Why is it that whenever I want to do anything on the laptop I end up with a kid and a cat in my lap? I've yet to figure it out, but I'm open to suggestions! LOL

Well, I ordered a kentia palm off of ebay. I've been wanting something to put next to my piano ever since I moved McKenna's little bookshelf into the other room. I'd also like to get a corn plant, also known as Draceana. They are nice upright, tall plants that work well in a narrow space. Ever since I've started having luck getting things to grow, I just can't seem to stop picking up plants! At least, after summers over I won't have a lack of things to do! I've already rooted some epicsia suckers and will soon (hopefully) have 3 new "Chocolate Velour" epicsia's hanging around! Also picked up a spider plant, one of the hardier looking varieties and it gets morning and evening sun and seems to be doing really well..........I've added a compact fluorescent to my nepenthes miranda as it still has only the pitcher it made while in my terrarium. It's getting 16 hours of light a day, which is a healthy amount for that plant. I've placed my wandering jew outside because the stems and leaves are looking a little lank. I think it'll beef up with more sun.

Noel and I took McKenna to Boondocks yesterday. We played a round of miniature golf with her, which was really interesting! She liked to go grab the balls and throw them in the holes. Needless to say we didn't keep score! After that we did the bumber boats. Noel had McKenna and it's a good thing because he got me soaked with those squirters and his aim was deadly. McKenna would have gotten really wet and mad, but she was safe with him. I couldn't seem to get the stream of water low enough to hit him! Anyway, that was fun and then we went back in the the kids area where she could go in and play... it's a maze almost with swings and slides and ladders and trap doors and tunnels. And it's free! You just come in and set the kids loose and there's netting everywhere so that they can't really fall and hurt themselves. She had a blast in there. Afterwards, it was back home and lunch and a nap. She was falling asleep in her pb&j!!

Today, if it warms up a little and the wind quits, we may go to the Boise Botanical Gardens. I'll post again if we go. It should be a good time of year to go. Noel finished homework and a test yesterday after Boondocks (on leadership skills) so he shouldn't have any excuses for not going! :)

Our gate blew off in the wind a couple of days ago, so Noel's trying to get it fixed. Didn't seem all that windy, but there were some good gusts. He's off to home depot. I just listed our king mattress on craigslist with a pic so hope to get some nibbles. I've been wanting to clear that room out a little. If the king sells, we'll put the single in there. I found the cat beds in the garage and cleaned them up and set them in on the bed, and they're actually sleeping in them! So I'll move them to the twin when we get it in there. Luckily the mattress looks in good condition. No smells, stains or anything gross like that. And we only slept on it a few years before we got our other bed, so for being 8 years old, it's in good shape.

I purchased a kohleria http://www.robsviolet.com/koh_manchu.htm and it's now blooming! Beautiful orangey-red blooms to brighten up my terrarium alongside the orchid. Noel and I also purchased a gorgeous rocking chair for $10. that we saw on craigslist. It's really old-fashioned looking and only needed some screws tightened and added. We have it in the living room for the moment, but when the next kiddo comes we'll probably put our glider-rocker up in the bedroom for him/her and just keep this new one down here. It's a medium wood color with burgandy cushions. I'm really pleased with it. It fits in with the decor nicely. Well, got a new pic of McKenna up on the main page of my blog, but so far having problems getting the others on my webshots so I'll keep trying. Well, gotta come up with something for dinner. Later!

Ok, this is kind of gross, but McKenna's been constipated. I gave her a little bit of mineral oil and some dried apricots and we're just now in the bath... I was reading and heard her say 'poo-poo' and looked and saw a nice big turd floating in the water with her. She almost freaked out, but I calmed her down and fished it out. (Not with my hands, thank you!) Anyway, I have a feeling she'll be feeling much better now! LOL Ah, the joys of mommy-hood! :)

Looks like my nasturtiums are poking their heads up out of the soil around the tree in the front yard. McKenna helped me pick grass from around them. Unfortunately the tree roots are really shallow and I can't really dig the grass up too well without damaging them. So I dumped some potting soil around the tree (not too deep) and planted the seeds and of course the grass is poking up through. Don't know what I'll do... anyone have any good ideas? :)

Got a guy coming by to look at our dryer. We really wanted to sell them as a set, but I said he could take the dryer by itself, so of course we need to get at least $100. for it. Crossing my fingers! After he's gone, it's back to the garden I go. I've got a few bucks set aside - I'm tempted to go pick up some plants at Zamzows. I'm so impatient for everything else I have to start growing! My larkspur and delphinium are just coming up out of the soil. Don't know if I'll get any blooms from them, but the delphinium are perennials, so I can always mulch and divide next spring and hopefully get some good healthy plants. I've got cosmos, bachelor buttons and four o'clocks started from seed and they are looking good so far. The four o'clocks are almost ready for hardening off, but only two seeds sprouted, so I might have to plant some more. I did divide my chrysanthemums (sp?) and put them in my new flower bed, and that's where I'll probably try my four o'clocks and my cosmos. The bachelor buttons I'll save for my main bed and they'll be in the front, with my established yellow snapdragons behind. Okay, everyones probably sick of hearing of plants already. Oh!! My iris are in bloom... I'll have to try to take a pic and get it on my blog. My white ones in back and the purple/white ones in the front that my neighbor Shirley gave me. They are looking fantastic! And my sweet william is starting to bloom. I also bought 3 pink geraniums to put in pots and hang on my front porch rail. It sound like a lot, but my flower beds are really bare looking since I'm waiting for plants from seed to be ready to go. Ah well, I'm loving it and McKenna is loving helping me, and we're getting sun so we're happy!

Well, the weather has been most excellent around here..... 70's low 80's... I've been outside in my garden most of the time. I've got plants started from seed that I'm going to plant in another week or so and I got a new flower bed added onto the end of my porch. I plan to put in another one across from it on the other side of my gate. McKenna has been a big help. She'll hold a bag while I dump old mulch in it, or help me rake the leaves out of the beds. We've got the pool up in the backyard and she went in for a swim yesterday for the first time.

I was saying goodbye to Noel yesterday as he was leaving for work and I said 'have a good day' and she mimicked me! Sounded darn good, too. It had Noel turning around and praising her. We're still working of potty training. She'll sit on the potty but not do anything. Ah well, it'll come.

Noel has been experiencing tired eyes and headaches more often, so went into the eye doctor. Turns out he needed a prescription for glasses. He picked them up a couple of days ago and they look really good on him. He says he's still getting used to them, but his eye-strain at work has disappeared.

Today is overcast with rain expected so I'm doing laundry and baking. Made breakfast muffins (cheese, onion, bacon) banana bread, and a loaf of regular sandwich bread. Read up on some ways to save money. Noel just got a raise, which is nice (over $2.00 extra an hour) but if gas prices keep climbing, we're not going to see any of it! I've lost my last piano student (temporarily, it sounds like) so no extra cash for spending money, but if we can save some money on groceries, I might get a little for my garden. We've also put up our old washer and dryer as well as a birdcage for sale. If we sell both for what we want, we'll get almost $500. which will help out. Anyway, life is pretty good at the moment. McKenna and I are enjoying being outside more often and I'm enjoying the nice tan I'm developing! Still working on the next kiddo, but a lot more relaxed about it. Stress-wise, anyway! That's it for now, time to play with the kiddo.

Well, I saw McKenna on the sofa the other day opening and shutting her hands, and she was saying 'open' , 'shut' (we do a song about this!) and it was so neat! Her vocab is expanding so rapidly now!

Unfortunately, she's picked up a bug again. Just a cold, I think. We were at the library lap-sit on Thursday and I heard a wet cough while I was there and remember thinking, 'uh-oh'........ looks like she might have picked it up! I'm hoping it passes off quickly!

We went looking at yard sales yesterday. There was a community yardsale (over 10) in the subdivision next door to us. I went to a few, but Noel dropped us off because McKenna had spilled orange juice all down her front. (We were coming from Elmers) We ended up with a nice 3-tiered plant shelf for me, and Noel brought home a very nice area rug (6' by 9' I'm thinking) that we now have down in the living room. Got it for $30. bucks.

Today we're working on the garden. We brought in a bunch of compost and that's been dumped in the garden plot. Noel's going to rototill it into the soil and he also picked up some wood to edge the garden with so we can increase it's height. If the weathers nice he may get the rebar on the wood and get the border set up. Who knows how it'll work out. Okay, time to go - McKenna wants to paint or do a craft.

Oh, last night right before going up to bed she said, Bye Bye Diablo! Cute... but Diablo could've cared less!! :)

McKenna and I sowed some seeds out front in the front flowerbed today. It's a little early, but the warm weather has me optimistic. We did delphinium and some other tall variety like that as well. Larkspur, I think. Also dug up some orange flowers my neighbor Carolyn said I could have. They're a perennial and will bloom this summer. This weekend I think we'll rototill the garden in back and get it prepped for planting. We want it to be a raised bed. I have peppers and tomatoes in my windowsill gaining height every day and will need to go in the ground in the next couple of weeks. I picked up an orchid and ordered some gesneriads (african violet family) and they are now in my terrarium battling for prime position. LOL

McKenna can say "I see you" and "Diablo" Probably some more, but I can't think of them right now. She's been on nap strike for the last week, but I still take her upstairs for "quiet time". It saves on mommy's sanity! :D Mommy and Daddy are still working on making her a little brother or sister but still no luck. I've totally chilled this month and am much less stressed. I figure it'll happen when it's meant to, and all my worrying about it will just give me an ulcer! Enough for now. :)

Well, I figured out that McKenna's allergy was due to peanut butter, because the red patches totally faded after about 5 days. So, I'm thinking that that was the issue.

I mentioned that McKenna can blow her nose, but for the first time today she asked for a napkin and then blew her nose herself! Not very neatly, as I had to wipe snot off her eyebrow, but still she did it herself without me helping! We're both feeling better now, and it appears that Noel has missed the sick boat completely.

Nothing new, except I'm still reading up on scam baits on www.419eater.com and loving the stories! Noel can't wait for my fascination to end and the home-cooked meals to begin again! LOL

Gotta go!

