The Brownsville Christmas Parade

On Saturday I went with my three favorite guys (Jeremy, Colby, and Daddy) to watch the Brownsville Christmas Parade. We had a great time and Colby got tons of candy. After we all went out to eat at Colby's favorite place - Peppers. It was wonderful to be able to have my three favorite people with me for the night!

Here are a few pictures. If you haven't caught on yet, the ONLY time I am in a picture is if I take it myself..........that's why you always have to see an up close of my face! My apologies to you all!

Battling Black Friday

For the first time EVER Jeremy and I headed out to do some Black Friday shopping. When he woke me up at 3:30 I told him that I wasn't ready yet and I would wake him up later. We both woke up around 7:30 and took our sweet time having breakfast with Colby and dropping him off at Pa's house. We got to Bowling Green around 10:00.

I was able to finish all of my Christmas shopping with the exception of 3 gift cards that I can pick up anytime and Jeremy's gift from Colby.

If you have never used price matching at Walmart, you have no idea what you are missing! We did not buy anything at any of the other stores, but got all of the other stores deals at Walmart! If you take your sales bill in with you they will give you any other local store's sales price on the exact same item. Here's a run down of SOME of the things I saved on:

-24 pack play-doh - Walmart price $9.98 - price match with Target $6.99
-10 pack Hotwheels - Walmart price $9.98 - price match with Toys R Us $4.99
-Nerf Dart Tag - Walmart price $39.98 - price match with Toys R Us $19.99

And the biggest savings of the day..........
-Nerf Wii Bundle (game, gun and darts) - Walmart price $59.99 - price match with Toys R Us ONLY $14.99!!!!!

Needless to say we were thrilled and we picked up several other great deals in addition to these. I am so relieved to be finished shopping just in case Cooper decides to show up on his own accord. Jeremy and I had a great time together today also, so thanks honey for talking me in to shopping today!!!

I have also included a couple of pictures from Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy!

Happy Turkey Day!

I can remember from my days as a kindergarten teacher how much fun the children had during the holidays in class. This year we got to experience these activities with Colby. He had so much fun creating his turkey for school and participating in his pow-wow!



We were also excited to see that Colby's turkey recipe was in the Edmonson News this week. His recipe said:

"Put it all in a plate and put tomatoes on it. The put butter on it. Pour milk on it. Put it in the oven. Cook 5 minutes at 100 degrees. Get it out of the oven and cut it up with a knife. Put salt and pepper on it. Then you eat it."

He was thrilled to see his name in the newspaper! I

I always get so tickled reading through the turkey recipes that the kindergarten students come up with. I must say that I am glad that they don't cook the meal because we would all be deathly ill with food poisoning!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Turkey Day!

He's a Whopper!

Today Jeremy and I traveled to Nashville to see our wonderful doctor at Baptist. They did another ultrasound on the baby (their equipment is amazing! So detailed!) and everything looks wonderful! He actually weighs 4 pounds and 5 ounces!!! As most of you know, our sweet Colby was born at 2 pounds 15 ounces, so needless to say Jeremy and I both shed a few tears when we heard this great news! We also found out that he has finally decided to position himself correctly. Hopefully no more breech baby!

Today they did a biophysical profile of the baby. During this test they use their ultrasound equipment not only to measure for growth, but to test for fine motor movement and simulated breathing. This is what they will be testing for twice weekly beginning next week in Bowling Green. When I asked the doctor to just "point blank" tell me what this test was REALLY for, we were told that it was "imperative to monitor him in this way because my complications put me at an increased risk for still birth." The doctor said to not panic, the twice weekly testing and daily kick counts would definitely keep us on top of things! I have to admit that this does scare me a bit, but I have faith that things will work out. We have been through so much on our journey to be a family of four that I have the faith that the Lord will see us through this obstacle also. Please continue to pray for all of us! We go back to Baptist on December 18th to decide when we are going to have this baby!! Yay!!

And on an exciting note, we have FINALLY chosen a name for baby #2. We are going to name him Cooper Charles Vincent! This has been such a toughie for us, but we made a pact that we were not coming home today until we had named him. Just about the time that we crossed the KY state line Jeremy and I both called out our favorite name from our list and magically we said the same one. We sealed it with a handshake and a kiss and now our baby has a name!

We truly have so much to be thankful for this year. We have an incredible son whom is our world, we are married to our best friend (through the good and bad for sure!) and we are finally becoming a family of four! We don't have fancy things, but we have the essentials and we have each other and our faith in God and that is more than enough for us!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Earlier in the week Colby and I put up the Christmas decorations at our house. We spent last Sunday decorating outside and then on Monday we worked on the inside of the house. Typically my home looks like Christmas blew up in it, but this year I knew it would be hard to manage taking everything down with a newborn (plus I am simply EXHAUSTED right now!) so we all made a family decision to only put up the living room tree and a small tree in Colby's room. We also each picked out our favorite Santa figure and our favorite snowman and they are in the living room. We have our 4 stockings hung and that is it. We want to enjoy Christmas this year and we are definately going with a "less is more" attitude! I took pictures of the living room tree, but I don't think that they do it justice! I could sit and stare at my tree for hours! I hope your holiday decorating is coming along nicely too!

New Purchase

For the last two years, it has been a running joke among many about how pitiful my digital camera was. The display did not work, it was covered in scratches, and it was literally DUCT TAPPED together to keep the batteries and memory card compartments from falling open all the time. Obviously it was time to get a new one, but the thought of spending the money on a new camera didn't really appeal to me at all.

Recently we were in Walmart for our exciting Friday night adventure and there was a sales rep from Kodak showing off their newest camera, the M381. She really made it sound appealing and once she told us that it was currently on sale at walmart.com for $40 less than the in store price, we really started to consider the purchase. After debating on it for a couple of days, we decided with the new baby on his way that this would be a great time to get the camera. So I got online and ordered it. Spending the $129 made me SICK, but it truly was a great deal.

