27 Weeks Preggers

With all that's been going on here, I've been kept really busy and the blog has found it's way to the bottom of the priority list. Who would have thought that cooler weather meant even MORE laundry?! Long pants and socks and sweaters fill up a load a lot quicker than shorts and T-shirts.

The basement facelift is done; well, basically. It's more than functional and we've set back up all the toys and have been using the space. I'm still getting used to the echo since there's no carpet to absorb the sounds anymore but the space feels much bigger and bottom line, it's much cleaner without all the grungy wall to wall carpet. There is some door casing that needs to be put up since we couldn't find an exact match to the existing and some paint touchups need to be done where Craig removed the half wall but for all intents and purposes, it's done. Just in time, too, because we're hosting Thanksgiving on Saturday next weekend and we'll certainly be needing the space for the 14 people that will be here.

We zipped out to the local Farmer's Market this morning to order our turkey and buy some veggies. I don't make it to the market nearly as much as I'd like to. It's honestly pure laziness because shopping for all that produce at the grocery store costs more but is only 1 trip.

I was debating getting a 3D ultrasound in my mind for the past month or so. I really enjoyed being able to see Ian when we had the ultrasound and I treasure those photos. At the time I would have paid double for the experience, and told everyone so. But now that I'm at the point of making a similar decision again, I don't think I'll do the 3D scan. Not only because it's hundreds of dollars but in reality, I'm going to meet this new little man in only a few months. The time is going to fly so before I know it, he'll be here. Besides, there's still a few things that I need to pick up for him that will total hundreds of dollars anyway. I'm still trying to wrap my head around having a newborn in the dead of winter instead of the middle of a hot, humid summer. Warm clothes are at the top of my list!

Step 2: Lay New Flooring

Once all the old carpet was removed we started laying the foam underlay and then the new laminate flooring. It's a bit different in design from traditional laminate, in that it's narrower boards (only about 3") and there's actual grooves between the boards when they're installed. It actually really looks like wood floor, which is what I wanted. I hate how cheap traditional laminate looks and the tap-tap sound it makes when you walk across it so when we found this stuff I jumped on it. Saturday night we were up until midnight, running up the basement stairs and out to the garage to cut each piece but by the time we headed to bed, there were only 9 rows left. In the end, the whole job took about 12 hours for 2 of us. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be since it's basically double the work because the boards are narrower but the impact far outweighs the amount of work.

I must say, though, my knees, feet and hips sure were sore yesterday from all the stair climbing and lugging 30 pound boxes of flooring!

Step 1: Remove Old Carpet

True to my character, my nesting instinct has taken over at exactly 6 months pregnant. We went last weekend and bought new flooring for the basement rec room and started ripping out the carpet down there as soon as we were home. It had to be replaced eventually but this was a little sooner than we were planning, thanks to the cats. We suspect there was a cat (or 2) who lived here back in the day who used to pee on one spot in the corner. It was an issue when we first moved here, I did an enzyme treatment on that area and the cats ignored it after that and went back to using the litter boxes. Recently, when we've returned from a weekend away, we've found poo in another area of the rec room and once there's been pee there, too. I will not allow the kids to play in a space that isn't clean so the rec room has been off limits for the boys for weeks. We finally pulled the trigger and decided to do something about it.

Once the carpet was up, we saw that the underpad was all stuck to the subfloor because of the enzyme treatments we used (it was 3 litres of water we poured onto the carpet each time) so we had to work to scrape the crumbling underpad off. Then the subfloor underneath was damaged - and likely still had a bit of cat pee smell in it, though we couldn't smell it - so Craig replaced 2, 4X8 sheets of the plywood. It was a huge job and wouldn't you know it, the weekly garbage pick-up won't accept any of it so all that smelly old carpet is being stored in the garage until we arrange to bring it to the dump and pay a fee by weight to dispose of it. Lovely. Small sacrifices, I guess.

Playroom Improvements

I've been hankering to improve the setup of the playroom since we moved in. The toys have always been sort of in a mish mash on the floor under the table and we utilized the bottom shelf of the baker's rack for some of the larger things. Good thing I'm pretty organized, otherwise it would be a complete mess in there 24/7. I found some bedroom furniture online last week and finally went to check it out tonight after dinner. It was owned by a family whose teenage son has outgrown it, plus they're moving shortly and needed to pass it on. I got the complete set for $80 and now have terrific storage space in the playroom for all the boys toys. I'm just itching to get it all organized with baskets now!

