house renovations are underway--this is getting exciting

of course I forgot to take pics over the weekend of the progress, but promise to do so this weekend when we go back to take down yet more wallpaper.

Wallpaper....it is truly evil. I have no idea why people wallpaper. It is not something you can easily change with your moods like you can with paint, so WHY?? these people wallpapered just about every surface in this house. Not only did they wallpaper with fugly wallpaper, they put it right onto the drywall without prepping the drywall first. so, chunks of drywall is coming off along with the glue. Granted, this stuff has been hanging in this house since it was built about 35 years ago, so I have to cut the previous owners some slack. I am sure this wallpaper was the bomb in the 70's. Now, not so much. I will have to take a picture of the master bedroom paper--if you look closely, you can find Osama Bin Laden in the pics. It is hideous and scary all at the same time! Who could wake up in this room each morning?

Then, the guestroom and the BIRDS! This would give anyone nightmares!

Of course the house is turning into a moneypit, as I predicted. My cheap husband thought we could get away with doing all the work for about $50k. Silly man. Labor costs are going to be what gets us, so he needs to double that amount. Considering the house cost us so little, it really isn't bad to look at the big picture--house + renovation costs= we could not build this house brand new for what we will put into it. So, that is all positive! If we could sell our current house, that would definitely help with the financial stress of it all though. We are hoping for a buyer very soon since an agent we met with told us that our area really has not been hit with the housing mess and houses are continuing to sell as they had in the past. All good news!

gumdrops cont....

Poor Nicholas

Sent: 2004/05/01 03:00 PM
He had us up ALL night last night (and we are NOT used to that at all!). He was throwing up, had a high fever, stuffy nose and was just plain miserable. We called the on-call dr. at about 1 a.m. this morning and she said to give him Tylenol and see how it goes. Well, it did not go well, though his fever did drop. We just got back from urgent care and the poor little boy is getting 4 more teeth (he just got his other top tooth in, so he has 4 already), has an ear infection and possibly strep throat! I cannot understand how he has gone all this time without even a cold and now this. Maybe it was the baby music class I took him to on Wed? He has not been eating solids for a little over a week now either, he only wants his bottle. He is so exhausted, he finally just fell asleep for a nap and dh is out filling his precriptions and getting some pedialyte. The dr. said to only give him the pedialyte for the next day, no formula. She said that because he has so much nasal drip in his throat, he is gagging and choking and throwing up and formula will just make it worse. I would think he would be starving if we do that??

I posted in the stats, and I tested this morning
BFP!!!

I did get 2 lines, one was lighter than the other, but a line is a line, right? I do not feel pg, other than my breasts having a strange feeling in them once in a while. So different from when I was pg with Nicholas. I had 2 DARK lines with the HPT when I was pg with him and my breasts were KILLING me! So, I am cautiously optimistic. I go in for the blood test this morning and will have results sometime late this afternoon. I will update you when I know!

I put the HPT on the counter so dh would hopefully notice it when he was getting ready for work, and I went back to bed. He did not see it! He was getting dressed and I asked him to go back in and look. He says "what does that mean?" DUH! He was so excited when he left for work. He has already figured out how we are going to tell people at Nicholas's first b-day party on July 3rd!!!

I am definitely pregnant!
I just got my blood test results and they confirmed it! WOO HOO! My progesterone and HCG levels were great and I get to go in next week Thursday for my first u/s (the good part about going to an RE, you get lots of u/s's!!). I am just so relieved that this one took and we did not have to go on to IVF.


Josh Groban calms the crying baby

Sent: 2004/05/16 10:38 PM
At least it works on Nicholas! I was driving home from Wisconsin tonight, flipping radio stations trying to find something to sing along with to get Nicholas to stop crying (we were like a half hour from home and had been driving (with only one stop) for about 4 hrs, he was not happy!). I finally found some "light" station that a Josh Groban song was playing on and cranked it. Instant silence from Nicholas! I am going to be buying his CD tomorrow!

my first u/s is in 2 hrs

Sent: 2004/05/20 09:18 AM
I am so nervous that they will either a) find out that I am not pg anymore (I still do not have any symptoms!) or b) there will be more than one baby.

Wish us luck!

Nicholas just walked half way across the room by himself!
He has taken one or 2 steps on his own and has been doing that for a few weeks. He also has been walking very well using his puppy walker, for over a month now. He has even been showing off, only holding the walker with one hand while walking. This morning, I put him down in his bedroom and he has mirrored closet doors that he loves and walked right over to them! Where's the video camera when you need it! My little boy is growing up!!


Well, there is a reason this pregnancy feels different!

Because there are TWO babies!!!


As soon as the RE got the u/s positioned just right, it was clear. TWO! Dh almost fainted! He was holding Nicholas and the nurse asked him if she should take him. OMG! I cannot believe it! I am only 5 1/2 wks pg right now, so, as the RE said, there is still a chance that one of them might "resolve" itself, but he said that he was clearly seeing 2 sacs (heck, I saw 2 of them!) and they were both the same size!! He is going to monitor me weekly for awhile now, before turning me over to a high risk OB, so, hopefully we will be able to see more next week. I am just so excited!! Dh is a little freaked though! He kept saying "they will all be in college at the same time!".

Now, what kind of vehicle can we trade in our Jeep Liberty for that you can fit 3 car seats in the back?

He isn't eating!

