A Long Few Days...

Today I loaded up the family and took them to the doctor. Jessica as it turns out has Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease...again! Either last time she had something else or it was just a light case. However, her spots seem to be dissipating rapidly so hopefully we won't be home bound for too long! We miss our friends! David has a virus involving a sore throat, which looks pretty darn nasty I might add! The doctor does not think it is mono; however, we are taking steps to make sure it does not turn into mono! This will probably have an effect on our Christmas plans, but hopefully we will still get to travel to see family, maybe just not for as long as we had hoped. On the bright side we should be right as rain for Thanksgiving! Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am going to do some looking around to locate some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to post later this week! Until then, I think I will be using my time to catch up on all the dishes and laundry that have gotten backed up as well as make some repairs and alterations to Jessica's wardrobe. I did not expect her to dislike wearing pants so much, so I am having to do a little work to alter her wardrobe a bit!

Seeing Spots

Well, we are staying home and quarantining until we can get to the doctor Monday. Jessica's fever from earlier this week seems to be gone, but she has been fussy and has spots appearing all over her. Our neighbor across the street says it looks like chicken pox. I guess we'll have to wait till Monday to know for sure.

We have used a delayed schedule for getting Jessica's shots, saving the vaccines for less deadly diseases until later. Chicken pox is one of those. The reason for doing this is I just don't see any point in giving her a whole bunch of shots all at one time. While I do not believe it causes Autism (everything I learned in school and professionally tells me otherwise), I do think it may be possible to "overload" a small baby's system. All other kinds of things early on can overload them. Why not a lot of vaccines?

David and I both had the chicken pox as children, although we think I had the worse case. One of the benefits of us having had the chicken pox already is that we know 100% that our unborn child will be protected because of my immunity. With the chicken pox vaccine, there would still be some risk because it is not 100% effective for all people throughout their lifetime. Hopefully, if Jessica does indeed have the chicken pox, she will begin to feel better soon!

My First Kohls Experience

I don't ever remember going to Kohls, but David's grandmother had sent us a check with instructions to get Jessica "something cute" so off we went! If you remember, I have trouble pushing things while pregnant so Jessica did not ride in any sort of buggy or stroller for the entire trip. I must say that made it a rather memorable trip! First we went to the Infant and Toddler's clothing section and picked out an adorable sage green corduroy jumper with pink butterflies appliqued on it (which happened to be 50% off)! While there Jessica discovered the toy section so conventiently located next to the Infant and Toddler's clothes! She was rather taken with a laptop she saw, but I told her we were not getting a laptop today. She was less than pleased. I then carried her over to the shoe department where she found a wonderful pair of taupe heals on clearance that she proceeded to try on after wrestling in the floor to get her shoes and socks off! With much help from Jessica opening boxes, taking out shoes, and her occasionally running off, I found a pair of shoes 50% off that I believe will work nicely with my black maternity leggings! By the time we reached the checkout lane, Jessica wanted to read all of the books in the display and tried to run out the automatic doors multiple times! We managed to pay only to discover that she drank so much that morning that she had leaked through her clothes! I proceeded to change her diaper in the car and dress her in her new outfit. Finally we left!!

However, on the way home I decided to drop by and pick up something at Sears that David had suggested we get for Jessica if we had a little left from getting the "something cute" for Jessica. Once again carrying Jessica into the store without the aid of a stroller, we trudged off towards the bathroom because by this point I had to go! Well, I didn't have a stroller, there was no child seat in the bathroom to strap her to, and she has recently become interested in climbing under bathroom stalls so I set her in my lap against her loud protests! Finally, we went to the toy section where we picked up a My First Craftsman Mechanics Engine! Jessica and I played with it this afternoon. We took it apart, and I told her which pieces were pistons, spark plugs, etc. She seemed to enjoy playing with it. Hopefully, she will find taking it apart more interesting than taking our furniture apart! Currently her daddy and her are sitting in the den taking it apart and putting it back together. Now off to enjoy some family time!

