The Fruge Family

Run Down

2012-01-12T18:29:00.019-06:00

I am a HORRIBLE blogger. Please forgive me!!! Here is a brief run down of that has happened these past 7 months. :)

July- I had surgery on my hip. OUCH! I've had issues for a while, and it got so bad that I finally had to do something about it. After going to a few doctors I was sent to Lake Charles to see a Dr. that specializes in the surgery I needed (hip scope). He ended up finding that I had a messed up femoral head that he had to shave down, a labrum tear he anchored, a messed up tendon he removed, and a mass. After some tests we found out the mass was not cancerous. Phew!! 6 months later, and I still have some problems with it, but it's much better than before. I just have to get used to my "new normal" as Dr. Cascio calls it.
This is Dr. Cascio

August- Claire turned 5!!! AHHH!! I CAN'T believe I have a 5 year old. Well, 5 going on 15! :( She is such a sweet little girl, very compassionate towards her brother. I love when she talks to him with her "baby" voice. It's SO cute! She loves to sing and dance.

-Claire also started Kindergarten!! She loves it! Her teacher, Mrs. Floyd, is wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better person to help raise my daughter. Let's face it teachers see our kids more than we do in a day!! I'm not happy about it, but it's the law. Anyway, she loves that she can read. Yes, I said it. My 5 year old kindergartener can pretty much sound out any word... I am SO proud of her!

September- Lindon turned 2! He's SUCH a funny boy! He lives to make people laugh. Don't let that sweet smile and boyish good looks fool you though! He can be a MONSTER!! haha He's into EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING goes in is mouth. Anything he touches turns into a broken mess, but I wouldn't change anything. He's so sweet to Claire. He already looks up to her and wants to do everything she is doing. (Which annoys her to no end most of the time!) My favorite thing that Lindon does now is use his "big boy voice". When he is trying to be apart of a group or be "serious" he will talk in a very deep voice. HAHA It is SO cute!

The Holidays- Oh the holidays... So bittersweet! I love spending time with my family and my in-laws. Yes, I love my in-laws. They are awesome, fun people that I really enjoy hanging out with. My apologies if you don't have good in-laws. Anyway, I love the company, food, and of course reflecting on why we are celebrating in the first place. However, the stress I could do without. Most of that is just me and my worry-wort self though. I am constantly stressing over what gift to buy whom and so on.
The kids had a really good Christmas. Claire got a barbie styling head, some DS games, Squinkies, movies, etc. Lindon got all things Buzz Lightyear this year. He got a plush Buzz to sleep with, a 12" talking Buzz, Buzz sheets, Buzz tent, etc.

We also went to the Lufkin Zoo the day before school started back. Lindon had been begging for days to see elephants. He would bring his toy elephant to me or Kev and say "see elepant". He can't quite say the f sound. :)

2011 DFAD Recital

2011-06-21T10:29:00.006-05:00

Claire took baby ballet from Dawn Fitzgerald's Academy of Dance this year. It was such a fight to get her to go each week. She would say that is was hard, etc. She is such a performer though. She LOVED the last few weeks of practice because they got to do their routine in front of a little audience.

I was worried about how she would behave at dance rehearsal. I wasn't sure how long we would be there. We ended up being there for four hours, and I so proud of Claire. She didn't once complain.

I am sad that she doesn't want to dance next year because she is a natural. She had NO fear going up on stage at recital and dancing in front of a packed crowd. A part of me wants to make her do it because she is so good at it, but I always told myself I would never make my kids do anything they really didn't want to do. I do have a rule that my kids have to be in at least one extracurricular activity though. Claire says she wants to be on a winning soccer team. hahaha I think it's funny that she put "winning" in there. :)

Easter 2011

2011-05-09T17:20:00.005-05:00

2011 Family Vacation

2011-05-01T16:06:00.013-05:00

The last 2 years we have gone to Galveston for our vacation. We took the kids to Moody Gardens, Rainforest Cafe, and the beach. We would also stop in Texas City to see my aunt and uncle. I told Kevin this year that I didn't want to go to Moody Gardens again, and that we needed to think of something else.

We decided on Sea World San Antonio. We knew the drive would be long so we bought a dual screen DVD player. That was a LIFE SAVER! I don't think we could have made it there and back with our sanity if it weren't for that.

We got there on a Wednesday night and left Saturday afternoon.

Thursday we went to Sea World. They had Sesame Street there for breakfast at the park so we had to plan our day around that because of Claire. You know how Claire "loves" any thing in a costume. I'm glad I did some research and found out they were there. Otherwise that could have ruined our entire vacation. :)

The kids had so much fun. Because Sesame Street was there they had a whole section of the park with little Sesame Street rides like a carousel, mini dungeon drop, Ferris wheel, and a little ride that would go side ways and spin. Claire loved all of them. Lindon wasn't a fan though.

We all enjoyed the shows and even got a little wet. I was excited to get to feed and pet the dolphins. Claire liked to feed them, but she did NOT want to touch them.

Friday we went to the San Antonio Zoo. I'm so glad we went to Sea World Thursday and the zoo Friday because there was no school Friday due to the Fiesta San Antonio. Sea World probably would have been packed, and Thursday we didn't have to wait in ANY lines!

Anyway, so we went to the zoo. It was fun. The kids behaved and we just took our time. They had a train ride so we did that with the kids. It was very relaxing. Lindon even fell asleep during the train ride!

The Kiddos

2011-03-31T14:58:00.004-05:00

I've been SUCH a bad blogger! We are going on vacation in a couple weeks so hopefully I will have lots of pictures to put on here after that. :)

Before Lindon's hair cut

After Lindon's hair cut

Lindon's new big boy bed

Our sweet ballerina!

Can't you just see the mischief in those eyes??

Enter to Win a Kindle

2011-02-02T13:41:00.001-06:00

You can enter to win a Kingle 3G! www.getsubmit.com/enter/sweepstakes_refer/130/1191 Make sure you tell them Sarah Fruge referred you!!! :)

Lindon Boy

2011-01-20T11:29:00.005-06:00

I wanted to do a post about our little man, Lindon.

He is such a funny little boy. I see LOTS of parent/teacher conferences in our future with him for being a class clown. :) He loves to make people laugh. If he does something and gets a laugh out of somebody he will do it all the time. He definitely brings laughter into our house!

He LOVES to wear his shoes ALL THE TIME! Right after he wakes up he points to his shelf where we keep his shoes. Even when he's half asleep in the morning he still points for his shoes and says "shoes!!" HAHA He gets upset when we take his shoes off for his naps even.

If he hears music of any kind he dances right then. Just a few weeks ago he started doing a new dance. He now thrusts his pelvis and moves his hips and butt around in a circle. HAHAHAHA It's SO cute! This gets lots of laughs so he does it all the time.

He's a really good sleeper...if he's tired. If he's not tired he will not go to sleep no matter what. But when he's tired he grabs his blanky, rolls over, and goes right to sleep.

We are so proud of the little man he's becoming. He brings such joy in our lives, and we can't imagine our home without him in it!

Lindon's 1st Birthday & Some Pics

2010-12-30T13:32:00.004-06:00

Lindon's 1st Birthday!!

Just pics of the kids

Another Year Older... Life is Sweet!

2010-10-03T12:11:00.005-05:00

Claire turned 4 on August 14 and Lindon turned 1 on September 2.

Claire had a Barbie birthday. It was great to get the family together. We are so proud of the little girl Claire is becoming. She loves going to Kids Club (a 2 hour daycare for kids at the gym while parents exercise). She loves going to church so she can go to Primary and her Sunday School class. She enjoys dancing and singing, playing with her Barbies and Princesses, and dressing up. She has a great vocabulary. Sometimes too good! :) We are truly blessed to have her in our family.

We didn't have a party for Lindon. I just baked him some cupcakes, and people brought him presents periodically. He is such a sweet little blue eyed blonde haired boy. He is a momma's boy, loves his sister, loves to eat, laugh, and smile. It's such a pleasure to take care of him.

Vacation

2010-08-02T14:05:00.002-05:00

We went back to Moody Gardens this year. We had fun, and there were only a few dramatic meltdowns from Claire. ;)

Rainforest Cafe

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-13T12:31:00.003-05:00

My Mother's Day was wonderful. Kevin (and the kids) bought me the new Reebok Easy Tone shoes. The primary kids (ages 3-11) get up in front of the congregation and sing on Mother's Day. Claire refused to go, and when I did finally convince her to go up she wanted me to go with her. So she didn't go up. I was bummed a little because it would have been her first time to go up and sing in church. Oh well. There's always next year. :)

In Primary Claire made me a card and some chocolate covered strawberries. All the kids who went up and sang got a rose to give to their mother's, but since Claire didn't go up she didn't get to give me one. After Primary was over she went up to the Primary president and asked if she could have one for her mommy. :) She's so sweet.

I am truly blessed to have such wonderful kids. It's so hard being a mom, but it is SO worth it. I would never trade it for anything. Thanks Claire and Lindon for being so great and Kev for helping me!

After church some friends came over and brought enchiladas. We ate and had fun talking.

Lindon's First Astro's Game

2010-04-29T15:12:00.003-05:00

We're raising our boy right and teaching him to be an Astro's fan! :)

HIS RED SNOW CONE FACE. HE LOVED THE SNOW CONES.

Lindon with Uncle Matt & Aunt Squirt

Our friends Pete, Toni, & their baby Seth

Pete caught a foul ball bare handed, and Seth never woke up!

We had a really good time, and the Astros even won!

Nederland vsPN-G Baseball Game

2010-04-19T09:49:00.008-05:00

Kevin and I decided we were going to embrace being a Nederland Bulldog, and start early showing some school spirit with the kids. It's funny because Kevin graduated from PN-G, and if you know anything about this area you know that Nederland and PN-G are huge rivals. So Kevin is pretty much a traitor for living in Nederland and sending his kids there. :)

There's a store in Central Mall that sells shirts, hair bows, bags, etc. for the surrounding school. We went there and bought all of us a Nederland shirt and Claire a bow.

The game was fun. We left after the fourth inning though because it was way past Lindon's bedtime, and Claire said it was too loud. To her defense it was really loud and there were A LOT of people there.

I think she's trying to wink. ;)
When he's really excited he curls his tongue in his mouth.

Before the game

After she's ready to leave. HAHA

Go Bulldogs!

Easter 2010

2010-04-08T15:34:00.003-05:00

The Easter Bunny came!!

7 Months Old

2010-04-05T19:13:00.006-05:00

Lindon is 7 months old. CrAzY!! He's my little angel. He is so quick to smile! All Claire has to do is look at him and he laughs. He loves his big sister so much. He's still a momma's boy too. I LOVE it! He's a great baby. For the most part he is such a happy little man.

Stats:

14 lbs. 6 oz.

25.5 inches long

-He's eating baby food meat now along with his veggies and fruit.

-He's up on his hand and knees rocking. He's so close to crawling.

-He got his second hair cut yesterday. I cut it with clippers. SO cute!

BEFORE
AFTER

Look at all that hair!

I hope all this love and affection lasts!!!

Kev's Birthday

2010-04-05T11:15:00.003-05:00

Kevin turned 27 on March 12th. Claire and I made him a cake and got him some presesnts, and we just had a little party at the house after we went to dinner at Casa Olé. I got Kev a nice Astros shirt and Claire wanted to get him some beef jerkey. It's kinda their thing. They will buy some and eat it together.

I hope he had a good day. I love you, Honey!

2010-03-17T11:29:00.001-05:00

6 Months Old (on March 2)

2010-03-15T13:28:00.003-05:00

I can't believe he is 6 months already. He is such a joy!

Lindon's stats:

-14 lbs 0.5 oz

-25.5 inches

The doctor said Lindon didn't gain as much weight as he wanted him to in the 2 months since he's seen him in the office. So we changed his feedings a bit in hopes of fattening Lindon up, and we have to go back in 4 weeks to reweigh him. He's fine though. Of course he's going to be little. We brought him home from the hospital only weighing 4 lbs 11 oz.

The first shot

After the last shot (3rd one) he finally started crying

Some of Lindon's favorite things:

-scooting all over the living room. He's fast too!

-putting things in his mouth

-smiling

-eating real food. He loves potato salad, and we just discovered yesterday he LOVES pickles thanks to Aunt Squirt. He sucked about 3 pickle slices dry! :)

-He loves MOMMY! I love it too.

-and he loves pulling off his socks and eating his feet.

Digital Scrapbooking

2010-03-12T23:10:00.003-06:00

Kevin got me Photoshop on my computer for Christmas, and I am just now starting to really learn things. I LOVE what I've learned so far!

Claire's ER Visit

2010-03-10T16:52:00.003-06:00

Saturday we were at my in-law's because Kev's aunt and uncle are down from Tennessee. Taylor (my niece) and Claire were outside playing. A few minutes later my sis-in-law brought Claire in holding Claire's head with blood everywhere. Taylor had accidentally hit Claire in the head with a baseball bat and busted it open.

Kev and I brought her to the ER where they glued it shut. They had to hold it closed for a few minutes, and Claire didn't even cry. She was a trooper.

Lindon is on the move...ALL the time

2010-03-03T19:43:00.002-06:00

Lindon Boy

2010-02-24T12:43:00.000-06:00

I thought I would post about Lindon today, and tell you of the joys that I have the pleasure of experiencing everyday.

-It's difficult to get him to laugh, but when he does he laughs with his entire body. (eyes closed, legs kicking, etc.)
-We call him our little puppy cuz when he gets excited or is about to cry really loud he pants like a puppy.
-He sleeps throught the night now without any fuss. :)
-He loves "big people" food. (chocolate, spaghetti sauce, etc)
-He's a social eater. If we're eating in front of him he fusses until you give him some of what you're eating, even if he just ate.
-He loves hair. If you're holding him watch out cuz the first thing he goes for is your hair!

