Yay!!!

Katie slept for 12 whole hours, straight through, no waking up to nurse, YEAH!!!!!

Too good to be true?

Well, Katie again slept about 8 hours last night, straight through. I'm really hoping this will stick. She's taking good naps at around the same times (the afternoon one is coinciding with Sarah's, YAY!) and she's also starting to like baby food. She's kinda gotten the idea that you OPEN your mouth to get the food in there, rather than have mommy shove it in there with a spoon. So far she's tried sweet potatos, carrots, peas, green beans, applesauce & pears. They're all mostly hits, although she was really digging the sweet potatos last night. That was Sarah's favorite, too.
As for Sarah, she's again showing interest in the potty. I was really exhausted yesterday morning & actually fell asleep during her PT appointment (bad mommy, I know) and while I was passed out on the couch, she went into the bathroom and got her PT to put her on there. She did that again this morning to me. She's starting to thumb her nose at diapers, so I will probably start buying pull-ups for her, although I have a feeling they're going to be too big.

Houston, we have sleep

After only 2 nights in her new crib, in a different room, sharing a room with a sister who's been on a sleeping strike lately, we officially have a new record for Katie sleeping during the night: she woke up about 10:30 pm last night, nursed, and then didn't wake up again until 7:15am!!! WOOHOO!!!! It's probably from lack of sleep & my body was just grateful to get some straight solid hours of it, but I didn't wake up in a panic. In fact, I almost didn't wake up at all: for some reason our alarm clock has been acting funky, and not going off. So, for the past few mornings we've been doing the hustle to get ready due to us accidently sleeping later than she we should be.

1st night in her new room

Tonight will be Katie's first night in her crib. She's sharing a room with Sarah, so we'll see how this goes. I'm really hoping that Katie will love the freedom of the crib & in turn will sleep better. I know: I'm dreaming right? This could go a few ways: 1) Katie could love it, and sleep through the night; 2) Katie could hate it & wake up even more frequently than she is now; 3) Katie & Sarah could keep each other up all night. I'd put money on the 3rd option, if I were a betting woman.

Dental visit

I had Emma's dentist push up her appointment because it seemed like her cavity/infection in her gums was not getting better. So, we went this morning & had them pull her tooth. It's her first molar on the bottom lefthand side. She did remarkably well. I was going to push for them to put her under, but they said they don't do that, and the places that DO, won't let me be back with her. So, she needs to learn that although getting your teeth worked on sucks, it's not terrible. I guess I should learn this lesson, too, as it's been over 3 years since I had my teeth cleaned. I'm a horrible example, I know. But between either being pregnant or breastfeeding for the better part of 4 years, it's been hard to find a good time to go. I hate that Emma has to have so much work done as such a young age, but hopefully this will get us all into the mode of protecting our teeth, and she'll be more diligent about cleaning them as her permanent ones come in. I was so hung up on having it pulled, but I know plenty of people who've had to have teeth pulled, and at this age, all the teeth are coming out, coming in & generally just all over the place anyhow, so I don't think it'll be a big deal. Plus, this just means the Tooth Fairy gets to come early for this one.

Happy New Year

Hello everyone!!! Happy 2007!!! I can't believe another year has come & gone. The end of 2006 was spent with family & friends in CA. We flew out to Sac on the 21st & got back very early yesterday morning. It was a very nice trip, as we were able to see family & friends that we haven't seen in years. My dad, step-mom, sister & two brothers drove up from Ventura to see my mom & us. I hadn't seen my dad in 2 years. We also saw our friend Margaret whom I hadn't seen since July of 2003. She'd never met Sarah or Katie.
We were able to spend some good quality time with my mom, as well as Jeff's family. The only marr to our trip was that Emma & Sarah both got sick. For Emma it was a minor intestinal bug, but for Sarah it developed into a little case of rotavirus. Poor kiddo. She had that before, last May. It's not a fun thing. She also was accidently given regular cow's milk, and we saw the repercussions of that with 2 days of projectile vomiting. I'm guessing she's not over her liquid milk allergy.
The girls had a lot of fun playing with their cousin Ariel, and she & Emma even went to see "The Nutcracker" ballet with Auntie M & Aunt Kammie. Katie is now completely sitting up on her own, and can sit there for a good long time. She also got one of her top teeth (finally). The other one shouldn't be far behind. They all were thoroughly spoiled by all their relatives (and Santa, too) and had a lot of fun. These trips to California would be almost perfect, if it weren't for Northwest's nagging little habits of a) losing our luggage, b) cancelling/delaying our flights or c) breaking our belongings they aren't losing. It's official: we are NEVER EVER EVER EVER flying Northwest again.

