What a Year

Well it's the last day of 2010 and what a year it's been! We've had incredible highs and a few lows but God has carried us through and continued to bless us. Of course, our biggest blessing this year was my sweet Keaton :) After our ultrasound scares, he was born healthy and his kidneys are perfect! He is such a sweet boy. His brothers, especially Liam, adore him. It seems like I was just pregnant with him but here he is, crawling around the house babbling and squealing.

We had some financial setbacks when I lost my work at home job and a few other things but we're making it and I know God will provide! He provided for us when the presvhool called and asked me to come back last month. We are able to work it out so that Mike can be home with the boys on Tuesdays and Thursdays since Keaton is too young to go with me. Mike has done great in school and has maintained straight A's the whole time! I am so proud of him! He should finish clinicals in February and will graduate in May. We can't wait!! It's been rough having him gone so much. It's been especially hard on my sensitive Landon. He misses his daddy.


I continue to thank God for my children's good health, especially after my friend lost her daughter. It really opened my eyes to how fragile life is and to cherish every moment.
We've had a lot of fun time this year. We really enjoyed Mike's parents' visit as well as his brother and sister in law. We got to have his 14 year old niece stay with us for a month and it was great! Nice to have another girl around! We also enjoyed a trip to Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa and other family and friends. I just wish we could see them more.

Connor had a great football season and his team won the championship! He has maintained his straight A's and we are very proud. He has however hit the age of arguing! He will argue til he's blue in the face. He's a very responsible kid though and is a HUGE help with his little brothers. Landon had a great soccer season and they are really wanting him to join the competitive league next season. He really seems to have a knack for soccer. He's a loving little boy and has such a kind heart. He wants to be a cowboy/zookeeper when he grows up :) Liam is still my shy one. Hard to believe he's five. He is starting to read and loves to learn. I think he'll love kindergarten next year if he can get past his shyness. He adores Keaton and is the first to volunteer to help with him. Noah is still my wild child! He can drive me crazy and make me laugh! He gets into EVERYTHING! Climbing on the kitchen counters and pulling everything out of the cabinets, painting the bathroom with nail polish, "washing" a cup with half a bottle of dish detergent, and making (and eating!) a peanut butter and pepperoni sandwich at 6:00 in the morning are just a few of his exploits this year. But while he's given me quite a few gray hairs, he is an incredibly sweet boy. He is always giving compliments and loves to snuggle :) He is a total clown and loves to make people laugh.

Facebook had a feature that put a bunch of your status' together from January to December. It was really neat to read. It brought back some sad/hard memories but many more happy ones.
All in all it has been a great year. I'm excited to see what God has in store for 2011!

The Right Thing

We recently had a talk with Landon about making good choices and doing the right thing. When he got home from school yesterday, he told me,"Mommy, I'm trying hard not to do bad things". I asked him what he meant and he explained that his teacher told the class that anyone who got 100% on their spelling test could get a piece of candy from the treat box. He had missed one word. He actually picked a piece out of the box but then he said he thought about it and he knew it was wrong so he put it back. Anyone who knows Landon's love for food, esp candy knows this was a big thing for him. I told him how proud I was of him for doing the right thing. I just pray he remembers this lesson!

I Love Giveaways!

I blogged a while back about discovering blog giveaways. I have since won three times! The first was a sportbrella (a chair with an umbrella attachment that can be moved depending on where the sun is), a monkey costume for Noah from Animal Planet, and most recently, a Pillow Pet!
Now, my wonderful friend Kristen, is hosting her first review/giveaway. She is giving away a bag of Funk Rock from Rockin' Green. This company makes awesome laundry powder in some really neat sounding scents. I am so excited for her and hope this is just the beginning for her! Check out her blog and enter the giveaway here: http://cliffnkristensblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/rockin-green-giveaway.html

