547 Days

18 months ago my little baby was born into this world. Where has the time gone? I can’t turn my back from one minute these days, because he’s always doing something new. It seems like Zachariah’s had an explosion of learning these last few months. If he keeps learning at this rate, how many more new things could he possibly do in one day? I’m afraid to find out, because I’m astounded by something new constantly.

Zachariah is a smiley, loving, cuddly, rowdy, energetic, curious, smart, adorable little boy. I love him with all my heart. I can’t imagine what I’d be doing without him in my life. He’s lead me down paths I didn’t know I’d ever travel. He’s taught me things about myself that I never before knew. He tries my patience almost daily. (How much can one person handle? I’m finding that out.) But he fills each day with more joy than I ever knew possible.

Zachariah has taken climbing to a new level now. He can successfully get onto the couch, recliners, and dining room chairs. Fortunately that’s as far as the climbing escapades have gone to this point.

Zachariah is not much of a talker (yet), but he has many other creative ways to communicate. For instance, if he wants the radio on, he points to the stereo or remote and dances. He says “choo choo” for trains and “room room” for cars/trucks/tractors/anything with wheels. He pants and recently learned to say “woof woof” for dogs (or cats or other 4 legged creatures). He says “ahh ahh” for a monkey. He moos like a cow. He lets us know when something smells bad by wrinkling up his nose and waving his hand in front of his face …so cute. And he loves to smell our feet, socks, and shoes to remind us that they stink. Lovely, isn’t he?

Sign language is Zachariah’s main form of communication (when crying doesn’t work, that is). He knows how to work the please and thank you’s. He knows quite a few animal signs already: dog, rabbit, monkey, fish (complete with a “fish face”), elephant, bird and we’ve been working on cow. Some other signs he uses frequently are: more, eat, drink, grandma/grandpa (he doesn’t distinguish the difference between these yet), banana, sorry & hurt (which he is beginning to understand the meaning of), hat, car, ball, baby, up, down, potty, snow, rain, and so many more. He picks them up really quickly now.

I can’t believe how big my son has gotten either. Zachariah is always on the tall/skinny side. At his last well baby check up he was over the 100th percentile for height. I guess we’ll see at his appointment next week how he’s grown again. I’m guessing he’s gained about 2 pounds. I’m sure he’s grown at least an inch or more, because his clothes are fitting him differently. It always amazes me to see the growth.

Zachariah has gone from toddling around to running. He can get anywhere pretty quickly now. It won’t be much longer before I can’t keep up with him. He is so active and energetic. But he still has time to stop and come back to me for cuddles and hugs.

He is a friendly boy. He’ll smile, wave, or blow kisses to any friend or stranger he meets. And he pours on the charm with girls already.

He is very independent. We are seeing this more and more, especially where his eating is concerned. He no longer wants us to help him eat. He uses a fork or spoon fairly well on his own now. He wants to try more and more things on his own. He loves fruit, almost every kind. He likes to eat whatever we’re eating for dinner. He definitely has a sweet tooth. He has most of his teeth now (at least part of the way in), so he can eat harder foods too.

Before my eyes my baby has transformed from infant to independent toddler. (No wonder I’m ready for another baby.) Happy 18 months, my son!

Newborn3 months
6 months
6 months
12 months
12 months
18 months
We haven't gotten professional 18 month photos yet. I hope to go in soon!

Going, going, gone.

This next weekend I am going out of town with a friend of mine. This is just a girls' get away. We are both really excited about it.

Matt suggested the whole trip. About a month back when I was having a few rough days, Matt mentioned that I needed a break. Yep, I do. He decided that he would set aside some money for me to go out of town. He told me to invite a friend and pick a location and time, and then he would take care of the details.

He has lived up to it. I called another stay-at-home-mom friend of mine, and she was so excited at the idea. This particular friend doesn't get much time to herself either. She is the mother of 3 young boys, and her husband has been laid off for over a month now. Their finances are really tight right now, but Matt offered to pay for the hotel and meals for her as well. So, she's bringing some spending money and we'll go shopping.

We have a nice hotel within driving distance of several big shopping centers. We're planning to shop most of the day, eat at nice restaurants, and then relax at the hotel. We might enjoy the pool, or just retreat to the peace and quiet of the room. We can stay up all night talking and reconnecting, or we might go to bed early and actually sleep until we can sleep no more. No matter what, it will be nice to have a break away.

I know that Zachariah is in good hands with Matt. This will be the longest Matt's every had Zachariah to himself. He's never stayed overnight with him alone (which I'm not worried about, because he sleeps really well at night). But it will be 2 long days dealing with every need and want of a toddler. Matt's mom offered to come watch Zachariah, so Matt could get out for a little while too. It's a good thing Matt refused, because I would have been mad. That is so not the point. Matt can handle his child for that long, and he needs to see that he can. This will be a good experience for him and Zachariah. And maybe, just maybe, we'll all come away from this more rested and relaxed. And I'm hoping that I'll be appreciated around here a little more.

