It's been 3 months...........

It's been 3 months... yes it most definitely has..... the pregnancy got tough (pain wise) at the end - but he's wonderful!! He was born 9-9-08 at 3:55pm and was 8lbs 3oz and 18 1/4 inches long. You can see he was born with a ton of dark hair and he's just a great baby. Everyone is doing great with him, even Nathan is adjusting.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Last weekend was Dennis' birthday... over all it was a good day, and he got a couple of nice gifts from us and some friends... and he got one from me (or rather Jessa) that made him weep. I had asked his ex for a recent picture, but she didn't manage to get one to me. But it's all good, I managed to figure out something sweet regardless. Calahan and Noah got him a wolf light and a "Everything I need to know I learned from Zelda" shirt.. lol.. Nathan and Kaedyn got him a double wolf statue... and I gave him the life that grows inside me (ha ha ha) .. just kidding...
We had a nice BBQ with friends and family, and he got cake and balloons and some fun...
Now if he hadn't practically cut off his finger a couple days before, it probably would have been a bit more fun! LOL...

However, Thursday last week, Calahan and I were watching the news - last day of school, he was inside waiting for the bus - and there came on a blurb I had seen all week for a "Father's Day Contest" ... Calahan said he thought we should enter it for Dennis. I said "okay" and grabbed my laptop... Together, it took us about 10 minutes before school for us to write something. I asked Calahan what he thought it should say, he came up with a few things... and I would write something up, read it back to him, ask him if he wanted to add anything, if it was everything he wanted to say, etc... and after some fine tuning, we picked out a family picture, and sent it off. I figured if they picked him I'd hear something back...

But I didn't...

This week we have managed to actually sleep in... Nathan has been sleeping in a little bit later (not up at 5:30-6am!) ... and Tuesday morning I woke up to an email from my friend Nate with the title of the news station running the contest. I thought... huh... weird...

so I opened it...

Inside he had written that he flipped on his TV .. and saw this picture of a family pop on the screen and thought "Hey! I know that family!" ...

I was like ... what!?!?!? THEY PICKED IT!?!?! And I had no clue! AND WE MISSED IT!?!?

So I had tried to contact the news station to see if there was a clip of it somewhere that I missed, was offered a DVD for $20 of the news cast, but the news director that I had also emailed had gotten back to me and sent me a clip... turned out to be a clip of Wednesday's Dad... lol... so I wrote her back saying "well maybe my friend was mistaken and we hadn't been picked and blah blah blah" and she emailed me back saying "whoops, that was Wednesday's Dad not Tuesday's..." but said she would try to get the clip (but I didn't hear back from her)... she did say "Be sure to watch Friday though when we announce the winner" ...

Now, no clue if that was a "watch cuz we want the viewers" type of thing... or a hint that we better watch... cuz... LOL...

This morning we got up - I actually set the alarm for 6am... (our news cast actually starts at 5:30am) ... and Dennis started pushing at me (okay maybe not) and said "the alarm" ... I said "you are getting up with me" ... he goes "okaaaay" .. lol.. ya know he really didn't want to - but this wasn't my deal - it's HIS! lol...

So I go curl up in MY chair.. lol.. and he comes out about 15 minutes later... and they announce the Dad from today .. that they'll announce the winner at the end of the show...

so I said "wow we can go back to bed for a half hour!" LOL...

er....... we didn't... but I thought it was funny...

Anyway .. Nathan woke up and he went and got him, made him a bottle... changed his mushy tushy ... and settled back in on the couch with him... by the time he was done with his bottle it was time for the show to end...

She comes on saying "Well it was a TOUGH choice, we had a lot of great Dads and ... "
UP POPS UP OUR PICTURE!!!

:::: shakes head :::: HUH!?!

Dennis was grinning and Nathan was clapping... lol..

and she goes on about how they really enjoyed what we wrote and how it really shows what a great guy, and great dad he is...

This is what was written...

My Dad isn't my Dad by birth, but he is my Step-Dad. He is a man who stepped up and took responsibility for my brother and I when he didn't have to. He fell in love with my mom, and took on the challenges of us. My brother is 6 and has a rare genetic disorder, my mom was told he would die before he was born, and I'm 12 and Mom likes to say I'm a "hand full" sometimes. He has shown us love, support, a lot of guidance, a lot of humor, and a ton fun. He loves us no matter what we do, just like my mom. We now have a baby brother who is his, and he doesn't treat us any different, and another baby brother on the way. He is our Step-Dad, but he is our Dad too. He is our major role model, and our Hero. He has been searching for 3 months for a good job and hasn't been able to find one, I think he deserves something great, and we just can't get him a lot. Thank you for considering him.

