Our muffin tin meal this week was so much fun. We had dessert in our muffin tins while reading one of our favorite books of the moment, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. (Muffin tin included bread cut with gingerbread man and pumpkin cookie cutters, frosting, pudding, peanut butter, chocolate chips, candy corn and coconut...it was a sticky gooey mess afterwards.)


The final product (It's a scarecrow)

It's that time again! The soccer season has begun. This is London's first year and as you can see, it didn't fly. I am absolutely loving this photo though. This photo shows the true London that we are dealing with at the moment. All the other children having fun playing soccer and then their is London attached to Jeff's leg. Classic. I do have to admit that we are making progress with the separation anxiety. I currently have a friend drop her off at preschool for me and that way I am not tempted to just scoop my baby up and run the second she starts crying for me. It is a good thing...for both of us.

Kamryn did awesome on her first game of the season, though she was more timid than last season. She loves to be the goalie!

I am new to the whole "slumber party" thing. I just assumed that if I provide food, movies, games, and crafts that everything would run smoothly. And, it did run smoothly until I said "Time for bed" at 9:30 p.m. It was a school night, what did they expect! Next time I will just let them stay up as late as they want, as long as they don't have school the very next day. K's friend went home so we have yet to have a successful slumber party.

Smorgesboard

So many things to blog about, so little time...

London started preschool last week. Don't let this cute picture fool you, it was WWF trying to get her to go and I eventually lost...not even snack time could persuade her to stay. We've been having huge separation issues lately (since nursery days) and I am open to any suggestions, or remarks. Please HELP me!

I saw the cutest idea on a blog a while back about Muffin Tin meals and I just knew immediately that my kids would love them. I guess it is kind of like lunchables where you have separate containers for smaller portions of food. I was able to sneak in food from all of the food groups. Sorry about my messy looking muffin tins, I use them quite often.


Special K learned how to ride her bike. This is actually a lot more amazing then it sounds because I've had a hard time letting K try...no idea why except for the fact that I don't want her to grow up too fast and I don't want her to get hurt. So, as I was downstairs one evening Jeff peaked his head around the corner and announced "you've got to see what K is doing." I went outside and she was riding around on her bike. It took her like 2 minutes to learn and I honestly should have let her do this a long time ago. She is a very cautious bike rider though and only goes fast enough that she can still use her feet to stop the bike.

Her Story

The short version

We discovered we were pregnant in February 2004. At first, we weren't really sure how it was even possible since I was on a certain medication that prevents suprise pregnancies. But, lo and behold, this medication is only 99% reliable and you have to be consistent. I happened to miss a few days of this medication while I was in the hospital fighting menengitis(a story worthy of a post at a later time), not to mention all of the antibiotics that I was on lessened the strength of my B.C. Can you just see Heavenly Father plotting against us here? Seriously...it was nothing short of a miracle that was unexpected.

Though we were extremely grateful and happy, we couldn't help but be worried about what was in store for us the next 9 months. All we had been hearing from doctors (a few dozen of them) that a pregnancy would kill me, I wouldn't be able to carry the baby to term, it would shorten my life expectancy, the baby would be born prematurely and have issues etc.,.

In the beginning the pregnancy was smooth. I found out that we were expecting a girl at 17 weeks. She was healthy and just perfect! Around 25 weeks of pregnancy, things started to get tough. London was getting bigger and putting more pressure of my diaphram. It seemed like I couldn't even catch my breath while sitting down and relaxing. I was constantly out of breath. Walking was becoming difficult, I had to do things at a snails pace. Climbing stairs took me at least 10 minutes. I was put on 5 liters of oxygen continuously. It helped, though still my oxygen stats were low 90's. To sustain a pregnancy you need to have 94% oxygen stats constantly. The weeks went by and I was put on bed rest. I knew that bed rest would help further the pregnancy and in turn give my little girl a better start in life, but bed rest was impossible. I had a two year old at the time that was so active and needing her mom. My pulmonolgist predicted I would deliver around 30 weeks, but lo and behold I actually went further. We made it to 32 weeks.

August 26, 2004 I was sent to labor and delivery to be induced. My oxygen stats were going below 90% even with 5 liters of oxygen drying out my nostrils. I was given steroid shots to help London's premature lungs but I think the steroids went to help my lungs instead. I was imediatly given an epidural because they didn't know how I'd be able to breath if I had major labor pains. The epidural took 3 times because I have a ligament that covers my spine. Every time he'd push it through you could hear it pop and it hurt like CRAZY!!! I think the epidural guy was feeling the pressure because he finally just kept pushing hard and didn't care too much about the pain that I was in. The epidural worked, but only on one side of my body (weird).

So, I labor all day. I didn't dialate. I labored all night, but didn't dialate either. The next morning, we discuss a c-section (of which I wanted from the beginning, but mid wife insisted that I could deliver). They give me my epidural medication (remember, only half of me is numb) and send me to get a c-section right away. I don't remember much from here on out...I just remember the pain. It hurt so bad. I remember moving my legs in pain. I remember feeling like I could breath so much better when they got her out, but I couldn't hear her cry. I kept asking Jeff "why isn't she crying." "Is she okay." Then everything started going in circles and I remember feeling so warm and tingly. They knocked me out. This all happened in a matter of minutes. Jeff told me that they brought London to see me, but I don't remember that.

So, I wake up in a room all by myself. I have no idea where my baby is or if she is okay. My family is no where. Finally a nurse comes in and informs me that I am in the ICU and that she will send in my family. I am monitored all day. I don't get to see my baby until 10:30 that night because London is having difficulties.

London was born at 9:06 a.m. on August 27, 2004. She was born on the exact day that I had my car accident 9 years previously. The car accident...the whole reason behind my pregancy difficulties, the reason I am not supposed to be pregnant, the reason I'd die if I were ever pregnant. She was born on that exact day. See where I am getting...I totally triumphed over that day. I will never look at August 27 as the day where my life changed so dramatically that I am now considered handicapped, I will never look at that day as a sad day. She made that day a reason to celebrate.

Back to the story...The very next morning, doctors lined up to check me out and see how I was doing. I couldn't believe my ears when they told me to NEVER do this again. You will not survive another pregnancy. I remember looking at one of them and saying "are you serious, can you not see that we both survived this pregnancy."

London was a healthy 5 lb. 7 oz. (pretty big for a 32 weeker). She stayed in the NICU for a month where we were allowed to visit her at least 4 times a day. It was tough. I felt a lot of guilt during that time. Even when she came home, she had oxygen on. She was a fighter though and kicked the oxygen habit right before Christmas. She looks just like Jeff, though now every once in a while I get a comment that she looks a lot like me.

Birthday Girl!

After blueberry pancakes, London opened some pretty fun birthday presents.

Instead of a big birthday party, she opted to just go to a generic Build-a-Bear in our mall. You know how you can buy generic brands of some foods, but stuff like Mac n' Cheese you just have to pay the $.10 more and get the Kraft stuff because it tastes so much better...well the same thing goes for the generic Build-a-Bear, you will be better off paying the extra money for a better experience if you go to the REAL deal. All that mattered is that smile on her face though, she loved it.

McDonald's for lunch was a must, but it just wasn't the same without her sister to play with.

A friend of mine lent me this cute giant cupcake cake pan. It was too adorable and so easy. I do really try to make cute cakes for my kids birthdays, but it definitely isn't a talent just yet.