He is such a good baby. We are truly blessed to have Lindon in our lives.

The kids

2010-02-09T12:39:00.000-06:00

Lindon turned 5 months on February 2. He weighs 13 lbs 8 oz. He only gained 2 oz this month. He is 25 inches. I can't believe how big he is getting. It seems like just yesterday he was my little 5 lbs preemie baby. Time flies way too fast!

Claire LOVES her little brother SO much. She is SO protective. If someone walks out of the room with Lindon she tells Kevin or me to go get him, or if we are leaving and someone is holding him she will tell them to put him in his carseat NOW! HaHa. We pick on her sometimes and tell her that our time is up, that we only rented Lindon for 5 months and we have to bring him back to the hospital. She yells at us "NO! He's my little brother! We have to keep him. I love him!" I know we are mean to pick on her like that. I was giving Claire a bath the other day while Kev was holding Lindon in the living room. After a few minutes Kev walked in the bathroom without Lindon and Claire asked Kev where Lindon was. Kev told her he put him in the trash. Poor Claire busted into tears and begged Kev to take him out that she needed him! I know, once again we are mean parents... We don't pick on her all the time. Just sometimes.

Lindon can sit up now when propped just right. He loves it. He wants to be independent so bad. He's started a new thing where he blows out of his mouth and makes his lips flap. He thinks it's so funny.

Claire loves to sing and dance. I bought her a Little Mermaid microphone at Wal-Mart the other day. She brings it everywhere and sings along with it.

We are so blessed to have our children. I thank my Heavenly Father daily for the time I have to spend with them on this earth. I am so thankful for their laughter and smiles. They brighten my day!

The House

2010-02-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

We found a house that we like in Nederland. I am excited to get back in the city so close to amenities. Our closing date is scheduled for March 12, Kev's birthday. I hope it all works out. Here are some pictures.

Update

2010-01-26T14:27:00.000-06:00

Lindon has starting eating baby food. He loves it and has taken to it a lot faster than Claire did. So far he's eaten rice cereal, apple sauce, bananas, and peas.

We're also house hunting. We've been casually looking for about 1.5 years but have really been looking at a bunch of houses these past few weeks. Hopefully we find a house soon. I don't think I can take much more stress and anxiety!

Here we go again...

2010-01-21T11:27:00.000-06:00

So Lindon has Salmonella again, but since he's older than 3 months he won't have to go back into the hospital. They won't even treat me at all if he doesn't get really sick. He also has had a barking cough for a couple weeks. The doctor wasn't too worried, but when it turned croupy I got worried and brought him back to the doctor. It was determined that Lindon had RSV because he was wheezing really bad. So we had to spend money on a breathing machine and medicine for that.

To make things worse Claire has been having tee-tee accidents for a couple days and saying that it hurt to go so I took her to the doctor also. She has a UTI. When I called the pharmacy to get a quote on how much Lindon's medicine was they said that insurance covered half of it, but it was still $103! When I got to the pharmacy I discovered that it was Claire's UTI medicine that was $103. Are you kidding me?? $103 for UTI medicine!! They pharmacy was nice enough to call the doctor to see if they could prescribe something a little bit cheaper.

The breathing treatments are helping him a lot. He's still coughing quite a bit, but he's not wheezing as bad.

We've also been looking at buying a house. We found one we liked but found out yesterday that it sold. What a bummer! We'll just keep looking I guess.

Update

2010-01-10T16:25:00.000-06:00

CHRISTMAS

New Christmas PJs

Jace & Claire

My dad

My brother, Jay, (making a crazy face) and I

My lil cousin, Ashley and Claire

Christmas was great. We spent the morning here at home opening gifts and enjoying each other's company. Then we drove to Odomville to have Christmas dinner with my family. Kev got a lot of accessories for his truck; a new CD player, Astros license plate covers, Astros floor mats and head rest covers, and some other things. I got a new scanner, copier, printer combo, a new camera, a book, and more other things. Claire got a Furreal Kitty Cat and a Disney Princess doll castle from Santa, some princess dolls, Whoopsie Doo baby doll from Gammy and Paw Paw, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from Geezer and Awna D. Lindon got a play mat and some toys. Fun times...

UPDATE ON THE FAMILY

Lindon cut his first tooth a few days ago! I was in shock because Claire was over a year old before she cut her first one. He also has been able to roll over for a few weeks now. He has already had his first hair cut on Friday, and he's only 4 months. It was so long though. My good friend Ralane cut it for me and it looks great!

BEFORE (haircut)

AFTER

We have also started feeding him solids. He got the hand of it WAY faster than Claire did. He doesn't make much of a mess until he puts his fingers in his mouth then drags food all over his face.

He's a thumb sucker!

Hospital Continued...

2009-12-06T16:30:00.000-06:00

So I don't really feel like typing so I will give you the basics with lots of pics. Umm...where to begin? The Salmonella did end up in Lindon's bloodstream. The antibiotics were able to clear it pretty quickly though. The poor little man ended up getting stuck 7 times in the 10 days he was in the hospital. His IV blew 3 times. We were released Saturday morning, but Friday afternoon his IV blew again so they just left it out and gave him the last 2 rocephin shots in his leg. Thanksgiving was fun too! ;) NOT! We all watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and ate food that both families (Fruge's & Odom's) brought! Anyway, we are home now. It was a long 10 days in the hospital. Also the next day Claire started throwing up! Fun times!!

Busy Bees

2009-11-20T10:42:00.009-06:00

It's been really busy in our house the past couple weeks. Last Sunday (Nov. 8) we all woke up sick. I felt better within a few days, but Kev seemed to get worse and worse each day. We brought him to the doctor on Tuesday where they diagnosed him with the Flu. They didn't test for which type of flu (reg., H1N1, etc.) so they treated him like it was the worse (H1N1-swine). Then to make things worse he woke up Friday throwing up. We called the doc and she said that she thought the vomiting was separate. So now Kev had an ear infection, the flu, and a 24 hour stomach virus. He finally felt better on Saturday (Nov. 14) after over $100 in prescriptions later! Thank goodness because I had to take care of EVERYTHING while he was in quarantine (our bedroom) away from the kids and myself.

To back track to Wednesday (Nov. 11), I noticed Lindon had a little bit of blood in his stool. He stool had been green and mucus for a couple days before that. I called Dr Worley and was scheduled to bring Lindon in the next morning to see Dr Hubbell (Dr Worley was off Thursday). Dr Hubbell looked Lindon over, took a stool sample to send off to the lab, and referred us to a Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Dr Alaswad. Monday we had an appt with Dr Alaswad, who thought it was an allergy and told me not to eat diary, eggs, soy, nuts, beef, and one more thing. (I can't remember the last one.) On Tuesday night (Nov. 17) around 6pm I got a phone call from Dr Hubbell saying that the stool cultures came back and were positive for Salmonella. He called in a prescription of Amoxicillin which I picked up around 10 on Wednesday morning. Not an hour later I got a call from Dr Worley saying that he had talked to the CDC and a doctor with a background in Infectious Diseases, and they all said that since Lindon is under 3 months old (he's 2.5 months) he had to get the antibiotics intravenously.

Before we headed to the hospital he wanted to see Lindon in his office. I called my sis to come get Claire, and I packed some clothes for all of us. We saw Dr Worley around 3:45pm, and he sent us to Baptist Hospital around 4pm with our admit papers. We got there at 4 and weren't even registered until 5:30pm. As soon as we were put into our room they took Lindon to the exam room to get vitals, measurements, and the IV started. (He hated that!) He did good though.

GETTING HIS IV

So we've been here since Wednesday evening and will be here for 7-10 days. He first stool culture they did here at the hospital came back negative, but Dr Ezeki (the infectious disease doc) said it was pretty normal to get a negative with one sample and a positive with another.

If all this wasn't enough they came in around 11pm last night and said that his blood culture tested positive for gram-negative. This either means that the Salmonella has spread to the blood stream or the culture was contaminated. We should know in a day or two when the results come back.

SHOWING OFF HIS OUCHIE!

My poor little man! He's a trooper though. He doesn't even look sick. He's smiling, laughing, and is a happy camper. He's giving all the nurses "baby fever". haha We love our little Lindon so much and are praying that he gets better soon without any complications. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and we will try to keep everyone posted!

HAPPY MAN!

A Blog Thing

2009-11-10T16:53:00.003-06:00

I was tagged by Heather so... I have to list 10 100% honest things about myself and then pass it on to 7 of my faithful blog readers...if I have that many.

Numero Uno. You know how people say "I would give anything to be a kid again." Well, NOT ME! I love being an adult. When I was a kid I knew about hard times in my family and felt helpless cause I was a kid. Now as an adult, when things get bad, I have the power to do something about it.

Numero Dos. I don't like to read. This sounds bad, but I don't even like to read scriptures. Don't get me wrong I love the scriptures. I just don't like to read them. I will listen to them on tape or being read to me.

Numero Tres. I hate to exercise. I only do it because I have bad genes on both sides, and I don't want to be unhealthy.

Numero Cuatro. My biggest fear is to lose one of my family members, whether it be one of my children or my husband. I drive my INSANE thinking about things that could happen and thinking of ways how I would save them if something were to happen. Like if a fire broke out in our house, or if we drove into water, etc. Crazy, huh?

Numero Cinco. One of my biggest pet peeves is putting empty candy wrappers back in the bag with the other candy. I know, stupid. haha I hate reaching into a bag of candy and pulling out all these empty wrappers!

Numero Seis. I hate to be volunteered for things. If you want me to do something, ask me! Don't ask my husband, my mom, or anyone else!! ASK ME!! And if I tell you no, deal with it...

Numero Siete. I want to be a doctor. I probably won't be one in this life, but that is one of my dreams.

Numero Ocho. I love TV. I've heard it was unhealthy to watch a lot of TV. I guess I'm unhealthy. I have my certain shows that I like to watch though. The CSI's, House, Burn Notice, Amazing Race, Bones, Medium, American Idol(now that Ellen is a judge. I love her! She's so funny.)

Numero Nueve. I hate to fold and put away clothes. It's my most hated chore. I don't mind sorting, washing, and drying if someone else will fold, hang, and put away. :)

Numero Diez. I like to change my hair color a lot. I think my favorite was black though. I might go with black next appt with Tiffany. :)

I'm done. That was harder than I thought! Now I'm suppose to tag 7 people...

Caroline Shillig
Becky Mahana
Betty Odom
Jennifer Hadley
Kari McCallon
Meg Barry

Halloween & Smiles

2009-11-02T08:58:00.006-06:00

Halloween

I asked Claire what she wanted to be for Halloween a few weeks ago, and to my suprise she said a ballerina. I didn't know she even knew what a ballerina was. So I was going to buy her a costume one, but I saw real ballet outfits at Target a few months back and decided to buy her those. I have been wanting to put her in ballet classes but it's so expensive. After seeing her in the ballerina outfit though I will spend the money. She looked SO cute and LOVED to dance like a ballerina!

I tried to find a costume for Lindon, but he is too small. All the costumes are 0-6 months and were huge! Kev wanted him to be a vampire, but we had to settle with baseball player. I had the outfit in his closet and thought it looked close enough like a uniform to work.

On Halloween we went to the Williamson Tri-Ward party. It was fun. Claire had fun playing with her cousins Jace and Kenna and trick or treating. I had invited my parents to come and after the party we all went back to our place and chilled.

Smiles

Lindon started smiling on Oct 15 and laughing on Oct 22 and hasn't stopped since! I love after he wakes up for the day. After I feed him he's super happy for about 2 hours before he takes his first nap of the day. He laughs and smiles the whole 2 hours! All a person has to do is look at him, and he loves it!

Claire loves the interaction. She can't wait until he can play with her. He loves his big sister too. All she has to do is talk. Even if she's in another room, and Lindon hears her he will smile! He smiled at Claire before he would smile at Kev and me.

Lindon's just now smiling at Kev. It's so funny. I would have Lindon smiling and laughing and as soon as Kev looked at him he would stop. haha It drove Kev crazy. He would say all the time that Lindon hated him. I just had to tell Kev that Lindon is around Claire and I all day and that he's not. We've paid our dues now he has to! haha

Galvaston Island

2009-10-26T15:12:00.013-05:00

Thursday Kevin knew he would reach 40 hrs at his job on Friday around 10am so we spontaneously decided to go on a family weekend vacation. I have been wanting to go to Moody Gardens for a long time so that's where we decided to go. We drove up through Winnie so Claire could experience riding on the Ferry. I enjoyed it too. :) Kevin, not so much. He was too worried about getting pooped on by seagulls, which he almost did! HaHa We then headed to Moody Gardens. Claire LOVED the penguins, and Mommy loved the sharks! :) We also went to the 3D iMax and saw Whales and Dolphins. Claire did really good until the humpback whale swam toward her. She watched the rest of the movie without the 3D glasses! Later Lindon and I watched the Sharks movie while Daddy and Claire played on the playground and went to the Aquarium again. That night we went to the Rainforest Cafe. We prepped Claire before we went in because we knew she would freak out as soon as the animals went off. We told her if she did good and didn't cry then she could pick out a toy after we ate. She did really good. She started to cry once when all the animals went off and it thundered, but I just reminded her that she could get a toy if didn't cry. She was fine after that. Saturday we went back to Moody Gardens and went to the Aquarium, watched some more movies, and rode on the Colonel, the paddle boat.
We stayed another night and went to my Aunt Dale and Uncle Joe's house on Sunday. They live in Texas City which is about 30 minutes from Galvaston. We got there about 9:30 am, hung out, ate lunch, and left about 2:30pm. We had a great time. It was nice to just sit around and catch up. The weekend was a lot of fun. The kids did SO good! Lindon was an angel, and Claire really enjoyed it. Hopefully we can go back in the summer when the Rain forest Pyramid and Discovery is open. They were closed for renovation.