Almost Walking

This week, Ian discovered how much fun it is to push something around the house while walking behind it. He first started with the kitchen chairs and then quickly graduated to pushing around Shaun's larger trucks. I felt bad that he was always bent over so I brought in a push toy from the outside toys and he hasn't turned back since, as you can see from the humungous grin on his face. He's able to stand on his own now for a few seconds without holding on to anything so I know that his first few shakey steps are only a few weeks away.

Let's all be honest with each other now though, isn't life easier with an immobile baby? I think back to the day when I didn't have to worry about always having a baby gate closed at the staircases and when I could leave the bathroom door open without worrying about a Beaner destroying yet another roll of toilet paper. All I had to do was plunk him on the floor with a basket of toys nearby and he was content to play for a half hour some days. Now he doesn't keep still for more than a moment before he's off exploring something else. They really do grow up too quickly.

Murderer

Boy, it seems like every time we start digging around in nooks and crannies of this house, we find a creature of some sort. Remember the skunk from back in the winter? I don't think I ever ended updating what happened with that little guy. Well, Craig ended up waiting until the shunk was out prowling one night and he blocked the entrance to the burrow with a cinder block. Craig went back a half dozen times over the next few days to make sure the block hadn't moved and to make sure that there wasn't someting under the house still that he had blocked in by mistake. I didn't want the skunk dying under there!

Fast forward to May. With the warmer weather, we started to smell something odd outside and through the heat register in the playroom. Craig started rummaging around in the basement ceiling that abuts the playroom addition and found dead mice in the ceiling. Wonderful. But that wasn't the source of the smell. No, no. Long story short, the skunk ended up dying under the playroom and that's what we were smelling! Craig had to drag it out with his hockey stick, of all things, along with all the insulation from under the addition since it all reeked of skunk! It was completely covered with maggots and stank to high heaven. Then the garbage men wouldn't take it because I'm a terrible goody-goody and actually told them there was a dead skunk in the bag, so Craig had to ride his bike to the closest variety store and dump the skunk in their dumpster out back of the store. So now we have to reinsulate the crawl space under the playroom addition before winter so we don't all freeze our tails off when the snow starts to fly.

Then last week I noticed some wasp activity around the chimney on the outside of the house. Craig went out and bought a can of Raid and, sadly, killed the hive. Well, thought he killed the hive. There was even more activity there the next day so Craig decided to investigate further. He ended up having to pull off part of the siding and found a MASSIVE wasp nest under there. In his attempt to reach all of the nest, Craig had to remove some insulation from the underside of the chimney. There were THOUSANDS of wasps all going berzerk because here's this guy spraying them with poison. Thankfully, Craig didn't get stung once but I wanted to cry when I saw the piles and piles of dead wasps and the thousands of larvae at varying stages of development. Whenever Craig would knock a new section of the nest down it would reveal another nursery section. Adult wasps were frantically trying to protect the larvae and some that were nearing being ready to hatch were trying to crawl their way out of their little hexagonal coccoon. It really was sad but I couldn't risk them getting inside the actual fireplace inside my house.

I feel terrible because since we moved in 7 months ago, we've killed a skunk (unintentionally but he's still DEAD), found 3 dead mice in the ceiling and destroyed a wasp nest filled with babies. I guess I can justify it by remembering that our backyard served as host to no less than 3 nesting bird couples. One of those couples, the robins, had three clutches of 3 babies in each clutch. Hopefully the wildlife will remain in the wild and stay away from our house.

Let There Be Life

I've been able to feel my baby moving for weeks and weeks but haven't actually had the chance to catch it on video yet. Tonight after I uploaded a bunch of photos from the camera, the baby was kicking up a storm. So much that I could see the kicks from the outside. Since the camera was right beside me, I was able to catch a couple of the jabs before he fell asleep again. The first one is around 7 seconds in and the rest happen about 15 seconds apart after that: at 22 seconds, 29 seconds, 41 seconds. Sorry for the up and down; I have to breathe you know. You'll be able to see my shirt rising around where the left side of the black stitching in the foreground meets the white vines. Gah, just watch carefully and you'll be able to catch them... I hope.

Finale

We came home yesterday from our last hurrah for this summer and our last vacation as a family of 4.

My family has a cottage that's a couple hours' drive away. It's hands-down our very favourite place to rest, relax and rejuvenate. Ironically, Craig cut down 2 trees while we were there and I washed the kitchen floor. Strange how we continue doing household chores while on vacation. I think it's partly because we don't have to do them, we do them because we want to. My Dad calls it Virtuous Work and I'm beginning to see it that way, too.

