SURPRISE!

The 3 1/2 month awaited update for all you crazies that still check this :-)

My little blueberry has grown immensely. This week: about as long as an ear of corn, and weighs over a pound. Also, apparently my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball now (which means my feeling huge isn't all in my head).


We now know that my little kicker is a BOY (but anyone who reads this already knows that)!! Caleb hugs and kisses my belly almost daily. The other night he was determined to bring Brian into the living room... we thought he just wanted to play, but he brought him straight over to my belly to say hi to his 'broyr' (some of his words are quite difficult to spell out).

A milestone update on my now 21 month old: his favorite things to do at the moment involve helping me. Some days it seems he doesn't even touch his bazillion toys taking up our whole living room, but instead spends the morning helping me sweep, vacuum, and doing laundry. He's a pro at taking the clean laundry out of the dryer when he hears the buzzer-- and even always remembers to empty the lint trap! In the evenings he almost always helps me cook dinner, which usually consists of getting out a pot and a pan (he's always quite particular about which one he wants that day). He asks me to put water in one, and then he proceeds to mix it on the floor and transfer the water back and forth between pots. At some point, I always hear the 'uh oh, uh oh's after it ends up on the floor, but he prompty grabs a towel to clean it up. Whenever he's done he likes Brian and I to smell/taste his creation, and always looks so pleased when we tell him how yummy it is.

His vocabulary is expanding daily. He'll mimick almost any word we say to him, and he's starting to put the end syllables onto his words (du has turned into duck... ca into cake, etc). The one that makes me smile most has to be the new way he says mommy & daddy. We used to go by 'maaaay' and 'daaaay', but he now says 'Mamay' and 'Dayday'. One of those much cuter in person things :-)

Ok, ok, that's it for me. My apologies that it took this long. You may be in for a bit of a wait again though-- until I can convince whoever I need to convince to tack on 2 hours to each day....

Blueberry

This site I use to get my weekly updates on pregnancy always refers to the baby as a certain type of food to give a reference point to their size. Until we find out the gender and figure out a name, baby Sheats is commonly referred to as their appropriate food of the week. Hence, blueberry.
I'll be 8 weeks this Saturday, but I wanted to share what's been going on in baby Sheats' life for the past week.
-arms & legs continue to develop, while hands and feet begin to sprout!
-baby has doubled in size within the past week & is now 1/2 an inch long
-eyelid folds partially begin to cover the eyes (which already have some color)
-both hemispheres of the brain are rapidly growing
-baby's liver is producing red blood cells until bone marrow forms & takes over
-appendix & pancreas have formed
-a loop in baby's growing intestines is bulging into the umbilical cord

Other things going on in my body:
-uterus has doubled in size over the past month
-I have 10% more blood flowing through my body (will be 45% more by the end of pregnancy)

Info on that picture: that tail that you see is the tailbone, and will be getting smaller each day. By next week it'll be almost completely gone, and baby will have more of a human-like face, with an exceptionally big brain on top. 10-12 weeks is when they really start resembling more of a 'baby'. I love it though. Seeing pictures like that is helping me get through these difficult weeks! First ultrasound in T-14 days!

"Chew & swallow"

The title comes from an old family saying. I guess it comes from the need to overeat at those wonderful holiday meals. Once you're full but feel the need to keep stuffing your face, it's a chant that helps get you through those extra bites. It's rather funny... but sounds extremely odd when written down. I'll move on..

Point being, that's been my mantra the past two weeks. Pregnancy does such incredibly odd things to your body. The complete loss of wanting to eat, but the complete need to eat every twenty minutes so I won't keel over from starvation. It's a cycle. Everything I smell makes me sick, but I have to suck it up and get the food in! It's gotten increasingly difficult to make lunches for my son, because the mere sight of grilled cheese, or most anything else for that matter, makes me gag non-stop. By dinner time I'm usually curled up in the fetal position on the couch while Brian lovingly offers to make dinner. I've been so impressed with his cooking abilities this past week! So, aside from the nausea morning til night, I'm just tired. Always tired. All I ever want to do is sleep, but I never get enough.

