One of those days!

Ever had one of those days where you can't do anything right? Seriously everything that I have attempted today has failed. Whether it is with a person, laundry, Christmas decorations, cleaning the house, taking a nap! :) It has been a long day and I don't have anything to show for it except being deflated. I really wish I had a do over day. To not do some things I did and to take another shot at some things I attempted. I just pray that this day is one that won't be repeated EVER and that all the things that went wrong won't happen again or I will be better equipped to handle them at a later date.

Mom's blog & stuff

Well it is a great feeling knowing that your mom can conquer the blog world. Check out her blog and leave some comments to support her in trying to get started! She has tons of stories about my grandma that I hope she shares.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I ate way too much and I do pray the scales don't tell on me in a couple of weeks when I go back to the dr. That is always such a downer when you go in there and think there is no possible way I could have gained that much weight in 3 weeks. Oh well. It happens and all the more fat I eat means the cheeks on this baby are that much bigger right? Please don't ruin my theory folks.

I am sticking way out there by now. Many people at church today said that they were glad I was finally showing. Bless their hearts. I have been showing since the moment I found out I was pregnant but they sure were nice to say that. Many were moms with multiple children and knew this prego needed some reassurance! :) Like I said there have been no doubts that I was pregnant but honestly many people probably thought, "Is she pregnant again??"

Cannon has been on a terror lately. He is really a sweet little guy and talks non stop gibberish but he is into EVERYTHING. When Gracelyn was at this stage I wasn't pregnant and our house was much smaller so it was easier to control her actions and surroundings. For the most part he loves to play in Gracelyn's room and besides a few mishaps with crayons (which are now safely put away) and some acrobatics on the bed he is safe in there with her. Childproofing has taken on a whole new meaning.

Gracelyn loved that we put up Christmas decorations today. She really thought it was cool that I let her put her ornaments on the tree herself this year. She was also in charge of decorating the back of the tree. I love her little 4 year-old mind!! :) She wants everything for Christmas of course so it is hard to narrow it down to a few special things that we can get for her.

Baby Melban is moving and jumping around just fine. The headaches are gone for the most part due to the medication so I have to give an update to the internist tomorrow so we can decide to either stay on the medicine (my vote) or do something else. I think that is the plan he will take.

I am 27 weeks along and it is HARD for me to believe that in reality we will probably have a baby in about 8-9 weeks. ACK!!! That is if he comes like his brother and sister at 36 weeks which is not a guarantee but a probably so. Watch this little guy prove us all wrong and be overdue! At this point that doesn't sound so bad. He is much safer on the inside with Cannon around! :)

Our great friends the Jones' will be having Justin David Jones on the 8th of December. I have blogged about him before. I am so excited to get to meet him. Harvin and D'Sha' are on baby number 3 and the term Keeping Up With the Jones' has never meant much to us until baby time!! We have always followed in their footsteps with babies. Olivia was 5 weeks before Gracelyn. Kelly was 3 months before Cannon and now Justin will be 2-3 months before Baby #3 (wish he had a name but sadly he does not). Every time they called to tell us they were pregnant we weren't too far behind with our own news. Every time they called to tell the sex of the baby we had to follow and have the same thing. So it was no surprise when they said this time they were having a boy and then 2 months later we found out we were as well. This will be the end of the Jones' clan. 3 is their limit and we aren't for sure so we might break the cycle but we have loved having babies the same time as the Jones. We always tease that the kids are honorary best friends because we all are! Please be praying that these last few days for D'Sha' are easy and uneventful. Pray that Olivia and Kelly will adjust to a new baby in mommy's lap. Pray that Harvin will not go insane!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I choked on my science teacher because

I am sexy and I do what I want.

This is a fun game that I got off another blog I read! :) Leave your sentence in my comments so we can all have a good chuckle! I have several people who say they read my blog all the time but I wouldn't know that because there are never any comments from you!!! If I need to list you by name I will.

Pick the month you were born:
January------I kicked
February-----I loved
March---------I smoked
April-----------I dry humped
May-----------I choked on
June----------I murdered
July-----------I did the Macarena with
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over
Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11-------my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------myself
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a permanent marker
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy
Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White--------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red----------because the voices told me to.
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green---------because I hate myself.
Purple--------because I'm cool.
Gray----------because I was drunk
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange-------because I hate my family.
Brown--------because I was high.
Other---------because I'm a ninja.
None----------because I can't control myself

Mundane Monday

After a visit to the pediatrician it is confirmed that we have a big boy on our hands! :) Cannon weighed in at 27 lbs and was 33 1/2 inches. So in 3 months he gained 4 lbs and grew 1 1/2 inches. Overall he is a very healthy boy. We did get a prescription for allergy meds!! WAHOO. I am so ready for him to clear up and not have a runny nose all the time. Can't wait to see how well it works.

We had a great weekend with our church Thanksgiving meal and visiting with Cam's parents and sister last night. They are all home for good now. That is a great feeling.

We get to have pajama day tomorrow at school and I need to find some that will fit this belly. Gracelyn is excited as well. She can't wait to not have to get dressed for school in the morning.

I would love to haul out all the Christmas decorations and get started decorating the house. Since we aren't having Thanksgiving here this year I can spend a little more time doing it all but I can't get the tubs from the shed into the house by myself. Let me rephrase that. I can get them in here but I might get in trouble when Cameron gets home.

