Can pictures be that deceiving???

Here is a picture of me today, 3/13/2008, in our 38th week. I received several comments from people that I looked huge in the last picture I posted, and after looking at it, I realized it was taken at an angle from the side. So this one is straight on from the side, showing perhaps a little better just how big I am. I don't think I look quite as big from this angle. The baby has dropped more, as evidenced by easier breathing, but this was taken in the morning, when my tummy muscles were more rested and able to hold it up better, too. So, anyway, we're progressing, just slower than I'd like. He'll be here before we know it, I'm sure.

Pleeeeeeaaase!!!!

We taught Grant sign language for a few words when he was not able to communicate verbally so that we could understand what he was trying to communicate to us. It made it much easier for us all. The problem was, when he was able to verbally speak words, the words that he knew in sign language he kept signing, and wouldn't speak them. We finally got him to say the word "Please." He says it quite emphatically, and it makes us laugh every time. It sounds a little impatient, don't you think?

Grant in the groove

Pregnancy Update

My mom has been begging me for a picture of myself for the last several days. I have been terrible about taking pictures of this pregnancy this time, so it's a good thing that she keeps me in line! :-) So here I am at 37 weeks pregnant: I went to the doctor on Friday and he said I had dilated 3 cm and effaced 50% already, so this baby could really come at any time. Of course, he could decide to stay in there for a while, too. Dr. Roberts said that if I hadn't had the baby by 38 1/2 weeks, then he would induce. So...if we haven't had the baby by the week of the 17th, we'll be induced sometime that week. Time is quickly approaching! Wish us luck!

Pictures from the past month...

February 1, 2008 - Grant got a super fun inflatable castle bouncer for Christmas from Grandma and Papa Beutler. He loves playing in it, but the problem is, it takes up our entire family room. We had it blown up for a few days here at home and Chris and I found ourselves sitting on the same couch cushion at night time to watch a bit of TV, so we got smart and tilted it on its side to give us some more room when Grant wasn't jumping in it. Well, Grant found a new use for the bouncer - the pictures say it all! He's quite the daredevil! February 15, 2008 - Grant and Emma Lou have quite the relationship. Grant crawls all over her, and for the most part, she handles it quite well, sometimes even ignoring his presence. He loves reading, and she is his new favorite spot to snuggle in with a book! February 23, 2008 - If you recall, the month of February was full of sickness in the Worley Household. When Grant was so sick with the flu, I had been up all night with him, so Chris got up with him that next morning. When I came downstairs about an hour later, this is what I found:

Tag - You're it!

I have been "tagged" by my good friend Jessi to complete this little questionaire. So, here goes... 6 Non-Important Things About Me 1. I am a little OCD about how my silverware is put away - each piece has its own place so my silverware drawer never looks in disarray. 2. I'm finding myself to be a bit of a chocoholic...if I don't have a piece after Grant goes to bed, my day feels incomplete. 3. I'm the middle child and I STILL know what to do to set my siblings off, even though we haven't lived together in nearly 10 years. 4. I LOVE doing Sudoku. 5. My favorite night-time snack is homemade popcorn with a little bit of salt and butter drizzled over the top. 6. One of my favorite things is to snuggle up in a blanket that has just come out of the dryer.

Sickness

Well, our house has been full of sickness for the last couple of weeks. Chris has been working in the ER and has brought a couple of bugs home, I'm afraid. He had the flu last week, which I, in turn, picked up. It was a nasty bug that has hung around with us for nearly two weeks now. And unfortunately, I can't take any medication for it since I'm pregnant, so I've been rather miserable. We have all started feeling better over the last several days, so we went over to a friend's house on Friday night thinking that we were finally over this sickness, or whatever it was. Grant was having a ball running around after 3 other little kids. He looked like he was having the time of his life, despite the fact that he just couldn't quite keep up. They were running laps around him! As we were getting ready to go, he turned around and threw up twice - all over their nice white carpet. We got it all cleaned up, and luckily they were cleaning their carpet the next day anyway. I was a bit concerned, but figured he had just had a full tummy and had been moving around an awful lot more than normal, so I assumed it was just a one time deal. We brought him home, stuck him in the tub, and put him to bed. He cried for a little while, and when we went up to bed later and checked on him, he had thrown up again - all over the bed. So we got that all cleaned up (rather Chris did - I held Grant and had to catch whatever was coming out of his mouth for the next two hours. Sorry - I know that's not a pleasant thought. We finally got him to go back to sleep around 1:00 AM and he slept through the night. Yesterday wasn't too much better. The poor kid just couldn't keep anything down. I found myself finding humor in the situation towards the end of the day. I was thinking how very differently Chris and I reacted to the situation. My instinct when I see my little man throwing up is to drop everything and use whatever is accessible to catch it - even if it is just my bare hands. Chris, on the other hand, has a very different reaction: We were sitting on the floor last night watching an animated movie to try to keep Grant entertained. All he wanted to do yesterday was lay around on someone's lap. So we put in a movie and snuggled with our little boy. I glanced over at one point and Grant was sitting on Chris' lap gagging again, so I said, "Chris, Chris - get something quick!" Instead of grabbing for the towel that I had placed beside him, Chris instinctively picked Grant up off of his lap and threw him forward. So while Grant was getting sick all over the carpet, Chris could only think to get him off his lap. It amused me. Later on, Chris was holding him again and he threw up again. I asked Chris if he were okay and with a disgusted look on his face, he looked at me and said, "It's running down my leg. It's even on my foot." I got the giggles, which I don't think he appreciated. In fact, after Grant had gone to bed and we were talking about it, I was laughing so hard that I even snorted! This is one of those situations that needs to be written in a "You know you're a parent when..." book. You know you're a parent when...you've been thrown up on at least 5 times in one day! Hopefully the little man will be feeling better today. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

A couple of Firsts...

In preparation for this new little one to enter our lives, we decided that we wanted to get Grant used to his "Big Boy Bed," so that he didn't feel like once the baby got here, he was just kicked out of his crib. So we went out and picked out a side for the day-bed/one time guest bed and made a big deal about setting it up, getting it ready and then taking his first nap in the big boy bed. Our original intention was to start slowly...just with naps and let him sleep normally at night time for a little bit. But the first experience didn't go so well, so we decided to quit the crib cold turkey. Grant was not too pleased to be sleeping in another bed for the first time. He wanted his crib and nothing to do with this humongous new bed. Usually he goes down for his nap really easily, but not this time. It was an hour and 1/2 fight. He kept getting out of the bed and banging on the walls and doors, which we had shut in an effort to at least keep him in his room. I had to keep going up and putting him in his bed. So the rule became: You must stay IN your bed. If you get out, you will be spanked. So, he had several spankings that first day...and second. And third. The fourth day that he was in his bed, he kept getting out again, which we had been doing better with. So the fourth time I had gone up to put him back in his bed (each time receiving a spanking a bit harder than before), I opened the door. He was sitting in the middle of the floor holding "Mr. Bear," his security blanket. He took one look at me and burst into tears. I came in, picked him up and explained to him again that he needed to stay in his bed. He put both hands on my face and with crocodile tears running down his cheeks, he said his first entirely understandable sentence: "Mommy, Mommy, I want my Daddy!" Oh, way to tear a mom's heart out! What a first sentence, huh? I still spanked him, much against my instincts. I would have held him and rocked him to sleep while tickling his face after that. But consistency is key! He hasn't really gotten out of his bed since that day. Whew!

A Few Pictures from Christmas-time

Jumping with Grandma in his bouncy toy Grant and Jaybin opening presents Emma Lou taking a snooze while we opened presents Grant's first experience at Starbucks. He loved it! Opening gifts as a family Kinsen, Jaybin, and Grant playing the piano Grant playing in Grandma and Pa-Pa's change bucket.

