Wordless Wednesday

Girls' Day Out

I had a fun day out with my mother-in-law, Vicki and my sister-in-law, Jessica! We left the kids and guys at home (or work) and headed to the big city Wichita to the Symphony Home Tour. Every year there is a home tour and the proceeds go to the symphony.

This year's tour was of 4 brownstone townhouses...3 stories each, plus a basement. I'm glad I don't have to climb those stairs everyday!!!

So these homes were not really the type of home that we would ever live in. I mean, a 3 story house is just not practical for a kid in a wheelchair. Even with the elevator, not the greatest floor plan. But it was still lots of fun to see how they were decorated. Of course I had to take some pictures!
I love these sinks! Someday, when we have lots of extra money, I want to redo our main bathroom. Right now we have a very unattractive vanity...very 60's! You'll see what I mean on Friday when I do our bathroom tours. So, when "someday" comes, I want a vanity like this!

I thought this was a clever idea. It's a little foot stool that's been covered in fabric like a present with a button where the fabric comes together. I think you could even build a cube out of wood and put a cushion on top and then cover it like this.

Oh, Jeremy...I think I have another project for your list!

Here's a good idea for some extra seating. It would be really cute as a bench seat in a dining room. Again, it could be made from wood and either covered with fabric or just painted and then put cushions on top. Then the backs are just simple cushions hanging from a decorative curtain rod. How easy is that?

This is a paned mirror with a valance hanging at the top. Gives a small room a little depth. This was actually in the laundry room. Cute way to decorate a small space!

Here's a clever addition to a throw pillow...add a big, gaudy pin!! You could probably find these at flea markets and thrift stores.

And finally, a picture of us 3 girls.

Thanks for the fun day!!

Nate...Part 1

It seems like most of my blogging has been about my girls. Mostly because the older girls are the ones who are involved in activities and Delaney is at a fun age and fun to photograph. And when it comes to Nate, no news is definitely good news. But I feel like I need to devote some blogging time to our special little guy.

Some of you are already familiar with this story. You were with us during the entire journey. Some of you may be familiar with the story. And some of you may be learning about Nate for the first time.

I've called this first post "Part 1," but I don't know how many parts I'll have. I'm just going to start and see where this leads me.

Pregancy

After Jeremy and I were married a little over a year, we decided it was time to expand our family. I already had Bri and Alli from my first marriage and I was a little nervous about starting over with another baby. After all, they were potty trained, slept through the night and were in school all day. And since they were so close in age, their early years weren't always the easiest for me. But I was ready to go for it and we were thrilled when I got pregnant!

I had a sonogram around 20 weeks and we found out we were having a boy. Everything looked fine and my pregnancy progressed normally. He was a kicker and I often joked around about how he would probably have ADHD and that's why he was so active.

This picture was taken about 2 months before my due date. I was due on May 1.

All during our spring break I did major nesting. I still had lots of energy and went and bought some new maternity clothes to get me through those last few weeks. During that last weekend, we had a crusade at church with Ken Freeman. He has a great message, by the way.

I went to bed that Sunday night and woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, realizing I hadn't felt the baby kick in over 24 hours. I distinctly remember having trouble falling asleep on Saturday for all the kicking and then couldn't remember feeling any movement since then. I was sure it was nothing and didn't want to bother Jeremy, but I got out of bed and went downstairs to the family room. I got my little Bebe Sounds monitor and tried to listen for a heartbeat. But that thing was always a piece of crap a little finicky and I couldn't hear anything. I remember pushing on my stomach trying to force him to move, said a prayer and went back to bed.

The rest of the night I kept trying to get some movement, but had no luck. When morning finally arrived, I calmly told Jeremy that I was a little concerned and was going to call the doctor's office when they opened. Looking back, I realize I should've gone straight to the hospital, but I'm not an alarmist and usually remain pretty calm in these situations.

I went to work as usual and called the doctor's office when they opened. I talked to the nurse, who advised me to go home, eat something and come into the office for a non-stress test. I called Jeremy and asked him to meet me there. I was now getting nervous and was afraid of the results we would find. I remember praying on the way over. Pleading with God to not let my baby die. I promised Him we could handle anything, just not to let our baby die.

Once we got to the doctor's office, they took me back to a room and put a fetal monitor on my belly. I was so relieved, and a little embarrassed that I must have overreacted, when we heard his heartbeat. They monitored me for about 30 minutes and then the doctor came in and explained that I needed to go straight to the hospital. Even though there was a heartbeat, there wasn't any heart rate fluctuations from fetal movement and the heart rate was very high...over 180. She said they would give me some IV fluids and see if that helped.

