Our weekend

Well the Curious George movie was a hit. Both boys were totally glued to the tv the whole time and barely ate a thing. See the picture for an idea. I even got to cut their hair while they watched.

Saturday we played and worked outside most of the day. Gray enjoyed showing the people working out how he could ride the scooter with one leg hiked up (see picture). We enjoyed more pizza with Barnette and Cindy Saturday night and were thankful to all be well and able to go to church today.

Joshua is now in the 3 year old Sunday School class and then he comes into church with us before going to Children's Worship before the sermon. There are a ton of kids in the worship time (45 last week in the 3-5 yr old group!) and some of the children are really fearful for their parents to drop them off, but Joshua seems to like it and I'm thankful there's no separation anxiety for him. He usually has a lot of questions during the time he's in church with us and doesn't enjoy sitting still, but he's doing pretty well.

Gray is of course very happy in his new 2 year old class. He doesn't even tell us goodbye because he's so enthralled in whatever is going on there. He willingly participates in the crafts (with Joshua, it's like pulling teeth to get him to come away from the train table) and Matt was told today that he was sweet and easy-going.

So a pretty uneventful weekend for us, but Matt did get some work done, chopping and hauling off a tree that had fallen, weed-eating, etc. I helped a little, but am finding that I'm feeling a little more pregnant the past few days. My belly seems suddenly bigger (and I"m getting comments to that effect too), I'm having to make a lot more potty trips, I'm feeling some contractions (not painful, just tightening), etc. Nothing very uncomfortable, but definitely can tell I'm heading for the third trimester in a few weeks.

Hope you are all having a good week!

Boys, Boys...

Well up until recently, when anyone asked me how I liked having my kids so close together, I would say it was hard when they were babies, but now it's so great because of how much they enjoy playing together. I may soon have to retract that comment! Not that they don't still love to be together, but man has the sibling rivalry really kicked in lately! I feel blessed if we go 10 minutes with them playing nicely together and/or talking without arguing. Joshua seems to have found that his favorite past time is trying to make Gray mad and Gray really enjoys arguing and screaming at Joshua. I guess all kids do this and I'm just hoping it doesn't turn to physical fights anytime soon, as I'm sure that's how brothers handle arguments when they're older. For now, I'm definitely getting some wonderful patience training!

We're looking forward to pizza while we watch the movie "Curious George" tonight. I may be as excited about this as the boys for some reason:)

Finally, one random thing. We've been doing "singing time" where I teach songs to the boys each day and today we were doing the Doxology. As I was sweeping up after lunch, I heard Joshua breeze by me singing, "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Mommy."

Prayer Spoons

At the moms' meeting on Sunday, one mother said that in her family they write peoples' names on popsicle sticks and put them in a jar. Each night every family member picks one out and prays for the person/people he picked. I decided to do the same (though I just had plastic spoons instead of sticks) and it's been a hit. Of course the boys need a little guidance on what to pray (Gray got "Our President and U.S. leaders the first night!) and we keep it really short, but Joshua even asked to do it tonight. It can be hard to keep up with praying for everyone unless you're one of those super-prayer people, so it's good for me too, to be able to take time to pray more and be more accountable for that.

Fun Moms' Meeting

Last night we had a moms' night at church where we got to hear from several experienced moms about how to teach our kids about Jesus in our homes. It was really good and encouraging and there were are a few laughs as well.

When one mom was asked how she gave "THE talk" to her two kids, she said she actually ended up having to explain the birds and bees when her son was pretty young because of all of his questions. After a simple explanation, his response was, "EEWWW! You and Dad did that...and TWICE?" Haha.

On a similar note, one mom said that it's important that when dads give "the talk" to their sons, they tell them about feminine products. At 12 years old, her son was in the car with her, plus her daughter and several friends. He went looking through her purse for nail clippers and found a tampon. Not having been told what it was, he pulled it out and very accusingly exclaimed, "Mom! You smoke cigars?!?" Too funny! Of course Jeannie taught Joshua what those were when he was one or two, so no problems there for us:)

Anyway, I've been getting a lot more involved with the women at church lately and it's been neat for me to see how God is answering my prayers for friendships through a series of events/choices. Just the decision to help with nursery has caused one thing after another to happen in order to bring me to be involved in a new playgroup that includes several kids Joshua's age. Ever since we left his little friends in Washington, I have SO wanted him to have some kids he enjoys being with here and I think will be easier for us to get to know people in this new group because it will be small. These things have also led me to be one of two childcare coordinators for some small groups that meet at the church and help each other by keeping the kids. It has been fun to come up with a curriculum for the 3 and 4 year olds and just to do some fun organizing, while meeting new people and spending time with acquaintances. And this job won't be much of a time commitment after the initial setup, so that's a bonus. And yet again, a series of events that has come from the first time I served in the nursery has gotten me involved with another exciting project. Matt and I had talked and thought a lot about how we want to serve our community and now I am going to be involved with the organization of a moms' service group, where I will again be able to meet new people and get to know others better, while helping people who need it. I really enjoy the organization aspects of getting a group together, just as long as I don't have to be in charge or make a lot of decisions, so I am really thankful for these opportunities and hoping that Matt will have some chances to get to know other men in the church as I am getting to know their wives.

