What's Been Going On

• Will went to Children's Day Out for the last time on Wednesday.
• He is starting a new school this Monday (tomorrow) which is every day. He'll only go from nine to three, though.
• I am going to start working every day at the flower shop.
• Claire's first tooth is about to break on through to the other side.
• Will has now been passy-free for one whole week and a day. He has asked for it several times, but we've been strong :) I don't recall him asking for it at all yesterday or today, so that is wonderful!
• Last Tuesday was the one year anniversary of my brother-in-law Bryan's death. Please remember my mother-in-law LaDon and my niece, Rebecca in your prayers.
• This past week, two of my friends lost their mothers--both after long, tough battles with illness. Please keep Chelsey and Carrie in your thoughts and prayers.

Little Trickster

My son is so smart. I try not to brag on him too much because I don't want to seem like an annoying mom who brags on her kids all the time...but...he really is.

I started giving him M&M's as an incentive to use the potty. He's been pretty interested, but I just wanted to jump start it a little more. Well, I told him he can have one M&M when he goes pee, and two when he does the other. After he goes, I let him pick what color he wants. Of course, he wants more immediately after he goes, but we remind him that he has to go pee in order to get another piece of candy. So, what does my son do? He has figured out that if he only goes pee a little bit and says he is done, he will get an M&M. Then, a few minutes later, he'll say he needs to go again and will pee a little more so he can get another candy. He thinks he's so tricky! But, I can't necessarily "make" him go all he needs to at one time. And, I did tell him he could have one M&M every time he goes pee in the potty. Funny.

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On a much more serious note...my dad, Tim, is having back surgery tomorrow morning. He has an extremely herniated/ruptured disc in his lower back. Please keep him and his surgeon and surgical team in your prayers. We are hoping this will relieve over two months of extreme pain! Thank you.

Still Pregnant!

Yes, I'm still pregnant! We've made it to 37 weeks ;) I went to my regular doctor yesterday morning and he said that since I was to be 37 weeks today, I didn't have to be on bed rest or take Terbutaline anymore after last night. He even said I could go to work. So, I came home from the doctor's office, reported what he told me to Scott and went to work yesterday! So, technically, I only missed about 30 minutes worth of work between Friday and Monday. One of the ladies at work is convinced that I am going to have Claire on Saturday and her birthday will be 07- 07 -07. Honestly, I think that would be pretty cool, but I'm not holding my breath.

A small update on my grandma: her surgery went well yesterday; it lasted about 12 hours. The doctor said the tumor was about as large as his fist. It ended up being wrapped around her brain stem, so it is very good that they did the surgery to remove it. He said it was a life-threatening tumor. We are thankful that the surgery went well. Of course, she is still in ICU and I haven't heard anything today, but that is what I know as of last night when the surgery was finally over. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for her.

Well, I'm off to try and take a nap. It's getting harder and harder to sleep at night, so maybe I can catch a few winks this afternoon!

Recent Happenings

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post...whether in sympathy, encouragement or advice. It's so nice to know that so many people care! The next two nights of VBS went more smoothly; I just avoided the "opening ceremonies" in the auditorium altogether and brought Will in time for his class. That seemed to work much better. We survived and VBS is over--yea! VBS is always a stressful time for our family since Scott is one of the main people in charge, so we always feel really relieved when it's behind us.

On Thursday, Scott took a much needed day off and rested as much as possible. That night, he and I went on our last Midland trip before Claire comes. Will stayed with his surrogate grandparents while we went shopping for a few essential baby items.

Why was it our last trip you ask? Well, because on Friday morning, I became really dizzy and swollen very quickly. I called my OB/GYN office to see what I needed to do. The nurse told me she would feel most comfortable if I went up to L&D and let them check me out. So, we went back up there, me thinking that this probably wasn't necessary...maybe I just got too hot or something. Well, evidently I was wrong. When we got there around noon, I was dilated to 2 cm. I already knew this because my doctor had told me so at my regular appointment on Monday. They of course hooked me up to the fetal monitor and discovered I was having contractions--again, something I already knew because I'd been having sporadic Braxton-Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks. Problem being, I was having a lot of them, and they started to become a little more regular/closer together than they wanted. So they flushed me with fluids for a while trying to see if maybe I just wasn't well hydrated. That did not stop the contractions. So they then gave me terbutaline (a contraction-stopping drug) at two separate times. At about 4:45, the contractions had pretty much stopped and they were ready to let me go home. But, of course, they had to check my dilation again. It had progressed to 3 cm with all that contracting. They still let me go home, but I have to take oral terbutaline every six hours for this next week. And I have to "rest." So, therefore, no more working, shopping, etc! It was a good thing we got that last Midland trip in before this happened :)