In other news... Caleb got another haircut this week. I took my banana to the hair salon, and prayed that I didn't up-chuck on the floor the whole time, but I made it through! It's much shorter this time... which definitely makes him look more like his daddy. I can't believe he's 17 months already. Now when strangers ask me how old he is I say "almost 1 1/2". Maybe that's only a big deal to me, but it is. He's saying new words everyday.... and up to about 50 now. After 6 months of constantly learning new words, on Valentines Day I FINALLY heard one of the words I've been dying to hear. Mommy. Now he says it all the time. I just love the sounds of it. Of course it sounds more like "Maaaiiiyy" if that makes any sense, but I love it. There are going to be a lot of changes going on this summer for my little guy before his new brother or sister comes. Two being: switching to a toddler bed & the dredded 'taking away of the pacifier'.

I'm going to end this awkwardly abrupt. Hunger just struck me, and I may die if I don't eat within the next 45 seconds. To be continued...

I'm not fat, I'm...

...due in early October! Well, I can't quite get away with that excuse yet. As right now the baby is the size of a sesame seed-- but yep there's still a baby in there! And yes, an embryo is still a baby. This week the heart & circulatory system even begin to form... as we speak the heart is dividing into chambers and will begin to pump blood in the next few days. AMAZING. How can someone that small have a working heart? Furthermore, how do people still not believe in God after witnessing miracles like this? That's a story for another day I suppose...
As of now, I'm still feeling ok. I've been getting plenty of sleep, but by 11am I'm so tired again I feel like I haven't slept in days. Other than that, no morning sickness yet! ...but I am already waking up in the middle of the night to pee. I know this sounds ambitious, possibly crazy, but my goal is to have Caleb somewhat potty trained by October. As of now, he just likes to sit on his potty and read Goodnight Gorilla over and over again, and if he's there at the right time, we get lucky. Two days ago we had our first 'sign' of him somewhat realizing he had to go though. I think it was a sign at least, we ran to the potty, and he ended up going almost instantly. I figure right now I have nothing else to do but grow a baby, so why not spend some time focusing on potty training while I can and see if we get lucky. If it doesn't work out, no harm done.... it's not like I have other pressing appointments though. Heck, the boy likes reading so much we might just camp out in the bathroom with books and juice. So, that's where you can imagine me this summer. Sitting on the bathroom floor with my big baby belly. At least we just got the bathroom painted. I must admit it's much more appealing to sit in there now.
Anywho, back to Baby #2. My first appointments aren't until the first week of March. A whole month til that first ultrasound. Man, I can't wait to see those pictures. In the meantime, we're already starting to look at names (and are agreeing much more this time)! However, I'm not allowed to spill the beans this time-- hubby's orders :-) Speaking of husbands, have I mentioned how incredible mine is lately? He's been late twice for work in the past week because he was so determined to surprise me with an empty dishwasher when I came down in the morning. I'm so blessed...

Guess who's back...

I had hoped I'd never have to say this, but Caleb's MRSA has returned. It's different this time though, so different.
When this struck us 10 months ago he was sick, the abscess looked awful, and the whole dredded event went from nothing to surgery based within 72 hours. This time he's fine. Seems healthy & happy, and his infection is quite small. Still, the culture tested positive, so he's on two antibiotics to kick it before it gets worse. I'm just so surprised because Brian and I believed it would come back negative. He had two little pimples at the top of his diaper area, which just stuck around for about 5 days without getting smaller/less irriated, so I decided to be proactive and get it cultured. After they stuck the needle in to get the sample, the pimples both lost all inflammation, and started to look like nothing more than a little scab. We figured since they looked like they were healing, there was no way that awful bacteria could be lurking around in his body again. Anywho, he's sleeping soundly, medicated, and it should be gone within the week.
My poor baby. Even though he isn't hurting this time, it still hurts me. I can't stop thinking that this is something he'll have to battle with the rest of his life. I hate to think of that. I continue to pray that God will heal him permanently though. That the MRSA will leave our house forever. I know there's a purpose in all of this.... I just wish it was clear and I could see it. Sometimes I think God's purpose for hurt is just to get you on your knees though. It's working. I wish it didn't take my son's health for me to realize I need to pray without ceasing.