A couple months later......

I am alive :D Just thought some would like that announcement.

I haven't been blogging much other then one place.

A lot of things have been going on and I'm just trying to deal with them.

For the most part, everything is great!

Calahan is doing well, he just finished up 6th Grade.

Noah graduated Kindergarten ... (wahhhhhhhhhhh) ...

Nathan turned 1 on April 19th and is now almost 14 months old...

Kaedyn is 26 weeks along tomorrow :)

I will start posting some pictures and a better update over the next couple days. I'm really tired right now, I've been up since 5:30 ....

Again I've been a bit MIA

The morning sickness ....er .... nausea has been kicking my BUTT ... I am severely nauseated all day and if I'm sitting/laying I can usually fight off the having to rush to bow to the porcelian throne... however, if I am standing for more then 2 minutes... it's so on with my stomach :(

I haven't been doing much of anything.. it takes all my energy to take care of the kids most days.

Anyway ... I have had horrible fears with this pregnancy that I haven't expressed to anyone, truly. Everytime we go into the DR (well 3 times so far in 16 weeks) I fear we'll go in for ultrasound and the baby's heart won't be beating. This all stems from my 13 miscarriages and the fact that I have had two babies who were preemies and had some issues...

Fact is... this baby is doing GREAT!! I mean AWESOME!!! I had my amnio yesterday so I had an ultrasound too. Although I'm hurting now (and was after also) ... I actually didn't feel the amnio at all this time.. ::whew:: I was actually able to make a couple jokes/comments while he was drawing out the tablespoon and a half of fluid he needed. Anyway - it started out with a scan of the baby ... baby's heart rate was 141 pre-amnio (150 after) ... but we saw how BIG baby has gotten since my last scan (7 weeks) ... and I was just amazed... and when I saw the little heart flickering, I wanted to cry. Seriously... but I managed to keep my emotions in check. And the best part of the whole ultrasound... they do measurements to estimate the baby's weight and due date... and with both Nathan and Noah - they always measured small and the EDD would get moved away farther...... Based on certain things, I have had 3 due dates...

LMP = September 19, 2008

O = September 20, 2008

7 wk U/S = September 22, 2008

So yesterday during the scan ... the baby measured with an EDD of Sept 17, 2008!!! The baby is actually measureing BIG!!!!!!! I am seariously so excited about that!! I might have a fat healthy baby yet!!

Anyway .... the only other thing is we didn't see any boy parts.. lol... we'll find out for sure what it is in 8 to 10 days when the results come back... but for now, we're thinking *girl* ... Dennis said that he didn't want to admit it but during Nathan's amnio ultrasound he thought he saw boy parts but he didn't want to say it out loud because he was afraid it was true (not that he didn't want a boy, but by that time he had totally convinced me in was a girl - plus he really really wants another little girl, and to give me my first girl)... Dennis swears he saw a "racing stripe" on the ultrasound when she passed over and tried to focus in on the lower half. And I know exactly what he is talking about, because I saw it too... however... I just won't believe it until I hear the words out of DR. B's mouth.... I still feel like my bubble is going to be burst and it's going ot be a boy... I won't care, I'll probably find it utterly halarious... but ... I told Dennis I'm getting the urge to start looking at and buying little girl stuff - but I'm not going to. I've been good and haven't bought ONE SINGLE little girl thing so far this whole pregnancy and I'm not going to jinx it now.
Ending on a funny note, after the inital ultrasound DR B came in while I was in the bathroom, he asked Dennis where I was and said "did she run away?" I came out of the bathroom and said "well the fun part was over so I was going to leave out of the other door, but these rooms there aren't two doors in the bathroom" he laughed and said "yeah we did that on purpose." LOLOL... I was on the table freaking out and trying not to think about what was about to happen - I grabbed Dennis' hand (who says I had a death grip on it) ... and covered my eyes... If I can't see, it's not going to happen right!?!? Well during this time Dennis laughed and made a comment and Dr. B said "well it's not like I've ever had a patient go 'gimme another one of those!'" ... so I said something like "well technecially didn't I call to set this up?" he goes "well yeah I guess you did, so thanks to you, I can't say that anymore!" LOLOLOL... I said "yeah now you'll tell everyone "I've only had one paitent call and ask for more and then she curls into a ball and cries when the time comes" LOLOLOL... he just laughed.

