Going to the chapel...

My friend Tracy called and she's getting married! Yipee. I love Alex, her fiance, and they are such a cute couple. So, they'll be getting married sometime between June and November of 2009, most likely in the summer. Since I'll be a bridesmaid, I guess I'll have some good motivation to lose some of that baby weight! Oh, and I guess I'll have some motivation to finally get that passport since the wedding is in MEXICO (Alex is from there)!

Two weddings in late 2009. How exciting! For those that don't know, my brother is also getting married, supposedly in October (date hasn't been set for sure...they better get cracking on that one)!

Yep, more water!

So we discovered that our lovely AC unit is leaking into the garage. I guess there is an overflow pipe (or some other technical jargon) that leads right to the floor of our garage. I suppose there is a reason for this, but this seems like a less-than-brilliant design that would allow you to totally flood your garage (especially considering they could have run that pipe right into our utility sink that is located 6 inches away).

I first noticed a tiny bit of water a couple of weeks ago when Al was away. It seemed innocent enough so I (stupidly) left it alone. It ruined a few boxes when the next day I noticed it had leaked some more. My neighbor (who was currently having the same problem) cut the pipe so that we could at least fit a bucket underneath it to collect the water. It only filled a bit of water a day for a while there, but in the past few days it's been filling a 5-gallon bucket in less than 24hours! Well, yesterday (while I had been researching heating/air companies) the neighbor's landlord was out flushing out his unit and showed Al how to do the same. A whole bunch of debris came out of the pipe outside, and lo and behold, there has not been a drop of water in the garage bucket for 24 hours! Yipee! So keep your fingers crossed that this was the issue. Heck, the AC unit still seems to be working, so for now I'm a happy camper. In the meantime I suppose we should probably have someone "professional" take a look at it though.

So, after the flushing pipe incident Tyler took a brief siesta and then it was off to Lithia Springs for the late afternoon/evening. We stopped at Subway and picked up some dinner and were able to enjoy a nice little "picnic" at the beach. It was packed, but we still had a good time. Tyler had a ball catching minnows with Al (meaning that Al caught minnows and put them in containers for Tyler).

More water!

So a few days ago I posted about the daily rain. The rain has stopped, so we've engaged in new ways to get wet!

On Friday my friend Andrea hosted a wonderful play date at her house. We had a nice BBQ and were able to go into their gorgeous pool! Check out her blog as well for some additional really nice pictures of the event.

That evening, since Al got home at a decent hour, we did some more BBQing and then we head to the community pool, which was very nice indeed.

Yesterday we had a party to go for an ex-neighbor of ours. Their son was turning one, and they rented one of those inflatable water slides for all the kids to play on. Tyler chose to stick with the kids pool, but Al sure had fun on it. Truth be told, we think the grownups might have had more fun than the kids! LOL.
From there it was off to another neighbor's house. Tyler's little friend Dionna, who lived next door, has now moved with her family across the development. Tyler is not happy about this one bit, but they invited us over to the new house last night. We brought some pizza and drinks, and Tyler and the kids happily played in the un-heated hot tub/jacuzzi.

So, that was our water-filled weekend thus far! I hope everyone is enjoying their pre-holiday weekend!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I'm so glad we did Disney on Tuesday, because we've had horrible weather ever since!

