We received our first baby gift off the registry for Mari from James' parents. This swing goes side ways and/or back and forth. James and Jake had great fun putting it together.
Cotton Museum in Memphis
11 years ago
Monday, October 01, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Our Appointment Today!
Above are some of the 4D ultrasound pictures she gave us of Mari. We are still measuring a few weeks larger, which would put Mari somewhere between 3 and 4 lbs! However that is within normal limits (just larger than average) and so they assure me it is nothing to worry about. Also I passed each of the four parts of my three hour glucose tolerance test with flying colors. YEAH! I was so nervous since I failed the one hour one so badly. Apparently only 15% of the people who fail the one hour go on to fail the three hour and have gestational diabetes. The stuff I had to drink today was the equivalent of two 20 oz Coke's only it was supper concentrated and I had to drink it really fast. They did one blood draw before I drank it and one every hour after for three hours. It is the only true way to tell who has gestational diabetes. The one hour test is just a screening, not really a test for gestational diabetes. So anyway, glad it is all over and done with and that Mari and I seem to be doing fine. My blood pressure is great, my weight gain is fine. No more problems with pre-term labor so I just have to follow the same rules they gave me last Thursday night--no carrying Jake around in the grocery store, if the contractions get strong enough that I can feel them then lay down, etc.
Trip to Water Valley for Ann's Birthday.
Above and below, four generations of Carr men (James' Uncle Phillip is not pictured).
Front Row: James, Jake, Dick (James' paternal grandfather)
Back Row: Larry (James' dad), John (James' older brother)
James, Jake, Larry and Dick all have the same first name (James).
Above are James' siblings (from left) Cheri, John with his girlfriend Angela in front, James, Jake and James' parents Larry and Ann. Ann's birthday was September 5th and so we all went over there that Saturday to surprise her.
Above is me and below is Jake and James' grandfather Dick.
Below, Jake is trying to put on James' flip flops.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Be careful what you wish for...
Well most of you know that me being a word person, words have a profound affect on me. So I find it ironic that after swearing I would never have a baby in November again, I am due two days after Jake's birthday. This week I have been mourning the fact that I would have had my third baby by now and instead I have to wait 11 more weeks.
Yesterday Mari was being really still (very unusual for her). When I couldn't remember feeling her kick at all by 3 p.m. I started to get concerned and started keeping up with movements, or lack thereof, on paper. I took a shower and noticed my belly was rock hard and thought maybe I just had overdone things as my back was hurting really bad by this point as well. Around 5:30 I did the juice and laying on your left side and all of that and she still wouldn't respond. I called the hospital and they said to lie on my left side for 30 more minutes and call back if I still didn't feel anything. By this point I had eaten some soup, drank four or six big sips of James' coffee and drank some cold milk. I tried to stay calm and called the hospital back. The told me to come in (they are around 50 minutes away) so I grabbed some stuff for Jake and James and I rushed to the hospital. We still couldn't feel her move, but we could hear her heartbeat on the monitor. It turns out that (a) she was asleep-they can tell this by her movement and variations in her heart rate (b) she is running out of room since she is measuring three weeks bigger than she is supposed to (c) I am HAVING CONTRACTIONS that is why I couldn't feel her move. You think I would have noticed CONTRACTIONS! They are still short and irregular and some of them I was not even able to feel. I am not dilated at all and my cervix hasn't moved down yet or anything, but I am only 28 weeks (almost 29 weeks by the doctors' estimate, but I disagree with their due date). When you have a contraction your uterus tightens up and you can't feel anything move inside it. When they made me lay on my back she woke up and started thrashing about as usual. I told James that next time I will lay on my back instead of my left side (they told me to on the phone to lie on my left side) because apparently she REALLY does not like me lying on my back. They monitored me for awhile and did some lab work just to make sure I didn't have any other preterm labor signs and everything else came back great--No dehydration, no Urinary Track Infection, no high blood pressure, sugar or protein or even blood in my urine. We discussed the fact that I had contractions and started dilating with Jake at 34 weeks and that it is possible that I had these same problems with him but was not hooked up to a fetal monitor until 34 weeks (because I had been having Braxton Hicks forever with him--since month 4) and it wasn't until they became pretty regular and 10-13 minutes apart that I even mentioned anything to the DR. At the time they prepared me to have an October baby (his due date was Nov 30) and I had to go in for additional monitoring every week and he didn't show up until Nov 25th, so I am not as concerned as I would be otherwise I guess. They gave me a whole list of things to watch for and since I am booked for this Wednesday they will do a followup then. Apart from that no real restrictions -just to take it easier than I have been, etc. Also they told me to take Tylenol PM as it can stop false contractions (I was having tons of Braxton Hicks--that is why my uterus was rock hard--but only a few real contractions). I guess this weekend I will pack my bag for the hospital after all... Pray Mari bakes long enough to be healthy but not too long so I don't have to have my c-section on the 29th! I do want another baby in November, I really do!
