Weight-obsessed

We are still obsessing about Katrina's growth patterns. She has an appointment at Johns Hopkins later this month as a 'second opinion' with a gastroenterologist. They (hopefully) won't rerun the tests but will look at the results and see if there is anything the doctors at Georgetown missed. I'm thinking about it now because I was over a friend's house this morning; their youngest daughter is a few months younger than Katrina and wears a size 6 diaper. (Size 6 is for kids who weigh more than 35 lbs.) In contrast, Katrina wears a size 4 diaper and they are huge on her ... I go back and forth with the idea of putting her in a smaller size. I know it's all relative, but our friends are average-to-tall in height, and both are athletic and slender. I am average height and Ryan is tall, and we both gain weight easily. So how do we have the skinny kid whose pants fall down all the time?? Our newest niece weighs just about half what Katrina does ... and she is seven weeks old. I'm sure Baby Bethany will pass Katrina in weight in her first year.

Another one bites the dust.

After a grueling two weeks, another proposal is out the door. I have just a few hours to work tomorrow, then will be done for the week. What should I do with my 'free' Thursday and Friday? I'm thinking a good book one day and maybe some house cleaning the other day. I'm definitely experiencing signs of nesting - already! Sunday I had to clean the carport. I was obsessed. I even made Ryan mop part of it, and it's a concrete floor! Last night I disinfected my friend Laura's kitchen counters, and today I scrubbed the coffee maker at work.

This morning Katrina said, "I love you, too" when I told her I love her! Of course, it sounded more like "I luh ooo, too" but I knew what she meant. Being a parent has really changed me and enlightened me to how God feels about each of us. We delight in our little girl day after day, from new words to the way she mimics her daddy to even the crazy book she chooses to read before bed each night. We find joy in the simplest things with her, and it amazes me that God our Father delights in me, even more than I delight in our daughter.

Prayer request: A friend from church found out her brother-in-law (her sister's husband) was shot and killed in their home in Venezuela during a robbery attempt. The friend's nieces have been visiting her for a few weeks, so now Marycruz (our friend) has the heartbreaking task of telling her nieces their father was killed, as well as getting them back home to Venezuela as soon as possible. The girls (Marycruz's nieces) are 14 and 5. Please pray!

Stet

It's good to learn something new.

Stet

Second birthday, and other momentous occassions.

Hmm. "Momentous" looks funny.

Anyway, today, August 27, is my 'second birthday.' I became a Christian on this date thirteen (13) years ago today. I remember the date, not only because it is so special, but because it falls exactly seven days after my 'real' birthday. That's right, I turned 28 last Monday, and today I 'turned' 13. God is good, for sure. I am so blessed beyond belief. We just celebrated our fifth anniversary, and Ryan had a birthday, too. Here is what a week in August looks like for us:

August 17 - our anniversary
August 20 - my birthday
August 24 - Ryan's birthday (he's 31 now! SO OLD!!)

I had an ultrasound today (more on that later) and the lady performing the scan was telling me about a recent trip her family took to Western Maryland. I asked her if she was familiar with Swallow Falls state park, and she was. I always take any opportunity I can to brag ... not about Ryan, but about God, and how He healed Ryan from near death. I briefly told the woman about Ryan's fall three years ago, and how it was a miracle that he even lived, and also how he was expected to be on life support for at least three weeks but was breathing on his own and semi-conscious less than 24 hours after the accident. It was a horrible experience, for sure, but we can see God's hand in so many ways. So we definitely celebrate birthdays around here, and the fact that my crazy husband is even around. :)

I finally cleaned our bedroom. I am such a slob. Ask Marte. And April and Crystal. They all came over in high school to help me clean my room. And Sidra lived with me in college (bless her heart). I'm setting mini-goals along the way. Like, tonight I want to go through the clothes remaining in my dresser (that I never wear) and set them aside for donation. And if I/we can keep the room picked up for at least a set amount of time, I'm thinking paint and a new rug are in store for us. I forgot to take any 'before' pictures (they would have been too scary, anyway), but maybe I'll post some 'after' pictures.

Katrina is growing up so fast! I'm not sure why this is such a big deal to me, but she started calling us "Mommy" and "Daddy" this weekend (instead of "Mama" and "Dada"). She hasn't made the complete switch - she does still call us Mama and Dada interchanged with Mommy and Daddy - but it just seems so grownup for her to say Mommy instead of Mama. And I like being Mama! (Of course, she asked, "Where Ryan?" tonight when she heard me call out his name to bring me something. Oops.)

We're working with her on shapes now. She knows all 26 uppercase letters, a handful of letter sounds, can count to and recognize 1 - 10, and knows a heart, star and oval. We're working on the basic shapes like square and circle (she calls a circle 'round') and rectangle. Not sure how she knows the obscure shapes first, but hey, that's our kid for you. I've also started pointing out lowercase letters to her, and she knows the lowercase 'e' but that's all so far. Katrina is also really into emotions - she can quickly identify an emotion portrayed by a person or animal's expression in a picture, even the first time she sees it. She has a 96-cent placemat from Wal-Mart with Sesame Street characters on it, and the first time she looked at it, in the store, she noticed that Elmo looks like he's tripping over a stick. Right away Katrina said, "Mama, Elmo hurt. Elmo hurt!" I didn't even see it until she pointed it out to me!

(And she is not an alien child from Village of the D*mned, thank you very much MARTE and SARA!)

And finally, my ultrasound. The blood clots are GONE and the amniotic fluid is clear - no blood cell debris!! It's as if the clots never existed. God is so good. We have been praying and praying that these clots would simply disappear and I would be healed, and He answered! This little girl is very calm, not nearly the kicker that her big sister was. She has predictable active times: right after lunch, and in the evening between 10 and 10:30, when I'm trying to fall asleep. She is growing along her curve, and is slightly bigger (1 lb, 5 oz) than Katrina was at this stage of development. Any suggestions for a name? We can't call her 'This Baby' forever.

No Bug Spray

We've been having a rough bedtime with Katrina for just about a month now ... since we got back from vacation. Both our babysitter and a coworker encouraged us that the phase lasts about a month and will pass, but we were giving up hope of getting to bed peacefully (read: without vomit). Lately Katrina has been obsessed with bugs. Sometimes she points them out, but she usually shrieks "A BOG!!!!!!" (yes, b-o-g is how she says it) and freaks out. The last few times I've asked her what she is scared of, she says, "bog."

Last weekend Grandma Herbert (Gail, Ryan's mom) said that Ryan had a similar bedtime issue when he was a little bit older. He finally told his Grandma Lyons that he was scared of a lion under his bed and needed a gun to shoot it. Grandma Lyons got him a toy gun and sure enough, he slept well after that. We figured a gun would be overkill (pardon the pun), but we did decide to make a bottle of "No Bug Spray." Ryan found a picture of a bug with the line through it, and I taped it to an empty spray bottle. We showed it to Katrina before bed tonight and made a big deal of spraying her bed and under and all around her room. We also showed her how she could spray if she got scared.

Sure enough, it worked! It's only the first night, so I'm not saying it's permanent, but I prayed with her and kissed her goodnight, and she laid down without a peep. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

I am heading to bed. I've been sleep-deprived for the last month.

Here's the picture we used for our "No Bug Spray" bottle:

Our newest niece

Bethany Elise Yanchick arrived yesterday (Saturday, July 28th) at 7:37 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces, is 22 inches long, and is GORGEOUS! Laura and David are doing well. :)

What the?!

I just read this - http://wgts.org/wordpress/?p=264

I hope they don't change the style and message of WGTS.

:(

It's a ....

GIRL!

Level II ultrasound was today. The baby's heart looks good (that was the reason for the visit to the perinatologist - my sister has a mitral valve prolapse); the baby was a little uncooperative, though, and they were only able to fully see the right side of her heart. I have to go back in two weeks for another ultrasound, and they'll search again with hopes of cooperation so they can see the left side of the heart.

The placenta looks great ... it is neither low nor pulling away. It turns out the bleeding is from a moderately-sized subchorionic hematoma - a blood clot. The size and place of the clot introduces a risk of fetal death if it grows and pushes the placenta out of place, hence why I have to return in two weeks (to see if the clot is changing size). Until then, I am on 'mild rest,' meaning no marathons or bicycle races. I told the perinatologist he didn't have to worry about that. :) I can still work, but am encouraged to rest often and avoid any strenuous exercise or heavy lifting, as that could dislodge the clot or cause more bleeding.

I'm still at work. We have a task order response due tomorrow. Today was one of those swamped days. I told a coworker, if anyone else asked me to do one more thing, I would either cry or scream. Or both. Now the office is nice and quiet, and the end of this crazy task order is so close.

Signs of an early reader?

Katrina, Ryan and I were playing a game this evening where Mommy or Daddy would write down a letter on her Magna Doodle thing and Katrina would name the letter. We knew that she knows the letters R, B, and I, but thought that was the extent of her letter recognition. Boy, were we wrong! Katrina recognizes and names SEVENTEEN (17!) letters of the alphabet - and she is just 26 months old!

