Christmas 08

Christmas was great this year!!! On Christmas Eve Bob, James, and I all played the Holy Family at the Christmas Eve Service. Unfortunately, Ansley was still trying to get over a fever and cold. Nothing like giving her a little Tylenol and sending her to church to contaminate the rest of the world:) That night Ansley made cookies for Santa. It was really cute to see her trying to understand the whole concept. The next morning she woke up and was pumped to see the cookies gone. I think she was more excited about that than the toys sitting in front of her face. Santa brought her the Rose petal cottage. It is awesome. We then went over to my parents house and then to Bob's parents condo. Ansley could have cared less about the presents. I think we ended up opening her presents the rest of the day. We had a great day and felt so blessed to be around so much family.
James jaundice levels came down so no more tanning beds for him. Which is awesome, however he has gotten into a bad routine of taking his 10:00 pm feeding and partying till 2 am. Ansley was so cute the other night..she was heading up to bed and told Bob to hold on. She ran into our room where James was sleeping. Gave him a kiss and said goodnight to him. She melted my heart. This morning James was sleeping in his swing in the kitchen she went in to get more cheerios... James grunted as she walked by she told him "It is okay it is your sister." She is such a good little mommy.

We are finally home from Scottish rite. We had to spend the night on Friday due to James' Jaundice levels being too high. He only came down two points but they allowed us to come home and have him on the lights here. Unfortuantely I had to stop boob feeding him and he is not liking that too much. Formula pushes Jaundice out faster so I am bonding with a pump right now. He is not very happy with the world right now so hopefully this will all work and he can get my milk back in him and be able to be wrapped in a blanket. Someone needs to come up with a different light system. The kid has to be striped down to a diaper and put on a hard plastic bed with a 'straight jacket' looking thing on top. Just what a newborn wants. Bob and his mom have taken James back to Scottish rite for blood work again this morning. Please keep us in your prayers that his levels have gone down and he doesn't have to be re-admitted to the hospital.
Ansley is still hyped up on sugar. She woke up this morning telling us she has a baby brother. She is spending sometime with her cousin today so mommy can rest. She is being a trooper being sent to all the family these past couple days. She is a sweet big sister she is always willing to help and keeps a close eye on him. Below are somemore pictures if you haven't gotten enough yet. HOpefully I can get somemore at home in the next couple of days.

Here are some pictures of Ansley and James. Ansley is the best big sis. She has been so gentle and caring. She loves holding him and watching him swing. He is a good baby. We had a great first night home. Hopefully it will continue.

James Adrian

James was born on Tuesday December 16th at 2:00. Delivery was great mostly because the epideral was awesome!!! We were blessed to have Sonia as our nurse again for delivery. Being enduced is the way to go. James weighed 8'11 and is 21 and a quarter in length. He is a big boy. His feet are huge and hands are ET length. He has a bit of Jaundis and has a broken collar bone but otherwise is a great baby. He eats well and sleeps great. We haven't gotten to spend much time with him because he is under lights tanning himself. But he is adorable and his sister can't get enough of him. She met him today and kept saying "That is my baby brother.. My baby brother is James" It melted my heart. She is already a sweet sister. She was extremely excited to see all the babies in the nursery. If he doesn't come home tomorrow with us I think she will be hating us for a while. Keep us in your prayers that his scores will come down and his jaundis will be under control enough to be off lights.
I would put pictures up but our camera decided not to work yesterday. Come to find out the lens is cracked so if you go to my dad and sister's blog link you will see some cute pictures. When I get home tomorrow I will hopefully be able to get some pictures up. We appreciate all the love and support from all our friends and family.

Gingerbread house

Ansley started out helping us but then didn't get the whole candy yummy aspect of the project. You may ask why it says Jim Rocks. This is a contest with money involved and Jim is a judge. We are just showing our appreciation for him.

For those readers that make it worth my time to write...

I thought on Tuesday we were for sure going to be heading to the hospital. Not a chance. It is Wednesday and I am still at home. I have been nauseous for about two days on and off but nothing has come of this. I went to the doctors today thinking that I would be ready to go. The doctor took no pity on me. She checked me and I am only 2 centimeters dialated and my cervix is still pretty think. The cervix is the thing that really counts at this point because without that being thin I am not that close. Hopefully she helped to move things along and this baby will think twice that my warm belly is really not the place to be. This baby needs to come out because he/she is going to be baby Jesus in the Christmas Eve service. Of course, Bob and I have to be Mary and Joseph. Luckily, we don't have to do anything but sit. That is about all the updates I really have going on right now.

