Double the Dunkins, You Got Mail, and Finished Project...

I had a doctor appointment this morning which had me up and out of the house at 6:30am. Thankfully, Bryant got the kids off to preschool and a friends house. One thing that he didn't do was leave me Gracie's car seat, and by the time he realized it he was at work and I wasn't going to drive into downtown DC to get it either. So, we did a little impromptu situation with a booster and we made it home alive and in one piece. On the way home though, I always pass by a Dunkin' Donuts which is literally a couple of blocks up the road from our house. And today it was calling my name.... very rarely does this happen, but today was the day. So, the kids and I trek into Dunkin' Donuts with a plan of buying just a 1/2 dozen to take home. While we are in there the kids ask for "the white circles".... miniatures, otherwise known as donut holes. They were being very specific and I thought well, they just know their donuts.... but, would you like to know why they know their donuts so well? Because.... it was revealed to me once we got back in the van, that on the way to preschool this morning daddy made a stop by Dunkin' Donuts also... and bought them "the white circles". My kids never get donuts, so what's the likelihood of them getting double the Dunkin's in the same day!! Once, we got home Gracie told me, " My daddy is so cool.". I asked her why and she says, "because he bought us donuts!". "Hey, I bought you donuts too!".... her response "hmmmm".

There was also a lovely package awaiting me when I got home! Thanks Elizabeth, Susan and Amanda! These girls put together a box of stuff to keep me busy while in the hospital.... and now that I'm home it will keep me busy here too! But, some of these items will be returning with me to the hospital come closer to June.... probably not the Crunch'n Munch or candy though, they'll be lucky to make it to the weekend!

And, finally the BIG project! This month at preschool Nathan is doing a Dinosaur unit. And this week we have been working on his dino- pillow. Yesterday, after trying to figure out what in the heck was wrong with my sewing machine.... I got his pillow sewed. And today he stuffed it at school and brought it home to keeps! OK, so now look at my sewing machine.... did you figure it out? After calling Bryant, my mom and then Bryant again.... I found the foot! But, without it on there it seriously had me wondering who had taken it off and replaced it with this other piece?! Yah, no one did that.... it just came off and fell to the bottom of the box when we moved.

33 Weeks...

Well, we're 33 weeks today!
On average Eli weights the same as a pineapple.... on average, haha.
We already know that he is slightly larger than average.

Dialogue from the Store

Nathan: Mommy can I have a Bakugan watch?
Mommy: No, you already have a watch at home, your Transformer watch.
Nathan: But, I don't have a Bakugan watch...
Mommy: Nathan, I said No. Maybe we can find something else for you to have, ok?
Nathan: Yah, like maybe a T.V.
Mommy: (laughing) a T.V.? Probably not buddy.... maybe a book.

So, he finds the movie, "Avatar" and suddenly him and daddy are instantly attracted to it. He carries it with him all over the store. We decide to find him a new shirt and with every option this is what he says....

Mommy or Daddy: How about this one? It's super cool. Legos Batman?!
Nathan: ummm.... no thanks, I'll just put it on my birthday list. I'm getting "Avatar".
Mommy or Daddy: oh, Nathan look Star Wars pajamas!
Nathan: no thanks, I don't think I need those now.

Eventually, he cracked to a T-shirt that came with a skateboard.... only after we told him we would prefer to just rent "Avatar". When Bryant asked to look at the movie, it surprisingly disappeared!

On another note, EVERY person I ran into today at the store and the grocery store said, "WOW. You must be due any day now!". I said, " No actually not til June." and they replied with, "Well, you must be having one big baby!". Yes, that is correct. Except Bryant and I often say that I will not be giving birth to a baby, but a full grown toddler. After all, this little man was already big and then we had a week long sleepover at the hospital at which point we were given steroids to quickly develop Eli's lungs.... therefor big baby on steroids= well, big baby on steroids!

Eli's Story...