So we had a *scare* with Calahan the other day. He was complaining of not feeling well before he went to school - I figured it was a cold setting in considering he isists on playing outside with a jacket/barely any shirt - and it's only 40-50 degree weather right now. So I gave him some cold med, tylonal, and sent him off to school. I told him if he just felt like he couldn't do it, he could call, but he needed to try. So he did ... a few hours later I got a call from his school... it was one of his teachers saying that he was not doing well OR looking good and she thought he needed to come home.

So he came home and Dennis ended up taking him into urgent care.... we *thought* he might have appendicitis due to a lot of those type of symptoms but turns out it was just impacted bowels. He had prune juice and a poop pop and 12 hours later - NOTHING - he said he wanted to go to school - so he did. When he got home I asked him if he had gone yet and he said yes, he was actually 5 minutes late for one of his classes because of it. A few minutes later.... he was stuck in our bathroom because "it won't stop coming out" ... oye! I couldn't help but to laugh after awhile because he was cussing out (without swear words or he'd be grounded!) Dennis for giving him all the stuff .. LOLOLOL... that and he was being SO DRAMATIC about it...

Today we were outside in the yard a lot. This morning I was hurting really bad, but the kids and Dennis were outside most the day picking up garbage around our yard and stuff and in our yard (we were still moving in stuff and a lot of boxes I had thrown out of the house that Dennis hadn't gotten in the garage got piled on with snow....) ... so anyway - all that was picked up and Dennis finally got the van we are selling 100% cleaned out... so that's up for sale now. Then Nathan and I joined them outside and Nathan took his first ride in the baby swing on our swingset... he didn't like it much the first time... after the sun went down some he liked it... we ran to walmart to get him a cheap walker so that he had something to sit in outside - and HE COULDN'T REACH THE GROUND on the LOWEST setting. That poor kid! We also threw some burgers on the grill and ate outside :)

Anyway - that's about it for now :)

Happy St. Patricks Day.... Love Nathan

And the rest of the boys too! :)

My Mom's Visit...

First off it was way to short - seriously :( I miss her a ton ... I love watching her with the boys and they love her so much. Sometimes it's sad because she doesn't get to visit a lot ... but the boys act like she's going to be staying forever... and everyday Noah says "are you going home?" and we go "not today" because otherwise it's 100 questions ... but it's always sad when she goes home.
I love the above picture of Calahan - even if he was being a moody pre-teen :(

Anyway ....... we ended up going to a place here called Action City - it's pretty cool... the boys had a ton of fun (we all did) ... they won a TON of tickets and had a blast picking out "prizes" at prize shop that cost maybe 1/3 the cost of what we had to put into the machines to get the tickets. But the important thing is ... the boys had a ton of fun. Calahan got to FINALLY try the rock wall and Noah got "The Annoying Thing" as a prize... now, if you do not KNOW "The Annoying Thing" you MUST google "Crazy Frog - Axel F video" ... you will forever be thankful... heehee..

Lady Bug Tracks

So I was washing bottles the other day and the stem from the water was collecting on the window ... and I noticed a lady bug (which is just funny cuz we still have 3 feet of snow on the ground) ... and then I noticed... the lady bug tracks........

Well I am 12 weeks... a little over, unless you go by the ultrasound "due date" in which case I'm 12 weeks today, but right now I'm sticking with the 20th...... wow........ baby changed a lot from 11 to 12 weeks .. lol... ... I am feeling pretty good still ... it's just weird to not be miserable right now. LOL... I'm so use to pregnancy=miserable... LOLOL. Is this a sign it's a girl, like many of you have suggested? .... eh, we'll see I guess. Only time will tell on that on. I'm not so sure we'll know by Nathan's birthday if it's a boy or girl... my next OB appt is April 11th and I'll be almost 17 weeks then, the amino has been done at 16 weeks both times with Noah and Nathan... so, I was thinking I need to call in and talk to my DRs PA and see if we can just schedule the amino for April 11th also, and that means we won't get the results back until... the EARLIEST ... April 21/22.... Nathan's birthday is April 19. Soooooo .. yeah... it's gonna drive me C-R-A-Z-Y ...... oh well though - huh? I swear I have been feeling the little bug bumping around... oh and for those who have asked, the *baby* has two sites really .... one being my blog I rarely write in.....

http://bearwolfden.blogspot.com/

and then the website like I have set up for Nathan's ...

http://baby2008.aboutmybaby.com/ password is: baby2008

for anyone who wants to see Nathan's who hasn't ... his is ...

http://nathanpatrick.aboutmybaby.com/ password is: 51307

I just updated both of them yesterday morning....