Yesterday we did get a chance (my mom and I) to take Tyler to the movie theater for the first time. I figured I really couldn't go wrong with $1 movie tickets (which the proceeds go to charity). He had actually seen the movie before, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, at the drive-in so figured it would be a good way to ease into the movie theater scene. I knew he liked the movie, so it took away that bit of anxiety for him (he doesn't think he likes movies, he thinks they are scary). Anyway, we met Melodie there (thanks again for the tickets) and her girls (and a friend) and went in. Tyler was pretty darn happy with his kids pack (small drink, popcorn, and fruit snacks) and didn't seem to even hesitate about the dark. Of course we had to wait a long time for them to start the movie (if they say 10:00, then maybe they should think about NOT keeping a theater full of CHILDREN waiting until 10:20). Tyler did fairly well, and he had a great time. I'm anxious to go again!
So yesterday we had a total downpour and frightening winds. So frightening that I turned on the news to find out if we should go seek shelter or something.
Anyway, after it died down (thankfully) we had to take my mom to the airport. Tyler was NOT happy to see her go. In fact he tried telling her that she could get a job in Florida in the mornings and then play with him in the afternoons. Smart boy, huh? Anyway, he asked me to take a picture of he and his mom-mom so that he could look at it on the computer whenever he wanted. Awwwwww.
Today brought MORE rain. Ugh. When will it ever go away????

Disney Day

On Tuesday we FINALLY got our Disney day. Now I hadn't been since January, and Tyler hadn't been since my mom took him in March (or maybe April) so we were quite anxious to get there! And I was happy to be feeling well enough to go!

Tyler was ultimately fascinated with the spray water bottle we had, and was drenched 5 minutes into our stay, which really wasn't too bad considering it was quite hot. Really though, the weather wasn't too bad, and when it was cloudy it made the heat seem more tolerable. The rain held out until late afternoon.

Anyway, we were happy to see the castle again. The magic really doesn't ever seem to lessen each time you see it.
We did Tyler's favorite rides: Small World (twice), Dumbo, the teacups (I forget what that's called), and the race car ride (again, I forget the true name).
Then we hit the parade. Even Mickey got to watch. After all it was "Mickey's first ever Disney trip".
From there it was off to see some characters. While we were in line to see Pluto, Goofy, and Donald, a cast member noticed Tyler standing there with his stuffed Mickey. He mentioned that we could ask for a sharpie and that Mickey would sign his stuffed Mickey. After Tyler heard that it was absolutely imperative that we wait in the hour long line to see Mickey. The wait was worth it. Tyler was soooooo excited to have Mickey (and a bonus Minnie Mouse) sign his favorite stuffed animal. Plus, they must have been in an extra friendly mood and spent a good 5 minutes with Tyler. He was in his glory. It was a very magical day!

A day at the springs

So yesterday my mom and I decided to take our chances with the weather and head to Lithia Springs for the first time. We, again, were supposed to go to Disney, but the forcast was horrible. Well, we lucked out, because we had a beautiful day at Lithia Springs. Tyler had a ball watching the minnows and fish, searching for shells, playing in the water and digging in the sand. I especially enjoyed the scenery, especially the trees, which meant shade! We can't wait to go back!

Oh, and as luck would have it, my mom managed to make a friend (she seems to do that everywhere we go). Her "friend" was interesting, to say the least. A very nice gentleman, full of knowledge on subjects that bore me, but who am I to judge? I got the pure joy of observing the irony of my mom being taught how to catch and cook a mullet fish from a man WITH a mullet. Priceless.

A volcano in his pants!

Many nights this week we've been enjoying the community pool after dinner. It's too stinkin' hot to go during the day, considering there is no shade, but it's beautiful at night. And Tyler finally braved the water slide so now he's having a ball.

Last night Tyler discovered that this is VERY fun. Yep, letting water pour all onto your back, to the point your swim shorts are falling off. Even more fun if the water comes OUT of your pants. He describes it as feeling "like a volcano". He enjoyed that volcano in his pants for quite a while before it was time to go home!

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Tyler recently found a Mister Rogers DVD on a rainy day trip to the library. I believe it's entitled "What do you do with the mad that you feel?" and it of course focuses on appropriate ways to deal with your anger. Tyler finds this DVD absolutely fascinating and we are absolutely fascinated when we see him practice his deep breathing and stretching when he starts to feel angry or frustrated. I almost died from trying to contain my laughter the first time I saw him stop, think, and then bust out the yoga moves. Too funny!
When Mister Rogers was discussing how HE deals with frustration/anger/etc, he mentioned how he likes music. The then had a segment with the musical group STOMP. For those that don't know, they perform on Broadway, creating music from various things (none of which are musical instruments in the traditional sense). For example, buckets turned into drums, using brooms to create noise, etc. Tyler is now on the never-ending search for ways to create music.
There is also a segment on this DVD where they learn how to make construction paper. This is Tyler's favorite segment to watch, and I now know EVERYTHING you'd ever want to know about the process. As you can see, Al found the segment fascinating as well. LOL.

