Hope You Have High-Speed...

...'cause I'm back and I brought a ton o' pictures to boot! My oh my what a crazy few days it has been. Okay, so you remember that I got my sister from the airport Tuesday night, right? No snow falling at all. Nada. I didn't know a blizzard was coming. That night I noticed more than ankle swelling...it was creeping up my calves. Eek! I had a minor freak out, of course, I'm still me after all...but I went to sleep and woke up with it all better again. Back to the minor ankle swelling. It must've been from either all the crap I've been eating (holiday goodies, ya know?) or it could also have been due to all the sitting/standing/waiting/driving I had to do getting my sis from the airport. Jason thinks (jokingly, of course) that it's just a reaction to the airport in general--flying is what did it to me the last time I was pregnant. Anyway...

My sis got here safely, the swelling went away overnight, Jason gets up and drives to work the next day. No snow on the ground. We knew it was supposed to snow but that's about it. We prepared by Jason putting on some long johns under his pants. I even told him, "Sorry you can't take the car today (the 4WD) because we've got plans." Ha!!!! We were expecting my mom and other sis to drive up to visit but she had to turn around and go home due to "blizzard-like conditions". Whatever, Moosie. :) I flipped on the news finally...wouldn't you know it: it WAS a blizzard! Once I got how serious it really was and how bad it was supposed to get I called Jason basically begging him to leave work early. Everywhere was closing at noon that day all around the state. Y'all read the part about it taking him 3+ hours to get home. It was nerve-wracking...good thing Easton, Auntie Jess, and I were all napping. Otherwise I would've been crazy. We were snowed in. No going anywhere.

Instead, Auntie Jessica (who Easton has dubbed "Dess") decided to assemble some of her gifts. She had Easton help her put them under the tree. Then she handed him a gift bag by the handles to put under the tree. Silly goose hung it on the tree like an ornament.

Oh goodness, I laughed so hard. He did it with the other one she handed him too. Hee hee! Hilarious. We left 'em that way. What else did we do? Drank milk. Here is Eastie getting it out of the "fridgie" himself like he likes to do:

And playing in a box that some gifts came in...I started singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and so he took it upon himself to go get a paddle: his popper toy. Resourceful.


Also that day my OB's office called saying, "We're closing early today we don't know if we'll be open tomorrow so call us and check before you come". My "Monday" appointment was supposed to be Thursday. Ugh...I told them, "Yeah, even if you are open" (which I seriously doubted because the snow was expected to continue till noon that day) Okay, so, "Even if you are open I'm not going to make the drive--can we reschedule now?" And they were in a hurry to get off the phone so she just said, "Well, there's not going to be anything this week and probably nothing the next week either. Call in the morning. Bye!" See? I've told you how lovely (not) the office staff is there. Poo faces. Oh well. Kindermusik also called to cancel on us. No biggie.

Well, indeed the OB and everywhere else was closed on Thursday. Jason didn't even attempt to go to work although he did manage to do quite a bit of "work" from home with emails and phone calls and such. Once the snow stopped he also had quite a bit o' shoveling to do and we wanted to take Easton out to play. Here he is all bundled up for his first blizzard:

Fresh from his nap he's wearing some fleece footie jammies under his hopefully waterproof Broncos jogging suit and his coat and tennis shoes. Creative, but it worked. And his first foray into the blizzard of '06:

The amazing thing is that we "had" to let him play in the driveway there because the snow wasn't as deep. Jason had already shoveled that part once to get his truck up the driveway (remember?) so as deep as it is, it was worse elsewhere...we might've lost him! ;) We had at least two feet of snow! Okay, so here he is posing with Mommy:

And wearing quite the crazy expression as he tastes snow for the first time:

Cute li'l snow bunny:

Is that the baby bathtub in the background? Yes, yes it is. Or a "sled" as we like to call it now:

A "winning" shot:

Jason is already looking forward to about 10 years from now when "the boys" are old enough to do the shoveling for us:

Our front porch...

Wowsers! Hope there's no forgotten Christmas packages hiding under there.