Preschool

Today, I spent some time with a friend of mine planning a preschool curriculum for our daughters and potentially some of their other neighborhood friends! She is a kindergarten teacher who is currently staying home with her daughter. We plan to start it in January, and I am very excited about it! We are going to do it Tuesday mornings from 9:15 until 11:30. We plan to cover: colors, shapes, letters, numbers, early math skills, feelings, animals, plants, families, safety, health, calendar, and a wide variety of other themes over the course of the year. We also plan to take a field trip or two each month on a different day. The field trips will be related to the theme for the month. I plan to periodically post updates on what we are doing and how it is going, complete with pictures! Right now, I need to get some initial supplies ready and a couple activities planned for January!!

Crafty Christmas Gifts

My sister, Kim, is the craftiest person I know! She almost always makes me something for Christmas, and I always LOVE it! Here are pictures of my favorite three gifts she has recently given me. You can tell just how crafty she is because all three employ distinctly different skills.

An afghan Kim crocheted for me last year....isn't it cheerful?!?!

A gorgeous black skirt Kim sewed for me!

A pitcher she decorated for me!

This last picture I feel requires a bit more of an explanation. She took a pitcher she gotten at TJ Max for cheap and used some special pens to write the quote and draw the butterflies. The quote on it is, "Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it; the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things; it will come and sit softly on your shoulder." by Henry David Thoreau. I absolutely LOVE the transcendentalist writers, so it was the perfect gift! I told her she needed to make me an entire set, but so far I have not received any more pieces. :-( Don't you think my sister is one of the craftiest people ever?!?!?!

The First Trimester

We will be through the first trimester in about a week and have our next doctor's appointment set for next Friday. I must say I am feeling much better: more energy, less gagging, still a few odd food preferences, but on the whole a major improvement! Lots of gas though....very uncomfortable.....slowed digestion is a definite negative! Tonight Jessica and I both happened to look nice, so David took a picture of us! (You can also see where the new baby is beginning to protrude.)

Me and my babies!

On the whole, things seem to be going well, and we are very thankful for that. I am not one of those people who gets very excited about the pregnancy process. Don't get my wrong. I am delighted to be pregnant and am very much looking forward to this wee one joining our family. However, I do realize that pregnancy has its risks. My doctor said a quarter of his patients have miscarriages. I have heard that 50% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. I have known someone who died from a c-section. I have known someone who was paralyzed from an epidural. I know someone who almost bled to death during labor and delivery. I read a blog where the mother died a couple days after birth from postpartum seizures. I have known several children who were born with heart defects, some of which died. I have known a baby who was born without a brain and died shortly thereafter. At church, I heard of a baby who was born without lungs and died immediately after birth. All of these things are rare in the United States because of our excellent medical care; however, they do still happen. Because of this, I tend to view pregnancy as serious business. Indeed whether or not to get pregnant in the first place is a serious decision. Can you support and care for a child until it reaches adulthood? However, there is nothing more wonderful in the world or as challenging as the responsibility of raising a child to adulthood.

Another one bites the dust!

I have been slowly trying to reduce the number of toiletry items we buy. Not only does it save us money, but it also seems much more self-sufficient! Well, today another one bites the dust! I had gotten us down to: soap (now homemade), shampoo (the latest to bite the dust), deodorant, David's aftershave, and my hair gel. Those are the only things we use on a daily basis (outside of razors), and I think we look and smell just fine!

A bar of my homemade soap after curing.

For the last several years I have used only Dove Sensitive Skin products because Dove is the brand Ob-Gyns recommend to help avoid hormone imbalances. (Some people are more sensitive to them than others and at different points in your life.) I had tried to use their soap to wash my hair previously, and I was just not pleased with the results. My hair seemed really dry. Today when I took a shower, I thought "Hmmm, I haven't tried washing my hair with my nice, moisturizing homemade soap." I tried it, and it worked great! I couldn't tell a difference between that and using shampoo!!! David was pleased that it worked so well so he will be trying it in the near future. (Might I also mention that it is gentle enough to use on children once they understand to close their eyes.)

My hair by the end of the day (please excuse the poor evening lighting). Also, I decided that I cannot cut my own hair. David and Jessica's yes, but not my own!

Next on my list is deodorant. I have been doing my research on this one, but have not finished checking out all of the options. The hair gel is likely to stay because I have almost a lifetime supply from when I bartered School Psychology services for haircuts and hair products. The aftershave I have not found a descent replacement for yet either. It may stay as well.