Halloween Pictures

Here is my first attempt to post pictures on a blog. Thanks to Kevin for the instructions (I never noticed that convenient little button before). We conducted our Halloween festivities at my dad's house with my sister and her kids. Above you can see the kids decorating pumpkins and all dressed up for trick-or-treating. Three-year-old Austin is a cow, two-year-old Kacey is a skunk, and Bridget is obviously a very cute Cinderella.

Halloween Wednesday

Wednesdays are OB days. Now that Bean is into his third trimester of development, I have appointments every other Wednesday and there seems to be baby-related activity on the in between weeks - the glucose test last week and childbirth refresher class next week. Bridget came with me today and despite her misgivings, "No Mama go to doctor", it went very well. Bridget was sweet and adorable in her Cinderella dress (no reason not to let her wear it all day). My weight gain was good, Bean measured significantly larger than last visit, and the doctor told me that the numbers from my 3-hour glucose test were not only acceptable, they were extremely good. I'm very thankful and happy that Bean is doing so well. He's been kicking me all day to assure me of his good health.

This evening we took Bridget to my Dad's house for some trick-or-treating with her cousins. For those of you unfamiliar with the neighborhood in which I grew up, the houses are 1/4 mile apart or so and separated by fields of corn, hay, wheat, or beans. I'm related to most of the neighbors and my uncles own many of the aforementioned fields. Walking from house to house is not a viable option so we did as was done when I was young. Getting three adults and three children under three in and out of a vehicle is a tedious and time-consuming process. We stopped at the houses of the five nearest relatives and called it a night. I think it was just about right. The kids had fun without wearing out and the amount of candy remained within a reasonable limit.

An Accident-free Day

Today is the first day since we began potty training that Bridget has gone completely without an accident. It's a very happy change from yesterday when we cleaned up three puddles in two hours. These are the things that count as major accomplishments in my life!

Bridget is very excited about going trick-or-treating this week. She asks me to review the procedure nearly hourly, even though she knows it all by heart:

Mama: "First you..."
Bridget: "Put on your Cindinrella dress!"
M: "Then we..."
B: "Go a Papa's house!"
M: "Then what do we do?"
B: "Go knock-knock on a door."
M: "What do you say?"
B: "Trick er treat."
M: "Then what happens?"
B: " They give you CANDY!"
M" "Then..."
B: "Say thank you."

Relief

Yesterday I waited all day for a phone call that never came. I spent the evening researching gestational diabetes. This morning I got the call from my doctor's office and everything is fine. I am greatly relieved and, not for the first time, chagrined at expending so much energy worrying about something that never came to pass.

Another Wednesday

I was back at the doctor's office today. The results of last week's glucose tolerance screen were not good so I had to go back for a three hour fasting glucose tolerance test. The test itself went fine (the nurse was very good and make the four blood draws tolerable even for a needle-phobe like myself), but I'm more than a little nervous about the results. It may come back fine, or it may confirm that I have gestational diabetes. That would be bad enough for someone with my extreme attraction to all things sweet. The really bad news is that I would have to monitor my blood glucose level four times a day for the rest of the pregnancy. My fingers hurt just thinking about sticking myself so many times. Even worse than temporary monitoring is the fact that woman with gestational diabetes are at a much higher risk of developing diabetes later in life. That thought has me very bummed out. It's been a nagging fear of mine since long before this stupid test. I need a cookie.

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

For the past year or so, Bill and I have both been paying more attention to being Catholic. I doubt that most people would notice much of a change, but we're more attuned to church teachings than we were. There are many things about the Catholic church that were either ignored or glossed over in our cradle-Catholic education. Now that we're making an effort to learn more, some of the things we see at Mass seem jarringly out of place. What's really amazing is that Bridget has noticed the same things on two occasions.

A few weeks ago, they had lowered a projection screen above the alter to show a slide show during communion. Bill and I both thought it was a huge distraction from the main point of the solemn sacrifice of the Mass. Bridget noticed it as soon as we sat down. Her comment was "Where's Jesus?" referring to the large statue of the risen Christ that was covered up by the screen. She definitely got right to the point there.

