coffee date and filling in the blanks

Hi friends! It's been so long since I have written, and I sort of kick myself for neglecting this little corner of mine. There have been many late nights where I thought, I should just sit down and write, because that is how I process. But life happens, things come up, and I realize some things are better left bouncing in my head.

Since I wrote last, we've had a hundred different things happen. Last time, I shared that we are expecting, and we found out in December that we are having a BABY BOY!!! We have not settled on a name yet- more about that in a minute. But, is he cute or what?!?!?!

I finished grad school! I am so incredibly thrilled to have that done. I never felt settled or relaxed during school because I knew there was always something I needed to be doing- whether it was reading text books, responding to discussion posts, papers, quizzes, case studies, etc. More than anything else, I feel like now that I am done, I finally have some peace and I get time back, and it is lovely!

We've been in this house for a year now and after a lot of thought, Jeremiah and I decided to move to a new area. It was a tough decision, mostly because right now we live 2 minutes from his squadron. Where we are moving is 40 minutes away from his work. So that part really stinks. But we think the positives outweigh the negatives, so now we are just waiting on a call to let us know that a house is ready for us. It could be 10 days or it could be 10 months, which is a little stressful, so I just try not to think about that part. The area we are moving to is very country compared to where we are now. The kids will have a 12 mile bus ride to school, and we are going to be on the border of North Carolina and Virginia. I am really excited about it for so many reasons. The schools out there are amazing, the house is bigger (the house we are in now is a measly 1400 square feet-- the new house is 2100 sq ft), and I will have a dedicated space to work. Oh- that's another thing..... my job changed a lot over the past month, so I went from working about 5-10 hours a week to 25-35 hours a week. I am so fortunate that my boss allows me to work at times that are convenient for my family, and all from home. And this new house will let me have space where I can focus-- something hard to come by at the coffee table with kids swirling all around me. 

After having my husband home 9 months, we are now preparing to say goodbye to him again. He will be doing some "quick" (less then 2 months) trips before he does a longer trip. I am just hoping and praying that he will be here when the baby is born. And hoping he will be here when it is time to move, because holy moly, that would be hard to do without him. I am so ready for the deployment stage of our lives to be over. It's just so exhausting over time and I hate that we miss out on time with him.

The baby is due May 11, but as of now, my OB team is talking about taking him around May 1. I can't believe I will have a baby boy in 12 weeks!!!!! It might be a little before that, so I am trying my best to prepare as much as I can now.

In December I started having some issues with my knee. The pain was insane and I could not bear any weight on my right leg. I was on crutches and pain meds as doctors tried to figure out what it was. They initially thought meniscal tear, then cartilage tear, then joint infection, possibly arthritis. It was a mess. I went to the hospital about 10 times in a 6 week period, had my knee tapped twice, cortisone shots, and nothing was working. Finally, I was sent to a specialty doctor after lab results came back indicating something else. They decided to do an MRI and that confirmed that I have a tumor in my knee. It's more than likely a benign tumor, called PVNS, or an osteo sarcoma. The plan right now is for me to deliver the baby and then have surgery on my leg to remove the tumor and go from there. The idea of being on pain meds and using a cane up until delivery is not ideal, but is it what it is. The good news is with the pain meds, my blood pressure is back to normal, I don't have to go to physical therapy 5 days a week anymore- because obviously therapy can't fix a tumor, and the baby seems unaffected by all of this. All blessings! I am so thankful for my Navy family that has been so wonderful to us..... and even if Jeremiah has to deploy, I know that they will be here for me, and that is huge comfort.

So, that's the past few months. The kids are great! Wild and crazy as ever. The boys are really excited about moving.....Kaiti is sad that she will have to leave her friend Kaitlin and Citlali. But, as we have explained to her many times, they are both from Navy families and are moving soon, too. 

I am fixing to start my very first quilt. So intimidated by this process, but I have wanted to for so long and feeling like I just need to jump on in. If you have any first-time-quilting tips you'd like to share, I'd love you for it! I decided to just make my own pattern so that way if it doesn't go well I can just pretend that is how it is supposed to be :)

Okay, one last thing. I mentioned earlier that this baby boy is still not named. I have a list of names I love, but my husband can be a little vanilla when it comes to names, so he has vetoed all of my suggestions. 