If you've noticed it has been awhile since I've last posted. And by now many of you know why. And for those who don't... here's Eli's story.

Wednesday, April 14th I kissed my kids goodbye as I ran out of the house at 4:30 in the afternoon for a routine OB exam. At the exam the midwife became very concerned about the speed of Eli's heart rate. She walked me over to Labor and Delivery where I was placed on monitors for a little while to hear his heart beating. A heart rate in the range of 230- 240 bpm sounds a lot like a horse running down a cobblestone road. It also will get very serious looks from every nurse and doctor that walks into the room.... serious and scared looks.

Shortly after 6 pm they had contacted the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland and were preparing me for transport via ambulance. At this point all I could think about was what to do with my kids so that Bryant could join me at the hospital in Maryland. Thankfully, after one phone call to a good friend, arrangements were made and the kids were taken care of.

Thankfully by the time of transport, the traffic was moving well around DC and we got there safely and in reasonable timing. The staff at NNMC Bethesda were wonderful. All night I was highly monitored with ultrasounds at various hours and constant monitoring of Eli's heart rate. Everything appeared to be perfectly healthy with Eli with the exception of an extremely fast heart rate. The next morning we met with a Pediatric Cardiologist who looked at Eli's heart with fine details and diagnosed him with having an Atrial Flutter. This could be brought back to normal by treating me with heart medication, therefor passing it to the baby and bringing his heart back to a sinus rhythm. Just in case his heart went into failure however, I was given steroids to quickly develop his lungs in case of an emergency delivery. Thursday evening I began Sotalol, heart medication and by Friday night they upped the dosage. On Saturday, the medication began to show signs of improvement for Eli. While I was extremely nervous about taking heart medication myself, when my heart was perfectly healthy, I showed no signs of an unhealthy reaction to the medication. And by Monday there was talk of me going home on Tuesday (today).

While all of this was occurring at the hospital, my mother, Bryant's mother and his sister had drove down to Virginia from New York on Thursday and were caring for the children. Bryant had already notified work and will be returning next week. We had no idea what the outcome would be upon arrival to the hospital on Wednesday night and until yesterday afternoon, the statement from the doctors wasn't "when" I'ld be going home, but "if" I would be going home. If there were any signs of heart failure for Eli at any point then the only option would have been delivery. Knowing this, plans were also in process for our children to return to NY with their grandma's if improvements weren't showing by Monday. Thankfully, God provided and our goal now is for Eli to stay in utero for as long as possible.

So, that is Eli's story. It is not over though.... please pray as we have 8 more weeks until I reach full term pregnancy. Until then, we will be making trips twice weekly for monitoring in Bethesda. There will be lots of driving and schedule rearranging but, we are so thankful for this facility and the wonderful doctors there. And so thankful that I am able to be home with my family. The kids were so excited today when I came home, but very sad to see their grandma's go back home. It truly was wonderful that they were able to make it down with last minute plans. Please pray for Eli's heart (and my own) during these next several weeks, that God will keep him safe and healthy. I will be on the heart medication until Eli is born and Eli's treatment after birth will be determined at that time by the Pediatric Cardiologist. I am happy to say that when the monitors and EKG's where unattached today and I was able to get out of bed and walk around the hospital room, that Eli's heart rate was in the 120's bpm. That sure sounds much nicer than the 240's.

LOVE ...

As a child I remember loving to play outside in the dirt with my brother, riding bikes, playing house, Barbies, and going through my moms' shoes to pick a favorite pair to clomp around the house in.

Well, now that my own kids are 3 and 5 this is what they love...

Nathan: loves to read about Dinosaurs and Outer Space, play outside, play any type of board game, Legos, Nerf guns, GI Joes and when I made dinner tonight he told that it looked disgusting... so apparently he loves to eat familiar food that looks appealing! He also loves to call Gracie "sissie" and play the Wii with Daddy.

