24-27 Months Old: A Comparison

Nadia at 24 months old (June 2010)

1. At 27 months old Nadia pronounced thank you "bank you." Ian has been pronouncing it correctly ever since he started saying it.
2. Nadia was far more social at this age. She would gladly interact with strangers at the playground. Ian never makes any attempt to play with other kids at the playground, but he must be somewhat aware of other kids in the nursery as sometimes he points to a toddler and tells me the child's name.

3. Nadia had switched to saying "me" instead of "you" in instances like "carry you." Ian still says "you." He says things like "Mommy will help you" when he wants some help.

4. Nadia's afternoon nap was 3 hours long. Ian's is 30 minutes long.

5. Ian has one favorite food (coconut milk yogurt). Nadia had many, many favorite foods.

6. Both talked a lot about emotions during these months, but Ian definitely said the word "scared" far, far more than Nadia ever did.

7. Nadia was drinking cold milk from a glass during these months. Ian is still drinking warm "milk" in a sippy cup.

8. Nadia was more into coloring at this age than Ian. Ian is far more interested in vehicles than Nadia has ever been.

9. Nadia was promoted to the preschool Sunday School class and children's church a couple of months before she turned 2. Ian was promoted at 26 months.

10. Ian was daytime potty trained during this time span. Nadia was wearing underwear 24 hours a day.

11. Ian said "I love you" a lot more than Nadia did. She asked for hugs. He never asks for hugs, but he does climb up and snuggle many times a day! They both love giving and receiving hugs and kisses!
12. Nadia loved swings. Ian is scared of them. Nadia was also braver in terms of coming down slides and the stairs by herself whereas Ian wants me to hold his hand in both instances.

13. Ian made a LOT more messes. He is like a cyclone going through the house!

14.  Nadia comforted herself by sucking her thumb. Ian plays with his belly button.

15. Although both children enjoyed singing at this age, Ian broke into song more often than Nadia ever did.

16. Ian knows more shapes and letters than Nadia did at this age.

I Passed!

This afternoon I called the OB office to inquire about my bloodwork results from Monday. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that I passed! A friend of mine had GD in her 2nd pregnancy and was tested in the first trimester in her 3rd pregnancy and passed, and then she was retested in her 2nd trimester and failed. I really am going to protest BIG time if the OB suggests doing this test again, especially as I am pretty much following a GD diet anyhow. I eat a cereal with very little sugar (ex. plain Cheerios) and a hardboiled egg for breakfast. When I go on a diet to lose weight, I don't change what I eat very much. What I mostly change is the quantity I eat. So this is much harder for me. Years ago when I was on a 1,200 calorie diet, I still ate a little ice cream every day. Now that I've been avoiding sweets my craving of them has increased. I keep telling myself that it won't be worth it. Maybe since I don't have GD this won't last the whole pregnancy. It should help me keep my weight in check if nothing else!

Ian is obsessed with this jacket. It was about 72 degrees out when this photo was taken. Nadia and I weren't wearing any jackets. It's going to be traumatic for Ian whenever I tell him it's too warm for this heavy jacket! As for yesterday's pictures with the ducklings, those are our neighbor's ducklings. The kids love them! I couldn't have asked for nicer weather for my spring break this week!                                      The ticker says that our baby is 2 inches long and is beginning to develop teeth buds! Only two more weeks until I'm in the 2nd trimester!! Woohoo!!!