Dinner and a Movie

Matt and I were able to have another date tonight and we went out to eat and to see The Time Traveler's Wife...or the Astronaut's Wife, which I thought it was called at first!

We rarely go to the movies and REALLY rarely go see a girl movie, but for some reason Matt didn't put up a fuss about this one. Then we passed the theater for GI Joe on the way to our movie and I think he got a few pangs of regret...especially when our movie was slow and you could clearly hear all the fun action going on next door. Anyway, the movie didn't seem like it was going to be good at first, but turned out pretty good. Sad, though. I didn't expect sad and I have been so not interested in sad movies anymore. It used to seem fun to cry your eyes out in the theater when you're a dramatic teenager, but not so much now. Anyway, if anyone's seen a good clean comedy lately, let me know. I'm thinking they don't make those anymore....

Kinda Neat

So Joshua tells me almost every day about something he wants for his birthday. Lately, though, he's stuck on Molly--a yellow Thomas the Train train. I don't know why, as I don't remember seeing her in a book or movie, but that is what Joshua wants. Last summer I bought a bunch of trains from Craig's list for 50%-75% off what they'd be brand new. I've used them for the boys for new plane ride toys, birthdays, Christmas, Valentine's, etc and it's been great to have a little "store" in the closet. It had been awhile since I had looked at them, but I knew I had about 3 trains left and so I took them out yesterday and found that (woohoo) one that I have is Molly. It's the little things that make my day!

Just to update, Gray is still coughing some, but mostly normal. I've heard of 2 other croup cases in 2 year olds at our church lately, so guess he's not so abnormal for getting it in the summer. So far Joshua is fine, which has always been the case with croup...for some reason only one of them gets it at a time! Things are pretty routine around here this week. For the last 4 days, I've been pulling up weeds around the house so I can put down new pine straw and I finally finished this morning! I'm looking forward to a meeting with friends tonight to discuss some small group stuff and then a breakfast Saturday with the women in small group. I'm also excited that I was able to start a small group of ladies with kids Joshua's age to get together to play during the school year. I'm hoping this will be a good opportunity to turn some of our acquaintances here into friends! Matt has had a full group to work out this week and I think he's enjoying it. We're now up to 8 members, plus me and Matt, so it's been nice to feel like the gym is viable. I had decided not to do anything for preschool for Joshua on a regular basis, but he's been so interested that I've established a 10-15 minute "school time" for most days. We are doing an activity sheet that I make on some days and reading very beginner books on other days. It's very quick, but seems to be fun for him, so as long as that's the case, I'll continue. Well that's about it for us here! More later....

Finally pictures of M and D's new room!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these, Jeannie! I forgot the camera in FM and then just kept putting off downloading the pictures. Anyway, it looks great and was fun to see in person! Great work with the painting, Mama (and Daddy). Can't imagine doing all that myself!!

Appointment

Back from my check-up...nothing much to report. Just gained 2 pounds this time as opposed to 7 pounds last time, so I'm glad my better eating habits are paying off. Baby's heartbeat and my belly measurement were normal. That's it! Back again in 4 weeks for hopefully another boring appointment.

Caffeine, anyone?

So Matt and I decided it would be okay to leave the boys with his parents for a little while so we could go out to eat for our anniversary. We also made a romantic trip to Home Depot for pine straw (by my request) and got some new ear buds for Matt at Best Buy to replace the ones Pogo grabbed off the porch ledge and chewed. We ate at McAlister's Deli and as we ordered, Matt whipped out a "buy 9 teas, get 10th free" card and encouraged me to help fill it up. I normally don't drink anything caffeine, but figured a little tea would be okay. Didn't seem like it would have as much caffeine as soda anyway. It was a HUGE cup and I didn't finish it, but it was good. Didn't think any more about it til later that night...

We were watching tv and I was drawing up some activity pages for Joshua when I noticed I felt awfully cheerful...almost giddy as I made Matt pose for things I was drawing (letter D activities like digging and diving). I bounced on in the kitchen to have some more chocolate Matt had gotten me and lo and behold it's almost 11pm. Now you know I haven't slept much lately and my usual bedtime is 9 or 10. Add being pregnant to that, and I'm often snoozing on the couch shortly after we put the boys to bed. So I thought, "hmm. Something's different here." We went to bed and I tried to go to sleep as quickly as possible, knowing I had to be up and at 'em pretty early for my OB checkup this morning, but at almost midnight, Matt and I were still laying there wide awake. I think I fell asleep in the 1 o'clock range and Matt had gotten up and said he didn't go to bed til 2.