Kim Jong Il's Blog

No not really, but this is still hilarious. Warning: contains minor language. Doesn't look like it's been updated since July, though. Too bad, it's awesome.

http://users.livejournal.com/kim_jong_il__/

Dental woes

I have been very fortunate that in my (almost) 29 years, I've never had a cavity (or at least, one I know about). I don't know if I have my mom to thank (as she has told me numerous times that she drank a LOT of milk during her pregnancy), good genes, or vigilant family members who constantly told me to brush my teeth. I had always hoped that my kids would be as lucky as I was. Well, not so much. Emma has had one cavity filled, and during the last couple of weeks, has been telling me that her tooth hurts. So, off we go yesterday to the dentist. I'm thinking that it's just another cavity, silently berating myself that I let her get another one. She gets an x-ray done to see how bad it is, and the nurse comes back with a shocker. She's got an infection in her tooth that's down to her nerve. The first course of action is an antibiotic regimen to get rid of the infection. After that, we could either of two things: a pulpotomy (now doesn't THAT sound fun), where they basically drill down to the nerve, and then put something in there that deadens it, and then come back on another day to get a crown put on ($$$$$), OR just pull the tooth ($24). I kid you not, it's cheaper to PULL a 7 year old's tooth, than it is to fix it. This, I just don't get. It wouldn't be a stumper for me what to do, if this were a baby tooth that was going to fall out in the next year or so. No, this is a molar, which might not fall out on its own until she's 10 or 11. Now, she's been pretty early with some of her teeth falling out (she's had 8 come out in 2 years), so in all respects, this one could be out as early as age 9, but still. That's a 2 FULL years without a tooth, and having to have a metal spacer put in to keep the space open. Call me snobby, but I'm not sure that's a stigma I want to put on my kid. Ugh, I hate parenting decisions like this. We have until the 10th of January to decide. That's when she'll go in next, after the infection's gone. I just feel so bad for her. She hates doctors/dentists already, now I get to have her freak out every time we only go for a check-up or a cleaning.

Emma's 7

Emma turned 7 years old yesterday, at 7:01am PST. She's had a busy few days celebrating. She had her special birthday snack at school on Friday. I brought in homemade cupcakes with pink frosting & sprinkles. We had a few extras so we walked around the school giving them out to specific people (the librarian, her music teacher, the principal). Her classmates sung Happy Birthday to her, and she got to wear a special birthday crown all day.
She had her party on Saturday. She wanted a slumber party. We had invited 8 girls, but only 2 were able to make it, which was fine by me. Three 6/7 years olds all running around, doped up on caffeine & sugar was enough for me. We had pizza for dinner, then Coldstone ice cream cake. We opened gifts & they played games/watched a movie/had popcorn. They were all so excited that they didn't end up falling asleep until close to midnight. The next morning we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast & then the girls' parents came & picked them up. It was nice, and I know Emma had a fun time.
We got Emma a Disney Princess remote control racecar (BIG hit), and she picked out this Glo-E Bear at the store. It lights up & has a wand so you can change the colors that the bear lights up to. It's kinda pretty. We saw that they also had a smaller one without a wand for littler kids. Might be a cool present for Sarah as a nightlight. Her little friends got her a Bratz slumber party doll (ugh, I don't like the Bratz, but whatever...) & a My Little Pony Pegasus. Another reason I was glad not too many girls came. I think Emma needs to realize that presents are NOT the reason to have a party. She needs to get out of that mentality.
Having the girls over this weekend made me realize that Emma needs to have friends over more often. I feel so bad for her sometimes. She doesn't have a BEST friend that she sees all the time. And every time she gets something that's close, something happens. She had Ryan in San Diego, and then moved to Tennessee, and while we still see them, it's only maybe twice a year. Then when we moved here, she had Morgan across the street. Well then WE moved. During Kindergarden it was Meghan S. & Rachael. Neither of them go to Morey anymore, and I somehow lost Rachael's mom's phone number (grumble). She really seems to get along nicely with a couple girls from her class, so I think we're going to make more of an effort to have them come over to play.

