23 weeks!

I had an appt yesterday with the midwife. I've gained 12 pounds so far. Baby's heartrate was in the 130's which she says is "boy range". I think everyone is determined that this is going to be a boy. Guess we'll all find out in about 4 months! Can't believe that time has gone by so quickly. Pretty soon my Mom will be out to visit and then I know that I'm really close!

Potty training success

I think we can officially say that Taniyah is potty trained. We went to the lab on Thursday so I could get some blood drawn. While we were there she told me that she had to "pee" which I thought was funny cause she hadn't been going at home. She wouldn't go there once we went into the bathroom though.

On Friday I decided to leave her diaperless and she did great. Only one accident all day!!

Saturday we went over to Will & Marsha's house. Tete said she had to "pee" but everytime we went into the bathroom she would say "no potty" and cry. After a while she was hysterical, she would say "pee", "no potty", scream "no" when I pulled her panties up or down. I didn't know what the issue was. After about 30 minutes of the ongoing drama I put her on the potty and moved the step stool so she couldn't get down. She FINALLY went pee and then she was fine. I think the big potty was to traumatic for her. The kids and I went to football practice with them (Rod had duty) but stopped on our way to buy a little potty for her. She did great at the hours of football practice with her little potty.

After football the kids went home with Will & Marsha and Tyreque & I went to Ross to get shoes. Tete said she had to "pee" but once she saw that big potty she said "no potty"! She stayed dry all the way home and went potty when we got there.

Then she went with me to pick up Ladaria and the rest of the kids and stayed dry that whole time and all night! Yeah Tete!

She's done great since then, even with trips out to church, Ikea, Lowe's and lunch. We even had a breakthrough yesterday when she went pee on the big potty at Ikea TWICE!! Woohoo! I think maybe some of the "big potties" are just a little TOO big for her comfort!! Maybe she thinks she will be flushed away.

Footballs and gophers?!

The kids and I went to football practice with Will, Marsha and the kids. Marsha is helping to coach this year so I had to go see her skills put into practice.

Yep she's got it down, stand around with the whistle and shout orders.

And guess what? Will's got it down to!!!

Sometimes the kids copied the coaches.

But other times they really did play.

And some of the coaches, well, I think they pretended to play!

Just kidding!!

Then I saw this little guy pretty close to where I was sitting and I decided to get some pictures of him. The first time I saw him he came all the way out of his hole.

Then he disappeared so I put a french fry near his hole. He came out again until Will walked almost on top of him and he closed off his hole and was gone!

21 Weeks 5 Days

Rod took new pictures last night. So here I am at 21 weeks 5 days. Everyone seems to think that this is a boy although I think I'm carrying like I did with Taniyah. I don't know what the old wives tale is about carrying.

I didn't even erase my stretch marks this time. I really don't think that I have very many for this being baby #5.

This morning I woke up with my first leg cramp. That means that sleeping on my back is out the window for the time being. I have my Tums and need to pull out some pillows! I can still sleep on my tummy although I try really hard not to.

Update on Appointment

I had my Fetal Assessment Appointment today. I met with the genetics counselor and then had my ultrasound done. The doctor who did the ultrasound said that the ventricles all looked good. She looked at the feet from all angles and said that they looked good as well. She said that the baby looks PERFECT!! I will have another scan done around 34 weeks to look at the lungs.

The baby had it's hands clasped together and resting on it's cheek. It was really cute but she didn't get a very good picture of it. We also saw the baby yawning.

How I spent my evening!

Mom called to talk after her babies were all in bed for the night. Usually mine go down long after hers do.

So as I'm talking to her and catching up Taniyah came to join me. She got a nap of about 2.5 minutes yesterday so she was tired I guess. She laid across my lap and fell asleep.

Pretty soon Coco came to join us. She either thought that the bottom of my legs were cold or Taniyah needed company. I'm not sure which. She certainly wanted to make sure that her pillow didn't go anywhere though.

So this is how we spent the duration of the phone call. Taniyah finally woke up. I think her legs were scrunched and fell asleep on her. She moved down to the end of the couch and went back to sleep until Rod moved her to her bed. I guess she was really tired.

