Glucose Test Result

Just a quick post to let everyone know I got the results back from my Glucose test and I DON'T have gestational diabetes! Woo-hoo! I didn't figure I did....but they will make me take the test again around 27 weeks to re-check for it.

February Updates

I haven't posted in a while because I have not felt well! I have been EXTREMELY tired and nauseous all day every day for the past 6 weeks at least. The nausea seems to be letting up now that I am 12 1/2 weeks along, but the tiredness is hanging on. On February 7 we celebrated Jacob's 9th birthday! It has always been Jacob's wish to have a swimming party for his birthday. He even "put off" his birthday until July one year just so he could have it at a pool! But this year we were fortunate enough to find an indoor swimming pool here in Aurora. So, even though the weather was in the 40's outside, the kids were swimming in a heated pool, and having a blast! There was a big water slide that the kids loved going down and also a sprayground. Jacob liked to spend most of his time in the Olympic size pool where the diving boards were. He jumped off the low dive (his first time on a spring board), and then looked at the high dive curiously. He pointed to it while looking at me (asking permission to jump) and I said, "Go for it!" He climbed the ladder cautiously, walked to the end, gave me a small wave (as if to say, "If I don't survive this, know I love you."), then jumped! He loved it! He did say his hands stung because he slapped the water, but he climbed up again and jumped a second time. Even though we didn't technically have a "party" there, one of Jacob's friends did come and go swimming with him. After the swimming, we went to the house and ate mac-n-cheese then everyone had some of the peanut butter brownies that Jacob had picked out and made all by himself earlier that morning. It was a great birthday for him and the kids slept really well that night!!

The kids finished up their 3 1/2 weeks "off track" yesterday, and we sent them back to school! YAY! We have been attending meetings about enrolling Cole in middle school for the fall. We are applying him for a program called EDGE. Horizon Middle School is the only school in the district that offers it, and it would be Advanced classes for all of his CORE subjects. He has to have a letter of recommendation from his current teacher, an application filled out by us (his parents), they will interview Cole, and they will look at his MAP and CSAP test scores in order to decide whether they will accept him or not. His current teacher is just positive he will be accepted, but I am still nervous for him and hope that he is accepted, because Cole definitely needs the challenges of Advanced classes. He has also decided he wants to take Band (that is a year long elective) and PE for sure. PE in middle school here is an elective and it only lasts a semester, so if your child doesn't pick PE they don't get any type of exercise during middle school. That is strange to me because when I was going to Caddo Middle Magnet, PE was not an option, it was part of your day and it lasted all year long. If he gets accepted into EDGE he has to have 2 full years of a foreign language while in middle school, and he wants to do Spanish.
I went to the doctor yesterday to do the glucose test for them early....they want to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes since I tend to have big babies....and I don't know the results yet even though they said it would only take 24 hrs, but I don't really think I have it. I will know soon enough! While I was there I got to hear Peanut's heartbeat!! It was 170 bpm, and I know that a lot of you think that a fast heart rate means it is a girl, but that is not true! Jacob's heart rate was 165-170 and he is definitely NOT a girl!! Annalisa's wasn't even as fast as Jacob's. While my doc teased me that Jacob would be a girl based on the heart rate, he said in all actuality it is still a 50/50 chance it is a boy and 50/50 chance it is a girl. So, while Annalisa is hoping for a girl, and it certainly could be, I will wait for the sono to tell us.....this is the FIRST one of my babies I will have them tell me the sex of BEFORE the birth! I LOVE NOT knowing, but I figure since I have NOTHING this time and people really want to be able to buy for the baby I won't torture them anymore....I had my fun 3 times around! But just maybe Peanut will be shy that day and they won't be able to tell for sure.......I will secretly smile if that is the case!

And Baby Makes 6!

I figured it was about time to post something new...and I could think of nothing better to post about than the fact that we are expecting another little blessing to enter our home (he/she is already in our hearts!) on or around Sept. 1! Yes, Ben and I were VERY surprised at this little curve ball God is throwing in our direction....but we have been thrown many curve balls by God and we never duck....we don't want to miss something good! Annalisa is super excited about this news, and she has been full of questions: "So, do you just like stand on a scale or something and it tells you that you are pregnant?" "Can the baby sleep in my room?" "What will I do if the baby keeps me up because she is crying and I have school the next day?" "How do babies get milk out of your boob anyway? Is that like a straw for them?" She is so curious about everything...but my favorite thing she said was not a question. It was right after we told them we would be having another baby. Annalisa just kept giggling and batting her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Well, it's just that I thought I would never get to see a BABY that you had....but now I will!!!!" The boys are excited, but definitely not to the extent that Annalisa is! We went to the doctor on the 27th and saw the little peanut on the sono. Everything looks good so far! I don't see the doctor until March 23, but I have been asked to come back in the next 4 weeks to take the glucose test early (but I will still have to take it again at the normal time of 27-28 weeks) since I tend to have big babies! Neither me nor any of the kids have ever been diagnosed with diabetes, but I guess this is just a precaution they want to take. I will keep you updated on how that goes. We will be happy for any and all of you to pray for us as Ben tries to find a job, I try to overcome all day nausea, and we hope for a healthy and safe pregnancy.