Ugh

Oh boy, it's a looooonngg weekend, and Matt is sick. Just ask Jennifer how that is. I hate when he's sick. It makes my workload double (at least). But I shouldn't be too harsh yet, because so far he's been pretty good. He's only wanted to stay in bed this morning. Last night he fell asleep in the recline. He didn't complain, though, when Zachariah bugged him. And this morning I've let Zachariah in the bed a few times. He knows Daddy is home, and he just wants to spend time with him. Matt has been very gracious to let him cuddle or sit and read a book with him.

Zachariah has just started learning what "hurt" means. He seems to understand and be compassionate about it too. So, we've told him that Daddy hurts today. He signs hurt and gets this adorably concerned look on his face. Then he gives out hugs. So, it helps that Zac is being careful when he is on the bed with Matt.

I'm just glad that we hadn't planned to do anything this weekend anyway. It looks like my plans with include chasing a toddler around, cleaning up after said toddler constantly, taking juice to sick husband when needed, and taking care of everything in the house by myself. Fun anyone? Oh well, it could be worse.

OBs, babies, and working out

I should be dusting the living room right now, since I've put it off all day. Or putting dishes away. Or making dinner before my husband gets home. But I felt like blogging for a little while. So, those other things can wait for a short while.

*****
Matt just found out the my OB is moving out of town. He is not allowed to do that! I love my OB. And I was hoping to go back to him when it was time with another pregnancy. Having him here was one of my two good reasons not to leave this town. He treated me like I was his only patient. He's the only doctor in his office, so I always say him and only him for my appointments. I don't know if I'll find another doctor like him. His nurse (who is also his wife and half his age) was great. And she was pregnant with their first child when I was pregnant. Their baby was born about 3 months after Zachariah, and he was really cute. I'll miss the energy and funny speech of this doctor. I hope that I can move on and be happy with someone new for my next pregnancy.

*****
If you didn't know already, Semi-Desperate Housewife had her baby yesterday. If you haven't already, please go congratulate her. And doesn't she look beautiful for having just given birth in those photos. I'm very jealous. I was thinking about going to the hospital to see her today, but I can't picture taking a toddler along while visiting in a small hospital room. So, at this point I will wait until she is happy and comfortable at home with that new baby. Then I'll take some brownies and a gift for the baby to her. I can't wait to hold that little cutie.

*****
I have worked out every day this week. That's pretty good for me. I'm feeling pretty motivated to do it right now. I worked almost twice as long today...just because it felt good. Crazy! I know. I was thinking about starting a weight loss/exercise blog just to put some of my thoughts into words. If I do I probably won't make it public right away. Plus who knows how long I'll stick with this. If I were, for example, to work out all weekend and next week, then maybe I would actually have something to write about. I should probably see if I could stick to it first. I know (from past experiences) when I workout faithfully, I will lose weight. And I definitely want/need to lose plenty. I hope I can keep this up.

Clothing pictures

Now you get to see the pictures of the new clothes I got for Zachariah. Shelly asked nicely, so I had to oblige. Plus I look in his closet at least once a day looking at the new things he has for fall. I just love new baby clothes! My only fear this time is that some of the things will be too big. I bought two different sizes. Some will work well for fall, and I am hoping the rest will fit well by winter/early spring. We shall see. It was really hard deciding when sizes to get. Plus my son is very tall for his age...always has been. I bought a lot more tops than bottoms because of this. I have an idea of what size tops will fit, but pants is another story. He has a skinny waist and long legs. Not so much fun finding things that will fit him at this age. But I think I have a good start. And I know I will probably get more things as the season goes on. This is already the 3rd or 4th shopping trip I've made in the last 2 months for his clothes.

Here are the things I got this week:

This first outfit looks like it will be really long. I bought the bigger size here, because I think I can make it work now anyway. The shirt will just be baggy, the pants I can roll up if needed, and I can adjust the straps. I got these two shirts to go under t-shirts. I bought quite a few short-sleeved tees on sale at Old Navy. Then he can wear them all winter.
The color on this top is hard to see. It's a green color with brown and white striped sleeves. It is soooo soft and cute. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think it will be one of my favs for him this winter or fall.
This tee might be a little big for now, but I don't think it will look back. Actually it will probably be really cute under the denim jacket he has. And he's had a recent obsession with cars, trucks, tractors, and motorcycles. I think he'll like this on. Plus it's super soft like the other one I got at Baby Gap.

And that ends the fashion show from this shopping trip. I would have him model the clothes, but he does not enjoy putting clothes off and on. I'm sure you'll see his new clothes show up in photos of Zachariah later this year.

This nap thing

Why can't I figure out this nap thing? Zachariah will be 18 months old in 5 days. I heard that around then most toddlers will go to only 1 nap a day. Zachariah has been my two-naps-a-day kid for quite some time. For the last 6 months I've been bracing myself for the inevitable change over to one nap a day. There were days when he wouldn't lay down twice, so I thought we were definitely on the road there.

Just when I thought I had him figured out, he would go back to two naps again. We don't have a real solid schedule here. Bedtime is a big schedule we do stick to. We recognize that we must in this case, but otherwise we just go with the flow for the most part and it seems to agree with us. I know that he'll get up at a general time, eat breakfast, play, need a nap, eat lunch, play, need another nap, eat a snack, come with my to tutor, play until dinner, eat, then a little more play until it's bedtime. And then it's bath time, getting dressed, snack, book, good nights, and to bed. So you can see there is a rhythm to our day. And when we need to run errands or get out of the house, they are usually scheduled around those nap times.

