The Barnes Family

Finding Out I'm Pregnant with baby #2

2011-10-31T23:15:00.005-05:00

So, here is the story. For posterity and all you other crazy baby-related story lovers out there. If you don't want to hear a few "female" explanations, you should check out now. This is your warning.

So. I chart my cycles. Using the Fertility Awareness Method. Google it if you don't know what that is. Or go to www.ovusoft.com. (I love that site.) And no, its NOT the rhythm method, in case anyone thinks so. We're pretty "careful." I have been working on getting some medical stuff done to figure out why I am so exhausted all the time. (See a previous post somewhere about this.) I always call it "chronic fatigue" because i don't know how else to describe it. Anyway. Because I am SO tired all the time, I have not been thinking about having another child, at LEAST until IF/WHEN we figured out why I'm so tired all.the.time AND had a fix for it. Also, we have no maternity health insurance. (Which means, a pregnancy/birth would not be eligible for health insurance coverage.) If you don't know, pregnancies/births are EX.PEN.SIVE. Even low risk/minimally intervened-with ones. So, all around, not on our "any time remotely soon" agenda.

Anyway. This was a weird charting month for me. I won't go into details here, in case I would gross anyone out. But...if you're a charting nerd like me, and want details, I'll be happy to explain it to you. But lets just say, we took precautions and on top of that, looking at my chart and knowing everything about the month would in no way make you think conception was really "possible." (Except the God factor.)

Hahaha. Ok...so...because of the weird month (sorry, this is so vague and will now become harder to explain from here), I wasn't entirely sure "where I was at" toward the end of my cycle. I knew kind of approximately, but not within a day like I normally do. So I took my waking temps a lot more than I normally do, to try to get a better indicator of when my cycle would be ending. Except...my waking body temperature spiked way higher than I had ever seen it go before. Two mornings in a row. And I wasn't entirely sure where I was at...but I knew I should be wrapping up my cycle....except my temps were freakishly high, I was going Triphasic, my overall length of cycle was longer than it ever had been for the past several months, and I was just sick of guessing when I should start my next cycle. And, Oliver had been acting really clingy and strange about nursing the last few days. Like, terrified, almost, to unlatch and get out of my lap. Bizarre. I know kids often cycle into days or weeks of differing behaviors, but this was one more thing that was just weird to me. (He might be able to sense a change in my milk.)

I really can't explain too well more than that why I decided to test. It was just a weird month, and I wanted to know what was up. Because I was sick of thinking about the "what if." So, when I went to CVS on Saturday for my weekly coupon run, I decided to get a pg. test. Except, the whole time I was in there doing the rest of my shopping, I went back and forth...do I buy one? Do I not buy one? Back. and. forth. It was the last item I picked up.

With Oliver, I used the "Answer" brand test, but this time, I bought a "First Response" test. Why did I change brands? (Like you care.) Well, for one, this one said on the box "test 6 days sooner" whereas the Answer brand said "test 5 days sooner." And because i wanted to QUIT THINKING ABOUT IT, I just wanted to rule out ANY possibility, and get an answer as soon as possible. And, the F.R. was a 3 pack, and the Answer was a 2 pack. And I weirdly thought, "if something like this ever happens again, I'll have a couple extra, instead of one extra." Really, that was the least explainable part of it. I don't know. Lol. Anyway.

So, I pay for all my stuff. And I feel really awkward, because I go into this CVS every week, and I'm like, great, the cashier is going to see me in here all the time and either think I'm pregnant or not pregnant (I don't know how to explain this, lol), and just be weird. Anyway. So, I paid for my stuff, put my shopping cart away at the front entrance, and circled back into the store. Lol. I was hoping the lady who rang me up didn't see me again, because FREAK! Coming back into the store after she just paid for her stuff. Lol. So, I go into the bathroom. Thankfully, a single stall. I take take the pregnancy test.

I have to back up for a minute.

So I told you about the brand I used for Oliver vs. the brand I tested with this time. Even though they look identical (they are pink dye, 1 or 2 line tests), apparently, they function a little differently.

I'm about to talk about pee, now, so if you need to stop reading, go ahead.

With the Answer brand, you pee on the absorbant stick, you see the pee soak up to the window, you see it touch the first line (which is the PREGNANT line), and the color appears IMMEDIATELY if you're pregnant. (So, with Oliver, I knew as soon as the pee hit that first line I was pg, before it even got to the CONTROL line (the one that shoes up whether you're pregnant or not) because it pinked up instantly. And then, as soon as the pee hit the CONTROL line, it pinks up immediately, too.

With this brand, the First Response, apparently, NEITHER line will pink up as soon as the pee hits it. Except, you don't know that until you're using it. hehe.

Ok, so I pee on the test. I'm sitting there, watching it. I see the pee hit the viewing window. Then I see the pee soak into the spot where the PREGNANT line should be. Nothing shows up. I breathe a sigh of relief. (Remember, I'm thinking the test will react the same way as the brand I used with Oliver.) The pee moves on. It soaks into the area the CONTROL line should be. Except the CONTROL line doesn't pink up, either.

Sweet fancy moses. I suddenly realize that I'm not out of the woods yet. I see pink in neither place, which means one or both are going to take time to pink up. These seconds feel like days. I know this all took less than 60 seconds. Or it couldn't have been much more than that, at all. So, when color starts to come into a pregnancy test, you just can't explain what its like unless you've watched one turn. You see something, but you're not sure what. Evaporation lines, maybe? Then, maybe color? Or is that just soaking into a line, and not actually color? Except then BOTH lines were DEFINITELY pink at the exact same time. And they just keep getting pinker. I keep watching as they turn Fuschia. I keep looking, thinking I'm seeing things. Or maybe they'll somehow turn un-pink. Lol. I don't know. Some part of me was like "I knew it." and Some part of me was like, "....WHAT? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"

So I stand up. I get my phone out of my purse. I have to call my person. I call Katherine. She doesn't answer. I decide there is no option but for her to pick up the phone, or I might go postal, so I call her again.

She answers this time.

Let me back up for a minute. Like, a week before, on facebook, I had "liked" a friend's sonogram photo, and it showed up in Katherine's newsfeed with my name associated with it. At first glance, before processing, she thinks its MY sonogram picture. So, she emails me a funny email about seeing what she saw and how she was freaking out, etc. So I told her, "Thats really funny. But trust me, you'd know WAYYYYYYYYYY before Facebook."

So...back to Katherine answering her phone. She sounds ....rushed or something. I say, "Are you OK?" She says yes, but shes getting ready to leave (I think.) I think I say something like "Ok, we'll I'm make this fast then......So...um....I made a mistake (meaning WHOOPSING on my "carefulness" or something) and....you know WAY before facebook."

She sits there for a minute and doesn't say anything. I wonder if she heard me, or if she gets the reference. And then she says, "....No...........No....."

And I'm like YES I'M TOTALLY NOT KIDDING.

so then I don't remember exactly everything after that. Except we establish that I'm the CVS bathroom, lol, I just tested, I haven't even flushed the toilet yet, so I flush the toilet so she can hear I really am in the CVS bathroom (LOL!) and I don't know what else. Oh, so I'm totally freaking out, and shes like "Everythings going to be fine." and I'm like "I DON'T EVEN HAVE MATERNITY COVERAGE." And shes like, "I've got some!" And I'm like "Oh, thanks, are you going to share it with me, lol?" I still have no idea what she was talking about. lol Anyway. We talk. I'm pacing the bathroom. I start to realize, maybe someone can hear me outside the bathroom. FREAK! Lol. And I've been in there kind of for a while. And the walls are closing in and I have to move. So we hang up.

As I open the bathroom door, I am hoping that no one is standing outside the door wondering what in the world is going on in there. Lol. Thankfully, no one was there, and I leave without anyone seeing me (I think).

I drive home to tell Andrew. I was supposed to go to Target first, and get Sbux for Andrew, and I thought about getting one of those "Big Brother" shirts for Oliver to put on him to "tell" andrew that way....but I determine I'm WAY too excited to wait, AND, Oliver is napping and I'd have to wait until he was up from his nap. So I call Andrew and tell him I don't feel like going to Target, but that I got him something instead of Starbucks. Heheh. Hes like, what is it? I'm like, its a surprise, but you're going to like it way better than Starbucks, I promise.

Anyway, so I get home, go upstairs to set my stuff down, come back downstairs with the test in my back pocket. Andrew is working at his desk, and I just hand him the pregnancy test, and hes like "You're pregnant?! WHY ARE YOU PREGNANT?"

LOL. Because he had NO. CLUE. that I thought this month was "weird" or that I might even possibly be pregnant. Anyway. So, the conversation went from there, he was SUPER excited and floored. I video taped the sound of me telling him, but that is for the private collection. Its pretty great. I'm glad we have it!

ETA: Even though I'm not entirely sure of dates, I feel pretty confident with July 8th being my 40 week guess date, once I went back and re-examined things.

I found out I was pg. on Sat. the 29th of Oct., at 3PM ish...at 13 DPO or 3 weeks and 6 days pg.

This world has nothing for me...and this world has everything...

2011-09-05T23:41:00.003-05:00

I am kind of addicted to reading birth stories. Seriously. Its kind of out of control.

Also, I really like to give unsolicited advice. Lol. It is true. I mean, its not the unsolicited part that I actually *enjoy*.....(in fact, it sometimes kind of makes me cringe b/c I really don't want to come across as THAT girl, even though I probably am A. LOT.) ...its just...I'm all over sharing things with people, when it comes to a subject I'm really passionate about....you know...babies and stuff, for one. (ok, who am I kidding...for fifty.) Because I get really excited...and, when I believe in something I'm really happy to "spread the wealth."

Ugh. Such a lame-o blog post. Who writes this stuff?

This world is full of heartaches. I am thankful for all of my many blessings. The greatest of which is my Lord and Savior being my constant -- He will never leave me or forsake me, even in the midst of suffering or even death. If you don't know Him, I'll be glad to tell you about Him.

(P.S....this is NOT a cryptic message about me having a life-threatening illness or anything strange.)

HT: some old school Caedmon's Call

Parenthood: its a wild ride

2011-08-26T23:41:00.002-05:00

Today I found out a dear friend is expecting her first baby. Also, I am slightly obsessed with the Hallmark Fresh Ink Cards (the square ones) that are funny. So tonight, I picked up the following card to send to her. (I'm also including what I'm writing in it - I'm sure you'll figure it out.)

(On the front, with a picture of a bull)

I'M THINKING ABOUT STARTING AN ADOPT-AN-EX-RODEO-BULL-AS-A-PET PROGRAM.

(Inside)

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

Welcome to parenthood, which is pretty much exactly like this...but with more breastfeeding.

I'm pretty sure she'll think its hilarious. I do, of course. Is it just me (us?)

Full circle...kind of.

2011-08-25T23:22:00.002-05:00

When I first moved to Jackson, I nannied for a toddler named Mary Ellis. She was ah. dor. uh. bull. Anyway, when we'd go to Target, she'd say and sign 'ball' at the red balls outside the front doors. Just about every time I've gone to Target since then, I think of it. Its fun that now I have a child that does the same thing.

I let Oliver try Pop-Rocks tonight, and he LOVES them. It is so funny to me, because I was scared to DEATH of the things until I was basically a teenager. Lol. (And no, candy is not a norm for Oliver.)

Around 3 years ago this week-ish, I got pregnant with Oliver. So, I've technically been a mom for 3 years, now.

I should blog

2011-08-25T00:27:00.004-05:00

7 months? Really, Dena?

Andrew got the pastor job in KC. Its awesome to be back. We are blessed.

Oliver is 27 1/2 months old. Or, as Andrew told me today when he asked me how old he (Oliver) was, so he could write it on his growth chart when he measured him, "No." Ok, so excuse me, he is 2 years and 3 1/2 months old.

Where has the summer gone?

I coupon now. Its kind of consuming.

I'm going to see a an integrative-medicine specialist in a few weeks, here, that will hopefully find something wrong with me. You know, because, my whole life, (and you've seen it on my blog) I've been telling you that I'm insanely tired/sleepy/sickly, and you're always, "suck it up, Dena?" Yeah. I'm so over being tired/sleepy/sickly all the time. 28 years is plenty. And being a mom while constantly being those things - I'm so over it. (those other things..not the mom part.) I'm hopeful that we will figure out what it is, whether it is a food intolerance (gluten?), hormonal imbalance or something else, and that it will be FIXABLE. Cause, really, I am ready to be LIVING and not just SURVIVING. More than ready.

I'm really opinionated and passionate about the things I believe in. But really, if you're not, what is the point in having convictions, you know? I probably step on a lot of people's toes. But, I'm mostly ok with that. Unless I'm doing something that is truly un-Christian. But mostly, I think our culture does a really good job of just not speaking up about stuff because we might hurt someone's feelings or something. Which really isn't helping anyone. If you bring up a mommy issue (birth/breastfeeding, etc) issue or maybe even an issue about religion, I'm probably going to give you my opinion, whether you asked for it or not.

I am thankful for friends who listen and who are understanding.

I love Oliver. He is still nursing. (I used the word "still", I don't know why. It conveys a sense of "oh my stars. are you kidding me?!" that I don't intend.) Anyway, back to Oliver. He is in his terrible twos. Which I feel terrible even saying. But it is true. That kid is out of one thing and into sixteen. Or actually, hes still into one thing while hes getting into 32 others. It is amazing.

I am still amazed at people having toddlers and the like and having more babies (on purpose). Now, because I am a Christian and believe children are a blessing from the LORD, I am in a minority here. How can I be amazed when people do this and still believe that? I'm hoping its largely because I'm so exhausted and stressed (from the exhaustion, which compounds normal life hardships, I'm assuming) all the time, the thought of having more children really makes me feel like I'd lose my marbles.

I don't think I'm type A, but I am still always frazzled because I am always behind in things I need to be getting done. Does that mean I'm type A after all? Does type A really exist?

I like reading blogs. Mine is boring. Write me a comment to let me know you're out there. (Hi, katherine. marci? morgan? *crickets * )

Shutterfly-ing again!

2011-01-29T23:23:00.001-06:00

Striking Damask Print Thank You 5x7 folded card

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Random Thoughts

2011-01-15T23:16:00.002-06:00

You have no idea how many saved and unposted blog entries I have.

Songs and smells bring me back to specific memories/points in time throughout the years.

Tonight, at dinner, Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" played, and all I could think of was being at Skate World during elementary school and hearing that play during Couple's Skate. How bizarre is that? I haven't thought of/heard that song in who knows how long, and I never consciously made that connection before. But apparently it is engrained in my memory somewhere.

To this day, when I smell Softsoap's classic scent (the clear liquid soap), I am right back at Trinity International University visiting Andrew at undergrad there when we dated, washing my hands in Mary and Laura's dorm room (which is who I stayed with there). That was more than 8 years ago. They had that soap, and that's all I ever think about when I wash my hands with that soap, now.

What are some of your smell/song connections?

Dena Recommends: Portable DVD player for long car rides with a child

2011-01-14T11:09:00.004-06:00

Dena Recommends:
Portable DVD player for long car rides with a child

We recently had a long travel, and since those don't tend to go well with Oliver, I had a mini panic attack (not actually) a couple of days before we left and decided to use my Christmas money to order a portable DVD player for the car to see if that would keep Oliver entertained and keep the screaming to a minimum when all the other activity options ran out. I read a lot of reviews on Amazon and ended up with this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TCJI7E/ref=oss_product . I did overnight shipping (only 4 bucks) so we could get it in time to go. Now, we've only used it for several hours during the trip, but I have to say it seems like great quality at a great price. It has 2 earphone jacks, which I loved, but Oliver wasn't quite down with headphones, so we mostly used it without headphones. The sound was loud enough to hear over the road noises. Oh, and it comes with a car adapter, so you don't have to use the battery at all on the trip. The picture quality was great, and the sound quality was great, didn't sound tinny or anything. It sounded really well-balanced. It has a nice sized screen. Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be so much about the actual player we chose, but it was supposed to be about how I'm recommending that parents get one of these for such car rides. Totally worth the money, when and if you have it. It was a life saver. FOR REAL. I can't even imagine what the trip would have been like without it. We bought a soft-case holder for it with straps that attach it to the back of car seats, and it worked well. Actually, we jerry rigged it to attach to the back of one seat instead of hanging between both seats like its made to do, and it worked perfectly, too.