Disturbing

I watched a show the other night called "8 Boys and Desperate For a Girl". It followed 4 women who had all boys and BADLY wanted a girl. One woman had 8 boys and she and her husband were just trying the natural way to get pregnant in hopes of having a girl. I felt for them because their first born had been a girl but she had died shortly after birth. At the end of the show, she had not gotten pregnant.
Another woman had 4 boys and was pregnant for the fifth (and last) time. It followed her to her ultrasound where she found out the sex of the newest baby. She had tried all the "natural" ways of swaying the gender. When she found she was having another boy, she broke down crying. After a minute or two, she composed herself and tried to focus on the healthy baby she was seeing on the screen. In a later interview, she told how she was battling depression and was hoping it would lessen before the baby was born.
The story that disturbed me the most was one of a woman who also had 4 boys. She and her husband had chosen to turn to modern science to help them get their girl. They were undergoing their 3rd and final procedure of in vitro. Only it was with a twist. The woman's eggs are removed and them fertilized with the husband's sperm. After the embryos have reach the point of becoming 10 cells, one cell is removed and they do dna testing to determine the sex. Only the embryos of the desired sex are placed back into the woman. The lady they were filming had 8 eggs removes and six became embryos. Of these, only one was a girl. When the doctor came into the room to tell her (she was waiting to have them implanted), he told her they had one girl to place. She said "okay, great". He then said "Do you just want to dispose of the others?" and without the slightest hesitation, she said "Yes". I was literally sick to my stomach. Five boys were disposed of just becasue they were boys.
This just hits close to home. I admit, I'd love to have a little girl and a part of me is a little sad that probably won't happen. BUT I can't imagine my life without my precious boys. They are my heart and I adore them. I have never gotten pregnant to try for a girl. We just tried for a baby. I feel like God gave us what we were meant to have and I am truly blessed!
While I can somewhat understand those womens' desire for a little girl, I cannot understand throwing away the blessing of another precious baby boy. What message does that send to her other boys? In the end, the girl embryo didn't implant and the couple was not financially able to try again (each procedure ran about $10,000).
I just felt sad when the show was over. Sad for the women who are lost in depression and even more so for the baby boys who never got a chance. My boys are miracles straight from heaven and I pray that those women will realize how blessed they are.

So Proud!

Tonight I was telling the boys goodnight and Landon said he had something to tell me. He said he wanted to be baptized! I asked him if he knew what he needed to do before he could be baptized (he had prayed the prayer with me earlier this year but I wanted to make sure he knew). He said"I need to ask Jesus into my heart and I already did that with you". I told him he could talk to Mr. Jim (the children's minister) about setting up a baptism. He asked me if I would go with him and I said of course. He is so excited and can't wait to tell Mike when he gets home tomorrow. I am so proud and excited!

In My World

The other day, Landon was talking with my mom. He told her that something was "worser". She said, "Landon, worser is not a word". He looked at her, straight faced and said, "Well, in MY world, it is." She had to fight not to laugh, especially since he was so serious when he said it.
Noah comes up with sayings himself. Tonight I stopped by McDonalds after dropping the older boys at church. I ordered a diet coke, From the back of the van, Noah yelled "Mommy, I want some of your diet coconut! It's delicious!". It was priceless!

Jesus in the bathroom

We were at Pizza Hut today for Connor's end of the season football party(they won the championship!). Mike took Noah to the bathroom. They have speakers in there that pipe in music. While they were in there, the song changed. Noah looked up at Mike and said "Daddy, what's that?". Mike said "It's music buddy". Noah looked back at Mike and said "No, it's Jesus".

On another note, I won my first blog giveaway today! I won a SportBrella chair worth $40! It will be perfect for all the boys' sports games! I am so excited!! Thank you to Thanksmailcarrier.com!!!

Candy Time!