Anyway .......... funny story.... we went to Olive Garden last week (before we found out we'd have no money ... ugh!) ... and it was just Dennis, Nathan and I ... well we tried the big boy highchair (there) for him and he sorta bumped around... but he was eating crackers and bread sticks (at least chewing on them) ... anyway - Dennis had a 5-cheese ziti or something like that ... and Nathan was in his lap... Dennis was dipping some bread in it and Nathan was watching him... and then he dipped the little piece of breadstick he had in it.. lol... anyway he LOVED the sauce on Dennis' food and Dennis gave him some on his finger - and everytime Nathan ate it he would growl - meaning he wanted more... it was so cute. I do have a very bad picture of them on my cell phone...

Now let me tell you about my little Dr. Pepper Bandit... lol... if anyone leaves a can of Dr. Pepper on the floor (like Daddy does) then he goes and steals it..... and a couple days ago, silly Daddy had a can on the floor with some still in it... well, Nathan got a taste and liked it... I watched him... made a little bit of a splash.. but ... he went back for more! LOL...

Nathan... speaking of the little stinker... he fell out of his crib two days ago. This is one of those, I'm a horrible Mommy moments... lol... so we got home from running around today and laid Nathan down for a nap - well he had other ideas and wasn't real pleased with that one. Dennis laid down because he has a bad head cold right now and wanted to sleep a little. That's fine... So I was hoping after Nathan fell asleep I would go join Dennis and take a little nap of my own while the older boys occupied themselves. NOPE ... WRONG... Nathan was fussing, obviously not happy with the situation in any way. Instead of going and rescuing him from the evil crib monster, I went in my room and laid because Dennis for no more then 5 minutes... before hand, stepping in Nathan's doorway and watching him for a good 30 seconds to a minute... he was not moving - just softly whining... so I thought, there might he hope, he may just fall asleep. Poor over tired little boy. So, realizing the crib side was down, I had a moment of ... "oh I should put that up" but didn't ... figuring the sight of me would make him more upset .. and even though he has started to put his little hands on the rails when they are down, he basically has only been doing it to pull himself to the side railings, but not UP .... so... I figured he would be fine... so I walked into the bedroom and laid down next to my hubby... we talked a little... and Nathan started crying a little more... Dennis goes "he's not happy" ... I made some comment about the baby jail... and he laughed. I went to give him a kiss and get up to get Nathan and we heard this "BOOM-THUMP-THUD" and Nathan's crying get more intense. First I said "What was THAT?" and then I thought "OMG DID HE FALL OUT OF HIS CRIB??!!" ... sure enough, he did... I had jumped up 5 seconds after it happened and rushed to his room and Calahan was already carrying him out and I grabbed him. Of course Calahan heard me ask if he did and said he did... needless to say he didn't leave the guilty Mommy's arms for an hour about and didn't sleep until about 7. Good thing Daddy remembers to put it up...

"I'm pregnant.... pregnancy and having brain cells aren't compatible" ... That's what I said to Dennis the other day.... he retorted saying how he hopes it comes back soon because it's one of the main reasons he fell in love with me... lol.. how smart I am. How intellectual I am. I said "I'm sorry, my brain seems to turn to mush when I'm pregnant."

Friday was my first day since last Monday where I had no kids, other then Nathan, who were home sick... and ... I just DIED to get out of the house. I didn't care where, when, who, what... I just wanted O-U-T ..... I was even willing to go to Physical Therapy with Dennis.. yes it's sad, but true. So we ended up doing several things.. one being stopping at Best Buy to look at washers... see I've been limping my washer... the past .. year? I knew something wasn't *right* about it... the tub doesn't drain right. The clothes are still sopping wet when they come out... I'm sure it stresses out my dryer horrible... cuz I can never wring out the clothes enough. We also stopped at Walmart ... and... I don't even remember where else. Who cares... I go out of the house.

So onto random thought number 5013...

Anyone who knows me - truly - knows how much I love Nora Roberts... I am a avid reader .. collector (almost have all her books)... so explain to me why I have been sitting on her latest book for a couple of months now, and haven't got past, the first chapter really? Then there is my other book weakness... romances (or smut novels as I called them in high school) ... with babies on the cover (or even pregnant women work) ... I had over 200 books with those said qualifications. I have a major weakness for a cute baby. Anyway ... I picked up two new ones the other day. I haven't given into that weakness for ... oh - almost 2 years? So... why now? I'm pregnant... and I want to read. SO WHY CAN I NOT READ MY NR BOOK!??!! Sigh.... so my mission... read the book by next weekend. Think it will happen?? Stay tuned......

