Had the ultrasound today...

And Mike is about to be severely outnumbered! Turns out we have another perfect little girl on the way, and Cadence couldn’t be happier. And because I love it, her pretty profile shot:

(and if you can't see it, head on the left, chest on the right. And that's her cute little chin jutting up.)

Now for the boring stuff. My blood pressure is great (110/75), I’ve gained another pound (6 total), and her heart rate was 128, They said that all of her scans looked great, and she looks strong and healthy! We’ve also discovered that, like her big sister, she HATES ultrasounds and any pressure on my stomach. As soon as there is any pressure at all (me sitting up straight, pants that have a waistband, the ultrasound wand) she starts kicking and moving around. Unfortunately, she hasn’t done it when Cadence is around, so she still hasn’t been able to feel the kicks.

Cadence loved being at the ultrasound today, and actually picked out the profile before I did. She also got to see a great profile shot with her heart beating, and was totally amazed. The baby is still really low, down below my belly button, but weighs about a pound now (give or take.) The measurements gave a due date of 11/11 still, which the nurse was really surprised by. She said it rarely comes out to be exactly the due date at this stage. It was a good appointment, and I guess we get to finish discussing girl names now!

20 Weeks - We have a Banana!

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure,measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

I have the ultrasound on Monday, and we may or may not know after then what we’re having. Even after 20 weeks, I honestly don’t care either way. I can see pros and cons to either, and I know even if it’s another girl, there’s a distinct chance it won’t be a sparkly, princessy drama queen like Cadence. Most people don’t believe me when I tell them I don’t care, but honestly, I don’t!

I’ve also had a ton of people who don’t know Mike comment that they just know he’s dying for a little boy. I asked him again this morning, and he’s like me - honestly doesn’t care! And I find it funny that people that don’t know him assume he wants a boy, because I know the end of that sentence is “to play ball with and go fishing and hunting with!” Well, Mike isn’t into that stuff! When he was little he played little league, but he spent more of his time being artistic and creative - like Cadence. He built models and played with action figures, and we have a huge stack of his old coloring books. He likes fishing ok, will go camping from time to time, and likes the electrical end of cars, but he’s not a “manly man.”  I find it hilarious that everyone assumes that the kind of little boy he wants!

I have a feeling, though, that it’s exactly the kind of little boy we’d get. Cadence is definitely the complete opposite of me, and if we had a son, our luck he’d be the complete opposite of Mike. I guess only time will tell.

And I think I posted one last week, but here's one from today. I love this outfit (I have khaki capris on as well) because I just feel girly and pretty, and it shows off the belly. I've made it halfway!

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) The possibilities that await us
2) Kicks that keep getting stronger and stronger
3) Ultrasound is Monday!
4) IT’S FRIDAY!
5) BBQ for lunch

It's just SO cool!!!!

Mike had to take the Jeep back in today to have it looked at, AGAIN, and they gave him a rental to use. He’s used to driving a 2 door (with half doors) 4 wheel drive wrangler with a soft top. This one is a 4 door (with full doors) 2 wheel drive with a hard top. He despises it, but Cadence is fascinated and has been pointing out all the differences. Her favorite?

“It has these really cool windows, and you turn this knob, and THEY GO DOWN!!!!”

She’s utterly amazed at this wonderful technology!

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) A wonderful weekend
2) AC
3) Watermelon
4) Cadence’s comments
5) Rentals so we don’t have to carpool

Some random photos

Charm bracelet and charms, and all but one is from Aunt Sarah. In case you can’t see, they include Minnie Mouse, Belle, Cinderella, the Mayflower, a butterfly with a Massachusettes tag, a castle, It’s A Girl, music notes, Mickey’s head with November written on it and a flower made of her birthstone, a mermaid (from the GA Aquarium - Big Momma got it), Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Tinkerbell.


Mike’s Jeep, supposedly being “fixed”


My new shoes, from Sarah


She’s asleep WITH A FOOTBALL!!!






A recent trip to the Reservoir


The “present” we found outside our house earlier this week.


After one of the recent storms

19 Weeks - We have a large Heirloom Tomato!

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

I feel like I’ve done nothing but eat for the last 2 or 3 weeks, and I’m constantly hungry. I’ve tried to keep healthy things - like fruit - around to much on, but I’m not sure it’s helping. I have a feeling I will have gained about 45 lbs at my next appointment.

Speaking of which, it’s only a week and a half away!!! I’m getting excited about the ultrasound, and Cadence is super excited that she’ll get to see the baby. She’s already kissing and talking to my belly, so I’m excited to see how that changes once she actually sees the baby that is in there. Terry also said that she’s been excellent with all the babies there, and has been acting like a little Mommy to all of them.