Sent: 2004/05/23 11:20 PM
what options do I have for veggies, other than green beans? I have tried cooked baby carrots, some asparagus, brocolli and peas. He will only pick up the green beans to eat. He will not take pureed veggies from the spoon anymore either. He LOVED carrots and sweet potatoes too. Now, he will not touch them.

Also, what kind of fruit, other than bananas? He eats bananas, but I still have to feed him the banana chunks, he has texture issues with picking up mushy food. He will eat it if I put it by his mouth, but he will not pick it up without making a face and then putting it back on the tray.

HELP!

Dh told me I look pg

Sent: 2004/05/26 11:52 AM

bloated, yes, pg, no! Plus, I haven't been sucking in my stomach around him! I am only 6.5 wks! My stuff is tight already, but I think it is just because I am so bloated. I am living in sweats. I know I will show earlier than I did with Nicholas and I showed early with him (like at 12 wks), so I am prepared for it, but this is a little early. Or isn't it?

2nd u/s tomorrow

Sent: 2004/05/26 01:39 PM
dh and I cannot wait! We want to be more sure that it is actually twins. I think it will be real for us when we see 2 heartbeats. I will be 6 wks, 4 days tomorrow. Is that too early for heartbeats? My RE said it is more likely that we will see them at next week's u/s (I love getting so many u/s's!). I just want to see them beating. I had the most terrible dream last night that I went for the u/s and was no longer pg. I HATE these dreams that I am having!!!!!!!!

we just saw 2 heartbeats!
I am SOOOOO relieved! We saw the 2 up on the screen and immediately saw the little hearts going. I was bawling! We even got to hear them through the u/s machine, something that I did not know could be done at this early stage! Dh and I are walking on clouds. Little Baby A and Baby B were the same size and their hearts were beating at the same pace. I am in love! We got a group picture of the 2 of them on an u/s printout, so once dh hooks up the scanner tonight, I will post it. They look like 2 little tadpoles

baby name help

Sent: 2004/06/01 03:33 PM
I have said on here before that if I ever have a girl, her name would be Amelia, after my great-great grandmother, whom my grandmother just has the most amazing stories about what a strong woman she was. Anyway, my mom and grandmother went to Minnesota last summer (where my grandmother's family all lives/lived) and they took some pictures at the cemetary where the relatives are buried. My great-great grandmother's stone said Emelia Braun Voelz. It seems Amelia was actually originally spelled Emelia. When she moved here from Germany in the 1870's, her name was Americanized to Amelia.

So, I REALLY like the original spelling. We could call her Emi for short too (dh does not Amy as the shortened version of Amelia). But, dh is more fond of Amelia. Plus, he thinks that people will think we are trying to be funky with the name by tweaking the spelling a little just to be different. Plus, she would probably have to go through life spelling her name for people.

So, what do you think. Amelia or Emelia?

Nicholas is officially walking and I can't keep up

Sent: 2004/06/02 04:37 PM
I am soooo tired! He has been taking steps here and there since Mother's Day, but Friday night, he just exploded and has been RUNNING ever since! He is finally just now taking his first and only nap of the day. I do not know if I can handle this with a pregnancy!!

Dh and I actually got a glimpse into our future the other day at a McDonald's on our way home from Wisconsin. We saw a family with a 3.5 y.o. boy and 18 month old twins, a boy and a girl. The 3.5 y.o. was crying, the twins were running wild and the whole time the father kept saying "I told you we shouldn't have stopped here!". They then packed up and it took them a good 20 minutes to get everyone into the minivan. Dh went to talk to them and they offered some advice for us for after the twins were born. They called that time "the dark ages". We are scared!!

baby shoe shopping is a nightmare!

Sent: 2004/06/05 03:34 PM
Since Nicholas is walking, we figured we would buy him his first pair of shoes that are good for walking in, not just to look cute in (though he has not worn shoes like that for about 3 months now, he hates things on his feet!). He instantly had a meltdown at the store. Then, he saw some little kids in the corner playing, so he ran up to them and sat down to play with them (this kid is NOT shy!). DH grabbed him and I tried to get the shoes on him. I am not sure how big to get them, should I get them to wear with socks or no socks? I could not get them on his feet with socks and he screamed and screamed and squirmed his way out of dh's arms. After about 20 minutes, we left the store without shoes. I guess he will just have to go walking outside without shoes? I do not know how to do this without him having another tantrum!

Irish Tenors on PBS + Nicholas=

Sent: 2004/06/08 10:17 PM
A baby doing the Irish Jig! I wish I could show you the video! He was just dancing away. Just when I think he cannot get cuter, he does!

My HCG #'s

Sent: 2004/06/10 01:08 PM
These are the numbers the nurse gave to me at this morning's appointment. My first HCG was pretty low.

May 10th, 2 wks past IUI, HCG 72.45
May 20th, 5.5 wks pg, HCG 3679
May 27th, 6.5 wks pg, HCG 25,575
June 3rd, 7.5 wks pg, HCG 76,958

wives tales on baby heartbeats

Sent: 2004/06/10 01:24 PM
I have about 12 more weeks or so before we will know the sexes and it is just eating us up!! So, we are playing guessing games. I am 8.5 wks right now and each baby had a heart beat of 176/minute today. I do not remember what Nicholas's hb was early on, but later on, it was always just under 150 beats/minute. I think the wives tale says 150 or higher=girl?

9 wks and already feeling "fluttering"

Sent: 2004/06/15 03:58 PM
I have felt it a few times today. Is this normal to feel this early in the second pregnancy or do the twins have something to do with it??

what does/did your 1 yr old eat?