My picks are:

Teague

Declan

Callum

Asher

Brennan

Rylan

Grey

Ladd

Leo

Nash

August

Jeremiah's picks:

Eli

Wyatt

So friends, I need some help! I also really like the name Aiden, but when I read that it meant 'little fiery one' I decided I better not because I already have one of those, and I have the wrinkle lines to prove it..... (I'll give you one guess who I am talking about.)

Does anyone have any suggestions? I thought if I shared names that I love it would give you a sense of what I am looking for. What say you?

me + evie, evie + me

I'm very pregnant. Very. And I've been a bit uncomfortable, mainly due to this sticky, energy-sucking heat spell we've been having.  But, instead of whining about the heat, my semi-hourly trips to the bathroom, my hip aches and yucky indigestion and heartburn, I am trying to put the focus back on the amazing wonder that is growing within me. (Okay, so I guess typing all that is not quite saving my gripes, is it?)

But really, I do cherish these moments with her kicking and squirming inside me. For some reason, this little girl really digs my right side-- most of the time you can see how lopsided I am. She's a dancing queen when I eat strawberries. And I am guessing, like her brothers and sister before her, she is quite content to stay in her warm, reasonably quiet, very cozy space, and won't budge until she's evicted.

And evicted she soon will be. Until then, though, I am loving this time with my girl, and loving the anticipation that builds in my home until the day we get to meet her and touch her sweet face.

please pardon the spots on my shirt here.....jack decided to wipe his chocolatey, hershey kiss-covered face on me right before I snapped this.

our little evie girl

My appointment this morning went wonderfully. They wanted to check on some things they have noted in the pregnancy and make sure all was well.

And Little Miss Evie did not disappoint. She did seem annoyed that we were disrupting her sleep, though, and told me so with some powerful kicks and jabs. We had to do some of the tests several times because she would kick or roll before we could get good numbers.

So, here is our lovely daughter at about 34 weeks.

cord on her mouth and under her nose, right arm and hand on forehead

sleeping, this is the left side of her face if that helps

sweet baby girl, I cannot wait to hold you

back to the regular old images, but still breathtaking!

cannot believe I've been blessed with 4 children!

We saw her practice her breathing, move and roll, open and close eyes, stick her fingers in her mouth. The tech said she looked great and said she understood the pressure I told her about because she is very low and hanging out in the 'ready position'.

They are estimating her weight to be 5+ pounds, and all of her measurements are putting her about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. The doctor said that although things looked great, they would still like to watch us, to be safe- just a precaution, I'm sure, because this little girl is looking amazing!

I go back tomorrow morning- kind of annoying, but the bright side is they will probably schedule a date for me. 

Okay, I'm beat tired and in need of some rest-- this afternoon we are going to the school to see Tyler receive his student of the month award-- he is the Stupendous Student for the month of May!! Yea, Tyler!!!!! I am, without a doubt, one proud mama!

life's little lessons

I have learned some things this week. Some I have known for quite a while, just needed a little reminder. And others were brand new epiphanies, but things I will probably have to learn again and again.

Driving Kaiti home from school, she said said her tummy was not full and asked if she could finish the rest of her lunch in the car. A lot of moms would scoff at the idea of eating in the car, but I do not. We are in it often, and as many times as we have tried, it remains an impossible objective to restrict eating to tables, as much as we are in and out. Anyway, I told her she could eat, and I heard the telltale sound of her lunchbox unzipping, and Kaiti munching. Within seconds I felt my chin tremble and a wave of heat rising with force up the back of my throat. At the same time as that wave was hitting me, my nose was filled with the putrid smell of artifically flavored cheese chips. Windows all up because of the rain, the putrid, pungent odor of Doritos filled the car. I CANNOT stand that smell, and it has bothered me since I was a kid. But the instataneous nausea that accompanied the smell was new-- a pregnancy thing, no doubt. I rolled my window down and stuck my head out the window, like an excited dog, and yelled 'Kaiti, please do me a favor and zip those chips back in your lunchbox quickly.' She must have sensed my queasiness, because she obeyed at once. Doritos : NOT for everybody!

Lesson learned: when your children ask you if they can have a snack in the car, make sure you know what kind of snack they are referring to.