McKenna appears to be getting sick. Runny nose and all. Some red patches under her mouth have faded over the last couple days, and I think it may have been an allergy to peanut butter, as she hasn't had any in 4 days. (I was giving Pb&J sandwiches every other day or so) So hopefully, that's the problem, and I hope McKenna's runny nose doesn't last long. Good news is that as of approximately 4 months or so ago, she learned how to blow her nose. Yay!!

Other than that, not much going on. After watching datelines, "To Catch a Con Man" I looked up reverse scams and scam-baiting and discovered a world of people who pretend to be victims and try to keep the scammer engaged as long as they can. It wastes their time and prevents them from working on someone that might be a REAL victim! It's very cool! I've been reading completed scam-baits on www.419eater.com and most of them are HILARIOUS!! I've never laughed so hard in my life!! (Ashley, you know what I mean!) My stomach was literally sore from laughing so hard. It's amazing what these scammers will believe and/or do just for the hopes of scoring some cash!

K, that's all for now. Gotta make some dinner. Grilled cheese and tomato soup. We're going high-style tonight!! LOL

McKenna's favorite show is "It's a big, big world" on PBS. Check it out at:

http://pbskids.org/bigbigworld/home.html

Very cool - my neighbor Carolyn dropped off a ton of seeds, both vegetable and flower, that she got at "Heritage Day" at her church. I guess I can't complain of lack of variety anymore! I started some cherry and regular tomato, as well as some pepper. I think I want to plant those as well as some corn, pickling cucumbers, and one squash plant. LOL - They get huge! I'll probably try to do beans, peas, and strawberries... oh, and onions!

Okay, gotta get lunch!

Well, today is the third day I've refused McKenna her num num... weaning I'd say is currently on, or I guess I could say she's fully weaned now (since I plan not to nurse her anymore). She hardly seems traumatized! LOL Although she asks for it every morning when I'm putting her clothes on and I say no very nicely. Actually we detour straight to breakfast and that seems acceptable to her. Now, let's see how fast I get pregnant!

Noel has me addicted to Need for Speed "Most Wanted". It's a PC racing game, if you hadn't figured it out. It's so much fun, but I know I'll burn out on it sooner or later! Well, McKenna is up and I need to get up there. Later.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that Noel and I are starting to become concerned about the level of care and health given to farm animals that we get our meat and eggs/dairy from. I've decided to start using soy powder as a substitute for egg in baking (can't taste any difference) and organic certified eggs in other uses. Evidently "cage-free" and "free-range" labels aren't followed up on or regulated, unlike "organic". A good site on the state of chickens in factory farms is:

http://www.eggindustry.com/

And another that goes over lots of different animals is:

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/index.html

This second site is quite graphic, so don't go clicking on the cute little kittens unless you're prepared. I'm appalled at how the U.S. has hardly any regulations on the quality of care these animals get. I know eventually we'll eat them, but wouldn't it be nice to know that these animals had decent, even 'normal' lives before we ate them? Noel and I are going to be purchasing "grass-fed" beef in the near future, as well. We'll keep you posted on how it goes!

So, I helped Patty get some irises and tulips planted in her flower beds at her house. They're selling and are trying to perk up the front a bit. We divided a bunch of her irises and tulips and created another bed around her tree in front. It looked pretty good overall after we were finished. McKenna played the whole time with Christi and was exhausted that night. Slept til ten the next morning!

Today, Noel aereated and de-thatched our front and back yard. We split the cost with two other neighbors who also aereated. Just finished maybe an hour ago and all we have to do now is rake up what thatch the mower didn't get. I'm hopeful that the yard will turn out looking better this summer than before. We really need the irrigation turned on, though. It's been dry and hot (75 today) and the grass is greening up everywhere, we just need to get water on it. I guess it's supposed to rain on Tuesday so maybe that will help.

Well, we had our friends Ben and Terah and their little boy Hayden (age 2) over for dinner and games tonight. We had a lot of fun! Hayden is a bit louder and more active than McKenna so after a period a acclimatizing, we had a fantastic evening! I have to remember that McKenna is pretty quiet for her age group and count myself lucky! The next one might not be so easy going! LOL

So we had stew, rolls, a salad that Terah brought, and Cheesecake for dessert. We played Battle of the Sexes since we'd had so much fun playing with Patty and Joe and had just as much fun with Terah and Ben. It went really well, and I hope we can get together more often with them, in fact, I'll try to make it a priority. Terah and I will probably get our kids together for play dates as soon as summer rolls around.

Anyway, we had a great time tonight. I'm surprised at how quickly I got the kitchen cleaned up, so now I'm going to relax and play some online pool at Yahoo games. If anyone ever wants to look me up there I play under "Sundewlilly", "Sakmet", and "Ocintu"

Chao

Almost 70 degrees today! At least it felt like it! McKenna and I were out so much we got a touch of sun. I cleaned up her bike and lowered the seat, and put her on it and showed her how to use the pedals. I ended up pushing her most of the time, but occasionally she would try to pedal with her feet. I had her little helmet on and with her training wheels, we just went up and down the street. Went out again around 6pm and chatted with the neighbors. Sam had a unicycle that he let me try out and lets just say my attempt was quite laughable!! McKenna had fun with Chloe and we finally went back into the house right before Noel got home. Little miss kicked a huge fuss when we got inside as she was having fun and did NOT want to come in. LOL Poor kid.

Oh yeah, we had our first attempt at a nap today with the toddler bed. She laid in it for 20 minutes, part of the time reading, and then I was hearing thumps and bumps so I went up to check and she was looking out the door over the baby gate at me. I asked her to get back in bed and you would've thought I'd announced that I was leaving and abandoning her! Talk about some waterworks! I decided that I won't make it mandatory that she stay in her bed, but just that she stays in her room and has some quiet time. I think that will work out best, because I don't want to put her in her crib for naps and the bed for bedtime - that would be confusing for her.

McKenna and I baked some molasses cookies today and she helped put the sugar on top. They got a little too much, but hey it was a gals afternoon.

Nothing else new, except some juicy stuff that if I shared with you I'd surely hear about it! LOL

Everyone keep your fingers crossed for us in the baby-making department. We're still working diligently in that area!! :)

McKenna passed her first night in her toddler bed. Noel took her up last night, put her to bed and she got right in, and didn't try to get out once! She slept right through, and she woke up about 15 minutes ago and has been lying in her bed. It's fabulous! I'm going to get her right after this post.
I'm crossing my fingers that it will be smooth sailing the rest of the way, as well! I'm so proud of her.

I was pleasantly surprised today to find that my zebra prayer plant has flowered. I had seen what I assumed was a new tightly rolled up leaf emerging... turns out it was a flower stalk! I looked up the requirements of this plant (as I had just thrown it in my terrarium with everything else) and found that it liked high humidity, temps between 60 and 70, and bright indirect light. And what do you know? I've got all that! I'll post a pic as soon as I can figure out why bloggers not taking some of them.

McKenna and I went to the library today. Picked out some books on horses and Raggedy Ann - we also moved her toddler bed into position and since I can't get the crib through the door, it's sitting next to her bed.

We were outside on the swing set today (it's like 65 out - beautiful!) and I was showing her how to back into the swing and then pull herself up onto the seat. She almost did it herself, but needs a bit more practice.

On another note, the car wouldn't start for me. I had to take the truck to the library, which ran just fine for me, thank you! Okay, time to see what the kiddo's up to. She's upstairs in her newly arranged bedroom. She likes lying on her new bed!

Noel set up McKenna's toddler bed last night and we have it up in her room up on end. I'll have to lay it down maybe where the dresser is so she can see it and get used to it. Only thing is, I only have one mattress, so I guess I'll switch it back and forth so she can see what the bed is supposed to look like!

He came home with a bunch of watercolor paint supplies for her too... new tubes of finger paints, those little paint rounds in a plastic case, and some other paints in small plastic cups. Also some nice watercolor paper - which was TOO nice, he said. We'll have to keep an eye out for cheaper stuff. Well, it's time for coffee!

Ugh, woke up at 2:30am - thought I heard McKenna, but went in to check and she was sleeping sweetly. Laid awake for 1-1/2 hours, and now I'm downstairs at 4:30 playing pool on yahoo games. Last night we went out to eat at Red Robin, and I stuffed myself with the mushroom burger. McKenna was the best behaved little 2-year-old you would have seen there! Drew with her crayons, ate all but a couple pieces of her macaroni and was quiet and engaged with all the activity around her. We were blown away by how good she was... hopefully, we didn't jinx anything by commenting on it!

We stopped at Kmart on the way home to pick up a toddler bed. I think she's ready and we'll get it set up and get her used to it before asking her to sleep in it. Noel will set it up this morning. We watched Saw 3 last night, and if any of you have seen these movies (horror) you know what I'm talking about when I say that the last one was the best and worst. It kept me up for an hour at least before I fell asleep, and when I woke up started thinking about it again. Fascinating movies, but I don't watch much horror these days, so I probably should have worked up to it! Anywho, guess I should try to go back to sleep. There's not much activity in the pool hall this early! :)

Today was interesting - Noel sat in front of the home theater PC all day today trying to install Linux - guess it was giving him some problems, because he's still there! LOL I did, however, ask him to take a break and we went to Red Robin for dinner and then hit Kmart and picked up a toddler bed for McKenna. It's cute, and I hope it will be an easy transition for her. I think we'll set it up early tomorrow and let her see it and get on it and in general become used to it before asking her to sleep on it. Naptimes might become a thing of the past, but we'll see how it works out.

My book, The Savage Garden finally arrived yesterday and I finished it a couple hours ago. It's pretty durn good! :) All on carnivorous plants. Speaking of which, McKenna and I trapped a couple of gnat/flies hanging around between the screen and glass window in her bedroom and fed them to the traps. She thought that was pretty cool.