Well we now have enough candy to last us for at least a year! Yesterday was a busy but fun day. It started with Connor's football game. They were undefeated and were playing the #2 team. Unfortunately, after going into double overtime, we lost. Our coach gave a GREAT speech afterward though. He emphasized how it's okay to lose sometimes and that he was still proud of all of them. We also got a nice surprise when My Uncle Chuck and Aunt Deanna from FL showed up at the game. They had made a spur of the moment trip up to TN for a mini vacation and to see Deanna's family in Johnson City. It was so nice to have some extra family there to cheer Connor on.
After the game, we headed to Fender's Farm for a birthday party. The weather was perfect and the kids had a lot of fun. Noah especially like the animal exhibit. They had sheep, goats, pigs, ponies, geese, and chickens and they were all super friendly. We did the corn maze and I'll admit, we ended up cheating and taking a shortcut. We had to be home by 4 and it seemed like we were going in circles.
We had just enough time once we got home to change the boys into their costumes and head to the candy carnival at church. After a puppet show, the boys got to get candy at different stations. Each station was decorated like favorite children's books or shows. There was Alvin and the chipmunks, Alice in Wonderland, and Toy Story just to name a few. Upstairs they had games for the kids and a hot dog dinner.
We got back home and saw kids in our neighborhood trick or treating. We thought that would happen tonight but apparently, it had been moved to Saturday. So we ran in and put Connor in his trick or treating costume. He was a glow in the dark stick man so we had saved his costume for after dark. I have to say it turned out really neat and everyone we saw commented on it. They had fun and Noah did a great job of keeping up with the brothers. we were home by 8:30 and the boys were in bed by 9:30. Not too bad! Now we get to relax today before Liam's birthday party tomorrow!

The things they say!

Me to the boys: "Why is Keaton the only one in the living room like I asked you all to be?"
Connor: "Because he can't move."
I asked for that one!

This morning Noah came into my room and said "Mommy, mine cold." I said, "Noah, it's I'M cold". He replied, "Me too."

The other night I went to make brownies for the boys' school parties only to find I only had 1 egg. I was making 3 batches so I was 5 short. Mike was working and the kids were already in their jammies. I called my mom and she said she'd bring me some. Thanks mom!! She honked the horn when she arrived and I went out to get the eggs. Liam asked what she was doing and I told him she was bringing me eggs to borrow. Anyway, mom went with us to Food City last night. We told her goodnight in the parking lot and headed home. I turned onto our road and realized she was behind me. As we both pulled in the drive, I said "I wonder why Grammy's here?". Liam said "Umm, I think she wants her eggs back!".

Oh, how I love the things they say!

Knew it was coming

Well, it's official. Connor needs glasses. We noticed him squinting at the tv a couple of weeks ago. Mike and I both were glasses/contacts so we figured we should take him in. I got glasses in kindergarten so he made it 4 years longer than me! He's actually kind of excited about getting them. I think this is mainly because his best friend, Liam, wears them. I personally think he looks cute in them :) . WalMart had frames for $9 so the cost wasn't too bad either. The total was $58. Better than I expected anyway. I just pray his ears don't get as bad as mine.

On a different note, we took the 4 younger boys to Food City last night for their costume contest (Connor had football practice). Landon was a bat and I made his costume out of an umbrella. It turned out neat. The wings actually looked like real bat wings. I made Liam a gnome costume. He looked SO cute! Noah just wanted to wear a puppy dog costume we had in the dress up box. And, Keaton was a giraffe. I got his costume at a yard sale for $5. Landon ended up winning 3rd place. He got a big goodie bag with a $10 Food City gift card. He was thrilled! Liam got honorable mention and got a HUGE Hershey bar and a gift bag. We had a good time :) Unfortunately, Landon lost his goodie bag until further notice when we came home and found he had eaten all but two pieces of candy from the goodie bag he got at his party at school. I helped fill them so I know their were at least 15 pieces in it. I'm surprised he wasn't in a sugar coma!

Giveaways Galore!

