Jamie's birthday, almost two weeks late!

I figured I'd best get these pictures posted before Morgan's birthday, because then I'll just be so far behind that....well, I won't catch up. Our little Valentine turned FOUR on the 14th! Hard to believe it's really been that long that she's been with us. She still has so much "baby" in her, but don't you dare try to slow down this big girl! Her day (Valentine's Day will now forever be Jamie's...I'm just kind of stuck out in left field from here on out. Good for Pete, not so good for me!) started out with her choice (not mine....notice all that RED!) of heart-shaped Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. Hey, we're usually insistant upon healthy breakfasts, so once a year, what can it hurt? She didn't want a cake, so I guess this was an okay alternative.

Can you say "YUM"?

After breakfast, we headed out into town for a homeschool group meeting where Jamie got to show off her Birthday Girl tee shirt, and then we went to....GULP.....Chuck E Cheese's for lunch and a very LOUD playtime for the girls. That was the singlemost expensive pizza I have ever bought! But oh well....we haven't been since the older two were 6 and 8, so I guess it was "time".
Big bro Jon even showed up (with the girlfriend he wouldn't introduce as his girlfriend) for about fifteen minutes. Good thing Jamie was too transfixed by all the revelry to notice he'd skipped out. Shelby enjoyed Jon's lap, though! Slobber face!
That cool Birthday Girl tee she was so proud to wear:
And of course, the cheesy faced gift-opening grin:

Happy 4th Birthday, Jamie Bug, I hope you enjoy being the "same age" as your big sister for a couple of weeks!

I love my doctor!

Maybe it's just because I've had HORRID experiences with military (and a couple of civilian) OB's in the past...no, it's not. My doc is GREAT. Even if this were the last baby we were to ever have, I'd keep Dr. Conrad's name on my list to be my "girly stuff" doctor as long as we live in Huntsville and he's in practice! This guy is an absolute gem! SOOOO much better than the hands-off, bad-bedside-mannered doctors I've dealt with in the past.

Yep, I had my first official OB appointment. It went "okay", I guess. Kind of hard to find the baby's heartbeat, but that was no surprise, considering all of my kids liked to hide from probes of all sorts in utero. However, the ultrasound went well, there is just ONE baby in there (thank you, Lord, I am just not up to more than that!), and he/she looks healthy. Me....well, not so much. I'm now on blood pressure medication because my BP is as high as it was when they induced me for pre-eclampsia with Danica two and a half years ago. Dr. Conrad is great about it, though. He just laughed and said, "You're not under any STRESS, now are you?" Naaahhhhh.....

Anyway, he did admit that it's most likely the heredity (thanks, Mom and Dad!) that was the root of the BP issues, not pregnancy. He said that other than that, I'm healthy and everything looks great. He says I "do" pregnancy and childbirth well, other than the minor glitches. It's a wonder to him (and me) how I've made it through six 'diabetic' pregnancies without a single dose of insulin, and all of the babies have been under 8 pounds. I'm certainly not a textbook patient! He also loves big families (he's got one himself), so I don't get the negative junk from him that I do from less....um, tactful doctors like the creep I saw on base a few weeks ago. My next appointment is the "big" ultrasound, and interestingly, it's on my birthday! Hmm.....would be a REALLY nice present to be able to get a reason to put a little BLUE in our lives, don'tcha think?

As for other stuff, Pete is now back at work. So far, so good, although he did WAY too much when he went back on Wednesday, and ended up having a nasty reaction to his Vicodin that night. It was pretty ugly. His doctor isn't releasing him to a physical therapist (or is that 'terrorist', Mom?) just yet, he wants to make doubly sure that Pete's shoulder has fully healed before they do any exercising it. We both have wonderful doctors, don't we?

Carrot top!

I suppose this is as close as any of our children will ever get to being a redhead.

Another week gone, already?

I know time is supposed to pass faster as one ages, but somebody grab a good hold on the reins, will ya? I blinked, and last week is GONE. No fair. I feel like I missed something.

The morning sickness probably wasn't morning sickness. It was likely either a bug or some sort of reaction to something--maybe the cream cheese that I noticed the next day as being ever-so-slightly covered in green slime. Whatever the reason, I'm glad it's gone. Beleive me, all of you gals who have suffered countless hours staring into a porcelain bowl...I do NOT envy you. My pregnancies all have their down-days, but usually later on into the second trimester when the prick-your-finger-four-times-a-day starts and toward the end when I'm on contstant doctor-watch. Those days aren't fun either...but my lack of morning sickness has been all that's kept me sane!

Okay, so there was a lot going on last week. A LOT. I had a horrid doctor's appointment on Wednesday with the clinic on base to get into the Tricare system as an OB patient and get my referral to the OB/GYN I used with Shelby (I love that guy...and I have recommended him to every pregnant woman I've met!), and let's just say I'm glad it's over and I most certainly, without a doubt, WILL be filing a complaint with the base clinic's commander. I expect professionalism from a doctor whose sole purpose during that visit was to put my name in a computer, but what I got was a nasty, sarcastic attack. "Are you nuts?," was the doctor's response to hearing I was on baby #7, and then "What, are you trying to be like that crazy Arkansas woman with 20 kids? There's something WRONG with those people!" Well, thank you, now, Mamaw, for drilling that keep-your-mouth-shut Southern decorum into my head, because all I could sputter forth from my stunned lips was, "I just need a referral, and I'll be out of your hair." Of course, my mind was reeling with witty come-backs, but at that point, I just wanted OUT. I couldn't leave that office fast enough. Oh, and apparently, the nurse, who was at least slightly less rude, thinks it's okay to tell a patient she's too old to be a mother. I did manage to say that it seems my body hasn't gotten that memo. She laughed. I laughed. But...I wouldn't have laughed if I'd have known what rudeness I was in for after my vitals were taken. UGH, I detest dealing with people like that. Deep breath. It's over. Now I've got my appointment THIS week for that all-important early ultrasound to double-check dates, growth, and to make sure Pete's little twin premonition wasn't right! If it is....well, that should be an interesting turn of events!

Ick, what is this??

It's official, I'm a big baby. I don't do "sick" well, especially when it involves my stomach. One little hint of queasiness and my body just shuts down. Soo...I thank God for His mercy in sparing me from morning sickness for my first six pregnancies. I really do. I appreciate every minute of my trouble-free first and second trimesters. Until now.

I welcomed my first real, true bout of morning sickness this morning, at 3am. I'm still battling it now, at nearly midnight. YUCK!!!! I've had little "eww, that kinda feels like queasiness" mornings for the last few weeks, but NOTHING like today.

Can I deliver tomorrow?

Not much to say, obviously.

I am almost never sitting in front of the computer anymore. Probably a good thing, all told, but it doesn't make for much decent blog-reading, now does it? There's just too much going on!

By ten this morning, I'd made breakfast, gotten dinner in the crock pot, washed and folded two loads of laundry, started a third, gotten everybody (including the "big baby") dressed, cleaned up the living room, taken a shower, and gotten Shelby down for a nap. It's no wonder I'm tired, I never slow down! The only time I sat down all morning was to change diapers! Oh yeah, I just forgot, I need to reheat my coffee, I never finished it!

Oh well. Life goes on. By the way, thank you to Tina and Luke for being cooperative with my interest study thing. It helped me do my "homework", LOL.

So what's the word here? Well, Pete got another two weeks' convalescent leave granted to him by his doctor last Friday, and was assigned two very *slight* exercises to do to work out the stiffness in his shoulder. So far, so good. Pete is still shocked at how slowly and deliberately the doc wants to take this recovery--worlds different from the military docs who were in a big fat hurry to get him OUT of their office. Hmm, it seems that having your paycheck reflect the actual job you do makes a difference in patient care!

As for other stuff, this is a full week. I have a doctor's appointment (finally) to get into the Tricare system so I can get referred to a civilian OB on Wednesday, we take the dog and kittens in to get their shots on Thursday, Shelby's well-baby checkup is on Friday, and on Saturday, Jake has a doggie "spa" treatment awaiting him at PetSmart (and hopefully he'll then be rid of some of the clumps of fur that have been falling off of him in humongous chunks). I finally had to pull out the maternity clothes this week, as I just couldn't squeeze into the jeans any longer. Eh, I might have been able to....but I do rather appreciate the ability to breathe!

Okay, I've got people complaining all around me that I've been "absent" from the foray for too long. No wonder I don't blog more often!