Baby Girl Update

Today I went to the doctor for my 24 week checkup. Heartbeat was good.
I was tired and couldn't breathe. I hadn't gained any weigh yet and expected the same today but somehow I managed to rack up NINE punds in one month!!!!
I've never gained that much in one month!
Dr. Kim had the results from my ultrasound and said that we needed to schedule another one. The baby's abdomen is too big.
He said not to worry, we will check it and see if it's normal now or what. I said okay.
The ultrasound is scheduled for May 26th. That same day we scheduled the glucose (diabetes) test. I came home and decided to look up a little info on what this enlarged abdomen on the baby could mean.
As I cruised the internet it seems it could be any number of things to a blocked bowel or urine tube (technical term, ha!) some people said it had something to do with Down Syndrome but I didn't quite get the connection there.
The most logical thing to me seemed to be that it is probably related to gestational diabetes. It seems big fat babies (with enlarged abdomens) are a common problem with gestational diabetes. I have a good portion of the signs and symptoms......and I have all the risk factors: (copied from informational website)

• over the age of 30
• obesity
• family history of diabetes
• having previously given birth to a very large child (over 9 pounds, 14 ounces), having previously given birth to a stillborn child or a child with a birth defect
• having too much amniotic fluid
• having gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy
• having high blood pressure
  

signs and symptoms:
Generally, gestational diabetes may not cause any symptoms, however, the woman may experience excessive weight gain, excessive hunger or thirst, excessive urination or recurrent vaginal infections.


Now this is just me being Dr. Colista...but it all seems to make sense doesn't it. Seems this stuff is the treatment which sounds like loads of fun ( I mean the injections part):
Treatment for gestational diabetes includes eating a carefully planned diet, getting plenty of exercise, maintaining a healthy pregnancy weight, monitoring glucose levels and, if necessary, daily insulin injections.

So we have two weeks to wait and see if I am in fact correct or just a crazy hypochondriac! Either way, it should be interesting....and I get to see that baby girl again! woot!

For those who want to know, YES, we have a growing list of names for this girl! We won't be naming her until we see her but we will have a list. If anyone would like to make suggestions, we are certainly open......
List so far (and by golly if you steal one of my names I will hunt you down!):

Haven
Vivianne
Eden
Naomi

I will keep you updated on the naming process of course. Middle names are hard. My middle name is Rose and we may use that but, I'm on the fence about it.

Carthage Primary School 2010 Spring Concerts

At Carthage Primary School they don't have Christmas concerts, they have Spring concerts. Maybe to be "politically correct", I don't know. Anyway, the kindergarten-2nd grade concert was on one night and the 3rd & 4th grade was on the second night. The first night was Cedric's and we took the whole family. It was a nightmare! Cedric did amazing but the other boys that were not in the program made it their mission to ruin the program for everyone else. So, we decided that on the second night we would divide and conquer. Jeremy stayed home with Cullen, Asher, and Liam. Cedric and I went to Tristan's program. He also did a great job!

Schools Kill Creativity

As most of you know, I strongly dislike government schooling. I can go on and on about all the downfalls and the tragic things that happen there. In fact if we had not moved to a smaller house, I would be home schooling all of the kids now. And I fully intend to do so when we move again in two years. Ken Robinson makes some compelling arguments for creativity that I fully agree with. Take a listen....it's about 19 minutes but well worth it!
On another day, I will go into the stupidity of public schooling on all other levels.

Cullen......

I can't get enough of this kid! He's so stinking cute! I'm pretty sure he's going to be VERY jealous when the baby comes. He loves his mama! And apples too....ha!

Asher.....

Asher went from being our BEST sleeper at the old house, to being our WORST sleeper at the new house. Every night he is the last one to finally go to sleep and we have to struggle to keep him in bed. One night after fighting with him a whole lot to go to sleep, we found him finally asleep....like this!

The Hunting of the Eggs

Not long after finding their baskets inside, Asher happened to look out the deck door and find some eggs in the grass outside! He was SO excited! He went running around the house trying to gather his brothers to see what he had discovered outside. So we had to throw clothes on and head out. Our yard is HUGE....so the Easter bunny only did the fenced in part. And steered clear of the stream. The boys had so much fun! Then we came in and had a giant Easter breakfast! Mmmm, good.

The Finding of the Baskets

Cullen's Bucket

OOoops, it's sideways.....how do you fix that? Have to ask Jeremy later.....