The letters she knows (unrecognized ones in parentheses): A, B, C, (D), E, F, (G), H, I, (J), (K), (L), M, (N), O, (P), (Q), R, S, T, U, (V), W, X, Y, Z

We couldn't believe it! When I taught preschool, we quizzed the four year olds at the mid-year point, and a few of the students recognized four or five letters. By the end of the year (when they turned five), all students recognized at least one letter, and the average number of letters recognized was ten. Katrina has already surpassed that for sure!

The Tale of Two Tired Parents

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there were two parents. Two tired parents. Their daughter, who recently turned two, had even more recently decided that she didn't need to sleep at night. She fought sleep; oh, what a fighter she was. She could shriek and cry like the best of them. She also learned to throw up on command, much to her parents' dismay ... and disgust. She hadn't always been this way. In fact, her mommy was recently telling a friend how easygoing this little girl was, and how blessed mommy and daddy felt.

Mommy and Daddy shouldn't have looked a gift horse in the mouth.

One sunny summer weekend, this little girl decided not only did she not need to sleep at night, but she didn't need to take naps anymore, either. And she decided she could start waking up at that crazy hour in the morning where it's too early to get up, but too late to go back to sleep. This made the little girl pretty cranky, even though she did it to herself. She was unfriendly at church and cried during Sunday School; during Children's Church she would only let her daddy hold her.

But! Mommy and Daddy felt hopeful when the little girl fell asleep in the car on the way home from church. Daddy oh so carefully unbuckled the little girl from her seat and carried her in the house, then gently set her on her waiting bed. You see, even her bed missed the little girl who used to sleep so well. (Her pretty bedroom rug did not miss her, though - it was tired of being puked on every night.) The hope was short lived. The little girl woke up with a start and a loud "NO!"

Mommy and Daddy tried everything they knew to do. They played a cd of lullabies, then a new cd when that one maybe the little girl cry harder. They read stories and got a snack and stretched out on a blanket on the floor with the little girl. Nothing would work, though, and eventually, the mommy and daddy fell fast asleep on the floor while the little girl played and read books to herself.


(Daddy asleep on Katrina's floor, two hours later.)

Second Trimester Bedrest

Meh. I visited the OB midwife yesterday for some bleeding issues, and she wants to put me on bedrest, at least until my ultrasound on Tuesday but maybe until at least the end of next week. She thinks perhaps the placenta is low-lying or even separating from the uterine wall, but she can't confirm it without an ultrasound. Since I already have one schedule for early next week, and I'm young and without previous complications, she was fine with waiting until then.

I did feel pretty crappy yesterday, but I feel SO much better today. I took it easy last night (Ryan heated up leftovers for dinner, helped get Katrina ready for bed, etc.) and slept well, too.

I'm at work today, so I'm obviously disregarding the doctor's orders. If they do find something on Tuesday, I'll consider working from home for a few days, but it's just too crazy right now to drop everything.

Not so fun way to spend fun money.

For a couple of months now, Ryan and I have been tracking 'fun money.' Each day we pack a lunch (rather than eat fast food or go to the Orbiteria), we 'earn' $5. The same goes for each time we work out at the Y. We track our fun money balance at Joe's Goals, and the money is to use how we see fit. (We have separate fun money accounts.)

I usually spend mine right away, on books, music, library fines, etc. Ryan has been saving his for a big purchase like a PS3 or other video game related items. Well, while we were in Illinois, Ryan got a letter informing him that he had spent $75 of his hard-earned fun money ... he ran a red light here in Frederick at an intersection that is camera-monitored. This is actually his second offense in a year, but thankfully the city doesn't keep track of that, so it doesn't count against his driving record. But it's still a less than fun way to spend fun money.

(This reminds me. I have an overdue library book. Eek!)

Our trip to Illinois was fairly uneventful. We has some miscommunications with Ryan's family about when we would arrive, etc., but it all turned out fine in the end. Katrina has a whole slew of new words, including:

- Boppy/Popeye (Bobby)
- Nawna (both Shawna and my sister Leea)
- Monkey (my mom! I have no idea why she calls my mom "Monkey" - we refer to her as Grammy)
- water
- fench fye (french fry)

... and my favorite: happy. She started saying, "I happy!" while we were in Illinois. Not sure if she really understands the concept, but she sure says it a lot. She will walk around the house saying, "I happy, Mama! Happy, Mama?" and she told me tonight "Rabbit happy!" meaning the rabbit on her pajama top was happy.

It's hard to believe she's two. It's even harder to believe she'll be a big sister in a few months. I have an ultrasound on Tuesday (yay!) but I do need to call the OB in the morning as I've had some spotting (sorry if TMI). Hopefully they will say, "Take it easy until Tuesday then come see us after your ultrasound" since the OB and the Fetal Medicine specialist are now right next door to each other in the same building. It's busy at work the rest of this week and next week through Wednesday, and it will be hard for me to get away from the office.

I have some decisions to make regarding work and what to do after the new baby arrives. I was honest to Kurt/Hal/Gordon when I told them I was pregnant, that I wasn't sure I would be returning full time after the baby is born. They all have been very supportive (is there such a thing as TOO supportive? sometimes it's annoying how they coddle me!), and encouraging me to do what is best for our family ... while trying to entice me to return to work. :) On top of that, our pastor has semi-officially offered me a job at the church. That job seems perfect, but I am managing to talk myself out of it.

Pretty much I'm terrible at making decisions, so pray for me. :)

When it rains, it pours.

Well, not literally. It's not raining now, although it's supposed to any moment. We need the rain.

Anyway.

This has been a week. Getting into work early because our office manager is out on vacation. VBS right after work every night. Not getting home until 10. House cleaning for guests. Laundry and packing for vacation. Fast food for dinner every night. Mom in the hospital. Cat got outside and was lost for several hours. Found out another set of friends' marriage is ending. Huge cold sore due to stress. Too big for regular clothes, too small for maternity clothes. Sciatic nerve already acting up, and still have 24 weeks to go. Last minute scramble to finish final exam for Pauline Epistles class. Need to make decision about work. Not enough teachers to fill schedule at church.

I'm exhausted, if you couldn't tell. Physically and emotionally. I described it this way to a friend: some people don't save their money, and so when a small-ish disaster strikes (need new brakes, fridge dies, etc.), they scramble to pay for it to make ends meet. I have overspent my strength this last week or so, and I am so exhausted and stretched that one more thing will make me crack.

Don't ask about the lipstick in the dryer. It's enough to make me cry.

*sigh*

Okay, so I'm going to go to bed, get a good night's rest (Ryan is staying up to wait for our house guests to arrive - I probably won't see them at all), and start over tomorrow. Tomorrow night is the last night of VBS, then we leave early Saturday morning to drive to Illinois for a week. I'm looking forward to time away to think and pray. My mom took a turn for the worse this past week and was admitted to the hospital for blood transfusions - she had severe anemia. She's home now, but it was enough to get me thinking about my/our role in what is getting to be the end of her life. Neither of my sisters are financially stable to care for the farm, pay for the funeral, etc. Er, not that I'm trying to kill off my mom or anything! She's only 60 and could have many, many more years ahead of her, although it's unlikely. I'm also trying to seek God's will for what to do about work. Do I stay at home when the baby arrives? Work part time? full time? contract hours? Helllllllllllllllllllpppppppp.

Counting to five

Here is how Katrina counts to five:

"One..." (holds up one finger)
"B..." (smiles)
"Five!" (holds up five fingers)

She's in the bathroom right now, sitting on the potty, and I'm in the other room. She insists she needs 'privacy' to go potty. Even though she doesn't give us privacy when we're going potty.

It's not Crohn's Disease!

Katrina's test results were great yesterday. The endoscopies showed no signs of inflammation or scarring, meaning she does not have Crohn's Disease. The gastroenterologist took some biopsies, just to be certain, and those results will be available in a few weeks.

The procedures themselves weren't so great. The first sedative they gave Katrina was called Propofol, and she had an allergic reaction to it. It contains a small amount of egg as an emulsifier, and even though the pediatric allergist swears Katrina's not allergic to eggs, she had a reaction. The doctor and nurses treated her for that (Benadryl, Albuterol, breathed for her for a bit), then switched her to Ketamine as a sedative to finish the procedure. All seemed to be well until she started having seizures. Apparently Ketamine can somewhat lower one's threshold for seizures. Katrina received two or three kinds of medicine for the seizures, and the seizures stopped after about twenty minutes.

We ended up staying at the hospital for six hours of observation. By the end of the evening yesterday Katrina was fine ... running around, playing, eating and drinking. She had a little bit of low muscle tone from one of the medicines used to stop the seizures, but she is MUCH better today. She gets a dose of Prednisone today, and we're under strict orders to keep Benadryl nearby in case she starts to have another reaction.

Next steps: head to the pediatrician tomorrow for a follow-up appointment, to make sure all the sedatives are out of her system and there are no complications; then back to the gastroenterologist in three weeks for the biopsy results and to create a forward action plan.

Today is going exceedingly well. God is good. :) Katrina took her first dose of medicine "okay" for Daddy this morning, then spent a few hours at the babysitter's house. Her second dose didn't go so well ... she threw that up. But then she took a dose of another kind fine, and is sound asleep. She only said "I hummy" TWICE since I've been home (five o'clock). I'm going to make a sandwich then it's off to bed, because we need to be up at five a.m. tomorrow to head to Georgetown. By this time tomorrow we'll know answers to why Katrina has been so sick!

The fun of it all.