I have put a few of the pictures I have taken with my new camera at the bottom of this post. I am thrilled with the quality and it was so much easier to transfer onto my computer than my old camera! There are a TON of features that I have no idea how to use, but in time I am sure I will figure some of them out. Enjoy the pictures!

Another Week Closer

We are now 30 weeks! (30 and a half really, but I am behind on my blogging!) I visited Dr. Lyons on Wednesday and she was really positive about everything. Pleased with blood pressure, weight, platelets, etc. She has THANKFULLY been able to accommodate me for the twice weekly testing in BG so we won't have do stretch ourselves so thin! WEMS is being wonderful about me needing to alter my work schedule and I am truly grateful for that! Beginning the week after Thanksgiving (when she won't be pleased with my weight) I will start going in on Tuesdays for a stress test (belt monitoring for a chunk of the day) and on Fridays for an ultrasound. Since he is making great progress on his growth, the first time they see anything going down hill they will go ahead and take him! So............we will have a baby in a few weeks!

We are so thankful that all is going well and that we have two fantastic doctors to watch over us and #2. The whole family is getting geared up for his arrival.......and the best news..........Colby finally got to feel him kick! It was priceless watching his face when he realized baby brother had "touched him"! I can't wait to see the two of them together!

A Little Scare

Today baby #2 gave us quite a scare. He decided that the thing to do was not move for 8 hours and put Mommy in a panic! I called Dr. Lyons from school and she said to go on to Labor and Delivery to be checked out. After an hour and half of monitoring us, they said baby's heart beat was great and he finally starting moving around some. He must have been feeling lazy today! We are so thankful all was okay! Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

And by the way, did you know that when your stomach growls while hooked to a baby heart monitor that it sounds like a thunder storm???

Another Milestone

As we watch our children grow there are so many milestones that we celebrate. First time to crawl, first words, first steps, first time to sleep all night, first time to spend the night away from home, first day of school, etc. Colby hit another milestone today.............he rode his bike for the first time with NO TRAINING WHEELS!!

He did such a wonderful job and with a little support from his Daddy, he took off like he had been riding on two wheels for a long time! We are so proud of this "big boy" accomplishment! Enjoy the pictures!

Baby Update

It has been a very busy week in the baby doctor department. We got good news and some not so good news, but all is well with baby and that is all that matters!

On Monday my sister and I traveled to Nashville to see Dr. Graves (Jeremy was working and couldn't go, but Sis was excited to take his place!). They finally got the measurement of the baby's heart that they were needing and officially were able to deem him "perfect" and free of any physical abnormality. He now weighs approximately 3 lbs 3 ounces, which amazes us seeing as how Colby was born at only 2 lbs 15 ounces! He is breech, which is not a big deal because he will be c-section anyway, but it does explain why I can not breathe when I bend over at all! My blood count is great, I have gained 5 lbs total now, and my blood pressure was good also!

Dr. Graves welcomed me to my 3rd trimester and then told me it was time to really start watching baby more closely. At 12 weeks I was diagnosed with prenatal lupus. According to Dr. Graves, the lupus typically rears it's ugly head most commonly in the 3rd trimester. The most common complications are preterm birth (which we are totally prepared for), growth problems for baby (which we can handle since he is already bigger than Colby was) and complications breathing. In order to keep a very close eye on this I will be monitored twice per week for 30 minute to one hour sessions beginning at 32 weeks (in about a month). This really threw me for a loop because I could not imagine making the trip to Nashville twice a week, so Dr. Graves promised to discuss it with Dr. Lyons to see if we could stay in Bowling Green for the monitoring.

So.........

Today was my visit to Dr. Lyons. I have been sick for a couple of days and she began the check up by diagnosing me with a sinus and upper respiratory infection and prescribing a z-pack for a quick fix. She then went on to "lecture" me about how I have got to focus more on me and my health, especially since I work in a school. She said that anytime I feel badly, I am more likely to catch a cootie so to lay low. She also told me I need to start resting more and taking it easier over all.

Dr. Lyons had talked with Dr. Graves and is hoping that we will be able to do the twice weekly monitoring in BG also! I was thrilled at this news. She also has set up a schedule for appointments were I will be in Nashville one week and BG the next so that I am seen on a weekly basis for the next month, then as long as nothing has shown up by then we will move to twice a week in BG and who knows about Nashville.
She was very positive and encouraging to me, so I feel at ease with it all. They are also changing my blood thinner to a different medication that will get out of my system more quickly in two weeks also, but the bummer there is it will be two shots a day! :(

So that is doctor news for the week. On a sweeter note, my sister is working with the Red Cross to see if she can bank her blood for me if in case I need a transfusion with this birth. They are not sure at this point if they can make that happen, but I thought it was the sweetest thought!

I hope you are all well and have a great week! Keep us all in your prayers please!

Halloween

I have finally been able to upload a couple of our Halloween pictures! We had a wonderful time trick-or-treating, but I always forget how exhausting it is with all of the in and out of the car business! Thankfully after about three hours of running around the county to see family Colby announced, "Momma, we got enough candy now, let's go to the house!" Thank goodness!!

Colby was Optimus Prime this year. I was also able to dress up baby #2 somewhat with a sweet pumpkin shirt made by Missi Carini, WEMS art teacher. Isn't it sweet? Enjoy our pictures!

Uploading Pics

Has anyone else had trouble uploading pictures to blogger? I have been trying to upload our Halloween pics for two days now and each time I attempt it, blogger sits idle FOREVER until I just give up. This went on for a whole hour earlier today! Just wondering if anyone else was having trouble! Have a great week!