Enjoying a walk to the boat launch after dinner one night.

The boys had so much fun on the swing set. Shaun's old enough to be completely independent on it and was able to push Ian and himself on this little baby swing. I could hear them giggling from inside the cottage.

Shaun was so funny to watch when it came time to tidy up our beach toys and head back to the cottage. He would wash out the bucket in the foreground and then drop it in the sand before grabbing the other one to wash. Then when he'd return to pick up the first bucket he would realize it was covered in sand and throw the second bucket down then head back to the water to wash the first bucket again. He did this a couple times before I heard him getting frustrated that his buckets weren't staying clean. We talked about a solution (which included me holding the clean bucket with strict instructions to not place it in the sand) and he was much happier to see that it worked.

Fishing off the dock. They had worms as bait and Shaun's worm was even nibbled off but, alas, no fish for breakfast. Thankfully! I only had beer and pancake mix for batter. Not what I'd call ideal.

Anyway, we're home now and while I love that we've been able to spend so much time together as a family this summer enjoying many, many different things, I'm happy to be home. All the laundry aside, it's a lot of work to pack up our whole life essentially for only a few days. And being pregnant and having 2 little men to keep busy during the day, it's been difficult to keep up with other things. Things like regular grocery lists, weeding the garden, and answering emails. We have about a week and a half before school starts and I can't be more relieved that we have nothing planned until October!

Swimming...

...in a puddle.

What camping experience would be complete without splashing in a few puddles? Unfortunately, our campsite was flooded when we arrived and though the rules were clearly stated that any splashing had to be done in bathing suits and barefeet, boys will be boys and they were all quickly doing the backstroke. Shaun's in the yellow shirt. I didn't get a picture of him swimming but he was right in there just like the other boys, along with the worms and ticks. Boy, did his feet STINK after that!!!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I'm a little behind in updating apparently. We found out last Tuesday - yes, almost a week ago - that we're having another boy!! Three boys will be a blast, we're very excited. Vacations will be much easier not having to do girl AND boy stuff, our house is already full of boy toys and clothes, I already know what to do with boys as far as diaper changes and playing, it's going to be lots of fun.

A third son. He actually looks a lot like Ian here. Probably because they're so close in age and Ian hasn't lost much of his baby-face yet.

A hand. We were able to watch the baby moving his fingers and opening and closing his fist.

The obligatory freaky shot of the face.

Of course we were hoping for a girl, go figure with 2 boys already and a surprise pregnancy, but I had prepared myself all along for the possibility that I was pregnant with a boy. Even though I felt very strongly that I was having a girl. I guess Mother's Instinct can't be counted on in all situations!

I'm a little sad that now I'm sorely outnumbered, even with the 2 girl cats we have, but now I can treat the world to 3 handsome boys who grow up to be gentlemen. They'll be quite the catches when they're older! And I can look forward to lots of grand-daughters... I can only hope!

Rock a Bye Baby

Tonight Ian had a rough time settling down for bed so I did something I haven't done in a very, very long time. I rocked him to sleep. He snuggled right into the nook of my tummy and turned his face into my arm and went right to sleep. He's such a great sleeper that I've never had to rock him to sleep, even as an infant. Tonight was a special treat and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. No wonder so many parents rock their babies to sleep on a regular basis.

365 Days Old

Goodness I simply cannot believe that 365 days ago Ian was born into our family. I had a feeling all through the pregnancy that he would turn out to be a boy and my instinct was right.

I still remember so clearly hanging my swollen belly while doing the dishes that night. I had practiced that pose so many times during the countless times I went into false labor. I still believed it was false labor but also knew that every contraction was working to get my baby lower and prepare my cervix for the long job ahead. I had been walking around at 4cm dilated for weeks and never actually thought I'd even make it to my due date. Yet there I was, standing in the kitchen doing the dishes, my due date had nearly passed and I still hadn't delivered.

The contractions came slowly at first, perhaps 7 minutes apart. I would just pause what I was doing and let my belly hang while I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and smoothly. Then I'd continue with the dishes or folding laundry. After a few hours of contractions they started to get a little stronger and I wasn't able to talk through them anymore. I was starting to think I may be in labor but I'd been here before and didn't want to get all excited only to have everything peter out - once again.