I’m still having the hip pain all the time, and getting up a zillion times at night to go to the bathroom. We have a 4 hour drive ahead of us this weekend, and I’m curious to see how long I can go between bathroom breaks. In July I’m heading to Houston to see my cousin, and that will be 7 hours. It will probably take me closer to 8 with all the potty stops I’ll have to make!!

I broke down and bought a swimsuit the other day, and I’ve also set up a Target registry. I’m not expecting showers, but I keep finding all this cool stuff that I want but don’t have the money for yet. I told Mike, at least if it’s there, I can remember the stuff I wanted. Most of it is little things - onsies, diaper carriers, bath stuff - because we’ve been so fortunate to have been given so much of the big stuff. I’m so thankful for family with kids around the same age who don’t mind sharing!

Not much else is going on, so I’ll end with a picture of me taken today. This dress had a ton of room in it at Easter when I bought it, but that room is quickly disappearing. Here I am at 19 weeks exactly.

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) A boring pregnancy
2) Free stuff!
3) Cutsie baby things
4) A swimsuit I actually like
5) Not being sick

The "I've been mugged in London!" email scam

Well, this morning has definitely been interesting. I woke up to an email from my sister, Sarah, that basically said that she was in London, had been mugged last night and had everything stolen, and now needs $1,800 to pay the hotel and get back home. I laughed when I saw it because 1) If Sarah was in London, the entire world would know about it - she’s wanted to go there for years! 2) She just took a trip to Orlando. There’s no way she can afford London right after the trip to Harry Potter World, and 3) The spelling and grammar were perfect. I laughed it off and called my mom to make sure Sarah knew so she could change her passwords on her account, and also found out my aunt had gotten the email as well and called (she said the same thing about the spelling!)

After I got to work, I noticed that “Sarah” had signed in to Yahoo IM, so I sent a message to her saying she needed to change all her passwords because I got a spam email this morning. The response was something like “I was serious and really do need help. Please send money.” I told the person that I find that hard to believe since Sarah was just in my mom’s living room about 15 minutes before. The response? “It was an urgent trip.” Yeah, did you use the TARDIS to get back and forth? That or teleportation are pretty much the only explanations for that kind of world traveling.

My stepmom decided that she wanted to see if she could catch whoever it was, and actually got them talking. They gave her an address and wanted her to wire $1,000 to them so they could “come home.”  They insisted that it be done Western Union, and said that she couldn't call the hotel directly because "their credit card machines are faulty." She called the police, who sent someone over to the house, and they were able to trace the person. Unfortunately, nothing could be done since no money changed hands, but Debbie did eventually tell them that they were crazy and she knew it wasn’t really Sarah. I also found out that Sarah had the person’s email address from where they hacked her yahoo account, and I think it’s been sent over to the police as well. She now has her account back, and in her message to let me know, she misspelled “couch.” Yep, definitely her! ;)

I told my dad this morning that I couldn’t believe Debbie was involved in some kind of internet sting operation, and that Sarah had actually been hacked. Thankfully Sarah has her account back and I don’t think any major harm was done. I did learn a few things today, though, that may be helpful to others:

1. Change ALL passwords for ALL your accounts (bank, facebook, twitter, credit cards, etc) immediately!
2. Contact everyone you can that is in your address book to let them know that you were hacked, and not to be fooled by the emails.
3. Contact someone at your local police department, or if money has been exchanged, the FBI. You can contact them here.
4. If you have a yahoo account, it is possible to get your stuff back. You can email account-security-help@cc.yahoo-inc.com or call 866-562-7219.
5. There is also a great article here that talks about what someone else did in a similar situation. Ours didn't escalate as far as this one did, thankfully, and the information is excellent.

It seems that we’ll have a happy ending. I just hope that no one else has to go through this, or even worse, gets taken by the scam.

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) This situation was resolved quickly
2) No one (that we know of) lost any money
3) My sister has her account back
4) Sarah’s dyslexia
5) Family that’s willing to alert her to problems

The "Drama Queen"

My name is Randi, and I have a 5 year old creative drama queen. Oh, sure, most 5 year olds are creative and dramatic at times (it comes with the age), but seriously. My daughter is a teenager stuck in a 5 year old’s body. I thought the NICU nurses were crazy when they told me she’d be like this when she was only 24 hours old, but lo and behold, they were spot on. She is Dramatic - with a capital D.