Lindon's Blessing

2009-10-01T13:49:00.005-05:00

Lindon was blessed this past Sunday, September 27. My cousin made his blessing outfit. She also made Claire's. She's so talented. It turned out great! He looked precious. Some things that were said:

-blessed with health and strength

-understanding between right and wrong and always have the desire to choose right

-have compassion for others

-be a loving brother and son

-find opportunities to serve and help others

-have a desire to serve a mission

Getting so big

2009-09-25T09:36:00.003-05:00

I can't believe Lindon is already 3 weeks old. Time flies by so quickly! He's such a good baby. He only cries when he's hungry. He sleeps 3-4 hour time intervals at night, wakes up to eat for 20-30 minutes, and goes back to sleep. Breastfeeding is going great! I'm so glad. Claire was a disaster when it came to breastfeeding.

Claire is going great as a big sister. She has moments when she wants me to put him down and hold her. I don't mind that though. She's very protective of him. If someone is hold him and walks away with him she tells me to go get him. We ask her periodically if she wants us to bring him back to the hospital, and she says "no way José!" haha

Lindon had his 2 week appt last Thursday with Dr Worley. At birth he weighed 5 lbs 8.2 oz and came home at 5 lbs 2 oz and was 17.5 inches long. At his appt he weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 19.5 inches long! He's growing so fast!

The Boys

Claire "Helping"

SO Cute!

How he was in the womb

Church outfit he wore to his first day at church (sacrament only) :)

Labor and Delivery

2009-09-05T07:50:00.020-05:00

Okay, so there was no labor. Well, maybe labored breathing because I was so nervous! ;) I guess I'll start with my 39 week appointment on Tuesday.

So Tuesday I went to my appointment. I was actually 38 weeks and 4 days (menstrual due date) or 37 weeks and 6 day (ultrasound due date). My appointment was in the afternoon so that Kevin could be there with me. When Dr Long checked me he said that the foot was RIGHT there on my cervix, and that I was definitely dilating. So we decided to go ahead and schedule the c-section because we determined he wasn't going to flip head down. So we scheduled it for the next day at 12:30pm. I had to head right over to the hospital to do pre-surgery labs and get some of my tags on my arm.

We didn't have to be at the hospital for the c-section until 10am on Wednesday so we decided to go back home and sleep there (we were planning on sleeping at my in-law's the night before). It was hard to sleep that night. I finally went to bed at about 2am and Kevin and I were up the same morning by 5am. It was okay though because it gave me a few hours to get some last minute things done. We had a few errands to get done that morning before we headed to the hospital. We had to go to Kev's Flowserve office and drop off some things. We then had to fill the car with gasoline and drop Claire off with Danita where she works. Claire did really good. Nick and Danita had gotten her a new princess back pack with some toys, snacks, and books in it. She was pretty excited about that. :)

We then headed over to Wal-Mart so that I could get Claire a present from her new baby brother. I've been planning on doing that so that she doesn't feel left out and has a good feeling towards Lindon. We bought her the movie Cars and some little toy cars from the movie. When I watch my nephew Claire and him fight over his little toy cars and she loves the movie. It's a fitting gift from a little brother, wouldn't you say? :)

After we got to the hospital we went straight up to Labor and Delivery. I changed into the sexy hospital gown, got an IV, and they hooked Lindon up to monitors.

About 2 hours later the nurse brought Kev his clothes and Dr Long came in about 30 minutes after that to check on me.

Kev and I then walk to the OR. He had to wait outside with I got my spinal done. Right before they started the surgery they brought him in. They started at 12:49pm and Lindon was here 5 minutes later at 12:54pm. It was so surreal to have a baby like that. He was so tiny.

After they cleaned him up and suctioned him out a bit they brought him to Kev so that I could see him. Kevin then had to leave me and go to the nursery with Lindon. About 30 minutes later I was all stitched up and in the recovery room. In the room they told me that he weighed 5 lbs 8.2 oz and 17.5 inches long. So tiny!! I had to stay in the recovery room for about 30 minutes but was then brought to my room.
Not too much later they brought Lindon in so that I could try to breastfeed him. He latched on good, but he wasn't really interested in eating. I only got to see him for about 5 minutes because they had take bathe him and get his vitals.

A couple hours later he was brought back to me all clean and smelling good! Claire loved him. She held him a couple times and wanted to touch him all the time. She also loved her "big sister" gift that Lindon got her.

The first day wasn't too bad for me. I was just really sore because I was in bed all day without being able to move. The next day, Thursday, I was able to have my catheter removed at around 7am. After that I was able to get up, walk around, and take a shower. It felt SO GOOD to be able to walk around and take a shower. Lindon also was good in the hospital. The fist day he lost 2.1 oz puting him at 5 lbs 6.1 oz, and the second day lost another 4.1 oz puting him at 5 lbs 2 oz when we came home. Wednesday morning I was ready to go home.

Since I had been doing so good the my nurse talk to Dr Long about letting me go home. He said that was fine, he just had to circumcize Lindon. Lindon then had to pee again before they would let us go. Dr Long did the procedure at about 8am and he didn't pee until about 3:30pm. After that it was all down hill, and we were out of there by 5pm!

I feel so much better here at home, both physically and mentally. I seem to be able to get up easier and am in way less pain. We are so happy and blessed!

38 Week Appt

2009-08-28T10:31:00.003-05:00

I didn't gain any weight, strange since I ate about 5 lbs of chocolate last week! I do still mow and walk 2-3 miles a day though. Thank goodness, or I would be putting on the weight! Anyway, so he's still breech and is now in the footling position, which could be dangerous. If my water were to break the cord could come out and cut the blood/oxygen off to the baby.

Yea, something else to worry about. I am still about the same, 1 cm and 60% effaced. We talked about how we felt about an external version, trying to turn the baby from the outside. Dr Long and I both don't really like that idea. It could be very dangerous. He said it was my choice of what I wanted to do, but he would like to wait until I'm at least 39 weeks to do anything. So I told him I'd schedule my 39 week appt, and we would decided a plan of action then.

I have SO much on my mind. Last night I just couldn't take it anymore and broke down to Kevin. I'm so worried. I don't want a c-section, but I don't think he is going to turn either. I'm worried about my water breaking and the cord coming out and cutting off oxygen to Lindon. I don't want to go into labor either because I don't want his foot coming out. I don't sleep at all anymore. My hips hurt me SO bad, the heartburn is horrible, and I have vaginal pressure so bad that it hurts to even lift my legs.

I'm really not a complainer. I hate to complain because I know other people have it way worse than I do. I just need to get this off my chest I guess. I'm really regretting not scheduling something for next week. It's not the waiting that is bothering me. It's the worrying. I don't want something to happen and have to rush to the hospital and be scared that something bad is going to happen.

This boy sure is giving me problems, and he's not even here yet! I just want him here the safest way possible and for him and I to be healthy. I'm really not looking for sympathy. I just needed to get it off my chest.

Cute Website!

2009-08-26T14:07:00.002-05:00

I found this cute website where you can make a lot of cute things!

Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

We're ready!

2009-08-25T14:15:00.003-05:00

Today Lindon's bedding came in the mail. So his room is now complete! I'm so excited about how the bedding turned out. I now feel completely ready for him to be here. It's an exciting and scary feeling. :)

37 Week Appointment

2009-08-24T14:21:00.004-05:00

Friday was my 37 week appointment. Lindon is still breech. I've been doing a couple of positions and stretches that are suppose to make him flip, but they haven't worked. He'll go from breech to transverse (sideways), but then he'll just go back breech. It's so painful when he makes big movements like that. After he goes from breech to transverse and back my stomach is so sore for days.

Anyway, I gained 5 lbs. All that is fluid though because I'm SO swollen! My feet, legs, hands, and face get so puffy and uncomfortable. I know I need to take it easy, rest, and put my feet up, but I'm in that nesting stage BAD! All I want to do is clean and organize this house. I also know it's just fluid because I've been walking 2-3 miles a day, and I can't really eat a lot because there's no room for the food. :)

At my 36 week appointment I wasn't dilated or effaced at all, and I didn't think I would be at my 37 week appointment because he's breech and not engaged in my pelvis. So there's no pressure on my cervix to help it dilate. I was 1 cm dilated and 60% efface much to my surprise! I would be more excited about the progress if he wasn't breech. I REALLY don't want a c-section.

People keep telling me that it's not bad, but I just don't want to have one. It would ruin all my plans. I want it to be just Kev and I in the delivery room with Claire coming in right after the delivery to see her baby brother. I am committed to breastfeeding this time, and I don't want to be in too much pain to breastfeed. I also don't want to have to recover from major abdominal surgery just to have to turn around and recover from my gallbladder surgery. In my prayers last night, instead of praying for Lindon to turn, I told Heavenly Father than I was fine with whatever would be the safest and best for Lindon and me, whether that be vaginal or c-section. I just want to have a healthy baby and be healthy myself. I have complete trust in Heavenly Father and what his plan might be for us at this time. I also trust my awesome doctor and what he thinks is best for us. I'll just have to grin and bear it, whatever "it" might turn out to be! :)

Here are some pictures of Miss Claire Bear riding her new bike that Kev and I got her for her birthday. She has't yet mastered the pedaling, but she LOVES to give it a go! :) What can I say... she's the bomb-digity!!

Claire's 3rd Birthday

2009-08-21T19:38:00.003-05:00

Claire turned 3 on August 14. Can you believe that?!?! There is no way I'm old enough to have a 3 year old! ;) I can't believe how much she has grown up in the last year. She loves talking on the phone to anybody who will listen. Every morning she wakes up and asks where her daddy is and has to call him at work. She loves watching movies, listening to music, and dancing. She LOVES to run and workout with Mommy. Just the other day we went walking, and she jogged a whole mile, nonstop! She is an awesome runner. She is the sweetest little girl, very sympathetic. When I get upset she tells me to close my eyes, breathe, and relax. It's so funny! I can't believe how excited she is to be a big sister. She asks everyday if he's coming out.

We had her party on August 8 because Kev's parents wouldn't have been able to come if we had had it on her birthday. She got so many presents! She is so spoiled. :) I'm thankful that Claire has so many people in her life that love her so much. She had a blast at her Tinker Bell party!

We went to her 3 year check up Thursday at Dr Worley's office. She weighs 31 1/2 pounds and is 36 1/2 inches. She did SO good. She usually freaks out at the doctor's office as soon as she sits on the examining table. The day before, though, I talked her through everything the doctor was going to do and told her that she was 3 now so she didn't have to scared and cry. She didn't cry one bit! I'm so proud of her.

I am so thankful that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to put her in my care. I am so lucky to be her mommy. I am blessed every day to have her here with me. I love her so much!

36 Week Dr's Appt

2009-08-13T15:47:00.003-05:00

Today was my appointment, and I was excited to see if I was dilated at all. I didn't gain any weight, my blood pressure was good, and there was no protein in my urine. I had to get some cultures done, the Group B Strep and some STD's. The STD's will be negative I already know. :) The Group B Strep test however is another story. I was positive with Claire. I'm hoping it's negative so that I don't have to worry about getting the antibiotics when in labor with Lindon. Oh well if I am though.

So I was checked today. I was thinking I would be about 2cm dilated and 40% effaced because I've had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions and pressure down low. I voiced my concern to Dr Long about me thinking that Lindon was breech so he felt on my belly for awhile. After he was done he told me that he also thought he was breech. He said when he checked me he could tell better though. So I am not dilated and only thinned out a tad, not even enough to say I'm effaced at all. Dr Long said that he was breech though. He said we'll monitor if he turns or not in the next couple weeks. If at my 38 weeks appt he thinks he's still breech he will order an ultrasound. If that shows he is breech then we'll schedule a c-section probably. I hope he turns though. I REALLY don't want a c-section!

I guess I'll just take it a day at a time to see if he turns. Claire and I were in the Dr's for 2 hours and got bored. So here are some pictures from the visit.

Baby Showers

2009-08-11T12:23:00.006-05:00

WOODVILLE BABY SHOWER

My Woodville baby shower was on July 25. My mom did an awesome job. Besides my mom and sisters, there were only 3 people there though. A lot of people were on vacation and some were sick. I don't know where everyone else was. We had a really good time. We just sat around, talked, and ate lots of yummy food and cake. I got lots of great gifts.

VIDOR/MID-COUNTY BABY SHOWER

My other shower was on August 7 at a friend's house, Sarah Jeter. It was great that she let me take over her house for an hour. We were having Bunko there anyway that night so we thought it would be a good idea to just combine them. It was lots of fun. My friend Abby made some really cute baseball cake balls and lots of people came. I'm so thankful to have such great friends!

Mandy (the Host) and Me

So we only have a few things that we still need to get, big things. Like a double stroller, changing table, etc. Kev and I are going today to Target to get the rest of what we need. The more we are ready for the baby, the more I get nervous! :) I'm so ready to see my little man though. I can't wait to see what he looks like and what his personality is. It seems so surreal sometimes that it's almost time to have him here, and that I'm actually going to have another baby. I've wanted him for so long before I got pregnant. I can't wait!

Emergency Room

2009-08-06T09:54:00.003-05:00

A couple months ago I was diagnosed with gallstones. I had a doctor's appointment with my surgeon, Dr Schmidt, who told me to eat bland, low-fat, no fried foods until after my surgery. He also told me that if I did have a bad attack I needed to go to the ER and would be admitted for a couple days to get antibiotics to reduce the inflammation of my gallbladder, and that would save us some time. That way he wouldn't have to operate while I'm pregnant.