Finally got an appt

I finally have an appt with the Fetal Assessment Unit! I called last week and they didn't have a referral. I was told to call my midwife to have the referral put in and they would give me a call to schedule the appt once it was recieved. Still hadn't heard anything from them today so I called again. I was told that they had gotten the referral but it didn't say why I was being referred so the doctor would need to review my ultrasound. About 1.5 hours later I get a call from the Genetics counselor asking if I was aware that I had been given a referral to see her! Yes I'm the one who called you guys - twice - to see what was going on. So my appt is for March 6th at 9am. I will have a level 2 ultrasound done by the perinatologist, then I will see the genetics counselor, then we will discuss the results of the ultrasound and decide what to do based on the results. So I have the appt scheduled. One step closer.

Pictures!

I got out the camera the other day and took some pictures of Taniyah. I put a few of them on my Flickr account. This one is my favorite out of the bunch though.

I dressed her in pastel colors and loved the way she was looking down. I gave it a soft focus to add to the ambiance of the photo. I submitted it to a photo group to have it critiqued and they all said it needed better focus and color so obviously they didn't like it as much as I did. Of well! I still like it no matter what they say.

20 weeks!!

I've made it to the halfway point! Time has gone by so quickly with this pregnancy. It seems to be just flying by! Technically I'm probably more than halfway since I've never gone to 40 weeks. With Taniyah I made it to 39 weeks and made the doctor nervous so he induced me at 39 weeks. It was probably a good thing that he had scheduled the induction at my 38 week appt for the following week. When I went in for my induction I was 5cm and 80% effaced and not having any contractions. I had gone the night before to pick up Mom and Poppa from the airport and I felt perfectly fine. I think the doctor was concerned that if he let me go any further that I may not make it to the hospital in time.

Ultrasound

I went in for my ultrasound yesterday. My appt was at 7:50 am and I had to drink 34 ounces of water in the two hours prior to the appt so I had to get up early. I also had to get all the kids ready for school and Makkiah his meds before I left.

We headed out and Taniyah stayed at the Children's Waiting Room and played. She really enjoyed it and didn't want to leave when I came to pick her up.

Now on to the ultrasound. We are not going to find out what we are having so we don't know what the gender is. It will be a suprise until the end.

I got some pictures of the baby. One of the "darth vader" face. One of the measurements in the head was on the high limit of normal so I am being referred to the Fetal Assessment Unit. I will see the Genetics counselor, the Perinatologist and have a more detailed ultrasound done.


And one of the spine.



And one of the leg and foot. There is some concern about the baby having club feet. They will be looked at again when I go to my FAU appt. In the picture you can see the kneecap on the left. The leg comes down and you can see the top of the foot with the little toes. You can see how the foot seems to be straight down from the leg and bent in.

Update

I know, I know. I'm WAY behind and I'm not even going to try to go back and catch up.

We are putting in a new fence. In putting in the new fence I think I have an idea on how to fix the front gates. I'm not sure that I want to try to do it myself. We'll see after we get the side fence done.

We wanted to make a play area for Taniyah so she is a little more contained than she has been. So we are putting a fence on the side yard. In the back we are going to fence off the heat/AC unit and the terraces with a gate on the side to go on the pathway.

We are going to go a walkway across the front of the flowerbeds and around to the gate. The gate will be a double gate that will be 5 feet wide so we won't have to worry about access to the backyard for big stuff that has to go back there. Not sure if the walkway will extend through the gate to the other side or just to the gate.

We were not wanting the fortress look so we did the open slatted fence. It's about 4.5 feet tall which is a little taller than I had imagined but Rod thought it was a good height so that what we went with. I think once it's painted it will look much better.

I will update again on Wed after my big ultrasound. Rod has duty so he won't get to go but I will scan pictures and post them for everyone. Can't believe how quickly time is passing.

News!!

Bliss
By: Jolina Cura
Tiny movements like tiny kicks
Tiny baby, a mother’s bliss
Can’t wait to give the tiny you
Huge hugs and lots of kisses too

What tiny dreams you might have now?
I would understand someday, somehow
I dreamed last night, your tiny face
An angel indeed, made from God’s sweet embrace

How else would mommy know?
How much her tiny little angel has grown?
How else would mommy guess?
If her little angel have some requests?

I know that somehow you could now hear
Oh, what a thrill you will bring us here!
Now hush my baby, it’s time to rest
Inside my womb, your own calm nest

May God help me to keep you safe
And always keep you strong, I pray
I love you right before I planned you
And I love you more now that I have you

Baby #8 is on the way!!

Back to normal

The kids are all back in school and Rod is back off to work. It leaves just me and Tete to hang out together.