Sent: 2004/06/16 08:29 PM
Nicholas is kind of a picky eater. What he used to like in purees, he does not really like in bite sizes. He currently eats:

green beans
bananas
apple slices (peeled of course)
pancakes
bagels
scrambled egg yolks
Gerber pasta stuffers
mac n cheese
grilled cheese
whole wheat toast
chicken
rice, mixed grain or oat cereal
apple sauce
peas
Gerber fruit or veggie puffs
gerber fruit wheels
jarred baby food fruits


Any other ideas for what to give him? He will not touch carrots anymore, even though he loved the pureed ones I would make. I do not like giving him biter bisquits because they are so messy. I also do not give him juice. We are starting to transition him to whole milk. He is up to 3 bottle of half and half a day. He also does not like to eat anything that I feed him with a spoon unless it is fruit or cereal.

just had a great conversation with a friend who has twins

Sent: 2004/06/17 03:43 PM
I finally felt comfortable telling her that we too are having twins since I am 9.5 wks and the twins are looking great as of today's u/s. Her boy/girl twins are now 3 1/2, but she went into labor at 28 wks and had them at 30.5 weeks. They spent 9 weeks in the NICU and were on heart monitors and oxygen (1 for about 4 months the other for about 9 months) after they were able to go home. they also required a nurse to come in every day for 2 months while they were home to monitor them at night. Unfortunately, one is not doing very well. He has behavioral issues and also needs to go to an occupational therapist. Poor little guy. But, she had a lot of great advice for me and said to just rest every day, even if I am feeling well. She also said that her OB told her to take 2 prenatal vitamins every day. My RE had not told me that, I do not go to an OB for a few more weeks, so I am wondering if I should start that?

told some friends about the twins and these were their responses

Sent: 2004/06/21 12:01 PM
These are all quotes:

*are you crazy?
*Heidi's dr. told her not to get pg for a year after the birth of our daughter, why on earth would you do something like that if it is not safe? (Heidi had a c-section and complications, so maybe that is why Heidi's dr. told her that!)
*Poor Nicholas. He is going to be so neglected.
*What are you thinking?
*Better you than me!
*Well, I do not know how you will be able to do it.
*You are going to go crazy.
*Did you use infertility drugs?
*Are twins in your family or did you use infertility drugs?
*Are you going to breastfeed?
*Isn't this kind of selfish to do so soon after having Nicholas?


We told these people (all are dh's friends from work or law school and either do not have kids or have only 1 and do not plan to have more) because they are unable to make it to Nicholas's b-day party, where we plan to make the announcement. These are the responses we got. Not one "congratulations!" in the bunch. Why do people feel the need to make me feel bad? This is such an amazing thing for us. They did not know about the infertility issues and still do not, I just told them it was an act of God that we are getting twins. Anyway, I was not at all thrilled with these "friends" this weekend!

give me boy names!

Sent: 2004/06/23 11:58 AM
I need 2 of them, and I *think* we are going with Joseph Patrick if we have one boy. If we have another, we are clueless. For girls we have Emelia Grace and another ?, but at least we like other girl's names. We are fighting over which other girl's name to use now. I do not want the first letters to be the same either, even though they are twins. So, anything for a boy that does not begin with a J or a K (so I do not fall into FIL's demands of having K names to go along with their K names, the freaks that they are!). Thanks!

PSA-Never let baby play with the cell phone

Sent: 2004/06/23 11:44 AM
I never let Nicholas play with it, but he got it out of my purse one day and was chewing on it and drooling all over it. Then, it stopped charging properly. Dh took it in to the Verizon store to have it looked at and they said it is toast. They could tell it had been wet, so the warranty is now void. So, we have to buy a new cell phone for me now. Bad Nicholas!

back from 10.5 wk u/s and my RE released me to the OB

Sent: 2004/06/24 01:21 PM
the babies are looking great! They are measuring right on schedule and their hearts are beating at 181 and 173 bpm. We even saw some hands today!

I am sooooo happy I do not have to go to see creepy RE guy every week anymore. I liked having an u/s every week, but that is about all I liked with him. He also said to stay on the progesterone suppositories for only another week. I am SO happy about that. I see my new OB next Friday and not sure what to expect. Will I have to go every 2 weeks or just once a month like with a singleton pregnancy? Will I get a bunch of u/s's like I have been or are they now going to stop (I hope not! It is so reassuring to see them every week!)?

just got an angry call from 911

Sent: 2004/06/24 09:00 PM
I answer the phone and a woman, sounding very concerned asks if I am an adult. Then she asks if everything is OK, that she is calling from Springfield's 911 center. Apparently, they had 3 calls and hang ups right before she called me. Nicholas had been playing with the phone and called 911 3 times and hung up on them! He was hanging onto the phone the first time she called and he hit the talk button to pick up the phone and then hit end call. So, he hung up on her too. I told her my almost 1 year old had been playing with the phone (he literally had just picked it up a minute before!) My naughty little man. I was so embarrassed!! I apologized as much as I could, but she was clearly annoyed


what is the next step on the switch to whole milk?

Sent: 2004/06/30 10:30 AM
I have Nicholas on half whole milk, half formula bottles for all of his bottles now. Do I now start to introduce a bottle or 2 a day of just whole milk? How long do I do that before switching him completely to whole milk? He turns 1 next week Tuesday , so I want to get the switch taken care of pretty soon. We have done half n half bottles for about 3 weeks now, gradually getting up to all of his bottles being half n half. We are just loving this that his formula is lasting so much longer!