I recently discovered the wonderful world of blog giveaways. I was amazed at just how many there are! You can win everything from toys, to restaurant giftcards, to electronics. Mike thinks I'm crazy but I figure why not try? They odds aren't bad and maybe I can win some things for Christmas.
Speaking of Christmas, I can't believe it's only 2 months away. We took the 3 youngest to WalMart yesterday to browse the toy section. We got a few good ideas. Mike found some cute animal flashlights for them. He's hoping if they have their own, they won't keep getting his! When we got home, there was a Gospel for Asia Christmas catalog in the mail. I'm looking forward to sitting down with the boys and picking out a few things to purchase. It's a great way to teach the boys the importance of giving and to remind them of all the people in the world who lack so many of the things we take for granted.

Mommy's Little Helper

I was in the bedroom this morning feeding Keaton. Liam came in and informed me he was cleaning the whole living room by himself. I told him that was very sweet of him. Well, I went to check on him and Noah a little later and indeed found a completely clean living room! He was so proud. He had even organized the dvd/game cabinet! I was so proud. I told him he was going to get some computer time later which absolutely thrilled him. On top of that nice surprise, Noah has been unusually well behaved today :) No tantrums and all smiles and loves! What a great day!!

Celebration of a Life

The past week has been really hard emotionally. My friend Kristi and her husband Scott, lost their sweet 4 year old daughter, Sydnee, Monday night. It was very sudden and unexpected. She had been fine Sunday and then woke up Monday and started throwing up. She felt bad throughout the day and then started running a fever. When her dad got home from work, he decided to take her to the pediatric urgent care just to be safe since her fever wasn't coming down. As they prepared to leave, Sydnee told him she was feeling better. On the way to the doctor, she talked to her dad and then got quiet all of a sudden. By the time they got to the doctor's office, she had gone limp. Her dad grabbed her out of the car and ran inside yelling for help. She was already turning blue by the time the ambulance got there. They worked on her for over an hour but were unable to bring her back.
I heard the news that night and was in shock. We were supposed to meet up for a playdate with Kristi, Sydnee and her baby brother Noah on Wednesday. I just kept thinking "this can't be happening". Sydnee had faced many challenges in her short life. She was born with a rare condition that affected her lower extremities and she underwent many surgeries, including one to amputate her right leg below the knee and another to remove her left foot. On top of her condition, she had renal cancer as a toddler. She had one of her kidneys removed and underwent chemo and beat it. She had been cancer free for over 2 years. Despite all this, she was an amazingly brave, tough, and vibrant little girl. She was full of spunk and faced every challenge head on. I can't imagine the pain she endured throughout all of her medical issues but she never complained. She loved life, her family(including her best friend, big sister Karri), and Jesus. She was an inspiration to all who knew her. It was just so hard to believe that she had overcome the cancer and came through all her surgeries only to be taken be a simple virus. And the fact that it happened so quickly is scary.
I, along with other moms from our MOPS group (Kristi was our leader) went to her viewing last night. I was doing okay until I saw her little pink(her favorite color) coffin. The entire sanctuary was filled with flowers and the room smelled strongly of roses. She was in an open casket and Kristi herself had prepared Sydney that morning by doing her hair and painting her fingernails. How she had the strength to do it, I'll never know. "Princess" was spelled out in rhinestones on the inside of the coffin and a little tiara sat on top of the flower arrangement on top. Her blankie, which she never left home without, was draped over the side. I hugged Kristi and told her I was sorry and that I loved her. God had given her peace for the evening and she was holding it together amazingly. She said she and Scott could feel all the prayers and they were helping to get them through. As she hugged me she said "go home and love those boys". That just made me cry more. She said she was going to miss Sydnee's little voice and her smile. I will too. I told Scott how sorry I was and he leaned in and whispered, "please take care of my wife. You all mean a lot to her. She doesn't always ask for help but please watch out for her." It was hard to respond, I was crying so much.
Today was the funeral. It was one of the most beautiful, yet horrible things I have ever been through. It was a beautiful service, honoring a beautiful little girl but it was horrible that it had to even take place. My friend Amanda went with me and I'm so glad she did. We both cried through the whole thing. Sydnee's uncle sang the song "Homesick", pausing a couple of times becasue he was getting choked up. Her "poppy" who is a minister, spoke about his granddaughter and what a blessing she was. He said Sydnee dreamed of being a mommy and he thought maybe God took her home because he needed a little mommy to help him with the babies in heaven. Then they played a slideshow of Sydnee's life. Two of the songs in the slideshow were Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella" and "Heaven is the Face". After the slideshow, they asked everyone to stand and sing a couple of Sydnee's favorite hymns. As we all sang "Surely the Presence", Sydnee's dad raised his hand in praise and then broke down sobbing. It was one the the most heart wrenching things I have ever seen. My heart broke for him and Kristi.
Our loss it truly heaven's gain. I can just see Sydney running and dancing with her new, perfect legs. I feel truly blessed to have know one of God's sweetest angels!

