Finders Keepers

Imagine with me that you are visiting your MIL with your family and the doorbell rings.  Your MIL answers and there is a stranger there holding your less that two-year-old son asking, "Do you know this little boy?"  The stranger then continues on saying, "I found him walking alone, outside, in the street!"

Can you even imagine the horror you would feel?

This happened to me today.  Luckily, I was the stranger that found the little boy, and not the mother who started sobbing as she realized what was going on and what could have happened to her baby.  I just can't get this scenario out of my mind.

Our family was coming home from church when I spotted an unaccompanied toddler holding a ball very close to and sometimes wandering in the street.  I scanned the area for surely there was an adult nearby watching.  No one.  I told Derek to pull over the car, for surely something was not right here.

Luckily our car was now between the toddler and the other cars as now he was in the street, crying, saying "Mommy" and trying to get inside a car parked on the street.  I scooped up the little boy, who was not much bigger than Maverick and asked him, "Did you lose Mommy?  I'll help you find her."  I tried to get any information I could from the little boy such as his name, or even pointing to where Mommy might be with no luck.

I decided I'd need to go door-to-door to try and find somebody that knew this child.  Luckily, the first house I tried was it.  The grandmother answered the door and had a look of pure shock while she tried to process why a stranger had her grandson.  The mother approached the door next, and believe it or not, I KNEW HER!!  I don't know her well enough that I'd recognize her child without her, but we are friends!  She lives 45 minutes away from my house, so what are the odds?

She has a 3-year-old, and is due with her 3rd (all boys) in January.  I could easily identify with her situation and was so glad that I was there at the right time to help out and nothing bad happened.  I know this is something I won't be forgetting for a very long time.

It's Thanksgiving!

Today was Turkey ham day!  We celebrated this year at Grandma's house.  My parents decided to get away to Myrtle Beach for a little R&R before my mom's scheduled heart surgery in early December.  

Today was the first time in 30 years that I had "Thanksgiving" at the supper and not lunch-time meal.  It was very strange and I didn't know what to do with myself all morning long.  With all that "free" time I had Derek start getting the Christmas decorations out of the attic.  He leaves next week for Vancouver and won't be home till Saturday, so I knew I needed to get that done this weekend.  

The baby was kicking, punching, and doing somersaults during the afternoon rest-time period.  This is the most consistent movement that I've felt so far.  Derek felt the baby (and has before now) and Chandler got to feel too!  I made my one dish to contribute to the meal.  It was an cranberry/apple/pineapple baked dish and turned out to be so yummy!

Over at Grandma's she had a fun turkey craft for all the boys to make.  It was a hit!

The Thanksgiving Table

Here's my yummy plate.  I tried to take small portions (and I did) and I finished my whole plate.  See the big belly behind....I think it got bigger afterwards.  I even saved room for a piece of homemade apple pie.  Yum yum!

There are so many things that I am thankful for.  Here's a list (in no particular order) of 10!

1. My wonderful husband who does so much to help me out.
2. My healthy, generally happy, children
3. This wonderful new life growing inside me
4. My "new" house
5. My extended family that supports me in any way they can
6. My faith in God and how he is also there supporting me every step of the way
7. My neighbors
8. The freedoms provided to me by living in the USA
9. My jobs (the paying ones)  I've already listed my job as "Mom" *see # 2
10. My MOPS group and other groups where I can connect with other moms

What are you Thankful for?

Fall Gathering

Chandler's class had their "Fall Gathering" today.  Luckily, Dad, Mom, and both brothers were able to attend.  The kids were all so cute.  They sang about 5-6 songs and then the Kindergarteners recited what they were thankful for.  Chandler is thankful for Mommy, Daddy, Brighton & Maverick.

Here are Chandler's two teachers, Ms Valerie (left) and Ms. Aykel (right)

Chandler posing with Mom

After the songs, they had a catered lunch for all the kids and families.  It was very nice.  A wonderful start to our long holiday weekend!

20 Months

Who can believe that Maverick is 20 months old today?!?

I certainly can't.  That means two is just around the corner.  I'm a little behind with his stats, but this is where he was at 18 months:

Weight: 23 lbs, 9 oz  20th percentile

Height: 32"   40th percentile

Head: 48.5 cm    70th percentile

He is definitely still our tiny guy.  Don't let his size fool you though, he can keep up with his brothers just fine.  He still has a limited vocabulary, and doesn't say many words.  Funny thing is his latest, 

"Go on" and "Move" as he pushes you or his brothers away.  I can't help but laugh.  Perhaps we need to work on manners?

Here Maverick models his MMO t-shirt that he made.  He really loves his MMO (Mother's Morning Out) program that he goes to on Fridays.  He hardly ever fusses when I leave and seems to have a great time there.  

Here is Maverick modeling his new ride.  Yes, that's right.  I bought another stroller!  Perhaps you remember before Maverick was born I wrote a post: Ten is my Magic Number where I talked about wanting just one more (for a total of ten!) strollers before baby # 3 came along.  Turns out that with baby # 4, I started feeling the same thing.  I needed another stroller.  I ended up getting the B-Ready stroller, which is the one that I wanted to get with Maverick, but couldn't justify the cost for just one more baby.  With the promotion Britax is having right now I can earn a free convertible carseat, which we will need, so it wasn't too bad.  That and I agreed with Derek to sell two other strollers to help cover the cost.  I was able to sell my Sit-N-Stand in less than one day!

Maverick's "Cheese" face!

Maverick just loves the new stroller, you just can't keep him out of it.  This picture reminds me of one my mom took of me climbing in my folded up stroller on the floor, so I had to include it.  The only drawback to this stroller is the weight.  I won't be lifting this one while I'm pregnant, so it won't get too much use until baby # 4 makes their appearance.  We strolled around the neighborhood today to test it out.  So far, it's a winner :)

House Warming!

