Beautiful Day

Today was b.e.a.u-tiful!! We had a great day together; this morning we got up and went into Springfield and picked up a couple things Ryan needed for the office, ran by the mall, exchanged some dead fish at PetSmart and we all ate at Wendy's for $7. Emery was in an absolute fantastic mood (couldn't even tell she is on 'roids...) so that made running errands especially not so terrible. When we got home we went outside to play in the backyard with Maximus. Did I mention the weather was spectacular?! She got out her bike, sidewalk chalk and spent 2 hours playing in the yard, collecting sticks for Maximus. At one point we took a snack break (pringles and kool-aid) and she is always so careful to make sure that every time she got a chip, she got one for Daddy too. Ryan went in and got a couple zebra cakes for me and him, and after we both had eaten one, with one left, Emery came back over on the patio and we both felt so bad for withholding cake that we offered her one which she gladly took and said, "CAKE!!" Then after 2 bites, "I love it." in almost a whisper. So funny.

[Speaking of funny: Yesterday we went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart in Aurora and Emery was in the stroller and as we were checking out, she saw the mechanical horse and as she sitting so nicely in her stroller, out of her mouth comes (or more like yells), "YEEEEE HAWW!!" It was so out of nowhere that it was extremely funny.

Anyway, she is eating her cake and has about 2 bites left and she starts wandering out in the yard with Maximus on her heels, she steps in a hole, fumbles her last 2 bites, and Maximus was just too fast for her and he gobbled the rest of the cake up before she could even start to bend over. I was expecting her to ask for another one, or whine or something, but she just went on like she ate the whole thing. Spectacular!

Everyday she gets funnier and funnier. Smart too. She can say most of her ABC's, knows 6-7 shapes, can count to 10, knows 7-8 colors, can tell me what a whole lot animals say, and I can understand basically everything she says. I'm hoping to work on potty training next, but as of now, I know she's not ready. She wants to sit on the toilet and put toilet paper in, but I don't think she puts together the urge to go and actually doing it in the toilet. Soon maybe. We've also got her big-girl-bed set up in the 3rd bedroom, but don't plan on moving it into her room until the beginning of April. I really hope that goes well.

Okay, enough rambling. Bye.

I Love Sleep

Yesterday we took Emery to the doctor again because she is still coughing a lot, congested and not 100% overall. We were in about a week and a half ago and she got some antibiotics and an inhaler because she was super wheezy. We finished all the medicine (and have mediocre success with the inhaler) and she still had something going on. So yesterday the doctor prescribed her a steroid and boy-howdy it made her move nonstop. Much to my surprise she actually went to bed on time, but at about 2am she started coughing and coughing that I had to go in to give her a puff. It was all over from there. She thought it was time to get up and "watch a mooomie" (movie). I ended up sleeping in the twin bed with her although it took her until about 4am until she was able to go back to sleep. Then at 6am she woke up with that terrible cough again, I gave her another puff and she, thankfully, went back to sleep until 7am. And we've been up even since. No biggie...I can sort of/probably/hopefully function on 3 hours of sleep.

The bad news is, I had to give her another dose this morning, but the good news is she has been sweet and let me lay on the couch with my pillows and blankets while we watch movies. She's come over several times to pet my face, smooth my hair, and give me kisses.

I do feel bad for her because the steroids are making it impossible for her to be still. Just a second ago she came over and said she needed to take her jammies off because she is "too hot!"

The good news is she only takes 6 doses over 6 days...4 days left. I so hope this kicks whatever she's got going on. I need my healthy toddler back! At least she hasn't been grumpy or sluggish or anything. If you didn't know she was sick, you wouldn't know it because of the way she acts. I am grateful for that.

I would like some more sleep though.

Time for a Change?

Well, I'm not sure what brought this on....if I'm really serious about a new choppity-chop or just having a bad hair day. BUT...I'm thinking something crazy-drastic:

 

I, of course, haven't decided completely. Ryan says go for it, I'm just hesitant. Thoughts or opinions anyone??

One More Step Down

Today I had to take the 4 hour glucose test after I failed the first one by 4 points. The cut-off is 135 and I scored 139. So this morning at 6:30 Ryan and I headed to Springfield to have my blood taken 4 times. If you don't know what the second glucose test entails, you have to drink 10 oz of a drink that they try to make taste like soda, but without carbonation and it also has 100 grams of sugar in it. For someone who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, that's a lot. For someone who has a huge sweet tooth that's a lot. I should have the results later this afternoon. I had to do the same thing with Emery, and the second test turned out negative. I'm hopeful this one will turn out the same way! So I guess not eating for 16+ hours tonight/today just puts me one step closer to having Ellie here!