So different

I wanted to write my birth story before I forgot it. I had really wanted to go into labor on my own. My induced labors had gone really smoothly and the pain had been manageable. I had heard induced labors were harder so I figured a spontaneous labor would go even better. Unfortunately, an ultrasound at 38 weeks made another induction necessary. My doc wanted to check and make sure my fluid was okay since Keaton's movements had lessened. Turned out it was a little too good. The tech showed me the fluid and his very full bladder. She told the doc my fluid was 28. The doc said "28?, hmm". She then looked at me and said, that's technically polyhydramnios. We may need to induce sooner. She said every doc has different cut offs, but the highest is 26. They induced me for the same thing with Connor. The polyhydramnios puts me at a higher risk for him turning breech and for placental abruption. So an induction was booked for the following Thursday (they won't induce before 39 weeks). We were to report to the hospital at midnight Wed night to get checked in and then the induction would start the next morning. Mike wasn't thrilled about that but I figured better than having to get up at 4:30 Thursday morning.


I actually started contracting Wednesday and was hoping I was going into labor but no luck. We checked into the hospital at midnight for my induction. They monitored the baby and got me in the system and then my doc came in and broke my water at 7:30. I was still contracting so we hoped breaking my water would get things moving quickly. No such luck. After 2 hours, I had only progressed 1cm to 4 and he was still really high. I waited until 11:00 and then requested some pitocin to help things move along. After about an hour, the contractions were getting pretty painful and I was at a 5.
The contractions got really painful a lot quicker than with the other boys. I got stadol around 2 and it helped for about an hour. The nurse came in and checked me at 3 and I was at 6. At that point I just couldn't take it. I broke down and asked for an epidural. I struggled with it but this labor was SO much more intense than the others. It took about 20 minutes for anesthesia to come and about 10 minutes to get the epi. I was really nervous but it went smoothly and took great. Within about 5 minutes, the pain started to ease but I was feeling pressure. The nurse checked again and I was 10 and the head was at +1. So I went from 6 to 10 in about 30 minutes. The nurse said she wanted me to be get some rest from the epi so she let me relax for about 40 minutes. It was so nice. All I felt was very mild pressure with some of the contractions. My doc came in and got ready. The pushing stage was so relaxed and calm. The nurses, the doc and I were talking and laughing. I pushed through 4 contractions and my little guy was born. And the best part is, no tearing! He's my biggest and the only one I didn't tear with. They immediately put him on my chest skin to skin and he latched on within minutes. He nursed for over an hour

It was so different from the other's boys' births. I thought a more natural, spontaneous birth would go smoother and I would have less pain. I was wrong. Keaton's birth was the least induced of them all and by far the most painful. I've heard women say there was no way they could go without an epidural with a pitocin induced labor. It was the complete opposite for me! I started pit with the other boys right from the beginning and before contractions had started. I was technically already in pre-labor with Keaton when they broke my water and didn't get pitocin until 4 hours in. And even then, it was only a small amount. And he's the one I ended up getting the epi with! Just goes to show every labor is different!

