Angels

Ethan was playing with the wood block nativity set I made several years ago and telling us about the people on each piece. Apparently, I'm Jesus's mom and "Angels come from flies."

3 Weeks To Go

I'm going to adjust the date on the little baby to the right so that it counts down to my induction day. Just click on the numbers until you see a countdown. Only 21 days to go!!

Sicko

That's me. Having a bad cold is always miserable, but it's so much worse with the added complications of pregnancy. Ethan gave me this cold and he didn't suffer nearly as badly. Lucky kid. Of course, this falls on a week when I have 50 million things to do, most of them not at home. (Thank goodness for the wonderful women who cleaned my house last week or it would be so much more. Thanks again ladies!)

So, as much as I want to spend my days resting on the couch and my nights sound asleep so that I can get better... we're running errands all morning, getting in a short nap, doing whatever I need to to get ready for evening plans, and finally crashing into bed for the night, where I'm up every hour and get almost no real sleep. You can imagine how great I'm feeling....

But Ethan's birthday, the last preschool lesson before we break for Christmas, the Ward Christmas party (I'm in charge), and so many other things just can't be ignored or put off. I'll have some time in about a week and a half to crash. I'll just have to wait to get better until then.

Our kind of Christmas music

Ethan and I have been listening to Christmas music in the car and at home for weeks now. Cheesy radio music in the car and typically Handel's Messiah or The Nutcracker at home.

But today we busted out our favorite while decorating the tree. We played The Trans-Siberian Orchestra nice and loud. For anyone who doesn't know, they are a rock orchestra. Definitely our kind of Christmas music. So after the tree, we were all at the table eating dessert when suddenly, we all start dancing in our chairs. Even Ethan. It was hilarious! I couldn't help but think "The family that dances to Christmas rock music together, stays together." We're glad that we're raising our son to appreciate the good stuff.

(For anyone who might be interested, we just discovered that the Smashing Pumpkins have a Christmas song, called Christmas Time. Go to the link to hear it! It's motivated me to find more in the same genre.)

Happy Thanksgiving

We've hosted Thanksgiving at our house the last 3 years. Not this one. Without Stew to cook the turkey, and with my ever-increasing size, we decided it would be better to not do it. So we had a great dinner with friends at someone else's house! (I still made pies, so I didn't back out of all the cooking.)

And because it's Thanksgiving:

I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. He sustains me everyday and I can't imagine life without him.

I'm thankful for my beautiful, smart, loving Ethan. Even on his worst days he's just such a good kid. And it's hard not to love someone who loves you so much.

I'm thankful for the relative stability of our life right now. It's easier to handle the changes we're making to our family and our life in the near future when everything else is going well.

I'm thankful for great friends. Those that we see often, those that have moved away, those that we've moved away from, and those we are still getting to know. Life is so much more fun with all of you around.

And I'm especially thankful for the knowledge of my purpose here on earth. It makes everything worth it. Everything.

December 19th, 2007!!

That, we hope, will be baby Edward's birthday. Because of Grandma J's schedule changes and the desire both on my part and the doctor's to do this early, we scheduled the induction. We are skipping the ultrasound to estimate size b/c if it turns out he's not quite as big as we think, then I would be bumped to a lower priority and could potentially have to wait until as late as Christmas day! No one wants that. So we are calling it a "previous history of large babies" and getting me on the schedule now with a high priority for delivery that day.

So... barring either an early natural delivery (doubtful b/c of his position), or my body's refusal to get ready even with the things they can do to push it along, we'll be having a baby Dec 19th!

He noticed!

Ethan: "Mom, your belly is getting really big."

Me: (laughing) "It is, isn't it."

Home Birth

I could never do this, with the risk of the baby being too big and needing a C-section and all, but it amazes me. (Plus the idea makes me uncomfortable. I've gotta go with my gut on this one.)

Tisha is an amazing woman who has done it yet again! (And need I mention she's a great friend who I dearly miss seeing every day?) Her strength blows me away every time I talk to her. Read her birth story here and see how "easy" homebirth can be.

P.S. - We finally took some belly photos last night and I promise to get them posted in the next day or two.

Title

So I realized that I'll need to change the title of my blog soon (although I won't change the address.) I like the one I've had, so I don't want to change it too much. I've had a few ideas. There is the obvious "Life with Ethan and Edward". Or "Life with the E-Boys". Or "Life with my boys" which would include John. What do you think? Any other suggestions?

Early Morning

"Wake up Daddy! The sun is awake!"

I'm sure that John doesn't think this is a cute as I do, but I love hearing Ethan's little declaration that the day is starting.

33 Weeks

I'm not actually 33 weeks along until tomorrow, but close enough. I had a dr's appt today. I'd been worried a little b/c I'm not feeling quite as uncomfortable and miserable as last time. Partially b/c I just don't have the time to think about it, and partially b/c I don't feel as big. (I know that it's weird to worry about feeling good, but when you've spent months anticipating these last few weeks of misery, it just feels wrong.)

