The Best of the Two

I have the best two there are.

Parents that is.

They compliment each other so well.

The Mama is hilariously over the top wearing her heart on her sleeve when it comes to the exciting things in life i.e pregnancy & babies, engagements and weddings etc...

She will scream, cry, exclaim, ohh, ahh, & ask all the fun questions and listen intently to the stories that come pouring out. She remembers things and then asks you about them later.

She is also appropriately heart broken for the sad things in life and is one of the most compassionate people I know when it comes to sharing in an other's sorry.

Romans 12:15 sums her up.

Daddy is somewhat laid back & fairly quiet. Although I don't think he is any more quiet than the average man. I didn't know him before he and my mom were one. I'm not sure if he is the way he is now because of her (not that she outshines him or steps on his toes), or if he was always the way he is now. With mom you get the scream and waving of the arms and a hug with the announcement of a new baby, with Dad you get The Most Genuine smile and a very warm bear hug.

Dad is funny, mom thinks so too, even if she hits him and says "Patrick Dean" after a lot of his jokes she is still leaving the table to compose herself 10 min later because she is laughing so hard she can no longer breathe.

My parents both have huge hearts. They love to love. They love to give. They love everyday life. They are good at taking what the Lord hands them and then handing it all back.

They have given me the best & a little of the worst of both of them.

I can remember during certain times in life, sitting with my parents either together or individually and finding comfort in her knowledge & advice. I can remember them relating to my struggles and encouraging my strengths.

I have been told numerous times while interacting with people that I am "just like my mom". I smile because when it comes to talking with my hands and gushing over babies and general small talk that yes, I am just like my mom.

I have also been told I am just like my dad, but those comments are usually reserved for people who know me well and know my Dad well. Because that is where I let my guard down and make an inappropriate joke or state my OCD preferences.

If you ask me I would say I am more like my dad at heart. I feel that we have similar passions, tastes, sin struggles, similar laid back personalities, and inappropriate humor. Which is probably why I have always gotten along with my Momma so well, she gets me.

I love them

disclaimer: this by no means summs my parents up. I could write about them for days. These are simply the qualities that are on my heart today.

Just Call Me Gumby

So after I was unable to walk this weekend I broke down and made the Physical Therapy appointment. I was only scheduled to work 4 hours Monday morning and after those 4 hours I was happy I made the appointment. Although as the week went on and I did not have any more near lame experiences I started thinking about canceling. My only thing was that if it got that bad again I wanted to know what to do about it. And I still had the intense pelvic pain just not the stabbing pain and the painful shooting down the leg thing.

I arrived 10 min early to my appointment and as I filled out the paperwork and tried to tune out Dr Phil I was literally near tears because I just simply didn't think that it would help and I was about to dish out hard earned $ for pregnancy aches and pains.

After meeting Sue the PT who specializes in pregnancy and her asking me all kinds of questions I felt like she really cared to fix my pain! She even threw in a little bit of God and scripture which made me fall in love with her. After evaluating my stance, hips, back, shoulders and a brief minute to gather ourselves after she called me a "loose woman" she explained that it turns out I am overly flexible with all the relaxin that my body is producing. She determined that because of my life long uneven-ness due to scoliosis and my Gumby like body, and my doing Yoga daily for the first time ever and third pregnancy in 4 years that I put a quadruple whammy on the ol' pelvis.

She explained that "God made my body just for this purpose and it is fearfully and wonderfully made"! So I loved her :o)

She showed me an exercise to get it back into alignment and told me to ice it (but not to let my husband give me any new nicknames by icing that area :o) and it should, typically take a few days to get back to alignment and then I asked her millions of questions on how to keep it from coming back out of alignment. Pretty much she just said to try to keep my knees even and take it slow for the next few days and then she would show me some strengthening exercises and typically women don't need to come back any more!
She also gave me the option of a support belt which because Lauren swears by hers I decided to try. She let me take it home for a week before she billed the insurance for it to see if I liked it!