He's home!

After almost a month, Al is back from Arizona. Tyler is so excited to have his daddy home again!
We were actually planning on doing Disney today, but the weather forcast looked crappy and it was pouring rain this morning, so we decided against that plan. Instead we went out to breakfast and did some chores around the house before getting take-out for dinner and enjoying an evening at the pool.

random conversations

So, things have been pretty low-key around here, mostly due to the crappy weather, so I just thought I'd share some conversations/statements made by the little man.

(Said while my mom was on the phone with my dad): "Mom-mom, what is Pop-pop doing? Is he working in the garage or is he sitting on the couch?". Apparently these are the only options that are a possibility.

(Said while in mall): "Tyler, we need to go to one more store before we can go into the play area." "What store is it?" "It's called Motherhood Maternity." "Oh, it's one of those stores that sell clothes that fit your big fat belly."

(Said while walking into Olive Garden for dinner, as Tyler was discussing why I don't wear my Mickey Mouse shirt anymore that matches the one he was wearing): "Mommy, if it doesn't fit you anymore, does that mean you sold it on ebay?"

(Said while playing trains with his stuffed Mickey Mouse): "Mickey, you are in time out for four and a half hours. Why? Because you ate people, and we don't eat people".

More ice cream,please?

Somehow (and I'm not sure how) I passed my 1-hour glucose screening. Yipee!!!!!

Binki update

So, we're still binki free, and I think he's totally fine with it. He proudly tells people how he doesn't use a binki anymore and I haven't heard much of any whining about it. Yeah!

As part of his "Binki Fairy" reward we got to go to Build-A-Bear on Tuesday afternoon to let Tyler create his bear. He was VERY excited. He absolutely loved the process, and I must say, it was really cute.

Upon leaving the mall it was time to head over to the airport to get my mom. Unfortunately my mom had sustained some sort of bite, which she had an allergic reaction to. We came home from the airport to go immediately to urgent care, only to find out that their website lies and it is not open until midnight, instead only 10:00pm and of course we showed up at 10:02pm. Ugh, so it was off to the hospital. They were insanely slow, so we didn't get out of there until about 3:30-3:45am.

I must say, Tyler was VERY good, but never felt the need to sleep at all. He was too anxious to see his mom-mom. BUT, he never once asked for his binki. Yeah! So, the child fell asleep at around 3:45 or later on the way home. Thankfully he slept until about 10:50 that morning, which he obviously desperately needed.

My mom is doing better, after some sort of crazy benedryl shot, and is now on a steroid, allergy medicine, and antibiotic. They have no idea what she was bit by.

Perinatologist Update

Wow, I had never seen such a long, detailed ultrasound. Totally fun! Luckily all the measurements were to confirm only good stuff. Everything is fine with little man! He has not inherited my heart condition and everything looks great. The heartrate is anywhere from 144 to 160bpm. He is weighing in at 1lb12oz. And he's absolutely adorable, if I do say so myself!

Excuse the pics. My scanner has not been cooperating, so you got photos of the pictures.

Cute little fingers (possibly sucking his thumb):

Feet:

Still a boy!:

Profile:

First Dentist Appointment!

First off, I will have to kick myself for forgetting my camera. For goodness sake I even had a camera phone and still managed to forget to take photos.

So, today was Tyler's much anticipated first dentist appointment. Now Tyler has been VERY nervous about this appointment, and I was anxious due to the circumstances and his lack of sleep, but he handled it MUCH better than I expected. The staff was really good with him, letting him sit on my lap and demonstrating the stuff on me, etc. He did shed a few tears part-way through his cleaning, but he held in there. More tears flowed when the dentist came in, but really, he didn't throw a total fit, so I guess I'm pretty happy about that.