Oh and Jake was charming his way around the labor and delivery ward. They gave him a sticker that said "I'm a big brother" and a carton of milk (we were there for quite awhile). While we were trying to keep him entertained we were asking him questions and I asked him how many fingers he had. He said ten! I thought maybe it was a coincidence so I asked him how many toes he had and he said ten! I am so amazed as this isn't something we have directly taught him but something he has picked up on his own. Sure, we count his fingers and toes but I didn't realize he understood number as a quantitative measure of anything yet. He is a smart little monkey. I am currently teaching him what all the different buttons on the radio do (as well as what ones not to touch on a computer). It is amazing how much he understands. He got very excited when they hooked Mari up to the monitor and he even pointed and said Baboo a few times. He tried to answer questions that the nurse was asking me as well. As it was a late night, none of us got a lot of sleep last night and so it will hopefully be an early an uneventful night for us!
Yesterday Mari was being really still (very unusual for her). When I couldn't remember feeling her kick at all by 3 p.m. I started to get concerned and started keeping up with movements, or lack thereof, on paper. I took a shower and noticed my belly was rock hard and thought maybe I just had overdone things as my back was hurting really bad by this point as well. Around 5:30 I did the juice and laying on your left side and all of that and she still wouldn't respond. I called the hospital and they said to lie on my left side for 30 more minutes and call back if I still didn't feel anything. By this point I had eaten some soup, drank four or six big sips of James' coffee and drank some cold milk. I tried to stay calm and called the hospital back. The told me to come in (they are around 50 minutes away) so I grabbed some stuff for Jake and James and I rushed to the hospital. We still couldn't feel her move, but we could hear her heartbeat on the monitor. It turns out that (a) she was asleep-they can tell this by her movement and variations in her heart rate (b) she is running out of room since she is measuring three weeks bigger than she is supposed to (c) I am HAVING CONTRACTIONS that is why I couldn't feel her move. You think I would have noticed CONTRACTIONS! They are still short and irregular and some of them I was not even able to feel. I am not dilated at all and my cervix hasn't moved down yet or anything, but I am only 28 weeks (almost 29 weeks by the doctors' estimate, but I disagree with their due date). When you have a contraction your uterus tightens up and you can't feel anything move inside it. When they made me lay on my back she woke up and started thrashing about as usual. I told James that next time I will lay on my back instead of my left side (they told me to on the phone to lie on my left side) because apparently she REALLY does not like me lying on my back. They monitored me for awhile and did some lab work just to make sure I didn't have any other preterm labor signs and everything else came back great--No dehydration, no Urinary Track Infection, no high blood pressure, sugar or protein or even blood in my urine. We discussed the fact that I had contractions and started dilating with Jake at 34 weeks and that it is possible that I had these same problems with him but was not hooked up to a fetal monitor until 34 weeks (because I had been having Braxton Hicks forever with him--since month 4) and it wasn't until they became pretty regular and 10-13 minutes apart that I even mentioned anything to the DR. At the time they prepared me to have an October baby (his due date was Nov 30) and I had to go in for additional monitoring every week and he didn't show up until Nov 25th, so I am not as concerned as I would be otherwise I guess. They gave me a whole list of things to watch for and since I am booked for this Wednesday they will do a followup then. Apart from that no real restrictions -just to take it easier than I have been, etc. Also they told me to take Tylenol PM as it can stop false contractions (I was having tons of Braxton Hicks--that is why my uterus was rock hard--but only a few real contractions). I guess this weekend I will pack my bag for the hospital after all... Pray Mari bakes long enough to be healthy but not too long so I don't have to have my c-section on the 29th! I do want another baby in November, I really do!
