More fun stuff

Myles is still playing 'stuff my face.' I've been feeding him [seriously] for 30 minutes. And I stopped to burp him, and he's screaming because he is convinced I want to starve him!
It's a nightly thing- we'll put the kids to bed, and 5 minutes later they are screeching at each other and at us, tattling. Sometimes it is funny. Other times [like tonight] it is quite annoying. Especially when we know H is out of bed, because he's asking Jared something, and W is screaming, over and over again, "DAD!!!! H's out of bed!!!" If we ignore it, it will go away. right?!?
On a cheerier note, I had a nice long nap today! I was feeling a bit off, but scraped myself together and went to church w/the family. And it was good to be reminded of God's love for me, and some of the blessings I have been taking for granted lately. It amazes me how much happier I feel when I'm rested LOL.
Last the best: I went to a crop yesterday [Myles came for part of it], and got a few pages, some cards, and a ton of visiting done. Love to talk w/other women! And I love that my dh encourages me to go, and doesn't ever complain about the time I'm away, or how hard it is to watch the kids when I'm gone. He's the best!

games

So at the beginning of Sept, I got interested in watching the Colts play football. Mostly because their first game was against the Giants, and the Manning brothers got to play against one another. And I haven't been able to watch the games firsthand- they're on Sundays, and I never have time with church and kids to sit down that day. But they're the only undefeated team in the NFL now, and I'm wondering if they'll win the Superbowl in 2007. I usually follow the Cowboys, and their track record is less than stellar this season. Not so fun to watch your team lose.
The big game at our house right now is 'Go Fish.' H and I play this pretty much every day. It's a pretty cooperative effort though- we leave our cards face-up on the floor and I give him hints about what he should ask for ;). Myles is playing 'feed my face' all day. Ang had her baby Oct 26th, and he was 9 pounds 8 ounces. I think Myles wants to catch up to his cousin or something LOL. I'd like to play 'let mommy sleep' but nobody else wants to play with me...

j

oh halloween

Here's the crew; Myles stayed w/me and helped hand out candy. And he loved every minute...

ahh, sleep

Myles slept 7 hours last night. GOOD boy! ;) And I'm exercising again, more quickly than I had expected, but it helps w/the recovery.

j

naps

Bless his little heart, Myles slept from 10:30pm to 4:30am last night! And you would think that I'd be extra-rested today. But I was feeling a bit tired, and with H already down for a nap, I decided I would lay down as well. When Myles started crying because he was hungry, I almost couldn't get out of bed I was so tired LOL. And, poor little thing, it took me about 10 minutes to get myself out of bed to feed him! *sigh* I love little babies, except at night...

And these are our pumpkins- we got them all carved, then had no candles to put inside, so Jared used his super spotlight to illuminate them for pictures. Love that he's so creative ;).

W's pumpkin is winking, M's pumpkin is the bat on the pumpkin, H carved [with lots of help from Jared] the skeleton, and I did the pumpkin w/the hands. I was too tired last night to enjoy it much, but in retrospect, it was a lot of fun ;)

And today H and Myles and I went to Walmart to get candles to light up the pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!

oh, just had to share this- went to the dentist Oct 6 after almost 11 years avoiding him. And gee, I had a few cavities! Oh, and a root canal, too. So the next 3 Fridays I spent in the dental chair, having my root canal done [2 trips], and a temporary crown put on [1 trip]. Next week I'll get my permanent crown put on, oh joy of joys ;). Last Friday, when he was getting ready to give me a shot before they began working on that temp crown, the dentist asked "aren't you sore there?" meaning the lower left side of my jaw where all this work is taking place. I'm not really sore there, no, so I said as much. Then he replies, "because you've got a big bruise there. I guess that's not surprising, since you've been in here so often!" And yeah, 3 weeks in a row is rather a lot, I guess. Thankfully, this dentist is pretty cool. And his techs are gentle and nice- the last time I was at the dentist's office, I swear the tech was trying to extract my teeth with the floss! And she asked me, "Don't you ever brush back here?!?" Well, actually, since there is maybe a millimeter between my back teeth and the back of my mouth, NO. I can't manage to get a toothbrush back there. I flossed it every day, though. But that experience didn't encourage me to visit again soon, then we were in college and poor, and I could always find something else to buy with any extra money we had. But now that we have insurance, and I'm not pregnant anymore, I've run out of excuses to avoid the dentist.

j

perspective

I'm sitting at my computer, feeling sorry for myself, because my dh called and asked which evening would be best for him to work late. Huh? With 4 kids, one a 17-day old baby??? None! was my first response, especially after he had drill this past weekend, and left me alone w/all those kids. But that was hardly helpful. And since he was calling at 5:30pm, 90 minutes after he was supposed to be leaving work, I figured why not tonight, since he's going to miss most of it anyway. Yep, I am wallowing in self-pity right now.

