It's A...

Baby!

A baby with a big head (measuring 5 days ahead!), 2 arms, 2 legs, little hands and a desire to sleep with one arm above it's head and one hand under it's chin.

Yesterday, my sisters and mom threw me a party with close friends and family to celebrate my 30th birthday.  Because we weren't exactly sure when we would get back from our trip to DC, yesterday was the day!

Earlier in the day, Dusty and I went to have an elective ultrasound to determine if we would be having a baby girl or a baby boy this time around.  After the ultrasound, I called my sister who filled the birthday cupcakes with a color to compliment what the ultrasound showed.

Kaitlyn has been asking nonstop what we were having.  After dinner, she got to take the first bite and tell everyone the color inside.



The inside was pink!  We're having another little girl, another princess to sew dresses for and stick bows in her hair.

It was a little bit of a shock.  I was thinking it was likely  boy, I mean, girl pregnancies have never given me so many complications from day one!  But, obviously this little one is going to be even more stubborn than the other two.

We've already been asked if we'll try again for a boy or if we're disappointed.  The answers are no and no.  My doctor has already strongly recommended a tubal for health reasons after this pregnancy, and I've agreed. I would never bring another child in the world under the hopes they are a different sex than than what we're currently raising.  And what's to be disappointed in?  We have a son.  While it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to raise a son, there are far more important things to worry about than if your baby will be wearing blue or pink.

My only irrational fear involves Kaitlyn.  I thought if we were having a boy, it would limit her being left out.  She would have the sister bond with Samantha and the new baby would have the age bond with Samantha.  So, everyone would have a special bond.  But, I know that in non hormone world, that's a silly fear.  And completely unfounded.

So far, the names we're considering are Charlotte and Penelope.  But, neither are in stone and we are thinking about others as well. 

Dora Belle Hulsey

August 17, 1927 to June 26, 2012. 

 

On Tuesday evening, Dusty's grandmother left her Earthly body to be with God and spend eternity in Heaven above. We're incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to visit in April for her to meet Samantha and visit with Kaitlyn. And now, Matthew has another family member with him. While we would love to physically be there with everyone who is mourning the loss of an amazing person, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Wishing everyone strength, peace and comfort on their journey of grief. She will be forever missed.

Build A Bear Promo

Wanna check out what happens when you drive down to Glendale for your oldest daughter to see and meet her absolute favorite celebrity?

I know, I know

I've been a TERRIBLE blogger.  I've totally slacked on updates and seeing as how we've been across the country and back, summer vacation as started, and based on what train of thought you go by, I'm in my second trimester, there's obviously a whole lot to update on.

The problem hasn't been not having anything to say.  I mean, when have *I* not had something to say?  It has had more to do with this little one already showing who's boss by making me a prisoner to toilets and garbage cans everywhere I go.  I've had morning sickness before.  I've had what I thought was bad morning sickness before.  Nothing in the world could have ever prepared me for this though.  Misery is the only word I can think of to describe it. 

So, where to begin? 

Last night our local chapter of the March of Dimes had a kick off event for one of their big fundraisers in September.  It was an intimate event with about 30 people there who they were requesting to get sponsorships from for an event they plan on raising $200,000 at.  Many of the people there were not aware of the mission of the March of Dimes, which to me is just silly, but I know that if it hadn't of been for our experience, we would be in the same boat.  I was asked to talk about our story, and share how the March of Dimes has affected our lives. 

I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous.  I was.  For a variety of reasons.  One being that the above mentioned morning sickness is way worse at night and I was terrified of throwing up.  Another being that I was worried I would cry and watching the fourth season of Lost right now has shown me that crying only makes me puke.  Oh, and throw in there speaking in front of distinguished members of our local community about something so personal without speaking a gazillion words a minute.

But, I did it.  I didn't throw up.  I didn't cry.  And Dusty promises me that I didn't talk to fast or too soft. 

