Thursday, December 30, 2010

Guest Blog

Today, I have a post over at the blog for one of my favorite Catholic bloggers, Sarah Reinhard. She asked for some guest posts during Advent, as she knew she had a special little Advent/Christmas present coming (a baby boy!), but it just posted today. I talk about the Gift of Penance and what my first Advent as a Catholic meant to me.

Come check it out at Snoring Scholar.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

2010...What a Ride

Wow, 2010 was an amazing year for us! The first quarter of the year we spent "living" away from each other as I worked in Garden City and Jason was here at home. In April, after realizing the difficult pregnancy and just the sadness that goes along with missing out on each other and that special time together during the pregnancy, Jason bought out my contract and brought me home! I worked on being a stay-at-home wife, and worked minimally as a PTA.

We spent a good chunk of the year waiting for the arrival of our kumquat, which he finally made on August 1st. He was a week "overdue" but seemed just right to us! :) We had a scary bout that first week home with problems nursing and Dominic losing too much weight and being dehydrated...that ended in a hospital stay for us and him.

Since his birth, our lives have revolved around our little kumquat and we couldn't be happier! He is such a joy and a blessing; it is so amazing to watch him learn and grow. Every day brings something new for us and we are always excited to see what's next. His giggling and smiles can light up the room, and he's already developing quite a personality.

Resolutions for the new year?! To enjoy our family as much as we can. To spend meaningful time together including making daily family prayer a priority, dinners together, and playing games and having fun. My resolution for the year is to be the best wife and mom that I can be. For me this includes this blog as it has a tendency to hold me somewhat accountable. It also includes widening my cooking abilities and baking. Learning to help us to have a balanced, healthy diet. With sides of ice cream and chocolate occasionally. ;-)

What were some of your 2010 highlights and what are your resolutions for the year to come?

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Time to Get Back to Work

Well, I have been away from my blog for a while. It makes me a little sad, but I had a really busy couple of weeks with working while Jason took vacation. Then, I'm not sure what happened, but it seemed to take a while to get back into the swing of things for my "regular" stuff. I'm hoping that I get back to more regular reading of blogs I love, and more regular writing of my blog (also a blog I love! :)).

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at our house, my parents bought me a roaster so I could stop bothering them, and the turkey turned out really yummy! Dominic got to try his first solid, mashed potatoes, too! He has had a few different solids since then, but not too much, he's not terribly interested  yet, so I'm sure it'll be a while until he's really eating them like crazy.

We are ready for Christmas; Christmas Eve at our house with my parents, and Christmas day with Jason's family in Las Animas. Nothing traditional about the meals we have planned either; we're having chicken taco soup on Friday and manicotti and lasagna on Christmas day. I plan on baking a birthday cake for Jesus for both days.

Well, time to get back to work on house-wifely duties as well! :)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Small Successes

FaithButton It's that time again, time to remember the successes we've had for the week, keeping in mind that the small successes are just as important as big ones! :) Click the button, come to Faith & Family Live and put yours down!

1. I started a to-do list daily. With some of my awesome friends, we talked about the flylady's notebook idea to keep things organized and to be better at doing our housework. While none of us are doing her specific notebook, we're all doing variations and having some success. I put down everything on my to-do list and check it off as I get it done.

2. I got stuff on the to-do list DONE. Yes, two days in a row I got the majority of things on my list done. That is awesome and it makes me happy.

3. I didn't kill anyone yesterday, despite having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day". Starting with feeling crummy in the morning, followed by an explosive diaper that ended with the kumquat in the bath, a trip to the hospital for paperwork that resulted in getting stuck with needles twice (because she couldn't get the first one in, but I don't hold a grudge against her! :)), and then ended with a trip to Walmart where my battery died and apparently it was "I'm too busy and otherwise don't want to help anyone even a mom with a baby in a carseat" day so I had to leave my ice cream in the car to melt (yes, yesterday was super warm in the afternoon, grrr) and go inside with my just waking up hadn't been fed in 3 hours baby and wait for automotive to come help me. And no one died. But don't ask about my to-do list, or that might just change! ;-)

Monday, November 8, 2010

From Secularism to Mormonism; Part 1 of My Conversion Story

So, I've been meaning to post about my conversion. I'm going to do it in at least two different posts because there are two parts to my conversion.

I was raised in a pretty secular home; my mom taught us to pray, and a basic moral code. Growing up, if you'd asked me I would definitely had said I was Christian. But, in that broad "I don't kill anyone, and I'm a pretty decent person" sense of the word. My mom did not have us baptized for a number of reasons, primarily because she thought it best to let us choose which faith we wanted. I think that she had the best intention with this, and I think that she did better for us than her parents did for her.

Growing up I had a huge desire to be close to God. We went to church sometimes as a family, but when I went regularly it was with a friend. I was drawn to her Lutheran faith with all the rituals and the solemnity involved. I was drawn in (NOT pushed away) by the fact that I was not able to receive Communion there. They were a strict congregation, and you weren't allowed to receive unless you were a Lutheran.

As I mentioned, my parents did their best to instill a moral compass based on their experiences in the world. Their experience was relatively secular. I don't mean this in a bad way; this is how my parents were raised as well, and I know that they did their best to teach me what was right and what was wrong. Unfortunately, I didn't hear all of what they were saying, and they also didn't say it all. I made a lot of bad choices from about 17 years old to 23 years old; I'm not going to go into what these choices were because I don't want to think about them that much. They didn't make me a better person, I'm not glad I had those experiences, and I don't have any desire to relive them. Suffice it to say, they ran the gambit of bad choices and sins; I am incredibly thankful that my baptism washed it all away and yet I still felt compelled to do extra penance. But, I digress.

When I moved to Lamar, in 2005, I started working at the hospital. I was now at the back end of my life of bad choices and I was hurting in so many ways. I had such a longing to be close to God, but I was so afraid of stopping the destructive path I was on. Not, afraid in that I loved what I was doing, but afraid in the sense that it was all I had known for so long that I didn't know what I would do without that. I had some toxic people in my life that made me feel horrible, but who I felt like I had to keep in prominent places in my life.

Basically, I was ripe for the picking. Insert wonderful coworkers who happened to be Mormon, who spent A LOT of time telling me that I'd make a good Mormon and basically otherwise prepping me. Finally, I was invited to "hear the lessons". If any of my readers knows about Mormons, this is when the missionaries come over and tell you "all" about becoming a Mormon. (only they don't tell you everything. Stay tuned for my blog post about Mormonism to Catholicism) Well, in my case, I was invited over for lunch on a Sunday to my boss' house and the missionaries met us there. The first two were goobers, I won't lie. But, my boss and his wife corrected them and made what they were saying make sense. Sort of. Remember how I mentioned that I didn't have a lot of church in my background? Well, that certainly helped the missionaries because I didn't know any better than what they were saying. Since I knew so little of Scripture, I certainly didn't know anything about Church history. So, OK, I could totally buy that there was an apostasy. I mean, they used Scripture (from the good ole King James version which I had at home), so it must be the truth right?

From that first lesson on, I was entrenched in this wonderful group of people who were fighting to have me learn at their homes. Everyone wanted me to come over and spend time with me, and learn and be part of their families. It was so breathtaking; I've never been so wanted in my life. I needed people to want to be around me; I needed good, wholesome people to think I was worthy. I have to say that I think that is what made my conversion so easy for them. I didn't question anything; when some of my friends or family brought things up, I asked but took the Mormon responses easily and unquestioningly.

I worked with 3 Mormons; one was my boss, one came back to church because of me, and one...well, he and his wife were like "the cool" crowd at school and people just wanted to be around them. She was so cool in fact, she didn't come to anything for work (picnics, dinners, etc), and you never could tell if she liked you or was just being polite. But, they had me babysit so I think they liked me. ;-)

Oh yeah, the kids....if nothing else had sucked me in, that would have. I love kids and I always have; I got to babysit and otherwise hang out with these wonderful little people who adored me.

My family tried to be supportive by coming to my baptism, but they didn't understand it. They didn't understand this major shift that was happening in my life. I think, sometimes, they still don't understand it. One of the major rules of being a Mormon is no alcohol. This is because Joseph Smith said it is a bad thing, it is in the Doctrine and Covenants, and you. just. don't. do. it. So, I gave up drinking. Blind obedience made me quit alcohol, it wasn't until my true conversion that realized why I needed to give up drinking.

So, when asked how I was converted to LDS, I think it's safe to say I was fellow-shipped in. They saw a weakness, a need, in me and they seeked to fulfill it. I don't think that this is a bad thing, I think it's just good "business" so to speak. I don't think anyone becomes a Mormon because of documentation or history. That isn't even what they rely on, it's a "burning in your bosom" kind of religion; you have to feel the prompting of "the Holy Spirit". I put that in quotes for a reason; I think that the LDS church is a product of Satan deceiving us on Earth. I don't say that lightly and I don't say that meaning that I think that Mormons are knowing Satanists. I say it out of genuine concern for their souls. Most Mormons are good and true, and they think that they are following the Holy Spirit. However, Satan is a deceptive guy and he can mimic the good feelings that the Holy Spirit gives us. Also, just because we are bound by religion, does not mean that God is. The Holy Spirit can work through Mormons just as much as He can through good, holy Catholics. I think that at times I did feel the true Holy Spirit. Like when I was at a family's Monday night Family Home Evening and we were playing games (religious or not) and the older kids were helping the younger kids. Or when I was teaching the Sunday School class about the Old Testament. But, when it came to teaching actual Book of Mormon stuff, no, I don't think that is the Holy Spirit. More on that in my next post though...