It's about time!

It is so hard for me to believe that it has been nearly 2 months since I last wrote anything on here. Amazingly, a lot has happened since then - I just haven't found much time to blog about it. The end of November was full as we travelled to KY and IN for Thanksgiving. We got home, and had only a couple of weeks at home before we returned to KY and IN again for Christmas. During this time, we had to pack for Christmas, pack Chris to leave for Honduras, where he'll be for the entire month of January, and pack for Grant and I for IN where we'll be for the month while Chris is gone. Plus, I'm trying to get a headstart on packing up a few things for our upcoming move in May. It was a whirlwind...we didn't even get to put up our Christmas decorations because we were so busy. We made it to KY around the 19th of December and had a whirlwind stay there. Between all the Christmas parties and trying to see some of Chris' high school friends, we were kept very busy. Grant did very well, although he came down with a nasty cold. Chris and I did well, too, and really enjoyed seeing everyone. We had lots of family get-togethers, and managed to see most of Chris' family while we were there. Christmas Day dawned bright and early. We were so excited to watch Grant open gifts, but I think he was a little bit overwhelmed by it all. He acted a little bit scared and didn't get in to it as much as we had hoped. But he got some really fun toys and lots of new clothes, so he's set for a while. We had some friends from Med School come through the evening of the 25th and spend the night with us on their way back to VA, which was a lot of fun. It was so nice to see them, and allow our little boys (only a few weeks apart) to play together. We came up to IN on the evening of the 28th and spent the evening with my entire family, including siblings, which was fun. We got up on the 29th and went up to South Bend, IN (about 2 hours north) to my grandparent's house for our Christmas celebration there, which was fun. Of course most of my family was there - aunts/uncles/cousins/etc. We had a lovely Christmas there, spent the night, and went to church with my grandparents the next day. After lunch we went to my grandma's house on my mom's side and spent a few hours there. By this time, I think Grant has hit his waterloo. He's tired of people, very clingy to Chris and I, and extremely tired - so much so that he won't sleep. He screamed most of the time at my grandma Morgan's house, which was disappointing. Christmas at my family's house was lots of fun as usual. Jaybin and Kinsen (my niece and nephew) played with Grant so well this time. It's so much fun now that they're getting older. Grant got a jumpy goy for Christmas, and all three kids had a blast jumping inside together. It was very cute to watch. Of course my family always does something crazy - this year we put tatoos on each other, painted "sea-scape" scenes on the windows, played silly games and took everyone out on a Starbucks field trip. It was fun. Chris, Grant and I had just about had enough of people by this point. We were enjoying everyone so much, but also had been with people non-stop for nearly 3 weeks. So I think we were all looking forward to a little bit of quiet. It has been difficult, but lots of fun. We got Chris off to Honduras early on Thursday morning. Grant and I are missing him like crazy, but we did hear from him yesterday, so we know he's there safely. Only a few more weeks without him, and then back to VA for another whirlwind - new baby, packing, finding a place to live in Jacksonville, moving, and graduating - all in just a few short months. Yikes! Wish us luck!

New information on our new addition!

Chris and I went to the doctor this morning for our ultrasound to make sure the baby is developing properly, as well as to see if we could find out what we are having...Well, it's a big surprise to all, since everyone thought this one was a girl, but Grant is going to have a little brother! Chris was very funny - even before the lady told us what we were having, he started jumping up and down and shouting, "It's a boy, it's a boy!!!" He was even more excited when she confirmed that. I laughed at him. He was cute. So anyway, we are so excited that Grant and our new little one will be able to be playmates, and we already can't wait for the bunk beds!!!

