really good".  I was expecting bad news on that.  At least I don't have to worry about it too much from here on out.  However, the bad news the nurse delivered is that I am a bit anemic.  At least I know why I've been more tired this time around!  The fix is easy enough, I just have to take an additional iron pill.

What would be a pregnancy update without pictures?   As you can see I grew quite a bit the past month! LOL!

Big Fatty Bee!

 Outside of our front room window is a gorgeous tree/bush that we brought back to life.  It died during the winter from the cold snap, but it started to shoot out new roots in the summer.  Russ tied them all the new branches up together to make our tree/brush.  Towards the end of summer the tree started to bloom with the most gorgeous purple blossoms.  We've enjoyed the view of it out our window.  

A few weeks ago Lily {who has been trained to be afraid of bees} screamed "A BEE"  After determining that the bee was outside, Russ and I were enthralled watching this bee on our purple tree.  It was the BIGGEST....FATTEST....BEE....WE...HAD...EVER...SEEN!  It is about the size of a quarter!  So huge and fat!!!  Just as Russ was running to get the camera the bee finished collecting its pollen and zoomed away.

Russ was so excited today when he was working outside and saw our friend back....okay, it might not have been the same one, but it was definitely just as big.  This time he was able to capture so pics of it.  I guess the old adage that "everything is bigger in Texas" is true concerning bees!

Eeks!  Look at that stinger!

 

You can't see the bee in this photo, but the photo of the flowers were lovely so I included it :)

Perseverance

I admire Lily and a lot of traits she has at such a young age, that I am still trying to develop currently in my life.  One of these is perseverance.  Today at soccer we talked to Lily a lot about how she needs to get in the cluster of kids and kick the ball.  She has been kind of flitty and running around not looking everywhere BUT where the ball is.  Towards the end of the 3rd quarter she really started getting into the cluster and we were so excited for her!  She saw this, and in turn she started doing it more because she knew what she was doing was the right thing.

On one of these instances she ran towards the ball just as a boy on the opposing team kicked the ball.  The ball popped up in the air and nailed Lily pretty hard in the nose.  I was out on the field pretty quickly since I knew that Lily doesn't handle pain that well.  By the time I waddled myself out there Coach Perez had picked her up and was checking her out.  She was crying bit said she wanted to continue playing!  Oh what a huge leap for her!  I was so proud to see her continue on playing.

A few minutes passed and Lily was yet again in the middle of the cluster of kids trying to kick the ball.  She kicked the ball at the same time as someone else which caused her to go over the ball head first  She landed on her face and kind of did a headstand.  This one roughed her up a bit more.  Coach insisted that she go sit down and Lily came off the field crying.  We checked her out and she was okay, which was quite a relief.  The way she fell looked like she could have hurt her neck. Lily rested for a short bit and then was asking Coach if she could go back in...which she did!

I'm so impressed that these two experiences didn't so Lily down.  She wanted to have fun and play soccer even if she had a bit of pain.  Seeing Lily's personality and character grow in leaps and bounds this year has really made me proud.  I'm really excited to see peeks of what Lily's future holds for her through these milestones she achieves.

Fun Halloween Project

 I've seen many variations of this project around some creative blogs that I look at.  I finally decided this would be a fun "cheap" way to add a new decoration to our Halloween stash.  Russ was very helpful with this project because I couldn't breathe the fumes of the spray paint, glue or sealer.  So truthfully this like 50% his project too!

Essentially what you are seeing is piece of wood that I have added nine Halloween scenes to.  I created all the scenes using a digital scrapbooking kit.  Then I printed them off my computer and adhered them to some foam board to give them a 3D effect.  I'm stoked the way it turned out and it has a new home on our mantle!  If anyone would like a more detailed tutorial on this let me know, and I'll write it up.  Just a thought since Halloween is almost over you could make a similar plaque for Thanksgiving or Christmas!  

Head on view

 Side view to see the 3D effect.

Nothing to worry about!

Remember HERE where I told you all about Allie hitting her tooth and we had to keep an eye on it.  Well, we did keep an eye on it and noticed that it was progressively turning gray.  DRATS!  We called our local dentist who referred us to our pediatric dentist since he was not equipped to deal with such a young patient.  So Allie and I made the trip up to Pearland today to visit Dr. Stagg. 

Dr. Stagg was in a much friendlier mood this time and worked very well with Allie.  Allie was terrified when Dr. Stagg had her lean back onto her lap to see the gray tooth.  Easily enough though Dr. Stagg determined visually that there is nothing to worry about concerning Allie's tooth.  When teeth get bumped hard enough the nerve can die causing the gray color.  However as long as an infection doesn't form the tooth can stay put the way it is.  Allie doesn't have an infection! YAY!

Since we were there the dentist also brushed Allie's teeth and gave her a fluoride treatment.  Allie wasn't particularly fond of that but she sat pretty still for it.  We were then on our way with instructions again to keep an eye on the tooth and if any bumps occurred to bring her back.  I'm so glad to FINALLY put this worry to rest!

Pumpkin Patch on Plantation

 Following tradition we headed to the wonderful pumpkin patch on plantation.  This time around we were lucky enough to not only have a coupon for a $10 pumpkin but also to have daddy with us!  We chose tonight because we figured it would be a fabulous-o FHE….and we were right! 

