Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my 34th(sh!) birthday. So far I have celebrated for two days, and I plan to keep on celebrating as long as everyone allows me to. I am in a much better place than I was for my 33rd. It has taken me a while to gain some perspective, but recent events have opened my eyes wider. Friday night Tom, Grace and I went to Longhorn for some yummy steak and salad and then to Bruester's Ice Cream for some birthday treats. Then on Saturday Tom and Grace let me sleep in some before giving me great presents. The best one being all the hugs and kisses. Then I went to the Chiropractor for some back and neck relief(didn't really work). When I got home I had to help Tom pack for his trip. He probably has the distinction of being the only one there, with shovels, pails, floats for the ocean or pool and a Disney princess bicycle, a minivan and no family. Since he is meeting us in Florida later this week, he is the pack mule bringing some fun stuff for Grace.
Last night our good friends and neighbors took Grace and I out to eat at O'Charley's. It is one of my favorites, with potato soup and lots to choose from off the menu. Grace, Joshua and Caleb all had a great time playing, eating and celebrating. Luckily for me the waiters no longer sing happy birthday, they just give you free dessert. Ms. Lara was very disappointed not to get me embarrassed with the singing, but I did share my dessert. They also gave me a great bracelet, a Pandora bracelet. It has charms with Grace's birth month and an angel for Brendan. When pumpkin comes we can get her birthstone for her. I felt very special. They are such good friends and I don't think they realize how much they mean to us and have positively influenced our lives.
As for today, I need to clean, do laundry and pack. I think that Grace and I are going to celebrate with Grandma and Papa Edwards sometime today. I am also hoping to get a nap. Pumpkin and Grace both made last night's sleeping interesting and less. I don't see how Grace can only go on 9 hours sleep with a 2 am party and still be up before 7:00. "Rise and Shine Mommy, it's day time." On Tuesday we will celebrate my birthday one more time with Grace's first plane ride and cake with Grandma and Papa Campbell. Party all week!
As for my new perspective, I still miss all the things that Brendan meant. Grace talks constantly about how God and Jesus are taking care of him. I also know he is looking out for us as our own personal angel. I met a lady this week somewhere around my age that has a 9 year old and a five year old that suffered a stroke this spring. She was such an inspiration. She says she misses driving to the grocery store and other mundane things, but is so grateful to be walking and talking she can do without the rest. She was a definite eye opener for me. The other incident that is giving me perspective is a house that burned in our neighborhood with the storms this month. It is obvious from the outside that this family lost most if not all of their worldly possessions. The house is just a shell, I am sure insurance and other issues are keeping the family from rebuilding. I haven't met the family, but I know that they survived via gossip at the pool. I have spent time praying for them, as I know many people did for my family last year.
So I am not sure what it all means, I may never, but I am more grateful everyday for the blessings God has given us. Each day is a miracle, and even though I am tired, and not feeling 100%, I am trying to be grateful for each day. So happy birthday to me! Excuse me now I am off to play, four year old things, the cleaning can wait for another time.

