24 hours

Til my c-section. So, It's actually like 24 hours and 5 minutes, and that's if they actually start the surgery when they say they will. I don't know if those things get behind or not... last time, we hadn't scheduled it, so I got pushed back a few times for other people who were worse off than me. But this time, i've got an appointment. I don't know if that will make a difference. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm trying hard not to think about the actual surgery. I'm trying to focus on how I will be holding my new little baby tomorrow.

That is so crazy to think about. It was so hard to imagine what life would be like when taylor got here, and then she got here, and it seemed like she'd always been a part of our lives. We couldn't imagine life without her. I wonder if this will be the same. I hope it will and we'll just fall into a routine like we did with Taylor. I'm sure this will be bit more work, but atleast we aren't out numbered yet. I can take one, chris can take the other, and we'll make it work.

24 hours til i get to meet you, little maddie! And I'm SOOOOO EXCITED!

2 out of 4

There are 4 rings I wear ALL THE TIME. The first one I got a LONG time ago! I was a sophomore in high school. It was kinda like a promise ring to myself (on my ring finger, right hand)... to always stay true to myself and my standards... Cheesy, I know. But that was me at 15/16. The 2nd ring I wear constantly is my mom's class ring (middle finger, left hand). The stone actually broke and fell out of it a few years ago and I need to get it fixed, I've tried a few times at different jewelers, but class rings are VERY hard to get repaired cause the stones they use are different.

The Last 2 rings I wear are of course, my engagement ring and wedding band. These are the most important rings to me, of course. When we bought them, we got them too big! I wear a 4 on that finger, and my engagement ring is a 4.5 and my wedding band is a 5. This was on purpose, because I'd heard horror stories about rings having to be cut off when fingers swelled up due to pregnancy and stuff.

Well... I don't really swell up when I'm pregnant. My ankles stay little. Granted, they ARE swollen, but I think I'm the only person in the world who notices. My hands don't really swell up to a noticeable point either. But I do have a way of knowing when I'm swelling.

The first ring to go was my mom's class ring. I had to take it off a couple weeks ago. I could just tell it was starting to get a bit too tight... so I took it off before it had a chance to get stuck. Well, yesterday ring number 2 had to come off - my promise ring. My finger was itching and hurting and I just knew it was time for that one to go too.

Now I'm down to 2 out of 4! My Engagement ring, and my wedding band. They are actually FITTING me now! It's kind of nice to not have them always falling off!!! I'll be sad on Tuesday when i have to take them off for surgery and my hospital stay, but I'd be even more sad if I lost them there at the hospital.

Here are my rings!!! I told you that you can't really "SEE" that my hands are swollen, but trust me, they are!

So, after looking at these pictures, I'm going to repaint my nails!!! If I had the money, an actual manicure would be in order! Maybe I can get one after the baby is born!

LAST OB APPT

I had my last Dr. Appointment today until the baby is born. It was a little nuts. First, the scale told me 3 different weights... one was WAY too high, one WAY too low, and the other was just about right, so we went with that one (It's a little digital scale... so maybe the batteries were funky or something!) Then, my dr was at the hospital with another patient who was in labor, so I had to wait a little bit before she got back... but it wasn't too bad really. I'm measuring fine, and there's been no REAL change in dilating or anything like that, but Dr said the baby's head is REALLY LOW! Which has been causing me EXTREME pain when I walk. She said with as low as the baby is, and how she's kinda slowed down on the movement and such, I could possibly go into labor on my own this weekend!!! I thought "WooHoo" at first, then I thought, "Oh Crap! No, wait!!!" But, who knows what will happen. I'll probably be sitting here waiting til Tuesday for this little one, and that's fine. It'll Give me more time to work on the stuff I"ve been trying to get done. Atleast most of the stuff having to do WITH the baby is done. Anywho - back to my Dr appt... since the baby HASN"T been moving as much as she used to, they decided to do an NST or non stress test! So they hooked me up to the monitors to watch the baby and my contractions (which have been frequent, but not in any pattern.) I guess the orange juice I drank on the way down kicked in right then, cause the baby went nuts for a little bit. She was jumping all over my stomach. Then she calmed back down which I was greatful for. Anywho - they said she looked fine - good heartbeat, okay movement... So yeah. That was my last OB appt until we meet this little one. The closer we get to her being here, the more anxious I am about calling her Maddie or Madison... I still say it sometimes, but not as often and I had been. She's mostly just "the baby" for right now, til I see her.

Oh yeah - And how's this for a Preggo Brain! Last night me and chris and taylor all went shopping to Ross and Target. We were trying to get gifts from the girls for each other (a baby doll and stroller for Taylor from Maddie, and a baby blanket for Maddi from Taylor.) We had done all our shopping and then some, and were on our way out to the car. Taylor was sleepy and fussing a bit. Chris put her in her seat and left me to buckle her in (his big ole hands have a hard time with it I guess!) We had bought her some Elmo slippers and since she was fussing so bad, I thought they might cheer her up, so I went on and put them on her in the car. Well, Then I just jumped in the front seat and we drove home! About 3 minutes from my parents house, I turned around to check on Taylor and thought something looked odd... but it took me a minute to figure out what. I had forgotten to buckle her in her seat!!!!!!! I almost freaked out. I probably would have started SOBBING if I had been alone, but thankfully chris was there. I just jumped back in the back real fast and buckled her in for the rest of the ride home. She was fine, and nothing happened, but I still felt pretty bad for forgetting to buckle her in. I got over it pretty easily though. Last night was a hormonal night for me (just ask chris) and I was actually proud of myself for handling that part of it so well. I'm sure the shock of it will insure that it never happens again. I can't wait to have all my brain back, that is, if it ever comes back!

WALK FOR AUTISM

Some of you know about the 3 little boys my parents fostered a few years back (Sidney (or Bryan), Charlie (or Alex), and Joseph.) These little boys are amazing and it's hard to believe they have such big wonderful hearts with all they've been through.

For Sidney's 10th birthday, he's decided to do the walk for autism. He's asked that instead of people buying him birthday presents, they donate money for his walk! I don't know many adults, let alone kids, that would be willing to give up their own birthday party/presents to help someone else.

I thought I would post his personal donation page on here. He's an amazing kid and he's trying so hard to reach his goal of $400 in donations. Here's a note from my mom (Sidney's Meme) and from Carol Sandstrom (his current foster mom.)

Hey ya'll
I'm forwarding this to family and friends - I know a few of you have never met Sidney, but he is the oldest of our foster sons. They lived with us for about 2 years and have been with Cam and Carol Sandstrom since Jan 2007. I know they were prepared all their lives to be the parents of these sweet boys. We're still waiting on a slow system and then they will be adopted by Cam and Carol. These children have had a really hard childhood but it has only made their hearts bigger and bigger. Sidney just got out of Vanderbilt hospital a week ago after a 9 day stay. He was really bad sick - but even in the hospital his concern was for everyone else.

I wanted to send this to those of you that know him and those of you that have heard me pour out my heart about him and his brothers. If you can help him reach his goal, I would be so thankful. Anyone else you know that might want to help this angel reach his goal and maybe go way beyond it.... please forward this to them.

I love this little boy. He and his brothers have been such a blessing in our lives and everyone's lives that they have come in contact with. Because of these children, things are changing and getting better for others. Laws are changing. Please check out his page - I know one day God will bless him and his brothers beyond measure, just as they have blessed our lives beyond measure.

Thanks so much
Beckye Taylor
aka
Sidney's, Charlie's and Joseph's MeMe

Sorry for the "mass email" but it was the only way for me to get this done! This Saturday, Sidney will be walking in the Walk for Autism event in Nashville. This is what HE asked to do for his 10th birthday. I've sent each of you an invitation to my blog space, which has more details. He also has a personal space on the autism speaks webspace. If you go to my blog, there's a link to cut and paste to take you directly to HIS page. He told me what he wanted to say on his profile - so it will give you a glimpse into his tender heart! He's asking that no one give him presents, but rather that you donate to the fund. You can do that electronically from his personal page. Any amount is that much toward his goal. He has set a goal of $400 -- $100 for each of his four cousins who either have been diagnosed autistic, with autistic characteristics or are being evaluated for autism. (Alex J., Aidan, Gavin, and Kimmy)

Oh, I'll just put that link in this message too, just in case you have any trouble with the blog. Ignore some of the other "rantings" on the blog (especially "Why Frogs are Bald"! -- unless you just want to laugh at the sleep-deprived mind spin of a tired Mommy!!)

http://www.walknowforautism.org/tenn/personal/heartswideopen (just cut-and-paste)

Anyway, give me a call if you have questions! Thanks for helping Sidney reach for a heart-felt goal!!! He's such an amazing boy!

Love to all!!
Carol

Here's the website again...
http://www.walknowforautism.org/tenn/personal/heartswideopen

These little boys are truly something special! Thanks for y'all's help with this!!!

1 Week Left

Well... One week from today I will be holding my baby girl in my arms... actually, probably one week from right now (it's 9:45!!! My c-section is scheduled for 9.) It's hard to believe that so long has gone by since we found out we were pregnant again. And I can't wait to met this little person in my tummy. I've been having some crazy dreams about her coming into this world, and it only makes it harder to wait. They seem so real and holding and looking at her in my dreams seems so real. It's making me very anxious. But there are still lots to do. Thankfully, me and chris had time this past weekend to go out to our storage unit and get out all the baby stuff. We got out clothes too :) We also got out our swing, bouncer, excersaucer, bumbo, etc. And I've gone and cleaned just about everything. I think I only have one load of laundry left of blankets and burp cloths... I just want to make sure everything's super clean. I also want to atleast get started on Taylor's 1st year scrapbook before this one gets here, if not finish it... so I've got a week to buckle down on that one. We'll see how that goes. I'm getting so impatient. I need to go get busy cleaning or something to get my mind off of it!

Only 7 days til I see my new little girl! WOOHOO!

Tag... Because I'm bored

Abbie put on her blog a tag, and said for anyone else who felt like it to do it. And I'm bored, So here goes.

These are the rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts and then tag 5 other people. Leave a comment for the people you tag so they know they have been tagged.

Joys....
1. Being at home with chris and taylor
2. Being a mom
3. Cleaning - when no one else is around! There is just something so relaxing about it... getting stuff done!

Fears....
1. I'm terrified of spiders... I can handle snakes, most other bugs, lots of other gross or scary things... but spiders really scare me!
2. Losing chris, whether it's because he's cheated on me, something happened to him, stuff like that. I have some pretty crazy dreams about losing him. It would devastate me!
3. Something happening to Taylor or this new baby. That's something else I couldn't handle. I freak out worse than she does when she falls down.

Obsessions/Collections....
1. Penguins... I love penguins. I think they're so cute and funny. And seeing them in real life for the first time in Chattanooga only made me more fascinated with them. They're wonderful.
2. Cards. I save birthday cards, christmas cards, just because cards... I save all the cards I get... and I've started saving the ones chris gets too. I don't know why. But I save them.
3. Solitaire... I play vegas style on my computer where you can win money (not really) and I save my game when I win and don't when I lose, so my money only keeps going up. I've got almost $20,000 on there... wish it was real.

Surprising facts.....
1. I've always talked about how I want a ton of kids, and I still do (as many as I can have) but sometimes I think it would be SO nice to be done with these two. And to never worry about having any more... Me and chris would never be out numbered. Yeah. That would be nice.
2. I thoroughly enjoyed my calling in the primary presidency. I loved it. It's been my favorite calling ever. But I'm very greatful to be done.
3. I'm a pack rat... Could my obsession with saving cards have given that away? I try to reign it in (cause I see my dad - who i get it from - and he's a mess) but I can't help it sometimes. Chris helps me though... and us all being in one room helps. There's no room for stuff, so I throw it away. But yeah. I'm definately a BIG pack rat!

So, Five people to pick on...
1. Candace
2. Krystin
3. Carrie
4. Jennifer
5. Lee Bay

My fish bowl!!!

We finally did it. Chris painted my Fish Bowl tonight! LOL...

I'm debating if I should shower or not!

I'm sure many of you weren't aware of Christopher's artistic abilities! But he's really very good!
from the side... I'm getting big!
This little black fish is chris's favorite! He likes the bug eyes!
The little deep sea diver... His helmet is actually my belly button!
The castle! I asked for this part!

Taylor didn't know what to think! I kept telling her they were fishies. I'm not sure she understood.

Sorry about the immodesty!!! But I didn't want to wear anything that could get damaged!

