My Mucus Plug

................... I do believe we may have been introduced, this morning.................

Did I give birth to Alyca's daughter?

Let's review:

1. Tall
2. BLOOOOND
3. "M" sits
4. laughs.... BEFORE being tickled

And now, to add to the list....... bug phobia. Yesterday we went to the park, and we were about to go down the slide, but Morgan REFUSED to proceed until I removed the eeeeeny teeeeeny no-see-um from her path. I then had to assure her that the bug was "all gone" several times before she'd go down.

Fast forward a few hours. Morgan wants to fill the little gladware dish we have in the kitchen for Cooper's water. I was in the process of washing my hands after changing her diaper, so I told her to go ahead and fill it with the filtered water out of the refrigerator. Suddenly, my girl is crying, and sounds different. It doesn't sound like she has hurt herself, though. I race into the kitchen, and there she stands, 1/2 full container hoisted up to the spout..... and a little bug swimming around in it. My girl was in a panic. She didn't want to let go of the plastic and let water fly, but she didn't want to be anywhere near the bug either. I laughed to myself, took the container, and then had to make a big show out of washing it down the kitchen sink. Silly kid. Where did she learn that? Now, I admit, we did have a surprise spider incident that required a vacuum cleaner, but other than that, I haven't been acting dramatically around insects. ALYCA! What did you give her!

:)

35 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby's getting big. He weighs a tad over 5 pounds and is just over 18 inches long. Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Oh great! I'm already Noah's ark, carrying two of everything, it seems. And NOW I have to spend the next few weeks putting on more weight!? I've already reached my max weight gain with Morgan. Egads!

Attack of the 30th Birthday balloon

So............. for my, ahem, birthday, Mom sent me a 30th birthday balloon and some flowers... thank you very much, nice to see SOMETHING in the mail for my day................

Anyway...... I called her later and told her I was going to cut it up and mail it back to her. No 30's anywhere, please!

So, fast forward a couple of weeks. Cooper has an ear infection, and the medication used to treat it has caused temporary (we hope!) hearing loss. Steve is on shift and I have just turned the lights out to sleep. I'm laying there, settling down, and I hear this "tick, tick" noise. Sounds to me like Cooper dreaming in his bed on the floor on Steve's side of the room, and his feet are tapping against the wall. I call his name, trying to wake him out of his sleep so that he can reposition himself. Nothing. It stops momentarily, but when it starts up again, I call his name again in a slightly louder and more stern voice. Nothing. Another minute goes by and I throw one of the extra pillows from the bed down there to rattle him awake. ..... and I continue to hear the noise. I sit up, turn the light on, slump over, look at him, and he's laying there, looking at me perplexed, and then lays his head down on the pillow I just threw down. And then I hear the noise again. I look over on my side of the bed, and lurking next to my bedside lamp is that darn balloon. The heat is on, and as I sit looking at it, it lightly skips across the ceiling, making those little tick noises. AHH! I jump up, grab it, drag it out of the bedroom, hurl it down the stairwell, and go back to bed.

Proceed to the following night.......... Steve is home and we are asleep. It's about 4am. Suddenly, we are both awakened as Steve leaps from his side of the bed and swats his hand, where he had expected to see a great big spider crawling up his wrist. No. No spider. Alas, it's that darn 30 balloon, hovering over our bed, ribbon dangling between us. I grab the string, and give it a big whallop to send it towards the door, and then lay back down. But Steve is more awake now, and while lying down, is facing towards me and the door. I have smacked the balloon in a downward motion. Now, this is where you insert the beginning music from the movie Jaws, the slow music you here before you actually see the shark grab the swimmer. So, Jaws music, Steve watching the door, and then, in slow motion, the 30 balloon.... inch, by silvery mylar inch.... it creeps up the side of the bed.... the rainbow pattern, the top of the 3 and the 0, the rest of the numerals, they tie for the ribbon....... as it slowly travels back to wreak additional havoc. At this point, I am now wide awake, as Steve has practically vaulted over me to grab the balloon, bounds out of bed, and heads straight to his dresser, where he proceeds to grab a small pocket knife. With a flick of his wrist, he opens the blade, kneels down..... and stabs the 30 balloon to a bitter demise, the hiss of helium spewing slowly as it quickly flattens to the floor. When he is finished, he jumps back in bed...................... where we then bust up in hysterics at 4 in the morning.

Lucky for mom, we couldn't look at that balloon again, so it has been sent to the Negus Transfer Station via High Desert Garbage, and did not make it into an envelope. I'm not spending .39 for that sucker.

Today is Steve's 29/365, and fortunately, no obscene balloons have arrived at our door. But we will never forget the haunting of the 30 balloon in 2006.