So Calahan has this friend... we'll call him *S* ... I'm not sure what to think of this kid. Honestly. He's a cute kids, you can see the potential there. But he straddles that line as far as he can, sometimes (more often) stepping over to the black side... and causing trouble... but now and then, you see the pain in this kids eyes. It's sad to doubt it's real and just a game... however I do. He is 10 (maybe 11) years old... anyway *S*'s mom is a single mom ... and called me early in the school season to ask me if when the kids got home from school, the days she worked, if they could hang out here for a little while until she got home... about an hour... I told her no problem. She offered to pay me, I told her not to bother. It's no biggy. *S* will come over and want to play - he likes it over here, which is fine... however, he treats Noah like crap some times... (Noah gets rather jealous when he's left out of the picture) ... Now, Noah does have the tendency to get a little out of control (crying, screaming, showing you his general dissatisfaction with not giving in) .. however he is NOT one to punch, kick, etc... *S* and even Calahan's girlfriend - have been known on occasion to wrestle, punch, kick, slap, hit, etc... they egg on the whole bad half of the situation. In regards to Cal's GF, I know she means well and just sorta gets caught up... however... I don't know about *S* he has a major temper problem. And he lies. Last time he came over (Friday after school) ... they came over (*S*, Cal's GF and her little sister) ... and they went downstairs to play... at 5:30 they were all sent home. All of them. Cal came back with *S* saying that *S* said his mom wasn't home. Fine... come back in for a little while. After a little while, some fighting between *S* and Noah .. Calahan saying he was being mean to Noah... and so I told them to go check to see if she was home yet. They went in the living room... somehow I hear the phone buttons being pressed... and so I guess they are calling. I hear *S* say that there is no answer, after a bit of a tug of war type fighting. After a few minutes - Cal was yelling at *S* and next thing I know - he marched his butt in the living room and called himself. I hear him talking, this is no more then 3 minutes after the first call was made. And then he comes in the kitchen - where I was feeding Nathan - and we were waiting for *S* to leave so we could eat... he goes "His mom is home, she says she's been there for awhile" ..... so Cal goes to walk *S* home... and *S* had already left, after Cal told him his mom was home and called him out on his lie... Cal says he said he hated him ... and so *S* stormed off home without waiting for Cal to get his stuff on. Fine - whatever I guess. Then Cal comes to the table and says "I know he was lying, he demanded the phone the first time I dialed the number for him and he turned off the phone before he put them up to his ear Mom" ... on one hand... I feel bad for the kid. I don't think his home life is exactly stable. He complains about his Mom's abusive boyfriend (so he says) ... and he refuses ADIMATELY to not be home when he is... it almost worries me. I mean *S* hates leaving my house, but usually he just stomps his foot, puts a little begging into it, but after a couple no's he goes home... the ONLY time he has ever fought with me about going home, has been when this guy is around. On the other hand, I almost want to wash my hands of this kid because there is a lot of darkness in him.

So anyway ... my van is fixed, and I got it back today. Dennis ... well there is good news on that front... his back isn't *fine* but it's not as bad as they thought. Seems his back is shaped like it is most likely because of a *birth defect* of sorts... and his back is the way it is to accommodate it... his back just has done what it has needed to in order to survive... I guess. He doesn't need surgery - thank the stars! What else... I'm not sure.. I guess that's it for now...... yesterday I spent ALL DAY cleaning and organizing my room. I hate cleaning - but I really want a clean house! LOL..