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Small Successes

FaithButton

Well, I'm trying to remember that my small successes in a week are going to add up to some really big successes, so here goes.

1. The kumquat has put himself to sleep for naps all week. Meaning that when he starts to get a little tired I put him in his nap spot and he plays and coos a little and eventually falls asleep on his own! Hooray! Don't ask me about last night though...

2. I've done housecleaning everyday this week...and you can tell! Cleaning the kitchen and dishes two days, picking up the living room/dining area...I've been a regular housewife diva. OK, well, not really but spending time each day cleaning is certainly a plus! :)

3. I didn't eat ALL the brownies. OK, that doesn't seem like a big deal, but you don't understand just how much I love brownies. I passed that brownie pan several times yesterday and didn't always snag some. In fact, I left two big pieces for Jason last night. And what did that awesome husband of mine do? He saved the last one for me! :-D I love HIM!!! More than brownies with ice cream and hot fudge on them!

So, what have you done this week that makes you proud? Faith & Family live mention how it's important for moms to do this, but I think it's important for EVERYONE. So, tell me, with a link on F&F Live or in my comments...what YOU'RE proud of! :)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Halloween Weekend

So, Jason won the single best costume for the hospital. It's pretty lame, as you can see in this picture, he is posing with the dish he plans to run away with. ;-)

[caption id="attachment_355" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="They are not poised to run just yet..."][/caption]

It was pretty funny though, here are some of the others.

[caption id="attachment_358" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is Jason's coworker, Brandi, she made an awesome cow!"][/caption]

So, Hey Diddle Diddle was lived out...it was pretty cute! Personally, I think Pharmacy had the best costumes. They were each medicine. It was very cool.

We spent the weekend in Pueblo, for my first weekend working for WSi at Parkview Medical Center. It was pretty great actually. The hospital is awesome, and I'm going to get a chance to work with some diagnoses that I probably would never have gotten the chance to if I wasn't working there. Jason got some much desired one on one time with the kumquat! They had tons of fun playing in the park and wandering all around town.

[caption id="attachment_359" align="aligncenter" width="234" caption="Dominic's new fall hat! :)"][/caption]

On Sunday we got home later than we had planned, so trick or treating was pretty lame. We had hoped to go to a few friends' houses to show off our little monkey, but they were out with their kids or otherwise didn't have their lights on. So, we stopped at just a few houses and showed him off. We are so excited for next year to really get to trick or treat with him!

[caption id="attachment_360" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="He almost looks happy. We waited until he was tired of the outfit to take pictures, of course!"][/caption]

When we got home we turned on the outside light and prepared for trick or treaters. And then we waited. And waited. And, oh yeah, then we got 2 groups of kids. Then we waited. And then we got one more group. And then it was 10PM and we shut the light off. This is why we opted to purchase candy we like, we haven't gotten many trick or treaters the last couple of years. So, tootsie rolls and peanut butter kisses are all ours. Mwhahaha...ahem, yeah, I don't really do that whole evil laugh thing very well. But, at any rate, we are enjoying the benefits of having babies at Halloween time! ;-)

Friday, October 29, 2010

Boo!

Halloween weekend is upon us, and as the kumquat's first one, we are so excited! He's going to be a monkey...and don't worry, pictures will be forthcoming. We are actually going to take him trick or treating because there are people that want to see him dressed up, and because come on, he is totally going to RAKE in the candy! He's adorable!!

[caption id="attachment_349" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="So cute, wait til you see him in his monkey costume!"][/caption]

And being too young to eat it...Daddy and I will be forced to consume it for him...oh darn! ;-)

Today we will be going to see Daddy in his costume for work. They do themes and there is a judging and everything. He is the spoon, and gasp, is running away with a dish today! :-o It is always entertaining to see what these departments come up with. (It's a hospital, so if you go into PMC and are treated by a cow...well, just look out for the moon!)

So, yesterday I was watching a video of one of my new facebook friends, Emily. Her son was in the saint's parade at his school...it was pretty darn cute! :) I was wondering if there are Catholic parents who do this? Do kids like this better than dressing up as the latest hero? Or do you do both?

The kumquat being the first of, hopefully, many fruits on our Spano tree, we are super excited to see these holidays through a young ones eyes. We are going to let them dress up for Halloween, probably keeping it away from the ghoulish. I say probably because if our kids want to dress up like Dracula, we'll probably let them (if they want to dress up like Jacob or that other guy from Twilight...um, not! ;-)). But I know this is a heated topic; there are a lot of Christian parents who are against Halloween. It can become quite a heated debate.

So, I'm curious, what are your thoughts? Do you think kids should be able to dress up for Halloween and go door to door begging for candy? :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Choices, We All Have to Make Them

Our lives are filled with choices; do I wear red today, or blue. Drink water, or a Coke. Eat a greasy burger, or that healthy salad. Some choices are mundane and have little consequences for the world around us, and other choices (get married, or become a nun) affect many people around us. As parents the choices that we make have lasting consequences. Our children will be shaped by these choices, and their kids might be shaped as well. There are a lot of different choices when it comes to parenting; often these do not equate to right and wrong or good and bad. It is not "more" right to have a schedule for naps for your kids than to not. It is simply a choice.

I wonder what gives people the audacity to do this; and I mean when there is not abuse in any form happening. Not like "I can't believe you let your 2 year old play 'cook' with your real stove when you're getting the bath ready for your 1 year old that you plan to leave alone in the bathtub while you read a book". I mean, just different choices that people don't agree with; what gives you the right to question me? (And of course, I mean 'you' in the general sense! ;-))

I've recently taken some hits from family members who, I'm sure, think that Jason and I are extremely selfish parents. We don't like to pass the kumquat around. We try to let the two grandmas and the grandpas (if they want) hold the baby, but honestly, even passing him off to them is hard for us. And, no, it's not because our parents are crazy and we don't trust them. It's because we absolutely adore holding Dominic. He is so sweet and cuddly right now, and we know that this is not going to last, and honestly we want to enjoy that as much as we can. We are new parents so we are also getting the feel for how we want to parent, and so we aren't spending as much time with our families as we did before the kumquat made his arrival.

So, some people in my family decided to tell me that it's unfair that they are not getting to hold Dominic. I'm sorry that their feelings are hurt, and that certainly was never our intention. And it's OK for you to not agree with us about what we're doing, but it isn't OK to be disrespectful and attack what we're doing. If you want to voice your opinions, that's OK, but do not make passive-aggressive comments as you step away. Do not attempt to guilt us into doing things by pointing out that my parents will die. Um, yeah, I know all about that mortality thing. But mostly, please be prepared to hear the truth delivered to you bluntly if you cannot be respectful to our choices.

I've decided that in the future when things come up about what we are or aren't doing with our little kumquat(s), that I'm going to say "thank you for your opinion. Are you excited to see <<insert new exciting movie coming out>>?" And hope that they take the hint!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Endometriosis, or the Wrath of God?!

One of my favorite tweeters, @VitaCatholic, got me talking about endometriosis--or more specifically using the pill to treat the pain associated with it. I mentioned my bout with it, and she thought I should do a post about it, so here I am. :) Thanks, by the way.

So, the title of this post sounds ominous. Bear in mind that I am not normally one of those people that thinks that ALL bad things that happen to someone are a direct punishment from God. I'm not even sure that I totally think that my short, intense bout with endometriosis was, but if not it would be highly coincidental. So, the story.

I am a convert, before I was Catholic I was a Mormon. Before I was Mormon, I was nothing. I mean, if you asked me, I would have probably said I was Christian, but would have meant it in the the generic I-like-to-help-people-I'm-a-good-person-and-I-believe-in-God-and-Jesus sort of way. Becoming Mormon was probably an integral step in my full conversion, as scary as that sounds. Some day I'll have to do a post on my conversion. At any rate, when I was Mormon I met my now husband who has always been a faithful, devout, Catholic. We became pretty good friends and spent a lot of time hanging out. As a "good" Mormon, I tried my best to engage him in debate and convert him. However, he always had much better responses (the Truth will generally help your case considerably ;-)) and often I could not respond to him without checking with my Mormon authorities first. In fact, I was appalled when some Christian church didn't think that we were Christians, I didn't know much about Mormon theology because I hadn't gotten TOO far from the meat and bread part of training.

So, I had been having a lot of doubts, these doubts were gnawing at me. I mentioned to my best friend (my now husband) and we started discussing my leaving the Mormon church. I also started mentioning it to the people I was friends with in the Mormon church. This was because I was a "good" Mormon, I needed to give them the chance to combat it. And they did, sort of, with love. Man, can those Mormons love, in the love your neighbor as yourself sort of way. I had phone calls and visits and people showing such concern for me. And for various reasons, I faltered. I decided that maybe the Mormon church wasn't "right" but at least they were nice, and cared about me so much, so couldn't that be the Holy Spirit?!

And, that's when the cramping started. I had never experienced cramps in my life until this time in my life. And this was a double you over in pain kind of cramps. These cramps, literally, knocked me down when they started. It was at work, and I was in so much pain. To top that off, I started bleeding every 7 days. Heavy, painful period. Lasted only a few days, but when it comes every 7 days, that's a whole lot of bleeding. Couple that with the excruciating pain, and well, it sucked. :-| Bottom line, it was awful.

I went to the local GYN in Lamar, and he put me on the pill. Guess what? Didn't work, I had break through, horrible bleeding. Ridiculous cramping still. He didn't know what else to do besides a hysterectomy which was off the table at this time. I decided to see my old GYN in Greeley, CO who I had always trusted and liked. He did some hormonal testing, everything was normal. He put me on pain killers, because by this point I was unable to go to work for 2 days every 7 days. He also put me on a couple types of estrogen. Our last resort was either putting me into a sort of fake menopause, or laparoscopy to see if it was endometriosis and try to remove what was there. I opted for surgery.