Cullen finding his bucket

Liam was still waking up!

Cedric's Basket

Tristan's Basket

Asher's Bucket

The Boys woke up at the butt-crack of dawn to find their baskets. You would have thought it was Christmas or something. Of course Tristan and Cedric had already went around and found everyone's baskets and had to "lead" them to their stuff. It was cute though, the kids really enjoyed everything! The Easter Bunny went very simple this year and the boys didn't seem to notice or care. Yeah! They said it was the best Easter EVER! woot!

The Coloring of the Eggs

We colored about 5 dozen eggs this year. It was actually a lot of fun because we did most of it while Asher and Cullen napped! haha! I did get Asher up to do some but it was a lot easier to do it with the baby sleeping. Asher was meant to be included but once he fell asleep on the couch, you can't wake him up right away or you will end up with a holy terror on your hands! The older boys had a ton of fun though and so did I.

Inspiration For the Day

This really struck a cord with me today. So many times in my life...during the hard times....I tend to lose faith rather than the other way around. She (the woman in the video) just really inspires me to be a better person. And to not take anything for granted...even the really hard times in life. It's all for a greater purpose. You can read her blog too....it's awesome. I'm gonna put up a link to it on the side of my blog.

One Day Left

K, so I have some of your email addresses but not all. I need them by tomorrow or you will not be able to read my blog any more. Poor you. Some of you commented that you wanted to read but did not give me your email address.....give it! (please.)

To Be Private??? Or Not?

So as of late a bunch of my blogging friends have decided to go private. At first I thought maybe they all were going insane...or perhaps had a touch of the stomach flu. But, then I let my little paranoid mind run like wildfire!
What if some creepy pedophile is checking out the ever so cute pics of my boys...or what if some crazy lady that is pretending to be pregnant is tracking my every move so she can steal my baby girl when born??? Or what if she decides to cut her right out of my stomach???? (Watched that on an episode of FBI Files). Or what if some crazy person takes a look at the pictures of my house and decides to come steal it??? (That one has happened before to me personally.)
The world is full of crazies, including me, but I'm crazy in a different way....a good way, I think! haha! Anyway, I'm gonna look into this private thing. I think I need to approve your email to let you read the blog. So either leave me a comment with your email in it or send me a message to ckelley@woot-pc.com
or on facebook with your email address in it.
I'm gonna leave the blog public for about a week more........

Dream Come True

As most of you probably already heard via facebook, the impossible has happened! Jeremy and I are finally getting our baby girl after 5 wonderfully amazing boys! I am over the moon to say the least. We had the ultrasound tech check at least 4 or 5 times. I truly feel blessed and know that this baby was meant to be even if it wasn't exactly in our plans. I will probably get really annoying in the next few months because all I can think or talk about is this tiny girl inside me. I can't believe there is a GIRL in there! I went to Kohl's after the ultrasound to buy something girly and I stood in the infant girl section and cried. (I'm an emotional basket case these days...ugh, I wish it would STOP). I'm sure everyone thought I was completely insane but, I was just overwhelmed that it was real. I wanted to buy everything I saw but I kept myself in check and only bought a little newborn set with a sleeper, hat, pants, and onesie. Something practical. Jeremy is so excited too. He's scared that it will be a boy when it comes out! haha! I'm just ready for her to get here already now that I know but, I guess she has some more growing to do first! LOL! I can't wait though!!!!! So stinking happy!

Catching Up On Randomness

One of the things that I am a stickler about is reading. Every night (give or take a few when my children are at someone else's house) I read a story to all of my children. They each get to pick out one book. As Tristan and Cedric are getting older I am letting them read on their own before going to sleep but I still like to read to them as well. Right now I am reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume to them. I read it as a child and thought they would like it. So far we are all in stitches every night because so many of these things in the book we can relate to! I want my kids to grow up with a love for reading. Tristan is really into historical fiction and non-fiction. Anything about the civil war, native americans, revolutionary war, world war1 and 2, space, dinosaurs....all that stuff. It's awesome because it's all the same sort of stuff that I am in to. Cedric likes all that stuff too. They also like the silly chapter books like Captain Underpants.

The countdown is on to the end of school. May 26th is their last day it looks like. And that's just a report card day. I hate report card days. So pointless. Do you remember report card days? I remember sitting in a desk for an hour to get the stupid report card then going home....when I could have just slept in. Probably wasted my mother's time as well. Just like it will waste mine.