Now on my last note... I must discuss BB9/After Dark.... the Big Brother cast is out of control. Okay - I have to say it.... you see stuff on After Dark that no one should see! For example....James' penis... ahhhhhhhhh LOL... Two weeks ago there was a major group orgie ... of sorts... Chelsia and Natalie did a strip tease ... you saw all sorts of stuff (and body parts) .... and then the "fun" moved into the pool and everyone was kissing everyone ... except, Ryan behaved (he was in the pool but he behaved) ... and Shelia, Amanda & Allison watched from the kitchen window. On the show, they make it LOOK like there is possibly something going on with Natalie and Matt... when there ISN'T .... Natty and Matty (laugh) ... well, we'll just say Matty actually runs away from Natty and hides from her... meanwhile, he's kissing on Sharon (while she was HOH with Josh). And the relationship that IS going on in the house, they don't even TOUCH on... Chelsia and James have (I am pretty sure) had sex. James REALLY likes Chelsia and they are constantly kissing on each other. And between Chelsia and James... there is a rumored three some that happened with Allison before she left, because "she would do anything to stay" ... (what else.... racking the brain) ... OH Natalie..... she starts off as the "Stripper" slut in the show, showing her boobs, butt, etc and so on... she talks freely about the abortion she had 4 years ago because she was "too young to deal with it" ... and she has sqirted (no kidding here) breast milk across the room because she still has it. Now I know that once women get it - some don't ever get rid of it... however, if you are not far enough along in your pregnancy!?!?! Breast milk doesn't come in until the end for *most* women... so it makes me wonder if she didn't HAVE the baby and put it up for adoption or something, and would just rather people think she had an abortion for whatever reason. And NOW NOW NOW she is walking around the house talking about how Christian she is and carrying around her bible and spouting off stuff... I just find it rather annoying. And on last nights AD .. I heard that Natalie not only had one, but TWO abortions? Or didn't have the second abortion? Something.. because she was pregnant when she had her boob job done and was pregnant agian (after the abortion) and they wouldn't do the boob job if she was pregnant, so she took someone elses pee in so that she wouldn't test positive? So maybe she m/c because of the surgery? I don't know ... but WTH!?!!?!?! ... Ummm.... Sharon told the whole story about what happened between her and Jacob.... and Ryan explained a couple nights ago that Allison is a professional gambler ... she counts black jack cards...... bought her last house in CASH.....and Josh. .... oh my my my Josh... he's crazy. He puts everyone down, mouths off about their imperfections on looks and fashion, and carries on complete conversations by himself.... for example.... out in the hot tub on last nights AD... talking to each of the house guests and how they were in the game and if he would take them to the end... rolling eyes... and now, you get to vote one of the evicted house guests back in.... mawhahahaha ... its and individual game now... lol..

Calahan & Noah too!

Just had to throw a picture of my older boys in too!!

Nathan vs the Pickle

We've been trying a lot of new foods lately .... this day we had pudding, gerber puffs, grape juice (you can see the line from it around his mouth.. lol) ... and a new food PICKLES.....

Hummm that's kinda good.... now, if I could just get the seeds off my face!

Nathan vs. the Churro

My biggest craving right now is Taco Salad from Taco Johns. Now I realize that "Taco Johns" is not as popular around this country as "Taco Bell" and trust me when I say the Taco Salad is 100% better at Taco Johns. So anyway ... One day - awhile back - when my friend Jess, her baby Noah, and Nathan & I stopped for lunch one day.. I let him nibble on a Churro...... well that started a whole new thing. HE LOVES THEM!!

He doesn't seem to like it laying down either.... the cinnamon and sugar tends to get in the eyes...

A close up of his cinnamon and sugar hand... lol..

I really REALLY have to write more...

So much to say... so little time.. between the constant nausea of pregnancy, the consistent back pain from not being able to get comfortable at night... the exhaustion ... lol..

But like I told the RN yesterday at my first appointment... compared to any of my boys, I don't even feel pregnant right now. It's hard to believe that I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow/Saturday ... and with Nathan, I ended up on moderate bed rest at 16 weeks... I keep thinking about how in a month I could be confined.. LOL... but I don't think I will be... This pregnancy is COMPLETELY different from the rest of them... it could just be the fact that I have Nathan to keep my mind off things. It just feels more "official" I guess... and yesterday, after 11 1/2 weeks... I threw up for the first time! What's up with that!?!?!?

Well in case you don't read my pregnancy blog... everything is great! I haven't gained much weight, my blood pressure (usually a major issue) was good yesterday...

We had a HORRIBLE week last week....... the transmission on my *new* (to me) van busted, Dennis got laid off, and he will probably need back surgery... his back is BAD and his liver count is REALLY high and they aren't sure why... I hate this, I'm scared for him. If he has to have back surgery then he'll be flat for a couple months. So I'll be pregnant, taking care of a baby, 2 other kids, and a laid out hubby.... sounds so fun to me....

We'll find out today I think.... at least part of it... the back part... might be a little bit before the liver part gets figured out.

The other night, when the announcement of Brett Favre's retirement came to light... the 30 minute news was bombared with a "memorial" service (so to speak) of Brett's career ... Dennis turned it on to find out about the election, and all we watched was Brett Favre this and Brett Favre that and highlights from Brett's greatest moments... for the first 10 minutes of the news broadcast... we didn't even watch the sports stuff...

Okay .. I have a lot of stuff going on photography wise... I got a new camera and other stuff BEFORE my transmission went out (now I'm scrambling trying to figure out how to get the money for it) ... I got a couple of "cups" for props... I'll share pictures here in a few ... after I get stuff put up on the photography site...