Welcome Home!

Today was finally the day we'd been dreaming of since before we even started this undertaking.  Let me tell you, it was quite the undertaking.  I'm not sure how we survived this renovation/addition at times, but we did.  We made it!  We were ready to celebrate.  Several of our family, friends, and neighbors were able to come out and celebrate with us.  It meant so much to have so many people here.

The party was a whirl-wind.  I hardly got a bite, or got to sit down, but it was worth it.  I loved showing off our "new" house to everybody.  Many who had never seen any of the progress.  I loved having a mostly adult (there were some kids too) party.  I can honestly say the whole family had a wonderful time and we are so thankful for everybody that came out to celebrate with us.  

By the time I reminded Derek to take pictures, the party was winding down.  I think a highlight for all the boys was when our neighbor was teaching various yoga poses.  Even Maverick joined in on the fun!  We are so happy with our new home and we have just a few finishing touches left to complete.

The last thing we need to complete our home won't be here until Spring, but our baby is worth the wait! 

Christmas Preview

Today we went to Homewood Nursery's Poinsettia Open House.  Our intentions were to take a picture to send out with our Christmas Cards.  Mission accomplished.  Above is not the one that made the final cut, so don't worry.  You will still be surprised when you get our card in the mail.  The holidays are here!  Can't wait!

Staying Sane

Believe it or not, Derek is on another business trip this week.  He left on Sunday and will be home on Wednesday.  Not too bad, but I certainly do miss him and his help.

On Monday, Mimi and I took the boys to Pullen Park.  It was a gorgeous day and it was slammed at the park.  This is pretty normal though.  Pullen is always crowded these days.  We all rode the train and then Chandler and Maverick rode the little boats.  We ate lunch at the local cafe there and then Maverick and Mimi were off to ride the carousel.  Chandler decided last minute that he wanted to ride too, so I switched places with Mimi in line.  

Chandler looks grumpy in this picture because Brighton didn't want to let him sit with him.  Can't blame him for that.

Today, Chandler had school and so I took the other guys to PlayNation for a playdate with some other MOPS moms.  They had a good time, but Maverick is not at the age where he can play unsupervised.  I have to be his "spotter" on the climbing structures and slides so he doesn't get hurt.  Keeps me busy too!  After picking up Chandler from school, I'm going to attempt to take the boys to visit TJ.  Wish me luck!  Hopefully the rain will stop.  

Come home soon Daddy, we miss you!

Singing at Church

Both big boys are singing in the church choirs again this year.

Brighton is in the Cherub Choir and enjoys it so much.  This Sunday he sang "Good Old Noah" which is like a version of "Old Mac Donald" so he held a cow during the song.

Chandler sang two songs.  The kids choir is 75% + girls, and this Sunday there were only 7 boys on the stage.  Chandler has been working really hard on learning the songs and the hand motions.  I'm really proud of both my big boys!

Finishing Touches

The time is here!  We are Finally putting the final touches to our house.  The house-warming party is one week away and I can't wait to show off our "new" house to family and friends.  

Thanks to my parents, we have a new mailbox!  We stained the post to match the house porch-rails and the mailbox is a green to match the house.  Much better than the plastic and battered one we had before.

Our neighbor, Gerry, has been working for several days to get our front door just the right shade of stained wood.  He has also been applying a UV-polyurethane to it so the color won't get bleached out by the sun.  What a nice house-warming present!  Gerry and Mindy do so much for our family and we are so grateful to have them for neighbors.

I know I've been slack with updates about the house, so I'll wait and show some after the party.

Technically we still aren't totally complete, with a few touch-ups here and there that need to be taken care of, but it's mostly done :)

A sweet bouquet

Today I plan to visit TJ at Wake Med Rehab hospital.  I wanted to bring something, but didn't think a 22-year-old guy would appreciate flowers as much as I would.  I figured this type of bouquet would be right up his alley.  I hope so.  It was very easy to make.  A quick trip to Walmart this morning to buy a flower pot, thin wooden dowels, and 16 candies and I was done.  Brighton helped me out assemble it when we got home and it was like torture for him since he wanted to eat all of it!

Meet Baby!

So here's my first official baby bump shot.  I think I'm a little behind on this, as I'm already 18 weeks along!  This pregnancy is flying by!  

We had our ultrasound today, and I had been hoping that we would for once (out of 4 pregnancies) be given an A-OK checkup.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  I'm trying to focus on the positive that over all the baby looked strong and healthy, and this same type of thing has happened 3 times before with the outcome being a healthy baby, but it's just not the thing you want to hear.

Baby waves "Hi"

Here's a 3-D shot of the back of baby's head.  The left arm is bent with the hand up by the face.  This little baby did not want to show their face, so we will certainly be surprised as to what they look like.  We kept the gender hidden, and so that will be a surprise as well.

During the ultrasound, I could tell there was something "wrong" with the baby, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.  It turns out the baby has two cysts on their brain, and this is a marker for Trisomy-18.  Luckily, there were no other markers seen, so we are praying for a healthy baby and this was just one of those abnormalities that I tend to have with my babies during pregnancy.

There is no follow up to this, because the cysts will resolve on their own, and that does not change my risk for Trisomy-18.  When the doctor came in and talked to me about the findings and what this all meant, I broke down.  I was really not this upset about the ultrasound, but with everything that has happened this week, and with the news about TJ, it was all too much for me to take.  I was offered an amniocentesis, but it won't change anything for me, and there are risks, so we passed on that.

Please keep baby in your prayers that they will be healthy and wait until 37 weeks to be born.  That is my prayer.  Oh, and a side note.....my nausea level is highly correlated to my stress level.

Less stress for mommy = happy baby!