2010 Small Review

2011-01-01T16:06:00.005-06:00

I feel like today is a day one is expected to blog. But as usual, I don't know what to say or where to start. So many things I should be doing. Like Quicken. And laundry. And making sense of messy piles of everything. Life beckons. But I'll attempt a post.

Overall, I'd say 2010 was the most difficult year of my life, for many many reasons. But even so, there may not have been any other year where God carried me (and my family) through so much. There is not another year where I remember seeing his Hand of Providence so clearly. He showed his unfailing faithfulness.

2010 started with knowing Andrew would be leaving his position as pastor in Tchula, MS with not even a small prospect of another job or a way to make ends meet. Still, that's really all I can write about it, but there are so many very difficult and trying details that tie in with that. So. Very. VERY. Many.

Then we needed to move out of the Tchula Presbyterian Church manse by the end of July. We were having an impossible time finding anywhere to live (for reasons of finances, lease times, etc), until at the very last moment, God opened something perfect up for us. It was more ideal than we could have even hoped for as a best case scenario. We were able to rent out the downstairs fully furnished apartment in an elderly couple's home for very little rent. We moved in at the end of July. The downside was we'd have to be out by the end of October, because they would be housing a missionary there, come November 1.

During the whole year, Andrew was feverishly searching for work. Ultimately, for another pastoring position in the Presbyterian Church of America (the denomination we're a part of). But for immediate times, he looked for anything. Fast food work, white collar, blue collar, staffing agencies, word-of-mouth, part-time work, full-time work, jobs he was grossly overqualified for, and jobs he was grossly under qualified for. He covered all the bases. In-person and by mail applications. Online searching and making phone calls to search. It was his full time job, looking for a job. And oh, the stress of that situation. For all three of us. Drain. ing.

And God still provided for our needs, all of them, even with no income. Even though we didn't have a "nest egg" saved up for such a situation. The bills still got paid. No one went hungry. We had a roof over our heads.

Toward the end of August, with still no hope of a job for Andrew, his parents made another offer/plea for us to just move up to Illinois, where he is from, to live with his family for a time to save pennies, and for Andrew to have consistent work for a while, helping his dad with harvest on their farm. We thought about it (again). Prayed about it. Thought some more, prayed some more. With STILL no job possibility in sight, and the knowledge that we'd have to move AGAIN in less than 2 months anyway, and the knowledge of the difficulty in finding a place to live considering lack of funds and not wanting to get roped into a long lease, we decided we were moving to Illinois, in with his parents.

Even though we could have stayed in the downstairs apartment through the end of October, we moved out mid-September, so we could get up to IL in time for harvest to begin. Melissa, Andrew's sister, flew down to help us move. That was wonderful. Moving is exhausting. Especially for me, I think, since I have major fatigue issues. As soon as we got to Illinois, my body crashed, and I was sick in bed for two days.

Immediately, it was so good to be near family...and to be back in the Midwest. We are so not Southerners. Although we were sad to part with a handful of dear friends in Mississippi.

Andrew got to work with his dad harvesting crops right away. It was good for him to have constant work again. Good for his mind and spirits. And we were also able to have a month and or two of income, again.

Its very difficult living with other people. The three of us are in one bedroom. Most of our things are in a storage unit, but we still have A. LOT. of stuff, and we've tried to cram it into such a small space. Melissa lives here, too, so its like three families under one roof, trying to coexist peacefully. Under the circumstances, I couldn't expect it to be going any smoother, but it still has its very real challenges, for all of us.

While living here, of course, Andrew has kept up the constant job hunt. Still, nothing has materialized, either for a pastoring job or any other type of work (except for the short time of farming with his dad). Still, God has provided for all of our needs, even with no monies coming in at this time.

We are hopeful that God will provide a pastoring job for Andrew in 2011. We've made a couple of great contacts lately for that, but there is nothing to report as of yet. Please keep us in your prayers.

Shutterfly Flat Cards That Never Saw The Light of...a Printing Press

2010-12-02T14:00:00.005-06:00

So, if you've been keeping up with the last few posts (Hi, Katherine!), here are the flat cards that never got printed. Just showing them off for fun.

I REALLY liked this one, and was really sad when I found out I couldn't send both flat and folded cards and use the free coupon. I love that it has God's Word on it, explaining who Christ is. I know my parents really would have loved to send this one out, too.

In His Name Religious Christmas Card

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I also really like this one. I thought the picture of Oliver with the music theme was fun, too.

Christ Is King Religious Christmas Card

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Really like the design on this card. Can you tell? My mom, when browsing the stock Shutterfly cards always commented when she saw whimsical prints like this, that she knew I loved them, because, "it looks SO paisley." (and I'm kind of addicted to paisley...and whimsy prints...its true.)

Swirling Ornaments Christmas Card

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Completely different and fun in its own way.

Polar Express Christmas Card

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That is all.

More Shutterfly Cards

2010-12-02T13:39:00.002-06:00

Again, mostly for Katherine's benefit....here are the cards I did for my parents, using the 50 Free Card Credit from Shutterfly. They should arrive to my parents sometime next week. I did 5 of each of the following cards, except 10 of the first card. Plus, the 5 original ones I already had sent to them last week (blogged about below), they will have 55 unique cards to send out this year with their grandson on them! I had SO much fun doing this! I also made some fun flat cards, but it wouldn't let me redeem the free credit using both types of cards, so I went back and did extra folded cards and had all of those sent, instead (again, which is what you're about to see below). Maybe I'll do another post someday about the flat cards that are cute.

Rejoice Lord King Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card

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I love this one. This was one of the few cards that let me change the main text...it just had "Merry Christmas" on it, I think, but I knew I needed something to align with the special picture being used...I was so happy with the outcome of the Christmas phrase with the picture...simple things bring delight to me, apparently.

Holly Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Most Wonderful Year Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Holly Peppermint Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Vintage Village Holiday 5x7 folded card

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Bright Red Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

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I really like all the cards, but there is something about the simplicity of this one I adore!

Retro Christmas Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Funky Christmas Wishes Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Peppermint Peace Christmas 5x7 folded card

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3 Shutterfly Example Cards

2010-11-26T23:53:00.003-06:00

This post is primarily for Katherine's benefit since I can't figure out another way to share this and have it actually work. Anyway. These are three sample cards from Shutterfly that I made for my parents, if they were to order cards this year with Oliver on them. Shutterfly was running a special the other week (which my mom took advantage of) where they were giving 5 free cards so you could see how they turn out. Mom was buying some calendars I made, anyway, so I did these cards for her. Long story, I ended up only being able to send her 5 of the same card instead of 5 different examples, but here were my top 3 from the ones I made up. The first is a card design she chose (minus the pics, etc, that was my choice), but the other two I picked out and are totally ME, but not my mom's style whatsoever. Anyway. here you go, Kat. (Hi, everybody else).

The one (five of these) I had printed and sent to my mom:

Count Your Blessings Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Second One, which is probably my fave:

Mod Ornaments Holiday Card

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Third, which is my next fave of the ones I made up:

Vintage Glee Christmas Card

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2010 Photo Book Gifts are DONE!

2010-11-26T01:42:00.004-06:00

I guess this will be a yearly tradition for gifts for my parents, Andrew's parents, both of his grandmas and for my brother. We did it last year, and it was a major hit. The quality of Shutterfly's books is truly spectacular. Combined, this project represents hundreds or actually, who am I kidding, more than a thousand photos combed through from the last year, then edited down as possibilities for the books, 160 photo pages, plus 5 covers, 5 back covers, font size/color/type/placement, wording, background & photo framing decisions. Most of which was done while wrangling a VERY BUSY little boy or in the middle of the night when my body is half sleeping, anyway. Because that's the time I have to work with. Its a HUGE undertaking, but its hugely rewarding. I've tweaked until the cows came home like a crazy lady (you know, like that lady from those scary, I think its Target(?), Christmas/Black Friday commercials or whatever it is?, yeah, think that) but I am making myself STEP AWAY FROM THE BOOKS and not tweak ANY MORE details unless someone finds a glaring error.
Enjoy.

My Parents' Book

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Andrew's Parents' Book

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Bubby's Book

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Oliver's Great-Grandma Maggio

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Oliver's Great-Grandma Maggio

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countyourblessingscard

2010-11-22T17:30:00.002-06:00

since I'm on a shutterfly kick, here are the sample cards i ordered for MY parents. shutterfly was offering 5 free cards through today, and since my mom had ordered some other things from them (which I designed and made), I did up these cards for her as well. Another reason Shutterfly is awesome, I'm getting a $25 certificate for embedding the card in this post!

Count Your Blessings Christmas 5x7 folded card

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Shutterfly Cards

2010-11-16T23:18:00.009-06:00

Everyone, you should check out Shutterfly . Its the site we use for our picture books we gave to a few family members last year, and they're offering a special for 50 free cards if you go here: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/ Back to the photo books, they are INCREDIBLE quality (seriously) and it was such a huge hit, we're going back for round two this year for those same family members.

This was Bubby's book last year

Mom and Dad's book last year

MIL and FIL's book last year

When I finish this year's books, I'll try to remember to post them, too.

We don't send out cards, but my MIL and FIL do, and this year, the plan is to put Oliver on the cards. We're brainstorming ideas for a picture, and it includes snow, so we're hoping it snows soon to get the picture. It also involves a vintage sled a friend was just going to throw out and him in the cute Christmas pjs from Hanna Andersson Debra bought him- these. Hope it comes to fruition. If it doesn't snow soon, we'll have to come up with plan B. Not sure what card Debra will pick, but these are my 3 fave designs:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/modern-ornaments-christmas-4x8-photo-card-4x8-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/snowflakes-and-wishes-christmas-5x7-photo-card-5x7-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/vintage-snowflakes-holiday-5x7-photo-card-5x7-photo?sortType=1&storeNode=93480

Thanks to Kat for cluing me in on this promotion!

18 + months

2010-11-09T21:27:00.007-06:00

Oliver is saying probably 20 ish words, now. Some hes been saying for a long time. Some are new-ish. I'll try to compile a list. I'll probably forget some.

Dada
Mama
bath
Clock
Bruce
Brush
woof-woof (does this count as a word, or is it a sound effect?)
banana
shoes
socks (doesn't say very much)
all done
nighty night
bye bye
baby (he sings this one, as in "baby, baby, baby signing time")
ball
hat
book (this is probably the newest one)
no (and no no no)
push (second newest word)

he says "broom broom" for a car sound.

there are several other "words" he says where we can't really tell what hes saying. he says something for things like food, drink, and milk, and maybe "that," but none of them sound like any real words. He calls milk "goosh," but sometimes he also seems to make a similar sound for "food/eat," "drink," and "that" (like when he points to something he wants.

if he has a poop diaper i'll say, "ooh, stinky" and scrunch my face up, and he'll do it too, making the same sound i make with my voice.

he understands a LOT of what we say to him, even if he can't say anything back or say the words, himself. He will run to the stairs if we say we're going upstairs or downstairs. He will bring things to us if we say "bring it to mommy," etc. he knows what we're talking about when we talk about going to the toybox or toys. He likes to give kisses and will hug and kiss a stuffed monkey from GG if we tell him to. He knows what sleepy milk is. He loves rubber gloves and pot holders and things like reusable grocery bags or anything he can tote around.

He signs several things, too. like:
mom
dad
ball
bath
baby
signing
time
milk
all done
dog
hat

he kind of signs eat and drink...he points to his mouth, etc
there are probably other signs hes signed once or twice, but not regularly. I'm also forgetting things he signs or says.

around 17 months or so, he got REALLY into reading books. This is such a fun stage! We are reading lots of books to him now. His faves are rhyming books. He bops his head to the meter. Its hilarious. He will even go get a book and sit on the floor or crawl up in a chair or in bed and "read" out loud or silently to himself.

Today, he pointed to the clock in "Goodnight Moon" and said, "gock."

last night, i dropped something and sucked in my breath loudly. Oliver did it at the same time, too. That was the first time I'd heard him do anything like that. It was like "OH NO!"

He dances to nearly all music. He likes to put on his dad's and grandpa's hats. He can walk up and down the stairs by himself, while holding onto the spindles. He likes to push a broom around the house. He still wants to stick ANYTHING he can get his hands on in his mouth. We have to watch him like a hawk . He is very fast and will get into anything in a split second. He likes to sit in his bathtub and hang out and play with toys or read a book. He likes to push around laundry baskets...and climb in them. Thats not a new thing, though. He likes to push buttons on telephones and remote controls. There are a lot of asian beetles (orange ladybugs) and flys here. He likes to poke them with his finger. He tries to plug attachments into the cpu. We really have to watch that one. He turns the switch off and on on his aquarium light toy. Sorry, don't know how to explain what this is. He wants to click the mouse. One of his favorite hobbies is putting all the newspapers and magazines in the house on the floor.

He knows where a mouth, nose, ears, eyes and feet and a head are. We're working on hands. For a long time, he "signs/says" toothbrush or "brush your teeth" by sticking his finger up to his mouth, moving it back and forth and saying, "ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhh."

Thats about all I have time for tonight.

My Lifes Yours, Love

2010-10-22T22:55:00.005-05:00

I think about blogging all the time, but then I don't know really what to say.

We moved to Illinois, in with Andrew's parents. That has been going well. Andrew is still looking for a call to the pastorate in the PCA or possibly OPC. That is the long-term thing hes still looking for. In the meantime, since we've been here, hes been harvesting with his dad on the farm for work, and doing other farm work. Thats about to wrap up. On the agenda is to find any type of job in the Quad City Area to bring in some income in the interim of the pastor thing surfacing. Nothing has turned up yet on that front, either, but he'll have more time to commit to it once farm work is done for the season. Keep us in your prayers with that whole job/eventually moving out of his parents' house, etc situation.

I saw another doctor about my fatigue situation. (As in, just to give you the quick story, I need a ridiculous amount of sleep per day, and my rear end is dragging, 24/7. Simple tasks exhaust me. I get physically ill and crash and burn if I overexert (for me). I've been this way maybe my whole life, but at least since middle school or so.) It was nice, because she was the first doctor to probably take me very seriously and hear me. She actually mentioned the words 'chronic fatigue syndrome' which made me deliriously happy, because usually I'm the one thinking it or saying it, and when I do, the crazy bells in my head go off or people give me strange looks, or both. I even told her that. But. Anyway. She did more blood work and checked for several vitamin, etc deficiencies and also for a couple of viruses, but everything came back clear. The next thing to do is to have a sleep study. Which I knew she would say, because I've been told it before - last summer, actually. But I can't do that, because Oliver night nurses. And I can't take him with me. And leaving him home with Andrew all night to scream and not sleep and ME not sleep from being so worried about it doesn't = a good sleep study. But our health insurance runs out in November. So...I will not be having a sleep study. I was told if the results of that came back normal, I'd be referred to a specialist that deals with stuff like chronic fatigue syndrome. Anyway. So ...no sleep study for me, and no specialist to check into CFS, etc. So away I trudge, some more, being fatigued all the time with no explanation for it. I'm kind of depressed (not clinically) about it. But I hate not feeling normal and not having at least an explanation, if not a fix, for it. My inside desire for more activity and energy does not at all match my physical ability. Its really a horrible feeling. Not to mention already never feeling great because I'm so tired all the time. At the end of the day, like now, when Oliver is finally asleep, I have to stay up for an hour or two in order to wind down, because that is the only free time (not actually free, just not maintaining a toddler) I have to myself all day, and I need that, too, in order to function.

I know most people don't feel this way. And I know not every child is as high need as Oliver. But its still hard for me to wrap my mind around my friends having babies so close together lately. Or being asked when we're having another one. I feel like I just gave birth, still. Oliver is 17 1/2 months old. I haven't caught up on sleep or energy even a little bit, people! Ok. Maybe a LITTLE BIT. But not anything significant. :) No two people or situations are ever the same. Its not fair or accurate to compare, is it?