As for other stuff... let's talk a little TV .. the Big Brother cast is out of control. Okay - I have to say it.... you see stuff on After Dark that no one should see! LOL.... Last week there was a major group orgie ... of sorts... Chelsia and Natalie did a strip tease ... you saw all sorts of stuff (and body parts) .... and then the "fun" moved into the pool and everyone was kissing everyone ... except, Ryan behaved (he was in the pool but he behaved) ... and Shelia, Amanda & Allison watched from the kitchen window. On the show, they make it LOOK like there is possibly something going on with Natalie and Matt... when there ISN'T .... Natty and Matty (laugh) ... well, we'll just say Matty actually runs away from Natty and hides from her... meanwhile, he's kissing on Sharon. And the relationship that IS going on in the house, they don't even TOUCH on... Chelsia and James have (I am pretty sure) had sex. James REALLY likes Chelsia and they are constantly kissing on each other. And between Chelsia and James... there is a rumored three some that happened with Allison before she left, because "she would do anything to stay" ... (what else.... racking the brain) ... OH Natalie..... she starts off as the "Stripper" slut in the show, showing her boobs, butt, etc and so on... she talks freely about the abortion she had 4 years ago because she was "too young to deal with it" ... and she has sqirted (no kidding here) breast milk across the room because she still has it. Now I know that once women get it - some don't ever get rid of it... however, if you are not far enough along in your pregnancy!?!?! Breast milk doesn't come in until the end for *most* women... so it makes me wonder if she didn't HAVE the baby and put it up for adoption or something, and would just rather people think she had an abortion for whatever reason. And NOW NOW NOW she is walking around the house talking about how Christian she is and carrying around her bible and spouting off stuff... I just find it rather annoying. Ummm.... Sharon told the whole story about what happened between her and Jacob.... and Ryan just explained that Allison is a professional gambler ... she counts black jack cards...... bought her last house in CASH..... and now, you get to vote one of the evicted house guests back in.... mawhahahaha ... its and individual game now... lol..

American Idol... eh - I'll talk about that later....

Ghost Hunters is back!!!!!!! WHOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay enough of TV... The boys have all had their illnesses the past couple weeks. Oye! Nathan got his first ear infection, first pneumonia, first diaper rash AND cut his first TWO teeth all in one week! Noah has had a mysterious fever ... no clue on that one... And Calahan, even though he has had the flu shot, has the flu.

Whatever it is........ I don't want it.

Okay ... I'm going to close off for now... I have photography work to do! OYE!

The Moon .... the moon in the sky....

(this next one is a time exposure - so that's the Earth moving)


Incase you didn't know.... there is a Lunar Eclipse tonight :)

10 months of Nathan....

My lil Nathan turned 10 months old yesterday... it's hard to believe it. He'll be One in 2 short months. We'll be celebrating it in Wisconsin Dells - which should be very fun!! The boys are all excited! We're going with some friends... so it should be a bunch of fun ...

Yesterday he did a little something new.... he sat on his own for a couple moments, and then prop'd up for a couple minutes, and with me giving him slight support behind him for about 5 minutes. He has been trying to make the transition from crawling to sitting but it's hard to do that when you can't sit. LOL...



And looooooooooookie his little toofers!?!!?? Can you see the two of them there, and I think he's getting his third tooth too but it hasn't pop'd through yet...
Well lets not forget about the rest of the family.... I over heard Calahan say "I can sing this song better then Dennis" yesterday. Well it's funny cuz they have that Rock Band game where they can actually have a compition.. lol.. here is a picture of Dennis and Calahan helping out Noah.. lol... Anyway .... Calahan DID beat Dennis by FAR the first round on the song he claimed he could sing better, then they did it one more time, and Dennis won.... then they did a couple other songs.... and as the score stands right now.... it's Dennis - 3 ... Calahan - 2 ..... but we realized last night, Calahan has a good voice, and with some training... who knows.

Well in politics (which I actually hate btw) .... Obama won in WI and so did McCain... did I go out and vote, no ... why? because I don't know who I like. The one person I did like, dropped out of the race, so I've been lost since then. Dennis really likes Obama (he's from IL originally) and he did go and vote for him. I saw some of Huckabee's speech air'd live on local TV while he was in our town and I liked what he had to say... there are some things I don't agree with though .... so I donno. I actually made a joke saying "do we really want a Pres with the last name Huckabee?" .. who knows what will happen I guess. Our city was a little bitter at Clinton because she canceled her local speech because of "time conflicts" and so it really left a bitter taste in the city's mouth. Whooooooooooo knows........ I will be voting when it comes time to do so this November... I just need to know I'm voting for the *right* person...