The dentist said he doesn't think the binki caused any damage at all. In fact he said he would have been fine with him keeping it (as long as it was just for nighttime use) until he got permanent teeth (that shocked me) so I hope I made the right decision to take it. He said that the force the pacifier puts on the mouth is much different than that caused from thumb-sucking, so the pacifier is definitely the lesser of two evils. He said hopefully Tyler won't revert to sucking his thumb, but IF he does, he gave me some recommendations to try to keep him from developing that habit.

Unfortunately he said he had a couple of "suspicious spots" on some of his teeth. He said he thought it was unrelated to the pacifier. It was more likely due to the lack of flouride since I had still been using toddler toothpaste, but it's also possible he just has soft teeth. They said they'll just wait until his next appointment unless the teeth start to cause him pain. They said they try to keep the appointments fun and positive for as long as possible and, considering he is still very
anxious about the dentist, they didn't want to push it.

Tyler picked out a lovely little yo-yo from the "treasure chest" when he was all done, and is thrilled with his new SpongeBob toothpaste and Dora toothbrush. Life is good.

Binki Fairy!

So, thankfully, last night Tyler's friend's older sister came home so I was able to send her back to her house around 7:45, in enough time to get Tyler to bed at a decent hour. And boy did he need it! He was a total crank.

He whined a bit and I had to rub his back, but I was fully expecting a war, and he just drifted off to sleep I think within minutes of me leaving (so I presume). So that sleep deprivation really paid off for us! I went in around midnight and found this:
I could hear him tossing and turning a lot during the night, and he did wake up REALLY early this morning saying that he couldn't sleep because he had "nofing to suck on", but that i can tolerate! Wahoo! So he ran out to the living room and found this stuff from the Binki Fairy. He was sooooooooooo excited.
The Binki Fairy also left a note that mommy would be bringing him to Build-a-Bear to make his own friend. From what I can presume, the Binki Fairy had no opportunity to go out shopping last night once Tyler was in bed, so she had to work with what she had! No worries though, Tyler is just over the moon with excitement!

So, wish me continued luck. I know tonight will likely be worse, but for now I'm happy for a successful first night!

Oh, the disappointment

So I've been faithfully checking the status of my package arriving from Amazon. My Canon PowerShot A650IS. It was scheduled to arrive today. I took Tyler and his friend Dionna out to dinner at DQ and when I got home it was finally here! I opened it up, and it was everything I had hoped for. I put in the batteries and memory card and took some photos. Lovely. And then I noticed it...a small mark on all the photos. I thought maybe it was some dirt on the lens, but no such luck. So, my beautiful camera, which I've been waiting so patiently for, must be shipped back to Amazon. Who knows how long it will be until I get a new one back. I'm not a happy camper!

Luckily I know Amazon will come through for me (did I ever mention how much I love Amazon?) but I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.

I did get to experiment a bit with it tonight, and I think I will be really pleased with it once I get a new one. Photos taken in low light have none of the graininess that was associated with my old camera. And upon inspection of the downloaded photos, it actually appears that they turn out quite nicely. In reality it looks as if the mark/scratch is really just on the LCD since I can't see it on the photos themselves (although I'm not 100% sure) once they are on the computer, but if I'm paying top dollar for a camera, I want it to be PERFECT!

Patience is not a virtue I feel as if I possess at the moment. I blame it on the pregnancy.

Sleep deprivation

My neighbor had to go away for the evening, so I offered to keep her 7-year-old. So Tyler had his first sleepover! He had a great time, and in fact was up LATER than his playmate (sometime after 11:00pm..ugh) and still felt the need to get up at 7:00am so I'm dealing with a VERY tired boy on my hands right now, especially considering he didn't nap.