Report cards & potty training

Emma had her 1st semester parent/teacher conference last Friday. She's doing really well in 1st grade. Her teacher grades on a 4 point scale (1-4), with 4 being the highest. Her teacher even prefaced the conference by saying she does NOT give out many 4's because then the child wouldn't need to be in 1st grade. Emma got mostly 3's, I'd saying 97%. She had a couple 2's in reading/language arts, but her teacher said she believed this to be from Emma's speech issues that we still struggle with. She also got a couple 4's in math (she takes after her dad in this). All in all, it was great. We see the areas where we need to give her a little more extra instruction, and we'll work on that. We also got her speech eval, and she's made great progress in that. She's probably at about 75% in meeting her goals from June.
And now the potty training. Not Emma, Sarah. Little Miss Sarah-Sarah has been having a problem lately with taking off her diaper at every opportunity. She hates having a wet diaper on. Of course, she also hates having clothes on, so it could be a pattern, but anyhow. I took the cue from her and put her on the potty seat one day, to see what she would do. She didn't do anything at that time, but the next 4 times I put her on, she went. She seems to be really proud of herself (as are we, and we cheer for her when she goes) so I think this may be the start of potty training for her. We didn't expect this so early (even Emma didn't start until after she was 3), but I'm not going to knock it. I know it's a long process (I don't see how my dad potty trained all 3 of my siblings in one weekend each), but if the end result is one less child in diapers, I'm all for it.

Have kids, will travel

Jeff, the girls & I just got back from another trip to CA. It was a nice 2 weeks. Mom had been in the hospital, but was out a couple days after we got there. The girls got to go trick-or-treating with Aunti M & Uncle Mark, played their hearts out with cousin Ariel & spent WAY too much time in Nana & Papa's spa. My Aunt Judy, and my grandparents came up from Santa Barbara to see mom, and Emma spent 3 nights with them at their motel. She apparently spent her time either in the pool, or eating the motel out of house & muffins by scarfing down their "All you can eat breakfast". I seriously think she gained 10 lbs. while she was there (her brand new pants that I had bought right before we left apparently are too tight for her now...).
It's funny, we normally only see family in CA about once every year, but this is our (well, Katie, Sarah & I's) 2nd trip to CA in 2 months, and we're going again at Christmas. Oh well, you can't have too much of a good thing.

Encouraging Article

One of the Ds boards that I frequent had this posted today:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/lifestyle/orl-specialswim06oct05,0,1063971.story?track=rss

I vow to never tell Sarah, or any of my kids, that they can't do something they set their mind to.

The Scoop on Poop

:: WARNING, TMI APPROACHING, I WILL BE TALKING GRAPHICALLY ABOUT POOP::