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday morning we suffered a loss in our family, and we had to say good-bye. While Cole was eating breakfast his brother and sister were arguing as usual. Annalisa suddenly yelled at me that Cole was crying. I immediately thought that Jacob must have said something mean to him, but normally Cole just gets him right back, so I looked into the dining room to the tear-streaked face of my oldest child. I asked him what was wrong and he just hung his head while continuing to cry. I was pretty concerned at that moment, so I asked him again what was wrong. He then held up his head and said, "Rodriguez died last night." He left the table to go cry some more. I was puzzled, and went to him...."How do you know he died?" I asked. "Because he wouldn't move when I checked on him." Now there were LOTS more tears. We had been concerned about Rodriguez for about a week because he hadn't been acting like his normal self. We got him some crickets to eat even though it wasn't really his feeding time, and although he is normally super excited for crickets to be in his home, this time he didn't even move. He acted as if none were there, but the next morning he was getting up and moving around a lot more. Cole was even excited that he had turned back to his green color--sometimes he was brown depending on the humidity in the house. Ben and I hadn't felt like Rodriguez would make it much longer--even though we had read that White's Tree Frogs can live up to 15 years. Cole was going on having Rod for 4 years--alot for a 10 year old! My biggest fear was that Cole would find him dead, and I didn' t know how he would deal with that--I also didn't want him to HAVE to deal with that. What can I say? I am still his mom, and it is in my blood to want to shelter him from those kinds of things, but this time I missed it. When I went to check on Rod he was definitely dead. Annalisa started crying too about how she LOVED Rodgrievous (she never was able to say his name correctly), but Jacob was just matter-of-fact about the whole thing and very uncaring about Cole's feelings. He said things like, "Oh, gross! He looks so bad! Why do his eyes look like that? Why is his foot stuck like that? Where is all of his color?" and lots of other quetions that just upset Cole. Ben fashioned a box for us to bury Rodriguez in, and after we carefully wrapped him then put him in it we buried him in the backyard. Cole cried the whole time, but Annalisa had nice words to say for Rod. Today as we went to church Cole told me he was still sad, but after church he told me he had worked through his sadness. He said that now he thinks he can talk about it without crying. He may even want to replace Rodriguez at some point. I am so proud of him, but I am sorry that he has had to learn about loss at such a young age. He took very good care of Rodriguez while he was alive, and I told him that Rod had many adventures (moving to Colorado from Texas, moving while in Colorado, staying with Nanny for a week, etc) that other frogs only dream about!! He lived a full life!!

Eight

I have been tagged by my cousin Amanda to make lists of eight things (I am assuming I was supposed to use the same lists she used)......so here goes:

My 8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Chick-Fil-A
3. Posados
4. Bodacious
5. Formosa Gardens
6. What-A-Burger
7. Taco Bueno
8. Marble Slab (that can be a restaurant!!)

8 Things That Happened Today:

1. I got out of bed (and that is HUGE considering how sick I was yesterday)
2. I wrapped a few Christmas presents
3. I ate a meal without throwing it up
4. I enjoyed getting some Christmas cards in the mail
5. Ben hugged me
6. Annalisa gave me a poem she wrote at school
7. The temperature was warmer than 39 degrees
8. I talked to Windy on the phone

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Summer Vacations
2. My anniversary
3. My kids' birthdays
4. Trips back to Texas
5. Visits from friends and family
6. Sledding with my kids
7. Friday night dates with Benny
8. Susan's baby being born

8 Things I Am Scared Of:

1. My dad's "mean" face
2. Roaches--those suckers can fly!!
3. Falling off the ladder while it is positioned on the stairs
4. Something happening to my kids or husband
5. Flying
6. Using a ruler--I hate measurements!!
7. My kids not knowing how much I love them
8. Missing important things in my kids' lives

8 Things I Wish For:

1. My kids to mind me!
2. Peace and quiet
3. A date with Ben
4. Ben's photography business to take off
5. My friends to not move away
6. Good friends for my kids
7. My kids to love and serve God
8. A Merry Christmas

8 Things I Watch on TV:

1. Psych
2. Heroes
3. Chuck
4. Pushing Daisies
5. The Soup
6. The Office
7. My Name is Earl
8. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

So, now I tag.....Beth, Janette, Jamee, Meredith, and Michael....don't you just LOVE me????