Thanks to Kat for hearing me say most of what I just typed, on the phone the other night. :)

PS - Being a mom is the best job in the world. Have I mentioned that?

"Hush now.... don't explain...there ain't nothin' to gain..." ~ A la Damien Rice/Herbie Hancock, (because that's what I'm listening to). HT for the blog entry title, too.

Of Words and Poo

2010-07-15T00:56:00.003-05:00

Tuesday, I think, I showed Oliver his socks and asked if he could say it. Out came, "DOCKS." But he only said it once. That is his way. If you try to get him to repeat words, he usually won't. So over that day and the next, I would prompt him to say it again, and he would, but just once each time. Its so cute. So now he has "docks" to go with his "chooose."

Today, I showed him his nose and Mama's nose. Repeatedly in one sitting. He was quite focused. Then tonight, I asked him where Mama's nose was, with no gesturing, etc. He pointed right on my nose. Such a smart boy. Which brings me to another question I have been pondering lately. Do parents ever think their kid is NOT smart? LOL.

Oliver isn't seeming to try to say too many words, other than his own babble, which he does all the time. I'm sure it means something to him. But hes not a big mimicker yet. But, he clearly recognizes MANY words. That is the cute part.

For instance, tonight (and I've thought hes done it for a while, but it was confirmed), when I told him we needed to get his toothbrush (with no gestures from me to indicate what I was talking about), he stuck his finger in his mouth, wiggled it around and went, "AHHHHH." Oh man, ....I love it.

Another example. Oliver is very good at shaking his head yes or no. He did "no" for a long time before getting the "yes" shake down pat. Andrew likes to say one or the other and wait for Oliver to shake his head. He always gets it correct. But I theorized at the dinner table that Oliver might be shaking his head correctly only in response to the specific over-emphasized unique intonation Andrew uses for one or the other. So Andrew said "Yes" with the intonation he normally uses for "Nooo" and Oliver still got it right! Hooray! Oh, only a proud parent could appreciate such a tale. Hehe.

Am I the only parent who can't tell if their kid has diarrhea or just non-firm poops? I mean, his poo, when he was exclusively breast fed and under 6 months was runny. I knew that was normal. Then after that, it was quite firm for a few months. Now, it is back and forth. I never know if this is an indication of a) a food allergy (since he eats most stuff now, including dairy and a variety of other things that could potentially bother someone's system b) him still reviving large amounts of breast milk c) a normal variance of poo based on whatever hes eaten - in a non-food-allergy sort of way.

Hmm.

Off to bed I go.

Not Forgetting

2010-07-10T23:28:00.003-05:00

In my short parenting career, I've had the best intentions about writing stuff down. Or assuming I'll remember things. Well, I'm realizing there are many things I'm forgetting about these wonderful baby days (yes, my 14 month old is my baby) I don't want to forget.

Here are some things I don't want to forget:
*The way Oliver smells like his California Baby Calming Wash/Shampoo after I've bathed him and we're snuggling in for the night.
*The way hes recently taken to making this growling sound...almost like Louis Armstrong...and how it makes me laugh so hard, he stops growling and looks at me so confused because he doesn't know why I'm laughing.
*When hes nursing while we're laying down, if hes antsy, the way he keep his head in place (still nursing) but stands his feet up and marches with his rear up in the air.
*His odd affinity for the toilet brush. Or plunger.
*The way he WILL put ANYTHING in his mouth. Including bits of paper, dust bunnies, and once recently, a box staple. Which, thankfully, I fished out in time.
*The way he finger paints with his food on his tray when hes done.
*The way he hums while he nurses sometimes.
*The sound of glee he makes when we "chase" him. Like, "huha huha huha huha huha."
*The sound of his feet almost running across the wood floors.
*The way I know if he is very quiet for more than 10 seconds, hes probably in trouble.
*The way he looks even sweeter than normal right after he wakes up.
*The way he loves to give kisses - with an open mouth.
*There is this toy my mom brought that you press on and then it wheels on the floor, playing a crazy tune, and the character in the vehicle is like a loony Carnival Man. I call it the Crazie Carnie. And Oliver loves the thing and is scared to death of it. He will press it down, and run like the wind, and watch Crazie Carnie drive like the maniac he is from afar. At the end it even says something like, "Ya hoo! YIPPEE!" Or something equally as nuts. I don't want to forget him starting the thing up and then running away to watch at a safe distance.

Oliver Turned 1 almost a month ago?!

2010-06-01T10:49:00.004-05:00

Oliver turned 1 on May 6th. I can't believe it. I had intended to clean up/add to the details of his birth story, but of course, I didn't. We "celebrated" Barnes-style: very low-key at home. Mom and Dad were in town. We sang and stuck a candle in a Little Debbie Snack (which he did NOT eat thankyouverymuch) and opened presents that Andrew's parents had sent, and one present from Helen Gross. And that was that. I took some pictures. We got some decent family pictures, too. Not professional-decent but "hey, we don't all look drugged in this picture!" decent.

Andrew turned 28. That is also crazy.

Oliver started walking. He is all over the place, now. I think he took his first step the day before he turned 11 months. Actually, he may have technically taken a step or two a couple of weeks before even that. But I'm with Katherine. (Hi, Kat!) - Its so hard to know exactly when to count something.

He has at least 10 or 11 teeth poking through. He says, "shoes," "dog," "mama," "dada," and I think hes said, "bye," but he has definitely waved bye more than once, even just last night. He says dog or shoes most consistently. Its so cute. "Shoes" sounds kind of like "Tchoose" and "dog" sounds kind of like "duh." Also, he knows how to take my flip flop off my foot and put it back on my foot. Also, last night, he repeatedly laid his head down on this Thomas the Train pillow mom got him, while playing in his room. Its like he realized it was a pillow all of the sudden, even though it doesn't look like a normal pillow. Thankfully, we got a picture of it!

Mom bought him his first pair of shoes. I mean, real shoes. They are Stride Rite. Hes only worn them a few times for not very long. He doesn't like them. But he did better yesterday. You should see him when he walks with them on his feet - it is hilarious.

What else? We made it through his first semi-scary sickness. Hes had a cold before, and I think something else mild I don't remember what (maybe just a couple other runny noses), but right after he turned 1, he spiked a fever we initially thought was a reaction to his vaccinations. Except it was unusually high (at least 104.4 rectally at one point), lasted unusually long, and wouldn't stay down even with Tylenol and Motrin in his system. It was a long several days of very little sleep, lots of lukewarm baths, almost constant nursing (his only comfort & nutrition during all that - SUCH a blessing from God!) giving meds every 2 or every 4 or every 6 hours around the clock, lots of prayers, and a Sunday drive to Jackson to go to the after-hours clinic. You know its a big deal when the Barnes miss church over something. That NEVER happens. It turned out it was a virus, not a reaction to the shots. We were glad to see that gone for everyone's sakes, and we were so thankful that our baby was safe. It makes you so much more thankful for their life when something like that happens.

We had a whirlwind of travels late April to early May. Mom came and got Oliver and me, and we stayed a couple of days in Appleton and then went onto Bubby's for a couple of weeks. Andrew came down, actually the day before we made it to Bubby's, with Bruce, in our car. He stayed for a few days, then drove our car with Bruce up to see his parents. He came back to MS a couple of days before Mom, Dad, Oliver and myself came back, the day before Oliver's b-day. The trip was mostly planned around the fact that Katherine was home from Germany! I'm so glad it worked out for us to get to be home at the same time. Our boys were born exactly 6 months apart, and Kat and I hadn't seen one another in nearly 2 years. It was SUCH a good time. Besides that, I got to spend a lot of great time with family and friends. And ate some great KC food. Of course, we didn't see everyone we wanted to or go everywhere we wanted to, but that is always the case.

I think Oliver may have a milk (or something related) allergy. No bueno. We started giving him yogurt a little bit ago, and he had it about every day for a week. And I started noticing a rash on his body, and yeast infection on his bottom. So I think it is milk, but possibly blueberries, which he had one time. I'm hoping for blueberries, but thinking it is milk. But not a severe reaction, as hes never seemed to have a problem with it since I drink it and nurse him. Some babies do, you know. So right now I'm in the process of letting the rash go down, waiting until its gone, and then starting back up with the yogurt and seeing what happens -- being more diligent this time not to introduce anything else new at the same time. Please, please don't be a milk allergy.

Onto us. Well, we have to move and be out of this church manse in less than two months. And we have NO earthly clue where in the world we're going to be living or how we're going to make ends meet. Scary/exciting, etc. We're down to crunch time, and we have WAY too much to do and figure out and too little time. We are busy looking at all living arrangement options and all employment options for Andrew. Those are our full-time jobs, these days (along with keeping after a 1-yr old. And Andrew is still preaching various places a couple times a month, on average. Side story
: We did the math and figured out that after recouping $ for mileage, the church he preached at VERY far away last Sunday, he made a grand total of $30. Thirty. Dollars. Yes. That is for driving 7 hours, preaching, and all of his sermon-prep. With a Master's Degree. Ouch.) We were talking to some friends yesterday about how God opens and closes doors differently for everyone. They were saying it always seems to them that God opens several doors, only to close all but one of them, and they are left with the 1 option, which is what God has for them. And we were saying, it always works out for us like this: God opens NO doors (visibly) until the VERY last second, at which time he opens only one, and that's what we take. This is how its always worked out for us. We are still waiting for that one door to open. Its kind of stressful. We are thankful to know that God is sovereign, and He has always provided for His people. We surely appreciate prayers.

I'm still going to La Leche League every month. I still love it. Can you tell that I've found one of my life's passions? Learning about and helping others breastfeed their babies. Such a miracle from God.

Wow. I did it. I updated the blog. Amazing.

1 reason we don't subscribe to the "Cry It Out" Methods

2010-05-21T01:12:00.001-05:00

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

2010-03-16T22:56:00.004-05:00

I just joined the kellymom.com FB page, and a topic started on the wall was fun. They asked, "where have you nursed?" So I started thinking about it, and this is the list (besides super obvious ones like "in my rocking chair at home") off the top of my head:

in 2 movie theaters, in the tub, while sitting on a toilet (the story involves me and a stomach issue- sorry for the TMI!), in restaurants while eating and while ordering, friends' bedrooms/dens/living rooms, in the shoe department at Macy's at Oak Park Mall in my hometown, in a back room of a hair salon while talking with my stylist, LLL meetings with multiple other mommies (hooray!), in fitting rooms, in church services, Drs offices, nursing lounges, Mother's room at BRU, and cars (not while moving, except in a carwash, once). My most memorable nursing story is probably when I was back home visiting when Oliver was 3+ m. o. and Bubby's dog had puppies. I nursed while she gave birth to 1 or 2 of the puppies and then the rest of my trip, the two of us (me and mama dog) would nurse our babies together. The place I happened to usually sit to nurse was where she happened to be with her newborns, so it was dubbed "the nursing mother's corner." It was special. That's all I can think of right now.

To the other nursing mamas who read this, where are some interesting spots you've nursed?

Dena Recommends part deaux

2010-02-23T21:49:00.002-06:00

Diapers.com

If you know me fairly well, you know I am a bargain hunter. I come by it honestly, since my mom is this way, except 100x better. She could talk a homeless person out of their only shoes. not that she would. but I digress.

In my quest to find the cheapest possible place for diapers, I searched high and low. In store and online. Including places like ebay, amazon.com, alice.com, sams club, babies r us, walmart, target, grocery stores, drug stores, etc etc etc. Diapers.com is the cheapest place I have found. You can even mail in coupons and they will apply them to your account to use. They offer free 2-day shipping (for orders over 49$, which isn't hard), and in most states (mine included) have NO tax. Holla!!!! I buy the biggest cases of diapers since that also provides a lower cost-per-diaper option.

Also, they have incredible customer service. AWESOME. I'll tell you of my experience with them. I once ordered a product, got it, didn't like it, and emailed them asking to return it. I got a reply back saying they were sending a replacement. They had misunderstood that I wanted my money back, not a new one. I let them know this, and they refunded my money, and I ended up with two of the product for free that they encouraged me to pass onto someone in need to try it out. How lovely. Second issue with customer service: I ordered some diapers that were suppposed to get here right before christmas time, before we left to drive to IL. It didn't get here the day it was supposed to, and the next shippable (i made up a word, i think) business day is when we were leaving, EARLY in the morning to head out. I called diapers.com and told them of the dilemma. They were so nice and so helpful, and told me they were going to freeze the diapers coming to our house, have them returned to diapers.com while still in transit, and the diapers would be sent to IL to my in-laws immediately. We brought enough diapers for 1 day, and had the rest we needed for our nearly 2 week stay when we arrived in IL, the following day. Issue within the issue: I was having 2 boxes shipped to our house, cause thats how we would qualify for free shipping. But we only needed 1 box for the trip. So they just sent 1 box to IL for us instead of 2. Side issue: when we got home from our IL/KS trip, the original order of diapers had ended up at our house, instead of being rerouted back to diapers.com like they planned. I called diapers.com, told them, and let them know they needed to charge my card for them since they were at my house. I didn't mind, i'd use them soon enough, anyway. But instead, they only charged me for 1 box instead of two, and I got a $34 I think) box of huggies for FREEEEE!

Oh yes.

Also, did I mention you can get $10 off your first order of diapers from them? If you sign up, use this, my referral code, to get it: YXUC8749 . Also, if you use that code, I get perks for "referring you," as well. double woo hoo.

also, they have the cheapest or at least competitive prices for lots of other things there, too. Like bath products, cloth dipes, wipes, feeding products, toys, clothes, nursing gear, cleaning supplies, etc etc etc. They have ALL sorts of brands. And they will price match. And they often have percentages off stuff. They're awesome.

Basically, if you're not buying your (name brand) diapers from diapers.com, you're either wasting your money, or I want to know where you're getting them cheaper. :) (Of course, they don't sell store brands of diapers.)

I think thats all for now!!!

Dena Recommends

2010-02-15T23:04:00.005-06:00

At the risk of this being really lame, I'm thinking of starting a theme called "Dena recommends." I often think of things I really love and want to recommend to people, and maybe this will organize my thoughts enough to help me blog more. Who knows. So, let us begin.

Dena recommends:

California Baby Products. ( www.californiababy.com is the homesite, but I mostly buy from diapers.com , a site I intend to rave about at a later time.)
Why do I love them? Let me count the ways...
* a lot of their products are given pretty much the best rating possible on www.cosmeticdatabase.com for baby products, in the way of least allergenic and most safe" ingredients....
* also, its the only thing we've found in the way of put-on-your-skin that won't give Oliver a rash.
* And it smells nice.
* Its more concentrated and you can use less than other products with it working well

We use the following products, currently:
*calming baby wash/shampoo http://californiababy.com/calming-shampoo-bodywash-17-5-oz.html - Oliver's shampoo and body wash
*Calming Diaper Rash Cream http://californiababy.com/calming-diaper-rash-cream-2-9-oz.html - we hardly ever have to use diaper cream, but this stuff is great. This appealed to me because you probably know of our Thrush sagas, and Oliver would end up with it (yeast infection) on his bottom a few times from it going through his system from his mouth to him bum. This product has tea tree oil in it, known to naturally fight yeast.
*Calming Non-Talc Powder - This also appealed to me for its anti-fungal (yeast) tea tree properties, as spoken of above. And it gave a dry option for the bum, as opposed to extra moisture, which could possible exacerbate any hiney issues.
*super sensitive everyday lotion http://californiababy.com/super-sensitive-everyday-lotion-6-5-oz.html -- we recently got this to put on Oliver's knees that were feeling only a little dry. I put it on only once in a while -- did I mention he has really well-balanced skin? I think part of the reason is because the wash and shampoo we use doesn't strip his skin to need lots of extra moisturizers put on.
*No Fragrance SPF 30+ Sunscreen - this is fantastic -- it gets rave reviews on cosmeticdatabase.com , and it really really really really works. And it didn't make Oliver have a rash like the other sunscreen we tried. After reading all the garbage that is put in other sunscreens thats really bad for you and even increases sunburns, I am so happy this exists! Next time I'm in the sun, I intend to use it on myself.
*callendula cream http://californiababy.com/calendula-cream-2-oz.html -this cleared up the exema that sometimes flares up on my hand as SOON as I put it on when it reared its ugly head for the first time this winter, and hasn't come back -- this is huge -- I normally have to go at least several weeks trying to find something that will somewhat help while mostly just waiting the exema out to go away on its own for a while before reappearing
*aloe vera cream http://californiababy.com/aloe-vera-cream-2-oz.html - We've used this on scrapes on Oliver's skin
*Tea Tree and Lavendar Body Wash and Shampoo http://californiababy.com/tea-tree-lavender-shampoo-bodywash-8-5-oz.html -- this product is for me. I use it! I got this in the midst of my nursing-related thrush mess (since tea tree oil is known to fight yeast/thrush/fungus)
*Calming Diaper Area Wash http://californiababy.com/non-burning-calming-diaper-area-wash-6-5-oz.html - since we don't use baby wipes (I might get to that in another post), this is excellent to have on hand for the messy diapers. After a preliminary wipe with the wet washrag, I spray this a few timess on Oliver's bum, and it helps everything unstick and helps put some good moisture back in his skin. After the bottle runs out, I'm going to refill it with a "recipe" I found online that calls for a bit of baby wash (Cali. Baby, of course) and water. I imagine that will work great, too, we'll see.