What a Horrible Test

I passed the one hour glucose test with Nadia. I failed it with Ian, and thus had to have the 3 hour test, which I also failed. I remember after having that test I said to Paul that if I was ever pregnant again and I failed the 1 hour test, I'd ask them to just assume I had GD and skip the 3 hour test as I never wanted to go through that again. My new OB said there was no reason to do the 1 hour test since I had GD last time, but that I should just skip right to the 3 hour test. It wasn't fun in 2009, but it was so much worse yesterday in part because I'm still in the first trimester (and my tummy is generally unhappy as it is). It also was worse because although I arrived at 7am, they didn't actually give me the yucky orange drink until 8:05am. I was at the hospital for more than 4 hours, which meant by the time it was done I hadn't consumed anything for 18 hours except that horrible glucose drink. I was *famished*. I always eat breakfast. I do mean always. And when I am pregnant I eat MORE in the morning than I do when I'm not pregnant, and since I haven't gained any weight, I take it I'm not overeating. I brought a book to read, but I could only read for the first about 20 minutes and then it was all I could do not to throw up. Tears were streaming down my face as I desperately tried to keep the contents of my stomach inside my body. I ended up lying down for most of the time. At one point I had to go to the bathroom, and I almost passed out. Someone had to help me get to and from the bathroom. The last hour I started to feel better and was able to sit up and read for a little bit.  I felt icky the entire rest of the day and because of that went to bed at 8:30pm.

Thankfully when I went back to the waiting room during that last hour, there was a woman there with a young baby. Hearing that tiny baby cry was just what I needed. It helped remind me that this is all worth it. I still hope and pray to never have this test again. If the future FET results in a bfp, I hope we can avoid this 3 hour test. Frankly it doesn't matter if I am labeled with GD or not in the sense that I'm going to keep eating protein at every meal and avoiding sugar as much as possible. I feel horrible if I don't. This morning we had lunch at ladies Bible study since it was our last session. I tried not to eat too much in the way of sweets. I steered clear of the cakes and such. I ate a deviled egg and some stew along with a piece of bread and some fruit and fruit salad. It's not that I just had fruits and carbs, but still it was too much. My tummy felt awful at the end. I just can't eat sweets. The momentary pleasure while I eat the food doesn't compensate for feeling yucky for a long time afterward. I'll look forward to eating chocolate chip cookies and such again after September 24 (or earlier if baby decides he/she can't wait that long to be born). I am curious to hear whether I failed or passed the test yesterday, but the only change a label of GD will make is that I'll be checking my blood sugar via a glucometer. I don't think my diet will be much different either way.

Yesterday we found out that Ian won't be admitted to Hershey until April 2. I was bummed because if it had started on March 26, all my classes would have been covered. The good news is I shouldn't have to make too many trips from Hershey to my university. It also means I can start wearing maternity clothes in the near future as I won't be on campus much for 5 weeks between a conference in DC the last week of March and then being in Hershey for 4 weeks in April. A couple of days ago I bought the kids and I tickets to see Disney on Ice in Hershey on April 12. I think it's helpful to have something fun to look forward to during our 4 weeks there. Most of my non-maternity clothes still fit, but many of them hurt my belly (such as the capri pants I'm wearing at the moment). I am SO grateful for the warmer weather because nylons are the WORST. Even wearing a bigger size hasn't helped that much. I need sandal weather to come ASAP for my pg belly's sake!

Last week we found out that the local visiting professor chemistry position was also a closed door. The job had been posted in early February, and they were already wrapping that search up. So Paul will still be commuting to PSU for another year. After he gradutes (probably either August or December) he'll switch to being a post-doc (which includes a pay increase of some unknown amount). I'm praying for a tenure track job for him in the state of PA in physical chemistry for August 2013. We shall see if that is posssible. We might end up having to leave the state of PA in order for him to get a job in his field. The good news is that at least I know now we aren't moving for at least another year, which helps with making various decisions such as when to put our house on the market.

The time change seems to be helping Ian shift his wake up time as he woke up at 7am on Sunday (which really didn't represent any extra sleep as we only put the kids to bed 10 minutes earlier than usual on Saturday night), 6:40am yesterday, and 7:00am yesterday. I'll be thrilled if he gets back in the groove of not waking up before 7am.

27 Months Old!

1. He says "I love you" many times a day. What a sweetheart! Last Thursday he said it to Gabby which absolutely made her day.

2. This isn't something new, but I have to mention that it's a habit he's kept almost his whole life. When he's in my arms, he puts his head on one shoulder (usually my left) and wraps one arm (usually his left) around my neck. It's so sweet!
3. For a long time he was a mommy's boy. Now he's definitely a daddy's boy. He gets so excited when Paul comes home from school. He wants Daddy to take him to the bathroom rather than Mommy. This meant Ian was in a men's restroom for the first time Saturday. It was Paul's first time taking Ian to the bathroom in a public restroom (at Applebee's).
4. Although he can climb down the steps safely by himself (he keeps his right hand on the wall), he usually lacks the courage to do so. He stands at the top saying "Mommy will help you" over and over until I reach out and hold his left hand as he comes down the steps.

