My Big Girl

Wendy had her 2-year well visit today. You might say, "But I thought her birthday was quite a while ago..." Yes. Her birthday was more than a month ago, and I'm just now getting around to getting her well visit. What with the pregnancy, morning sickness, miscarriage scare, and more morning sickness, I've gotten a wee bit behind on things.

Wendy is now 25 months (and one week) old. She's 37 inches tall, and exactly 30 pounds. Her height is way off the chart as far as percentiles go - and I mean WAY off the chart. Wendy's doctor asked how tall James & I are, since it's looking like our Girlie will be a tall lady some day. (And we're average - I'm 5'6" and James is right at 6'.) Her weight puts her around the 85th percentile. No wonder people who meet us for the first time ask when she'll turn 3.

The doctor also said that her development is way ahead. She didn't really talk until about 19 months so I was a little concerned - I shouldn't have been! Now, six months later, her vocabulary is 200+ words, she uses 3- and 4-word sentences, she can count to 3, and she's learning her shapes and letters. She repeats a prayer at bedtime every night that goes, "Thank you, God. I love you, God. Night-night, God. Amen."

I'm sure every mother at some point is convinced their child is above-average, but it's nice to hear it from the doctor!

Yeehaw!!

This year is Wendy's third Halloween, and it's also the third year she's participated in Trunk or Treat. I kind of cringe while writing that, because she was only about four weeks old when she participated in her first one. Someone had given us a warm, fleecy kitty costume, and she was SO cute:

Last year she was a skunk, and was so adorable! I saw the pattern at JoAnn Fabrics & couldn't resist. I did all the cutting, and my mom did all the sewing, and it turned out fantastic!

This year's costume was based more in frugality, but I think it worked well. She already had cowgirl boots & a cowgirl hat in her dress-up box, and I wanted to get her a denim skirt anyway. The only thing we had to buy/make was the vest, so $8 and a couple hours of my mom's sewing ability later, it was done! The vest is reversible, with a bandana print & black rickrack trim on the inside, and Wendy will definitely be wearing it later!

My mom also used some of the cow & bandana print fabrics to make a matching band for Wendy's hat - you can see it better in this picture.

Wendy did very well with Trunk or Treat. I was worried that she might be too scared with all the costumes & decorations, but she only showed a little nervousness a couple of times. She learned to say, "Tick Tee," and told everyone, "Dank you!" I don't think she realized they were handing her candy, but she enjoyed collecting goodies with her little basket.

My nephew also came to Trunk or Treat, dressed in a Link (from Zelda) costume, also created by my mom. Note the missing teeth on this boy. Seems like he was just born the other day.

(Also note Wendy mangling her hat in the background.)

All in all, it was a great night! It was very cold, but we had a good turnout and I think all the kids had a great time! We really enjoy the Trunk or Treat as a good alternative to Trick or Treating.

JellyBean

We have a wonderful, healthy 7-week JellyBean!

I'd post a picture, but it kinda looks like a gray blob surrounded by more grayish blobs.

JellyBean is measuring just right, with a teeny, tiny heart beating at 151 beats per minute!

Thank you for all of your prayers, kind words, and hugs. We'll recheck again next week, but everything looks great right now!

Thanks...

...to all of you for your prayers and kind words of support! Our appointment is scheduled for Tuesday the 21st at 12:30. We'll have the ultrasound first and then go see the doctor. I'm not too worried about it; it would be great if we saw baby & saw a heartbeat, but if we don't, we'll wait another week.

In other news, the anti-nausea medication (Phenergan) has stopped working as well. I've barely been able to eat today at all. I'm hoping things improve, and that the doctor will switch me to Zofran instead - it worked great when they gave it to me in the ER.

Prayers for our baby...

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that yesterday was not a great day.

It started when I got sick around 11 a.m. The force of my vomiting was such that I began to bleed. It scared me (duh) and I called the doctor, whose nurse said to go to the emergency room.

The bleeding stopped quickly, and was never accompanied by any pain or cramping. At the ER, I was poked, prodded, bled, listened to, and patted. Bloodwork showed that my hormone levels are fantastic, exam showed my cervix tightly closed with no discharge, and everything seemed normal.

