Almost Done...

First off, apologies for all the spam that was sent/posted on this. Someone had hacked into my account and I hadn't even noticed it. I deleted the spam posts as well as changed my information. Hopefully, this does not happen again.

Lily is growing fast. She turned 6 years old yesterday. I can't believe how much time has flown. She is so smart, it amazes me. Don't get me wrong, she's a brat, a lot, and a bit bossy, but she's generally a good kid and I do love her bunches. Currently, she is doing 2nd grade work at home. We chose to continue to homeschool due to the fact that our children are quite advanced, and we like it that way. We worked hard for that, and are very proud of them. Lily is on top of it, and it amazes me how much she knows and remembers. I'm hoping to have her tested during the summer. We found a place that does free placement tests in Round Rock, so Justin and I are pretty excited. Her favorite things right now are: Pink, coloring, drawing, writing stories, Princesses, and organizing.

Iris, who turned 4 in October, is also growing well. She's just as advanced (currently doing Kindergarten at home) but is my much quiter child. She likes to keep to herself and speaks in two volumes: quiet, and quieter. When you ask her to speak up, apparently there is no inbetween and she will just start yelling. She is a very silly child, but is easily upset bby her older sister, so things are never boring at home. Her favorite things right now are: Purple, books, telling people off, and generally being silly.

Rose, who has been 2 since the end of July, is full of crazy. While we have her trying Pre-K work, she is very much disinterested. She knows all of her shapes, is speaking in sentences, relatively, and knows left from right. She can even identify a few capital letters. However, she refuses to count any number except the numbers 8 and 10 and doesn't care so much about colors. She's also the meanest of the three. While Lily is the instigator/manipulator, Rose is the brawler. She is usually yelling at *someone* for any reason at all and throwing punches. Even when she is sick. He sisters are cuddly, and maybe a little whiney, when they are sick. Rose, on the other hand, is full of rage. There is screaming and kicking involved when she is sick. She just got over a double ear infection not too long ago, and I'm just happy she has stop raging at everyone. (Don't get me wrong, she is still loud and raging, just not as often.) It seems like she has two emotions: rage, and surpressed rage.

As for the unborn: It's a boy!! I kind of feel sorry for the kid. He has no idea what he is getting himself into. Those girls are going to be all over him, especially Lily, who has been asking for a baby brother since before I had Rose. She wanted to name him Carlos, but we said no. Iris didn't care, just as long as he doesn't touch her stuff. Even though I'm due on February 13, he's coming out a week early. This pregnancy has not been too kind to me. I'm at a high risk for uterine rupture (due to three prior c-sections) and have gestational diabetes. I've been on bed rest since August, and take frequent naps, as instructed by my doctor. I hurt, a lot, and feel exhausted ona regular basis. While I have good days, and try and stay active on those days, it doesn't always go as planned. My legs and feet go numb a lot, my hips feel like they are trying to detach themselves from the rest of my body, and my back is one giant knot. I have to take a sleep aid, a painkiller, anti-nausea, and heartburn medicine just so I can sleep through the night. Not to mention that last week I had bronchitis, so on top of that, I had to take antibiotics three times a day and use my inhaler. I still have a nasty cough, but that's mostly due to allergies and my asthma. Did I mention this pregnancy hasn't been kind to me?

Keep on the lookout around February 7-9 for updates on the new baby! Wishing everyone happy winter holidays and a prosperous new year.

xiii:

Pregnancy: Had an OB appointment on Friday and was told I need to get an ultrasound done because the baby has been measuring too small. She's seems to be growing just fine to me. I can feel her regularly and I know for a fact she's big enough to shove her feet into my lungs as she does it frequently. However, my OBGYN wants to make sure she is developing just fine so Monday I have to make an appointment with the u/s tech to get measurements and proper sonogram pictures. I know our last "official" ultrasound was in February and that then Rose was measuring just fine. I'm not really worried about it. I'm not exactly "big" by any standard except maybe to someone with Dwarfism. Lily was incredibly tall, and still is. Iris was pretty average and still seems to be. Rose seems to have gotten the short gene from me. Poor kid. LOL