5. Over the past week he learned how to climb up into his booster seat by himself. He was oh so proud of himself!

6. His favorite tv show is "Word World" (PBS).
7. Randomly throughout the day he attemps to spell words. It's so funny to listen to him. He says a word and then says several letters (generally none of which are actually used in that word).

8. He's really into Winnie the Pooh. The lego set the kids got at Christmas (featuring Winnie the Pooh) is one of his most favorite toys right now. Yesterday he told me "Rabbit is my favorite."

9. Over the past month I've been rocking him in the glider for 15-45 minutes each morning because he's been waking up too early. In light of "springing forward" I am planning on letting him cry until he gets back in the habit of not waking up before 7am (his average has been 6:15am lately).

10. He adores coconut milk yogurt. If he starts to fuss, I just remind him that he can't have yogurt if he's crying. It works like a charm.

11. His favorite finger food right now is chips (more than pretzels or crackers). He licks them.

12. He hasn't had any accidents over the past 13 days! If you don't count the ones he had when he was asleep, he's gone more than 3 weeks without an accident.

13. He now weighs a little over 28 lbs thanks to the EleCare.

14. He's really into baths these days. He'd love to have one every day.

15. Over the past month he was promoted to Sunday School and Wee Worship (Children's Church). So long, nursery!

16. When he's playing with Play-doh or coloring, he always tells me what he's making/drawing. He's very imaginative!

17. He used to only have a strong opinion about what underwear and shirt he wore. Now he also has strong opinions about which socks and pants he wears. I usually let him wear whatever socks he wants as long as the two socks match each other.

18. His favorite song to sing lately is "We are the pirates who don't do anything."

19. Lately he's been crying for about 15 minutes and then sleeping for about 30 minutes. Saturday he fell asleep at 1pm in a shopping cart at Walmart with his head on the handle of the cart. Why is it easier for him to sleep in places like that than his own crib? Go figure! At night he goes down without crying.

20. The two words he says the most often are "not scary." He is still obsessed with the word "scary."

21. He wants to go to the playground every day no matter what the temperature is like outside. Thankfully it's supposed to be in the upper 60's this week so he should be getting his wish granted a lot more often than he has lately!

22. He will climb up to the top of the slide, but he says "Mommy will help you" until I reach out and hold one of his hands. He's not brave enough to slide down on his own yet, even if the slide is very small.

23. He's getting pretty good at throwing a football. He has a long way to go in learning how to catch.

24. He absolutely loves building towers for the joy of knocking them down. He often chants "we build a tower" very loudly while he's making the tower.

25. His molars have come in all the way. He has 12 teeth (8 incisors and 4 molars).

26. He's been obsessed with cards lately (flashcards, UNO game, etc.). He calls them puzzles for some reason.

27. Once at CVS he saw a man with a bandana on his head. He pointed to the man and called him a pirate. Thankfully the man thought it was cute. He often points to other men he sees and calls them "Jonah." Do all kids have such an obsession with Jonah, or is it just mine? LOL!

3 Hour GTT Tomorrow

As you can probably guess from my lack of blogging this week, I've been busy! I went to bed at 8pm the last two nights. Exhaustion is part of the reason I haven't had time to blog. Sleep has been more important to me. Also, I have been trying to cross a variety of things off my to do list. On Friday and Saturday I got all caught up with my grading and wrote my lesson plans for my substitutes to follow in April. I also finished my promotion rankings yesterday morning. Yesterday I also finished our local and federal taxes. Today I plan to finish our state taxes. Plus there are those constants like laundry, cooking, etc. Proof that I've been busy is that I checked out a novel from a church library 3 weeks ago (by an author I really like), and I haven't finished it yet. I have to return it on Tuesday morning because I got it from the church where I've been having ladies Bible study, and our final session is this Tuesday. I believe I'll have time to finish it tomorrow morning because I'll be sitting in a lab for three hours. I am to report at 7am tomorrow for my 3 hour glucose test. The OB said on Friday that since I had GD last time there was no reason to do the 1 hour screening this time. This means I can't eat anything tomorrow morning, and I'll have my blood drawn four times over that three hour time span. I find the drink to be very nasty. I'm dreading doing the test while I'm still in the morning sickness phase of pregnancy. The other times I had the tests in the 2nd trimester when I was well past the nausea stage. I'm praying I'll pass the test (I'm not keen on the idea of using a glucometer several times a day for 6 months), but I have a feeling I'm going to fail it.