I’ll admit, when she was younger (2-3ish), this trait really bothered me, and I was upset by it. And I also know the reason. When I was little, I was definitely creative - imaginary friends, could entertain myself, dreamed of being on Broadway and acting - but I wasn’t dramatic like she is. My parents were told things like “Randi is so polite!” and “Randi is just so well behaved!” and “Randi acts so grown up!” I was the kid you could take into nice restaurants at 4, 5 and 6, and I would sit politely with my napkin on my lap and use the very best of manners. And I was that kid who’s mom could look at her and she would bust into tears. I was creative, but sensitive and quiet as well. I just always assumed that if I ever had a daughter, she would be like me. And when my daughter arrived and looked identical to me, I just knew that would be how it was! I never dreamed she would instead be a perfect blend of my two sisters. She may look like me, but she has Sarah’s temper and Cecily’s adultness. It’s scary!

It’s taken me awhile to realize that this trait that I so despised for awhile is more than just a trait. It’s who she is. I can't change this about her any more than I can change her eye color or her  height. My daughter looks at the world differently than I do, and once I started looking at it from her perspective, I’ve found that I really enjoy her view. She’s not easy to raise, and she’s definitely not easy to discipline. I’ve discovered that if something goes wrong, more times than not it will be met with her having a meltdown and declaring that “Nothing EVER goes RIGHT!!!!!” (while falling on the floor and being SUPER dramatic.) And I’ve also discovered that “something wrong” can be anything from not finding the exact shade of pink that she wanted to color something, to actual, real life problems. To her, they are all the same. We have to put her in her room - alone - to calm down when a meltdown starts, because the number people around is proportionally equal to the massiveness of the meltdown. She loves an audience, and loves to perform. She also has a bad habit of saying whatever comes into that head of hers, whether appropriate or not. Sometimes a look will bring about an apology, but sometimes it takes a little more. She just hasn’t learned to think about what comes out of her mouth before she says it. Opinionated, that one is!

But I’ve also discovered that she views everyone and everything around her as way fancier than it really is. In her mind, we don’t just have a nice house - we have the most wonderfulest house EVER! I’m not just her mom, I’m a princess who dresses in pretty dresses all the time. And she’s not just Cadence, she’s CADENCE!!! who is always decked out in sparkles, tiaras, clothes that are “just fabulous!!” and has spotlights following her. She’s one of the most creative children I’ve ever met, and has more personality in her little finger than I had in my entire body at that age. She couldn't care less about gymnastics, t-ball, soccer or anything else physical, but has taken dance, auditioned for Annie, is about to start art lessons and told me she wants to learn to play the violin. She does fine academically, but has to jazz up all of her papers. I’ve seen pictures drawn in the margins, curly cues added to letters in her name, and 10 times more detail than was required put into her drawings. Nothing about her can be normal or boring, even school work!

She amazes me, and when I stopped thinking of her as being “bad,” or “difficult,” and I started just seeing her as “Cadence” instead, I was able to really see how amazing she is. It’s taken me years to see it, but I’m sure that she’s taught me way more about life than I could ever teach her. And I love her for that. The next few years won’t be easy, but they will definitely be interesting, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

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Things I'm thankful for:

1) Cadence

2) Spunk. It would be a boring place without it.

3) Her attitude. It will serve her well one day

4) Her love

5) Crayon drawings

18 Weeks - We have a Bell Pepper!

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

I’ve noticed that during the last week or so, all I want to do is eat. I’ve tried to stay at least semi healthy (lots of bananas, watermelon and even peanut butter toast - even though peanut butter gives me indigestion), but I feel like I’m starving all the time! I have a feeling I will have gained a lot more than 2 lbs next time I go in to the doctor. I’m also really congested, and feel kinda sick from the drainage. Summer colds suck anyway, but not being able to take much for it is just making it worse.

I have Cadence’s closet finished, and tonight I plan on getting her room back in order. Of course, most of the stuff that was in her closet is now either in the hallway or in my room - I guess they’re next on the list to clean. We got the crib out, though, and part of me is eager to put it up. I know I still have 5 months to go, but I really can’t wait to have everything here and in order! We have a few things we’ll have to travel to get (carseat in Houston and a swing in Memphis), but everythings seems to be coming together. I still have to find a dresser for the baby, and I need a rocking chair. After that, I think we’ll have all the big stuff covered!

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) 18 weeks down!
2) Lots of movements
3) Still not throwing up, even with the sinus crud
4) Cadence’s closet looks great
5) A free week to get housework finished

So quiet...

