Woah! It's been a while. I decided that I would do an update since I've already watched American Idol and I'm not tired. Brian started second shift about two weeks ago and so going to bed it difficult some nights. He has been having Fridays off (as well as weekends) and I have LOVED it but he starts back next week to working five days so it's kind of a bummer! Ahlyssa has loved the switch to second shift. She loves waking up and he's home. She LOVES to wrestle with him and since its the morning he has more energy and they just have a blast. I love hearing her giggles when they play--it's so real and she has such a beautiful smile. I'm sure when he's driving at night those wrestling matches are taking a toll on him. ;)
Well we are doing pretty good. Ahlyssa has turned three but going on 15. I swear this girl seems so grown up. Sometimes I have to remind myself that the tantrum she is throwing or the stubbornness goes along with her age because she's only three! She's so smart and such a good little girl. She has such a sweet personality and loves to know what's going on and "help" with things around the house. She's pretty excited about becoming a big sister in June. Although I'm not sure how much she actually understands. She knows that "mommy has a baby in her tummy that will come out soon." Sometimes I'll hold my stomach and she'll ask, "Baby bite you?" It's quite funny the things she's says and seeing it from her perspective. We recently took the T.V. out of her room (Yes, I know the consequences of T.V.s in kids rooms). When we lived at Brian's parents house it just turned into a habit and it was one that seriously needed broken especially since her transition to her toddler bed. She'd get up a few times a night asking for it to be turned back and with baby #2 coming I don't want to deal with that and a newborn. She has done really well. We let her pick out any toy at the store and told her T.V. is gone and now as she is getting ready for bed she tells me that she is a big girl with no T.V. I feel so guilty putting her to bed with no noise (other than her fan) but it was the same feeling when we took the pacifier away. Anyway she surprises me how well she can adjust. She's my little baby girl.
Speaking of baby girl. Hopefully this little one will make her debut soon. This pregnancy has been SO different than Ahlyssa's. Everything started out good until about 15 weeks and started with high blood pressure. Then at about 21 weeks I had extra fluid. Almost to the point of abnormal but 2 weeks later they did another ultrasound and the fluid had gone down so they weren't too concerned. I still have a lot of fluid in there so I look like I could pop any minute and have looked this way for awhile. About 3 weeks ago I ended up in labor and delivery because I had felt so crappy for about 3 days. Stomach cramps (not contractions) and numbness in every limb and my face. I decided it was probably a good idea to go on in. I was apparently dehydrated--that is NOT a fun thing to do. My doctor said that in pregnant patients when she gets dehydrated your body sets off pitocin which causes contractions, but mine were labeled as "irritability". If that was "irritability" then I don't want to feel the "real" ones. I can't really remember with Ahlyssa any of the birth so I don't remember the contractions. Anyway last week I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and level 1 bed rest. I saw my doctor couple days ago and because its about impossible to rest when you already have children at home, she said if I don't rest, then complete bed rest is the next option and that one doesn't seem like fun! I'm trying hard to chill out when I can. Through all this I am just grateful to this opportunity to carry this precious little girl. I am grateful for the priesthood, the power of prayer and for modern medicine. I go for doctors appointments 2-3 times a week and as inconvenient as it is I am just glad that my doctor is keeping her eye close on my condition and as well as the baby's. When I was pregnant with Ahlyssa I never felt that bond that women say they get. Even when she was born I still had a hard time bonding with her for a couple months. I loved her so much but they hand you a person that you have to get to know just like anyone else. But the things that have gone on with this pregnancy has almost forced me into having that special bond. I've had several ultrasounds and 2 times we week I sit in a room with a heartbeat monitor on her and hear her heartbeat for a 1/2 hour with zero distractions-just me and her. (She hates the monitors so she moves almost the entire time!) 8 more weeks and then we will get to meet our second daughter!
Well next week we were supposed to leave for Myrtle Beach, SC but with my condition it wasn't possible so we decided to take a little trip down to Cincinnati and go to Great Wolf Lodge. Ahlyssa is super excited which makes me excited. It will be fun to take our minds off the some the distractions and have fun with our little girl before she becomes one of two! Another plus of not going to the beach--Marissa is going to prom the weekend we were going to be gone and now I get to see her all fancy dressed! I can't believe my little sister is going to prom, what the heck!?!
Well typing this blog post did the trick and I'm getting sleepy. Until next time...
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Ahlyssa
I haven't updated Ahlyssa's doings for her baby book so I am doing this mainly to add to that. I never updated what she was doing and loving at 2 years old, so I am doing it a bit late. Okay, a lot late, she's almost THREE!
~love playing mommy to your baby dolls
~love dora, barney, sponge bob, disney princess, bubble guppies, team oomie zoomie, mickey mouse, angelina ballerina, max & ruby (oh the list goes one)
~love your dance class
~ring around the rosie has been a fav or awhile now
~can count to 12 and can count backwards from 4-5
~getting better at colors
~can use scissors VERY well, can cut on a line we draw
~love talking to stranger and waving at them
~usually carry a purse when we go out on errands or your baby doll
~a huge people watcher, you LOVE watching people
~potty trained during day but not night time yet
~very good at listening to directions BUT when it comes to getting dressed its a battle
~always want your hair done the way YOU want it done
~always using your little rubber bands to do hair of everything you have. even your puppy dog's ears has rubber bands in it
~love playing with play dough
~love playing with daddy and being chased by him
~can say the last word to every page of your bedtime book, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me"
~you sing with me at bedtime to the song, "He Came For Me"
~you are always getting in trouble in the car because you unbuckle the straps and know that I can't do anything about it at that moment so you take FULL advantage
~can put on your own underwear and pants, still working on shirts
~love doing puzzles on the iPad, and you surprise us how well you do
Monday, September 12, 2011
Invisible Mother
My sister posted this on facebook last week from morningsun.net. I loved it so much I felt that every mother/woman should read it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Invisible Mother By ANDRA STEFANONI
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, “Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this?Can you open this??Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, no one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.” I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, '”My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You're gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Copyright 2008 Morning Sun. Some rights reserved
Invisible Mother By ANDRA STEFANONI
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, “Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this?Can you open this??Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, no one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.” I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, '”My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You're gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Copyright 2008 Morning Sun. Some rights reserved
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Oh the Joys
My little Ahlyssa. She's quite the character. After I got done deep cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, this is what I got to do next. Just about every square foot was covered with some kind of toy. Really though I was glad for the time to just clean with no little tootsies in the way. (I finally was able to upload pictures as you can tell. Although these are from my phone so I don't know why Blogger won't let me upload pics from my camera..oh well.)
Monday, August 8, 2011
No pictures?
Well I had some pictures to upload here but I can't get pictures uploaded. I tried a few weeks ago and couldn't then either. Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
I have found...
the house of my dreams...
(but it kind of looks like it needs to be on the Atlantic Ocean...South Carolina maybe?)
(but it kind of looks like it needs to be on the Atlantic Ocean...South Carolina maybe?)
Family Fun Day
Kenworth (Brian's work) had a family fun day. We had a really good time. There were several bounce houses, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, water slides, train rides, truck rides and tours, lunch, and tours of the plant. Kenworth really takes care of their employees and everything was free. It was fun to see where Brian works his hiney off. I definitely have a great appreciate for what he does. But he loves his job and that's awesome. When we walked in, it was SO overwhelming. I couldn't imagine having to learn all that mess. Thank goodness for husbands that will do anything to support their families!
**I can't get pictures loaded so I will try again later**
**I can't get pictures loaded so I will try again later**
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