In the meantime, my doubts about the Mormon church were still gnawing at me despite all the love that those Mormons bestowed on me. Then one day at work two ladies I worked with were having a conversation about Heaven. I was not involved, just in the room. One of them asked the other "do you think there will be marriage in Heaven" and the other one said "I don't know, I've never thought about it" and the first said "Well, I don't, Jesus said there won't be, so there can't be". Wait, what?! Stop the train. This is one of the foundational Mormon "truths", that there IS marriage in Heaven, that you can be with your family for eternity. So I joined the conversation. And I researched. And I talked to my friends that were various Christian denominations, and I talked to Jason who was taking a sort of laid back approach to this during this time in the conversion. Everyone agreed. The Mormons were wrong.

I had pretty much made up my mind to leave the Mormon church when I went in for my surgery. I was REALLY nervous. I have always wanted to be a mom, and I was frightened that it wasn't going to be possible. The doctor went in and looked. And guess what? No endometriosis, nothing. There was a small piece of scar tissue on my bowel that he thought might have been causing some pressure, but really nothing that was on the uterus would account for the horrible cramping or incessant bleeding.

I had some cramping for another week or so, but the bleeding had stopped. By the time I had informed all of my Mormon friends I was leaving the church and had started looking seriously at the Catholic faith, the cramping had stopped as well. By the time my next cycle came along, all my Mormon "friends" who were so good at loving me before had stopped that loving. But I'd found a better love. Christ in the Eucharist. Although I could not receive Him yet, I could sit with Him, and visit Him, and pray to Him. And that love far exceeded any love that I had ever known. And I found when my period started, I didn't have any cramping associated with it, just like what it had been my whole life; and the bleeding didn't start again in 7 days.

So, that's my (long, sorry!) story about endometriosis. I don't know for sure if it was the wrath of God, or a warning, or purely coincidental. But I have a feeling that while I'm getting all of this down my guardian angel is chuckling and thinking "boy, it sure did take a lot to get her convinced!" ;-)

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Today I'm Thankful For...

...I thought it would be a good idea to put some of my thankful-ness into words. Sometimes it's helpful to see it written down to remember to always be thankful.

1) My Faith. It is wonderful to know that I always have someone to turn to, and I find such comfort in regular prayer. Granted, I'm not always good about my daily prayers, but with help from my awesome husband I make it happen. Which brings me to...

2) My amazing husband. He is my strength and my best friend. I just love being with him, we always have so much fun and really just enjoy being together. This is wonderful for our marriage and our growing family. And of course that reminds me of...

3) Our growing family. We have wanted to be parents for so long and every day, every moment I look at our little kumquat and the family we are growing, I am awed and so thankful.

[caption id="attachment_338" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="At the baby shower that some friends from PMC put on for us!"][/caption]

4) Life. Right now I'm posting this blog from this year's Relay for Life "U" where Jason is learning how to be a better committee member on Lamar's Relay for Life committee (well, I hear he had to teach the teacher something actually! ;-)) But what this is reminding me is that our time here is borrowed and that we need to be thankful for every day...every minute.

This world is not forever, and the next is not promised to us, the things that I have posted about being thankful for today are helping me on my path to holiness. At times my path is bumpy, and there are a lot of curves at times, but I know where it leads, if only I can stay on it.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Thinking About Thumbsucking

Not ME of course. But babies, well specifically Dominic. He's not a thumb sucker per se, but I've now "caught" him 3 times happily sucking his thumb; and 2 of these times were today! :-o

You see, it seems as though the kumquat can't quite get the hang of the pacifier. If we're holding it in, or are at least there to catch it and shove it back in, he's OK. But, leave him alone for a few seconds, and he really can't handle it. It's out in no time. So, the past couple of days he's really been sucking...like, a serious need to suck. Yesterday I spent about 1/2 hour holding a pacifier in his mouth til he was done. But, today when I came in the room he had decided he couldn't wait for Mama to hold in the pacifier, so he just sucked on his thumb. Note that this seems to content him only about as long as the pacifier does...maybe about 10 minutes both times today.

[caption id="attachment_333" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="It's hard to want to stop it when he's so darn cute!"][/caption]

So, I've heard horror stories about thumb suckers, and we don't really want huge problems with it, but surely there are well adjusted people that were thumbsuckers. So, come on well adjusted people, tell me about it. Please. :)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Faith is a Blessing

Before we had the kumquat...actually before I was in my 3rd trimester...Jason and I frequently went to Mass both Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Mostly because we don't get to go Saturday morning since no churches around here offer a daily Mass on Saturday. But, we also really love going. However, during my 3rd trimester, I was so tired, and now we're both so tired still that we rarely do this. Hopefully we'll get back to going regularly to both Daily Mass and both weekend Masses. If the kumquat can make it through 2 Masses in a weekend that is! ;-)

The last two Sundays some little boys that we had never seen sat in front of us. Last weekend we, at first, thought they were alone but later found out their moms were sitting several rows behind us. Don't ask me why they didn't sit with their kids, I have no idea. But, this past Sunday, we figured out it didn't really matter. The kids were pretty obnoxious. Last Sunday I often tapped them on the shoulder and told them when to stand and sit, when to kneel, and shushed them a few times. I must look scary, because they listened. ;-) This past Sunday however, with the moms sitting in our row, the kids were about 8x more obnoxious. These boys are probably right around 7-8, the age of reason. Of the three, only one received Communion, so I'm guessing he was older. One of the boys was continually turning around to his mother (who I guessed doesn't speak English) and would ask her for something and she'd do it, then he'd whine and ask for the opposite. Honestly, I'd have taken the kid out and given him a good talkin' to! It was ridiculous.

The moms, as I said, didn't speak English; they didn't respond to anything as their obnoxious little boys were pointing out, or sing at all. They attempted a couple times to shush their boys, but overall let them be as loud as they wanted. It was extremely hard to concentrate and I was really frustred with the moms.

But then, at the Consecration, as I was praying for this mother and her children, I glanced at my awesome husband. He holds Dominic throughout the entire Mass (unless he is reading that day), feeds him, handles him so that I can fully focus on Mass. When he's older and acts up (which of course won't happen anyway because we obviously will have amazingly well behaved kids <<insert eye roll here>>), Jason will either handle the discipline or share it with me at least. And I realized how blessed I was. These moms were there alone for whatever reason, but between the two of them there were 5 kids, and I'm sure that is hard. I'm sure it's stressful to know your kids are obnoxious. And I'm so blessed to have my husband with me sharing not only in child care, but sharing my Faith.

I'm also really blessed to have Faith. It's something I take for granted sometimes; thinking that everyone MUST know the Truth, and forgetting that God does not bless us equally with Faith. These moms were not paying attention to Mass, maybe it was that they don't speak the language, but if they know their religion, they KNOW what is happening and they should have a desire to show their kids how to behave. But, maybe they aren't there yet. Maybe their Faith is JUST strong enough to get them to show up and know they want their kids in CCD.

Maybe what they need is someone to show them some kindness, and someone to pray for them. So, this week I'm trying to add more prayers for the unconverted. This includes those that are far from the Truth, and those that are trying their best to live the Faith. We are all in a constant state of conversion.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Small Successes

FaithButtonWell, this week has been pretty crazy with orientation for me at PMC and Jason having the baby, along with phone interviews for me for other "side jobs". So, it's nice to take a break and think about what I've done good this week.

1) I cleaned the kitchen and the dining room and living room. The dining room and living room are our "catch-all" rooms. We come in and throw things on the table, on coffee tables, on the floor...you name it. But right now the little bit of clutter left on the table looks organized and I even dusted!!! :-o

2) By tomorrow I will have worked for part of 4 days this week. This was tough for me as it's surprising how used to being at home one can get. I didn't realize sitting in a room for orientation could be so tiring, but I think it's because I didn't have the option to take a nap if I wanted to! ;-)

3) I made the bed. Seems really small, but after having picked up the house, this is the hardest thing for me...just staying on top of things. So, making the bed is a big deal as it keeps me a little closer to our clean house!

What successes do you have this week?

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Baby Giggles

Our little kumquat is growing so quickly! It's really awesome because we are super excited to see him learning and can't wait for him to start moving around more...or can we?! Recently my best girl friend came to visit with her husband and 17 month old son. We found ourselves in one breath thinking we couldn't wait until Dominic could do those things, and in the next breath thinking we could definitely wait until we had to constantly watch him. :)

The sweetest thing in the world is when your little one recognizes you and smiles at you. Not that, it might be gas kind of smile. But that wide, toothless grin. It completely melts your heart! And now Dominic is starting to giggle a lot. He really enjoys his mobile above his bed and sometimes when he's in there, he'll notice it and just laugh like it's the funniest thing ever.

He also has this little chair that has an arc with some toys over it; he can rock his seat and make the toys move and this is his current favorite past time. He'll kick and then yell at the toys and then giggle and then he has to rest because being the cutest baby ever born in the whole world, is hard work! ;-) Sometimes he kicks for a minute and the next minute he's sleeping. It's just so tiresome I guess! :)

These are a few of our favorite milestones with Dominic. What are some of your favorite milestones, with your kids?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Apologetics Does NOT Mean I'm Sorry

I've been listening to Catholic Answers Live and EWTN Open Line when I'm feeding the baby and when I'm picking up around the house. I really enjoy the open forum questions; I especially enjoy Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, and Patrick Madrid--in no particular order. And of course, Patrick Coffin the best radio host ever!