So, there's my update. Pray for my little boy to be healed. While you're at it, pray for someone that you haven't in a while as well :-)
My next post will be happier. Promise.

Snow!

Though it wasn't much, we were all still able to have a snowball fight!

I Earned My Stripes!

I had this deep epiphany today. One that I'll probably forget about by tomorrow, so I'm writing it down for myself in the future.
I was sitting on the floor watching Caleb play this afternoon, and my eyes started welling up with tears thinking about how amazing he is. He's grown and transformed as a person so much within the short 16 months he's been alive. It's truly amazing. He's learned countless things since he was born. The changes he's gone through are so rapid, and so monumental.
It got me thinking about change, and how life... from birth to death is nothing but change. These changes aren't necessarily gradual, but come in spurts. Growth spurts.
So, I’m watching my beautiful Caleb. I’m marveling at his milestones, growth spurts, 4 successes on the potty, mouth full of teeth, etc... and at some point, I think to myself, “If you are so happy for this rapid change, growth and transformation in your son, then why aren’t you celebrating your own as well?” Deep. I mean, here I am, I'm a mother. This boy grew inside of me, and I'm lame enough to over-worry about about silly things like stretchmarks. It dawned on me how utterly stupid that is.
I tricked myself into believing having a baby is something I would "bounce back from". Instead of seeing it as a transformation, I just kept thinking it was a "situation" and that I would return to "normal" afterwards. I remember feeling so lucky when week 38 in my pregnancy rolled around and I was still stretchmark free. I woke up that morning, looked in the mirror before my shower, and loved that big baby belly-- there was definitely some pride in that morning. The next morning, literally, I woke up and saw something funny glistening in that same mirror. I immediately started blaming everything. The preeclampsia for making me gain weight so rapidly at the end, my genes, and I remember thinking to myself, "Why couldn't he have just come a few days early". I can't believe I was so selfish. I still am though. For the past 16 months, I've refused to look at my stomach in the mirror, and felt so horrified by those lines. Until today.
I looked at my stomach in that bathroom mirror today... with the lights on! Those things definitely weren't as horrid looking as I had remembered. So, tonight I feel invigorated with a new view on this post-pregnancy body. Heck, when you go on vacation, you bring back souvenirs... so this is just one of my souvenirs from pregnancy. My body worked hard those 39 weeks. I'm proud of that. Those marks are just a symbol of a whole transformation within me.
I earned my stripes, and for once... I'm proud of them.

An Obama nation.

Today was an important day in history. No getting around that. I was moved by the older men and women that came to bear the freezing weather to catch a glimpse of something they thought they'd never see.

Truthfully, I guess I never thought having an African-American president was out of reach. Truthfully, I don't think he's going to do things to our country that I'll agree with. Truthfully, he's my president now, so I salute him. I want him to succeed. I want him to accomplish things that will benefit Caleb and my future children. For him to do that, I need to pray for him. We all need to pray for him.

As I watched the coverage ALL day, I just kept thinking... how long will it be until all those people worshipping and praising our now president, will turn their unfulfilled hopes into curses and blame? He's only a man, and there's only so much he can do (and so much I hope he won't do) to fix things. Today is his day. He's basking in it, as he should be. Tomorrow, the hard work begins.

Pray for our president. Pray for our country.

God alone, not Barack Obama, can heal our nation.

Happy Anniversary to us

Four years ago at this time, Brian and I were speeding up Rt. 15 North to get spend a relaxing, frigid, honeymoon in the Poconos.

...through the good times and bad, in sickness and in health...

it's been a glorious 4 years.

Families never crumble in a day...