Nicholas is one year old today!

Sent: 2004/07/06 10:42 AM
Exactly one year ago today, at 1:36 pm, my little love was born. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone! He is now walking/running, clapping and dancing to music (he really has some moves, he gets his head into it!), eating just about everything on his own, drinking whole milk only now (and LOVING it!), using his sippy cup more than his bottle, loves swimming in his pool, "reads" (he does a lot of babbling every time he picks up a book, like he knows he is supposed to be talking when he has it since we read to him out loud), and calls me "ma" and runs to the door to great dh when he comes home from work, yelling "dada"! He also says the standard "baba", "yeah-yeah", "hi" and "t" for the cat and "d" for dog. He has 5 teeth and a 6th tooth is working its way in, I think. He had a great b-day party on Saturday. I will have to post pics of that when I get a chance to download them. But, here are some pics from the past year. Time flies......

Nicholas has been sleeping until 10 am

Sent: 2004/07/09 11:48 AM
Which means that I sleep in too! I love my little late sleeper! I am not a morning person.

no more church for us!

Sent: 2004/07/11 12:03 PM
I just do not have the energy for it! Nicholas and I went to 10:30 service. We sat down and made it through the first hymn before he wiggled so much I could not hang on to him. He then took off down the aisle toward the altar. I ran after him and I grabbed him and then took him out to the entryway because the nursery was closed today because of construction. He ran around out there and danced to the organ music. Then a father came out with his little girl, who was 11 months and had just begun to walk. Nicholas found it hilarious to go up to her and push her over. He kept doing it no matter how many times I took him away and told him no. Thankfully, she never cried and just giggled too, but I still did not like it! He would just walk up behind her, push and watch her fall and then laugh. So, after 20 minutes total at church, we left. It really is a 2 person job to handle him there and dh and I go to different churches. Any ideas for breaking him of his pushing habit? He also took her binky out of her mouth, even though he never uses one himself! He is such a bully!

Nicholas has to go to a pediatric orthopaedist

Sent: 2004/07/13 10:24 AM
He had his 12 month well baby checkup yesterday and his ped said his legs look a little more bowed than she would like at this stage, since he has been walking for over a month and a half. I had this problem when I was little too (and still have slightly bowed legs) so she said it must be hereditary. Nicholas has been standing up, with the help of things, since he was about 7 months old, so she said that may have contributed to it, but she said she is not an expert and that is why we have to go to the specialist. Anyone have experience with this? Will he need special shoes or something more?

My little guy is doing something new every day!

Sent: 2004/07/13 08:16 PM
Last week, he started to run toward the door to the playroom to leave every time I turned off the tv. He would drop whatever he was doing and run there and wait for me to open the door. Yesterday, he pet his toy dog and said "da". Dog, without the g. Before this, he was just saying "d" (still only says "t" for the cat). He also started to spin in circles while dancing at music class. Today, I said "time to go bye-bye" since we were going to the grocery store and he started to wave at me and ran to the door to go out to the garage and stood there waiting for me. We were at the store and he was saying "hi" to all the little kids he saw and waved at them. He just amazes me every day! Dh wants to fill out the Harvard application next week !

what are our babies doing?

Sent: 2004/07/15 11:13 PM
Your screen name: LisaMarie
Your babies name: Nicholas
Babies birthdate: July 6, 2003 (just turned 1 year!)
Current weight: 21 lbs.
Current height: 30.5 inches
Crawling or walking? walking and running and dancing!
How many teeth?: his 8th tooth popped in yesterday
Eating solids? yes
Eating table food? Yes, everything we eat, he wants to eat. He will have nothing to do with anything I might try to feed him with a spoon.
Bottle or sippy cup? both. He still takes his bottle for milk more often than his sippy. He does use his sippy for water all the time though.
Babbling or talking? a little of both. He says dadda, momma, t for cat and da for dog. He also says hi, baba and yeah, yeah, yeah as well.
Sleeping through the night? Yes

I had to take the bumper out of Nicholas's crib

Sent: 2004/07/20 11:42 PM
He was standing on it in an attempt to escape his crib and he broke off 3 of the ties that hold it up! He wasn't getting anywhere standing on it, it would just collapse under him, but I am so sad that he broke the ties. He is such a restless sleeper, I am afraid he is going to bumping his head during the night and waking up. Is there anything else I can do, other than try to fix the bumper, only to have this happen again?????

finally cut Nicholas's hair on friday

Sent: 2004/07/18 09:59 PM
I did a pretty good job, if I say so myself! He still has a lot of wave in the back, even though I cut a lot off, so the curls will definitely be coming back. I had to cut it Friday since he was getting his 1 year pics done on Saturday morning (and they turned out SOOOO cute!). I will post them once JC Penney puts them online.

anyone have a toddler that does this?

Sent: 2004/07/23 10:50 AM
Nicholas loves to dance. He usually bends his knees and claps to the music, bouncing his head up and down the whole time. It is really so cute. Once in awhile, he does this sway thing side to side too. Well, lately, he started to spin in circles while he dances. He just stands there, spinning around and around until he gets dizzy and falls. I am afraid he is going to hurt himself doing this! He has already fallen into the coffee table, the armoir and a wall or 2. What to do?!?!

I am feeling the twins move more and more

Sent: 2004/07/23 10:50 AM
Nicholas loves to dance. He usually bends his knees and claps to the music, bouncing his head up and down the whole time. It is really so cute. Once in awhile, he does this sway thing side to side too. Well, lately, he started to spin in circles while he dances. He just stands there, spinning around and around until he gets dizzy and falls. I am afraid he is going to hurt himself doing this! He has already fallen into the coffee table, the armoir and a wall or 2. What to do?!?!