Today I was listening to Patrick Madrid's show from last Thursday and a caller asked about how to talk to non-Catholics. (I was changing Dominic's diaper when the caller was talking, so my memory could be a bit off here! ;-)) Patrick told a couple stories about how he changed the hearts of two different people. One was a woman who's husband was Catholic and she needed Patrick to answer her questions in order to help bring her to the Faith. The other was a former Catholic who's heart Patrick opened with a simple phrase "I did not say you stole the money". I'll direct you to EWTN's site, and Patrick's podcast to hear the whole story. http://tiny.cc/yae9a

Apologetics has been on my heart and mind these past couple of days when I have been faced with some of my old, becoming new, coworkers. I used to be Mormon. I was a convert to Mormonism sucked in by some of my coworkers (3 of them to be exact) and lured by their wonderful "fellowshipping" (the word makes me cringe now!). When I left, many of them took it personally; the ones I worked with especially. My boss at the time locked me in his office with him and read me scripture and from The Book of Mormon. One of the other ones got really hateful and our working relationship suffered incredibly. I was close to these people before I left, really close to them. I babysat their kids, I went over for meals, one of the people I spent nearly every lunch and many evenings hanging out with her and her family. I couldn't bring myself to tell them the whole reason why I left at the time, and found myself apologizing for their hurt feelings. I thought it would hurt them so bad to tell them that I think the basis for the religion can only have one of two grounds; a) their founder, Joseph Smith, was a liar and con-man (which many believe, but come on even the best con-man wouldn't DIE for his con) or b) that Satan had tricked their founder and all subsequent members into believing that it was the one true church. Option "b" is what I think it is. How do you tell someone you think they're being tricked by Satan to believe a ridiculously elaborate religion? Heck, how would you tell someone you think they're being tricked by Satan period when they believe so firmly in something?!

I hope I get the opportunity to discuss my leaving with them.I feel ready to, I just don't know if I'm ready to bring it up. So, I hope one of them does; I'm ready to test out my apologetics. I think they'll be surprised when I don't say "I'm sorry."

Monday, September 27, 2010

All Parents Are "Working" Parents

So although I consider myself a stay-at-home wife and mom, I actually have a job outside of the home too. It's just part time, per diem, and scheduled for when Jason can be home with Dominic. Regardless of which one of us is working outside the home, we want one of us to be with the kumquat. Both of our jobs are at PMC, and this week I have orientation. Jason has an awesome boss who said he could either take the day off or take Dominic to work with him. Well, since his coworker has a web-class to "attend" this week, he decided he could watch Dominic at work.

I dressed him warm since Jason has a FREEZING office, his poor coworker is always freezing. All 56 pounds of her. ;-) So, back to Dominic. He was in this adorable little outfit all warm and cozy. What do you think he did a couple of hours into Jason's day with him? Yep, a blow out diaper. Well, it's a good thing we'd already learned our lesson about how to pack a diaper bag properly (don't ask how we learned that lesson, suffice it to say, it was the hard way!). Jason handled it well. In fact, he handled being a dad and working really well. He took Dominic all over the hospital with him, held him while working on computers. Pretty much he's a rock star.

And I struggle to get laundry done while caring for him when I'm home. What exactly am I doing wrong?!

Well, I'm going to chalk it up to beginner's luck; not that he's a anymore of a beginner than I am except that he doesn't spend all day on work days with him. But, thinking of him as a beginner makes me feel better about my ineptitude. :)

It doesn't really matter if you're working outside the home or not, being a parent is super hard. It's really hard to do things while you're caring for a child. And today I got a look at what it's like for Jason on a regular day. How much you want to hold, and hug, and kiss that little one that you had to be away from. Even if we were in the same building and I took my breaks with him.

Working (outside the home) moms, how do you do it?

Saturday, September 25, 2010

1 Year Down...A Lifetime to Go

One year ago today Jason and I were joined in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.




Fr. Frias, Jason, and me


This has been a crazy, wonderful year. 5 days after our wedding we left on our honeymoon to Rome for 4 days and then on a 10 day Mediterranean cruise with Catholic Answers. It was amazing and we are so thankful that we had the opportunity to go. Someday I'll have to do a post just about our trip with pictures and explanations of the many wonderful places we had an opportunity to see. When we returned from the cruise real life happened and I started a PTA job in Garden City, KS. This left me living in Garden City during the week and coming home on the weekends. Initially I also came home mid-week but the next awesome part of our year hit and made that difficult. Towards the end of October we found out that we were expecting our first little one. The kumquat. I continued to work in Garden City until April when we decided it was just too difficult to be away from each other, especially with the difficulties I had during my pregnancy. You can read more about THOSE in earlier blog posts.


Through all of this Jason and I were learning how to be married. Jason had a hard time transitioning from bachelor-hood to husband-hood; mostly in the drinking-out-of-the-milk jug and eating out of the PB jar realm! ;-) To this day if you're offered milk or PB you might want to ask for a fresh jug/jar! :) But, he truly is an amazing husband. It's amazing to be loved so much by someone and to witness sacrifices. He has also taken on the role of Spiritual Head of Household fully and he leads our family in our prayer life. This has been kind of thrown for a loop since Dominic's birth, but we're slowly getting back to our normal routine. He is an awesome daddy and loves holding and taking care of Dominic. When he gets home from work Dominic is in his arms until bedtime. It's wonderful!

For me, this has been a year of learning. Learning to be a wife, learning to be a stay-at-home wife and learning to be a mom. There has definitely been some learning curves for me. It's humbling to think of how often I thought that I would keep an immaculate house, because I would "just" be home, and what else would I do?! Well, once reality set in it was obvious that isn't as easy to do as one would think. The day can really get away from you! Hopefully, we will begin to see some routine in that area soon too! ;-)

[caption id="attachment_305" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="1 Year Later Jason, Dominic, and me"][/caption]

So, 1 year later finds us ridiculously happy, amazingly blessed, and parents. How awesome. And I mean that in the "awe-inspiring" kind of way. You can't understand what it's like to be a parent until you are one. I never realized that. I thought I understood so much about parenting. I didn't expect to want him to sleep in our room let alone our bed. I didn't know that I could love such a tiny little person as much as I do. And I couldn't expect that watching my husband be a dad could make me fall more in love with him.

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life. I'm looking forward to the next 100 years! :-D

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Small Successes

FaithButton

Well, I'm doing this because I read it over at Faith & Family Live, and think it's so cool to enjoy the successes, no matter how small. So, here are my three.

1) Getting Dominic to sleep 3 nights in a row at 4+ hours at a time. I don't know if this will last, but I know that it is light at the end of the tunnel, and we are excited! :) We can't really take credit for it, because we followed some tips from a coworker of Jason's. Thank goodness too!

2) I am almost done with my Continued Education for the past two years. Only a couple more chapters and 1 test to go and I can submit my certificates. WooHoo! Granted, I waited until the last moment, OK not the LAST because technically I have until December 31st, but pretty close. ;-) I have a tendency to "why do today what you can put off 'til tomorrow", but should have followed Mr. Krabs' advice..."what is today but yesterday's tomorrow?". :-D

3) Focusing on this blog and writing in general. While it has always been a hobby and a passion for me, I've never expected that writing could be anything more than that. Following various blogs like Faith & Family, Snoring Scholar (http://snoringscholar.com), and Mothering with Mary (http://motheringwithmary.blogspot.com) has really heightened my desire to write. I don't know if it will ever be anything more than a hobby for me, but I'm sure proud of myself for working to hone my 'talent'. :)

So, what are YOU proud of this week?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Knowing Where to Start

So, being a house wife (as anyone who reads this knows already) is pretty hard. I mean, just keeping a house looking nice is hard enough, but then add in some kids (or in my case ONE kid) and it becomes overwhelming.

Our house isn't dirty as in it's gross by any means. I have kept up on dishes and there isn't old food sitting around (that I know of anyway! ;-)), but it's definitely messy. People try to be nice and they say 'lived in', but really it's just cluttery and messy. I wasn't able to do a good deep cleaning before Dominic was born because, well, I was 9 months pregnant and it was over 100 degrees most days and I was so tired! And now, while I'm figuring out I can clean or do other things while he naps, I don't know where to begin.

So I've enlisted the help of my amazing husband; he has agreed to help me do a thorough cleaning this weekend so that it's easier for me to keep up with. Now I won't have an excuse to not have the house spic and span, or at the very least, picked up.

How do you keep your house clean? Do you have a routine?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Answered Prayers--On God's Terms

I have a lot of debt right now; student loans and a ridiculous car loan that total about $30,000. Jason knew this, and married me anyway, now that's love! ;-) But we've found out what many parents find out after the baby is born. Having a baby is expensive! We were really blessed that many of our family and friends have bought us lots of clothes and even diapers to get us through this time until we will be able to do cloth diapering. But, it was the actual birth that was expensive. Plus, the other 3 day stay in the hospital for Dominic. :( Add these together along and subtract from our one income family, and things are pretty tight. I have been praying really hard for something to come along to ease this. I will be working per diem for PMC, but it will only be 3 evenings a week and every other weekend. This is not going to get us out of debt by any means. We don't want to put Dominic in any daycare so that limits our options.

My prayers have leaned towards looking for things I can do from home. Yes, I've checked out all of those work at home things and nothing has panned out. I did get a response to one application for an accounting job at home, but it sounds really shady, and besides the company's based out of the UK. Don't think it will work. So, yesterday I decided I ought to look into a graveyard shift, either at Walmart or our one truck stop. Turns out the truck stop was hiring and I'll start tomorrow night. So, I'm up tonight trying to acclimate myself to working at night.