Well, I've been doing pretty good about the diet and haven't had any bad attacks since being diagnosed. Tuesday night, however, I told Kevin that I wanted a hamburger. I was craving one so bad, and I figured since it's been a while since I had one it would be okay. He's learned to not argue with me while pregnant. He did ask if I thought that was a good idea, but I told him to pretty much be quiet because I was getting it! I should have listened...as usual.

At about 1:30am I woke up in SO much pain! I felt like I was having a heart attack. I was also having bad cold sweats and feeling very nauseous. I went to the restroom to throw up and started feeling like I was going to pass out so I called Kevin to wake him up. He rushed in there and saved me from almost passing out with my head in the toilet. (That would have been GROSS! Thanks Kev!) The pain got way worse, and it made my back start to spasm really bad. Then I started not being able to breathe. After passing out about 30 times I told Kevin that I needed to go to the ER. (Which is weird for me to say. I don't like making a big deal out of things.) I thought since I couldn't breathe and was sobbing in pain though, that it would be a good idea to go.

We packed Claire up and made it in the car at about 2:30am or so. On the way Kevin called his mom to meet us at the hospital to get Claire. He also called my parents, who got in their car and drove up. I continued to pass out about 10 more times on the way to the hospital. Kevin kept pushing me to wake me up. I would hit him after he did though because while I was passed out I was able to get some relief from the pain. (Sorry about hitting you Kev) Kevin decided to go to The Medical Center in Port Arthur because that's where both my doctors could go (OB/GYN and Surgeon). We did pass two other hospitals on the way. It was a safe decision just in case I would have had to have surgery it could have been my doctor doing it. On a funny note: Claire asked Kevin a couple times if it was time for Baby Lindon to come. She was hoping it was!

So we got there in record time. I immediately went over to a chair and got on my knees, arched my back and laid my head in the seat of the chair. That's the only position that made the spasms slack off a bit. Claire was so sweet. She was rubbing my back while Kevin was checking me in. She's so sympathetic! It seemed like forever before someone said we could go back. By the way, Kevin told the receptionist that we thought it was a gallbladder attack and that I had gallstones.

So Danita took Claire home, and Kevin and I went back into a little room where a lady on a computer asked me a bunch of questions like how far along are you, what was going on, etc. We told her the same thing we told the reception. I was then wheeled into an ER room. It seemed like FOREVER until yet another girl came in and asked the SAME EXACT QUESTIONS AS THE LAST GIRL! Is it SO hard to look at my chart! I mean the first girl put all this info into the computer for crying out loud, and they want more people to ask a person who is in SEVERE pain the same questions... Anyway, so the second chick who had a note pad and wrote down the same answers to the same questions left, and we wait forever again! By the way, I hadn't felt the baby move this entire time, which we pointed out to everyone we saw! When the RN came in, which seemed like hours later, he told me to lay down and he was going to check my stomach. Kevin finally told him to check the baby so he went and got a doppler. He was able to get Lindon's heart rate so that put us at ease a little bit. The RN told us that he was going to get some blood and put an IV in to give me some fluids and pain medicine. Thank goodness! So an hour or so later the doctor came in and pretty much did nothing and left. A lab tech came in right after and took my blood. Then the nurse soon followed with the IV and pain medicine. He gave me some fluids, Zofran for the nausea, and some Demerol. The Zofran was amazing! It did not knock me out, but it took away the nausea completely. It took about 10-15 minutes for the Demerol to take affect. It was weird because I could feel every bit of the pain, I just didn't care as much. I give it two thumbs up though!

I was NOT impressed about the lack of care for the baby though. You would think since they gave me a narcotic that they would hook my up to some monitors to monitor Lindon's reaction to the medicine. They didn't however. In fact they only took my vitals once the entire night, which we thought was bogus since I had passed out about 50 times. Anyway, so after about an hour on the Demerol it started wearing off so they gave me some more. Then about an hour or so after the second dose it started wearing off. We told the new nurse (shift change has happened), and we never heard anything back from her. She just said they were waiting for a call back from my OB/GYN, Dr Long. After about 30 minutes my mom went out and found the nurse, who said I couldn't have any more medicine. After that new I decided to try to get some sleep since that would be my only relief from the pain. I was told that an hour later the doctor finally came in with the blood work results and to talk to me. (I was asleep) Kev said the doc was about to wake me up, but before he could Kev asked about the results. The doctor said, "Well, they came back ok." Then he said, "Well, actually they showed maybe a bacterial infection and some levels of stuff were elevated, probably from the gallbladder attack." I woke up and he asked me what I wanted, to be admitted or go home. So I said, "What are you going to do for me if I stay??" He said they would be able to do better pain management, which I thought was funny since they just told me I couldn't have any more pain medicine...RETARDED! Needless to say, I decided to come home.

So after 6 1/2 hours in the ER, 8 hours in HORRIBLE pain (my attacks usually last about an hour), and $150 later I am back home. I was just telling some friends the other day how lucky I was because I'm 8 months pregnant and still have SO much energy. I am still able to mow my lawn with a push mower, edge, and weed eat. I am able to take care of Claire and my house with no issues, and still able to go places pretty comfortably! Well this attack has completely wiped my energy! Just sitting here typing I was tired. I don't feel like doing anything...AT ALL. I hate that feeling. I love cleaning my house, playing with Claire, walking to get the mail, and working out. I hope I get that energy back when my body recovers a bit.

34 Week Appointment & Family Reunion

2009-08-02T14:36:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday was my 34 week appointment. I told the nurse that my right kidney has been bothering me, and that I was worried about it because during my gallbladder ultrasound the tech told me that I had fluid in my right kidney. She just told me that...well she really didn't tell me anything. She just said she would test my urine. That test came back negative, so no infection. Why does my kidney still hurt though? Anyway, so then I talked to Dr Long. He said that the surgeon, Dr Schmidt, had called him and said he was going to do surgery soon after the baby was born. He said the next week in fact, but I think I'm going to wait until around November. That way Kevin can build up some vacation time, and I can get the breastfeeding down with Lindon before I have to stop nursing for a couple days because of the anaesthesia. I also talked to him about not inducing, but I think I'm going to after all. These gallbladder attacks are SO PAINFUL! My next appointment is in two weeks, and I will be getting checked. I'm really curious as to if I am dilated or effaced because I have a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions all the time that get pretty painful sometimes. Maybe he'll just come on his own a couple weeks early...Wouldn't that be AWESOME!

Saturday was the Odom Reunion. We got there about 11:30am and stayed til about 1pm. Claire stayed behind to stay the night with her Gammy and Paw Paw so that Kev and I could go shopping for her birthday party that is Saturday. I hope she loves the presents we got her. I now understand why my mom was so stressed at holidays and birthdays. You want your kids to be happy, and you worry that they won't like the gifts. I so get that now. I used to tell my mom to not worry about it, and that if we didn't like the gift that we could just bring it back. Boy was I naive. I am SO worried about Claire's reaction. She wants one of those big princess cars that she can drive, but they are too expensive. We just can't afford one right now. So I hope she's not heartbroken. We got her a princess bike. Kevin is really excited to teach her how to ride it. We also got her a little helmet and shoulder and knee pads. She's going to look precious! I can't wait to see her in them. I'm kinda sad though because her cousins that live in Lufkin can't come. She LOVES her cousin Taylor, and I know she'll be sad that she's not there. My nephew, Hunter, has 2 T-ball games that day though so I understand why they can't come.

Reunion Pics: It was SO hot!!

I had my Woodville baby shower last Saturday. It was fun. We all just sat around talking. Not many people were there because a lot of people were on vacation and some were sick. I appreciate all the gifts though. I also appreciate my mom throwing it for me. She's one of my best friends! I'll have pictures up of the shower when I get them off my mom's camera. I also have another shower that my close friends are throwing me. I have the greatest friends ever! I really appreciate everything they do. I love how close we are, and that we would do anything for each other. It's awesome! After this shower I guess I will feel more ready. Because right now I don't feel ready at all! Kevin tells me all the time how many weeks I have left, and I tell him to be quiet because it freaks me out. I still feel like we have so many things to get done. We really don't though. We have all the big stuff from when Claire was born, we have preregistered at the hospital, we have paid our amount that we needed to pay up front, and I have my breastfeeding class scheduled. I don't know what else we would need. I mean we still need small stuff like diapers, wipes, burp clothes, and I really want a Graco double stroller. Other than that we are ready when I stop and think about it. Well, I guess ready or not here we come in a few weeks!

More Belly Shots

2009-07-28T14:05:00.002-05:00

32 Weeks & 3 days

Boy have I gotten big! HaHa Not too much longer. I can't believe I only have 6 1/2 weeks left. As the date gets closer I get more and more anxious! Having a second child is so different. It's good in a way because you know what to expect, but it's bad for the exact same reason, if that makes sense...

Last Thursday I had a doctor's appointment with a surgeon, Dr Schmidt, about my gallbladder. He said I do need surgery, but he would like to wait until after the baby is born. He did say that if the attacks got bad he would do surgery while I was pregnant. He doesn't want to do that though. He told me to schedule another appointment after I had the baby, and we would schedule the surgery. I think I'm going to wait until November to have it done though. That way I can get the breastfeeding down with Lindon because he'll have to have a bottle for a few days while the medicine leaves my system. Also Kevin will be able to build up some vacation time.

I have pretty much stopped sleeping now. I don't remember having a sleeping problem with Claire. I think I slept fine up until I delivered. Last night was horrible. I didn't fall asleep until about 5:30am and slept until 9am. Since I couldn't sleep I did some house work and made Kev a lunch. I guess my body is gearing up for having Lindon here.

32 Week Dr's Appointment Update

2009-07-16T13:58:00.002-05:00

The appointment was pretty routine for 32 weeks. I got my blood pressure (normal) and weight (didn't gain anything, yea!) checked. I'm feeling pretty good besides all the pressure I have from the baby being so low. Lindon's heart rate was good at 150 b/m. Dr Long's office also referred me to a surgeon for my gallbladder. I have an appointment Thursday with a Dr Schmidt. Hopefully everything goes okay. Maybe the gallstones just magically disappeared! You think??? I wish!! I really don't want to have surgery right after having a baby. I want to spend that time with my family, taking care of Lindon, not recovering! I guess I'll just wait and see what the doctor says before I freak out or complain about anything. I also need to go see a doctor about my hips. My uncle had his hips pinned at 14 and my mom had to have a hip replacement last year in August. Hopefully my hips just have to be pinned at the most. I can hardly sleep because of the pain. They pop out of socket all the time. I can pop them back in by myself pretty easily, but it's painful.

Claire is so excited about being a big sister. Every time I tell her we have to go to the "baby Dr" she asks if I'm going to push him out yet. If we ask her when Baby Lindon is coming she says September. She's so smart! She's potty trained now. It took less than a week! Can you believe it? I was dreading it SO much, and it turned out to be no big deal, thank goodness! She's such an entertainer. She will sing and dance for us all the time. When I think about her turning 3 next month it freaks me out. Can I really be old enough to have a 3 year old?!?!? Kevin and I were talking to Claire about what she wanted for her birthday, and one of the presents that she wanted was a backpack. Kevin told her not for this birthday but she can have one in two years when she turns 5. It almost made me cry to think that Claire will be in school in just 2 years!! Where does the time go? We are so thankful to have her in our lives, and that Heavenly Father entrusted her care to us. I only hope I can do it justice. She deserves so much. We love her with all our heart, and we can't wait to welcome Lindon to our family.

Time Flies

2009-07-14T15:20:00.004-05:00

WOW! I can't believe I'm already almost 32 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy has flown by. Claire's pregnancy seemed to inch by SO slow. I guess since I have a toddler and more responsibilities to take care of I don't have the time to dwell on the pregnancy, thank goodness!

So Friday Kevin and I went to the hospital, where I will be delivering Lindon, to pre-register. During the process I all the sudden was filled with anxiety. I looked at Kevin and told him how real it was feeling to me now and how nervous I was. In a way already having a kid is good, and in a way it is bad. It's good because you have an idea of how everything is suppose to go and sorta what to expect. And in a way it's bad because you know how painful it's going to be and everything that can go wrong.

Claire's labor was super easy for me. I was induce at 8am. I continued to dilate but never felt any contractions until after my water broke at 7:30pm. Two hours later I was fully dilated and twenty minutes later Claire was born at 9:52pm. After the delivery wasn't so good. My blood pressure ended up dropping really low, and I kept passing out. They weren't able to transfer me to a recovery room until the morning because every time I even moved my head I would pass out. Then I didn't get to see Claire until about 12 hours after she was born because I was unstable. I just pray everything goes better, and it's an uneventful labor, delivery, and recovery. Also that everything is okay with Lindon.

Kevin and I have also been talking about being induced. I didn't like the induction with Claire because it was with pitocin and I had to stay in bed all day. I want the option of walking around and showering if I feel like it. I don't want to be induce also because I want to experience going into labor naturally, especially if this is going to be our last baby. (We're not sure at this point) I guess if Dr Long agrees to induce me using Cytotec and not pitocin then I will consider an induction. We'll see when we get closer to the due date I guess.

We ordered Lindon's baby bedding a couple days ago. It takes 6-8 weeks for the lady to make it. I'm so excited to see it and put it up in his room.

Some things will be changed though from the picture. The bed skirt is going to be straight instead of gathered like the picture. The crib sheet is going to be black, and the red crib pillow is going to be in the black astros fabric. Also the bumper will not have the rounded headboard you see in the picture.