Eastie's first snow angel. The crazy thing is, he did this all on his own. We didn't tell him to try it or even to lay down at all:

Jason thinks it looks more like a "snow Jesus":

Giving Daddy a hand:


Easton had a blast in the snow. He didn't want to stop. But the sun was starting to go down and I was getting cold, not to mention Jason needed us out of the way to actually do some work so E and I headed inside for a shower and then he demonstrated one of his favorite tricks: hanging from the bars on our bed but lifting up his feet. He can totally do it without laying on the bed...like at Gymsters where there's just a "high" bar...he'll get up there, hang on, and lift his feet up to the bar on his own. Stud:


Anyway, I was starting to feel pretty bad for poor Aunt Jess who was stuck inside with us for so long. We're not the most exciting people to you "outsiders" although we like us. Plus, my mom hadn't gotten to see her yet and she was scheduled to leave today (Friday). News reports were making it sound like she'd be stuck here till the 26th because it would take that long to evacuate all the stranded travelers out at DIA. However, the airport re-opened at noon today and so far so good...she's in line for security as I speak/type whatever...haven't heard from her lately though.

So, back to earlier today...Easton was nice to us and slept in till 8. Jason decided yesterday not to bother with work today either. Aside from some minor "from home" tasks. We had breakfast and snuggled on the couch watching some of E's "holiday specials":

And Gramoo and Lauren were finally able to make it up to see Aunt Jess today. They brought Easton a festive holiday book that lights up. Of course that was a big hit:

They're in a camping chair because we don't have enough chairs around our table for everyone. Especially now that Easton's in a booster seat instead of a high chair. Oh well. After sitting around the table for a bit we moved to open some presents with "Dess". Here is our little Santa Baby delivering packages to their rightful owners:

He's such a sweetie-poo--I brought down a couple of packages and put them under the tree but I told him they were for Auntie Jessica and he decided at that point to pick up each one of the 3 and bring them right to her. Awwww. Both Easton and Dess were very excited for Easton's present, a Thomas train set!



He loves it and was very patient while we (Daddy mostly) got it all set up for him. It even makes steam! Very cool! He played with it nearly all the rest of the day except for when we made him take breaks...and when I made him take his short nap. Here's one of his silly and frequently used expressions, he found a small piece of train:

I made out pretty well gift-wise too:

Jessica is way cooler and trendier than I am so I wanted her to get me some new sunglasses. I like 'em! But, then she also spoiled me with the new earrings you see in my lobes. They're classic silver hoops...much smaller than she or Lauren would wear but "cool" nonetheless. Jessica described them as "modest for motherhood". Perfect for me! The new purse is from her too! I'm going to be the most stylish preggo at Kindermusik next time! Yay me! And thanks to Auntie Jesh! Jason got a gift card to his favorite restaurant: PF Changs. Yum! I'm glad he likes to take me along to redeem it! Oh, and word is she's on her plane now...yay for her!

So, the OBs office was open today and I was able to reschedule my "28 week appointment" for January 3rd...when I'll be 31 weeks and 4 days. Super. This is some really great "high risk" care I'm getting, eh? I did ask to speak with a nurse because, while the actual doctor's visits don't do much for me: weigh, check BP, measure my uterus with a tape measure and then ask if I have questions, I did want to check on some other "issues" so I asked the nurse to simply order my labs so I could do them now. They don't know I'm possibly beginning some symptoms (till I told the nurse today). Plus, they were going to repeat my 24 hour urine at 28 weeks anyway. I wasn't sure about them repeating my PIH panel but I got her to order that too. Just for case. (I say that wrong on purpose).

Now that the roads are finally passable we're planning for me to get those labs drawn tomorrow (Saturday) morning and to pick up my jug for the pee party then too. I'll plan to take the jug back up to the 'spital on Christmas Eve. Festive!! With Easton's pregnancy we turned one in on Christmas Day. Hopefully things are still looking good but the nurse agreed that we want to keep a close eye on things. She is very smart. If anything is amiss I know the on-call doc will call...even on Christmas. I just don't want to take any chances. I think things are fine, my BP is still nice and low when I've checked it...but then again it was like that last time too. Till the bitter end.

Jason needs to do a bit of holiday shopping tomorrow and I need to pick up some things from the grocery store for my own contribution to Christmas dinner. Glad the snow is over...that's all I have to say about that! It's fun, but I felt bad for my sister being holed up here with us, unsure when she might get home. It all worked out okay, though! Okay, that is more than enough but I had days to catch up on here peeps, and a lot of material to work through. But, now I'm done so until next time....