Thankfully, Dominic likes to sleep in and and take long naps in the morning, so I should get a lot of sleep in the mornings and can nap throughout the day when he does.

God answered my prayer, but He chose to do so in a way that will be difficult for me. I am NOT a night person as anyone who has known me for longer than a day knows...especially if they met me at about 9PM! ;-) So, this will be a struggle. However, it is perfect because Jason will be home at night with Dominic and I will be home with him during the day. It gives us time to spend together as a family in the evening too, so despite the challenges this is really a good thing for us.

Please pray for us, and for me especially, and anybody that happens to order hot coffee from me when my first bout of sleepiness kicks in! ;-)

My OB at the CATHOLIC Hospital Said What?!

OK, so most people reading this know that Jason and I are traditional Catholics. If you don't, well then you should probably read the "About Us" section, or you do now! ;-) Being a traditional Catholic means that we trust Holy Mother Church to tell us what is right and that we follow Magisterial teachings in all aspects of life. For those that aren't Catholic, that means that we follow ALL the rules that the Church has laid out for us. In regards to our marriage it means that we do not use any form of artificial birth control.

The insurance we had for pregnancy and delivery was COBRA insurance from my last job. My last job was at St Catherine Hospital in Garden City, KS and if you couldn't tell from the name, it's a Catholic hospital. The women's clinic associated with it was just purchased about 2-3 years ago by the hospital; that means that now they have to follow the rules of the Church as well. That means no birth control can be prescribed, no sterilization can be done, and no abortions can be done or referred. This is wonderful, fantastic, or would be if it were followed.

I really liked my doctor; he is funny and laid back and really seemed OK with most things we were doing. He was a little over concerned if you've read any of my posts during my pregnancy, but for the most part he was great.

When I saw him a year before we were married for my check-up, right after the purchase of the women's clinic by SCH and while I was working for them still, he offered birth control. He told me, "we're not allowed to use SCH prescription pads because 'the Church' says it's not allowed--eye roll inserted--but I have some that just have my name and so I can prescribe if you'd like." I told him no thank you I was using abstinence. Meanwhile, I was totally appalled! I spoke with the hospital's spiritual director (a former priest) and he thought it might just be because they hadn't been given the "we're a Catholic hospital, here's what that means" speech. So, after speaking with my priest and being advised that I've done what I could, and that it was at most remote cooperation, I let it go.

Until my 6 week postpartum visit. I got the question of what we were going to do for birth control, and then I got a rundown of how certain hormonal contraceptives aren't good if you're breastfeeding (um, duh?!) but some were OK and did I want to get on anything. When I told him that we were letting God decide, I got a bit of an eye roll and the subject was dropped. But what if I were only a luke-warm Catholic? What if I were afraid of being pregnant again and I only needed someone in some kind of authority to tell me it was OK to use ABC? And yes, being an OB in a Catholic facility makes you automatically someone in authority. I'm certain many Catholic women "on the fence" or perhaps not understanding fully the Church's teaching on love and marriage and all that it entails have been led astray by someone in authority giving the green flag. How scary!

So, I'll be making a phone call or sending an email to that same spiritual director at the hospital and hoping to make him see that he needs to be a bit more thorough with his training at the women's clinic. Those doctors are, literally, holding the future in their hands; or cutting it off before it gets a chance. :(

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Do I Have to Look Like a Slob?

As I was choosing what to wear yesterday, I had that moment that all women have sometimes, where none of your clothes fit right or look good. You know what I'm talking about. It doesn't matter what you put on, there is something "off" about it. Add to that, that I am 6 weeks post-partum and I found myself looking lumpy in clothes in a different way than ever before. Keep in mind I've always been on the chunky side; it's OK though, I've come to terms with it, it's hard to get skinny when you like ice cream so much. ;-) I do want to get *healthy*, not skinny, but that's an entirely different post. I knew that my body would be different after having a baby, but had no idea how different, it makes clothing selection even more difficult.

Which brings me to the point. How does one go about selecting modest clothes in our over-sexed, "flaunt it if you've got it" world? I put on a t-shirt yesterday that I realized, painfully, was just meant for the rag bin. It was over tight (despite being an XL) and had too low of a neck line. When you can see your bra in the back, you know it's too low! I'm not talking about every woman wearing a burka by any means; but is it really so hard to make clothes that are not meant to hug every curve of your body? What if some people don't want their curves hugged? Are we destined to wear over-large, sloppy t-shirts from the men section for the rest of our lives? (Bought a few when at the largest in my pregnancy, and I HAVE worn them since giving birth!) Or maternity clothes because at least they're loose (yep, guilty of that one too! It's nice to not feel like I'm in spandex!)?

For now, I'll wear the maternity tops I still have, until they get too big, and hope that some fashionista decides to design some clothes for those of us with after-birth bodies who don't want everyone to see what those curves look like!

Monday, September 13, 2010

A Lesson in Being Thankful

This weekend we spent getting back into our routine; it has been rocked to the core with the little one. We managed to go to Confession on Saturday as it had been a L O N G time since we'd been. We also managed to say all of our prayers together as a family. That is a big accomplishment that brings us closer.

It's funny how you can get so caught up in life, and the things that you are doing, or dealing with,that you forget to take pleasure in the moments and be thankful for what you do have. Making sure we say our daily prayers really ensures that we are taking some time to thank God for the blessings in our lives; making sure we pray together gives us one more blessing to be thankful for.

So, today's post is about being thankful for the blessings in my life that happen every day, sometimes simultaneously with the difficult things. I'm thankful for my amazing husband who leads our family in every way, most especially is our Spiritual Head of Household. I'm thankful for our little kumquat (even though he hasn't figured out that he can sleep longer than 2 hours at night). I'm thankful that Jason has a job that he can depend on (even though he has to be on call and is sometimes called away from home or has to work late).

What are you thankful for?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Losing Sleep

Being parents is hard work. I mean, it's really hard! It seems like our days revolve around feeding, diaper changing and napping; and nights, they revolve around sleeping, feeding and diaper changing. And the kumquat can EAT! We had one night this week that he slept for 4 hours straight, we're holding out hope that it'll happen again, and become habit. But in the meantime, getting up every hour and a half at night is really rough. It's harder for Jason I think since he has a hard time going straight back to sleep, but even though I can hit the pillow and be out (is that a special hormone-driven mom thing?!) I'm still super tired.

But, we know that all this is short-lived. We know that eventually the kumquat will grow up and into his next stages and we'll actually miss this time. We'll miss that he loves being held and cuddled, and when he tells us that he doesn't want to hug us good night, we'll look back on these days with fond memories.

Right?!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Another Dream Coming True?

My longest held, deepest dream has been to be a mom, and to be a stay-at-home wife and mom. I'm living that dream right now and it. is. awesome. :-D I'm still learning the ins and outs and trying to figure out how to balance taking care of the baby with getting any household duties/chores done. Some days I get the dishes AND the laundry done and other days I'm lucky that I got dressed. Being a mom is hard work!

Those that know me, know that one of my other long held dreams has been to write. I desperately want to pen the great American novel, or write something else that's worthwhile. Well, I've been looking at online, from home job opportunities (note, there are A LOT of scams out there), and have started looking into some freelance writing. While I'm sure I would definitely have been the best person to write all of the articles that I saw ads for, it seems most people want someone with some actual writing experience. So, when one of my favorite twitter friends mentioned she was taking submissions for some guest posts, I decided to send something in. And guess what? She liked it! She not only liked it, but she's using it on Saturday! :-D Hooray! So, you can check out this awesome blog on Saturday http://snoringscholar.com/ and see a post by me! :)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Kumquat Has Arrived!

A little over 4 weeks ago. We have been so busy adjusting to this new life of being parents, that we haven't updated the blog. But, I'm here to remedy that!

Dominic Matthew Spano made his arrival on August 1, 2010 at 6:31PM CST.

[caption id="attachment_263" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Just Arrived"][/caption]

We went to Garden City on Saturday the 31st as I was hoping that walking around would help get us ready. I had had a non-stress test in Lamar on Friday and they did an internal check and I was dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced, so we really thought we had a good chance. We walked around Target and Walmart and my contractions were starting to get (what I thought was) painful. We had lunch at El Camino's hoping that the spiciness would also add something. Then we headed straight over to the hospital at about 1PM. They checked me and I was still only 2cm and 80% effaced. :( The nurse told me to walk around for a half hour, so we did, and when she checked again I was 3cm. They decided to admit me and the doctor on call (my doctor was on vacation) decided to augment on low pitocin in hopes to regulate the contractions. However, this boy was stubborn. The pitocin kept going up and my contractions got regular but I got stuck at 4cm. They broke my water at 9PM and I stayed at 4cm and no change in effacement. The contractions were about a minute apart and horrible ALL NIGHT LONG. I had planned on birthing with no pain control, and the night nurse thought I was trying to be a martyr and kept pushing pain meds on me. So, I fought it even harder. We did two showers, sat on the birthing ball and stood when possible. The contractions were awful, I've never experienced anything like that in my life. Jason was amazing! He stayed up all night with me and massaged or held me through the contractions. I was exhausted and would sleep for the minute to five minutes between the contractions, but Jason didn't. Around 6am I was crying through every contraction and I was done, I couldn't do anymore. Unfortunately I was still at 4cm. I gave in and asked for pain medicine, which they gave me in my IV. It did nothing for the pain, but it made me feel pretty loopy and like I couldn't hold my eyes open. I asked for the epidural.

