Last Ultrasound

Yesterday we had our last ultrasound. They scheduled me one because two weeks ago I was measuring 1 1/2 weeks bigger than I should have been. Every pregnancy has been that way and so I always have a ultrasound around 34-36 weeks. Finally the baby's face was not in the placenta. But this time the umbilical cord was floating around her/his face.

It looks like the baby will have nice full lips like Timmy did. That is one thing I noticed in Timmy's ultrasounds as well. They get that from their dad.

In this 2-D shot you can see the umbilical cord floating above his/her face. The technician, who is also a member of our ward, also saw that the baby will have hair. She pointed that out on Timmy too. All my children will be born with some hair now. Sheila had dark reddish brown and Timmy a very yellow blonde. I wonder what color this baby's hair will be. The baby is measuring actually a little small, around the 39%. The doctor and technician are predicting about a 7 pound baby if I go to term. That is how big Sheila was (6 lbs. 15 oz.) I like that size. The baby right now is about 4 pounds 13 ounces. She/he is also head down so that is good to know. I was pretty sure she/he had flipped (she/he was breached for almost the first 6 months) because the movements use to be all low and now they are mostly up high in my ribs and only little movements down low. We did not find out the sex but I am leaning towards one just because this pregnancy is more like one of my pregnancies than the other. But I am not saying for sure because I could be wrong.

After getting home from the ultrasound I was showing Timmy the pictures (he was playing at a neighbor's during the visit) and he said, "Baby," and points at my tummy. Then says, "Baby coming. Baby goes (says) 'Get me out.'" Ray and I had a good laugh over that.

Making cookies

I had been planning on making sugar cookies with the kids, particularly Sheila, for awhile. Yesterday after school we decided to make them. Timmy was asleep on the couch so that made it easy for her to stand on her stool and help me mix up the dough and roll it out.

Here she is ready for the dough to get rolled out so she could cut it. The dough was very stickjy so it took a lot of kneading and flour to get it so it wouldn't stick to everything.

Here are some cookies ready to go in the oven. We used all the cookie cutters we could find (since the kids love to play with them and they are scattered around the house. Don't worry I did wash them before we used them since who knows where they have all been.) We had Halloween and Christmas cookies.

Sheila really loved cutting out the cookies. It took some practice for her to get it to cut all the way through the dough but she cut more cookies than I did and did a very good job.

Here are some that are cooling and waiting to be frosted.

We waited until after dinner to frost the cookies. Daddy and Timmy were both also able to help. I forgot I had used all my red food coloring in a previous dessert and forgot to replace it so we only had blue, green, and yellow. Sheila didn't want any of those colors so she choose to leave her frosting white. (She had wanted pink.)

We gave each of the kids a plate of cookies to frost with Ray and I frosting the majority of them. It was funny to watch Timmy. He put very little on each of his first cookies and then tried to put the rest of the frosting on his last two cookies. Blue frosting and a two year old is not the best mixture but he sure had fun.

And here are the finished products. We all sampled some when we were done. And I finally found a cookie that Sheila likes. She doesn't like most cookies. But she ate two sugar cookies last night plus one before that wasn't frosted.

This was good practice for Halloween. I am hoping to be recovered enough from having the baby by Halloween so I can make sugar cookies with the kids again and this time we will make white ghost, black (or as black as we can make the frosting) bats and cats (found that cutter this morning in the kids room,) and orange pumpkins. Then also make them for other holidays.

First day of school

Sheila's first day of school was Monday the 24th. She was very excited to go back. It is her second year of Pre-K. She is in the same class (because of her communication disorder.) Currently she is one of 5 students.

I took her to school the first day. I should have left earlier because the traffic at the school was a nightmare. Since I have to walk her to her class (or the bus area where they meet before school) I have to park and take Timmy with me. Luckily some one pulled out near the front of the parking lot right by the crosswalk. I told Sheila we got "princess parking."

Sheila was only the second student in her classroom even though we were close to the ringing of the bell. She has her own cubby where she places her backpack and other belongings.

Sheila then took the bus home. The bus is now coming earlier in the morning (30 minutes earlier) and later in the afternoon. Last year she arrived home at 2:20 in the afternoon but now she is getting home closer to 3 p.m. The last two days we have put her on the bus in the morning and since she has been off her sleep schedule (because of naps at school) it has been hard to get her up in the morning and this morning we had less than 15 minutes to get her ready and on the bus. Luckily she has breakfast with her class (although she ate a muffin on the way out the door) and has a toothbrush and toothpaste at school. She was lucky to get her hair brushed this morning. Hopefully in a few days we can get her sleep schedule back on track and mornings won't be rushed every day.

