She's here

Julia Marie
September 12 2011, perfectly healthy and a great drug free 2 hour birth from water breaking to holding her!
After all the complications and worrying my beautiful girl was born at 40.5 weeks naturally and HEALTHY!! and BIG 8 pounds 1oz and 19.5 inches long :)

The Little People

Liam is 3 years 9 months and is as crazy as every!
Hi preschool ends this Thursday and I am scrambling to find summer activities for him to do. I think I will enroll him in "camp" for 2 half days at his preschool and depending on where we are (Boston or Nebraska) he will have swimming lessons in July.
He is my emotional, freaking out at the drop of a dime. His latest battle is underwear. We have now started buying size 6/7 for our 3 year old and they still "hurt his penis" every day is a battle about the underwear choice and it sometimes leads to screaming, kicking, hitting, and a 30 minute ordeal. I threaten to take him to the Dr. but nothing works short of putting him in his room and telling him he can't come out till he has underwear on. Sometimes this backfires though when he needs to leave to get to school or daycare on time.
He knows all his colors and can count up to 20. He's started to really use his imagination to create stories or scenarios. I think this is from the interaction with the other 2 boys at daycare.

Emma is 1 year 5 months and is a spit fire!
She will climb on anything and everything and wants to do and eat and say everything her brother does. She is big into covering up her babies and putting them to sleep or laying something down on the floor and snuggling up to it. She enjoys the itsy bitsy spider and will do the hand movements and this little piggy went to market and will ask for wee wee wee. She can say Papple for apple, B, me, up, mo for more, bubble, Mommy, Papa, and NO. She will sign please, thank you, bath, milk, diaper change, all done, eat, sleep and book. She will eat almost anything and eats with a fork and spoon and drinks milk out of a sippy cup. Her 3 1 year molars have popped through and the bottom left is stubbornly on it's way. She knows her belly, belly button, hair, eyes, feet, arms, hands, and legs. 

Vasa Previa and the Bed Rest Blues

Tuesday April 19th I woke up got ready for a run and had some bleeding and contractions, I called the Dr. and she said to come in and they would do the 20 week ultrasound today instead of next week. The baby looked fine however some placenta and cord issues were identified. I was diagnosed with Vasa Previa and Velamentous Insertion of the Umbilical Cord. They will see me again May 17th for another Ultrasound and to check on the baby. In the mean time I am on bed rest until the next ultrasound and it SUCKS, only allowed to get up to pee and a 5 min shower every couple of days!
There are some good points, such as the kids are in daycare full time so I am all alone all day every day to read, rest and watch trash TV but seriously after a few weeks it really stinks.
The first 10 days we had my Mother In Law here to care for the kids and help Paul out with the household chores. It worked out well but Liam was having some issues adjusting to not only the Nebraska move but now Mom in bed and Nana here to rule the roost.
I've been very lucky to have Paul come home at lunch, and friends visit daily. We have had meals delivered from MOPS which has been a GREAT help, but seriously nothing can take away the fear, unknown and boredom of bed rest.
So far I have

• Read the first 2 Stephanie Plum series books
• Caught up on Real Housewives of New Jersey
• Caught up on the Real World
• Started watching The Secret Life of the American Teenager
• Reinstalled Vista on my computer
• Read Redeeming Love
• Wrote thank you notes
• Done a ton of crosswords and word games
• Knitted the baby a sweater and hat
• Played online Solitaire and Scrabble

Bed Rest has made me thankful for

• A WONDERFUL husband who has taken care of everything, including me, our children, the dog, our house, all the cleaning, meals, etc. I am truly a blessed woman and I married the right man!
• The support of my family and friends
• The MOPS group here in Sidney Nebraska. Every day I have had a visitor drop by and people call to check on me.
• MOPS meals! We have had meals delivered almost every night by wonderful Mama's
• The support of my Bitchin Mama's from far away!
• Day Care and how affordable and flexible it is here, allowing me to enroll both my children full time at a minutes notice! 

December

 

Click on the little Monkeys  to see some December pictures.

Kids

Liam has adjusted great to the new school and even though he clings to me when I drop him off I know he loves it. He has met a few friends to attend the library storytime with. He's done well at church play drop off and the MOPS drop off. He LOVE LOVE LOVES the fact that we live near the John Deere store and I think they might be wondering when we are going to stop by!

Emma is also adjusting to NE living. She has been going to the same place Liam goes to for school for daycare while I head to the gym. She is a little social thing, always smiling and drooling. She is into everything and sure has a little personality to go along with her cuteness.

Sidney Month One

It's been a month since we've been in Sidney. Do I still miss the city, YES and NO
I miss

• having my support system of Mama's and my choices of Targets to run to. 
• Running outside (which I can do here, just not sure if the dirt roads are "safe" to run along)
• Museums, the cafe's, starbucks, and the Aquarium
• Riding the train, and the tourists in the city
• The quintessential New England towns that I can never afford but dream I can.
• Impromptu play-dates and a plethora of Mama's to call on ( I posted on a MOPS board about having people over for a kids craft playdate and no one responded)...I miss having friends

I don't miss

• Being the only English speaking person in the store, neighborhood, phone etc.
• The garbage and disrespect of the people in the city and their VULGAR language
• Car alarms, drag racing, and emergency sirens during the day and into the night
• Lack of outdoor and indoor space
• Fighting for a parking spot or fighting parking tickets!

What I love so far

• Local coffee shop
• Meeting people who know you or have seen your kids somewhere in town
• Tons of outdoor space
• A garage
• The genuine pleasantness of people
• The willingness of people to embrase you and make you feel comfortable (The golden rule is still alive, and it is alive in Sidney)
• The sense of community and togetherness during the holiday season
• A great children's library with a wonderful librarian

Ditching Nebraska!

So I am trying to find a way to run around here and our street is a dead end street so in lieu of runnng up and down the street a million times like a lunatic I decided to see what else there was. There are two ways to Paul's office, one a paved road, the other a bumpy dirt road. Well Paul tells me that if you turn the opposite way on the dirt road it may go to Cabelas, so on my way home from his office I decided to take it. Now it just snowed here and I couldn't figure out why things closed and why everyone has a BIG truck or SUV...
I shall soon find out.
We go the other way down the dirt road and Emma starts to nod off so I say forget this we will just go home and do it another day (we have many days left!) There really isn't enough room to turn around so I will just drive backwards down the dirt road, if nothing else Liam will get a kick out of it. Well all is well till we start to slide the ABS brakes kick in and we slide off into a ditch and get stuck..damn front wheeled drive cars. So I reverse and forward and try to rock up out of the ditch to no avail, finally a pickup passes and a bunch of kids ask if I need help. They try to tow me out and the rope breaks, so they have a wench and wench me out...ahh welcome to Sidney where they don't plow, salt, or sand the roads and where 4WD is a necessity.