Tomorrow is my ultrasound. We will try to find out what gender this baby is again. I hope all is well and healthy. I am trying to prepare myself for a boy. I really am. I just don't think people get how intense my desire for a little girl of my own is. Not that I don't love my boys....I do.

Our cat, Luke has been missing for a few weeks now. Just gone. No clue where he went. Sad. I really liked that cat.

Kelley Easter 2010

Trisha, Vanessa, and Me.....with the Culligan Man at our feet.

All the boys.

Owen

Tristan playing the easter ostrich???

Asher showing Owen all his loot.

Cedric

Tristan climbing a tree to get to one of the eggs.

Asher

Liam

Cullen finding a "ball" with Dad.

Snow Day

Asher with his rosy cheeks.

A crash about to happen!

Liam throwing a fit.

So on one of the many snow days we had this winter we decided to load the boys up and head to Nauvoo to the State Park hill for some sledding. I'm not a big fan of the cold, the snow, or ice but, I felt it was one of my duties as a parent to take them sledding at least once this winter....what with all the snow and everything. Last year we had gotten some sleds on clearance and hadn't used them yet so we dragged them out too. It took forever to get everyone dressed and ready to go. We let Cullen sleep in the car.
I think the boys had fun. Liam threw a fit at the top of the hill most of the time. Round sleds are not good.....make a note of that. Buy more long sleds because everyone fought over the two long sleds. When we got home we had hot chocolate. I got my parenting snow badge I guess.

My Birthday Weekend

K, so since I have still not found my camera, this blog is going to be picture free for a while. sucks. I turned 31 on March 12th. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my birthday. I really truly expect something grand to happen every single year on that day. I can't help it. It's MY day!!! Anyway, on my actual birthday (Friday) I did my usual thing of sending the kids off to school and staying home with the other kids. On his lunch break, Jeremy brought home some really beautiful flowers. Wish I had a pic.....lilies, tulips, and roses. Awesome. Then after the big boys got picked up from school he took them to Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cake to surprise me with!!! YUMMY! Again, wish I had a pic. The boys were really excited about this because they truly seemed concerned that morning that I would not have a cake. I don't even like cake, but ice cream cake.....I can do that!!!!
Then Jeremy and I were going to go see Alice In Wonderland and out to eat but our plans took a different route. We ended up not being able to get out of town in time so we just settled for no movie and dinner in Ft. Madison at La Casa. Normally a pretty decent restraunt but on this night, it sucked!! Don't know if it's because it was kinda late and they didn't want to make fresh food or what but I had awful fajitas with burnt rice and beans. The stupid waiter never checked us and never gave us more to drink, never even brought us a check. It was retarded! Anyway, we had a kid free night though.
Next Morning.
We had to pick up the boys and my mom came over to our house to watch the kids for us while we headed to Chicago. Yep, we decided to go after all. We drove to Chicago and arrived about 3:30pm. Drove to the ultrasound place and did a little shopping before our appointment. Then we went in to find out the baby's gender. Well, this little baby is very private indeed. It kept curled up in a little ball and kept it's hands in front of it's face. Stubborn little thing. The lady doing the ultrasound said that from one angle she thought she could see a little winky and from another angle she thought it looked like a little girl. So, she said "I'm 50% girl and 50% boy...but you can come back again for free and we'll try again"
Great. Just Great. I drive 4 and a half hours to Chicago and leave with the same information I arrived with. Perfect. It was really cool to see the little guy on 3D though.
We didn't pay for the 4D.
We tried to get seats at Medieval Times but they were all sold out. So, we headed back to our hotel room and ordered room service. OH my goodness, it was awesome!!! It was so good and well worth it!! And I got creme brulee with fresh berries for dessert which is my favorite!!! K, I'm hungry now just thinking about it! And when I retire...I'm going to retire to a hotel, a nice one, with room service. No wait, not just one hotel, I'm going to retire by traveling. Never in the same place too long. Yep, that's my dream. I'm like Wyatt Earp's second wife. Don't know what I'm talking about....watch Tombstone. One of the best movies ever by the way.
The next morning, Jeremy wanted to go to Fry's Electronics (for those of you that don't know...it's pretty much the biggest coolest electronics store ever). We went there, then had lunch at Portillo's (a Chicago must). And home we came.
I had a really good birthday. No regrets. YAY for awesome birthdays!

My good friend, Johnny, posted this on his blog earlier and I had to steal it.
Too Good. And too true.

