Thoughts/Gummy Bear Update

Here we go back to music again, but I have been listening to this older Sugarland CD and I have really been enjoying it for a lot of different song reasons, but one in particular has really touched me lately. It is called "Happy Ending", there is one verse that points out that people come from all walks of life and we all have dreams even as young children. It reminds me that it is very important to not push aside the dreams of children (or anyone else) for any reason. We know the odds of becoming the next world-changing leader or even professional sports players are low, but you know what...those were all little kids that grew up with a dream too and they followed it and saw it come to fruition. The song goes:

Cowboys ride into sunsets
The good guy always gets the girl
Cinderella has just fit
A glass slipper that changed her world

We all know the story
We all know the fairy tales
We all get the glory
Of making it for ourselves

From the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending
Every dream of winning every love we've been in
Right from the beginning, we're looking for a happy ending

We've come here with nothing
And take it with us the day we leave
The first and last breath don't matter
It's all the ones that are in between

It's the reason for living
It's the reason the caged bird sings
It's why we see it in the movies
All the way to the closing scenes

From the beginning
We're all looking for a happy ending
Every dream of winning, every love we've been in
Right from the beginning, we're looking for a happy ending

And for all those dreamers who have come and gone
Who have reached for the stars, who have overcome
You're the hope, you're the wish, you're the truth
Baby, here's the proof:

Baby's born in a ghetto (background "I have a dream speech" spoken by MLK)
Baby's born with a silver spoon (background recording of the first lunar landing)
One tells his mama, "I have a dream"
One tells his mama, "I walk the moon"

I guess I am thinking about this more moving further into this pregnancy. It actually makes me think more about Garth Lee, not really daydreaming about the baby, but all of the possibilities that lay in front of our children if we work hard to help them instead of standing in their way or building obstacles or boundaries that don't really exist.

We had our "big" ultrasound today, our last with the fertility doctor and I have been released to the OB/GYN. I don't see him for another few weeks, but my RE said if I needed anything in the mean time that I could still call them. It was possible (although unlikely) that we could have found out the sex at the ultrasound today, but the umbilical cord was hanging right in between the legs, so no luck, but to be honest I wasn't expecting to find anything out today anyways. It was just pretty great to see the little "guy" jumping around in there and moving all around, it was pretty amazing and touching. The HB was right at about 170, so according to old wives tales, over 140 means girl, but the RE said she has almost never seen a HB under 140 unless it was right at about 6 or 7 weeks, so there ya go. So now we probably won't find out the sex until October...oh well a year ago, or even six months ago I would have given ANYTHING to be bummed that I have to wait a short month or 2 to find out the sex of our baby. We are so blessed in so many ways. They recorded the ultrasound on video (VHS) and if we can find out a way (I've been told it is possible), hopefully we can put it on something else so I can post it here--but that would require quite a bit of technological know-how and a lot of unkowns, so only time will tell if that actually happens ;)

So I added a fuzzy cellphone camera picture I took of one of the ultrasound pictures. In all honesty, that is probably the closest thing we will get to the video on the blog ;)

First Day of School

Thank goodness for cellphone cameras...notice the sleepy eyes in the first picture. I think that is what we are going to have to work on the most (besides eating cafeteria lunches) is the whole getting up in the morning. Up until this point I have felt blessed with a child that sleeps in, which subsequently allows mommy and daddy to sleep in which is nice...until you HAVE to get up for something, then not so nice when all you want to do is curl up back in bed and that is all he is doing too. I can't complain too much, once he is actually out of the bed he does pretty well, it is just getting him out of the bed that is the hard part.

Garth Lee is going to Honey Elementary. His Kindergarten teacher is Mrs. Scoggin and he really seems to like her a lot. Garth and I both got a bit choked up at the open house when we saw his little name on his locker and saw his classroom, but I was OK the first day of school. My mom and I walked over to pick him up after school the first day and I did tear up a little watching him walk out with his class and his teacher. He is having such a fun time and it is fun to see that. Everyday I get a report on the "slimy" peaches or "gross" french fries (sweet potato fries) that he has tried, but at least he is trying it, I guess. I wanted to just pack his lunches but Daddy overruled me since he feels like he really needs to learn to eat other things, even though I am sure all he is having is a milk (most likely chocolate) and maybe a bite or 2 of the main course and possibly a bite of dessert. I guess he needs to learn sometime and now is as good a time as any.

Anyways, Garth Lee is loving school and we are loving it too!

Our Little Gummy Bear

Well, we got an improptu ultrasound today because of my progesterone levels (everything was fine). Garth had to work last night and doesn't get off until 8am and the nurse wanted me to come in at 7:50 so I had to take Garth Lee with me to the doctor's office. He woke up pretty well because he was excited to see the baby in the "microscope" and we went to the doctor's office. He got to see the little baby, it was really cute, as soon as he could see my uterus on the screen, he was like "I see it" and when he saw the actual baby he said "Awww, it's so cute". I asked him if he thought it looked like a girl or a boy and he didn't say it looked like either, but I feel like it is a boy more after today's ultrasound. I'm not sure why I feel that way, I think maybe just because I remember seeing Garth Lee in an ultrasound when he was that size and so maybe I correlate it with him having been a boy...I guess only time will tell. The only thing that Garth Lee remembered from the visit and what he is telling everyone is that "There is no blood around the baby". He is right, the nurse did say that, but it is kind of gross that is what he is sharing with everyone. "He" still looks like a little gummy bear (I mean, he is still only the size of a small strawberry), but he was moving all over the place and shaking his head from side to side. The placenta is looking like it has taken over production of hormones and we could see the amniotic sac was fully formed around the baby. We have another ultrasound in 2 weeks and then we are released to a "regular" OB/GYN, so then I probably won't have another ultrasound for another 2 months, so I am enjoying it while I can. I'm glad Garth Lee got to see his little brother/sister and I am also glad there was "no blood around the baby".

Mom Of The Year

You know you're not going to win any parenting contests when...

1. A random commercial flashes on TV and your child starts singing "Nationwide is on your side" 20 or so seconds before the actual commercial sings it. (Too much TV time anyone?)

2. You ask your child to walk 20 steps to the fridge to get you a cold soda and he looks you straight in the eyes and says "Mommy, I really feel like you are taking advantage of me"--maybe not so horrible if your child is 12 or 16, but mine just turned 5 today and told me this last week.

3. You drop your credit card in a fishy smelling mall fountain and you actually try to use your kid as a fishing pole to get it out.

Come on, you know you have some too...share!

Name Them One By One...

Garth Lee's surgery went very well. I was upset a little because the anesthesiologist did not premedicate him before taking him back (an anesthesiologist friend told me that they really just need to give the versed to the parents--I certainly would have taken it). It was very sad when he was taken back away from us as he reached out for me and cried, I could barely hold myself together. The surgery took about an hour and a half (much longer than we thought it was supposed to take). When Dr. Britton came in to talk to us, he let us know that this "little" hernia was no such thing, that is was quite a complex case for him. This defect had been there since birth and it has been exposed to increasingly daredevelish acts by my well mannered although at times a little on the hyper side wonderful son. Anyway it was quite a hard repair, but he should do just fine. He woke up well and he wanted to pee more than anything because that is what everyone had told him that once he pees he can go home so that was the first thing he did was disconnect himself from everything that should be connected so that he could pee...and pee he did and almost just walked out the door when our sweet nurse caught us and told him that we would have to lay down for at least and hour and a half before we could go so we showed him on the big clock what to look for to tell him when it was time for us to go. He was very calm and quickly began the hamming up of the injury, but honestly as his mom, I thoroughly enjoyed holding my baby and my baby wanting to be with me. That's the best part. Now, less than a week later the little toot is all over the place. He is a trooper, I know that he really hated his medicine and took it anyways. He's a good and healthy boy and we are so glad that he came out of this even better than before. Thanks to everyone at the Women's and Children's hospital for being so kind and helpful. We had genuinely wonderful people taking care of us. We were quite impressed.

My Best Friend

My little family has been going through quite a lot lately, the least of which is my purse being stolen. We have also had some pretty wonderful things going on as well, unfortunately they have been overshadowed by the bad things, but you live life and move on...ANYWAYS, in any sort of turmoil you are forced to look at and scrutinize those relationships affected. Through the last while, I have realized that more than anything in this world I love my son, pretty much anyone else can come into or duck out of my life and I know that life will proceed with or without them. Not that I didn't realize that before, but I realize it now more than ever. I am learning that no matter how deeply you let things affect you, you have to do everything you can not to let other people's problems creep into your life and affect your own relationships because that gives someone else control over your life which is never a good thing.
(stepping down from soapbox)
Last night while I was laying in bed with Garth Lee (after I had asked him several times to be quiet and go to sleep), he said "Mommy, you know what I wish I was?", I said "What?", he said "A contact for you." I kind of chuckled and asked him why he would want to be my contact. He said "So you could wear me and I would always be close to you." I thought that was just about the cutest thing I had ever heard and oddly profound because without realizing it he knows that I don't see anything clearly without him to provide me the prospective I require. He is such a sweetheart and he is my life, EVERYTHING else is just small (blurry) potatoes.

No More Pictures

Well, no pictures from the trip. My purse was stolen from my car last night and among everything else monetarily valuable to me (credit cards, gift cards, and some cash), my camera was in there and was also stolen. I had started carrying it around so that I could catch some more "Kodak" moments. I also had taken pictures of the Cub Scouts bowling Wednesday night and we were going to do some stuff with the pictures in Cubs. I'm sure (hoping) it was just some punk kids, hopefully not some druggie since my State Board of Pharmacy license, my work badge and my business cards were in there, so they not only know I have access to drugs but they know my exact location and my schedule. Of course we have cancelled all of our credit cards and there haven't been any fraudulent charges. I only had about 15 bucks cash in there and that just gets me more than anything--These kids didn't even gain anything out of this, except maybe a camera with pictures from the Grand Canyon and of lots of little kids having a good time, they just wanted to break into someones car and steal something. There was a $50 bill in the console right beside the purse that was still there. Seriously, who does that kind of thing. I'm still really upset about it and I am usually a private person in a lot of ways and I feel really violated. It was also the Mickey Mouse purse I got at Disney World (I know it sounds really "classy" but it really was a cute little bag) so that really bums me out too. Also, something that might be good to know, the divisions of the police department that investigates burglary and identification in this town are not open on the weekends. I guess during regular business hours you are good, but after that you are on your own.