We still haven't gotten the shed finished. The floor needs to be put in. It's 6 sheets of plywood that are heavy so not something I can complete by myself.

I'm waiting for Rod to help finish so that I can get the Christmas decorations put away in to the shed. I have about 5 boxes to go through that I haven't looked in since we moved. I know what's in them just need to go through them.

Hopefully we can get the shed finished this week so that I can start moving stuff into it!

Off to build a shed

We bought a 10 foot by 14 foot shed that we are building upstairs on the deck. I will fit perfectly into the corner and we will be able to put all of our stuff away into it. We don't have any room to really store stuff that isn't accessible to little hands. This will solve that issue. So off to build!! Will come back and post pictures when I am done!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2006!!!!!!!

In Elmore tradition all the kids got new pj's for Christmas and then headed off to bed to await Christmas morning. Rod had duty the night before so once they got up we waited for him to get home. This is the whole family on Christmas morning.

I think the kids were excited about what they got.

Taniyah liked her new baby. She layed there with her arm over the box for quite a while because Rod wouldn't open it for her.

The last picture is one of my favorite pictures.

Happy Birthday Taniyah!!

Today my baby turned TWO!! Two years ago today I was in the hospital having her, Ahma & Poppa had arrived late the night before and the kids were all home with them. I was SO ready to have her after making it all the way to 39 weeks! The longest I had made it up to that point! Here she is at two hours and 4 minutes old.Boy has she grown in the last two years! She may never be a towering giant but.......she's still cute and such a blessing to us! She's funny, smart, loving, kind and is very much a Momma's girl! Here she is with her present from Destini!

She has really gotten into role playing. She loves to play with babies and kitchen stuff so for her birthday we got her a Dora kitchen. She loved it.

And last but certainly not least. She is such a girly girl! She LOVES the color pink, dress up shoes, purses, necklaces and frilly dresses that she can spin in. It's no suprise then that she LOVED the new blanket set that Ahma and Poppa got her for her birthday! She promptly took it out of the package and needed her picture with it! She kept posing in front of it and then running to look at the picture, before running back to pose again!

Makkiah's Awards Assembly

Today Makkiah got an Academic Award at the awards ceremony. He got it because he is reading at the level that he should be at when he leaves kindergarten. I am so proud of him. Before the assembly started he wasn't so sure why he was sitting up on the stage, he looks kind of scared!

I had to go up on the stage with him when he recieved his award so I didn't get any pictures of him getting his award. I had to take it when we got home this evening.

GO MAKKIAH!!

Kindergarten Christmas Program

The two kindergarten classes (both am and pm) did a little Christmas program for all the parents tonight.

They sang a variety of songs and said several cute little poems. It was really nice.
Made me think about the Christmas programs I did when I was in school!

Afterwards Rod took pictures of Makkiah in his hat outside of the school.

And Taniyah in Makkiah's elf hat.

Angie's Memorial Service

Angie's service last night was beautiful. When you first walked in the door there was a beautiful collage of pictures that showed her at different stages in her life.

As I walked down the hallway Angie's birthmom came out and hugged me. We stood for several minutes, two mothers feeling each others pain at the loss of this innocent life. No words needed to be exchanged as the message between us was clear.

She introduced me to more of the family and to her friends. I was so glad to see so many people there. Angie's teachers from Headstart, people from our church who had been a part of her life, her family, people who loved her, even the detective who sat by her bedside the day that she was in the hospital. I would say that there was at least 80 people there. The seats were filled, the back of the room was filled and there were people standing out in the hallway and foyer. She was defiently a very loved little girl!

Rod did the opening prayer and the first words to the family. I also got up and spoke about Angie. It was not easy but I had prayed all the way there that God would give me the strength and He is ever faithful. I went up to speak and her birthmother joined me at the podium. I let everyone there know how special she was and told them not to let her memories fade. She touched each person in the room with her life, although short, she had an impact on them. Her birthmom spoke after me and even introduced me to everyone as Angie's other Mom.

I am so very thankful that God gave our family the opportunity to share in her life. I am blessed that He allowed her to stop bu our house, to touch us, to impact us, to be a part of who we are. I am thankful that Our Father in heaven chose our family to care for one of His special angels. We love you Angie. You will live on in our hearts, our minds and our lives forever.

Funeral services have finally been scheduled

Featheringill Mortuary

6322 El Cajon Blvd. 92115

December 11, 2006

6pm