So off we went to the hospital. As I was getting IV fluids and a Biophysical Profile (like a sonogram), my mom was at a doctor's appointment with my grandparents. My grandpa had been diagnosed with Hodgkins earlier in the year and had been through chemo and radiation. At his appointment that day he learned that he was officially cancer free (Praise God!!)

The baby failed the Biophysical Profile. During this sonogram, they check for heart rate, breathing, amniotic fluid, muscle tone and movement of the baby. You get one point for each area that you pass. I think he got a 1 (for amniotic fluid). It was time to have the baby. I was only 35 weeks but he would be better off outside the womb where doctors could intervene. My labor was induced and I had a regular delivery just after midnight. When Nate was born, he didn't cry and he was a horrid grayish color. The neonatologist was in the delivery room and resuscitated him. He was intubated and whisked off to the NICU immediately.

Nathaniel David

March 25, 2003

This is the first picture taken of Nate, on his birth day. At 5 pounds, 13 ounces, he was probably the biggest baby in the NICU!!

A Day at the Zoo

We took the family to the zoo.
Check that off our list!!
It was the perfect day. Temp in the 70's. No wind. The animals were active. There weren't any crowds. Doesn't get much better than that!!

The kids loved feeding the goats. Aren't the babies the cutest? And I love how that white goat kept standing up and looking over the fence at us. It was like he was saying, "Hey, what about me?"

And we can't forget the ice cream! $1.50 each. Not bad, especially for zoo prices! Delaney has a sweet tooth and ice cream was her favorite part of the day.

I think Allison was checking the pictures she took, not texting. At least that's what I keep telling myself!

Lions and Tigers and Bears....and Camels?

Can you see the little baby monkey? This is a colobus monkey and the baby looked like a ball of fuzz. So cute. I just wanted to pick it up and cuddle it! Probably my favorite animal of the day.

Gorillas were sleeping.

And so was Nate!

The bear was using this branch to scratch his back. So cool to see!

Bri and Delaney in the rainforest. That's Mac and Cheese, the resident scarlet macaws behind them.

The flamingos are so pretty. They were ready to go to sleep though. Can you do these yoga poses?

We had a great family outing. No fighting, other than how many entrances they have to the tiger exhibit. Oh and how many scoops of ice cream we could get.

The little kids were troopers.

And dad gave up an afternoon of golf to hang out with us.

Things I learned at the zoo:

1. sunscreen works!
2. save your souvenier cups. refills are only $1.
3. the big animals go off exhibit at 4 pm.
4. the penguins are named after the colored bands on their wings (pink pink blue or green blue green, for example)
5. when you tell your kids to wear comfy shoes, you need to follow your own advice!

I don't know what I was thinking. Obviously I wasn't thinking. I had been wearing my cute, very flat flip-flops earlier in the day and planned on changing before we left. Well once we got to the zoo I realized my mistake and my legs paid for it the whole day. But I didn't even complain once. These are the cute shoes I was wearing:

Not good shoes for walking, but I looked great!!!

Show Us Where You Live Friday - The Office

It's time once again to tour my home and see where I live. This week Kelly at Kelly'sKornerBlog wants us to show off our home offices. A little tricky for this lady! First off, what's a home office? I know, I know. Some people have this wonderful extra room in which to put computers, libraries of books, a couple of chairs for reading. But with four kids, we're packed into every last corner of our house. And since neither of us work from home, a home office is also not a necessity.

So if the office is where you pay bills, check emails, blog =) then I guess this corner of the living room is my home office.

This is where I like to wind down. In my comfy recliner with my laptop.

Or if the home office is where you make phone calls in peace and quiet, then I suppose this would have to be my home office:

Ha! Just kidding!

This is where we actually keep our family computer. It's in our family room at the back of the house. Nothing fancy. Nothing exciting. Very basic. I really do need to do something with that wall though. Maybe start hanging some pictures. A view of the desk, purchased at Wal Mart (I'm sure everyone was going to ask that!!). The little end table is also a Wal Mart Special. Now if you're interested in that chair, it was a hand-me-down from my parents' neighbors.

This book shelf is another hand-me-down, from my parents. It mostly holds kids' toys.

But this lovely little secret compartment is perfect for hiding all our "office" supplies!!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed the tour!