Then, as I'm checking email, I stumble across a link to the Army's new ad, with their new slogan, "Army Strong." [tried to link here, but wasn't working, so if you want to watch, go to photobucket and search 'army strong'] And I'm reminded of all that my dh is doing to serve our country, and all he does for me as well. Like getting up w/that new baby at 4:30am and feeding him so I could sleep in. Or leaving me his cellphone, since mine has mysteriously disappeared, because he isn't comfortable w/me not having a phone. And that's just this week. So, no more pity party for me. Guess I'll have to be grateful instead. LOL, boy that sounded great, didn't it?!? Seriously, it was a good reminder of all the things I am blessed to have in my life.

j

photography

Had a challenge on a blog I regularly visit to create a LO that tells the story of my relationship with photos and/or my camera. And I don't think I'll be scrapping about this anytime soon [my spare bits of time are eaten up by meal prep, overseeing kids, and brief checks of email]. But it sparked some thoughts I wanted to record.

I love having a digital camera- w/the film one I had previously, I went through rolls and ROLLS of film, because somebody told me [and I found it to be true] that the best way to take a good picture was to take LOTS of pictures. So having a digital camera makes this much less wasteful overall. Plus I don't have to stop and change film! And although I seldom keep all the pics I take, and never print them all, I can see that I'm improving as I get used to how my camera works. I'm much better at shooting stills than action. I have an action setting on my camera, but seldom remember to change to that when I'm in the middle of snapping pictures. And I wish I had a camera that would take a zoom lens; mine cannot zoom in close enough to get decent shots when I go to soccer games, or other events where I'm sitting far away.

I think my favorite photos are of my kids. Especially the candid ones, although they're harder to capture. I posted one of Myles with a new 'do ;) aren't I mean LOL?!? Poor kid was screaming because he was hungry, and I'm snapping photos... But I love the array of expressions I can capture when my subject is not aware of me.

and it's off to bed again- gotta sleep when the little munchkin sleeps

j

Wow- pictures!

Okay, so the first pic is Myles on the day he was born, under an oxygen hood, with lots of little sensors to tell us about his heart rate, breathing, and oxygen saturation level in his bloodstream. Second pic is Myles in the transport bed they took him up to LDS Hospital in. I thought it rather looked like a display case...

Third pic is up at LDS Hospital in the NICU- pod 2- under an oxy hood again; more monitors, plus the chest tube. That's in his left side, so you can't see it.

Fourth pic is still LDS Hospital NICU- pod 8 now- they discontinued the IV feed, but left in the shunt so they could give him his antibiotics w/out poking him again. When we sat him up to burp him, he'd go after the blue part of the IV like a fish after a lure ;).

And fifth pic is Myles at home, sleeping, after a good feed and a diaper change. He still curls up like this when we hold him :) SO glad he's home and healthy. God is good.

j

random bits

A totally random thing happened Sunday. Jared's cousin's husband went to sleep and never woke up. Still don't know what the cause of death was- waiting for further autopsy results, but wow. At 37, to be gone without any warning, or any explanation, leaving a widow and 4 kids behind- it's crazy. The funeral was today. My heart aches for them.

Okay, so on to happier subjects: the baby is coming ;). Tomorrow, that is! We're all getting excited, but I'm torn- I haven't been sleeping well because of the squirming of this little one. But it won't be better when he comes because he'll be wanting food [the nerve, LOL] at all hours of the day and night. And a friend of mine was complaining about the difficulties of her 1-year-old yesterday, and I had to remind myself that they don't come out crawling and grabbing and getting into things all over the house. They work up to it slowly! And I really am excited for this little one. I'm even packed for the hospital already LOL. Plus Jared's taking me out tonight for dinner, which will be great :). I can eat WAY too much, in anticipation for tomorrow. Can't eat breakfast because I might throw up during surgery. Will be IN surgery for lunch, so will miss that, too. Then I'll be on liquids for at least a day after the surgery. Which means, all in all, that this meal tonight has to last me until SUNDAY!!!!!!!!! oh, but they'll let me suck ice chips after the surgery. Like that's gonna fill me up!
j

A LOL moment

We've been running around this morning with errands- working out, grocery store, dr's office [everything is fine baby-wise], visited a friend- and got home in time to eat lunch. I sat H down at the table with his pb&j sandwich, glass of milk, and some fruit snacks. Gotta love his choices- classic and easy to make! Anyway, I headed into the computer to balance my checkbook quickly, and got a phone call. Took a few minutes, but not too long, then I finished w/the computer. I went out to the kitchen and found H's dishes cleaned off, but no H. Okay.... And there weren't any odd or startling noises coming from anywhere either. I walked downstairs, thinking he'd turned on a movie, but the TV was off, and his bedroom door was shut. So I peeked in, and he was in his bed, w/the blankets up around him, fast asleep!!! He always makes such a fuss [for him] about taking a nap, yet here he is all tucked in, without me ever saying anything!
I would have taken a picture, but the sheet was over his head...

j