Memorial Day

We had a wet, but fun Memorial Day. Lucky for us it did stop raining about the time we were ready to grill. J made some great steaks, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can go back to rare.

Boo and Cannon, hot dog dinner for two.

The boys worked on the fence a bit.

Boo and Grandma.

The kids played in the rain-filled pool and then snuggled up for a movie.

Painting

Grandma and Boo decided to paint Boo's room last weekend. Boo said she wanted to paint her walls purple, and J and I had agonized over the exact shade for some time. We finally made the decision and got the paint.
The dab on the paint can didn't look very promising. The first few strokes of paint didn't look good at all. But by the time all four walls were painted, it turned out to be just what we were hoping for, a very pale purple that looks great with the white trim. And Boo had the time of her life.
Thanks Grandma!

Grandma

We are so lucky to have my mom here with us for an extended stay. Boo is in grandma-heaven.

A Fence Post

J had a free weekend with no one in the hospital and no rain, so he spent all day Saturday on the fence. He has one side (except for one section) almost completely done.

It was surely the hardest side because the side yard is a little curvy. But it looks fantastic.

It rained all day today, so two sides are still waiting for their pickets.

He has done a fabulous job with this. In fact I am already planning his next project...

Planting

Boo and Grandma planting some flowers and plants for the patio.

Boo v. Dolphin

You can see Boo running for her life in the reflection of the dolphin tank.

Home again, home again, jigity-jig

I got to come home on Monday, and will hopefully stay here in my comfy bed until the baby comes for real. I'll be 34 weeks on Friday, then just another week til 35 and we all breath a lot easier. Doctors appointments twice a week to make sure amniotic fluid, heartbeat, etc. is all good.

Dad had to go home today, we will miss him. He took the kids to the zoo again yesterday. It was great weather and less crowded this time around.

Grandpa with the grandkids.

Playing in the water, way better than the animals.

So they were in the dolphin dome, Boo stood on the ledge by one of the aquarium windows for a picture. A dolphin swam up behind her and just stayed there, looking at her. Becca excitedly said, "Boo, look what's behind you!" Boo turned around, screamed, and leapt off the ledge and ran out the door. Supposedly Becca got a picture of this, so if it turned out I'll post it.

Baby Steps

Love this movie.



I've made it to 33 weeks...I've almost made it through the weekend...come Monday it will be just a hop, skip and a jump to 34 weeks. The last two days have been good days...they even let me take a shower. The hospital staff and I are friends now. The lady who brings my breakfast and lunch tray is off til Tuesday, I miss her. The housekeeper is a little disappointed when Boo isn't here when she comes to clean my room.

In other, more exciting news, J finished getting all of our fence posts in yesterday. Dad shoveled and hauled all the gravel for him, so they were able to get that last, and longest side done in good time.

Boo is having the time of her life with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa took her to the zoo last week - you can see some pictures here.

J got out the infant car seat the other day and got it all put together. Boo was very interested, and her animals got to give it a try. She loves the buckles.

Back In the Saddle, Again

The hospital saddle, that is.

That's right, it seems I can't stay away. I came back Tuesday morning, hoping to get on a home health monitor and trebutaline pump, but ended up staying overnight for observation. That never quite works out for me. By the next morning I found myself back on magnesium. The plan was for 48 hours of mag to hopefully get me through another week of pregnancy. I only made it 24 hours on mag, but for now it seems to have done the trick. I have been medication free most of the day, and things are quiet for now. I will probably be here under observation for awhile longer. Tomorrow is 33 weeks (yay!), and our next big goal is to make it to 34 weeks.

The good news is that the baby is doing well through everything. I had another ultrasound today and got a great picture of her hair sticking out from her head.

I'm keeping busy with some online continuing education classes and a couple of good books. For my SLP friends - Linguisystems has several free online CEU courses.

I have these great compression things on my calves to keep me from getting blood clots. I think this is a great start to my training for next year's mini-marathon.

Stay tuned!

Home

I'm posting from home!