I wasn't expecting to have the OB fill out the paperwork to reserve the OR for the c-section at my first appointment. It makes it feel like it's not that far away. Based on her u/s she at first said my EDD was 10-5 (because baby was measuring 10w0d), but she quickly adjusted to the EDD based on the egg retrieval (10-3). I was pleased when they weighed me as I weighed exactly the same as I did the day of the egg retrieval (so in 8w2d I hadn't gained any weight). On Thursday Karen (OT) told me I am looking pregnant. She asked if anyone who didn't already know I was pregnant had figured it out by looking at me. It would be wild if it happened this early this time as with Nadia it wasn't until I was around 32w that people started figuring it out on their own. Thankfully no one has said anything yet. Unfortunately I gained a few pounds over the past 12 months so I'm not starting out quite as low as I wanted to, but not gaining any weight in the first trimester should help me achieve my goal of gaining no more than 30 pounds altogether (which would mean my weight at the end would be lower than it was with Nadia or Ian).

THE ultrasound has been scheduled for May 17. It's hard to wait until then to know if baby is a girl or a boy. Feel free to vote on the poll I put on my blog. It's fun to guess! I figure baby is probably a boy just because we have a girl's name picked out (Deborah Marie) but not a boy's name. Deborah is after Paul's mom's sister, and Marie is my mom's middle name. Nadia is convinced we're going to call her sister "Aunt Debbie." She doesn't understand two people can have the same name. We are nowhere near picking a boy's names because Paul keeps bringing up names I rejected years ago (ex. Newton and Gordon are his two favorites).

Even though I had a few left, I stopped taking the Prometrium on Thursday as the RE had said it wasn't necessary after 10w. This meant Friday was my first day in months that I didn't take any medication as I had been on bcps for several weeks before the fertility shots and then the Prometrium. It was a one day reprieve because I started taking acid reducers again yesterday. I decided I couldn't take the heartburn/ acid reflux any more. Being pregnant isn't fun physically, but I am still oh so very grateful for the little one kicking around inside me!! Oh and if any of you were praying for my friend, Jo, she found out today (12dpo) that she's pregnant! PTL! I'm so thrilled that we get to share this journey together the next 6 months.

The OB asked me on Friday if I had any spotting. I told her I had some at 4w0d but not since then. It hit me afterwards that she asked that right after I told her I needed the Rhogam shot. The RE nurse goofed that up, and I totally forgot. I should have had a Rhogam shot back at 4w as you're supposed to have one anytime you have spotting (since I'm O negative and Paul has positive blood). I've had the Rhogam shot 5 times thus far. Once for the ectopic and around 20 weeks with Ian and Nadia and after delivery with both of them as well.

One of my cousins from Indiana made last minute plans to come and visit my parents last week. They were originally planning to go to Branson. We toyed with driving down on Friday night to spend some time with them on Saturday (he came with his wife and two kids). We haven't seen ANY relatives from my mom's side of the family in 8.5 years as they live in Ohio and Indiana. We used to go out for weddings, but they're all married (my mom's sister had 8 kids). Unfortunately we were too busy this weekend to make the 8 hour (RT) drive. Paul is busy working on his program as he's presenting on these results in Philadelphia in May and also still trying to graduate in August. Hopefully the next time one of my cousins visits my parents (while doing sightseeing in DC), we'll be able to go down and see them. None of my cousins on either side of my family have met Nadia or Ian although my dad's sister has met both of them.