Once they reached 5 minutes apart I had been contracting for only a couple of hours but decided it was time to tell Craig that I thought this was the real deal. No matter what I was doing they were continuing; a sign of true labor. But they still weren't nearly as intense as I was expecting them to be. Especially since doctors advise that once your contractions are at 5 minutes apart for an hour to head to the hospital. The hospital was the last place I wanted to be at that point. I was happy being able to surf the internet, casually timing a few contractions here and there. I pulled out some muffins from the freezer that I had made earlier in the week and watched some TV with Craig. It was just as casual and yet as intimate as I had imagined it would be.

An hour later it was nearing 10:30 and I realized that if my parents were to come and babysit Shaun while we went to the hospital, I would need to call them since it's an hour drive for them. Craig called and gave them the heads-up. They decided to pack their overnight stuff and come anyway. Once they said that I had to accept that this was true labor. Craig called my midwife and said tonight is the night and then he called his family and let them know that grandbaby #6 would be arriving very soon. Little did we know how soon.

The plan was to wait until contractions reached 3 minutes apart before heading to the hospital and then we'd call my midwife and she'd meet us there. My intention was to labor at home as long as possible. Who wants to be on the hospital's timeline for delivering a baby? Not me! I wanted to walk in the door, wait maybe an hour or two before pushing, rest and relax for a day and then head home.

My midwife called back a half hour later to say that she would be coming to the house. It was 11PM and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with the nagging thought in her head that I was laboring. She needed to know how far dilated I was so she had a bit of a timeline in her head. She arrived around 11:30, checked me and I was completely dilated. She called the backup midwife, broke my bag of fluid and immediately I was plunged into intense labor. It took deep concentration to lay still enough and relax enough to allow my body to do the work it was designed to do. Pooja and Craig were scurrying around me setting up stuff for the inevitible homebirth while I silently said over and over to myself that I could do this at home. When my backup midwife arrived 20 minutes later she and Pooja quickly finished setting everything up. I had my eyes closed for much of the process because it really was scary but I remember Pooja clearing off the dresser and setting up a resuscitation station with an oxygen tank and infant mask and a hot water bottle along with blankets and gloves. It was clinical but still comforting at the same time. Sort of an oxymoron.

I pushed through only 3 contractions before Ian was born. Once they gave me the okay to go ahead I didn't mess around. Pushing felt so much better than trying to relax and breathe. No one said anything while I was working except Amanda would use the dopplar occasionally to check on Ian's heart rate. Craig was at my side holding my head and keeping the pillows piled up behind me. He had the camera on his hand; at the ready for those first photos. And the first words uttered after Ian was born were those of Craig's announcing that we had a son. Then the complete profanity sputtering from my mouth at the insurmountable task I had just completed. I was simply amazed that I was able to do what I did and that I had been growing that human inside me literally only 15 seconds before that point.

At 22 minutes after midnight on August 9, 2008, Ian joined our family. He was fashionably late for his August 8 due date. He weighed 8lbs 1oz. We woke up Shaun shortly after to introduce him to Ian by telling him it was August. He had been waiting for August to arrive for weeks because we had been telling him that the baby would come in August. As soon as I told him it was August he knew exactly what I was talking about and asked if the baby was here. It still puts tears in my eyes to remember his excited little face when he computed that he was officially a big brother.

Craig and my dad sat in the living room cheersing each other over a new son and grandson while my mom washed sheets and towels used for the birth. Only 2 hours after Ian was born and 7 hours after the first signs of contractions, Craig locked the front door, turned off the lights and made his rounds saying goodnight to his family. Including the newest member, only hours old, sleeping silently in my arms.

Ian, you have brought a whole new dimension to our family. You jazz up even the most mundane day. You love to wrinkle your nose when you're being silly and your eyes widen when you get your hands on something precious to your big brother, like his sword or his Lego. You love emptying baskets and buckets and bins and drawers. After getting your fingers pinched countless times you're getting better at removing them before the drawer closes. You don't mind shoes but really like pulling at the velcro straps. Eventually you'll figure out how to haul them off.

Mealtimes are always a breeze with you. You eat virtually anything but your favourites are fruit. Your poops are a testament to how much you love berries since they're always full of seeds. You get insulted if I put food on your tray but won't let you eat it until it's cut into little pieces. I have to cut it before you get it or offer you a larger chunk while the rest is getting cut. You love your Louie that Shaun bought you the day after you were born. He thought long and hard about that little guy and I'm so glad you've become so attached to that little monkey. Shaun named him Louie after King Louie from the Jungle Book. You've been crawling for just over a month and pulling up and cruising furniture for a few weeks. Nothing is safe anymore unless it's up on a counter. I learned that the hard way last week when you attacked my full cup of apple juice.

