It's the Simple Things

Okay, okay, Heather, I'm finally updating my blog. Ha, ha! I know it's been forever since I've updated everyone about what's been going on. Things have been extremely busy here the last couple of weeks. My last day at work was January 12th and I have been going nonstop ever since. Since Grant was still in daycare during my first week off I decided to take advantage of my kid-free time and clean, organize, clean, organize, and clean some more. Heather and Trevor, you guys were such a big help - thanks for everything. You're great friends. As bad as shape as my house was in a week wasn't long enough to get it all done so I'm still doing the same this week with Grant underfoot.

Last week Grant and I took a trip to South Point for the week. It was definitely fun and we enjoyed seeing everyone. It went by so fast. We got to spend Sunday afternoon with Kim, Brianna and Ethan but by the next day Ethan had the flu so we couldn't go around anymore - bummer. Kim, I hope you had a great birthday last week. Sorry we didn't get to spend more time together. Did you get the Waltons 3rd season on dvd yet? Ha, ha! My sister is hooked on the Waltons and has gotten the kids and Eric pretty hooked as well. I think it's hilarious.

Grant survived a whole week back home without getting sick. I was shocked and relieved to say the least. Hopefully being out of daycare will keep him well for a while. During his whole first year it seemed like he was constantly sick - poor buddy.

While we were home last week Grant learned some new words. Let's see... um... "papaw," "baaa" (what the sheep says), and there was another one but I can't remember right now. How terrible am I? Plus, for the last couple of weeks he has learned to say "please," well, "fa-fa" anyway. Don't ask me, I'm just as confused as you, but it is so cute and hilarious. We figure he got "fa-fa" from when Chris was trying to teach him to say please when he wanted something, so Chris was slowly sounding out the P in "please." He's such a hoot. He makes me laugh everyday. I'm excited to be able to spend so much time with my little guy. I just hope he takes the transition(s) well.

Baby Ben (oh yes, we have decided to name him Benjamin Mitchell) has been moving around quite a bit since I have limited my intake of Benadryl to one a day or none at all (for the last 2 days). All my blood work was negative for anything to do with a liver dysfunction and they had no other idea what it could be other than some strange food allergy or something. So, the more I thought about it and what I had eaten leading up to and during my horrible itching spells I thought I'd try to eliminate tomatoes from my diet. I did this for 7 days and it drastically reduced the itching. Because I love ketchup, spaghetti, and pizza (of course I had to eat Giovanni's last week - twice) so much I still eat it but I try not to overdo it so I won't have an attack. I've gone the last two days without a major attack, just a little itching here and there but I have gone without a Benadryl.

I was at Steph's house the other day and she asked me what it felt like for me to have one kid on my lap and another moving around inside me at the same time. I suppose it just feels normal now. I'm starting to anticipate Ben's arrival, although I'm much more patient this time around since I know I'll have a full plate with 2. I've been working on the nursery and trying to get it in some order before Tristen comes next week. I'm doing the nursery in old, antique type toys. Good idea mom! I still have so much to do around the house before everything goes full swing on the 5th. I'm excited about my new adventure. I have another ultrasound on Thursday the 1st so we're excited to see how Ben has grown.

Anyway, hopefully everyone will still e-mail me from time to time and update me about what is going on in their lives since I'm kind of out of circuit now. Please, keep in touch. I will need some adult interaction to stay sane. Ha, ha!

It's very cold here today - where's the stinking snow?

Have a great week everybody!

Hugs and love,

Jen, Chris, Grant, and Ben

I thought I'd sit down for a minute and type an update to my blog. As I'm typing this, Grant is standing outside the office door dancing to his kids cd that mom gave to him. He loves it. I think he's going to be quite musical like Chris. We just finished up lunch (spaghetti - yum, yum) and Grant's been playing in his room alone. For the last week or so he would hardly go play by himself and whined for us to come with him to his room where most of his toys are. Aunt Kim suggested playing a cd in his room for him. Well, let me just say that it has worked like a charm. Chris bought a cheap cd player at Wal-Mart the other night and it has been bliss ever since. Grant will point at the cd player and grunt at me until I turn it on. Once the music starts, so does his little butt. He certainly likes to dance and show us his moves. I suppose the music helps him not to feel so alone. He's been staying in his room for a few minutes at a time just playing by himself. This will definitely come in handy when I have two more babies to take care of as well as Grant.

This pregnancy has been a breeze so far. I would go so far as to say that it has been going even better than my pregnancy with Grant, which was pretty uneventful other than the swelling. But... Thursday night I started itching... and haven't stopped since! It's unbearable! I called my doctor's office on Friday because I remember reading somewhere about pregnancy and intense itching not being such a great thing. Well, let me just say that it isn't. My doctor wasn't in on Friday so I talked with the on-call doctor's nurse. Apparently, the on-call doc wanted me to come in that day for blood work so they could do a liver function test. They were pretty vague with me on the phone and didn't say much other than to say that I needed to have the blood completed. So, of course, I went searching for answers on the internet. The only thing I can find that talks about very intense itching (especially on the feet and hands like I have) is something called cholestasis. It's a liver dysfunction that causes bile acid to overflow into the bloodstream causing the itching. It's very rare and definitely not a good thing to have. There were some pretty serious complications associated with this condition. I spoke with my doctor's nurse today and she was pretty vague as well, other than to say that we'd have to wait on my blood work to come back, which will take 3-5 business days. Eek. I don't like to wait, but I suppose I have no other choice. I'm praying that it doesn't turn out to be cholestasis, but the itching hasn't let up at all. Benadryl seems to help take the edge off, but in turn it has caused Baby Ben not to move as much. The nurse told me that it would slow him down just like it does me, but that it wouldn't hurt him. It's hard to keep my head up when I take Benadryl, but it's the only slight fix for my itching right now. Hopefully it will turn out to be something else - something fixable. I can't take this itching for 10 or so more weeks. I'll go crazy! Talk about bad timing.

Keep us in your prayers!

Jen

Well, I suppose New Year's wasn't much better than Christmas. Pretty low key. We didn't do much all weekend. It was actually kind of nice. I needed the rest. We went to Heather and Trevor's house on New Year's Eve, ate some yummy food, and tried to watch a movie, but Grant wasn't having it. He was wired. I think he was just so tired he was giddy. Sorry Heather and Trevor. Try again another time?

Grant was still grouchy and still not feeling 100% most of the weekend. I had to take him back to the doctor again this morning and apparently he has an ear infection in his right ear. Ugh. It was draining so bad this morning it was dripping on to his bib - digusting I know. He had a rough night. These co-pays are killing me!

He was in a good mood this evening. We came home and ate dinner and when daddy got home we watched America's Funniest Home Videos. Grant likes to sit on the couch like a big boy and watch AFV. He gets a kick out of clapping when the audience claps on TV. He played with his mega blocks and just ran around the house playing with his Christmas goodies most of the evening. He loves his mega blocks - thanks Aunt Kimmie! They keep him busy for a couple minutes at least. I'll take what I can get.

My last day at work is next Friday, January 12th. Eight working days and counting... yeah! I still have lots to do at work before I say my final farewell. Chris will be in Dallas the week after next at SW's National Sales Meeting and then I'll be back in Ohio for a week the week of the 21st. I'll definitely miss my hubby. He has become such a great help mate over the last few months. It seems like it's been one thing after another with Grant, both our schedules and a home to take care of as well, times have definitely been trying. We're hanging in there. I love you, Chris!

Have a blessed New Year's everybody!

Jen