NY trip

Karl and I are heading out to NY tonight, for a long weekend. We will be checking on things in the house, trying to clean up a bit and assessing what we still want to move down here. We may get rid of a few more things, and we'll definitely visit some favorite restaurants while there. Hoping to see some friends, even if briefly. Our arrival back in Florida is Monday night....my parents will arrive today to take care of the kids. I'll post about our trip next week once I've settled back in here.

So proud of him

Here's a link to my other blog. It's just a little boasting about my son....so happy he's learning biblical knowledge too, because sometimes I wonder with all the Bionicle stuff he reads and talks about. Way to go Logan!

A second visit to the OB

I had my second appointment with the OB today, along with the early glucose test I mentioned a few weeks ago. I won't get the results until Monday or Tuesday, but I'll post here once I know something. I didn't feel as if my sugar went 'high' after I had the drink, but who knows? I'm praying the numbers will be good and that I don't have Gestational Diabetes.

Something else (good news) my doctor told me is that my blood work showed I am negative for antibodies....which was supposedly the problem with Emma's jaundice(because they were attacking her blood cells) as a newborn and was why she was re-admitted to the hospital. So, for now, that's good news for this baby. However, it is confusing to me...if that wasn't the problem then what was it? I have been referred to a perinatologist because I'm considered a 'high risk pregnancy' at this point....too many things going on....shoulder dystosia with Corbin, two previous pre-term births, gestational diabetes with Emma, etc. So, they're going to have me go in and have an ultrasound there as well as a consult with that doctor. I'm hoping he can explain to me more about the Coombs Positive with Emma but having no antibodies now.....I did have another ultrasound today (I think it must be a regular thing at that office) and got to see our baby with his/her arm waving and a strong little heartbeat. ;)

Home again

Well, we're finally home again. We actually returned Saturday afternoon, but I haven't had a lot of time to blog. I'm trying to keep up my homeschool blog too, so I'm just now getting here. We spent the weekend just reveling in our time with Daddy, went to church and out to dinner. Karl had to be back in Miami for two days starting Monday, so it was a short weekend, but he came home Tuesday night. All the kids love their Daddy of course, but Emma is just riveted by him. She grunted and whined fr him to hold her most of the evening, and he complied as much as possible. He's so good with her....even if he does spoil her, just a little. ;)

This morning we had to be 30 minutes north by 9 a.m. for Logan and Hailey to start their year-end testing. It went fine and we made it there early...a small miracle I think! I got up earlier than the kids so I could be ready to go, they all got up and fed themselves, we prepared snacks, grabbed books to take (for them to read if they finished early), and Emma's diaper bag, flush with snacks. It was an easy drive if a bit long. Fortunately for us the last two days of testing are available at our church, which is only 5 minutes away, so next week it will be a quick and easy drop-off and we can get back here to let Emma nap and Corbin can do some school work with me. While we waited for them to finish we explored the church...it was the main campus for our church (we attend a satellite church where we watch the pastor on screen each week). We made a purchase (rather large :0) at the bookstore, had a snack from the cafe, and let Emma play a bit on the floor of the cafe. She visited with another baby and a couple of nice ladies.....quite the quick one when she's crawling! Then, we stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch to bring home since it was on the way.

Emma is now napping, the kids are all reading quietly, and I may actually have time to lie down.....whether I will do it is the question. I am tired, so maybe....

On vacation

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our vacation...well, the kids and me. Karl has to be in Miami at the end of the week, so he won't be going with us. If he didn't have to go down there for meetings he could travel with us and work from my mom's. Oh well, maybe another time.

We'll be leaving sometime tomorrow, and only traveling half way. I've driven the entire trip before but it's been a few years since I've done it alone, so I thought I would ease back into it. We'll spend the night in a hotel, then travel the last 5 hours on Thursday morning...should get to my parents' house by early afternoon. We planned this trip to coordinate with the school's spring break there. That way we can see all the cousins and not have to worry with when school is out. Hopefully, it will be nice and warm. The kids are hoping to swim in my aunt's pool, but I'm afraid they may have to wait until next time (this summer). I know I don't plan to get in. Even if the weather is warm, I really doubt the water will be warm enough for us! In any case, we're really looking forward to seeing everyone. It's only been since Christmas, but it will be great to spend some time with family again so soon.