You say a few words but your favourite is still uh-oh. You use it properly but it's used for everything. Sometimes we'll hear you over the baby monitor chatting uh-oh to yourself. When I eventually head up to your room, you'll have emptied everything out of your crib and it will all be laying in a pile on the floor. You'll be standing at the end of your crib with a giant grin on your face, so proud of your work. You love to give kisses and Daddy and I will have competitions of who can get the most kisses out of you at a time. I'm sad to say that so far, Daddy's winning with 16 kisses. You and I will have to work on that. I think Daddy bribed you with a promise of a bite of his ice cream or something. Pokey and Kitty are constant sources of amusement for you. You get distracted when you're eating if they're anywhere close by and you chase them at full throttle if they happen to walk by while you're playing.

You love to dance by rocking front to back. Sometimes when you're in your highchair or carseat and don't have the complete range of motion, you'll move your butt cheeks and get your groove on that way. You enjoy stacking blocks but knocking them over is far more fun. Shaun gets so frustrated that you're not patient enough for him to stack more than 3 or 4 blocks at a time. You're fascinated by anything that belongs to Shaun. His big Bruder recycling truck is always lots of fun. You study it, trying to figure out how to get the treasure out from the back, and open and close the front doors, jamming your little fingers in the cab each time. You're learning how to complete the wooden animal puzzle. You haven't completely figured out the whole concept yet of sliding the piece in but you know how to roar like the lion and you laugh when I clap my hands together like the aligator snaps his teeth. *snap, snap, snap*

We waited so long for you Ian. I always knew I would have another boy so when you plopped onto your Daddy's side of the bed, I wasn't at all surprised. But the long wait was so worth it and I like to think that Someone was making sure the perfect baby was being grown for us. You fit right in with our goofy family and I can't think of what our life would be like if another baby would have been born to us instead of you. You're perfect and we love you. Happy Birthday Beaner.

What is Done For One...

I just love this photo of my and Ian's feet. Little Piggies...

Since I posted a picture (sort of) of the new baby I thought I should probably be fair and post pictures of the big boys too. We were at Craig's uncle's cottage over the long weekend and spent a day down at the beach in town. Ian ate tons of sand and cried whenever we'd change his diaper the following day because the sand was scratching his little hiney and Shaun built a big sand castle with Craig complete with finger holes to represent the windows.

It was hot and sunny and we had a terrific time splashing in the waves even though the water was a little chilly for me. Hard to imagine next summer when we'll be a family of 5; out-numbered by the kids.

18 Weeks

18 weeks pregnant with Baby #3

Canada's Wonderland

We went to Canada's Wonderland, a big theme park, with Craig's whole family on Friday last week and spent the remainder of the weekend at my family's cottage. It was forecasted to thunderstorm off and on all day Friday so we were considering postponing the Wonderland trip until later in the weekend but it wasn't raining when we woke up on Friday so off we went. It turned out to be wonderful weather and only spit for literally 2 minutes, and right when we first arrived.

Shaun and his cousin Laura pause for a picture with Scooby-Doo. Shaun kept searching for Shaggy but he was no where to be seen. What a let down.

All the kids were great and Shaun even went on a few rides. Complete shocker since he's such a chicken!! Shaun was actually brave enough to try out the kiddie waterslide. He loved it and was so sad when we had to leave that part of the park! Hopefully he'll try some other ones at the local waterpark as the summer speeds along.

The rest of the weekend was literally washed out though by the incessant rain. At least we didn't have to mow all the grass because there sure is a lot there.

Now we have 3 more days remaining in this week before we leave for yet another cottage late Friday night to spend the long weekend with Craig's family again. My parents are coming Monday afternoon to pick up Shaun and Ian for a 3 day sleepover at their place then we have one more weekend and we're off camping for 6 days. Summer time sure is busy! And I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't even think of how boring our life used to be!

Antificated

Shaun used this word last week and then again on the weekend. Craig told me about it but I hadn't heard Shaun use 'antificated' until today. We were building with his blocks and he was able to balance a difficult piece on another and he exclaimed, "I'm so antificated". Really? When I asked him what antificated means he replied that it means he's a smart cookie. Shaun's former preschool teacher, Claire, told Shaun at graduation that he's a smart cookie and he's been using that to his advantage since then. Some days I agree more than others.

