Kind of alarming...

I'll be the first to admit things have been extremely stressful lately...and we've been so busy.  We had a major wake up call over the weekend.  Saturday evening I began having pains in my stomach, which eventually I came to realize were likely cramping and contractions.  We cancelled our evening plans and laid low.  They eased through the night but started up again Sunday morning.  And I am swelling a lot.  So much so that I can no longer wear my wedding rings.  I had swelling with McKinley but not until I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my third trimester.  This is a full month sooner than last time.

We decided not to take any chances and went to the hospital.  My Mom, who just had a surgical procedure in Indy on Friday drove home from staying with my Godparents.  She picked McKinley up and off we went.  She was certainly in no shape to be sitting for us, but we had no other options (we tried...) and she was more than willing. 

At the hospital they immediately hooked me up to monitors and a blood pressure cuff.  It was found that my blood pressure was pretty high, not my norm.  I also had an infection that was causing my cramping and also creating the contractions.  Nothing threatening to the baby, thank God.  However, I've been told to immediately cool it.  No more riding for hours in the car on vacation, no more long trips, more rest, more water.  Time to scale back. 

I have testing to be done and will now be monitored for my blood pressure, which was still high.  We have to watch for pre-eclampsia.  Drink water, water, water.  Guess what that makes a really pregnant woman do?  Hahahaha.

Anyway, all is well but it scared us.  I will be slowing myself down considerably until further notice.  Yikes.
Lynn

Mamaw

Today we received some sad news.  Cary's beloved Mamaw has passed.  She hasn't been well for a long time but she was so strong through her battle with dementia.  Mamaw adored Cary and all of her grandchildren.  Ever since I met Cary I've heard funny stories of Cary and Mamaw's relationship and the things she did for him.  She threw him pitches in the back yard rain or shine, heat and snow.  She lovingly washed the uniforms - scrubbed stains out with a tooth brush.  She made pie after pie, and none since have lived up to hers in Cary's eyes.  She wasn't keen on the idea of Cary's permanent move to the Haute, therefore she wasn't exactly keen on me for a while.  Understandably, my Grandpa was never keen on any boy I dated (though he never met Cary...).  She eventually came around to the idea and after we were married she was immediately asking for Great Grandchildren from us.  When McKinley was born she was quite taken by him, and he was quite taken by her as well.  He was drawn to her.  I remember it brought tears to my eyes to see them together.  She was too deep in her dementia to know about the baby, but we know she will always be with us and her Great Grandsons in spirit. 

Cary, his brother and cousins are all so very, very lucky to have the gift of a Grandmother well into adulthood.  Some of his cousins are in their 50's and are Grandparents themselves!  It doesn't quell the grief, but I do hope it gives them some consolation to know they were so blessed. 

Today I'm praying for my husband and so very sorry for his loss.

I love him with all my heart and wish I could take away his pain.

 

Lynn

Virtual Trick or Treat 2011

Man I love Halloween!  This year was the best yet!  Well, except that I am way too pregnant to be planning a Halloween Party...that was a bummer, but in the end, the best and healthiest decision.

This year when we began asking McKinley what he might like to dress up as he insisted on being a train.  Well, I wasn't exactly sure how we could pull that off.  None of us liked the Thomas costume (no offense...), and the engineer...it's been done...a lot.  So, I gently suggested a conductor.  It was like a light bulb turned on simultaneously in our heads.  McKinley said, "How about the Conductor from the Polar Express???" I was thinking it as he was saying it.  It became my mission to replicate the costume.  Cary too!  We went everywhere rounding up little bits of what we needed to create the Conductor, the result?  Right on the money!  And incredibly adorable too.  I mean, who doesn't love a four year old in a dark mustache?!

As always, we carved pumpkins, watched the Great Pumpkin and toasted pumpkin seeds and made yummy cider.  All of our favorite family fall treats, love it!  We also visited the Halloween festivities at the park, the train was a trip...I could barely slide in because of the belly!  Hilarious!

We made our annual trip to Zoo Boo, McKinley chose to wear his beloved Mail Man costume again since we hadn't yet completed the Conductor.  He looked so cute and we had a blast as always.  We decorated cookies, we played games, and of course, we rode the train!  It was a great time, always a favorite of ours. 

