Another Funny

THE MIRACLE OF TOILET PAPER


Fresh from my shower, I stand in front of the mirror complaining
to my husband that my breasts are too small..

Instead of characteristically telling me it's not so, he uncharacteristically
comes up with a suggestion.

If you want your breasts to grow, then every day take a piece of toilet
paper and rub it between them for a few seconds.'

Willing to try anything, I fetch a piece of toilet paper and stand
in front of the mirror, rubbing it between my breasts.

'How long will this take?' I asked.

They will grow larger over a period of years,' my husband replies.

I stopped. 'Do you really think rubbing a piece of toilet paper
between my breasts every day will make my breasts larger over
the years?'

Without missing a beat he says, 'Worked for your butt, didn't it?'

He's still alive, and with a great deal of therapy, he may even
walk again, although he will probably continue to take his meals
through a straw.


Stupid, stupid man.

Cardiology Appt.

There were a few concerns going into today's appointment with the cardiologist. First of all, at his last Cardiology appointment back in August it was discovered on an EKG and subsequent Holter Monitor study that Lincoln was having more frequent than usual PVCs. The main worry was that these PVCs would cause dangerous heart arrythmias. At that point in time the Holter Monitor study showed no arrythmias...but there was some concern that a rhabdomyoma was developing in his heart and wreaking havoc.

The other main concern was that the new seizure medication that Lincoln was started on a month ago can have some serious heart side effects. The one the neuro mentioned was the lengthening of the Q-T interval. The cadiologiist explained that this was of concern because it could cause dangerous heart rythmns and arrythmias (which I am beginning to understand are the big bad when it comes to cardiology).

Well, we started out the appointment with a weight check. In which the nurse informed me that he had lost weight since his appt in August. I was like...yeah, thanks. Apparently in August he weighed 13.4 kilos (roughly 29lbs 8oz) and today, 6 months later, he weighed 13.0 kilos (about 28lbs 11oz). Sigh.

We then moved on to a heart ultrasound. The tech took about 15 pictures, focusing in on one area near the bottom of he heart. It always makes me a bit nervous when they zoom in! Lincoln was fascinated watching his heart beat away on the monitor. He didn't squirm or make a peep once! After awhile he drifted off to sleep, so it was a very pleasant experience this time (last time he cried throgh the whole thing). Because he was asleep, we were also able to get the full lead EKG done as well. This is what can detect the PVCs and measures the Q-T interval.

The doctor reviewed the results right away, and told us that there were some "echo-bright" areas at the bottom of the heart. But he also said that nothing appeared to resemble a rhabdomyoma, and that that area often appears "echo-bright" even on normal hearts. He then said that the EKG looked great. There were no PVCs and that the Q-T interval was totally normal. He wanted us to go ahead and do another Holter Monitor study next week just to make sure that everything looks okay over a longer period of time. But everything looked good today, and we have another follow-up in 6-months. :)

Double Nursery

Here is the double nursery, almost finished. We are waiting on 1 more piece of art, a new rug, and the wall letters for June. I am going to do a little 360 degree video once everything is complete. But here are some pictures if you want a preview... :)

Doorway out of the room on the left, closet (stocked full of diapers) on the right. Ren. faire paraphernalia on the dividing wall in the center of the picture.




More closet & closet doors loaded with stuffed animals. Yes, I have always had a weakness for stuffed animals. I used to have over 200 while gorwing up, and I have a hard time passing them up in stores now that I have a kid(s). Even though Lincoln has only ever shown interest in a couple of them. Sigh.

Above the closet are the wall letters that I made for Lincoln the week before he wass born. It is made out of leftover fabric from the friends & family quilt everyone helped us to make. Right now that quilt is being stored until we get Lincoln his own room set up.




See all of the animals! Yes, it is a sickness...

Below them is Lincoln's crib. We decided that this new crib was sturdier than the one he used to be in and since it is likely that he will be in it for quite awhile to come, we gave him the new one, and June the old one.