I wouldn't change a thing with any of my births though. I'm glad I didn't get the epi with the first 4 and I'm glad I did with Keaton. It was nice to be able to experience both sides. I was hurting so bad with Keaton that I told Mike, "I think you're right, this is it! No more!". But after getting the epi, I thought :wow, this is great, I could definitely do this again!". I told Mike and he said, "I shouldn't have let you get the epi!" :) We have both agreed not to do anything permanent. Mike was pretty adamant that we were done but lately I think he's softening to the the idea of one more. I could see it. For now, we'll just wait and see. Maybe we'll get an even 6 pack of boys :)

Too fast

It's hard to believe Keaton is a month old. It goes by so fast. He's doing good although I think he's getting a cold. I'm not surprised since his brothers have one and they insist on being in his face all the time. Poor baby. He's very alert and has started smiling. I could stare at him all day! He definitely likes to be held! The other boys liked it but they were happy to be on the floor looking around or in the swing. Not Keaton! Thankfully I have several helpers that don't mind holding him at all! Even Noah is crazy about him and gets upset when he can't hold him.

Speaking of Noah, he is doing great with his potty training. He wasn't too interested about a month ago but the last week or two he has gotten a lot better. He wears underwear most of the day and has only had a few accidents in the last 3 days. His independence helps in this area. It is VERY frustrating in others though! All I hear is "My do it!!!". He will throw a monster fit if he doesn't get to do everything by himself. He is by far my most challenging child so far! But then he can be the sweetest boy. Loves to give hugs and kisses and is definitely my most outgoing child.

All in all we are doing good. Mike is back at work. I definitely look forward to him coming home! The boys are good most of the time but boy can they fight! In fact, I just had Liam come in and tell me Landon hit him. Landon then tells me yes he did but he did it because Liam punched him first. Liam of course denied it and Landon said "yes he did! He just doesn't want to commit it becasue he'll get in trouble!". I made them hug and apologize and then separated them. Ahh, brotherly love!

Cool Dude Hair

Connor got a haircut last week and he decided to style it. He used some gel and spiked the front. Landon of course wanted to do it too so Connor helped him. It was so cute to watch them standing in front of the mirror together fixing their hair. They left for school and Liam came to me and said, "mommy, I want cool dude hair like brothers". It was adorable! He had me help him spike his hair in front. He was so proud and couldn't wait to show Mike his cool dude hair :) They have all been fixing their hair every morning now. They were all sitting at the counter the other day and it made me smile. They looked so handsome! I can't wait to have all 5 of my boys sitting there with their "cool dude" hair :)

What Next?