Katrina has two procedures scheduled for Wednesday, so tomorrow morning starts a clear liquid only diet. How fun this will be to hear my toddler say, "I hummy! I hummy!" ("I'm hungry") over and over again, to which I can only respond, "Here, drink some apple juice/water/Gatorade/etc." She had to fast one morning last week for an upper GI, and that was miserable. I can only imagine (and dread) what tomorrow and Wednesday will be like. The pediatric GI will be performing the procedures himself, though, so we should know answers right away. Katrina has been hovering right around 24.4 - 24.5 pounds these last few weeks. We have to weigh her several times the next 24 - 48 hours, as she will also be taking magnesium citrate to induce .... cleansing of the bowels, and will likely drop weight quickly. *sigh*

My pregnancy is going well, all stress at work/church/home aside. I have very intense cravings for avocados. Specifically semi-ripe avocados sliced with lemon juice and salt. I eat just about one a day now. They are apparently a good source of magnesium. Still not showing much, which is fine by me. I'm surprised, though, as I've always heard and read that subsequent pregnancies show sooner. It's causing me to be quite vain about clothing, as I don't like my current clothes but I'm not ready to buy a ton of summer/fall maternity clothes.

Thursday is the last real night of my class. I've been taking Pauline Epistles, one of the courses I need for ordination. It's been a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun. Ryan has been wonderfully supportive through it all. He even made dinner from scratch one night AND gave Katrina a bath AND cleaned up afterward so I could study. The final is next week, but our "professor" (my senior pastor) is out of town, so he's e-mailing the final.

We're heading to Illinois the week of July 4th. VBS is the week before that, and so we're heading out Saturday morning the 30th. We're planning to spend two days and a night in Wisconsin Dells for 'vacation.' Of course, I won't be able to go on many of the water rides, being pregnant, so it's more of a chance to get together with extended family (the cousins are going, too) and hang out at a variety of amusement parks.

I'm really not a very interesting blog writer, am I? Maybe because the only time I find to sit down and write is late at night when the day is done ... and I'm exhausted. Or maybe I lead a very boring life. :)

News

The word is out at work and at church, so I might as well share it here, too ...

Katrina update

I was going to post some pictures of our peanut now that she's two, but the camera is at home and I'm at work. Instead I'll update you all on her two-year-checkup yesterday. I can't believe she's two already, even though she's been saying she's two for the last month or so. :)

Height: 35.5" (if the saying that kids are half their height at age 2, she's going to be 5' 11"!!)
Weight: 24 lbs

Katrina was officially diagnosed as 'failure to thrive/slow growth' yesterday. Really all this means is that she is underweight, and has not gained the weight she should have in the six months since her last checkup. This diagnosis will help with getting insurance to approve tests, exams, and specialist visits.

Now that Katrina is two, and really since she was 18-months, the doctor is more concerned with her weight-for-height rather than her weight-for age. We know other toddlers Katrina's age and older that weigh just a few pounds more, but they are at a healthy weight for their height. I was reading about toddler growth patterns last night, and weight-for-age matters in babies, because "they" have done close studies and traced the general growth patterns for infants and young toddlers. But once a child hits 18 months - 2 years, it switches to weight-for-height or BMI, just like adults. For example, I weight 150 lbs, which is a healthy weight for a 5'6" female, but irrelevant to being 27 years old. (Does that make sense?) Her weight-for-height (24 lbs - rounded up - for 35.5" ) gives her a BMI of 13.4, which is the 0th percentile.

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html is a BMI calculator for kids. With her stats (2y, 24 lbs, 35.5"), we get these results: A 36-inch tall, 24-pound, 2-year-old girl has a body mass index (BMI) of 13.4, which is at the 0th percentile for age. This suggests that this girl is underweight. A healthy weight range for this particular girl would be from about 27-pounds to 32-pounds. So she's not that far from a healthy weight - needs to gain approximately 3 - 8 pounds. The problem is getting her to gain the weight. She eats well and often, but is not digesting the food she eats.

We have an appointment scheduled for June 11 with a pediatric GI to look at her inflamed intestines. The pediatrician is going to try to get that appointment moved up, though, because she thinks a month is too long. (Apparently the blood tests showed her intestines have been inflamed for at least three months or something). She also sees a pediatric allergist at the end of this month to figure out if there are foods/allergens that are triggering this inflammation. We know she has a slight egg allergy, but is not allergic to the other top food allergens (milk, soy, wheat, legumes, shellfish, and something else). There could be other allergens, though, that are triggering this internal reaction and causing her intestines to basically attack themselves.

We're starting her on hypoallergenic infant formula, in addition to her normal meals. Hopefully she'll be able to digest it and absorb the calories/vitamins/minerals from that, at least until we can determine what the underlying cause of the inflammation is. (Dr. Mullen *thinks* it's Crohn's disease, but she said the GI has to make that final diagnosis.)

What's in a name?

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1138420

Spring is here!

Praise God for sunshine and warmth! I am so glad spring is finally here. We had a busy but normal weekend, with a lot of time spent outside. Our church's softball season started last week, so we'll be hitting (ha, no pun intended) those games each Sunday afternoon. I could list every single activity in our lives, but I'm sure that would be quite boring. :) Yesterday I thought, "Oh, I want to blog about this!" ... and then promptly forgot.

For those of you following along, Katrina's CF test came back fine. We took her last week for a weight check - she was completely uncooperative - and then to the lab where they drew several vials. We should have those results back today, hopefully. Tests include a complete blood count, celiac, several pancreatic enzymes, and a few others that I forget. The pediatrician said last week, she would rather exhaust every possibility than to say, "It's nothing" and in a year or two find out that Katrina has severely malfunctioning organs. Besides constant digestive problems, she is actually doing great! I can't believe she's going to be two soon. Where have the days gone?!

Whoops, it's almost 7:30 and I need to leave for work. I'll post more if I remember what I was going to say. Hope you all are doing well!

Family.

Last week, in a nutshell.

This past week has been a bit crazy for me/us. Here we go:

Monday - took Katrina to the pediatrician; ped says she needs to be tested for cystic fibrosis

Tuesday - rear-ended someone at a stop sign

Wednesday - somewhat uneventful

Thursday - stressful day at work; coworker upset, another coworker not carrying her load, looming deadlines

Friday - Laura's father-in-law passed away (Laura my sister-in-law - David's dad Dennis)

Wow.

For some reason, I was reading back through old posts. Er, my old posts. Specificially, I found this one interesting. Out of the nine things I listed then as wanting to do before I die, I have done one of them (Lasik surgery), am close to another one (being ordained), and am actively working on two of them (a gazillion kids and going back to Wales - via Ireland). It's been a little more than two years since I wrote that list. I wonder what the status will be in another two years ...

Okay, now I'm really going to bed.

They are almost here!

In less than 12 hours, my in-laws will be here. Ryan's parents are coming to stay with us for a week (Gail's on Spring Break), my house is a mess, and what am I doing? That's right, I'm blogging! :)

The bug is still floating around in the Herbert household. Katrina is feeling MUCH better, but now Daddy and Mommy are getting sick. Ryan and I have both been exhausted for two days now. I slept approx. 12 hours last night and he's on track for that tonight. I'm planning on crashing in a few minutes.

Katrina's recent bouts with rotavirus have led to what we think is 'secondary temporary lactose intolerance' (according to the nurse at our pediatrician's office). Monday she threw up and had diarrhea within minutes of drinking milk. It continued Tuesday and Wednesday, along with general crabbiness. I called the nurse and she said it's fairly common for kids to develop an intolerance for milk as a beverage after rotavirus. She said cheese, yogurt and other dairy products are okay, and we can even try lower fat (like 2% or skim) milk to see if Katrina can stomach those, just not whole milk for about a week or so. Katrina did lose nearly four pounds, putting her back down to 20 lbs. She's back up to 22 lbs - I was wondering if we were going to have to turn around her carseat, but she stayed at 20 or above.

Speaking of being crabby, Katrina was not happy to leave Ms. Elaine's house today. Here was our conversation in the car on the way home:

Me: "Katrina, how was your day?"

K: (silence)

Me: "Katrina, did you have a good day today?"

K: "No."

Me: "You didn't have a good day today? Did you take a nap?" (I know she did.)

K: "No."

Me: "Did you play with Emmy?" (Another known fact.)

K: "No."

Me: "Did you eat lunch?"

K: "No."

Me: "Did you watch t.v.?"

K: "No."

Me: "Okay, then. Let's sing 'The Itsy, Bitsy Spider."

K: "No."

I sing anyway, and Katrina joins in with choruses of "Noooooooooooooooooooooo."

Praise the Lord the babysitter only lives two miles from us. I don't know how much longer I can take this "NO" stage, and she's not even two yet!

In all seriousness, I am absolutely amazed at how much I love this little girl. Earlier tonight I stumbled upon the blog of a friend from college. She posted almost exactly what Ryan and I feel ... we adore our daughter, are amazed by her every day, can't believe God trusts us to be her parents ... I tuck her into bed, glad for a few moments to myself, but then I find myself missing her and want to peek in on her. Tonight before we put her to bed, the three of us laid in our bed, just laughing and talking and tickling. We are blessed beyond belief.

