Ultrasound (Toby & Jill's baby)

Yesterday, I had the battery of blood tests required by the state of Arkansas for home birth moms. Then we saw the Certified Nurse Midwife who works with Candy for a checkup. She was really nice and especially understanding about my raging case of white-coat high blood pressure. It was just fine by the end of the visit, so no problems there.

She was doing the list of routine checks, listening to the baby's heartbeat and so forth. When she got to measuring fundal height, she started asking me if I was sure about my due date. I'm pretty sure about that. I was supposed to be about one centimeter for each week of pregnancy, or about 25 1/2, but it was more like 29. So that means either wrong due date, huge baby, too much fluid, or twins. So we consulted Candy and she recommended an ultrasound to see what was going on in there.

Now, I've never had an ultrasound before. We've had all our babies with midwives and it's never been necessary, and I've always liked to be surprised at the birth by which gender the baby is. But, come on, if I have to have a diagnostic ultrasound my natural impatience for information takes control. It was a really neat thing to have a peek at this kid three months early. It was also mega-expensive, since we have no health insurance and pay out of pocket (or is it nose?) for our medical care.

First, there are no complications. The baby is just the right size, there's only one in there, and fluid levels are good, too. It just so happens that this baby likes to stretch itself out from top to bottom and throw off the numbers. Figures.

Second, we are having another little BOY! I think Hollis smiled his face off last night when we told him. Now we know what color to paint the nursery, and whether to buy pink or blue clothing. That's a laugh on both fronts, since he will sleep in our room (mostly in our bed), and we have boxes of clothing kept from when Hollis was a baby.

New little fairie and Todd Show

What the.......?

Here is the story of the woodpecker who thought Levi was a tree. A few days ago, I was out in my sewing shop, sewing away, when I heard a thunderous crash on the building. It was so loud I thought something had fallen from the sky. I ran outside to circle the building, but stopped right outside the front of the bay window, because there, laying on the ground was a stunned woodpecker. I wondered how it could have made such a big sound hitting the window.

I picked it up and ran into the house to show Levi; imagine holding a woodpecker in your hand!!! He came down and thought it was pretty neat. The poor thing was blinking its eyes over and over. I thought he looked like he was starting to revive so I took him out and put him on the porch railing so he could fly away. (I call it a he, but I don't know.) He just layed there and quivered and I was afraid that he would fall off onto the concrete below, so I picked him up again and took the cute thing over to the picnic table with a larger surface, so that he could recover there. Just as I was about to set him down he flew out of my hand and straight over to Levi, who was wearing a grey shirt and faded black jeans.

We were both so surprized! I ran in the house and grabbed the camera and came out to take some pictures. That being done, I thought I should pick the bird up again and set him on the picnic table. As I reached for the bird, he would quickly work his way around Levi's body so that I couldn't reach him. So I went to the other side and he worked his way quickly to the side I wasn't on. It was so funny that we were both laughing and the bird still held on. After a while of this he actually did take off, hit the window in the doorway, hit the window on the kitchen, and flew to the tree in front of the house, where he stayed for a couple of hours.

We see him outside all the time in the afore mentioned tree. He is our new friend.

Some kid pics.

We're learning more and more how and when to use our camera. Now if only we could remember to use it at night when Liv and Hollis were home, and if we could take pictures of each other, we'd be pretty well documented as a family.












Here are some cute pictures of Ivy. The little hat that Vea made her really completes the look, I think.









Last night was the Daddy-Daughter date for the Activity Days Girls. We got volunteered since I'm in the Primary and we have a swanky camera and light set-up. It was at Eric and Diana Allphin's house, hence the classy (and brown) wall and props. We got pictures of each Dad and his daughter, so here's Brent and Natalie, and Toby and Livvie.

Is it Spring yet?

Here are some pictures of my stuff. I am not selling the rugs, but the looms to make the rugs. I like them a lot.













I put some in my Etsy store. It is the first time I have listed stuff. I had to call Michelle to help me and she doesn't know how close to tears I was. Emma also said that she had just listed her skirts. I hope she does well, as they are beautiful and Emma looks so good in them.

Brent (Dad) is fortunately working, and some weeks he has had to go and stay with Kelly and Cathi and work down there. Thank you Kelly for letting Brent come and help you.

Levi just got notification of his Pell grant. He can now afford to finish the semester at Crowder. He is excited.

SnowTodd

This is Todd in a rare moment of tranquil calm. I'm thinking that his brain wasn't functioning because it was frigid outside, on top of the fact that moments before this picture, he was hunched in a little ball beside the rain gutter and catching icy melted snow running out of it into his mittens. He is a beautiful little boy, when he isn't yelling garbled toddler speech about "sharp knives" and "choochoo trains".

An Ivy Day

I thought you'd all enjoy hearing about shopping with Ivy today. She decided while we were in the middle of Food 4 Less that she was a puppy. That means she crawled around on all fours, yipping and whimpering intermittently. She even panted, tongue out. She howled in agony when we tried to put her in the cart. Occasionally she licked store fixtures or merchandise before we could stop her. My apologies to the macaroni boxes, glass doors protecting the milk, and the mirrors next to the floor at checkout.

To top it all off, she refused to come with us when we said "Come on, Ivy." She only responded to "Here, puppy!" Now, those of you who ever shopped there know that Food 4 Less caters to a slightly, um, Ozarkier class of people (let's just say that about one in ten of our fellow shoppers was sporting some kind of unique bodily funk). Today, I think we won the prize.