Anyway, my due date is in 2 days. I'm still going to be trying for a vaginal birth after a cesarean. My OB (who had a successful experience with this on her second pregnancy and who is not much larger than I am) is very confident. Either way, they won't let me go any further than 42 weeks so I scheduled a cesarean for July 31 at 7 am. So if I haven't contacted anybody before then with "please welcome to the family..." you'll know when she'll be here.

Iris: My family has a lot of skin problems, from Eczema, sensitivity, and just very dry skin. I am thankful that I only have a mild form of this, but still have to use certain lotions and treatments in certain areas. Unfortunately, Iris seems to have inherited this unpleasant condition. She currently now has a staph infection on her scalp. Apparently her scalp had become irritated at one point and she kept scratching at it. It then escalated when she scratched so much she broke skin. Then when it started to scab over she continued to scratch until it got infected. I had thought that maybe she had hit her head on the coffee table (which she has done numerous times) and those were just a result of a mishap. So I had cleaned them and left them alone checking up on them daily. On the third day, Friday, J and I realized that they had doubled in size so I took her to the doctor that afternoon and was prescribed some penecillin to get rid of the infection. *sigh* This poor kid. No matter how well we take care of her skin something always seems to pop up and get infected.

She's also been having nightmares. She'll wake up in the middle of the night calling for me. At first I thought it was just her teeth since she's getting all her molars at the same time, but last night I had given her pain medication for her teeth and she still clung to me (she's a mama's girl). She wouldn't let go of me for well over an hour or she'd start screaming. I had to literally lay my 150lb pregnant self in this toddler bed with her until she fell asleep. Every like 5-10 minutes she would suddenly wake and slap me in the chest just to make sure I was still there. I couldn't leave until she was knocked out and rolled away from me.

Lily: We were doing great with night-time potty training. She had been waking up and telling me when she had to pee. She had only had a few accidents here and there. Then the accidents became more frequent, almost every other day. And now it's gotten to the point where it's every day again. I've reminded her to call me if she has to go, which she does just fine when she's awake. But when she's knocked out she doesn't even notice. I even wake her up after an accident and ask her if she wet herself and even though she's completely soaked in urine, she still says no and is surprised when I wake her up enough to realize she's wet. I don't know what else to do. I've tried waking her up and taking her to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but that obviously hasn't worked. I'm just so tired now to even begin to think of something else to try other than putting her back in trainers at night time and I don't want to. :(

33: Lily Pix

All of Lily's pictures and vidoes have been updated.
Head HERE for pictures and a link to the videos

32: Walking

My baby's growing up so fast. She's been walking about the house all day yesterday. I was about to give her a bath when suddenly I see someone's little naked butt running into the bedroom. I wasn't able to get that, as hilarious as the experience was, but I did get her walking to Daddy. :)


****~*~*~*~****

Nothing seems to be the way
That it used to
Everything seems shallow
God give me truth,
In me,
And tell me somebody's watching
Over me,
And that is all I'm praying is that

Someday I will understand
In God's whole plan
And what He's done to me
Oh but maybe someday I will breathe
And I'll finally see
I'll see it all in my baby

Don't you run too fast my dear
Why don't you stop?
stop and listen to your tears
They're all you've got
It's in you
You see somebody's watching
Over you
And that is all I'm praying is that

Someday you will understand
In God's whole plan
And what He does to you
Oh but maybe someday you will breathe
And you'll finally see
You'll see it all in your baby

No moment, will be more true
than the moment, I look at you

It's in you
You see somebody's watching
Over you
And that is all I'm praying is that someday
You will understand
In Gods whole plan
And what he does to you
Oh but maybe
Someday you will breathe
And you'll finally see
You'll see it all in your baby

31: One-two, Step

Lily's beginning to take steps!
After one or two she'll face-plant into the carpet.