One of these days I should figure out what I want to be when I grow up. :) I confuse myself sometimes, thinking I want nothing more than to stay at home with her ... or to have another baby ... then I go to work and think that what we have is great, too. I am taking a couple of days off while Ryan's parents are here. They have visited a few times before and it always seemed to fall during a big proposal for me. This time we are 'in the waiting' on a few procurements. Monday I have to travel to Virginia (to Ryan's worksite, actually) to give training on a new database we're using, Tuesday I'll be at the office, and Thursday I have an offsite meeting but it's in Frederick. So Wednesday and Friday I'll be off work (hopefully). One of those days we need to take Katrina for her very first haircut! The kid will be two in eight weeks, and her hair is just now long enough to need a trim. I should post a picture of her so you can see her blonde mop ...

Okay, enough. Time for bed. Good night, all!

Randomness

My life seems to be about randomness lately, if that is possible. Tonight was the night to see strange, random things on the highway. On the way to church, I saw an ambulance being pulled by a tow truck. Then, on the way home from church, I passed a flatbed truck with two Metro cars. For some reason these 'vehicles' struck me as odd.

The weather has also been odd. Wednesday was in the high 70s/low 80s; Thursday, rain and 60s; Friday brought rain, sleet, and 8" of snow. By the end of the day Friday I was wondering if the end of the world was near.

Work is ... eh. I'm in between proposals, which is good, but Katrina has been sick again lately (more on that topic later), so I've been juggling a full-time job, a full-time ministry, and a full-time family. Work is basically getting the least of my attention, and I'm annoyed/irritated/disgusted with a cow-orker, which doesn't really help.

This is pretty much a pointless post. I'll post more next week ... Ryan's parents will be in town, and I'm planning on taking a day or two off while they are here.

Jaime and Andy have news!!

Lent

Happy first day of Lent! Today begins sugar-withdrawal for me. I've given up sweets and fast food this year. We'll see how that goes. I apologize in advance for any crabbiness.

And of course, we are celebrating my boss's birthday today. With cake. *sigh*

Heh. I was just thinking about the time that Marte and I gave up saying the word 'crap' for Lent. Except that in it's place we said, "Oh, Lent!"

Is anybody out there giving up something for Lent?

Yes, Katrina is sleeping with a hammer. A toy hammer, thank goodness.

..... maybe I shouldn't let her watch HGTV just before bed .....

My daughter learned a dirty word from LeapFrog.

That's right, folks. An seemingly harmless educational toy has taught Katrina a dirty word. For about a week or ten days we've noticed that Katrina has been saying 'caca' ('poop' in Spanish, for the truly naive out there) and couldn't figure out where in the world she learned it. Well, the mystery was solved tonight on the way to swim class.

Katrina has this fun little alphabet thing from LeapFrog that hangs on our fridge. It's magnetic and teaches the sounds letters make. Ryan's parents gave it to her for Christmas. It has a catchy little tune that says, "Every letter makes a sound and S says 'sssss,' 'sssss'" and so on. We have the letters in Katrina's name out so she can learn her name, and tonight in the car I sang, "Every letter makes a sound and K says --" when Katrina shouted "CACA!!" K, of course, says "cuh, cuh" ... which sounds like a dirty word when a toddler says it.

Thanks, educational toys of the world, for teaching my daughter a dirty word.

CPC and the Girls Letter

I spent Wednesday - Saturday at Children's Pastors' Conference. I loved it. Awesome speakers, challenging topics, fun workshops, tons of new ideas and resources, and I even connected with a couple of old friends and made some new friends. God is good.

Debbers sent the girls' letter tonight. How my heart aches to be reuinited with my dear friends. The years and miles may separate us physically, but the Holy Spirit continues to bind us together into a cord not easily broken. My hopes and prayers for the girls:

Debbie - may God continue to heal you, both physically and emotionally. I miss you too much, I think sometimes. I wish you lived closer so we could get together. Are you SURE you don't want to move to DC? :)

Char - may our Father continue to richly bless you and Jeremiah as you raise little Reece. How much he has surely grown since this fall! I need to see pictures!!

'rika - How I love to read your blogs! You are one of God's most beautiful creations, and I don't think for one moment that you need to compromise your standards. You deserve only the best in a mate! Keep praying and waiting for His guidance.

Megs - Okay, showoff! Not one but TWO triathalons?! You are amazing!!! Good for you for keeping healthy and stretching your body to do more! I'm proud of you! And I promise, I won't tell anybody your duplex secret. :)

Jill - I should have checked to see if you were going to be at CPC! I'm sorry VA didn't work out for you ... it was nice to have you for a semi-neighbor, even though we didn't get together. And happy birthday yesterday to little Ethan! I can't believe he's a year old already!! What did you guys do to celebrate?

Leah - my almost-sister who's closer than a sister, what would I do without you? I think of you so often, and my heart aches to know your sufferings. But your faith and determination to shake College Park and the surrounding communities are an inspiration! Hang in there, my dear friend. One day we will see the fruits of our efforts. (And by the way, I still have Christmas presents for you guys! Didn't I do the same thing last year and give them like a month late or something? I really need to work on getting organized.)

Melanie - I was going to say that you cheated and didn't really update, but then I realized my contribution wasn't any better! What's new with you? Where are you working? How is your family? Tell us more!!

Sara - I needed to cry in the shower this summer and wished you were here. A major ministry event I planned was a huge flop, and although no one said it, I know everyone was doubting my leadership abilities. I was so embarrassed! I knew that you would know just the right thing to say, and that you would listen and let me cry it out. Those days at camp seem so long ago ... God has really brought us a long way, hasn't he?

Amanda - Sometimes 'uneventful' can be a good thing, as long as you are in God's will. And remember, "This too shall pass." :) Sooooooo .... what's the exciting changes in the near future that you mentioned??

Amy - It sounds like the last year was really rough for you. I'm so sorry, but I am very glad to hear that you were able to make the best of it and get a new position in Herscher! I attended grade school through senior high at the next district over (Tri-Point) and Sidra attended Herscher schools, so it's a blast from the past to hear about it. And congratulations on the romance! If you submitted your update in the fall like some of the others, has much changed since then?

Allison - I don't know where to start. Congratulations on Gabriel ... and I'm so very sorry to read about Donovan. Has anything changed since you wrote? I am definitely praying. We serve and are loved by a God who wants the best for us and who proved His might when He rolled the stone away. I am certain that He has a plan for you. Please let me know how everything is going.

Krista - Okay, you get the award for the "Least Informative Submission" - after Marte, of course. :) Girl, I know a ton has happened in your life in the last year ... you have got to share how God has been at work in your life, leading you all over the world and back to Kankakee and such! And you have to share about your kittens, too. Trish says they are adorable! :)

Krissy - Congratulations on your marriage!!! I am SO happy for you!! It does sound like you are very busy, but it also sounds like you love what you are doing. I'm so glad you have John beside you.

And last but not least, Sidra Schkerke - Marte!! No more AWOL allowed for you!! And you didn't call me back after your cryptic message last week or so, either! I'd better hear from you soon or I'll ... I'll ... I'll call your mother and tell on you! :)

My dear girlfriends, I love and miss you. I am thankful for each of you, for the trials and triumphs we shared in school and beyond. May the Lord bless you and keep you, as we continue to journey through another year.

Rotavirus

Katrina caught a stomach bug from another little girl at day care, and the symptoms are showing in full force tonight. She got sick all over Ryan just as we were about to leave for the grocery store, and has thrown up/spit up several more times this evening.

We feel so helpless when she's sick. This is reminding me of when she first caught the rotavirus bug just about a year ago ... March 2006, when she was almost ten months old. Our poor little baby was so miserable. She had vomiting for several days followed by diarrhea which led to the rotavirus diagnosis. I remember she went from 16 pounds to 13 pounds in three days! If she lost any more weight she would have been hospitalized.

I pray she doesn't get that sick this time. The good news is that subsequent bouts of rotavirus tend to be not as bad as previous episodes. And there is a new vaccine called RotaTeq available for newborns and infants that protects against rotavirus. You can read about it in this Washington Post article. Please, moms and moms-to-be, get this vaccine for your babies. I can't tell you how scary rotavirus is. Most people think, "Oh, it's just a stomach bug," but it can quickly lead to weight loss and dehydration in infants and toddlers, which in turn leads to hospitalization and sadly, sometimes death. The RotaTeq vaccine came out after Katrina was past the age of getting it, but we are most definitely getting all of the rest of our babies vaccinated for rotavirus, and we'll encourage our friends to do the same.

I can see clearly now!

The rain IS gone (and the snow flurries, too), but I hope tomorrow's not too much of a bright, sunny day because I'm still light-sensitive. Yes, folks, I survived laser eye surgery. My surgery lasted all of maybe five minutes (seriously) and I was on my way home less than an hour after I arrived at the vision center. Immediately I noticed improvement ... I could see the ceiling tiles in the surgery room! And I could see down the hall through the recovery room door. The irritation and light-sensitivity kicked in about 15 minutes after surgery, and that was rough. I wore those dorky sunglasses they give, plus I had my eyes closed, plus I held my coat over my head to block any light. I slept for about two hours and awoke to find the numbing drops had worn off. Ouch. But the steroid drops they gave for post-op care help a lot, and by 4:00 yesterday afternoon (6 hours after surgery), I felt GREAT! I could see fine, the achiness was gone, and I honestly felt like nothing had been done to my eyes. (Except that I could see without glasses or contacts.) So, if you are at all thinking about getting it done, I highly encourage it! It's been great!