I also super excited about having my baby shower in Woodville. I will get to see lots of family and friends that I don't get to see hardly. I think the invitations came our super cute. I told my mom I wanted to do them because I had an idea of how I wanted them to look. Also my mom is so busy with work that I knew it would help her out a bunch. Plus, there were a lot of extra people I wanted to invite that my mom wouldn't have known the addresses. It worked out good.

If you click on the shower invitation picture it will be bigger and easier to read.

Potty Training...

2009-07-02T14:51:00.002-05:00

...is going WAY better than I thought! I'm so happy and proud of my big girl! Yesterday she only had 1 poop accident! Just one!! She did SO good! Yesterday afternoon I decided to try to put her in panties (she's gone bare bottomed until then). I had to go to the doctor and run a bunch of errands today so I wanted her to get used to wearing panties. She did super good. At first she didn't want to wear them, but her Auntie Em came over and brought her some new princess panties and a potty book, so she wanted to wear them. Thanks Auntie Em!! ;) At night we've been putting a pull up on her and for the past 2 nights she's gone pee before she goes to bed, and she wakes up with a dry pull up!

So today I had to go to the doctor, drop off clothes at Goodwill, go to the bank and ATM, and go grocery shopping. I debated last night whether or not to put her in a pull up or panties. I decided to be brave and put her in panties. She went potty right before we left the house. She also went right before we left Dr Long's office. Then we ran errands for like 2 1/2 hours so I decided we better stop at Nick & Danita's house for a potty break. We then came home with NO accidents!! She did just have a poop accident but then she sat on the potty and went pee. We just need to get her going poop in the potty, and we will be set I think! She's doing really good. I'm SOOO proud of her!!!

On a side note, we were in the check out line at Wal-Mart, and there was a family behind us made up with a grandma, mom, and little girl about 4 to 5 yrs old. Claire and the little girl were talking and all the sudden the little girl called Claire a loser. :( Claire doesn't know what that mean, but she knows it's ugly. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I'm not a loser!" I assured her she wasn't and the checker at Wal-Mart also assured her she wasn't. The little girl did get in trouble by her mom. It was so sad though. It hurt her feelings! That's the first time something like this has happened to Claire, and I think she handled it pretty well!

The doctor's appointment was routine. Lindon's heart rate was 160, and he was moving a lot. We're doing good. I have to go back in 2 weeks.

How does a person...

2009-06-29T14:57:00.002-05:00

...get through the time of potty training their child?? It's a mystery to me. It's SO hard! I just had no idea how much of a chore it was to start potty training and actually stick to it! So yesterday after church I was having a brave moment and decided to start potty training Claire. I've started many times since she was 18 months but always quit after a day because she would just not get it.

Yesterday she still did not get it. I put her in panties because when I use pull ups it feels like a diaper to her so she pees in them without any thought. She peed in them all day. She never once would tell me she had to go. I was not a nice person to her, nor was Kev, when she would pee on the floor. We went through all 3 pairs of panties in like 2 hours so we just let her go "free". She still continued to pee on the floor.

So I was laying in bed this morning NOT wanting to continue because I hate being mean or upset towards her. Kevin called me though and asked if I was still going to try, so I decided to keep going. I figure if I don't stick to it then she definitely won't ever get it. It was hard to get her started. I continued to let her go without anything, diaper, pull up, or panties. She peed on the floor a lot, but would tell me once she peed. So I would rush her on the potty, and she would finish on the potty. I would still get frustrated so I talked to my cousin about it. She just reminded me to be nice, even when she peed on the floor, tell her that she did good for going pee. If she went in the potty though give her a treat. My cousin, Stacey, went to the store and bought Claire some Tinker Bell soap that she gets to use if she goes in the potty and not on the floor. She was super excited about that.

I also made her a Princess Potty Chart to put stickers on if she goes in the potty. She also gets a disney sticker to play with if she goes. So she started out today just peeing on the floor, then she would start to pee and tell me she was peeing so we would run to the potty to finish.

Then when I was on the laptop it got quiet to I looked around for Claire and she was sitting on the potty going without even telling me she had to go. She did it all by herself! She's done it 3 more times since then without peeing on the floor at all! Maybe there is light at the end of this long looooong looooooonnnnggggg tunnel! I hope it continues to go well. I know there will be set backs and accidents. I just hope I can keep my cool until she's fully potty trained! Wish me luck...I need it! ;)

Fun Mother/Daughter Times

2009-06-23T13:11:00.002-05:00

I LOVE summer! I love the idea of not watching any kids but my own. I love the relaxing flow of summer at this stage in our life. I'm sure as our kids grow up it won't be relaxing anymore with sports events, and recitals. I look forward to those times too though. Yesterday Claire and I had a great lazy day. I borrowed a kiddie pool from our cousin. I blew up the pool and filled it with water. Claire had fun swimming for about 45 minutes. Then we came in and cleaned up. We played with some playdough. Claire really enjoyed that. Then it was nap time and I really enjoyed that! ;) It was a great day.

Today has been great also. We woke up and ate some breakfast. Claire played with her toys while I did my workout on the Wii Active. We then got ready to go to Sister Brown's house for Mommy and Me swim time. Claire loves to swim. She's so independent in the water but cautious at the same time. It's a good combination. She's such a fish! There is a young woman, Ashley Abbott, in our Ward, and Claire fell in love with her. She wanted Ashley to swim with her the entire time, which was great cause I got a break. :) We then came home, cleaned up, ate some lunch, and Claire is taking a nap while I relax. Life is GREAT. The only bad thing is that Kevin won't be home until late because he "has" to go to am Astros game for work, like that's a bad thing. :) I'm glad he gets to go do something fun that he enjoys with some co-workers. He never goes out with other people. I have my awesome friends that I see once a month for Ladies' Night so he should go out with friends.

28 Week Dr's Appt. Update

2009-06-18T17:40:00.002-05:00

So today I went to my Dr's appt. I had to take the 1 hour glucose test which I passed with flying colors! 140 and higher have to take the 3 hr test. With Claire I passed by only 2 points, 138. With this one I was at 116. MUCH better this time around wouldn't you say?!?!

I've also only gained 5 lbs total this pregnancy, pretty cool dude!

So, Dr Long confirmed what the ultrasound tech thought, I do have gallstones and sludge. SO NOT FUN! It's very painful when I have attacks. It feels like I'm having a heart attack, and there is no position I can get into that makes it feel better. The attacks used to last about 20 minutes and now they are lasting hours! I've been up since about 3am because I was in so much pain. We talked about inducing early so that I can have surgery on my gall bladder sooner. He said once I got further along he would see if I was inducible. If I am then we will induce. Dr Long said I would be able to have surgery within a month of having the baby if the pain is still bad.

My iron level is within the normal range also, with Claire I was very anemic.

Kev and I bought the new Wii Active game Saturday. It's very cool. It's a good workout, better than the Wii Fit I think. I talked to Dr Long about working out with it, and he said that I needed to be very careful and only do low-impact exercises. I told him I would be extra careful.

All in all it was a good appointment I guess!

More Belly Pictures

2009-06-15T14:53:00.002-05:00

Here is the baby bump at 27 Weeks & 3 Days...Enjoy the fatness ;)

I think I look littler in person though...

More of Lindon's Scrapbook

2009-06-10T15:36:00.013-05:00

I am really getting into this scrapbooking thing. I will be sad when I finish his book. I will then have to start of another one for Claire I guess. ;) I'm sure Kevin would love for me to spend even more money! Here is the scrapbook so far. I am SO proud of it! I love how it's turning out so far. Enjoy!!

The Book

The Ultrasound Page

Birth Page

Welcome Home Page

Family Page

Daddy & Lindon

Mommy & Lindon

Claire & Lindon

The Grandmas' Page

The Grandpas' Page

1st Bath

Sleeping Page

Blessing Page

1st Doc's Appt

1st Halloween/1st Christmas

1st Haircut

1st Birthday Page

I still have 4 pages left to do I think before his book will be done. I look forward to finishing it up before he gets here!

Dallas Trip

2009-06-10T09:01:00.004-05:00

Kevin and I have been in Dallas since Sunday evening. Sunday we just chilled out in the hotel. Monday I took Kevin to training and went to Hobby Lobby to get some more scrapbook stuff for Lindon's book. It's so weird. I was NEVER into scrap booking or anything creative. I'm way too OCD for it. However, I have really enjoyed it. That isn't good because it's so expensive to scrapbook. I've already spent like $100 on Lindon's scrapbook and it's still not done! Oh well though. I enjoy, and as my sis-in-law tells her husband, "It's cheaper than I therapist!" LOL I also went to Target on Monday to get Kev some flash cards so that he could study some definitions. Monday after I picked Kevin up we headed to the Grapevine Mills Mall to go to Rainforest Café. I have been outside of one but have never eaten at one. It was really neat. When all the animals went crazy it was so cool. There were aquariums everywhere and a waterfall. Claire would have really loved it or REALLY hated it! She's a bit of a scaredy cat.

On Tuesday after I took Kev to class I went back to the hotel to work on Kev's flash cards. After I finished them I went back to Hobby Lobby to get more stuff. The hotel we stay at has a free breakfast bar and on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday they have a free dinner bar. So we stayed at the hotel and ate spaghetti last night. Tonight we'll stay here and eat Grilled chicken.

We leave Friday morning and plan to stop by the Russell Stovers Candy Factory in Corsicana and then stop in Conroe at the Outlet Mall.

I'm enjoying the little vacation, but I miss Claire so much. I'm sure she's having a blast at Gammy and PawPaw's house. She really enjoys playing with Jace.

Sprinkler Park

2009-06-05T09:18:00.003-05:00

Monday was my first day of "freedom". (The first day of not watching Gianna) Watching Gianna wasn't bad. It's just that I didn't feel like I could get up and go places during the day because I had to be back at a certain time. Anyway, so Monday I drove to Port Neches. (Claire had spent the night Sunday, so she was already there.) Kim, Kari, and myself took Hunter, Taylor, Tucker, Claire, and Parker to the sprinkler park there in Port Neches. Kari and I walked Parker around a little bit, and the other kids had a blast. I went last year with Claire, but she didn't like it very much. I was hoping that since Taylor was there she would like it more, which she did. Claire even dragged me out in the water.

Scrapbooking

2009-06-01T18:44:00.005-05:00

I had to go to Hobby Lobby to pick some more things for the shelf project and got caught up in all the scrapbooking stuff. I bought that book the other day so I decided to pick some supplies up to start working on it. Here are some pages that I finished. Let me know what you think because this scrapbooking stuff isn't my thing. I think they turned out really cute though! I'm excited to put some more pages together. (Once we get some money.) ;)

Nursery Decor

2009-05-31T15:30:00.004-05:00

Kevin and I have decided to do Houston Astros/Baseball as the decor for Lindon's room. We have some really cute ideas. We are in the process of making a baseball shelf that I hope will turn out how we are picturing it in our minds. I'll take a picture and post it when we get it done.

I also bought a scrapbook for Lindon. It's a baseball one. I want to do his book myself, but I'm not a very creative person. I'm excited to try to do it though.

We also found the baby bedding that we want. The only thing is that it is pretty expensive. This might be our last baby so I think we are going to save and sacrifice and get the bedding. It's really cool!

A Birthday Party, A Sick Little Girl, and Kev's New Toy...

2009-05-24T13:44:00.007-05:00

A Birthday Party
This past week has been a little busy. Saturday we were invited to go to Claire's cousin, Donnavan's, birthday party. It was a fun swim party/cook out at Grammer and Grump's house. Claire had a blast. She loves to swim! She swam for hours. It was a lot fun.

So good it makes her eyes roll back in her head! :)

A Sick Little Girl
Wednesday night Claire started coughing a lot. She woke up Thursday with a really bad runny nose, a croupy cough, and a fever of 101.2. Then at around noon I noticed that not just her forehead was hot anymore. She was burning up all over. I took her temp again and it was 102.1. I called the doctor and got her an appointment for that afternoon at 4:20 with Dr Hubbell. (Dr Worley was not in that day) After waiting about 2 hours we finally saw the doctor. She diagnosed her with Bronchitis and wrote 3 prescriptions. She was so pitiful though. I could tell she was really achy because one minute she would want me to hold her, and then the next minute she didn't want anyone to touch her. She would toss and turn on the couch all day. On Friday she was pretty pitiful. It took her about 2 hours of tossing and turning and whining to fall asleep on the couch. She's been on her medicine for a couple days now and is doing MUCH better! She has been so good at taking her medicine. The first night she took the Predisolone she threw it up because I think Kev gave it to her too fast. Now she takes all 3 like a champ! I am so glad I have my baby with all the energy back!

Kev's New Toy
So yesterday some friends invited us to go out to eat with them. Kevin thought they said that they would call us when they got into town and we would try to eat at noon. However, they didn't get into town until 2 so we had 2 hours to kill. Kev and I have been talking about getting him a new truck for a while now. The truck that he drives now is a 1997 Ford Ranger with 160,000 miles. It's been a good truck and has always started, but we didn't know how much longer it would last. So we decided just to go look. We walked around the Ford dealership and didn't find anything we liked so we decided to go to the Nissan dealer. Kevin really likes the Nissan Frontier 4 doors. They had a huge selection of new ones, but we have always said we would buy used. So we told the salesman that we were just looking and he replied, "Good, I don't feel like doing paperwork today!" LOL We sat in one, and Kev decided to take it for a spin. When Kev got back he said he drove really great and that he liked it a lot. We decided to go inside to just talk numbers, just to waste some time, with no intention of buying. The salesman's boss came out and talked to use and asked what he had to do to get us to sign some papers that day. We told him he had to give us a really good deal with no money down. It was about time for us to go eat with friends so he said he would play with the numbers while we were gone.