I tend to be forgetful, and pregnancy only makes it worse. I don't know if I can blame it on the incessant multi-tasking, or if my brain was just not created to hold on to the little things. It's funny, really, because I can remember the exact outfit I wore and how I had my hair the day I moved into my college dorm. But the time of my OB appt on Wednesday- I could remember! I wrote it down on a piece of paper, but lost that, too. In the past two weeks, I've lost my cell phone 4 times (to the point that I had my boss searching her office), my glasses twice, and my debit card for nearly a week. I rationalize my absentmindedness to my husband by saying, 'Hey, we still have all 3 children, right?' I don't think that comment did much to ease the bother of yet another wild goose chase, though.

Lesson learned: Buy that beeper-thing-a-ma-jig (like the one from Along Came Polly) the next time I see the infomercial and attach an alarm thinige to every small thing I cannot live without, including small humans.

'Um, pretty good.....'

A funny exchange happened at my OB appt today and gave me a good laugh. 

I had finished my appt and walked up to the Nurse's station to schedule my next visit, for 2 weeks from now. 

The very young nurse opens my chart, reads that it says to book appts for me from here on out, and starts reading off days to see if they will work. We get to the point where she is booking me an appt around the 37-38 week time frame and she looks up from behind the desk.

Looking both serious and very inquisitive, she says '37 weeks. Hmm. Do you think you will make it that far?'

Sort of confused, I stare blankly and say 'Pardon me?'

She says 'This next appt will be at 37 weeks. Do you think you will make it to 37 weeks?'

Still staring blankly at her, she continues 'What do you think the chances are you will make it that far?'

Seriously, it took all I had to not start laughing. I simply said, 'Um, pretty good, I guess. I'll do my best to hold her in that long.'

She seemed eased by my answer, looks back at the computer and says, "If you have her before then, please call within 24 hours to cancel because June is going to be a very busy month for us.'

As soon as I made my way out the doors I started laughing. Was she- a trained obstetrics nurse- asking me to estimate based on my own intuition, when I would be giving birth? And was she really going to place weight on the answer I gave her? 

As I was laughing, I recalled a story my friend Billie Jo shared with me about her trip to get a 3-D ultrasound. After paying over $100 and waiting for almost an hour, they get back, start the ultrasound, and the tech was pretty quiet. Billie Jo's husband finally asked, 'So, ma'am, what are we having.'

The lady keeps scanning, and finally says, 'I'm going to say that you're probably having a girl. Yep, 50%, it's probably a girl.'

Billie Jo and her husband are processing what she has said, and Charley (her husband), says, 'So you're giving us a 50% chance that it's a girl?'

The tech said 'Yep, that's what I think.'

Billie Jo is quietly laughing now, and her husband says, 'Well, that is pretty much the same odds we had before we arrived here.'

........the baby was, indeed, a girl, but that story makes me laugh every time I think of it.

Do you have any funny  OB stories to share? You can read some more by checking out the discussion HERE

Diary of A Tired Pregnant Woman

Monday April 19: Jeremiah's flying late, Jack tries flushing a box full of Legos down the toilet- only gets about a 3rd down, morning sickness returns despite the fact that I'm in Trimester #3, Kaiti feels sick and misses Ballet & Tap, Just give up my rules and bathe baby in sink

Tuesday April 20: Jeremiah's flying late, Tyler's Zoo field trip, Jack colors on our walls with crayon

Wednesday April 21: Jeremiah's flying late, OB Appt, Ultrasound # 89 for Evelyne, Tyler accidentally whacks Jack in the head with a plastic baseball bat

Thursday April 22: Tyler's Student Awards in Classroom, Customer calls me to tell me she is having 2nd thoughts and wants to back out of deal to buy home- make appt to show her house again to ease cold feet, T-Ball game- chasing Jack around about forces Evie right out of my belly, Watch my kids devour 2 cartons of strawberries in 1 day and wonder what it will be like when I have 4 chowing down

Friday April 23: Morning sickness still happening, Watch my littlest entertain himself for an hour with a bowl on his head, Sit out Tyler's t-ball game because exhaustion is taking a toll, Kaiti falls on playground bars, gets brought home by Michele, in pain and bleeding from a place no mother wants her daughter to bleed from