Oh and Jake was charming his way around the labor and delivery ward. They gave him a sticker that said "I'm a big brother" and a carton of milk (we were there for quite awhile). While we were trying to keep him entertained we were asking him questions and I asked him how many fingers he had. He said ten! I thought maybe it was a coincidence so I asked him how many toes he had and he said ten! I am so amazed as this isn't something we have directly taught him but something he has picked up on his own. Sure, we count his fingers and toes but I didn't realize he understood number as a quantitative measure of anything yet. He is a smart little monkey. I am currently teaching him what all the different buttons on the radio do (as well as what ones not to touch on a computer). It is amazing how much he understands. He got very excited when they hooked Mari up to the monitor and he even pointed and said Baboo a few times. He tried to answer questions that the nurse was asking me as well. As it was a late night, none of us got a lot of sleep last night and so it will hopefully be an early an uneventful night for us!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Updates...
Update on the crib bedding. The small yellow flower and two pink butterflies are part of the mobile I am making. I still have two more butterflies to go. I found the yellow flower center and yellow flower pillow (larger flower) at Toys R Us. The crib sheets are washed and I put them in the crib for now. You can also see the ugly barn red walls in the bedroom. We are painting it Olive Green. We will probably wait until October for that (by we I mean James and I will not be painting-or even home at the time).
This is the diaper organizer that my mom made as well as the crib bumper above and the baby quilt below. I don't know what I would do without her!
We have also decided to start a baby registry online for the few items that we will need:http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp
Our registry number is 57002819 or you can search under James' name, my name or Mari.
I have dreading this week for quite some time now. This week my third baby (babies two and three were miscarriages) was due and because I was planning on attempting a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After a Cesarean) my DR had already asked me to schedule a back up c-section date. We picked September 4th and her words "One way or another you will have this baby by September 4th" have haunted me since I lost the baby at the end of January. Anyway, so I expected this week to be hard. Jake was a rough pregnancy as he was so big and active (8lbs 9.5 oz right at birth, but he was very dehydrated and once they gave him IV fluids he was 9lbs 15 oz. He also had control of his neck when he was born at almost 39 weeks via emergency section after 18 hours of hard labor). His birth was very difficult and I have been trying my best to do everything I can to have a successful VBAC. James and I originally wanted 3-5 kids and if this birth ends up also a c-section then I just don't know what I will do. I can't see myself signing up for a third or fourth c-section. Third maybe, but anyway that is a different post. Because of how things went last time my doctor has nicely waited until today to bring up the scheduling of my c-section. We agreed on the 29th of Nov. if she doesn't come by then, but it still was very hard to do. Also I failed my one hour glucose test today by 40 points. I failed the one hour with Jake by like 5 points and they decided it was probably because of what I ate for breakfast (toast with jelly and a banana) and then I only failed one of the three hour tests (the one hour portion as well) so they made me do the blood sugar monitor 4 times a day for a month which I passed with flying colors (highest reading was 112 after Mexican food and about a gallon of sweet tea) before deciding that I was fine and didn't have gestational diabetes. BUT I only failed the one hour by 5 points with him AND I had eaten a lot of sweet things that time, this time I fasted and failed it by 40 POINTS. UGH. Also I gained around 10 lbs this month bringing my total so far to 31 lbs with Mari (all in the last four months as I didn't start gaining any weight until my second trimester). I have started measuring bigger (three weeks) and if this baby is as big as Jake was then I probably won't get my VBAC. The only good news was my blood pressure was great and I am having a 4D ultrasound next Wednesday in the middle of my three hour test so that I have something to look forward too! James is coming as well and we are both excited about seeing little Miss Mari since our last u/s was at 16 weeks!