We put Katrina's mattress back in her crib for the past few nights because Ryan was back in Colorado and we didn't want to try to deal with her getting up all the time. Just tonight I moved her back to her toddler bed, and sure enough she got up after I put her to bed. I ignored her for about 20 minutes (which is hard ... she's so darn cute!), then my friend Trish told me about Super Nanny. I seriously don't watch much television, but good ol' Google pointed me in the right direction. I'm not the only parent who struggles to keep their toddler in bed: http://www.supernanny.us.com/Advice/-/Parenting-Skills/-/Routine-and-Teamwork/Getting-Toddlers-to-Stay-in-Bed.aspx

A huge 'thank you' to Trish for sending me help just when I needed it! (Don't you think Trish would be a good mom? I think so.) :)

Bed Time at the Herberts

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted last! Highlights of the last two months:

- We traveled to Illinois for both Thanksgiving and Christmas; flew at Thanksgiving and drove for Christmas.

- Katrina moved from a crib to a toddler bed just before Thanksgiving.

- We wrapped up the State Department proposal at work on December 6 with an oral presentation. Hopefully we'll hear in March if we won an award, but then again, this has been the procurement from hell (originally due in July 2005, finally submitted 2nd printing in October 2005 only to be destroyed and reopened for oral proposals in December 2006)

- My friends from church (Jackie, Debbie and Lenora ... none have blogs, but Lenora does have a Creative Memories page) and I went to Super Suppers in December and it was a blast! I had to laugh when I read Jaime Bartling's post, because she wrote almost exactly what I had in mind! Except that Ryan doesn't care for cooking, like her Andy does.

- I had a great conversation with my boss just before Ryan and I left for IL for Christmas ... kind of an annual review, but not technically since I didn't fill out my portion ahead of time like I was supposed to do. Gordon was super sweet and encouraging and had a lot of great things to say ... which only confused me more. I so don't know what I want to do about working vs. staying home.

- There's some exciting news I want to tell you but I can't, not until after January 22nd or so. :)

- I'm getting my eyes fixed on Tuesday! LASIK surgery, that is. And of course, Ryan has to go to Colorado Sunday through Wednesday. My friend Laura is going to pick me up from the surgery instead.

- I'm also heading to Florida at the end of this month for the annual Children's Pastors' Conference. Some of you may remember I went in 2004. Our church is sending me again, along with my friend Jackie. We are very excited! (And yes, Sara, it's at Disney World!)

- Call me "Soccer Mom" - we bought a minivan! It's a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan, light blue with Stow-n-Go seats and power sliding doors. I love it!!! It made driving to Illinois (a 14 hour trip) very nice.

Ummmm, that's about it. Life has be busy around here, but I'm not sure what we've been doing! It's good to be home after traveling. It's bedtime, but Katrina is refusing to stay in her bed. She's not crying or anything ... she just keeps getting back up and walking to the baby gate. Then she stands there until one of us takes pity on her. (This has been going on for 30 minutes.) This is so not like her! And of course Ryan and I are exhausted from traveling yesterday and can't wait to get to bed. So sleepy ....

Stupid carpoolers.

Scene:

9:54 p.m.
Me - at the office finishing up for a meeting tomorrow
Ryan - stuck in Virginia, thanks to a guy in his carpool who worked five hours later than planned
Katrina - asleep in her stroller in the conference room of my office

Did I mention Davis had her tail amputated today? And that she's at home, overdue for her pain medication by two hours.

Did I mention I still need to go to the store to get food for tomorrow's meeting?

Did I mention I still have to review our children's handbook for presentation for approval at the executive committee meeting tomorrow night?

Did I mention I am NOT in a good mood??!!!

Davis is about to lose her tail.

Warning: if you have a weak stomach or are sensitive to animal stories, do not read this post.

I just got back from taking Davis (one of our two cats) to the emergency veterinary hospital. While petting her tonight, I felt something ... moist ... on her tail. I thought it was stool (a la Avery - our other cat often gets stool particles stuck in his enormous hairy tail), but saw it was blood when I looked at my hand. Ryan examined her tail and found that approximately 1.5 inches of skin had been peeled back. We called the local emergency hospital and they said to bring her in. There, the vet informed me that it's a 'degloving' wound and may have actually happened yesterday, based on the dried edges of the wound. Poor kitty. We had no idea. :( The vet also said the tail wounds are poor healers, and she recommended amputating the tail from just below the wound (about halfway up the tail). She did leave it up to our regular vet's discretion, though. She said the wound was not life-threatening and could wait until morning. They shaved the area a little (not much - Davis wasn't cooperative), applied antibiotic ointment, as well as gave her an antibiotic shot and pain medicine. With strict instructions to call our regular vet first thing in the morning, we are home.

I'll spare you any photos. I had a hard time not gagging at the vet hospital during the exam tonight. Right now Davis seems to be doing well, if you don't notice the dangling length of tail. The pain medicine might make her disoriented, so we're not supposed to let her near stairs tonight. We're going to keep her in my computer room, just to be safe. Even with the baby gate closed at the top of the stairs, I'm afraid she might try to jump over the banister like she usually does and fall and hurt herself worse.

I'm thinking I am so not ready to be a parent. Yes, I know we have an 18-month old daughter (today, actually - happy eighteen-month birthday to Katrina!). But I'm so emotional about my cat's tail! I can't imagine what I will be like when Katrina has her first real wound.

Now I understand.

I've always wondered how just one shoe of a pair ends up alongside the road. Now I understand. You see, it happened to us. :) We had a campaign dinner for church at the Holiday Inn Saturday night, with childcare provided at a pediatrician's office nearby. (The husband of the lady who headed up the event is the head of a pediatric group.) We got to the place to drop off Katrina when I noticed only one of her shoes was in the car. Ryan had set the other one on top of the car while buckling Katrina in ... and drove away. :) So Saturday night (in 30 degree weather, while the baby slept in her crib) we walked up and down our road looking for her shoe. We found it! It was on the opposite side of the road, slightly smashed, but still wearable. We spent forty minutes looking for a $9 shoe. (Actually, it was a $4.50 shoe. The pair was $9.)

God's been working on me and my attitude lately. Friday I was surprised to get an e-mail response from a coworker-friend that was a little strained. I talked with my manager, and he spoke some truth that I was totally oblivious to ... I've been coming across as rude and rather insensitive to two people in a specific department lately. :( I've been pushing a proofreading issue to them and they finally had enough, I guess. The more I thought about it and talked through it (and prayed!), I realized I've been pushing the wrong issue. I thought I was being unappreciated and ignored because of what was happening, and so I kept bringing up a certain problem. The ladies of the department did appreciate the proofreading I was providing to them, but not the way I was presenting it. I e-mailed them both on Friday to apologize and said that I'd like to talk to them more and hopefully find some ways to communicate better.

Carol (another coworker) has said all along that it's not what you commuincate, it's HOW you communicate, and she is so right. (I call her our wise office sage.) And I was SO surrounded by it all weekend, too. Sunday Pastor Paul preached about speaking the truth in love. He said all truth is harsh and hurtful, while all love is gushy and not necessarily helpful. It's important to find the right balance of truth and love. Then Sunday during Sunday School a lady apologized for pushing an issue where she thought she was right and that her way had to be the only way; she said she realized later she was wrong for forcing her way. Then Sunday night (I told you I was surrounded!) we were talking in small group about love and respect and one of the people in the group reminded us of a quote from early in the book we read. The quote was from the author's wife, and she said something to her husband like, "You may be right, but at the top of your voice, you are wrong." She was saying that it's HOW he was communicating that was hurting her, not what he was saying. That's where I was wrong, and I was totally blind to it, too. I was upset and frustrated that I was being ignored and unappreciated (as I perceived it), which was not true.

I know I have a long way to go in terms of interpersonal relationships. I'm so thankful for the friends who love me unconditionally! And honestly, I'm glad for the friends/coworkers/fellow church people who grate my nerves some times and I'm glad for the people whose nerves I grate and they tell me. I'm not perfect, that's for sure, and we all need shaping and molding in personality and communication.

And just for clarification, I AM NOT PREGNANT. :) Yes, I did post below that we are thinking about adding a sibling for Katrina, but not necessarily this very moment. I'll let you know when we're pregnant. We're not now. (It was so embarrassing! On Friday when I went to my boss for advice, I jokingly started the conversation with, "I'm not pregnant." And he said, "Ahh. I was going to ask. I heard a rumor." WHAT?!?! He may have been teasing, but still. I was so embarrassed!)

I better post this before Blogger decides to short curcuit and lose everything I've written. I leave you with this: fall family pictures. If you live in the Frederick area, give Sarah Spielvogel a call. She's great! (Leah, even though you don't quite live in Frederick, I bet she would head down your way. Think of the fun pictures she could take of your boys!)

Updated Gallery

Check out new photos in the gallery:

August 2006 - http://xar.us/gallery/August-2006

September 2006 - http://xar.us/gallery/September-2006

October 2006 - http://xar.us/gallery/October-2006
(October includes pictures from this weekend of Katrina in her bunny costume and playing pool.)

BIG NEWS!!

I've had this post floating around in my head for almost two weeks now. I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally share the news. (Leah, I'm sorry if you heard it from Laura first - I've been meaning to call you!)

Our big news is ... Katrina is walking!! Finally! :) She basically just stood up and walked one day. Elaine, our regular daycare provider, was closed on Columbus Day, so Laura graciously watched Katrina for us. Laura IMed me about an hour after I dropped off Katrina and said, "You didn't tell me your daughter is walking." I replied, "She didn't tell me she is walking!!" Laura said Katrina sat watching her homeschool Cayden, slid to the edge of the furniture, stood up, and walked over to them. Yay!!!!! I was beginning to think Katrina was going to be the only 5-year old to crawl into kindergarten. Okay, maybe not that drastic, but she was four days shy of being 17-months old when she finally decided to walk. We were getting some pressure from the pediatrician to start her in physical therapy, since she wasn't walkng by 15-months. It's funny, in a way. Since she waited so long to walk, she's really good at it. I mean, she still stumbles every now and then, but she mastered leaning over to pick up things about two days after she started walking. Now she toddles around the house, picks up imaginary pieces of dirt from the floor, and brings them to me.

She is also talking a lot more in the last two weeks. I wonder if she was concentrating so hard on walking that talking kind of came in second place. Now that she's walking with ease, she's started saying at least three new words this week alone. She says "shoe-shoe" for both shoes and socks, "okay" even when she doesn't mean it, and the dreaded "no." But she doesn't speak "no" and mean it ... if you ask her if she loves you, she'll say "no" then smile. If she really doesn't want something, she still shakes her head no. And she's nodding now, too! This is such a fun age.

I'm pondering another child. Katrina is 17 months old. I have a Mirena IUD, so if I had it removed now, we'd want to wait approximately 3 months before trying to get pregnant again. (Assuming I get pregnant right away, which my doctor assures me I shouldn't have problems getting pregnant. She (my doctor) refers to me as "Fertile Myrtle" since I got pregnant on birth control.) So Katrina would be 29-ish months (2 1/2) when the baby came. Ryan and I have talked about having our kids three (3) years apart, but that seems so far away right now. Of course, I still haven't figured out what I want to do when I grow up (work/stay at home/get ordained/do it all), so adding another child to the equation probably wouldn't be a good idea right now.

Yikes! It's past 10:30 and I have to work tomorrow. Ryan is in Colorado but comes home tomorrow ... I'm so glad!! I want to get into work early (well, earlier than I have been recently) so I can get home and make dinner for when he gets home from the airport.

Also, please pray for our friends Leah and Mark. Leah e-mailed last night to say:

So we just heard from Mark's mom that his older cousin, Judy, was killed in a car accident this afternoon. Her husband was with her and is in critical condition in the hospital. They were on their way from their home in eastern Colorado to Pueblo where their Grandma, aunts/uncles, and Judy's sister lives. They have two boys, a 19-year-old who is in Iraq and a 16-year-old at home. Seems like she was in her mid to late 40s. Please pray for them and for Rory's recovery.

I love my Marte.

We're working on getting IM to work for a video chat. I love my Marte! :)

I saw a sign tonight that made me think of Erika Upchurch. It read,

FREE
HIGHS PEE
INTERNET

Obviously someone with a rather immature sense of humor was having fun with "Free Highspeed Internet" ... although I did have to read it a few times to understand it.

(The sign was at a hotel. That's why I thought of Erika.)

Katrina peed AND pooped in her potty chair tonight!! Yay!

Random Concerns

Ryan and I have noticed an interesting habit of Katrina's lately. When it's time for bed, we get her in pajamas, brush her teeth, turn on a CD, and lay her in bed. And she is instantly quiet ... doesn't make a peep. At first we thought, "What a great baby! We are so blessed." Friends would comment on how she goes to sleep so quietly. But now we're noticing that she's almost ... scared. Zombie like. Tonight I walked in her room to replace the trash can (Sunday's trash night at our house) and she was laying in her crib with her eyes open. She used to sit up in bed if she was awake and one of us walked in, but now she just lays there. (Lies there? I never remember the difference.) Ryan commented on it yesterday. He put her down for a nap and she instantly was silent once she was in her bed. We don't know if it's her personality coming out, or if she's overly tired and is exhausted by bedtime. Or if it's something in response to naptime at Elaine's (her daycare provider).

Speaking of, we've noticed that it sounds like Katrina is saying sh*t. As in, "Oh, sh*t." I know I say "shoot" a lot, so maybe she's repeating that. One thing is for sure, we don't say the other word! I suspect if she is saying the swear word that she's picking it up at the babysitter, but I don't know for sure.

Sundays are now FOOTBALL days at our house. This is the time that I say we have no social life ... for sixteen weeks we leave immediately after church to get home for the one o'clock kickoff. Here's a fun picture of Katrina and Daddy watching football tonight:


(Yes, she's wearing dinosour pajamas. Daddy got them for her.)

And she PEED in the potty tonight!! Yay!!!!! I didn't take any pictures of that, though. :) We, okay, I, read a great book called Early Start Potty Training by Linda Sonna. It talks a lot about potty training from infancy, which I'm not into, but has a great section on potty training young toddlers (15 - 18 month old), which does interest me. The sooner Katrina is out of diapers, the happier we will be!

(No, she's not walking yet. She's close, though! She started standing up on her own more. Hopefully unassisted steps will soon follow.)

Ummmmm, that's about it. It's almost 11:30 p.m.! I need to carry the recycling down to the end of the lane and go to bed! Goodnight. :)

M-i-c-k-e-y ....

Found a great deal for a Disney vacation. Anybody interested in going? Maybe if somebody else wants to go, then I can convince Ryan. :)

Sadness.

Ackerman, Phylicia

Phylicia Ackerman -- Bradley

Visitation for Phylicia Karrin Ackerman, 8, of Bradley, will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the First Church of the Nazarene, Kankakee, where services will be held at noon Friday. Dr. Edward Heck and Rev. Cindi Schimmelpfennig will officiate.

Burial will be in All Saints Cemetery, Bourbonnais. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Phylicia Fund. She died Monday (Aug. 28, 2006) at her home. Kankakee Chapel of the Schreffler Funeral Homes is in charge of arrangements.

She was born Jan. 21, 1998, in Kankakee, the daughter of Bert Phillip and Teresa Karen O'Brien Ackerman. Phylicia was a student at Bradley East Grade School. For her 8th birthday, she organized the "Give the Kids the World Village" fundraiser through the First Church of the Nazarene, where she was a member. Her favorite movie was "The Wizard of Oz" and her favorite colors were pink, green and purple. She loved American Girl dolls. She enjoyed playing dress-up, swimming, going to Navy Pier, the Chicago White Sox and her Disney princess collection.

Surviving besides her parents of Bradley, are one brother, Zachary Phillip Ackerman at home; aunts, Becky and Rev. Tim Casey of Carol Stream, Joanne O'Brien of Petersburg, Alicia and Brad Lackner of Springfield; uncles, Dr. John and Carol Lisa O'Brien of Griggsville, Dr. Terry and Stacey O'Brien of Petersburg, Chris and Trish O'Brien of Bourbonnais, Dr. Dan and Bethany O'Brien of Peoria; maternal grandmother, Diane O'Brien of Petersburg; maternal great-grandmother, Frances Hinrichs of Oak Park; paternal grandmother, Phyllis Ackerman of Chicago Ridge; and numerous cousins.

Preceding her in death were one brother, Christian Jacob Ackerman; aunt, Debbie Ackerman; maternal grandfather, Dr. Terrance O'Brien; paternal grandfather, Albert Ackerman; paternal great-grandmother, Mabel Martin; and maternal great-grandparents, John and Alice O'Brien.

Phylicia's family would like to thank all the doctors and staff at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Joliet Hospice and the First Church of the Nazarene in Kankakee.

Please sign her guestbook at schrefflerfuneralhome.com.

DS Lite

Gah. So I got Ryan the DS for his birthday/anniversary and gave it to him on ... late Wednesday night (that's when he gave me his anniversary present to me). I'm TERRIBLE at waiting to give gifts, and I knew I couldn't wait a stinking week to give him his b-day gift. Plus I semi-suspected that he was going to get me a DS for my birthday (he tends to give me gifts he wants) and I wasn't going to let him ruin another gift (like the time I got him a PS2 and he got it from Sycamore, or the time I got him a glass chess set and he got one from friends, etc. etc.). I also purchased Brain Age, because I thought we'd both like it. Ryan made fun of me for getting excited when the game wished me a happy birthday today, but I thought it was fun. Anyway, long story short, it's nearly 11:00 p.m. and he's awake playing Brain Age!!! In fact, he just showed me where he beat me at something and it said, "You did better than Lexa today!" What have I done?!?!

Stupid husbands beating me at a brain game. Er, husband. I have only one.

On another random note, do you all use MySpace? It's funny, really. I made a profile awhile back when my April told me she used it, but not much happened ... only a few people 'asked' to be my friend (mostly Apey's sisters and Trish and Marte; and Tom ... who the heck is Tom?!). But now all the sudden all kinds of people are asking to be my friend!! Er, well, it's people I know, like from high school and Olivet, but still, it's weird. Oh, well. :)

Can you name 21 people you think of right off the top of your head? This means, do them at random. Don't read the questions underneath until you write the names of all 21 people.