Last week was a great week!! Ansley had a good week at school and is really getting such a funny personality. She has come into the question stage. Every second it is; What are you doing? What is that? Where is it? It is a never ending vicious cycle. I have finally gotten smart and started asking her the question.
I have been letting Ansley watch a little more TV because I am slow moving these days. I think I have seen the sequel to frosty 40 times in three days. If anyone knows when the first Frosty the snowman is on please let me know. The second one just doesn't do Frosty justice.
On Saturday we went to Mt. Pisgah for Pancakes with Santa. We got the best pictures with Santa. Ansley started a cry fest. All the kids before her were okay with Santa as soon as she sat down the tears came. She gets it honestly. At least this year she sat on his lap. Last year you would have thought he was evil. The poor kids behind us lost their bravery. Glad we could start a trend. However she still likes Santa so that is a plus. She told us she asked Santa for a baby this year. It is a good thing we can provide that gift to her this year. I got her to watch a show on the Discovery Channel about two women having triplets. She actually liked it and enjoyed seeing the babies. She didn't get why commercials kept coming up. I guess we only watch DVR stuff with her. I think she is really going to do well with the new baby. It is really cute how she and Thomas interact with each other. She really enjoys taking care of him. I know there are some people out there that feel the need to remind us that she is going to regress. If I hear that from another person I may have to use the hormones on them. Not every child regresses when a new baby is brought into the picture. It all depends on how the child is prepared and disciplined. So now that I have said my peace I will leave it at that!
Below are some cute pictures from the weekend.

Santa or New Kids

So I have created a monster... Today I bought a Children Christmas CD with all the good old songs.. Rudolph, Frosty, If I only had my two front teeth ect...... What does Ansley think of it??? She was pissed that I even thought that this cd rocks. I had been waiting all day to sing Christmas songs with her. The moment I turned on Santa Claus is coming to town, she told me that she didn't like it. So I started singing and dancing in the car and she just starts crying and screaming New kids. Are you kidding me??? She would rather listen to summertime by New Kids on the Block than the cute christmas songs. I know I created this monster but after 500 times of hearing the same song you would think she would be excited about these new songs. Now I am stuck singing this cd all by myself in the car.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. No, we did not have a baby. This kid is in me for the long run. I think it is completely comfortable where it is. My belly button sticks so far out that it is starting to get bruised because I keep hitting it on things. Anyway, we had a great time with family and friends on Thursday. We had Bob's side of the family over on Thanksgiving morning and then we went to my parents that night. It sounds crazy but it was a lot of fun. Ansley thoroughly enjoyed all her cousins.
And now the moment you have all been waiting for.... Ansley wore her Christmas dress that I made her to church today. We got the opportunity to light the first candle of advent today. Luckily, the lighting was first thing. Ansley came into the service with us for the first time and probably the last time until she is old enough to do children's church. She was extremely well behaved. While Bob was lighting the candle Ansley took the opportunity to ask her WH question. For those of you who haven't gone through this stage yet or have gotten the joy of being asked 50 Wh questions within a couple minutes it is a fun stage. She decided to pop one of her questions... "Daddy, what are you doing?" Luckily everyone has a sense of humor.

Christmas Dress


Lazy day watching Mickey Mouse


Move over Mickey... Backyardiagans are squeezing in.


Brushing teeth with a cup of milk and winter wear

21 Days and counting down......

Just thought I would start a count down for those of you who care... 21 days and counting until D-Day. We set a delivery date for December 16th. Yes that is one day after I am due. I am hoping that this baby will coperate and wait that long. As much as it pains me. Work wise it would be best for this baby to wait until that day. Ansley and I went to my weekly check today and the heartbeat is loud and strong. Ansley was an angel. She sat in her chair and seemed to love every minute of it. She was excited to hear the doctor telling her about the heart beat. She told the doctors she was having a sister. At least if we have a girl it will have a name. Right now we are nameless for the boy. Maybe someone is trying to tell us we are having a girl.
Below is a special treat for my wonderful friends. I even have Ansley hooked to New Kids.

Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Last weekend was pretty quiet. The regular stuff was done...cleaning and playing. Ansley and I spent Saturday cleaning and reorganizing the playroom. It looks great. Then on Sunday we said goodbye to our minister. It was a beautiful service. Ansley enjoyed every piece of cake and sugar drink that was avaliable. Ansley is still convinced that we are having a baby girl. She still tells me she is having a sister when I ask her she says her name is Frances. I really don't think Ansley will care if the baby is a boy or girl. She will just be pumped it is a baby. We can't go into a store without her searching out the nearest baby. She then will not move until she gets to see it. She is a very nurturing child. She shows Bob daily how to rock the baby and pat the babies back. She spent a good 45 minutes today playing with her baby dolls. I have a to give a congratulations to Jean Ann and Whit who just had a baby girl named Annie Rees (love the spelling).

Weekend

We had a low key and fun weekend. On Saturday we went to our neighborhood lake and fed the ducks. The ducks weren't that interested. I think they knew how cold it was outside. We then took some moments to get some candid shots of Ansley playing around in the open field and at the playground. This weekend Ansley did tell us that she was going to have a baby brother and sister. I told her she can have one brother or a sister and the other one can be a baby doll. If twins show up someone is in trouble...big trouble. I have exactly five weeks left until my prego days are done. To be quite honest it has been real but I can't wait for my family to be complete and perfect with two beautiful kids and of course Oscar.
After nap on Saturday we headed over to the Grant's for some good football. We got to hang out with Alex and the Chilivis. Ansley loves playing with Champ. Frances, Ansley, and Champ play really well together. They just mesh well. It was great to be with good friends and watch football even if GT did lose.

Prego update

I think this was the first week I did not get the question "Are you sure you aren't having twins?" There is this lady at work that thinks it is cool to walk up to a pregnant person at least once a week and ask this question. I don't know if she was dropped on her head when she was a baby or just really thinks that there are two kids inside of me. I can't tell you how much fun it is working with a building full of women. At times I really do think there might be two due to the constant party this child has in my belly. Ansley rarely moved. She was ever so dainty and sweet inside of me. The current baby feels the need to bruise my insides. I didn't think that was possible but it was confirmed by the doctor. We are at 34 weeks and 4 days.. and counting. The baby is head down and loving my bladder.
Election day Ansley and I went to JCPenny for maternity pictures. This is the one thing I have looked forward to during each pregnancy. This portrait sitting was even better because Ansley was so cute... I even got my mom in a picture. I think Ansley thinks we are all crazy. She really enjoys kissing my belly and asks all the time to rub the baby. We have been reading a story about Mary and Joseph and her belly. I think it might be sinking in a little bit for her. She doesn't understand the full extend but is making comments here and there. Today out of the blue she told me she was going to have a baby brother. There is hope for Bob.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!!!!
Well if you haven't guessed Ansley was Minnie Mouse tonight. I had to bribe her to put the dress on. But by the end of the night she was having a blast.
Tonight we went to Tom and Wendy's house for pizza and candy. Terri and her gang are all in town for the game tomorrow. We went trick or treating in Tom and Wendy's neighborhood after dinner with Terri, Katherine, and Grandma. Bob and I had been prepping Ansley all night on what to say when the person opens the door. After the third house Ansley had a tight grip on 4 pieces of candy and was not in any way going to put them in her bag...until we hit the house with all the lollipops. She put the huge snickers and three smaller pieces into her bag and was able to come away with two big tootsie pops and three small ones. She did not release these lollipops until we got home and even then she took one to the bath with her. We stopped by our neighbors house when we got home and she finally said trick or treat. Luckily I think we all may sleep tonight with few nightmares. Keep you fingers crossed. We didn't see many scary costumes beside Leanne and her friend dressed up as banana's. As we were leaving Ansley had to say goodbye to the bananas.
We had so much fun watching her get so possessive over candy. Plus it made it even better that she look so adorable in her Minnie Mouse outfit. By the end of the night she didn't want to take off Minnie. Now I know why parents get so excited over events and holidays. It was so heart filling to see Ansley explore this new experience.