Dr. Appt Update

I had my 2nd to the last dr appt today. No change in anything really. No dilating, no weight gain, no anything! Pretty uneventful appt.

I did learn something that made me VERY excited! Baptist Hospital has started a new program or thing they do when they do c-sections. Used to (when I had Taylor this is how it went) you go to the Operating Room, they take out the baby, clean it off a bit, let you see it, then wheel it and the new dad off to the nursery where they check to make sure it's all healthy, give it a bath, and all that good stuff. Then the drs finish sewing you up, wheel you into recovery, and you're alone for a while, wondering what's going on... where is everyone?

Well, now, they keep the baby with YOU the whole time, they clean it off, check vitals, all that good stuff in the OR with you, then you, the baby, and the dad all go to the recovery room together! I'm so excited about this. I felt a little left out of things last time when they took the baby away. I felt very alone! I'm not sure exactly how or when the rest of the family and visitors get to see the baby, maybe everyone just comes into the recovery room with you when you're ready. I hope that's the case so that I can be there to show off our new little girl! Chris got all the glory last time :) Anyways, I'm very excited to be able to keep our new little girl with me that whole time. It will definately help me to feel more a part of the birth of my daughter!

Anyways, I will let y'all know if anything new comes up. 12 days left... and counting!

I'm bringing sexy back... In a couple months!

I had a friend send me these funny pregnancy shirts in an email. Thought they were hilarious.
(By the way, can you tell how bored I am? 2nd post today!!!)

1. I grow people....what is your superpower?
2. Does this baby make me look fat?
3. DO NOT TAUNT the cranky pregnant woman!
4. No genius, I'm not pregnant. I swallowed a bowling ball.
5. I'm bringing sexy back (in a couple of months)
6. Is it 9 months yet? Seriously, I'm done.
7. I'm 50% sure it's a boy.
8. No, I'm not having twins. (and yes, that is rude)
9. If that's my family I hear out there, I'm not coming out! 1
0. I'm pregnant. You've been warned.
11. I just wanted a back rub.
12. What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Juno

I don't know if anyone has seen the movie Juno, but I had a dream last night that I was Juno! Chris was my little boyfriend and we were in high school and we would skip class to go hang out in the woods and eat all this junk food cause I was having cravings. Too weird. Can't get that dream out of my head right now. Maybe I should try taking a nap and having a new weird dream!

Just a quickie

I had a great birthday. Me and Leeann had a little party together with my family since her birthday is 2 days before mine. Chris made me a Rainbow Bright cake...

Here's Leeann's Peach cake! We both turned 2 this year!

Pretty awesome huh? He said it's only the 2nd cake he's ever made. He also got me the great new staind album (he gave it to me on Wednesday!) and then also bought me another Nicholas Sparks book (one of my FAVORITE authors.) I can't wait to read it. I'll probably save it and read it when I'm in the hospital. My dad got me a great sewing kit box thing... it holds all your thread, pins, measuring tape, thimbles, bobbins... if it has to do with sewing, this box will hold it. It was the perfect gift since my new sewing obsession.

This weekend has been... well... alright I suppose. Yesterday and today have been a little rough. Yesterday afternoon my BHC turned very regular and for 3 hours straight they were every 3-5 minutes, with some of them being very painful. So we called the doc and went in to Labor and Delivery out at baptist. The contractions were very regular, and pretty close together, some only a minute apart! But they said they weren't "painful" enough yet. They wanted me to come back in when they "curled my toes" and my "eyes teared up." But that's not quite what my OB had told me... She had said she didn't want me going into active labor for real long... since they need to do a c-section. So I was a little confused. They gave me an Ambien and sent me home so I could get some sleep... But it made me hallucinate on the way home! And I only slept for 3 hours! I was up from 1 til 4 this morning... with nothing to do... and regular "not quite painful enough" contractions. So I played guitar hero. Then I came back to bed. I asked chris to get up this morning with taylor (I usually try to get her on the weekends, since those are the only days he gets to sleep in.) So i did sleep in til 8... but it was not real sleep... more like tossing and turning the whole time with my eyes closed.

Today has been both productive and very unproductive... I cleaned out our closet, got maddie's clothes put away, re-organized the baby stuff, went through taylor's clothes, went through my clothes, cleaned our room, picked up my craft desk stuff... So in that sense, I got a lot done. Still having contractions all the time though, with no increase in intensity :( I'm getting kinda frustrated. Every 5 minutes is just annoying at this point. And I've been sick to my stomach and had a headache... I"m just blah. Maybe in the next few days or so this will increase and I'll have some news to post. Til then... It's just a waiting game. And I'm definately losing!

Oh B-day!

Today is my 24th birthday... Yipee! I'm officially in my MID-20's! Did you know the cast of Friend's were supposed to be in their mid-20's? That seems odd to me. Anywho. Today's been good so far... I woke up... had a Baby Ruth for breakfast... kinda uneventful. But I just laid taylor down for a nap and I may sneak out for a bit while she sleeps (my mom's here... i'm not leaving her asleep, at home, alone!) SHOPPING! I got some birthday money, and nothing to do today, so that's what I'm going to do. BY MYSELF (that makes it even better.) I had lunch with my mom yesterday for my birthday (Thanks mom and dad!!! The fried pickles really hit the spot.) And chris gave me an AWESOME CD! The new Staind (an old favorite) and I love it. I got some great birthday cards in the mail from some great friends. Yup... It hasn't been too bad. Chris won't be getting home til later tonight though... he's got softball practice :( But he needs his excercise and those guys need as much practice as they can get! Although, I agree with Jennifer... has it ever helped before? :) Just teasing guys! When he gets home I'm sure we'll do some cake and ice cream. Who knows what else is planned... I'll let you know this weekend how the rest of the day goes.

Me and my dad

Me and my mom My dad, dani, mom, and meI had a HUGE head!

I did have my OB appt yesterday (hence the OH-B part of the title... I didn't think anyone would get that... so I explained it :) ) I actually had to go in on Monday cause I was having alot of contractions. Turns out I was dehydrated and had to be hooked up to an IV for a while. They also gave me a pill to make my uterus relax, but I still had some mild contractions and the pill only made me sick. My weight had fluctuated alot too, but I'm guessing it's just because I was dehydrated and lost some water weight. My appt went well... no dilating, only mild contractions. I had some sugar in my urine (sorry if that's tmi) but it was from my cinnamon toast crunch i had for breakfast. Otherwise, all is well with me and the baby. Only 18 days left til this kid is out for sure! I'm excited... we set our room up! The pack-n-play is again on my side of the bed (same as when taylor was born.) We'll see how this whole set up goes! I wonder how we'll handle all four of us in one room! YIKES! Atleast maybe it'll teach taylor not to wake up at every little noise in the middle of the night. I'm sure we'll have MANY sleepless nights once this kid gets here. I can't wait!

GO TITANS GO!!!

Last night chris had the opportunity (through work) to go and sit in on a Titans radio show. They were doing it from the O'Charley's in Brentwood. Anyways, chris got to have a free dinner (thanks mark!) and then got to meet Mike Keith, "the Voice of the Titans!" Mike sat and talked with chris and the guys a little while before the show started. Chris said he was a great guy and real friendly.
Anyways, I guess they sat right in front of Mike Keith and Jeff Fisher during the show. Afterwards, they got to meet Jeff Fisher. Chris said he was suprised a bit at the fact that him and Jeff are about the same size... chris always thought Jeff Fisher was taller! Chris had Jeff Fisher and Mike Keith sign a football for him! Mike Keith was suprised that chris wanted him to sign SACKED on the football, He said it was the first time anyone has ever asked him to sign that, even though that's one of the phrases he's known for!

They also got to meet one of the cheerleaders (whoopie!) and chris got her to sign a poster... just for ME! :) LOL. He had her make it out to his wife! I wonder how often that happens. I don't really care for the titans cheerleaders so it was a bit odd that he did that. I asked him why he didn't have her make it out to one of my brothers if he didn't want it. But I decided I'd use it as my motivation to get in shape after this baby's born!

Chris had a great time and was very excited about last night! He kept talking to me about it all night long. I'm glad he had the chance to go. He loves football. He's actually told me recently that he thinks he might like it a little TOO much! I told him I didn't think so. I thought that's just the way guys get. So what if he spends over an hour every night on NFL.com. That's not obsessing, is it??? :) (Just teasing babe!!!)