Today we noticed that the hymn sung at the beginning of communion wasn't liturgically appropriate. It was a nice song and well preformed, but it didn't fulfill the role of a communion hymn as I have come to understand it. As Bridget put it when the song began, "Sounds like music at a big party!"

To remind you that she is an ordinary 2-year-old, you should also know that she thought there should be stickers in the basket when she took up her money for the children's collection.

Wednesday

Today is a nice day, a bit of blue sky in a week of rainy days. Bill went into work this morning so Bridget and I had the house to ourselves. We got ready for the day, cleaned a bathroom, and ran some errands. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find a kite in mid-October. Bridget saw someone flying a kite in a book and now she wants to "fly a kite with Mama." I hate to refuse such a request, but I can't find a kite anywhere! We took a trip to the park instead.

Bill came home for lunch so I could go to my appointment. It was fairly uneventful. I get the result of the glucose tolerance test tomorrow. Baby Bean's heartbeat was good, but he measures small even though I gained adequate weight this month. I'm not too surprised since Bridget measured small too but she was over 8 pounds. I go back in two weeks and they'll do another ultrasound if Bean* doesn't seem much bigger.

When I got home, Bridget was still napping and that seemed like a good idea to me too. Now I'm blogging and Bridget is sitting next to me watching Sesame Street clips on youtube. She already loves the computer. We'll have to keep an eye on her screen time as she gets older!


*For those of you who don't know, we don't intend to name our little boy "Bean," it's just how we refer to him for now. We haven't chosen a name yet and Bridget needed something to call him. It refers to the appearance of a baby at an early ultrasound - a little kidney bean shape with a flashing spot for a heart.

Mondy Roundup

The Cinderella dress is finished and Bridget was excited to see it. She caught sight of it this morning and wanted to wear it immediately. Since her breakfast oatmeal are almost ready to eat, we vetoed that and she settled for dancing around the room holding the dress. It was a reaction well worth my efforts! I worked today, but I hear her day went well with a trip to the park and one pair of panties lasting almost all day.

This week is busy at work. I'm lecturing on a complex topic (transport across the cell membrane is difficult for novices), giving a lab practical early in the week, and giving a lecture exam on Thursday. That means being more available to students and not taking time out to swim between classes. The first lab practical went well with a very respectable 76% average. Hopefully tomorrow's lab goes as smoothly.

Only 3 months until Baby Bean's due date. I have an OB appointment on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it. Even when all signs indicate that the pregnancy is going well, it's nice to have periodic confirmation. I want to know that my weight gain is on track and that Bean's heartbeat is still strong. The Braxton-Hicks contractions are stronger and a lot earlier than with Bridget, but not out of the ordinary. I'm torn between wanting the next three months to be over so we can hold our baby boy and wanting them to last so I can continue to enjoy my private time with him and while he's so much easier to care for!

Domestic Day

The cool weather made me less than enthusiastic about leaving the house so I stayed in today. Bridget and I read a lot of stories, folded a lot of laundry, made a lot of visits to the potty (this is the first time she didn't wet her panties all day!), and had a rather unsuccessful naptime. This evening I worked on her Halloween costume. She wants to be Cinderella and she wants the custome ready right now. She wanted to wear it today and wasn't impressed when I told her that I still had to make it. "Sew it!" she demanded and I got to work. She was extremely interested and stayed pretty close (a little too close to the cutting scissors and sharp needles for my comfort) until bedtime. It's going well so far and it looks adorable. I can't wait to let her try it on once I get the skirt attached to the bodice.

The Week Continues

It's midweek with little to report. I don't work on Wednesdays so it's a bit like a mini-weekend. Like most weekends, I usually accomplish far less than I was hoping to. Today went pretty well. I did a little cleaning and I did got a lot of work done for my teaching next week. After tomorrow's lectures, it's time for the real weekend to start.