Last week I thought we were done with that morning nap. Well...we were. We've had some busy weekends, so by Monday morning Zachariah usually sleeps in. It's like he needs to catch up a little from all the weekend excitement. Last week he slept in later than normal. Then he didn't seem ready for a nap at the same interval that he usually would. Of course by then it was lunchtime. So we ate lunch, then played for a while before he got tired and needed a nap. Then he did a glorious thing. He took a 3+ hour nap. I didn't mind one nap a day as long as it was a long one. When he tried the one nap thing before it didn't go this well, so I was noticeably concerned. THIS I can handle. He did this almost every day last week. We did it, we transitioned into one nap with no problems. I was OK with it, he was OK with it. I think it worked, because he was sleeping in later each day. He would sleep 12-14 hours at night.

Then we get into this week. Monday morning Zachariah slept in. I thought we'd be on schedule like last week then. But no, he kept sleeping and sleeping. I was starting to get bored with myself thinking he'd never wake up. Around 11:20AM he finally started calling for me. (This is the kid who goes to bed around 7:30PM every night too, so he slept a really long time.) I was all prepared for a sick, cranky kid, but he was happy and healthy. Good, I thought. He was awake for a few hours, ate lunch, played hard like usually, and then was ready for a nap. I was expecting no nap at all that day since he slept so late. But he laid right down in the afternoon and slept for 2 1/2 hours! Wow! He was really tired after this weekend. But still he stuck with the one-nap rule.

So, we're officially on to one nap per day! Right! Right? Riiiiiiight. Nope, yesterday and today he has gotten up at his previous normal time. Then after a few hours, he's ready for a nap. He has lunch, plays for a while, then needs another nap. And he's taking 2 two-hour naps. This is back to what he was doing before.

I don't mind this, and I surprisingly didn't mind the one nap thing we did last week. I just wish he'd make up his mind what he'd like to do. This makes 3 days this week I have been unable to run errands in the morning or early afternoon, because I don't know what his nap schedule will be. I'm hoping we can figure something out soon. I don't mind going with the flow, but I do want a little consistency.

Shopping, walking, & not pregnant

I was bored this afternoon. I knew Matt had to work late, so I decided it was time for a shopping trip to the mall. I've been wanting to go for a while, but the last few days I just haven't felt like leaving the house. Being alone all day and all evening with a toddler is enough incentive to want to leave the house for a while. I didn't feel like sitting at home any more. Zachariah does really well when we're shopping. There is a lot for him to look at, so he's usually really content.

I had every intention of using a 15% off coupon that I had for The Children's Place. (Here is the online code for 15% off - FMM77 or FMF77; it expires 9/3/07.)But nothing struck my fancy in there. Shocking, because I can usually find something that I like. When I actually want to spend money and have a coupon, I don't see anything. Grr. Oh well, on to Old Navy. Those are the two stores I get most of Zachariah's clothes from. I looked around there and didn't see too much I liked. I did see a few of the long-sleeved shirts that I've mentioned possibly getting before. But they were full-price this time, so I think I'll wait until they are on sale again. I even had a 10% off coupon here, and I bought nothing again.

I was beginning to think I wasn't going to buy any clothes. I stopped into Baby Gap and browsed their clearance rack. There were a few winter sweaters I liked there, but I think I'll wait on that. I saw two cute shirts on clearance that I almost bought, but then I decided not to this time. Then I headed into JC Penny's. I have bought one or two things there before, but not for a while. They were having their buy one get one for $0.88 sale. I found a little denim overall piece and red plaid flannel shirt. Not normally something I'd get, but I like denim overalls on toddlers. It will be a cute outfit for playing outdoors this fall. And they had character outfits on sale. I bought a "Cars" shirt. Zachariah is really into cars and trains lately, so I thought he might like it. It's a striped polo shirt and very cute. I went to one more shop after that, then we took a break for supper. As we were heading back by The Gap after dinner, I decided I wanted to buy two of the shirts I saw in there. They were so cute, I couldn't stop thinking about them after I left the store the first time. There are a few more things in there that I'd like to get, but that will have to wait.

I still felt like walking, so we went on to Elder-Beerman. This is another store I rarely shop for baby clothes at, because I hardly ever find anything I want. They had some cute things for fall this time. I bought two long-sleeved long-john type shirts. These will go well under some of the t-shirts that Zachariah already has, so he can wear them longer this fall and winter. (I can share pictures of clothes later if you're interested.)

It was while I was paying for my purchases that the clerk asked if I'd like to sign up for their baby registry. I looked at her funny and said no thank you. She went on to tell me that it stays open until their first birthday. Again I told her no, while looking at Zachariah. The whole time I'm thinking Zachariah is already older than a year, but maybe she thinks he's younger. Then she said, "What about the one in there?" and points to my stomach! I promptly told her I was not pregnant. She felt so bad and apologized over and over. I told her that was fine.