It snowed non-stop today! Enough covered the ground that I got McKenna bundled up in her snow suit and we went out and made snow angels and threw snowballs. After that it was in to sip some hot coco and watch "It's a big, big world" on PBS. Her favorite show right now! Later it was art time and she did a bunch of finger paints (and I used expensive photo paper that worked awesome - but Noel was miffed) and we told daddy to pick one out to put up in his cubby at work. So he picked my favorite and I told him not to mess it up, because once we're tired of looking at it, it's going to the grandparents in AZ. Gotta spread the joy!

I've developed an interest in Japanese. I went online and am currently learning the katakana script. Don't know how far I'll go on my own, but I needed another hobby! LOL Okay, nuff for now.

McKenna said "outside" clearly today! Might have been a fluke, but it was a nice one!

Today was 'water the plants' day. My 75 gallon terrarium has several plants in it, some of which are pothos, wandering jew, an orchid, primroses, zebra prayer plant, some carnivorous nepenthes and sundews, and my newest nepenthes miranda. It's a larger plant than the others with one beautiful full-grown pitcher on it.

McKenna and I watered everything at the kitchen sink and she stood on her stool to help me. I showed her how to use the sprayer and we took turns watering and bathing the plants. She got quite a kick out of watching me filter my rainwater. The neps and sundew don't tolerate tap so I collect rainwater or use distilled when it's really dry out.

I used a new filter for a fish tank and ran all my rainwater through it, mainly to get out any dust or herbicide residue that may have accumulated on our roof. I wait about 15 minutes AFTER it starts raining before collecting so that really ensures that I collect the cleanest stuff. Hey, it's free, too! McKenna thought that was really cool - me using the filter and funnel and gallon jug. I'm going to have a blast teaching her about horticulture (as much as I know, anyway) and about keeping fish tanks.

Now I've just got to figure out how to get blogger to accept a picture of McKenna I want to put on up this site. It'll take photos from the laptop, but won't take the shared files from Noel's computers... guess I'll have to ask him!

Noel got back from a LAN (computer gaming) party in Portland and brought some 'prizes' home with him, one of which is a computer gaming tower that he's selling to a friend of his for a bargain price of $110.00 Nice case, too - not tricked out like some of the pics I saw, but pretty nice. These gamers evidently compete to see who can have the wildest computer pc set up. One picture Noel brought home was of a case with an axe sticking out of the top. It was pretty wild. I can only imagine all the work and time that goes into it. One guy has his computer inside a glass rectangular cube with the computer at one end and the monitor is being projected onto the far end of the cube. It looked pretty heavy! Well, enough on that. Time for a chocolate fix!

Wow, just went through a confusing tussle with McKenna. I was bringing her downstairs and she started crying. Got to the bottom and put her down - she turned right around and hustled back up. (She can walk up the stairs now with her hand on the wall) Then proceeded to start crying again! So I went up, picked her up again, asked her what was wrong, and she started patting my back. Took me a minute, but I finally realized she wanted a piggyback ride down the stairs! Noel's always doing this with her. Yay, we figured it out! :)

Well, I just updated my blog. I like it - was getting a bit tired of pink. Don't forget to scroll to the very bottom and check out the pic there, too.

Okay, to answer everyones question... nope, not preggo - but still working on it! LOL

I updated my webshots page... http://community.webshots.com/user/sakmeht so take a look all of you that haven't checked it out. As you can see, I've developed an interest in carniverous plants. Mainly Asian pitcher plants and Sundews. McKenna really likes my terrarium... she'll go up to it and point a lot. I think she really likes the wandering jew plant. And my zebra prayer plant. Gotta go, someone's screaming at me! LOL

Jeez, I can't believe no one's harangued me about posting! It's been forever... let's see. McKenna is almost weaned. I've got her down to once a day, so maybe I can get pregnant again! I'm actually wondering if I am right at this moment, but that damn pregnancy test is EXPENSIVE and all I need to do is wait 4 or 5 more days to know for sure. Ugh, anyway.

New news... I received my Master Gardener certificate and as soon as a frame opens up, I'll get it up on the wall. They took a picture of our group and it's supposed to appear in the Idaho Press Tribune, and they'll let us know when, evidently.

We all had a wonderful Christmas. We had enough snow to sled on, although it actually consisted of Noel or I pulling McKenna along the driveway or street. She really liked it, and we're going to attempt to find a nice hill somewhere that doesn't charge or have age restricitions!

I've been up to wild experiments in the kitchen with a sourdough starter. I created an active healthy starter using no commercial yeast - just the stuff found in the air or already in the flour. Pretty cool if you ask me. I'm making pancakes a lot more with the extra stuff that I have to do something with. It already has a nice tangy, somewhat mild sour flavor. The REAL sour will come with time.

Umm, lets see - McKenna's talking a bit more. She has signs for lots of things, including napkin, strawberry, light and some others. Actually tons of others, but I think I've shared a few already. She can say poopoo and point to her bottom to let me know whats in there. We've pretty much won the battle of 'throw this food on the floor if I don't like it' and have converted to 'push this bowl back away from me if I'm done eating and ask to get down'... a few time outs made that happen! We're much happier. McKenna didn't like mommy's face when she saw her cleaning oatmeal off the china cabinet!

She's developing an attachment to Babar, her elephant, and asks for him frequently, although she'll sometimes go to bed without him, if she doesn't think of asking for him. I'm okay with where she is now... it certainly doesn't seem to be an obsession or anything yet.

I've found an interest in Sudoku, a number game. The neighbors gave it to us for Christmas, and I found some online versions that I like. Definitely gets the brains synapses firing! Allright, nuff for now. The kiddo's down, and I deserve some ME time!! LOL

Good morning!

Life if good in the Noel household. McKennas quite active. She can scoot up the stairs in no time, and her vocabulary is growing. She can say 'cheese' and 'shoes' and 'outside'. I've given her signs for these things too, which helps out. Noel and I have been hitting yard sales on Saturdays and can I say he is REALLY good at finding deals? He found a soddering kit that they only wanted a buck for and it's worth over $200. he said. It needs one replacement part that's really cheap (under $10.) and it's good as new. I found lots of great clothes for McKenna, some of which I'll use for her this winter. We also picked up a vacuum sealer for food, since we buy a lot of meat in bulk and then re-wrap it. It's nice, and worth at least $50. We got it for $8. So because of Noel I've become interested in yard saleing, which in my former life wouldn't have been an interest I'd have entertained at all!

Noel and I took McKenna to the Boise zoo. She really liked the small animal kingdom. There was a digging rat/prarie dog looking thing... a meerat? I can't remember, but some of them were digging and some were sitting on a ledge with their backs pressed up against the glass... McKenna was trying to give them kisses through the glass! Don't worry, we didn't let her lips actually CONTACT the glass! Ha! Anyway, there were some big animals there too, like tigers, leopards, a sloth bear, camels, zebras, but nothing bigger than that really. Lots of different monkeys and birds and stuff. She had fun and fell asleep in her carseat on the way home!

Other news: I've been doing flylady and some days are better than others, but one thing I'm grateful for is that my laundry is caught up and my kitchen always is clean with counters clean and empty of dirty dishes. And if that was all I ever got out of flylady I'd be happy, but her idea of routines really works for me and the cats are so much happier with their litterboxes scooped every day! I still work on updating/changing/omitting from my routines, but I've got the basics down that I do every morning and night, so that's good. And I've got my meals planned everyweek, which really helps me not to get in a panic every day around 4pm going, 'what am I going to make for dinner?'

So other than that, nothing much going on. Gas is $2.99/gallon up here, but we're still using the geo and Noel is carpooling with a guy he works with on mondays, wed's, and fri's so that works out really well.

I've recently come back to researching homeschooling after taking a break from it to follow other interests (spirituality, etc) and am still sure that it's the right road to go, especially with the schools around here. I just have to decide what kind of homeschooler I'll be, i.e. unschooling, eclectic, Charlotte Mason, classical, etc... but it'll be fun to find out! Gotta end this, McKenna's awake and ready to start the day! Love to everyone who's still keeping up with this thing. Sorry I haven't written in awhile!

Good morning!

Life if good in the Noel household. McKennas quite active. She can scoot up the stairs in no time, and her vocabulary is growing. She can say 'cheese' and 'shoes' and 'outside'. I've given her signs for these things too, which helps out. Noel and I have been hitting yard sales on Saturdays and can I say he is REALLY good at finding deals? He found a soddering kit that they only wanted a buck for and it's worth over $200. he said. It needs one replacement part that's really cheap (under $10.) and it's good as new. I found lots of great clothes for McKenna, some of which I'll use for her this winter. We also picked up a vacuum sealer for food, since we buy a lot of meat in bulk and then re-wrap it. It's nice, and worth at least $50. We got it for $8. So because of Noel I've become interested in yard saleing, which in my former life wouldn't have been an interest I'd have entertained at all!

Noel and I took McKenna to the Boise zoo. She really liked the small animal kingdom. There was a digging rat/prarie dog looking thing... a meerat? I can't remember, but some of them were digging and some were sitting on a ledge with their backs pressed up against the glass... McKenna was trying to give them kisses through the glass! Don't worry, we didn't let her lips actually CONTACT the glass! Ha! Anyway, there were some big animals there too, like tigers, leopards, a sloth bear, camels, zebras, but nothing bigger than that really. Lots of different monkeys and birds and stuff. She had fun and fell asleep in her carseat on the way home!

Other news: I've been doing flylady and some days are better than others, but one thing I'm grateful for is that my laundry is caught up and my kitchen always is clean with counters clean and empty of dirty dishes. And if that was all I ever got out of flylady I'd be happy, but her idea of routines really works for me and the cats are so much happier with their litterboxes scooped every day! I still work on updating/changing/omitting from my routines, but I've got the basics down that I do every morning and night, so that's good. And I've got my meals planned everyweek, which really helps me not to get in a panic every day around 4pm going, 'what am I going to make for dinner?'

So other than that, nothing much going on. Gas is $2.99/gallon up here, but we're still using the geo and Noel is carpooling with a guy he works with on mondays, wed's, and fri's so that works out really well.