So I left feeling like at least I had my questions answered and hopeful that these things would work.

Lately (with pictures of course)

One morning as I washed the dishes I noticed a tiny little bird popping in and out of the grill through a very small egg shaped hole in the side. I went out to find this start of a home for her wee ones. I felt extremely bad that I had to foil her attempts, however Joe's remedy would have been a fiery one so I think I was being a little more gentle. The next day when I had to remove a 50% completed nest from here again I wondered just how long they wait to build a nest before they lay eggs? Was my taking down her second nest causing her to have to lay her eggs without a warm home?? How cruel was I??? But I wanted grilled chicken for dinner :o) After removing a completed nest attempt #3 the next day I think she has finally learned that a gas grill is a foolish place to build your house.

Spending a low profile day at home is just what the Dr ordered for me these days. I sat in the front yard and read (well tried to read) while the girls played and rode bikes in the cul-de-sac. It was a nice, warm, breezy morning that ended with lunch at their new (Christmas present) picnik table from Grammy and PaPa! It has spent the last 3 months in daddys trunk and I had completely forgotten about it until it was rediscovered by the 3 of us girls and immediately set up for use!

About a month ago I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and bought these baskets that were originally $2.99 for 50% off! A much better price than the baskets in the Easter isle that although were 40% off were at least $8 to begin with... and those were the ugly ones. I decided that these were simple, adorable, and with 2 spools of ribbon for $1 a great art project! And now they (and "baby") have their first Easter Baskets!

As for an update on "baby" as Annie calls her (and I love it!) she is really starting to throw some jabs. They are more painful than I remember, they feel like she has a sword in there, it seriously makes me stop at catch my breath. Its usually when I am doing an extreme position change like standing up... well sorry child but stand I will! Until I can't. Which has now happened. Ugh. See, I had this pelvic pain. The Dr diagnosed it Symphysis Pubis disfunction where the bones of the very front of my pelvis are lovingly rubbing up against each other and therefore causing some daily discomfort. Not enough to want to spend the recommended $ on going to see a physical therapist I got wise and emailed a professional cousin of mine to kindly inform me on a few PT exercises I could do for this disorder. I received a full exercise regime from him in my email the next day and because they were easy enough, I did them. And then I couldn't walk... I do believe I pulled something in the front of my leg that is now aggravating the round ligaments to tense up and it all joins in one giant pain in the groin ending with bone crippling, that's not supposed to move that way, pain that makes me unable to walk!

It has only gotten to the unable to walk point twice this weekend but one of those days was NOT after working a 12 hour shift. So I can not figure out what the pattern is and simply avoid it. No, lifting, no sitting, no standing, no crawling, no yoga??? What is it!?!?!

I woke up this morning Pain Free after last night was almost to the no walking point!! How frustrating but wonderful. I decided I was going to be smart and take it easy. No sitting on the nonsupporting couch, no yoga or exercise of any type, no barefoot, no lifting or carrying babies and no letting myself get dehydrated. I had very minimal pain by nap time. Because I had such a low profile morning I wasn't tired at all but told myself that since it seems to be better after a full nights rest that I would lay down during nap. I ended up sleeping for 45 min and woke up with almost no pain. Soooo I will continue on with my day and pray that simply being sensible and possibly giving up the yoga that I have really enjoyed doing for the past 2 weeks will keep me on the move for 12-16 more weeks!

Pictures. To Make Up For The Last Post

Annie "helping" her father install a new toilet. Yes she did wear that outfit to Lowes and Yes, she is very upset they couldn't find a pink toilet. It turns out Lowes stopped carrying those in the 1970's.

I never thought I would be the mother who's child looked like this... but she does... quite often.

A little yogurt for breakfast. Sitting at this table is not the norm, Amelia can't be trusted.

Here's my accrobat Amelia while she is supposed to be napping.

