It's a bit eerie, really...

Fever

Poor Lila has one of her fevers today. My first clue this morning should have been when she wanted to sit in my lap and snuggle for more than 30 seconds. I didn't figure it out, however, until she started complaining of being cold. That's a sure sign that her temperature is on the rise. She didn't seem to feel bad this morning, but she's been much more puny this afternoon.

Earlier, I asked her if she wanted to call her Daddy at work - she has recently started to enjoy doing this and Doug gets a kick out of it - and she said yes. The following is an exact transcript of her side of the conversation (doug's side is pretty accurate - i had him on speaker phone - but i don't remember his exact words)...

[phone ringing]
Doug: Hello?
Lila: I have a fever.
Doug: ...what?
Lila: I have a fever.
Doug: You have a fever? How sad! I'm sorry you are feeling bad.
Lila: I just wanted to call you.
Doug: Well, I'm glad you called me. It's nice to talk to you.
Lila: Just be on your way home.
Doug: Oh, I'm not on my way home yet. I still have to work for a while.
Lila: Bye.
Doug: Bye-bye.
[lila closes phone]

What do I always talk about...?

Please behold the cuteness of my children's legs and feet. And take special note - Eli officially has chubbbbby thighs! WooHoo! [squeeze squeeze]

It was a degree or two below boiling yesterday, so we went out in the backyard. Lila and I both felt it was too hot (i could tell lila was hot by the way she started whining at me), but Eli had fun. He just lay there on the blanket with this little smile on his face. Maybe he was thinking, "Finally, I'm warm!" I'm pretty sure he thinks we're polar bears. And we don't even keep the house as cool as we'd like it! Anyway, I decided it was time to give up and come back in the house once I realized I was losing my battle against the random ants that kept finding our blanket and trying to attack us.

Lila has just spent the past half-hour putting "bandaids" all over my face, arms, legs, feet, neck, clothes, etc. These are actually stickers - most of them from Halloween. I look rather alarming, I fear. I took a picture, which I will post in due time.

Now I'm going to give Lila an early bath in hopes that Doug will agree to go to Chuy's for dinner... :)

Kids

This is a photo of my daughter, Fashion Statement Peeler. Rollers in her hair, a melon-pink outfit, navy blue pajama socks, and red shiny shoes that are two sized too big. All she needs to complete the outfit is a terrycloth robe. The rollers were our second failed attempt at curling her hair. The first attempt ended when she couldn't tolerate sleeping in them. This attempt ended when she insisted on removing them because they were "hurting." Oh well. We'll try again when she's older...

Eli had his two month check-up with the pediatrician yesterday. His latest stats are as follows:

Weight: 11 lbs (30th %ile)
Height: 21.5 in (5th %ile)
Head Circumference: 40 cm (50th %ile)

Translation: He's short and he's got a big head! :o)~

They checked him over and said he looks fine. He got his shots, which he hated, naturally. And everyone told me how much he looks like Lila (she's got a very large fan club at that doctor's office). Tomorrow, Lila goes for a follow-up visit with her Infectious Disease doctor.

stabbing, gagging, and hurting

Lila tried to put her eye out with a fork last night. For the past few months, she has become a fabulous puppeteer. Anything that crosses her path, or even parts of her body, can suddenly develop a personality and start speaking to you. We've been dining with Baby Fork at every meal for quite some time now. At dinner last night, Baby Fork got a little out of hand and stabbed Lila in the eye, drawing blood. Thankfully, he didn't get her eyeball, but it couldn't have gotten much closer. Baby Fork received a firm talking-to and a time out.

Oh, I tried another flavor of yogurt. I got strawberry with fruit on bottom (Brown Cow brand). I found it less repulsive than the vanilla flavor I tried a few days ago, but only slightly. I forced myself to eat half the cup, then had to stop because I was starting to feel like I might gag. I tried. Now I'm officially giving up. I just don't like yogurt.

Ugh, and while I'm complaining... I've been having some sharp lower back and pelvic pains. It started on Wednesday and has been getting slowly worse. (my back is hurting rather a lot as i type this.) I saw my OB/GYN this morning and she ruled out bladder, uterine, and kidney infections. Now I'm scheduled to have an ultrasound next week to see if I have an ovarian cyst. I'm not remotely worried, but please pray with me that the pain will go away because it's interfering with my already-interrupted sleep.

Yogurt? Ew!

I decided yesterday that I was going to try yogurt for the first time in... as far back as I can recall. I have always avoided it on principle - I don't like eating things that, as stated very clearly on the label, are alive. However, since I am currently trying to lose the rest of the weight I gained while pregnant, I've become more adventurous. I bought a box of Cream of Wheat last week and found it to be relatively edible. I also found that it makes my throat swell up. This week, I have been very intrigued by the yogurt commercials that claim to be a delicious way to cut fat out of your diet.

So, I pulled out a small container of vanilla yogurt (HEB brand). Doug is always saying how good it is and Lila just eats it right up. I took one bite and found it completely repulsive. It was tart and didn't taste remotely like vanilla, at least not to these taste buds. I sat there for a moment, recovering, and decided that I couldn't make a judgement based on the first bite.

I gathered my nerve for a few minutes and tried another small bite. I didn't find it any more appealing than the first. At that point, I felt no guilt in putting it back in the refrigerator and eating a pita with hummus instead. Oh well, I did try... And maybe - MAYBE - I'll try a different brand with a flavor that might mask the ickiness a little better. I make no promises, however.

Lila

This is a photo of Lila resolutely NOT looking at the camera.

I'm still not sure of the cause of Lila's discipline problems for the past several days - most likely a combination of factors - but she was much more her normal self today. Thank goodness! In fact, I don't think she got one time out today. It's so nice not to be whined at all day long!