Blizzard of 2006

Yup, we're in the midst of a blizzard. It's supposed to go through noon tomorrow (Thursday) for a total of 18-24 inches of snow. Jason left work at noon and what is normally a half hour trek at that time of day turned into 3+ hour drive.

Here's some pics...Jason finally made it all the way home but then couldn't get up the driveway. A helpful neighbor helped dig him out (and it's even worse than it looks in the picture):

And Easton shows us just how deep the snow is at the back window:

Auntie Jess made it just in time to get snowed in. She's scheduled to leave Friday but all the highways and the airport are shut down for now. We'll see what happens...


Of course, being the "talker" I am I have waaaay more to say about today but it's late and we need to get to bed and let my sister have the guest room back. 'Night!

Could My Kid BE Any Cuter?

That's my impression of Chandler from "Friends". Seriously though, even with the candy cane drool spot I have such a cute little boy, don't I?

Okay, I'm a little biased, I know. But I just think he's so great and I'm jealous of his eyelashes. Anyway...

Yesterday Easton woke up from his nap saying, "Woo woo!" *sigh* I asked, "Did you have a woo woo?" and checked. Nope. Then he switched to "Wee wee. Woo woo. Potty." "Oh, you want to sit on the potty?" "Yeah." Off we go...heading for the potty...nope...he just wanted to watch the Elmo potty DVD again. And, I'm not joking, but more often than not it seems he poops when he watches it. Power of suggestion? I need to bring in the potty for the viewings but he watches in our carpeted bedroom and we try to keep the potty action on the non-carpeted areas for obvious reasons. The other strange thing about Easton is that somehow, even though he manages to consume pretty much nothing but milk he is somehow pooping an average of 3 times a day!! I remember when he used to go 4-5 days between having just 1. Then he was a once-a-dayer. Now 3 and sometimes more! It's crazy. Okay, that's enough sharing of my child's bowel habits. Sorry.

Today has been pretty good so far. I was able to get Easton to sip some "smuh das" (smoothies) with me this morning so that sort of counts as breakfast. Then we headed off to Gymsters. We had fun as usual until separation time again. Ack! Right beforehand they started bringing out some of the usual "separation time" toys. Easton got so excited to see the instruments they bring out, then he looked at me realizing it was about time for me to leave. Then, just to make it as difficult as possible a little girl accidentally ran into Easton's eye with the corner of a wooden puzzle. Ouch. The teachers kept going "Does he need ice? Does he need ice?" I knew he was fine for the most part, I just think he was milking it for all it was worth to keep me from leaving. Once he recovered I tried to engage him in some puzzle action but he was on to me. He wouldn't leave my lap and if I set him on the floor next to me he'd climb back on wailing, "Ug! Ug!" (hug). Jeez kid, save the drama for your mama. Oh wait...that's me. Needless to say, I never made it even slightly out of the area today. I think the teachers were mildly annoyed only because they weren't talking to me and offering their "helpful" advice like they were last week. Oh well. I don't know what it is with Easton right now. We've been going to this place for, like 14 weeks now and he starts this NOW? Crazy guy.

At the end of class Easton got his first candy cane (a mini one). It was cinnamon flavored instead of minty but he still loved it. I let him suck it till we got to the car then I took it away (messy and dangerous) and told him he could have it after lunch. With the promise of a candy cane looming I was able to get Easton to eat a whole yogurt for lunch! Woo hoo! Can't rememeber the last time he did that. Then he polished off his candy cane.

Now he's having a nap. Poor kid was falling asleep in the car on the way back from Gymsters. That's another thing he rarely does these days: fall asleep in the car. Even if it's dark and way past his bedtime he stays up. But today I had to keep talking to him to keep him from nodding off. Hopefully he'll have a nice long nap and then we'll be going to Wal-Mart to finish up our shopping, get groceries, and pick up a few essentials for E's new room: like a waterproof matress pad. Crunchy. Actually the one he has on his crib mattress isn't too bad so hopefully it'll be alright.

My sister arrives tonight, I'll leave to go get her after we finish the bedtime routine. She's supposed to be bringing me some of San Antone's finest tortillas. Mmmmm. Love those. Real tortillas are mighty tasty. She always brings me some when she visits. And pecan chewies. Yum yum! Just what a pregnant mama needs.