Well, he made us a great deal, and we signed the papers. Kevin is now the proud owner of a Black 2009 Nissan Frontier 4 door. We knew we wanted a 4 door so that we could put car seats in it. It has already been used for that reason, and Claire loves riding in Daddy's new truck with him!

Dr's Appointment Update & Some Exercise

2009-05-13T14:05:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was my doctor's appointment. I went in with a few questions and concerns and only ended up remembering to talk to him about one of my concerns. So I have some questions next time I go. My appointment was at 3:45pm and I was out by 4:15pm. With Claire I always made my appointments for the morning and ended up waiting for hours. With this pregnancy I watch Baby Anna so I have to make my appointments for the afternoon, and I think the longest I have ever waited this time was 1 1/2 hours! Anyway, so I got weighed (the fun part!). I weigh 171.2 lbs. I started the pregnancy at 170 lbs, so I have only gained 1.2 lbs. Yea! I lost 9.8 lbs though during the first trimester. So really I have gained 11 lbs. I told myself and Kevin at the beginning of the pregnancy that I didn't want to weigh more than 179.4 lbs because that's what I weighed at the end of the pregnancy with Claire. Kevin reminded me that I was 29 lbs heavier at the start of this one than with Claire, so it would be okay if I weighed more. I told him that it wouldn't be okay! ;) So, according to me, I can only gain 8.2 more lbs.

The concerns that I had wanted to talk to him was about Lindon's activity level. I did remember to talk to him about that one. He said boys are different than girls, and also that babies differ. The heart rate was 145 b/m so he said that Lindon was perfect and moving. Dr Long had to chase him a little to get his HR. I also wanted to talk to him about Lindon being small. The ultrasound tech kept saying he was little so it has been worrying me. I went back and read my journal from when I was pregnant with Claire to see how much she weighed when we had the ultrasound. She weighed 12 oz and Lindon weighs 11 oz. So there's not much difference. Claire came out okay. She weighed 6 lbs 11.9 oz when she was born, so maybe it means Lindon will be around 6 lbs also.

The question I wanted to ask him about was that I have been getting a pain in my chest that moves to my back. It feels like I have an air pocket in my chest, like when you burp and hiccup at the same time. That pain goes to the middle of my back between my shoulder blades. It's kinda painful and more annoying than anything. I asked my mom about it last week, and she said it might be acid reflux. I didn't tell her at the time that the pain went to my back also. I tried taking tums. That didn't help so I asked her about it again and told her how the pain moves into my back and she said it sounded like when she would have gallbladder attacks when she was pregnant with my little brother, Jarom. She ended up having to have surgery after he was born.

If anyone has any suggestions or knowledge about these questions and concerns feel free to share!

So today I was sitting on the couch in the quiet. (The girls were actually taking a nap at the SAME time!!) I was thinking about not gaining anymore weight and decided to exercise. I pulled out my poor neglected elliptical and worked out on it for 30 minutes. It said I burned 461.2 calories. (which isn't right, I don't think) Anyway, so I feel much better! I don't know why I don't exercise more since the feeling afterwards is SO AWESOME! I guess cause I'm LaZy!! LOL Why does it take so long to get into shape, but it only takes weeks or days to get out of shape. I used to do a 5k on the elliptical which took me about 2 hours. When I did 30 minutes worth my legs were SO sore and tired, and I could breathe! SO NOT FAIR!

Okay, I'm done ranting...

Hard to Sleep

2009-05-12T09:39:00.003-05:00

It's starting to get uncomfortable to sleep now. I never really got that way with Claire that I can remember. Sometimes I just feel like sleeping on my stomach, and I can't because of the baby.

I have a doctor's appointment today, and I'm going to talk to him about Lindon's activity level. He's not a very active little boy. Or maybe I'm just used to an OVER active baby. Claire NEVER stopped moving in the womb. Which is true today. She's always moving now, even in her sleep. I do feel him move and kick throughout the day so I guess he's okay. He has a definite sleep-wake cycle going, which is cool. Maybe he'll sleep all the time like a newborn is suppose to do. Claire wasn't a typical newborn. She only took maybe a 30 minute nap a day, and the rest of the time she was wide awake. Strange child... LOL I love her SO much though. She's so loving, kind, and gentle.

I only have about 3 more weeks until summer, which means I won't be watching Gianna anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love that little girl, but I'm ready to be a mother of one again for a months. I will be nice to be able to just pack up and go places and not have to worry about being back at a certain time. I'm also ready to go swimming! I love to swim, but I don't want to have to bring Gianna out there and worry about watching her and Claire. That would be too much since Claire loves to just run and jump in the pool withOUT any help! Just a couple more weeks...

We finally did it...

2009-05-05T15:45:00.005-05:00

Kevin has been asking me for about 1 1/2 years to get Claire's hair cut, but I could never do it. It was so long and beautiful. I made her (and myself) a hair appointment with Tiffany. It turned out SO good. Tiffany is the best! I was so nervous about how she would react to getting her hair cut. She did SO good! She did exactly what Tiffany asked her to do. I was so impressed!

It's a..........BOY!

2009-04-29T14:01:00.003-05:00

Profile Picture

Face

Arm & Hand w/ thumb's up sign

It's a Boy!!

Another picture of his manhood! :)

Yea! I'm so excited! I knew it was a boy. I'm so glad my feelings were confirmed. He didn't cooperate as well as I had hoped though. He was making me nervous for awhile. The entire time the tech was trying to get a shot of his stuff his legs were closed. Then near the end of the ultrasound he finally opened his legs, but when he did he put his hand over himself. So we still couldn't see. Finally he opened his legs so that we could get a picture! Stubborn little boy!

When I first went in I told the tech I wanted a profile picture of the baby because with Claire the tech only took pics of Claire's face which is freaky. The baby looks like an alien. He wouldn't give us a good profile picture. We finally got one at the end, but it didn't turn out as good as we would have liked. At least we got one though.

I asked the tech if the placenta was low because of all the pressure I am having. She told me it wasn't low, but the baby was low and head down. That's probably why I have the pressure.

Kev called me after he had gone back to work and asked how many outfits I had bought at Wal-Mart after the ultrasound... LOL! I only bought 2. I couldn't help it. I want to shop! :)

Update from yesterday's belly bump post!

2009-04-28T09:36:00.002-05:00

I thought this was too funny to not share. When Kevin came home from work yesterday I was in the kitchen cooking. He walked in and said hey honey like usual. When I turned around to tell him hi he said, "Whoa! Where did that come from?!?!? (Talking about the baby bump.) That wasn't there yesterday!" LOL Too funny! He was completely shocked. Like I said yesterday day. I pop like OVERNIGHT! It's so strange.

20 Weeks & 3 Days

2009-04-27T11:31:00.003-05:00

From week 19 to week 20 I all the sudden started showing. It's so weird how you I don't gradually start to show. I just all the sudden sorta pop out. With Claire I popped from week 23 to 24. I guess since this is my second child it happened quicker. Sometimes though I just feel fat, not pregnant. I hate that feeling! Here are some pictures of my baby bump.

3 Days to Go!!!

2009-04-26T14:48:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday we are finally having our ultrasound!! I'm so excited. I still think it's a boy. Kevin still thinks it's a girl. We'll see who's right soon. Either way I don't really care. There are perks for having either gender.

I want Claire to have a little sister to play with since she is SO girly! If I have a girl though I would want to try again for a boy, and if I try again for a boy I would want to have one more to make 4 kids. I'm not into having an odd number of kids.

However, if it's a boy I would get to experience all the boy stuff. I would also more than likely be done having kids.

At this point though I just want the ultrasound tech to be able to see. So let's hope the baby cooperates!

Oh, Claire got to feel the baby kick the other morning. She loves to pull my shirt up and rub and kiss my belly. It just so happened that morning the baby was awake and kicking pretty hard. At first it sorta startled her. Then she loved it, and she kept pushing my stomach to make the baby kick some more. :) I was so excited for her!

A Lot Has Happened...

2009-04-21T12:15:00.004-05:00

Many things have happened this past week. On Tuesday morning at about 4:30am I received a call from my mom telling me that my sister-in-law, Ashlei, was coding and not stable. I woke Kev up, and we jumped out of bed to get ready to drive to MD Anderson in Houston where Ashlei has been in the hospital since February. We packed Claire up and drove her to her Awna D and Geazer's house because she wouldn't be able to go to ICU where Ashlei was suppose to be. She wouldn't even be allowed on that floor.

I kept praying that Ashlei would at least hang in there until Heber, my brother, could make it back to Houston from Oklahoma. My dad, brother, and nephew (Jace) drove up so that Heber could get some things from their house and to sign the transfer papers that would allow him to move to Houston to be closer to Ash.

After dropping Claire off we headed out on I-10 towards Houston. About 20 minutes into the trip I got a phone call from my mom that Ashlei had passed away at 4:57am after the doctor's tried to get her stabilized for 1 1/2 hours. It was such devastating news. She had been battling cancer for 2 1/2 years, and through all the trials that she faced I always thought she would make it. Heavenly Father knows best though. She put up such a good fight. I miss her like crazy, but I am so proud of her for the courage that she showed continually.

She is such a special person. We went to school and worked together. It was so great when one of my best friends became family.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to help dress Ashlei, to do her one last service. She was so beautiful and looked at peace. She had a beautiful funeral on Sunday and was buried at the Town Bluff Cemetary.

I was doing better on Monday until Claire asked to see pictures of Uncle Brew, Aunt Ash, and Jace. While looking at pictures on Heber's facebook Claire and I were talking, then all of the sudden Claire said, "Mommy, shhh. Aunt Ashlei is sleeping with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Aunt Ashlei loves Jesus so much!" When I heard that I couldn't help but to break down in tears. I am so thankful to have Claire in my life at this time. She is so young yet understands so much. She continues to teach me everyday!

I am SO thankful for the knowledge that I have of the plan of salvation! I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints all my life, but have never given much thought about what an amazing comfort it is in my life until now. I am thankful to my Savior, Jesus Christ, for atoning for my sins. I am thankful for forever families, that I can be together with my wonderful husband, Kevin, throughout eternity!

Today Kev, Claire, and I are in Deer Park. Kevin had to come to do some training for work. Given the recent events I wanted to be as close to him as possible. So I decided to pack Claire and I up so that we could go with him. I am thankful to have such a great boss. I watch a baby while her mom teaches at the elementary school in Vidor. They have been so understanding throughout this entire time. I was able to take last week off to spend with family, and now I was able to call at the last minute to tell them that I would be coming to Houston. They are such a blessing and sweet people. I couldn't ask for better!

Kevin had to be in Deer Park at the Flowserve building at 8am, and Claire and I couldn't check in until 2pm so I decided to make the drive through Houston, by myself, to the zoo. We were able to spend 2 hours there enjoying the animals and especially each other's company! The Houston Zoo is so cool. They have a whole section of the zoo called the Children's Zoo. There they have a petting zoo, play grounds, a carousel, and so much more. We had such a blast. I will post pictures as soon as I download my picture software on my new laptop! Yeah, I got an awesome new laptop since mine crashed a couple weeks ago. It was a sad day! What kind of a Fruge would I be if I didn't own a laptop. When you walk in Kev's parent's house everybody is sitting on the couch on their laptop. It's pretty funny! Anyway, so Claire and I are all checked in and chilling out together!

On Monday I had a doctor's appointment with my OB/GYN. I have gained some weight, but I'm still not up to what I was before I got pregnant. So I am not tripping out yet. :) The baby's heartrate was 145 b/m. Everything looks good! We were able to schedule the ultrasound also. I am so excited. It's going to be on Wednesday, April 29. I will post then!

Pictures

2009-04-09T10:21:00.003-05:00

Baby Anna

Claire with Jan & Jeff's babies

Mattia

Annaliese

New Craving

2009-04-03T09:37:00.002-05:00

I am off the cheese fries craving, thank goodness! I will feel SO guilty when I ate some. I hate that feeling. I now crave fruit, any and all. Ok, maybe not any and all. I want fresh pineapple and a lot of it! I also love purple grapes, strawberries, and clementine oranges (the small ones). The pineapple is the best though. It has to be fresh though, not the canned stuff. I'm so glad I'm finally craving something healthy! Yea!!

Baby Movement

2009-03-25T09:56:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago (at about 12 weeks) I started feeling the baby push up on my stomach. Then last Friday (at 15 weeks) I felt the first like butterfly flutter, like the baby had done a flip or something. Last night as Kevin and I were laying in bed watching Biggest Loser I felt the first kick! He/she was kicking a lot. I told Kev, and he asked if it would be hard enough for him to feel. But as soon as I lifted up my shirt and pulled my pants off my stomach the baby stopped. I guess because I took the pressure off of my stomach. I don't think it was hard enough for Kev to feel anyway.

I am so blessed to be able to feel my babies early. With Claire I was only 14 weeks when I started feeling her. (Normally first time moms feel the baby between 20 and 22 weeks.) It is such a relief to feel this one early since I have been so worried about miscarriage.

My next appointment is about 3 weeks away (April 13). I'm excited because I'll be able to schedule my ultrasound! I've been wanting and thinking this one's a boy, but now I think I want it to be a girl so that Claire will have a sister to play with.

She has such a big imagination. She loves to be different Disney Princesses every day. Yesterday she was Princess Aurora and I was Prince Phillip. Then that night when we were in the bath she was Ariel and I was Flounder. When it was time to get out she said, "OK Flounder but first I have to go to Ursula to get some legs before Prince Eric (Kevin) can come get me." So she "swam" to the other side of the tub and got some legs. :) It was so cute and funny. She is 2 1/2 and she still amazes me everyday. She is so smart and sweet. She seems so much older. Sometimes though she reminds me that she's is just 2. We are working on sharing toys. That lesson is hard. How do you teach a 2 yr old to share?!?! I'll take any suggestions!