I wasn't expecting the crowd that was there.  I was doing ok with "recognizing" people that were there and the important roles in the government until Bethany Crouch walked in.  You know, from Fox 40 news.  The local news we watch every morning.  Then, I was way more nervous for some reason.  But, to say that she is incredibly sweet, genuine and kind would be an understatement.  And, she offered to help with advertising our fundraising event for Matthew's Team next year!  How awesome is that?

I am currently 13 weeks and 2 days pregnant.  We've heard the hearbeat on the doppler.  I'll share video of it soon.  Other than the morning sickness and heartburn, I'm doing good.  I haven't had any spotting or bleeding in nearly two weeks now.  I'm hoping when I go to my appointment on Monday the SCH will have reabsorbed and just be completely gone!  How great would that be?  We're considering going next Saturday to find out what we're having, but haven't decided yet if we will do it then or wait it out a little longer.

Kaitlyn is doing great!  She has officially finished the second grade.  She made the Principal's honor roll for the entire year.  Her school is one of the top performing in the state and considering that their grading requirements are incredibly high and she is advanced in every category they test, we couldn't be prouder of her achievements.  And we're fortunate that she is really a well rounded kid. 

Kaitlyn is excited to start cheer on Monday.  She has cheer camp and tryouts that week, then she gets to make the decision if she wants to pursue it or not.  She was super gung-ho and insisting that she had to be a cheerleader this year, until she started seeing all the advertisements around town for the swim team.  Now, she wants to do both.  Considering they are both huge commitments that overlap each other, she has to make a decision on which one to do. 

Samantha is doing great.  Her speech has taken off so much.  She talks all the time, no idea where her or Kaitlyn got that from, and her speech is getting much clearer.  She's learned to say the "noises" for a lot of animals.  Right now she will do the noises for cats (my favorite because she squints her eyes and crinkles her nose to do it), dogs, horses, pigs, cows, snakes, ducks, tigers and sometimes surprises us with a few others.  And sometimes she'll surprise us by answering our question of "what does a ______ say?" with utter and complete silence.  We've also been working a lot on letters and numbers.  She'll repeat the ABCs after me and recognizes a few letters on her own, like A, B, O and R.  And her favorite number is 3.  She recognizes it and points it out everywhere.  She's pretty darn bright.  She stacks blocks 5-6 high, she cuddles her baby and of course, tries to climb on absolutely everything.  And when she gets told no, she'll listen.  Of course, she'll throw herself on the ground in a tantrum of screaming and fake crying, but she'll listen.

Samantha had her pediatric GI appointment today.  It went ok.  There don't seem to be any structural abnormalities or anything suspicious in her blood work.  She has lost 3 ounces in a month (which means she's dropped from 45% to 25% in weight) instead of gaining.  And she has a lot of stool in there still.  The doctor believes it's compacted and gave us a couple of options.  We could try the magnesium citrate again.  This would be our fourth time.  It hasn't worked in any of the previous three attempts.  Like, not even a tiny bit.  All it does is create a day of tears, frustration and a couple of little runny diapers.  I'm sure it creates a tummy ache for the little one as well.  And if it doesn't work, we would go to option two.  Option 2 is to put her under general anesthesia and after she's asleep for them to go in and remove the compacted stool.  The goal is that once the compacted stool is removed, the stool softeners will be able to keep her regular and her bowels nice and clear in the future.  We opted to go for option 2.  Since the procedure won't take place at our normal hospital, we have to wait for insurance authorization to go through.  Depending on when that happens, she'll either go in a week from tomorrow or the following Friday. 

On Memorial Day, Dusty and I took our poorly packed luggage, loaded Samantha into the truck Dusty drives at work, hooked up to a 34' trailer, and after leaving Kaitlyn with my mom, took off for a drive across the country.  In about 6 days, we arrived in Washington DC.  Kaitlyn flew out with my mom and arrived the same day we did.  We spent 9 days in DC. We varied the days up between work events, site seeing and me trying not to throw up around the clock.  I did not have a good time.  Then, we let Kaitlyn go with my mom and the three of us started our journey back.  Kaitlyn and Grandma took a detour on the way home and stopped in Illinois to visit with Grandma's side of the family.  Kaitlyn had a blast visiting with her aunts and cousins, and we were able to stop for about half a day and join her.