3o: Videos and Pictures

All things Lily have been updated.

Pictures
Videos

29: 11 months

Wow. One more month and my baby's going to be a year old. Time has flown by so quickly I can still remember the day I had her and the long hours of labor. I remember just how tiny she used to be. How she would curl up on my stomach and fit perfectly. Now she just sprawls on top of me, her legs hanging from either side of my hips, toes almost touching my knees and her face shoved into the crook of my neck.

She hasnt started walking yet, but today she stood up by herself without the help of my legs or the couch or coffee table. She toppled over a few seconds later, but at least she's trying. She's such a brat sometimes. She knows when things please us, and she knows "no" very well, but she does things just to piss us off on purpose. She's been testing her boundaries and my patience for a while now. It's so funny sometimes that I have to walk away so she can't see me laughing. She's now "talking back" (it's a high pitched grunt and a mean face) and she bites her hand or slaps her face when she's very angry. She gets so frustrated sometimes that I'm worried she's going to hurt herself.

When she wants something she's a pro at kissing ass. She'll crawl up to you and give you a bunch of hugs and kisses while trying to get the thing that she wants. She usually does this when I have my cellphone and she wants it. A lot of times, she'll just give us hugs and kisses because she wants to. She is so smothered with love. The first thing Justin does when he wakes up is pick her up and hold her and she hugs him in return. She loves the attention. If Justin and I are hugging each other there she is tugging at our pant legs wanting hugs, too.

She's now in the habit of going to bed by herself. There are still times she throws fits but now they are very few and far in between. She just needs a snack or a bit of milk before going to bed to relax her and she's good for the night. I may read her a story or sing her a lullaby if she's still a bit fussy. She wakes up happy and very talkative. She's such a chatter box. Most of the time she's talking to herself but when she wants us to talk to her she'll just keep saying "Mama" or "Dada" repeatedly until we respond.

One night while we were organizing the closet, Lily and I are sitting on the floor while I folded clothes and Justin was standing next to me putting clothes away in the dresser. Lily starts yammering like she normally does and then goes, "Mama!" I respond. She smiles and goes, "Dada!" Justin responds. Then after a small pause she suddenly goes, "Bawoom?" Justin goes, "Balloon? What balloon? Did you just think one would suddenly appear?" Lily went "ya" and nodded her head. I'm quite sure it was all just coincidence how it played out, but it was still amusing just the same.

I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast.

28: (audio post)

Click the following link to hear the message:

Voice Post

NEW PICTURES AND VIDEOS ARE UP ON LILY'S SITES!! GO CHECK THEM OUT---YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!

27: This was taken almost 2 weeks ago

Bow to the awesomeness that is my lack of grace! (You'll see in the first few seconds of the clip.) And Lily's a meanie. She likes smacking people around.

Don't forget, you can find more Lily videos at: (Lily's Videos, Just click this)

And all of Lily's pictures at: (LilyPix, Just click this)

26:

Teaching Lily how to head-butt was bad idea. She now bangs her head on the doors and has been head-butting her parents. It was originally just a game for us that made her laugh. I'm afraid I'll have to give her a helmet.

Someone keeps biting me with her two little teeth.

25: (audio post)

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Voice Post

PS -- Her second tooth just came in today.

24: Teeth!

So about 5 or 10 minutes ago, I turn and look at Lily to find her sticking something in her mouth from the floor. She was by the back door so I knew it had to be either grass, or dirt. Brown spot on her cheek indicates dirt. So I lay her on her side, stick my finger in her cheek, get bit like always....but this time, I get nicked with something. So I quickly remove the dirt, wipe her drool, move her tongue out of the way, and there it is. Her right central incisor finally cut through today, which would expless last night's restlessness.

She finally has her tooth. And she already bit me with it.