The anesthetist came in around 8AM and gave me the epi, it was uncomfortable and kind of painful to get, but brought sweet relief. I could feel that I was having contractions, but it wasn't painful. This allowed me to rest and by about 1PM I was dilated to 9cm, but I still wasn't fully effaced. About this time the epi wore off, and he came in with more medication, but it didn't do anything and left me feeling the same as before I'd had any medication. At about 5PM the nurse checked me and I was STILL at 9cm and she could still feel my whole cervix. :( She also said she could feel that the baby's head was molding since he was partially in the birth canal and had been since 1PM. They spoke with the doctor but recommended a c-section. :( It was the best option for us as I'd been in active labor for 29 1/2 hours at that point. Jason went in with me and got to watch them cut me open and bring out our little boy. Maybe he'll post the details of that, I was a little out of it! ;-)

So, Dominic weighed 8#8.3 oz and was 21 1/2" long. He has big feet too! :-D And he's adorable!!

We thought we had breastfeeding down pretty well, but it turns out we didn't. On Friday we met with a lactation specialist and found that Dominic had lost over a pound and was severely dehydrated. We were admitted to PMC and I had to start pumping breastmilk. He was given as much breastmilk as I pumped, but we had to supplement with formula because it wasn't enough yet. My milk had come in, but I had a super low supply since Dominic hadn't been eating. His tongue would go to the roof of his mouth and he would not get latched. Then he'd get angry and his sucking wasn't productive. It was very sad. :( We stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning when he'd gained about 13oz and we were able to come home. Now I'm pumping and Dominic is getting lots of milk, just not straight from the source. It's a little sad, and totally inconvenient, but he is worth it. We want him getting the best stuff!

We're extremely blessed and feeling it every moment...even at 2AM when we're up for a feeding! ;-)

Friday, July 23, 2010

Just One More Day

Well, until the due date anyway. ;-) Not sure when the kumquat is going to make his or her arrival, but the waiting sure gets harder the closer (and bigger!) you get to the EDD.

I've been having contractions off and on pretty much daily, and today I'm having extra back pain. I'm REALLY hoping this means that labor is imminent, but don't want to get too excited. It's odd that I'm hoping for pain as everyone says that will be a sure sign of labor.

Please keep us in your prayers as we await the arrival of our first little one and we will try to keep the blog updated! :)

Monday, July 12, 2010

Another Great Weekend!

On Saturday Jason, Jonnie and I went to Denver to see the grandma. The car ride was rough, but I was able to keep my feet up on the dash for as much of it as I wanted to, so that made it better. We made sure to have the car seat and our hospital bag with us, as well as the location of the nearest Catholic Health Initiatives hospital, just in case; but, alas, we didn't need those precautions. The grandma is not doing very well, health wise, and is now in a hospital bed and on hospice. She and Bob have decided to stop much of her medication, aside from blood thinners (which is good, because that'll help keep down those TIAs and keep more blood clots from forming) and a couple other things for comfort. She's pretty much lost all use of the left side, and wears out easily on the right. :( Bob is taking good care of her and the hospice nurses and long-term care givers are really helping out! We would appreciate any prayers that could be spared for her during this time.

After visiting for a while, I told Jason I was starving...but he made me walk a mile around a mall first! :-O OK, OK, he just forgot by the time we got to the mall, and I said we should wander first. Then we went for a yummy lunch at Mimi's Cafe. We found various other things to do in town and then went to Our Lady of Fatima for Confession. :) Then we headed home, through Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Jason and Jonnie got ice cream while I snacked on hot wings! Yummy!!! I was able to not be too tempted at Cold Stone because I had my wings with me...but if we'd gone to Cold Stone first...well, I just don't know! ;-)

We stopped at WalMart in La Junta and Jason got another guitar for our Band Hero/Guitar Hero game on the Wii and now we're ready to totally jam! :) Well, he is...I'm not so good, but I think while he's at work I'll practice so I can beat him! ;-) While playing last night, the kumquat was kicking the guitar away, so it was hard to tell if he/she is a critic of my musical abilities (highly likely) or that he/she was really getting into it!

Still pregnant and still waiting...I'm getting huger by the day, and we're hoping for anytime now!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Counting Down

37 weeks and 4 days...but who's counting anyway? ;-) Well, at our appointment last week we had the first non-stress test that the kumquat and I passed wonderfully. The little one's heartrate goes up when it should and down when it should, so that is a good thing. They left my chart in the room, and Jason peaked at my urine test results...looks like I was dropping trace amounts of protein, so we're REALLY hoping that it doesn't increase. It is a serious indicator of pre-eclampsia and that would surely send us into labor very shortly. I'd kind of worried about it as my swelling is getting nearly unbearable, but I'm not gaining an excessive amount of weight and my blood pressure has been staying pretty regular, so please keep praying that this isn't the case! We see the doc again tomorrow.

I felt so sure that labor was imminent this weekend, there were tons of contractions that were getting bad/painful towards the end of the days, but it came to nothing. Well, I'm SURE it's doing something, but not sending me into actual labor. :( I'm horribly uncomfortable and pretty sure I'm as big as a house by now! My maternity shirts don't cover my belly anymore unless I have my skirt pulled up really high, which digs in and is painful. So, we went and bought some 2XL and 3XL men's t-shirts...and they don't even look that sloppy on me! :-o

I had a dream last night that I had the babIES! :-o There was a second baby hiding in there...in my dream both were boys but one was 7lb and the other was this gigantic kid, but supposedly only 10lb. That's still a lot of baby! Well, labor was easy in my dream, I'm not even sure I was in the room for it! ;-) I don't expect THAT part to happen!

And, so, the countdown continues...please pray for a good labor and delivery and for a healthy baby Spano! :)

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Independence Day!!



Jeanine and I just got back from the Las Animas / Bent County Fireworks show!  It wasn't the best show the LA/BC FPD has put on, but it was a good show!  We had to wait for the torrential downpour to finish, but after the rain stopped, the show started.

Here is a link to some low-resolution copies of some of the pictures I took while there.  I haven't edited any of these yet, but will work on them some other time.

Enjoy!

http://www.spanocomputers.com/misc/FireworksSmall/index.htm

Friday, July 2, 2010

One Flew Over the Giant

As most of you know, I love riding my bicycle.  I have two nice bicycles made by the company "Giant".  In the past, I used to think of myself as invincible while on my bicycle.  I have been run over multiple times by cars and have always come out unscathed.  I have been known to update my status on Facebook, tweet about interesting topics on Twitter, send SMS (text) messages back and forth with Jeanine, all while riding on my bicycle, and most of this with no hands on the handlebar.

Wednesday evening at about 5:30pm when I left work, I hit the road for home like I always do.  I was riding by the park going around 20 - 25 MPH when my phone rang. I picked it up with my right hand and noticed it was a reminder.  I saw that I needed to stop up ahead, and instead of putting the phone back and using both hands, I decided to stop one-handed (with my left hand) instead.  For those of you that ride a bike, you'll know that the left brake is for the front tire.  So here I am pedaling along at 20-some miles per hour with a 205 pound payload (I need to lay off the donuts), and for whatever strange reason, I decided to grip the brake hard, which locked up the front wheel and threw me over the front of the bike. I got some road rash on my left side including a nice bump above my left eye.  A lady up ahead who witnessed this, rolled down her window and said "You really need to be more careful.".  I said "yes ma'am" and then she drove off.

When I biffed it, I had dropped my phone and lost the battery cover and battery.  I had to search around for a while, but eventually found all the parts and got my phone working again.  I did a quick look at the bike, and everything seemed OK.  I started to ride home and felt pain in both knees and my left shoulder.  Other then that, though... I felt fine.  I got home and told Jeanine about it, then ate some dinner.  While eating, my right arm started to stiffen up, and I couldn't extend it all the way.  Jeanine palpated it, but I didn't have any sharp pain.  A little later, I couldn't rotate my wrist, so Jeanine decided we should go in and get it looked at.  PMC has a "Convenient Care Clinic" that is open after hours and keeps you from having to go to the ER.  Unfortunately, they couldn't do much for me and scheduled an X-Ray for the next morning.

Thursday morning I go to work early, and the X-Ray tech brutally contorted my poor arm into the most painful configurations I could imagine! After finishing up, it was determined that I had a radial-head fracture.  I was referred to an Orthopedic specialist, but had to wait until the following morning to get looked at.

This morning (Friday), Jeanine and I traveled to Colorado Springs, and after being looked at, I was told I had a 'good' fracture.  I don't need surgery or a cast. I will continue to use the sling, but I need to move my joint around to keep it from locking up on me.

I have learned to never use my phone again while riding my bicycle.  I had several people say "I told you so".  Hopefully I don't slip back into old habits...

Here is one X-Ray showing the non-displaced radial head fracture.  See if you can find it. ;-)

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="779" caption="Ouch!"][/caption]

Monday, June 28, 2010

Are Wii Fit Yet?