I found a video to one of my favorite songs today and had to share. The song is "Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns, from their new album Altar and the Door. It's probably the best album I've ever heard. I highly recommend everyone spend the $10 to buy it. It's worthwhile. As Mark Hall states, "This song was inspired by the spreading cancer of moral failure in the fathers of this generation. As believers, we must guard our hearts and understand that no one crashes and burns. They just slowly fade away one little compromise at a time". I'll post the lyrics underneath for those who don't know the song.

Be careful little eyes what you see~It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings~Be careful little feet where you go~For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow~It's a slow fade when you give yourself away~It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray~Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid~When you give yourself away~People never crumble in a day~It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade~Be careful little ears what you hear~When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near~Be careful little lips what you say~For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray~It's a slow fade when you give yourself away~It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray ~Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid~When you give yourself away~People never crumble in a day~The journey from your mind to your hands~Is shorter than you're thinking~Be careful if you think you stand~You just might be sinking~It's a slow fade when you give yourself away~It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray~Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid~When you give yourself away~People never crumble in a day~Daddies never crumble in a day~Families never crumble in a day~Oh be careful little eyes what see~Oh be careful little eyes what you see~For the Father up above is looking down in love~Oh be careful little eyes what you see

A perfect Christmas

Our festivites started on Chistmas Eve. Sadly, Brian and I were both battling colds and he especially was quite miserable... hence we missed the Christmas Eve service at church. Instead, we read the children's Christmas story out of Caleb's kiddy Bible. We regrouped all day and then spent a fun evening with all the in-laws. It's a tradition in my family to open Christmas jammies before bed... and we then called it a night.

Christmas morning: I was so excited for Caleb to open his presents that I woke up at 5:45 and somehow had to stay quiet until the boys woke up. I was productive though. Showered and got breakfast ready. I'm finding that I love doing things the way I grew up... I remember always having to wait in my parent's room Christmas morning while my dad went downstairs... he'd scout out if Santa came, turned on Christmas music and got a big fire going. Granted we don't have a fireplace, and our stockings were hung on the bannister, but I still love playing Christmas music while we open presents, and walking downstairs to a room filled with Santa droppings (SD's as my parents called them). There'd be candy hidden all over the room... granted it's not as fun when you have to put it out yourself, but still a tradition I want to continue with.

Luckily my boys were up a bit after 7, and since Caleb wasn't old enough to 'anticipate' Christmas yet, we were able to eat breakfast before opening presents. Stockings are always opened first, and someone must love me because I got a beautiful pair of earrings not to mention gift cards, and tons of Bath & Body works loot. Caleb had a 3 foot foam sword hanging out of his stocking... once he saw that Christmas could've been over. He excitedly opened his first few gifts though. Our big gift to him was a Bounce & Spin Zebra (which we stupidly didn't assemble first. A massive fit ensued as we tried to screw it together for him while realizing we didn't even get the AAA batteries he'd need for it--live & learn). I also got a new camera which I'm so excited about!

We had to keep movin' because Caleb needed a bath & nap before scooting down to Brian's parent's house for lunch & gifts with the whole family. We had a lovely time, and Caleb held it together on 1 hour of naps instead of his usual 3. We came home and finally attempted to eat my botched roast that I'd made the day before. Though it was a disappointment, it did it's job and filled our tummys. We then spent the evening playing with our new toys and dancing to the new Casting Crowns cd (which I recommend everyone get)!

All in all, it was a perfect day. I'm so grateful to have grown up in a family, and also married into a family, that celebrates Christ's birth. On New Years Eve we'll be driving up to see my side of the family for about a week. It's like a never ending Christmas! All that's missing is some snow.

My dilemma....

There was a 5 week old infant sitting in front of me in church this morning. He was bald, dressed in blue, and spent the entire service cooing at his parents and smiling at me. I couldn't help from turning to Brian and saying, "I want another one". This was only one instance of many in the past few weeks. Which is where my dilemma comes into play...