Fort Walton Beach

Grace and Anna

Summer is ending. We have finally unpacked the suitcases and started the laundry from our long awaited trip to Fort Walton Beach. We had a blast, looking for shells, avoiding the seaweed/algae, staying away from marine life including fish, sand sharks and jellyfish, and yes swimming in the condominium pool. Grace had two and a half days of fun playing with her two year old cousin, Taylor. They were really good together; the only real problems were sharing the attention of the Grandparents. As Taylor says "My Papa", but Grace stood her ground and commanded attention too. Taylor was willing to give up some Papa or Grandma time as long as Aunt Sarah would let him jump into the pool or Uncle Tom would play chase me. Taylor and Gramma
For those of you who know how Grace eats, we have found the secret. Spend three hours every morning at either the pool or beach and sit her next to her un-picky cousin or watching a movie. She ate so well last week at all three meals I thought she would have gained more than one pound, but alas only one registered on the scale. However, she did eat spaghetti and meatballs again which she had begun to turn her nose up at and tried several new types of chips and even Polynesian sauce from Chick-fil-a. She ate ice cream most nights in honor of her Papa (Mommy did too.) On most days she ate a blueberry waffle, some bacon and some fruit for breakfast(whoa), a small snack on the beach of juice and pretzels, a ham and cheese sandwich, fruit, chips and a cookie for lunch and chicken nuggets and fries for dinner followed by a bowl of ice cream. This was unprecedented and we didn't even have to fight her on it.
Grace loved the pool, of course. The gulf was green with either seaweed or algae, we weren't sure. It would stick to everything. It was so dense on some days that several fish were killed. When the stuff would go out with the tide and the water was clearer, there were small sand sharks a foot off the shore and several jellyfish were seen. The last day we were there, several children, Grace included, left the water itching. No one was stung that we knew of, just itching which was cured by washing off in the showers and then swimming in the pool. So it ended up that usually after about an hour on the beach, mommy and Grace, Taylor and Papa would end up at the pool until lunch. Grace loved the pool because it was only 3 to 5 feet deep and the stairs were wide and easily played on. She started bobbing in the water and loved diving for her princesses. She even swam the width of the pool on one breath. She practiced her strokes and loved diving in. She made friends with a little boy and his sister and looked for them everyday at the pool.
As for me, I have sworn off of tomato sauce. It looks like pizza, spaghetti and things of the sort are causing my own sleeping issues. After a night of yummy spaghetti, I spent the night sitting up on the couch to sleep with acid reflux. Nothing would cut it. Finally around four I was able to lay down on the bed with 4 pillows under me. It is becoming increasingly hard to sleep more than two hours at a time. I am definitely going to have to go to bed earlier.
Tom enjoyed his beach trip; he read I believe four and a half books over the 7 nights we were there. It would have been more except, the last book he is still reading doesn't seem to grab his attention like the others. He heads for the prosecutors conference this Saturday (my birthday). He will no doubt get in some more reading while there. He was also disappointed in the gulf waters being so murky. Grace tried very hard to play and swim in it, but it was just gross.
Well we have a week and then we are headed to Cortez, Fl for our last hurrah of the summer. Grace and I will fly and Tom will drive to meet us there. It should be filled with more fun and family and swimming. Enjoy the last few weeks before school starts!

Busy week

We have had a very busy week. It started with a bang on the fourth, with good food, friends and family at a swimming barbeque. We then organized a very messy garage. Since then we have been practicing our swimming in preparation for our visit to the gulf shore. Sarah now has her official retainer and took a blood glucose and anemia test yesterday. We also had the water feature on the refridgerator fixed and the arrow man to visit. Tomorrow we head off for hopefully some sun on the shore. After this very stormy week, where several houses in the area burned and trees were heavily damaged, we are looking for some sunshine. Georgia may need the rain, but enough of the thunder and lightening.
Well we will update you on all the fun things we do. Grace wants to ride the bumper boats and Tom plans on some heavy reading. We'll see how things go.
As Tigger says "TTFN, Tah tah for now."

Yahoo!

It has been a very exciting week for Sarah. She got her top braces off her teeth and is smiling everywhere she goes. The bottom braces will have to await the safe arrival of our pumpkin in October so that the oral surgeon can complete the dental implants started last summer. It involves minor surgery and local anesthetic, and drugs after the procedure. Then the rest of the braces will come off. Sarah promises to wear the retainers as much as humanly possible, she does not want braces ever again. Hopefully twice is the charm.
In other news, we bought a freezer in order to buy in bulk and freeze for future use. This long weekend looks to be full of cleaning out a garage and hopefully better organizing in order to be able to get to everything in the garage and still have usable space. Tom is thrilled, another project thought up by the less than fully able pregnant lady. NO grumbling yet. We shall see.

Swim Team?

Grace has been working hard all summer on her swimming skills. Each day she acquires more confidence in her skills. She still does not make it off the stairs unless mommy is in the pool or if her floaties are on her arms. Part of this is due to the fact she is only 40 inches tall and the shallowest part of the pool is 42 inches deep. But she does do a lot with mommy in the pool. She will swim to the second lane from the stairs where mommy is standing waiting on her to dock for a moment before turning back and swimming to the stairs. She is really good at kicking her feet and blowing her bubbles. We are working on arms and learning how they can help us go faster. She now jumps in and swims to mommy, making sure to get big splashes for such a little body. She also enjoys shallow diving on the stairs for various toys, the latest are the princesses off her 3rd birthday cake. Thank goodness her mother is a pack-rat and saves everything.
She has already decided that she wants to be on swim team next year. But she doesn't want anyone to write on her. Her best friend is on the team and we have seen him at time trials and at one meet. The parents write the children's names on their backs, their ages and then on their arms or legs the swim events, and lanes. Grace doesn't like this at all. We have our work cut out for us if she plans on doing the team. I am leaving it up to Mrs. Lara - she can convince Grace of almost anything. I think a purple sharpie may be involved.
Mommy is enjoying the pool too. It relieves some of the pressure of the ever growing belly and seems to keep the swelling down. It is also proving to be good exercise. Grace is napping in the afternoons again (yeah!) and eating regular meals plus snacks. Mommy also doesn't feel like such a whale. We are still trying to find time to show off to Daddy. We will keep practicing as we await our trip to the beach and later to Cortez, FL.

