Weekend Recap and Sleeping Arrangements

This weekend started out as a busy one, but it ended up on a quiet note.

We had an appointment early on Saturday morning to get Emily's spring/Easter pictures taken with Madison and Mason. We actually got out of the house on time (See sidenote below) but we didn't get very before before we got a phone call from Cherry. Our photographer had a family emergency and couldn't meet us. Cherry did some calling around and found someone else who could take pictures for us.

*Sidenote: We have an AWFUL time getting Emily dressed most of the time. Everything is too tight or doesn't feel good or whatever. She has been complaining about her Sunday Schools shoes for several weeks so we stopped by the shoe store on Friday night to find some new and larger shoes. I saw down on the floor in the shoe store and let her try on many pairs in different sizes. She finally found one that wasn't too tight and didn't hurt her feet .. but it was a size 9 1/2 wide. It was SO big on her little foot! So I did a little switcheroo and got a pair in size 8 1/2. She thinks the shoes she has are the ones she picked and so they miraculously do not hurt her feet.

Anyway, as I said, Cherry luckily found someone else to take our pictures so we drove across town to meet them. We went out to the University of Oklahoma and took some pictures around the beautiful campus. It was a beautiful day and I think we will end up with some really cute pictures. We also did Emily's 5-year-old pictures while we were out there. By that time, she had all but lost interest in the whole process but I think they will still be good.

When we got finished with the pictures, it was just about lunch time and Mama was hungry! Mike and Emily and I went around the corner to Hideaway Pizza and shared a delicious pizza. I forget what it was called, but it was so so good!

Sleep Update

Mike got his CPAP machine the same day he went to the doctor last week (that tells you how serious his sleep apnea was!) It took him a while to get everything set up, but he slept very well after that was done. He did not snore at all so I didn't have to get up out of bed. Unfortunately, that first night is when I had leg cramps several times during the night. I was so frustrated! The first night I could get some sleep and I couldn't get any sleep.

Since that night, Mike has been sleeping well. He doesn't even get up during the night. And he's much more rested during the day. The doctor told him not to go to sleep at all without using the machine. The doctor is taking this very seriously now and so is Mike.

I have been sleeping well too. I have not had any more leg cramps since that first night although my calf is still a bit sore. It is so nice to be able to rest well.

Suffice it to say, that machine is a keeper.

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Baby Book Preview

Noah's Baby Book and Photo Album arrived in the mail today. I am soooo happy with it. I think it's very cute and will be perfect for him.

Here are a few pictures:

This is the main photo on the front of the baby book.

First Year Calendar, Baby Book, and Photo Album
The adorable stickers that came with the calendar

I was showing Mike all of Noah's new things tonight and talking to him about some of the pages in the baby book like the family tree. And Mike suggested that maybe I should go ahead and fill in as much of the information as I can now and then just start with the new stuff when Noah gets here.

And sadly, I had to admit that I had not even finished filling in Emily's baby book. And ... very sadly ... in fact, I can't even find her baby book right now. And if I could find her baby book, I would be filling that out before I start on the next one. I do have a lot of the details written down, but just not in her book.

Just for fun, one more picture of the crib bedding. This is the main picture of Noah's Ark on the crib quilt. The top and bottom of the quilt says "Two By Two By Two". We always make sure that there are two of each kind of animal. Some of the Noah's Ark bedding and accessories only have one of each kind of animal. That just does not seem right to us!

We have ordered several other accessories for Noah's room. His room is going to be so cute! I can't wait for all his things to arrive.

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Noah's Ark .. err Crib

Tonight when I was at Cubbies, Mike texted me and said that I got two packages. I was hoping it was going to be Noah's crib bedding. Turns out, I was right!

I opened the box and the bedding is sooo cute. I love it!


Here are couple tiny teasers. I promise to show more pictures of the bedding and accessories soon. I have not even gotten everything out of the box yet because it's late and I'm tired.

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Sleep is No Laughing Matter

Or maybe I should say "Lack of sleep is no laughing matter."

The last several weeks, Mike has had a terrible time sleeping. He's started snoring very loud and obnoxiously. At first, I thought it might have been related to a cold that he'd had. But it just continued and I started noticing that he was tired all the time and having a hard time staying awake in the evenings and other times.

He tried Breathe Right strips, but they did not help. I tried them too and I ended up getting a cold after the very first night. That'll teach me to try new things!!!