I learned today why I don't feel as big. Edward has settled in transverse (meaning he's laying sideways instead of the normal up and down). This explains A LOT. Including why it still feels like he has so much room to move around. He doesn't, but because he can roll, I get hands and feet sticking out everywhere. (When Ethan settled into position at 5 or 6 months, he was so stuck there that I developed bruises in the spot where he kicked.)

This also means he hasn't dropped at all. So I look lower and less pointy b/c of his position, but it's not b/c he's getting ready to come out. In reality, if he doesn't rotate on his own, it may mean a C-section for me (Yay!!) But we still have time, so with my luck, he'll rotate.

The one good sign for me delivering early is that I'm measuring a week big. And it seems that with Edward's shift sideways, the vertical measurement they take would be falsely reduced, meaning I might measure even bigger if he were upright. Even with Ethan's size, I always measured right on, so just more evidence that Edward will be a big boy.

Hopefully I'll have more news about when he'll be coming soon. I go back in 2 weeks and expect to schedule the ultrasound for between that appt and the one the first week of Dec. Then we'll be able to schedule a delivery!! Yay!!

Last Call...

Now that Edward is arriving soon, I need to pick up those last few things that we need. So I'm giving anyone else a last chance before I get them myself.

The stroller and bottles are taken, but I will order the rest from both lists next week if I don't hear from anyone else.

Otherwise, we are getting to the point where we should be all set (I think.) We're going to finish the room rearranging and bring up the stuff from the basement this weekend, so then I'll know if we need anything else, but I don't think so.

Update: They didn't have the sling in my size in the patterns I'd mentioned before. So I went ahead and ordered one in a different pattern myself. I'll leave the link a while longer, just in case anyone else was looking to get one for themselves.

I know who you are....

I added a counter at the bottom of the sidebar not long ago. This was after I discovered that more people were reading my blog than I realized, so I wanted to find out how many. It's been less than two weeks and I'm about to top 100! You all make me feel so popular! The best thing about the service I'm using (besides the fact that it's free), is that I can see the locations that are checking my site. So I'm able to identify who is checking it b/c I know where you live. Bwa-ha-ha.

Seriously, it's just fun to see. (And occasionally discover things like Grandma J's trip to Japan before she mentioned it.)

Bump on the head

It would have been less of a big deal if this was just a simple bump on the head from falling or banging his head on something. But no. Ethan has a bump on his temple that's been there for months. I'd noticed it, but had been holding out on doing anything until the doctor mentioned it at Ethan's visit in Sept. So after keeping a closer eye on it, I confirmed that it isn't going away. That meant we needed to go back to the doctor to have him look at this bump. Anyone who knew Ethan's friend Hyrum before they moved away, knows the importance of having these checked out. (A bump on the head was the only symptom of a widespread bone cancer. Miraculously, his body dealt with it on its own and he is doing great.)

Can you believe how weird and slightly embarrassing it is to schedule an appointment for a bump on the head? While we were there, one of the nurses stopped as he walked by to say hi to Ethan and ask what we were doing there. I told him, and then said "Really just to say hi!" That's what it felt like. (We did manage to sneak in a weight check and a flu shot while we were there, which was nice.) But the doctor agreed that the bump bothered him as well. We discussed how 99% of the time these bumps are nothing, but it's that 1% that keeps us on edge. So not only did he check it out, he called in another doc to get a second opinion before making a decision. The bump is hard and doesn't move, so it seems like bone.

The consensus was to get an x-ray. Our dr's office is in a building connected to the hospital, so they sent us right over. I was really impressed by the efficiency of the whole process. Ethan wasn't. Because I'm pregnant, I couldn't stay with him during the seven! skull x-rays. It was a little bit traumatic with lots of tears, but he did great. He held still when they asked him to, and even went back in for more without a huge fight when the radiologist asked for a different angle. He was a brave boy.

So we made it out in less that two and a half hours and went to get a special lunch because Ethan did such a great job. Then, a few hours later, our dr called with the results. They didn't see anything. So unless it changes, or either of our intuitions makes us nervous about it, we'll just keep an eye on it. The next step would be a CT scan (heavy radiation) or an MRI (requires that Ethan be put under anesthesia), neither of which we feel is warranted right now.

For any family that reads this, feel your temples. Because of where Ethan's bump is, it is possible that he just has a strangely large temple, maybe because his orbital ridge is a little higher than average. So let us know if you have prominent temples. It would help confirm that this bump is nothing at all.

Update: My dad has prominent temples. Not as large as Ethan's bump, but definitely more than normal. He also has the higher orbital ridge (where your eyebrows are), so it seems like Ethan's bump is probably just the way his head is made.