Disney

Well, we made it through Disney in three days and four nights. What a whirlwind trip. Grace had a great time seeing all the characters, giving hugs and kisses, getting signatures in her autograph book and multitudes of pictures. We have over two hundred pictures from the three cameras and some from the nice folks at Disney too. If I learned anything, it is do not go in June, especially five months pregnant. Talk about drinking water, long walks and swollen feet. Plus we took a two hour nap everyday in the middle of everything. Except for the ride home, stopping every hour, I did well in all the parks. I appreciated staying on Disney property and the ability to go to the hotel whenever I wanted. The food was also great, with lots of healthy choices and fresh fruit available even at the food court in the hotel.
Grace's favorite thing changes with whomever is asking the question. She loved eating lunch with Cinderella, dinner at Chef Mickey's and the Nemo the musical presentation in Animal Kingdom. She also loved being there with her cousin, Taylor, despite the fact he pulled her ponytails frequently. By the end of the trip we were all saying "here be go" toddler speak for here we go and "bye, bye Nemo, bye, bye Dori" Taylor's two favorite characters. Grace on the way out said goodbye to everything, even the castle.
We missed out on the new ride Toy Story Mania in Hollywood studios, due to an 80 minute ride wait at 6:30 at night with no fast passes available. I personally missed out on all the roller coasters again, fourth visit in a row. I also sat out the safari ride in Animal Kingdom due to signs and speaker voices saying "Expectant mothers should not ride this ride." In all, we had fun, even Tom the pack mule enjoyed portions of the visit. He is not a big Disney fan, but would do anything to see the joy it brings his daughter. She is ready to go back tomorrow. Better tell Papa to start saving now. Although it is partially his fault for raising a daughter who is a Disney geek and loves Disney as much as her own four year old. However it will be a while before we are all caught up on our rest. Grace started on the way home.

Ultrasound Picture

Yesterday was the normal level 2 ultrasound. We went to the perinatologist again just for reassurance that everything is good. They were very kind and made sure that I was comfortable and relaxed. This baby is just like her sister in that she doesn't follow directions well. She was continually stretching out her legs and throwing her arms across her chest. It took several tries to get all the necessary angles for the doctor to see that everything is present. Everything looked great and seems to be developing normally. She is measuring right on target for her due date, Oct. 24th. Grace can't wait for her to get here. She wants to hold her, feed her, play with her and talk to her. We have tried explaining that the baby won't be able to do all those things right away, but Grace doesn't quite understand. Grace has seen the pictures and was able to pick out the baby's foot. I will go back to the perinatologist at 28 weeks for another scan and I hope to take Grace with me. As for names no definitive answer yet but we are looking at a few possibilities. We'll let you know when we come up with something.

In the meantime Grace and I are spending our summer by the pool in the morning with our good friends. Then we rest and back out to play and rehydrate in the sweltering heat. Dance camps start next week and I hope to work several over the summer for some extra dough. We are also cleaning out closets and making a few trips to good will in order to get rid of some of the clutter. I say some because it seems to multiply overnight and I know it will never truly disappear.

Our countdown to Disney has officially reached the one week mark. We are excited but dreading the heat. We plan to take breaks and spend time in the pool as well as wear light clothing and drink lots of water. Grace is excited to eat with the princesses as well as Pooh and Mickey. She wants to ride all the rides, but not the scary ones. Hopefully we will make it without killing each other. We are going with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Anna, Uncle Jason and Taylor; should be interesting. We are only going to have three days there which should be just enough time to see what we want and bankrupt the accounts for summer, if the gas getting there doesn't do that first.