And on the LAST note of this morning........ Reality TV...... American Idol and Big Brother....

Let's start with American Idol... last night was the guys half of the first round of voting... there are some definite favorites... but my question is this.... what are your thoughts on the fact that several of the people on the show have been signed to contracts before? Part of me think it's unfair.... part of me think they didn't they obviously didn't make it for whatever reason the first time and continue their fight.... but it makes ya wonder. Ya know?

Big Brother........ this show is just messed up! Let me tell you!! Well actually I'm not going to tell you. I am just amazed how messed up this show is.. LOL... I think it is very unfair that they didn't put Jen and Ryan together... and the "Lesbian Alliance!?!" coooooome on, I can't believe they are falling for that!! Allison is such a b.......... (sorry I just don't like her) and her walking around going "Ryan is such a great guy, he is totally the guy I would go for" and blah blah... she's going to try to break up him and Jen, mark my word, if they (Allison and Ryan) continue on the show. It's messed up... Josh is a ticking time bomb I think. There was a HUGE fight that broke out on After Dark a couple nights ago... I'm waiting to see how much of that makes it on the show.... and everyone in the house really dislikes Amanda now... it's just messed up. M E S S E D U P ! ! ! ... lol...

Anyway - gotta go rush get Noah ready for school and out the door! LOL

It's been a long... long ... time...

I suppose I should apoligize for being a horrid blogger.... BAD BAD ME.... (bending over for all who want to take spankin shots) .... (turning around and glaring...) ... geez, it wasn't a REAL offer!

A lot of things have happened.................... first off....

Yep that's right, my baby is 6.... SIX I say... it's unfair. Completely unfair... but amazing all on it's own. To look at him and know that he was given a death sentence before he was even born, just amazes me. He's beaten all the odds, and then some!

February 1st he turned the big SIX ... it was a special day, let me tell you.

Just looking at that child makes me weepy - because his birthday is always a hard time for me. Not because I don't want him to get older, but lets be real... no mother wants their child to grow up sometimes. I have memories of his birth, which was tramatic for me in ways ... but ultimately I got to meet a very very tiny baby ... all one pound twelve ounces of him. Every birthday is a celebration, truly.

In other news, we saw the new petal to our garden. I had a 7 week scan and we saw the heartbeat!!! I'm 9 weeks pregnant now, but here is a picture from that scan (minus all my information of course)
Here is sweet Nathan.... I mean come on, how can you not go "awwwwwww" over this picture!?!
My sweet little Valentine!!
He is FINALLY over 11lbs! He was 11lbs 2oz and 24 1/2 inches at his last weigh in (last week) ... The poor baby had his FIRST ear infection and a touch of pneumonia ... and his first diaper rash........ AND his FIRST TWO TEETH all in one week!! Poor kid :(

In other news - we have new vehicles (well not NEW but new to us) ... and I have a new camera on the way!! :) Plus some other fun stuff. I did want to update though... sorry I haven't done it sooner... I'll try to be better!

Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!!

I suppose I should announce...

I suppose I should announce why I've been kinda quite lately....

.

.

.

.

.

Well, I recenetly found out that I am..............

Yes that's actaully my test and not some picture I found on some website... LOL... This was after taking 3 others with 2 lines.... Here is Nathan.... he just doesn't know what to think....

What is this??

It means I'm going to be a WHAT!?!?!?!?!

He's 12.... (can I cry now??)

Calahan and Nathan (above) and his cake (below)
Momma being artsy fartsy...
with the candles....
About to blow out the candles...

12 Years ago... I had given birth to a beautiful baby boy... He made me what I am today... He made me a "Mom" ... we went through a lot of firsts together... he is always testing me and preparing me to be a better Mother for his brothers... but he thinks I'm a great mom too, so that's all that really counts. Boy... :: sniff :: I cannot believe he's 12...

"Do Girls Fart??"

If you haven't read my last post .. lol... then you didn't read about my 5 year old (he's almost 6 - wahhhhhhh) ... asking me, all serious... "Mom, do girls fart?" ...

Well... I didn't happen to mention right after he asked that.. he tilted his tiny body a little... and this trumpet sound escaped him and he smiled proudly and said "excuse me!"

I smiled at him.. and said "yes they do, honey... but not like you... you are the Prince of Gas! Course... Daddy Dennis is the king!" ....

He accepted that answer, thought it was a good one... and walked off.. but of course not without one last bubble of stink ... ::sigh::