By the 5th day of driving, we were about 15 hours away from home, 900 miles or so, and decided that we didn't want to wake up and get in that truck to drive anywhere for another day.  Considering that Samantha kicked at me when I tried to put her in the car, I think she agreed.  So, we traveled from Wyoming to Sacramento all in one day.  To me, it was worth it.  We spent the entire next day not leaving the couch unless we had to.  And, we were glad to get back in time for Father's Day!

That's a quick run down of life over here for now.  I'm sure it's going to continue to be crazy, but I'm looking forward to a little bit of resting this summer!

Samantha's 18 month appointment

Last week, we had Samantha's 18 month appointment.  Overall, it went well.  She's growing like crazy, talking up a storm and is a pretty healthy little girl.

Samantha now weighs 23.8 lbs (41%), is 33 inches long (85%) and her head is 48 cm around (85%).

She didn't love getting a shot, but she also got over it really quick.  The nurse was grateful to her for being such an easy patient that day.  She was calm and quiet for the entire exam.  Of course, until we put her on the table and she could play with the fun, crinkly paper. 

We decided to try her off of the allergy medicine.  She doesn't seem to act too much differently when she takes it and doesn't, except for the drowsy aspect.  So, our hopes are it stays that way and if something changes, we'll put her back on it.

We also discussed her continued constipation problem.  He is concerned about it and suggested Samantha sees a pediatric GI.  He wrote a referral and they have made an appointment for the end of June.  Later that evening, he called and requested she had some blood work done just to rule out thyroid problems or celiac disease.

Samantha went and had her blood drawn and did AMAZING.  I'll tell you, I was upset by the idea of and terrified to take her.  I figured she would cry, I would have to hold her down and it would just be miserable.  Boy, was I wrong.  She did great, didn't even cry!  Now, she wasn't happy about it.  And she gave some dirty looks, but I'm sure she felt it was justified.

And let me tell you, in the last two weeks, her vocabulary has had another explosion!  It's amazing to watch!

A Christmas Baby

Shortly after we returned from Alabama, things felt a bit off.

Just to rule things out, I took a pregnancy test, fully expecting to see one line come across it and put the notion out of my mind. We certainly hadn't been trying and weren't entirely sure we would try again. Imagine my surprise when within seconds a second line appeared.

Pregnant.

I was in disbelief. I took several more tests of several brands. Before I allowed myself to find truth in it, I needed to be sure. Every single one was positive.

I'm excited and surprised to announce that we're building a snow baby.

 Our little one is due on Christmas day, December 25, 2012.

Which makes me 8 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Morning sickness has been horrific and it seems, I so far, will not have the easy breezy pregnancy I had with Kaitlyn and Samantha. After some scary bleeding at 6 weeks, I was sent in for an ultrasound.

An ultrasound at 6 weeks and 2 days showed a baby, right where it should be with a healthy heart rate of 116 bets per minute. It also showed a subchorionic hematoma between the baby and uterine wall. It's relatively small, which is amazing. But, it doesn't mean the bleeding is any less stressful. It does mean I'm not supposed to be lifting or carrying, I should be staying off my feet and drinking a ridiculous amount of water.

We haven't told Kaitlyn yet. My next appointment is next Thursday. As long as all goes well, we will tell her after that.

In the meantime, did you know there are only 223 days left until Christmas?

Happy Half Birthday Samantha!

That's right, somehow, Miss Samantha is halfway through her second year!  Um, how did that happen?  Or when?

She has just blossomed over the last couple of weeks.  She talks all the time and says a few 2-3 word groupings.  When she wants to.  Instead of just asking for "ick" (drink) now she'll say Juice or Milk or Water with it.  She says more words than I could begin to count. 