So why didn't he nap? Well, because the binki fairy is coming tonight. That's right, think what you want about it, but my almost 4-year-old still has a binki. He hasn't had it for daytime use since at least 18 months old, if not earlier. However, I've justified it's nighttime use for this long for various reasons, most of which is because he reverts to thumb sucking when he is very tired but isn't in bed yet (hence not in a position to use the binki). His pediatrician and my dentist had been in agreement over keeping it for a while, and now it's just plain habit of course. Well, I had planned on waiting until his 4-year-old doctor's appointment and/or his dentist appointment in August to get their opinion, but it dawned on me that I need to get rid of this thing NOW or else it comes too close to the baby's arrival. I don't want him to associate the binki removal with baby arrival or anything of that nature.

So, this morning, while his playmate was still here, we discussed that we'd be leaving the binkies for the binki fairy to come get tonight, and that she'd be bringing them to babies who really need them. Tomorrow their will be a surprise from the binki fairy. Tyler was iffy, but his friend was great about encouraging him.

He got one last suck on the binki:
And then he put them in an envelope to go to the binki fairy:
And then the binki fairy envelope (which he addressed himself) went outside:
Nap time was evil. Well, calling it nap time would be incorrect. "Rest" time was evil, considering he didn't nap. I am dealing with a VERY tired child right now and I'm not thrilled about it. Tonight could be fun. Ugh.

As luck would have it my neighbor is now getting home LATE (not the best timing for this), so I now have to either put Tyler to bed with his friend still here or I have to let him stay up and deal with the ugliness. And, as luck would have it, the dentist called with a cancellation and his first dentist appointment is now TOMORROW at 8:50 am. He's so nervous about this appointment as it is, and now I'm going to be taking a cranky child who potentially was up all night. I'm so utterly excited about this.

Happy Father's Day (across the miles)

Since Al is still in AZ, I thought I'd take this opportunity to say "Happy Father's Day". We miss you and can't wait until you are home. 6 more days, baby!





(the following typed by Tyler)
stopfgf

g i love you

bncat

Stayin' Alive

Just wanted to report that I'm alive and well and surviving the heat! I guess my aversion to the heat was PARTIALLY based on just how poor I had been feeling, but now that I'm feeling better the heat is much more tolerable! Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be in 70-degree weather (or at least low 80s) but I'm trying to focus on the positive.

Yesterday we had a nice little get-together at Andrea's house, where the kids got to play in the sprinkler, on the playground, and in the sandbox. Some of the older kids were patient and lucky enough to even catch dragon flies, which was pretty cool.

Today we hit some garage sales and then I even got to clean out the garage a bit (still a long way to go on that one) and finish vacuuming and cleaning out my car. I even got a couple of things listed on Craigslist. Did I ever mention how much I love getting rid of clutter?

Now I'm back inside and Tyler is getting a bit of TV time before he naps (hopefully).

Oh, in some funny news, I'm nearly famous. Today I was out and about at some garage sales, when a woman approached me and asked if my name was Heather. Long story short, she's a friend of a friend of mine, and she came across my blog from reading my friend's blog. She recognized me! What a small world!

Mark your calendars!

I recently got a call from the OB. My c-section has been tentatively scheduled for September 25th!

Viability!!!

Okay, I'm a goof, but this is a big milestone for me. What exactly is "viability"? Well, according to many resources, 24 weeks into your pregnancy marks the point where the baby could survive out of the womb.

So, today I'm 24 weeks. I'm happy to report that I haven't thrown up in 2 weeks and 1 day (but who is counting, right? LOL). I put on a bit of weight while I was at my parents and am now only down 5 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. And I'm feeling MUCH better!!

I had my OB appointment today and everything is looking good with the baby. We're looking at a c-section date of possibly September 25th or 26th, so it looks like just over another 3 months to go!

I had my lovely 1 hour glucose screening test today as well, so wish me luck that I don't have to go back in the next week for the 3-hour!

And for your viewing pleasure, belly shots: