Nope - not yet!

I bet you are coming on here to check if I have had the baby yet, huh? :-)  Well, I haven't.  She's still kicking and wiggling and growing all cozy inside of me.  I'm about 37 weeks now, so it isn't too much longer.  This is always the time when I know that God is teaching me patience - and its really hard!  As has been true with this whole pregnancy, everything is different.  I am having all these different symptoms that I had always heard and read about that can happen during pregnancy, but never experienced them.  Like my newest "adventure" is my sciatic nerve is giving me major trouble.  I don't know if you have ever experienced that, but it certainly is not the most comfortable thing!  All throughout the day, as I am just moving about, I will get an extremely sharp pain shoot down my left leg.  And more often than not, my leg is numb so it feels like I am walking around on a wooden leg.  Its bothersome at night, but I'm not too sure how to relieve it.  My chiropractor is on vacation, otherwise I would get in to see him.

I am going to the dr. weekly now and all is on track.  Basically, I am considered full term and we just wait.  Baby is healthy and active.  And I am healthy and not active.  Haha!  I can't do too much, so I do spend a good bit of the time on the couch.  I know, I'm such a lazy bum!  But, as in the past.  This is just a phase and it will pass.  Matt is being a great help and pretty much taken over the cooking.  I'm sure he can't wait for my mom to get here in 3 weeks so she can relieve him of that duty! :-)

The kids are good - very, very busy.  They are enjoying their new toys and fighting over them and such.  I plan to write about our Christmas soon.  Just don't feel like it tonight!  I think Leila might be in the beginning stages of a cold, so I hope it doesn't stick around too long.  Seems like we all just got over that!  We have had some very, very cold temps lately, so we don't go out much.  When we do its a race from the car to the store or wherever we are going since it is so cold and windy.

It is getting to that point where I am getting those looks from people when I am out.  You know, the "Wow, your going to pop any second" look.  And with my numb leg I'm limping and waddling even more than the average preggo, so I am sure I am quite the sight! :-)  I keep thinking I should take a profile picture since I always do at 9 months, but keep forgetting when I look presentable to do so!

The kids are getting excited about the baby - they keep telling us what they think we should name her (which I'm not going to tell you, just in case we change our mind last minute and use that name!).  This week I finally started getting some things ready - like the bassinet out and pulled out the newborn clothes.  Still need to wash the clothes and pack the bags.  Maybe I will do that tomorrow.

So, one more little update and I am going to go to bed!  Libby has been our little Miss Mischief lately.  She is SO BUSY!!!  Getting into everything possible - like lotions, chapstick, Vaseline, the dresser drawers, food, etc.  She is making a mess of everywhere she goes!  I have had to take a bunch of stuff out of her room because at nap time (and sometimes even at bedtime) she will make a mess of something.  All this made me realize something.  I have always heard mothers mention how hard it was when they switched from a crib to a toddler bed to get their kids to stay in bed.  And I never understood it.  With Liam and Leila, we didn't have this problem at all.  But we went from the crib to a twin bed.  So I realize that the toddler bed is so much easier to get out of than the twin.  So there's the problem!  Libby has that freedom and is definitely using it!  Sometimes at nap time I will put her in Leila's twin bed and Libby stays put.  But not if I put her in the toddler bed!  Its kinda funny to me. 

I still think the toddler bed is cute and it is helping with the bed/space problem we were having, but I am seeing some more cons to it as well.  Oh, well.  She will learn.  Hopefully before she destroys everything! :-)

Well, have a great night and a Happy New Year!  Enjoy your last day in 2011!

Until next time/year......

Kids These Days

My kids are always making me laugh.  Sometimes the things they come up with is just hilarious.  And I love it.  I love "seeing" the world through their eyes.  I love the little conversations we have all throughout the day.

Now that Liam is a big 'ole kindergartner, he suddenly has become quite the grown up.  He is always saying things like, "When I was three years old, I used to like the number 5."  So I asked him what his current favorite number is.  Last time I asked him that it was 156.  Well, apparently now it is 3004.  Think he's gonna be a bit random, like his mommy, I dare say!  He is loving school and gets so excited when they go over something new.  Like telling time.  He is so proud that he can tell us what time it is by looking at the clock (and not just the digital clocks, mind you.)  Except I am trying to get across to him that we don't say "6:34 o'clock, just 6:34. But you can say 'o'clock' when it is on the hour like 1o'clock, etc."  He's not quite gotten that part yet, probably because I am having a hard time explaining it clearly to him.  I am realizing how much "stuff" I know that I take for granted how I know it.  But now having to try to explain it all to my kids is making me really think!  That's good for me in my "old" age!

Leila has really picked up her letters and their sounds lately.  She is now telling us all the time what the "L" says, etc.  And if she happens to say it even slightly wrong, Liam is very quick to correct her. Ahh.... such an oldest child he is!  Leila also is still into asking the "why" questions over everything.  I always told myself I was not ever going to say, "well, just because!" but sometimes that's the best reason I can come up with to her questions!  We have questions from why the moon is only sometimes a whole moon to why I have her wear a shirt under another shirt!  She has such an inquisitive little mind that Libby is now picking it up.  I don't think that she really knows what it means, but Libby says, "why?" all the time.  That and "no."  We are working on that one!

Libby has recently discovered her will power and attempts to use that power as often as she can.  She is showing us how strong of a will she has and it seems to be the strongest of the three!  But she also knows that she is stinkin' cute and when we are correcting her she will look at us with her BIG blue eyes and smile very cute and even attempt to snuggle up to you.  I have to admit that sometimes we crack up laughing because we can't help it!  She is definitely into climbing and getting into everything.  I repeat, EVERYTHING!  I don't know how many times a day I take a pen or marker out of her hand or some food item she got a hold of or something that she is not supposed to have.  She loves to rip the toilet paper into tiny pieces and sprinkle them all on the floor, and the toilet water is a source of entertainment too!  She sure keeps us on our toes!

She LOVES this turtle thing that plays music!

We recently converted her crib into a toddler bed.  I wasn't really ready to do this, but we decided it was necessary since she is getting heavy (weighs as much or even more than Leila!) and its hard for me to lift her.  We have always just gone from the crib straight to a twin, but this time tried out taking the side off the crib and making it a toddler bed.  She's done pretty good - only gotten out a couple times when she wasn't supposed to.    But soon enough we are going to switch everything around and the girls will get the bunk beds and the crib will be moved to Liam's room (I think that's how we are going to do it!).

We eventually plan to build two rooms in our basement (it is a finished basement, just no legal bedrooms) for Liam and Leila, but that is a bit down the road.  So we will all be one big happy family crammed into three rooms all on one side of the house.  But that is fine with me!  Many people make due with MUCH less.  I love to watch house hunting shows on tv, but it always amazes me how much space people "need."  I mean, I've seen couples who have ONE baby and suddenly decide that their 2 bedroom house is too small so they go buy a 5 bedroom house!  I mean, c'mon!  I guess if you have the money than go for it, but don't sit there and say that you "need" to have all those rooms!

Excited about the "new" bed!

Okay. Sorry.  Got a little worked up there!  Anyways, the kids are keeping us busy but constantly entertaining us as well!  Sometimes I think to myself how I am going to handle 4 kids, but then quickly remind myself that many, many other women have and are handling even more, and that it will be okay. Probably a time of adjustment just as any child added to the family is.  But I am getting more and more excited every day to meet this little girl.

So, I guess that's all for now.  Didn't really have anything important to say, just want to blog tonight, so this is what you got!  Have a great weekend and enjoy that extra hour of sleep Sat. night!

Until next time...

Somewhat Normal

Its been a nice, somewhat normal week, although I don't think we ever have a "normal" week.  I don't even know what normal is!  But it was a LOT less hectic.  Since Matt finished up the outside of the house, he has taken a break from home renos, which is great.  I don't mind that there is some stuff (like all the window sills and trims) not done.  Its been nice having Daddy home and inside a lot more than he had been the last month or more.  The kids are enjoying it, too.  Leila especially seems to be extra cuddly with Daddy, which he is soaking up!

Matt did have to take a day trip on Wednesday to attend the funeral of the father of a man Matt has been counseling and recently led to the Lord.  So he was gone all day Wednesday.  As for the rest of us, we have been hanging out at home for the most part.  The weather has been quite cool - cold, really, and it is VERY windy, so staying in is preferable.  But I don't mind it too much.  I've been enjoying plenty of Christmas music, as have the kids.  Although their two favorites are Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells, so we listen to those about 10 times a day - each!

Liam's doing well in school.  Oh, we have the occasional day where he has more trouble concentrating, but who doesn't?  He is loving learning all this new stuff and gets so excited about the next day.  Actually, we have been doing school on Saturdays, too (aren't I a horrible mom!).  But he actually wants to and I don't mind one bit.  I know that we will miss some school whenever the baby is born, so staying on top of it now is a good idea.

Tonight we went out to eat for supper, and on the way home we were all singing all types of songs.  Liam wanted to sing the ABCs so we did.  Then he asked Matt if he Matt knew how to say them backwards. Matt said he didn't think he could do it very easily, so Liam said that he could.  And then he started it up.  The first time he did miss J and L, but then he tried it again and said it perfectly - and just as fast as he says them the right way!  I was shocked as I had not taught him that, and have no idea where he learned that!  But makes me proud!  Just a further reminder as to how wonderful these young minds are and how easily they can be taught!

Leila is our busy little bee, as always.  She is a great helper when I am cleaning up, and loves to read and has finally started to show a real interest in coloring.  She hasn't seemed to interested before, but now asks to color all the time.  I love it!  Recently we had been going through a very rough time with her at bedtime.  My kids have always gone to bed well and I have never dreaded bedtime, for which I am thankful.  But sometime in July she started this whole screaming and crying for an hour or more at bedtime.  It was so frustrating!  Nothing seemed to be working - we tried different means of discipline and such.  But one day it dawned on me that perhaps she was afraid of the dark.  So we bought her this uber cute night light and beginning that first night with the light, we have had no problems!  Duh, Mommy!  The poor girl must have been afraid!  Took me long enough to figure it out!  So now we are back to happy bedtime routines!

Libby is little Miss Mischievous!  She is into everything!  She is so much busier at this age than the other two ever were!  Keeps me on my toes for sure!  Since I am not supposed to lift her, we are debating about changing the crib into a toddler bed (yes, we have one of those fancy shmancy cribs that converts - although we have never converted it because we always needed it for the next kid!).  That way if Matt is not home I can still put her to bed without having to pick her up.  But I don't know that I am ready for her to have that freedom yet!  With Liam and Leila, we went straight from the crib to a regular twin bed (I'm sorry, but I just don't see the sense in spending money on a toddler bed!), and they each did well.  In fact, to this day, Leila STILL does not get out of bed until we come and get her!  Strange but nice!

Anyways, I don't think Libby will stay in her bed.  She loves climbing up and down on things, so I think it would be too much freedom right now.  But we shall see.  I have my dr. appt on Tuesday with the OB, and we should know more then about what is going on with me and the baby, so we will decide then depending on if I am put officially on any restrictions.

This coming Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving, so we are having a big celebration at church on Sunday.  We have sort of a Praise service, then the Lord's Supper, then a potluck turkey dinner.  It should be great!  The church provides the turkeys, one of which Matt and I are cooking.  It is a 27lb tukey and let me tell you - it is HUGE!  I had to clear a whole shelf in my fridge for it!  Tomorrow it is going to enjoy a nice water bath so it will be all defrosted in time to cook it!  We have never cooked one that big, so we sure hope it turns out okay!  Don't want to let the church people down!  Fortunately, another girl in our church is a cooking one too (although a little smaller - like 17lbs) so if we royally mess up on this one, at least we know there will be some turkey there!

Well, I am off to bed!  Have a wonderful Saturday and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!  Check back on Monday as I plan to post a "special" Thanksgiving post along with a book review.  Ooooo....the suspense! :-)

Until next time...

You Know Your The Parent of a Toddler If....

1. You always refer to the restroom as "going to the potty" even if there are no kids around.
2. You have peanut butter and jelly fingerprints on almost every wall in the house.
3. Somewhere in your house, there is a one--of-a-kind piece of art drawn right on a wall with crayons, and     sometimes even markers.
4. Speaking of crayons, you rarely have a whole, unbroken crayon with the complete wrapper still on.
5. As you are going about your day, you find yourself humming the tune to Jesus Loves Me, I'm in the Lord's Army, The ABC's or The Wheels on the Bus.
5. Your car/van could feed a small country with all the goldfish crackers, granola bars, and french fries that have fallen under the seats and on the floor.
6. When you are talking with your spouse at the dinner table and don't want the kids to know what you are saying, you spell the key words out.
7. If you don't mop your floors by the kitchen table at least twice a week, your shoes will stick in place when you walk on it.
8.  You look like you have been running outside in a torrential rainstorm at night after you have given your child who loves to splash a bath.
9. Your purse is well stocked with snacks to bribe your child with when you are out at the store.
10. You find whining as the most annoying sound in the entire world.
11. You are at risk at any given moment to step on a Hotwheels car, a Lego, or a My Little Pony, sending you flying to the floor in either the splits or landing on your tailbone.
12. You answer the same question about 56 times in a row only to immediately begin  answering another question 57 times in a row.
13. Whether you want to admit it or not, you sometimes make Kraft Mac N Cheese for supper because "its easy" and you know your kids will eat it.
14. You talk to yourself since no one listens to you anyways.
15. You can survive on 3 hours of sleep for four days.
16. Rarely do your clothes NOT have snot, boogers, yogurt, or some other food substance on them.  This can most often be found on your shoulder or your pants in the knee/thigh area.
17. You crash into bed each night, completely exhausted from a long day of cleaning, re-cleaning, cooking, correcting, etc.

You know your the parent of a toddler if you can identify with one or all of these things, and yet you don't mind (although sometimes get frustrated) because you love your children more than can be expressed into words.

I love being a mommy!

Until next time....

More Conversations...

I just love talking with my kids.  You never, ever know what they are going to say!

Leila, the other night on our way to church -
    "Mommy, the sun is in my eyes!"
    "I'm sorry, Baby.  I can't do anything about it! Its in my eyes too."(Mommy)
    "Daddy, I don't want the sun in my eyes!"(Leila)
    "I know, Sweetie, but Daddy can't move the sun!"(Daddy)
    "But God can!"(Leila)
    "Yes, He can.  That's right." (Daddy)
Ahh... I love the faith of a child! :-)

Liam's prayer on Wednesday -
   "Dear Jesus.  Thank you for this day.  Thank you for all our food.  Thank you for my family.  Help me when I am bigger to be just like mommy and daddy and help me to be able to drive.  Amen."

Mommy - "Hi, Libby cakes!"
Libby - "Hi, Ma-ma.  Ma-ma.  Ma-ma.  Da-da.  Da-da.  Ma-ma. Mmmmma-ma. Ma-ma."

Until next time...

Mommy, I Don't Feel Good!

I knew something was up when Liam slept in on Tuesday until 9:15 a.m.  That is NOT like him - ever.  My children are good sleepers - but do not sleep in that late.  So I figured something was up.  Well, when he got up he definitely had a stuffy nose, and was coughing just a little, but I figured it was just a cold and that we would just have a whiny little boy on our hands.  Nope.

It was Tuesday night, and Matt and I had just gotten back from youth group.  The babysitter told me that Liam wasn't acting like he felt well, and he had a fever.  He was in bed, so I went in to check on him.  He didn't seem to warm to me - just a little, so I got him something to drink and tucked him in.  A couple hours later when Matt and I were getting ready to go to bed, I heard Liam up - and coughing, and immediately knew that it was not a cold.  If any of you have ever had a child with croup, you know that the cough is very distinct.  It really does sound like a "barking" noise.  I went back in to check on him, and he was burning up.  He was coughing, his nose was running, and he told me, "Mommy, I don't feel good!"  I hugged him, told him I was sorry and got him some medicine to help with the fever.  After he took his medicine he looked at me and said, "Mommy, when I get to number 20, then I will feel better."  I laughed, because it was cute and then I asked him what number he was at now.  "Um, I'm a number 9 right now."  I have no idea where he got that, but it was pretty good at telling me how he felt!

Matt and I debated for a while whether we should take him in to the ER to get checked out or not, but eventually decided to wait and see how the night goes.  Liam also had this last year, around the same time.  He had a good nights sleep, but in the morning his cough was worse so we took him in.  I wasn't too worried, but I knew they would give him some steroid meds that would help him to breath a little better.  Well, unfortunately everybody in the county and their brother was there and the wait was quite long.  But, a Popsicle, some meds, and a few hours later Liam was home and resting.  Within a few hours he was much better, with really just a runny nose and slight temp.  I was praying the girls would not get sick, too.

It was just after I had gone to bed on Thursday night when I was awakened by Libby crying.  She usually sleeps all night, so this was unusual.  I went in to check on her and, yup, she was burning up too.  I got her some meds and tucked her back in, but spent the rest of the night getting up and down with not only Libby, but Leila too.  They both had high fevers, and were coughing and fussy.  And it didn't take long for the coughing on Libby to turn to the croup cough.  So, first thing Friday morning, Matt took Libby in to the ER (our dr. office was closed) to have her looked at while I stayed home with the other two.  As the day progressed, I saw Leila getting worse, and I could not get her fever to go down at all.  It was hovering around 102.5 F to 103 F.  In retrospect, I should have just taken her in with Libby, but we didn't.  When Matt was there with Libby, there was no one waiting in the ER, so he got right in.  They did a chest x-ray and found a little fluid on her lungs, so prescribed some medicine and sent her home.  By the time they got home, I was thinking Leila needed to go in, too.  I was worried since I could not get her temp down.