So I just had to Google the word. According to Urban Dictionary, there is an existence of the word. It means the process of rejecting a word, ideal or belief by a single person. Maybe Shaun reads Urban Dictionary in his free time and just got the application wrong? It wouldn't be the first time I learned something new from him.

Eleven Months

Just look at that wrinkly nose and pizza face. No wonder I allow him such tantrums; because I'm melted to blubber during his happy times. And the mohawk is out of control!!! Craig keeps trying to convince me to cut it but I just know that cutting his mohawk will somehow change Ian's dorky personality to something boring and bland. Nothing worse than a bland kid in a family full of nutjobs.

Neighbourhood Pond

Shortly after we moved here Craig discovered a neighbourhood pond in the forest near our house. It's full of weeds and lily pads but when Craig and Shaun went there a few weeks ago to fish for the first time they saw a snapping turtle. People from the neighbourhood who we've spoken with about the pond say that it's full of catfish, turtles and goldfish.

I brought the boys there today and we had a terrific time throwing Cheerios into the water and watching the little fish and a painted turtle nibbling on them. Apparently the snapping turtle is pretty huge. I'm glad it didn't show up for a snack! I know already we'll be spending a lot of time there this summer. Having such a terrific place a short walk away in the middle of the city is such a treat.

Roseola

Last week poor Ian came down with this mystery high fever. It spiked at 40C (104F for you Americans and oldies) and the only way I could control it was using Tylenol and then it would return after only 3 hours or so. I felt so terrible for keeping Ian medicated for so long but I figured it was his teeth that were bugging him and, sure enough, he cut a new one on Friday.

But the fever still persisted through the day. Saturday rolled around and while the fever had disappeared, Ian was sporting a nifty rash. It was red and splochy and covered his torso and head. Nothing on his arms or legs. Then I was reminded of Shaun having exactly the same symptoms at nearly the same age: mysterious high fever (I was convinced it was his teeth then, too) followed by a rash that lasted only a day. Shaun had roseola. Ian ended up with roseola last week too. Apparently it's really common in little people less than 2 years old and is a virus of unknown origin. Perhaps it had something to do with all the crab apples he was eating at the campsite on the weekend.

Snuggling with his Nana.

Totally Slacking but An Update Just the Same

I don't even know where to being with all the updating. It's been nearly 2 weeks since I blogged last but I know there were things from months ago that I feel pretty certain I forgot to mention.

First, when Ian was born, he was diagnosed as having an undescended testicle. The left one, to be exact. The midwife who did the newborn exam noted it on his record but in the chaos of the unplanned homebirth, forgot to mention it to me. I brought it up to the family doctor when Ian went for his first shots and we decided to let it be for a while in hopes that the testicle would drop on its own. After much research, Craig and I decided that if surgery was needed, it had to be done before Ian was a year old. Any longer than that and the testicle had a greater possibility of dying because of the higher temperatures from sitting in his toasty little belly. Also, undescended testicles (testes??) have a slightly higher chance of becoming cancerous and we certainly don't want to take that risk. Plus, add to that our own infertility issues between Shaun and Ian; we just want to get the whole thing taken care of ASAP. So Ian's 6 month appointment rolls around and I push the doctor to get us a referral to a urologist so we can move on with scheduling surgery for before he turns a year old, as the testicle is still being shy. That was February. A couple of months go by. April rolls around and we get a call from the family doctor saying that Ian has an appointment with a urologist for July 6. Great. Knowing the waiting list for non-emergency surgery is about as long as here to the moon, I was starting to panic a little that Ian would get in in time for his first birthday, which is August 9. Plus, we're vacationing around that time and I didn't want to have an infant with a sore nut sack being dragged around. Yikes, I can only imagine! Okay, so time moves on, the end of June arrives and the family doctor calls one afternoon with news that our July 6 appointment has been moved to September 9. WHAT?! Why didn't the urologist call? And why so far away?! There can't possibly be that many men who need their junk looked at.

I tried for days to get through by phone to the urologist's office. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. They're just down the street from me so one afternoon I walked there with the boys to find out what happened with Ian's appointment. Six women were behind the desk, not one on the phone (I had called immediately before leaving the house to try and save myself the trip, and of course, it was busy) and they were all chatting and carrying on with one another. It took about 15 seconds for one to acknowledge that I was standing there. That's a really long time when there's SIX people there talking about daughter-in-law's mother. AND not answering the phone. Anyway, heavy-smoker behind the desk (I could tell by how raspy her voice was and she stunk) explained to me that the doctor Ian was to see had a talk scheduled for noon on the day of Ian's original appointment so they had moved it. I insisted that he needs to be seen before his first birthday and after much humming and hawing on her part, she moved Ian's appointment BACK to July 6, only an hour later. Couldn't they have done that in the first place? Gah! I was happy she moved it but honestly, having my family doctor call to tell me and then delaying the appointment by 2 months so Dr. Rich can head home early? No. I pay my health insurance through my taxes so that I can get an appointment in a reasonable time period. Not 5 months after the original call for the scheduling. That's ludacrous!