The Sunday before Halloween the school hosted the first annual Trunk or Treat.  Because of our crazy October schedule and the pregnancy, we thought it best not to decorate our trunk and instead walk through.  I'm glad we did, but next year --- LOOK OUT! 

Cary was on vacation this week so he got to attend McKinley's school Halloween Party with me.  It was so fun having him there, especially since I'd signed us up to bring the party treat (chocolate dipped s'mores...on a stick..YUM!) and needed all the help I could get carrying anything these days.  Lordy, the belly is big.  Anyway, the party was a major success, the costume was perfection --- SO McKinley! --- and everyone had a great time.

On Halloween we made our usual rounds and walked the Boulevard.  I'm extremely exhausted from that walk, not smart on my part, but I wouldn't miss it for the world.  On our way around the neighborhood we ran into several people we know, including McKinley's buddy Isabella, her brother Ian and their parents! 

We ended the night at my Mom's house where we got to trick and be treated!  We brought along the left over Party Treats and shared them with the Sheere's and Mom.  We were all really wiped out.  Leaving for a little getaway though, so time to pack!

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

Lynn

 

Field Trips!

This fall has been full of fun for McKinley at preschool.  His class took two field trips over the last few weeks, one to a local apple orchard, the other to a local fire station.  I was lucky enough to have my Mom join us at the orchard and Cary at the fire station...I'm getting pretty big and my balance is thrown off, so having the extra hands are wonderful. 

We all enjoyed the fire station as much as last year.  This year the station had a brand new ambulance, state of the art, and McKinley and his buddies all got to take a tour.  It was pretty exciting!  Equally as exciting was the city bus ride to and from...especially when one rider decided she needed to exit the bus and would rather walk than to ride with one big happy preschool family!  Her loss! 

The apple orchard was great too.  It had gotten cooler, the perfect fall day.  We enjoyed hearing about the picking process of the employees and seeing the entire process of how the clean, separate, bag and sell the goods.  All the visitors got to take home a nice bag of apples, we added some gourds and butternut squash to our stash before we headed home.  So much fun, it's nice to have some really great opportunities in McKinley's preschool.

I've also included a photo below of the "About Me" poster project we completed together.  Homework!  No, really, it was so fun to gather all the stuff then build it with McKinley.  I LOVE how it turned out! 

Loving the fall!

Lynn

The perfect fall weekend

Cary had the entire weekend off, so lots of fun was in order! Two of our very favorite fall traditions: Picking the perfect pumpkin at Anderson's Orchard and Zoo Boo! McKinley's AWESOME Halloween costume isn't ready yet so he chose to revisit the mail man from two years ago, but this time he asked to use his Dad's hat since the costume hat no longer fits. I must say, he certainly looked the part - and a lot like his Daddy!

We had such a wonderful weekend. I love the fall. So thankful for beautiful weather and an entire weekend to dedicate to family fun...

Lynn

Change of plans...

So, a five weeks ago we had our sonogram to see our Baby V. After a long look around our sonogram tech gave up trying to figure out if we had a boy or a girl and asked my OB to come in to weigh in on who was growing in my belly. He came in and in no time, with 98% certainty announced that we were having a baby GIRL.
Okay, no way.
From day one I've always felt that we had another boy. I'm not suggesting I have esp or anything silly like that...but sometimes a woman knows!
Cary and I both shook our heads, my Mom was stunned and McKinley happily announced, "Mom, I KNEW it was a girl. I told you!"
When my doctor saw our disbelief he offered to have us come back in for a repeat sonogram five weeks from that day. See our baby again? You betcha! In the meantime though, he said, go ahead and buy pink. It's a girl, you'll see.
Oh will we?!
The day came, McKinley and I headed off to the appointment without Cary - why would he need to be there again, it's a girl, right? My Mom met us there. We went in and got started. The tech barely put the wand on my belly when she grabbed my arm and said, "OH MY GOSH, I am SO GLAD we did this. IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!"
I was a little surprised but at the same time, not so much. It was strange. An odd mix of feelings (aside from the "oh crap we've got a lot of pink stuff to take back" that suddenly bubbled up in my head). My Mom - she stood up and was huddled over me, staring at the tech in a blink. McKinley was happily playing a game on my phone, I was thankful he didn't hear. He'd really been counting on a girl.
The rest of our time there was a blur. I got us in the car and just sat for a few minutes, thinking again of all that pink to take back from Ohio to Colorado. Oh my God. But another boy! What a beautiful blessing! No girl. Another cuddly, sweet, baby boy. I drove to meet Cary on his route. I said nothing, just handed him the sonogram photo with the word "BOY" above the proof. Cary stared at me, started laughing and said, "Oh! This is a joke!"
No. No joke.
Oh, okay.
So, Plan B...Plan BOY! hahahaha!
Return pink stuff, scratch girl names, nix the "I really am trying to convince myself that I want a BLUE girl nursery" and dig back into the BLUE!
We're having a BOY and there's NO denying it!
And, in hindsight and for the record...we have NO idea how our beloved OB and his tech ever saw a girl. Umbilical cord in the way or not, we know what we saw!
Full steam ahead with the blue!
Lynn