So, to help increase my activity and exercise more, Jason bought me a Wii and Wii Fit Plus. We've been very good about doing it every day too! It's fun to play and sometimes I REALLY get moving! :) I've lost a few pounds according to it, but will be excited when I have the baby and step on the scale the first time after! ;-) It'll think I'm really awesome! So far we have the Wii Fit Plus game, and it came with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. We borrowed a game from PMC that is a sports game too, to see if we like it. We like the activity games and aren't real fans of shooting or other types of games, so I don't know that we'll ever invest in any other ones. There are even a few games that we've played that I can beat Jason at! :-O

Thursday we went to my OB appointment. We told the doctor that we do NOT want to induce at 38w (or any other time) and he seemed OK with it. It's hard to tell right now because we aren't there yet. So please say prayers for us that the baby comes on his/her own before the doc might want to induce! He did say that because we aren't looking at induction, now we get to have non-stress tests every week. Oh joy. :-| Well, I guess of the two, I'll take the non-stress test. They hook you up to monitors to measure your heart rate and the baby's heart rate to make sure there is no stress. They are also monitoring contractions during this so that'll at least be interesting. Hopefully the baby will still stay in the "normal" size category so the doctor doesn't try to push an induction. **well, more hopefully the baby comes on his or her own! Fully cooked of course! ;-)**

We had a great weekend together! Jason let me sleep in (both days!) and on Saturday we played games and ate a late breakfast. Then Jason went outside to start some manual labor in the yard. Pulling out the sprinkler so that he can check it all and get it back down before we plant seed in the fall. Some of it was where it should be, and other places it was barely covered with dirt. He got one section done, which was pretty good considering he started AFTER it got ridiculously hot out! After he got cleaned up we went to Mass in Las Animas, as he had to read and serve, and then had dinner with his parents and sister at Bent's Fort Inn.

Jason had a tooth pulled last Monday and it was a doozy. It took about an hour and a half to get it all out. Well, on Friday, as he noticed his tongue was still bothering him, he looked in his mouth and saw a piece of bone or tooth sticking up. :( Either there is still some tooth there, or it's part of the jaw bone. We're back to the dentist today to see what it is and what we need to do. Prayers that he doesn't get infected or have any other problems would be appreciated! :)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Finally, a Decent Answer...

...so, I woke up this morning with cramping/contractions again. I decided that I was going to call PMC and see if I came in to L&D there if they'd check me and if I'd be able to leave. But, of course, the contractions stopped. I haven't had any since I went back to sleep this morning when Jason left. But, I decided calling them would still be a good idea because then if I'm having contractions, I don't have to worry about anything and can just go in and get checked. Well, I finally got a response that was worth hearing!!! Thanks to Lynn at PMC's New Beginnings, I feel comfortable. She did tell me that I'm probably having braxton hicks and that you CAN have them like I've been having them (read: CONSTANTLY), and that they're working on preparing you for delivery. She said if they seem to increase or stay consistent, that I could come in and they'd put me on the monitors and check me. She also said that depending on where I am in labor (if I were in labor) I could still leave. Of course, she also said "are you sure you don't want to deliver here? We'd love to have you!" ;-) I think they'd love to have Jason's baby in there! :) I told her that while our plan is to deliver in Garden City, if my water breaks, I'm not making the drive to KS, we'll head to PMC. That made her happy! ;-) So it was a win/win conversation....I feel IMMENSELY better about everything now!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Very Long Day

Today was not a good day for me. I had an 8:00am dentist appointment scheduled, so before heading to Mass, I decided to remote in to my computer at work to set an Out Of Office notification up. This was about 6:30am. When I remoted in to my computer, I noticed I couldn't get on to the Exchange server. I figured it just needed to be restarted, so Jeanine and I headed over to PMC. Unfortunately I discovered one of our 48 port switches in our main communications rack was fried! I had to tell Jeanine (who was patiently waiting in the car for me) to go ahead without me to Church. It took me nearly an hour to fix the problem by putting two 24 port switches in place of the burnt up one. I should say I thought I had the problem fixed. I had Jeanine pick me up and bring me to the dentist's office. This was supposed to be a simple filling, but long story short, turned into a two hour extraction with the tooth needing to be cut into three pieces. All the while my phone was ringing with more problem calls that my secretary/wife was so good to take care of. I didn't get home until around 10:00pm after making two trips home to bring some of my equipment to work to help fix the problem.

I am now exhausted, and have so much to do tomorrow... :(

I typed this on my phone... so... please forgive any spelling / gramar errors. :)

Is THIS Labor?!

As I near the end of my pregnancy, I can't help but wonder...pretty much every day, sometimes several times a day, or ALL day. I'm certain my doctor's office wants to block my number! ;-) When you haven't gone through labor, it's hard to know what it will feel like, despite reading everything you can on it. And believe me, I HAVE read everything I can find! :) Every back ache, contraction, pressure makes you wonder if this "is it". It's mostly annoying...but I'm sure frustrating to those who have to listen to it! ;-) (sorry Jason!)

And if one more person tells me "you'll know when it happens..." I might throttle them! I HOPE I'll know, I mean, women have been having babies for a lot longer than I know, and without the aid of books OR the internet. But, I figure, oftentimes they didn't think about what was happening to their body, so they'd just wake up one morning and be like "oh, time to give birth". I mean they probably didn't think about every single feeling and wonder if they were in labor.  Ahhh, information is a wonderful thing, right? :-|

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Wow, I'm Tired!

Almost done with the 34th week of pregnancy, and it has been a doozy! Starting on Tuesday I've had some huge increases in pelvic pressure and braxton hicks contractions. Well, the contractions have not stopped since Tuesday. Not with rest and increased fluid. I mean, it's not CONSTANT, but I've had them continuously, sporadically since Tuesday. So, I went to see the doctor today. He checked and they must just be braxton hicks as I'm not dilating at all. Though, the baby IS super low! I had slightly higher blood pressure today, and apparently it's going up with every visit. :( My blood sugars seem to be getting a little higher as well, especially the fasting ones, and I think that's because I've been awful lethargic lately. Well, it's hard to be motivated to walk when you feel like the kumquat's going to fall out!!!

So, another thing we did today was an ultra sound to see how big the baby is getting and check on amniotic fluid. The kumquat is in about the 60-64th percentile (have NO idea what THAT means), and weighs approximately 5lbs 11oz. He or she is measuring perfectly for a 35 week old baby. Considering I'm technically 34 weeks and 5 days, I'm not really worried about that part. The doctor wants to see me every week, despite my protestations that a 4 hour drive every week is REALLY hard. :( We don't have a whole lot of options on that because the Dr here in Lamar doesn't want to see me if I keep my main care in Garden City. *Sigh* Why do doctors have to be so difficult?!

Last night I asked Jason to turn the fan in the living room on for me, and when he reached up to do it, the chain broke. Fixing that turned into a slightly bigger ordeal than anticipated and we had to get a new switch. Thankfully Jason knows how to do all that stuff! :) Once he got it fixed it was pretty much time for this tired, pregnant girl to go to bed. At 2AM Jason's phone went off, it woke me up but I don't think I connected that the noise meant he had a text message until AFTER I went to the restroom. I told him his phone went off and he checked it and answered it, turns out the guy was trying to get someone else, but didn't put his glasses on. :-@ <--yeah, that's right, that's my angry face!! It's a big enough bummer when Jason has to be on call anyway, but for some person (who was from the hospital) to accidentally text him in the middle of the night?! Oh, if I see that guy, he might just get a piece of my mind! ;-)

Did I mention I'm tired?!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Life, Love, and a Little in Between

I stole the title of this post from my niece, Nicole, she used it as a title for a photo album on Facebook! ;-) But it really seems to fit this weekend! Jason had some work to do Friday night, fixing the Church's computer and working on some stuff he hadn't quite got finished at work during the week. So it was a pretty low key Friday. On Saturday, Jason let me sleep in (he's SO sweet!) and even stayed in bed until I woke up! :-o I'm sure it was super hard on him! Well, once we were both up, he got started on updating his Ubuntu hard drive, and while that was updating I put him to work! ;-) I've been wanting to clean the bathrooms...like REALLY clean them...all week, but I was so tired/swollen/hot/wore out that I just didn't. So, on Friday Jason made the mistake of volunteering to do it for me if I just told him what I wanted done. He's pretty awesome! He SCRUBBED the shower, I'm pretty sure I've never had it so clean! :) Maybe he has more elbow grease than I do?! While he was cleaning the shower, I cleaned the sink, mirrors, and swept. It was wonderful team work!

After he was done, Jason had to take the computer back to the Church, and then he said he had to go in to do something specific at work so he'd be back in a while. Well, after he got home, it was time to start our Romantic Local "Get Away" weekend! :-D During the fundraising fury for Relay for Life, they held a silent auction at the golf tournament Jason and I were helping at and one of the items was a 1 night stay at the new Holiday Inn Express, 2 free combos and drinks at Mission Villanueva, and 2 movie tickets. We "won" it with a bid of $50. This weekend we were going to use at least the hotel and the restaurant!

Lunch was super yummy! We both ordered something we don't normally get because, hey, it was paid for! ;-) Mid meal we realized that neither of us carry cash, so we actually had to write a check for the tip! Unfortunately there was some obnoxious guy at the restaurant that was seriously yelling and making weird noises. It was really odd. Thankfully, it was close to the end of our meal.

So, after lunch we ran home and got our bag to head to the hotel. Well, we got to the room, and lo and behold...there was a bunch of flowers and a sweet card waiting for me! :-D Jason's special "job" in the morning was to get this and take it to the hotel to be there when we got there! Can I just say again how awesome he is and how blessed I am to have him for my husband?! We decided to go for a swim before Mass, and that was so awesome! We were the only ones in the pool and let me tell ya, swimming is awesome for pregnancy! You feel so light and there's no immense weight on your back or anything! It's fantastic. We swam the length, raced, and Jason carried me around the pool (easy IN the water, not so much OUT of the water! ;-)). Jason sat in the hot tub while I just put my legs in so the baby didn't get too hot. We got back to the room and showered and headed to Mass. Going to Mass together is one of those things that really strengthens our marriage, and I'm so thankful that we get to do it.