Things That Are Going On

First things first...my birthday is tomorrow! I do LOVE my birthday and tend to want to celebrate it for days on end....sigh. I don't know what to do for my birthday this year though....my belly is getting huge. I'm feeling about eight months pregnant already. I'm not. My mom keeps saying that maybe I am further along than I thought. I don't think so. I think I'm carrying an octopus...or a rock. Hard to tell. I have been feeling movement for weeks now, which is early, even for having had children before. the movements are getting bigger and more frequent which is awesome. I'm already peeing like at least 3 times a night. What the crap?!?!? Oh well, enough with all that stuff.

On Sunday, Debbie (MIL) had kept the three younger boys for the night, and my mom had kept the two older boys for the night...so I went to bed early and got a great nights sleep for like the first time in forever! Jeremy and I woke up and decided to head to Quincy for church since Susan and Todd were blessing baby Daxton that day. On the way there, Jeremy said his head hurt so he took some med and on we drove. The blessing was great! Quincy ward is the first ward that I remember as a child. We lived there when we first moved to Illinois from Minnesota. I loved Quincy ward then and I love it now!! The people there are so awesome!!! A big step up from my previous ward....guess I will just leave it at that. I wonder if I can get my records transfered to Quincy??? hmmmm....
Anyway, after that we thought that we could have a little early birthday celebration in Quincy, go out to eat, watch Alice In Wonderland, but Jeremy didn't feel good still and looked as if he were going to vomit so we left for home. Once home Jeremy felt worse and worse. Tried meds again, taking a nap, etc. We were supposed to be to Nauvoo by 4:30 for his dad's birthday dinner but Jeremy didn't want to go. so we missed that too. Ugh. That's something cool about Jeremy's fam, they have a birthday dinner for everyone's birthday. Usually at his parents house. Like I said we missed it but, Debbie brought some leftovers when she brought our kids home later. mmmm, good!

Asher has been cracking us up lately. He says the funniest things...I need to start writing them down!
Still no sign of my new camera. *sigh*

Oh my goodness.....yesterday we had beautiful weather!!! I was SO stinking excited. All of us went outside and played (well, I dug in the dirt). I thought how I wanted to plant more bulbs. I got some on clearance last fall and planted those and some of them look to be coming up! But anyway, I wanted to get more and plant them too but Debbie said you plant bulbs in the fall. Dang it. So I will do something else. I think I have strawberries coming up too. I need to get the strawberry bed cleared though...it was still very muddy yesterday. Then last night I got to sit on my porch swing and feel a cool breeze while the first thunderstorm of the season come on!!! It was awesome!! The lightning was amazing. The thunder was divine. I really could have slept on the porch swing but I didn't.

Guess I'm done for now.

Ring

The ring thing is for real!!! YAY!! Now, if I can find my misplaced camera. Just got it for Christmas....hmmmmm.

Why Is It Always About the Toilet?

If my baby walks up to me one more time with either the toilet plunger or the toilet brush, I'm gonna pull my hair out....or someone else's! It's not a hard concept. Shut the bathroom door when you are done. Just shut it. Pull the door closed behind you as you walk out. I talk and I talk and I talk....on one ever listens. Hey remember to shut the door when you're done, I say. Okay, they say back in that annoyed voice. But then, guess what? They still don't shut the flippin door when they're done. And they wonder why I'm constantly telling them what to do....hmmmm, I wonder? Could it be they don't ever do a darn thing I say? Yes, Jeremy does it too. In fact he might be the worst.
Maybe I should teach the baby to clean the toilet.

Now that I got that out of the way....tonight Cedric gets his belt with a stripe on it or something. not quite sure yet what it all is. He is really excited and I am excited for him. He says that it is for kicking.....I bet there is more to it. He was supposed to get it Tuesday but I just totally spaced out on karate that night...and Ced didn't remember until too late.

And after the whole wedding ring story a few months back.....read previous blog posts from November because I am too lazy to put in a hyper link. I am embarrassed to say that I lost the wedding ring again. I know, I know, stupid. It has been gone for about two months. Unless I was dreaming the other night (Jeremy is not home to correct me on this) I think he found it in our bathroom cabinet! It was right in front of our face the whole time! He brought it to me in my sleep and wanted to know how it had gotten there.....it's all kinda blurry in my head and I don't remember where he put it again either. I don't think I should wear it...I think I should frame it and mount it on the wall. That way I will always know where it is.