Time to Dust Off the Old Blog ...

I know it's been almost 3 months, but it's time to start again because we have news to share ... lots of it!

First of all, Emma wanted to show you this ...

Yes in August, supposedly on the 8th, Emma will move from Only Child status to Big Sister status! Hard to believe our baby won't be our only baby anymore. She's very excited though and is very helpful with her friends' baby brothers and sisters so I'm sure we'll be a 'stupendous' (as Emma would say) big sister!

I'm 12 weeks along and heard the very strong heartbeat at the doctor yet. 150 - 160 beats per minute ... they say that means girl! The grandmas are sure it's a boy though. I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer to find out. Things have been okay, but not great. I've been pretty nauseous, had lots of headaches and lacked any energy whatsoever! I also managed to get two stomach bugs and now have a cold. Finally today I feel good aside from the cough I've developed. I'll take a cold over being nauseous anyday! Emma's been watching A LOT of TV which I, of course, have lots of mommy-guilt for, but not enough to turn it off. You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

Today was a good day though! Emma started swimming lessons and shouted her love for it through the whole lesson. She's a very enthusiastic girl and pretty much loves everything. Oh to be 2 1/2!

So the next part of our news is that we put our house on the market. Why? Because instead of going to Iraq in April, Jeremy will be going to Diego Garcia for a year in September. We got a call in November that the job was a possibility for him. At first, we dismissed it, but after more discussion, decided it would be a better option. Eventhough it's a longer time away, it's a safer place, better for his career and we'll hopefully be able to talk to him more often. He'll also get to come home twice while he's away. We were in Pittsburgh at the time that we heard about it, but it wasn't until we got back home that I discovered that I was pregnant. When we got the positive pregnancy test and realized he'd be home from the birth, it clinched it for us.

Did you do the math? Yes, that means I will be a (temporarily) single parent a month after the baby is born! SOOO ... I'm hightailing it out of here and heading home. I know I can handle both kids, but not without having my parents nearby. Being alone is very challenging. I have good friends here, but it's not that same has having your family down the street. Having the stomach bug a month go made me realize that there was no way I could do this alone. Letting Emma eat saltines and watch TV all day is one thing, but that doesn't work so well for a newborn! So this spring, we'll be heading to Pittsburgh.

So that's our news! Hopefully I'll be updating more often now that so much is going on. We're going to Disney World in a week and a half, so I'm sure we'll have lots to share about that!

Happy Halloween!

I'm not sure if anyone is still out there and I couldn't blame anyone for not still reading since I never remember to post anything, but I do know a few people who might like to see our darling girl dressed up for Halloween.

Last night was trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Not sure why it wasn't tonight, but as much fun as it was, I'm glad it's over with.

Emma was a bumble bee.  I wasn't sure what I wanted her to be, but had suggested a bee awhile ago.  After discussion about many other ideas, I realized that when anyone other than me asked what she was going to be for Halloween she said, 'A bee!'  So while it Pittsburgh last week, Grandma and Grandpa treated her to the most adorable bee costume I've ever seen.



'I'm going to get thiiiis muuuch candy!'



'Mommy you're going to be The Cat in the Hat?? I LOVE The Cat in the Hat!'

'Please Mommy! Can't we go yet? The other kids are going out!'

'Pretty please??? With sugar on top!

 

Okay, I know I'm biased, but really, have you ever seen a cuter bee than this??

And so we went, up and down the street, ringing doorbells, collecting treats and, of course, always saying Thank You.  Emma walked all the up to the cul-de-sac in our neighborhood, which for those of you who've never seen it, is a pretty long walk especially for 2-year-old legs. She would've gone farther, but silly Mommy forgot a flashlight so I was afraid we'd be caught in the dark. Oh, and she walks REALLY slowly!

Happy Halloween!

A Girl and her Accessories

Emma has a new love -her Dr. Seuss hat.  Actually it was mine from my teaching days, but I found it while sorting through all my classroom bins and passed it along.  She also loves bags and purses of all kinds. But what she loves the most is - Mommy's red patent leather heels. So why not put all of those loves together with a yellow onesie for one amazing outfit!

And when she gets tired from clomping around in those heels, they provide a nice place to sit and rest! Oh, Emma, sweet girl, how I love you!

Beating the Heat

It's been hot here.  Really, really hot! We've been trying to get outside and still keep cool, but it's a challenge. 

Emma started sweeping outside her cottage - one of her favorite activities, but it's hard work sweeping in such hot weather.

Then she went for a ride in her car, but the air conditioning wasn't working.

So she decided to get in her swim diaper and head to her water sprinkler pad thingy. 

The water was cold. VERY cold! She didn't seem to mind too much though once she got in.

 Who knows what she was doing here?! Trying to catch water in her diaper??

 Time to look for bugs in the grass.

Too hot in the grass. Back to the water.

 And then it was time to drink some water.

 And have a picnic lunch of chicken, avacados and blueberries.

 After lunch, Emma turned into a frog.

 Have you ever seen a cuter frog?

 Then it was Super Froggy!

 All in a day's work.

 Finally, she turned back into my sweet girl and spent the rest of the afternoon drawing with her sidewalk chalk. Lots of fun, but it was hot! Really, really HOT!

And today we wait for the hurricane to hit. At least, it will bring cooler temperatures!

To Train or Not to Train?

So now that Emma is 2, the potty training issue on the table.  Is she ready?  Am I ready?  I don't really know the question to either of these questions.  What I do know is that I want her trained by her next birthday so she can start pre-school in the Fall.  Beyond that though, I'm kind of at a loss!