C-section has been scheduled!

I had my first OB appointment today. I requested the OB who removed the placenta in January 2010 as I really liked her. She did an ultrasound (we shall see if the insurance pays for that since it was my second one in the first trimester), and baby is doing just fine. It was fun to watch him/her kick a leg, etc. She didn't give me any of the pictures. Boo. She already filled out the paperwork to reserve the OR for 9-24 for my c-section. That would be exactly three months after Nadia's birthday (6-24). Now to pray that baby stays in that long! I'd be 38w5d at that point. In order to help prevent another premature delivery, I'm going to have weekly progesterone shots starting in about 10 weeks. She said most patients come to their office for the shots, but I can do it at home if I feel comfortable. I said I have lots of experience with giving myself hormone shots at home. I declined the nuchal ultrasound (Down's syndrome screening). I didn't have it with Nadia, but I did have it with Ian and decided never to have it again. They normally would have wanted me to come back in 4 weeks (if I was skipping the nuchal screen because that's done between 11-13 weeks), but we'll be in Hershey with Ian. So my next appointment will be in 7 weeks (at 17w2d). Because I had GD with Ian she wants to skip the 1 hour screening test and have me do the 3 hour test sometime in the next two weeks. Fun, Fun, Fun. (Hopefully you are picking up on the sarcasm) They are also scheduling my MFM appointment for 10 weeks from now. It will be done at their office by someone from Harrisburg. At that time we should hopefully learn if Nadia is getting her wish for a sister. As expected, the entire visit lasted one hour. I was grateful I had asked Beth to watch the kids as it was much more pleasant without having them with me. The only thing I forgot to ask her was which acid reducers are okay to take. I guess I'll give the nurse a call when I get to the point I feel I must start popping pills to deal with the acid reflux.

Thankful Thursday

1. Ian is such an affectionate boy. He says "I love you" many times a day. I'm trying to teach Nadia how to respond politely when he says "I love you, Nadia." On Monday after Nadia changed into her leotard for ballet class, Ian said to her "you are beautiful." What a sweetheart!

2. Ian has gone 9 consecutive days without an accident. WOOHOO! He still struggles with going in public restrooms, but he's doing much better at holding it until we get home. I can't blame him for not wanting to use the portapotty at the playground!

3. The temps got up into the 60's yesterday!!! We had a blast at the playground. In fact, I woke Nadia up from her nap (and she rarely naps these days) so that we could go because I knew we wouldn't be able to go today (because of my work schedule), even though the weather is gorgeous again today.

4. As of yesterday, Nadia has learned all the uppercase and lowercase letters and the numbers 1-9. She hasn't totally mastered all of them. A few of them we have to review each day, but she's come a LONG way in the last couple of months.

5. I started reading A Bear Called Paddington yesterday to Nadia. I loved that series when I was a child, and Nadia seemed to enjoy it yesterday when I read her the first two chapters while she colored.

6. The ballet teacher surprised me last week by emailing me and saying we didn't need to pay for April's tuition. I thanked her. The gym also gave us a $49 credit for the 4 gymanstics classes she'll be missing.

7. I am so grateful that Ian likes coconut milk yogurt. He actually says things like, "I want yogurt." We shall see what Karen says today about whether it's okay if that's all I feed him until he starts at Hershey Medical.

8. I haven't gained any weight as of 10 weeks into the pregnancy! With Nadia and Ian I gained a little in the first trimester. It looks like I won't this time!

9. Paul's advisor thinks he could possibly graduate in August, and it seems very likely he'll graduate with his PhD in 2012!

10. For years I have thought of going to a Women of Faith conference. I haven't gone for a myriad of reasons - one of which is that I'm a penny pincher. I paid for my ticket to attend in DC in August. My mom will watch Nadia and Ian. I'll sit with ladies from my church, but I won't be riding the bus down with them or staying at the hotel with them. Now I just have to make sure not to go into labor at 33w (which is how far along I'll be then). I was in labor at 33w with Ian so it's not crazy for me to be a little worried about that. I wouldn't have paid for my ticket if it would have been any later in the pregnancy since Ian came at 34w and Nadia came at 36w. I'm looking forward to it!

