25 week scan

Here is the 3D ultrasound picture that we got today of the baby from the perinatologist. WOW~!!!! The u/s tech told us that a 3D scan was "best" b/w 28 and 32 weeks but as long as we would not "freak out" if the baby looked distorted, we would try.....(a friend of ours that is a peri had warned us that a 3D u/s this early....is not typical b/c the baby looks "abnormal" and to expect a 3D around 30 weeks....so we were prepared for this comment and ready to take a look.)

Anyway, this is what turned out. We were FREAKING out with excitement. HERE IS A PICTURE OF OUR BABY!!!! We do not know if it is a boy or girl....STILL!!! But, we have a pic of its sweet little face, and you can see it is "puckering" its lips in this picture.....and look at those cheeks. The "thing" over the one eye and over the top of the baby's head is the umbilical cord. The u/s tech said, it may appear the baby has "curly hair", but it is the cord....funny considering my Mom and I were both sitting there :) with our CURLY CURLY hair!!! ;) HA!

The picture is still not the "best" b/c we are only 25 weeks....but they took it b/c they could not believe how good it looked for 25 weeks. I was beside myself with excitement! The u/s tech said it was unusual, and the dr. said typically this earlier the baby does not cooperate...but, we thought it was b/c maybe Grandma was watching, it was on its best behavior and wanted to give her a good show!!!

This particular pic does not show, but in the 3D...the baby had the BIGGEST cheeks, and for those of you that remember....Ryan had the BIGGEST cheeks!!! It reminded me so much of Ryan. (**Remember my 1 dream....I dreamt it was a boy that looked like Ryan!** :)

My Mom and Jim flew in today to spend a few days with us....to get ready for February and spend Halloween with us. Mom was able to join Char and I at the u/s. She was amazed at everything. She loved the regular u/s...and then she was able to see the 3D. It was unbelievable. What a treat for her. Jim stayed back and watched all 3 kids....he did a great job..everyone had a fun time playing with Popo.

The baby's heart beat was 155....but that MIGHT have been the iced cookie I ate b/4 I left the house....but, I am not too sure....HA!! (Hey, I wanted to make sure the baby was awake for its debut with Mima!) The baby weighs 1 lb 14 oz and is in the 61% right now. PERFECT!!

Most importantly....the doctor said the baby looks "great". The brain looks as perfect as he can tell! So far so good!!! They only want us to come back 1 more time at 32 weeks. AHHHH, I wish I could come back sooner for another picture!! :) It was so fun! I feel so blessed.

What a FUN day today!!!!

Visitor

This is SO late being posted.....Charlie's fraternity brother, Kevin, was in town for a wedding 2 weeks ago (yes, I am late!) It was so nice of Kevin to take time out of his trip to drive down to our house (1 hour from the wedding) to hang out with our 3 crazy kids. They were a little WILD at the thought of "daddy's friend" from school visiting. Thank goodness that NO stories of Charlie from his college days were shared....maybe "uncle" Kevin can come visit in about 15 years to share those. HA! For now....Kaitlyn and Ryan had fun hanging out with Kevin.

Thanks for the visit Kevin. The kids LOVED it (and so did Charlie and I!!)

OLD QUOTE PART 1

I WAS GOING THRU OLD EMAILS AND FOUND THIS.....KAITLYN SAID THIS TO ME IN APRIL 2007......YES, SHE WAS ONLY 4.5 YEARS OLD. :) AT THE TIME! ENJOY!

Here is Kaitlyn's quote of the day:

I just made Grandma's egg salad. I ask Kaitlyn if she would like to try
it...she says:

"That's okay Mom, you can write down the ingredients (yes, she used this
word) and I will try it when I am grown up".

Ha, ha, ha! That girl talks like she is 10!

OLD QUOTE PART 2

I FOUND THIS ONE TOO FROM APRIL, 2007.... AGAIN, SHE WAS ONLY 4.5 YEARS OLD :)

Kaitlyn is so wise beyond her years. She cracks me up.

That little thing..contemplates EVERYTHING and out of nowhere will say
something to you that will make you laugh.

So, she says to me at the zoo today (we went to the zoo and had a picnic,
played on play ground, etc)....During lunch..Mommy, why do you call me lady
sometimes (I looked at her with a question on my face while I thought about
it)...she says, when you send me to a time out, why do you call me "lady"?