We stopped at Safeway before heading back to get some snacks and drinks, and one of Jason's coworkers was kind enough to let us go ahead of him. Unfortunately we had a dingy clerk and he didn't "cash out" or give us a receipt, and apparently we paid for the other guy's groceries too! What a ding bat! That got resolved though! :) We enjoyed some SpongeBob and I got to take a bubble bath...it was sooo nice! The tub at home is hard to get in and out of and there's a hose that was full of dirt still sitting in it from the sewer fiasco, so I haven't gotten to do this at home, but it really was nice! Sunday was lazy, and we slept all the way til 7AM and then got up for the Continental breakfast where I found some yummy carb-less choices and Jason got all the carb-alicious food! :) We went swimming again and then we played Cribbage (and yes, Jason kicked my butt AGAIN!!!) before checking out! It was so fun to be "away" and on a little mini vacation, and enjoying each other's company. Jason even had his phone shut off for several hours!!! :-D

Friday, June 11, 2010

As Fit As A Fiddle!

Well... a slightly out of tune fiddle...

With a broken string. :(

I went through the PMC Employee (make that Team Member) Health Fair, and my results could be better.  My Cholesterol was a little elevated (218mg/dl) and my AHDL was a little low (35 mg/dl).

On the CBC side of things, my Red Blood Count was a little high, with my White Blood Count being fine.  Other indicators point to an iron deficiency.

blood_vials.jpg

I guess my days of eating what I want, when I want are finally over.  Old age has officially set in. Boo!!! :(

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Doctors and Dreadfully Hot Days!

So, the doctor's visit went pretty well on Tuesday. The baby's heart rate was 130 (when the doctor finally found it, he/she was hiding from the doc AGAIN! Must take after Jason! ;-)), and I measured normally. Well, that last part is an assumption, he didn't tell me this time, so we'll just go with normal! :) He forgot to do the ultrasound, and we didn't remind him, but I think we'll want to do it next time because then we can get an idea of how big the kumquat is getting and hopefully avoid an induction. He sounded as though we'd talk more seriously about that at the next appointment. :-s I've been having lots of downward pressure, and a significant amount of Braxton Hicks contractions, so the doctor decided to do an internal exam. But I'm not dilating, or otherwise getting ready to go into labor. Well, I wasn't on Tuesday anyway! ;-) He said he felt the baby's head and it moved, so he/she is not engaged yet. Very weird that he can feel the baby's head! :-o He was also very happy with my last two weeks of blood sugars, so that's a good thing. Back in two weeks and then I fear we'll go to weekly visits. Dun, dun, dun.

On Tuesday evening we also had our Baptism class at St. Francis de Sales/Our Lady of Guadalupe. Deacon Medina was teaching it, and it seemed like he was a little uncomfortable with the material, but he still did a good job. Once the little kumquat makes his/her arrival, we just have to get them a copy of his/her birth certificate and then choose the day. :-D I think that succeeded in making Jason and I way more excited for the end of July!

This week it has been SO hot, it's really hard for me in the heat. On Tuesday I didn't do much in the morning but the drive to and from Garden City was enough to make me extremely uncomfortable and swollen, so Wednesday was a very lazy day. Unfortunately, while keeping my feet propped and not doing much helped to keep down swelling, it did not do anything good for my blood sugars. :( I had an extremely high blood sugar after lunch that day. So, the lesser of two evils I suppose is dealing with the swelling. :(

Today and tomorrow of this week I'm covering at both Holly Nursing Home and Juniper Village for the PTA who is on vacation, and also next week! :-o So, I realized just how hard it is to work and "keep house" while 8 months pregnant when it's close to 100 degrees out. It's SUPER hard. When done working, I came home and cooled down for a bit. Then, started the laundry and in hanging the first load got incredibly hot outside AND stepped on a stick that cut my foot. When I got back inside I decided to do the dishes while waiting for the second load of laundry. Well, hot, pregnant girl+hot water=INCREDIBLY hot, pregnant girl. :( On top of that I can't reach the sink because of the big belly, unless I lean over which of course hurts my back. So when I sat down to rest (hot+achey back=NEED A BREAK!), I noticed that my Cankles were incredibly swollen and looking closer noticed that where I'd cut myself on my scar the other night had ripped back open and was bleeding profusely. I hung the last load of laundry and just sat down. :( It was not an easy afternoon for me. I'm soooo thankful for my loving husband, who took pity on me and took me to dinner! :) He also helped bring in and put away the laundry. Yeah, I'm blessed! <3 :-D

An Apple A Day...

image

image

image

Jeanine just asked for an apple. Good thing I went to slice it for her! I wouldn't have been so fortunate. I normally just bite into mine and eat the core (waste not want not I always say) ;-)
I think this was one apple that would not keep the doctor away...

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Posting From My DROID

image

I'm trying out a WordPress app on my Android phone. It should be showing my location, add the miscellaneous category, a couple tags and a picture too. Is this text bold?

Monday, June 7, 2010

Wow, So Much Catching Up to Do!

I'll try not to be too wordy though! ;-) And will try to only talk about important things!

Well, our yard is still in disarray because we can't seem to get rid of the weeds. :( We decided to call some landscaping companies in town to see if we could get some prices on how much they'd charge us to just get it ready to seed. Well, of the three I called, only one showed up to look at the yard, and none of them have called with price quotes so we're on our own I guess. Jason's decided we'll just go for it, so he's going to try to get the sprinkler's fixed this week :) and then we're going to find a weed spray that will hopefully kill the majority of the weeds left. The one landscape guy that showed up DID say that the amount of weeds wasn't really something to be concerned about, and that Bermuda grass will likely choke them out. But, it's a lot of time and money invested and we're just worried that it'll be a waste. So, after we spray again, Jason will level everything off and then we'll seed. And then we'll hope that it takes off! ;-) Everything I've read about Bermuda grass says that you shouldn't plant until it's been consistently above 65 degrees at night and even last week we had a couple of cool nights, so hopefully we still have time. I am sure we can get it done within the month!

This last weekend was Lamar's Relay for Life which Jason is on the committee for, so he spent most of the Saturday day and ALL of Saturday night at Savage stadium. It's a wonderful cause, and Jason is glad to be a part of it. I went over right before opening ceremonies with the mom and the dad and stuck it out until after 10PM! :-O Such a shock!! I only walked the track once, it was an excruciatingly hot day and I was not very motivated to do more than that. After my one round on the track, I went home and went to bed while Jason stayed and did his 1/2 hour on the track for PMC as well as assisting in accounting. I'll let Jason give more details and his opinion of helping out in accounting! ;-)

Tomorrow I have another doctor's appointment, I am 33 weeks pregnant now and totally ready for the kumquat whenever he/she decides to make their appearance! :) We'll have another ultrasound to check out the size of the baby, so the doctor can decide if we're on track or too big. Please pray that we're on track; while I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore I'd rather that happen because the baby is ready to come out, not because the doc decides to induce. I think the baby has dropped, and so does everyone else! ;-) I keep getting that comment anyway, so I'm hoping we're all right and the baby is doing all of his/her prep work!

More updates after the doctor's appointment!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Hosting Company Switch

Well, I finally got my website moved from Network Solutions to Bluehost.  I decided to try the latest/greatest version of WordPress (the program used for this blog) and I've run into a snag with the Theme.  It looks like there is only one available.  Bummer!  I'm going to do some searching to see if there are different ones out there.  You may notice that you'll have to 're-register' to add comments, or they might be held for Administrator approval, but that should only happen the first time or two.

Just an FYI... I'll be testing out the "Post via E-mail" option, so you might see some random stuff popping up.  I'll probably delete most of it later. :)

Friday, May 28, 2010

Blog Going Down

I am in the process of moving my web hosting to another company, so the blog and other "spanocomputers.com" services will be down for a while.  I'm not sure of the timing on this, but I thought I would give everyone a heads up.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Another Doctor's Appointment Down! And Other Exciting News...

Well, there are only 9 weeks left of gestation for the kumquat...wow that sounds like it is so little time! And actually, at this point in the week it's much closer to 8 weeks! :-o Well, the doctor was pretty happy with weight (lost another pound), the kumquat's heart beat (he/she was hiding for a while though ;-) Must take after Jason!), and my fundal height. He was not, however, all that happy with my sugars. :( After our bbq extravaganza a couple of weekends ago it seems like it was SUPER hard to get it back down. I've severely cut down my carb intake to help keep it low, but am still worried that it will turn out I need insulin. We could definitely use some prayers for the health and safety of the kumquat! :)

My dad got the rototiller from BMS and Jason was able to get the whole front yard done; it was lots of hard work and I was tired just watching! ;-) So now all we need to do is rake and seed the lawn. Of course by "we" I mean "Jason". :-P I'll be the cheerleader. It will be nice when all the hard work of the yard is done and we're just left with maintenance and enjoying it.

Jason's not on call this weekend so hopefully we'll get to enjoy it. Mass in Las Animas on Saturday, Jason's first official time as a reader down there! And then Sunday, we may go to Pueblo, I really want to get a maternity swimsuit because I'm thinking I want to go to the pool often this summer...it's sooo hot already! I can't imagine how much worse it's going to get....only 8 more weeks...;-)

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Hail!

I haven't posted anything on here for while... so I guess I'll tell the story of... The Big One.

Jeanine and I had just finished watching Mary Poppins when we thought we heard leprechauns dancing on our roof, but it turned out to be some monster sized hail!  I was going to run out and grab one that landed on the front lawn, but I was terrified for my life!  So I took a long shot with my camera phone:

After it was all over, Jeanine wanted to feel one, so I grabbed one that was quite a bit smaller and took a picture of it in her hand:

This one had been sitting outside for a while in the 80+ degree heat.  Still pretty impressive though!