Oh, there are a couple of funny things that she's been saying lately. The first one is something she started saying about a month ago. She uses it anytime we tell her something is about to happen and she doesn't want it to (e.g., a bath, doug leaving for work, etc.). She will say, in a fantastically drawn out whine, "Nooot a gooood ideeea!" The only reason it's not annoying is that it's so funny.

She's also started singing the song Pop Goes the Weasel, only her version is, "Plop goes the diesel..." I haven't corrected her because it cracks me up so much.

And one more thing about Lila: She floated on her back in swim class this morning - all by herself! That is major for her! She loves the water, but has always hated being on her back in it. She floated on her back and when the teacher told her to, she rolled over and put her face in the water. Amazing! The girl is just amazing!

Eli

Whew! The Boy has been a handful for the past several days. He just finished another one of those phases where he doesn't sleep much during the day and spends most of his awake time crying. He was spending a couple of hours in the evenings crying at full volume. After a day like that, you start to feel like the connections in your brain have snapped so that you can't think straight!

Now that he's back to normal, he's being very cute again. Doug and I are starting to get smiles out of him, but no one gets a bigger one than Lila. He gives her big grins and loves to stare at her. He already thinks his big sister is the best thing ever! Another small but cute thing he's started doing is grabbing a fistful of my shirt and holding on tight while he's eating. I've always loved the hijinks of a baby's free hand while they're nursing. It's like the hand has a mind of its own sometimes. The shirt-grabbing doesn't sound that exciting, but it looks very sweet!

His next appointment with the pediatrician is still a couple of weeks away. That's the visit where he'll get his first round of immunizations. I suspect that he's not going to like that very much. (ya think?!?) I always love finding out how much they've grown though. And having everyone in the office tell me how beautiful my children are! :o)~

Need to Vent

Oh my goodness, Lila has been difficult today! Fussing and whining. Disobeying. Throwing things. Arguing. Changing her mind seventeen times with every decision. Asking a thousand questions. Refusing to be in a different room than me for even five minutes! I haven't even been able to sit here and type these few sentences in peace.

She was talking and asking questions and whining non-stop so that I can't concentrate. I had to get up once to verify whether or not she'd eaten the snack she claimed to have eaten so that she could have a jelly bean (she had not). I had to ask her to please go play in another room for a few minutes because she was literally standing in my armpit. (she didn't go to another room, but she did at least go to the other SIDE of this room.)

Yesterday, she fell asleep in the car on the way home from swim class. She slept 15 minutes, which means she wouldn't go to sleep when naptime came. I tried two different times and indulged her way too much because I wanted to take a nap too, but had no success. So she went all day yesterday with a 15 minute nap. Because she was so tired, she woke up four or five times during the night.

When she was nuts this morning, I figured it was from the lack of sleep. She tried to get out of her nap again today, but since she had not slept even 5 minutes, I insisted. After a long battle, I got her to sleep and she took a normal nap. This afternoon, she is still nuts. So she's either still not caught up on sleep or she's just generally insane. Either way, I'm glad it's Friday!

Everyone is Fabulous!

It's fabulous how easily amused little kids are. Earlier this afternoon, Lila and I were playing a "game" called Row the Boat. This is just the two of us sitting facing each other, holding hands, and rocking back and forth while singing "Row, Row, Row your Boat". Lila thought it was hilarious. I played a round or two with this tiny stuffed kitten of hers and she was nearly shrieking, she thought it was so funny!

These kids are so awesome that I ALMOST want to have another one. I get over that pretty quickly though! I never again want to experience the solid year of depression struggles that pregnancy and childbirth bring with them for me. Some people enjoy being pregnant and to them I say, "Cheers! Go knock yourself out (or up, as it were)!" Hormones and I do not get along.

This is a total change of subject, but Doug was fantastic while we were up with my family in Seven Points! He was a constant support for all of us, but especially my step-father, Frank. I know it was completely exhausting for him - it was for all of us - but he was wise enough to take care of himself too. He asked his parents to come to town early to help us take care of the kids. That helped a lot!

[p.s. - this is a photo of my dad (a.k.a., grandaddy and rick) with the kiddos.]

[p.p.s. - eli, at six weeks old, rolled over from his belly to his back yesterday!]

Eli Update

I took Eli to the doctor this morning, to rule out constipation and/or an ear infection, and his weight is up to 9 lbs. 13 oz. He was small for his age at two weeks. I'll be interested to see where he stands at two months!

This is one of those sad, but cute things. Eli HATES the car seat, so if he is in it and not asleep, then he is screaming. Sometimes he reaches a level of crying where it really sounds like he's going to hurt himself. There have been many times when we were going somewhere and he started doing this and one of us would reach one arm back there to comfort him.

A few of those times, (here's the sad, but cute part) he would only calm down once he had grabbed onto one of our fingers. Then he'd just sit back there, doing that post-cry hiccuping thing, and hold tightly onto a finger.

"Oh good. You haven't left me. Just let me hold on to this so I don't forget..."

That is just one of the ways his personality is so different from Lila's at that age. He's also different in the way he "talks". The noises he makes are so Boy! He grunts and growls and shouts. It's very rare that he makes those cute little cooing noises. He's so funny!

Back Home

We're all back home now and Doug and I are exhausted. It was an intense week. The kids aren't all that exhausted (at least not physically) because they both slept all the way from Seven Points to Georgetown yesterday (that's three hours)! It was good to be around family - to mourn together and to know that they already knew what I was feeling, so I didn't have to talk about it if I didn't want to - but it is good to be home now too!

I'm still sad, naturally, but it's not all-consuming like it was for the first several days. Earlier, Lila and I were having "Bible Time" and she started talking about how we won't see Uncle Greg anymore (i don't know what prompted it). Then she said the Bible talks about Uncle Greg. I told her that, yes, the Bible talks about all people. It was sweet, but made me sad too.