And hopefully she'll be able to help us gauge whether I'm swelling anywhere other than my ankles. I don't think so but I didn't last time either. She doesn't see me enough so she can help be objective. If she's honest, that is. I saw her at this time in Easton's pregnancy and she was real nice about my wide nose and puffy face until after we learned it was an issue. This time she'll need to speak up right away.

Alrighty then, I think that's it for Tuesday. I can't believe Christmas is in less than a week! How fun!

Sorry for Disappearing for the Whole Weekend

Arrrrgh! Okay, so even if the OB office receptionist was a confused twit, if she handed you this--when would YOU show up for your appointment?


Oh...you'd show up today a little before 11 like I did??? Well, you'd be wrong. The appointment is not until Thursday the 21st and you're just supposed to know that. Big dumb stupid heads. We hate the "support staff" at this office. In fact, during our last pregnancy we found another office simply because we hated the office staff (and a nurse) SOOO much. This time, with my history and me wanting to deliver at that hospital there is really not much choice but this office. The doctors are great, they really are...they just don't know how to hire help. So, anyway, I did not get to see anyone today even though I dragged my poor, sweet, Santa-hat wearing toddler there and made my husband leave the office all for nothing. Soooooo not happy with them right now. I'm a little mad at myself for it all too. I should've known to double check the appointment later on by calling as we said Thursday when scheduling it but then she seemed to have scheduled it for Monday. I should've also known to bring that damned card with me to shove in their faces when they acted like it was my fault for coming on the wrong day. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Then, poor Jason was like, "Well...you guys wanna go get smoothies?" and since I was still fuming at the whole situation (Boulder is not particularly close to our house) I said, "Um...I really don't." Poor J. He said he was just happy to see me and Li'l E. Now we have to do it all again on Thursday but my sister Jessica will be in town then. I repeat: Arrrrgh!

Okay, well, moving right along...the weekend was fine. Saturday we went out to pick out paint for the furniture we're putting in Easton's new room. Then we went out for Mexican for dinner. I let E dip a chip in their spicy queso dip and he freaked out (in a bad way) once he got a taste of the spicies. I guess I shouldn't have let him do that. We know he can't handle spicy food (like his mama). Oops. He recovered quickly.

On Sunday I planned a small cookie exchange with some of my "mom friends". My mom was nice enough to host it at her house. We were expecting a small turnout: just a total of 6 including me and my mom. But, 2 people got ill beforehand and had to cancel. Boy did I feel like a loser having 2 whole people over to my mom's for a "gathering". It was still nice to sit around and chat and snack, we ended up inviting another mom friend at the last minute since she lived nearby. In the end I got to bring home lots of treats. Mmmm. Jason and Easton hung out here at home while I was gone and they did really really great as always. Easton got to have a sucker:

And the boys watched football. Then apparently Easton was acting sleepy and Jason asked him if he was ready for his nap and he said, "Yeah. Bed." and then went right to sleep like a good boy. He had a good nap and ate quite a lot for his daddy too. He was such a good eater that he got to enjoy a cookie when I got home:

I guess they had a lovely time without me. But, I'm glad...not sad.

Easton is really a sweetie. I just like to be around him most all the time. I really hope I like Deucie this much. I'm sure I will but it just seems impossible. I think all moms say that as they expect subsequent kiddos, don't they? While I got dressed for my non-appointment today my sweet angel occupied himself in his room with books:

Every once in awhile he'd run in and tell me what he was reading about, "Santa!" or he'd make an elephant sound (for elephants, not for Santa). For his birthday he's getting a handful of "real" non-board books for his new big boy room.

Speaking of the new room, we're starting to make a little bit of progress (finally). The comforter arrived, we think we've chosen the paint for the furniture, I bought a set of sheets and we're talking about alllllll the other plans. We have 3 weeks from today to have it all ready! Yikes! We want to do a "big reveal" to him on his birthday which is 3 weeks from tomorrow. We plan on not letting him see the progress (the door to this room is being kept shut 'cause of Blitz anyway). But, like they do on those makeover TV shows we want to keep it all a surprise till we're done. It'll be fun that way, right? Okay, so he probably won't appreciate it as much as we will and he'll think it's just another room for him to play in at first. Till naptime or bedtime when we try to stick him in something other than his crib. Eek! We'll just have to see what happens. But we've still got to get cracking even more: there's things to order online and hope they arrive in time. We've just got to get through Christmas before we move everything officey/guest roomy out and move all the big boy stuff in.