I've always said I don't get affected by caffeine, though I haven't tried coffee. I remember in college trying to drink soda to stay awake and study and falling right asleep. But Matt just walked in from a workout and said the guy he worked out with said tea is a different kind of caffeine, so maybe that's why I was so affected. Anyway, I now understand the people that have to have caffeine to get through their day, but I still don't want that to be me! I mean, it's nice to have extra energy and be extra cheerful, but it seems so fake when it's a drink that is making me feel that way. I think I'd rather just be the real me, though some days that's a pretty tired, pretty grumpy me!

Gym update

Some of you know that the boys and I had gone to FM last week in part because Matt would be having introductory classes for the gym in the evenings. By the end of the week prior, though, we had no one signed up. Many people had called (most of them women who want to lose weight!), but no one had committed. Matt figured he would cancel the classes just as he had to do last month because of lack of interest. But in the end, we had 5 new participants come to the classes and 4 signed up for a membership for the next month!

How'd he do that?

I was helping Joshua with an activity page the other day that involved counting monkeys and writing how many you counted. He did the first one, which was 1 and he wrote the number when I told him it was just a straight line. The next group was 4 and, as he has never written numbers before, I asked if he wanted me to show him how to write it. As I was asking him that, he drew a 4 all by himself! I was very surprised. He went on to write a 3 on his own and he got part of a 2. Isn't it amazing what kids can figure out on their own?

We Made It

Well it has been a rough past few days, but looks like the worst is over. Gray finally slept well last night and I think when he gets up today, he'll be a lot better. When we have used the steroid medicine in the past for croup, we have to listen to our child struggle to breathe, looking scared and so uncomfortable, for 30 or 45 minutes til the medicine kicks in and then it's all over. This time, we decided we needed to try to get through it without putting such strong medicine in his body and so it took a few days and nights of Gray being uncomfortable to get through it. It hasn't been easy holding him all day, worrying about him not breathing, staying up with him at night, trying to sleep beside him when he slept (but sounded like a foghorn in my ear)...but it was worth it. One of the disturbing things about the steroid medicine is that for the few days after we give it, the boys get really irritable, aggressive, and just generally difficult until the stuff gets out of their systems. Now we may still get that behavior from Gray, but at least we'll know it's the real Gray and not some medicine causing it!

Anyway, thanks for your prayers for us. I was surprised that for the most part, my energy seemed to be multiplied, as 30 minutes here and there would get me through the days easier than I imagined. Well, hope we all have a good and uneventful week. Matt and I have our 6th anniversary today, though I don't know if we'll celebrate quite yet, depending on how Gray is today. I was explaining about marriage and how Matt and I met to Joshua this morning and he asked me all kinds of interesting things like, "Are you going to get married again?" and "Did you know Daddy when you married him?" Thought provoking! Have a great Sunday!

Update...it is croup:(

Gray woke from his nap sounding barky and raspy and awful. He looks so pitiful. We're going to try to get through this without the steroids, as they just don't seem safe to keep giving him for these episodes. It's going to be a rough night! Please pray for Gray and pray this will pass quickly.

A Hasty Exit

Well we arrived in FM on Tuesday afternoon and had a pretty low key day catching up with Mimi and GrandGene. Wednesday we enjoyed a morning at Amanda's house with lots of kiddos and last night I was able to go out to eat with an old friend. We had plans today to go to Edgemoor, ride around the golf course, and play with the Leighton kids, but Gray woke up with a little bit of a fever and soon we realized he was also hoarse---often a sign that he will wake up that night with croup. (Which is really ironic since I have been thinking, talking, and researching about croup the past few days, as fall and the virus season are approaching.)

Sooo, I made a quick decision to go ahead and get back home in case I am due to be up a lot tonight with Gray, which would not make for an easy drive home tomorrow. We were sad to miss more time with family, but I'm actually just thinking about how this could have happened at the beach, which makes me thankful that (aside from Jackson's cold and Amanda's sore throat) we didn't have any big epidemics with all of us in one house like that....Christmas 2007 anyone??

So anyway, we'll be back in town Halloween weekend and for Thanksgiving, so we'll try to be less sick and more available then!

20 weeks tomorrow!

