A little TREAT!

The boys (especially Campbell) LOVE ICEES!!!!!  They are definitely my children!  :)  One afternoon while both were sick, I bribed Trigger to take a nap….if you take a good, long nap, you can have an icee!  He really is good about napping.  He still takes naps everyday BUT when he’s sick and on steroids, it’s hard for him to settle down!  He took a nap, so BOTH got an icee.  They were excited!

Okay…so forgive me for posting all of the following pictures…Campbell was cracking me up with his “smile”.  He saw the camera and started smiling…BUT, his smile was a little more contorted with each picture…cracked me UP!  He seriously looks soooo much like his cousin Sydney and his Uncle will!!!

My sweet boys….I could eat them up…most of the time!

Halloween :(

Well, Trigger got to attend his Halloween party at school.  However, that is all he got to do because he started running fever the next day.  Both boys got sick (running fever, breathing treatments, running nose, etc.) and we pretty much skipped Halloween.  Poor Campbell still hasn’t put on his costume (which happens to be Triggers old one).  I need to dress them both up and take their picture!

Anyway, Trigger was a Saints football player.  I let him choose and that’s what he wanted.  I don’t know why I let him choose…guess I was feeling weak!

Their pumpkin party at school was so laid back and it was soooo nice!  The kids loved eating all of the special treats!Do you see little brother in the background…he didn’t stay in that stroller long!  He wanted in on the action…especially once he caught a glimpse of those grapes!

Of course, we had to have a treat to share with all of our friends.  I saw this on pinterest and decided to make it…it was so easy!

If I finally dress them up and take a picture of them together, I’ll be sure to post one! ;)

My little artist

Trigger LOVES, LOVES art!  Which is really surprising since he doesn’t do well sitting still.  He loves to paint.  My parents gave him an easel last Christmas and we just got it out about a month ago.  The boys get so much for Christmas that I really like to hold a few things and pull them down months after they are bored with the other toys.   Trigger was so excited that I was putting it together for him.  He’s only painted on it once…guess I need to pull it out and let him paint again. 

Notice his hand preference…STILL left handed!  AND, notice the color he’s using…ORANGE!   BTW, when I was getting out his clothes for the winter….I noticed that I have bought a TON of orange clothes!  Orange wasn’t even a color I considered buying before…funny how children can change your opinion on things…now, we are always buying orange things!!!

Sorry that he’s in just his underwear….makes clean up easier!  Hope he doesn’t strip down when he paints at school!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Crystal Garcia took some pictures of the boys at the Townsend House pumpkin patch.  They turned out as good as possible with two little ones.  Trigger smiled 99% of the time…Campbell did NOT!  So typical of their personalities.  The next week, I decided to take the boys to pick a pumpkin because they weren’t open when we took our pictures with crystal.  I dressed them cute so I could take some pictures of them together…just for fun! Glad I didn’t expect much because I certainly didn’t get any great ones!

“Hey, Trigger, can you put your arm around Campbell so mommy can take yalls picture?” 

Seriously, people, this is what I got….Apparently, Trigger thought I meant for him to put him in a headlock!  Campbell was sooo ticked off that someone was trying to make him be still!  Maybe one day I will get a cute picture of them together!

Our Sweet Girl

We are so excited about having another baby…are we overwhelmed?  YES!  However, we are very excited to meet her and just want her to arrive healthy!  Like all my pregnancies, there have been some little bumps along the way.  As I posted about a month ago, I have been having to rest for four hours a day….now this isn’t just sitting down time…I have to be laying down and on my side for four continuous hours…I really don’t think that has happened most days but I try to get 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon.  THAT doesn’t happen that often either though.  Grandparents have been a lifesaver!!!!!!  The point of the resting on my side is so that the blood flow in my body would flow more efficiently and the babies oxygen supply would be better.  My AFI (fluid) numbers were down in the low range a month ago.  Dr. Jones hoped that the resting would  help my fluid to build back up.  We went to see him last Thursday and guess what?  FLUID WAS UP!!!!  Praise the Lord!  We had so many people praying for us and I know that is what made the fluid go up…Dr. Jones even acted surprised and VERY pleased.  The baby is growing good.  Her stomach has measured the smallest each time (so did Campbells) but it is still within the normal range.   He told us that the major concern and what we will be watching for is the babies growth….particularly the stomach measurement.   When there is growth restriction (IUGR- Intrauterine Growth Restriction/Retardation), the stomach measurement is the first thing that you will notice falling off the chart.  Right now she is growing around the 40-45%…don’t know what percentile the stomach was.  He was obviously VERY pleased with that!  However, he said that I have FOUR factors (more than my other pregnancies) working against good growth in the baby. 

1) APA (Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome)

2) MTHFR mutation (another blood clotting disorder)

3) Chronic Hypertension

4) Two Vessel Cord or SUA (single umbilical artery)- this is the one that is new and hasn’t occurred with other pregnancies

Soooo…he said we will watch growth.  I have three and a half more weeks before I will see him again.  I am currently 30 weeks and will be almost 34 weeks when I see him again.  It kind of makes me nervous to wait that long but I am still seen every 2 weeks by Dr. Harper so I’ll be fine!  Dr. Jones told me that if we see a downward trend in growth and it gets near the 10%, he will deliver at 36 weeks without question.  That kind of surprised me!!!  However, 36 weeks is better than when we delivered Trigger at 34 weeks!!! 