They have a slew of other great products. Look around. You've probably noticed it seems kind of pricey. And it is. But, their products are more concentrated, they actually do what they're supposed to as well as work proactively in many ways, and its the only stuff we've found that keeps Oliver rash free, not to mention the fact that they don't have harmful chemicals and such in their items. Who wouldn't be willing to pay a bit more for something that is more likely to work the first time instead of wasting money switching products and dealing with the hassle of skin-related issues that could have been prevented in the first place? The Sunscreen is especially pricey (I will tell you a secret, we got a really good deal (relatively speaking) on some when we bought several bottles of it at once from a seller on Ebay (new, of course) Try it, and save a mint), but it actually WORKS. We don't get out in the sun very often, so this is not a big deal, especially for that reason.

Bottom line: I really just can't say enough good stuff about this line. A woman in Babies R Us who was shopping for a shower gift asked me about bath products the other week, and I went on freak-out about how awesome California Baby products are. You can ask my mom. She was there. Lady probably really regretted asking me, I just kept talking about them. Ha. I should get paid for this stuff, really. I would recommend this stuff to anyone, but especially to people having any sort of skin issue and also to new moms and dads. Its a great product to start out with that is truly gentle without having to switch after getting the baby home only to find out something is making your baby rashy. If money were no object, I'd pretty much buy every single item they sell, just to try it out and have it on hand. I intend to try other products in their line as need calls for it.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of "Recommendations from Dena" and all my run-on sentences and parentheses within parentheses.

A new year, a new start, perhaps?

2010-02-12T23:43:00.002-06:00

Hi. We're still alive. I will get right to it instead of going into my usual tale of why I only blog once every 2.4 years. I'll keep it really simple, too. Please excuse the straightforwardness. Its just easier this way.

1) For a myriad (yes, really, a myriad) of reasons, I can't really say more than this, but Andrew resigned from his position as Pastor here. And well, like I said, that is the end of the public version of the story. His last day to preach was at the end of January. If we haven't talked in awhile, you're probably thinking you're really out of the loop and that this is really sudden, but believe me, this was incredibly sudden for us, too, so don't feel too left out. We have no more than 5.5 months from now that we can possibly still live here in the manse (and have severance) before we HAVE to move out. Right now, we're trying to figure out what the next step is. Andrew has been applying to PCA and OPC churches for Pastor/Assistant Pastor positions. We're hoping and praying the Lord opens something up in that way of things, but we know that that can take a very long time (usually does, in fact), even for someone older and with more than 1.5 years of pastoring experience. In the meantime, we're trying to wrap our heads around this life change and figure out what is best to do for now. Move to Jackson (realistically, the only place to find work, which is 1.5 hours away, one way) for Andrew to get some sort of job? Have Andrew commute to Jackson to work, x number of days per week with us still living in Tchula? Will I come with him to Jackson when he goes to work so I won't be here by myself and the baby for long stretches, at night, etc? Some combination of these things? We're trying to figure out what makes the most sense financially, for safety reasons, etc etc etc. So. That's enough about that. Prayers are appreciated.

2) Oliver is pretty much awesome. I love him. We love him. Hes still super cute and amazing and such a blessing and I still have no idea how I lived without him until he was born. He just turned 9 months old. Hes so busy. Hes crawling all over the place, doing a lot of pulling up and standing while holding onto stuff, etc. Hes exploring everything.

3) I love La Leache League. Living in a small town with nothing to do here, LLL meetings are my hobby, I guess, every month. Is that sad? Lol. I mean, not "is it sad" in that it is a bad hobby to have, but is it sad that that is really my only go-out-and-so-something hobby? Oh well. I don't really mind. Back to LLL, this ties in with my ... how do I say this the right way?...complete amazement with and commitment to a whole lifestyle of nourishing and parenting my baby. The more I study, read, learn, hear, etc about breastfeeding and attachment parenting and feeding my child healthy foods and things of that nature that somehow all tie in together, the more I just want to yell from the rooftops and help other people in their struggles to breastfeed or nuture their children in what I believe is the most normal, loving and intuitive way possible. That probably didn't make any sense. -- Like-mindedness for all those things converge at LLL meetings, and its beautiful. -- I'm horrible with words. This is probably why I don't blog more often. Well, one reason. Sorry.

4) Pictures just don't get posted here, sorry. If you follow me on facebook, you will see plenty of Oliver pictures, there. I am usually behind on posting pictures. For instance, right now, I have a plethora of pics to post, but got stopped at late December.

5) I'm not done with taxes. Why, you ask? Well, I will just give you one reason. I like to blame it on the fact that our taxes are really involved since we have tons of itemized things, deductions and such, to show separately. We got this huge form from our tax guy to list everything in, and seriously, I don't understand half of it, at least. Apparently, if I don't have something to show for a category, I still have to put a zero or a dash or something else I forget in the line, and every time I look at it, I'm like, 'should I list this here, or here?' or 'What in the dickens does this mean?' Or, 'does this mean what I think it means, or something else?' Every time I sit down to try to work on it, I look at the form - its actually a stapled-together booklet - and totally freak out. I just want to call our tax guy and say, "yeah, about that form...can I just give you all the numbers I have in language I understand and you can make sense of them?" And that's pretty much the end of me working on taxes, because at that point, my head has exploded and I've had a nervous break down. Andrew keeps asking me if I have the taxes done. Its looming over my head like a black cloud. Just typing this about it makes me want to hide. So we're moving on. I lied, I am going to give you another reason. I usually can only sit down and get anything done, interrupted, for a total of...maybe ....3 minutes, before Oliver beckons me in some form or other. You know, because he is going to knock something over, or hes had enough of his jumperoo, or sitting him in his crib to play so I can work on taxes leads to much hollering and I just can't concentrate with that going, or hes with Daddy, but its not going so well with Daddy and I can't concentrate with Oliver fussing loudly....except for times like this, late at night...when really, I should be sleeping, because Oliver is sleeping, and he still wakes up a LOT (you may send hate mail regarding any sleep training need to idonotwanttohearit@gmail.com)during the night to nurse, and you know me, and I need a LOT of sleep to function at a semi-normal level, so...where was I....point was, i could be working on taxes now, except I need to go to bed...or unwind because I need some ME time.

6) I know you think I'm such a whiner. Which leads me to my next thing of I am THAT mom who is not even remotely ready to even think of having another child. Yes. I am THAT woman. You might be thinking, 'wait, didn't you just say Oliver is only 9 months old, who said anything about you having to have more kids yet?' But lets be honest. At this point, its not unusual for people to think of the idea. I LOVE being Oliver's mom, and love every hard, sleep-deprived minute of it. But I know I am nowhere near ready to even have the idea enter my head of more children any time soon. Except when that idea is closely followed by, 'Oh sweet fancy moses, I would die.' I am amazed because I know so many women, currently, or throughout life who seem to rebound very quickly after having children to be "ready" to have another child. Not that anyone is every "ready." But. You know what I mean. Able to function. And I am realizing (actually, I've known this so far in), I am just not anywhere close to being there yet. I am savoring my days with my baby boy.

I always feel like my posts are really just...dumb. I think I come across all wrong. Oh well.

2010-01-06T21:51:00.003-06:00

No time to blog, really, but just wanted to share a link.

Oliver is 8 months old today. Too crazy. He is crawling and just starting to pull himself up into a standing position from a seated or crawling position (I think today may have been the first time) using objects to help him (while still holding on, of course). My baby!

We had a wonderful 12 days or so of traveling back (driving) to IL and to KC to visit our families. It was suburb. And it snowed. Quite a bit. Hooray.

Maybe someday I'll find time to blog. And post pictures. Until then, I'm off to work on finances/taxes and take care of my baby.

Nearly 5 months old

2009-09-29T21:34:00.003-05:00

I figure a post is seriously in order. I figure I can post right now without feeling too guilty since I am at Buddy and Frenchie's with nothing to do except do my nightly routine and sleep (which I should probably do now/soon since I have an early dr's appt tomorrow morning, hince why I am here).

Oliver will be 5 months old in a few days. WHAT?! Crazy. He weighs over 16 lbs, is nearly out of all of his 3-6 and 6 month clothes and we just put him in his first size 3 diaper today.

Family and friends who are reading this, I feel so sorry that our family updates are so few and far between, especially since this is primarily how most of you get a chance to catch up with us. I just really struggle with getting the daily grind done (I never do get caught up), so sitting down long enough to type everything out just isn't feasable.

About me: I continue to battle thrush and/or staff infections from nursing. They continue to get better, I think, but it has truly been like a two steps forward 1.9 steps back ordeal. I have done or am doing every treatment in the book, as far as I know, both with traditional meds RX and OTC as well as herbal/homeopathic, with the exception of eliminating all sugars/carbs (read: i could literally only eat meat and a few certain veggies) from my diet...which at this point, I'd rather just live with the pain. Very trying, emotionally as well as physically...and spiritually. I am thankful, though, that I am still able to nurse my baby. I would be devastated if I could not.

The hardest part of having a baby, for me, has been lack of sleep. Most people who know me know that I have always required more sleep than the average person. --Quite a lot more sleep than the average person, even, to function. I don't really know why this is, but its a real thing. I recently had my thyroid tested just to see if there were any issues there that would explain my lethargy/sleepiness, but it came back clear. The next step is to have a sleep study. I'm not sure that I can do one at this point, though, since I am nursing around the clock. I need to call the sleep study center and ask just to be sure, though. Anyway, obviously, the sleep issue is greatly exacerbated by having a baby...particularly since I am nursing and the weight of getting up with baby so he can eat falls 100% on me. I am happy to do it, I LOVE my child, etc, but it has been immensely difficult just to function. All principles finally went out the window about a month ago when I decided sleep was more important, and I've started just pulling Oliver into bed with us at some point during the night so that I can nurse him laying down and semi-snooze and then fall right back asleep. The not getting out of bed a million times/standing to change a diaper, etc, has greatly helped. I still don't get "enough" sleep at night, even for the average person, which means I don't get enough sleep especially for what I require, but it is certainly better than the up down up down up down 20 x charade. I can usually make it up once at night to nurse and lay him back down, but that is the peak of my coping level. After that, into the bed he comes. And the more I read about babies and sleep, the more OK I am with this, regardless of former principles. Please continue to pray for us when you think of it, that what rest I do get would be restful and revitilizing.

Another thing that has been harder than I had prepared myself for was all of the well-meaning advice. Everyone loves us and in caring for us wants to offer their bit of advice to help out. Of course, this often means not following the advice of great-intentioned loved ones. Listening to loved ones and then educating myself and then making final decisions for what works for us and standing my ground in it has been key. I find myself researching, researching, researching. This has been wonderful, although hard. I feel good about decisions that are made once I really look into things from difference perspectives. Which is a good thing.

I feel like I talk about the hard things a lot. That is only because those are the serious things I feel the need to be honest about. Everything light-hearted and wonderful doesn't take up nearly as much time to talk about. :) Its a little like the News - they usually report the bad. So let me tell you how much I love being a mother. -- I love it. This is 100% what I was cut out to do. It is true, I often find myself checking myself, thinking on my LORD to see if I pay Him as much mind and affection as I do my child. I dare not say the answer to that question. I hear this is a common thing for parents. So I will press on to re-order my priorities.

Oliver is such a joy. This week he started making "bbbbbmmmmbbbbmmm" sounds while "talking." Basically, buzzing his lips. This is a fun new sound for him. The first sound he started "talking" with was "Ohhhh...Ohhh....OOOOOHhhhh." He loves talking to walls and ceiling fans and the dresser and window blinds and the nursing pad boxes (with baby faces on them), in particular. In the last week or so, he has figured out how to pull down the dangling toy that hangs from the car seat handle. This is a feat, since it takes a bit of muscle (for him, I imagine) to pull hard enough to make the pully sysetm work, and then the toy goes rattling back up on its bungee. Oh, it gives him big thrills. For several weeks now, he has been pulling his paci out of his mouth, and trying to stick it back in his mouth. This keeps him entertained for a very long time. He'll get it all sorts of turned around. He is getting better at being successful, though. As soon as he gets it in his mouth, he pulls it right back out to keep doing it over and over. He'll keep at this, usually, until he gets mad because he can't consistantly get it put in his mouth correctly. And don't DARE try to help him, because that just makes him more mad! We have a little sinner on our hands! He started rolling over, both directions (in the same day) when he was about 4 months and 1 week old. He loves to smile and laugh. Oh, how I love his belly laughs. He is still a complete mama's boy. :)

I can't believe Oliver will be starting foods soon, in a month or so! Doesn't seem possible. We need to buy a high chair!

Well, he is making sounds in his sleep like hes about to wake up, so I better go for now!
Maybe next time I'll write about my last-minute trip back home to KC with Mom and Dad last month. :)

When the Wife is Away, the Men will Sit Outside

2009-08-13T10:54:00.004-05:00

Dena is away this week visiting family in Kansas and Missouri. So Bruce and I are bachelors.

Things are always exciting when the wife leaves. This time our cat had kittens again. Six this time. Here she is, although you can only see a couple there, there are six.

Yes, we're alive

2009-07-27T21:18:00.003-05:00

Wow, its been a while!

I apologize in advance for the serious run-ons, punctuation errors, spelling errors and many ellipses, etc that you’re about to see.

As you can imagine (or not only imagine, as most of you have been there done that), life with a baby is crazy/busy. I don't really feel like I have time to post on here. Or rather, there is always something else to be done, and I usually feel too guilty to take the time to think about updating the blog because everything else continues to pile up. And when i am sitting down at the computer, it is usually when Oliver is needing to be held (which is quite a bit, still), and that just isn't conducive to typing, but rather, browsing/surfing/reading online, etc...things that don't require much typing.

Lets try to recap, shall we?

Disclaimer, below is the rated PG version of Oliver's birthday. Nothing too graphic, but if you're a man, you might just want to skip over this part.