Last minute fun - in Gatlinburg! 11/02-11/04

Sorry I can't flip the image on this - but Grant's reaction was pretty cute, so we thought we'd share anyway. This last Wednesday, I got Grant up from his nap, only to find that he had gotten very sick all over his bed. I picked him up, and he got sick all over me...4 times. So I got us both cleaned up, and spent the rest of the evening in the rocking chair, holding my very sick little boy. He was sick 10 times an hour for a little over 3 hours. Poor little man. White as a sheet and sick as a dog. Friday, Chris got up to go to work, got in to the office, and was immediately sent home because he was throwing up. Great. Well, it ended up not being too bad, because he wanted to go to Gatlinburg. Said he felt pretty good. So we loaded up our bags, and went to Gatlinburg where we had to sit through a time share presentation, but were given $100 and 2 tickets to Ripley's Aquarium in return. The first couple of days were great. He started feeling quite sick again later, but we had so much fun at first. We met Heidi Wyrosodick (Moore) and her hubby and her sister, Carrie, at "The Best Italian," a wonderful restaurant downtown Gatlinburg, for dinner Friday night. And Chris' parents were there with some friends, too, so we got to spend a little bit of time with them. Grant got tired of waiting in our restaurant on Friday - it's a little hole in the wall place with slow service but great food. So I took him outside for a little bit. There was a band outside playing bluegrass country music, and Grant loved them! He went wild. He was dancing like I have never seen him dance before - flapping his arms, and jumping up and down. When I say jumping, I literally mean both feet in the air, which I think is a bit unusual for a child his age. He had this big grin on his face, his hair was flopping in the wind with every jump, and he was squealing. There were all sorts of older people around, and they got a kick out of him. I got a kick out of them! Here's all these old people standing around trying to keep him dancing, so they are flapping their arms and jumping up and down, too. It was so funny to watch them all make total fools of themselves as they delighted in my son. One man pulled out a dollar to put in the tip jar for the band and gave it to Grant to put in the bucket. I helped Grant take it and drop it in the bucket. He turned around, walked right back up to that man and held his hand out for more. The whole crowd was in stitches. So he gave him more, and then other people started giving him money. The band got more tips than they would have had Grant not been there. :-) When people were done giving him money, wouldn't you know but he walked right back up to that bucket, took a big handful of bills and took off running. Again, everyone thought that was so funny! I enjoyed him. Oh to be a child again. For the rest of our time in Gatlinburg, strangers would come up to us and say, "There's my dancing buddy," or something to that effect. He certainly made an impression. Granny and Grandpa actually took Grant for a few hours while mommy and daddy did some Christmas shopping and some hiking one day. It was a nice little break. We enjoyed just being together. We actually found a little trail that led up to an old cemetery. Most of the tombstones were merely stones sticking out of the ground with no names engraved on them, but we did find a few with names and dates - one dating back to the mid-1800's! It was really quite fascinating. We took Grant hiking, later, and he wasn't too keen on it. It actually ended up just frustrating all of us, resulting in a very quick hike. It wasn't quite the peaceful, fun time we had imagined. We'll give him a year. I'm sure it'll go better when he's a bit steadier on his feet! The aquarium, as usual, was wonderful. Grant took everything in, and was anxious to get out of his stroller and run from exhibit to exhibit, squealing and pointing, "Ish! Ish!" ("Fish, fish!"). He sure was excited, and seemed to really enjoy it. We enjoyed watching him. Overall, it was a nice weekend, despite the sickness. It was nice to get away for a bit of fun.

10.29.07 Carving Pumpkins!

We carved pumpkins tonight - so much fun! Chris made a scary skull pumpkin, and Grant's first pumpkin turned out to be a one-toothed smiley jack-o-lantern. He had fun pulling out the goop, but we had a really hard time keeping it out of his mouth!

October 28, 2007

We took Grant outside to play in the leaves today. He sure had fun! Watching him experience life is such a joy for us right now. I think sometimes we have more fun than he does! Playing in the leaves in our front yard Grant and Daddy at a covered bridge. Enjoying the fall day on an old stone wall Playing with mommy in the leaves