Right now, Lila is playing on our bed. She is crawling under the covers and saying she's going to hide from Daddy. She's going to hide for a long time, if that's the case, because he won't be home for at least an hour!

Family Tragedy

For those who haven't already heard, my little brother, Greg Wagner, died on Monday. He drowned in the lake near my mom's house and was pulled from the water later that evening. We are all devastated and in shock. Please pray for God's comfort for all of us. The memorial service is today at 3 p.m. in Gun Barrel, TX.

Saturday

I'm feeling quite refreshed today after some very satisfying alone time this afternoon. I went out and had lunch by myself. Well, actually, I did take someone with me - a book! I was able to read and to eat without worrying about who was going to wake up or having to get up from the table half-a-dozen times to fetch something. After that, I went to Borders and enjoyed a brownie while I read my book some more!

I did get a Father's Day gift for Doug as well... which is good since I just remembered that I never got him a birthday present! (i know, i know - but i had a one-week-old infant and i wasn't allowed to drive yet!) I had decided on two gifts for Father's Day. Maybe I'll make one of them a birthday present...

Eli is four weeks old now and he seems so much bigger than when we brought him home. He's gained 1.5 lbs and 3 inches since he was born! (current stats: 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches) He is actually focusing on things now, including our faces, and will sometimes even track them with his eyes if they move. Lila has seen me pass a toy back and forth in front of him and tries to do it herself, but her technique is a little off. She holds it just a couple of inches in front of his face and moves it back and forth very quickly. Oh well. He thinks she's cool anyway! :)

Poop

I am pleased to report that the three of us had a fine day today and I even got a good bit of housework done! I have reclaimed our laundry room and the toilet bowls are no longer growing things. Equally exciting, but not nearly as enjoyable, was when my son pooped on the changing table. It shot out six inches! Ew!

That's still not as funny as what he did last week though. First, during a diaper change, he managed to pee onto his face. The next day, he peed into his open mouth! Gross! This boy is dangerous!

Our first normal-feeling Saturday

I'm trying to decide whether or not I should go to a movie this evening. I will definitely not be going to a super-late one, but I might go to a late evening show. It would be nice to watch a movie from beginning to end again. We've been watching them over two or three nights because if I'm at home and relaxed and the kids are asleep, then I want to go to bed too! We'll see what happens...

Right now, I'm waiting for Eli to wake up and eat so that Lila and I can go to the grocery store. Naturally, since I'm waiting for him, he has decided to sleep longer than he has all day! Oh well, it's not like the trip to the store is pressing. It's mostly just to get out of the house and to have a little alone time with my daughter. It will give Doug a break too because she wants him to play constantly.

I took a couple of Tylenol a little while ago and I hope they work soon. For some reason, I've had a sinus headache for two days. I say "for some reason" because the pollen count is not supposed to be that high right now. I guess even a little bit of grass pollen is enough to knock me out since I'm so allergic to it. When I have sinus pressure, it makes the spots where my wisdom teeth used to be ache. Strange!

Better

Wow, yesterday was rough. By the end of the day, I just wanted to walk out the front door. From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Boy did not sleep for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time. He took a one hour nap at 2 and then started up again. Even worse, he was fussing or full-on crying for most of the time that he was awake. Add to that the fussiness that Lila started because she wasn't getting enough attention and -- ACK!!!

The good news is that Eli seems to be in a much better mood today and there have actually been times when he was awake, but not crying. (yesterday, that only happened while he was eating.) I like it when he's quiet and alert. It's when he's cutest and he makes lots of funny faces. As long as he's awake like that, he keeps those eyeballs roaming all over the place. I guess he's still trying to figure us out too!

This morning was swim class and we all did a great job! Eli was content and cooperative. Lila was a fabulous swimmer and helper. And I managed to juggle both of them and our bags (in the rain) without hurting myself or losing my mind! And Doug is off playing golf with some suppliers, so I'm sure he's had a great morning too! In fact, he should be coming home and Lila should be waking from her nap any minute. I think I'll grab a few minutes of book reading before those things happen...

I tried...

Today is my first full day alone with the kids and I'm exhausted already! Really, I started off the day feeling exhausted, but that was thanks to allergies...

Ha! I started this post at noon. Now it is 7 p.m. I think I should give up and just post this photo. It has been a L-O-N-G day.

Finally

Well, to be perfectly honest, the first week home from the hospital was hell. I quickly descended into a depression every bit as bad as the one I experienced after Lila was born. The good news is that I am recovering much more quickly this time. There are a lot of contributing factors to my recovery, but the help of family and friends has been invaluable.

Eli is three weeks old now and we seem to be figuring him out a little more each day. It seems like much more than three weeks ago that I went to the hospital to have my c-section! Eli has been eating about every 2 hours during the day, but goes more like 3 to 3.5 hours between feedings at night. The interrupted sleep is not fun, but it could be much worse!

Lila didn't seem to mind Eli's presence at all for those first couple of weeks, but this past week has been more difficult. She is being very rude and defiant, and she told us once that she thinks he wants to go back (either into my belly or to the hospital - i'm not sure which). However, I know that is normal and I'm confident that she will adjust quickly... at least once life develops some sort of normalcy again.

Doug was off for three weeks and just went back to work this past Monday. He is very tired, of course, but doing well otherwise. I'm sure he'd love to be going to bed early with me, but has had conference calls at 9 p.m. the past two nights. For Father's Day, I'm thinking of sending him to the guest room for a night of uninterrupted sleep.

Okay, I'd better stop typing now before I wake up The Sleeper.