Sixth Anniversary

Our sixth anniversary was Saturday the 22nd. Friday was a busy day for us. We had a birthday party to attend for the kids and then an open house at Sheila's school. Ray got home early that day and was home before the kids and I got back. He surprised me with this beautiful bouquet of flowers.


I didn't take the pictures until our actual anniversary.

The evening of the 22nd the in-laws watched the kids while we went out to dinner at one of the nicest restaurants out on the beach. We even splurged and got dessert. Um, yummy coconut cream pie for me. Ray got a chocolate cake with a layer of cheesecake in the middle. I took my camera with me but forgot to get pictures.

We exchanged cards at the restaurant. I already got my present a few weeks ago when we went to Joann Superstore. Ray is getting a nice digital camera for his birthday (this weekend) since he wanted one a little more than we budgeted for birthdays he agreed to get a birthday/anniversary gift. I usually don't like to do that but sometimes it is necessary. We will be picking out his camera this Friday.

It was a nice anniversary and it was good to be out alone since it may be the last time we go out by ourselves for a long time since we will have a newborn in just a few weeks.

Friday Fill-Ins

1. I remember, I remember my first day of school. I was extremely shy and my mom couldn't take me the first day of first grade so the week before during registration she took me to my class and I met my teacher. But the first day of school I was waiting by the door for us to be able to go in and another first grade teacher told me I was in her class. Sure enough I was on both lists. They made me choose and I didn't want to hurt either of their feelings. I chose the one I met the week before.
2. Dear Ray I want you to know I love you more each day.
3. Is that my little girl all grown up and going to school!!???
4. I'm trying to resist the temptation of ice cream, cookies, cake, sweets. This baby likes those sweets.
5. I'm saving a big hug just for you when I see you again!
6. If I made a birthday list a Canon digital SLR camera would definitely be on it!!! The one I would like is quite expensive so I think I will be saving for that for at least a year. My birthday wish list will most likely include new Sizzix dies and new Cricut cartridges I don't have yet.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie with my husband, tomorrow my plans include celebrating my anniversary (6 years) and Sunday, I want to enjoy church!

My Happenings

• I am starting to swell. Especially in the morning and the evening. It makes me very irritable. I am constantly running my hands under cold water to see if that will help. I never swole with Timmy but Sheila was a lot worse. By the fifth month I had to take off my wedding ring when I was pregnant with Sheila. With Timmy I could take it off and on the whole time. I probably wouldn't be able to get it off now.
• We finally broke down and bought a new TV. The one in our living room Ray had for about 10 years. It has had a problem with it's sound forever. It will just suddenly lose sound and play static. We would have to unplug it for 30 seconds and then replug it in to reset it. Lately it would make a horrible worbling sound too. Saturday we found one we liked that would fit in our entertainment center and was within our price range but decided to wait until later, perhaps after the first of the year, to get it. So Sunday when our second remote totally stopped working (yes I tried changing the batteries) we decided just to purchase the new TV. Yesterday we went out and purchased it. While channel searching it found 10 digital channels we didn't get on the older TV. We have the old TV under our kitchen counter for now. We will either give it to Ray's brother or sell it at the community yard sale this fall if we decide to participate in that. If not we will give it to Good Will.
• My friend Noel has moved back to town. She lived an hour and half away for a year while her husband is getting his PhD at the university. They were unable to sell their house here and so decided to move back and he will commute for the next two years. I learned Sunday she is expecting her fourth child in March.
• Sheila starts school next week. She is getting excited. I think my house may stay cleaner (since it did when she was in school last year) but Timmy will miss having someone to play with all day. Poor Timmy will have to entertain himself since Mom will be too big to get down and play with him much.

Foiled again, Santa!

My 4-year old daughter is too curious for her own good. She will never be surprised again if she keeps it up. I am always an early Christmas shopper but more so this year since I will have a little baby around the time most people are doing the majority of their holiday shopping. So I have been buying a few things each payday. Ray and I went out shopping alone yesterday and so we got a few things for the kids. I put them in the black reusable bags after we left Wal-Mart but unfortunately they still stuck out a little bit. We also went to the commissary so our van was full of groceries and bags. The kids always want to help bring in the bags so I told Ray to bring those ones in first and hide them in our closet. Did he? No.

So he got most of the stuff out of the car and attended to leave those ones in until later although I again told him to bring them in quickly and hide them in our closet. He still needed to get the boxes of diapers out of the van so he left the tailgate open and told the kids that there was nothing else to get out there. Well, Timmy and Sheila go out the door while we are both in the kitchen. Then Ray leaves and I hear him say, "Hey, get out of there." I know exactly what has happened. I make my way out to the front of the house and sure enough, Sheila has opened the one bag with the gift for her in it, has pulled it out, and is happily exclaiming, "I like that. I want to play with that."