My sister is coming for a short visit and she arrives tomorrow night. I want Easton to learn who she is. He knows and can name Gramoo and Aunt Lauren which are both quite cute. Now he needs all his out-of-state relatives to visit so he can learn them too. He says names if we tell him to but doesn't do it on his own for them yet. Actually, sometimes when he's pretending he's talking on the phone he'll start with, "Oh...hello, Dada?" and move on to, "Oh...hello, Paw Paw?" Special. Too bad Paw Paw doesn't read the blog to appreciate that.

Anyhoo, with today being mostly a bust I did manage to check my borrowed BP cuff's reading against the readings on the L&D monitors. It was the same-ish as far as the diastolic reading goes (the bottom number). The systolic was kinda off, I'll have to ask if it's too off. Anyway, the L&D cuff read 130/72 and my mom's cuff (Easton got to push the button to start it!) was 118/71. I did them on opposite arms but at the exact same time...that's why I needed Easton to push one of the buttons. He got to practice before we left the house and it was super-low again at 96/56. It shot up quite a lot just going to the hospital. Good thing we didn't take it after the whole "you're appointment's not today" ordeal. I'm sure it would've been sky high what with the steam practically shooting out my ears and all.

Okay, I think I'm done. Yup, I am....'kay bye!

Doesn't Anyone Ever Sleep Around Here?

Last night with Gramoo and Easton went great, so we heard. Auntie Lauren had a case of the sniffles so she opted out of exposing Easton in time for a holiday cold (wise move). So Eastie and Guhbah were on their own and it sounded like they had a really great time and lots of fun while we were at our party. I'm glad to hear it all went so well after his clingyness all day. Woo hoo! Here we are before we left for the event:

Who are they calling anemic? :) Sheesh, I'm whiter than the wall!

The party was fine, the dessert buffet was pathetic (oh well), and Jason enjoyed the open bar so that I could drive home. :) We came home to this:

Gramoo brought all kinds of fun stuff for Easton so that's Playdoh cut out with cookie cutters you see there on the plate. Then those fun holiday "growing" sponges where you put a capsule in water and those shapes emerge...and last but not least: stamps on paper. Easton loves stamps at Kindermusik and Gymsters. I bet he had a blast with all that last night and I loved how they saved it for us to see. Too cute. In fact, Easton and Gramoo were having so much fun that Easton wasn't even asleep until after 8:45. That's finally when my mom decided to leave his room, with him still awake. I always leave with him awake but she's used to rocking him to sleep because he's had a tough time changing up the routine in the past, I think. Oh well. When I heard how late his bedtime was I groaned, "Shish (actually I said the word that sounds like shish)...he'll be up at 6." Noooooooo...uh-uh...he was up at 5. It was lovely, ummm...NOT! He was in there for a good 10-15 minutes making his usual non-stop up for the day sounds. So, I went in there and rocked him and put him back to bed. Jason heard him again around 6 or so but he stopped on his own and didn't get up again until 7:45ish. Meanwhile, Jason didn't come to bed till midnight (thanks to his coffee and Kahlua). Then, he couldn't sleep for very long perhaps due to the other open bar offerings? So, I slept fine till 5 and then I was pretty much done. Bummer. I'm hoping for a nap for myself but the blog was calling. We'll see...

With his restless night Easton's been a bit of a crank pot this morning. Sometimes he's like that even with a good night's rest though so you never know what the deal is. Anyway, he was up and awake for over 2 hours before he was willing to come downstairs with me for my breakfast. Of course he's not eating much still (the teething?) but this morning he has guzzled down enormous quantities of milk. Like, as much as he normally drinks in a day he's had in 4.5 hours. Goodness!

Quick funny story from today--I was using the facilities and Easton was playing in the family/living room. The doorbell rang and Easton went to the door and started knocking back and saying, "Tih tee" (trick or treat). It made me smile. Sometimes if the doorbell rings he gets excited and says, "Guhbah!" It was not trick or treaters or Gramoo...just a Christmas package I ordered online.

Anyway, we haven't left the house or changed out of our jammies yet but here's pics from this morning:

And, copying Daddy when Daddy makes the rhino visit during dinner and drinks Easton's milk:

Some silly faces:



Sticking a marshmallow to his face, but not eating them (they were for my hot chocolate):


And lastly, showing how he can sometimes walk up the stairs without holding onto anything. He's heading up for his nap...