Things here are going pretty well. I'm just having trouble finding the time to sit down at the computer. Right now, Eli and I are about to go to bed. I'll try again tomorrow. :)

The Peeler Kids

Stuff

I still haven't gotten a photo of the play house that I'm satisfied with, but this one will do for now. As you can tell by the vacuums and mop buckets on the porch, it needed/still needs a bit of cleaning up. We had a rug in our garage (from the old house) that was just about the right size, so Doug trimmed it and laid it in the play house as a carpet. Much better than the 25-year-old floor underneath!

Did you ever have one of those Barbies that could be pregnant? She had a plastic belly that snapped onto her body (with a little plastic baby inside) and when you were done with that, you just snapped it off and her perfect flat belly was underneath. Aside from the obvious lure of the instantly flat stomach, I so wish that I could just pop this belly off sometimes and give my back a rest!

To brag a little, Lila did a spectacular job at swim class this morning! She can swim all the way across the pool (width, not length) without any help. That's 12 seconds of holding her breath and swimming with her face in the water! I don't even like to get my face wet. This kid is amazing!

voices in my head

*Note: In looking back at old blog posts, from the first few months of Lila's life, I've noticed that I mentioned almost nothing about what I was going through emotionally. I don't like that, partly because it seems dishonest and partly because I wish I had a better record for my own benefit. So I'm determined to be more forthright this time around.

I'm having a pretty rough day. Actually, I've been having a rough few days. Depression is rearing its ugly head again, possibly due to a surge in hormones as my delivery draws near. I'm already having thoughts and feelings that are remarkably similar to what I experienced after Lila was born. Thoughts of how I'm a terrible mother and I don't deserve my children, blah blah blah. I'm really not a fan of hormones. Or Satan. Two things which are pretty close to the same in my opinion. :o)~

On a related note, I finally got an appointment with a new psychiatrist (had to get away from the old one because i found her, and many of her policies, to be more frustrating than helpful)! I started with a list of 12 who were on my insurance and relatively nearby and before I was done, I thought I was going to run out of names. Most of them were either not accepting new patients or not accepting my insurance anymore or wanted me to switch counselors, etc. Good grief!

[For a bit of background on this photo, I made a shrimp salad for dinner on Saturday evening and there was quite a bit of it left over. For a before-bed snack, Doug decided to eat the remaining shrimp and toss the rest (because leftover salad is limp and icky). I walked into the living room and found him doing this. He explained that he just didn't want to dirty another dish, but it still cracked me up.]

Our Last Week

Finally, some new photos of Lila to post! I go through phases where I take pictures like crazy and other times where it barely crosses my mind. When I finally ran out of recent photos and had to go back to Easter, I decided it was time to be intentional about getting some new ones. Anyway, here is a picture of my cutie in her new (to us) car! Thank you, Grandaddy!

I'm 38 weeks pregnant now and I had my last appointment with the doctor today! The next time I see her it will be for my c-section - woah! Eli should be really plumped up and weigh about 6.8 lbs. I've had a couple of very brief ultrasounds lately to check his position and you can tell that he's much fatter and crowded looking in there. He's over 19.5 inches long (like a leek). Soon, we'll know his exact size!

I'm so excited to hold Eli and actually see him and watch him move instead of just feeling him move and speculating about what he looks like. I can't wait to touch those little hands and feet! Ack! His organs are all mature and he's ready for life outside the womb. I would love to know what (besides God) tells your body when it's finally time for labor to start... :)

This Old House

We've already had an exciting day around here. For those who don't know, my mother's father, Dorsey Elmer Jordan, Jr., died a few weeks ago. He was always wonderful at building things, and when I was a little girl he built a play house for me. It's a fantastic little house - doors and windows that open and close, shingled roof, paneled walls, and it's even wired to have electricity run to it!

After Grandad died, I asked to have the play house moved from his backyard (in the dallas area) to mine. Besides the fact that it's very special to me, I now have my own little girl who will love playing in there as much as I did. My step-father, Frank, graciously offered to round up a few friends, load the house, drive it to Austin, and move it into our backyard.

Well, today was the day! After lots of pre-work by Doug (to prepare the area where it would be sitting), and lots of moving and grunting and making the women-folk nervous by Frank, Doug, and three other men, the play house is in our backyard! As soon as Lila wakes up from her nap, we will be out there, giving it a good cleaning and moving some of her little furniture into it. I'm so excited (for both of us)!

Eli who?

There has been more and more focus lately on preparing for Eli's arrival. Well, that has been the focus inside my head anyway. I think Lila is starting to feel the stress of that herself, though I doubt she really understands the source of it. She woke up last night with a bad dream and came into our room with the most pitiful request I've ever heard...

"Keep me safe. Keep me safe."

After crawling in bed with us for awhile, she was able to go back to her own bed and finish sleeping without incident. [Side note: This morning, we asked her what her bad dream was about and she said she opened a box and a pile of frogs came out. Then one of the frogs bit her. Nearly all of her bad dreams have been about some sort of unusual animal biting her, poor girl.]

This morning, when I told her that we were going to BSF, she declared that she doesn't like BSF. She has said this before, but she has also told me that she's excited about going and I know that she nearly always enjoys it once we get there. Anyway, we went. When I was picking her up after class, one of the teachers commented that she seemed to be having an "off" day.

At that point, I decided to ditch the ideas I'd had for last-minute baby-stuff shopping this afternoon. We have just spent the day at home and I have made sure to give her the amount of focused attention that she is used to. It may not make an immediate difference in her attitude, but at least I know that I am doing what I can to keep her world normal in the midst of this crazy-making anticipation!

Still Pregnant Blah Blah Blah...

I've made it to 37 weeks pregnant, which means that Eli is full term. [Okay, you can come out now!] That means that if he were born now, his lungs should be fully mature. [No really, you can come out any old time!] So he's ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though my due date is three weeks away (and my c-section two weeks away). [Did you hear that? You're ready!]