Here's a "belly picture" in honor of the last day of the first half of this pregnancy. Besides the allergy flare ups, I'm feeling really good and hoping to stay that way for a good long while! Of course this picture was taken on Sunday since it's one of the only days I wear something other than a tshirt, but even this maternity shirt doesn't really do the belly justice. Maybe because it was first thing in the morning. Anyway, it's all I have now, so I'll show you the real thing another time!

Progress...maybe??

I think I've shared with most of you that Gray is going through an annoying two year old stage of screaming at whatever he doesn't like. So typically, our day goes like this--I leave the boys playing together to go clean/sew/check email/cook/etc. I get all ready to proceed with my task and I hear Gray screaming in the other room. I stop and go figure out what's going on, usually reprimanding both boys, as Joshua really enjoys aggravating Gray. I tell Gray for the hundredth time that day that he must talk to Joshua when he doesn't like what he's doing. He tells me he should say, "Joshua, please don't do dat." I leave them to play and get back to my task. Now repeat that whole process in (not kidding!) intervals of 1 to 3 minutes until I can't take it anymore and send them to room time or we all go play outside or something. It's been like this for more than 3 weeks (some days better than others, of course) and even with me being totally consistent with Gray (okay, well sometimes if I'm not nearby Gray and I know he doesn't know I hear him screaming, I pretend I didn't hear!...otherwise, I'm consistent!!) I haven't seen one bit of progress. Frustrating! Until yesterday.

During a gloriously short grocery store trip, Joshua was patting Gray on the back, which he does to annoy him, and Gray calmly said, "Please don't do dat." Talk about music to my ears! There is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm hopeful that soon the screaming will be a distant memory...and probably replaced with another difficult stage, but I'm not going to think about that now!

An urgent question for Jeannie!

I announced yesterday at supper that Jeannie had gotten to hear her baby's heartbeat for the first time. I expected "oo00hs" and "ahhhhs", but I should have known I would get apathy from Gray and questions from Joshua! Joshua wanted to know if you were laying down, Jeannie, and as I explained the whole process to him, I had a feeling that what was going through his head was concern for Jeannie's bottom--not her baby! The next question he asked was whether or not Jeannie's pants had drawstrings...he remembered that during the ultrasound, I had to untie mine. I stopped that line of questioning right there and said we'd just have to ask her, so Jeannie, when you get a chance please let us know if your pants had drawstrings and go ahead and answer what is sure to be Joshua's follow-up question....Was your bottom hanging out??

Ultrasound Pictures

Here are the pictures we got Friday. I compared to the boys' ultrasound pictures and this baby doesn't seem to look exactly like either one. Of course it's hard to tell on these pictures, though. From the 4-d one, I'd say this baby looks more like Gray, though. (BTW, that big blob that's covering the baby's cheek and ear area is my placenta, if you were wondering!) We think the picture on the top left with the open mouth looks like Charlie Brown or some other cartoon character. This baby supposedly weighs 11 oz now, which (according to what I've read) is a little big for 19 weeks...go figure! I did recently see pictures of a 14 pound baby and a 17 pound baby and they looked like giant Michelin men. I'm hoping this one stays in the 8 to 9 pound range!

Pictures/Movies

Here's the link to some recent pictures and movies of our family. I know that some in my family have seen these, but can't remember who all I sent the link to:

http://family.webshots.com/album/573911942syQXBt?vhost=family

http://family.webshots.com/album/573625897NFhoJs?vhost=family

Ultrasound!

Sorry, Jeannie, Mama, and Amanda, but I'm just copying and pasting the email I sent you Friday to save time!

So we're back from the ultrasound. No comments by the tech on anything unusual, so I'm guessing the baby seems normal so far. The boys didn't like being there and were uninterested in the fuzzy black and white baby! Gray cried because we turned the lights off in the room and Joshua was just concerned that my pants were folded down a little. He kept asking things like, "Where's your underwear?" and "Is your bottom hanging out?" and telling me he wanted me to pull my pants up. Anyway, the tech didn't tell us it was a boy or girl, BUT she pulled up the summary page to show Matt the baby's weight and dimensions and I saw on there that it said female. Now maybe that's the default on the computer and she hadn't entered in the right info yet, so I'm not counting on what I saw....we'll see in December.

Also, we do have pictures, but I haven't scanned them in the computer yet, so those will be forthcoming. We even got one of those 4-D ones, though the baby was hiding a little so it's only half a side few of the face. BTW, anyone know what the 4th dimension is??

**As a side note, someone I talked to suggested that the "female" listing on the screen was referring to me and that she had never seen her baby gender listed there. So I think I'm back to feeling like there's just as good a chance that this baby is a boy!

New Blog!

Since our Roper family site was being deleted, thought I'd start my own blog...think I was the main poster on the family one anyway! Don't have much time for an update at the moment, but will write one soon!