I thought about it some more...she says "you know Mom..you say...young lady
go to a time out." It took everything in me to not laugh. I did not say
anything and she continues with..."I am NOT YOUNG mommy and I do not know
what a lady is, but I do not think I am one. SO, next time, can you pls say
"BIG KID Kaitlyn can you pls go to a time out"?"

Ha, ha, ha!!!!

LOVE the things she says!!!

Book

Okay.....I have not posted in SOO long b/c of a new book series I have started reading. I have been reading and reading and reading like crazy.....sorry for the lack of posts.

I hope to catch up on the posts this weekend. I have LOTS of photos to share with you (pumpkin patch...and some of Char's friend, Kevin (from college), who came to visit one afternoon.

More later......

The Jesus Way

For those of you that have not seen where Kaitlyn's school is located....let me tell you it is in TOP of a mountain...okay, maybe it is a large hill, but when you are prego and pushing a double stroller up the "hill" you feel like it is a mountain!!! :)

I choose to get out of the car and pick Kaitlyn up rather than doing the car pool pick up line b/c you have to be sitting outside school 1-1.5 hours early to get your "spot" in line to be one of the first people there for pick up. No thanks, I park, and get my exercise.

Well, there is this sweet, nice Dad whose child was in Kaitlyn's class last year. His name is James. James has pushed my double stroller up the hill a few times. But, now I have a babysitter on Mon/Wed. I carpool with another wonderful family....I drive Mon/Wed while I have the sitter and the other Mom drives Tues/Thurs. I am driving Friday right now until the baby is born, then the other Mom will do it. The GREAT news about this is.....the boys get to sleep/nap 4 days a week and I do not have to take them to school 4 days a week.

I see James the beginning of last week and he said, "where have you been lately, I have not seen you going up the hill?" I explained that I have this new carpool and it is working great, and I only bring the boys on Friday right now. James (who is a policeman working nights and off on Fridays) said... I will meet you in the Church parking lot every Friday and push the stroller up for you :) SO SO SO nice!

So, last Friday.....the boys woke up early from their nap, I did not have to wake them to go get Kaitlyn. Therefore, I got to school early. I did not see James. I felt bad waiting for him, was not sure if he was there, etc. So......I thought, I can do this, I will push the boys up, I have plenty of time and it will be great exercise. Off I go....

1/3 of the way up the hill (no kidding), I can't push anymore!! HA!!! (Keep in mind the boys weigh probably 57+ pounds together and then the stroller and my BIG belly!) HA! I ask Ryan if he could jump out and help Mommy push Anderson up the hill. So, Ryan says, OF course Mommy! He jumps out and says, let me do this all by myself. Ryan is pushing Anderson.

Next thing I know, James comes jogging up behind me saying...you did not wait for me :) I said, I know... I thought I would get some exercise but I can't make it up the hill (I know, embarrassing, but this is a BIIIGGGG hill!!)

James, says, I got it...Ryan jump in. Ryan jumps back in the stroller. Then, James says to Ryan...." That was really nice of you to help your Mom push the stroller!"

Ryan says, "THAT IS THE JESUS WAY!!!"

LOVE it!

Apple Picking - Enjoy the pictures from the weekend!

2 sweet apple pickers

3 sweet apple pickers

what a helper!

family photo!

getting ready to pick!

i can reach one!

cheese!

yum!

anderson was even able to get one with some help!

Dreams.......

Yep....another dream about the gender of baby #4. And, yep.....another dream it was a boy! :)

In my dream on Saturday night, Kaitlyn pushed on my belly trying to get the baby to move. Instead of the baby just kicking her back, it popped out of my stomach (weird, I know). It was a boy (well, I am guessing b/c it came out wearing a DARK blue tshirt.) HA! The baby had tons and tons of black hair. It was so squishy and cute!!!

Then, in that same dream, the baby was about 18 months old about a split second later in my dream. He looked different than Ryan...but more of Ryan's characteristics. He had dark brown, longer hair, BIG brown eyes and darker colored skin (more of the Italian skin). So cute!!

I was telling the kids about my dream the next morning and Ryan says, "Mom, well that would never happen b/c ONLY a DOCTOR can take the baby out." Yes, true Ryan, very true!

