Your typical update post

You know that it has been too long since your last blog entry when you have to pull out the trusty "Update Post". So, where do I begin? Well, Baby Boy is up to 9 lbs 8 oz and is off of his Enfacare formula and on regular Enfamil. Yes, I said formula. Sigh. My blood pressure was too high and I had to remain on medication (still am), so all that I could do was "pump and dump". It was just too much for me - it seemed like all that I was doing was pumping and feeding him. I needed to sleep and take care of the rest of my family and myself. I gave in and just went all formula. Am I disappointed? Yes. Do I regret it? No. Sometimes the choices that we have to make aren't always easy. Life goes on, and the boy is doing well in spite of my tough call. It's just better for us all this way.

It seems that our precious little baby boy has been blessed with three mothers. My girls just adore and love to help take care of him. Um, except during diaper changes. They just let mom handle those. I am so proud of them for how they have handled everything that has happened these last few months. I am truly blessed.

Baby boy is doing incredibly well despite being only 32 weeks at birth. He passed his developmental screenings with flying colors and we don't have to go back again until he is 6 months old. He has to have monthly Synagis shots to prevent complications from the RSV virus until March or April, and they are monitoring his right eye because he has a blood clot that may or may not dissolve on its own. But even the blood clot is a little thing compared to the complications that we could have faced. God is good.

I can't seem to start saying "No" to things at my kid's school. My secret hope is that they will stop asking me for help once I start horribly messing things up because I am too busy and sleep deprived to be able to do a good job. Hey, a girl can dream......

And just in case anyone thinks that I forgot - Now is the time to order your seeds!! Yes, I plan to continue to garden. I even have plans to expand the garden this spring. This is the year that my older girls will have to learn how to do more in the garden. They WANT to learn and they love to help. I'd be crazy to not take advantage of it. It will teach them a skill that they can have for life - just like my Dad did for me. They will feel like they are contributing to the family. And they will get to spend time with their Mom. What more could they ask for? If you would like to order seeds I highly recommend Vesey's. I'll have to give you more info about what I am ordering on a later post. It seems that naptime is over for Baby boy and feeding time has begun.

In case I don't get back here before Christmas, I hope that everyone reading this has a Merry and Blessed Christmas!!!!

I'm still here.....

Just busy. I was also locked out of blogger for a little while because it wouldn't accept my password. But I am back on now, so I have some catching up to do. Hopefully I'll have a post up later this week!

Not too shabby, I guess....

Movie Reviews

I'm really not trying to re-write my college thesis here on this blog, so at first I thought that this wasn't too shabby of a classification for an informal blog. Then I started thinking about all of the current high school students that I know and THEN I remembered how I was in high school. Suddenly, this rating didn't seem as stellar as it was before. Oh well, at least I'm having fun. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This year, I am thankful that I am not cooking the Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in about 10 years. Ha Ha!! Just kidding. Well, I really am not cooking the dinner for the first time in 10 years, but that is not all that I am thankful for. I AM thankful for my wonderful DH and children, family and friends, my health even though it just isn't what it used to be, a nice roof over my head, nice cars to drive even though it has become painfully obvious to me that we now need a minivan (lol!), good food on my table, nice clothes to wear, my hubby's job that seems stable in this unstable time, and all of the other incredible blessings that I just don't have time to name and I surely don't deserve but have been given to me anyway solely by the grace of God.

I hope that you all have many things to be thankful for in this life. May you be richly blessed and have a wonderful holiday!

Easy Recipe

I really haven't had much, um, spare time lately. I have been blessed with a sweet, good natured little boy. But he did start out VERY little and as a result he needs to eat very frequently. No biggie, but the rest of the family needs to eat too so I have had to give myself a little break from my made-from-scratch-as-much-as-possible recipes since i have to spend lots of time feeding the mini one. I console myself with the fact that infancy is a fleeting moment in time and by next year I will be marveling at how big he is. But until then, I have to rely on a little convenience food Monday - Friday so that I can keep everyone fed.

