A Few Little Updates

It is about bedtime for my kids in about a half hour, so we'll see how far I can get with this post. I am trying to post less on facebook and more on my blog. The whole reason I have facebook is to keep in contact with friends and family...NOT BLOG like I have been doing. I just can't seem to help myself. I have this undeniable need to communicate with people, and as a busy mom I find that facebook fills in that gap. And of course, it does it a little too well to where I believe it may be an addiction. I would much rather be addicted to my blog. It's much more thorough and a lot more fun to read through as opposed to several one-two sentence blurps all over the place. Although facebook is pretty awesome at organizing my photos...

Okay, so a little update about my pregnancy:

Yes, there are definitely boy parts in that top one. I actually cried in the ultrasound room. Not that I was MORE happy about it being a boy as opposed to a girl. I do occasionally long for yet another girl to dress up in bows and dresses (it is SO MUCH FUN!), and love that haircuts are literally far and few in between. But I just was so surprised, even though from the very beginning I knew he was a HE! I couldn't shake that feeling, and it was so powerful that I never could stop myself from referring to him as a boy. So maybe I cried because I was relieved that I wasn't actually going crazy. I also cried because I knew Ben would be thrilled about it. He is officially no longer the only man in the house.

My next appointment revealed the results from the Quad test. This tests several potential complications, one of which includes down syndrome. I wasn't surprised to find out that it was negative (or, technically, the chances of him having problems are so incredibly small that it's just not likely. However, there is always still that small chance). I didn't do this testing with Penelope. I felt like it was definitely NOT medically necessary, and I had no concerns. It may have been something I would have done if they had found something in her ultrasound, but they did not. For whatever reason, I felt this really strong internal push to do it this time, and I'm glad they did because they found something in the ultrasound that slightly troubles me. It appears as though my son has a hole in his heart. It is definitely something that I will be bringing up at my next appointment, because these last few weeks I've accumulated several questions that I just absolutely need clarified. I feel an inner peace, and it doesn't keep me awake at night, but I am not the kind of person that likes surprises...and I am most certainly not the kind of person that likes to wait. I do not know how serious it is and that will have to wait until he is born. Most likely, it will be a minor thing that could potentially fix itself. But I don't even know if I'll be able to deliver here in Ellensburg. Usually, heart defects highly suggest down syndrome, but Ben and I both have family born with similar heart problems who do not have down syndrome. Plus with the quad testing, which I believe I was divinely inspired to do this time around, I feel pretty confident he won't have problems. Regardless of the outcomes, I already love him so much and me and my Love are very excited to hold him and introduce him to his sisters.

A little update on school:

School is amazing. I love doing it online. I can't wait to finish. I am attending Colorado Technical Institute Online. The quarters are broken up into sessions, so basically I have two sets of classes. Each session is 5 1/2 weeks long. My first session included ONE CLASS!!! Next session will be two classes. My favorite part about this set up is that I can concentrate on less material. I don't have to try and juggle three different subjects all at the same time. The workload isn't bad; it's a lot of writing, reading, responding, and a program calling intellipath. It can be either easy or hard depending on how much reading you can fit in. Another amazing aspect of it is all of the classes basically have the same schedule. So every week there is discussion board, two separate "Live Chats" (which are recorded so it's not VITAL to be there, although it helps to be), and an intellipath. There is no longer that question, "Am I missing something?" I know exactly what is due and when it will be due. I feel like it's slightly more expensive than central, even though some say that it's pretty comparable, but there's no way I can finish at Central. My life is much too complicated for me personally to try and add "attend class" 5+ times a week and have a bunch of homework/group work that is completely scattered all over the place. It's well worth it to me. Besides, what choice do I have? Accounting classes basically expire after 5 years so I gotta get this crap done now!

A little update on my kiddos:
Penelope:

1. She is blossoming into this beautiful, stubborn, sweet, snuggly, grown up toddler thing. She is also in her terrible two's, which I have learned is not my parenting forte.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. I've noticed it's taking forever for her teeth to come in. Samantha had them all by the time she was 19 months old, and penny still has several to go. Mom tells me that her teeth remind her of how mine were.Sorry for the sideways picture, but they decided to upload it that way. I did try to fix it but what the heck ever. here it is.
3. I went through my childhood pictures, and Penelope is definitely my DNA. Sometimes I catch an expression that makes her look exactly like her dad's childhood pictures, which is strange to me, but 99% of the time she looks 99% like I did except skinnier.
4. This girl was terrified of the swing, but nowadays she refuses to share it with her sister/cousins/friends. Sharing is something that we're working on with her.
5. She is at that age where she will show up with random bruises all over her legs and elbows. I hate it because I worry people will think I beat her or something, but I know that's just how toddlers are. They fall off of things and bump their head, and penny seems to be especially good at it. No ER visits yet, although I should take a class on CPR and maybe study up on how to recognize a concussion.
6. Some days she sleeps in until 9am. Other days she is up at 6. There are pros and cons to both, and I never thought I would say this but I like her waking up early. She actually takes really good naps. The problem is around 9 am I can't keep my own eyes open. I am starting to worry about 4 months from now when I'll be doing all this myself without a husband to help me.

Samantha:

1. This girl is not as wild of a child as she used to be. Her wildness is still there, but I feel like I can trust her to be safe more so than even 3 months ago. I'm sure part of this can be attributed to her comprehension and communication improvements. It's really crazy how they wake up one day and start talking differently. Ya, that has been happening every couple weeks for the last 3 months. She is even doing really well at pronouncing a lot of her vowels and consonants (?) better. 
2. This girl is learning how to reason with me. Its really nice, except I gotta watch out. Her dad is really good at manipulating conversations, and I can already tell she will be too. Right now she remains completely transparent...but maybe that's all a facade. hehehe.
3. There is nothing that I love more than her snuggles. Her sweetness is SO FREAKING AWESOME that sometimes I feel like my whole body is going to melt into a tiny puddle of goey rainbow glitter. She knows it too, and uses her sweet smiles and requests for hugs and kisses as a way to warm me up so I'll start dishing out marshmallows before I even know what is happening. 
   
4. She is still exhausting, but now that I know that I don't have to run after her all over the place, I've given her a lot more freedom. She does well playing with other kids. She listens and obeys to my rules when we play outside.
   
5. She tells me often that she wants to be the boss of the house. Literally, in those words. "Mommy, I want to be the boss." She doesn't like that I don't allow her to tell Penny what to do all the time. We're facing a power struggle right now, and I'm doing what I can to direct that energy into something positive. We haven't figured it out yet.
6. She has realized that if she doesn't want to sleep at night, she can use the excuse to go potty as a way to get out and stretch her legs. If I am in the middle of vegging out in front of the tv, it's super hard to find the energy to deal with it. This is also something I am working on, but come 8:30 I am so ready to have my own time that it's like an overload to my brain. Raising children is a lot of hard work.
7. We played with watercolors for the first time today. I cannot believe that my child is old enough to attempt painting in the lines. Her improvement in the arts astounds me, and her interest in it has grown tenfold. I have so much artwork that I had to get her a folder to put it all in. Soon, we will have to pick through our favorites and put them in boxes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Emotional and Financial stress have taken their toll on me, but the Lord has blessed me and my family. Even though we are at the "lowest point" (economically) in our lives, I have never been happier in my entire life! Or at least, it's easier to overlook the bad days instead of having the bad days overwhelm the good ones.