Samantha knows all of her body parts, says them, as well as points to them.  Head, hair, eyes, nose, cheek, chin, ear, tongue, teeth, arm, hand, leg, foot, toes, belly button, tummy and elbow.  Which really helps when she falls and gets an owie.  :)

She's in love with songs.  And she knows what ones she wants to sing and will tell you.  She can do all the movements to "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Wheels on the Bus", and "If You're Happy And You Know It."  She also LOVES books.  Her favorites right now are the Hungry Caterpillar and her Sesame Street Bubbles book.  She likes to have them read to her over, and over and over and over and over again.

She loves to play tag and hide and seek.  She's a terrible hider.  She will just stand there and wait until you uncover her eyes and then crack up laughing.  She's a much better counter.  She'll cover her eyes, say three and then come looking for you.  Of course, you have to hide somewhere obvious because she is easily distracted.  Then again, she doesn't exactly give you a chance to hide.

Samantha loves letters and loves numbers.  I've caught her counting to 3 twice.  But that is it.  And no matter how much I prompt her to do it, she won't.  She recognizes the letters O and E.  Every other letter is a blip.  At least that is what it sounds like she is saying.  When you ask her something, she answers.  When you explain something and end with Ok?  She says ok in seriously the sweetest and cutest voice.  I must record this.  I love it.

Our little diva has no problem telling you what she wants, whether it's bringing my iPhone or iPad to me and insisting on Caooo (Cailou) or Emo (Elmo), or what cup exactly she wants to drink from.  If she doesn't get her way, it starts with a screech and ends with banging her head on anything close by.  We ignore it and it passes fairly quickly. 

She really wants to learn how to ride a bike, loves bumping into people, spins around until she is so dizzy she falls, only to stand up and do it again, knows how hysterical she is and does not have a shy bone in her body.

Samantha has started finding nail polish bottles and bringing them to me and pointing her fingers out perfectly.  She prefers them pink.  And she will sit perfectly still for you to paint every single one and even let them dry.  Of course, she won't let you touch her hands if she thinks nail clippers are near by.  She has also started trying to dress herself.  She can get one leg in and then gives up and walks around like that.  And she hates anything in her hair.  She will scream as you try to put in a rubber band and immediately rip out any bows you think are perfect.

She loves getting into everything of Kaitlyn's.  Everything.  She's pretty good with anything that doesn't leave marks.  Kaitlyn still doesn't approve.  Which usually leads to Samantha screaming as Kaitlyn removes her, her crying to me about KaKa, and then Kaitlyn wanting to play in Samantha's room. 

Samantha is finally nearly over her first sinus infection.  We're on day 9 of antibiotics.  And she is probably the only kid that stays constipated on them!  Last week we had to repeat her X-ray because of her inability to go more than once a week.  As frustrating it is for us, I can only imagine how rough it is for her.  She also has seasonal allergies, so she's on Zyrtec for now.  If she continues with the sinus infections, she'll follow in big sister's footsteps and have her tonsils removed as well.  Fingers are crossed that if we have to cross that road, we do it at a younger age.

Samantha has also started laughing at the right times when watching TV, cracks up laughing when she watches videos of herself, dances and is SOOO close to jumping, loves to walk everywhere (as long as she gets to pick where), is a great traveler, HATES sleeping anywhere but her bed, is still in a crib (though might be making the change in the next few months if she keeps getting her thighs stuck in it!), wears 12-18 month clothes, says CHEEEESE for the camera with the appropriate cheesy smile, has super adorable chunky legs, big brown eyes and light brown hair.  She begs to play outside, loves dogs and strangers and goes to anyone that will hold her.  If she's in a good mood you'll even get a hug and a kiss.  She's 18 months old and has been to Vegas a few times, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, met Jennette McCurdy and Victoria Justice and won the hearts of so many.

It's hard to believe she's only been in our lives for 18 months and impossible to believe she's already that old!