All in all, I was SOOOO very pleased with our appt.  He told me that I had to continue my four hours of laying on my side…oh and my 8 hours of sleep a night…and he ended with saying something about “glad you are going home to rest instead of spending 6 weeks in the hospital”!!!  WHEW…me too!!!!!  I just hope I don’t get put in at 34 weeks and have to stay until 36…because that would mean I would be there on Christmas! 

There is so much to be done in the next weeks!  My goal is to have our Christmas shopping complete and most everything wrapped by the time our house is finished in a couple of weeks….that way, I can focus on the house until the baby is here!  OH and I also have mounds and mounds and mounds of baby girl stuff that has to be washed and sorted through.  I haven’t washed anything yet.  In fact, are you ready for this, she has no room, her furniture is still being occupied by a cute little one yr old, AND she has NO closet….do I have everything for the baby?  HECK NO…but do I even know what I need?  NOPE!!!!!  I really should take a picture of the dining room behind me…its mounds and mounds of boxes…and on top of the boxes are bags of things I have bought for the baby….and there are just some stacked baby clothes on top of that…Im telling you…it is OUT OF CONTROL here at my house!

AND, if this weather doesn’t start cooling off, we may never get any of it done because I’m so hot all of the time!

Okay…I’m off to check on the painters and brick people.

House Update

Well…we are soooo close but yet sooo far away from being in the new part of the house.  I have to be honest and say that there are days that I am so excited for the men to show up…and then there are days when I DREAD seeing their trucks because that means they are going back and forth in my house AND I have to coral the boys ALL day from escaping out the door and into the new part OR outside….then, there are days that I get very frustrated that this project isn’t closer to being finished.  Let me show you a few pictures of the progress.

Boys rooms addition

Full house view

Trigger modeling by the HUGE doors.  They are 8 ft doors for the laundry room closet.  I asked for them but didn’t envision that they would be this huge!  I love them though!Lockers in the mudroomDoor from the garage into the mudroom.Small broom/vacuum/mop closetThe laundry room closet.  This is what I am most excited about…STORAGE…and LOTS of it!!!!  These are the 8ft doors.Laundry room.The other side of the laundry room…The hallway from the existing house into the boys area…that door was campbells bedroom door.  It won’t stay but they are leaving it for now…keeps the boys out.Campbell’s closet…Trigger’s pretty much looks the same except it’s a teeny bit larger.Campbells room.  This is my favorite room.  It has THREE windows and is so bright and looks right out to the front of the house/driveway.  Boys “jack and jill (or Jack and jack)” bathroom.Trigger’s roomSafe room…which isn’t near finished because the mason needs to come do the cinder blocks before the steel ceiling can be put in….and before the sheetrock is put up!Master closetMatt’s desk…in the master closet.  Poor thing had to give up the office so he got booted to the closet!  I really don’t feel sorry for him!  The baby will actually sleep in this closet for awhile.  We will put up a pack and play in here because it’s directly off our bedroom…that way, we don’t have to run to the other side of the house each time I need to feed her. 

The mason was suppose to be here yesterday…suppose to be here today…and we all know how that goes!  The deadline that we had was for Nov. 30…but we extended it to that Friday, dec. 2.  I’m pretty sure there is NO way that can happen.  We still have bricks, siding, painting, flooring, air, plumbing, and electricity left…and a few other odd and end jobs that need to be done….like take out the stupid decorative column that is in our dining room…that my boys think is a climbing wall.  We shall see…Im trying to push down my anal tendencies and not worry about it.  However, I have three childrens’ clothes in one closet.  A shop that is packed full of toys, furniture, and misc things from the playroom and other parts of the house.  AND, our dining room is OUT of CONTROL…boxes pilled near the wall with office supplies and Campbell’s room stuff.  It’s quite chaotic in our house…and we don’t even have room for a christmas tree…and those of you that know me (and matt), KNOW that we would have the entire inside and outside decorated by this point.  My guess is that we will have a (ONE…not three or four) tree and a mantle decorated AFTER the house is done.  KILLING ME!!!!  however, there are layers upon layers of dust and I really don’t want my tree ruined from the dust!

It will all get done at some point…just stressful having to sit and wait and know the work that lies ahead…NOT to mention that time is ticking with miss priss in my tummy!