A nap or at least a little sack time with my new book is sounding pretty good to me right about now too so off I go...bye!

Guess who finally climbed out of his crib yesterday...yup, my big boy. We were wondering if it would ever happen and it did. However, he wasn't in there for sleep...it was to play. He kept asking for "bed?" so I'd put him in and he' happily jump around. I asked if he wanted out and he said no. I asked if he wanted to go shopping and he said no. I asked if he wanted me to leave and he said yes. So I headed to the 'puter in the room next door. Before too long I hear him doing a whiney cry saying, "Ohhhhh! Bed" so I went in and see him walking across the room towards me. Gasp! I never heard a loud thunk from him falling or even a soft thud from him landing gracefully. He must've been pretty controlled because it sure was quiet. I think he was a little scared by his abilities and I think he was bummed that he left "Ohhhh" (his Cuddles burp cloth) behind. Pretty crazy. We're not going to take him out of the crib just yet. After sleeps he stays laying down while he calls for us--even if we wait 10 minutes (for me to grab a shower) he still always stays laying in his sleep position. Plus at night he wears a sleep sack so it'd be nearly impossible for him to hike just one leg over the rail or however he did it. He very rarely "plays" in his crib so I think we'll be okay till January. I hope so, at least.

Other big news from yesterday: Auntie Lauren is now a licensed driver! Eek! She passed her test yesterday and she got her braces off the day before that. I can't wait to see her. It's all very exciting! I won't have to wait long to see her as she and Gramoo are babysitting the li'l guy tonight while Jason and I attend his work party.

Anyway, to this morning...here is the little teether:


And, Easton is really learning a lot from this DVD:

For example, they have a segment with a variety of different toilet terminology...well, the various words people use for the various bodily functions. Easton thinks it is amusing...what normal little boy wouldn't? Anyway, yesterday I asked him, "Did you have a poo?" and very often he'll tell us "Yeah" if he did or he'll reach around and pat his butt and say "Nope" if he didn't. He doesn't always tell the truth but usually... So, back to my story: I asked, "Did you have a poo?" and thanks to the DVD he smiled and told me "Woo woo!" and sure enough, he did have a woo woo. Thank you, Baby Bear and family...that's who says it that way on Sesame Street. Big huge goober.

Okay, did something happen to my belly overnight?

I know any of you who read this blog regularly will be too afraid to actually answer :) but the reason I'm curious is because four strangers this morning asked me when I'm due. No one ever asks me that. And I feel like all four of 'em had a "I-bet-you're-due-next-week" look on their faces. Sheesh. Stupidly I told the first 3 I was due in March. Then I'd get the shocked look and they'd say, "March?!?!" Great...I wised up by the time I told the 4th person. I told her the end of February. She didn't seem as shocked so I need to remember to stick with that answer. March does seem like a long ways away but if I make it to my hopeful C-section date at 38 weeks 6 days then that's only just over 2 months away. I really hope our OB lets us schedule when we go on Monday. It'll be nice to have an actual day to shoot for, even if I don't make it...and right now, I feel like I won't. Not that I'll go early as in preterm, just a lot of people don't make it to 39 weeks. Babies decide to come earlier than that (and are healthy) all the time. Even if nothing health-wise happens for me I could do something crazy and go into labor before then. You just never know.

Oh, and more from today--Easton is being a bit of a cling-on. At Kindermusik he was very shy and reserved. At times he cuddled chest-to-chest or even had me cradling him like a baby. He preferred for me to hold him while we danced during a song. Same thing with walking in parking lots and such today. Usually the first thing he asks getting out of the car is, "Walk?" but today he kept saying, "Holda" and reaching out his arms for me to hold him. Its kind of nice because he's not like that much. I'm totally taking advantage today. I think tonight (with the sitters) might be a little harder on him than normal. I'm just basing this off his clinginess today and his freak-out during "separation time" at Gymsters. I feel bad for my mom when that happens but what can you do? We'll see how it goes. He just saw them over the weekend so it could be just fine.

Okay, well I think I'll go now. I already finished up my Elmo book and I'm ready to start something else. Ta ta!

To those of you that are praying...they're working! And thank you! My swelling has been minimal and is still limited to just my ankles right now. It's awesome. My BP was low again the next time I checked although I'm interested to take the cuff with us to the doctor on Monday to compare the readings. It just seems SOOO low. I'm still having the head weirdness and occasional mild headaches that go away on their own. I'll mention them to the OB on Monday but I'm not too worried most of the time right now. Yay!