I felt pretty great last week. Lots of energy and not too much discomfort. As of today, I'm back to being done with this. I'm so done with it that I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's talk about... umm... Drat! I can't seem to think of anything else.

Okay, let's talk about kitties. That's always a good topic. They are cute and fuzzy and they purr. I like little bitty ones with round heads and tiny ears. They open their mouths all wide and then make these teeny squeaking noises. I would like a basket of them, please. I would also like to ride the Hogwarts Express, in the rain, TO Hogwarts.

What?!? I'm about as likely to get one as the other!

What a cutie!

I took Lila yesterday morning to have some "Spring Portraits" done and they turned out wonderfully! These two scans are really not great, but you'll get the idea. The dress she's wearing is her Easter dress, which we successfully got no photos of her wearing on Easter weekend. Well, that's not entirely true. She is wearing it in several pictures, but she also has a long sweater on over it. Effectively, no photos.

Lila and I went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this morning and it was great, as usual. We did find out, however, that the Teaching Leader for our class will not be with us next year. So sad! I'm sure that next year's teacher will be good as well, but I'm sad to lose Renee because I love her lectures.

Next week, we are preregistering for next year's BSF class and I'm signing up in faith that I will find some way to make it work. They don't have childcare for little ones - only classes for kids 2 years and up. That means I'll have to find either a babysitter or daycare center for Eli on Wednesday mornings. It will be a challenege, but it's worth it for Lila and I both!

Where is your head?!?

It's ironic that I was just mentioning Eli's position yesterday. I had an appointment with my doctor today and found out that he is, in fact, breech. Frank breech, to be specific, which means that he's presenting booty first, with his feet up by his head. It was all a little funny because the doctor couldn't find his head and had to get the ultrasound machine to determine his position. And yes, I'll admit, I did experience a moment of paranoia that perhaps my son no longer had a head. Thankfully, he does.

All this time, I've been accusing him of trying to push his way out through my right-side ribcage, but I think I've had it all wrong. He actually knows where the exit is and is trying his best to stay away from it! Sorry kid, but you've got to come out eventually.

The photos I posted yesterday and today are of Lila and Jace Reed, son of our friends Chip and Sara. Jace is a few months old and has been instrumental in getting Lila more excited about Eli's arrival. She loves to hold him and give him his pacifier and his bottle, etc. Let's hope she likes her brother this much!

23 Days and Counting...

As of yesterday, I'm 36 weeks pregnant and I'm starting to get very excited. I mean, I've been sick of being pregnant for some time, but now I'm actually getting excited about our new child. Anyway, Eli is gaining about an ounce a day and (probably) weighs almost 6 pounds. I am looking more and more like I could explode at any moment and I'm noticing worried looks from people I talk to.

This week's vegetable weight equivalent means nothing to me, so I'll move on to tell you that Eli is also probably more than 18.5 inches long. Since he enjoys laying sideways inside my body, that means I have a very wide belly. (come over here some evening, if you think i'm kidding about this.) He's shedding most of the downy hair that covered his body, as well as the waxy substance that has protected his skin (the vernix caseosa, if you're interested).

Next week, I'll be considered full-term, which means that this baby REALLY could come out at any time with no concerns (and my complete blessing). I think Eli is head-down, when he isn't laying sideways. I'm not sure about that, but I'm altogether unconcerned about it for the same reason that I won't care if he's enormous - I won't be pushing him out!

Good Grief!

Lila is experiencing some... difficulty. For the past few days she has been extremely volatile. You never know what is going to set her off into a screaming fit. And she's not even pregnant! Right now, Doug is trying to give her a bath and she's freaking out about who-knows-what. I have no idea what's causing this phase, so I'm calling it a Growth Spurt. Sounds as good as any other explanation...

Get Out!

Eli, my darling son, is being very mean to me this week. I had a lot of pain in my lower back -- really my whole lower body -- last Thursday evening and Friday morning. I didn't know what he was up to at the time, but I have since discovered that the pain was because he was on the move. He has moved down lower, which is a good sign that he'll be ready to join us sometime soon.

However, "lower" is not a remotely comfortable place for Eli to be. There are times when it feels like his head is resting directly on my pubic bone. And there is now, officially, no room for my bladder. Needing to go to the potty is a constant state of being, rather than an occasional sensation. The real irony is that somehow, even though his head is lower in my body, he's still managing to stick his feet in my ribs. Go figure.

Oh well. I just finished up meeting with the neighborhood women's bible study that I started recently and we're studying forgiveness. I can practice by forgiving my son for the mental and emotional anguish that he is causing me by continuing to live inside my body.

I have to go potty now.

Sweet & Funny Things That Lila Said Today

1. Lila and I were outside, having just finished blowing bubbles, watching a little lizard, and having our Bible Time. I was pushing her on the swing and she said, "You're always fun to play with and you're always fun to read Bible stories with." Aww... thanks! And here I thought I was the boring parent.

2. Lila was in our bathtub, playing with a stuffed mouse named 'Mousie'. She was holding Mousie and talking to him when I walked into the room. She looked up and said (to Mousie), "Here's my friend, Mommy!" It's always nice to be introduced as a friend.

3. Lila was still in our bathtub, now playing with Mousie and a rain stick. The rain stick was Mousie's daddy, apparently. This is what I heard, "You're tall! How tall are you, Daddy? -- I'm 6 4 8. -- Wow! 6 4 8!" I don't know what sort of measurement 6 4 8 is, but it sounds tall to me!

4. This afternoon, I heard Lila telling someone that they were getting a timeout. I asked her who was getting the timeout and she said it was Piggy. I asked what Piggy had done to get timeout and she said, "He was hitting Cordy, a lot." Is that so? Where's the cat...?

As a bonus, here's a funny one from Easter morning. We had just gone out on the back porch to look for eggs and Lila walked past one without seeing it. After she'd found the others on the porch, we started trying to give her clues to where the missing one was before we moved on to the lawn. The egg was right next to the little Snoopy statue that's on the porch, so Doug said, "I think Snoopy knows where the other egg is. Why don't you go ask him?" Lila walked to that side of the porch, leaned over and looked at Snoopy, and said, "He's not talking."

Stuff

Lila and Doug are playing on our bed right now, running out the last of her energy (hopefully). Lila just threw a stuffed Snoopy at Doug and said, "It's time to dance!" Yes, ma'am!

I'm 34 weeks pregnant now; inching my way ever closer to the finish line. Eli weighs about 4 3/4 pounds, which is the size of an average cantaloupe. He should be almost 18 inches long and he's packing on the layers of fat. Not that newborns are ever really round. Well, Doug, who weighed over 10 lbs at birth, might have been round... But normal babies are wrinkly and look rather like plucked chickens.

This photo, by the way, is of Lila's Easter basket, after she found all the eggs. I didn't even notice that we had given the bunny a pair of blue boobies until I saw this picture later. Doug said it would only have been better if they were pink eggs.

Oh, I saw the movie '21' on Friday night (most likely my last late night movie for a long time). It was a bit predictable and it glorified all kinds of debauchery, but I still enjoyed it more than I expected. I wouldn't recommend paying full price to see it, but it's worth a matinee or discount theater trip.

Catching Up

I'm sorry I've been so delinquent at posting lately. I guess there's been some little shift in our routine that's made it hard to find the time. I'm only doing this right now because I decided, for once, not to take a nap while Lila does. I may regret that decision later, but I just didn't feel tired at the time that she went to sleep. My naps aren't always restful anyway.

I've reached 33 weeks pregnant and I have exactly 41 days to go. For those who need to know, the doctor's office had to reschedule my c-section and it will now be on Tuesday, May 13th at 11 a.m. This week, Eli weighs a little over 4 pounds - roughly the same as a pineapple. They've been warning me that he might be larger than average, but that's what they said about Lila too and she was small/average.

Lila is doing well, for the most part. Ever since we went to Dallas last week, she's started waking up at 6 or 6:30 again for some reason. If it continues through the weekend, then I guess we'll move her bedtime back to 7. We had taken advantage of the time change to put her down at 8 and have her sleep 'til 7 or 7:30. We much prefer that schedule, but we're most interested in seeing her get ENOUGH sleep.

Doug is the same as ever - working diligently away at Dell during the day and being Lila's favorite person when he gets home. He's ready for Eli to be born too, though it doesn't weigh on his mind (or his spine) all the time like it does mine. Yesterday, he officially requested his "paternity leave" which made things a bit more real for him. Occasionally, I try to convince him to finish off this pregnancy for me, but he won't do it. Oh well.

An excellent question

I will write more later, but I had to record the question that Lila just asked before I forget it.

We were finishing up dinner and her Daddy was pointing out what a good thing it was that she had just eaten so much lettuce and other veggies. He said they help you have good poopies instead of mean ones. Lila then asked,

"What tempo is it when you go poopie in the potty? Fast or slow?"

I fell apart laughing, but Doug handled it much better and gave her an answer. He said, "That's a good question. Sometime poopies are fast and sometimes they're slow!"

Oh dear. What will she think of next? :)

stories with interruptions

So, those cookie-looking things that you see Lila proudly displaying in yesterday's photo are Sweet Potato Patties. They are very yummy, and she ate two of them after they were cooked. Of course, she has refused to have anything to do with them today... The photo that you see here is the gigantic mess that we made while cooking. It was a fun little project, but much more involved than I expected when we started out!

Hah! Lila just informed me that there are grapes and a baby in my belly. True. True.

I'm still going to the gym twice per week, but my speed on the treadmill is getting lower and lower. Sometimes I have to rest after just hauling myself up the stairs to GET to the treadmills. I do like the confused and nervous looks on people's faces when I'm using the weight machines though. (don't worry - i'm being careful!)

Now Lila is telling me about how she's going to take care of her little brother when he's sick. She says she will go to the store and get him some medicine while he stays home and rests. I love hearing the things that are going on inside that little head!

uhh...

This is another one of those days where I'm sitting here, staring at the computer, trying to figure out what to talk about. I mean, we did plenty of things today. I just don't have the energy to tell stories. I'm worn out. Oh well. I'll go do something that does not require me to use my brain...

Eli

I'm 30 weeks pregnant now and my c-section is scheduled for nine weeks from yesterday! Eli's about 15.7 inches long (again with the odd measurements) and weighs almost 3 pounds. 3 lbs is about like a head of cabbage, for those of you who need a food comparison. We needn't discuss how much weight I have gained so far. He is surrounded by a pint and a half of amniotic fluid, but that amount will decrease as he gets bigger.

Oh! Doug just walked in the door... and Lila went running out of the room saying, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" in her little monster voice. :)

danger

I grated my knuckle while cooking dinner this evening. Even better, I was grating a lemon, and the juice ran into the wound instantly. On my way to the bathroom and the bandages, I banged the knuckles of my other hand on a doorframe. Doug offered to let me bathe Lila instead instead of cooking, for my own safety, but I was afraid I might drown.

Hop! Hop! Hop! (says Ray the Bullfrog)

Lila is currently watching a video called 'Potty Power' and I can hear kids singing, "I can do it myself. I have potty power!" A few minutes ago, it was a song about how great underwear is. Life as a parent is really strange sometimes.

I don't think I've given you the latest update on my pregnancy/Eli. I'm 29 weeks pregnant now, which means I have less than 10 weeks until my c-section! Oh my! Eli is growing rapidly and still seems to be trying to push his way out through the lower, right-hand portion of my ribcage. This week he weighs about 2.5 pounds. That's the size of a butternut squash. Butternut squash makes good soup. Babies do not.

Oh, so you probably gathered from my first comment that Lila is home. She got home yesterday afternoon and did seem as happy to see us as we were to see her. She had some trouble re-entering the atmosphere of Home, but is doing great now. The issue with the new medicine has been dealt with and a new, hopefully uncontaminated, urine specimen has been taken to the lab for testing. I'll keep you updated on results.

Grr!!!

Lila is in Houston with Grammie and Papa Joe right now and I should be having a fabulous day by myself, but at the moment I'm just feeling frustrated and sorry for myself. There are a lot of little things that haven't gone the way I expected today, but my biggest frustration started with a call from Lila's doctor. Well, the story really starts with her appointment last week.

While we were there, it was decided that they needed to do a urine culture on her (odor and discomfort). I really wanted to avoid torturing her with another catheter, so they said I could try getting her to go potty at the doctor's office. She wanted no part of that, so they sent me home with a sterile cup and a lab slip. That evening, just before her bath, I got her to go potty and I collected it.

At that point I realized that the lab was closed and this urine was going to have to sit overnight. Doug and I decided that was probably okay and he dropped it off at the lab first thing on Wednesday morning. We went to Houston on Thursday and I got a call on Friday saying that there was bacteria in Lila's urine and they had called in a prescription for her. At this point I began to feel guilty over a not talking to the doctor about her problem sooner.

I had the prescription transferred to a pharmacy in Houston on Saturday and Lila started taking the medicine that morning. Once she started her medicine and had no reaction to it, I felt better and we left her to live it up at Grammie and Papa Joe's house. I talked to them yesterday and found out that she had been happily taking her medicine and was doing great!

Today, I got another call from the doctor's office saying that they had gotten the final results back from Lila's urine and that the bacteria was resistant to the medicine they had her on. They wanted us to stop giving it to her and start her on a new medication that they'd faxed in to the pharmacy. They also wanted us to take another specimen in for a repeat culture and needed the name of a lab to send the info to.

I called and passed the info on to the grandparents who said they would stop the medicine. I figured it would be okay to wait until tomorrow afternoon, when Lila gets home, to start giving her the new stuff. After some phone tag with the doctor's office, I talked to a nurse who told me that they really wanted her to start taking the new medication ASAP. [sigh]

They also got info on the closest lab for us to go to and said we needed to pick up a sterile cup from them, collect the urine, and return the specimen to the lab within an hour of collection. Within an hour, eh? At that point, I told them how things had gone down with the first collection and asked if that might have affected the results. They said that yes, that could definitely have been a problem. [sigh]

They said that for now, we need to assume that the results are accurate and wait to see what the repeat culture says. They did assure me that it will not hurt Lila to take this medicine if she's not sick. I called and left a message with the Peelers, asking them to call me with a pharmacy number so I can have the prescription transferred, but it's really only going to get the medicine into her a few hours earlier.

Now I'm frustrated because this has all been a big hassle and emotional drain (for me) and there might not even be anything wrong with Lila! She might be taking medicine that she doesn't need. The easiest way to make sure the next sample isn't tainted would be to have a catheter, but I hate to do that to her. And they want all this to happen as fast as possible, but she's not here!

I know that I'm overreacting, but we've had to torture Lila so many times with tests that always come back negative. I finally decide to be relaxed about something that I was concerned about and then it turned out I should have pursued it sooner. Or maybe it's all nothing again and our mistake (made, in part, because we didn't know any better) cost us all this time and stress.

Ugh. I'm just whining now. And I just got the number for the pharmacy in Houston and need to make another phone call.

Quickie

I started this post earlier in the day and then got distracted by something. Now I'm too tired to put much effort into it. I am happy to report that Lila seems to be done with the fever this time around. Now I'm going to go snuggle with kitties.

Filling in the Middle

Now we've settled on a middle name, so The Boy has officially become Eli Sebastian Peeler. And no, Eli is not short for anything.

I'm 28 weeks pregnant, which puts me officially in my third trimester. I had another appointment with the doctor yesterday and will now be going in every two weeks. By this week, Eli weighs 2.25 pounds, which is about the same as a Chinese cabbage. Of course, my uterus is consistently measuring two weeks bigger than normal, so he could weigh more than that! He also measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. (where do they come up with these measurements? 14.8? why not 14.773?)

Lila, sadly, has another fever. This one has been going since Friday or Saturday. We didn't take her temperature and discover that she was actually sick until Saturday afternoon, but upon reflection, I think she was probably sick on Friday afternoon as well. We went to the doctor today, where, I am happy to say, they did NOT take any blood or give her a catheter. They did send me home with a sterile cup and a lab slip though. Now I have to convince her to pee in the potty this evening.

Only missing the middle now

I'm pleased to announce that, as of this morning, our baby actually has a first name! The middle name is still open for debate, but he will be Eli _________ Peeler. At last! I can stop referring to him as The Boy! (Though I have grown rather fond of that nickname.) I was beginning to think we would still be debating names in the delivery room!

I'm also beginning to think that I'm going to be retired before I can finish typing out this post. My desk is right next to my bed and Lila has recently taken to getting up on the bed and chattering/making constant requests while I'm trying to do anything on the computer. If only she could understand that I would be done in half the time if she weren't distracting me...

She has also just made the discovery that there's no one to stop her from disobeying when she's alone in a room. This week has been filled with things like drawing on her arms, scooping food onto the table, writing with pens on inappropriate surfaces, pulling books off of shelves, and generally playing with things that she knows she is not supposed to touch. I've been trying to teach her that she needs to make good choices even when no one is around. And to myself I say, "Yeah. Good luck with that."