Oliver was born Wednesday 5/6/09. The short version (actually, not short at all) of the story goes like this: I woke up in the middle of the night 9 days before Oliver's estimated due date and heard our cat (outdoor cat for rodent control since we live in the middle of farming fields) making strange noises, and I wondered if she was having babies since Andrew thought she was pregnant. A couple/few hours later, at 6:30 AM, I got up to make one of my 50 million nightly pregnancy bathroom trips. I got back in bed afterwards, was getting all adjusted with my pillows, and I felt a gush. I was like "OH MY GOODNESS," and flipped on the light real quick. Andrew says, "What are you doing?" I say, "I think my water just broke!" and he says "Does that require turning the light on?!" (gotta love Andrew for coming up with this one. hehe) and I'm like, "YES!!!!!!" Soooooooo...I wasn't really sure that my water broke for sure (because I've never done this before) and I thought, 'Oh dear me...what If I've tinkled on myself (it happens to pregnant women sometimes, you know).' So I waddled/ran into the bathroom again, trying not to get anything on the floor on the way and proceeded to somehow break the toilet seat when I sat on it. Hahaha...So after a while (I'll spare you further details), I figured out, it definitely had to be my water breaking. By this point, Andrew was up, starting to get stuff done, just in case, and I let him know THIS WAS IT! IT IS GO TIME! (I didn't say that.) So I sit there and call the dr's office and get the after hour's number, and call the person who takes the after hours calls. I left a VM for her to call me back, letting her know what had happened. I knew they were going to want me to come in, anyway, but I knew I needed to let them know what was happening. Then I called Carol Ann, our doula (plug for hiring a doula/hiring Carol Ann if you're in the Jackson area!) and let her know what was going on. Then I called Frenchie and told her we were hopefully having a baby today. Around this time, we started having THE storm of the spring. It started raining and got progressively worse. I took a shower and started getting ready. I wanted Andrew to update on FB what was happening, but we realized our satellite internet was out, due to the storm. While I'm getting ready, Andrew is packing up the car with our one million bags and items to take to the hospital, and all of Bruce's (our dog) stuff. We had made a list of last-minute items we needed to make sure we had, and it was saved on the computer. Except around this point, the storm got so bad THE POWER WENT OUT. oh yes. So we're trying to figure out what was on the list so we didn't forget anything. And Andrew has to come into the bathroom, shining the mag lite on me so that I could see to do my makeup and hair (yes, I did this). Eventually, it started to get light out enough so that I could see to finish getting ready with no holding of the mag lite. Meanwhile, Andrew is coming to the door of the bathroom every 2 minutes (Andrew doesn't remember it quite this way, but this is what it felt like to me, and its funny), to frantically ask me if I'm ready yet. (We did still have another 1.5 hrs drive into Jackson and still had to drop Bruce off and get some food before going to the dr's office.) About the 10th time, I informed him that if he did not calm down, I was going to start panicking, and this was not the day for me getting all upset. So finally, probably about 8 am or so (give or take), we were both ready to go. As I'm walking out the door, I notice that Delilah has indeed, had a kitten. At this point, Andrew is pretty much willing me into the car with the whooshing of his arms (the car is running, door is open, etc), but I bend down to look at the newborn kitten. Andrew was all, "DENA. THIS IS NOT THE TIME. GET IN THE CAR!" hehe. such fun memories, looking back. Later, when Oliver was born, I held him for the first time and explained to him that he had had a very busy day: Delilah had a kitten, mama broke the toilet seat, and the power went out in the biggest storm we had seen since moving to Tchula, all while he was trying to come out into the world. So we drive to Jackson, and I make approximately 49 phone calls to family, friends, and members of the church. It was especially fun calling Bubby and Mom and Dad. Each of their reactions was so true to their individual personalities and was just so fun. Bub and Mom and Dad headed down this direction a bit after I called and let them know things were happening. At this point, I was only feeling mildly crampy, nothing I considered true contractions at that point. So we dropped Bruce off at Buddy and Frenchie's and then went to Burger King for breakfast. My entire pregnancy, one of my hang ups was the fact that I knew I was not going to be allowed to eat once I was admitted to the hospital, until Oliver was born. I generally do not do well at all with the whole no eating thing, so I was determined to fill up before checking into the hospital. (I did not regret doing so later). We went to the dr's office, and by this point, I was having some pretty serious crampy type feelings. Dr. Bush was able to see me pretty much immediately, and she said that I had a tiny bit of water left, and that she'd break the rest of it once I got checked into my hospital room. I think I was 2 cms dilated when she checked me. So we went downstairs and got all checked in. We signed some papers at the desk, and at this point, I was "dancing" (as the nurse told me) with the crampy type feelings, (which were contractions, but I had never done this before, and at this time they felt like pretty serious cramps). Got into my room and into a gown. Its kind of amazing, because from that point on, things just took off. I am SO glad we got to the hospital when we did, even though I had wanted to be able to labor as long as possible at Buddy and Frenchie's....I can not imagine getting into a car and dealing with the contractions that started coming. Our nurse, Suzanne, was pretty much amazing. She was like a second doula. She was right by our side, almost constantly. Shortly after checking in, (which was at 10 something or 11 something, I guess, she was like "Uhhhh...have you called Carol Ann yet?" "No." "I think you should." (I'm so glad she sensed I was going to need the support, and not a minute too soon.) Yada Yada Yada, contraction, contraction, contraction..... Things went from feeling zeroish to 60 MPH in the blink of an eye, it was pretty overwhelming. I was going to try to walk with my labor as much as possible, to work with it and help labor do its thing as efficiently as possible. By the time Carol Ann got there, I was in serious serious pain. I had horrendous back labor. HORRENDOUS. When a contraction would hit, I would just hang off of Andrew. I think when Carol Ann got there, which was soon (I couldn't even greet her, I was at that point in labor), I was on my hands and knees in bed. Then I stood up for a while longer and swayed and dipped down with the contractions, and Carol Ann supported my weight from the back while I leaned over the bed a little. The pressure in my back and bottom was just amazing (in a not good way). I kept telling them I felt like my bones were exploding. Thats really what it felt like..Except, it was like a contained explosion, where the full force is there, but there is no place for it to explode to...if you can imagine that. (If you've had back labor, you don't have to imagine it!) I got to a point where my legs gave out, and I had to lay down...except laying down even hurt. Everything hurt. Really bad. But the least painful thing, I guess, was laying on my side, holding onto the bed rail for dear life during a contraction, and laying in exhaustion for the few seconds between contractions. My intent was to try to have a natural birth with no meds, but I was asking for help (for some meds of some sort). Andrew, Carol Ann and Suzanne did their best coaching and encouraging to talk me through contractions without meds...Finally, they gave me a small dose of Stadol....oh sweet relief (comparatively.) It only lasts about 20 minutes or so, and it doesn't take the pain away, but you just feel too intoxicated to care as much, kind of...it relaxed me enough between contractions to where I'd kind of go in a sleepy haze...but definitely not enough time to actually sleep....My contractions felt like they never fully went away in between contractions...there was just less pain or more pain. I ended up having three small doses of Stadol over the period of a few/several hours, I'd guess (I have no sense of time during all of this). I was very hot and was thankful we brought a little fan with us. Later I found out (each room has its own temp. control), they had the temp turned down so low for me, that Carol Ann, Andrew and the nurses, etc were FREEZING....I had no idea...I was steaming sweating hot. Sometime in here, Dr. Bush came in and broke the rest of my water, and had me push (I had no idea they would have you do this) to try to dilate a bit more. Oh, the pain. After that, I was like "I don't want to push anymore (until its time for him to be born)!" More labor, more pain, more weepy Dena, asking for help. Every time I'd start crying, they'd encourage me not to cry because they knew I was going to work myself up and it was going to make it hurt more. Oh, it was so hard not to cry. But I realized, too, that I didn't have the energy to put into crying, I needed all the energy my body could muster into just getting through the contractions. Crying and having contractions was horrible. It was like a vicious cycle. Oh, the pain, I need to cry. But crying makes it hurt more. Hurting more makes me cry. Ai ai ai. Heather and Traci came by and I couldn't see them because I was in too much pain and the thought of them coming in the room was too overwhelming for me. They got to see Andrew for a min. in the hall, though. So sweet of them to drive all the way to Jackson. Then I started dry heaving at 6 Cms. That was fun. (Not.) But I know it helped me dilate more! Then I stalled at 7 Cms for several/a few hours, I think (again, no real sense of time, here.) They started me on Pitocin at this time, even though I was adamant I didn’t want it, they were convinced I had to have it (still don’t know all the details of this, I was so out of it.) Eventually, I was serious enough about having the epidural, which coincided very closely with the start of the Pit. I just couldn't do it anymore. Someone, I don't remember if it was Andrew or Carol Ann or Suzanne, told me, "Listen to me, Dena, (something or other about keep going, you're doing great, you don't have to have the epidural)," and I weepily told whoever it was, "No YOU listen to ME: I am in serious pain and I need help, and I'm NOT kidding." They kept asking me if I was sure I wanted the epidural, and I kept saying yes, so they called the man to come do the epidural, but first, Suzanne, while trying to talk me out of it told me that in order for him to administer the epi., I was going to have to sit on the edge of the bed, and I couldn't sit on my bottom let alone sit still enough for the epidural. I kind of panicked when she told me this and told her, "NO. I KNOW they can do the epidural with me laying on my side. Don't tell me he can't do it. I know they can do it that way!" And then she told me he was going to come in and he'd have to check out my back (I don't fully understand this) to see if he'd be able to do it with me laying on my side or not. I remember them telling me it was going to take him a little bit to get down to the room once he was paged, but honestly, it felt like he was there almost immediately. When he did the epidural (with me laying on my side, yay!), Suzanne was with me, and Carol Ann and Andrew were required to leave the room, of course. There was relief almost immediately. Now, I don't know if the epidural just didn't take completely, or if it worked kind of perfectly, or what, because everyone has different stories of the feelings associated with the epidural, but let me just say, I LOVED my epidural. All it did was knock out the majority of the back labor. Everything else, I could feel. I felt contractions, I felt my legs and toes and had pretty good control over them, I could feel my legs, etc, being touched. Some people want to feel completely numb with an epidural, but this was actually one of my fears -- that I'd be so numb, I wouldn't be able to give birth. But for me, it worked out perfectly. Something else I think is cool is the fact that Dr. Bush was working that day (she only works the dr’s office certain days) AND she happened to be on call that night. So when office hours were over, she came to my room and pretty much just hung out with us during a lot of my labor. Its pretty rare to get to have that happen, and especially to have it work out where your dr. happens to end up being the one on-call. I really love Dr. Bush, so this was great for me. Back to the epi- Andrew thinks I got the epi. around 9 PM. Its like having the epidural "unstalled" my progress and allowed my body to relax enough to finish dilating. I am very blessed to have had it work out this way. I was able to talk during contractions and even talked on the phone during the end of labor! I was able to catch my breath before the big finish. I didn’t sleep or doze or anything, I just wasn’t getting exhausted with each contraction. Then it was time for Oliver to come out. I honestly don’t remember being told the time had come. I just remember it was somehow time, and the room filled with about 12 people (no I’m not kidding), and it was lights (dropping out of the ceiling), cameras (after he was born), and action. Yes, I was thankful for the epidural, but as I stated, I could still feel everything. So it was still very painful. I just didn’t have the all-encompassing back-labor like I’d had. I’ll skip all the details of this whole part (I’m sure you’re glad). Finally, he was born at 11:26 PM that same night. Funny thing, friends and family guessed his due date about 3-4 weeks before he was due, and Andrew guessed his due date correctly! Even though he was born 9 days early! Pretty cool. I remember looking at the clock between pushes and thinking if I didn’t hurry things up, Laine would be the correct due-date guesser, not Andrew. Ha. So he was born, and it was wonderful. Everyone said my belly never looked as huge as one would expect, and the sonographer guessed he was in the 40th %tile, but let me tell you, this little boy came out shocking ALL of us in the room, being 8 lbs and 4 ounces NINE DAYS before his due date. Yikes! We were all like, “WHAT?!” What a big boy he ended up being, the little trickster! I thought I would cry when he was born, but I didn’t at all, which really surprised me. I thought Andrew would cry, too, but he didn’t – although he says he got teary eyed. So they got him mostly cleaned off and put a dipe on him and his bracelets and wrapped him in a blanket and I got to nurse him when he was just minutes old. What a precious thing how God has worked it out to be so. It is amazing, with the help of our doula, she had us unwrap his blanket so he was skin to skin with me, we layed him vertical in the middle of my belly and chest, and he literally wiggled like a worm toward his food source! How amazing that a newborn baby has an instinct put in them by God to do such a thing! It was so sweet and just plain incredible. Then Andrew got to hold his son for the first time – the first baby he had EVER held. It was wonderful to watch him hold our baby for the first time! Within probably 30 mins or so, I was able to walk to the bathroom. Did I mention how fantastic I think my epidural experience was? Such a blessing. We had previously put in for a private transition (the first 4 hrs after birth, baby is closely monitored and has some routine things done, which is normally done in the nursery), so we had an incredible private transition nurse in our room with us doing all the normal things with Oliver so we could stay together. It was FANTASTIC. We got several great video clips of this. Within 1.5 – 2.5 hours, I’d say, Mom and Bubby showed up (between mom, dad and bub, there were 2 vehicles, and dad drove straight to Tchula to our house to hold down the fort and check on the power – it was still out!!!). You’ve never seen such an excited and proud Grandma and Uncle!!!! It was neat to get to have them there so soon after he was born, while we were still in the Labor/Delivery room and they were still doing private transition with Oliver. An hour or so later, I got moved to my post-partum room, and Oliver was taken to the nursery for the final wrap up of things. He was returned to my room about an hour later. It worked out so well. I’m so thankful we had the option of requesting a private transition so baby didn’t have to be away for so long! We roomed in the whole time (this was important to me, I know a lot of people think this is nuts). I literally slept maybe ½ hour that night (for various reasons). Thursday was full of the usual stuff – visitors, paperwork, seeing lots of drs and nurses checking on me and Oliver and telling us stuff – and we left for home Friday afternoon.

Dad and Bubby stayed just under a week and mom ended up staying one day short of 3 weeks. She was going to stay 2 weeks, but I was so exhausted and non-functioning she stayed an extra week. I seriously don’t know what I would have done without her. We also were provided meals every few days or so for better than a couple weeks by church members. Also, so wonderful. When Oliver was 2 weeks old, I found out we both had Thrush and I had staff infection from nursing (this was horrific). We found this out after finally going to the MS Breastfeeding Medical Clinic (I pretty much love them up there, now…I wouldn’t still be nursing if it weren’t for them). These infections were probably contributing greatly to some of the extreme exhaustion I was feeling, since I was in such severe pain, Oliver was in pain from having the infection, and was consequently not sleeping hardly at all, so neither was I, etc etc, etc and we didn’t know something was truly wrong with us until he was 16 days old and saw Dr. Saenz. I am actually still battling problems with it, would you believe that? I’ve taken antibiotics and done all sorts of things, and so has Oliver. But NOTHING like it was at first. I am nearly healed up, its just taking forever (I hear this is normal for such infections). At the height of the infections/pain/before/right after going to the doctor, it was so bad, I felt like I was going to pass out sometimes and I’d scream and cry my eyes out and totally freak out when I nursed. It was REALLY bad. I know it was God sustaining me through that, because there is no way I could have handled that from my own will. I am SO thankful for the Breastfeeding Clinic and the ministry (I see it as this) they have to women to help them with related issues.

Ok, so first three weeks were pretty much ridiculously rough, and I was beyond exhausted. First two months, I couldn’t get anything done hardly because I’d barely get started on something and Oliver would need to be held, or else he’d cry like a banshee – (I’m not talking just fussy, I’m talking, no one in their right mind would let their kid cry like this). So I held him a lot. And got hardly anything done. But that’s ok. Traci came and cleaned one time while I took a nap with Oliver. It was glorious. I could kiss her feet. She’d be totally grossed out if she knows I said that. Hee hee. Debra (Andrew’s mom) came to visit when he was 5-6 weeks old. She helped a lot. She stayed for 2 weeks. Then Melissa (Andrew’s sister) came for a week right before he turned 2 months old. She helped a lot, too. Then, he turned 2 months old, and it was like a switch was flipped and he was a lot more content, and I was able to start getting things done in better chunks. Its still not easy, and he has worse days than others, of course…but….its much better, now.