:)

34 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is probably almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which she'll need to regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her central nervous system is still maturing and her lungs are well developed by now. If you've been nervous about going into preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that 99 percent of babies this age can survive outside the womb — and most have no major long-term problems related to prematurity

Last critique.... First, it's a good thing this is live, because it's so busy I can't get it to scan properly. Okay...... Alyca, thank you for touching up the photos. The pic of M and me isn't quite as blue as the scan, but it is a little on the blue side. I like that better than the yellow... I used UTEE on the word color as well as a few different colors of paint.... was able to turn the bird in as opposed to out, outlined the flowers and added a couple more..... added three stips of paper on the right (does it work better for you now Alyca?) .... added another mat to the bird photo as well as color words..... added some dimension to the 1 of 1st.... I think that might be it. Well? Is it crazy enough? I still LOVE it. I'm very excited to have it in Morgan's scrapbook, as I love that bird so much. :)

Okay, this is the rough draft of my contest entry for the Scrapworks "The Colors of..." contest at the CK Convention next weekend.... the scan is bad, and it isn't lining up very well.... but I need a critique. I forwarded all the pictures on the left to Alyca to see if she could get the yello out.... I have a green arrow that I was thinking to put from the word project to the bird... it's curved, not a straight arrow... I also have some charms that say Inspire, Imagine, Create... but I'm not sure where to put them... if at all.. I might lose the chipboard photo turns and put them there...... What are your thoughts? The tab pulls out for journaling behind the bird..... What do you think? I think it needs a little tweaking.... but overall I LOVE IT. I machine stitched the branches, I sewed clouds, for subtle sky behind the bird.... I LOVE Morgan's bird.... I like the flowers.... the word project is chipboard with paper that has been sanded and then adhered with the letters..... 1st has st in rubons but this scan doesn't show that very well... one of the reasons I'm a little nervous is that this contest is live, which means the judges will be up close and personal with my layout so I won't be able to hide any flaws... I'm not hiding anything at the moment... I inked most of the edges...... So, what do you think?

33 weeks

How your baby's growing: This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds and measures 17.2 inches from the top of his head to his heels. His skin is becoming less red and wrinkled, and while most of his bones are hardening, his skull is quite pliable and not completely joined.

Sudoku

Yes. We are obsessed. Within the last month it has started making an appearance in our local paper. We print out two and do them every night.... I think they are fun! Definitely packing a couple of those games for the hospital! We sign pre-admittance paperwork tonight!

Big Girl Bed

As Dora would say...... "We did it, we did it, we did it, yah!" - Last night when I put Morgan down, she started crying, which is actually quite normal lately, fighting nigh-night time.... but this time I picked her up and asked if she wanted to lay down with Mommy in the big girl bed. She didn't say no, so I manuevered myself in, and layed with her for a little while.... all very UNLIKE Morgan to let me do. She immediately flopped to her stomach, flopped around for a while, and after a bit, I got up, put her comforter over her, and just left the room. Well, heard a peep from her at 5am.... and then at 7, heard a couple of "woah's". She made it allll night! Steve and I gave a couple of high fives.... she was in a good mood, we smothered her with praise for sleeping in her big girl bed...... It's the beginning. I still think that the little one is likely to end up sharing our room till 2007, but at least we are STARTING to make the transition out of her crib, since she needs to give it up. I'm worried about her not wanting to share her baby bed, and I'm worried about noise from one of them keeping both of them up. Morgan doesn't normally like to cuddle with daddy, so what am I going to do if little one wakes up.... and then wakes Morgan up.... and Morgan wants me to hold her... but I'm already holding the little one.... Boy, I'm going to be SO sleep deprived....

Anyway, this is a big day for us, because it really was our first attempt at an all-nighter in the big girl bed, and it worked! Formerly known as the Nemo bed, it is now known as the big girl bed... Formerly known as Morgan's nigh-nigh bed, it is now known as the baby bed. Psychologically encouraging our girl to grow up.... even though I'm not ready yet. :)

32 weeks

It's getting awfully snug in there! Your baby weighs almost 4 pounds and is almost 17 inches long. You're gaining a pound a week now (HA, MORE LIKE 3!), and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, he'll gain a third to half of his birth weight during the next seven weeks as he fattens up for survival outside the womb. She has tiny toenails now, and her fingernails have grown in, too. Some babies have a head of hair already; others have only peach fuzz

6 pounds

Went to the doctor today................... gained 6 POUNDS in TWO WEEKS! I am still measuring at 32 weeks and my ankle's aren't swollen or anything..... so maybe Sabrina and I drank from the same glass that day, as we are both due about the same time..... and seem to be experiencing similar symptoms. That said, the little one was napping at our appointment, and the heartrate was a low 120. That's the lowest it's ever been. Doc thinks it's a boy, but that's based solely on the fact that it was mellow the whole visit, and had a low heart rate, because apparently boys get lower than girls... but I guess we shall see!

Mother's intuition.... I have a feeling that I won't make it until the scheduled Cesarean. In fact, I'm being put on "forced naps", because I feel like I'm walking around in a constant state of braxton hicks. They want to ensure I get to 36 weeks, so I was told that I have to lay down and rest for at least an hour during Morgan's nap time, every day. As I feel like my bum is numb 24/7 from all the sitting I do, work, etc., I think that's silly, but want to make sure the little one is as far along as I can get so that it's as healthy/big as it needs to be to arrive safely, so I will do my best.

Anyway.... Alyca, I saw a different doc today, a new doc in the practice, and she seemed to think there would be no trouble getting you in the delivery room to take some pictures for me. I just don't think Steve can handle the camera! I told them you were a nurse and knew to stay out of the way, would have you sign whatever they wanted if they were worried about you taking particular photographs..... so we shall see. Doctor B had said definitely not with Morgan, but Doctor Dory acted like it was no big deal. However, she is new to the practice in Redmond, has only been here for 8 months, but came from Bend, where she practiced for more than 30 years.... so I'm not sure what's up with the difference in opinion there. Our RT had thought that there would be no way because of the camera, but Steve could have one if he wanted, we have never been told we couldn't bring one in the OR, so we shall see! I'd love to scrap those pages!

Layout for a contest. I know, bad scan. But it was due by midnight last night.... and I BARELY squeaked by getting it in on time. :)