Jake is amazing! He is learning things so fast. He is saying his first real (complete) sentence: "I love Daddy!" He is such a Daddy's boy. He has been referring to Mari as the Baboo for a few months now and we have been trying to teach her how to say Mari. He sometimes calls her Maboo so he is getting closer. He gives my belly a big kiss every now and then just to let her know he loves her as well. He is working on all of his colors and animal noises, counting to 20, animal parts (he is confused as to why dogs only have feet and not hand or fingers or toes). He loves to climb me (literally). If I sit or lay down he quickly scales me and sits on my chest on top of Mari (which traps me because he weighs almost 30 lbs) and then kisses me and laughs because he knows I am trapped. Two weeks ago (tomorrow makes two weeks) we agreed to try a stomach acid reducer (Prevacid) with Jake (on a temporary basis) to try and heal his esophagus enough that he can eat more and hopefully this will help the Reflux resolve itself. It has worked very well so far. I was very nervous about putting a child his age on ANY sort of medicine even just for a few weeks and so far we have managed the reflux by diet and conditioning (feeding him even at night, etc). It has been a hard fight and it is nice to see him doing so well with it. He seems to like vegetables after all, it was just a texture thing from the reflux. He goes back in two weeks to see if he has healed enough to wean him off the Prevacid AND because he has been eating better, HE HAS ALMOST BEEN SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! YEAH!
A Dancing Jake!
Above you can see Jake dancing while James plays music off our computer for him. He still loves music and will dance to commercials and peoples cell phones. He has a "Little People" Sing-A-Long CD which he wants to hear ALL THE TIME (sometimes I feel they are a cult or something-if they start making children's clothes then I will worry)! It is funny (in a sweet, never thought that would happen sort of way) to hear James singing "The Teddy Bear Picnic". He (Jake) goes around the house singing songs with words he makes up. He is so full of energy! If you look carefully you can see where Jake gets his big feet from!
August 25th Trip to Water Valley
Jake got to feed the peacock and ride on the tractor (well sit on it anyway, as it was safely parked)
Jake had a lot of fun playing with Emily. Jake does not have any first cousins of his own. Emily is actually James' first cousin, but as she will be six this October, she didn't seem to mind playing with Jake. They hadn't seen each other since Christmas and Jake was able to play with her a lot better now that he is older. He turned 21 months old this day (August 25th). I can't believe how big he is getting! We would have taken more pictures but our camera card was full. Apparently when I delete them at work it just pretends to delete them. It actuality it makes a hidden file on my camera card so I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Jake's first haircut!
We went and got Jake's first haircut today. He didn't seem to excited at first but he warmed to it. He has watched his Daddy get his hair but by the same person so we thought that would help! By the end of the experience he was clapping and saying yeah! I got to save his hair and taped the whole thing. I didn't really want to get his hair cut as it is adorable, but on days it doesn't curl up it bothers him around his ears.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Why does it always do this when I am pregnant?
RECORD HEAT
8/15/2007 6:41:08 PM
Patsy Brumfield
Daily Journal reports
TUPELO - If you thought you were hot Wednesday, you were. Tupelo's top temperature was 107, exceeding the date's 1954 record of 102 by 5 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, the temp moved to 107 at 3:53 p.m. marking Northeast Mississippi's sixth consecutive day above 100. The record is nine century-mark days in 1980 from July 10-18.
An excessive heat warning for most of North Mississippi was in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday with heat index readings - factoring in heat and humidity - at or above 110 through the warning.
Accuweather.com predicts a high of 102 to "feel like" 109. Health officials advise curtailing outdoor activities, drinking plenty of liquids and check on elderly neighbors.
The forecast calls for a slight drop in temperatures Friday through the weekend, but 100-degree days will be back Monday and Tuesday.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/16/2007, section A , page 1
When I was pregnant with Jake it didn't get cool until the week before he was born (he was born Nov 25th remember) and we had to scramble to repack the hospital bags while I was in labor because we didn't have the apropriate seasonal items. There are local reports of at least one person dying a day from the heat. Yesterday evening it was a 14 year old playing soccer in the evening (not even the hottest part of the day). It is so sad. I hope it makes more people take the heat advisory seriously. I personally have refused to take outdoor assignments during the hours the temp is above 90. At 8 AM this morning it is already 85 degrees and it hasn't been dropping below the 90s until well after we go to bed meaning we have not been on any walks this week. Until this morning, I had not been outside in my own backyard for two weeks now (except on the patio some mornings to feed Daisy). I retain around 4lbs a fluid between AM and PM and then I have to get up and go to the bathroom all night only to retain it again the next day! Yes I know I am complaining miserably, but it really can't be too bad because we are already talking about when we should aim for a third baby! I have learned my lesson about saying I will NEVER have another baby in November so maybe if I aim for November I will get to have one in March! Jake's birthday is 11-25-2005, Mari's anticipated due date (I really think this is the day she will come based on how things went with Jake) is 11-27-2007 so James said our next one needs to be 11-29-2009. Oh well, I am off to drink 4 lbs of water...
