delicious fruit salad

i used to make an apple salad with mayonnaise that i LOVED, but i didn't make it very often because the mayo is just not good for you. i found a recipe for a lighter version, and made it the other day for a side during lunch. i found it on Menus4Moms.com, which i have found to be a great resource for meal plans when i am stuck.

Apple, Grape and Walnut salad

• 3 sliced and cored Granny Smith apples
• 1 bunch red grapes, pulled from the stems
• chopped walnuts
• 8 oz. vanilla yogurt
• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened

Mix the cream cheese and yogurt until well blended (we used our bullet blender). put fruit, etc in a bowl and mix in the yogurt blend. refrigerate :)

i didn't have any grapes the second time i made it, so we added raisins instead. another good add-in would be celery or pineapple chunks.

yummy!! and so much better for me :)

He's here!!!

ahhhh...the moment we were waiting for finally arrived :) our precious little man entered the world in true troublemaker fashion!

vital stats:

8 pounds 14 ounces (!)
20 inches
complications: clavicle fracture from a shoulder dystocia

can i just tell you how glad i was to have had my first/only epidural with this little man? the shoulder sticking under my pubic bone would have been sheer torture without it! never, never thought i would be loving the epidural so much!

pictures will be coming soon, i promise. as soon as i get to feeling a little better, that is! i still have elephant ankles and a sciatica from the depths, but otherwise we are doing superbly :)

warning: whining about to commence

if you don't want to read a post from a whiney pregnant woman, read no further.

seriously.

i am tired of being pregnant. this pregnancy has really taken its toll on me.

i am irritable. i am impatient. my children look at me as if i have grown 3 heads and am going to eat them alive.

i just might.

i had a dr. appt yesterday and, of course, my cervix is unchanged. so, she kindly stripped the membranes.

it started the contractions in earnest a few hours later. first they were 6 minutes apart, and within a few hours we were headed to the hospital with contractions at 3 minutes apart and painful. once we get there, they confirmed the contractions, but the cervix wasn't going anywhere.

so i walked around for an hour.

lovely hospital gowns (one on front and one on back, ya know, to cover up the wide load). flip flops, and a tour of the lovely hospital grounds.

the KISA ate a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries while i did a circuit around a big copper tree.
is it a bad thing that i rejoiced when he accidentally threw away his cookies with the trash? esp since i was only allowed ice chips?

back up to L&D for another check. no change.

have to walk outside for another hour. thank goodness the weather is nice here.

i haven't walked this much since before i was pregnant!

back upstairs. painful contractions 2 minutes apart, can't walk through them.

no change.

call the doctor.

go home.

go home? when do i come back?

"when your contractions are close together and painful."

you mean, like they are right now???????

oh, well. at least i got to lay in my own bed to get through them. and eat.

eating was nice.

i am tired of the contractions. they are tiresome. they wake me up frequently. i don't need any practice for after the baby comes. i need sleep.

i am discouraged.

i am whiney.

i am impatient.

i may just eat one of my children today.

how can anyone doubt God?

when i see an image like this, it amazes me that anyone can deny the existence of a CREATOR.

these images of our little John Doe at 36 weeks just blow me away and make me want to meet him even more!! he has hung in there a lot longer than anyone predicted, and even though i am 37 weeks today, i am feeling overdue! silly, i know :)

God is awesome!!! i am so grateful for this precious little life growing inside me. whenever i get frustrated with how LOOOOONNNNNGGGG i have been pregnant, i can look at this and know that God has formed this little one exactly how He wants him and he will be born on his appointed day :)

guess where i was this weekend?

in false labor, that's where!

our lovely little boy decided he wanted a trial run, and had us headed into our local labor and delivery for a 24 hour stint of fetal monitoring, cervical checks, IV fluids, and some pretty convincing contractions. thankfully, everything stalled out in the early morning and we were sent home sunday afternoon.

i am at 3 cm and 60% effaced, and just waiting. we are glad he decided to take it east and NOT come yet, as he just isn't done growing yet! i know that 34 weekers do really well, but all the NICU nurses and Perinataologist talk really has a way of sobering you up. when this little one is born, the last thing i want is for him to have to spend time in the neonatal unit on oxygen and receiving supplemental feeding to help keep his blood sugar stable.

so....we wait :) hopefully, expectantly, for God's perfect timing!

Bad hair day

don't you think this should be on a poster somewhere? the look on her face is just so darn classic!

from bedrest to Bedrest

it is a subtle difference really. only in the first letter.

i was put on bedrest last week. i interpreted this as "rest as much as possible over the next few weeks and if you have a lot of contractions, try to lay down."

i did ok at that. the KISA was still home from work on leave, and i was able, for the most part, to only pitch in (he probably thinks differently, but, hey. i was trying to be good!)

i spent most of the day on the couch, only getting up when the kids needed to be broken up from a fight, or when the KISA had to run an errand, or when the stinkerbell needed a diaper change...

you see what i mean by "i interpreted?"

today, however, the bedrest took on a capital "B"

my OB was very, very clear with me this morning. under no circumstance am i to be up.

nothing.

this little baby needs at least 2 more weeks to gestate. anything less than that is less than optimal.

apparently, little boys develop more slowly in the womb than do little girls (should i be surprised by this?)

apparently, i have dropped significantly in the last week.

she wouldn't even check me for fear of "stirring things up."

she even made direct eye contact with me as she said : "You will be on strict bedrest."

i said "i am doing my best."

she said. and i quote. "Do better than your best."

message received. loud and clear.

and, so, i am down. for the count. for the count-down to 35 weeks.

13 more days.

i will do anything for this little guy.

who doesn't have a name yet.

how am i going to do this?

only with God's help, and the help of some amazing women. especially this one.

she is doing what i have trouble doing for myself and organizing the help i need for the next two weeks. because i was trying to just make do with what we had....i didn't want to bother anyone too much.

she is being my voice, and i spent the afternoon in tears as i reflected on God's goodness reflected in her as she poured out her heart in efforts to meet our needs.

thank you does not seem like enough.

she makes me want to be more like Christ. i cannot imagine a better quality in a friend.