AND....I do not think I blogged my first baby dream which was......
I think I was around 9 weeks prego....I was pushing on my belly and the baby kept pushing back. Every time I pushed I could see the footprint thru my skin. I did this several times in my dream...then, this "frog" like thing came arching its back out of my belly and I saw the boy parts. It was suppose to be the baby...but, in my dream, the way it "jumped" out of my belly, and pushed thru my skin, and its scrawny looking arms and legs....it looked like a frog. REALLY weird, I know! Maybe that is why I have not blogged it...HA!!

So....2 dreams of boys......

Okay, I did have 1 other dream, around 15 weeks.....it was one night...I dreamt I had the baby, it was in the OR lying on the incubator and I could see the baby...clear as day and it was a girl wearing pink with LOTS and LOTS of dark hair.

* Now, I have written this dream off b/c that day I had this dream....Ryan asked me 4-5 times if he could PLLLSSSSS have a baby sister. PLS, PLS PLS. SO, I think that was the reason for this dream :)

Impressions

This weekend we had 2 situations where a single, individual person was able to leave an impression on our little ones.....and these 2 times...not in such a positive way.

1) Ryan had soccer pictures on Saturday. Charlie took him to get his haircut, then Kaitlyn, Anderson and I met them at the field with uniform in hand. I changed Ryan's clothes and we ran over to pictures (the haircut place was behind and so we were about 10 minutes late.) As we are walking up, the CHILD SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER says...."Does anyone else on the Fireball team need individual pictures?" I said, "We do." The photographer said, "okay, you are up." So, Ryan goes to the designated spot to stand. I am filling out the paperwork with the package we want, name, address, blah, blah. The next thing I know, the photographer throws his hands up in the air and says (and I quote...) "THIS KID WILL NOT KEEP HIS EYES OPEN. (not such a nice tone of voice) MOM....CAN YOU PLLLEASSEE HELP ME HERE OR SOMETHING? THIS IS NOT WOOOORRRKING!" Okay, I am sitting there with my mouth hanging open at this point. Are you kidding me? You could not have tried that hard first of all b/c I still have not even finished filling out my name. Secondly, did you need to say something so loudly and in a tone of voice that was NOT very nice??? So guess what....Ryan starts crying. Yep, the photographer was able to succeed from this 1 comment to have our little Ryan in tears. (Does that tell you how rude the photographer was?) Anyway, I give Charlie the paperwork, I run over to Ryan and try to talk to him. Ryan says, "I can't do it Mom, I just can't do it...it is too sunny." I tried to come up with games of how he could look at me and tell me something, etc.....does not matter. At the end of the day...the point is....Ryan did not get his photo taken. He was too upset by this photographer's comment. During his team photo (which he did pose for...which I was surprised)....he could not keep his eyes open and I think it was b/c he was thinking too hard about it.

** Charlie heard all of this and completely agreed with me on the situation. We talked later that night at dinner how incredible it was that 1 person's comments in a negative tone can be picked up by a child and "set a tone" for the rest of the situation.

THEN.....on Sunday:

2) We went apple picking at an apple orchard. It was about 1 hour away, SO beautiful in the mountains...ahhh...it was great!! We bought our "bag" that we were going to fill up and got a map. The guy who sold us our apple bag told us that the "double red delicious" apples were across the street, down to the right of the trail and to use our map. Anyhow....we follow the workers' instructions and the map. The kids are running around, having so much fun picking apples, talking, smiling...when...a ranger comes up to us and said, "Ma'am....what group are you with?" Char and I look at each other and I told him I was not sure what he meant...that we were not with w group. He says, "You can't pick these apples". I said, "Oh, I am sorry, I thought this was the area with the double red delicious apples from the map we got." He said, "Where did you get the map and the bag?" Charlie at this point chimes in and says, "Well, we got the bag and map from the guy who works across the street who told us to come over here". The ranger (or whoever this person was).....says...."Oh, okay..."

That was a weird thing to happen. But, Charlie and I looked at ech other, shrugged our shoulders and kept going. Kaitlyn now would not really pick any more apples. You could tell she was now nervous and anxious....she thought we were in "trouble". God bless her. She started asking us so many questions, "Are we allowed to be here?, are we allowed to do this?, who was that guy? What just happened?" This ranger, who said something to us, again, in not a very nice way (which Char will agree with....) made Kaitlyn nervous and anxious. I gave all the kids an apple to eat on the way back to the car....and Kaitlyn would take a bite, then put it behind her back....she was scared we would get in trouble again. Char and I had to explain to her we bought these apples, and no one would say anything, and we were allowed to eat the apples we bought. But, this 1 person...again, made such an impression on Kaitlyn that she was on pins and needles the rest of the time.