I tried this recipe last night, and I do admit that is was incredibly tasty even though it probably isn't the best for you. And my kids and hubby loved it. I'm going to keep it in my recipe file, but in the future I will probably substitute fresh apples for the pie filling and homemade stuffing for the boxed. But with only three ingredients, this is a great recipe on those nights when time is a bit tight.

Pork Chops with apples and stuffing

1 pkg Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken (I used pork because I had it on hand)
1 can apple pie filling
6 boneless pork loin chops (1 1/2 lb), 3/4 inch thick

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare stuffing as directed on package.
Spread pie filling onto the bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with chops and stuffing. Cover with foil
Bake 30 min. Uncover. Bake an additional 10 min or until chops are cooked through (160 degrees F).
Enjoy!

From the Kraft Food and Family Magazine, Fall 2008

Happiness is.....

a sweet, snuggly baby sleeping on your chest.

And it also makes it easier to accept the fact that you are getting nothing done around the house.

To our baby:

I love all types of music, but metal does pump throught my veins. I can't help it, it's just who I am. When I held my son in my arms for the first time, this was the song that I immediately thought of. I'm sure that I'll play it for him someday just so that I can embarass him. :)

My Little Man
[O.Osbourne - S.Vai]

Don't You Know I Love You More
Than Life Itself
Don't You Know That You're My Pride
And I Would Not Have You
Walking Through This World
Without Me By Your Side

Go To Sleep My Little Man
Don't You Weep My Little Man

I'd Like To Keep You With Me
All Your Life,
But I Know I Can't Do That
So I Must Try To Teach You
Wrong From Right,
To Keep The Vultures From
Your Back

Go To Sleep My Little Man
Don't You Weep My Little Man

And When You're Dreaming
You Can Talk To Angels
So Wipe The Tears From Your Eyes
And If There's Demons
That Try To Steal Your Breath Away
You Can't Believe That, Know,
My Spirit Will Be Standing By
Your Side

You Saved Me, You Gave Me
The Greatest Gift Of All
Believe Me, Believe
There Ain't No Mountain That's Too Tall
I Will Gladly Carry Your Cross
For You
To Take Your Pain Away
But What I Can't Carry Is My Love
For You,
Beyond My Dying Day

So Be Strong My Little Man
When I'm Gone My Little Man
You Got To Be My Little Man
So Don't You Weep My Little Man
Go To Sleep My Little Man
Don't You Weep My Little Man
You Got To Be My Little Man
So Don't You Weep My Little Man

Hear it Here

Go Vote!

Cuz I cant since I can't drive yet after my c-section. That's one of the only drawbacks for me with c-sections.

But I digress.... Hubby went back to work yesterday so it is just me and baby boy while the kids are in school. I'm kinda busy but I wanted to report that the boy is up to 5 lbs 4 ounces already! I am so happy! And now I must go feed him again so he will grow even more.

First Doctor's Visit

Yesterday was Baby Boy's first Dr's appointment since he came home. The whole family went along - my hubby, me, the baby, and his two other mothers. Oops, I meant to say his two big sisters but they are acting like such little mothers that I got confused. They dote on his every whimper and are such good helpers. I am very proud of them! They really love their brother - for now, anyway. ;)

Baby Boy is doing quite well. He is up to 4 lbs 7.5 ounces, a gain of 6 ounces since he was discharged on Saturday. Last night he only woke up once at 2:45am, took a bottle, got the hiccups, and went back to sleep. I was very grateful for the sleep that I got too. He is such a sweet and mellow boy right now. He's just such a laid back dude in spite of everything that he went through that I am totally amazed and THANKFUL! It's a joy to take care of him. Boy, I hope it stays this way!! :)

DH goes back to work next week so I get my first real tests of motherhood with three kiddos. Wish me luck. I'm getting worried, but we'll muddle through.

Let's hear it for the boy

Our baby isn't coming home until tomorrow, but he should hopefully put on a bit more weight. Every ounce makes me feel better. He has grown a whole inch in two weeks! He is now 18 inches long. The last three weeks or so have been a blur and I will be so glad to bring our baby home.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and wished us well. Your thoughts and prayers mean so much to me. Sorry I haven't answered you all personally. It's been a bit crazy here. Please just know that I read all of your messages and am very thankful.