*this is a lot funnier if you actually list the names first!! No cheating!!!*



1. Ryan
2. Katrina
3. Trish
4. Sidra
5. Ma
6. Leea
7. Lalena
8. Davis
9. Carol
10. Mel
11. Donna
12. Donna (from preschool)
13. Ginny Quay
14. Ted Quay
15. Allison Paradise
16. Jenn (Trish's sister)
17. Gail
18. Carl
19. Shawna
20. Bobby
21. Laura Reynolds

Now answer the questions according to the names listed below
THE QUESTIONS:

How did you meet 10?
She works for Sycamore - I first met her at a Syc event.

What would you do if you had never met 6?
I don't think I can really answer that since she is my sister.

What would you do if 20 and 15 dated?
Whoa. That would be weird. Bobby might not be my brother-in-law, then!

Have you ever seen 4 cry?
I'm pretty sure I have. (I miss you, Marte!)

Would 4 and 12 make a good couple?
Uh, no.

Would number 1 and 2 make a good couple?
That would be incest.

Describe number 8
Cute as a kitten, a little crabby in her older age. Likes to lash out at small children.

Do you like 12?
Not really. She's the main reason I quit teaching.

Do you think 21 is attractive:
I like her freckles and red hair.

Tell something about 17.
She is an amazing woman of God. I'm blessed to have her as a mother-in-law and as Katrina's grandma. What a heritage!

What's 7's favorite color?
It was purple, when we were younger.

What would you do if 1 just confessed they liked you?
Probably be shocked, but only because that's not like Ryan to say stuff like that. :)

When was the last time you talked to number 19?
This morning!! She and Gail and Carl just left this morning after staying at our house for a week.

What language does 13 speak?
English. And medical-ese. (She works in a doctor's office, I think.)

Who is 2 going out with?
Better be nobody! She's too young!!

What grade is 16 in?
I think she's done with school.

What is 5's favorite music?
Ma likes Peter, Paul and Mary; Neil Diamond; Michael Crawford; etc.

Would you ever date number 7?
She's my sister!!

Would you ever date 1?
Ype - we're going on a date tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.

Is 11 single?
Npe, she's married. Multiple times.

What is 10s last name?
Wilson

Would you ever want to be in a serious relationship with 3?
If you mean dating her, heck no! That's gross! (No offense.)

Where does 18 live?
With number 17.

What do you think about 20?
He's so much like Ryan that it's scary.

What is the best thing about 4?
If this world runs out of lovers, we'll still have each other.

What would you like to tell 14 right now?
Get better soon! (He just had double-bypass surgery this morning.)

where did you meet 9?
She's also a Sycamore employee. I'm sure I met her at a Syc event when Ryan and I were dating, but I don't remember which one. Now I can't imagine not talking to her every day!

Are you going to know 15 forever!?
I suppose so. She's been on my mind all day today - the girl gang has been e-mailing back and forth today about Homecoming.

Irritation.

Yipee!!!

The pediatrician just called and Katrina's lab results for this month are in ... her iron levels are rising and the celiac tests came back negative!!

A Love of Bananas

This is what happens when I leave our daughter alone for a few moments.


I was back in the computer room looking up an address and Katrina was playing in the living room, or so I thought. I came back to find her with a pair of bananas in her hands. Upon closer inspection, I found that she had already eaten half of one of the bananas ... peel and all! She loves bananas and most fruit, especially nectarines and mangoes. (More about the mangoes later.) Yesterday morning she ate two whole nectarines by herself, yet she doesn't like peaches. I love peaches! I don't get how she can like nectarines but not peaches.

I posted some other recent pictures of Katrina here: http://xar.us/gallery/Katrina-14-months-July-2006

We got some couches at Costco this weekend! Er, well, a couch and a loveseat. They are dark brown leather - for the basement. Now I just have to convince Ryan that the walls would look good if painted orange. :) And we also got a Love Sac! It's a funny name for a huge bean bag. We got it in a medium brown suede cover so that it will coordinate with the basement couches and the living room furniture (which are a sage-y green color).

After I took the bananas away from Katrina and looked for something else for her to eat, she reached in the grocery sack on the floor and found a mango. And proceeded to eat it, flesh and all, too. She loves to eat the lemon wedges that come as garnish at restaurants and will often eat the whole thing - fruit and rind. I guess it's time we teach her to peel her fruit first. :)

A trip to LabCorp

I took Katrina to the pediatrician for a weight check on Wednesday, as well as a follow-up iron test. Katrina's complete blood count (CBC) last month showed her iron levels were low, and the lead test came back with elevated levels (she scored an 8.5; at 10 the EPA investigates your house ... in comparison, a coworker's son scored 2.0). So she was due for an iron recheck and the nurse said they could do it in office. I had plenty of hours from last week and took Wednesday afternoon off. What a day.

Katrina now weighs 19 lbs 6 oz, meaning she has gained just about a pound in two months. The pediatrician ordered a couple of other tests, in addition to the CBC. LabCorp (the lab covered by our insurance) drew four vials of blood from our poor baby ... tests include determining if Katrina's body makes the protein needed to carry iron in her bloodstream, as well as a couple of antibody tests to determine if she has celiac or another type of autoimmune disease. I'm hoping we'll hear the results today so we don't have to wait over the weekend.

The visit to LabCorp was almost humorous. Katrina did fine during the draw. She fussed only a little and sighed, but that was it. All heck broke loose, though, when the technician removed the needle. Katrina freaked out and jerked her arm away. The tech placed a piece of gauze on the draw site with a band-aid and Katrina ripped it off and threw it to the ground! At this point blood was going every where (from the baby jerking her arm around). I couldn't hold her still, she was jerking and flailing so much! The worst part was when the technician gave Katrina a sticker that said, "I'm a brave patient!" ... and Katrina threw it in the technician face. I was so embarrassed!!

Oh, yeah ... and Katrina is 14 months old (as of yesterday!) and can still wear size 3 - 6 months clothing. We have friends whose babies were born wearing size 3 - 6 month and went to 6 - 9 month clothing at 8 weeks. Today Katrina is wearing a top I bought for her last summer (size 3 - 6 months) that was too big for her all last summer. It finally fits her now, although it's still a little big around the straps (it's a tank top/sleeveless blouse).

There was an EARWIG on my toothbrush tonight. I. Hate. Earwigs. Intensely. Extremely. Pure hatred. They would appear out of nowhere in the big piles of laundry we had to do my first summer of Conferences. Sooooooo groooooooooosssssssssss.

Earwigs and other things I hate (but not JB - I don't hate her!)

Welcome home, Daddy!

Yay!!! Ryan just called to say he's in the car on his way home from the airport. I'm SO happy! I've missed him like crazy, and I think Katrina has, too. He's been gone basically since June 11, save a 12-hour stretch one Thursday night to Friday morning. Three weeks is a long time to be gone, darn it!!

We made a banner to greet Ryan when he gets home. It says "Welcome Home, Daddy!" and has handprints of Katrina and the two cats. Surprisingly, Avery was a lot more cooperative than Davis! Davis dashed off as soon as I let go, so I'm finding pink cat paw prints all over the house. And Avery's pawprint is one big hairy blob. :)

EDIT: Argh. I'm trying to add some photos and our upload speed is bottom slow.

I gave up on trying to get the pictures in here and posted them to our picture gallery instead. You can see them here.

Famous Last Words

Mine:

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"Nice doggy."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

I made a few guesses and this is what it said Ryan's famous last words will be:

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"I dunno, press the button and find out."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

Too funny. :)

Hee hee. Sorry, Marte!! :) (Davis gets around a lot more than I realized she did! She must lead a secret life while I'm at work.)

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Shawna Rushing is your soulmate.

You truly love Laura Yanchick.

You consider Bobby Rushing your true friend.

You know that Sara Taylor is always thinking of you.

You'll remember Cayden Reynolds for the rest of your life.

You secretly think Ryan Herbert is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times.

You secretly think that Me is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker.

You secretly think that Sidra Schkerke is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Sidra Schkerke changes lovers faster than underwear.

You secretly think Davis is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Davis has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

Try this... it's fun (and interesting)!!

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

5th sentence: "I know."
2nd sentence is much more interesting out of context: I nodded and told Sue what Malachi had said about the chicken being the sacrifice and the eggs being only an offering.

This crazy life.

Life is a wee bit crazy right now. Ryan is out of town (in Colorado Springs, for work) until July 3rd. I have a huge-must-win-or-the-future-of-the-company-is-at-stake proposal due July 10th. Ryan wasn't actually supposed to come home until later, but he worked it out with someone so that he can be home the week before the proposal is due. Ryan's mom and sisters are familiar with what the week before a proposal is like for me. They were out here to visit last summer right before the State Department prop was due ... I think I saw them once. Many long days and late nights at the office.

I thought I would be fine this week working at the office during the day and working some at home in the evenings (on my new work laptop!), but it's tougher than I thought it would be. So the niece of a friend from church is going to watch Katrina for me tomorrow night while I work late at the office, and Thursday night for a bit while I work from home.

(Did I mention that Ryan is gone until next Monday? And that he's working 12-hour shifts out in Colorado Springs? And that he's working midnights ... 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.? Yeah. It stinks, big time.)