Now I am a big lady. When I bought this shirt I wondered if it looked too maternity-ish, but I thought no it's a plus-size shirt it shouldn't look that way. Ever since I bought it, I've been waiting for someone to mistake me for being pregnant. It is a really long shirt and it hangs from my chest down. Actually I'm surprised that she's the first person to ask me that since I've worn the shirt. It's funny really, because when I was pregnant people were afraid to ask. I think it's because I am bigger, so they didn't want to wrongly guess. Most people just waited until I said something, until I got bigger of course.

So, my shopping trip ended up being OK. I bought things were I normally don't. But I think that will be a good thing, because he'll have something a little different. The only problem is so far I've bought way more shirts for Zachariah than pants. I will have to stock up on several kinds of pants at some point.

Oh, I did finally work out today. After hearing about the motivation of several other bloggers I love, I got back to working out. I walk/jogged over a mile. I'm hoping to do at least that much tomorrow. And I'm thinking about doing more tonight since I'm home alone and bored now that Zac's in bed. Plus I walked all over the mall. I think I'm doing well. And if being mistaken for being pregnant isn't enough motivation to exercise more and lose weight, then I don't know what is.

A new meme

So, Erica over at All Dressed Up started her own meme. I like it, so I will try to keep it going. Here are the questions:

Childhood Meme
1. When you were in grade school, what did you want to be when you grew up? Is that what you do now?
2. What was you favorite children’s book/story?
3. What was THE band/singer of your youth? You know, the one who’s posters were in your locker and on your bedroom walls?
4. What’s the most cringe-worthy fashion “don’t” you used to wear regularly?
5. High school - loved it or hated it? Why?

And here are my answers:

1. I always wanted to be a mommy and a teacher or a missionary. I got 2 out of 3 so far. And I'm not ruling out a short-term missions trip at some point in my life.
2. Hmm, I don't remember a particular favorite. I've always loved reading books. I read the Sweet Valley Twins books (and Sweet Valley High and Sweet Valley University). I loved any Lurlene McDaniel books (I especially loved the One Last Wish books.) in Middle School. I remember reading about 1 a day, which meant that I quickly got through the collection that the library had. And I also liked the biography books at the school library, but that's not something I read now. I wonder when I stopped reading them. We also loved Dr. Seuss books when we were really young (and I still love them).
3. I didn't get into music too much when I was little. But I do remember listening to New Kids on the Block and Paula Abdul at friends houses.
4. Wow, I think there are too many to name. I had a pair of pink "biker" shorts that I would wear under a long t-shirt. Yikes, what was I thinking? I wore them all summer long. I loved them and of course thought I was very cool.
5. I did like high school. I had a great group of friends that I still keep in touch with. And I met and dated my husband in high school, so I can't complain. Would I do it again? Nope! Not even for money.

Another busy weekend

We were away for another weekend. This time it was only Friday night and Saturday. Then we were back home. Boy this is getting tiring being away over-night every weekend. This is at least the 3rd week in a row we've done this. And we've been at my parents' house each time.

The occasion this weekend was a get together with my mom's family. I usually only see my cousin once a year (twice if someone gets married or something like that). She and I are the two oldest cousins and we're 18 months apart in age, so we've always been close. As we both started going to college we talked much less. Then we both got married, and we moved farther apart. We both have very busy lives and it's so hard to keep in touch.

They came with my aunt and uncle to my parents house. We were all going to camp outside, but the weather didn't cooperate. My aunt and uncle did bring their RV still, so they stayed in the driveway with it. We had a lot of fun. They all love to play games...card games, board games, word games, etc. I do too, but I don't get to very often. Matt will sometimes play with me, but not often. So I had a great time learning new games they'd brought. We stayed up late talking, and then went swimming the next afternoon when the weather cleared up. There were lots of snacks and good food to eat and a cookout for lunch.

We all had such a good time. And we vowed to try keeping in better touch. Only time will tell if that will happen. And we can look forward to the possibility of seeing each other at Christmas. Hopefully that will work out for everyone.

So, how about you? What did you do this weekend? Anything fun? (I should add that we spent Sunday napping and lazing about. Well, some of us, Matt did mow the yard. Ha.)

The fair and a shadow

Today Matt took the afternoon off from work. I didn't go in to tutor. And Zachariah skipped his afternoon nap. We all had to sacrifice something. HA! We went to our county fair. It was a super hot day. The temperature was around 95, with the humidity it felt like 100. And then the sun was beating down on us the whole time. But we still spent a few hours there visiting all the animals in the barns, then going to the petting zoo, seeing tractors and other things on display, eating, taking a pony ride, getting ice cream, and then heading home. It was a lot of fun. And although you won't see any smiles from Zachariah, he really did have fun. I just laugh at him sometimes, because he can be so serious. You can just tell that he's taking everything in and really enjoying it, but he won't smile. He just concentrates too hard. Then once in a while he'll giggle (the camel made him giggle). What a nice afternoon with my family.

Apparently all the sheep wanted to see Zachariah when we were walking by. He loved that he could reach out and touch the animals. We also visited the goats, cows, more cows, chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and more.



Then of course we had to stop to see the tractors. Zachariah's favorites are the antique tractors. His eyes get huge and he says "rrrm rrrm". As you can see in this picture he's trying to figure out how to start it.