I have to start by saying, I have felt really good this pregnancy. Aside from being tired, I'm loving it. Little man is VERY active and I LOVE feeling and seeing him move. However, it seems like I keep being thrown curve balls. The kidney issue is nerve wracking enough but yesterday I got another scare. I had been having really bad swelling in my right calf and foot for a few days. It was worse in the evening but it never went away. I went to my appt expecting to hear, "it's normal" and to drink more and put my feet up. Instead, the doc took one look and said "I'm sending you for an ultrasound of your leg". She was concerned that since it was only on one side, I could have a blood clot. That had never even crossed my mind. She said, if they did see something, they would admit me to the hospital. It took 30 minutes to get pre-approval from my insurance. Thankfully, my friend Lori had come to my appt with me (1st time she's done that) and helped me occupy Liam and Noah. I have to admit, my first thought was "crud, I didn't shave my legs!". My doc was awesome and showed the boys how to change the color of the light on the fish tank and even brought me a box of girl scout cookies for them to snack on. I called Mike at work and told him he may want to start finding someone to come in for him just in case they admitted me. Of course after weeks of being slow, they had been busy all morning and he was on call number 2.
I finally got an appt for 1:00 (it was 11:00) so we took the kids to get something to eat. Mike called and said it would be at least 2 hours before he could be home. He was in Johnson City and they had to get back to the airport and refuel and restock before flying back to Greenville. From there, it takes him an hour to get home. So I called my mom to come meet me at the hospital so Lori could go pick up her son from school. Headed back to the hospital and got back for the u/s about 1:45. My doc had said that although the techs don't officially read the results, they know what they are looking at. She said if the tech finished and said,ok, you can go, then everything was normal. But if she said she was bringing the doctor in, there could be a problem. I honestly had not been too worried until the tech finished and said "let me get the radiologist to take a look". I panicked. Thankfully, 10 long minutes later, she came back and said he didn't see anything and I could go. I was SO relieved! So the official diagnosis is unexplained unilateral swelling. The doctor told me to try and stay off my feet and that they'd keep an eye on it. Mike called as I was loading the boys in the van and was about 10 minutes from the house. I hated that he had had to leave work but it was nice becasue I was able to come home and lay down for a while. Mike offered to take today off but I told him no. I hate to waste vacation time. Mom took the boys around 2:00 and is keeping them overnight. It feels so weird to be alone in the house. I honestly don't remember the last time that happened. I think it was when I was pregnant with Noah.
So, everything is fine but I sure am tired of these scares. I just want my little guy yo be okay and have a smooth 8 weeks! I'm getting really excited about meeting him. I got out my newborn clothes to wash. They being back memories :) I can't wait to see what he looks like. Right now, I'm guessing brown hair and blue eyes. Time will tell!

Tired

I'm now 30 weeks along and the tiredness is coming back. We've had some unexpected things come up and I think the emotional stress adds to the fatigue. They are still wanting to monitor the baby's kidneys which are both still enlarged. The cutoff for normal is 4 and his are at 6. If they reach 10, they will have to do a test where they insert a needle into his bladder to test the concentration of his urine. If that comes back abnormal, it means that the kidney has reached the point where it is not functioning properly. If that were the case, they would deliver him then. My next u/s is in 4 weeks so I would be 34 weeks along. The idea of the test makes my sick to my stomach since I know that he would feel the procedure. Add that to having to deliver him early and it's pretty stressful. I just want my baby to be okay.
On top of that, I noticed a small black mole on my shoulder about a month ago. I went to my doctor to have it looked at and he recommended it be removed. That was done a couple of weeks ago. T"he pathology report came back that although they were holding back on calling it melanoma, that they were recommending it be treated as one and that more of the surround tissue be removed. The surgeon said that if left alone, the mole would have developed into a melanoma. So, yesterday I went and had an area of skin about the size of a ping pong ball removed. He ended up having to give me 5 stitches. It's VERY sore today. I wasn't expecting it since the first procedure didn't really hurt. I saw my OB this morning and she was surprised they didn't give me anything for pain so she gave me a prescription for stadol. I'm trying to hold off on it though. Now I have an appt with a dermatologist in 2 weeks. I'm really nervous they'll find more spots. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now.
Anyway, I'm trying to focus on the positive right now. Baby boy looks great other than the kidney issue. He moves constantly and I love it. My OB asked if I was tired of being pregnant yet and I can honestly say no. I'm enjoying it, esp since this is probably our last. It has been a smooth pregnancy all things considered. The boys are doing great and we are looking forward to spring. So, I know I'm blessed and I'm just praying that God takes care of the things I can't control.

Cat Hotel

The boys are FINALLY back at school after school being canceled for a week and a half. This was immediately following Christmas break so they were out for almost 4 weeks. They were so ready to go back and I was ready for them to go as well! They honestly were pretty good all things considered but they were getting cabin fever. One afternoon Connor and Landon spent nearly 2 hours building a "cat hotel" for Daisy and Jackson. They used laundry baskets, toy bins, blankets, and other misc items to create and elaborate hideaway for the cats. It even had separate eating and sleeping areas. They were so proud and I was proud of their imaginations. Now if they could only play like that every day!