Bunny and Pacey

Ansley is going to be the only potty trained 2 year old with a pacey and bunny entourage. This picture is from our Saturday morning Mickey marathon. We all had a great week and can't wait for the weekend. Ansley had fun with her boyfriend C.J.(Sorry Floyd she has found herself a Hershey Kiss at school) and continued to rock the potty training world.
I have finally decided that it is time to start cleaning out the cluttered nursery. I think for the past few months I have thrown every piece of crap into that room. Due to popular demand I must get it clean. The family is going to help move the massive amount of furniture out of that room to prepare for the little alien inside of me.
Today I went to the doctor and the baby sounds good. The baby still likes to play with the doctor when she tries to hear the heartbeat. Every time she puts the monitor on the baby flips to the other side. Looking forward to the days outside the womb:)

Pumpkin Bellies

Claudia gave me a fun idea for my growing belly. I dragged my mom in on the fun. I handed my mom a brush and some paint and she made a pumpkin on Ansley and I. I do have to say that this was so much fun.

Gone Redneck...

As most of you know we are in the process of potty training. Ansley is doing awesome. We have our moments of continuous accidents and then we will go for a day or two dry. We were playing outside after work on Monday.. I think we made 5 trips inside to use the potty. Most of the time we didn't make it in time. So she ended up crying because she was mad at herself and I ended up doing a lot of laundry. So I introduced the portable potty that I keep in the car for pit stops. I put this potty into the garage and told her to go in there if she needs to go potty. Next thing I know she has put the potty in the middle of the driveway and is pooping in it. I was excited and praying that my neighbors would not drive by. Then we get home on Tuesday and she takes her potty to the same place and pees in it. I am trying to explain to a two year old why we need to leave the potty in the garage so we aren't exposing to the whole cul-de-sac. I do have to say she was rather cute sitting on the potty in the middle of the driveway with her panties at her ankles.

Just a bunch of stuff to say.

Nothing much new on this side of town besides potty training and getting fat. We had a great weekend. Ansley survived staying up till 9:30 on Friday. I think that is the latest she has ever been up and I am pretty sure if I have a say it will be the last time. She enjoyed her day with GranDonna and Graddady. She got to play with family friends Glenda and Lou. Glenda got a new camera and I pretty sure Ansley was hamming it up for her. Due to the late night Ansley did not get to go to the Tech game which is probably for the best because she might have learned some new words that aren't appropriate for school minus my classroom. I don't think I have ever been called so many dirty words in all my teaching years than I have this year. I now know why I teach the moderate to severe Autistic kids instead of the mild ones. Since we are on the subject of work... Did you know that it is not appropriate for us to celebrate Thanksgiving at school??? Instead it is called Harvest. When did society become so retarded. Just because there are people that don't believe in religion or any kind of celebrations (even birthday's) doesn't mean that the rest of society should bow down to them. I remember when I was back in Elementary school and we got to wear our Halloween costumes to school. Now we can't even talk about bats during this season much less talk about pumpkins. Don't even get me started on "Winter break."
Back to the family. Ansley has been doing great on Potty training. I read an article by Dr. Rosmound (sorry about the misspellings), stating that the best time to start potty training is 18 months and that the diapers should just be gone. Don't waste time on pull ups. The child will just be lazy if you keep putting a diaper on. So I have convinced myself that it is time to stop being a chicken when we leave the house. I just need to take the portable potty seat and plenty of clothes. This weekend Ansley succeeded in pooping in the potty. I feel bad sometimes because I don't read her signs enough and she ends up crying because she had an accident. I don't even say anything to her and she starts crying. Today she had a tiny poop in her panties and I had to convince her that accidents happen and it is okay. Ansley is so cute!!
I ran into the refrigerator door with my big belly today (shocking I know) Ansley saw me make fun of myself and came up and kissed my belly and said "Baby all better." She is already the perfect big sister.

Quiet Weekend....not so much

So it is only Saturday and I already have stories. This weekend was supposed to be quiet low key. Today we headed down to Garden Hills to visit Chad, Erin, and Lacey. They all went to the Tech game and Ansley and I headed down to the playground. Ansley and I had a blast.

Garden Hills Playground



We then treated ourselves to some chicken and fries. Next on the list was nap time. We got home at 1. She was in bed by 1:30 and I was pumped to start Ansley's dress. My mom was on her way home and the afternoon was set. After 30 minutes of listening to Ansley call for O Toodles I go up to regulate only to find out that her bed is wet because she found water somewhere. So I move her to Frances bed and we are back on track. Well another 30 minutes later I hear the door slam. I find that a bit strange because Ansley never closes her door or gets out of bed. I go in to find her covered in poop. By covered I mean face, hands, legs, clothes, even the door knob is repulsive. She looks at me and says "Poop everywhere." At that point I am yelling for my mom to bring me my camera because the damage is done why not take a picture to share.