8/15/2007 6:41:08 PM
Patsy Brumfield
Daily Journal reports
TUPELO - If you thought you were hot Wednesday, you were. Tupelo's top temperature was 107, exceeding the date's 1954 record of 102 by 5 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, the temp moved to 107 at 3:53 p.m. marking Northeast Mississippi's sixth consecutive day above 100. The record is nine century-mark days in 1980 from July 10-18.
An excessive heat warning for most of North Mississippi was in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday with heat index readings - factoring in heat and humidity - at or above 110 through the warning.
Accuweather.com predicts a high of 102 to "feel like" 109. Health officials advise curtailing outdoor activities, drinking plenty of liquids and check on elderly neighbors.
The forecast calls for a slight drop in temperatures Friday through the weekend, but 100-degree days will be back Monday and Tuesday.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 8/16/2007, section A , page 1
When I was pregnant with Jake it didn't get cool until the week before he was born (he was born Nov 25th remember) and we had to scramble to repack the hospital bags while I was in labor because we didn't have the apropriate seasonal items. There are local reports of at least one person dying a day from the heat. Yesterday evening it was a 14 year old playing soccer in the evening (not even the hottest part of the day). It is so sad. I hope it makes more people take the heat advisory seriously. I personally have refused to take outdoor assignments during the hours the temp is above 90. At 8 AM this morning it is already 85 degrees and it hasn't been dropping below the 90s until well after we go to bed meaning we have not been on any walks this week. Until this morning, I had not been outside in my own backyard for two weeks now (except on the patio some mornings to feed Daisy). I retain around 4lbs a fluid between AM and PM and then I have to get up and go to the bathroom all night only to retain it again the next day! Yes I know I am complaining miserably, but it really can't be too bad because we are already talking about when we should aim for a third baby! I have learned my lesson about saying I will NEVER have another baby in November so maybe if I aim for November I will get to have one in March! Jake's birthday is 11-25-2005, Mari's anticipated due date (I really think this is the day she will come based on how things went with Jake) is 11-27-2007 so James said our next one needs to be 11-29-2009. Oh well, I am off to drink 4 lbs of water...
Monday, August 13, 2007
UGGHHHHH!
10-Day Forecast
NEW: Larger Radar Maps & No Ads
High /
Low (°F) Precip. %
Today
Aug 13 Mostly Sunny 103°/71° 10 %
Tue
Aug 14 Sunny 105°/74° 20 %
Wed
Aug 15 Sunny 107°/78° 10 %
Thu
Aug 16 Mostly Sunny 104°/76° 10 %
Fri
Aug 17 Partly Cloudy 101°/74° 10 %
Sat
Aug 18 Partly Cloudy 96°/73° 10 %
Sun
Aug 19 Partly Cloudy 100°/73° 10 %
Mon
Aug 20 Mostly Sunny 96°/71° 10 %
Tue
Aug 21 Scattered T-Storms 94°/71° 30 %
Wed
Aug 22 Scattered T-Storms 94°/70° 40 %
Last Updated Aug 13 10:10 a.m. CT
(taken from www.weather.com)
...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY...
THE HEAT ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY.
A STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING OPPRESSIVELY HOT CONDITIONS TO MISSISSIPPI TODAY AND TOMORROW. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 90S AND LOWER 100S THIS AFTERNOON AND TOMORROW AFTERNOON... ALLOWING HEAT INDEX READINGS TO CLIMB TO BETWEEN 105 AND 115 DEGREES EACH DAY. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ALSO BE VERY WARM...WITH TEMPERATURES ONLY FALLING INTO THE UPPER 70S AND LOWER 80S TONIGHT.
A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. LIMIT OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES. RATHER...STAY INSIDE WITH AIR CONDITIONING. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE... DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AND STAY OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT.
CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY...AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC AILMENTS ARE USUALLY THE FIRST TO SUFFER FROM THE HEAT. HEAT EXHAUSTION... CRAMPS...OR IN EXTREME CASES HEAT STROKE CAN RESULT FROM PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE CONDITIONS. FRIENDS...RELATIVES...OR NEIGHBORS SHOULD CHECK ON PEOPLE WHO MAY BE AT RISK. ALSO...DO NOT FORGET ABOUT YOUR PETS. PROVIDE SHADE AND PLENTY OF FRESH WATER.
NEED I SAY MORE!!! We have been under a heat advisory for almost a week now. Some nights it has still been to hot for me to walk at 8:30 P.M.! I was hoping there was an end in sight, but when I checked the weather to put it in this weeks paper I saw that it seems to be staying for a while.
NEW: Larger Radar Maps & No Ads
High /
Low (°F) Precip. %
Today
Aug 13 Mostly Sunny 103°/71° 10 %
Tue
Aug 14 Sunny 105°/74° 20 %
Wed
Aug 15 Sunny 107°/78° 10 %
Thu
Aug 16 Mostly Sunny 104°/76° 10 %
Fri
Aug 17 Partly Cloudy 101°/74° 10 %
Sat
Aug 18 Partly Cloudy 96°/73° 10 %
Sun
Aug 19 Partly Cloudy 100°/73° 10 %
Mon
Aug 20 Mostly Sunny 96°/71° 10 %
Tue
Aug 21 Scattered T-Storms 94°/71° 30 %
Wed
Aug 22 Scattered T-Storms 94°/70° 40 %
Last Updated Aug 13 10:10 a.m. CT
(taken from www.weather.com)
...HEAT ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY...
THE HEAT ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT TUESDAY.
A STRONG AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING OPPRESSIVELY HOT CONDITIONS TO MISSISSIPPI TODAY AND TOMORROW. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 90S AND LOWER 100S THIS AFTERNOON AND TOMORROW AFTERNOON... ALLOWING HEAT INDEX READINGS TO CLIMB TO BETWEEN 105 AND 115 DEGREES EACH DAY. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ALSO BE VERY WARM...WITH TEMPERATURES ONLY FALLING INTO THE UPPER 70S AND LOWER 80S TONIGHT.
A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. LIMIT OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES. RATHER...STAY INSIDE WITH AIR CONDITIONING. IF YOU MUST GO OUTSIDE... DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS AND STAY OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT.
CHILDREN...THE ELDERLY...AND PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC AILMENTS ARE USUALLY THE FIRST TO SUFFER FROM THE HEAT. HEAT EXHAUSTION... CRAMPS...OR IN EXTREME CASES HEAT STROKE CAN RESULT FROM PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO THESE CONDITIONS. FRIENDS...RELATIVES...OR NEIGHBORS SHOULD CHECK ON PEOPLE WHO MAY BE AT RISK. ALSO...DO NOT FORGET ABOUT YOUR PETS. PROVIDE SHADE AND PLENTY OF FRESH WATER.
NEED I SAY MORE!!! We have been under a heat advisory for almost a week now. Some nights it has still been to hot for me to walk at 8:30 P.M.! I was hoping there was an end in sight, but when I checked the weather to put it in this weeks paper I saw that it seems to be staying for a while.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Transitons
Pictured here are the crib and crib skirt we used with Jake, with some things I bought Saturday to start working on things for Mari.Saturday I went ahead and got James to put the crib back together and I went and starting getting things to make her crib bedding (my mom is gracious enough to actually make it for--I just had to pick it out). For those of you who have been reading this blog for at least two years, you might remember that we picked out mostly sage green things for Jake so that we could reuse them with subsequent babies. I picked an overall theme of Classic English Children's Literature and then each baby can have a sub theme that coordinates with the overall them. This way I can reuse things but every child will get there own stuff to some extent.
So with Jake it was A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh (not the Walt Disney version) and the focus was honey bees. My mom painted his birth sampler with scenes from the books and he has assorted Classic Pooh books, stuffed animals, etc, but all of his bedding was/is sage green, honey yellow, white, black and cream. We made bees and a bee hive to hang on the wall. To see what we did for Jake click on November 2005 over on the right (archives) or click here.
