Mix of Emotions...

Today has been a whirlwind of emotions - good and bad.

I started the day being irritated at the bad roads on my way to work.  Luckily, I made it there safely, even though I was a few minutes late.

Whe I got off work early, I was able to go out to eat with my Mom and Dad, sister, Dee and nephew Wyatt.  Wyatt just learned how to walk.  Super cute!  He also caught a glimpse of Papa's malt.  When he sees something he wants, he turnes on the charm, smiles and all, until whoever the sucker is on the receiving end of those grins gives in.  Papa gave in!  But really, who wouldn't?  Tons of joy!

The biggest emotional...not rollercoaster...turn was actually on my way to work this morning.  I got a phone call around 5:50am.  I knew when I heard the phone ring that it was not going to be good.  My mom and dad knew I had to work this morning at 6am and knew I'd have my phone on me at that early hour.

My Grandma passed away.

We knew it was coming.  She had a stroke almost 2 years ago and has been in a nursing home since then.  A month ago, she decided to stop getting her anti-coagulation therapy even though she knew the risks of more clots returning.  Over the last week, her condition had worsened and the whole family didn't think it would be too much longer before...

Last night she had the mind to refuse her mouth being swabbed, but allowed the nursing staff to give her a low-dose of morphine to help with her labored breathing.  One of my aunts decided to spend the night with her.  Early this morning, she peacefully, calmly, and unlabored, slowed her breathing until she went to live with her Heavenly Father.

If you know my Grandma, this is where she wanted to be.

She loved her family.

All 11 children and their spouses, 49 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren with at least 3 more little ones on the way!

She was/is a wonderful woman.  She can now rest in comfort and peace.

With the delivery day of our kiddo coming in 2 weeks, it made me incredibly sad to know that my Grandma would never meet our little one...at least not on Earth.  In a way, I think it might just be her way to go up and watch over us as delivery day arrives and say an extra prayer and rosary for the health and safety of this new baby.  If we're really lucky, this baby will have a little of her personality, heart and spirituality too.  The Good Lord knows she had plenty of all three!

See what I mean?

A mixture of emotions.

We love you and will miss you Grandma, but we are happy that you are no longer hurting and you are where you truely want to be.  Give Ronnie a hug for me!

34 weeks!

I know that my blogs about how far along in my pregnancy are probably getting a litle old, but like I said in my very first blog...this is a on-line diary sort of thing for me.  Even though I have the "Pregnancy Journal" and should be writing stuff down in there, it just seems easier to pick up the computer and do a little typing.

Today I had my 34 week appointment and ultrasound.

Because of the ultrasound and the chance to see the kiddo again, Rob went with me.

But...we also had my mom go with to see it too.  She hadn't seen an ultrasound since she herself had one 27 years ago with my youngest sister, Katherine.  I felt bad at the end of the "picture show" cause it wasn't a long ultrasound and you really couldn't see much due to how big the baby is at this point, but I think she still had fun.

During the ultrasound we learned that the baby has "no shortage of movement" per the nurse practitioner.

It's heart was pumping away at 166 beats per minutes which is normal due to the amount of movement it was doing at the time.

It currently weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces (+/- a pound) and is in the 76th percentile.

The fluid levels were great coming in at 12.6 cm.  Perfect!

The kiddo has been moving around a ton lately!

I have a feeling it is not going to be a small kid, but we'll find out soon enough.

3 weeks, 6 days and 12 hours to go.

Not that I'm counting.

:)

Wisconsin Dells 2011

This year my family's gift to each other was a family vacation...and I'm warning you in advance, there are a lot of pics when a family goes on their first vacation together.

Growing up on a farm, we rarely had an opportunity to take a vacation and those vacations were very rarely more than one night.  It usually involved a night at a hotel with a pool during the winter.  Embassy Suites was our hotel of choice...complete with continental breakfast.  For those 2 milkings we let the cows fend for themselves...just kidding!  My dad's cousin Larry would usually spend the night at our house and take care of the cows for us.  It was always a special night away...nights that I don't think will ever be forgotten by my sisters and me.

This winter, we decided to up the ante and drive more then 30 minutes from home.

We went to the Dells...Chula Vista to be exact!