Here is a cool picture frame that I picked up at Target. It is 1/2 way full of pictures of Lincoln and pictures of Andy & I. The other half will be pictures of June and pictures of the 4 of us together. :)




Inside Lincoln's crib. Still got the "cowboy" theme going on with the sheet & bumper set. ;)




Nightstand full of sheets & mattress pads. Basket of teddy bears of all colors and cowboy nightlight.




Bookshelf full of books & more stuffed things. Also a white noise machine, nightliht, and baby monitor. Next to that is the couch. Sometimes we hold Lincoln while sitting on that couch, read to him, and let him fall asleep in our arms. Once Lincoln & June are sharing the room, it will be nice to read to them both together whie sitting on the couch. :)




Other side of the couch, and the location of June's crib. :)




Shelves above June's crib, with some stuffed magnetized letters that are shaped like, and spell out animals.




Close-up of June's crib with her very pretty Gerber Daisy bedding set. You can see the little green outfit laid out in the crib. If the weather is cool enough, this will be her "coming home" outfit. :)

Song That Inspires

Find Out Who Your Friends Are
By Tracy Lawrence

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare

This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie

{Chorus}
You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are

Everybody wants to slap your back
wants to shake your hand
when you're up on top of that mountain
But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up
and see who's around then

This ain't where the road comes to an end
This ain't where the bandwagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lot of folks jump off

{Chorus}

When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there?

{Chorus}

You find out who your friends are
(yeah, yeah)
You find out who your friends are

Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
(Well man, I've been there)
Or get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor, need a couch, need a bus fare
(Man, I've been there)

Man, I've been there
Oooh yeah.

This song makes me smile everytime I hear it. I hope that Andy & I have friends like this, and that in turn we can be friends like this to others...

Weekly Weigh-In & More...

Well this week went much better than last week because he isn't sick or throwing up his solid foods anymore. For some reason he is still refusing bottles, so we have to trick him into drinking them as he is falling asleep. If he wakes up enough to know what is going on, he usually gets very upset and it ruins naptime, so we have to be very sneaky! But I am hoping that eventually he will start drinking milk from the sippy cup or straw. Right now he will only drink water from a sippy, and soda pop from a straw. Goofy little boy. ;)

Feb 16: 1353 cal
Feb 17: 1030 cal
Feb 18: 1016 cal
Feb 19: 1461 cal
Feb 20: 1080 cal
Feb 21: 1465 cal
Feb 22: 1160 cal

Average for the week: 1224 calories/day

Lincoln's weight: 29lbs 5oz! So much improved from his weight at the doctor's office 1.5 weeks ago where he was 28.5lbs.

My weight: +42 lbs. Well, I guess my prediction was off. I am now thinking that I might end up closer to 45-50lbs up for this pregnancy. Oh well. It will all come off eventually...

June's weight: Should be around 5.5lbs this week!


OTHER NEWS

At my appointment today we discovered that I am now 1cm dilated! This is pretty exciting, but also scary, because she is still breech. So, if I were to go into labor before she flips or before the doctor gets a chance to flip her...it is automatic c-section. I know that a c-section isn't the end of the world, but it would certainly be ideal to be able to deliver in the normal fashion. A c-section would require a 4 day hospital stay, and some serious lifting restrictions once I were to return home. This would be a much bigger immediate impact on Lincoln than I would like. But I guess we will just see how it goes. Baby sister might like to make a big impression on the family right from the start...

Right now we are looking at 37-38ish weeks to attempt an external cephalic version (ECV), and our doctor likes to perform the c-section that same day if the ECV fails. I am still hopeful that she will flip on her own before then...

Arizona Renaissance Festival 2010

Belly dancing videos!








More camel riding pictures of my two favorite guys!










Jousting videos and pictures!










Some of the characters we saw!








Me being a character!



I hope my sister Jamie doesn't see this. As an ex-longbow competetor, I am certain she would laugh her head off at my technique (or lack thereof)! But at least I had some fun, and didn't hurt myself (or anyone else). ;)




June's shield!




Lincoln's new weapon to go with his shield from last year! A double-sided battle axe! Andy is planning on painting it up sometime.

A Quick Comparison

I was just struck by how similar these two photos were...

Ren. Faire on Feb. 13 2010!



Ren. Faire mid. Feb. 2009!