Until the ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed a gestational sac of about 5 weeks, with no contents. This could mean one of two things. It could simply be too early, and baby will show him/herself at the proper time. Or it could mean a miscarriage is on the way.

I left the ER feeling drained and hopeless. A lot of prayer, a good night's sleep and some time has done quite a bit to restore my spirits. There is a good chance, given the good hormone levels etc., that baby is simply not visible right now. That's the hope I'm clinging to, and I'm taking my vitamins and resting just like this is a normal, healthy pregnancy.

And I'm also praying that if it isn't a normal, healthy pregnancy, that God will give me His peace and comfort when the loss occurs.

I'll have an appointment next week to recheck, and I'll give you an update as soon as I know anything more.

(One small bright spot to our ER visit - the nice NP gave me a prescription for something for my nausea, and it works pretty well!)

More of the Same

I haven't posted much the last week or so, and there's a good reason - it's hard to think coherently and compose blog posts when you're trying to keep a lid on your nausea.

My head is full of thoughts relating to exhaustion and "morning" sickness. That makes for pretty boring writing.

Hopefully I'll start to feel more human soon, and will have interesting things to share with you!

56th Page

I was tagged by Heather at Not A DIY Life for the Book Meme. The premise is simple; grab the nearest book, turn to page 56, find the 5th sentence and post the next 2-5 sentences.

Due to my messy housekeeping, there are actually several books within reach. I picked one that I finished recently, The Parting, by Beverly Lewis. It's the first book in the series The Courtship of Nellie Fisher. My sister-in-law has book 2, and I can't wait to read it!

Page 56, here goes:

He handed her a piece of paper folded several times. "I want to give this to you personally." His smile spread clear across his handsome face now.
"Denki," she said. The note felt warm in her hand, and she wished he might stay.

I think that turned out pretty well - doesn't it make you want to read more?

I'm not going to tag anyone for this meme - pick it up if it interests you, and let me know how it turns out!

...In Which I Could Use Some Moral Support.

OK, y'all. Today, according to my pregnancy calendar at WebMD, I'm 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant.

And I'm wearing maternity pants.

(I think when I put them on, I heard my body go, "Ahhhh....")

Here's the thing: I've mentioned before that I have fibroids. I do. Two large ones. By large, I mean one is grapefruit-sized, and one is larger than that. I know, it's probably TMI, but you have to know that to understand why I'm already wearing maternity pants. Even before we conceived this time, I measured around 12 weeks pregnant! Add a new pregnancy, and the hormones that make fibroids grow, and, well...I'm self-conscious and big.

It's not like it's anybody's business whether I'm wearing stretchy-panel pants or not. But for some reason, I'm very self-conscious about it.

I could use some confidence-boosters. Anybody?

Did I mention I'm self-conscious?

WFMW: Unisom for Morning Sickness

When I was pregnant with Wendy, I was sick. Around the clock, anytime, anywhere, the nauseousness would rear its ugly head. When we went for our first prenatal visit at 8 weeks, I had lost 12 pounds. The doctor recommended I take half of a regular Unisom tablet at bedtime, and see if that helped.

I was skeptical. A sleep aid? For morning sickness? But I tried it, and it really worked. It wasn't a magic pill - I still had quite a bit of nauseousness, but not the overwhelming, all-consuming, incapacitating illness that I felt prior to taking the Unisom.

At the time, I couldn't find any information online about taking Unisom for morning sickness. This time around, though, I was able to find this article. I'm only 6 weeks pregnant, but I'm already taking my half of a pill every night at bedtime, and I can already feel a difference. You can get generic Unisom at just about any grocery store or drug store.

If morning sickness is plaguing your life, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about giving Unisom a try. The only side effect I've noticed is a bit more drowsiness during the day, but the benefit of not being sick all the time is worth a little drowsiness!

For more helpful tips, visit Works-For-Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer!

Take Heart

My life thus far has been pretty unsettled. I was raised in a military family, and moving every few years keeps you from really putting down roots anywhere you live. I went to college, got married, and continued a somewhat nomadic life; James and I have moved six times in our ten-year marriage. Throw in a DVM degree, a hectic job, a baby, a complete career change, and another baby on the way, and you've got a recipe for anxiety, sleepless nights, and worry.