Just Getting It All Out

Don't read unless you want to read the complaints of a crazy pregnant woman in need of a nap.

You were warned.

3rd born daughter (side note, how does that sound for a name? Because I simply cannot decide) I want you to know I love you, I still love you if you are screaming your head off while I wipe faces and butts and cook dinner (ill wash my hands between doing the two) I love you if you get carted around places in your first few weeks of life that I never would have done with the other two, I love you even if you feel that you are at the bottom of the totem pole its not true. I might possibly love you the most for the perseverance you will have perfected in me if not by the end of this pregnancy with you then through the process of simply having 3 children. I hope that you never have to read this for confirmation and simply know you are loved by what we say and do each day.

There, with all of that said I feel it is safe to say AUUUUGGGGGHHH I'm so tired of being pregnant and I feel like its just beginning! Fact is that its more than half over. Fact is that I have only 16 weeks left and if I follow my previous fashion that's only about 12-13 weeks which seems like a short amount of time until I think about the fact that I wanted to throw myself out the second story window at 24weeks pregnant ;o) Just kidding, I'm only mentioning it now because I know you friends can relate... and I am thinking about red flagging this post and titling it **Warning, read this before you think baby #4 is a good idea***

It is a humbling experience pregnancy is. I feel old & out of shape and I am not going to lie to myself and the rest of the world this time around, I'm in pain. I remember towards the last few weeks last pregnancy telling my sister-in-law that I couldn't watch her rather weighty baby because I just couldn't cart him around. I felt really guilty telling her that since I was Living In Her House!!! And I did watch him if he was napping or in bed for the night, and a few other times. However it was a painful awkward experience trying to carry the large child around with my large belly. I ignored the fact that I couldn't sleep past 4am in bed I had to move to the couch.
I am waving the white flag at 24 weeks though. I am saying "ouch". My pelvis hurts and my belly is awkward and if I eat pizza or chipotle too late in the evening I can not sleep. If I wake up in the middle of the night I can't go back to sleep and I pass out when holding patients for an epidural in the OR at work. My body is already unrecognizable and only going to get worse!

I'm scared because I realized that I wont have my body to myself for another year minimum as I don't feel normal until I am through nursing a baby. I am scared of the evil zombie mommy I might become, I am scared for my poor husband who just does a wonderful job simply surviving along side of me. I am scared to leave the house with 3 children and I am scared that Mia will kill or maim her in some way. I am afraid that Mia will finally get away from me for good while I am being preoccupied by the other two (Lord let her outgrow the running away stage before then!!!)

I know the truth, I know that I will fall into stride with this one just like I did, or better, than with Mia. I know that my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit and its serving its purpose. I know that I will not be as crazy as the scenarios that I can drum up in my mind at 2am.

And on a happy note I get to be pregnant. I get to feel her inside of me (crazy still the 3rd time around!) Lord willing I will get to deliver her and have her as a member of our home and considering the diversity of personality and looks that we already have I can't wait to find out how she will fit in...

I am just praying she fits in smoothly.

Why do I Waste My Time?

It is sad all the stupidity that I have been forced to glance at out of curiosity.

I am talking about weekly updates in my email that used to be simple, cute comparisons of my growing baby and a random, some never before heard of, vegetable.
Now I get biweekly emails with crazy headlines that I can't resist spending 2.5 seconds of my time skimming the article because they are so intriguing. I find myself thinking "do people really worry, think, spend time etc... on these issues.

For example, one of the first ones that caught my eye was the subject line "why newborns heads look so funny". Great, because we all know that they never change and there are cone headed chilren with squished faces walking around everywhere.

Then there was "why does Victoria Beckham look so awful" which was my favorite article that I skimmed because they actually asked her that question and her answer was a very annoyed short one that I will sum up as her saying "do you have 4 young children? I don't sleep and I don't stop chasing them" And I loved that the "horrible pictures" were all simply her with 1-4 children in tow simply not stopping to smile and pose for the cameras, because I am telling you that though her hair was in a pony tail she simply did not have an ounce of cellulite or belly flab to go with those 4 children of hers!