Today when we got back from the test, Catherine had Emery's hair in a crazy-high ponytail. It is pretty cute even though when I asked her if she liked it she shook her head. Emery is going to be in shock tomorrow when Catherine has to go back to school. Something tells me this transition will be more difficult than when she left for school the first time when we were in Texas. Emery sure loves her Sissy!

On the Mend

Well, we are all feeling better. I am finally feeling pretty much 100% (minus the pregnancy part) and Emery is almost finished with her antibiotics and I can tell she is feeling better. Hopefully this will be the last round of sickness this winter. We have started washing our hands all the time....and Emery loves washing her hands, so it's a pretty easy task to accomplish. I've also been taking hand sanitizer to church with me and I use it after the grip-n-grin time. I'm not trying to be a jerk or judge cleanliness, I am just trying to avoid getting sick again!!

In other news, we have a few couples interested in our house in Chillicothe. We are praying one of them works out because we have found a great house here in MV that we would love to make an offer on. Built 2007, 3 beds plus an office/toy room/Catherine's room when she's home, 2 bathrooms, new carpet and paint, ceiling fans, lights in the closets...I could go on about all the things I like about this house. All we would need is a fridge and a fence. Did I mention the price is PERFECT right now?! After we went and looked at it, I had the urge to go through our house and get rid of more stuff. I don't know how much more I can pair down. We have pretty much gotten rid of  everything that is non-essential which is a great feeling. Everyone should try it now and again. It really was only prompted when our basement flooded and were forced to get rid of a bunch of ruined junk. And that's really what is was. Junk. We had totes on totes of stuff (mostly mine from my parent's house) and now I have ONE keepsake tote and mostly it is filled with stuff from high school and college; a few things are from my childhood. It is really helpful and easy to get rid of stuff when your husband is VERY non-materialistic and has practically nothing from his childhood. Not even yearbooks. He is my example daily.

News #3: we've picked a name for baby Mac #2: Ellie Louise.
I was continually asking Ryan if he was happy with this name and after the 23,703rd time he told me he loved it, I am satisfied that this is it. I don't care about keeping it a secret. Obviously. I am sooo ready for April. And in case you're wondering, yes, our plan is for no more babies after Ellie. As Ryan says, he's going to, "take care of that problem." Okay by me!!

News #4 D-Now is coming right along. Ryan is super excited this year and I think we're going to have a great turn-out and a great God-experience!
Speaking of D-Now, I am so looking forward to camp this year. We're branching out and going to Point 11 on Table Rock Lake. The students have been there before, but we haven't. I am so excited because it's an actual camp with cabins, and a lake and a blob, a ropes course and all the things that go along with an actual "wilderness" camp. I am really ready!
AND the good news for both D-Now and camp is that my parents are coming to watch our offspring so for the first time in 3 years I am going to be able to actually participate and get quality time in with the girls. Did I mention I'm super pumped?!

I can't really think of any more news right now. It's been a while since the last post and for once I finally felt like I had some things worth saying/typing.

Bye.

Yuck.

I've been sick since Christmas. I can't seem to shake it. Being pregnant is nice and all...you get an awesome human being out of it, but most of the time it is not fun. I would have loved to have popped 257 NyQuils last night, but no dice. I stuck with heading over to Casey's at 2 am when my ear ache got so bad I couldn't sleep. Thankfully it took the pain away, and it is still pain-free, I just wish it wasn't so clogged. I feel like i"m deaf in my left ear. The nasal congestion on top of it is so not fun along with the dry heaving in the middle of the night.


Emery seems like she doesn't feel so well this morning. I think we've done pretty well not sharing the bug, but her poor nose has started dripping and I've heard a sad mucus-y cough come from her. Poor baby. Hope the Tylenol works as well for her as it did for my ear!!

In other news, we LOVE Mt Vernon. It was a great move for us and our family. We love the small town and the people in it. Ryan has fit right in here and is really loving his job completely, I think, for the first time in 9 years. This is truly a really great church family.

We also have some good news on our house. I think it will be a rent-to-own situation, but that pays the mortgage and utilities. AND our nice remolded house won't be sitting empty! God has continual provided for us in this area! He is so good!

For free: