Trick-Or-Treating

Just like last year, Faith spent the majority of the night trick-or-treating with her cousins Mackenzie and Madeline in their neighborhood.

Mackenzie:Madeline:It didn't take long for Faith to have it all figured out:Uncle Matt:

Trick or Treating at Art's house (our next door neighbor)

The last house:

Happy Birthday, Halloween!

When Faith woke this morning I gave her a big hug and told her "Happy Halloween! Faith - it's finally Halloween today!" To which she started an immediate babble about trick-or-treating, Madeline and candy. She started singing her abbreviated version of the happy birthday to Halloween: "Happy Birthday, Halloween. Happy Birthday, Halloween. . ."

All this while DJ was getting ready for the day. He pulled his one orange shirt (orange is my favorite color) from the closet and put it on. Faith said, "Daddy, that's Mommy's shirt."

Pumpkin 2008

Here it is! Faith's pumpkin for Halloween 2008. What's that Mom always says? If it weren't for the last minute nothing would ever get done. I've been procrastinating on carving the stinking thing for more than a week. I spent about three hours this afternoon finally carving it (yeah I work on Thursdays. . . what's your point?)

Faith took one look at her pumpkin tonight and exclaimed, "Sleeping Beauty! WOW! That's pretty cool." Good news for me - it's toddler-approved.

Edited to Add: DJ came into the front room to see the pumpkin as I took the above photo. I ran upstairs to blog it while he stayed down and looked out our big bay window. He yelled up, "Hey! This cop out here's on the hunt for someone." Looking out the upstairs window, I saw a cop car patrolling our neighborhood with his search light. Sigh. That is why I'm always saying we need to move. Preferably before Faith starts school (otherwise it's private for sure.)

Save the Date!

Here's an eight-month-heads up for you: I've arranged for the Baptisms to be June 21st.

I spoke with the Church and even if something goes wrong where we have to Baptize one or both of the twins in the hospital, we will still have a special blessing on that date. A "faux-Baptism" of sorts. And a big pool party at the house afterwards.

Mom's reminded me that some twins (especially ultra-preemies) are banned from group situations for a full year to protect their little immune systems. If that's the case. . . we'll deal with it then. For now, June 21st.

Just Two Cute Faith Pics

(It's a tomato she's munching)

Cow Seat

I noticed a few weeks ago that Faith's car seat was about as disgusting as I could possibly take. Last week, I hopped on the Britax site and showed Faith all the different replacement covers we could pick. I was absolutely positive she'd choose the beautiful butterflies on a yellow background. . . nope. She picked the cow seat. Just to be sure, I asked her for a full day before ordering, "So Faith, you want the butterfly seat, right?" She'd say, "No Mommy, cow seat." OK, fine. You can't give a kid a choice and then not order their pick.

It came in the mail today and she was sooooo excited! She kept running circles around me, demanded her "cow seat" with as much patience as the two-year-old could find, and when it was all done she wanted to take a picture ("Mommy! Get the camera!) So here she is, parked in the garage showing off her new cow seat.

The Pumpkin

So we finally got around to working on Faith's pumpkin for this year. She was all gung-ho about helping until she took a look inside the pumpkin. I told her to reach in and pull out the seeds to which she replied, "no Mommy, you do it."

It will probably take me all day and into tomorrow to finish. . . I'm carving a Sleeping Beauty pumpkin from the huggies website with my $450 pumpkin carving kit (otherwise known as a surgery pack shoved in my closet and not used otherwise since senior year of vet school.) Hey, at least it's getting some use, right? (We have lots of packs at work - I don't need to use my own.)

Fun stuff. Faith is JACKED UP about this whole Halloween thing. She's been asking to go trick-or-treating all month and now that we're in the home stretch Noggin has been showing a lot of Halloween cartoons - which is just adding fuel to the fire. I'm not sure how much she really understands, but she can tell you she's going to be The Little Mermaid and go trick-or-treating with Madeline. And she talks about it All. The. Time. The kid is fired up.

The Kid on the Right

There (s)he is!

I woke this morning to a little pressure under my ribcage, just a tad to the right of my sternum. I felt it bob around for a moment, poked something small, round and firm (head?) with my finger and felt it dive back deep.

She Gave Herself a Swirlie

I had Faith in her room watching a LeapFrog DVD a few minutes ago as I fired off some emails. She came into the computer room and told me she "hurt," while rubbing her wet head on my bare legs.
Mommy: Faith! You're all wet!
Faith: Yeah, I wet.
Mommy: How'd you get so wet?
Faith: In the water!
Mommy: Faith. . . can you show me the water, please?
Faith: (leads Mommy to her bathroom and shows Mommy the toilet - lid flipped up.) Right here!

Thievery

After today's appointment, Faith and I hit Target for some grocery shopping. She's recently decided she's too cool for the basket - so I compromise and let her ride in the cart that seats two kids behind the regular basket. Today, she was a nightmare.

We cut our shopping trip short because she kept hopping out of the cart and running ahead/away from me. She also decided that anything she wanted to buy she'd just toss in the cart freely. She'd just walk along, grab some Fruit Loops and toss them in the cart like it was nothing. Nice. I just put it all back on the shelf but still - things to come.

One of the last things for me to grab from the list was gum for DJ. Faith and I headed over to the candy isle (with me totally wearing my pregnant, non-thinking head.) The back wall of the candy section of Target is bulk candy in bins. Do you see where this is going? I missed it. Faith hopped out of the cart, ran to that back wall and quick as a flash, stole herself a green Jelly Belly. What do you do at that point? We checked out immediately and Faith was scolded but whatever, she didn't care - she already ate the Jelly Belly. If she were four, I'd make her write a letter to Target Corporate apologizing and sending them a dollar from her piggy bank - but she's too little to understand. So for now I just have to watch my little thief.

DJ was no help on that one. He just laughed and said she didn't steal anything. . . she was just "sampling" the product.

16-Week Check-up

First off, thanks for all the prayers. We know there are a lot of people out there praying for our babies every day. It's helped. You kept my babies safe this weekend.

Long story short: remember the crying photo of Faith from a few days ago? The reason she was up late was because I was having contractions for three-and-a-half hours Sunday and just wasn't about to go through our nightly bedtime fight. After two-and-a-half hours, I called the on-call OB who told me to lie down, drink a lot of water and wait an hour. If things calmed down, don't worry about it. . . otherwise head to the hospital. Things calmed down and we went to bed (very late.)

Monday morning the nurse called to check on me, explained that my gut and my uterus are in close proximity and that she really doubted that I had felt any true contractions - it was just too darn early for me to feel my uterus. That frustrated me a bit since I knew what I felt, but whatever.

Fast forward to today - my scheduled 16-week checkup. I heard the same song and dance from my OB - it's too early for me to feel contractions, I was just confused. To reassure me and to be on the safe side she checked me out.

I'm trying to keep the blog man-friendly. . . she felt around, noticed some changes and immediately sent me for an ultrasound to make sure I was OK. Everything was fine . . . but hey! I saw the babies today! Both are doing great! Here are some profile shots.

The doctor also said that she's going to watch me very closely from here on out. Even though the ultrasound says everything is fine, she believes me on the contractions now because of what she felt. If that makes any sense. Next time, I have strict orders to head straight to the hospital for monitoring.

Just for fun, I learned why I'm only feeling movement on the left. The ultrasound tech told me that one baby is completely on the left and the other's legs and feet are on the left. So there's just not much baby on the right.

And no, we don't know the genders yet so quit what you're thinking before you even ask.

July 2009

Edited to add: So that wasn't completely true. . . This was the day I found out we were expecting a boy. The ultrasound technician asked me if I was interested in finding out the genders and I said, "Sure! If the kids are willing to tell." We did a full exam of each baby and baby "B" was willing to show us he was a boy. Baby "A" had her legs crossed and we didn't find out until the next ultrasound that a second precious girl was on the way.

I arrived home from this appointment and told DJ, "Sooo . . . the first baby is (long pause) a surprise! The second baby is (long pause) a BOY!" DJ said immediately and somewhat jokingly, "Is Cawood in there?" Turns out, yes - he was.

This One's For You, Aunt Dinah

16 weeks: Ask and you shall receive.

But hey. . . check it out! I can still wear my size 8's (although they are tugged down a bit but let's ignore that for now.)

Just for fun, here I was at 20 weeks for Faith:

Overtired

This is what happens when Faith goes to bed two hours past her bedtime and wakes up at her regular time.

Pumpkin Patch!

I read in the church bulletin last week that St. Gabe's was having a pumpkin patch. How fun! DJ and I decided to take Faith over and pick out an overpriced pumpkin. Beats the heck out of a Wal-Mart pumpkin. Although we bought two of those today also - pie-pumpkins. I'm going to try my hand at a pie from scratch. But I'm off topic.
We had trouble convincing Faith to pick a pumpkin. She just wanted to play with all the little bitty Faith-sized ones. Finally, I chose a medium-size perfectly shaped pumpkin for her. We'll decorate it tomorrow, presuming I can find a princess template between now and then.



While there, we chatted with the kindergarten teacher. I learned that St. Gabes has a preschool program that starts with three-year-olds. St. Christopher doesn't start until four. I'm not sure if we'll start her at three or four, but it's good to know we have the choice.

How's This For Memory?

Lately I've started asking Faith who certain things are from. I've worked with her a little especially on things that have been given to her fairly recently. . . the necklaces Grandma gave her Wednesday, the Cinderella spoon and fork from Aunt Miki a month or so ago. But it's a relatively new thing, talking to Faith about who gave her different gifts.

Faith came downstairs a few hours ago carrying a little heart-shaped princess lunchbox-type tin that was a Valentines Day present from Momma Joyce. She plays with it occasionally but we haven't really talked about who this particular item was from. . . it came with a bunch of other stuff and has just found it's way into her baskets of toys.

She carried it into the family room and said:
Faith: It's from Momma Joyce.
Mommy: What?
Faith: (Holds up the box) It's from Momma Joyce. (Pause) And Daddy Doug.

Isn't That Just Life?

DJ has been asking me to sort out our bill from the fertility clinic for the past week or two. We owed them about $160 but couldn't figure out why; we bought the same package for the twins that was all-inclusive for Faith. Yet we kept recieving bills. The first we paid without really questioning, the second we started to wonder.

So I called today. The lady was super-nice and explained that the package we bought *usually* is a better deal, and it was great that we bought it but no, my OB visits were not included this time. In our case, the treatments went so well that I didn't see the doctor enough to warrant the cost of the package. She negated the package, re-charged each individual charge and credited our Discover $300.

I'm not even kidding when I tell you DJ called an hour later to to tell me his car broke down.

What's it going to cost to fix it? Right around $300.

Dance!

I've told you before that Faith likes to dance on the treatment tables at work. This is a little video I shot last week, but it's cute so I thought I'd share.

Success!

Faith and I traveled to Terre Haute to try and get some Christmas shopping done. Grandma, Faith and I had pretty decent success. Of the eight little nieces/nephews on our list, I have three of them done and three half-done. The two untouched are Hunter and Brody. I always struggle with them because they are a little older and I just don't know what they are in to. (hey Robin. . . want to email me some ideas?) Regardless, it's a big relief to have the rest of the kids done or nearly so. My goal is to completely finish with the kids in the next week or two and then I just have adults on my list - and not many of them.

Faith was an absolute angel all day. I couldn't believe how well she had behaved! Lately she's given me some trouble when we're out and about, but she was perfect and adorable for Grandma. She sat in her stroller like a good girl and sang aloud, "shine. . . bucket? NO! . . . shine. . . shine. . . shine. . ." I had to translate for Grandma, but she was singing, "This little light of mine." Faith was aptly named. . . she has proven that her favorite CD's are her Christian CD's - most of them given to her because they have "Faith" in the CD title. But all the little Christian kids songs she just loves.

Motherhood beckons. . . bedtime stories.

Scary Movies and Two-Year-Olds

Being in the Halloween spirit and all, the Disney Channel showed Monsters Inc this morning. Faith had been happily watching Playhouse Disney when all of a sudden, BAM. . . Monsters, Inc. I saw it come on and could have flipped to Noggin, but nah. I figured I'd see what she'd do. How scary could it really be if it's on Playhouse Disney? And I have a rule that Faith can watch any G movie she wants. Even if it's "scary."

The first scene is a simulation of a monster scaring a small child. Grabbing the camera, because that's what I do, I tried to snap a photo of her watching her first "scary movie." Instead, she decided it was too scary and turned tail and ran to hide behind my legs as soon as the monster popped up over the child's bed.

Now she stands at the bedroom door, watching the movie from afar. She can't look away.

It's all part of being a kid in October.

Party!

We traveled to Amelia, OH yesterday for a party. Before I forget, the hostess of the party had the best little mini pizzas. This is an easy recipe I'll tuck away for later:

• Pillsbury pizza dough - shape into rounds the size of a slice of tomato. Drizzle with olive oil. Top with a single tomato slice, mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of oregano. Bake.

Seriously . . . so simple and so good. Even DJ took a bite and said he liked it (I couldn't get him to take a second bite, but it's DJ were talking about here, you all know how he eats as well as I do.)

Greg and Kate bought the house from a family that had a six-month-old baby girl. Faith LOVED the murals in the nursery. The bunny room:

Then she went outside and met Greg and Kate's real live bunny. Or at least a bunny that lives in their back yard. You can see her looking back at me . . . she liked the bunny at first but when she got this close she started saying, "Mommy, I scared."
And she played with their dachshund Jackson. No fear of Jack:
Kinda cute and kinda not all at the same time: Right around time to leave, Faith (completely out of the blue) started asking for Daddy Doug. When we explained that Daddy Doug was far away and we couldn't see him she laid down on the floor and kicked her little arms and legs on the floor. Finally, DJ called Daddy Doug and he comforted her over the phone. Cute because she loves her Daddy Doug, but not cute that she threw a fit in the middle of the party.

A Conversation With Faith

Mommy: (sitting on floor, with cat in lap) Faith, what's this kitty's name?
Faith: Kitty.
Mommy: No Faith, what's his name?
Faith (long pause . . . .Mommy shows Faith the blue collar - each of our three black cats can be identified by collar color) Kexus!
Mommy: Good girl, this is Lexus.
Faith: (hugs and kisses Lexus) I love you Kexus.
Mommy: Who else do you love?
Faith: (hugs Mommy) I love you Mommy. (hugs Mommy's belly) I love you babies.
Mommy: And the babies love you. . . What do you want to name the babies?
Faith: Kid.
Mommy: Kid? You want to name a baby 'Kid?'
Faith: Yes. (hugs belly again.) Hi Kid!

The Two Most Popular Questions

Probably the most common question I'm asked is what sex we want these babies to be. Since everyone wants to know, I'll lay it out for you here:

Faith is easy and consistent with her answer - every time we ask she says she wants a brother and a sister. One of each.

DJ wants one boy. At least. He doesn't have much to say beyond that but when I pressed him the other day by saying, "If God Himself came down and asked you what you want these babies to be, what would you request?" His answer was, "A boy and a girl."

Me? I really, really want two healthy babies. In today's world, that more often than not means girls. I'd be thrilled with two more girls - or two healthy boys. The superficial part of me wants two girls because they are so easy to clothe. Everyone has cute girls clothes. Gymboree is about the only store that consistently has super-cute boy clothes. Every other place is hit-or-miss.

Plus, I'm undecided on the whole vaccine issue with boys. My pediatrician is adamant that vaccines have nothing to do with autism, but I have a friend with a autistic son who stopped breathing 30 minutes after a vaccine and started slipping into autism immediately thereafter. I trust her judgement, and she says it was the vaccines. I'm going to want to split and/or delay vaccines for boys (they will still be fully vaccinated, just not at the lightning fast speed recommended by the ped.) We'll go head-to-head over that one. Girls would certainly be easier. Mostly I just want healthy kids and I'm afraid a boy won't be healthy. Only because I know so many young boys with health problems and very few sickly girls.