Once we return from AL, I have my next OB appointment and the older two kids will begin their yearly testing. There's a possibility we'll make our trip to NY in May but we really don't know at this point. And in June, our long-awaited trip to Blue Ridge, GA to stay at the cabin again for a week. We haven't been during the summer since 2007 and we've longed to go again. Corbin wanted to go during his birthday week and it just so happens that it worked out for us to go then. We're really looking forward to hiking, tubing, cooking out, and just enjoying the 'country life' in general. Lazy summer days....oh, I can't wait!

I won't be blogging or doing much else via the Internet...maybe Facebook and email since I can access those on my phone. So, I'll have to post an update and catch up on everyone else's blogs once we have settled back in. Until then.....

Fun in the sun...The Garage....and Easter Eggs

Well this week is kind of a jumble of activities, all jammed into just a couple of days. We had a slow beginning to our week...school work, library trip, new glasses for Logan. On Friday, Karl worked from home and we decided to take the kids out to the beach after lunch. It was such a beautiful, warm day and they've been asking (for months!) to go. We had a little trouble finding a parking spot...Karl let us out to hit the bathrooms, etc. while he drove around...he FINALLY got lucky. Yay! We only stayed about 45 minutes to an hour but everyone had a blast! Emma absolutely loved the sand....Karl and I took turns sitting with her, to shade her from the sun even though we did put sunscreen on her, while she picked up handfuls of sand, tried to eat it, gathered shells (and tried to eat them!), splashed in her bucket of water, and just had loads of fun! She kept raising both her arms in the air and yelling, "Uuuuuuugggghhhhh!" She was very excited. Daddy even took her out into the water at the end to rinse all the sand off. She wasn't thrilled with it, but there was no screaming....I think she may be another little beach girl, like Hailey. ;) The rest of the kids alternated between the water and the sand...Hailey being the one to spend the most time playing in the waves. Karl went out a little deeper with all the older kids once...Corbin decided he didn't like that too much and came back, but they still all had a great time. I didn't really go into the water...no maternity swimsuit yet, and my bikini is a little to revealing...not ready to bare the pregnant belly, after all. It was nice to just sit on the beach, enjoying the sun and the scent of the beach.

Today, after breakfast, we got a little cleaning done. Cat box stuff, cleaning some things out of the garage...you know how 'stuff' accumulates. Mostly, I just reorganized a few things, and got rid of a couple unneeded items, and Karl and I moved Emma's slide to the back patio. Now, we can actually get to our bikes and the bigger stroller, as well as the toy kitchen. Maybe they'll get used....Corbin likes the kitchen, and Emma discovered it today, too. I think I'll leave it in the garage and move the kitchen toys out there too. That will give them something else to do when we go out front.

This morning I boiled our eggs. They're now in the fridge cooling down so we can handle them later when it's time to decorate them. I have a total of 22...so Karl and I can each color a few, and the kids will do 5 each...Emma will get to be involved next year. We also have some plastic eggs we're going to put some goodies in, and tomorrow we plan to have our egg hunt at Grandma's and Grandpa's house....we'll be spending the day there, enjoying a meal and some time together. The kids have been looking forward to seeing them for weeks. They're very excited...

Tonight we will be attending our Eater service at church. We've been going on Sunday mornings, but tomorrow the first service is at 8 a.m. which would mean making it to the church an hour earlier than we normally need to....not a good chance of that. So, we'll go to the 5 o'clock one tonight. I believe it will be John Maxwell speaking, so it should be a great message...I really like him as much as I do our regular pastor, Tom Mullins. They have different ways of speaking, but are equally gifted. I'll be thinking of all my family back in Alabama...I miss the big potluck at church and the egg hunt we always had on Sundays. Good times....hope everyone enjoys and basks in the joy of Resurrection Day!