Miss Bean

Well, folks, here she is. :o) Brien laughs at me because I keep saying, "She looks just like her sisters." And, well, she does. Same round noggin, same profile they had. Is modern technology not incredible?!? I was astounded with Hannah nine years ago, and it just keeps improving.

I can't wait to get another peek at our girlie in two weeks!

And, here's a foot. Ooooooo, what a sweet, cute, teeny, tiny foot! Look at those piggies!

The u/s tech said she doesn't like to give parents full-face images because of the eerie black holes where the eyes should be. I think I'm appreciative. I did have one for each of the other two, and they were a bit, um, creepy-ish. The one good thing about those images is you can really see the nose and mouth. Oh, well.

In other news, my sweet Waylen pooch is down and out. He has been under the weather for some time, but last night and this morning cemented for us he was truly ill and needed to go to the vet. He was lethargic, shaking, and obviously had a fever and had none of his usual pep and bounce. If it had been Holly, I'd be concerned, but since Waylen is 12, I was REALLY worried.

B took him to Doc B and she palpitated him and discovered he had an impacted colon. Top that with an ear infection and some as of yet unidentified infection, and dehydration and you had one miserable pooch. B left him at the office for a couple of hours where he was given an enema, IV fluids and an antibiotic shot. It's amazing how much better he feels--you can see a bit of that spring returning to his step.

He came home a little stinky, so to add insult to injury, the poor baby had to have a bath. He's still not 100%, but is definitely doing better. B will call the vet tomorrow to learn the lab results and see what sort of antibiotic we need to pick up. I'm just glad he's more like his old self again. Whew!

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Today's Sparklies:

1. Do you know how much I LOVE to give gifts? It brings such a smile to my face to give someone something I hope they will like. :o)
2. The fifth graders were amazing in the holiday concert today. :o)
3. I'm watching "The Gnome Mobile" on the Hallmark movie channel. I haven't seen this is YEARS!
4. Waylen's feeling better.
5. I'm craving some peppermint ice cream and hot fudge...I'm thinking I just might have to indulge. ;oP

No milestones.

What's Happening

The ultrasound tech was quite thorough in her exam yesterday, and even went so far as to say the heart was still a bit small for her to get a truly good look so she wants me to come back in two weeks when it's a bit bigger. Now, I think it was more along the lines of she wanted to have a reason for the Bean to be in a better position to ascertain her gender 100%. I say this because I saw all four chambers of the heart quite clearly yesterday, and I'm untrained. ;o) I'm sure it really does need more measurements, but a mama could wind up worrying otherwise, right?

Does anyone else find it utterly miraculous that there is a machine out there that allows medical professionals to not only see inside you, but to see inside a baby that is inside you? It's absolutely incredible! JB looked good yesterday. She is not as active as Han or Lil, but she didn't much seem to care to have someone pressing on her and batted at the wand a few times. Oh, those tiny hands and feet. That little rosebud mouth and cute little nose. What a sweet baby she is. Brien laughed at me, but I swear she looks just like her sisters did. :oP I'm going to try to get the images scanned and posted within the next few days.

This morning began with a bang. My cold has mutated into yet another one, producing an over abundance of mucous, leaving me fairly nauseated in the mornings. I coughed so hard I gagged myself and had a wretched time of it as I became VIOLENTLY ill. It was so bad I managed to burst a number or small capillaries in my face (forehead, around my eyes, cheeks, around my mouth) and look as if I have a rash or full facial hickey. :eye roll: I'm hoping this fades fairly quickly...

I had a nice conference with Miss Tanya yesterday. I've decided that Miss Tanya does in fact like Lily, she is just tired and grumpy many days. I'm not worried about Lil's academics--I know those things will come--I'm more worried about the social/emotional side of her schooling. Miss T assures us Lil is well-behaved in class (for the most part, as she does like to whine and she can be quite stubborn at times--which we KNOW all too well) and is friends with everyone in the class. Hooray! She also told us Lily is probably the toughest kiddo in her class. Um, wow. There are only three girls in there and seven boys. And, what is Lil doing to prove that toughness?!? My mind boggles.

It seems it's almost my turn to do bedtime duty so I'm cutting this off here. :o)
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Today's Sparklies:

1. Scottie and a couple of my girls decorated my door with pink balloons and streamers this morning. :o)
2. Brien has been SUCH a sweetie helping out in the house and kitchen this week. Thank you, sweetheart!
3. Lily is a delightful doll. And, that Fisbee is a real motivator. :o)
4. Waylen has been one big snuggle-bug the past few weeks. He just loves to cuddle up to me. He did this when I was pregnant with the other two as well.
5. We are bouncing around names, but think we are set. I'll fill you in as soon as we've seen the u/s tech again and she is 100% certain Jellybean is a she. ;o)
6. Tonight's dinner:
You can find the recipe here. :o)

No milestones

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Just one more thing. My friend Dani has entered a GORGEOUS photo she took in an online contest. If you would like to see the photo, you can click here. If you would like to vote for it, you can click here.

