Baby Update

I just got home from my OB appointment. It doesn't look like Matthew will be here too soon. I am about a fingertip dilated & more thinned out than last week. But, I wasn't dilated enough for my doctor to strip my membranes. She said it looks like I have a week or so to go. It could be more, but chances are it won't be less. His head is still down, so Matthew is cooperating quite nicely so far!

I am glad that I have a little more time to get ready for his birth. I don't think it's really hit me that in the next 2 weeks I'll have a little baby to care for. I'm really excited to see who this new little boy who's joining our family will be. These last weeks of pregnancy really require a lot of patience - for everyone involved. Tyler has been asking, "Is Matthew coming tomorrow?" He's just dying to help take care of his new baby brother. He keeps asking me if he can rock Matthew to sleep to help me. How cute is that? Hopefully he'll come really soon so that we don't have to keep wondering when he'll get here. I'll keep you all updated.

Have a Happy New Year!

Obedient Boy

Well, I have some happy news. After a couple weeks of telling Matthew to turn over, he finally decided to obey! On Sunday, I suspected that Matthew had turned over, but I wasn't sure. When I went for my check-up yesterday, it was confirmed by ultrasound that Matthew is head down. Hooray! But, since he barely got his head in the right spot, I have not dilated at all yet. That's OK though. Now I know I'm less likely to have a Christmas baby. (Am I guaranteeing myself a Christmas baby by making that statement?) Anyway, I'm just so happy that Matthew is getting set for a regular ole delivery! Thanks for all of your prayers & encouraging words!

Opening Doors

Today Claire learned how to turn a doorknob & open a door. She's finally tall enough to reach! She's so proud of herself & spent a good portion of her day opening and closing doors, just because she can. She was so cute opening doors like a big girl! This is a bummer for me though. Now I can't just shut the door to keep her out of trouble. I guess it's time to put those annoying child-proof doorknob covers back on. She'll be so disappointed when she finds that she can no longer practice her new skill. I'm sure she'll get over it quickly.

Naughty Little Boy

My little Matthew has been a very naughty little boy this week! You might be wondering how a boy who has not yet made his entrance to the world could be naughty. . . well let me tell you. Last Tuesday afternoon, I went for quite a while without feeling him move. So, I called my OB's office & they told me to go into Labor and Delivery. When I got there, his heart-rate was just fine. The nurse did a quick ultrasound & found the reason why I couldn't feel Matthew moving. That naughty little boy has flipped himself over into a lovely breech position, which apparently can make it difficult to feel the baby's movements. Now a C-Section is a highly likely possibility in my near future. I really hope that he flips himself back over so that he can come out the way that nature intended! I really don't want to deal with the recovery from a C-Section. So please pray that my baby will get himself into the correct position for me.

"Lemon Tree"

When Jeff & I bought our house almost 4 years ago (we're 2 weeks shy of 4 years), we were so excited that there were so many fruit trees in our backyard. You really would be surprised that 2 mature grapevines, along with an orange tree, a loquat tree, an apricot tree, a kumquat tree, a guava tree, a banana tree, and a lemon tree could all fit in our tiny backyard. We actually had some bananas grow on the banana tree. We got about 4 oranges off of our orange tree each year, but it got some tree disease & suddenly died this summer. The guava tree has since been replaced by a little avocado tree that needs to grow a bit before it produces any avocados. The loquat tree is slated for replacement by a fruit we might actually eat - possibly an apple tree. We get tons of kumquats and apricots each year. But, the one tree that has been a huge disappointment has been the lemon tree.