11. The Dean told me I can't use the 37.5 hours of annual sick family leave toward my unpaid leave this semester. I was able to do that in one payperiod last semester because I was on FMLA. She said I can use it so other professors can teach a few of my classes. Today I asked for volunteers (they will be paid), and five of my classes will be covered in April. My department chair said I could do one by Wimba. What a relief!

12. I finished reviewing the 33 promotion applications today! Maybe I can conclude my review of their supporting documentation in the library this afternoon! WOOHOO!

End is in Sight!

Paul spoke with his advisor earlier this week about whether she thought he could graduate in August. The bad news is that it's not definite enough that he can apply for the tenure track physical chemistry position at Millersville because the deadline is March 24, and he won't know at that point if he can graduate in August. That is disappointing because it's rare to find an opening in physical chemistry in PA, and Millersville is the type of school Paul would like to teach at (one which values good teaching higher than research). Millersville would have put us about the same distance we are now from Paul's family, but it would have meant we'd be living quite a bit closer to my parents. There is no guarantee he would have gotten the job, but the door is being closed a little sooner since he can't apply. The good news is that it has now been very clearly defined what he needs to accomplish in order to graduate. She said that if he gets results from the simulation he just started running a few days ago and publishes an article from those results, that will be enough to conclude his PhD. So that is encouraging! He's still aiming to graduate in August, but knowing his difficulties with meeting deadlines, I'm assuming he'll graduate in December although I'd love to be pleasantly surprised by an August graduation! It costs a fortune for him to drive to PSU five days a week. Either way it seems very likely that my husband will have his PhD by the end of 2012! That's wonderful news! He started in August 2008. Now I need to start praying for a tenure track position in physical chemistry for August 2013. He'd really like to live within a reasonable distance of his parents. Hopefully that will be possible. He's probably going to apply for a one year general chemistry position at a university that is only 20 minutes from our house which starts this August. That would seem to be ideal since it would mean we wouldn't have to move in both 2012 and 2013. I'm praying about that possibility as well. I think one year of teaching experience as a "visiting professor" would really strengthen his resume and hopefully help him get a tenure track job next August.

Knowing that we probably aren't going to be moving in the next few months is helpful for me. I had been wondering if we should put our house on the market because sometimes it takes awhile to sell a house. Now I know we can wait about a year before we put our house on the market. I had just recently started doing some purging (ex. if I haven't worn those dresses in umm at least 8 years why am I still hanging on to them?). Now I know I can wait a bit on those efforts. My main priority right now is the promotion committee. Thankfully that job will be DONE by the end of the month. I spent two hours in the library yesterday before my office hours and class and plan to do the same tomorrow. The end is in sight in terms of that project as well. There are other decisions that will be easier to make (ex. should we stay with Directv?) now that we know we're not moving in the next 5 months.

One thing I am not taking off my to do list is to sell our dining room table/chairs and curio cabinets. The dining room will become Paul's office, and the room that is now Paul's office will become the baby's bedroom. At some point we'll replace our kitchen table (which is 16 years old) with one that has more leaves so that we can expand it a few times a year when we have a family gathering for a holiday or birthday. Our dining room table gets used about 3-4 times a year on average. It doesn't seem necessary to have a whole room for that purpose. We bought the dining room table in 2004 because our second house had a dining room. We didn't have kids then so I hadn't thought of using that space as a playroom or schoolroom. I'm thrilled that in 6 months we can make use of all four bedrooms as bedrooms! Today I am 10 weeks along! The ticker says that baby's hair and fingernails are developing!

Beauty and the Beast

Nadia and I enjoyed a Mommy-Daughter Date on Saturday afternoon as we went to see a high school's production of Beauty and the Beast. We had a great time. It wouldn't have gone well if Ian had been with us. He would have enjoyed some of it, but it was way too long for his attention span (3 hours including the intermission).