More gumdrop memories....

Tomorrow is my IUI


Sent: 3/9/2004 1:20 PM
Our appointment is at 10 am tomorrow morning. Dh had to get someone to cover his meeting at his new job, so I am sure we do not want him to have to do that again!! Plus, we have to go in again on Thursday morning for another IUI. This has been such a pain in the butt cycle for me with having to find a new RE, only finding one that would take me on short notice 70+ miles away (today was my 3rd trip there! We are going through gas like crazy!), we still do not have our insurance taken care of, so everything so far has been charged to the credit card (which will be HUGE this month with all of our moving expenses!) and then to top it all off, I had to drive all over the place this morning trying to find a pharmacy that had the HCG shot in stock! Why is everything always such a chore for me?? Nothing ever comes easy. So, any babydust you can spare would be greatly appreciated!!!


Nicholas is marching in his first parade today

Sent: 3/13/2004 10:40 AM
Today is the St. Patrick's Day parade here in Springfield and dh is taking Nicholas to march in the parade for our friend who is running for the US Senate here in Illinois (the primary is on Tuesday, wish him luck!!). He will be riding in dh's backpack. Hopefully we will get some great pics that I will be able to post. We have him in some stuff we bought for him in Ireland before he was born, it is all huge on him, but so cute!


Nicholas is getting his top teeth!

Sent: 4/4/2004 1:35 PM
He has had the bottom 2 teeth for 2 1/2 months and then nothing else came in. I just noticed that he has a little white spot poking through on him top gum. He has not been difficult at all though. The only thing I have noticed is that he wanted nothing to do with his solid food for the past 3 days and only wanted a bottle. He has a bit of a runny nose too. Other than that, he is not grumpy at all!

Nicholas is 9 months old today!

Sent: 4/6/2004 4:46 PM
My baby is growing up !! Poor little guy has one tooth on top and has 2 on the bottom. He is looking like my dad's toothless relatives from Arkansas!


Felt sick in the shower today

Sent: 4/12/2004 9:59 PM
I cannot test until Friday, exactly 2 wks after my IUI, but I am hoping this was a sign!! Can I get some more of that babydust from you guys??

Not feeling optimistic

Sent: 4/15/2004 10:03 AM
I can test tomorrow, but I am starting to think why waste the test? I do not feel pg at all. I have a headache, but nothing else that would tell me I am pg or that AF is on her way either. With Nicholas, I could tell about 2 days before I was able to test. I KNEW I was pg and taking the test was just a formality. Poo. I get 1 more IUI (my 4th) and then we go on to IVF if needed. POO, POO, POO! We are going to take a walk to get my mind off of it.


Nicholas climbed all 16 stairs to get to the top tonight

Sent: 4/15/2004 11:03 PM
Dh was behind him the whole way, but that little guy was so determined and he made it all the way up the stairs in no time. he never stopped for a rest or to look up to see how much more there was to climb. he is 9 months old!! he had been climbing the 2 stairs to get out of the playroom for about a month and a half, but this was way more. He had his 9 month appt. today and the dr. was very impressed with his walking ability. She said she had five 9 month olds in today and non of them were pulling themselves up and standing yet. Nicholas has been doing that for over a month! He has been walking with the help of furniture for almost a month too. We are so proud!! Our little genius has also become very good at slam dunking his basketball on his LeapFrog Learning Hoops toy. He gets so excited when he does it too.


Nicholas walked today!

Sent: 4/21/2004 2:21 PM
Well, I should say he ran today! He has been walking around, hanging onto furniture for over a month now, so we knew it was coming. He also started to walk by hanging onto his toys and walking and pushing them across the floor. Today, he let go of his walker toy and just kept going. he went so fast! He went for about 5 steps or so and then plopped down on his butt, but he was so proud of himself. He had the hugest smile! I am hoping that he will do it again when he wakes up from his nap so I can videotape it. I hope he does it for dh too! My little boy is not a baby anymore.

My poor boy is getting 3 teeth at once

Sent: 4/22/2004 12:01 PM
Teething wasn't bad for the first 3 teeth. We did not even know he was teething until the teeth showed up. He has had 2 teeth on the bottom for 3 months and 1 tooth on top for almost a month. Now he is getting his other top tooth and 2 more on the bottom. Poor little guy keeps grabbing at his ears and face. He has not been really grumpy, but has been a little more vocal than normal. He will not let me put anything on his gums and I have been giving him baby tylenol and cold bottles and a cold teether. Any other good tricks?


When to call the dr.?

Sent: 4/25/2004 10:37 PM
As most of you know, Nicholas has been a bad eater from day 1. He even ended up in the hospital at 10 days old for 4 days because he was dehydrated and projectile vomiting. It has always been a struggle to get him to eat, though he did have relux, he had outgrown that by about 4 months old.

Well, a baby his age is supposed to have like 750 calories a day or something like that. I have been lucky to get 500ish calories in him the past few days. He does not want to eat anything but his bottle. He is teething, so that might be why, I do not know. But last night, he finished half of his 8 oz bottle (the only time I can get him to take more than 4 oz. is his last bottle of the night) and he threw up all over himself and me. Today, we were in the car and he threw up everything (including the egg yolks he had this morning---GROSS!) that he had eaten up to that point. He ate a little bit of mac & cheese for lunch and a few pieces of a banana, but then was too tired and I gave in and gave him his bottle. He had bottles the rest of the day today. Tonight, he again threw up after his 8 oz. bottle.