I've recently come back to researching homeschooling after taking a break from it to follow other interests (spirituality, etc) and am still sure that it's the right road to go, especially with the schools around here. I just have to decide what kind of homeschooler I'll be, i.e. unschooling, eclectic, Charlotte Mason, classical, etc... but it'll be fun to find out! Gotta end this, McKenna's awake and ready to start the day! Love to everyone who's still keeping up with this thing. Sorry I haven't written in awhile!

Well, life is pretty good! It's summer and I've got irises blooming in the front yard, and even though our lawn looks like shit (yes, folks, it's THAT bad) I'm pretty happy. The garden has been rototilled and I'm going to be on Noel to get the compost and fertilizer in this next week on his days off. Then I can get my plants into the groud. They are still in my terrarium and the bean plants already have beans on them!!

We decided to purchase some life insurance for all of us, since Noel and McKenna have none and I only have $40K which would not cut it if I died and Noel needed to pay for day care, etc... so we purchased some for all of us. McKennas is about $34. a month and has the option for her to be able to draw out of it for college if she wants, but if she doesn't it will just continue to grow for her until she dies. I was already putting $50. a month into an extra savings for her for college, but this way I can add the difference and she'll get a much better interest rate on it. So that was an expense, but we recently purchased a Geo Metro for $300. which will save us about $40./month in gas (at least) and we also recently switched to cloth diapers for McKenna which will save us another $20. a month. I've also been keeping the grocery budget under $250. a month, plus I'm bringing in more money from a new piano student. And to top it all off, Noel just got a $1.86 raise! (Actually, the piano money is my money, so it doesn't really go towards the household stuff unless we REALLY need it!)So, we're in pretty nice shape right now, and I feel like quite a load has been lifted off. Even though our gas prices are supposed to be the lowest up here (at 2.78/gallon) it was still a concern!

So on to other stuff, McKenna is sleeping and I've just today been feeling better, having had a cold for the last few days. I've got tons of housework to catch up on, so LATER!!! :)

Good morning! Well, my daughter has lots of teeth! She has the 6 in front (4 on top, 2 bottom) Well, she sprouted a molar on her lower left a few weeks ago (that was fun) and in the space it skipped one of her canines is coming up. She also has the same molar and canine coming in on the other side, as well as has two molars broken through in the back on each side of the top of her mouth. We've been going through OralB gel and teething tablets like they were candy almost! Seriously, she's been cranky and getting me up in the evening. Actually the last two days have been better. She slept through, thank God! It's also getting warmer in the house during the day. It got up to 77 degrees so she went to bed in her light weight PJ's that her daddy bought her. I usually let it get pretty warm in the house during the summer... once it starts pushing 85 I've had it. She's been going around in a diaper already during the day sometimes.
We're getting more into the dropping/throwing food stage and I make her pick it up after she's done eating. She thinks it's fun. (Picking it up - but I do discourage her from throwing food in the first place) I'll also give her a napkin and she'll wipe up her spills for me. She gets BIG PRAISE! I love this helpful stage she's in... I hope it lasts!
She's really good on the stairs now, both going up and down. If I forget to put up the baby gate, she can be up those stairs in under 20 seconds! If I see her starting up I'll say "McKenna, get back down here" in a stern voice and she'll giggle and start going up faster. I'll snatch her off the stairs and put her down and get the gate up and she thinks it's fun. I haven't started disciplining her for it since it's my fault I didn't have the gate up, so I just make sure to have the gate up and then when she's climbing be there to supervise.
She's such a joy and now I can't wait to get pregnant with the next one. I'm charting my cycles so we're trying to time things for conception, and last month was a disappointment... I'm in the middle of this month and hope we get lucky this time around. So, we'll see. I want to do some camping this year, with some friends of ours or just on our own, depending on what happens. I think McKenna's old enough that she could probably do okay.

Recently, I showed McKenna how to back down the stairs on her own, since I figured that skill would come in handy one day! Today was the day, because if I hadn't been watching her I would've turned around and she'd have been gone! She climbed up the staircase all on her own, with me following. Poor cats, no more safe refuge! Hah! Then she backed down the stairs, and a couple of times tried to turn forward but I turned her back correctly and she made it down. I was very proud of her and now will have the baby gate up more often, except when we have dedicated stairplay! :)

McKenna's been walking everywhere all by herself! For the last 3 days or so! We are SO proud of her!

Oops, forgot to mention that McKenna has another tooth on her lower left side... I found it today and it looks as though she skipped a tooth, because it's toward the middle back. Nothing on the other side... so now I guess she has 7 teeth! And chewing stuff like a little fiend!

Well, the home and garden show went well... we answered a few questions, but it wasn't as difficult or intimidating as I thought it would be. Soon the class will be coming to a close, but I'm still having fun with it.
Well, beginning of this month McKenna and I (sans Noel) went to Phoenix to visit family and I encouraged McKenna to show off her walking skills but she refused. I got her back to Idaho and what does she do but starts walking almost everywhere! Argh. Anyway, while I was in Phoenix I got to try out a Gammill long-arm quilting machine, which was very nice and also got to see Ethan and Tish's new house, which is just drop dead gorgeous! A bit expensive, IMO, but it has mucho space. I dropped in a little tidbit about how that house would probably only cost about 150,000 up here in Nampa (it's selling for a little above $200,000. in El Mirage) but sounds like they're set on staying in Arizona. Bummer. Anyway, life goes on. So on to other baby/kid stuff, I'm using the FAM method for pregnancy achievment since we're trying for baby #2, and for those of you who really just HAVE to know what that is, it's the fertility awareness method and you can do a search on it online to get bunches of info. I won't get into details here. In short, it's not RHYTHM and yes, it works. Okay, well other stuff - let's see... it snowed here yesterday. I was quite excited and this year we actually have an above average snowfall in the mountains - it won't make up for 5 years of drought, but it should help. I'm thinking of taking the hubby and McKenna up to Bogus Basin ski resort to do some sledding on their little sledding hill, but I'll have to do some major persuading of my husband, and we'll need a sled. But, besides that, in another week or so I'll start planting my seeds for the veggies I want. They'll be in my terrarium, and then hopefully the garden will be in and ready to receive! Okay, I'd better end this - I hear McKenna waking up from her nap. Later!

Well, BIG NEWS!! McKenna took her first steps yesterday! Noel had her backed up against a wall, and asked her to walk forward to him and she took 3-4 steps! We are so proud. And then tonight, she stood up in the middle of the family room and Noel was in the kitchen and started calling her and she started walking towards him! She went about 7 to 8 feet before plunking down! But then she got right back up and kept going... I managed to get a good portion of it on video... we were so excited and were cheering her on the whole time. I almost didn't want to put her to bed, it was so amazing! Well, that's it. I'm watching the Olympics and Noel is putting some more babyproofing stuff in the kitchen. We're happy people!

So what's new? Not much with McKenna for once but I'm having fun with my gardening class. We took cuttings from each others house plants a couple of weeks ago, so I have cuttings currently rooting, and they will be ready for planting in another week or so probably. I've converted my 80 gallon aquarium into a plant terrarium. I've decided that I need to treat my houseplants better. I've got the lights and with the wet soil from the plants it creates a nice humidity that they like. So for I have a pothos, a spider plant, some ivy, some climbing charlie, a wandering jew, an african violet, a polka dot plant, a christmas cactus, and a mother-in-laws tongue. Also another type of succulent that I'm not sure of the name. It's currently trying to root for me. I also have seeds that I'm trying to start under the lights in my tank (as an assignment for class) and I also have to show that I can start different types of plants from cuttings... stem cutting versus a plantlet type like spider plants. Anyway, I'm having fun with it except I have to wiggle the bulbs slightly in their fixture to get them to come on for me, which is frustrating since everything is new and Noel just wired the lights up only 3 days ago.
There's a home and garden show coming up tomorrow that I have to go to for the Master Gardeners class. We will be giving out advice to the public, and it's considered a part of our class. There will be 3 or 4 of us, as well as 2 advanced master gardners there that we can fall back on if we don't have an answer for someone... as well as a ton of reference material. It should be fun, and I'll post about how it went later. Noel will get to watch McKenna while I'm gone, and I told him he could come and look around, too if he wants.

Well, I've recently been besieged by a certain friend of mine (you know who you are!!) to update my blog, and I'm sorry for the delay! McKenna's playing quietly and actually letting me do this, which is a rare event. So, my little girl now has 6 teeth. 4 on bottom, two on top. She can stand up by herself and delights in hearing our applause when she does so. She usually will go from a 'triangle' position with her feet and hands on the floor and her butt in the air to standing up. She likes to cheat and sometimes will just lean back and lift her hands off of the floor a couple of inches. She's pretty funny. :) McKenna loves her puzzles and her books, and can't get enough of either. She's always handing a book to me to read to her. She can get off of the sofas now by herself without help, but of course can't quite get up on her own yet.
Every Wednesday night her daddy puts her to bed because her Mommy has a gardening class that she goes to. It's through the extension office for the University of Idaho and is called the Master Gardeners program. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. The course goes until April and covers Basic Botany, plant propogation, soils and fertilizers, composting, greenhouses, different types of ornamentals, fruit trees, insect management, entomology, landscaping, vegetables, just to name a few. I'll be doing about 30 hours of volunteer service in exchange for this wealth of information, which could be almost anything. Some projects include working with youth, like 4-H groups, going into a school to teach young kids the basics of gardening, working with elderly, for instance helping to create a raised flower bed for wheelchair-bound patients to plant in. Other things include public speaking, creating and building landscape projects, doing clerical work and answering phones in the extension office, or being on call to go out and troubleshoot problems for the individual gardener. There's a lot of information to absorb and if I like it I'll probably continue to go every year and keep getting my Master Gardner certificate. They had advanced courses, so you're always learning something. Anyway, it's fun and gets me out of the house and gets my brain working on stuff a bit more complicated that 'hmm, what should I make for dinner tonight?' Anyway, McKenna seems to do fine without me on those nights. The first night I was away she made Noels life miserable. She cried so hard she threw up, and helpful man that he is, he wadded up the blanket that had puke on it and stuffed it into the corner of her crib for me to deal with later. Thanks, hon! Anyway, since that first night she goes down beautifully for him, so that's great. Well, looks like my break is over... she wants my attention. I'll try to write more often!

Okay, new news... McKenna can walk by herself while holding onto just ONE of her parents hands. We're very proud of her! She's growing more hair, but I still can't get it into a hairband. We set up our tree and she's been playing with the ornaments, pulling them off (soft ones). But after a while, she gets bored and stays away.
About a week and a half ago, I took her with some neighbors to the Micron Kids Festival (pictures on my webshots page: http://community.webshots.com/user/sakmeht) and she had a ball! I took her on some of the little kiddy rides and down one big slide, which I think she liked, but I can't be positive. She didn't cry, at least! Noel and I got her a combination trike/pusher thingy. Something she can ride on, and when she want to push, the seat splits open down the middle and she can stand between the two halfs and push it along. She's been pushing a lot of things around the house lately, including her highchair, so we figure that it's time. Okay, well an active little one on my lap prevents me from writing much... that's it for now!

So, McKenna has 4 teeth now! The two on top are just emerging and she's going through that grumpy teething stage. She's learned how to crawl up stairs, so the baby gate is now a permanent fixture... she also pitches a fit when I take something away but is easily soothed by the replacement of a more appropriate object. She has a fascination with spoons right now. I can't feed her unless she has a spoon of her own to hold. She's cruising very well and took a few steps with me holding onto just one hand, so walking will come soon, I think. She's also still in that stage where she loves applause so I've been having her put her toys in the toybox before naptime and bedtime and give her lots of hugs/kisses and applause when she does it. I'll have a little picker-upper on my hands soon, I hope.

She's starting to sling her food around more, which is frustrating, so I just try to keep the good stuff out of her way. The floor these days stays pretty clean with constant sweeping and mopping, so we observe the 10 second rule... (okay, sometimes 30 seconds) Ah well, she's getting more independent and will play quietly by herself and will go exploring on her own... I'll wait a few seconds before following her, but I've got the house pretty well baby-proofed, so I don't worry too much if she takes off on her own for a couple of minutes.

She still isn't sleeping through the night like she did before the camping trip to Warm Lake. She gets me up at 2:30 and at 6:30 usually... and then we're up for good around 8:30, 9ish. I'm going to try weaning her off the 2:30am nursing gradually, and start giving her water instead. I stuff her pretty good with dinner right before her bedtime, so I'm sure she's not hungry. I think it's just habit. Anyway, that's about it with McKenna. I'll keep you posted... :)

Today Noel noticed that McKenna has a tooth! He was feeling around and found it. I looked later and found two bottom teeth! They look like they've been there for a few days. They're more translucent that I thought they'd be, but mom mentioned that they usually come through with a sharp cap on that falls off later. Noel was excited that he noticed it first! Our little girls growing up! She'll be 1 year old tomorrow!!!

Warning!! This entry is not baby-related...

I decided to investigate the Master Gardner Program through U of I... through their county extension office. The course runs from January to mid-April and teaches lots of good stuff. I want to plant a vegetable and flower garden next year, and I'd like to learn more about growing things... it will help save money if I'm not killing off what I'm planting... haha. The course is about $60. and you have to agree to volunteer back to the community 30 hours... it could be answering questions by phone or in person, working at a farmers market, or teaching a class at a school, garden club, etc... It sounds like fun, actually... Noel thought it sounded funny that I wanted to do it, but after realizing I was serious, he decided to support me. He took a couple years of agriculture classes in HS, but I'm sure there's some new info out there, or even info relating to our region that would be helpful (indigenous plants, insects, etc...) that he may not be aware of. So lets do it!! I have to be on the lookout for the application coming in December and then get it sent in right away, because they accept the first 40 people, and then that's it. So I'll have to stay right on top of the mail and then get it filled out and off to the post office right away. Ta-Da!! Master Gardener here I come!!! :D

Well,

McKenna is an adept crawler... she can easily go from crawling to sitting and back again. She is also pulling herself up on stuff, so I have to keep an eye on her and make sure she's using stable things. Mom has gotten her rolling over from back to tummy. She sings the "three bears in the bed" song and has gotten her rolling. Yesterday I went into her room to get her up after a nap and found her sitting up. This morning she was in the crawling position. So she can definitely get around. This morning as I was feeding her breakfast she scrunched up her face at me, so I did it back, and we ended up making faces at each other and laughing. She's a hoot! She's also transitioning to 1 nap a day. She's starting to cut out that morning nap. That's it that's new with her...

With me, I'm on a mission to cut our grocery budget by $50. a month, and so far it's been working well. This month is looking good. I'm cooking and baking a lot more from scratch, buying in bulk and trying to hit sales and use coupons, and I think it's really having an impact. (Well, I know it has) So with an extra $50. a month, I'm going to put it towards planting a garden next year, so we can buy less produce at the store, and I'll do some canning. My neighbors next door have two kids that they want to start piano lessons with me, so that will give us some added income as well... and that will probably go towards an eduction fund for McKenna. Another plus, Noel has found a car pool partner, and that will save us about $30. a month. Gas is about $2.95 up here. I've noticed that it's dropped from $2.99 in the past couple of days, and I'm crossing my fingers that it will continue it's downward trend.

McKenna has also for the past few weeks been able to poke cheerios into her mouth with her little fingers... and is getting quite adept! Today we're going to be getting ready and packed to go up to Cascade to camp with my parents... more to come later...

Well, just now I got McKenna to crawl about 4 feet so we could show her daddy... and earlier I noticed her on her hands and feet with butt in the air, and then next time I looked she was sitting! Okay, so we've got that one down... you'd think any day now she could go from her back to tummy... one of these days I'll probably come in to get her from her crib and find her on her tummy...

Okay, well I finally got my pics up at my webshots site, so feel free to check it out! This link should work: http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=306600585 McKenna did some more crawling... only a couple of feet and very tentative... she still wants to pop her butt up in the air and get on her feet and hands, and she almost went from hands and feet to sitting, which she's never done, so that might happen soon! Noel's out cleaning the garage and McKennas taking a nap. Later!

McKenna offically crawled a little today! She was on her hands and knees and crawled forward towards me (I was on the couch) a few feet. I'm so proud of her!!! Now I've got to start baby-proofing the house! :P

It's been awhile since I've written... we've been super busy. Noel, McKenna and I went to CT to visit family. There was a family reunion while we were there so I got to meet many of his relatives that I've never met before. McKenna did wonderfully while we were there... not really cranky a bit! We went to an amusement park and I did a rollercoaster with a 226foot initial drop. It was awesome, but I was nauseous and headachey afterwards. We only spent half a day, but we all had lots of fun. I've got to say I really enjoyed CT... it reminded me of NY in so many ways, and Noel even admitted afterwards that he enjoyed the east coast much better this time than he did the last time he was out. He said he wouldn't necessarily move there, but it wouldn't be as out of the question as it would've been a couple of years ago. I wish I could get him out in the fall... he would love the fall colors. We went to the beach, as well... and it was McKennas first time in the ocean. She absolutely loved it! And it was hot and we had no umbrellas, but we had her in her car seat with the hood pulled up and she was as happy as a clam.

So, after that trip I can home and almost (2 days) immediately was up at Warm Lake visiting mom and dad with McKenna... she didn't do so hot that trip. She didn't want to go down to sleep at all, since the play pen was in the main room... and one night she didn't fall asleep until around 11pm - this for a child whose bedtime is usually 8pm at night. Most of the time we were hanging around trying to stay cool and playing cards. We did go swimming and McKenna loved the water... it was colder than the atlantic was, but she loved it just as much and I think got wetter, too!
After that, my sister and brother-in-law flew in... Sherri and Mark, and they stayed with us this first night they flew in, went to Stanley with mom and dad (we stayed behind) and then were down again for another night before flying back home to NY. We had a GREAT time while they were here... it makes me wish I was closer to them! I actually had a glass of wine and could loosen up a little without getting disapproving stares from my darling husband! (He was working!)
New news... hmm... well McKenna can pull herself forward on her hands and elbows... and I think she's taken a few "steps" forward on her hands and knees, but she mainly just twists around on her tummy, or gets on her hands and feet with her butt in the air. She can stand up while holding onto things, which is pretty good. This from a little girl who still hasn't rolled over from her back onto her tummy yet! Oh well, time will tell. She's getting little curls in her hair, too... it's so cute!
Okay, my back is starting to hurt... more later!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I've decided to take on the teaching of piano to Samuel. I'm giving them the first 2 lessons free, just so I can get a feel of things and how I do. Hopefully, all will go well. I'm charging $10. per half hour, so the extra money will come in handy!
We had a fun time on the 4th... I hope everyone else did, too! We had a few firecrackers that were about 4 years old, and some of the sparklers went in fits and starts, but we shared some of them with the kids, Sam and Chloe across the street. Their dad just had some of those loud noise makers that POP, with no pretties. Noel had some strobe ones that bugged me and some other whirly-do's that spin on the ground. Then we talked for awhile, while standing in the middle of the street. McKenna slept through it all.

McKenna has come up with a couple new things lately.
I was reading her bedtime board book story to her, and as I read I get the next page started in preparation to turn it. Well, McKenna reached out with her left hand and grabbed the page and turned it for me! And she did it for every single page, thereafter! She also does it for me with the paper pages of her other books, and when she turns she immediately lets go and doesn't hang on and crumple the paper. I'm so proud of her!
The other thing is that I had her in her toddler bath last night and I let her play a little longer than normal. She had a blue plastic boat in hand and was banging it on the side of the bath and into the water. She was having a ball! After 8-10 minutes I pulled the plug and grabbed her and pulled her out. I hadn't even straightened up with her when she let out a screech and started crying. And it wasn't an "I'm cold, cover me up" it was an angry, "put me back down!" Of course, I didn't and she calmed down within seconds once she was wrapped up and realized she wasn't going back in, but I found it funny because it's the first time she's really made a fuss when I've deprived her of something, wether toy or bath or whatever.
I also watched her today on her belly. She managed to push back almost onto her knees while she was up on her hands, but she didn't quite get her thighs perpendicular to the ground. Almost, though. Well, that's about it. I'm going to pop up some more pics of her walking with us, and then I've got packing to do for our trip to CT. I'm amazed at all the stuff I'm needing to bring for her! Later

Well, I met my neighbor across the street yesterday. Her little boy, Samuel, (about 8 or 9 I think) came over and asked if I would like some radishes from their garden. Sure, why not! So over I went while my daughter was napping away and I chatted with Carolyn for awhile. Found out she's LDS... she was interested in getting her son into piano lessons and was over at a girls house, who is charging $7/hr - evidently the parents are really intolerant of other religions, (their fundamental Christians, I think) so she felt uncomfortable and unwelcome - so she asked if I would like to teach Sam. I've never taught, so I told her Sam would be my guinea pig, but I'd give it a try. So, we talked about her garden, which is huge! and we also discussed home-schooling, which she does with her two kids. Said it was hard work, but worth it. I admitted that I'd thought of it, especially after finding out that we're in a school district that happens to have the lowest test scores in the county. She told me they have great support groups and the materials are very straight forward and easy to teach, but I guess I just need to research it and try to come to an informed decision.

Well, a couple of days ago, I managed to get our whole family to the park. We grabbed lunch at Quiznos (a rare treat) and then got some ice cream at Cold Stone and took it to the park. We sat on blankets with McKenna and watched the world go by. McKenna sat and played with some toys we brought. I wandered over and checked out the rose garden they have. Beautiful! Then checked out a local gathering of people, and from what I could hear of the lady on the microphone, it was a family reunion. There was also a nearby waterpark and we stuck McKenna in her stroller and wandered over to check it out. It was cheap compared to Roaring Springs. A buck for kids under 5 and I think it was $2. something for adults over 18yrs. It looked like a pretty good place to come sometime and also be able to save some money! Anyway, we had a good time, and I expect that's where I'll take her especially as she gets older.
Also, the other day I spent some time with Patty. I brought McKenna over and we sat in her craft room and I crocheted while she worked on the WKS clan flag. (A skull with bloody teeth) Questionable taste on the part of the guys, but what can you expect? I haven't seen the finished product yet, but Patty thinks she did a pretty good job, so I'll have to check it out soon. Joey played on the floor with McKenna and they pretty much entertained themselves.
Did some shopping also with Patty. I have discovered dollar stores! Especially, the Dollar Tree. I had no clue that they had so much good stuff there! I'll be getting a few toys from there, as well as probably cards, envelopes, and gift wrapping and storage containers. Thank you Patty!
So, the only other thing to report is that McKenna is doing well with those legs of hers. I can safely sit her down and expect she won't fall over, although I always put something down behind her, and I hauled her up by her hands and we "walked" a few feet across the living room floor. She kept grinning up at me. Then I stood her against the sofa so that she was facing it and hanging onto the cushions. I let her go for a second and she was supporting herself. It didn't last long, and I meant to get a picture, but it will have to be later when she gets up from her nap.
Alright, nuff for now.

I was nursing McKenna in bed this morning and was remembering how I used to hold her little hands to warms them up. No matter how warmly she was dressed when going to bed, her hands were always cold. So by the time she'd finished nursing her little hands would be all toasty again. Now, she's constantly doing something with those hands. Usually, it's grabbing and twisting, which I'm always trying to fend off. And her hands are always warm, now. I've noticed rough patches on her skin, mainly her arms and tops of her shoulders. It reminds me of the exzema (sp?) patches I used to get here and there. I'm keeping an eye on them and I might try smearing on a little diproline creme that the doc gave me to see if it helps. What else? Oh, I was trimming her toe-nails, and I'm thinking that she might eventually have ingrown nails like Noel. The sides of the nail bed are short and wide, and don't look like my toes at all. So far, everythings good. I had a great day with her yesterday. We had a tickle and giggle fest on the floor and I'd schmuckle her belly and neck and she LOVED it!! I could have done that all day. It does wonderful things to my insides to see her laugh and smile. Hmm, oh yes, I've got her in the toddler tub now instead of the sink, which was rapidly shrinking. I've started using shampoo on her head since she's actually growing some hair. I tip her head back and put a washcloth over her eyes to rinse and she's still getting used to that. I get a lot of gasping and leg thrashing, although I'm careful not to get soap in her eyes... I think it's the sensation of the water pouring over her head that she's not too sure of. She hasn't cried or anything, so I think it's just a new thing. Hmm... will write more when I'm more awake. I made myself get up at 6am this morning.
I've been having trouble falling asleep at night, and toss and turn for a couple hours usually. I then thought about the fact that when I worked I would get up at 4:30am and go to bed at 9 or 10pm... and since I've been at home, I get up around 8 or 9am and try to go to sleep by 10, so my body just isn't tired enough to go to sleep, so instead of staying up really late, I'm going to try to make myself into an early bird so I can then go to bed with my husband, which I'm sure he'd appreciate once in awhile. I figured too, that once McKenna gets older, I can get up early and not only take care of some chores, but also get my breakfast eaten and then have McKennas prepped and ready to go when she awakes. Okay, enough for now.

Yesterday we went to the rec center and McKenna took her first swim. We went into the therapy pool that's about 4 feet deep. There were lots of kids there and three friends came over (pre-teen?) age and took a liking to her. They all took turns holding her. Pretty nice girls. McKenna really liked the one girl and was grinning and grabbing at her face. Noel came, but didn't get in the pool. Sat on the sidelines, and then left after 10 minutes, saying that the chlorine was bothering him. Not much of a swimmer, that one. Ah well, it was for McKenna, and she really liked it. I discovered how much water those diapers can hold (don't worry, I had a pink plastic diaper on over it)and it was an eye-opener! We all went home and took showers. Noel gave her a bath in the toddler tub we have from the Boglios; it was his first time. Previous to that she was still in the kitchen sink and I did most of the baths. Today Noel is at the dentist and I'm just relaxing. Looking forward to all the laundry I have to do later... Yahoo!

Well, I watched McKenna scoot backwards on her tummy about 5 feet. Every so often she would put her butt in the air and bend her knee under her. I'm so excited! The cat's are going to love it when she can get into drive and start coming after them! haha

Well, yesterday McKenna, Noel and I went to Christy's b-day party. Christy turned two and is the daughter of our friends Joe and Patty. I went early to help set up. It was a ladybug party, so most everyone (mainly kids) were wearing wings. Very cute! McKenna sat inside for an hour or so very quietly playing while Patty and I decorated, then after the party started I brought her out after her nap. We had little ladybug wings for her and she wore them without a fuss. I was manning the snow cone machine with Patty, and I set her next to us. After a little crying and comforting, she sat quietly with her fingers in her mouth just looking around at everyone. I was able to get some food and chat w/ another new mom there, then brought her over to where I was sitting. Noel was manning the grill and I passed her to him after awhile. I noticed her in Erica's arms after that, which was fine since I wanted her to get used to new faces and being held by new people. I'd like for her to develop some good social skills. Anyway, that party was great; McKenna had a taste of some frosting from a ladybug cupcake, and seemed to like it. (Noel was the culprit - I probably wouldn't have let her have any) I'm trying to keep her away from sweets for as long as possible, but some of her expressions are priceless when she tastes something sweet and new for the first time! Okay, well, I'll have to get a picture of her in her wings on my webshots page, so check back soon!

Time for a quick update...

McKenna can now officially sit up unassisted. I have pillows propped behind her for when she falls back, which she does still, but all is going well!
I'm still having fun as a SAHM, and in my spare time am trying to examine my spirituality a bit more... I've been doing some meditation and yoga, and I'm finding that I feel sharper mentally as well as physically, so I'll keep it up.
Took the kiddo out for a walk today. I slathered her up with sunblock, since it was pretty sunny. 72 degrees out, though... really nice! She's making noises on the monitor, so this will be short. She'll want out of that crib here really soon!

My current mood: Happy :D

McKenna has seen her first movie in a theater! And what a doozy it was! Star Wars: Episode III... I missed her first reaction because I had to run out and get some water, but it had just started (previews) and Noel was holding her and she was just goggling at the sound and the screen. We were only 5 rows from the front. So, after the first few minutes of absorbing new stimuli, she started acting up a little... not too much, though. I held her most of the time, and nursed her here and there when she seemed a bit cranky. She fell asleep on my shoulder about 10 mintues from the end of the movie. It ended at about 9:00pm... It was a late night for her, but she did better than I expected. I thought we might have a hard time getting her down, since she'd been awake for about 5-1/2 hours at that point, but she went down hard and stayed down. Didn't wake me up to eat until about 5am in the morning, either. Which is good! So, it worked out well. We had spent the day and Patty and Joe's watching Star Wars 1 and 2, so it was a long day. Let's see, what else? I don't know if I mentioned that when she's on her tummy, she'll scoot backwards a few feet at a time. She doesn't always do this, just when she's refreshed and full of beans.

We've been playing the piano together, and today we took a walk around the subdivision. I've been keeping an eye on a sandpiper nest in our neighbors yard under a tree. The guy lives in California, and hasn't been to his house in quite a few months. The weeds are higher than the bushes! But the bird likes the privacy. I'm tempted to take pictures of the egg and then the development of the baby bird so McKenna can see it when she's older. But I want to do it in the least invasive way. I'm still mulling it over. Well, gotta go. It's back to cleaning.
Oh, by the way, the movie was excellent!

... continued from below...

Okay, so where were we? Oh yes, I've just woke up from my first nap. By this time, it's about noon or 1pm. I cry or do my fake cough, and mommy comes and gets me. We go down and have some more play time. Mommy has started taking me to this big thing with lots of white and black things to hit. They make noise! I love banging away, and usually she lets me for about 10 minutes... then if it's nice, we go outside and sit on the porch swing and watch the birdies. There's lots of people in our neighborhood, so sometimes we walk over to say hi. After that, mommy puts me in my johnny jump-up. I love bouncing! I would bounce all day long, except for those darn naps I have to take! Sometimes mommy will put me on my tummy to play and I'll roll onto my back, and then watch her come and put me back on my tummy. Doesn't she understand that I don't want to be there? I like to watch the kitties walk by, and sometimes I'll reach out and grap at their silky hair. Oo, I love the feel of it! It makes me laugh and laugh! After more play time, sometimes mommy will take me into what they call the computer room, and she'll hold me while she does stuff on the "computer". All I can tell is that when she hits all the buttons, it makes stuff happen on the big square in front of me, so I like to bang on those buttons, too. Lately, they've been trying to stop me because when I hit those buttons I get stuff to happen, too! Daddy and mommy make those funny noises when I do it, especially when the square goes dark.

Let's see, at about this point, I go down for another nap. When I get up, mommy has me lay on my blankie on the floor in the family roon and play while she runs back and forth around the house. Sometimes, she's carrying things, other times she pushes this loud black thing around. And later, she'll put me in my exersaucer and take me with her into the kitchen and she'll make things that smell good. I can't wait till I can put them in my mouth, too! Mommy HAS given me yummy stuff she calls "apple juice" in a sippy cup and she helps me hold it, but I tell her I can do it by myself! After she makes the yummy smelling stuff, we go into the family room and she turns on this BIG square that has moving pictures! We have more cuddle time, and then daddy comes home! I love grabbing all that red stuff on his face! He'll play with me and cuddle me and I like bouncing up and down on his belly. It's nice and soft. After mommy and daddy eat, I have to go to bed. But before I do, they poke some more questionable goo into my mouth. I have to wear a disgusted look at times to let them know how I feel! Somehow, they get most of it into me. I really don't know how... they are SO incompetant with that spoon! Then daddy or mommy puts me to bed. And that's my day! Jeez, I'm a really busy girl, aren't I?

Hi everyone! My name is McKenna. Mommy thought I should write to you. I thought I'd tell you about a typical day I share with my mom. So here goes!

In the morning, I wake mommy up at around 8am, and lately I've decided that instead of crying it's more fun to do my fake cough. I'll lay in my crib and do that for awhile and see if she comes running. It's so funny when she does! Then we go to her room for breakfast in bed. Personally, I'm more interested in keeping her attention on me than in eating (especially if I woke her up in the middle of the night to eat!)so I like to grab and scratch whatever I can get ahold of. Sometimes it's her nose! I think she really likes that because she makes strange noises.
After we eat, she lays me down on the bed with some pillows on either side of me(because I'm starting to roll now, yippee!) and gets ready for the day. After that, we go downstairs, open up the blinds, and have some snuggle time on the couch. She changes my diaper, and then I play in my exersaucer. I love all the stuff on it, especially the mirror. I like talking to the other baby, but she doesn't say too much. While I do that, mommy watches the Today Show.

After awhile, I get hungry, so mommy feeds me on the couch, and then we go into the kitchen and she gives me baby food from a jar. I must say, I'm not too sure about some of the stuff she pokes into my mouth, but I do like spinach. Daddy rolls his eyes when mommy tells him what I'm eating... I'm not too sure, but I think that means he likes spinach, too! Mommy isn't always too good with the spoon, so I've started helping her. I like to grab the handle and help guide the spoon to my mouth. Sometimes though, I just try to grab the food off the spoon and put it in my mouth. Wouldn't it be easier that way? And mommy likes when I do it, because she always laughs.

After breakfast, I have to take my first nap and mommy takes me up and checks my diaper. I think mommy is confused though, because sometimes when she changes my diapers, she'll say oo, carrots! Or, oo, garden veggies! But I don't get it, because isn't that what I eat? Hmm, that mommy's pretty funny! So after my diaper change, she wipes my hands and face with a wet cloth, and someone should tell her to warm it up! I screw up my face in anticipation of that cold, wet cloth, and I'm sure I must be getting my point across because she makes these funny noises in her chest and interesting face grimaces. So after that, we read a book. Sometimes, it's "Where the Wild things are" and other times it's "I'm a Manatee". I like both, but I'd like them more if mom would let me grab and twist the pages... I think someone needs to tell my mommy to get some soft baby books that I can play with. So, after our little bedtime routine, she puts me down in the crib. I usually have to cry and fuss for at least 5 minutes to let mommy know I really DON'T want to sleep, but after that I'm usually too tired to continue. Besides, the sooner I fall asleep, the sooner I can get up again. Okay, telling this has made me ready for another nap... To be continued...

Good Morning!

So what's new? Noel took me out to Olive Garden for mothers day. We had a really good time, and the best part was the waiting time (40 min) because there was this nice grassy strip beside the restaurant with big trees, so we sat on the grass and put McKenna on a blanket and watched the other families. Several were on the grass, too. There was a young couple with a little baby boy who was crawling, and they were practicing walking with him. There were a few older kids throwing something up into the tree branches near us. When we sat down with McKenna their parents made them move farther away so nothing would fall on us. And the cutest thing was a little girl who was toddling towards us with outstreched hands and a bright gleam in her eye, and she was focused on McKenna. Her mom caught her before she could make contact, and told us she would have "grabbed" our daughter... her mom said she just loves other babies right now. But she was only 10 months! I couldn't believe it. She had only been walking a month her mom said, and was still plopping down on her butt a lot like young walkers do. McKenna's 7.5 months old and has just starting rolling over. I'm amazed at the difference of growth that babies go through. But I'm not worried... as long as she grows up healthy and happy, I don't care if she doesn't start walking until she's two! Other than that, nothing much to report except we have a follow-up with McKennas heart doctor on the 16th? I think of this month to have another EKG done to compare against the first one so they can see if there's any change. I doubt anything negative will have happened since she's growing really well. My back tells me every time I pick her up that she's putting on weight. And she looks great. That's about it. McKennas down for a nap, so it's time to vacuum!

So, yesterday was one of those great days. Noel and I slept in (so did McKenna) and when everyone woke up we all cuddled in bed together for awhile. Afterwards, we went downstairs where Noel cooked omelettes, and they were quite yummy! Later in the day, my friend Patty watched McKenna for us while Noel and I went out for dinner at Red Robin, and then saw the movie, "Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy". I can say it was original and unique, and was probably a very good book, but I wouldn't see it in theaters again. After that, we went home, with our daughter, of course, and watched some "Without a Trace"

Yesterday, McKenna rolled over from her tummy to her back for the first time... she was really working at it too... the sound effects were funny. I could tell she was a little upset by being on her tummy, so that must have been the incentive to get rolling. Yeah!

Well, yesterday I went in to get McKenna up from a nap and found her on her side, holding her toes... it's the first time she's rolled completely onto her side and stayed there! I know I put up that pic that shows her sitting, but I put her there, and she certainly didn't get herself there... so I'm excited! She's been making more articulations... ummms, and mmmmm's, and lots of moaning sounds... kind of funny! The weather here has been really warm. Yesterday it was 74, and it's been getting up to 77 and 78 in the house, so she's been in her cool clothing. We're going to hold off on using the AC for as long as possible... so far we're not that uncomfortable. At night we open the windows in our bedroom, and McKenna just wears light pajamas with no blankie. She's been sleeping about 9 hours... from 8 or 8:30 to about 5 in the morning, when she wakes me to nurse. After that, she goes back to sleep for another 3 hours or so. I've been giving her two meals a day, besides what she gets from me. Once before her first nap, and then right before she goes to bed. She seems to be doing well with that schedule so far. I tried giving her some diluted apple juice from a sippy cup today. She got her hands around the handle and could put the spout in her mouth. I had to help her get some height on it since I didn't have it very full, but she took a couple pulls on it, would take it out of her mouth, LOOK at it, then pop it back in and try again. I think she only got a few sips, then she started chewing on it. I'm not sure she's ready for it yet... but I'll try again every so often. That's it for now...

McKenna went to the pediatricians two days ago to get her shots... both Noel and I accompanied her. We argued about who would be the bad guy and get to hold her while the nurse gave her the two shots (immunizations) she needed. The nurse said we didn't need to hold her, so we got to "rescue" her after the shots were given. She of course was not happy about getting shots and started some terrible crying. At one point she screwed up her face and drew in a breath, but didn't let it out. She actually started turning blue, and I said "breathe, child breathe!!" and she let it out - and proceeded to scream some more...ugh, that was a little scary! So we talked to the doc again about her head. It's looking a little better, but her ears are still cock-eyed. I mentioned that she's been getting up twice a night for me to feed her, and he said at this age (6 months) she shouldn't need such frequent feedings and we can start some "tough love" and not feed her so often at night. Of course, ever since the appointment she's been sleeping through the night. Which is great! So, maybe it was a phase. Another funny thing - she really likes Diablo! She'll put her hands out towards him when he comes near and if he walks close by while I'm holding her she'll trail her fingers along his side. Sometimes she grabs and gets a fist full of hair, but I'm trying to prevent that kind of thing. I don't want to get Diablo upset.
Well, gotta go... I'll write more later.

McKenna now recognizes her name! She was in her exersaucer yesterday when I called her name and she turned her head and looked at me! It was very exciting.
One thing that happened two days ago that I thought was VERY funny was she was again in her exersaucer and I heard her fart, and then she laughed! She did it again a couple of seconds later. Totally hilarious... she must have thought it was funny too... or else that it felt funny! I wish I'd gotten it on tape. Noel also got playing with her and starting spinning around while holding her (about 5 or 6 times) and when he stopped her poor little eyeballs were still going from side to side... I gasped when I saw it because it was funny, but also shocking... I told him not to do it again unless I'm video recording and then we'll send it in to America's Funniest Home Video's. After that, no more! So anyway, it's been fun... although everything seems to be going so slowly, I know I'll look back after she's grown and wonder how it could have gone by so fast!