Take a little trip...

We recently found out that we are having a girl, so what better way to get 'geared' up in pink (because everything we have for a baby is blue!) than to hit one of our favorite outlets...the one with Pottery Barn. Enough said.

We hit the road for a little trip across the border into Ohio for the weekend. It was a quiet trip, the best part about the drive was the horses...we were behind a truck pulling a horse trailer. I noticed right away that the trailer's windows were open, which I found odd. Then suddenly, out pops a horse head! Then another! Then another! And just as quickly as they'd appeared, the went right back inside, like a turtle hiding in its shell. Then, as we are getting closer, all three horses pop their heads out the windows again! In unison! And back in! In unison! This continued for so long that Cary and I both were laughing hysterically, so much so that I had tears rolling down my face. I quickly grabbed my phone to take a picture and could barely hold still enough to snap one. We could not stop laughing. McKinley was in the back seat begging to know what was so funny, but we were laughing so hard we couldn't even explain until we were side-by-side with the horses, who were still doing their funny head popping game. We drove beside them for a while, laughing hysterically, as we finally passed the truck we discovered the driver was laughing just as hard as we were and waved. Those horses were so happy and just precious, it was such a good laugh for us all.

We settled in for an evening of swimming and a fun dinner together despite the yucky, cold rain. It was a nice evening, we got rested up for a whole day of shopping the following morning. For some reason the weather wasn't so nice to us, it was really cold. Low 40's and we were unprepared. Fortunately I purchased a maternity coat while we were shopping and we were able to let McKinley use the coat to bundle up. It was a funny sight but man am I glad we had it!
By the time we had to head home we were all really ready to crawl into the warm car with some hot chocolate and hit the road. We had a super fun getaway and enjoyed some relaxation time together.

Lynn

McKinley's First Nine

It's no secret that McKinley likes golf. He just does. No one pushed him into it, we just gave him one of his clubs a few years ago and "WHACK!" he was hooked. We've taken him to the driving range many times (and yes, he drives WAY better than I do) and Cary has taken him along for a few holes. But today was special...his first nine. Just McKinley and his Daddy (Mommy got some shopping time). When I came back to meet them at the course I was literally laughing out loud at what I saw. McKinley was standing up in the golf cart, foot on the pedal, Cary steering with a death grip on McKinley's back. My boys were smiling from ear to ear. Totally made me cry.

Snapped this photo and I absolutely adore it.

My boys!

Lynn

A Weekend Adventure

To continue our annual month-long celebration of McKinley's birthday, we headed to French Lick for the weekend. We all had a total blast at the city's water park and hotel Big Splash Adventure. Well, a blast except for the rash of flies that seemed to be at every eatery in the city. Yuck.

We swam, we slid (okay, well, I didn't...not a good idea to go peeling down a giant 3 story slide while pregnant...), we played in the outdoor pool and went around on the lazy river 3,413 times. Honest. It was awesome. We broke only to find fly-free food or to sleep, visit the historic resorts of West Baden and French Lick, or to hit the nearby train museum.

We had one little incident where some teens were literally making waves in the lazy river and got it going so hard that they knocked McKinley right off his raft. He was fine, but I was hot. When I was done with those little stinkers they left! I remember being "young" like that, but I would like to think I didn't act like that. Aside from that brief mishap the trip was super fun. And we even made a stop a "McKinley's Market" in Oaktown...which is where my Grandfather (Clarence McKinley Crecelius, McKinley's namesake) was born! A great little escape on a long weekend. I think the photos say it all!

Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!

Lynn