Lately

I'm going to give a quick snippet of what's been going on lately.
Boys- both have been sick. Ts started with a runny nose while Matt and I were gone to the beach (oct 23rd to be exact). Cs started a couple of days later. They are both still sick. Trigger has been to the dr twice in the last week and a half. The first time he had an ear infection so we started an antibiotic. Then, I just took him and Campbell back for horrible coughs. Trigger had some "noise" in his lungs. They started him on his second antibiotic and campbell on his first antibiotic. Plus, we were told to continue doing breathing treatments on both 3-4 times a day. Well, low and behold, neither (especially trigger...he's thrown up a couple of times for coughing) are better so I called the dr and he started him on a steroid to go along with the two antibiotics and the breathing treatments. He isn't running fever anymore...he did run 102 for FIVE days so we were glad the fever is gone!!!! Campbell is still just on the one antibiotic and breathing treatments. I am TIRED!!!!!
Baby/pregnancy- we have had two ultrasound since I last posted. The first was at gc and everything looked good. Liz went with us for that one. She has gone to one ultrasound with each of my children. We had an appt dr jones on October 20th. The first thing they do is an ultrasound. Then, the dr goes over the ultrasound in his conference room. For some reason while the lady was doing the ultrasound, I had a feeling. We get to the conference room and dr jones tells us that our amniotic fluid index (AFI) has already decreased. Seriously?!? In case you don't recall, this is the problem we had with trigger and the reason he was delivered at 34 weeks...however, with trigger, we didn't have a fluid problem until 31-32 weeks. Dr. Jones said that my numbers aren't dangerously low but too low for it to be this early in the game (26 weeks when I was there...I'm 28 now). So, he told me that I had to get 8 hours of sleep every night. AND, are you ready for this bc this is the most absurd, I have to get four COnSECUTIVE hours of rest a day...and that's not just any kind of rest...that would be four hours of laying down on my side rest!!!!! Now, I'm not sure what the wild boys are suppose to do while I'm resting on my side for FOUR hours!!! Liz and Matt's mom have been great with helping with the boys. I'm trying my best to do the four hours. Dr Harper (saw him last week) said to try my best to rest as much as possible but he understood that four hours wouldn't probably happen. So, I've been doing lots and lots of laying and drinking water....the sad part is that neither of those things worked when I was pregnant with trigger. I go back to see dr Harper next Thursday and dr jones on the 17th. I'm praying that dr jones doesnt put me in the hospital. I'm really struggling with lots of what ifs right now.
What if she comes earlier than trigger (which dr Harper thinks is definitely possible!)?
What if she is in the nicu at Christmas?
What if I'm in the hospital at Christmas?
What if I'm put in the hospital at 30 weeks? I can't be away from the boys for that long...who will care for them during the day?
I'm really running myself ragged thinking of the what ifs.
PLUS, to add to It, our house is in complete chaos. There are literally piles of Sheetrock dust and insulation pieces all over the place. I really can't clean in and there really isn't a reason to bother at this point bc they are here making messes. I'm so ready for this addition to be DONE!!!! I'm going to love it when it's done but my goodness, I don't know how I'm even going to be everyone in their own room before this baby decides to come. PLUS, we have boxes upon boxes piled all in our dining room...all of which has to be gone thru and washed and put away in rooms when they are finished. NONE of baby girls things are washed. I have never, ever been so unprepared for something in my entire life. I'm pretty sure God is trying to teach me to be flexible and not so prepared/anal about things! This obviously is something I need major work on!!!!
Anyway, we joke bc dr jones didn't really act like he liked us the whole time we went to him with Campbell. In fact, we felt as if we were wasting his time. NOW, I think he is growing to like us...one problem at a time! I feel like the more issues/disorders/pregnancy problems you have, the more he likes you...we are WELL on our way to being best buds!! ;)
Ok, so I'll leave you with a few pictures of my sweet boys!











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Little Campbell

Where do I begin?  You are such a little joy!!!  I really don’t have the time tonight to do a whole post like I would like to but I want to write down some of the things I want to remember about you at this age.

- You love to eat anything unhealthy.  You are certainly NOT a good eater like your brother.  You LOVEmac and cheese, icees, candy corn, anything sweet, and french fries.  The only good thing that you like to eat is fruit….and you LOVE fruit!!!  Vegetables, on the other hand, you do NOT LIKE!  We are working on it!

- You now love hats!

- You have learned the word “no, no, no” and say it while shaking your head!  LOVE that! ;)

- You still love  your two fingers and to play with my hair.  We still sing “I have decided (to follow Jesus)” before I put you down to sleep…it’s most definitely your FAVORITE!- You have learned to give daps and will go back and forth between me and daddy to give us one…

- You still LOVE balls.

- You aren’t the most forgiving little boy.  If we do something to make you made, you have nothing to do with us!  We must work on that!!!! ;)- You are a HUGE snuggler…I’m pretty sure you would love for me to walk around and hold you ALL day long and you would curl up on me with your fingers in your mouth and play with my hair.  I have to say that I LOVE it 99% of the time.- You dimples seem more prominent here lately.  You still don’t smile as much as trigger…you are way more serious…but when you do, your dimples are so precious….just like your brothers!

- You have gotten a lot more independent…you don’t want me to brush your teeth because you would rather do it yourself.  And, if you don’t get your way, you throw a major fit!

- Last week, you had to stand in the corner for the first time…I don’t think you really cared though!  You have started to push us away and try to pinch when we take something away from you or make you mad.

Oh how much I love this little boy!!!!  He is certainly a charmer!!! 

I know I havent done an official post on Campbell in awhile.  I will have to get out his stats and do a post soon!