They had some really exotic animals at the petting zoo. This little camel was very friendly. He seemed really interested in us. Zachariah liked petting his head. And then when Matt turned around, the camel tried to eat Zac's arm. He just put his lips on him, but it was funny. Zachariah gave Matt and funny look, and I just burst out laughing. And as usual, Zachariah is not satisfied until he can pet (or hug if possible) every animal within his reach.

Matt took Zachariah for his first pony ride. He loved it (again no smiling). By the time he got off the pony and I asked him about it he was really smiling. I could tell he loved it.

Then we rested when we got home. We were very hot and thankful to be cooling off in the air conditioning. I couldn't figure out why Zachariah was peeking out this window then ducking down really fast. I watched him do it a few times. I thought he was just being silly playing peek-a-boo. He was really giggling too. Then when I looked over there, I saw why. He just discovered his shadow. He figured out pretty quickly that it moved when he did. He touched it carefully. Then stared at it. And finally he waved at it and walked away. So cute!

Stupid criminal

Dearest Vandalizer,

While I’m not happy about you breaking into my car, there are many things that I am happy about. First of all thanks for emptying the contents of my glove compartment all over the seat. That makes it much easier for me to clean and reorganize. Thanks for leaving everything in my car. Apparently you are not a parent. Otherwise you would recognize that I have a car seat worth about $150 or more in my backseat. And there is a $200 stroller in the back. But instead, you just riffled through my paper napkins, old CD’s, gum and candy stash, and silly car papers. Yep that was worth all the trouble you went through to take nothing. Thanks for noticing the my cheapo sunglasses are cheapo and leaving them there without a scratch.

With all those silly things I do have to tell you about the things I’m truly grateful for. I’m glad I accidentally left my car unlocked. Otherwise I would be making an insurance claim when you broke a window or scratched up my doors. I’m glad you broke before the torrential rains started, and thanks for shutting the doors on your way out. I’m glad that you didn’t take the time to walk 6 feet to my front door. I’m glad that I did lock my front door. I’m glad that my family was safe and sound inside. I’m glad that my precious baby was asleep in his crib. I’m glad that my precious baby isn’t old enough to know what happened and how wrong it truly was. How wonderful that he is young and innocent to the sick, sick world I live in.

Thanks for making me remember to tell my family how much I love them again…just because. Thanks for helping my home become more secure, because now I triple check that my car doors and house doors are all locked. Thanks for making us realize that we need a motion-detector on our garage. Thanks for not scaring me but instead empowering me.

Sincerely,
Mommy Daisy


P.S. No, sir, I don't leave my car keys or money in my car. There was change...I guess you didn't need that.

Cause it's MY blog

I've been really boring lately. The things I could blog about, I don't really feel like it right now. So, since I haven't posted as much lately, I thought I should give you something. Since it's my blog, I'm showing you new pictures of my adorable 17 month old son. So there.

This was taken at the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo. We went there on Saturday with my parents. Grandpa and Grandma took Zachariah for a river ride through the Australian outback. He loved it, but he wanted to get in the water. Then when I took this picture, he wanted to get out and come see me. I was running through the exhibit waiting to see them come through, so I could snap a few pictures.

A few weeks ago we took Zachariah to the park in the town near my parents' house. I thought this was a cute father/son moment. Usually I take Zac to the park on my own. So it was really fun to see Matt chasing him around, helping him play on anything he wanted, again and again sometimes.

Finally, a cute picture of my son being cheesy. He hasn't gotten the hang of smiling for the camera yet, but this particular day this is what he did what I aimed the camera at him and said "smile".

Rain, babies, and pregnant ladies

We needed this rain. We were in a drought. But did we have to get a whole summer's worth of rain in one day? Did we really? And the forecast for the rest of the week is rain, rain, and more rain. Yuck! The problem here is that we have sprung a leak. The roof is leaking around the chimney. It is dripping into our utility closet onto the furnace, hot water heater, and other things. There is not much we can do about it right now. Matt is quite concerned about it. I know it's probably a problem, but I don't know how seriously to take him. You see, Matt is a worrier. He comes by it honestly, as his mother is a worrier too. So he goes to the worst case scenario and sometimes exaggerates problems. I will just stand back and let him take care of it. I can offer my help if it's needed. For now we have to wait until it stops raining. That doesn't look promising to be any time soon.

My co worker's daughter had her baby this weekend. This makes her a first-time grandma. The daughter is only 17 years old. She'll soon be starting her senior year in high school. She lives in an apartment with friends. The baby came 4 weeks early and surprised everyone. The girl had planned with her friends to go tent camping in Kentucky 2 weeks from now. Her mom asked her what she'd do it she went into labor. She said "I guess I'll go outside the tent and give birth to the baby". Wow, very immature. I knew this before, but geesh! Anyway, now she's happy that the baby was born in the hospital instead of in the middle of nowhere. He is in the special care nursery on oxygen. I haven't heard many more details, so I don't know if there is a bigger problem or it's just from his prematurity. I know that during labor she had her mother, the baby's father (her ex-boyfriend), and her current boyfriend in the room. Another ex-boyfriend and her father were in the waiting room. Oh my. I guess the nurse mentioned that it seemed like a soap opera. The mother told her she had no idea how bad it really is. I honestly didn't know. I knew they had been through a lot with their daughter, but I didn't know many of the details. Anyway, I'm praying for the baby. I pray that everything will be fine with him and he'll be able to come home soon. I pray that this girl will be a wonderful mother, and I hope that she lets her loving parents help her.