I quickly gather up the bags, tell her it is not for her and take them into the bedroom. Now I have a disappointed 4-year old and a foiled Santa. Well, actually that gift wasn't going to be from Santa so maybe he isn't foiled yet. But this isn't the first time she has gotten a peek at things. I think I am going to have to shop only while she is at school. Ray said that she won't remember what it was by Christmas but Sheila has a memory on her. The other day she asked for a red teddy bear wanting to play with it. I got rid of it over 6 months ago because she never played with it and she had so many stuff animals, she wouldn't miss some of them. Boy was I wrong.

Congratulations, Tiff

My wonderful friend Tiffany had her beautiful baby boy on August 12. I am very excited for her. Several friends and family will be having babies over the next few months. I unfortunately won't be able to see them personally for awhile since I live clear across the country from most. But I look forward to following their progress through emails, pictures, blogs, and phone calls. Thank goodness for modern technology to allow us to keep in touch instantaneously.

Another Doctor's visit

Yesterday was another doctor appointment. Yay, the huge weight jumps are over (hopefully.) I had only gained one pound in the last three weeks. If I can gain only one more pound every two weeks for the rest of my pregnancy than I will be doing good. I will gain less with this one than the first two but that would be good since I had all my cruise weight still on me when I got pregnant.

I am measuring a little big so the doctor scheduled me for another ultrasound. With Timmy being 8 pounds a week early they just want to see where the baby is weighing and measuring at. It will also be good to make sure the baby is head down and maybe his/her face will be out of the placenta and we will get some good 4-D pictures.

My doctor I usually see is due with her baby (third child, third boy, we have been pregnant together every time) in 2 1/2 weeks and so I won't see her again unless the baby comes late because she doesn't come back from maternity leave until October 12. I will be seeing the doctor that delivered Sheila and hopefully he will be the one on call when this baby decides to come.

The baby has found my ribs, like Sheila did, and likes to push on them. Sometimes I have to try to push their little foot down (or whatever limb it maybe) to give myself some relief. She/he doesn't let anyone else feel them move though. Ray and the kids have only felt him/her a few times. She/he usually stops as soon as I get their hand on my belly.

A lady in the grocery store told me I was having a girl the way I was carrying. But I have had dreams about both. We will not be finding out still with this ultrasound even though it is very tempting.

Friday Fill-Ins

Since I haven't done one of these in awhile I thought I would give it a go again.

1. Ice Cream is my favorite summertime treat. With my acid reflux I don't always get to partake but with Nexim it makes it possible for me to indulge every once in awhile.
2. My favorite John Hughes movies is "Ferris Buellers Day Off". Shame on me I had to look up who he was but I recognized most of his films. I am not a huge fan of those 80s classics.
3. Baby skin is something I love to touch.
4. The full moon is really beautiful when it is big and bright.
5. I am fixing Macaroni and Cheese for the kids's lunch right now.
6. When daylight fades I am ready for bed.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting things done, tomorrow my plans include shopping and cleaning out the closet and Sunday, I want to go to church without having to go to the Emergency Room!

Finished July projects

I was busy with projects throughout July. I still have a lot that I want to finish by the end of September (in time for the fair and the baby.)

This is Sheila's Cinderella dress for Halloween. It turned out a lot better than I could have hoped. The hem was my only real porblem area. I made her a size 4 because she is so tiny and the dress was still 4 inches too long so I had to cut two inches off the bottom and then make a two inche hem. It comes to the top of her feet. Not pictured is the headband that I glued fabric onto.

Sheila will not wear dresses because they itch her. I have made her this slip to help with that. I guess we will see if it does the trick after the fair. This was supposed to have lace trim but knowing how sensitive her skin is I just used bias tape around the arms and neck and then did a simple hem on the bottom.

This is the girl doll knit set I almost had finished at the end of June. It is a dress, bloomers, booties, and a hat.

I started and finished this project in July. It is a knit sweater set for a baby boy. It will fit about 6-9 months.

Since I had plenty of material left over from Sheila's Cinderella dress I made a doll out fit as well. I made the headband and the petticoat (not seen) as well. She will be getting this with the doll I mentioned in my Shopping Spree blog. (This isn't the doll she picked out, this is my model for the doll clothes I make.)

Another project I started and finished in July. This is a crochet baby girl dress with booties. It should fit 3-6 months.

I already have three items done for August. I hope to have a lot more done by the end of the month so I don't have as much to do the end of September. After the baby is born I figure it will take me at least a month where I do very little projects and then for the next few months after that I will be scrapbooking to try to catch up from not doing any of that during the summer.