Little Miss McKenna can roll onto her side now! Actually it was two days ago that she first did it, but that's okay. And she was on the floor with Noel just a couple minutes ago, and he put her on her side and said (I wasn't watching) that she rolled to her tummy... I guess I'll believe him! She's been doing okay for sleeptimes, except for her morning nap... we had a bit of a struggle going down. Ah well, it'll iron itself out, I guess.
Regarding other stuff, our truck almost broke down on Noel coming home a couple nights ago. He thinks it's the drive train, but is not positive. He's been taking my car, so I'm not getting out and about much for the next few days... I was invited to a poker game (playing for nickels and dimes) but he had to take my car that day and had a meeting right after work, so I wasn't able to go. Bummer - it's nice getting out once in awhile. I told Lydia to keep me in mind for the next game. They're kind of fun. More chatting than playing, and she invites other call center reps, so it's a way to keep in touch with people from work.
Other than that, all's well. The temperature's been in the high 50's to 60's (it was 70 two days ago!) so we bought a porch swing for the front porch. I wanted to go with rockers, but we were pricing them and most come to about $100. each! The rocker we found sits three, it swings, has a canopy, and it reclines into a bed-type thing! All for $100. So I'm happy. Noel's going to put it together tonight, so I can sit out there with McKenna when it's nice and warm. Okay, more later! xoxo

McKenna is getting to be quite the self-aware little thing! I'd swear I caught her checking out her nails yesterday! haha

Really, everythings pretty good except we went through a period of screaming whenever I put her down for naps or sleep, so I did some research (called friend and family as well as looked online) to find out what works for other moms. During the course of my research, I learned that I most likely caused the problem, because for awhile I would nurse her and then gently move her so she could nap. Evidently this causes a "negative sleep association" and so she was thinking she needed to nurse in order to fall asleep.

Normally, this wouldn't really bother me since she sleeps really well at night (all the way through), but I knew that if she went through teething or got sick and was waking up a lot at night, she'd need comfort nursing in order to fall back asleep, so I decided we needed her to be able to soothe herself to sleep. (And she'd been doing great for the longest time - I could put her to bed awake and she'd fall asleep no problem) So, we decided to try the "cry it out method" and it has worked! Basically, I'd put her in her crib at bed or naptime while she's awake, after having been read to, fed, and changed, and walk away. If she started crying, I'd come back in 5 minutes to reassure her, then walk away again, each time coming back after longer intervals if she was still crying. Once she understood that I wasn't going to pick her up or nurse her she decided she could put herself to sleep. So she just sucks her thumb and goes to sleep on her own now. I went through a lot of guilt while going through this, feeling like a horrible mom for letting her cry, but it's worth it to have a baby that you can put down and she'll promptly fall asleep for you. So, she pretty much got the hang of it (only took two days vs. a week like some experts say) quickly. Well, that's the update. She's upstairs sleeping right now taking her morning nap and mommy gets some computer time!

Well - I figure nows a good time to write my birth story, since the wee one's asleep.

I had to work Friday night, which was October 1st, 2004... I had gotten up at noon that day and hadn't managed to catch a nap, so I went into work at 6pm and my shift was to go to 6am. My boss, Bill, had a couple extra people there with me "just in case" and as it turns out, I needed them! I had what I thought were Braxton Hicks just shortly after I arrived for my shift (around 9pm). I timed them, and chatted with the others and figured it was another false alarm. About midnight I started realizing that they were about 5-7 minutes apart, but not consistently so. Around 3am, I told Becky that they were starting to get a lot more intense than I'd ever felt them, so I thought I should head for home.

I drove the 1/2 hour to our house, and had a few contractions on the way. Don't worry, they weren't so bad I shouldn't be driving! I got home and got into bed, hoping to get some rest. It didn't happen. I just laid awake timing them. Noel was scheduled to work that day, (now Saturday) so I told him he should probably call in. We went into the hospital at this point. They hooked me up to the monitor and declared me only "almost 3 cm" and asked if I would like to stay or go home to labor there... I was all for going back home. We decided to take my mind off things, we would go out to eat at Elmers. We were there pretty early - I think they opened at about 6am...so we sat there timing contrations and the waitresses were all very interested. Told me they hadn't had a woman in labor at their restaurant. I figured I'd better eat while I can, because I knew I wouldn't get much at the hospital. So, after that we went back home, where I called mom. Mom and dad were at the Garrity RV park in Nampa visiting us. She came over and sat with us for a few hours... my contractions grew more intense over this time and I remember using the blue therapy ball to sit on and we have a pic of me on it with Noel behind me rubbing my belly.

I'm thinking around mid afternoon, after contractions still weren't really progressing, mom went back to the RV park and we promised to call if things started heating up. Noel and I hung out the rest of the afternoon... I think we took a walk. In fact, I'm pretty sure mom and I took a walk around the block while she was still there... anyway, Noel and I watched a movie and the contractions were pretty bad by that point. I had to sit in front of him and have him lightly stroke my belly with his fingers (called efflurage) and that helped a lot. Around 10 or 11 pm I believe, I finally said we needed to go to the hospital. The contractions were consistantly about 3-5 minutes apart and I felt that I should be at the hospital - I also was in quite a bit of pain/discomfort at that time. So we grabbe the bags that were packed up and I walked in the after hour doors of the hospital (actually the ER) and they sent us up to the maternity ward. I'm pretty sure I remember getting a ride up there in a wheelchair... anyway, they hooked me up to the machine again and I think they told me I was 4 or 5 cm dialited... but things started to get a bit hazy at this point. I remember Noel conked out of one of the lounge type chairs in the room, and I watched my contractions on the monitor peak and just breathed through them... I found it really helpful to imagine they were a wave cresting and breaking. The imagery really helped me out.

After a couple hours, they moved us into our main room... that's were I was going to have the baby. The first thing I did was get into the jacuzzi tub that was provided with the room. It felt really good, but didn't help as much as some women claim. I was in there for about 1/2 hour, I think. Noel had rearranged himself on the chair/bed and was sleeping again. I guess at this point, the contractions were bad, but I didn't feel like it was necessary for him to be awake, so I just let him get his sleep. I didn't know how long this would take. I started getting concerned about how long I had been awake (almost 40 hours at this point) so when the nurse came and asked me if I wanted pain relief, I told her I just wanted something that would help me get some rest. She told me Stadol would take the very top edge off the peak of the contraction and should make me drowsy. At this point, I felt that if I had been well rested, I could have done without the pain meds, but I went ahead and gave her the go ahead. I was hoping to do without any pain meds at all, but I wanted to be able to go into the pushing phase well-rested, so I had her give me the Stadol.

I'm not sure I actually slept, but I remember drowsing and I could tell that the very peak of the contractions were dulled by the meds. Things got a bit exciting pretty quick, though. I'm thinking the time was about 3am, so we'd been at the hospital for roughly 4 hours or so... I was enjoying my Stadol-fog when I decided to try to turn onto my left side. Now, I had the external fetal monitor hooked up to me, so this was no small feat. I had just gotten myself comfortable and had started to doze off again, when two nurses came rushing into the room and shook me awake. Evidently McKennas heart rate had dropped really low about the same time as I was getting onto my left side. They turned me back to my right side, and when that had no effect, they had me get on all fours and press my chest to the bed and keep my butt in the air. I knew at the time that they most likely thought her cord had gotten pressed between her head and my cervix, so they were hoping that by putting me in this position that her head would drop back and release the pressure. I was concerned enough about her that I really didn't notice that my butt was bare to the world until someone threw a sheet over me. (thanks whoever you were!) I know at this point, Noel was awake - I doubt he was able to miss the commotion! So he was by my side.

They finally got her heart rate settled, and I was able to get back into a less ignoble position... after this things got really hazy. Some of the following was filled in by people who weren't writhing in pain. My contractions were pretty intense. I remember mom showing up around this time (maybe 5am or so?) and then things got a bit wild. The doctor showed up and nurses filled the room and I had an oxygen mask put to my face... Dr. Kaiser sat by my side for close to 1/2 hour, and most of the time his hand was inside feeling for McKennas head. Her heart rate was really low with every contraction and it wasn't coming back up as it should after each contraction. He put in an internal fetal monitor, so they could get a better fix on what was going on, and that's basically a little metal hook they hook into your babies scalp. I didn't want one in the birth plan that I'd created, but by that time I knew her health was endangered so I consented to it. I believe most of the time he was trying to make sure she wasn't pressing on the cord... my contractions were really bad now and it was around this time where my visualizations weren't helping like they were... I started to feel like I was losing control. I wanted the damn mask off my face, but it was for the baby, and not me, and they kept putting it back on. Noel was right by my side encouraging me and I had a nurse doing the same thing. Mom was on and off by my side too, but I found out later that she wasn't feeling so well watching me go through this. She'd have to sit for a bit, then come back to me. I heard the doc say I was at 9-1/2 dialated and to start pushing... I gave two pushes before he told me to stop and said her heart rate was dangerously low and it wasn't coming back up to normal, so he said we'd need to do a C-section. He also said later that it seemed like her head wasn't fully engaging with the cervix. I said fine, just make sure she's okay! So he gave me some meds that stopped my contractions... well, the contractions were still there just very weak and further apart. But my!

Sweet relief!

There had been a lot of yelling about emergency this and that for awhile, and I guess at one point there were ready to rush me up to the OR STAT, but because the meds did their work and her heart rate stabilized, they didn't have to rush me up so quickly.

All right, so it's time for the operation! They gave me a spinal block in the OR and I remember it just feeling like a pinch and they a cold sensation along my spine. It kicked in immediately and I felt little pins and needles all over my legs... They shaved me, of course, and I remember giggling so much I got the nurses laughing because tickled so much with the pins and needles sensation still there. So at last, they ask, 'can you feel this, that, etc' and I say no and they start cutting. Noel was in his OR scrubs and sitting by my side. He was able to look over the partition to see what was going on, but I think he mostly just looked as they were pulling her out. I remember someone saying "Her eyes are open!" and then she was born! They wiped her off and Noel was immediately over at the table looking at her while they fixed her up. I was crying at this point, because I wanted to see her and it felt like they were taking forever! When I heard her cry, I felt a tremendous relief! They brought her over to me to see and then I was being taken into recovery where I stayed a whole hour! She was born at 8:10am Sunday morning.

When they wheeled me back into my room, I heard my mom say, 'she's rooting around, ready to eat, honey!' So I had my opportunity to attempt breast-feeding which seemed to work okay the first time, (can't really remember) but I remember looking into those big blues thinking, "this is what it's all about" and I still think that to this day, every day, when I look at her. We love her so much. So until the next one, farewell!