During her afternoon bath we reviewed where poop is supposed to go. I guess everyone has to have a poop story. Needless to say her 3 hour nap turned into a 1 hour today. We had to go over to my parents house to celebrate my mom's birthday. I thought we were for sure in for some sensitivity tonight. Wrong again... she was all kinds of hyper. It is 9'o clock and she is just settling. Normal bedtime is 7. We are in for it tomorrow.

Funny Stories

I have decided that I need to make Ansley a Christmas dress. Ansley, Grandma, and I were picking out some ribbon when Ansley starts calling "Ohhh Toodles." It took me a moment and then I realized that the ribbon spools look like toodles on Mickey. Ya think we watch to much Mickey???
So I think I would not know what to do if I didn't have an audience in the bathroom with me at all times. Nothing beats going to the bathroom every 20 minutes and having Ansley and Oscar right there with me. And some people wonder why Ansley took to potty training so fast. Tonight my gang and I were taking turns using the bathroom.. Ansley of course has first dibs because fighting with a two year old over the potty is a lose-lose situation. Once she was done she gracefully allowed prego to use the potty. I told her to go tell daddy she needs panties on. So I hear her bolt across the house and start saying "Bob, I need panties". She repeated this phrase over and over. Luckily I was already on the toilet so I wasn't peeing in my pants. She kept saying "Bob, Bob, I need panties." Eventually she said daddy. It was hysterical.

Saturday night

Last night we went over to the Grant's to watch TCU and Kentucky play ball. Unfortunately, TCU had a rough time but they were playing Oklahoma so what do you expect. The girls were so happy to see each other. They don't get to spend so much quality time together anymore. So it gave Caroline and I a chance to sit and play with Thomas and relax. While Caroline and I were catching up with Officer Miller the girls had disappeared. Fortunately they were not getting into too much trouble. I found them in the bathroom. Frances informed me that she was helping Ansley go potty. Ansley actually was going potty. Once she was finished I told her to wipe. Next thing I know Frances is around me wiping Ansley. Then to make matters worse Frances tells Ansley to pull her pants down for her because it was her turn to use the potty. Too much closeness or just being girls???? As they get older I see how cute their relationship is and look forward to them enjoying such a great friendship.

I can't believe another week has flown by. We had such a good one. Ansley learned that coffee does not taste like coke. She saw Bob making coffee last weekend and was convinced that she wanted some..she even threw herself onto the floor when we told her she wouldn't like it. So you can only guess we gave her some. She kept telling us "I like it" over and over again. Up until the coffee touch her lips, then she stated that it is yucky. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.
POTTY UPDATE: For most of the week she was dry and asked to use the potty. She even woke up a couple of times from nap and nighttime with a dry diaper. She even pooped on the potty!!!!
TOday we went to the zoo. She had a blast. We met up with my friends Claudia and Kelley and of course Addison. Addison and Ansley were so cute together. Ansley loved the drill monkeys and the turtles. She was really excited to see the Elephant but was not to cool when it came up close. The zookeeper was making the elephant do tricks and she just kept laughing and talking then it moved closer and she told us "Go see something else."

Just a cute picture

This picture was taken at our churches 39th Homecoming.

Weekends!!

First of all I have to say "Go Jackets!!" They rocked Atlanta on Saturday.

On Friday Thomas and Frances slept over for a couple of hours until their parents came and stole them back that night. I do have to give myself props for giving all three of the kids baths and getting them somewhat dressed until Bob came home.
Below is a picture of Bob and the girls reading a leapfrog book before bed.

Today I played my first tennis match and won 6-4, 6-2. What can I say... I maybe pregnant but I can still get to the drop shots. Suckers!!!
On Sunday Ansley and I got down and dirty with paint. It was so much fun. Some people may be freaked out by the mess but in my book nothing is too messy when it is fun and entertaining for a two year old. You should have seen the colors in the bathtub. While Ansley painted I made dinner for the week.

Might be too personal

Okay so Miss Ansley is really kicking butt with peeing in the potty. Her cousin is even starting to rock at it. Ansley has now discovered the fact that she can pass gas or in her words "Toot" on the potty. I can't express how proud she feels when she does this. She just thinks she is so big. I thought she was going to be a pooper on the potty today. But she was actually just trying to toot. Ahh... the proud moments!!!

Turtles

Today we went to the neighborhood lake to feed the ducks. We ended up feeding the turtles too.