Kevin's Birthday Party

2009-03-18T12:49:00.003-05:00

Kev's birthday party was fun. My family came over, and we grilled burgers and hot dogs. We also had baked beans and potato salad. Claire got her daddy a Houston Astros Tie, I got Kev a new big jump drive, and my family got Kev and I some IBC Root Beer Astros bottle holders. They are pretty awesome. I think he had a good bday. At least I hope he did.

Dr.'s Appointment & Kev's Birthday

2009-03-12T16:00:00.002-05:00

Today was my appointment. I asked the nurse about all my symptoms. She said that everything was probably related to the pregnancy but to talk to Dr Long about passing out. I lost another 3 lbs, so I'm up to 8 lbs lost. That's pretty cool. I'm gonna cry the day I go in and see weight gain. My blood pressure was low also.

I told Dr Long that I had pretty bad vaginal pressure all the time. When he went to check the heart rate he found the baby really low in my abdomen. He said that was why I had the pressure. The heart rate was 145 b/m. It is such an awesome thing to listen to. Claire enjoys hearing it. She tells everyone that the baby says "blump, blump." It's too cute. When we were listening to the HB we could hear the baby kicking and moving around. It made me teary. It's probably just the hormones! ;)

So I told Dr Long about passing out, and he said that he wanted me to keep track of what I eat, when I eat, and what I'm doing when I feel like passing out. He wants to find out if I'm hypoglycemic again or if it's a circulation problem. We'll see...

Kev turned 26 today! Yea. Happy Birthday to Kev/Daddy! I hope today is good for him. My family is coming over with dinner so that we can eat and party! I'll post some pics tomorrow of the festivities.

Rodeo

2009-03-11T15:10:00.002-05:00

Saturday Kev and I went to the rodeo in Houston with Kev's boss and his wife. It was my first time to go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The rodeo part was okay. I actually knew more about it than I thought. Kev asked me a bunch of questions about what was going on, and I think I answer almost all of them correct. ;) If not, oh well, it's not like he'll ever know. :)

The concert part was really good. That was my first concert. I know, I need to live alittle! Trace Adkins was the performer, and he did really good. It's a really good entertainer! Here's pics...

Updates

2009-03-06T15:56:00.002-06:00

There isn't really a lot to update about. When I was pregnant with Claire I passed out a few times. That started up in this pregnancy. Last Sunday while Kev was Home Teaching I passed out. It was more traumatic for poor Claire, who was screaming the whole time for Mommy to wake up. Poor thing.

I also spotted all day on Tuesday, I think. I called the doctor's office, and they told me just to take it easy and drink a lot of water. I was suppose to go into the office if it got so bad I had to wear a pantie liner. It was scary. It just bothered me because in the beginning of the pregnancy I was so worried about having a miscarriage.

I also cramp a lot this pregnancy, and I didn't cramp at all with Claire. This pregnancy is SO different. I didn't expect that. So every little thing that is different with this pregnancy scares me.

I'm 13 weeks pregnant today and still sick. I was hoping to feel better after the first trimester. Now I'm losing hope that I won't be sick the whole time like I was with Claire.

I have another appointment with my OB/GYN on Thursday, so I'll update again then!

Before & After Pictures

2009-02-24T13:16:00.009-06:00

We have finally finished painting our house. Yay! I will NEVER paint again, so nobody ask me!

Living Room- Before

Living Room- After

Living Room- Before

Living Room- After

Dining Room- Before

Dining Room- After

Kitchen- Before

Kitchen- After

Dr's Appointment

2009-02-17T17:57:00.002-06:00

Today was my first "real" doctor's appointment. The first was just a confirmation of the pregnancy. I didn't even see the doc. Today I got weighed. I lost 5 lbs! Everything looks good. My labs came back great, and my blood pressure was perfect. I thought that my iron might be low, but it's not. It's 12.4.

I didn't think we would be able to hear the baby's heart beat because I'm only 10 weeks and 4 days, and I'm heavier than I was when I got pregnant with Claire. My first appointment with Claire I was 12 1/2 weeks and skinnier, but we weren't able to hear it. However, we were able to hear it today! I was so excited! Kev wasn't there. Claire was though. When Dr Long told Claire that was the baby's heart beat she said, "That's baby Kaylen or Lindon!" The heart rate was 161. It makes it a little bit more real to me. My next appointment is March 12th, Kev's B-day. I'm excited about going through all this again, and that Claire is going to be able to participate.

First Dr's Appointment

2009-01-29T09:25:00.005-06:00

I wouldn't really call it my first appointment though. When I got there I had to fill out all the lovely paperwork, pee in a cup :), get weighed, check blood pressure, and talk to the nurse about what prenatal vitamins I'm taking. I didn't even see the nurse practitioner. I also got my lab paperwork so that I can get those done. The nurse told me to wait a few weeks before I get them done because I'm only eight weeks.

My next appointment should be my first appointment where I will see Dr Long, who should be back from having knee surgery. Hopefully we will be able to hear the heart beat at that one. My 12 week appointment when I was pregnant with Claire we couldn't hear it. :(

On another note, I am still feeling better as long as I eat every 2 hours. That's not easy though because I'm so picky about what I eat because I'm afraid I'll get sick. What's weird is that the better I feel the more tired I get! Is that normal? I literally had to drag myself out of bed this morning at 8:30, and I'm usually up earlier than that.

This pregnancy is SO different compared to Claire's! Maybe this one's a boy! ;)We hope.

Feelin Good

2009-01-27T15:19:00.002-06:00

I have been morning sickness free all day! Yay!! I've also had a lot of energy. I was able to do much needed laundry, unload and load the dishwasher, and clean my bathroom. The only thing is that I have to eat like every 2 hours, or I start to feel sick. I hope this lasts. It's been a productive and relaxing day. I've enjoyed it!

Awesome stroller

2009-01-23T13:07:00.006-06:00

I saw this stroller and love it! I've had a single jogger, but now that I am expecting another baby this double would be awesome. I LOVE that the front wheels rotate. My other one didn't, and it was hard to turn when running. I hope to get one of these! Maybe I'll win this one. I never win anything though! Check it out: http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-25-bumbleride-indie-stroller/#comment-7135

Just wondering...

2009-01-23T10:07:00.004-06:00

why we forget how bad pregnancy is??? I am so sick and tired! I literally have NO energy. I can't even cook without almost passing out. If I stand up more than a minute or two I get really light headed. I know it will be so worth every minute once the baby gets here, but until then...

I'm really not complaining. I begged Kevin for this, so I'm more than willing to deal with it. I hope I feel better in a few weeks.

The 44th President of The United States

2009-01-20T11:12:00.003-06:00

To be honest, I did not vote for Obama, but he is our president now. I support him 100%. I can only pray that he leads our country in a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father and that is right for our country at this time. It is a time of trials and uncertainty, and it is going to take a strong and determined man to bring it back to where it needs to be. This is such a historic time, and I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to witness it!

I am thankful for the service of President Bush and his cabinet. I support him in the things that he has done for the better of our wonderful land!

President Obama's speech was uplifting but realistic. I hope he continues to lead that way. The leaders of our country are continually in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope they are in yours!

Reminiscing

2009-01-15T16:17:00.002-06:00

I am in the middle of tweaking my power point presentation that I have to give at Enrichment and was going through pictures to add to it when I came across this picture. This is one of my favorite pictures of Claire and Me. She was such a beautiful baby and is now a gorgeous little girl!

It starts...

2009-01-15T09:41:00.003-06:00

I was really hoping I would not get "morning sickness" with this pregnancy, but that didn't happen. I started feeling queasy Tuesday. It wasn't bad though. This morning I woke up and am not feeling so good. Claire and I stayed in bed until about 8:30am. I turned on cartoons for her, and I tried to get some more rest and fight back the horrible nausea feeling.

I was blessed this morning though. My Enrichment assistant called me and said that I didn't have to get out of the house and help set the church up for Enrichment night. She is going to get the Relief Society president to help her. I don't even feel like going tonight, but I have to give a power point presentation over visiting teaching. I'll probably stay for that and then leave. Maybe it won't be as bad as it was with Claire. I don't see how if could get worse than that. *knock on wood!*

First Appointment Scheduled

2009-01-07T10:11:00.005-06:00

I scheduled my first appointment with my OB/GYN, Dr. Long, for January 28th. I will actually be seeing a Nurse Practitioner that he hired because Dr. Long had knee surgery on New Year's Eve. He will be out of the office for like a month. This appointment is just to confirm the pregnancy, pick up a bunch of prenatal vitamins to try out, and get my lab paper work so that I can get all those done. I'll schedule my first prenatal appointment that day. He does that around 12 weeks. I should go for that appointment at the end of February, beginning of March.

I'm excited about going through all this again. I'm more excited for Claire to experience it. I hope she understands what's going on. She knows that I'm going to have a baby. She calls the baby, Baby Drake already. I hope it's a boy, or I'll have to teach Claire a new name. :) I do ask her what the baby's name is if it's a girl, and she says Baby Presley. (I watch my friend's baby who's name is Presley.) I tell her that's not going to be the baby's name, and she says, "Oh, then her name is Baby Anna." :) I asked her the other day which name she liked better between Madelyn and Kaylen, and she said Kaylen. So Kev might win if it's a girl and get the name he wants.

I'm not worrying so much about having a miscarriage anymore. I just pray and hope that everything goes well. If it doesn't though, we'll just try again. It's amazing how many things can go wrong with pregnancy but often doesn't. I just have to have faith.

Worries!

2009-01-05T10:03:00.003-06:00

Ever since I found out I was pregnant I have been worrying about having a miscarriage. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it's just because I have wanted to get pregnant for about a year, and now that I'm finally pregnant I'm worried something is going to happen. Maybe it's intuition or the spirit telling me that I will lose the baby. I don't know. It's driving me crazy with worry though. To top it off, last night I started cramping real low in my abdomen. I might have been cramping because I was up on my feet a lot yesterday. We went to church, and I had to give a lesson in Relief Society so I was on my feet for about 45 minutes. We also had to come home and clean and cook because we are doing family dinner over here now on Sundays.

After I started cramping I went to my room and laid down. I called my mom and asked her what she thought. She told me to get a blessing. Kev gave me a blessing that didn't really comfort me then. It said to remember that the Lord is in charge, and whatever happens is for the best. It did also say though that sometimes there is nothing more to things. So that got me thinking that there is nothing more to the cramping.

I did, however, wake up feeling comforted. Kev told me last night that if something were to happen that it would be okay, and we would just try again. I'm not cramping anymore, and I feel a lot better mentally. I know that Heavenly Father knows what's best for us, and he is always there to comfort us.

A Great New Year...especially for our family!

2009-01-01T10:26:00.006-06:00

This holiday has brought our little family more than just a new year. It has brought us a wonderful blessing!

I got my Mirena (I.U.C) out in October. We tried in October with no luck. My OB/GYN and Kev were sure that I would get pregnant in October because with Claire I got pregnant so fast. Then in November I was 85% sure I was pregnant. I had one day of light spotting that I thought was implantation bleeding. Then I started 2 days late, which never happens. I am super regular, even to the point that I start at midnight the day I'm suppose to start. No luck that month either though. That was really hard to take. I was upset because it was like when I would get used to the thought of not being pregnant something would happen to get my hopes up. In December Kev and I both were pretty positive that I was pregnant. He would tell me repeatedly not to get my
hopes up though.

We thought we had our names picked out, but I don't think we do anymore. Our boy's name has always been Lindon Andrew, but one night when we were in bed Kev called him Andrew by accident. He then said that maybe his name should be Andrew. So we're not sure about that. Our girl's name has always been Madelyn. We were never sure about the middle name though. I want Sophie. (which Kev HATES! He thinks it's a dog's name.) Kev wanted Caylee. Now Kev says that he wants the name to be Kailyn Elizabeth. I'm still sticking with Madelyn Sophie!

And that's our New Years story! I'll keep everyone updated! P.S. The background is 9-11 because that's my due date.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T23:43:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year to all and to all a goodnight...I'm SO tired!

Christmas

2008-12-30T09:03:00.003-06:00

Christmas was really great! It was so wonderful to be able to stay home together and no have to rush every which way. We woke up at about 7:15am and went in the living room to open presents. Claire saw her kitchen and starting playing. I told Kev the night before that once she saw the kitchen she wouldn't want to open anything else. I was wrong though. She LOVED to open all her presents! From Kev and I she got a kitchen, soccer ball, soccer goal, a couple books, and Cinderella. Danita got Claire a Tickle me Elmo. She loves it! She tickles him all the time. She treats him like a baby too. She tries to put a diaper on him, but then he won't work.

Kev likes all his presents also. I'm very proud of myself. He's so hard to buy for, but I did really good. I made him believe he wasn't getting speaker, but he did. He also got a drill bit set, an Outback Steakhouse gift card, an electric razor, a wii game, and a little coupon book I made him that has stuff like free diaper duty for 2 days in it. He also got a dart board. There's a cute story behind it. Claire and I were in Wal-Mart shopping when she saw the dart board and said, "Get that for Daddy for Christmas." I brought her down the isle that has the Christmas gifts for like $5-$20 and showed her all the different presents. She stuck with the dart board.

I got a lot of jewelry. I love jewelry. I got a set of white pearls, pink pearls, and a set of fresh water pearls (black ones). I also got 2 pretty bracelets, a nice watch and a workout watch, some new head phones for my mp3 player, and 2009 calendar.

Mom got Claire a drum and a baby doll set. It has a high chair, stroller, carrier, and a diaper bag in it. Mom gave Kev and I a gift card. She was too generous with that. I told her not to give us much. We appreciate it though. With Kev's money he got a stationary workout bike. I got a pretty jewelry armoire.

