34 Balloons for 34 Years and 34 Things

Age doesn't really bother me.  I didn't get all freaked out when I turned 30 and I am not freaking out today.  Today I am 34 and I'm thankful for another year.  I can honestly say I physically feel better (concerning arthritis) this year than I did last year, so I celebrate that blessing!  Actually I'm quite blessed and I don't mean I only have one thing to celebrate.  So in honor of my 34th birthday I am posting 34 things I am thankful for and some of them are not so obvious.  ~Smile~

1. God.  Everything about God.  Cannot, will not and do not want to live without Him.
2. My Bible ~ it keeps me sane.
3. My hubby ~ 14 years together and we are both still alive. Love him with much muchness. ~Wink~
4. My kids ~ 13 years of being a mommy and everyday I still pray I am getting it right.
5. My parents ~ couldn't ask for a better set of parents.  They rock!
6. My girlfriends ~ where would a girl be without them??
7. My Pastor and First Lady ~ They have blessed me more than they can ever know.
8. My family ~ blood and otherwise, our family is awesome!
9. Homeschooling ~ I am thankful I have the right to choose and I love it! (most of the time)
10. Yarn ~ it gives me a hobby, a way to earn a little cash and inspires creativity.
11. Fun crochet hooks ~ they make my already fun hobby even more fun.
12. My iPhone ~ it is not a necessity, but it keeps me smart ~Smile~
13. Books ~ it allows me to travel to different times and places without leaving my cuppa tea and my cozy couch.
14. My iPad ~ for many reasons, but mostly for electronic books.  See above.  ~Wink~
15. My dishwasher ~ Heaven knows I do not enjoy doing dishes, so my dishwasher is very special to me.  
16. Flip flops ~ I hate wearing shoes.  Flip flops allow me to, almost, not wear shoes from April to October.  Divine.
17. Ginger ale.  Yes, I truly love ginger ale and today I am thankful for it.
18. My journal.  I pour all my words into that journal and therefore I run my mouth less otherwise.  ~Wink~
19. Toilet paper.  I think that one is self explanatory.  
20. My mini van.  It's older and not the most fabulous van around, but it gets me where I need to go and it puts space between the children.  ~Smile~
21. Ear buds.  I love being hands free to talk.
22. Our homeschool group ~ They are an awesome group of homeschool families and I'm truly thankful we are apart of HELPS.
23. Facebook ~ Some days I'm thankful for FB and other days not so much.  But I am thankful that it keeps me close to friends and family far away.
24. St. Louis Bread Co CWE ~ I'm thankful for them because they are awesome and welcoming to our church plant.  
25. The Movement ~ I am thankful for our church plant for so many reasons!!
26. FroYo ~ Who doesn't love frozen yogurt??
27. Bobby pins ~ Those little pieces of mental make a world of difference in hair style.  ~Smile~
28. Maxi dresses ~ Comfy clothes are a must.  Because of maxi dresses I can be comfy and still look nice and modest.  
29. Washer and Dryer ~ This is a no brainer.  When you have laundry in the quantities we have, these are a blessing!!
30. Hubby's job ~ It's a blessing, with good insurance and benefits.  I thank God daily for it.  (Which by-the-way, he started at exactly two years ago today.)
31. Trees ~ I love trees, the colors, the flowering varieties especially.  They provide shade and oxygen.  I am thankful for oxygen, despite the pollen, I do love the trees.
32. Ability to move ~ Because I have a debilitating arthritis, I am thankful for another year of being able to move.  I may not get to do everything I would like too, but I'm better this year than last and for this I am abundantly grateful!
33. Fresh fruit ~ There is nothing sweeter and yummier than fresh strawberries, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe and the list goes on.  God out did Himself with the Creation of fruit.  ~Smile~
34. My gray hair ~ I don't have an abundance yet, but I do like them.  Why am I thankful for them?  At least it's still hair on my head.  I'd rather have gray, than none at all.  ~Wink~

So today, my 34th birthday, I shall play with my kids and have a milkshake with them, we will go to the bookstore, we will read a funny book, possibly do a lapbook, fold laundry (because that's a given) and do a load of dishes (another given), we will giggle and laugh as much as possible and I will end the day with Bible study in the Central West End.  

It will be a great day.  

Belated Birthday, With No Pictures!

ARGH!!!!!!! ~~Banging head on desk~~

I sat down this morning to post pictures of Sam's birthday. I opened up iPhoto and the pics of his birthday are gone. Then I realized that the pictures I took of my grandpa with the kids are also missing. I am so angry. I watched them upload, I finished the import and now I go there and there they aren't.

Frustration. Total frustration.

