Baby/Van Update

Life has been a bit hectic this week, working on the claim for our van, having multiple dr/hospital visits, and carpooling around in our one, little car. We've been off and on the phone with our insurance and the other driver's insurance--getting the van appraised, establishing liability, etc. This morning, in the rain/snow, Robert put our old tires back on the van. Less than two months ago, we had purchased the top-of-the-line tires for the van, thinking these would be the last tires we would have to buy for it. Because, once the tires wore out, the van would close to 200,000 miles on it. We paid $600 for them and we knew the insurance company wouldn't pay us dollar-for-dollar. However, since the back axel is broken, we could only put the front ones on. The back ones are in the garage, while the back of van is propped up on ramps. Our driveway is starting to look a bit redneck.

Monday afternoon was spent at the hospital. First I went to the Lab to have blood tests done. Because I'm Rh negative, the dr. wanted to check if my blood or the baby's had crossed over. Then I headed up to Radiology for the longest sonogram of my life. It lasted an hour. The tech had to do the standard measuring, etc, but then she had to record for 10 minutes each, the heartbeat, bloodflow, movement, and something else I forget. She did verify that he is a he. Then I was off to the OB unit, to do a stress test for another hour. The tests all show that everything seems to be okay. I had an appt. this morning with my dr. She said I have a pretty high risk of delivering early. My body already is inclined to deliver early (previous experience), and the car crash just increases the chances evenmore. She's told me I have to really limit what I do or she'll put me on bedrest, in the hospital. And, even though I'm only 32 weeks, I have to have weekly appts. now. So, life continues....in all of it's craziness.

Again.....?????

I don't even know how to make this humorous. Yes, this is our van. Yes, it is the third crash we've had in nine months. And, yes, this time it is totaled. This weekend we swapped babysitting with some friends. Rob and I went out Friday night. After dinner and some shopping we picked the boys up. We had promised Matt we would switch a toy at McDonalds that he had gotten previously. We stopped by there and then headed home. We were less than half a mile from home when I noticed an SUV was not slowing down at a stopsign--no brakelights, nothing. We didn't have time to stop and he t-boned us. He hit us hard enough that our van spun around a couple of times, broke the back tire off and shattered the back window--besides the big dent in the side. This was by far the worst of the crashes. Both Adam and Matt were quite upset afterwards. Thankfully, none of us were hurt too much. Both Adam and I banged our heads on the windows, so they are a little sore. Our shoulders/necks hurt,too, from the seatbelts. My neck is really tight and Adam's has a burn on it from the strap. As for the baby, I think everything is okay. He's been moving around as usual and I haven't had anymore than normal contractions. I'm calling my doctor tomorrow to have an ultrasound done just to make sure. How is it possible to go 35+ years without one car accident and then have three in less than a year? What are the odds of that? Are there just a bunch of 'crazy-yahoos' driving out there? Or are we the 'yahoos'?

Spring Break Week

The boys have Spring Break this week. Over the weekend, we moved Adam into Matt's room. Adam's old room will become the nursery. We have six bedrooms in our house-three up and three down, but neither of them wanted to have a room downstairs. We had planned on buying bunkbeds by now but haven't yet found a great deal. So, we were pleasantly surprised that everything fit into the bedroom. We did weed out two small desks and a bookshelf but added a dresser. As long as they keep it tidy, it should work out. We still plan on buying bunkbeds, but if we don't end up finding a good deal, we'll just stick with what we have, since now we know it works.

Here is another one of Matt's masterpiece photos. He always seems to capture me without a head. I guess this is what he sees from his point of view. I am 31 weeks along. I've gained 25 lbs. I've started all three of my pregnancies at the exact same weight. I ended both Adam's and Matt's at the exact same weight. So, if I stick with that pattern, I've got 10 lbs. still to gain. I am hoping, though, to gain less than 10 lbs. I haven't had much swelling with this pregnancy. I'm still wearing my wedding ring. In the past, I've had a to wear a fake one by the sixth month. This past Sunday was the first time my fingers felt swollen. I think it was from sitting three hours during Stake Conf. I'm already having contractions. Most of them are the typical Braxton-Hicks ones. I've had a few, though, that I've felt all around and through my back. They've been bad enough to really remind me of the pain of previous deliveries and of the pain to come. I felt well enough today and the weather was nice that I did some yardwork. The boys helped me and then ran through the sprinklers.

New Callings

Today we had Stake Conference. Rob and I received new callings. Robert was put on the High Council and we were both called to be "special advisors" to the Spanish branch here in Garden City. "Special advisors", as explained by the stake presidency, means we'll be helping to train the members to run the auxiliaries properly. We've been told that we're not to serve as a president of any auxiliary(thank goodness), and that we're to have this calling for one year. Currently very little functions correctly in the branch. There is no functioning youth program, primary, elders quorum. There are only three priesthood holders, no counselors to the branch president. Basically the six missionaries assigned to the branch tend to help run things. The stake presidency spoke with us last Sunday so I've had all week to think about this. We've been in a spanish branch before in Emporia, Kansas, however, in comparison, that one was much better attended and manned than the one here. My main concern is being isolated. Serving in Primary is isolating, but this is even more so. The old adage, "out of sight, out of mind" is true. When we went from the English ward to the Spanish branch, we didn't get to see/interact with the ward members much anymore, so I often felt like I was "off the radar screen". It wasn't an intentional thing; it was just how it was. I was pregnant then (with Matthew), like I am now. I've told Robert I'm having low expectations, so hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised. Adam and Matt will still attend Primary in the ward. We haven't yet figured out how we're going to work the schedule because five hours of church for the boys does not seem realistic. Adam has already voiced his concern and feelings about that one. So, as I often say, "here goes nothing". We'll see how it turns out.