I'm feeling alright, but of course I'm paranoid that I'm having contractions and not knowing it. Also, the terbutaline makes me very shaky and kind of crazy feeling. I guess it also makes my heart race, so I feel more tired than normal too. I will be 37 weeks (full term) on Tuesday, so maybe if we can just get past then, everything will be good :)

This has made us really get down to business on getting ready for Claire's arrival, though...we finally hung up the shelves in her room and washed the infant carrier seat pads today. Our bags are packed and ready to go, too. Please pray for a safe and uncomplicated delivery...I have no idea if I'll be able to post again between now and then :) It seems my babies don't like to cook as long as they're supposed to!

Terrible Twos

Oh. My. Word. My son has dove in headfirst into the terrible twos. I am somewhat beside myself. The past two nights he has put me in tears. I know I'm hormonal because I'm pregnant, but he's really got me at my wit's end lately.

I don't want y'all to think he is a horrible demon-child. He's not. He's just two, and I'm tired and 9 months pregnant (in fact, I don't even remember sleeping last night. I know I must have, but it seems like I looked at the clock a thousand times and just waited for the sun to come up). I'm starting to freak out a little about what will happen when Claire gets here. How will I handle things then?

Anyway, I'm just a little frustrated. It seems like it centers around church. I absolutely cannot keep the child in worship service. He will not be quiet ("Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!") and he will not sit still ("Get down!"). I try to make staying in the auditorium fun for him...we bring books, colors, cars and snacks...but he just won't sit still and be quiet. So we take him out. We do not take him to the nursery so he can play with toys; we make him sit on our laps and be still. This makes him pretty mad, but we feel like he needs to learn that you can't leave worship service and have fun--it's not supposed to be a good thing to be taken out. But, this has gone on for a while, and he still hasn't gotten the picture. So, last night I was upset because I had to take him out, yet AGAIN, and it's just so horribly embarrassing. Everyone knows us; everyone knows Will. It's not like we can just sneak out and fade into the background.

Then, there was tonight. We started VBS tonight and for some reason, which I have never agreed with and still don't understand, we include two year olds in VBS. (I have always thought it should just begin when kids start school, but whatever.) Anyway, since Scott is one of the main VBS organizers and I was a helper, we had to be there at 5:30 (it started at 6:30). So, we ate dinner and went over there. Well, Will just wasn't cool with the fact that Daddy was there in plain sight but could not hold him every second. We tried to sit down in our designated little pew with his teachers, and I even held him and told the teacher I was supposed to be helping that I didn't think I could leave Will because he was on the verge of a melt-down. Even with me holding him, he still couldn't handle it. I was so embarrassed that I just decided to take him home. I felt really bad because when we left, he was the only one in his class, but Scott told me later that five others ended up coming. I asked if they were as horrible as Will and he said no, but they also didn't have their dads there standing up in front of everyone and ignoring them (which Scott really wasn't doing, but that's probably how it felt to Will). Anyway, I was just really upset because Will doesn't usually act like this. It's a new development and I'm having a really hard time dealing with him.

Okay, well I guess I've spent enough time venting about my mothering problems...but I know (well, I hope) that some of you out there have had similar experiences. And I guess I'm just hoping that you understand what I'm dealing with. It's just hard for me because I see so many kids at church that are so very good and almost never have to be removed, and with mine, it's an every-time thing. And we're the youth minister's family!

As for other news, my grandma will be having surgery next Monday. The tumor is benign, but still needs to be removed, of course, because it is causing problems. Thank you so much for all your continued prayers...my family and I appreciate it so much.