So, little miss Sarah-Sarah has been having poop issues for a few months now. She had a bout of rotavirus back in May and after that cleared up, she started pulling out her hair and eating it. Not fun. She's basically had sub-diarhhea since the end of May, not a solid BM in nearly 3 months. I'm talking her poop is like mud and it gets EVERYWHERE. She usually goes during a nap or after she's put to bed in the evening and either Jeff or I will go upstairs and smell some awful, go in there to check, and it's like Jackson Pollack with crap in her room. Smeared everywhere, all over her, the crib/bed, her sheets/blankets....everywhere. The first time she did this, it was even IN HER MOUTH.......EWWWWWWWW. I about gagged, and not much phases me (but I was still pregnant at the time, so there you go). So, we've been dealing with this problem for quite some time. I've spoken to her pedi about it but apparently he forgot to write it down & it left his memory. Well, my mom is here this week, and it happened again on Tuesday, as I was preparing to go pick up Emma from her first day of school...If my mom hadn't been there to give Sarah a bath, I seriously don't know what I would have done. We recently put Sarah in a toddler bed...so that means she can get out of bed and walk around....you see where I'm getting with this? The poop was not relegated to her crib, like normal, it was on her toddler bed, on the sheets/blankets..and the floor. OMG, the floor. 5 BIG spots of poop on my BEIGE CARPET, in our RENTAL HOUSE. I could see it now...yeah I know we're leaving and you have our security/cleaning deposit, will it cover dying the rest of the carpets to match mud poop brown? I hear it's the new fall color. /sigh
So, I basically had to hand Sarah off to my mom, and shut the door to the "poop room" until I got back from picking up Emma.
After I got back, I started what I affectionately call the "clean-up & recovery". It was like a war zone in there, complete with the stench of death. It was awful. I spent 10 minutes just bringing out toys that had poop on them (her poor Rock 'N Play piano was viciously violated and almost had to be tossed..), I stripped her toddler bed, sanitized the (thankfully) plastic covered mattress, tried to pick up the globs of poop on the carpet and saturated the spots with OxyClean...knowing full well that wasn't going to cut it. I used a full tub of Lysol wipes on her bed & toys and then spent the next hour trying to get as much of the spots off the carpet as I could. I finally, after 2 1/2 hours of cleaning, decided I needed to call a professional. So, in comes Mark's Carpet Cleaning...
I couldn't get an appointment for 2 days, in the meantime Sarah's room was off limits to anyone under 5 ft. tall. Sarah was demoted back to her crib and the poor kid couldn't even play with her toys in there. The only reason anyone went in there was to change diapers or clothes or put Sarah to bed. I decided that there were a few other rooms in the house that desperately needed their carpets cleaned, so we did the dining room, Sarah's room, the stairs & the living room/hallway downstairs. All together $154, not bad. So, they come and I ended up having to leave in the middle to take Sarah to the doctor's re: her poop. When I come back, an hour later, it's like walking into a different house. I thought I was going to cry, the carpet's looked so good. They looked brand new. And I was mad that I didn't get the whole house done. I decided right then & there that we were no longer going to eat food anywhere other than the dining room table, which was no longer allowed on the carpet. It's in the kitchen, where it will stay until we move. The kitchen has washable floors. This carpet cleaning place has my business for life.
Ok, back to the doctor's appointment: they basically told me to suck it up. They did some blood tests & took another stool sample, but nothing came back. So, this was normal for Sarah; not exactly what I wanted to hear. Anyhow, I guess I'll have to be very diligent when I put Sarah down for a nap or to bed to make sure she doesn't play Picaso with her poop anymore....ewwwwwww.

Wake me when they're at college

Seriously, I should have listened to the people who warned me that having children was exhausting. Maybe I would have been better prepared. The drama/excitement/poopy diapers/puking/crying/picking up NEVER STOPS. I don't know if I have the stamina to do this for the next 18 years.
Not that I don't love my children, but they have more energy than a pack of sugared up howler monkeys and are just as loud at times. But they have a reason to be excited: Grammy's here. My mom flew in on Friday and is staying for over a week. Emma is in heaven. She loves Grammy. Grammy, unfortunately, due to chemo, has even less energy than me, so it's been interesting, to say the least. But, Emma's been a good sport and is helping Grammy out. Sarah has decided that she's going to start puberty early & is extremely moody lately. And Katie, well, Katie's 3 months old, and her only needs are a clean butt, a full belly & constant interaction. She LOVES it when you sit there & look her in the eyes and talk to her. She seems to thrive on it. She's giving us the biggest smiles and has the funniest expressions on her face.
Emma starts 1st grade on Tuesday, and that will help with the non-stop chaos around the house. But, then we also have soccer starting soon, which will add a whole new dimension. I think I need a nap...

Long time no see

I know I know, I'm a terrible blogger. But, I suppose I have an excuse. I give "mad props" to all those moms who have 3 or more kids. It's rough! Oh my goodness. Ever since Katie was born, I feel like I've been running a marathon...daily. I promise I will post her birth story soon, but for right now I will just update you on everything:

Emma: things are going well with Emma, she spent 6 weeks in a day camp called PEAK. She LOVED it!!! They did crafts, went on field trips, did educational stuff, and spent a ton of time outside on the playground. This child is TAN!! I don't know where she got the tan gene from but it wasn't her father or I. She starts 1st grade in one week. EEEEEKKKKK! How did I become the mom to a 1st grader?? She's so excited. We went & bought her school supplies last week, including a new backpack, and a couple new outfits, and new shoes. She also lost her 8th baby tooth while Aunt Kammie was here last week. Wow, it's crazy how fast she's growing up.