Every year we wait for the lemons to ripen, but before they can turn bright yellow, they get blown off of the tree by the Santa Ana winds & we never get to eat them. Well, the other night, Jeff was wanting a lemon to put in his water and we didn't have any of them in the house. For some reason this year quite a few of the blossoms survived to actually grow into lemons & I'd noticed that some of them were a bit yellowish last week. So I suggested that he go check if there were any lemons on the tree that were ripe. Jeff found 2 lemons that had blown off of the tree, one was slightly yellow & the other was still quite green. I told Jeff that there was no way he could eat the green one, but the other one might be OK. He sliced into it & the flesh was still pretty green. He decided to use it anyway. Once he tasted it, he asked me if I was sure that they were lemons. "Of course they're lemons, what else could they be?" I responded. Well, to make a long story short, after we both tasted the lemon & examined the peel, Jeff & I finally discovered why we were never able to pick any ripe lemons from our tree. Lemons do not grow on Lime Trees!!!

It only took us 4 years to realize that we have a lime tree in our yard, not a lemon tree. What a couple of dopes we are. We were able to figure out that we have guavas and loquats, but we were too ditzy to realize the reason our lemons were never yellow! What a bummer! We probably could have picked a few limes & enjoyed them over the past few years. There are a lot of them on the tree right now, I bet I can pick some tomorrow!

We had a good laugh about our "Lemon Tree." No wonder my parents are able to grow way better lemons than we do. They have the right kind of tree. To our defense, the limes always turn slightly yellow before falling off the tree. I guess now I should consider replacing the loquat tree or the dead orange tree with a lemon tree. After all, I have been waiting for 4 years to pick a lemon in my backyard!

Prop 8 Victory

I just saw online that the wonderful California voters passed Prop 8 in the election yesterday. It was a very close race. I think the current #'s are 52% Yes to 48% No. They're still counting votes, so I'm curious to find out what the final vote count turns out to be. Hooray!!! Today is a great day in California! It's just too bad that the No on 8 side is a bunch of sore losers & have already begun to file lawsuits regarding the issue. Oh well - we still WON!!!!

Daylight Savings

The end of Daylight Savings used to be my favorite night of the year. Even up until last night I was ecstatic to get that extra hour of sleep! Last night I curled up in my bed, almost giddy because I would be getting to sleep longer. That joy was cut short when Tyler came into my room bright and early this morning. For some reason, I didn't stop to consider that my kids wouldn't know that they were supposed to sleep an extra hour last night too. I guess last year, Tyler was still sleeping in pretty late & we had earlier church so it didn't make as much of a difference. Anyhow, the annoyance didn't end there.
We go to church at 1:00, which is usually a challenge since that's when my kids take naps. But, to them it was 2:00 - even worse. We went to Everett's blessing (which was the highlight of my day) at 1:00. Both kids were horrible during Sacrament Meeting. They each had to have a turn being carried out. Tyler's antics began when we made him sit on the other side of us because the kids right next to him were eating fish crackers. He threw a major fit because he wanted to sit by them. Poor boy, any other kid could keep sitting there without a second thought, but it wasn't a good idea for Tyler to be so close to "bad cheese." Claire was just plain tired and resorted to being noisy & naughty.
After we left the blessing, we hopped in the car to get back to our ward. (Tyler & I had to practice the Primary Program and Jeff had to teach Elders Quorum.) Both kids fell asleep in the car while driving back to our ward. They are never pleasant when we have to wake them before they're ready, but they did OK for the rest of church.
Once we got home, they were back into their horrible behavior. After dinner, Tyler begged me to make smoothies. So I put some banana, cranberries, grapes, blueberries, soy milk & ice in the blender to please my little guy. He took about 2 sips of his & decided he was done. Claire found a great use for hers. She managed to redecorate the kitchen with it. It ended up all over the wall, floor, her chair, the table, her hair, face, hands & Abby Cadabby outfit. That was a lovely mess to clean up.
Yikes, they were so naughty today!!!! We actually put them to bed almost 2 hours earlier than usual just to have a break from them. They must have been tired, because they both went right to sleep. All I can say is, "This is no longer my favorite day of the year!" Maybe when my kids are older I'll be able to renew those loving feelings toward my extra hour of sleep. For now, I'll just have to accept the fact that the end of Daylight Savings is just as bad as the first night of any vacation we've ever taken!