Sam had a great birthday. My mom and dad took Sam and Makiah to play mini golf. They played two rounds and Sam actually got two holes in one! He was very excited about the golf and I think we could have just stopped there and he would have been content. We took him out to eat his favorite thing, Fazoli's. Yes, Fazoli's. He LOVES spaghetti and because he won't eat at my parents (he gets so excited that he won't eat) we took him there. Then onto Grams and Grampa's house for presents and cake.

He is a completely outfitted fireman now. Sam loves firemen, I think I have written about that before now, but he loves to play fireman and rescue people and spray water (pretend, of course). He even knows all the pieces to a fireman's uniform, including the breathing apparatice. So to ensure that he would stop using Makiah's pink princess bike helmet as a fireman hat, he got a complete fireman uniform with jacket, hat and axe. Grams found rain boots that actually look like fireman boots (they even say property of Fire Department with emblem on them) and he LOVES them. He wears them as many places as mom will let him! He also got several other things too from other people, like a firetruck, a Spiderman watch, the Gator Golf game~~I'd say he got quite enough.

He told me later that night that it was his best birthday ever! Mission accomplished. We were both happy.

Birthday BBQ

No, I am not 830, though there are days I feel like it.

While in St. Louis we had a birthday BBQ for Makiah. Little did I know, that I was included in the birthday celebrations! Makiah got presents and money, I got money. Money is always the right size and color.

The food was awesome, the socializing was great, Makiah and Sam played with friends and puppies--a good time was had by all. Speaking of food, we indulged on grilled burgers with Linton's Special Sauce, grilled hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, chips and dip, oatmeal scotchies (yummy cookies that are fabulous) and of course, ice cream cake!

I have to take a moment and tell you all that Linton's burgers are the best. The sauce he makes to go on them is fabulous! I would give you the recipe, but there isn't one. He just pours certain ingredients together in whatever amount he thinks and cooks it on the stove. Then to complete the burger you top it with a grilled slice of fresh pineapple! YUM! Caribbean burgers is what they have been dubbed in our house.

Enough talk about food, it's making me hungry. ~Smile~

Also, thank you for all the kind comments on Monday's post, either on facebook or here.

A Long Day Waiting For Daniel

I went downstairs, the doctor's office is in the Women's Hospital--convenient huh? So we went downstairs to labor & delivery. Fear was gripping me. I had delivered all my others without a c-section and I didn't want to ruin a perfect run. I checked in, got an IV, monitors hooked up, blood clot stockings on my legs and it all became very real. I was terrified.

I gave birth to Makiah and Sam, no meds, completely natural. I did it mostly because with Nathaniel I had an epidural and I was so afraid of the needle, had back pain for 4 months and epi headaches for months afterward, that I had decided never again. Here I was, no choice, a shot in the spine was my only way out. I was more afraid of the spinal block than the actual incision! I went through the day with Hubs keeping my smiling and trying to keep my mind off of 4:30.

As the time approached, you could tell things were picking up and that I was getting ready to go. Good thing too, my contractions had started again. They did one more final ultrasound to make sure we still needed to do the c-section. He was apparently very comfortable, he hadn't moved. Hubs put on his very special jump suit. It was time.

I walked into the operating room. I was terrified. There was the anesthesiologist that I had met earlier. He was ready, but I wasn't. At this point I figured I really couldn't back out. I bravely allowed him to inject me with numbing medication that I wasn't sure I would ever recover from. I kept thinking, what if I never feel my feet again? Or what if I can never walk again because of this shot? Drama was coming into play. Things were moving fast now. I wanted Hubs. Where was he anyway?

Finally after everything else, they let Hubs in. Tears flowed freely at that point. It was safe to cry now. I wasn't sure what I was crying about. It could have been because all the fear off all day finally burst forth, or that my precious baby was finally coming or that they were about to cut me open. I am thinking it was a combination of all the above.

Pressure, lots of pressure and then a little meowy cry. Then it got louder and louder and boy does that boy have some lungs! He was here. Right there, long, skinny and screaming his head off. I kissed his little nose, and they took him to clean him up. Daddy followed the baby at more request. They gave me some relaxing meds and I think I actually went to sleep. Daddy stayed with baby, mama woke up in recovery.

I can't say that the c-section recovery was joyful, because it wasn't. Daniel was great! I was so happy to have him here. All 6 pounds 11 ounces of him. So much for their theory that he was big!

This year with him has been joyous. He was a good baby, rarely cried, peaceful and happy. We've had some issues with his development that caused mama some fear, but on the whole, it's been a lovely year. Developmentally he has made huge strides. I believe God is healing him. What can he do??

~~Crawl everywhere and fast
~~Go up the steps, much to my surprise
~~Pull up and cruise around stuff
~~Finally signs the work "more" (we use a lot of signing with him)
~~Drinks from a sippy cup
~~Self feeds finger foods (pincer grasp gets better everyday)
~~Says ma ma, da da (he also says ga ga ga, which Grams insists that he is calling for her)
~~Walks the walking toy around the room

I am excited to see him change, but I already miss babyhood!