This is fun (not): we found out Oliver is highly allergic to baby wipes, after not knowing what was causing the yeast infections and chemical burns (literally, chemical burns) on his bottom, we finally figured it out after a few weeks of him having the problem and trying 5 or 6 prescriptions….I feel HORRIBLE that every time I changed his diaper and wiped his little bottom with a diaper wipe, I was making it worse instead of better. It only got better when Debra was here and she suggested using just water on washcloths since the wipes would probably not feel as good as just water and cloth, not suggesting it because she thought he was allergic to the wipes (I guess my mom had suggested stopping the wipes way back, and I dismissed it absentmindedly since we were using they hypoallergenic/sensitive/dermatologist recommended/alchy-free wipes). So we used washrags for about a week during one of the prescription diaper creams, and it cleared up completely! So I thought it was the prescription that worked! So I started using wipes again, and do you know the yeast infection started coming back?! So I KNEW it has to be the wipes-hes allergic to all those chemicals! So now we use only water on washrags and you have never seen a healthier baby bottom! Amazing! Poor little guy! Oh, my heart breaks to think what I was doing to him! Then, a week or 2 ago, I suspected he was allergic, also, to babh wash, since a little bumpy rash he’d had for weeks at the top of his back started to spread and get worse and start to look a little like the yeast infection when it had begun on his rear end. So then went my hunt for something super sensitive and chemical-free to bathe him with. Enter California Baby Products. Oh wow, I am such a fan, now. This little guy, with the most sensitive skin on the planet is doing great with the Cali. Baby wash/shampoo! So THANKFUL!!!! Aaaaannnd…just realized he must also be allergic to sunscreen (your run of the mill kind with the usual chemicals), so I plan to pick up some Cali. Baby sunscreen soon, as well to try it on him.

So, In my run down of the (almost) first three months of his life, I’ve mentioned all the bad things, just to let you know what has been adding to the craziness…But our precious baby boy, this gift from God is so so so worth it, and we have had such sweet times enjoying our baby. We love him so much. So don’t think I’m all depressed or something. Just wanted to let you know what has been up, so to speak.

Lets see. He is thriving and growing very well. He is big and tall for his age (shocking to me, since Andrew nor I are particularly tall or big). Hes now wearing mostly 3-6 m. clothes, with a few flat out 6 m. pieces and a few 0-3 m. pieces that still fit him. He grows out of things so fast. Its amazing. He’s got to weigh close to 14 lbs now.

Other fun highlights:
He smiled at 6 weeks. We had a family photoshoot with Erin Fults when he was 7 weeks. He loves to stare at ceiling air vents and fans. Hehe. He smiles at me when I come to his crib or when he sees us for the first time after a nap or after “playing” by himself for a while. he loves looking at his “friends” on his swing mobile – they make him laugh. He is just so stinkin cute.

Pictures to follow. Ha. Maybe. Someday.

2009-06-02T10:34:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics of Oliver from within his first 3 weeks of life. They are completely out of order. Hopefully I'll find some time to update again soon and post more pics (we have lots but I can only upload 5 at a time and it takes FOREVERRRRRRRRRRR!) and give descriptions of these. I have to restart my computer now, and blogger is being difficult, and I can't save this post.

(Hi to everyone coming here because you received the birth announcement :) )

He is here!

2009-05-18T23:18:00.003-05:00

No time to give details, and most of you already know, but here you go!

We hope to give more info and details soon.

38 weeks tomorrow

2009-04-30T22:04:00.002-05:00

Update time!

We are 15 days from Oliver's due date, but we think he is coming sooner.

Today was my 38 week dr's appt, and I am progressing nicely, still. He is still at -2 station, I have dilated a little bit more to 1.5 centimeters now, but the big, exciting news is I am now 50% effaced! SO EXCITING!

My doctor thinks Oliver will come on his own, no problem, no later than his estimated due date. Andrew and I are thinking sometime next week.

We'll see what happens. He is considered full term, so statistically/medically, he should be fine & healthy to be be born anytime.

That's all for now. (Its weird to think that the next post I might make could very well be an "Oliver is here!" type announcement!)

3 weeks away from Oliver's due date!

2009-04-24T20:13:00.003-05:00

I haven't updated in a while, and thought I'd give a quick update.

Today is 3 weeks from his estimated due date.

I had a dr's appt on Monday (for my 36 wk appt, even though I was 36 w 3 d.) where they checked me for progress for the first time. I was 1 cm. dialated, no effacement, and -3 station. They tested me for Group B Strep, and I found out today the test was negative. Yay!

Today, I had another dr's appt for my 37 week-er. Everything is the same except he dropped another cm. to now be at -2 station. Hooray, Oliver! Good job! I also got a sonogram because my fundal ht. measurement on Monday was the same as it had been 2 wks and 3 days prior, and generally, its supposed to keep growing as a good indicator that the baby is growing, etc. Anyway, the sonogram showed all is well. The measurement probably did not change since he is dropping down into my pelvis more. They estimated his weight today from the sono. at 6 lbs 7 oz, putting him in the 40th percentile. (I'm not putting too much stock into their guess on his size, though, because they can be a couple pounds off either direction.) He is very definately still a boy. He is head down and face down, just like hes supposed to be! Go Oliver! Hes such a good boy, doing what hes supposed to do. Hehe. Amniotic fluid is great at 10 cm (whatever that means). All I know is that is apparantly great, and they would be worried if it was less than 5 cm. We could see his little diaphragm moving rhythmically, and the sonographer said he was practicing his breathing movements for outside the womb. So amazing how God has created babies to practice the actions of breathing while still in the womb when they don't actually breathe, just to prepare them to survive in the open air. Amazing. His HB was good. I can't even remember what it was. Hmm. Basically, everything looked good! The sonographer said he was down really low (yay for droppage!) and that my belly was "all baby" which didn't make me feel too shabby. Haha. I was given some pictures - three of his face and one of his boy parts. I can't see anything on two of the three face pictures, but in the last face picture I think he looks just like Andrew. :) It is so bizarre. He looks like he has a really tall forehead, too, just like Andrew. hehe. He kept his little hand up by his face the whole time.

Baby shower was last Saturday, given by the ladies of Tchula Presbyterian Church. It was lovely.

My parents were here last week, into this week for about 5 days or so. That was a good time. Mom and I got pedicures. Yay! Especially since I can't reach to paint my own toes.

We have most everything ready for baby Oliver to get here. We have tied up most loose ends, I think.

We have packed for the hospital, and everything is sitting by the front door. We will just have to grab the last minute items that can't be packed at this point.

It is surreal to think that we're really going to have a real live baby here within a few weeks or so! I just can't believe it. I am trying to enjoy this time, these last few days where it is just Andrew and me, and enjoy my sleep and such. But I am also very excited to meet this baby face to face. I guess that is normal.

People keep asking me if I feel miserable. I guess that is standard feeling for most women in the last weeks. Honestly, I have hit bumps and still deal with things like crazy heartburn, discomfort in general, extreme overheating, trouble sleeping or getting comfy, swelling/pain in my feet, etc, but I still maintain that I do not feel miserable. I'm trying to take all the aches and pains in stride. I just kind of expect not to feel super great. I have my days/moments, but I would not call it misery. And I am enjoying getting to have Oliver all to myself so close to me for these last few days. I know I will miss it in a way, even though it will be glorious to have him outside!

I'm spending the night at Buddy and Frenchie's tonight. Every time I/we come to Jackson, there is so much to get done. Its kind of amazing. Today I went to the dr's appt, went to Borders to buy a baby book, ate lunch, went to 4 stores to get baby socks (trying out a few pair from each place to see which ones stay on the best), and did another errand before landing here at the Grahams. Tomorrow, I need to go to Target, get my haircut, and go to Walmart and Kroger for several things on the way out of town to head back home. It was just too much to do in one day for me. I'm glad I split the trip into two days.

When I said goodbye to Andrew this morning, he said, "Try not to come back with a baby." Haha. I told Frenchie what he said, and she caught something I didn't at the time: I'm still coming back with a baby either way! Lol. Just not the way he meant it.

Ta ta for now. I am tired. I wore myself out walking around Jackson all day. It was stinkin' hot, too. 80 something. For a pregnant woman that =s something like 110 degrees (or more). For real.

Pack N Play adventures and Bruce

2009-04-04T13:59:00.006-05:00

Mom bought us the Pack N Play and the Monitor we registered for. She paid for them over the phone and we were able to pick them up at the Babies R Us here. Thanks, Mom!

Here are pics of that adventure:

Andrew making his "I refuse to smile for a picture" face:

It really was quite the adventure. Andrew decided to start putting this together last night after we got home from being in Jackson for 2 days. It took longer than I expected. Graco included ridiculous, non-helpful directions (that don’t even deserve the right to be called 'directions'…unless you consider “put the metal rod in the pack n play” adequate directions. ...Excuse me…there are several metal rods, and where exactly in the pack n play is this supposed to go???????) So that was fun/funny/frustrating. We finally got done at 12:30 and called it a night. I say “we” but all I did was lay in bed and watch Andrew put it together and take pictures with my feet propped up (as you can see here)

because I overdid the walking/probably salt intake, too on Thursday and Friday, and therefore had bad feet swelling. :) I guess I was growing Oliver, too, so I helped a lot. Haha. Just not with the Pack N Play.

As you see it now, we have the bassinet feature set up. Whenever we want to use it as a regular play yard for him to play in, we can just move the mattress/bottom to the very floor of the pack n play. Pretty neat, huh?

You can see the blue sheets we ordered for the pack n play mattress from www.cloudsandstars.com in the pics, too. We have the PNP in our bedroom because we plan to use that as his bed (with the PNP bassinet feature) for the first little while.

now for some non-baby-related pictures…

Here are some pics of Buddy and Bruce (10 months old) playing together. Buddy plays with him and lets him get all wild like no one else. Bruce loves playing with Buddy. These were taken, I think on Thursday at Buddy and Frenchie’s. We were in Jackson a lot this week (Mon, Tues, Thurs & Friday) for baby-related classes/appts, etc, so we spent the night at their house Mon. and Thurs. nights. And we spent large chunks of our days at their house during the week in between appointments, too. They are so good for us. For those of you who don’t know, these are the people that let me live with them for 4.5 months as soon as I moved to Jackson from KC before Andrew and I got married. They are our adopted parents, and their home is our home away from home. So lovely. I don’t know what we’d do without them.

Belly Pic: 33 wks 2 days

2009-04-04T13:54:00.002-05:00

Taken last Sunday. Enjoy!

Baby Clothes: 35 pieces for under $22 including tax

2009-04-04T12:48:00.004-05:00

I will try to make this snappy since I keep starting a new blog update and then don't have time to finish it but just save it instead and then still don't have time to post all the pics/give all of the info I want to give...so the blog post keeps getting longer and longer but never gets posted.

So I'm skipping some stuff (for now or maybe forever) that occurred well before this just to get this post up.

Went to my normal go-to consignment shop this week to look for good bargains on baby clothes. Walked out with a footed sleeper and a LAURA ASHLEY top/footed bottom set in new to Excellent Used Condition (hereafter referred to as "EUC" for simplicity)for just over 5 bucks including tax. Not bad.

As I was walking out of the store, I noticed a Goodwill in the same strip that I'd never noticed before. I decided to take a chance and go on in. I am SO glad I did. I ended up digging through baby clothes for an hour-hour and a half. There were two shopping carts crammed full and overflowing and two huge bins about the size of two shopping carts each, crammed full and overflowing. Each individual piece of clothing was 50 cents each. I walked out of there with 32 pieces, most of which look like they've never even been washed, and the others are in EUC. Brands including Carter's, Gerber's, Tommy H., Gap, Talbots and more. I was SO excited!

Here are my treasures from that day(all are Goodwill finds unless otherwise noted)(and you really need to zoom in on some of these to catch to adorable detail!):

size newborn:
(look at the little puppy dog feet! ah!) (one thing still has the tag on it!) (the last item is from the Winnie the Pooh collection.)

Some much needed sleeper gowns, size 0-3 months, all with the optional fold-over handsies:

more 0-3 months clothes:
(the yellow sleeper is from the consignment shop...i think its brand new without tags)

more 0-3 months stuff:
(I don't know what "size" the cap is.) (I'll be able to use the pants with some of the many onesies we already have.) (The romper is by a brand called "Tea" from San Fran. (had never heard of it before) and I checked and it retails for $23 new. Yay!)

3 month items:
(Laura Ashley outfit in EUC on the left from the consignment shop.)

3 month stuff:
(I love both of these with all the wording. TOO adorable!!!!)

3 month footed sleepers:
(I don't know why the picture rotated like this. Sometimes blogger glitches and does this, and I'm not starting over again.)
(I showed the backside of the yellow one because it is so adorable!)

3-6 month onesies:

6 month clothes:

Two 6-9 month onesies and a 6-month romper:

Needless to say, I am done buying clothes for Oliver at least for a while unless we determine we need to fill in with a few particular things when the time comes.

As you can probably tell, one company’s “3 months” might be the equivalent measurements of another company’s “6 months”…and we don’t know how he will grow…so basically, we’ll have to wait and see when he can actually wear these things.

No pictures because pictures =s way more time to blog. Even though I've taken a lot.

2009-03-18T23:58:00.005-05:00

I haven't updated in a while, mostly because the things I want to update about involve posting pictures here, too, and I just don't have the time/energy (or feel like I do, rather) to get into all that. Seriously, making a lengthy blog post and including pictures can take a couple of hours. Not kidding. So I've been putting it off. But I'll give short versions of the highlights with no pictures...at least for now.

Stroller and infant carseat came today (this is no fun without pictures). I am WAY too excited about it. Andrew set it all up and wheeled it in to the computer room today. He taught me how to work the whole system tonight, which was really fun. I think its really cute that he read all about it and figured everything out. This was something I chose sight (in real life) unseen, yet, I did a TON of research regarding it and ended up really really happy with my choice, now that I've seen it (because its here) in person. Or at least I'm happy with it now, sans testing it out with a baby. :) HOORAY! I would like to throw out a HUGE THANK YOU to Oliver's "Amah" (that is her grandma name) Berry...that is...one of his handful of "adopted" grandmothers. (Can I tell you how much I love the fact that we get to "adopt" parents and grandparents who love us and take care of us? Or maybe rather they've adopted us....or...both...I love it.) Joan Berry is a dear dear friend to Andrew and me that we know from our church we were at in Jackson. She is very good to us and already to little Oliver. We love her dearly. Anyway, she wanted to buy his infant car seat, but ended up providing enough for us to pay for part of the stroller too, so we just went ahead and ordered the whole travel system (stroller and car seat sold together) online. Yay!

We decided to go ahead and buy the crib mattress, ourselves, too, since its not something we could put on our registry, anyway. That came, i think, last week. That was fun, too. (Also no fun without me posting the pictures.) SO thats in the crib now, but without the sheet on it yet because I realized we don't have a mattress pad yet (one thing we are keeping on the registry, at least for now. No, we're not buying everything ourselves right off the bat. :) )

Another highlight, I bought a few diapers off off diapers.com because I got a really good deal (with a promotion) on them, and those came last week (I think), too. Loads of fun. They are so tiny! EEP! (Also, no fun without me posting pictures.) I bought one box of newborn and one box of size one diapers. That is a start. EDIT: We planned on getting a Sam's club membership to keep us in diapers for the rest of the diaper buying, because I thought it was the cheapest, until I realized it is actually cheaper on diapers.com because there is no TAX! /end EDIT.

The Butterfields gave us their old changing pad and their old changing pad cover, so I was able to take the changing pad off the registry. Yay for that, and thanks to the Butterfields!

Buddy and Frenchie (or Papa Bud (I have to double check that this is his grandpa name...why can't I remember for sure???) and G-G) gave us a basket of baby goodies the other week. :) Some too cute onesies and a couple blankets and a couple bibs and some extra towels we can use for various baby messes. :) And the Baby Signlanguage book, which I am WAY excited about!!!! (For those of you going, "what???" No, we aren't planning on our baby being deaf, but you'd be amazed at how much babies can communicate through simple signs way way way before they start talking. It is pretty amazing to witness, if you've never seen it before, and I love it. I have only a little experience with it from a little girl I nannied for, but I am a believer because of it.) (Again, so not exciting without the pics. There are cute ones of Andrew looking at the baby clothes. :) )Thank you Buddy and Frenchie!