A few weeks ago it must have been a major concern of mothers-to-be everywhere what types of bedroom activities were ok when pregnant because there was entire article complete with no less than 10million readers comments on the fact that they indeed do these acts and their babies are all normal.

This weeks headline was fun. Evidently "Yelling is the new spanking" and the article was summed up with this statement
"...while spanking is considered taboo by the major medical and psychological associations, there are still some parents, religious and conservative groups who support it as an effective disciplinary tool, believing that the Bible explicitly allows it.But, he said, "There is no group of Americans that advocate yelling as a parenting style."
Wow, thank you for that. I don't think I would have come to that conclusion without your research or the 100,000 readers comments that go along with it!

Along with this there is a handy weight gain ticker on the website that out of curiosity I plugged in my numbers to be told that at .45% over my BMI I personally fall into the obese category and all their diet and nutrition recommendations as well as the weight gain recommendations were for that of an obese woman! Cool, that's healthy.

And last but not least there was a very helpful article on the top 5 worst foods you can eat. I was (ignorantly) expecting the typical, mercury laden fish and lunch meat horrors, but no. Among the top 5 worst things you can eat was.... Ice burg lettuce. Yes folks, evidently its lack of any nutrients other than water has caused poor unsuspecting ice burg lettuce to climb its way to the top of the 5 worst foods list on this certain shall remain unnamed rhymes with smabycenter.com website!

Baby #3 Reality

If I am not going to post every kick, jab & flutter of this pregnancy I suppose I should blog about the milestones.

I'm halfway through. I knew the first half would fly by because from finding out in October there is the usual rush of the holidays and then a trip to Maui all topped off by reaching the 20 week mark and having the Formal Anatomy Scan.

I dislike the ultrasonographer in my Dr's office and since she is only there one day a week I choose to go to the High Risk Clinic at the hospital. Because the purpose of the Seton Center is to work with the high risk patients they have the very best ultrasound technology. The rooms have large screen T.V's on the wall opposite the pt so that they can do their work and look at their screen and you can watch the whole thing, as opposed to the way they do it in the office which is "ummm ok let me do my thing and then I will turn the screen for a minute so that you can see" Blah! My way is so much more fun.

Another plus is that a former coworker of mine works in the Seton Center and so she has done my last 2 ultrasounds which is always fun!

This time was no different than the rest. Did we want to know the sex? Yes! So she scans, and scans, and scans, and the legs remain crossed and she confirms with us that we indeed have 2 girls at home, and she scans, and finally says "yeaaahhh, you can tell those girls to just scoot over and make some room for one more".

I was surprised... Joe was not! He knew it was going to be another girl. I kinda realized at that moment that I wanted it to be a boy, even though the thought scared me to death. But I am SO excited to be having another girl. I love my girlies, I know girl things, I have girl things (although Mia has ruined some to the point of needing to be replaced). And I am the 3rd girl so I have very high expectations of perfection for this child :o)

So Annie was right. When we told her later that day (which I would post on here however I can not get videos to load) I asked her if she thought Daddy would like another girl to which she replied "Well He likes Me!"

Mia is still in a life of oblivious bliss. I fear for the new childs life when it comes to her big sister Mia. I suppose she is as scrappy as she is because of the way she is treated by her big sister so this little one will be all the better for it as well :o)

I have tried without success to get Annie to feel some kicks this week, it always ends in a reenactment on her part of what the baby is doing in there. It includes some very realistic martial arts movements and saying things like "she is in there kicking and punching cause she wants out and can't find the door"

I love her

And to answer every ones question "no we have no idea what her name will be, and as in the past wont announce it till she is born if we finally do decide on one before then... which is not very likely" :o)

21 weeks

And this little girl has decided that she is a "baintee" person and wants this thing all the time :o)

Curlz :o)