Sarah: Sarah has had some issues this summer, I'm thinking mostly due to the new baby. She started pulling out her hair, bit by bit, on the left side, until she'd managed to get out about 1/3 of her hair. She's been unofficially diagnosed with trichotillomania and we're working with her on sensory issues. We decided the easiest way to help her was to cut her hair, so now she's got a cute pixie cut!! She looks like Tinkerbell, complete with impish grin.
We also put her in a toddler bed a week ago. That's still something we're working on. Her favorite thing to do is stand at the baby gate in her doorway & chuck things out of the room, or completely empty her drawers and diaper stacker - or both. She's definitely in that "two" stage. Oh it's fun..
We're still continuing sign with her & she knows about 15-20 signs. She's still not verbalizing very well, but she definitely has inflections in her voice to denote changes in mood & intent.
She was also part of a study this summer. It was done by a doctorate student at CMU regarding kids with dev. delays and them imitating a bahavior seen on a video. She was on the young side of the spectrum, as they were looking for kids aged 2-5. I'm definitely an advocate for anything that will change how ppl view kids with dev. delays.
And then there's Katie. Wow, how time does fly. She's already almost 3 months old. She's so alert and looking all around. She follows you with you walk past her, and loves to be in the middle of everything. She's still nursing like a champ and I'll have her weighed & measured this week, so I'll update on how big she is, but I'm guessing she's probably over 12 lbs. now. She's definitely got the "Schmechel family thunder thighs", haha. This kid's got some chunky legs, that's for sure. We think she's either going through a growth spurt or teething, because the past couple of days she has been CRANKY! It wouldn't surprise me on the teeth, this is when Emma started teething, and she got her 1st 2 teeth by 4 months.
Jeff finally got his promotion from last year made official. He'd been "interim manager" since last August when his boss took another job. But, he was made permanent. Congrats Jeff!! His new official title is "Associate Director of Residences & Auxilliary Services". He's also starting the fall semester of college tomorrow. So once again, he's doing triple duty: full-time employee, half-time college student & full-time dad.
As for me, well aside from having Katie, not much else is new, lol. My mom is still planning on moving out here, and is actually going to visit us for 10 days pretty soon. We're hoping that she'll be moved out here before the end of October.
So that pretty much sums up our lives for the past 3 months. You can actually check out a whole bunch of pictures, including newborn pics of Katie, here.

Tomorrow's the day

Well, after seeing my doc this afternoon, the decision has been made to induce me tomorrow morning at 9am. We're going the Cervidil route, which isn't as bad as Pitocin, so I'm still hoping for an epidural free delivery. But, whatever way and with whatever interventions that happen, the only thing that matters is Katie arriving into this world safely. June 8th, 2006. Sounds like a good day to have a baby. It'll stick with our tradition of all even numbered birthdates. With the exception of Emma's birth year ('99), ALL of us have all even numbers in our birthdates.
At first they said that they might not be able to fit me in tomorrow morning, and I was going to have to wait until 9pm tomorrow night. I wasn't happy about that. But Labor & Delivery called me this evening and said to come on in, unless told otherwise. Now I just have to hope & pray that I don't get bumped. I can imagine getting there & them telling me, opps, we're full, go home. I'd be less than pleased.
So once she's here, well, depending on the time of day, lol, Jeff will be back home to post some pictures on our Photobucket page. That can be found here. Wish us luck!!

Still here, still pregnant

I'm 2 days past my due date, and I'm cranky. I wanted this baby out about a week ago, sigh. But, apparently she's just like her father & is a complete stubborn mule. I even had decent, regular, albeit Braxton-Hicks, contractions last night for about 2 hours. Then I go to bed & they stop. As of Monday's appointment, I was 1-2cm, 50% effaced. Which means nothing to me, because I was that way for the last 4 weeks before having Sarah. Tonight is Emma's Kindergarten graduation, so I'm hoping maybe afterwards something will happen. This is the event that I was most worried about missing. Even though it's going to suck that my aunt & sister will have almost no time with us after the baby's born (they're leaving on Monday afternoon), I'm glad I won't be missing this very important event. She's also getting an award on Friday (the last day of school) and I would love to be able to go to that, too, this is the biggie for a Kindergartener. So, I'm not trying to bargain with God or anything, but anytime after the graduation tonight, but BEFORE, say, Friday, would be great. But, as I'm learning, nothing is certain in life, not even the timely birth of a child. Even your 3rd.
But, this is making worry just a bit that the baby is just too big and won't descend, thus forcing me to have a c-section. Which I'll take, as long as it means having a healthy baby, but it also means that Jeff wins in our "who gets to be snipped" bet. If I have a normal delivery, Jeff's promised to get the big "V", and I told him the only way I'd get my tubes tied was if I had a c-section. So, we'll see how things go. I'm not too worried...yet.
So, for all the family members who are wondering, no we haven't had the baby yet, and yes I'm doing pretty much everything I can think of to get things going: walking, housework, shopping, carrying a 20 lb. Sarah up & down the stairs, doing my elliptical trainer. I've tried it all, but she'll arrive when she feels like it & not a moment sooner, unfortunately. And trust me, we'll let you know.

Sigh of relief

Well, my aunt & sister have arrived in town, so I've given my body permission to go into labor whenever. I have the carseat/stroller, we have a bed for her to sleep in, clothes for her to wear, and people to watch our kids. We're all set.
We seriously thought I might be starting labor last night, but it was just the baby poking at my cervix, nice feeling. But, we're going to be walking a lot & I'm no longer trying to "take it easy". I'm not over-doing it, but I'm also not walking on eggshells. Plus, if I go into labor while doing dishes, I think that's probably a card I could use for awhile.
Sarah's having fun with my sister, as is Emma. Jeff, unfortunately, has to work until the baby actually arrives, so he's missing out on the fun during the day, but he'll be off this weekend.
Emma has a birthday party to attend this Saturday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. There's supposed to be a thunderstorm tonight (typical summer Michigan weather). But, it's warm, which only means one thing: humidity. Joy. I will be so glad when this baby is out & I can have my normal temperature range back.

Preggy pics

So, after much questioning by my friends as to when I was going to post some pregnant pictures of myself, we went out today to try & take some decent ones. It was really windy, but the first real nice day in about 2 weeks. It's been raining on & off for what seems like forever, but today was beautiful, if not blustery.

Here's me & my Sarah-bug. She was just too enthralled with the grass, and would barely sit still on my lap. Our friend Amanda made the girls matching shirts/onsies that say "Big Sister", "Middle Sister", and "Little Sister".

This is Emma with her new haircut. Since chopping a bunch off her hair this week, she needed it a bit evened out. We ended up taking about 2 1/2 inches off the ends.

Here are my two beauties! Sarah wouldn't keep her glasses on, and again, just wanted to play on the grass.

I think we may try again another day to go out & take a few more pictures. When it's not so windy and the ground isn't saturated with rain water.

Fun with scissors

I'm sure you're probably thinking, wait a minute, that title doesn't sound very good. You're right, there is really no fun to be had with scissors in the hands of a 6 year who has time to kill. After Emma got home from school yesterday, I told her she needed to clean her room. She went upstairs and proceeded to slowly clean her room. After Jeff got home about an hour later, I was talking to her & noticed her bangs where a little uneven. The I saw that the hair by the side of her face was, too. So, I asked her if she had cut her hair. She feigned ignorance (a favorite past time of hers lately) and said, I don't remember. I'd already not had a happy afternoon, due to issues completely unrelated, so I was not in the mood to play games. I asked her again, and told her if she wanted to still go to her friend's birthday party, she would tell me the truth. She said yes, she cut her hair. I tried very hard not to get angry, and in fact, Jeff & I just had to laugh to ourselves, because the timing could not have been more perfect, in order to help get us out of our funk. So, she can still go to her friend's party, but she's grounded from TV until this weekend.
As for her hair, it's not completely messed up, so I suppose it'll have to wait until this weekend to be fixed as well. She basically just took the top layer of her bangs & cut them about an inch or so shorter than the rest. The sides do look a little funny, so she'll be having her hair up for the rest of the week. I'd take a picture, but my digital camera battery is dead, and I think we left the charger in Detroit. So, I had to order a new one & it hasn't come in yet. I love my children, they keep my life interesting.