Last night....Char and I talked about the 2 situations, how similar they were, and how these individuals made impressions on Ryan and Kaitlyn. One comment can change a child's point of view or stick with them.....be careful how you say something to your little ones!!! :)

New Sounds for Anderson

Monday was such a great day. I took Kaitlyn to school, Ryan to school, ran a few errands....then took Anderson to the zoo. NO THERAPY day on MONDAY!! YAHOO!!! Just the 2 of us...at the zoo. We were able to stop when he wanted to stop, talk about what he saw, it was perfect.

As we were walking into the zoo, Anderson stopped and picked up a leaf. He handed to me and was "talking" Anderson's talk......I said, "Anderson, this is a LEAFFFF". (emphasizing the "FFF"). Anderson looked right to me and said "FFFFFF". AHHHH!!! I almost fell over (this time on my own! hA!) I was so happy....he repeated a sound. He does not imitate...it is one of his many problems when it comes to the whole lack of speech....but he imitated me!! I was SO SO very happy!

Then, Tuesday Am, Anderson was "squealing" going up in tone and then down REALLY loud....like he was figuring out he could control his voice. Again, we were so thrilled.

At speech therapy yesterday, I told his therapist. She was very pleased to hear this...and we were all anxious to hear what he would do at therapy that day....no words came out :), but she said he was imitating A LOT of actions for her....PROGRESS!! He does not repeat or imitate actions or sounds. SO, this was still more progress!!

One day at a time......

HATE

Chiari. Okay, I hate the word hate....but, there is NO other way to say it. I HATE Chiari!

WARNING THIS IS A VENT!!

Friday, Charlie was at school, he left at 5 AM to get there. I got everyone ready for school, left for Kaitlyn's school at 7:30 AM, dropped Kaitlyn off at 8:00 AM, drove to Ryan's school, dropped Ryan off at 8:30AM, drove to the hospital for Anderson's therapy at 9:00 AM. WHEW, we make it on time. Anderson has 1 hour of therapy on Friday.....we are leave therapy at 10:00AM.

Anderson and I get to the car, I can't find my car keys. Keep in mind it has been over 100 degrees here the past week....I am HOT, SWOLLEN, and grumpy about the weather b/c it is making me feel "pregnant"....when usually I do not feel this way. I SQUAT down next to my car with Anderson between my legs. I want him there so he does not run out into the middle of the parking lot. He decides he wants something in my purse. I do not know what, b/c my 28 month old does not know how to utter 1 word (b/c of Chiari). But, I say...Anderson, there is nothing in Mommy's purse for you. He gets mad and throws one of his 100 temper tantrums for the day (he has tantrums b.c he does not speak and gets frustrate). It makes me fall on my #$^$% !!!(remember I am squatting with my BIG prego belly!) So, I fall I am sitting there in the parking lot with my cream colored canvas purse on the dirty parking lot ground, Anderson in my lap screaming and throwing a temper tantrum, a big prego belly, and my legs are so swollen I can hardly stand up.

I quickly put myself back together (well, I pretended to...), found my keys, got Anderson in his car seat and buckled him up. I climbed in the front seat of my car and just cried. I sat and cried and cried.

WHY did all of this happen to us? WHY were we chosen for this journey? WHY can't I be at the park, at the zoo, at the pool in this 100 degree weather, at a friend's house having coffee? I could think of 50 other places I would rather be than sitting in the parking lot of the hospital where I just left OT and ST therapy for my 28 month old son who needs HELP! *SIGH * UGGHHH. I was so SAD, FRUSTRATED, ANGRY, etc. I do not even remember what a "Typical" 2 year old is like.....

For 2 years we have been driving to the Children's hospital 2-3 times a week. My older children have spent MANY of hours there...the security guards know us.... the lady's in the cafe, the valet parkers, the volunteers in the gift shop, the parking attendants, ALL the therapists (whether they treat Anderson or not), etc. know us..... WHY is this?? B/c we have spent hours and hours and hours there! WHY can't we just be "normal" and why can't I just be the stay at home Mom that goes to Mom's meetings, playdates, park days, etc? I can't do so many things b/c I have to say "oh, Anderson has therapy". I have so thankful to my friends that have volunteered to watch Kaitlyn and Ryan so they do not have to come all the time, I am thankful to the friends that have even offered to drive Anderson to therapy for me to give me a break :) The offers of kindness even just help....even if I do not take friends up on it....they are so appreciated!