Saturday April 24: Early AM take Kaiti to ER and am worried like crazy about my little girl, miss Tyler's t-ball game- ask friends to watch Jack because Jeremiah is coaching and cannot leave the field, Reschedule appt to show house, Cancel all evening plans and work from home while cuddling my daughter

Sunday April 25: Husband not feeling well but cleans kids rooms anyway, Work for about 4 hours from home, Tyler not feeling good, Jack feeling better, Figure out the only thing that does not make me sick is cous cous so I eat a lot of that

Monday April 26: Tyler seems to be suffering from allergies, Jack sick, too, Kids home from school, feeling like Evie dropped in my belly and not liking her new position much, Kaiti takes her little brother on a bike ride as I clean up the garage, Take Kaiti to Ballet & Tap

Tuesday April 27: Take boys to doctor, While at doctor's Tyler has asthma attack and is taken back for x-rays and breathing treatments, They keep us for almost 4 hours, given oral meds of steroids to open lungs up, Tyler is a champ and braves most of this alone because they would not allow Jack in room during treatments, and I could not accompany him to x-ray

Wednesday April 28: Take Tyler back to doctor's per their orders and he looks a little better, still not 100%, Kaiti's beloved goldfish Miss Lady dies- complete devastation ensues and she is beyond heartbroken over the loss of her fish, Searching my house for a towel SO I CAN THROW IT IN!

Thursday April 29: OB Appt, Gestational Diabetes Test, Kaiti's Graduation Ceremony- she graduates VPK!!!!

Friday April 30: Ultrasound #90 for Evelyne, Kaiti's End of Year Party, Shrimp Festival in Fernandina

Saturday May 1: Tyler has a t-ball game, Work, Clean house

Sunday May 2: Praying that Sunday will, in fact, be a day of rest.......

....It'd be great if life could slow down just a bit, just long enough for me to catch my breath and maybe talk a 5 minute back rub out of my husband. No? Okay, what about 2 minutes?

solved the mystery

I bet the reason we never see those Calgon commercials anymore is because they were getting calls and letters from unhappy consumers. You know what I mean? The people that poured the bubble bath and waited and waited, and they were never 'taken away'. I bet the switchboard operator was handed a script, so she could simply read it when these frazzled, overworked moms called their company desperately seeking an explanation as to why they weren't magically transported when they used their Calgon.

Okay, I should probably stop my incoherent rant here. To be perfectly frank, I've never used Calgon. And I am sure the folks that work at the bubble bath company are lovely, with the best of intentions. It's just that after a day like I've had today, I feel pretty safe in saying that no amount of scented potion poured into my hot tub would take me away.

Just one of them days..... Ever have 'em? Where it starts off wonderfully, and you think it's going to continue, but one by one, things start to unravel (like your patience, your positive outlook, YOUR MIND), and pretty soon you're sitting at a computer, taking deep breaths, and singing Jimmy Crack Corn to try and calm yourself down.

No? Just me? Really?

Mama said there'd be days like this, there'd be days like this my mama said!

The icing on the cake is that Jeremiah is flying very late tonight, so I'm on my own. Of all the craziness and frustration today, you know the one that chaps my hide the most.......


..............we're fresh outta M&Ms.

a mess o' stuff

Proceed with caution! You have been forewarned. Just getting thoughts and other junk out, in no particular order, to unload really, and make space for new junk. This wasn't intended to be a jumble of thoughts, a sharing of information, some pictures, and a prayer request, but that's what it ended up being. I could try to edit it, transition my thoughts a little better, make sure the babble sounds at least minimally coherent......but I have a baby boy throwing legos at me. I think that's a hint.


So, here's what I'm thinking friends.....

You know those monitors they use on the seabed floor, the things they use to measure seismic activity and such? Like richter scales? I need to get something like that to strap to my belly. I think yall'd* be impressed. This little girl kicks, moves, squirms, rolls and rumbles AROUND THE CLOCK. Man, the readings she'd produce on their seismic monitor. I'm telling you, this baby girl is active as can be. It reminds me.....you know when you go to pick out a kitten or a puppy to bring home. My eyes are always drawn to the feisty, fun ones. The ones with spunk. My husband is drawn to the ones that snooze, the ones that curl up, and seem content just to cuddle in a warm lap. Not me, though. So we end up going home with the crazy kitty...and then a few days later, I am staring in disbelief, asking my husband what in the world is up with this rambunctious, never-mellow cat?? Well, I am thinking I am going to be asking him the same thing in a few months, only this time, it'll be about our daughter.