So, I went to ER this time with Leila, while Matt stayed home.  My mother-in-law took us and it was nice to have her there.  Again, the ER was FULL of people, many of whom had the same exact thing my kids have.  We had to wait quite a while before we even were able to see the triage nurse, but when we did, and she saw how high Leila's temp was and how her heart rate was quite rapid, we were bumped up to high priority and got in right away.  We were there for about 2 hours, during which they gave her a dose of Tylenol and late some ibuprofen since her temp was still not coming down.  They did a chest x-ray as well, and found that she had some fluid on her lungs, too, although she had more than Libby did.  It was the same dr. who saw them both, and he immediately recognized Leila and Libby as sisters because they "looked exactly the same!"  Hehe.

Anyways, we went home and I had another near sleepless night with my kids.  We laid low for the next couple of days to try and get over this.  They did not go to church yesterday.  I stayed home in the morning and my mother-in-law stayed with them last night (the church had a surprise b-day party for me after church!  Did I mention my b-day is tomorrow?  It is.  Its tomorrow...).

This is the first time that all three of my kids have been sick at the same time, and it definitely is even busier than normal!  I actually had to make a chart of when I administered medicine and to whom and how much.  I even am having to keep track of their temps and when I took it.  It is hard to remember all that without a chart!  Thankfully they are all starting to get better.  They are still coughing like crazy, but it is just a "normal" cough.  Leila had a temp again today, but it came down right away with medicine.

Today Matt and I had to head to St. John (2 1/2 hours from here) for a dr. appt with me.  I was scheduled to see a neurosurgeon about all my problems recently.  He went over my MRI with us and is not concerned about my tumor or anything.  I will write more later on all that is going on there.  We also stopped by to see Andrea who is still there getting her chemo and radiation treatments.  The treatments are starting to take their toll on her. She still has 4 weeks left.  Please keep praying for her!

Needless to say, we are so, so tired today.  It has been a LONG week, but God has gotten us through it.  I am so thankful that we live in a place where medical help is so easily accessible, and that we have encountered some great nurses and drs.  The ER doctor especially was the nicest dr. I have met in a while.

So, that has been our life as of lately!  Always eventful here in the Sealy household!  Now I am going to relax a little and then go to bed.  Got a big day tomorrow.  Did I mention that it is my birthday tomorrow?  It is.  :-)

Until next time...

Conversations With My Kids...

I love the cute conversations we have with our children.  I want to remember some of said conversations when I am old and gray(or is it grey?? (which is quickly approaching :-)!!!))  So here are a few we have had lately...

With Liam:

Me - Liam, do you know how much I love you?
Liam - Yes, mommy.
Me - How much?
Liam - A lot.  And me too.
Me - You too what?
Liam - I love you a lot, too.
Me - Who else do you love a lot?
Liam - Daddy and Leila and Libby and Grampy and Nana and Grammy and Papa and Evie and Aunt  Danielle.
Me - Do you know who else loves you a lot?
Liam - Yup.  Daddy.  And Jesus and God.
Me - How did God show you how much he loves you?
Liam -  He sent Jesus down from heaven.
Me - And what did Jesus do when he came down here?
Liam - (thinking for a minute) Well, he came here, and then he went on a walk with me and said......

The conversation sorta fell apart from there, but it was still sweet!

With Leila:
Leila - (from the back of the van on the way home from church) Mommy, I don't want to go on the aldergator!
Me - What's that, Leila?
Leila - I don't want to go on the aldergator!
Me - Its called an elevator, Baby!
Leila - Oh, an alderbator.
Me - El-e-va-tor.
Leila - Eb-e-la-tor.
Daddy - El-e-VA-tor.
Leila - Al-e-BA-tor.
(this going on a few more minutes)
Me - No, sweetie.  It is an EL-e-VA-tor.  V-a-tor!
Leila - Oh.  El-e-VA-tor.
Me and Daddy - Good job, Baby girl!
Leila - Ya.  I don't want to go on the alderBAtor!
Me - *Sigh*  No, Sweetie.  We won't go on the elevator.  There isn't even an elevator here!


With Libby:
Me - (after scraping her yogurt container clean (which, by the way is one of my father's FAVORITE noises - hehe )) Look, Libby!  Your all done!
Libby - (with a huge smile on her face and doing sign language for "all done.") Aaaa-yaaa!


Ahhh... I love my kids!