You all know what it's like when your bed partner is not sleeping well. It's been hard for me to get some sleep too. I've tried ear plugs, but I could still hear him snoring over the ear plugs. Most of the time now, I just go sleep in my recliner. That seems to work better than everything else. And if I turn on a table fan in the living room, I can't even hear him snoring.

The downside to me sleeping in the living room is that I can't hear his alarm go off and so I don't make sure he gets up on time. Now most of the time, he's done fine but there have been a few days where we were running late.

A couple weeks ago, he got in to see the doctor. I went with him in case I needed to explain what I had been hearing and seeing. Mike told the doctor that I thought he might have sleep apnea. And the doctor acted like I was just a crazy wife who was tired of the snoring. I told him that I was worried about Mike because he was so tired and having a hard time making it through the day.

So he tells me that lots of people stop breathing at night and he starts doing a demonstration with his watch on how he can hold his breath for 10 second and still talk to me and he's fine. Luckily, Mike was between me and this guy because I was suddenly feeling like a pregnant hormonal woman and I was getting sick of this guy's attitude.

The doctor finally said he would send Mike to do a sleep study, but "everybody I send to the sleep study comes back with sleep apnea." Personally, I don't care what these other people are doing. I just want Mike to feel better.

Late last week, Mike went in to do his sleep study. It was scheduled to be a two-day study. He went in the first night and they hooked him up to all the monitors. He had a hard time going to sleep so they finally gave him a sleep aid. And he still slept very little that night. The technicians were not supposed to tell him anything, but one of them said he "kept waking up when he would stop breathing."

The second night of the sleep study was much better. They hooked him up to the monitors and also put a CPAP machine on him to see how he would do with that. In the middle of the night, they came in and switched him to a different mask. I think the first one just covered the nose and the second one covered his nose and mouth. After the mask change, he went back to sleep and slept well the rest of the night. He said that when he woke up the next morning, he was the most refreshed he'd been in years.

Unfortunately, he is still waiting for his doctor to get the sleep study results to see if he can get a machine of his own. He's going to call them tomorrow and see if he can get this process moving. He is just ready to feel so much better after a good night's sleep. I'm praying he'll have his machine by the end of the week.

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What's in a Name?

Mike and I have been discussing names for our little bundle of joy. We don't agree on much, but I think we agree that choosing a name for a boy is much harder than choosing a name for a girl. Of course, I already had my short list of girl names. Luckily, Mike liked the name Emily and so that was an each choice for us.

When we found out that we needed a boy name, we were a little less prepared. I didn't have any boy names that I just loved. Mike liked Biblical name, but he liked a lot of them. We had talked about a few names for several weeks, but we couldn't really agree on anything. Mike would read long lists of names and I would rate them Yes, No, or Maybe. I had a lot of No's, some Maybe's and a few Yes's just to be funny.

We did eventually find a name that we both liked. It was one of the names that we liked early on, but we just had to be sure it was the right name.

So what's his name? His name is Noah Michael S. We love it! It's a good strong name.

We've decided to decorate his room in a Noah's Ark theme. It may be a little cliche, but we think it will be perfect for him. I wanted to decorate Emily's room in a Noah's Ark theme, but I could never find the right bedding. I ordered some bedding online this weekend and will post pictures in a few weeks when it's delivered.

This weekend, we went to Hallmark and found a baby book with Noah's Ark on it. What a surprise! We went ahead and bought the baby book and a brag book. Then we got home and Mike was looking online and found a Noah's Ark baby book that we both liked much better. So the Hallmark one will be going back to the store next weekend. Can't wait to show that to you too.

So many decisions, so many choices, so many cute things!

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Special Person

Emily was the special person of the day today at school. That means she got to be the special helper today. Each of her classmates also colored a picture of Emily and they made a Special Person book for her to take home.

Emily also colored a picture of herself, but the teacher is posting all of those along with an interview sheet for each child in the classroom. Emily didn't remember all the questions, but she said they wanted to know her favorite color and she said pink and green. Mike and I were surprised and mentioned that we thought she would just pick pink. But she said "I like pink and green because I stay on green (on the behavior chart at school) every day". Yes, she does - my sweet girl.

Some of the pictures were pretty funny. My camera battery was dead tonight so I'm recharging it and will post pictures soon. She also made a fingerprint counting book that was very cute. Another thing that will have to wait until another day.

Boys Vs Girls

The other night, Emily was taking a bath and we were talking about all the things we would do with baby boy. I told her that she could help me give him a bath. She said "I will, but he can't take a bath in the bathtub with me." I'm not really sure why she said that, but may have been a pretty smart observation. (I wouldn't want a boy to pee in my bath water either!)

