Rusty

Well I spent the better part of my evening catching up on other people's blogs and I was inspired to post. I looked at the old blog and realized I haven't posted since 11 days before Sam was born so I'm a little rusty with how to do this. Things have been slightly more hairy since the second child has come along. Let me just catch you up, Sam will be turning two on Christmas eve and Lydia will be 5 in just a few weeks. CRAZY! Lydia is loving preschool. She is learning quickly and she amazes me. Her vocabulary is increasing, math is coming along and she is even reading a bit but what really blows me away is her emotional development. She is so perceptive. She is such a caring little girl... I am completely in love with this child. And my Sam-Man. He is just incredible. It's so hard to picture him as just a toddler because he's huge. It makes me feel like he's growing up way too fast. Nothing can beat a Sammy hug and kiss (except of course hugs and kisses from your own children:-). Sam is starting to talk more which is so fun. This week I've heard him putting two words together several times, things like "mine nana" (my banana). He is also adding words like days. New word today is "Yona" for yogurt. He has a dangerous smile and lots of energy so watch out world this kid is going places!
Lydia and Sam love to play with each other. It usually requires me to say things like "Lydia get off your brother" or "Sam be gentle with Lydia", in fact, if you have been on the phone with me anytime in the last 12 months or so you have probably heard these exact words come out of my mouth. Lydia better enjoy this time of being bigger than Sam because it will not be long until the opposite is true. I think they weigh within a few pounds of each other but Lydia is much taller. I can't say how long that will last.

As for Shawn and I, he recently accepted a new position at Penn State. He seems to be enjoying it although I think he also misses his old lab and colleagues. No changes for me still plugging away at the cancer center. I love my patients but wish I had more time at home with kiddos. It feels like we spend all of our time working or driving places. We decided to cut back on some evening commitments so I'm hoping that will increase our family time together.

Last, but certainly not least, I feel I should mention we recently lost a dear friend Javier Garcia. What a great man. We have not seen Javi for several years but one of the special things about Javi is how happy he was and how geniune each and every friendship he made was. He was the kind of person that no matter how many years or miles were between you, He was always happy to see you and shared a great conversation with you. He will be missed. Shawn is currently in TX for Javier's memorial tomorrow. It seems unreal. My heart is sad. 

Gotta See This...

Below is the link to the local news station that covered somethings in our office. I can't tell you how great it is to watch this because I LOVE my patients. People often say how they would hate my job and they don't know how I do it because it would be sad all the time, but not when you work with great people. And I'm thankful that our office provides and environment where we can get to know our patients and their families and become their friends and get involved in their lives outside of cancer. So watch the link below and know that my patients are AWESOME! You may have to cute and paste it into your browser bar.

http://www.wgal.com/video/26123930/detail.html

Back to work...

Shawn made pancakes from scratch for the girls.

Beauty and the Beast first thing in the morning. It started as just Ella and Lydia and then they all joined in.

Well I'm going back to work tomorrow so I decided I should go ahead and do one last post before I'm to exhausted to post anymore. I would imagine that working full days will seriously decrease my posts. According to the Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist I have an 80% chance of having a baby by Friday. Let's see how accurate he is huh? The picture are from a Lydia's first sleep over at our house. She absolutely loved having friends over. She was giddy when I had Ella and Liza with me to pick her up on Friday from Nita's, all she could do is bounce around and she couldn't keep her hands off Ella. The picture of the Gingerbread house was from Cookies and Carols night at a local church. Our friend, Bessie, who watches Lydia at Nita's invited us because it was at her church and Lydia loved it! At the end I asked Lydia what her favorite part was decorating the house or singing carols and she answered very honestly and said "No Mommy it was eating the candy off the house" Enjoy the pictures and wish me luck at work tomorrow. Hopefully I don't have a baby at work!

Wedding Photos

Well this is just a tease because my camera died after only a few pictures. Good thing I realized it now before we go the hospital to have a baby. Batteries are currently charging and as soon as I have more picture I will post them for your enjoyment. Rhonda looked so beautiful, the wedding went off with a hitch- or at least none that I know of. Lydia was sick but she still was able to be a fabulous flower girl.

More Good News

Well everything went really well today. I got the all clear from the doctor today to go to Tim and Rhonda's wedding. YEA!!! I still have to take it easy and stay on my meds an extra week but she was very pleased with everything today so my plan is to lay low today and NOT have a baby before Saturday so that I can get out of the house. Basically I'll have to take it very easy there and will probably spend most of my time just resting there but it will be nice to have a change of scenery. I have decided not to tell Lydia that I am going because there is always the possibility that I won't be able to make it and I am tired of disappointing her. So that's it for now...

Look At That Big Guy

My ultrasound today estimates baby boy Rice to weigh about 4 lbs 10 oz, that's almost as much as Lydia when she was born. Let's hope tomorrow is more good news.

Thanksgiving and more...

Quilt Progress (above)
Shawn and Lydia setting up the Shmishmis tree (below)

Lydia with Aiden (above)
Lydia with Ian (below)

We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with Shawn's family this year, we were all together except for Tim and Rhonda. They are busy preparing for their wedding next weekend and they spent Thanksgiving with Rhonda's family I believe. We are thankful for them even though they weren't there. Sheldon and Teresa along with their 4 mo. old twin boys and dog, Bella, stayed with us for the weekend. It was fun to have people here to make the time go faster. Unfortunately it turned out to be a weekend of sickness. We passed around a stomach "bug" of some sort- yuck! And then poor Aiden got croup (we think- this has yet to be confirmed by a doctor but it didn't sound good). But we all survived and thankfully Lydia didn't start vomiting until after they left so she had a blast with the boys and her Auntie and Uncle. She was constantly saying "Awww, look at that big guy (or look at those big guys), he's a tutie (cutie) pie." She was very gentle with them for the most part and wanted to help out as much as possible, her attention span didn't last through a feeding but she loved to hold the bottle for a few minutes. She is definitely looking forward to seeing them next weekend and she does a surprisingly good job of determining which is Aiden and which is Ian.
This morning came as a bit of shock to Lydia. She was not prepared to go to Nita's. When I told her that is where she was going she just looked down and started crying silently. It was so hard for me not to cry with her. I miss holding her and playing with her terribly and I know she misses it too. But I keep telling her, and myself, this is only temporary, soon we can be best buds again. Although I know that things will be changing again when Peanut Sugar comes, I am just hoping that she continues her enthusiasm for her baby brother once he arrives. Last night Shawn set the Christmas tree up for me (yea Shawn!) and Lydia promptly walked over to me and said "Is baby brother coming now?" I replied, "I hope not for a little while longer. Why?" Lydia said "You said he's coming at Shmishmis (Christmas) and Daddy put the Shmishmis tree up, so can he come now?" How cute is that?
As for Peanut Sugar- I'm still having a bit of trouble with my blood sugar. My concern with this is that he may have trouble regulating his own blood sugar after he is born because he is being exposed to high levels glucose while he growing inside. I know that he will be watched very closely so that is reassuring. Also we have two appts this week. I see the Maternal/Fetal Medicine Specialist tomorrow and they are going to measure Peanut Sugar to see how much he weighs and then on Wednesday I see my regular OB for another non-stress test to make sure he is not under to much stress with my contractions ect... and also for a regular check up. I will be 34 weeks on Friday and that is what they wanted so I'm trying hard to make it. He would still have to go to the NICU until he is 35 weeks but every day and every week longer is great.
I don't think there is anymore to update you on.