Shopping Spree

I gave my husband a chance to redeem himself for Mother's Day (he didn't get me a gift until over a week after the day because he procrastinated too long) and told him that Joann's was having a sale on a lot of things I was interested in these next two weeks. Our anniversary is on the 22nd so I told him he could let me go on a shopping spree instead of a gift this year. The catch is that the Joann's here is rather small and lately have not had all that I wanted to get from the fliers so I wanted to go to a Joann's Superstore and the closest one is just under 2 hours away. Tuesday Ray took me on that shopping spree.

We started off doing a few errands around town and then headed out. We got to Pensacola around lunch time. We stopped at Denny's for lunch. I had breakfast, of course. I think I have always had breakfast at Denny's. We even let the kids pick something off the kid's menu instead of just sharing ours. Then we headed over to the store where I spent about an hour perusing the aisles. I was disappointed that they didn't have a big selection of Sizzix dies and Cricut cartridges as I had hoped but I was finally able to get some of the paper stacks I wanted and are never at the Joann's or other hobby stores here. I even got several trims, Sizzix dies, and paper that were on clearance. I picked up a doll that I am making clothes for with the 40% off coupon. That will be for Sheila for her birthday. She picked it out but Ray took them out right before I checked out so I told her I put the doll back because we would have to wait until her birthday to get it. It is still in the back of the van waiting to come in the house when Sheila is asleep and I remember it.

After Joann's we had planned to go to the mall there and see if they had a candy shop to take the kids to since they had been so good in the car and store. (We would have taken them to the park or something but it had started to rain.) We drive the short distance to the mall and it is like a ghost town. No one is parked in the front of the mall, main entrance. And I mean no cars, zero, zilch. There are few cars by the big stores like Sears, JCPenneys. So Ray pulled up to the curb and went in to see if they had anything we might be interested in. He came out to report that he thought he saw some undead in there. He said that most of the storefronts are completely vacant. Only the big stores are still open.

So instead we found a Dairy Queen on the way out of town and stopped to get a treat. The kids each got a kid cone. Sheila will only eat "white" (vanilla) ice cream. They never eat the cone but we did get Timmy to take a bite this time. Ray and I got blizzards and I tried the Thin Mint Girl Scout one. Last time I had the Tagalongs. We then headed home. It was a fun day just to get out of town. I even almost finished a book in the car during the ride. The kids watched four movies, two on the way there and two on the way back so they were pretty content.

Trip to the ER

We had a first this weekend, taking one of our kids to the ER. First the back story. Saturday we were out most of the day. We checked out a house and land that we are interested in. We spent about an hour there with the realtor (no we are not moving yet, just wishing right now.) When we got in the van I noticed Sheila had several bug bites on her legs. I was kicking myself for forgetting the bug spray although none of the rest of us had gotten any. Then we went over to the park for about half an hour. It was so hot even in the shade that Timmy wanted to go home before any of the rest of us.

After a short time at home we went out and cleaned the church and then over to McDonald's to meet up with grandma, grandpa, and cousin Lydia. When we got home Sheila wanted some cream (Benadryl cream) on her bug bites. I applied it on all of them before she went to bed.

Sunday morning I am the first up and ready for church. I am about to wake Ray up when I hear him get after Sheila for getting in the refrigerator. She runs off crying. I go over to her and ask if she wanted a drink or something. Ray comes over as well. She then tells me her leg hurts and rubs the back of her thigh. I turn her leg over thinking I am going to apply some more cream and the back of her thigh is swollen to about the size of a lemon and is bright red. I have never seen any mosquito bite swell up that bad. I have a skin condition that causes me to get infections really easy, and Sheila seems to have inherited that from me. We both get nasty welts when something bites us. Hence I usually bathe the kids and I in bug spray before we go out.

I show Ray the bite and we are both worried. The base clinic is closed, so we call the on call nurse at the hospital. Once Ray describes the incident she says to bring her in because it may be cellulitis, which can get much worse untreated. I call the neighbor and she gladly takes Timmy for us. Instead of heading off to church we head to the ER. It was very slow so we got right in. We weren't there very long. The doctor said it most likely was a yellow fly bite but since it mimics cellulitis they have to treat both. She got antibiotics for the cellulitis and benadryl for the bug bite. She seemed to be doing fine.

Then Monday afternoon her fever shot up to almost 103 and her leg was even redder. I gave her Tylenol and cooled her with a wash cloth. Ray called the clinic and talked to the nurse there. She said to bring her back if she still had a high fever the next day. But her fever broke and the next day the bite was not so red and the swelling had started to go down. Now I just have to struggle for her to take the antibiotics since she says "She doesn't like it." The pictures are from Sunday.

And just a side note on yellow flies. They are mean persistent little buggers. They do not shoo away easily and will try to land on you just to bite you. When you see one you have to run away from it and it may still follow you. I got bit by one when I was pregnant with Sheila but mine did not swell up like hers did.