This morning when I woke up, I was greeted with the smell of my husband's shaving stuff, listerine, and a hint of his deodorant. A smell that completely reminds me of him. A smell that makes me so happy. A smell I miss like crazy when he is deployed. I love those smells mixed together. They remind me of him....and I REALLY love him. I wonder what my equivalent is......my sugar scrub maybe, some lotion, and a splash of my romance perfume. No smells of hair products like gel or mousse or hairspray, because most days it's just a a ponytail or a braid or my hair in a clip. Which brings me to the perfectly coifed, sprayed, curled to perfection hair-do's I see on the moms dropping their kids off at school. What time do they wake up? How is every strand of hair dry? Do they shower in the morning, or at night? I am not judging...in fact, I am jealous. I go to bed late, and wake with only minimal time to get out the door dressed. If I wanted my hair dry and looking cute, I'd need to wake up at least 30 minutes earlier. No can do. I wonder what their secret it, those women with the perfect 'do?

And that concludes the thought portion of this post.

*If frequency of use in my neck o' the woods is any kind of indicator, than 'yall'd' is 100% legitimate, and it's status as a word is above reproach 

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Rather than type everything we found out last week, I'll just share what I sent out to my friends. If anyone has any experience with or knowledge of placenta accreta, please share. The bulk of what I have learned has come from the internet, and some from the team of OBs I see.

Hi friends. We got some news at my OB appt today, and I wanted to share with you as we figure out what to do next. My doctors are pretty sure I have something called placenta increta or placenta accreta. Basically, this occurs as a result of significant scar tissue from multiple c-sections, and causes the placenta to fully embed itself in the uterine muscle wall. Right now, the baby is fine. The risk involves me.  We discussed taking the baby early, up to 2 months early, based on severity, and there is some risk to the baby with that, but still lower than the risk of going to term. The complication arises during delivery, with the placenta being attached, it can cause significant hemorrhaging once it tears away from the wall. I have a level 3 ultrasound and mri scheduled to get more info, and once we know more, they will transfer me out of navy care. They want to put me somewhere that has experienced high risk OBs in a facility that has maternal ICU and a portable blood bank. Right now we just need to wait and see how deep the placenta is in my uterine wall and go from there. they told me there is still a small chance that it is not too deeply embedded which would reduce my risk of bleeding out and having emergency hysterectomy. They spotted this 2 months ago, mentioned it briefly to us, but did not feel certain until my latest ultrasound. Please keep us in your prayers.....I don't want this baby girl coming even a day early, but also understand the risk of what could happen if I contract on my own, and we will do whatever we can to keep her safe. We are a scared but thankful that she seems unaffected thus far. Thanks in advance friends for prayers, as we process this and move forward. *I was sending most of you an email asking for prayers at the same time in my pregnancy with Jack, and God blessed us with a healthy, wonderful baby boy. Trying to remember that while He brings us rain, He also brings us rainbows.
Love,
Shannon and Jeremiah

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Some pictures, because what's a post without pictures??

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Before I go, I'd like to ask anyone reading this to join me in prayer for the Hutka family. I asked a lot of my close friends to pray for them last week as Chris, Beckie's husband, underwent major surgery on his neck/back. They started surgery on Wednesday morning, and soon after getting started, Chris' heart rate bottomed out, causing them to stop everything they were doing to try and stabilize him on the table. From what I gathered from Beckie, it was a very close call, and but for His grace, Chris pulled through the scare. They had to insert a temporary pacemaker to hopefully regulate his heart in case that happened again, before they could retry the surgery. On Thursday, they went in again, this time without incident, and they think they were able to repair much of the damage done when Chris was struck by a car 2 years ago. This sweet, wonderfully kind, incredibly faithful family has been through so much-- SO MUCH-- and could really use our prayers. For complete healing for Chris, to return him to Beckie good as new, and to his 3 children who have weathered this storm, too. Thank you in advance for any prayers you send up for this family. They really are incredible!!