I am a worrier by nature; I remember being very young, and very worried about things. Like most worriers, I also tend to internalize my concerns and the emotions that go along with them, which only serves to make things that much worse. We talked in our Care Group on Sunday night about a possible cause and effect that happens when we fully trust God. We were specifically discussing Matthew 6:33-34:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

If we really seek God's kingdom and his righteousness first, what can we possibly have to worry about? We know that God is fully aware of our situation, however complicated or frightening it might seem. We also know - we know, deep down - that He is in control. No matter what happens, even if the worst things we can imagine actually happen, God is still in control. It will all work out how He has planned it in the end.

I came across a verse recently that really clicked for me. I'm sure I've read it a hundred times, but now it just jumps out at me. I've made it my theme for this blog, to share with you and to remind myself that God is in charge. In this verse, Jesus is talking to his disciples about things that would soon take place - his arrest, crucifixion, resurrection, and return to heaven. The disciples didn't understand what he was talking about, and they began to get restless and worried. John 16:33:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Take heart! Our God has overcome the world. What more do you need to know than that?

Changes

Hello! If you normally read my posts through Bloglines or a similar reader, click on over to see my new design!

I had wanted to change things for quite a while, and today was the day. No more "Allen Family Circus" - from now on, I'm "Peace & Carrots"!

I hope you like the new look. I'll probably be tweaking it here & there in the weeks to come, so please bear with me through the changes. If you have suggestions, let me know!

Butter Crisp Cookies

If for some reason you don't read Shannon's blog, you should. She's awesome.

She posted this recipe the other day, and I tried it for our Care Group meeting tonight - it's great! Very easy, very fast, very cheap, and VERY yummy! Give it a try!

Struggles with WP

I wrote recently about my new role as a contributor for Inspired Bliss. What I didn't tell you is that Inspired Bliss works on WordPress, a different blogging platform from this blog. So far, my biggest challenges have not been in writing, but in getting things formatted in the proper way.

One of my columns at Inspired Bliss will be hymn stories. In these articles, I'm including the lyrics to the hymns - should be simple, right? No. WordPress is determined to change the alignment, the spacing, the font size, the font type, and everything else on a seemingly-random basis.

I finally (Finally!) got my first post formatted correctly, so hopefully it will be published next Sunday. I'll let you know as soon as it's up! and it's up today!!

Go check it out!

...In Which I Mention Maxi-Pads

There, that title should assure me an all-female audience today.

A funny thing happened the other day. One of those things that's slightly awkward, but oh-so-funny, and only would happen in a house with a toddler.

We traveled last weekend, and since I didn't yet know that Jellybean was on the way, I packed my trusty industrial-sized maxi-pads. Since I didn't need them, they came home in our suitcase. I haven't unpacked yet (because that's the kind of housewife I am) and the suitcase has been sitting opened on our bedroom floor.

Wednesday night, on the way to brush her teeth in our bathroom, Wendy spied a pretty purple package. She went over to our suitcase, picked up one of the still-wrapped maxi-pads, and said, "Pillow!"

Then she promptly put it on the floor, laid her little head on it, and said, "Night-night!"


Someday I'll tell that story to her fiance just to make her blush.

Wendy's Birthday

In all the excitement of our BIG NEWS, I forgot to post about Wendy's birthday! Shame on me!

This weekend we traveled to Ohio for a family reunion. This meant that Wendy got to celebrate her birthday with one entire side of the family, some of whom she had never met before. She was a little overwhelmed at first, but was soon running around asking people to help her with her choo-choo. (The train set was a gift from her Great-Uncle Joe and Great-Aunt Debbie Lee.)

I baked & decorated her cakes on Saturday morning, and we celebrated on Saturday evening. The Elmo cake turned out pretty good, I think, especially for doing it freehand. The other cake was just a spare, since we had so many people to serve. Wendy also got her first taste of her Great-Grandma's homemade vanilla ice cream, which is just about the best dessert on the planet.




Wendy also scored big with presents - people like to buy toys for little girls! We're going to have to weed out some of the toys in her basket, or they'll start to take over the house.

(This is where I was going to insert the video of the whole family singing "Happy Birthday" to Wendy. However, I can't find the book for the camcorder, and I can't find the cord anyway, so nevermind. Use your imagination.)

All in all it was a great birthday, and we appreciated being able to spend it with family. My little bitty baby is growing up!