Funny thing: tonight he called me sissie... I said, "I'm not sissie". He laughed and said, "that's just another way of saying mom."... uuuh, no it's not.

Gracie: loves to read about princesses, play with Barbies, Polly pocket princess dolls, toy ponies, and her baby doll named Sarah. She also will hug and kiss Eli every chance she gets. As far as food goes, well she eats anything but, if you ask her what she wants I promise she will answer either pancakes or macaroni and cheese. She also loves bike rides, blowing bubbles and sidewalk chalk... not to mention her love of play-doh, she loves the messy stuff.

Funny thing: she can sing Taylor Swift, Casting Crowns or the Star Wars theme song on command.

Welcome Ianna...

While we were away in Indiana, a dear friend of mine in Virginia had her baby. After getting back into town and running to the grocery store, I went to the hospital to visit Miss Dana and baby Ianna. She is just beautiful!

What we did on Spring Break...

After a long drive from Virginia to Indiana (well, actually it wasn't bad... we took the trip in 2 days because this achy back and belly couldn't handle more than 6 hours at a time).... we arrived!

Thursday.

It was soooo nice to see my sister's family! After lunch we took off for the playground. Here's Julia and Gracie heading off to do some sliding.

Then off to Chick-fil-a for dinner with old friends before the Maundy Thursday church service. I forgot to pull out my camera, so I swiped these photos from The Daily Sweatpants , thanks Amanda!

Mom, Dad and Greg got in later that evening... it was nice to be all together.

Friday.

After breakfast we all climbed in the vans and headed off to one of my sister's friends house... she has horses. All of the children were so excited!

And, she has chickens. The kids enjoyed holding the baby chicks and taking home some fresh eggs for breakfast the next day.

And once we were back to Jen's and relaxed... Gracie got to do what Gracie does best... love on Jenna.

"Is that yo baby?.... she's so tuttie tuttie."

Saturday.

Nathan woke up in the morning and discovered that over night he became a 5 year old! Jen and I took all the kids (with exception of Jenna, who hung out with Grandma and Grandpa) to go see "How to Train Your Dragon".... very good movie.

Later, that day presents were opened and Ice cream cake was devoured.

And yes, this tasted just as awesome as it looked!... thanks mom.

Sunday: Easter.

We celebrated Easter Sunday at Northside Baptist, sitting in the same spot of the pew we had always sat in before.... right next to the Jablonski's.

Then, off to Castleview Baptist to worship with my family, and then home to Jen and Jeremy's for some Easter fun!

Egg hunt.

After enjoying a delicious Easter dinner, it was hard to believe that our vacation was almost over.

Monday.

We spent the day catching up. I caught up on laundry... and Bryant played catch up with some old coworkers from his recruiting days. Then, we headed to the park, for one last play date with old friends. And then off to visit our old neighbors, the Fosnot's.

Tuesday.

We departed and headed back to Virginia. We spent the night at a hotel so that we could continue our trip on Wednesday. The kids really enjoyed this iron cowboy that stood in front of our hotel in Bentleyville, PA.

Come Wednesday we were home. Which brought a whole new adventure and new faces into our lives..... I'll share more of that later.

Easter Vacation... or known as Spring Break 2010

Nathan's last day of preschool before Spring break, there was an Easter party and parade... featuring bonnet's and ties that the kids made and a bunny hop around the gym.

And, then we were off to Indiana!

It's been awhile...

Wow! I have not updated this for a couple of weeks! And so much has been going on in our family! We went to Indiana for a week and spent some great time with our family and friends.... Nathan turned 5... and today is his party with his friends here in Virginia... a very good friend of mine had a baby, like I said a lot has happened. So, here's a quick little "hi" and "hello", yes we do still exist.

And here is a picture from last night. I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and walked into the living room to see what these two characters were up to. Well, I saw this.... and heard this.... "sissy, drive like the wind!".... mommy quickly said, "no, don't!".