Fast forward to July 6 and Ian's appointment. Craig took the day off so he could be there and it was literally 5 minutes in with the doctor. The doctor used some lube and felt Ian's little ball sack, then he told Craig that the testicle is partially undescended, thus no surgery is required. Once puberty hits and the testicles become larger and heavier, it will descend into the scrotum on its own. If Ian is approaching his third birthday and his testicle is still not visible in the bathtub or when changing his underwear on a warm day, we can call the office and schedule another consult. They will likely do surgery then. But for the short term, my baby should be fine! Phew! I felt like a bit of a fool for making such a big deal out of getting him in BEFORE his first birthday but I have to sleep well knowing that heavy-smoker will likely never know the results of the consult and will thus, never know that I made a big deal out of nothing. Better nothing than have it something where he needed surgery and it ended up happening too late and the testicle died anyway. Worst case scenario but I'm sure it happens all the time.

Second, home childcare is working out well! The little guy I've been hired to watch had a tough time adjusting to being here rather than with his mom in the beginning but we're well into our second week of full time care and he's been doing VERY well. At home he gets his back rubbed to fall asleep and often ends up in his parents' bed when fussing during the night. Here he's been falling asleep on his own in the playpen. I do the regular routine of brushing teeth, closing the blind, turning on the fan, talking quietly and rocking a few minutes, then place him in the playpen. The first day I had to lay him back down a few times before he lay still and I did rub his back until he fell asleep for a week or so. But each day I rubbed softer and softer until this week when I just lay my hand on his back on Monday. Then Tuesday I jiggled the playpen a little and when he would start to get restless I'd gently place my hand on his back and reassure him he was okay. By Tuesday afternoon I just sat beside the playpen until he fell asleep. He rolled over a few times to make sure I was still there and I'd just silently roll him back over. Yesterday I actually left the room while he was still awake. I don't think he realized I had left but I checked back in on him about 15 minutes later and he was fast asleep. Similar story today though this afternoon took a little longer to get him to sleep since Shaun was stomping around downstairs and alerted him that there was something going on that he was missing out on. Overall I feel like I'm getting to know this little person very well. I am learning what makes him tick, as it were, and I think I am pretty good at comforting him when he's sad or scared. I was feeling a little discouraged last week when one day didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked but children have up days and down days just like us. I make sure to spend time outside with them every day and I have art activities planned every day as well as sensory experiences, so the days are kept busy. It should be a fun summer!

Shaun's off at his friend's house tonight for a sleepover. I can't believe my almost 4 year old is having sleepovers at his friend's place. I don't think I slept over anywhere until I was 6 or 7. But we've been friends with this family since Shaun was born and I babysat the 2 oldest boys while their Mom had to return to work before baby #3 was born. We've formed quite the friendship over the years and so have our boys. It's nice to be close friends with people who parent so similarly to yourself. I know the same expectations will be placed on Shaun at their house as he would receive here and their day is structured similarly to our own which really helped when Shaun was smaller and still required a naptime in the early afternoon and a set time for bed. These days his schedule is much more flexible but he still wakes up around 7AM and is gearing down for bed somewhere around 7:30 or 8. He rarely naps anymore and I prefer it that way since he's such a serious napper. He could sleep 3 hours in the afternoon, no problem. The downside is that then he isn't ready to sleep again until it's closing in on 10PM. We learned that the hard way.

Ian's been sick these last few days. At first I thought it was teeth that were getting ready to appear - he still has only 5; a far cry from the 9 Shaun had at this age - but his low grade fever has persisted and he has had virtually no appetite and only wants to snuggle all day long. He fell asleep on my shoulder a half dozen times yesterday while I was going about my day lugging him around. Thankfully he's still less than 20 pounds so carrying him, so long as it's in a good position, isn't difficult in small doses. He and I both fell asleep on the couch together last night since I just didn't have the heart to send him to his bed when the only place he wanted to be was in my arms. I have to take advantage of these days because too soon he'll be a busy toddler and won't want to pause for a snuggle. Though I must say I've been pretty lucky with Shaun in that he often comes up to me during the day and tell me he loves me. That always prompts a big bear hug and a brief snuggle, usually on the floor in the kitchen since it seems that's where I spend most of my time these days.