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Somebody's Happy About Their Baby Brother

This weekend, we were on a mission. We found some baby crib bedding online that we liked, but I wanted to see it in person to make sure the colors were what I was expecting. We thought we might find it in a couple different local stores (they had it on their website) so we made several stops.

Every time we would go into a store, I would pick out several little boy outfits that were on sale. But by the time we were ready to leave the store, I always put the clothes back because I know we will get some other things before the baby comes.

He'll be born in the heat of the summer, but it won't be long before it starts getting cooler. So it's hard to shop when you don't know how big he'll be when he's born. (Emily was 5lbs, 8oz when she was born.)

So anyway, at the last stop Mike picked out something that he wanted to get and Emily picked out something too. It was fun getting just a couple things.

The other night, I wanted to take some pictures of the things we bought over the last couple weeks. Emily noticed what I was doing and wanted to get picture with every item.

Did you notice Emily's poor raw nose? We've been putting medicine on it every night and it's looking better today.

Also, I noticed that just about everything we bought was blue. I need to work on branching out to try other little boy colors. Just give me some time ... I'm new at this!

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A Great Day

The flowers were blooming (Irises, finally!)

We have been checking every day and this was the day!

We stopped by to see Pops for a minute. Emily and Madison wrote bicycles for about 5 minutes.



She needs to work steering a little.

And baby was moving and grooving. (No laughing, pointing or staring.)

We did some other fun things, but it takes toooooo long to upload the other pics. Maybe another night!

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Late Easter Post

Have I ever mentioned that we have a fabulous Easter bunny? I mean we have the most beautiful Easter baskets and they are chock full of goodies that kids and parents love. (Because I know that Cadbury Egg was really for me. I mean, it had to be for me. No I didn't eat it, but it's not over til it's over.)

And you know I am totally digging the fact that Easter Bunny brought TWO baskets this year.

And Emily is totally digging that fact too. (Like her nightgown? It's kinda new. And very cute.)

And speaking of digging, you obviously just DIG right into that big basket.

Oh! She found something she liked!

And she liked this one too - a girl after her mother's own heart. It's actually pretty neat. She's got all kinds of plans for helping me in the garden. That's great because I need a lot of help this year.

And this is my favorite picture. Partly because of my beautiful girl. And partly because of two bunnies - my two babies! You can tell Emily is so excited about this too.

(And aren't her bangs just cute? I cut them the night before. Maybe a tiny bit too short?)

Oh and did I ever show you our princess Easter eggs?

You gotta admit they are very beautiful.

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Goosey Goosey Gander

On Thursday as I was leaving work, I was walking out of our office building and I heard some hissing nearby. I looked and there was a huge goose sitting in one of the concrete planters by the front of the building. And it was hissing. At me!

I quickly side stepped and went around that freakishly large thing. I was thinking "that thing was hissing. At me!" Probably sitting on some eggs or something. It kinda reminded me of myself .. caring for my unborn baby. But just so you know, I wouldn't hesitate to smack it with my lunch bag if it came after me. Because, really, I'm caring for my unborn baby too. So back off, Goosey!

Then Friday afternoon when I came out of the building, I noticed that the big concrete planter was taped off with caution tape. But there was no big huge goose. And there was an awful stench coming from the area. So that leaves me to wonder what they did to the goose. I hope they didn't hurt her or her eggs! The thought almost made me cry. But it didn't.

Is the goose cooked? Is she gone for good? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

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What is this pain?

Yesterday at work, I started having what I think is sciatic nerve pain. I just call it "booty pain". It's only on one side - the left side, but it sure hurts when I walk.

Then after I got home from work, I also started getting a pain/ache in my left side. At first, I thought maybe the baby was pressing on a nerve but it soon became clear that the pain was worse than that. I drank a glass of water, took some Tylenol and then went to relax in the bath. After a while the pain did go away so I went ahead and got out of the tub and went back to the living room (to work on our taxes - in case you didn't notice, April 15th is next week!)

Well, unfortunately, the pain came back again. I tried drinking more water and eventually went back to the bath. Again, the pain went away after a while. I got out of the bath and the pain eventually came back again. I began to realize that my side did not hurt when my bladder was full, but a few minutes after I emptied it the pain would begin to come back.

I eventually did go to sleep in my recliner. Every time I woke up to go to the bathroom, I would also get a BIG drink of water. And I felt okay when I woke up this morning I immediately went to get a big drink of water and I've been drinking lots of water all day today. So far, I've been okay - just tired. I'm thinking it may have been a kidney stone or something. Whatever it was, I hope it does not come back!!!