Matt's cousin, Cheryl, is still in the hospital. I just found out today that she is in a hospital about 50 miles from her home. And the plan is for her to stay there in this room for the duration of her pregnancy. I thought at some point she'd be able to continue bed rest from home, but she will not. That poor girl. Wow, I really feel bad for her. We will try to go visit her sometime, even though it is quite a drive for us too. Matt's family has a website that she can keep in touch with everyone through. Luckily she was able to get a laptop from her workplace. Another of Matt's cousins, Holly, has 6 year old twins. She's been able to support Cheryl by sharing her story of being on bed rest from 18 weeks on. And she recently miscarried what that thought could be twins. I think there is a lot of support in this family, and it's very good.

I saw Semi-Desperate Housewife at church on Sunday. It was so good to see her out and about. I knew that she was getting off bed restrictions, so I had made her cookies and brought them to her. She is looking great, and her baby belly looks so cute. Honestly I didn't know all about her pregnancy problems, I wouldn't have guessed any complications from looking at her. She's the perfect picture of a glowing pregnant woman. I think she's been a real trooper through this whole thing. And I hope that the cookies helped life her spirit a bit.

Theme names

I just started reading the Ribbons of Steel Series by Judith Pella and Tracie Peterson. In the first two chapters of the first book, Distant Dreams, they are introducing the family in the story. So far here are the children's names: Virginia, York, Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania (aka Penny), and Maryland.



At the beginning they introduce Carolina (who I believe the stories will be mostly about), and I think that's a beautiful name. Then in the 2nd chapter I read about her older sister Virginia and soon after, York. I started to see the theme and wondered about it a bit. Then it got all crazy when at the end of the second chapter when they introduced the other sisters: Georgia, Penny, and Maryland. Cute? Or a little overboard? HA, HA, after I wrote the draft of this I found another child in the family during the 3rd chapter. Their oldest son's name is Maine. The family seems to get plenty of good-natured ribbing from friends about their name choices. The book is set in 1835, so they tease about needing to add more states to the union so this family will have more names for more kids. AND I just read in chapter 5 that there were two babies from this family that died from "fever" at a young age: Hampshire and Tennessee.



What do you think about families that have theme names? Do you know any? I know two families that have all "J" names. One is a family of 4 and the other has 5 children. Jay, Jennifer (Jenny), Joel, Justin. Jay, Josh (probably Joshua), Jody, Joy, Jill. Then there is the Duggar family with 17 "J" name children. I'm trying to think if I know any other families with themed names, but I can't think of any right now.



I did know of twin girls (from when I subbed) whose names were Summer and Autumn. I also think it's a different situation with twins. You definitely want their names to sound good together. We have 3 sets of twins where I tutor: Shontel and Montel (girl/boy), Shamaria and Shamerika (girls), and Brooke and Briana (girls). All their names kind of go together.



In my family we all have biblical names that don't have nicknames. Matt and his brother have biblical names, but his sister's name is not.



Share with us. Do you know any theme named families? What do you think of it? Good/bad? Depends on the theme?



I guess for me it just depends on the theme. I only have one child, and I don't know what the names for my future children will be. I don't have plans for any themes. The only possibility is biblical names, but the girls name we really like is not from the bible.

Broken fever and bed rest

First an update on Zachariah. He is feeling much better this morning. Thanks for your well wishes. He woke up happy and wanting to eat. That's back to normal for him. He ate a good breakfast, then went to play with his toys and chased the dog. Yep, I believe he's back to his normal self.


I heard from Matt's aunt today. His cousin is expecting twins in a few months or so. She went in for an ultrasound that does a full body scan for each baby. During this they discovered that she was having contractions and her cervix was thin. They immediately hospitalized her and monitored her that night. The next day they did surgery to tie up the cervix. She came through the surgery well. Cheryl is on complete bed rest for 24 hours after the surgery. The doctor said she would probably remain on "hospitalized" bed rest until the babies arrive. The doctors would like to have her go at least 32 weeks, she is currently 20 weeks. She and her family are just taking it day by day and considering each day a blessing. This is her first pregnancy. Everything has gone perfectly until this. She didn't have any morning sickness or anything. Please if you will pray for Cheryl and the babies (and her family) or send good thoughts her way.

Fever

My son has a fever. He started feeling hot Sunday afternoon. We were out of town visiting our parents and siblings. Matt's brother was in from Kansas.


Zachariah had slept a lot that morning and didn't eat much breakfast, but he seemed to play OK and we weren't too concerned. When we were at Matt's parents' for lunch, I noticed that his head felt very hot. I didn't think it was the heat outside causing it though. We hadn't been there long enough for him to be hot and his cheeks weren't rosy like they usually get when he's hot from the heat.


He was hungry before lunch, so we let him munch from the fruit platter. That seemed to satisfy him for a while, and he played a little. Although he was not interested in playing with his aunt and uncle who we hardly ever see. Then while we were all eating dinner, he got really clingy and wanted to sit on my lap. That's pretty unusual for him. Normally he'd keep eating, or he'd want down to run around. He was leaning his head on my shoulder. Then he suddenly seemed VERY sleepy. It scared me, actually, how he was being really lethargic.