Ian loves opening and closing doors and drawers and his fingers show the battle scars where they've been pinched over and over again. Will he never learn? His favourite thing to do is find Shaun's stuff and raid it. Shaun has a special collection he calls his Bad Collection. It includes his sword and shield from Medieval Times and his firefighter's helmet Craig converted to a knight's helmet. Also in that collection is various knight figurines and two of Shaun's very favourite trucks: a Bruder recycling truck and an electronic garbage truck. Each truck is stashed with Shaun's favourite smaller toys. Every moment Ian has to crawl over to Shaun's Bad Collection, he takes advantage of. If Shaun leaves one of his things for only a second, Ian's making a beeline for it. And his face is priceless once he gets his hands on it. It's like the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden. I'm sure Ian dreams at night about finally getting his hands on those toys for long enough that he can really see what's inside those trucks and really swing the sword. For now he basically gets quick glances and a gentle caress before Shaun comes swooping in shouting, "No Ian, those are mine." Little does Shaun know that he'll have to share all those things very soon. Ah, the joys of being a once-only child.

The pregnancy is going splendidly. I had an appointment with Pooja last week to check up on the baby and she asked how I was feeling. I had to be honest with her and admit that I was feeling a little uneasy in more than one way. The lack of morning sickness continues to unnerve me, though it would be gone by now since I'm 15 weeks - can you believe that?! - but also I just don't feel pregnant. With the boys I felt like I had a life growing inside me. This time, it's just different. Perhaps it's the lack of time I have to spend with myself. I just don't do as much reflection now as I was able to do before. I can't stay awake longer than a couple minutes after heading to bed, much to Craig's disappointment (we've found other times to connect so he hasn't been neglected too bad), so all the movements that I remember feeling this early with Ian I haven't been feeling at all. I have to remind myself that the baby is still only 4 inches long or so, and that I have an awful lot of insulation and padding now that no doubt acts as a buffer, but I just don't feel like I thought I should. Nevermind the complete lack of fatigue. Yes, I fall asleep easily at night but I'm not nodding off at dinner anymore like I remember doing when pregnant with Ian, and I wake up easily in the morning. No more hitting Snooze 4 times before falling out of bed and into the shower. I'm up and ready to go within about 10 minutes. Maybe it's just that I don't have time to be tired. With Shaun and Ian and this new little guy, I'm going all day long. Go figure I've fallen behind with my blogging. And I'm honestly sad for that because I kept such good notes from Shaun. This baby is going to think it appeared out of nowhere because I've barely mentioned it since I found out.

Speaking about this baby being an It, I scheduled the next ultrasound appointment for the beginning of August. We're hoping to find out gender then so stay tuned!

Oh, back to what I was saying about my appointment with Pooja. I told her I was feeling uneasy about the pregnancy and she said she'd try to find the heartbeat but if there was nothing, she'd send me for an ultrasound to curb my fears. I've read too many stories about second trimester miscarriages and still births to ever be able to have a normal pregnancy again. I have this ongoing fear that something terrible is going to happen and I'll continue carrying a dead baby for weeks and weeks. *Shudder* On to more positive things and back to Pooja. I reminded her that I wasn't even 14 weeks yet and I was well into my 16th week when we heard Ian's heart beating because of my retroflexed uterus. Basically when God sewed in my uterus, he sewed it in backwards. It still works fine, just sits backwards and actually folds up on itself when not in use. A little like a flacid, well, you get where I'm going. Ack, back to Pooja. She searched for literally a minute and then, there it was, the sound of my baby's heart beating away. It was really slow, like 130BPM or something like that. Both boys' were always in the high 150s so it gives me hope that I may be brewing a different gender all together.

Well I've been at this far too long. I grabbed the TV remote when I sat down at shortly after 8PM because I was going to blog quickly and then tune in to see what's on at Primetime on a Thursday. I don't watch all that much TV anymore so I don't even know where to begin with what to watch. Now it's closing in on 9:30. I never thought I'd be here in limbo this long. Guess that's why it's taken me so long to update everything. I knew it'd be eons before I got off this darn computer!

I have every intention of taking a belly picture tomorrow but we'll see how long it takes me to actually post it. Maybe by typing this and making it more concrete, I'll actually get around to it while it's current.