Moving on, I got some more clothes on the cheap from the consignment shop again the other week. Just a few things, but so cute. (Insert pictures here that I have no time to upload.)

Morgan sent us lots of goodies. A sleepy wrap (LOVE IT!) and a couple of really great preparation books for labor/birth/nursing and some lotion. (I also have pictures of these...which you of course not getting to see.) Thank you Morgan, Caleb and baby Emma!

The ring sling I ordered a while back came a few weeks or so ago. Its really really lovely, and you'll see pictures of it later.

Those are the main highlights. Other than the fact that I had a weird day last week where my feet were super duper swollen and it was a little scary, but everything is fine.

There you have my 40 minute (or so) version of the highlights instead of 2 hr long story version with pictures.

Another dr's appt this Friday. Just doin the normal stuff. Do you believe (its after midnight now, so I can count this way) we have 8 weeks and 1 day to go until his due date? AHHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO! Hes going to be here before we know it and I'm going to look back on this post and these times and not be able to believe there was a day when he wasn't born!

Overall, feeling good, looking decent and enjoying myself. Needing extra rest and sleep (which I have during the whole pregnancy) and can't be on my feet too long at a time or its really painful. But enjoying life!

Please pray that Oliver turns head down, facing my back soon! Hes got a couple more weeks or so to safely do so, but I'm getting a little antsy that he is still laying transverse in my belly. I don't want him to be so comfortable laying this way that he doesn't turn down, because that would = a C section.

Over and out!

Cribs, Dressers and Furniture Rearranging

2009-02-25T21:11:00.019-06:00

(As always, you can click on any of the pictures so view them larger.)

So the crib and dresser (that mom and dad Barnes bought us) came into Babies R Us. Andrew borrowed Robert Hutton's truck today and drove it to Jackson to pick them up! Then the Hutton men came over and helped unload the furniture and move furniture around. We couldn't have done it without them (truly). I took a lot of pictures. A LOT.

Here was the "baby's room" as of last night, before anything was moved out. Note: we are continuing to keep my desk/computer in the baby's room. So it will be a combo. baby's room/my desk space. I only took pictures of the part of the room that would be changing (so not of my computer desk, etc.)

All of the furniture pieces you see there are now in the spare bedroom on the other end of the house.

We had to try to figure out how we were going to fit the new furniture (new crib and new dresser) and different furniture (smaller bed and matching chest from the other end of the house) to all fit into the baby's room. So last night, I measured everything (or found out the measurements for the new furniture) and made to-scale paper cut outs of the part of the room that would be affected by the move. (Let me just clarify, they were approximately to-scale...because 1" on paper equaled 19.625" in real life...so when I made the cut-outs, I obviously had to just get close to exact measurements...there was no way I could measure an exact 2.03 inches, for example.) I did this because, I simply can not visualize things without having something concrete to actually see if it will work. I also did this because, Andrew was convinced we wouldn't have enough room in here for a full-sized bed, and I really wanted to keep a real bed in this room. So I had to prove my point and make it look good on paper. :) Andrew just came in here while I'm blogging and wanted me to tell you that he was very proud of me for making to-scale drawings/cut outs. Ha. So here are my cut outs. The pink paper represents only the part of the room affected by the move, but the room is actually bigger than this, but I didn't worry about that part of the room for the cut-out purposes. You will see the full-sized bed I wanted to end up in here, the baby crib, the new dresser that matches the crib, and an antique tall chest of drawers that was in another bed room. Oh, I will say, the window parts were not at all to scale, I just stuck them on the drawing to keep my bearings straight. And yes, I actually measured where the closet (which has accordion doors) started from the wall, and how far the door sticks out when it is in a half-fold. :) I had to make sure any furniture we put over there wouldn't be in the closet door's way.

Today, before the Huttons came over to help us unload the new furniture and move around existing furniture, Andrew and I somehow managed to get a good part of the moving process done, just the two of us (mainly him). This included swapping two beds (the queen into the spare bedroom and the full into the baby's room) throughout the house, getting them (mostly) put back together, moving the tall antique chest into the baby's room, scooting existing pieces of furniture around, unloading all furniture drawers, cleaning off all lamps and things from the tops of to-be-moved furniture and doing preliminary cleaning of furniture/sweeping of floors where furniture had long been. It definitely helped to have this done before the Huttons came.

So, back to the new furniture. Here are some pictures of it in the back of the Hutton's truck with the Hutton men and Andrew getting ready to unload it. So excited! The dresser came fully assembled (just had to put the legs on it) and the crib was completely disassembled. The boxes weighed 130 and 140 pounds!

Robert Sr. and Seth with the crib (I'm not sure how they got suckered into carrying this instead of Andrew...hehe...I feel kinda bad!)

Andrew & Robert Jr. then Robert Sr. bringing in the dresser. (Robert Jr. just had major surgery on his shoulder about a month or so ago. How/why was he picking this up, I have no clue? Robert Sr. realizes this 3/4 of the way in and takes over. Robert Jr, "But, I wasn't using that arm to lift!")

The guys getting existing furniture out of Oliver's room, carrying it into the spare bedroom on the other end of the house.

Watch the doorway!!!!!

Watch the overhead lights!!!!!!

Watch the doorway, again!!!!! (Andrew's face cracks me up here.)

Amazingly, we had more room than anticipated and fit an extra piece of furniture into Oliver's room! We put the matching antique dressing table where we had originally planned to put the tall antique dresser and ended up putting the tall antique dresser on the other side of the bed (where there is blank space in my to-scale drawing.) :)

Andrew and Robert Sr. moving more furniture out of baby's room & into the spare bedroom. Love Andrew's face!

Bye guys! Thanks for your help! (The baby crib box just stayed in the living room since it wasn't assembled and all the parts had to come out, anyway.)

Andrew starting the assembly of the baby crib. ...Totally not amused that I'm STILL taking pictures. LOL.

All done!

Now for Mama and Oliver (28 wks & 5 days) next to his crib! (You can see the dust ruffle (freshly starched and ironed) in this one!) Only 79 more days (give or take) and he can be in the crib!!!

Beautiful crib! Now all we need is the mattress (which we don't have yet) and then we can put on one of those super cute crib sheets I blogged about before!

Beautiful combo dresser! Thanks again Chris and Debra!

After all of that, I completely forgot to get a final picture of the room. HA! Oh well. I have no doubt there will be plenty more pictures of the room as more stuff comes together!

"DENA......ugggggggh....no more pictures...please!"
"But I have to show how big the crib box was!"

Then we dragged the cardboard/packing stuff outside and had a bonfire.

The end.

Anemia and Hiccups

2009-02-21T11:31:00.005-06:00

So yesterday, I passed my glucose screening with flying colors. I'm not even close to the range of being possibly diabetic, so PRAISE THE LORD for His goodness! Its these things that are so easy to take for granted. The drinking of the orange liquid really wasn't that bad. 5 ounces was a very small amount, it was just way too sweet. Andrew even tried it before I did (I was given a bottle with twice the amount of what I was required to take). He said, "Hmmm, SUNKIST!" :) The worst part was not being able to drink any water afterward to get the taste out. But I chewed some gum.

The blood-drawing was fairly normal for me. I just stayed in the chair for about...5-7 mins. afterward and made the nurse go get me some water. Hehe. I told her ahead of time what usually happens to me so she wouldn't be too worried when I started to look a little funny.

I found out I am a little anemic though, which is fairly common in pregnant women because the baby is using up so much iron. Event though I'm taking iron through my prenatal vitamin, they told me to take another iron supplement as well. No big deal.

Oh, this is fun...I have recently been talking with some friends about baby hiccups, saying how I wasn't convinced I had felt them before, and they all said I'd probably feel them soon or maybe starting after 30 weeks. Well yesterday morning in the waiting room of the doctor's, I am 100% certain Oliver had the hiccups! It was so sweet. Last night, he may have had them too. It was extremely rhythmic little shaking movements again, but it felt a little different. It almost felt like tiny kicks in perfect rhythm, but I think that is highly unlikely so I'm sticking with my hiccup theory for the second time. He was probably just in a different position or something, so it felt a little stronger.

I like it when other people get to feel Oliver move. Last night, Susan Weiand got to feel him kick, and last week Lisa Repair got to feel him wiggle. So so fun. I always want Andrew to feel him rolling around, too. :)

I told my doctor that I still usually feel Oliver laying transverse, but sometimes he feels slightly diagonal. She felt my belly and said it felt accurate to what I was saying, and that he still had plenty of room to move around in there without being head down yet. I asked when he should turn head down, and she said usually in the 30's weeks. 34 or 36, she said, is where babies would usually be turned and stay that way until birth. His heartbeat was 156 BPM yesterday. As far as we know, everything seems good and I'm measuring right on track! Again, God is good for His sustaining of our lives!

2009-02-19T21:57:00.006-06:00

Well, tomorrow morning I go in for my glucose screening. (28 weeks!) I can say I'm not at all looking forward to it. One, because I've heard the drink is super gross (mine is Orange flavored, but it is 50 grams in 5 ounces of pretty much straight liquid sugar that you have to down in under 5 minutes then you can't eat or drink anything including water afterward)...some people get nauseated or vomit because of it (and I'll be drinking it in the car on the way to the dr's office an hour before my blood is to be drawn), and 2) I don't enjoy having my blood drawn because the blood-letting makes my blood pressure drop and I get reaaaaaaaaaaaaallly woozy and almost pass out. (No, its not a "fear of needles/mental" thing because it NEVER happens when I get a shot, just when I have blood taken OUT of my body.) But, it is mandatory and worth it, I suppose. Nothing else too exciting is supposed to happen at the doc. I'll just have the standard weight/blood pressure/urine check, and they'll measure my fundal height. But it is another trip to Jackson, and we have lots of errands, as always.

Just wanted to give an update on that! I won't know anything about the results until next week sometime, I'm sure. Not expecting anything to be bad, either. Its just a precautionary measure they make everyone do.

1) Baby Clothes and 2) the Bedding is here!

2009-02-17T11:57:00.008-06:00

Before I start, let me suggest that you click on the pictures below to make them larger so you can see more of the detail. :)

The UPS man came today and brought the baby bedding I had ordered (on sale) from www.babygap.com . (I blogged about it below.) I was so excited, you have no idea. The linens are even more beautiful in person than online! I am super impressed with the quality. All of them are 250 thread count 100% cotton and have all-around elastic for extra durability. I love it when quality stuff is inexpensive!!! Shown here is what we ordered (plus 3 white sheets that I got just in case Oliver is particularly sick and I want to be able to bleach a sheet if need be. I didn't bother showing the solid white sheets in the pic.) In the pic, the bottom fabric is the dust ruffle and the rest are fitted sheets. After receiving all of these pieces, I decided that I am going to send one of the solid white sheets back and get this in place of it. (Why not, since I think I went a little overboard with THREE white sheets...and the return and exchange shipping is FREE to do so!) I wonder if i went a little overboard with 7 fitted sheets...but....the book I'm reading seems to say that is not too many to have on hand, and we will hopefully be able to use these sheets for all of our future little boy children, and some of the sheets could even be used for our future little girl children...however many that should end up being.

Now, onto the subject of baby clothes. So, when I was in Jackson last week looking at consignment shops for maternity clothes (which ended up being 100% unfruitful), I decided to take a peek at the baby clothes they had there, even though I originally had no intention of doing so. Why was I not going to look at baby clothes, you ask? Mainly because I have heard from everyone that one of the top items I will probably receive at a baby shower are baby clothes, whether I've put them on my registry or not (and I will mainly not be putting them on my registry). So, my tentative plan was to mostly try and wait until after the baby shower to start gathering baby clothes, to determine what I still needed at that point. Also, I have had lots of people tell me not to buy too many baby clothes to begin with anyway, since he will a) grow out of one size into another so quickly and b) because I won't really know what type of clothing he is most comfy in/works best for us until we try a few things out. So buying clothing has been on the back burner at this point. But...back to my story where I decided to take a gander anyway. Let me say, I am so glad I did. Short version of the story - at two consigment shops, I ended up getting 13 pieces of baby clothes for a total of $24 including tax. And all of those clothes look either brand new, nearly new, or very gently used. That is an average of $1.85 per baby clothing item. (Yes, the nerd in me rears its head once again.) Now, for the quality of the clothing, I just could NOT pass these things up. You can not buy baby clothes that inexpensive any other way. And considering the condition the clothes were in, and the fact that all of them are really great/major brands (everything from Polo/Ralph Lauren to Tommy Hillfigger to Baby Gap to Carters, well....I just could not NOT get them! :) How did I find such bargains, you ask??? Most of these items I found either on a $1 rack or had been at the consignment shop long enough that they had been continually marked down and marked down and marked down until they were something like 75% off what they had originally been priced. You will also notice that I spread out the sizes of what I bought. Even a few items being...kind of...not on the radar for a couple years or so (hehe)...but...they were so inexpensive and such high quality that I couldn't make myself put them back!!! He'll need them eventually!!! Also, I made sure that there were no stains/tears/worn spots or any other red flags on any clothing that I bought. They all seem to have good diaper access and good reinforced material where the snap closures are.

Let the nerdiness continue as I detail my bargains below...*ahem*....all descriptions will be for clothing Left to Right, picture by picture.

Here we have a newborn sized onesie by Carter's that I COULD not pass up because I want to get a picture of Oliver wearing it with Andrew and Oliver, Andrew and my dad in the pic, and if Chris (Andrew's dad) comes to visit while Oliver is still small enough (he probably won't), I want to get a pic of the three of them, too. I will say, I totally "splurged" on this item and paid the most out of anything I bought that day...yes...I paid...$4 plus tax for this...hehe. I didn't even LET myself consider/look at anything that wasn't in the $2 and-something-range or below, except for this item because it beckoned me like the Sirens. :D Anyway, this appears to be brand new (without tags). Still a really good deal, seeing as though you couldn't buy this item new with tags for that cheap.

Next is a long sleeved onesie from Baby Gap that appears to be nearly new or gently used. It is size 0-3 months. How CUTE is that little car?!

Next is a long sleeved onesie with stars and footballs from Carter's that is size 3 months. It appears to be brand new without tags or nearly new.

Here is a fishie onesie from Carter's that appears slightly used, size 3-6 months. Here Fishie, Fishie!

I really love the next item because it reminds me of Andrew since he likes to hunt. It is a long-sleeved onesie from Baby Gap, size 3-6 months. It appears to be in Brand new without tags to Nearly new condition.

Next is just a simple blue onesie from Spencer's. I honestly don't know anything about this company...but it was something like 90 cents, so I figured, 'hey, simple onesie, we'll try it out.' It is in the 3-6 month size. I'm also not completely sure about the bottom part...it looks like it may be cut really high/really big for the booty area. We'll check it out. It looks to be in nearly new condition.

Here are some Ralph Lauren navy blue pants in the 3-6 month size. They are SO STINKING cute and look to be in Nearly New condition.

Next, one of my favorite things I got that day. This Carter's onesie (I feel like a beauty pageant "what are they wearing" announcer) is gently used and is sz. 6 months. It is a favorite because it says "Daddy's little Helper". Could your heart just melt?!

Next, a pair of brown 6-9 month Gymboree pants! They appear to be in very gently used condition. I will say, although the color shade makes them look "faded" or something, you can tell, in person, that is just they way they were made. It isn't a "this has been washed too many times" issue.

Next, a Koala Kids striped, long sleeved onesie that looks to be nearly new. It is size 12 months.

Jumping up in size significantly, I could NOT pass these up. They are too cute and I thought my dad would love them, especially. These are the cutest overalls by Koala Kids that say "Vintage Automobiles" on the center patch and then have two vintage cars stitched on the legs. On the back, it has a tag that says "1950's classic" with a little car on it. These are 18 month size.

Next, a red, green, white and yellow plaid button down by Tommy Hillfigger that appears to be Nearly New. It is size 2T.

Lastly, we have a pair of Baby Gap cargo style blue jeans in very gently used condition, size 3T (yes...that is as far as I went.) They were on the dollar rack, people. How could you pass these up?!