We rented a 3-bedroom condo.  It was enough room for all 14 of us!  Yes...14!

10 adults and 4 kiddos age 3 and under.

Well...we might have benefitted from another couch or comfy chair, but that's pulling at strings.

We headed out last Friday, January 7th.  If you all remember correctly, we were in the midst of a slight snowstorm that day.  We saw lots of cars in the ditch, but managed to stay out of them ourselves.

Our first night was spent settling into the room, eating some supper and heading down to the waterpark.

Not all of the kids were thrilled.  The babies got chilled and hung out with the non-water going adults (Did you know they frown upon preggos on the waterslides?  Just Kidding)

Ava, on the other hand, was thrilled and enjoyed every minute of the park.

Most of the adults enjoyed themselves too.  But the big surprise?  My Dad!

He's turning the Big 6-0 next month.  That's right.  60!

For a 59 year-old, I think he had almost as much fun as Ava.

He told us when we were planning the trip that he wouldn't be going down any slides.

I told him that all Ava would have to do was say "Let's go on a slide, Papa" and he'd be putty in her hands.

Turns out that Ava didn't even need to bat her pretty browns at Papa.

He was a willing participant!
The "Toilet Bowl" was his favorite with the "Mat Races" in close second.
He enjoyed beating his daughters.
He still got in some "Ava time" though.
She's blurry cause she was so excited to go on a ride with Papa.

Needless to say there was a lot of waterpark action.
There was also a lot of snuggling the kiddos.  For my Mom, that was her highest level of fun.

The baby watchers...
note that Mom is holding Jayde...her highest level of excitement.

The waterpark Peeps...

All in all, we had a great time.
The guys bonded by staying up all night Friday playing cards...even my dad!
And when I say all night, I mean ALL NIGHT!  They finally went to bed at 6am!
Crazy.
I was in bed by 9:30!

We arrived home safely on Sunday, January 9th.
And for the record, even though there was a bet in place debating when us sisters would get into a fight and someone would cry, no fights were had and everyone got along great!

Rob and my first job when we got home?
Pick up the pup.
Harley stayed at a local kennel for the weekend.
We think he's forgiven us now.
I think vomiting is his version of payback.
He's feeling better now and we are getting back in the non-vacation groove.

I need a vacation from vacation!

32 Weeks!

We have hit yet another milestone...32 weeks!

Why is this a milestone?  Because if I should happen to go into labor, I can now "officially" deliver at good ole' FSH with little possibility that the little one would need to be transferred to a different hospital.  Yay!

I had another doctor appointment today and all is as it should be.

I'm measuring at 33 weeks (no big deal that it's a week ahead) and the baby's heartbeat today was pumping away in the 140's.  The baby is head down again (It was breech a week ago.  We have an acrobat on our hands.)

I was also scheduled for another ultrasound during my 34 week appointment to check on the baby's growth and fluid levels.  This is something that my OB clinic normally does, so it's nothing to be worried about.  In fact, it just gives us an excuse to see the baby one more time before D-Day.  We'll be attempting to hold strong and still NOT find out what this baby is!

I also am fully aware that I skipped over the ever important "Christmas" post.  This was my Christmas to work, so we didn't really celebrate Christmas until this past weekend.  We spent New Year's Day with my family at my mom and dad's.  Playing with babies and watching them attempt to open their presents was lots of fun.  During the fun, we tested out Ava's knowledge of her new cousin.  It was kinda fun!

1.  She has said from the beginning that this baby is a girl.
2.  Even though she knows it's a girl, she has no idea what it's name is.  For the record, neither do we!
3.  She wants to see it and doesn't understand why she can't. Auntie Jen told her that she can't see it either.  Not until we go to the hospital and the doctor takes it out.
4.  She wanted to go to the hospital right then and there to get it out.  "Can we go there now?"  Auntie explained that the baby is still really little and has to get bigger before it can come out.
5.  She tried to feel it move multiple times during the day. "Why doesn't it move?"  "Cause it's sleeping."  "How do we wake it up?"
6.  J - "Ava, will you change the baby's diaper?"
     A - "It might be poopy."
     J - "You would still change it, right?"
    A - "No, you would."

She's pretty smart!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and is getting a jump start on a wonderful New Year!