I really do not want to go through the hell of having a dehydrated baby again! But, other than the throwing up, he does not have a fever, has wet and poopy diapers and is very cheerful and his same mobile, happy self.

So, should I take him to the dr.? I think I will see if he throws up tomorrow, and if he does, I will call. I just hope I am not waiting too long.

And most people have to worry about their babies eating too much. I would welcome that!


My 4th and final IUI is in the morning

Sent: 4/25/2004 10:40 PM
Wish me luck! If this one does not work, we will then have to go on to IVF. Please, send me as much babydust as you can spare! THANKS


Nicholas had his first music class yesterday

Sent: 4/29/2004 2:04 PM
He had a blast! It was all babies 6-15 months and they were just crawling everywhere. All the mommies (and the one daddy) just take care of which ever baby crawls up to them. It is one big family. There was one woman there with identical twin girls, so she had her hands full, but we all helped her out. The babies were just all over each other and Nicholas loved it! I can't wait to go back next week. I am so happy our neighbor told me about it. Now, I am getting to know even more mommies around here and Nicholas is becoming quite the social butterfly. I have signed him up to continue with them through the summer.

more old Gumdrop posts....

Sent: 1/27/2004 11:25 AM
I LOVE my RE! I am going to miss him when we move! Anyway, since I only have one month with him before we move, he was flattered that I was going to give him one shot at this! He was loving Nicholas too. He said he always likes to see the products of his work. Anyway, he said that we are going to skip clomid, since it did not work for me, and go right to the injections again. He gave me a precription for provera, which I start on today (after taking a HPT of course!) and then I call him when I get AF to start the whole follicle monitoring/injection schedule. We will most likely do the IUI again too. I hope it works right away like last time so I will not need a referral to a new RE, but I am being realistic. Anyway, I am so excited to get my TTC journey going again!!!! He said everything I wanted to hear today. I was afraid he would say we should try clomid again for awhile. But, he said 8 months on that last time was enough for my lifetime! If anyone has any babydust, throw some my way!!!


Sent: 1/28/2004 9:09 PM
We got the house! WOO HOO! We are celebrating! I love this house! We gave them a low offer, they countered, lowering their price quite a bit (they had it so over-priced!), we then counter-offered and they took it! We are so excited! We currently have a closing date set for the last Friday in Feb. I cannot tell you how excited I am to finally have room to move in a house, we are so cramped in this place!


Sent: 2/3/2004 8:38 PM
He has been getting up on all fours for about a month now. He rocks back and forth, kind of scooching forward and then a week or so ago, began to crawl backwards. I was sitting here looking through posts and heard a thump, thump of little hands on the carpet and there he was crawling toward me!! He had been rolling toward things when he wanted to get to them fast, so now he will be getting to them even faster! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sent: 2/4/2004 9:41 AMFirst crawling mishap. Dh put Nicholas in our bed this morning because he woke up as dh was getting ready for work and Nicholas usually does not wake up until about 9:30. Anyway, about 8, I woke up to go to the bathroom and Nicholas was still asleep in the center of our bed. I wasn't even gone for 2 minutes, but in that time, he had awaken and crawled off the bed. I heard a big thump!! He was screaming! He is OK, just a bump on his temple. I guess that puts an end to him sleeping in our bed!


Sent: 2/5/2004 1:34 PM
Nicholas is normally a very good sleeper. He has been sleeping 10-12 hrs a night since he was 9 weeks. Now, he is going to be 7 months old tomorrow and getting him to sleep is like pulling teeth or having a wrestling match! He will not go down for a nap in his crib (will only sleep in his swing or on our bed). He falls asleep with his last bottle every night, so I put him in his crib after that. The past 2 nights, he has been waking up screaming immediately after I put him in there. Since he gets so upset to the point where he starts to choke and throw up, I cannot let him CIO, so I have to rock him. Last night, this went on for 2 hrs!! Finally, at 1 am, I gave up and put him in our bed with us and he was immediately asleep. I don't get it. Maybe he doesn't like his crib mattress compared to our bed? It is pretty hard compared to our pillow top. He already cut his first 2 teeth and we did not have these problems when that was going on. I do not want him to sleep in our bed with us. I do not get any sleep when we do that. Also, he crawled off the bed yesterday when I left the room for a minute to go to the bathroom (and he was asleep when I left him). What could be going on? I am exhausted to the point where I sleep as long as he does in the morning, which means waking up at 10 am! I could be getting some packing done during that time! HELP!


Sent: 2/18/2004 12:00 PM
Nicholas is pulling himself up to stand! He hasn't been crawling that long and he is already doing this?!?!? I am not ready for that! He also got one of his top teeth in today, so he has 2 on the bottom and one on top. My little boy is getting so big!! My mom said I was walking by 8 months, so maybe Nicholas is following my footsteps (pun intended).


Sent: 2/19/2004 10:34 AM
Had a dream last night I was pg w/twins! YIKES!! Since I had 6 follicles this cycle before my IUI, it is a worry dh and I have. I did have 9 follicles when I got pg with Nicholas, so we are hopeful that we are lucky again, but we are still nervous about the chances. I just cannot imagine being pg with twins, posssibly going on bedrest while I have a baby under 1 year of age! Then there is taking care of a toddler and twins. trust me, any pregnancy this soon will be incredible for us and we would be ecstatic, but I guess the reality of what could happen has sunk in.