We've put a lot of thought into the "when will we expand on our family" argument. There are pros & cons any which way you decide to space your children apart. We've decided that what seems best for our family is to wait until Caleb is closer to 3 before having another. He's 15 months now... even without doing the math, it seems like an eternity. There are plenty of times that I'm aware of how much easier life is with one child. There are others where I just can't wait until my little boy has a younger brother or sister. A lot of my friends are currently either pregnant, or have a newborn... both of which give me strange butterflies in my stomach. As uncomfortable and painful as my pregnancy was, I miss it so much. I now miss the times he kicked me so hard I thought his foot was going to pop out through my ribs. I miss the heartburn that kept me from getting more than 3 hours of sleep a night, and the afternoon/evening sickness that kept my body from consuming anything but plums and Captain Crunch Berries. Strangly enough, I keep looking at my favorite maternity wear sites to keep up on their current lines of clothes. I loved pregnancy clothes. Heck I still sleep in them sometimes :-)

Why wait then, you ask? Though the next time around could be completely different, my motto is always 'plan for the worst, & hope for the best'. If I was as sick as I was last time for 4 months, I don't feel like I'd be able to be the best that I could be for Caleb. I still see him learning and growing daily, and I don't want to miss any of it. I don't want to be too sick to give him all my attention when he still needs it so much, nor do I want to be stuck on a couch constantly feeding a newborn while he's still so young.

So, today my 'baby bug' has just been coming on extra strong, and I thought writing about it might help to lessen my ache for a newborn. Next winter, I'll probably be pregnant again-- laughing at how silly this sounds in retrospect. And for now, I'll try to focus on being content with my wonderfully blessed life.

5 days old:

15 months old:

...I wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.

The long awaited update...

I've been informed that it's time for an update. I look at my blog often, but then lose intrest while trying to figure out what to write about. Most things that I find exciting in life, most other people aren't too impressed by. I'll go ahead and share though.

Caleb's up to 11 distinguishable words now. He talks a blue streak when he's alone with Brian and I, but seems to really shy away from talking while others are around. When I ask him a question, he'll respond with an answer... I can't wait until his responses are words that I can understand. Certain conversations with my son go quite well, such as: "Caleb, would you like your juice?", his response being "Juice, juice". But when I ask more complex questions, like "Do you want to play with blocks or read a book?", I'll get a "doobow" as an answer. It's a learning process for us both... which I'm enjoying to the fullest. I can't tell you how many times he makes me laugh out loud throughout the day. I have tears in my eyes I laugh so hard sometimes.

Even though I have problems understanding him many times, I just love how well he understands me. When I say "bathtime" he runs upstairs. When I ask him to get a book, he'll bring me one. When I say it's time to change his diaper, his face errupts with tears. Dogs say "oof", chickens say "boc", cows say "ooo". He knows where his nose, eyes, and mouth are. He's enamored with our belly buttons. He loves to play basketball, dance, clap, and wave at everything possible. His little brain just amazes me. It baffles me that some people still can't believe in our Creator after seeing a child form, grow, and develop like this.

My goal is to update more than once a month from now on. That will have to suffice for now :-)

my little climber's becoming quite adventurous... the boy loves his puzzles!

Happy Halloween!

Well we had fun this year. My little monkey got to make his debut! We kept it low key, and went over to my sister-in-law's for pizza with family. Caleb got a little baggie of treats, and when we got home he had his first cookie. It never dawned on me how big a mess was possible with an oreo! His little grubby chocolate fingerprints were on everything, but I enjoyed cleaning up his mess thoroughly! I love each and every new memory we make. Needless to say, it was a special day. My only disappointment was not getting any trick-or-treaters.... & being stuck with a huge bowl of candy!

Caleb Lee: 13 months

My brother in law, Jeremy, was ever so kind to take some pictures of the little dude at Pemberton Park the other day. I can't get over how grown up he looks... we're sure blessed to have this miracle be part of our little family. Here's a few pics from the session:

The wonderful world of cake making...