When arriving Lily and Allie were so excited to see everything.  They had to stop at all things they saw.  I was overjoyed when they asked to take a picture each time they stopped.  It was nice to not have to beg pictures from them. 

Our first stop was at this sign saying Children’s Pumpkin Patch.

Next we stopped at some fun cutouts

Allie quickly found this fun setup of hay and pumpkins to sit on.

Lily ran off and found a friend.  She asked to have her picture taken with him. LOL!

Allie saw Lily’s friend so she had to find her own.  She copied Lily’s pose exactly then yelled, “MAAAAAA!!!!” until I turned around and took her picture.  Silly girl!

 We ran around some more and took a few more fun pictures.

This one is probably my favorite of all the pictures we took.  There is just something about the way they are looking at the camera that makes me smile!

We finally got around to picking out pumpkins.  Lily chose her big one, the only big one we bought since it was free!    I wanted to do my glitter pumpkins again this year so I allowed Allie and Lily to pick out a few small pumpkins for me.  Unfortunately Allie wouldn’t hold still long enough to show me hers, and all I got was a blurry Allie! LOL!

 

Lily on the other hand held still for this cute picture of the ones she chose.

When it was time to go, Allie got the privilege of pulling our wagon full of pumpkins to the car.  Lily was feeling “sisterly” and gave Allie a hug before she could get very far.

Bye-bye until next year!

Where's Strawberry's Shoe?

If you couldn't gather from the clip Allie was chewing on Strawberry Shortcake's feet while watching Russ play the Wii.  Apparently the shoe came off in her mouth and she swallowed it.  She kept asking for us to get it out, but well, you all know how we are going to finally get it out of her tummy :)

Beautiful Weather

Our weather lately has been absolutely gorgeous!  A cold front rolled in and we were able to benefit from it.  We've had high 70s and low 80s all week!  As a result we have been able to go outside and play in our backyard!  The girls were so excited when i asked them if they would like to play outdoors.  With great enthusiasm they got some grubby clothes on while I found our camping chair.  

Since I was in a good mood and didn't really care if they made a mess, I let them take the bubbles outside to blow.  I was right that they would make a mess with them, but the laughter and smiles from blowing the bubbles quickly outweighed the mess.

The girls also found joy in running around playing with some of the bouncy balls we have.  

Oh and don't forget playing in the dirt!  I let them play in my small planters with their beach shovels.  I figured they couldn't do any harm to them since the flowers were already dead!  When Lily got a bit bored she borrowed the camera and started snapping pictures.  She even caught a picture of what I was doing the whole time...

Right before going in for dinner the girls thought it was hilarious to run and fall down on the grass.  They come up with such silly games!

99 days of pregnancy left...99 days of pregnancy...

{Please sing the following tune to 99 bottles of beer on the wall}

99 days of pregnancy left

99 day of pregnancy

You cross one off

You pass out in a chair

98 days of pregnancy left!

Can't express how excited I am that only have 99 days left of being pregnant.  Honestly though it is because I will be snuggling with my new little one. YAY!

Taking the truck out for a spin!

 Daddy thought today would be a great day for taking his remote car out for a spin.  It has been sitting patiently on the shelf for him and the girls to play with it.  Early this morning daddy plugged in the battery to charge up.  By the time conference ended it was all charged up and ready to go.  While I made dinner daddy, Lily, and Allie had some fun with the truck.

Lily got a turn at driving the truck.

Maybe it needs a little push....

Come back!  I'm not done with you yet!

This shows exactly how Lily gets when she is REALLY excited!

 Allie spent a lot of time chasing the truck while Lily controlled it.

Run Allie!!!

Hey, where did that truck go?!

 Is it my turn yet?!

Finally!!!

 

All too soon the battery died.  Sweaty faced and ready to tell me all about their truck adventures the girls came back inside the house.  I love when they just rattle on with excitement about something fun daddy has done with them.  Russ seemed to enjoy his time with the girls as well.  He doesn't really get much time to spend one on one with the girls so I know he always looks forward to these fun times. Thanks for a fun time little red truck!

The beginning of the nursery...

 Russ pampers me.  Seriously he does.  I get these crazy hair brained ideas, get them halfway done, and then he finishes them for me.  The latest one...to redo the room we have set aside for the nursery.  It is brown just like the rest of the house.  I love my brown color, but it doesn't exactly speak nursery to me.  So I got all worked up a plan in my head about Russ painting jungle scenes on the wall to match the crib bedding.  He is very artistic you know.  Then I kicked myself in the head and got realistic that it wasn't going to happen.  So I settled on painting the room.  I was bound and determined to help him, and declare it fun because it was my first painting experience.  I bailed on him before we even got the room taped.  It wore me out reaching and bending in such awkward ways.  Russ being my lovely finisher of projects started doing this today between conference sessions.....

To be continued....

Allie’s Two Year Pictures

Russ and I decided to give Sears a try for Allie’s pictures.  We didn’t know that there was a picture studio there until recently.  I was a bit nervous taking Allie in there since she is soooooo afraid of picture studios after getting kicked in the head that one time.  My fears were put to rest quite quickly though.  They had a few toys for Allie to play with while we waited her turn.  This seemed to help calm her a bit.  We got called back and she cried for a minute or two but the lady was great with her and got her laughing.  Russ and I couldn’t move far away from Allie without her getting stressed, but even so we were able to get an adorable picture of her.