This week is Vacation Bible School (VBS) at the church I grew up in, so Cadence is with my mom for the week so she can go. My mom came and picked her up yesterday, and it was so quiet at my house last night.  I was able to sort through a ton of clothes that were in my closet and drawers, and hope to get her closet cleaned out this week as well. Also on our “To Do While We Have No ‘Help’” list are cleaning the porch and front door/shutters (Mike did that today), painting the living room, hanging a new ceiling fan and possibly painting the front door and shutters (since they are now clean.) I know all of it won’t get done, but maybe we’ll get enough finished that it will be easier to do once she’s back home.

And I’m glad it’s quiet now, because at the end of last week, things were definitely anything but! Thursday was our anniversary, and Thursday night Cadence started throwing up. She went from 8:30 to about 11:45, and I spent that time either holding her hair while she threw up, or giving her a shower because she didn’t make it to the toilet and got it in her hair. All I could think as I was giving her a shower at 11:45 at night was “You might sleep with puke in your hair when you’re 20, but it’s not happening at 5!” She finally went to sleep, but Mike tossed and turned all night, then was up at 6am Friday morning doing the same thing. He insisted on going in to work anyway (and threw up again at the gas station - said he felt like a college frat boy), so I stayed home with Cadence. We ended up taking him toast for lunch (it’s all he wanted to eat), and I had to buy her medicine because she still felt crummy most of the day.

By Friday night they were both starting to feel better, but I felt like crud. We had chicken noodle soup for dinner, and thankfully it never hit me. Saturday saw us all on the mend, and by yesterday you couldn’t tell anything was wrong. I’m hoping Cadence doesn’t relapse this week while she’s with my mom, and I’m very thankful that it seemed to be a very fast bug.

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) We’re all well
2) Things getting done around my house
3) Watermelon
4) Baby movements
5) VBS

17 weeks - We have a turnip!

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

I had my 17 week checkup today, and it was nice and boring! I've gained 2 lbs (5lbs total), my blood pressure was 106/75, and I should have the blood work results back by Monday. The baby's heartbeat was 146, but she had problems finding and keeping it because it was moving around so much.

My next appointment and ultrasound are scheduled for the end of June, and Mike and I are still at odds about finding out, so we're going to let the baby decide. I told the nurse that if it's obvious, tell us. If it's not and she would have to hunt, don't. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the baby keeps it's legs crossed, but I know Mike and Cadence would love to know.

Today was also our 10 year anniversary. I can't believe that 1) I got married at 19 and 2) that was 10 years ago! I got some Victoria's Secret lotion, body spray and bath stuff I wanted (Love Spell - Ooh la la!), and we went to Mugshots for dinner (Mike picked). We also have next week all to ourselves since Cadence will be with my mom, so I'm really looking forward to that! 

And a bonus belly shot - this was taken yesterday, and yes, I felt like a blimp!

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Things I'm thankful for:
1) Boring appointments
2) Dinner I didn't have to cook!
3) 10 wonderful years!
4) We get to see the baby in 3.5 weeks!
5) New, girly, smell good stuff

A wonderful update!!!

I just received a call from my mom, who is up here with PaPaw for chemo treatments. They did another scan today, and the doctor was amazed with how he’s doing! They said that the tumor and the swelling around his bile ducts are both shrinking, and that his blood work looked excellent! She said that the doctor told them to keep doing whatever it is that they are doing, and they plan on keeping him on the same chemo treatment for now and will do another scan in 3 months.

PaPaw had mentioned that remission had come up in conversation recently, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it might actually be a reality! I told him he had to take care of himself, because I expected him to be here holding a baby in November, and I’m looking forward to my baby hearing the Christmas story from him on it’s first Christmas! I’m so thrilled about this, that I can’t hardly stand it.

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Things I’m thankful for:
1) Chemo
2) Wonderful updates
3) Shrinking tumors
4) Possibilities for the future
5) Optimistic outlooks

Cecily's Graduation

I don't have all of Jonathan's pictures finished yet, but are some of the ones of Cecily. She has received a wonderful scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, and I think she's really excited about living in the dorms and being away from home. I'm so proud of her, and know she'll do wonderful next year!

It also hit me that night, that I was this far along in my pregnancy with Cadence at Sarah's graduation 6 years ago. Crazy how that happened.

All of us with Momma


All of us with Daddy and Debbie

My mom

Granny (PaPaw didn't feel well enough to come.)

With Sarah

With Mike and me. Cadence refused to get in it.

And just because I love this picture, Cadence and Clayton. I didn't realize how much they looked alike until I pulled this picture up!