Yay!!

Quick Update: Baby Boy has made over the 4 lb. mark ~ 4 lbs 1 oz to be exact. We should be able to bring him home from the NICU in a few short days. I have to hurry and prepare because he kinda caught us off guard by coming almost 8 weeks early. I'm so excited!!

Oh Boy!!!

Wow!! Where do I begin? Let's start back in the beginning of October. My ob was on vacation, but he knew that I was going in a bad direction in my pregnancy so he gave me an order to have a non-stress test at the hospital while he was gone. On October 8th, I dropped the kids off at school and decided on the spur of the moment to go over to the hospital and get my non-stress test out of the way. I didn't want to go. I really wanted to go home and start getting ready for the baby by cleaning out some drawers while lying on my right side. But SOMETHING made me go - a nagging voice that said "Just go and get it over with". So I did.

They got me into the NST room and took my blood pressure. Then they took it again. Then the told me to lie on my left side and do the NST and they would check it again after they talked to the Dr. that was filling in for my OB. So, I laid there trying to calm down and take the test. After the test they came in and took my BP again. Good news!! It came down a little during the test - to 180/100. I wasn't going home. They were admitting me into the hospital. Before I knew it, I was being rushed down the hallway into my hospital room. The put me in a gown, hooked me up to magnesium sulfate, catheterized me, gave me a steroid shot (for development of the bay's lungs) and brought up an ultra sound machine. Somewhere during this whole sideshow I was able to make a teary call to my husband, who I didn't even get the chance to tell that I was going in for a NST test because I really wasn't planning on doing that day. Boy, was he shocked!!! Especially when he got there during the ultrasound and we found out that we were probably having a BOY!!!!! So there I was, nearly hysterical already because I knew that they were probably going to have to deliver me very early, finding out that we were now going to have a boy instead of a girl. We won't discuss what my BP readings were while all of this commotion was going on. Let's just say that they kept asking me to lie VERY STILL.

They ran a 24 hour protein test. They kept me in bed, very still, while taking my bp every hour and a nurse in the room almost constantly. They consulted a perinatologist (SP?), kept the magnesium sulfate flowing, and limited my food. After 48 hours and two shots to help out the baby they KNEW that I had to deliver. My 24 hr protein test contained over 1 ltr of protein - 1,092 to be exact. I was the big excitement on the floor. The consider a protein reading of over 300 to be very severe pre-eclampsia. Here I had just calmly strolled into the hospital with a count of over 1,000 and I was talking and joking. But my kidneys were giving out even though I was trying to be a model patient. They had to deliver my baby at 32 weeks gestation for the good of both me and my unborn son. I was so scared, but I couldn't cry because I found out the hard way that magnesium sulfate gets in your tears and burns when you cry. So I prayed.

My incredible son was born at 3:10 pm on Friday, October 10, 2008 via emergency c-section. He was 3 lbs, 14 oz and 17 inches long!! And he is doing GREAT!! He is so amazing that I can't even begin to describe it. And he is probably coming home from the NICU this Friday! He has been totally beating the odds. The nurses just marvel at him and how well he is doing. God is so good.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I hope to have a better version of this story up soon, because this experience TOTALLY reminded me that God is GOOD and he is with you always. I am very lucky and very blessed.

Take care, and I hope to update soon.

Uh oh......