I guess I should maybe confess to my "self-medicating" with a popular diuretic: caffiene! In the form of a can of Coke the last few days. I was a little more strict with caffiene when I was pregnant with Easton but I'm not one of those obsessed preggos who won't touch it (no offense to those of you that are/were--more power to ya!). Our doctor says the amount I'm having is fine. She said that at the beginning of the pregnancy. At first I thought the diuretic would make me retain more water in the long run from dehydrating me but if anything (if it's even having an effect) it seems to be doing the opposite. For now. Or it could be the prayers alone. I dunno...

Okay, well Easton's nap yesterday was quite short. Of course it was since he went down so easily, right? He woke up and was so hyper but in a great mood. He wanted to go shopping (he said so!) so we hit a few places to browse mostly. We checked out the party goods store for his birthday next month and such. Then we decided to take the car for a wash. As we pulled in I explained the loudness to Easton ahead of time and we held hands. I said the car was having a shower and that made it loud and all that. He did just fine and talked about it all the way home, wanting to do it again. Jason's normally the car washer so that's why Easton needed the explanations--he's not experienced in that area. :)

When we got home we put on some Christmas music and danced about like loons. Click here for a video of Easton dancing to his new favorite Christmas tune, Elmo and Rosie O'Donnell's "Do You Hear What I Hear?" He even sings along with parts of it and he sang it this morning without the music, "A star...a star" or "I knooooooow". He amuses me.

We also sang along in the mirror watching ourselves. Easton cracked me up by putting his cheek on mine and opening and closing his mouth with me. He found this very funny too. I think he was proud he thought of it.


And, after the dancing he still ran around like a crazy man, here he is lifting his train like Superman:


What a stud! Jason brought home sandwiches for dinner. It was the most delicious one I've, like, ever had! :) Seriously it was so good and I want another one right now.

Today we haven't left the house yet. We had some breakfast, made a craft kit, sat on the potty a little...that sort of thing. After the nap we'll head to the library and then to Wal-Mart. Not too exciting but it's all fun to The E. Buh bye!

"Pah-dee...Eastie...Elmo"

Easton went pee pee in the potty for the first time last night!!!! Sort of--it ended up as only a few drops--read on. He occasionally sits on his potty before his baths, mostly he climbs inside it. Anyway, last night he sat on it and we told him to push and before long a few sprinkles came out. However, as soon as I saw the spurting I started shrieking loudly in excitement and scared Easton as well as the rest of the pee pee. Oh well. It was very exciting for everyone and I hope I didn't traumatize the little dude with my too loud encouragement. He's very sensitive that way sometimes. Anyway, here he is leaning out of the tub to see what he did:

A very big moment. Yay! At bedtime he was telling us how Eastie goes in the potty, Elmo does (he has the Elmo Potty Time DVD from the libarary right now), Daddy does, and Mommy does. The way Easton is I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even want to sit on the thing again for another few months. Then again, he might. You just never know. Anyway, that was our biggest news for yesterday.

On to earlier, as in--after his nap...we did paint with water. The quality of the Christmas paint with water book is really crappy and it doesn't work right. Easton enjoyed it okay, didn't love it.

Oh well.

Then once Daddy got him he made his new tumbling mat into a slide for Easton:

We had to stop when Easton started being too much of a daredevil and standing at the top then nearly flipping off the sides. Good grief. Jason compared him to a skateboarder on a half pipe.

As Jason and I were in the kitchen rustling up some dinner Easton was quietly playing in the other room. When I say quiet that's what I mean...we knew he was doing things he knows he shouldn't be like touching the tree or reaching for my nutcrackers. Before long we heard a nutcracker fall and Easton started crying. I went in there and he seemed uninjured so I asked him, "Easton are you crying because the nutcracker hurt you or because you think you're in trouble?" and in between some minimal tears he said, "Trouble." But, he wasn't in trouble. Gotta love the honesty--is he my kid or what?

This morning started off just fine. Easton got his "treat" from his advent first thing as usual. We're halfway done with it already!