And Daniel Eli Is His Name

One year ago today I was not feeling the best. I was 38 weeks pregnant and was ready to have the peanut on the outside rather than inside. I had mentioned to my doctor that Samuel had been breech right up until the end and then he made a u-turn and everything was fine. I had also told her that I knew his head was in my lungs, I KNEW it. Being the smart doctor she is, she ordered an ultrasound, because everyone knows that mama's are usually right about these things. So as I was driving to the ultrasound I began thinking. . .

On the phone with the Pastor in early March: "I don't think I'll make it to the 24th of April, I have a strange feeling that this boy is coming on the 11th of April."

Pastor: "No, you can't do that we are out of town that weekend. (Laughing) Don't you think you should wait."

Me: "I don't know why, but that's when he is coming."

As I was driving along (on April 10th), this conversation comes back to my head. I think of the fact that I don't have my suitcase packed and all the things I still needed to do in preparation of a peanut. Looking back, except for the suitcase not being packed, everything else was ready, but my nesting insisted it wasn't! I wasn't feeling right, I just felt ICK and I KNEW the baby was breech. I also knew labor was near, I could feel it.

I called Hubs and said "WE NEED A NAME NOW!!" No more waiting. And we decided right then that his name would be Daniel Eli Lovelock. I needed to know his name before the ultrasound, so that if he was breech I could give him a good talking too!

I was right, Daniel was diagonal. Head up on the right and feet down over to the left. Turkey. I was going to have a long talk with him on the way home. I did not want a c-section. At that moment I wanted to wait as long as possible for this baby to be born. However long it took for him to make turn was fine with me. I went home. I did all the crazy positions to get the baby to turn. I prayed. I told Daniel to turn around!

We had a nice evening, just relaxing with my feet up, and I packed that suitcase. About 7:30 that evening, I felt a contraction. I ignored it, drank some more water (to stave off dehydration), and continued watching the movie. Not saying anything to anyone about the contraction. About 8, I had another one. 8:20, another one. By this time, I had to tell Hubs. See my contractions don't need to be close to be effective and I knew that from Sam's birth. So I told him and he says "Are you serious?" Well yeah, I don't really tease about these things. We piddled around and waited for more. 8:40, 9:05 and then 9:20. At this point I see a bad trend developing. I call my parents to come and stay with Makiah and Sam. I didn't even call the doctor, I just went straight to labor and delivery triage. They would call for me.

Hubs and I arrive at Labor and Delivery Triage and I check in. Confirmation on those contractions (yeah, I knew that) and I was dialated to three! I told them he was breech and so a portable ultrasound was brought in to confirm that he hadn't moved. He hadn't. So labor stopping medicine was given. It stopped the contractions until I could get to see a different doctor--one who can do the c-section. Ugh! After two hours of monitoring they felt I could go home (it was now 12:30 a.m.), with an appointment with the new doctor at 8 a.m. I went home and fell (gently) into bed. Around 4:30, contraction. I ignored it. I had little ones inconsistently through the night.

I went to the doctor that morning and he confirmed (again) that Daniel had NOT turned and he scheduled my c-section for that afternoon. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. I wasn't leaving. I was going downstairs to L & D triage to wait until my 4:30 c-section. April 11th. He was coming on April 11th.

Why did I have to be right????



~~~~~Read the conclusion tomorrow~~~~~

Just Had to Give You Some More

Makiah is enjoying the birthday cake.


Makiah was showing Daniel the Mickey Clubhouse and the lights.


Daniel is really working on a tooth and the sign was his choice of teether last night.


Daniel and Grandma


Daniel and Daddy. We gave him just a little taste of icing and then right before I took the picture, daddy had apparently given him some more. The evidence is on the corner of his mouth. Lets just say Daniel REALLY liked it.

Well, that's enough photos for today. And enough birthday. Back regular mediocre blogging tomorrow.

By-the-way, the date on my camera is wrong again. We had the party the day after his birthday, but all the photos have his birthdate on them. Funny. Well, it was to me anyway. :)

Presents and Play

Present, presents, presents. Sam and my dad, otherwise known as "gwampa" started playing trucks right after all the wrapping paper was off the gifts. It was fun evening and the birthday boy was very happy.


His facial expression says, "Could you please hurry, I want to open them, not stand beside 'em."


"Wow!"


"Let me stand back and tell you how cool this is."



Grandpa, Sam and Daniel playing cars and trucks. Daniel is eating one of the signs.




I took this picture so you could see Sam's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sam really likes Mickey, and this thing talks and lights up.

I am going to post one more time today, more pics. Later, the dishes are calling to be loaded in the dishwasher and I have schoolwork to check.