I'm no stranger to pre-eclampsia. I had a moderate case of it with my first DD, but lucked out with my second DD due to a wonderful case of almost pneumonia that knocked my blood pressure right down and kept it there for the remainder of my pregnancy. I'm now 30 weeks along and I was doing great in the blood pressure department (I was running about 120/70 or so), but that suddenly and drastically changed about 2 weeks ago. I am now grounded to - stop me if you've heard this on e before - lying on my left side for most of the day. If I sit up for any length of time, my BP shoots up to about 180/95 give or take a few points and I have trace protein that my ob is worried will get worse quickly if I don't take it easy. Taking it easy is something that does not come naturally for me, so I have been a bit bored. My hubby has promised me that he is getting me a laptop so that I will have something to do while I lay around on my left side for the next hopefully 7 weeks (or, God willing, 8 or 9 weeks) until I can safely deliver. Don't worry - Mom and baby are going to be just fine. I've been down this road before. I just know from my past experience that it is a long and boring trip when you just lay on your left side all day. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to post a little update for everyone. My 15 minutes of non-left side time are up so I must go. My postings may be a bit sporadic until I get that laptop. After that, you'll probably "see" alot of me because I'll have lots of down time to blog!! ;)

My 15 minutes

I have crazy luck. I can win silly things on the radio. I'm not sure if anyone out there listens to Relevant Radio, but if you were listening this morning to the last hour of their morning show "Morning Air" I was the lucky winner who played three questions. I think that my 15 minutes of fame are officially over now.

In case you are wondering, here is what I won:
Ships without a Shore by Anne R. Pierce

And if you really want to hear what I sound like when I am really tired and fighting off a cold, you can go to the Morning Air web page and listen to the show archives. I was on during the last hour at apx 8:40 AM or so. Boy, was I nervous and tired so I am sure that I sounded great. (Note heavy sarcasm!)

I really wanted to win today because I heard the author talking about this book on the air while I driving my girls to school. I never expected to, though, so I was rather shocked when the radio station answered the phone and told me that I was the right caller. And this was not the first time that I have won something on Relevant Radio. I have won a coffee mug and a copy of David Curry's book "Rapture: The End Times Error That Leaves the Bible Behind" That is a fantastic book! I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested. My 10 year old daughter has also won "Three Questions" and she received a wonderful package from Great Harvest Bread Company. I don't know why we keep winning. I'm starting to feel guilty but I really can't wait to receive this book!

Have a great day everyone!

I'm so behind!

Wow! What can I say. I am a bad,bad blogger. School has moved into high gear and our Hot Lunch program has started back up so it's back to work for the KitKat. Somewhere during the last week or so I think that I completely lost myself. Between school, work, a downstairs bathroom remodel, and our upcoming Family Fest fundraiser for the school (Of which I am the head of advertising. Silly me!) I have been a bit busy.

But the good news is that we now have 2 complete bathrooms, so my husband finally has his own shower after 10 years of waiting. And construction is over, so I finally have my house back after what seemed like endless weeks of having someone over working on the bathroom. Now I should be able to get us back to normal fairly quickly. All of the hassle was worth it, but it is just so nice not to have to worry about the ruckus anymore.

I am behind on some blog things. Some nice readers have left some nice thing for me over on their blogs, so I need to try to catch those up. Thanks so much for thinking of me. You guys always make me smile. :)

I'm off to start post construction clean up and go to a Family Fest committee meeting tonight. Yay! Our Family Fest is on September 13 & 14th, so this part is almost over and I won't have to worry about it anymore.

Have a great night!!!

Zucchini Fritters

This recipe was left for me in my comment section a few posts below this one by a sweet reader named Angie. The recipe is SO GOOD that I just had to move it up here to its own post in order to do it justice. Even my hubby, who only eats zucchini bread, loved it. So I have to send a big "Thank you" out to Angie for expanding my zuchinni options and encourage the zucchini shy folks out there to try this recipe. It is very, very good.

(Angie, I hope that you don't mind me doing this. If so, please let me know and I will remove this post. This is a great recipe! My kids gobbled them up and asked for more.)

Zucchini Fritters
1/3 cup biscuit mix
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups shredded zucchini, unpeeled
butter or margarine

Stir together biscuit mix, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir in beaten eggs just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in zucchini.

Melt butter in a skillet, spoon zucchini mixture in like you are making pancakes. Cook until browned on both sides. You can serve these with a little bbq sauce, but my favorite condiment with them is ranch dressing.