We aren't pushing it just yet because, well, for one she just turned 2 and for another I don't really want to stress her (or myself) out about it. Beyond those two basics, though, we have run into a few things that are keeping us from being a diaper free household. (At least until, a sibiling comes along whenever that may be.)

Issue # 1 - Learning how to sit on the potty.

Issue #2 - Learning what to put in the potty.

Issue # 3 - Learning where and when to use the potty.  Emma likes to carry her potty out of the bathroom, into the kitchen and strip right there.

Issue #4 - the underwear issue.  Emma has the waist and tushie of an infant.  Size 6-12 month pants are still loose on her ... with a diaper on.  12 - 18 months have to be rolled at the waist and 18 -24 months are pretty much a lost cause. She just isn't the standard size of a potty training toddler.

I bought some Pull-Ups for when the time comes, but she really still wears a size 3 diaper and they only come in size 4 and above. Plus I really don't want to rely on Pull-Ups for too long.

 So where does one buy infant sized underwear? Well, I did buy some XS thick cotton training pants at Hanna Andersson (at $25 for 3 pairs!), and while they are cute, soft and make very cute little pj shorts, they certainly wouldn't hold any accidents in.

I may not be able to train her until I can find underwear that fits!  It's a moot point if there's nothing to replace the diaper.

 Issue #5 - She's just not quite ready.  While she does like her pottys (The beautiful rocking chair in the background is actually a potty chair that my mom bought her for Christmas, but currently her infant sized tushy is a little too small to keep from falling into the hole.) and her potty books, but the idea of using the potty is still a bit of a novelty.  Not to mention the fact that she still denys the existence of poop in her diaper 90% of the time.

Issue #6 - I don't think I'm quite ready.  I don't mind (usually) changing diapers.  It just isn't that big an issue.  Mostly, though, I REALLY don't want to drop everything and rush to the bathroom in the middle of Target, the grocery store or somewhere that doesn't even have potty because she has to go ... NOW!

So I guess for now we'll just keep talking about the potty and reading our books.  I'll keep searching for tiny underwear. And when she's ready, she'll tell me.  I hope. Okay maybe if she doesn't tell me by Thanksgiving, I'll buy a book about potty training. Maybe.

So Here's What You Missed ...

Shortly after Emma turned 2, we went to Rhode Island for a Leghorn family party.  Emma had a ball playing with her cousins (well, Jeremy's cousin's daughters - I don't know how that all works - 2nd cousins, 2nd cousins once removed, yada yada yada).  We had an uneventful drive back, but by 9:30 at night, I was doubled over with abdominal pain.  It was actually the 2nd time that week that I had felt this particular pain, but the first time it passed in about 15 minutes and I chalked up to severe bloating.  This time, I decided bloated or not, I should go to the ER.   I figured if I was on my hands and knees trying to alleviate the pain which felt like a labor contraction or, what I imagine, a heartache might feel like, it couldn't be good.

By the time I arrived in the ER and got checked in, the pain was gone, of course.  When I was evaluated by the triage nurse, my heart rate was 150 bpm.  The nurse even said she could see my pulse throbbing in neck.  Not feel, SEE!  The nervous look on her face didn't help bring my heart rate down.  She seemed more than a little nervous out by the combination of my freakishly high heart rate, visible pulse and otherwise relatively calm appearance and demeanor.

I was started on IV fluids to bring my heart rate down, which didn't work, was given anti-nausea medication and pain killers, which sort of worked and had blood work down right away as well as an EKG.  A while later, after convincing myself I was going to need a heart transplant or something (OK not really), the doctor came in declaring that he knew what was wrong with me - gallstone pancreatitis. Sounded pretty good to me since it meant I wasn't dying of a blood clot or heart attack.

After spending the whole night and early morning in the ER, I was finally admitted to the hospital.  I was told that the only cure for pancreatitis was to stop eating and drinking until my pancreatic enzyme levels (which went from about 700 when I came in to 15,000 by the next morning.  Normal is well below 100 I believe.) to return to normal or close to normal.  In other words, I couldn't eat for days. Just under 3 days to be exact.  No food, no water, not even ice chips on a regular basis.  Every time you eat or drink, your body produces enzymes to help digest the food.  No food, no enzymes.

My levels were down by the next day which was surprising to the doctors leading them to believe I had a gallstone blocking my bile duct that eventually passed allowing the enzymes to keep flowing.  I had a procedure called an ERCP to make sure my duct was no longer clogged and was told I would need to have my gallbladder out within a few weeks.

I went in on a Saturday and was discharged the following Wednesday with instructions to avoid coffee, alcohol and fat.  Rather limiting, but it did help to lose 12 lbs in about a week! 

Two weeks ago, I had my gallbladder out.  My parents came to help out since I was instructed not to life more than 15 pounds for 2 to 3 weeks which meant lifting Emma was out of the question. She was not to happy about not having Mommy do the things I usually do, but she seems to be over it, sort of. Jeremy's parents took over on Sunday. I feel great, like nothing happened, but I haven't gotten the all clear yet. Today I go back to the doctor for a follow-up and am praying that he will tell me I can get back to at least lifting Emma. I still can't drink or eat much fat, but at least I can have coffee and now I'm down 17 pounds from when I went to the hospital the for the pancreatitis. So it's not ALL bad!

So that's the story!  I feel like life has been sort of crazy and I haven't felt much life blogging, but I'm getting back to normal and in spite of being an invalid, we have managed to do keep Emma entertained and out of trouble! Thank God!

Delicious!

I really wanted to put the video up of Emma blowing out her candles, but the file must be too big. So here is a short one of her enjoying her birthday cupcake!