I also have to agree with Miki's friend Tiffany. . . she always said she wanted a boy or a girl. Not somewhere in the middle.

The next most popular question is names. I like Alison but DJ refuses to name our daughter after my cat and Mom is firm on DJ's side with that one. I know I won't keep everyone happy, but I'm trying to at least keep Mom pleased with names - she's making the Baptismal gowns. :) DJ likes Cawood for Cawood Ledford of UK fame. Aunt Barb really likes Cawood and is enthusiastically on his side but I'm just not sure. She told me last night he has the right to name at least one of his children. But he did help name Faith (you know, 'cause Faith Hill is hot.)

Other than that . . . we got nothin'.

Very Two

I've been searching and searching for plain, long-sleeved T-shirts without any success (we've already searched two Kohls, three Targets, two Wal-Marts and a Meijer). Faith and I hit our third mall today and found one pink one at Gymboree - and had to ask the saleslady to search the back. Seriously? You'd think someone would figure out Mom's want these things for layering purposes, especially since the T's I have seen (not the right size) have been sitting on near-bare shelves. The other moms are making the same plans as me.

I've probably wasted a whole tank of gas chasing down long-sleeved T's - but on the bright side, I filled up for $2.99 today! A whole tank for less than $30.

So anyway, we spent the morning at Greenwood Park Mall. Me, very frustrated at my lack of success and Faith acting very two. She had to play in the play-place and ride the merry-go-round, which was fine. What was not fine was when she'd get out of her stroller and refuse to follow me out of a store. I tried the old trick Mom used to use on me, "Bye Faith! Mommy's leaving!" That backfired. She just planted her little feet and laughed, "Bye Mommy!" I'd walk around a little carousel of clothes to keep an eye on her while hiding and she was fine. As soon as I stepped out so she could see me she'd say, "Mommy, go bye-bye!"

Finally I just put her in time-out in her stroller - which really just means I strapped her in. Then she was all confused as she'd try and stand, "Mommy! I stuck!" Yeah Faith, you're supposed to be stuck. I planned it that way.

In other news . . . Faith hasn't had an accident today! We bought Sleeping Beauty yesterday and I specifically told her that she had to use the potty all the time before she could watch it. This morning as soon as she woke I asked her if she was going to use the potty today. Her response? "Yes. Sleeping Beauty." Even at the mall she wore big-girl princess panties and didn't have an accident - and she told me once that she needed to potty.

There is still hope for the T's. I haven't searched Carter's yet.

All I ask is that you pray for me in three years. You know, when I have two two-year-olds. Seriously though, I can't wait. At least I'm guaranteed by God Himself to be kept entertained.

You're Welcome

Mommy: Faith, you are a good girl. I love you so much.
Faith: You're welcome.

Funeral

DJ, Faith and I spent Sunday and Monday in Terre Haute for Martha's funeral. Faith was acting very two at the visitation so DJ decided not to take her to the funeral. He stayed home with her while I did the Church and cemetery with Mom and Dad. All things considered it was a nice day. The weather was beautiful, Mom made it through her responsorial psalm and reading just fine, and Ray held up well.


So that was that.

Liar, Liar

As Faith took her bath tonight I asked about her tumble down the stairs while I was at work this morning.

Mommy: Faith, did you fall down the stairs?
Faith: Owie (points to bruise on cheek.)
Mommy: Did it hurt?
Faith: Yes. I fall down stairs. Daddy (lowers voice a few octaves) ARGH, ARGH, ARGH.
Mommy: Did Daddy yell at you for falling down the stairs?
Faith: Yes.
Mommy: (trots off to find DJ) Did you yell at Faith after she fell down the stairs?
DJ: No.
Mommy: Faith says you did.
DJ: (laughs) She's a liar.

Working Toward A New Princess Movie

I've been telling Faith for the past few days that she has to use the potty *all the time* before we'll buy Sleeping Beauty. Yesterday, she approached me at Grandma's house and very clearly said, "I want to go buy Sleeping Beauty." I explained (again) that she could only have it after she's using the potty all the time.