Sent: 2/22/2004 9:48 PM
we went to Wisconsin Dells for the weekend so we could do some hiking and enjoy an indoor waterpark. Nicholas has never been swimming before so this was so much fun!


Sent: 3/8/2004 1:35 PM
Guess who crawled up the stairs!? Nicholas has been working on getting up the steps from the playroom to the hallway in our new house (2 steps) and he just did it!! I cannot believe how big he is! last night he was walking along side of the couch to the coffee table and then to some boxes that were within reach. I am really not ready for this. He has only been crawling a little over a month!

old memorable Gumdrop board posts

things I posted on the board that I do not want to lose....unfortunately, a lot was lost already due to the deletion of another board, so I am picking up when Nicholas is a few months old


Sent: 12/1/2003 11:16 AM
We are going slowly with the solids thing. He has been on rice cereal for about 4 weeks and today, we switched him to baby oatmeal and he gobbled the whole bowl within minutes! We will now have him on this for a few weeks before beginning barley cereal and then a few weeks after that, we will go to veggies. I am dreading that day!



Sent: 12/1/2003 11:41 PM
We saw him the day after Thanksgiving and he did so well on Santa's lap! No crying or anything. He smiled so big for the professional shot (our scanner is broken, so I cannot put that one up), but I got a few good ones myself (they let us videotape and take pictures, most do not!). Thankfully, I found this Baby's First Christmas Santa hat right before we had the picture taken.



Sent: 12/6/2003 12:01 AM
Nicholas will be 5 months old tomorrow, Saturday (I cannot believe it!!) and he does not seem to be eating much (or maybe I am wrong about this?). I have been introducing him to solids slowly. First, with rice cereal for about 3 weeks and now with oatmeal cereal this week. Tomorrow, we start him on barley cereal for a week and then move on to veggies and fruit in the following weeks.

Anyway, I am pretty sure he is not eating enough and I do not know what to do about it. Today was a particularly bad day. He woke up late and just was not hungry it seemed. We do not have him on a schedule (I have tried and failed at that!). We just feed him when he is hungry, typically every 2-3 hours and he usually has about 25-28 oz. of formula (bottles) a day. Today, he only had 23 oz. I waste so much formula!!

Here is all he would eat today:

10:15: 4 oz. ebm (I am getting to the last of my frozen stash so this first morning bottle will change to formula in a week)
noon: oatmeal (about 1/4 cup mixed with 2 oz. formula)
2:15: 4 oz. formula
4:30: 5 oz. formula
7:00: 1 1/2 oz. formula (tried some cereal here too, he did not want it)
7:30: 1 1/2 oz. formula
9:30: 1 oz. formula
10:30: 6 oz. formula

Is this OK? He just does not want to eat more!!



Sent: 12/8/2003 3:32 PM
3:30 and Nicholas will not for one minute!! He has been awake since 9:30 this morning and just wants to play. Every time I give him a bottle, he seems to want to sleep, but as soon as I put him down for a nap, he is wide awake and giggling. I have him in his crib now and he is just kicking and talking, but not napping. What to do!??!? I am going to have one grumpy bean for daddy when he gets home from work!



Sent: 12/16/2003 11:53 AM
I have been stumped as to what to get him. I always seem to buy him clothes. Well, this is what we have so far:
Winter boots (he picked them out)
2 shirts
framed print of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (he bought the print and wants it framed, which costs$$)
and if it turns out, a great picture I took about 7 years ago of the Lincoln Memorial in DC at sunset. I am going to get it blown up, but that was before digital cameras, so I am doing it from an old negative. Anyway, he is always looking for things to hang in his office so I thought this would be great to go along with the address.

I think I will get him a little something that will be from Nicholas too, but I am not sure what that will be. Any other ideas? I am stumped!



Sent: 1/5/2004 11:22 AM
I *think* that Nicholas is teething, but we will talk to his ped on Wed. at his 6 month appointment about it. He is pulling at his ears, kind of playing with them (no fever and eats and does not have an ear infection), drooling a ton, everything is going in his mouth and last night, he woke up every 20 minutes screaming and was trying to stick his whole fist in his mouth each time I picked him up. I gave him a pacifier and that calmed him down, but that usually does not work, he takes it out of his mouth normally and throws it across the room! He normally sleeps soundly for about 10 hours each night and has since he was 9 weeks old, so this was not a fun night for us! We are not used to it!! Anyway, can you tell me what your babies did when they first started teething and how bad it all was?? Will he never sleep 10 hours through the night again?



Sent: 1/7/2004 10:40 PM
Why do people do this?? We had to show our place tonight because yes, it is still for sale! Anyway, I tried to avoid getting back home when our realestate agent was still there, but she was taking her time and I needed to get Nicholas fed so we could go to his 6 month dr. appt. (more shots ). Anyway, our agent has been sick, so we have been avoiding her. I start to go up the stairs to go into our place and she stops me to talk and is talking to Nicholas. She then starts to touch his face and gets him to grip her finger. She has been sick, but I thought it was just a cold. She then proceeds to tell me she think she has the flu. WTF? WHY TOUCH A BABY WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE FLU! I rushed inside and washed him up with anti-bacterial soap on his face and hands and he did not put his hands in his mouth before I had a chance to wash him up, but really WHY?? Some people are so clueless. We have another open house this weekend so I told dh that I am taking Nicholas to Wisconsin to my family for the weekend. I do not want to see our sick agent anymore!