Yes, I was feeling sorry for myself this Friday. It typically DOES NOT happen. Usually, I am so thankful to have found the resources that I KNOW are benefiting Anderson the most and while he is young it is so critical. I know all of this.

But, I want my little son to be out playing with friends, and I want to be out enjoying time alone with him while his older siblings are at school. I was just sad that we do not have the "normal" life so to speak. I wish I could just take him to Disney.....just the 2 of us.....maybe one day we will have to "skip" therapy and just do this! (good idea Liz!)

On the positive side, we are getting these treatments, we ARE seeing changes for the better in him (he is doing so well in PT they reduced his physical therapy to only 1 hour per week instead of 2)....we are getting Anderson the help he needs and it IS making a difference. And, we NO longer have all of the specialists' appts we had last year trying to decipher this whole mystery.

The journey of therapy started 2 years ago this month when Anderson was diagnosed with torticollis. He had Physical Therapy 2 times a week at the age of 3 months at Children's hospital. It was 1 year ago last month that his occupational therapist felt there was something neurologically wrong that we needed to see a neurologist and an orthopedic surgeon. So....our journey was just beginning. Today, we are at the hospital 1 hour a week for physical therapy, 2 hours a week for occupational therapy, and 2 hours a week for speech therapy....total 5 hours per week.

We have come a VERY long way....and I could not be prouder of our little warrior. He is a fighter, he is adventurous, he is couragous.....he continues to learn everyday and teach us something everyday.

But, some days....I have "days"....and Friday was one of those days....where I just wish I had NEVER known the word Chiari.

Then, ironically, I was checking in on our "Chiari friends".....(Riley and Alex in my link section on the right).....their Mom Rachel made a post on Friday saying she "hated Chiari".

OHHHH....and as Rachel said...we need to know MORE about Chiari. We need to know more about the it and related illnesses.

Sigh. VENT over. Sorry for that. Today has been a better day! :)

Blog Makeover

Here is my new blog.....I had Danielle make it over. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Danielle had TONS of patience with me (well, I think she did!) HA! She kept trying and trying different things until we got it. Thanks Danielle. She worked so hard on this one and I truly appreciate it. She had no idea that she was dealing with a former retail merchandiser and a husband that pays the mortgage as a retail merchandiser.....we MIGHT just be a little picky.

Danielle is having a sale on her blogs....if you have a blog and want her to make yours over... I highly recommend it! Here is her link http://blogsbydanielle.blogspot.com/. ENJOY!

Thank you Danielle for all your hard work!

Weekend

READY TO SWIM!!!!

FUN!!!!!

KAITLYN DOWN THE SLIDE!

RYAN DOWN THE SLIDE...ALL SMILES!

3 TIRED BIRDS AFTER A DAY OF FUN!

We had an amazing get away weekend. It is incredible we can drive 1.5 hours and be in the middle of paradise where people retire and come to vacation. We are so spoiled. Char and I wanted to take the kids for a quick weekend trip to a hotel we use to go to b/4 Anderson was born. In fact, we have not been there since I was prego with Anderson in May 2006. Kaitlyn was only 3.5 and Ryan almost 2. Last time we went, Kaitlyn was afraid to go down the slide, and Ryan so little that Char had to take him. This year.....Kaitlyn LOVED LOVED LOVED it...no problems. She is quite the fish. And Ryan....well...he was ALL SMILES, the entire time. I think they went down the slide about 500 times. Ryan went by himself and was quite the goldfish himself!! Charlie sat in the bottom "catch pool".....drinking a beer thinking he was REALLY on vacation...not having to climb the stairs 500 times to take Ryan down the slide!! OHHH...it was fun. Anderson and I played in the near by baby pool and sat and watched the big kids go down the slide. What a perfect get away.

Anderson does not like to sleep away from home. He slept with Char and I....if you called it sleeping ;) But, it was worth the sleepless night to see the kids' smiles. They were so appreciative of the weekend and thanked us so many many times. SO SWEET!!!