Then we made muffins which Easton was very excited to help make, not so excited to help eat. Here he is being a goofball while they baked, Flintstone red (as in vitamin) staining his lips:


After breakfast we headed off to Gymsters. I remembered finally to leave in plenty of time to allow for that construction we always hit but it wasn't bad today. We got there nice and early which was fine too. Easton was being a very talkative goober and showing off to Miss Stephanie. However, during the "separation time" (when the parents go to a gated off part of the giant room for a song length) Easton freaked out. He cried and cried to the point where Mr. Ken had me come back in. Then E was fine. He's never done that during the separation time before. Never. Mr. Ken explained to me that it was normal for them to go through separation anxiety phases. He must be a child expert. Okay, I'm not being very nice. At least he didn't make us feel bad. Later Easton had no problem leaving me and running off to play. I'm just apparently not allowed to leave him. I hope next week he's big about it again. Li'l stinker.

He ate a quick lunch when we got home and then was more than ready for his nap. It was a piece of cake getting him down today, easier than normal even. Before I go I just wanted to share a few pictures. Just about everyone on our mailing list has received their Christmas cards already so I wanted to show it off here:

And the "official" Santa picture:

And a super-cute Christmasy one that a few lucky relatives received as wallets with their cards:

So there ya go...hopefully that makes up for the short 'n' sweet blog yesterday. I'm off to eat some lunch...frozen mini quiches...well, heated up of course. Well, maybe not "of course" we pregnant women do some strange things. Anyway...

Short 'n' Sweet

I've opted not to do a full-on blog today. I'm just not in a very "bloggy" place. Things are fine, I just have other things I want/need to do while Easton naps. But, I don't want to disappoint my fans (G-Ma) so I'll leave you with a little something to tide you over till next time:

Easton is quite interested in my nutcracker collection, of course. I have a few cheapie plastic ones I've decided to let him play with so he's trying to get one down:

He was merely calling them "crackers" but we told him how to say "nut" then "cracker" so that's exactly what he does: "Nut" (long pause) "Cracker". Here he is with the "guh" one:


And, Easton was an absolute angel last night while we had the Saints game on. The sweet li'l guy went and grabbed some toys and brought them over by us but he was totally engaged in some quiet independent play. It was awesome.

We even let him stay up a little late since he was doing so well occupying himself, we wanted to keep watching him. He's always been pretty good at entertaining himself, this was just extra sweet for some reason. Then the angel boy went right to bed and slept till 8 (but he did call for me briefly at 6:45 before going back to sleep).

Okay, that's all you get...I said it'd be short but at least you get something.

More Optimistic Today

So our dinner with my mom and sister last night was lovely. Easton had a blast playing with them as usual. They brought this cool tumbling mat that my late grandfather made and it was something I had as a tyke. How neat is that? Easton also loved showing off his animal (and various other) sounds at the table. He kept signing for "more" things for us to ask him. As in, "What does a ____ say?" Then he provided some after dinner entertainment with Daddy by demonstrating how he can catch a variety of balls, they progressed in difficulty like a circus act or something. He was very proud of himself and more proud because he had a captivated audience. He is so silly that way.

When my mom arrived she said I didn't look swollen so that's good...although J and I think the swelling is only in my ankles right now anyway. Moosie also brought the blood pressure cuff and last night we took it "just to see". It was a shockingly low 98/57. It surprised me that my pressures were that low (twice!) given the dull ache I had in my head all day...maybe my head stuff is unrelated to the swelling? Anyhoo...my BP last time didn't start creeping up until 31 weeks (and E came at 33) even though my swelling then started at 26 weeks. So, we'll keep an eye on it :) Yet, I must admit, as Jason and I were praying at bedtime (shortly after the encouraging BP reading) God blessed me with some of that previous optimism I used to have. I'm not quite so distressed today so I hope that continues.

As we were going to bed last night I predicted to Jason that Easton would be up early. He had a long nap to where we had to wake him up and then he was a little late going to bed due to our guests and the long nap. Those two things do not usually equal a great night's sleep for E. Sure enough, at 6:41 he was up and at 'em. I didn't get him till 7:00, though. We've just hung around this morning. Jason took Easton to the little park while I wrapped some gifts and we've got football coming up here shortly. I'm the only one still in my p.j.'s but I plan to stay that way. So there.

Before I go here are two pictures from this morning. One is Mr. E lounging like a grown-up couch potato:


And this one is his new smaller sized antlers from Gramoo (that will hopefully be less frustrating too!):


I guess that wraps things up. Adios!