Fizzing Whizbees

As of Saturday, I'm 27 weeks pregnant. Only 84 days to go! The Boy is really starting to get big. That means I'm really starting to feel pregnant. He weighs almost two pounds - that's about the size of a head of cauliflower - and he's about 14.5 inches with his legs extended. Unless he's larger or smaller, which is always possible. He supposedly sleeps and wakes at regular intervals now.

So, I was in the bathroom this morning, fixing my hair, and the house was relatively quiet. As I stood there, I became aware of a little fizzing noise. I started tracking it down and had settled on Doug's toothbrush when the noise stopped. I found it slightly alarming that Doug's toothbrush was making spontaneous fizzing noises, but what can you do?!?

Well, thankfully, I found out this afternoon that I was wrong about the source. After my shower, I was in much the same situation and heard the noise again. This time it lasted long enough for me to track it down and verify the source. It was coming from the battery pack that was hanging out of a rooster-shaped paper lantern on the counter. Still slightly alarming, but at least the toothbrush isn't possessed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, this is crazy... Doug is not going on his business trip after all! For weeks, I've been stressing out about it and then, three days before he's supposed to leave, somebody at Dell decides that they need to save money. They paged him yesterday morning to tell him that he can't go after all. I'm relieved, of course, but it's a bit of a mental shift because I'd been preparing myself for his absence for so long!

On a completely different topic, Lila has started having "bad dreams". And boy are they strange. The first one (that we know about) involved a bad noise, apples, and flying. The girl talked about apples for days afterward because we have a few apple trees in our backyard and this dream reminded her that they'll start putting out fruit soon. She is beside herself with excitment over that one.

Then, a couple of nights ago, she comes into our room in the early morning saying, "I don't like the monkey bite me." Umm... what? It took a few times to understand her because, (a) we were half-asleep, (b) she had a pacifier in her mouth, and (c) what she was saying made no sense. We finally determined that it was another dream, this one involving a girl monkey who was laughing and biting her.

This morning, it was something about a dinosaur biting her, a dog and a kitty, and her hands being dirty. This should prove to be an entertaining phase...

Stretchy Pants

The Boy now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches. That measurement, from head to heel, is about the length of an English hothouse cucumber. That is different than your average cucumber, which is shorter. His weight will more than triple between now and birth as he rapidly puts on baby fat. I'm curious to find out whether he'll be on the small end of average, like his sister, or ginormous, like his father was at birth.

He's slightly perturbed with me today because I'm wearing maternity jeans with a thick elastic band around the waist. It's not all that tight, but apparently it's tight enough for him to feel it. He keeps squirming and kicking at it. I seem to remember Lila doing the same thing when I wore some shorts with a similar waist band. Sorry, son, but occasionally I've got to wear something besides Stretchy Pants.

Lila just woke up from her nap and she's knocking on the inside of her bedroom door. This is something she's started doing recently and I don't get it. She just feels the need to knock sometimes. If you ignore her, she'll come out on her own. It is fun to go and knock back to see what happens though. She'll either keep knocking and you can play a little game or she'll open the door to see who's there.

the new 'hood

I don't know what song this is or where she learned it, but Lila is walking around, singing, "Shake it to the left. Shake it to the right." Hmm...

This is completely unrelated, but I just realized that we have not had a party at our new house! We've had some leadership meetings and had people over to hang out, but no real parties. Clearly, this must be remedied. Now I have to think of a reason to have a party. Think. Think. Think. I've got it! We'll have a Daylight Savings Time party! [you think i'm kidding...]

I'm trying to get a neighborhood Bible study set up here in our new 'hood too. There is a neighborhood Yahoo group and I've put out a couple of calls for other moms who'd be interested. I've only heard from one other mom who's both interested and available, but I've gotten a couple of replies that are like, "I'm not a mom, but..." So I'm thinking of expanding it to an evening group open to all women.

For someone who's introverted and likes to spend time alone, I sure do put a lot of effort into trying to get extra people into my house. Interesting.

NEVER refer to a pregnant woman as 'fat'.

You know, I'm pregnant. Every day, all the time. But sometimes I really feel pregnant. Today's not so bad, but last night I felt like a tick. Seriously! And I'm nowhere near done with the growing yet! You know that look that pregnant women get toward the end of their pregnancy? In those last few weeks they start to just ooze weariness and they wear a look that says, "I am so done with this."

I'm convinced that that feeling is all part of God's plan. Labor and delivery and having a newborn are highly stressful and frightening things. But by the time the baby is ready to be born, you don't care anymore. You are so ready to get that kid out of your body that you'd be willing to go through anything! You may question why God is trying to kill you with this thing that people keep referring to as a Miracle, but you aren't worrying (too much) about what you can't control!

Do me a favor and DON'T remind me of this fantastic bit of insight when I start to have That Look. It's really something that can only be appreciated in retrospect.

Please don't meet the Spartans.

So, Friday was my Monthly Mystery Movie Night. Same old thing - I went to the theater, got a ticket to the latest show (before 11 p.m.), and went into it with no idea what to expect. This month was a total bust. The movie, which I had never even heard of, was 'Meet the Spartans'. It was a spoof of '300' and it was just... stupid. And not in a funny way.

I sometimes appreciate stupid humor. I saw 'Balls of Fury' and thought it was hilarious! Extremely juvenile, but hilarious. I got so disgusted with this movie that I left after less than half an hour. I wanted to leave after five minutes, but I made myself stick around to see if it got any better. I did pay $8.75 to see it, after all. Ugh! I had much more fun watching 'Groundhog Day' with Doug on Saturday!

On a more pleasant note, The Boy is up to about 13.5 inches now, head to heel. He was using some of those inches to try and push his way out through my side yesterday, but it didn't work. He weighs a pound and a half. So much bigger than the speck he started out as, but still so bitty! If you'd like a food to compare his weight to this week, try a rutabaga. A long, lean rutabaga. Or a baby.