With Mari her theme author is Beatrix Potter. For a website about her click here and for one featuring some of her work click here. The minor focus will be butterflies. Bees and butterflies will go together pretty good I think. Our house is three bedroom so she and Jake will be sharing a room until we move.
We plan on putting the crib in our room, the changing table in Jake's bathroom and the rest of her stuff in the room she will "share" with Jake. If she is anything like Jake she will be in our room until she is 18 months old anyway. Jake sleeps in his room until about three a.m. and then he comes and gets in the bed with us still at 20 months. I am not complaining though, because he is so much fun to cuddle with early in the morning. Jake has a full sized bed in his room and we are hoping if we put them in the bed together they will both be more likely to sleep in their room (we won't do this until she is around a year old though).
I also bought the letters for her name and Jake's name and found some receiving blankets and foam cutouts to design the wall hangings and mobile from. I will post more pictures as things progress.
Above is some material that I bought Saturday. The first one is for the back and border of the baby quilt/comforter. The middle one is for center of the baby quilt, the organizer and the bumper pad. We didn't make a bumper pad with Jake as I ordered an breathable bumper for Jake, but it didn't really keep him from ramming his head against the edge of the crib so we used one James's cousin's wife had left over from her son (but it is blue and we want to have one of our own this time). The third fabric is one my mom is making two large receiving blankets from. Jake quickly outgrew the normal sized ones and someone (EVY) gave us some extra large homemade ones that we still use at nap time!
I did buy these receiving blankets at Toys R Us, because I do want a touch of pink. I do not like the purple one though! Below are the patterns we were matching. The top one with the bees and butterflies, is the material that makes up our pack and play travel crib combo station (that will be our downstairs nap crib and changing station). The two fabrics below are from our infant car seat, high chair and just about anything else Graco makes in the sage Waverly pattern. The items are made of a sage green material, a sage and cream gingham material and a sage and green toile material called Central Park Toile (or Cherub toile) featuring cherubic children playing in a field with trees, and a see saw. There are also sheep in it. It reminded me of nursery rhymes so that is why I choose it because it sort of fits in with the major overall theme and I thought would be easily matchable with subsequent babies.
Jake's room is brown. Above is his birth sampler hanging on the wall and below is one of his bees that I am holding against the wall. We have not hung his bees yet. We waited because we thought we might repaint his room, but I rather like the dark brown. We are painting our room before Mari gets here though. It is bright ketchup red and they did a horrible job painting it. I was pregnant when we moved so unpacking has been a slow process and we decided to wait to put all of Jake's decorations up when we put up Mari's so that he doesn't get so jealous. He has already shown frustration at not being able to play with the new stuff we have bought and/or for the stuff that formerly was his that we are bringing down from the attic. Don't worry, we are being fair and Jake will be getting some new shelves, a new bed frame and a real toy box so that should take the edge off of bringing home Mari. Plus she is due two days after his birthday so hopefully he will have plenty of attention and new toys to distract him and smooth the process.
Jake climbed on top of a pile of his baby clothes that I was going through to wash for Mari. I piled them in his infant car seat (which he outgrew at 3 months) so that I would remember to wash the cover for it as well. I found quite a few green, yellow and cream outfits that she can wear. He is as adorable as ever, but unfortunately I will have to take him to get his hair cut soon. Because his hair curls we have avoided that first cut for this long, but he has my crazy hair that curls some days and frizzes the next. We will probably just get it trimmed enough to keep it out of his ears and eyes, but leave it long enough so that is can curl.
He has been having problems with his reflux again here lately so he will be going back to the doctor sometime in the next two weeks. He is talking so well now that we are able to have conversations. When he doesn't know a word he makes one up or uses a real word as a substitute. For example if he doesn't want to eat something he claims it is hot and then politely asks for fish (his gold fish crackers). He is still more fun than trouble and he and I have had fun looking at pictures of him at birth soon after. It is hard to believe it was less than two years ago. We are still working on the potty training. We have had some occasional success it just isn't consistent. Sometimes he wants to use the toilet, some times he doesn't. He has been in pull ups/training pants since March and within a month of trying we had our first success. He started of by saying Uh Oh when he needed to go and has now progressed to less polite terminology. All in all he is such a big boy. He can count to twelve with the exception of two numbers (six and seven I think are the ones he gets wrong). We have nineteen stairs and he counts them as we go up and down. He can climb without holding my hand, holding on to the rail by himself with me walking behind him or in front of him (depending on which direction we are going in) to catch him if he stumbles (although he hasn't yet). He has been able to climb them for a while, but now he does it like a little man instead of on all fours or holding the wall. He sits in a booster seat when he eats instead of a high chair and really prefers to sit in a chair by himself (rather than on my shrinking lap) when he plays with toys at the table. He sleeps in his own bed most of the night. He can brush and floss his own teeth (all though we always brush them after him just to make sure) and he likes to brush his own hair. I can't believe how big he is getting!