23: 9 months

Yesterday, Lily thought Wite-Out would be the perfect snack. She somehow sneaked it off of her father's lap and by the time he noticed and snatched it from her, she had already had some. I think she'll be one of those kids who eats paste... I wake up from my nap with Justin, "Where's your nail polish remover?" "I didn't bring any." "Oh. Well, in that case, Lily has Wite-Out on her face."

Quick stats:
Ht: 28.5 in.
Wt: 22 lbs 4 oz

She's such a chatty Cathy nowadays. And she does this gag-cough-hack when she wants attention. She's been mimicking Justin and I when we need to get rid of some mucus. She still has no teeth. She's been wreaking havoc. She doesn't know how to walk yet, but she is a climber - found her with her feet up in the air getting into her walker. And right now, as I type, she's trying to "get" Tinker Bell, who is tattooed on my back. She'll actually stop and clap if you clap first. She still shakes her head no. She knows who "mama" and "dada" are. And she calls her rubber duck "duh".

She was such a good girl at her appointment yesterday. She was scared shitless of the new peditrician though. She went into a state of hysteria where Justin and I couldn't help but laugh. She was about to wail and begin bawling, but no sound was coming out, her mouth was still wide open, and she kept looking back between the doctor and her daddy before she finally burst into tears. I couldn't quite understand it. She was friendly and smiling with all the nurses. I know she has stranger anxiety, but I've never seen it quite that bad before.

They had to test her iron levels and such. She yelped once when the pricked her finger but just sat there quietly as the drew her blood into the phile. The RN was telling the intern nurse that most babies would be screaming by now. She's very well behaved in public. I like that. She's a hellion at home, but good in public.

She's such a spoiled brat, but I just can't help but make her rotten.

...
More Lily pictures are found at:
http://lilypix.blogspot.com/

More Lily videos are found at:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=taintdluv2k4

22: 8 months

Seems like forever since I last posted, but in reality, I've just been lazy doing voice posts instead.

At eight months now, Lily has been shaking her head "no". She does it when someone else does, or just out of the blue. She's such a goofy baby.

Quick Stats:
WT: 21lbs 3oz
HT: 28 in


Likes:
Laughter/Laughing
Clapping (which she now does with you)
The sound of snapping
Talking (and loudly)
Shaking head
Eating
Little boys (cuz she's a flirt)
Going outside
Pushing buttons and climbing up and down things
And of course playing!

Dislikes:
Poeple arguing or hitting each other (she get's very upset)
Other babies crying (she gets very quiet)
Grown men (She cried when Justin came over. He got a haircut and looked different so she thought he was someone else.)
Ham (she gets this from her father)
Being taken away from things she wants to do.

She's teething, drooling everywhere, and waking up frequently during the night. I soothe her the best way I can. For the most part, since Justin works the graveyard shift and usually comes home around the time Lily and I wake up, I have her in bed with me on one of her more restless nights. Sometimes all three of us squish in there during the day. (It's a full-sized futon) She also has a very bad and painful diaper rash. I had to switch diapers because of this. Since our budget is tight, I started using White Cloud, bad idea. We went back to Luvs.

That's it for now. She's kept me on my toes chasing her around this apartment making sure she doesn't eat, pull, or push anything she's not supposed to.

Later days.

21: quick note

Lily and I will be moving back to Omaha with her daddy at the end of the week after next.

20: Pictures!!

Here are just a few pictures from when Lily and I visited her daddy.

Vacation Pictures!

19: 7 months (audio post)

Click the following link to hear the message:

Voice Post


EDIT: 5:51 pm For the record, Justin keeps Lily's pictures more up to date online than I do, so if you want to see a plethora of Lily, which I know you do, just go to >Lily Pix (Click here!) and enjoy! :D

18: Visiting Omaha (audio post)

Click on the following link to hear the message:

Voice Post

17: quick note (audio post)

Click on the following link to hear the message:

Voice Post

16: 6 months (audio post)

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Voice Post