She's been peeing in the potty pretty well for a good six months (when she feels like it.) Poop? Not so much. She's done it twice - both times I knew it was coming and directed her to sit. Today, she was upstairs watching The Little Mermaid by herself. She came downstairs and asked to have a diaper put on. I noticed a little poo and asked her to show me where she went stinky - she led me straight to the potty!

Finally! She did it on her own.

A Drink

Every night before bed we brush our teeth.

And every night Faith has to take a "drink."

Happy Anniversary?

Today is my parent's 44th anniversary. As mom said this morning, they've had better.

Faith and I made plans late last week to head to Terre Haute to spend the day Christmas shopping with Grandma. I had hoped to get all the little kids (Emma, Mackenzie, Madeline, Mallory, and Cooper) taken care of today since I don't know how I'll feel in December. If nothing else I figured we could throw cash at the older kids and they'd be happy. And we did go shopping, but not Christmas shopping

If you know my parents, you probably know Ray and Martha. Ray and Dad and Mom and Martha have been pretty inseparable for twenty-some odd years. Unexpectedly, Martha passed away yesterday.

So instead of Christmas shopping, we went shopping for a black maternity dress I could wear to the funeral and then again for Christmas. Not so much in the mood to shop, we gave up after two stores and I bought a simple pair of black pants and two tops that will work. And we went home.

That pic up top? It's the only one I took today. Mom loves the Asian dumplings at Ruby Tuesday and I love the salad bar so we treated ourselves to a favorite lunch.

DJ and I will be in Terre Haute Sunday and Monday for visitation and the funeral. If you need us, call our cells (which most of you do regardless.)

Mom and Dad both seem to be doing very well. I didn't see Ray today but he spent the night at Mom and Dad's house last night and then Dad helped him make funeral and cemetary arrangements. They say he's holding up well too.

Please add Ray, Mom, Dad, and Ray and Martha's daughter Mary to your prayer list.

Autumn Treats

DJ came home for lunch today with the goods for me to make popcorn balls (he stopped at the grocery.)

Cathy: Do you like popcorn balls?

DJ: Not really.

Cathy: No? They are such a good autumn treat!

DJ: I don't like autumn.

He is such a grouch. Regardless, they turned out fabulous. Since I know Barb at least likes me to post good recipes, here it is (from allrecipes:)

2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
salt to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar (optional)
5 quarts popped popcorn

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter and water. Stir and heat to hard-crack stage or 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Remove from heat, add vanilla or vinegar; mix well. Pour slowly over popped popcorn while stirring. Wait 5 minutes and shape into 3 inch round balls.

I used a full tablespoon of salt and omitted the vinegar. Absolutely fabulous. I didn't wait the full five minutes - more like I poured the caramel, stirred it into the popcorn as well as I could and then shaped the balls.

Why post the recipe when I could just give you the link? Because I eventually plan on having the blog printed for the kids and the link won't work in a book ;)

Gone two years today

Still miss him all the way.

Of course with it being the anniversary, I've been thinking about Ali all day. One of my favorite stories is about Ali at Purdue. I was only there for my senior year so most of the class didn't really get to know me right away. I used to bring Ali in about once a month for whatever reason: weight checks, vaccines, dental cleanings, screening radiographs, bloodwork, whatever. He'd spend most of the day in the cattery while I worked.

If you remember me and Ali, you'll remember I never carried him like a cat. I used to pop him on my hip, he'd wrap his little front legs around my neck and I'd carry him like he was a toddler. So imagine me, pretty much a stranger to the Purdue class, walking down the halls of the teaching hospital with this seventeen pound cat on my hip.

Think about how many animals move through the teaching hospital at Purdue. It's a lot. I would be stopped, time and time again by a classmate or a clinician just to tell me how great my cat was. Over and over again they'd say, "Is that your cat? He is so great! I met him in the cattery. As soon as he sees you he rubs against the bars and starts talking to you like, 'Hey! My mom accidentally locked me in this cage. . . you think you could help a cat out?'" They'd inevitably take him out and hold him for a few minutes and he'd win them over.

That was Ali.