So after gifts we got to cooking. My mom, brother, and two sisters came for Christmas Dinner. My dad had to work. :( We had a lot of fun chilling with family, and having a relaxing day. My brother, his wife, and their son were going to come also but Claire had a wet cough and a runny nose. With Ashlei's low white count due to her cancer she doesn't have much of an immune system. They weren't able to come. We missed them.

Mom's Birthday

2008-12-23T14:33:00.001-06:00

My mom's birthday was on the 21st. It was also my brother in law's and my sister in law's dad's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Emelie and I are the ones that pretty much planned it. I few months ago I ordered Mom a Mother's Ring. She has wanted one for a long time. It's so pretty! Sunday Kev and I left here about 9am and drove to mom's house. We decorated her house and drove to Woodville for church to surprise her. I think she was surprised with all the decorations that we did. She loved her ring, and I'm so glad! It was a great day! Heber, Ashlei, and Jace also surprised her by showing up. It was really cool to see Jace and Claire interact and play together. They enjoyed each other.

Mom's Ring

Our Christmas Tree

2008-12-18T13:34:00.001-06:00

Baby Anna

2008-12-15T19:53:00.003-06:00

I finally remembered to ask Misty for permission to put Baby Anna's pictures on here. I've been watching her since mid August when she was about 6 weeks old. I can't believe she's already 5 1/2 months. She's so sweet, such a good baby!! Her name is Gianna, but when Claire saw her she started calling her Baby Anna. After that it sorta stuck. That's what everyone calls her now I think.

You know when kids are little they have to have 2 pieces of food, one for each hand. Well, Claire has to have 4; one for Daddy, one for Mommy, one for Claire, and one for Baby Anna. It's too cute!

SNOW!

2008-12-11T07:20:00.008-06:00

Kev had to leave before Claire and I got to play in the snow so I wrote him a message on my car. :) Kev woke me up at 6am when he was leaving for work to see the snow. I love snow. I'm super excited! So, I went and woke Claire, bundled her up, and brought her outside to see the snow. When we got outside Claire asked where Frosty the Snowman was. LOL She didn't like the snow at first. She said it was too cold outside and that she wanted to go in the house. It was just because it was so early. I brought her outside an hour later and she LOVED it! She played around in the snow and had a lot of fun. She loves it! Yes, I'm like a kid... Now that's an UGLY snowman. My hands It's so beautiful! Yay! I'm so happy that Claire was able to experience this, and that I have a camera to capture it. It definitely makes our "first" Christmas better!

I know. I brought her right back in to put a jacket on her!

What a Busy Month!

2008-12-10T16:10:00.007-06:00

-December 9-Ward Christmas Party
-December 10-Candle Party at Stacey's
-December 12-Williamson Christmas Musical W/families
-December 14-Church w/ first ward at 10:30am because of the Williamson Christmas Musical for the public
-The contractor that is fixing our house should be here the week of the 15th to work
-December 19-Flowserve Office Christmas Party
-December 20-Kim's graduation & Christmas w/ Fruge's
-December 21-Go to Spurger for Mom's birthday & Tristan Hargraves' Open House
-December 24-Dinner at Darrellyn's
-December 25 Christmas!!

Christmas Plans

For Christmas we have decided to stay home!! I'm so excited. We don't care if people come to our house, but we will be going NOWHERE!! I'm excited and nervous about cooking Christmas dinner. I have never had to cook a dinner for a holiday. I'm looking forward to doing it though. I like to cook. I think we're going to have Ham, Dressing, Green Bean Casserole, Rolls, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Veggies and Dip, and for dessert I'm not sure. All I know is that we are having Cherry Cobbler. It's awesome!!

I'm mainly excited about Claire experiencing Christmas. This is the first year that she knows who Santa is. Kev and I bought her the Christmas Classics on DVD. It has Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, and a bunch more. This is also our first Christmas. Well, it's our 4th Christmas, but this is the first year that we have been able to actually buy for one another. It feels awesome to be able to buy Kev and Claire things. It actually feels like Christmas in our house. These past years it hasn't because there hasn't been presents under the tree Christmas morning.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-03T15:08:00.002-06:00

It's been awhile since I have posted, hasn't it? Thanksgiving went well. Kev and I both had a head cold. We decided to go to my family's because last year we went to the Frugé's. I don't spend enough time with my family anyways. Plus, I NEEDED my dad's dressing. It's the best in the world, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can top it. It just sux that I only get it once a year. Oh well, it's worth it! We had fun talking and playing. At about 5-6pm Kev said he had a bad headache so we left.

That morning, before he headed to Spurger, during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade we put up the tree. It was awesome to do that as a family. Even Claire was helping. I would take the ornaments out of the box and put a hanger thing on them, and then Claire was bring them to Kev to put on the tree. I'll post a pic soon.

A Day at the Temple

2008-11-24T10:38:00.002-06:00

Kari & Matt were sealed Saturday at 8am. Since the sealing was so early we decided to get a hotel for Friday night. We invited my mom to go to be Claire's Nanny while we were in the temple. It was great to spend that time with her. I don't spend enough time with my family. Friday we got to the hotel at about 4pm. At 7pm we went to dinner with with the McCallon's and Frugé's at Fuddruckers. Claire had a blast playing with the games.

Claire was super excited about seeing the temple. We show her pictures all the time. That whole week we were telling her that on Saturday she would get to see the temple. She talked about it constantly. Saturday was really good. The sealing was great. It was really cold though. Add that with my having a head cold, and it wasn't good. I tried to keep a smile on my face. The good thing about having the sealing so early was that I think we stopped at only 4 lights on all of FM 1960. We have never done that good!

The sealing and reception was awesome. Kari looked gorgeous, and Matt was very handsome. I hope it was a perfect day for them.

3 Years Down... an Eternity to Go

2008-11-24T10:34:00.003-06:00

On November 19 Kevin and I were married for 3 years. It's been great! It hasn't been perfect, but I wouldn't change anything.

Signs of the Last Days

2008-11-18T09:36:00.004-06:00

At Ladies' Night this month my friends were telling me about these pictures. It is hard to believe since I'm not in the middle of it that this is going on in the world. It was so sad to see these pictures. The picture of the family walking into church breaks my heart. It stinks that these people have to go through this. I'm so thankful that I have a strong testimony of the gospel, and that seeing all this doesn't waver that at all. I pray for the members there for the strength to get through this time.

2008-11-11T08:21:00.002-06:00

Kevin and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple on Saturday. Kevin's little sister Kari went to get her work done because she will be getting married on November 22. It was wonderful. I am ashamed/saddened to say that I do not go as often as I should or want. It was a great bonding experience for the Frugé family to almost all be able to be together on such a special occasion for Kari.

We were able to ride to Houston with Grammer and Grumps (Kev's grandparents). We stopped at the book store before we went to the temple and picked up some books for Claire for Christmas. Grammer also got her some books.

After the temple Grammer, Grumps, Kevin, and myself went to eat. Then we made the 2 hour drive home. We had a great time with no real bumps in the road. We need to go more often.

Sick & Tired...again!

2008-11-05T16:12:00.004-06:00

After Claire got sick Monday and Tuesday I got sick. Thursday night I felt weird. I wasn't nauseous I just knew that I was going to get sick. Well sure enough the next morning about 9am the diarrhea and nausea started. I was so mad because it was Halloween, and Kev and I were going to take Claire trick or treating for the first time. Also, my in-laws always make chili dogs and frito pie on Halloween, and I was looking forward to that! I pushed through the fatigue and got Claire dressed in her Princess Aurora costume, fixed her hair, and put on her crown. I had to rest after that so Kev put her shoes on her.

We drove to Mid-County and stopped by Phil Bill's house, a friend of Kevin's at work. Before we left the house we practiced with Claire for about 5-10 minutes about how to open her bag and say trick or treat. She did so good at home and in the car, but when we got to Phil's house she got shy and told me to say it. After that we hit a couple more people's houses and went to Nick and Danita's place to visit. By that time I was feeling better so I made the mistake of eating some frito pie and a hot dog. About 10 minutes later I was in the bathroom! :( So I think Claire was a little too young to trick or treat this year, but next year she should do good.

You know when somebody in the family gets sick all of the family has to have a turn, right? I think that takes sharing a little too far. Anyway, so Monday Kev stayed home from work because he had a horrible headache and blurry vision. Then Monday night at about 11pm he started throwing up and having diarrhea. He was more sick than Claire or me. He was sick nonstop for 12 hours. We called Kev's uncle and grandpa to come at about 1am to give him a blessing. We then called Danita to come just in case I had to take Kevin to the ER. We didn't want to have to wake Claire up. Finally at 10:30 I was able to give Kevin some Fenergan that his doctor called in for him. After that he was able to sleep. It knocked him out pretty good. He's doing a lot better now. He's just really tired and sore from laying in bed for so long. He also bit his tongue at some point and it's pretty swollen in one spot. When Danita left yesterday she took Claire for the day and later decided that Claire was going to spend the night over there. She came home today saying that she had fun with D, Aunt Squirt, and Aunt Kim. I'm glad she was able to spend some time over there and that she had fun.

I spent today DEEP cleaning my house. I washed walls, fans, and even vacuumed the ceiling in the living room. I don't want any of us to get sick again. I also don't want Gianna to get sick when I watch her tomorrow.

Sick & Tired

2008-10-30T10:18:00.004-05:00

No not me... Claire. So Monday night at 5pm or 6pm Kev was in our bed, I was on the computer, and Claire was playing next to me on the floor. All the sudden Claire looks up at me and says, "Mommy, my tummy hurts." The next thing we heard was Claire blowing out her diaper. She had diarrhea. So I took her in the living room and cleaned her up. Then she was completely fine. She was singing and dancing, being herself. Not 10 minutes later, however, she came up to me again and said, "Mommy, my tummy hurts." She had another blow out. Poor baby. So yet again, I changed her, and she felt fine.

About 2 hours later Kev and I were laying in bed while Claire was on the floor playing. All the sudden she looked pale so I told her to climb on the bed and lay with Daddy. Once she got up there Kev needed a drink. (thank goodness, or I would have cleaned up 2 messes!) Once he was in the kitchen Claire sat up really fast, eyes wide, and said again that her tummy hurt. 2 seconds later she vomited all over our bed, herself, and me. This was Claire's first big girl throw up. Little baby throw up in NOTHING compared to big girl's. So we cleaned up all the mess (yes even Kevin helped. I was very proud of him!) while Claire was in our bath. She, again, was fine after she got out of the bath. She was playing and dancing. I wanted her to be still so Kev set Claire up on the air mattress in the living room, and I put in Sleeping Beauty. About thirty minutes later Kev and I were in our clean bed about to go to sleep when Kev heard Claire coughing and then throw up again! This time when I got her out of the bath she was so tired she couldn't even stand up so that I could dry her off.

I got up every hour that night to check up on her. She did vomit again at about 4am, but she hasn't since. Tuesday I gave her pedialyte and saltine crackers all day. She's doing really good now, happy as a clam!

Claire's Halloween Outfit

2008-10-27T16:28:00.005-05:00

I asked Claire what she wanted to be for Halloween a few weeks ago, and she told me Snow White. Which is funny to begin with because she has never even seen the movie Snow White! Anyway, so while I was in San Antonio at the mall I went to the Disney Store. Guess what?? They were sold out of Snow White. Apparently Snow White is very popular. The CSR said that all the Disney Stores in the area were sold out of the Snow White costume.

So I went ahead and got her Sleeping Beauty. I figured she would like that just as much since she watches Sleeping Beauty all the time. So I showed her the costume on Sunday, and she started to trip out because she wanted to wear it. Daddy and I let her try it on, and she didn't want to take it off! It took a lot of bribing. I think I made a good choice.

The Fruge Family

Run Down

2011 DFAD Recital

Easter 2011

2011 Family Vacation

The Kiddos

Enter to Win a Kindle

Lindon Boy

Lindon's 1st Birthday & Some Pics

Another Year Older... Life is Sweet!

Vacation

Mother's Day 2010

Lindon's First Astro's Game

Nederland vsPN-G Baseball Game

Easter 2010

7 Months Old

Kev's Birthday

More Pages

6 Months Old (on March 2)

Digital Scrapbooking

Claire's ER Visit

Lindon is on the move...ALL the time

Lindon Boy

The kids

The House

Update

Here we go again...

Update

Hospital Continued...

Busy Bees

A Blog Thing

Halloween & Smiles

Galvaston Island

Lindon's Blessing

Getting so big

Labor and Delivery

38 Week Appt

Cute Website!

We're ready!

37 Week Appointment

Claire's 3rd Birthday

36 Week Dr's Appt

Baby Showers

Emergency Room

34 Week Appointment & Family Reunion

More Belly Shots

32 Week Dr's Appointment Update

Time Flies

Potty Training...

How does a person...

Fun Mother/Daughter Times

28 Week Dr's Appt. Update

More Belly Pictures

More of Lindon's Scrapbook

Dallas Trip

Sprinkler Park

Scrapbooking

Nursery Decor

A Birthday Party, A Sick Little Girl, and Kev's New Toy...

Dr's Appointment Update & Some Exercise

Hard to Sleep

We finally did it...

It's a..........BOY!

Update from yesterday's belly bump post!

20 Weeks & 3 Days

3 Days to Go!!!

A Lot Has Happened...

Pictures

New Craving

Baby Movement

Kevin's Birthday Party

Dr.'s Appointment & Kev's Birthday

Rodeo

Updates

Before & After Pictures

Dr's Appointment

First Dr's Appointment

Feelin Good

Awesome stroller

Just wondering...