Two Great Feats

This week marked the end of two things I've been working on for years.....literally. The first is that I paid off my last student loan. It took over nine years and was only eight months ahead of schedule, but still, . . . .it's done! As for Robert's loans. . . .that will take another 10 years. Which really means, we're already halfway done!

My second great accomplishment this week was finally finishing Matthew's baby scrapbook. I know--he'll be five in June. It took so long because the task seemed so daunting and boring and time-consuming. I have a baby book and a scrapbook detailing the first year of life for each child. I finished Adam's scrapbook when he was two, and I've kept on top of their baby books. And, I had done half of Matt's scrapbook by the time he was two years old. It was just the second half that seemed so hard to get done. I wasn't sure how to organize it--by months, by categories. And the photos to sort through. How do you sift through hundreds of photos and narrow them down to fill only 20 pages? I finally got my bum in gear because I didn't want the guilt hanging over me of not having finished Matt's book before our next baby is born. I recruited Matt to help me and boy, was he excited. He helped me select the pictures, cut paper, apply stickers, etc. We spent all day Tuesday doing it, and we got it done. What a relief! With the next baby, I'll still do a baby book and 1st year scrapbook, but I'm doing the scrapbook through Snapfish.

Weekly Happenings

Things have been a bit busy here this week.  Robert has been to Liberal and Dodge City twice in the past three days.  Earlier in the week Adam finished his soccer clinic. He'd been attending all month, a few nights a week.  His last practice was scheduled for Monday, however it got moved to Tuesday.  Which happened to be when the missionaries were coming for dinner.  Adam and Matt always have fun when they're here. I had planned a great dinner--chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, salad, veggies, and rolls.  I had been craving chicken fried steak all month and decided to make it for the elders.  So,since Adam's practice was moved to Tuesday, we ordered pizza for the elders and had the chicken fried steak another day.  Matthew has strep throat.  He started feeling sick yesterday around lunchtime.  The sore throat, fever and headache came on really quickly. I kept him home from school this morning and had him tested for strep.  I wasn't too surprised the test came back positive.  I'm glad we caught it quickly so he won't be sick or contagious too long.  As for me, my pelvic bones are killing me.  Since I always carry each pregnancy so low, the babies just settle into my hips and reek havoc.  My pelvis always feels arthritic, like the bones are rubbing against each other. I'm looking forward to Monday--the first day of March.  Hopefully that will mean the end of winter and the start of spring and warmer temperatures.

February Facts

So, February has been a pretty full month for us. Here are the facts....as we see them.

1. We had our annual 'Family Superbowl' party. It's not a party in the true sense where we invite anyone--it's just us--but we always have great food. This year was no different--hoagies, lil' smokies, seven-layer dip and chips, cherry cheesecake, M&Ms, cookies. Adam and Matt were excited for all the goodies and stayed up to watch the first half of the game.

2. My folks gave Rob and I a 'weekend away' over Valentine's. They drove down last Friday morning. They arrived at 1:30pm and Rob and I left at 2pm--not much of a greeting. Grandma & Grandpa were here to see the boys, not us. Rob and I drove to Colorado, arriving in the early evening. We stayed in Colorado Springs because Robert had never been there and wanted to see it. We packed our Saturday---went to the 8:30am session at the temple, watched 'Avatar' in 3D, bought a carseat and stroller, visited a friend in the hospital, shopped for bunkbeds and went to dinner. We left early Sunday morning and arrived back home by 1pm so my folks could get on the road by 1:30pm to make it back to Cheyenne at a decent hour.

3. Baby Boy is doing well. My doctor has been taking good care of me. She's been doing most of the routine tests/exams a bit early because of my age. Which is nice but at times also makes me feel old. My glucose test was low--68. My bloodsugar tends to run low. But I have definitely felt myself dragging a bit and am trying to eat enough protein to keep it steady. As far as we know it's still a boy. He's very wiggly. Adam and Matt like to feel him moving around. This baby definitely feels more like a 'family project' since the boys are older and much more aware of what's going on.

4. Adam has been involved in a soccer clinic the past few weeks, attending practices in the evening. The coach is great--really teaching the kids the fundamentals. He played in college so he's quite good. This is the first time Adam has done anything with soccer, besides in PE, so he's learning a lot. With Garden City being 2/3 hispanic, you can imagine how popular soccer is here. Most of the kids have been on teams or play everyday at recess. I was bit concerned to see how Adam would do alongside them, but he hasn't been discouraged and really tries hard. He did say, though, he's scared to be on a team--simply because he thinks everyone will be much
better than him.

5. I'm tired of the cold, snowy weather. This winter has seemed to last forever, especially since we were so spoiled last year with warm temperatures. I haven't been able to walk in the mornings, until yesterday, for three weeks because of the weather. We are all definitely ready for spring.