Cravings

I am not usually one who craves crazy things when I am pregnant. But I must say, if I never had to eat anything other than any type of Mexican food and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream I would be one very happy preggo momma. My family seems to want a bit more variety, so I am forced to concede to their wishes. They have no idea how much I love them.

I passed, and now I will make a roast

I passed my glucose test today! It was a bit nervous just because my Hashimoto's Disease makes me more prone to complications. But I have been enjoying good health with this pregnancy, so I figured that I would be fine.

I hate the glucose test. It was especially yucky for me today because I couldn't take my thyroid meds until after the test. I need to eat about an hour after I take them (and I take them at 6 am), but my dr appt wasn't until 9:30am and I needed to do at least a 12 hour fast before the test. I was so tired without my medication and so hungry without food that I went straight for McDonald's after the test. And I HATE McDonald's. To add insult to injury, their debit/credit card machine was out of order so I had to cancel my order and go to Burger King where I stood in line for 10 minutes waiting for someone to take my order. I never eat fast food. Now I know why.

So, I am a bit tired today because the delay of taking my meds and the blood sugar shake up kind of wore me out. I am cheating for dinner with my hubby's favorite pot roast recipe. It's so good and so easy! It's not organic, uses nothing from the garden, and is probably pretty bad for you. But we all have those days, right? Just in case you ever want to be bad, here is the recipe:

French Onion Pot Roast
__________________________________________
1 Beef Pot roast apx 3 - 4 lbs (or smaller works fine too)
1 can condensed french onion soup mix
1 box savory herb stuffing mix
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown the pot roast in a bit of olive oil and season to taste (I use a bit of pepper, garlic, and Italian Seasoning. I recommend skipping the salt because of the high sodium content of, um, all of the other ingredients.) Put the pot roast into your crock pot and pour the french onion soup on top. Cook on high for about 3 - 4 hours. Add the stuffing mix (sprinkle on top of the roast and do not mix in) and continue cooking on high for another 1 -2 hours. Add the shredded mozz cheese and cook until cheese is melted. Remove from crock pot and serve. I like to serve this with some carrots and a big huge salad to remove some of my guilt.

I try to cook healthy as much as humanly possible. But life happens sometimes. Now I can try to regroup myself after running around while dead tired, maybe get something done around the house, and still have a hot dinner waiting for my hubby that he loves. We can splurge on the bad stuff every once in awhile, right?

I'm going to go lay down for a bit and then do some laundry. Have a great day!!

How to make fresh tomato sauce

Just 4 easy steps!!

Step 1: Walk out to your garden to pick some fresh, red, delicious tomatoes to use for your sauce.

Step 2: Remember half way there that you forgot to grab your basket. Opt to not go back and grab it. Real gardeners don't need no stinkin' basket. Right.

Step 3: Grab as many fresh, juicy, ripe tomatoes as your hands can hold. Then grab more. Because you don't want to have to walk back out to the garden to get more. Just REALLY load up.

Step 4: Attempt to leave the garden, but trip over an air molecule. Catch yourself enough to prevent bodily injury but not enough to prevent smashing all of those red, ripe, and juicy tomatoes all over the front of your shirt.

To add extra flavor, jump up and look around to make sure that nobody saw you. Then notice that your neighbor, who could really use a laugh, saw it all and is attempting to make sure that you are ok without bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

Yes, this really did happen. I think that my garden is mad at me for having a bad year so it is now seeking it's revenge.

Zucchini?!?

It has been my worst garden year EVER. I am so unimpressed with myself that I can't even bear to blog about it. Then this guy named "Murphy" decided to walk into my garden with his goofy laws. You see, my neighbor gave me two small zucchini plants last spring. I planted them just because I can't bear to see a plant die, but my hubby doesn't like zucchini for anything other than bread. Just for fun, take a guess at what is ready for harvest. If you said zucchini you'd be 100% correct. It's almost like someone is playing a cruel joke on me. Almost everything else in my garden stinks this year except for the one thing that my hubby hates. Darn Murphy and his laws! I am so not amused.