My doctor's appointment on Thursday went great. She and I are still measuring right on target (not huge like with Jake) and my blood pressure was low, even though I have started swelling from the heat. The doctor was impressed with how active Mari was when he did our measurements and she kicked the doppler three times while he listened to her heart rate. I told him she was quite docile compare to Jake and that I was worried because she didn't seem as active (or violent as we sometimes called it) as Jake was, but he said she is still more active than average. I am 25 weeks now and hopefully will go into labor a week or so early like I did with Jake as they don't want me to go over my due date with a VBAC (vaginal birth after a c-section). I am getting excited but nervous at the same time. Things went so wrong at the end with Jake, who can blame me for being a little nervous. I just won't everything to go smoothly this time.
He has been having problems with his reflux again here lately so he will be going back to the doctor sometime in the next two weeks. He is talking so well now that we are able to have conversations. When he doesn't know a word he makes one up or uses a real word as a substitute. For example if he doesn't want to eat something he claims it is hot and then politely asks for fish (his gold fish crackers). He is still more fun than trouble and he and I have had fun looking at pictures of him at birth soon after. It is hard to believe it was less than two years ago. We are still working on the potty training. We have had some occasional success it just isn't consistent. Sometimes he wants to use the toilet, some times he doesn't. He has been in pull ups/training pants since March and within a month of trying we had our first success. He started of by saying Uh Oh when he needed to go and has now progressed to less polite terminology. All in all he is such a big boy. He can count to twelve with the exception of two numbers (six and seven I think are the ones he gets wrong). We have nineteen stairs and he counts them as we go up and down. He can climb without holding my hand, holding on to the rail by himself with me walking behind him or in front of him (depending on which direction we are going in) to catch him if he stumbles (although he hasn't yet). He has been able to climb them for a while, but now he does it like a little man instead of on all fours or holding the wall. He sits in a booster seat when he eats instead of a high chair and really prefers to sit in a chair by himself (rather than on my shrinking lap) when he plays with toys at the table. He sleeps in his own bed most of the night. He can brush and floss his own teeth (all though we always brush them after him just to make sure) and he likes to brush his own hair. I can't believe how big he is getting!
My doctor's appointment on Thursday went great. She and I are still measuring right on target (not huge like with Jake) and my blood pressure was low, even though I have started swelling from the heat. The doctor was impressed with how active Mari was when he did our measurements and she kicked the doppler three times while he listened to her heart rate. I told him she was quite docile compare to Jake and that I was worried because she didn't seem as active (or violent as we sometimes called it) as Jake was, but he said she is still more active than average. I am 25 weeks now and hopefully will go into labor a week or so early like I did with Jake as they don't want me to go over my due date with a VBAC (vaginal birth after a c-section). I am getting excited but nervous at the same time. Things went so wrong at the end with Jake, who can blame me for being a little nervous. I just won't everything to go smoothly this time.
A trip to Water Valley
Above are pregnant Isla (me), Jake and Jake's great grandfather Carr. Jake and I are playing with a firetruck.
We all went out side to see the quail that James's dad is raising.
Jake had fun looking at the lights, birds, dog and many bugs and trees. He also kept commenting on the heat.
Vroom Vroom
A few Saturdays ago I had to cover a story about the 15th Anniversary of the founding of this Volunteer Fire Department. I brought James and Jake along because I knew Jake would get a kick out of seeing the big red LOUD trucks. He loved it and the fire chief, who also is the elementary school principal, knew James' dad so it is really a small world. They let Jake ride (with James) in one of the trucks while they parked it. They even turned the siren on for him. He loved it!
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