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed my bargains as much as I did (although that is not likely). :)

Regarding Cankles

2009-02-11T22:51:00.008-06:00

Oh yes. I am getting cankles. It is true. And so sad. Not pronounced, "Woah, Mom, look at that lady's cankles!" cankles...but....comparing my ankles to what they look like normally...they are...slightly fuller, now...

Andrew noticed them the other night when he was rubbing my feet (say it with me now, "awwwww"). I thought he was kidding. But no. No, he was not. (Side-story time!: back in December, I bought some knee-length shorts that were on clearance so that I could have them for this Spring. - Brought them home, showed them to Andrew, and his response? "Why did you get those? So you can show off your cankles (when you get them by next Spring)?" It was hilarious. Yes, I appreciate this type of humor. It does not at all offend me, in case you're worried. /End story.)

Hehe. It is funny because I don't have that swollen look to me (yet????) that a lot of pregnant women get, at ALL. But this must explain some of the soreness in my feet/back I've written about.

Just though you all might like to know about my cankles. Ta ta.

Oh. Not ta ta.

You can thank Andrew for the lovely new baby gaga ticker at the top of this page. I asked him, "Don't you think we should delete the floating baby widget to the left, now?" (Which is kinda freaky, in my opinion, anyway -- I mean...its a baby floating around in circles in amniotic fluid...for real?) But he likes the idea of multiple baby tickers/widgets on here. In fact, he suggested we put a whole bunch on here. He scares me sometimes.

Squeal

2009-02-10T19:10:00.005-06:00

I'm working on baby stuff (of course). I just registered for this. How stinking cute is it???? Look at the picture of the baby wrapped up. TOO. CUTE.

Terminal Heartburn and Baby "Stuff"

2009-02-09T23:43:00.004-06:00

Ok, still dying of heartburn.

Need to go to bed, but I am working on baby stuff. I am always working on baby stuff. I'm sure people think I should be done by now, but seriously, this is the never ending project. I think it is, in general, but I think that it an even bigger project because I need to research everything to make sure we're getting "the right stuff" (whatever that means).

What exactly does "working on baby stuff" entail, you ask? Here is a short, NOT AT ALL exhaustive, list:
*Reading up in my Baby Bargains book/the messageboard/various reviews online/other messageboards & picking the brains of those who have gone before me (especially recently) about baby gear/baby stuff...and taking that information and either buying or (mostly) registering for products. This can also include calling manufacturers and/or sellers to ask MORE questions about the products (NOT. kidding).
* Studying various medical/informational things on labor/birth, etc etc etc. I want to be an informed woman. I don't want to just show up for the birth and wonder what my body is doing and why I don't know how to help myself cope with the pain.
*A million household projects that simply need to be done before baby gets here, because they either involve Oliver's room and are in the way, or will never get done after he is born, probably.
*Sleeping more...because I need more sleep...and if I don't get my nap in, I may burn holes into someone's skull with my eyeballs...or at least...that's what I feel like I could do when I need a nap and it gets pushed back and back and back, or if I dare get pushed to the point of not getting a nap (WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!). At this point, almost no matter what is going on, barring a true true emergency, Andrew actually COMMANDS me to go take a nap and take any measures I have to (including turning off all phones/barracading myself in my room with a fan) to make sure I get a nap. He knows. He lives with me. He understands the truth. Hee
*Making/keeping up with lists/information on the computer as I remember things like things I need to talk to my doc about, creating my birth plan, making a list of things that need to be packed to take to the hospital with us when B-day arrives, a list of honey-dos or to-dos before baby arrives, things we need to buy before Oliver arrives.

I know we have just over three months until his due date. But I also know that it is not smart to wait until the last minute to make sure these things are done, because lots of babies come early, and complications could even arise toward the end (or at any time.)...While I don't anticipate these things happening, I want to be as prepared as possible as soon as we can be. Realistically, I'd like to be "done" (ha) in 2 months, not three.

I could seriously work on these things every day, continuously, and still find things to do. Plus all the other normal happenings ons (are those words?) of the household that I'm trying to juggle. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying...this is what I'm trying to accomplish.

And that pretty much eats up my day.

We were in Jackson today and nailed down our crib and dresser/changing area of choice. This is a weight lifted off, as this has been one of the big big projects I have been working on. This is what we decided upon: This crib and dresser They are so so pretty in person. The pictures don't do them justice. I'd like to thank Andrew's parents, because they bought them for us! We should be able to go pick them up when they come in the store next week!!!

So, although we're registering for most things, we went ahead and bought several items tonight online because they were on sale and at a place where we can't register, anyway. I mean, even though we're putting most things on our registry, we'll need to end up buying lots of whats now on our registry, ourselves after the baby shower/gifts stop coming in, etc. I am really really excited with our choices, and I hope when they arrive next week I am as happy as I think I'm going to be with them. Everything I've read about the brand/quality, etc is excellent, and the prices were excellent to very great, overall, I think...so, I'm excited. Have I mentioned that? These were some of the pieces we bought online tonight (technically last night, now.) bed skirt, jungle printed sheet, striped sheet, and another animal sheet (the blue, not the pink one) .

What do you think. Do you love them?

Ok. Must sleep. I think Oliver is already asleep, but probably by the time I do my nightly routine, he will be awake again. Sweet little monkey.

Counting to 100...

2009-02-06T22:25:00.005-06:00

Wow...we have fewer than 100 days left now until Oliver's due date. Will we make it that long? Will we go longer (more likely)?

26 weeks pregnant today. I have a hard time putting my socks on/doing anything that requires much bending/pushing of my legs toward my belly/putting my belly toward my legs. Its because it sort of requires (or feels like it does) my to uterus bend. And let me tell you...this thing does NOT bend...at least not right now. And attempting to make it bend hurts. really. bad. Hehe. I feel kind of ridiculous.

In other news...i think I'm DYING of heartburn. For real. Nothing I can take OTC touches it. And its not a matter of just avoiding certain foods. I can walk across the floor and have heartburn. I can drink ice water and get heartburn. Seriously. I hope I remember to call my doc. and ask for a prescription on Monday for something I can actually take. One of my friends told me she got a prescription for something for the heartburn she had while she was pregnant.

Andrew told me tonight, "I think you're getting bigger." (Meaning my belly...at least I think/hope that's what he was thinking. ha) Lol. YOU THINK? That's usually what happens as the baby grows. :)

For the sake of posterity...and for friends and family members who insist...

2009-02-02T23:21:00.002-06:00

Here you go. Lets just all pretend this is a good picture of me. Thanks. :)

24 Week Sonogram Pictures!

2009-02-02T16:40:00.005-06:00

These were all taken Friday before last...1/23/09 Enjoy!

Head shot 1

Head shot 2

Two Little Feets! With TOES!

His little fist

All I can say is...BOY!

Of milestones and nutrients

2009-02-02T09:25:00.003-06:00

Well, we still haven't uploaded the sonogram pictures from over a week ago. Sorry about that. In the meantime, short story of the dr's visit from that day is that mom and baby look perfectly fine and healthy. Praise the LORD! I think its so easy to take for granted that babies are just always going to look healthy, when in reality many babies are even found to be unhealthy in utero.

This week is a fun milestone week for baby Oliver. You can read about how God is knitting him together this week here: http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/calendar/week25

Nothing else really exciting to report. Except I thought I'll tell you that I always get really excited when I eat healthy/healthyish things. I start thinking about the particular nutrients baby is getting from particular things I eat. Its kind of odd how much I think about it and how excited I get about it. Like, I'll drink this pomegranate blueberry juice and think (or say to Oliver), "Baby! You're getting some Omega 3, right now! YAY!" Or when I eat fresh strawberries or bannanas I get excited that hes getting fresh fruit. If I have cereal and milk, I think how hes getting some whole grains and good dairy. If I have some beans or eggs, I get excited that hes getting some protein. If I eat a handful of nuts or some PB, i think how hes getting some healthy fats.

I think that's all for now. Ta ta.

A Picture of the Baby Belly

2009-01-27T00:37:00.002-06:00

Well here is a belly picture from 24 weeks 3 days. Please excuse the old bleach-stained (not maternity) shirt. I cleaned house today.

Would you believe that's the first belly picture we've gotten? Sad.

We're having a baby

2009-01-21T14:37:00.006-06:00

Well, we started this blog several months ago, and for whatever reason (Ie: Dena is a procrastinator) we still have not made a post. Until today. *Que music* Dun, dun, dun.....

The reason for starting this blog was because we found out we were having a baby (yay!).

So although most all of you are very aware...we're having a baby! Rather, we have a baby, he is growing inside of me, but he isn't born into the open air yet. Expected 5/15/09. On 12/22/08 we found out he is most definitely a boy. Here is his pic from that day. His name is Oliver Abraham Barnes. We plan to call him Oliver (everyone here in the South keeps asking us what we plan to call him). He is not named after anyone (another Southern question we get asked a lot). We just like the name. :) Everyone seems to either love or hate the name Oliver. And for the ones who don't like it, the name seems to grow on them (ie: my parents :) ). My dad seems to think he'll be called "Abe," for some reason. Some people think he will be called "Ollie" which Andrew has vehemently vetoed (oooh...ten points for alliteration!), much in the same way he refuses to be called "Andy." :) Other than that, yes, we've already heard every Oliver Twist/Abe Lincoln joke out there.

Allow me to back up a little. We found out we were expecting on 9/3/08, when I was just around 4 weeks along. It was a very exciting day. I took a test in the Walmart bathroom (too much information???? ;) )and then surprised Andrew with the blaring positive results.

I'm 23 and a half weeks (a "normal" pregnancy is 40 weeks long) along, now (just past the 5 month mark, if you're counting to 9 months).

I've had a fairly uneventful pregnancy with only the normal/average pregnancy-type things you'd expect. I was sick from about week 6 to 11 or so. That was awful - not because I was so horribly sick (I was plenty sick, but I could have been sicker) - but because I felt so debilitated. I couldn't cook (I thought Andrew was going to starve to death - he is no Bobby Flay), but some of the church members here saved the day by providing food a few times. - I couldn't really do much of anything except try to sleep it off or lay around because I was so sick/nauseated around the clock. - It was hard to eat anything during those weeks, too. I am thankful I wasn't one of the women who get so sick they have to go into the hospital or something, but I felt pretty bad. Life felt kind of on hold during those weeks. And then one day, I felt better, and it was glorious.

I've had a great pregnancy, overall, thus far. Sometimes I am more tired than usual for me. And sometimes if I "over do it" or am on the move for too long or don't eat when I should, I can get dizzy/lightheaded/faintish feeling. Which can be normal for pregnant women, so it is really not a concern. I just try to drink some water or eat something or sit down or lie down for a while once I start to feel that way, and then I'm OK.

We've gotten to have 3 sonograms already, I believe. And we're scheduled to have another one this Friday (because baby boy was belly down during the entire last one, and the sonographer couldn't finish getting all the measurements she needed). Most women only get 2 during the entire pregnancy, and If we stay on course, I will end up having a total of 5. So that has been fun. We got to see Oliver for the first time just before the 7 week mark (here is the pic) , when he was the size of a fluffy grain of rice. That's just what he looked like, too. He didn't look like a baby at all. The next ultrasound, he was just over 10 weeks old (shown here) , so we were shocked to see on the screen, a perfectly formed little babe with a distinctive head/body/limbs and even toes (and umbilical cord floating atop him)! That was the first time we even got to see him wiggle (before I could even feel him move, myself.)

I started feeling Oliver "flutter" just after the 13 week mark (which is earlier than most first-time moms report feeling their baby) so I felt pretty blessed. A couple/few weeks later or so, we could start to even see my belly move and Andrew could feel him move. Now that I feel him move every day now (does he ever!) it is such a good feeling, because I at least know hes still in there alive and kickin' (literally)! He seems to love to do flips. We haven't gotten to the point yet where we can determine what body part he is kicking/jabbing out, but that will be fun. When he gets really crazy and starts really jumping around, I laugh a lot because my belly pokes out in the funniest ways. In the last week or two, he has been able to hear sounds outside the womb. That is fun to think about. We try to talk to him and read to him and such, but so far, he doesn't seem to respond in any particular way to any particular sounds. Sometimes I wonder if me singing or laughing or sneezing or me yelling at our dog, Bruce, will make him wiggle, but he seems to be pretty laid back about it all. Sometimes I poke at my belly to see if he pokes back, but he doesn't.

I seem to be a slow belly grower. Or maybe I just had a slow start. I didn't really start to show as early as most people were thinking I should be showing. Maybe I'm catching up now. Sometimes I still think my belly looks smaller than most women at this same mark in pregnancy. Who knows. I had all these good intentions to take belly pictures along the weeks, but that hasn't happened. This is the only decent pregnancy shot we have had so far, taken just before the 19 week mark. Anyway, now I am feeling the pregnancy stretch quite well. Its not even so much my skin that feels stretchy (although it is), but all of my insides feel like they're being pulled very tight. I know this is normal. It is just a weird experience. It can be quite uncomfortable at times. One time Andrew and I were in Walmart (there sure is a lot about Walmart in this post! That's our go-to place here for groceries and all sundry items) when I was having bad round ligament pains/stretching, and he told me I was waddling. Waddling at about 4 months, nonetheless! Ha!

Maternity clothes have been fun. Not too bad, actually. Most of them are quite nice and comfortable. I love having an excuse to wear pants with elastic waists every day! It's like I'm three all over again! :) I still wear some of my non-maternity shirts, but I definitely have to wear maternity pants exclusively.

I miss sleeping on my belly. But its a good trade-off, don't you think? ;)

Lately, I/we have been researching/trying to figure out everything about baby gear and what to buy/register for, etc. If you don't already know this about me, I am a researcher when it comes to buying new things, so this has been kind of an undertaking for me. (I did the same thing when we got married - I bought an online subscription to Consumer Reports so I could learn about kitchen gadgets and vacuums and whatnot to make sure we were choosing the most bang for our (or other people's) bucks.) So to prepare for baby, I have this (wonderful) book called Baby Bargains that is over 600 pages long, and it is very helpful, although time-consuming. I am trying to make educated decisions about what we need vs. what we don't need (we're practical people), and the quality, safety, and value of products we do need/want. I can't imagine blindly choosing a crib or a car seat. That would set me off into a fit. I need to research. So that's what I've been doing.

I think that is all for now. I will try to be a good updater!

The Barnes Family

Finding Out I'm Pregnant with baby #2

This world has nothing for me...and this world has everything...

Parenthood: its a wild ride

Full circle...kind of.

I should blog

Shutterfly-ing again!

Random Thoughts

Dena Recommends: Portable DVD player for long car rides with a child

2010 Small Review

Shutterfly Flat Cards That Never Saw The Light of...a Printing Press

More Shutterfly Cards

3 Shutterfly Example Cards

2010 Photo Book Gifts are DONE!

countyourblessingscard

Shutterfly Cards

18 + months

My Lifes Yours, Love

Of Words and Poo

Not Forgetting

Oliver Turned 1 almost a month ago?!

1 reason we don't subscribe to the "Cry It Out" Methods

Oh, The Places You'll Go!

Dena Recommends part deaux

Dena Recommends

A new year, a new start, perhaps?

Nearly 5 months old

When the Wife is Away, the Men will Sit Outside

Yes, we're alive

He is here!

38 weeks tomorrow

3 weeks away from Oliver's due date!

Pack N Play adventures and Bruce

Belly Pic: 33 wks 2 days

Baby Clothes: 35 pieces for under $22 including tax

No pictures because pictures =s way more time to blog. Even though I've taken a lot.

Cribs, Dressers and Furniture Rearranging

Anemia and Hiccups

1) Baby Clothes and 2) the Bedding is here!

Regarding Cankles

*Squeal*

Terminal Heartburn and Baby "Stuff"

Counting to 100...

For the sake of posterity...and for friends and family members who insist...

24 Week Sonogram Pictures!

Of milestones and nutrients

A Picture of the Baby Belly

We're having a baby

Squeal