Sent: 1/7/2004 2:45 PM
My girl name is still available! My sister just called after her big u/s and she is having a BOY! For years we have both liked our great-great grandmother's name, Emelia (changed to Amelia when she moved to the US from Germany) and have said that the first to have a girl gets it. Well, I had a boy, now she is having a boy. Since we are TTC now, lets hope for a girl for me!! I just called dh to let him know that Emelia is still available for us. He was as excited as I am!! WOO HOO!!


Sent: 1/8/2004 11:07 PM
Nicholas loves to roll around on the carpet when I change his diaper. So, I finally got a picture today. For a baby who HATED tummy time, he spends a lot of time on his tummy now


Sent: 1/12/2004 10:19 PM
After 4 months on the market, we finally have an offer! I am doing a happy dance!! Our realtor called about an hour ago to tell us that the buyer's agent was going to be dropping off the contract tonight, so we do not even know if it is a good offer yet, but we have not had one yet, so this is exciting!! We had an open house again yesterday and 2 different couples wanted to come back tonight to see our place. One couple put is putting in an offer for sure, I am not sure what the other couple is up to though. WOO HOO! I will be moving to a place where I do not have things falling on my head when I open my kitchen cabinets!!!


Sent: 1/13/2004 3:38 PM
I just talked to dh who had all the info from our realtor. Good news is that the offer was for $500 less than our asking price! Actually, that is AWESOME news! Bad news is that it is a contingent offer. Contingent upon whether they sell their condo or not. They have had their place on the market for a few weeks and live in a great neighborhood (near Wrigley Field), so unless it is a dump, I can see it selling in a month or so. I think that is great news since we do not have a house picked out yet. My realtor was a little nasty about it though. She then went on and on about their financing, she has not seen if they are pre-approved for this amount and also the earnest money was a check that appeared to belong to the father of the woman. Dh and I think it is great though, we do not care where the money comes from as long as it comes!! So, we will see what the offer says when dh gets home tonight and has a chance to look it all over. Then, the BEST news is that our realtor said she is most likely going to get ANOTHER offer on our place from the other couple who came for a second look last night!! We will see what their offer looks like, but I doubt that it will be for the asking price. I will keep you all updated as this continues to unfolds.........


Sent: 1/16/2004 3:20 PM
We ended up getting about $3k less than our asking price, so not bad!! We have the inspection tomorrow to make sure it all goes through, so I am thinking this is it (I do not know of anything the inspection would find?). Now, which suburb to look in? I have been looking at realtor.com and the houses in our price range in the suburbs we would want to live in need some work. I hate to buy a house and then have to stick a bunch of money into it. But, what are people thinking with mirrored walls in the master bedroom or wallpaper in the entire house (and not very nice wallpaper either!)? We could move farther out of the city than we would like to get more for our money, but dh does not want to commute an hour and a half each way to work. Anyway, we are excited!! Finally, we will find someplace new to live where we will have room!!



Sent: 1/16/2004 2:06 PM
It is 2:00 here and other than my glass of OJ this morning and a few bottles of water, all I have had today was the rest of Nicholas's meals. I have had some mixed grain cereal, applesauce and some acorn squash. I am guessing I will have his leftover chicken and peas for dinner. If I keep this up, I will let you know about my weight loss progress!


Sent: 1/16/2004 8:12 PM
I know I am being selfish with this, but I cannot help it! Anyway, dh walked in at 5:30 from work (he never comes home before 7:30!) and was all sweet. He then says that he is going to get an offer from the governor's office for an assistant general counsel with some agency and that he is going to take it. It will move us to Springfield, Illinois. First of all, I know this job will make him happier. Way fewer hours, he hates being a litigator and he feels that to get anywhere in his firm, he will just have to work more and more hours (which is true) because he is up for partner this year. I want him to be happy, but this job means a few things: moving to a city where we know absolutely NOBODY; a HUGE pay cut, like over half of his salary gone; and the part I hate the most, we would be an hour and a half from his parents and like 6 hours away from mine. I still will not have to work, but things will be way tighter. We will get a much bigger house than we would in the Chicago area, for way less money too, but the thought of his parents showing up all the time, and they will, just makes me want to leave. I am trying so hard to be supportive and I told him that if we do this, there will be definite ground rules regarding his family. If they even think of breaking any of them, I cannot be held responsible for me actions toward them. He agreed that he wants to avoid a mess with them as well. I also said that EVERY holiday will be with my family as well since his family will be so close and I know we will see them all the time. I am just so angry about this. I want the nice house and I want dh to be happy, but the paycut is really making me nervous and his parents so close has my stomach in knots. Anyway, I guess I am having a pity party for myself here. Tell me I am being unreasonable, I will understand.



Sent: 1/18/2004 11:25 PM
Nicholas got his first tooth! My baby boy is growing up! He has been drooling alot, but other than that, we have not had one indicator that he was getting a tooth. No grumpiness or anything! Dh found the tooth on the bottom gum when he was chewing on dh's finger today. I called my mom to tell her today and said "guess who got a toothy?" She just sat there, no response. I said "at toothy, guess who got one?" She said "who?" Um, who did she think, my dh?? Anyway, she is hard of hearing, she thought I said "guess who got a teepee?"!! Yep, that makes sense!


Sent: 1/23/2004 1:33 PM
We noticed Nicholas has a tooth on the bottom on Saturday. Today, I noticed the other bottom tooth popping through. Is it typical that it happens this fast? Or, will a few come in together like this and then it will be awhile for the others?? My little boy is growing up!!