The name game...

...is OVER. We finally have a name for our precious 2nd daughter.

And, ironically (or not, actually, since nothing seems to have played out like I have blogged about here) the name we have chosen for this baby girl is not any of the names we were considering. Not even close, actually.

I got to the point where almost every single name I read aloud was sounding just wonderful. I was suggesting all sorts of names to Jeremiah, and after suggesting a couple different 'E' names, he said.......


"What about Evelyne?"


To be honest, at first, I was not sold. But the more I said it, the more I loved it. And with my mom's name, it sounded beautiful and right. So, Evelyne Diane it is!!

What delicious looks like

This.....

and this......

And what has Mr. Delicious been up to as of late, you ask? Well, golly, that is what I am hear to answer! Convenient, right?

Jack William, who is now 16-months old, wearing a size 18-24 months and 2T, wears a 7.5 in shoes, is standing a whopping 32+ inches tall, and is weighing in at a back-bending 30 pounds. This puts him in almost the 90th percentile for weight and the 95th percentile for height, if you care about these types of things, which, I don't.

Bottom line is, this boy is healthy and sturdy as a rock- in case there was any question. And just as important, he is happy. All the time, he is happy. Unless you will not let him down to run and chase things in a store, or are trying to make him go to sleep.

He plays hard, and falls pretty hard, too. To date, he's had  6 goose eggs to his noggin, 3 fat lips, 2 black eyes (one of which can be seen in the photos above), countless bruises, scrapes, & cuts, and a partridge and a pear tree. Was I the only one who was reading that sentence with that rhythm? 

If he catches you trying to enjoy some peace, he is pretty intent on taking care of that. For example, if you are in the bathtub and do not let him in with you, he proceeds to throw just about everything he can find into the bath water.....magazines, pens, tea light candles, cheerios, and juicy juice have all been hurtled at me while in the tub. Oh, and he thinks it is hysterical.

He likes to hide behind things and pop out to scare his family. No idea where he gets that. Thing is, he doesn't say 'Boo!'. He says 'Baa!' Which cracks all of us up......he's the cutest sheep who likes to scare people that ever walked the earth.

He loves to be outside, and running is his favorite!! He likes to try and eat the air, which is pretty darn funny. He looks like a puppy with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I am pretty sure the park is his idea of Heaven, and he's thrilled to finally be able to climb with his brother and sister. 

He get's giddy with delight if he sees someone with a Hershey's kiss. He loves mac n cheese, any type of potato, steak, meat, and most recently had a bite of Jeremiah's rack of lamb and loved it. That, he did not get from me. 

What he did get from me is his curly hair (poor guy), most of his facial features, his dislike of being told to sleep or chill out, and his cheerful, sunny disposition. What? I'm sunny, darn it!

From his daddy, he got his amazing bluish eyes, some adorable freckles (though, Jeremiah does not think the freckles are so adorable), and a fondness for meat and potatoes.

Jack loves his siblings, but almost more so, he loves his pets. All he wants to do is cuddle them. And climb on them. And give them kisses.

We are also seeing that Jack is quite alpha-male. Despite his being the youngest in the bunch, with his siblings, he like to be dominant. He literally tackles them to the floor, and then sits on them and smiles wide for all to see. 

If he is quiet for more than 30 seconds, I guarantee, he is up to no good. Like eating pennies. Or dog food. Or coloring on walls or tables. Or dumping all of his siblings toy bins on the ground. Or throwing things in the toilet. You know, something like that......and his grin is always a dead giveaway.

He has 6 teeth, but is getting 4 more right now. He says Mama, Dada, Ty Ty, Sisa (his attempt at sister), JaJa (jack), BaBa (bottle-- yes, I know, he should't have it anymore, but if you know anything about me, you know I am not big on guidelines with my babies), ball, I pooo (that one's self explanatory), ba-oon (balloon), uh oh, oh no, and my favorite, BAA!! (boo!!!). 

That's Jack. Oh boy do we love this boy!!!

And here are the brother and sister that love him to bits.....when he is not throwing things in their bath water, or tackling them to the ground.

These two. Gosh, I love these two. 

God has blessed us immensely!!