Out of his shell

We all know that Ethan can take a while to warm up to people. Even people that he sees on a regular basis. But the last while has been different. Ethan has started responding when random people ask his name. Like the guy sweeping the floor at the supermarket. And the health insurance guy at John's office. Today at preschool he even jumped up on the mom teaching and started having a tickle fight! (During free-play, of course.) It's strange to see him coming out of his shell. I love that he's more comfortable out in the world. It's great to see him play more and not cling so much. But I also don't like that he's more comfortable out in the world. It was easiest when he was afraid to leave my side when we ran errands. Now, taking him out can be a major ordeal. And it'll be worse with two. I'm not completely sure whether or not I like this yet. I guess it depends on the situation.

Getting Dressed

I realized that the top picture on the last post has more of a story behind it. So here it is...

Typically, Ethan isn't interested in dressing himself. Strange, because he wants to do nearly everything by himself. (This is the cause of his fits 90% of the time.) But clothing has always been different. He'll start off great, get frustrated by something, bang his fists, and then cross his arms defiantly until we remind him that he needs to ask and say please if he wants help. Then we help.

The day of the photo, Ethan had been dressed earlier in a different outfit (possibly the same shirt.) Mid-morning, I was in the kitchen folding laundry when I realized he hadn't come in to pester me in a few minutes. (Glorious minutes.) So I poked my head into his room and saw this little naked butt sticking out while Ethan dug through his pants drawer. I asked what happened to his clothes and Ethan replied that he had had an accident and needed new ones. After he told me where he had been standing when he peed, I left him to his pants search while I cleaned the carpet. Meanwhile, Ethan retrieved not only new pants, but new underwear, socks, and a sweatshirt b/c I'd told him earlier that it was cold outside. He put them all on without complaint and came out to find his shoes, which he also put on. Finding him all ready to go (with nowhere to go), I had to take a picture. And then we went to the park as a reward for such a big accomplishment.

I'm not thrilled that it took an accident for him to do it, but I'm so proud of my little guy for dressing himself. Although it made me realize that he knows he can do it. He just chooses not to when he doesn't feel like putting in the effort. Somehow I need to convince him that it's worth it every day. Maybe I'll start the morning "chore" list I've been thinking about and reward him when he does all of it. (Stuff like getting dressed, eating breakfast, making his bed, etc. Probably one for each finger so that they are easy to keep track of. Don't worry, I'm not making my son a slave. Yet.)

Photos of our cute boy

Ethan dressed himself. Note the too small sweatshirt, the "sweater" pants hiked up to the knees, and the mismatched socks. But he did it himself, so I'm so proud!

So cool.

Ethan has just started posing for photos and this is his new cheeseball grin.

Pinwheel Preschool's First Fieldtrip. The kids climbing the hay mountain at the farm we visited.

Ethan has a horsey!

Weirdest Symptom

Did you know that your eyes can swell when you're pregnant? I'm lucky that my hands and feet don't swell much. (Just enough to keep my from wearing my rings.) But apparently, my eyes have taken on some of the extra fluid. Any time I wear my contacts, they are so tight I burst blood vessels. So I'm resigned to wearing glasses until sometime in December. At least they're cute pink ones!

What is that on the couch???

I came out of the shower this morning, and after getting dressed, went into the living room to see what mischief Ethan had gotten in to. Immediately my eyes were drawn to something bright red all over the couch. The markers are on a high shelf, so I racked my brain for what he could have smeared all over the couch that's so red. Then it hit me! BLOOD! A quick check and I discovered Ethan's first three toes on his right foot covered in it. Asking what happened was fruitless, so I began cleaning his foot to find the source. It took some looking. Apparently, all this blood came from a tiny, tiny scrape on the bottom of his second toe. Of course, while I was finding the little bandaids and bacitracin he ran all over the house leaving little spots of blood on carpeting, clothes on the floor, and again, the couch. When I finally found the bandaids (they'd fallen behind the medicine chest), I had to clean off his bloody foot again. Now he is complaining about the bandaid (he hates them), but I'm not letting him take it off until the bleeding has stopped. I already have enough to clean. (Maybe we'll go to IKEA and buy another slipcover for the couch. I don't think it's worth attempting to clean.)

Update : Thanks to Beth's mom for the heads up that peroxide gets out blood. I replaced the couch cover anyway b/c it was nearly destroyed pre-blood and so shrunken from many, many washes that it was ripping at the seams. But I'm totally going to use peroxide on those carpet spots. Thanks!!

Updated Sidebar

Just an update on my sidebar. I think G&G J are buying the stroller. And I removed the diapers from the "want" list b/c I'm realizing that it's just more work and expense than I want. But I did add a baby sling. I didn't like the one I had last time and barely used it b/c it didn't fit well, had no stretch, and had this annoying padding. After looking around for a while, I found these. They come in something like ten different sizes, are all stretch cotton, can be ordered with or without padding, and are so adorable to boot! Just in case you were wondering, I think I'll wear a size 23, unpadded, and I really like White Lotus, White Lily, Natural Bamboo (the bluer one), and Spellbound Stretch. I also like Blue Acadia, but definitely no solids b/c it'll be harder to hide messes and stains.