That evening I came down with the flu, but it took me until yesterday afternoon to figure that out. At first I thought it was a blood sugar issue (because I had a little ice cream after dinner on Saturday night) and morning sickness (because I threw up when I ate my first bite of breakfast yesterday morning). I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my blood sugar regulated. I kept feeling like I was going to faint, and I my stomach felt just awful. A friend from church came over and checked my blood sugar with her father's glucometer, and my sugar was fine (90). Paul was really confused. He thought it was definitely high or low. However shortly after she left I spiked a fever and also couldn't stay out of the bathroom. Then the mystery was solved. I had the flu. If I wasn't pregnant, I would have figured that out on Saturday evening. I slept 10 hours on Saturday evening and woke up feeling horrible. I slept 10 hours last night and woke up feeling GREAT! What a difference! My morning sickness didn't kick back in until after I had my bowl of Cheerios so I actually was nausea-free for the first hour I was up today. If I was going to get the flu, I am very glad I got it on a weekend as I really wasn't up to taking care of the kids yesterday. The bad part was that Paul had planned to get more work done than he was able to do yesterday, but I did let the kids watch far more tv than usual so that he could get some work done. Proof that I wasn't feeling well is that I didn't open my laptop once yesterday, and normally I check my email, Facebook, etc. several times a day. I had no desire to do anything yesterday except stay in a horizontal position. The thought of eating anything was revolting yesterday. It was so nice to wake up with an appetite today!

The other highlight from the weekend was that Karen (OT) brought Ian some coconut milk yogurt on Friday afternoon. She had forgotten to bring it to his OT session on Thursday. She lives near a grocery store that carries it. Feeding Ian has become REALLY difficult. What a difference when we're feeding him yogurt! This also helps confirm that his objection to pears, bananas, applesauce, etc. is not due to pain. It's worth $2 a yogurt to have a few meals a week that don't involve screaming.

Thankful Thursday

1. Ian hasn't thrown up over the past 8 days. Also, he didn't have any accidents the past 3 days.

2. I'm thankful we've been able to use a cleaning service a little the past couple of years. They came 5 times in 2011 and have been here 3 times so far this year, but unless Paul thinks otherwise, today was the last time. The two women clean for 1.25 hours every other week, so that would be 2.5 hours for me if I did it myself. The problem is that I spend the whole morning (they came at 11:30 today) trying so hard to keep the place clutter free, which is pretty much impossible with Ian. He constantly creates havoc. I decided today it would be easier to use the Motivated Moms chore lists than to try to get (keep) the house ready for the cleaning service.

3. I recently read the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is a GREAT book. I highly recommend it.

4. We saw the movie Courageous last week. I highly recommend it.

5. I am grateful for safety on the roads. It's so easy to take that for granted. On Tuesday I was almost in an accident. I was able to slam on the brakes, swerve, and honk my horn to avoid the collision. Whew.

6. I'm pregnant again. Sometimes I still have to look at the ultrasound picture or hpt to convince myself it's really true. Conceiving seemed so elusive to me for so long. It just blows me away that I'm pregnant for the 3rd time in 4.25 years - especially since I'm almost 40 and it's supposed to be harder to conceive at this age than when we first started trying (we started trying 1 month after I turned 30). Every pregnancy is a miracle, but it feels like SUCH a miracle. When we were trying for Ian, they said we had a 25% chance of conceiving. I am sure the number was lower this time, although they didn't say this time what they thought the odds were. I am very, very grateful for this baby.

7. I'm grateful Paul's parents live fairly close (one hour away) as they are going to help out and watch the kids for a few hours tomorrow so I can review promotion binders in the library and attend my department's faculty meeting.

8. I am thankful that a colleague of mine was willing to cover a couple of my classes while Ian is at Hershey. The Dean told me today that he can't cover my classes (sigh), but I'm grateful he volunteered and was trying to help me out.

9. I found out yesterday that my presentation in DC the last week of March was moved from Saturday morning to Wednesday afternoon. I had requested a change because I need to attend a promotion meeting that Friday afternoon/evening (supposedly these meetings usually last from 3pm to midnight). I'm not sure how all this will work if Ian is admitted to the hospital that week, but I'm thankful I can make my presentation and attend the promotion committee meeting.