ChattaNEWga (lots of pics)

Yesterday was our family "vacation" for the summer. We just took a day trip down to Chattanooga to see my little sister and the aquarium. We had an absolute BLAST! It was one of the funnest things I think we've done since Taylor was born. It wouldn't have been nearly as great if Taylor hadn't enjoyed it as much as she did. Michael and his fiance Leeann also went down with us, which was cool. It was fun to hang out with them.

We started the day going to the aquarium which is in two buildings. The took the ocean journey one first. Me and chris touched some sting rays, and he touched a shark (a little one.) Then we saw some cool butterflies. Then came my absolute favorite part of the Aquarium... THE PENGUINS! I honestly was so excited to see them I almost started to tear up (thank you hormones.) That was the first time I've ever seen penguins in real life and I LOVE penguins. The best part of the penguins, though, was the fact that Taylor got just as excited as I did, if not more-so. She could have stood there for HOURS watching them. She was laughing and talking to them. They would come right up to the glass and just stare at you and she loved it! The rest of the aquarium was pretty cool too. And, of course, you HAVE to walk through the gift shop to leave, so we went and got taylor a couple things. She immediately walked up to the stuffed penguins and picked out the one we would be getting for her! We also got her a real cute baseball cap with a penguin on it.

Then we took the River Journey part of the aquarium. It was pretty cool too. Taylor loved walking up to the glass and watching the fish. She would squat down and start talking to all of them and pointing, turning and looking at me and chris to make sure we could see it too. It was funny. Me and Chris touched some sturgins this time... I have no idea if that's how you spell it. This part of the aquarium had alot of turtles and such. I think chris liked them alot. He used to love turtles. We did see an alligator snapping turtle and chris told us about catching them in the pond behind his house when he was younger and all the things they did to them. It was kinda crazy. They looked MEAN. Taylor enjoyed this part of the trip too, but I think she was getting a little tired (she'd only slept for the last 20 minutes of the trip in the car and that was it for a nap... and it was after one at this point.)

When we left the aquarium we went to the Creative Discovery Museum. It was so cool... but we only stayed for like 30 minutes or so, because we were meeting Cayce and Joey to eat some lunch. Taylor had a blast there too. We're definately going to go back one day and spend most of the day there. There's TOO much to do. It's the coolest interactive kid museum I've ever seen. But we had to leave to get some lunch so we had pizza at the Mellow Mushroom. Then we went on to see the IMAX 3-d movie that goes along with the aquarium. It was Dolphins and Whales. It was kinda boring. And Taylor didn't behave well in there. Chris watched about 10 minutes of the movie and then was out in the hall the whole time with Taylor. She was just too tired/restless to sit there through that.

I wasn't quite ready to leave after all this and so we went and let Taylor play in some fountains they have set up for kids to play in. We stripped her down to nothing but her diaper and let her go! It was fun to watch. She LOVES water and had a BLAST once she started splashing. And she splashed and splashed and splashed. If it wasn't getting windy, we would have let her play longer cause she was having so much fun. But it was cooling off outside, so we got her cleaned up and then went over to cayce's home.

We hung out there all night and relaxed, we grilled burgers and just had fun. It was great to be able to spend time with Cayce and Joey and Michael and Leeann. They're fun people! I don't think we got home til after midnight, but it's okay, cause Chris is still in bed asleep and it's 10:30.

Overall, this was one of the funnest vacations I've ever been on. I think the good majority of it was so awesome because we got to watch how excited Taylor got and how much fun she had.

Well, Here's the pictures. Enjoy!

Michael passed out on the way down
So did taylor
He looks a little evil in the picture, but there he was so cute!


Surfs UP!

A real shark cage!


Talking to the fish

Taylor and daddy looking up at the fishes!

Sea Otter! Taylor called them Puppies!

alligator snapping turtle
Discovery Museum
Taylor actually hit that little boy when he got in there with her.
Nurse Taylor

Michael and Leeann
Our family :)
Cayce and Joey
WATER TIME!
Penguin Parking Meter!!!

Her diaper hung lower than her knees!!!

She had no nap at all yesterday besides 20 minutes in the car before we got there... so when we got to cayce's place, Taylor CRASHED!