I hope you all have a fantastic evening and wonderful day tomorrow. :o)

The Bean's Flavor is...

...with 90% certainty from the ultrasound tech...











...PINK!!!!!!!!! :o)

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

We discover the Bean's flavor tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous, actually.

You see, I used to live in this "perfect" world where nothing horrible ever happened. Now, I KNOW bad things happen, and I know that even if I do EVERYTHING right, things can still go wrong. I've had two beautiful, perfect babies, so, statistically, shouldn't it be my turn for something to go wrong? I'm not trying to borrow trouble, but I am still anxious.

I'm sure all is well and perfect and wonderful. I can feel Jellybean moving around in there, tumbling and somersaulting and all those wonderful tiny baby things. I still can't help but worry a little.

I've taken the day off tomorrow so I can try to get some errands run before my appointment. That, and I have a conference with Lil's teacher tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to get to the post office first thing (I have some packages to ship and I need to pick up Christmas stamps) and then, maybe tomorrow afternoon hit the outlets for Lissie.

However, I'm beyond tired right now so I'm going to hit the hay shortly. I'll clean the kitchen and living room and maybe sign some Christmas cards. Then, off to bed. :o)
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Today's Sparklies:

1. Anticipating sleeping in tomorrow.
2. Lil's excitement and enthusiasm for EVERYTHING.
3. Feeling Jellybean hopping around in there.
4. Being able to sit in my living room and enjoy the Christmas tree and mulling spices. :o)

No milestones.

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So, anyone want to take a guess at the Bean's flavor? I'll be sure to post tomorrow to let you all know. :o)

Not Quite as Busy Today

I was up until 1:30 this morning adhering the card faces together, up with Lily at 3:30 ("I'm lonely and need to snuggle just for a few minutes.") and then back in my own bed about 5:30. Lil was ready to go at 7:25 this morning. I wanted to weep. Yes, I did it to myself, but it didn't make the exhaustion any easier.

We drove to "Important News" this morning (Han's name for it) to the local BRU and purchased Jellybean's crib. We had initially thought we were going to get this one, failing to realize that although it is quite beautiful, it is also far more ornate than our typical style. When we saw it in person we began to have second thoughts.

We had originally liked this one best, but were afraid it wouldn't go with any of our other furniture. We loved the simplicity of it, as well as the gorgeous maple-ness of it. Seeing it again, we decided that it was in fact the one for our Bean and purchased it (with a 20% off coupon!).

I also picked up two valences and a couple of divinely soft organic cotton crib sheets. I'm going to look for a chocolate crib skirt and we're finished. Hooray!

After our shopping expedition, we headed to Nana and Pop's to check out their holiday decor--it's wonderful! Anyone else out there have LED lights? Whew are they bright! If one catches you the wrong way they are blinding! ;oP

Finally, I've been in the studio, putting the finishing touches on our Christmas cards. The top photo is the box of 64 finished cards. Yippee! I'm going to get them out this week if it's the last thing I do. :oP

This is one of the cards. The brown isn't quite so chocolatey, as it is done in Soft Suede.

And, here is our other card. I think I used up something like eight rolls of adhesive making them. Wow!

B and I were so engrossed in HP that I didn't want to stop listening. Soooooo, I decided to make something else. Here are the first of the gift tags I've made:

Here's hoping the two-way glue I adhered them with holds the cord. :fingers crossed:

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Today's Sparklies:

1. I'm sitting here watching my husband and daughter watch "Rudolph", snuggled together in the black chair. It's all about the simple things, isn't it?
2. Getting those cards finished. Whew!
3. Crossing so many items off my "To Do" list (see post below).
4. My 20 week ultrasound is Tuesday. Assuming s/he's not too modest, we'll know the Bean's flavor by Tuesday evening!
5. I'm ready to take things a little easier and enjoy the build-up to the holiday.
6. I may get to see Jessie and the kiddos this week. :fingers crossed:
7. Candy making this weekend! :o)

No milestones.
Nana and I were talking about putting out decorations and reminiscing over those that had memories attached to Hannah. She's everywhere. :o)

Before and After

It's FINISHED!!!!! :o) Thank you, Honey!

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Also completed today:
*laundry
*grocery shopping/menu planning for the week
*finished Christmas shopping (YES!!)
*steam cleaned the upstairs carpets
*hung a mirror in Lil's room
*hung wrought iron envelope basket holder in my room
*vacuumed
*cleaned the bathrooms
*straightened and rearranged

Stick a fork in me, folks. Whew!

Happy

I just LOVE stories like this. This is what is possible with kindness and compassion.

Oh, and Lily once more tootled on downstairs before I even knew she was up. Brien came in the bathroom and said, "Lil's calling for you." And, there she was, downstairs in the family room with her flashlight (it was dark down there, you know), showing me where Fisbee had reappeared this morning. Hee hee! This elf thing is FUN! :o)