We decided to put him down for a nap. There isn't really anywhere at Matt's parents' to lay Zac down. We usually just go back to my parents' house (who live about 4-5 miles away), but I knew Matt wanted to see Ben for a while longer. I took Zachariah upstairs and laid on the bed in an air conditioned room with him. He fell asleep almost instantly, but he wanted to cuddle with me even as hot as he was. We had taken everything off but his diaper, and he was still just burning up. After laying with him for over 2 hours (I didn't have a clock or I would have made him get up sooner), I decided to wake him up so we could go. He was still really out of it and hot. We got our things around and started out of there. He just sat and cried while I was getting things ready to go. Matt held him and he didn't even seem to notice. It was a whiny, pathetic, I-don't-feel-good cry. And he wouldn't say goodbye to his grandparents or aunt or uncle.

He just stared out the window with a pathetic look on his face all the way home. He would sleep for a few minutes off and on. Poor little guy was miserable. Luckily it's only a little over an hour home. Matt was so worried before we left our parents that he was asking which hospital ER we should take him to.

I called our local hospital's call-a-nurse when we got home. I took his temperature, and it was 104. We gave him Motrin and just sat and cuddled with him. That's all he wanted to do. I've never seen this kid so sick. But nothing was wrong, except he had a fever. Actually this was our first experience with him being sick, other than when he had chicken pox at 10 months old. The hospital said just to treat the fever for now. If it got to 105, then bring him right in. Otherwise, wait and call his doctor if it lasted longer than 24 hours.

He slept soundly through the night. I woke him up in the middle of the night to check his temperature and give him more meds. I had every expectation that the fever would be gone, and he'd be fine. When I woke him up, he was burning up again. He let me check his temp again and give him the medicine and some juice. Then he went right back to sleep.

In the morning his temperature was down a little bit, but he still had a fever. I called our doctor's office, and they wouldn't schedule an appointment since he had no other symptoms. They said it was probably a virus, and it just had to run it's course. They've had some going around that just have the fever for 5 days. If the fever doesn't get worse, then they won't see him.

Matt was upset that they wouldn't see him. He just wanted to know what was wrong with his baby and have them fix it. But we can understand that there is nothing they can do for now.

We spent Monday cuddling Zachariah and trying to get him to drink lots of water and juice. His fever went down little by little through the day. He didn't eat much, but by late afternoon/evening he was playing a little instead of laying around.

Today, he is feeling better. He was really hungry by lunchtime. He still has a slight fever, but it is still going down. We just keep giving him medication when needed. I hope that he's 100% tomorrow. It's no fun having a sick baby. But we're happy that he's getting better.

Another one?

I can't stop thinking about babies lately. Well, having one of my own, to be more precise. I'm up late tonight. And what am I doing to occupy my time? Looking at baby names of course. I really don't know why.

Last night I re-organized Zachariah's closet. My excuse was to look and see what clothes he has for the fall season. But I always love going through his cute little clothes. Then I got thinking about baby clothes, and those teeny, tiny sleepers that were oh so soft.

I've been looking at pictures of other people's babies and really missing that infant/newborn stage. I see the little one cuddled on their shoulder, and I remember those precious moments to clearly. I can almost taste that new baby smell. And feel the softness of the baby skin on my arm. And the comfy, soft sleepers.

I've been checking online ovulation calendars. And I think if I was pregnant right now, I'd be due in April. And I would be almost 5 weeks pregnant, just in time to hear the heartbeat.

When I heard Zachariah stirring in his bed a little while ago, I snuck in just to hold him for a little bit. He was so sleepy and cuddled right up, but his feet hang almost to my knees when I cradle him like that. Ahh, for his to be little again. He's gaining so much Independence lately, and it makes me long more and more for those days when he wouldn't let me put him down. I loved sitting there and rocking him for hours each day. Even if I didn't get much time alone, it was nice to hold a little babe in my arms.

I knew it wouldn't last long. And it didn't. And I miss it. And I can't wait to have another baby.

Realization

There is a lady who lived across the street from us. We've never formally met her. We wave and say hello if we both happen to be at our mailboxes at the same time, though. I believe she is single, since there hasn't been a certain man or children there all the time.

Not knowing her, I really don't know what she does. Sometimes she dresses in a white blouse and blue dress/uniform pants. This seems to be her "work clothes", I think. She comes and goes at odd times. Wherever she does work, she must have inconsistent hours.

There are different cars at this neighbors house a lot. We see people coming and going all the time. The cable company has been there many times in the last few weeks. We're starting to wonder what in the world they're doing in her hosue that is taking that long. Yesterday I even saw a man on a bicycle ride up to her house, go to her front door, and talk to her for a few minutes. I think he left after that. I didn't stick around to find out.

I'm not a terribly nosy neighbor (Matt is sometimes, though). But we have an easy view of this lady's front door right out of our dining room window. Our dining room is right next (or part of) the entrance to our house. Plus we go through it to get to the kitchen on one side and the living room on the other. So, we see out the window a lot. Or when we're eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we see out it.