I made it home last night. So happy to leave that hospital behind for now. Boo will miss the 'alligators' (elevators), the fountains, and the gift shop full of stuffed animals. She loved to look in on the babies in the nursery. That's a good sign, right? One night she got to play with an enormous white dog that came through to visit patients. Doesn't get better than that.

So the plan is to stay in bed for the next month or so, and hopefully the baby will stay in and stay healthy. Thanks for all your comments and well wishes.

Going to Mommy's doctor

So I had a strict no-blogging-while-medicated-policy. But it looks like I may be medicated for awhile, and I'm bored.

I landed myself in the hospital with preterm labor Monday morning. Three (long) ultrasounds revealed no problems with the placenta, and a big and active baby girl. But I got to hang out for the day (and night) for steroid injections (for the baby's lungs) and to be sure everything was okay.

Unfortunately, more contractions and being too dilated and effaced for 31 weeks earned me a 24 hour jaunt with magnesium sulfate. Since this is a family blog, I can't tell you how I really feel. But it sucked.

I came off the mag this morning, and was hoping to be home tonight on bedrest and anti-preterm-labor pills. But the baby is still threatening to make an extra early appearance, so here I am, still hanging out in my comfy hospital bed. They did allow me to venture out of the room via wheelchair to visit the NICU. It was great to get out of my room, and it's a very nice facility, with competent-looking nurses and the latest technology.You can see my fancy "hotel room" with room service here. But I really hope I don't end up living here for the next eight weeks.

Facebook is blocked in the hospital, which seriously cuts into my entertainment. Here's hoping my next post is from home. Boo, on the other hand, loves going to Mommy's doctor. Mostly because of the elevators, free ice, and to throw the money she saved into the fountain.

Of Mud and Men

The great fence battle has begun.

Last week J found a guy on craigslist to dig the post holes with his bobcat. Infinitely better than renting an auger and digging ourselves.

Unfortunately we then had Easter weekend and three days of rain, so the holes filled up with water and mud instead of posts. J spent the last week of evenings and most of Saturday digging the mud out (don't tell him it's going to rain again tomorrow). Here is one that is mostly re-dug.

Then on to the post planting. I procrastinated and missed my chance of getting a picture of mud splattered J, but here is a clean J looking like a DIY stud.

The corner posts are in, plus two or three regular posts. Not a bad start.

Downhill fast

I was glad to say good-bye to March and its bi-polar weather.

The first few days of April were great. I passed my glucose screen this time. Did not pass the iron test, but was pleasantly surprised by the teeny iron pills waiting for me at the pharmacy.

Boo and I have been having a lot of fun, making play-doh, walking outside, playing with friends.

Then there was this crayon.....

It was blue.

And it ended up in my dryer.

And then most of Boo's clothes and my white terry cloth robe ended up in the trash.

I thought about taking a picture....it is kind of comical. But I'm not there yet.

Lucky for me, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and the Mr. Clean who lives with me cleaned up the dryer for me while I mourned the loss of my bathrobe and Boo's khakis that finally fit her so well.

Then there was this other time that Boo drank too much banana milk and puked all over the love sack.

I think I'm ready for April to be over too.

Mommy-lons

Laundry day at our house.

Boo: Daddy, what those?

J: Those are nylons.

Silence....giggles.

Boo: Not MY-lons! Mommy-lons!

Rainbows

This week at school Boo learned about rain, so it seemed like a good time to do this marshmallow rainbow craft.

It was a hit. I drew the rainbow and Boo chose where the colors would go.

She glued most of the marshmallows on before she realized that she could eat them too. It was a great sorting activity and we ended up doing a lot of counting too. We also talked about 'soft', and how things feel different. After she glued on the marshmallows, I wrote "Boo" and "Rainbow" on the paper and she learned which word was which.

My cousin did this same craft, only she used Fruit Loops.

As a side note, I was on the phone this morning when Boo finished breakfast, so she took herself upstairs and got dressed. She came downstairs proud as could be...khaki skirt, pink sweatshirt, red socks pulled up to the knees, and white sandals.