Not much else is new. I totally forgot about a children's ministry meeting Saturday morning. And when I got there, Pastor Paul was finishing going over his list of twelve things he'd like to see happen. I'm sure he didn't mean it this way, but I kind of took it as a performance review ... as in, these are the things that I should be doing and I'm not. The fact that he told them to everybody else at the meeting before me tells me he didn't intend it as a list of what I'm doing wrong. I think I just took it wrong because a) I'm tired; b) I had Katrina with me and was distracted; and c) I was super embarrassed about being late to the meeting.

July 7, 8, and 9th is Holy Land Adventure, this year's VBS at our church. And I feel totally underprepared, as usual. I don't know what it is about me lately. I feel like I'm not able to do what I need to do well because I'm pulled in so many directions (work, church, home), yet I struggle to let go of anything and let someone else do it. Am I that much of a control freak? Am I that worried about looking like a failure because I can't do it all?

Now that I'm rambling on and on, I'll leave you with a few pictures of our cutie. :) I had to laugh and slightly grimmace earlier this evening. I was reading a friend's website about their daughter born right before Christmas. She just turned six months old ... and she weighs more than Katrina! She weighs 19 lbs 5 oz. Katrina (yes, at 13.5 months as of tomorrow) has weighed 19 lbs even for about a month now. She randomly weighs 19.5 or even 20.0 lbs on our bathroom scale, but that always after eating and with a full/wet diaper. *sigh* One of these days she'll catch up. Or maybe she'll be a tall skinny volleyball player model person who loves Jesus.

Here are some recent pictures from playing in the yard.

**edit** Stupid pictures not posting the first time. Let's try it again.

This was actually the Friday after we got back from vacation a few weeks ago.
I worked from home that day ... I guess I wore the baby out! (Hey! THIS is that outfit I posted about earlier ... she's obviously a girl, don't you think?!)

Simon and Laura got Katrina a baby swing for her birthday, and she LOVES it!
Daddy took this picture - her first ride in her new swing.

Here she is playing in the back yard last week. Note the insanse about of ivy we have instead of grass. It's good for crawling around in, though. Look, Ma!, Katrina says. No Army crawl for me! :) Maybe, just maybe, she's getting closer to walking?

And finally, yes, Auntie Shawna, your niece ate another stick. :)

"Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Some people run countries; some people run errands."

~ Pastor Chad Clardie

I knew it wouldn't last

Katrina went to bed so easy last night. We read a book, rocked a little bit, then I laid her down in her crib. Last night she looked at me, smiled, and closed her eyes. Not a peep from her!

Tonight, however, is a different story. Katrina is standing in her crib, wailing and sobbing. Note to self: teaching her to stand in her crib was a bad idea. It's cute and all in the mornings to go in and see her standing up, waiting for us to get her, but it's not so cute when she stands and wails at night when she's supposed to be sleeping.

... 20 minutes later ...

Ahh, sweet peace. I went in and rocked with her. I guess she needed a little more cuddle-time or something.

Kim!!!

So I'm working on stuff for the Children's Day Service (this Sunday ... nothing like last minute, eh?) and one of the things the website suggests is emphasizing NAZJAM in Pennsylvania next month. I'm scrolling down the page when I see ... Kim Koneecheewacchee! Okay, so that's not really her last name, but I can't remember how to spell it. And it was her maiden name, anyway. Now she's Kim Bobb (Ryan's gonna have a ball with that one). She lived on my floor in Nesbitt. And she's the speaker at NAZJAM this year! Too funny. Here's the page where you can see her picture ... just scroll down.

Stupid nosy people

We went to a birthday party for a friend's 2 year-old tonight, and while there, somebody asked me if I'm pregnant. Stupid person.

(It didn't help that I had a huge temper tantrum just before we left because none of my clothes fit me and I hate my body and blah blah blah.)

Grr.

*Edit*

Okay, now I can see why she asked. I was wearing this same shirt. I look so fat in this picture! Ugh.

Enlarging our family

I talked to Ryan's cousin Greg's wife Karalin tonight. Er, let's simplify - my friend Karalin. :) Their little boy Davy just turned three and their youngest Nathan is just a few days older than Katrina. Time flies way too fast. That means Bree (Michael and Becky's little girl) is just about to turn three, also. It seems like it was just yesterday that Davy and Bree joined the family ... and now Nathan and Katrina are one!

Karalin said that pre-haircut, Nathan was often mistaken for a girl. I had to laugh, because Katrina is mistaken for a boy nine-times-out-of-ten, even when wearing obviously girl clothing (probably due to lack of hair). In fact, it happened twice tonight at the grocery store. The first time was pretty quick - just a passing stranger saying 'Hi there, little guy!" to Katrina. The second instance happened something like this (I kid you not) ...

Stranger Man walks by and says - "Hello, son!"
Katrina (dressed in denim overalls, yes, but with a white t-shirt with pink and purple flowers all over) - sitting in the cart - "Hi! Hi! Hi hi hi hi!" (she's been saying 'hi' a lot since we got back from vacation)
Stranger Man - "You sure do have blue eyes, little boy."
Stranger Man's wife, as they walk away - "I think that was a little girl."
Stranger Man (looking back at us, not noticing the dirty looks I'm shooting him) - "What? Nah. That's a boy. She just dresses him funny."

HELLO! Do I need to drop Katrina's diaper to show you we have a DAUGHTER?! Bah.

Whoa, it's almost midnight! Time for bed.

First of the pictures

The first day or so of our vacation pictures are up! Ryan will be adding the rest to the gallery soon. Check them out here.

Vacationing

Man, I'm terrible at posting lately. We're on vacation now. I'm sitting on the patio at a bed and breakfast, Ryan is pushing Katrina is a hammock, and Trish and Chris are talking on the other side of the pool. Vacation is good. :)

Today has not been uneventful, though. Below is an e-mail Ryan sent to his folks. We found out by accident today that Katrina is allergic to egg whites. Here's what he said...

We're in Canada now.  Trish and Chris' flight was delayed, but we went to
the hotel and checked in, and then I drove back to the airport to pick
them up.  We're in a bed and breakfast now, and it's really nice.

This morning, we had breakfast in a restaurant near our hotel, and we got
Katrina some wheat toast and some scrambled eggs.  When we were finishing
up eating, we noticed some red spots around her mouth.  As time went on,
the redness was spreading across her face up to her eyes, and some of the
spots on her mouth were turning white like hives.  We got directions to
the nearest immediate care place and took her there right away - if it
kept getting worse, I was afraid that it might make her throat swell and
make it hard for her to breathe.  But by the time we got to the office
(about a half hour after we first noticed it), it was getting better, and
by the time we saw the doctor, there was only a little redness around her
eyes remaining.  He said to get some children's Benedryl to have just in
case and to not give her anything else that might have eggs in it while
we're in Canada, since the reaction may escalate.  She's better now, and
has been drinking a lot of water and has been pretty happy for not getting
her regular naps, so we're trying to get her to take a nap now and she
isn't happy about that.

We'll try to keep you posted - we should have Internet access at the rest
of the hotels while we're out here.  I took about 120 pictures at the
Butterfly Conservatory today, so I'm going to have to buy another memory
card to store all of the pictures (and the one that I have is a 1GB card).
Talk to you later!

Okay, time for me to go. Katrina is signing 'more' like crazy ... she loves swinging! I'm going to take some pictures of Daddy and baby. Hope you all are doing well!

A Great Article

I have a dear friend going through a tough time in her marriage. I've continually struggled with the thought of separation/divorce/remarriage. Er, the idea of other people doing it and the spiritual ramifications - not me thinking about leaving Ryan!! Anyway, we were talking today and my friend shared this article with me.

A Woman in Pain

If you have a moment, hit 'comment' and post a reply - I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

Our baby said "butt" today.

Yes, it's true. She said her first Lexpletive today. (A Lexpletive is a word that I hate ... and there is a list of them.) We were shopping in Wal-Mart and Katrina reached for the buttons on my dress. I said, rather distracted by searching for an item, "You're playing with Mommy's buttons." And she very plainly said, "Butt. Buuuutttt."

What is this world coming to?!!

A neighbor's house is on fire. :( Not our neighbors like next-door or across the road. It's a house that we can see when we look out our front window, up the hill toward Braddock Heights and Middletown. We heard several sirens and then one very close, so we walked outside and saw it. It's huge. :( I pray no one is injured.

CNN Newsworthy

Well, Frederick made CNN again. Hood College Homecoming

Please pray.

We just got news that the brother of a friend from church was in a bad accident at work. Here is what her e-mail says:

I just received word that my brother, Karl, was in an accident at his work. He has the thrilling job of making and displaying fireworks. The building he was making them in today has exploded for some reason. My brother and another man have been burned. There is still one man missing and he may not have been in the building at the time. Anyway, Karl, was flown to Buffalo at their shock trauma with burns over his entire body. I do not know the extent of his burns at this moment. I am asking for prayer for my family as we look at what the future holds for my brother and his family. The other man is at the local hospital. As soon as I know more I will try to update this message. I am just asking for prayer. We will be leaving for New York soon.

Update: I just got a call that my brother and the other man will not make it through the night. We are going to New York now and not sure when we will return. Pray for our witness to other family members.

-- Dawn