Today after seeing a truck that I've never seen there before, I started wondering. What in the world is going on that she has people over all the time? Then I come to a realization that maybe...just maybe...she's running a "business" from her home that I really don't want to know about. It would explain a lot of things! And here I thought we lived in a nice, quiet neighborhood.

Ramblings

I had this post ready to submit, then we lost our Internet again for the rest of the day, so here I am FINALLY on Friday able to post this. Let's hope nothing stops me this time.

I have had too many things going on here lately. I think I'll just let this post be a rambling one. Then maybe I'll feel like I'm all caught up, instead of worrying that I haven't post in 2 days.



1. We lost our Internet yesterday. I had spent the whole morning trying to finish a book that was due back at the library that day. So, I hadn't even turned my laptop on *gasp*. I usually have it on all day long, and check blogs and e-mail whenever I had a spare moment or two. It was off for the whole rest of the day. Our cable Internet provider had problems that took longer than expected to fix. So, finally I can check blogs and post a new one today.



2. I have been reading like crazy lately. I'm not sure why, but I do tend to go in spurts. Part of the reason is I realized on Saturday that all my books were due back to the library on Wednesday, and I still had 2 books to finish. So, I read one over the course of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Then sometime Tuesday afternoon or evening I started the last book, and I finished it before noon on Wednesday. Then since we didn't have Internet and I was bored, I took the books back and got more. I already started one, and I'm almost half through it already. I just read whenever I had a few stolen moments and don't feel like being on the computer or watching TV or cleaning or take care of my kiddo.



3. Today I watched my friend's son for a little while. She was in a pinch and needed a sitter. I didn't mind. It was nice to have someone for Zachariah to play with for a while. They did play OK with each other, but I broke up some little spats. The other little boy is 21 months, so he's just a little older than Zac (who is 17 months). He's definitely more aggressive. Zachariah got beamed a few times. And to be fair Zachariah smacked him in the head once or twice. Mostly the problems were that they wanted to play with whatever toy the other one had. All in all it was fun, and it makes me appreciate that I only have one rowdy little boy this age.



4. I have been a grouch this week. The last two days I have gotten bad in the evenings. About the time Matt gets home from work, I have lost my patience with Zachariah. It could be the heat. It could be PMS. It could be that after having a week away from tutoring, now that I'm back into I'm getting overwhelmed. It was nice not having to drag a kid out if I didn't have to. And Zachariah could take as long as an afternoon nap as he wanted. When I do tutor, I often have to wake him up from his afternoon nap to get there on time.



Anyway, Matt had to point out that I've been stressed. He thinks I just need a break. While a little get away would be nice, I think I need more than one break. I think it's time to talk to him about offering me more help with Zachariah in the evenings. He jumps in and helps when he has to, but mostly I'm taking care of everything as far as feeding him supper, cleaning up, getting ready for bed, bathing, snack, and then putting him into bed. I think it's time for him to take on one of those responsibilities every day. It would be nice if he would give Zac his bath every night or something.



But I'll still take that night away that he's offering. (He even told me to invite a friend.)



5. Sometimes I feel like a bad wife. I do a lot for my husband, but I wonder if there is something that I'm missing. Maybe some things around the house or whatever that he'd really like me to do that I don't. Maybe he'd like me to make him a hot breakfast every morning and pack his lunch for him. Maybe he'd like all his shirts ironed each morning. Matt seems content most of the time, but I do wonder if there is something extra that I could do for him...just because. I want to keep my husband happy.



6. I have not been working out. I did Day 1 of the C25K program last Monday. Since then...nothing. I haven't been terrible motivated, and I've been keeping really busy. I need to get back. I really should be exercising.


7. Our August is so full of activity. If we have to add one more thing to the calendar, I might scream. There are three family get-togethers coming up. All with different parts of our families. It will be fun though. Matt's brother is coming for a visit from Kansas, so it's always good to see him.


8. I bought a few more fall outfits for Zachariah the other night. I'm rather pleased with them. I did take pictures, but I'll post them some other time for you. Maybe tomorrow I'll go to the mall again for some retail therapy. After I was there earlier in the week, I have thought of things I'd like to go back and get.

Money mayhem

I hate when Matt buys things for himself. He immediately stresses out about how we're going to pay for things the rest of the month. Which is really silly, because we budget our money and track where it's going. He's only using money for clothes that he already budgeted for clothes. Ahhh.

He goes on and on and gets so stressed that I absorb it and feel terribly stressed too. Then I begin to wonder if I should go to work full-time or get a weekend job, just so we can afford to keep clothes on our backs.

But as soon as we get home, he turns on the computer, checks the bank account, and declares that everything will be OK. There is enough money after all. We're right on budget, and there is still more than enough money in our savings account.

Why does he do this? I have no idea. I think any big purchase just pushes him over the edge for some reason. And tonight it was just buying new clothes.

I think he panicked when he saw the total of his clothes and Zachariah's. He had already mentally calculated what the total would be on what he was buying. Then I go and throw in 3 outfits for Zac, and panic-mode is in full effect.

I just need to remember that he always does this. There really is no reason to listen to him go on and on about money, and how he can't even buy the ice cream at the grocery store that he wanted because he's not sure we have enough money. We always have enough money. And usually, even with budgeting, we always have extra money to put into something that we hadn't planned on. What is it with men and money?