Tonight I seriously considered asking Mike to take a picture of me and my 21 week belly. I just couldn't do it though. It is so against my nature.

I'm almost exclusively wearing maternity clothes now. After the heat wave last weekend, I decided that I need to get some shorts or capris. Jeans are way too hot when it's 85 degrees outside! This weekend is supposed to be nice though so maybe I can make it another week or two.

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I Had

• I had one of those busy days at work where everyone wanted something and they all wanted it RIGHT NOW.

• I had, thankfully, a good night of sleep last night, despite the weather, despite the noise, and despite this nasty cough/cold thing.

• I had a big surprise when I left work this evening and it was so so windy. The car door actually slammed on my arm. Ouch!

• I had a lovely quiet supper at Chick-Fil-A tonight with my one-and-only.

• I had, also, a shake while we were there. Chocolate. Large. BIG mistake.

• I had seven kids in my Cubbies class tonight. Only one with two time-outs. We made collages. And they all like the games that I make up every week. Somehow, all the games end with everyone learning their Bible verse. I like to play games with blank pieces of paper, but I pretend that each piece says something on it. I'm cool like that.

• I had a lady tell me tonight that her 18-month-old son gets up in the middle of the night and eats everything he can find. One night he ate four bananas. Is that a typical boy thing? Or is that just nuts?

• I had a problem on my way home from Cubbies tonight. Lets just say, as a pregnant woman, I hate sneezing. It's so hard to control and so awful when it happens. Kegal exercises, anyone?

• I had to avoid going to bed for a half hour after I took my prenatal vitamins tonight. Have to do this every night. But normally it's not this late.

• I had a long day. I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

• I had to come back and say good night. Good night!

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21 Weeks - Dr Visit

Today was my 21 week Dr visit. It was really rather uneventful. They were running behind schedule so I had to wait a little longer than usual. It was nothing too bad though.

Everything looked good with baby boy. His heartbeat was 151 bpm. I think that was the same as it was on the ultrasound last week. He is consistent, if nothing else. Ha! He moves around a lot in the afternoon and at night. Mornings are his sleepy time. Lets hope he figures out the days and nights before he's born.

I'm measuring on track for 21 weeks. Blood pressure is perfect these days (I check it every night.) And +0 lbs gained this month so that's good.

I go back to the doctor in a month and I'll have to do my glucose tolerance test. That is never fun! Lets hope I can pass the 1-hour test so that I can avoid the 3-hour test this time!

One other cute unborn baby story ... I said the baby likes to play in the afternoon, but he really seems to like country music. When I'm driving home from work, he'll dance and wiggle along with the music. Go baby go!

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Happy Easter!

We've had a long day today. This morning after breakfast, Mike asked Emily and I if we were wanting to go to BabiesRUs today. I loved the fact that he suggested it and so we headed over there after lunch. Emily and I picked out a few random things for baby brother. We looked at crib bedding, but we didn't find anything that we loved.

This afternoon, we ran a few errands and brought home some BBQ for supper. Before we even got to eat, Emily had a huge accident involving ketchup. Don't ask - it was bad. While we ate, I boiled some eggs so that we could dye them tonight.

And dye them we did. We had enough to dye two eggs of each color. I think Emily had a good time, but it was a very messy experience. I'm pretty sure my tablecloth is stained for good.

But it's all good because we've got these beautiful eggs to enjoy. They are covered in Princess stickers, of course.

And while we were dying the eggs, I made some marshmallow sheep. I read about these in Southern Living this month and they looked so cute. I didn't think they would be too difficult to make even though they required a lot of ingredients - things I didn't have in my kitchen.

The Southern Living magazine didn't give really good instructions, but it is basically Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies covered with mini marshmallows for the body, brown Peanut M&M's for the legs, another cookie for the head, mini marshmallows for the ears, mini marshmallows for the eyes and mini chocolate chips for the eyeballs. White candy coating holds everything together.

It was not too hard to put everything together, but I only got two of them made before I was just too tired to continue. I was going to make them for our Sunday School class, but that just was not going to happen. Maybe another day!

So after we got everything cleaned up in the kitchen, we had to put out a plate of food for the Easter Bunny. Emily chose a bunch of baby carrots and we made them into a smile. I think it turned out really cute. I hope the Easter Bunny likes it!

I guess we'll see in the morning ...

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