So I just finished taking my "cake decorating 101" class.... overall I'd call it a success. Learned some new techniques, have a bunch more tools now, and I can make some dang good icing!

Biggest downfall of the course.... having cake in my house for 4 weeks straight. It's lovely, but most nights I go to bed sick from eating so much of it. I think that would fall into my 'need to work on self control' category.

Anywho, here are the 3 cakes I made:

Sunflower week was a spice cake, clown week was chocolate, and formal/roses week was strawberry.... YUMMM. I might take class 201 in January. We'll see.

I did learn, however, that I could never do this for a living-- no matter how good I get. People that make money on cakes can't be perfectionists... or as emotionally driven as me :-)

A Nation of whiners...

I haven't updated in a while, & I have a gazillion pictures taken since then. That'll have to wait for another post though... ranting at the moment seems more important:

I understand our country is in an economic 'crisis' right now. Shame on us for getting into this mess. I'm just so frustrated with hearing everyone whine about how the government should be giving the 'people' money instead of bailing out these companys. Yeah, I'm pissed off at all the CEO's too, but honestly... Americans are so greedy; I don't feel like bailing us out would even be possible. People buy way too much that they can't afford, get loans like they're candy, and then find themselves in crisis when all goes awry. Though every loan is kind of in jeopardy at the moment... there's smart loans, and then there's dumb loans. Don't be one of those people getting 'dumb loans'-- that's part of why we're in this mess. Are we really not smart enough to know we can't borrow money that we can't pay back? Just because banks and companies have tried to make it so easy to buy things, doesn't mean we need to be dumb enough to take the bait. And if the government gave us money, many people would continue to be dumb, and wouldn't spend it the way they should. We're all adults, we should fix our own messes. I don't feel like it's the government's job to be our 'savior' or our 'superman' and fix everything for us. Suck it up, save your money... and pray for our country.

I think I'm so testy today because this presidential debate has been on my calendar for weeks and may not happen (or happen correctly). I'm still planning on a hot date with my TV tonight at 9... and hope I'm not disappointed. I don't fault McCain for his decision, but wish the country wasn't in such a state where such urgency was needed for legislation like this. Blah blah blah... Vote for McCain :-)

& next Tuesday I finish my cake decorating class, so I'll put up pics of all my cakes then. The end.... for now.

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to

Thus the theme of Caleb's 1st birthday.

We were up in New Jersey to celebrate, and with his schedule off kilter, he was a bit tempermental. We spent part of his birthday at the lake; he had a blast in the sand and splashing around in the water as usual. Later on, we had a shindig at my sister's. I'd call his party a success, as we got through play-time and dinner without any drama. My mistake for trying to put on his birthday hat though, because that set him into a tizzy. He cried thoughout the happy birthday song, and during the much anticipated cake eating segment. He had been overstimulated all day, and we didn't get around to cake until 7:30 (his usual bedtime), so we tried taking the cake outside with a much lesser crowd to see if he'd enjoy it more. Took a little coaxing, but once he finally tasted it he really went to town for a while. All in all, a great day. I get a bit emotional thinking about how fast this first year has passed. So many happy memories though, and I get so excited thinking about the many more to come. At least his birthday isn't quite over yet... we get to have another party for him in a few days with the other side of the family!

Prepare yourselves for Birthday, Part Deux...

Such a slacker...

I haven't updated in forever, I know. Too busy chasing around my little full-time walking boy! I'll have plenty to blog about after Caleb's 1st birthday next week! We've got our party hats on and we're ready to go! Til then, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past month:

Cousins

The little man and I spent some time over with Carla & the kiddo's today... it was so fun watching Caleb & Aliza play. She's quickly learned about sharing her toys, and he's getting big enough that they're actually able to do things together. He seems to get a kick out of everything she does, whether it's running around or trying to smother him with a pillow. Once he's able to really run around by himself, those little mischeif makers are going to have a lot of fun! And Josiah's not too far behind. He's only 6 months younger, so in the longrun I see those boys being good buddies-- once Josiah realizes Caleb exists...