The Jones' will be having baby #3 on the 8th of December. We are still working out all the kinks with me being able to go with Cameron down to visit them. He will be taking his irrigation test in Mesquite on that day and I would love to ride along and spend some time at the hospital with D'Sha'. I can't wait to hold baby Justin. Trying to fit in Christmas shopping and other obligations is difficult because time is filling up fast for the holidays. Tis the season that's for sure!

Random Blog

This week has flown by! It was jammed packed with stuff and every day felt like we were on a special mission to get it all done in time. But we did and it was a great week. Some highlights were the Pilgrim Stew at school for the kids on Tuesday night. During class the kids got to go down to the kitchen and pour in the cans and then that night all the families got to come and enjoy the stew. It was so fun and lots of eating took place. It was much nicer than a huge feast and more relaxed for all involved as well. Gracelyn kept asking when we were going to the soup party!

Wednesday night we got to decorate the church for CHRISTMAS!!!! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! I do like to give each holiday it's own time and Thanksgiving ranks right up there with Christmas but it was a special time to be with friends and get to decorate. The new tree that was bought for the foyer was beautiful and HUGE. Now my mission is to find an ornament that represents our family somehow to hang on it.

At my OB appointment this week my doctor reviewed all the results of the tests and ultrasounds to say that things are just perfect. WHEW! It was a huge relief and she did go on to say that Dr. Urban (my internist) wants to do some kind of study/scan/test on my head to determine the source of the headaches if we can. The medication that was prescribed does work but from what I can tell he wanted to do something more to see if we can understand it all better. There is a list of tests that can be done starting with something that is the least evasive and then working your way up the ladder that would end with at CT SCAN if necessary. I feel confident that after the first test we won't find anything and it will be all over. But it is nice to know he has a plan.

Cameron is out of town, actually on his way back home by now, but he is helping to bring Kassie and Bella to Amarillo! After getting things squared away down at Fort Hood they are ready to come to the panhandle for a year. We are ready for them to be here. Gracelyn can't understand why Nana-B isn't around. No matter how you tell her she thinks that Nana-B moved to be with Bella. Is there some jealously going on? Watch out Bella! Just kidding. She is anxious for them to all get here permanently! Cameron left Friday morning and last night Gracelyn asked if she could sleep on daddy's side of the bed. Sure~why not. She promised to keep on her side. Hmmm.. Has she heard me say that before?? Does she know that I like my space during the night? It was nice to feel her up against my back because I can guarantee you she did not stay on her side!


Another tidbit of information is that we are adding another name to the list of possibilities! I thought we were done but oh no!! Cameron has to throw in Samuel and say that from the very beginning he has really liked it. I have too but we came up with so many other names I thought it got moved off the list. So Samuel Baker is listed with Jace and Mason. Samuel is Cameron's grandfather's name. We are huge into family names and try to incorporate either the first or middle name of a family member into the name. Gracelyn's middle name Mae is actually Cameron's great-grandmother's name and my mother's maiden name (May). Cannon David is using the initials CDM like Cameron and Charlie (Cam's dad) with David being both their middle names. My family does not provide very many opportunities for boy names. To list a few~Leon, Irving, Walter, Harvey, my grandfather's name was just the initials I.W. because the real names were so bad. SERIOUSLY! So you see where using my maiden name comes into play which we do love! After a high five we thought we decided to name this little guy Samuel Baker. I was done. Ready to tell the world, but then Cameron comes home after a pretty hectic day and as he is talking to my belly he calls him Mason. HUH? What? What did you say? Oh good grief! People may think it is me that is gun shy of naming this baby but I want it to go down in blog history that CAMERON is the one who cannot make up his mind! So to my sweet baby in my tummy. You had a name for a very brief 12 hours. Then daddy came and decided he just didn't know for sure! I do promise that you will have a name when you are born though. Until then I also promise that it is not me who is pushing on you all the time. It is big brother Cannon. I will point him out when you get here. I know that sibling rivalry starts early but give him a break he doesn't know how his little world is about to rocked!

I signed mom and dad up for making a turkey and dressing for the church holiday meal tomorrow. When you want good dressing you go to the source right? Well my grandma May made the BEST dressing ever and for years mom would watch her and ask her how to do it. It is not by a recipe by any means and you just do it. Before grandma's memory got so bad you could ask her and probably never write down the same thing twice. But mom and dad have perfected her dressing! Although we have not sat at the kitchen table with Grandma in the past few years making dressing I still feel like it is her tradition. I don't know how many times my mom will say today, "Mother always said..." but I know it will be said. I am too pregnant and emotional to blog about Grandma today but I will soon. I love that lady so much! She is really happy and that is all that matters in the world to me.

Many blessings this weekend and next week. I hope to not get too busy to write some more soon! November 20th or so through January 2nd is my absolute most favorite time of the year! Throw in some snow and I am in heaven!
Love you all,
Keri

Look at me!

I know you aren't used to seeing Cannon upright. He is a walker. WAHOO! I have been amazed at how his walking habits are so different from his sister's. Well... they are different from most kids actually but oh well we made it. It is really funny to watch him upright and just toddling everywhere. I don't think he has crawled one time in the past 3 days.

Why own clothes?

Gracie is getting some good practice holding babies! Bella is a cuddle bug and Gracelyn took full advantage of it while they were here last week. She was so proud that she could hold her all by herself.

Sigh of RELIEF

After one sonogram, a few tests, and a visit with an internist we are breathing a huge sigh of relief. My mom was able to change my sonogram appointment to today and was also able to squeeze me in to see a VERY busy internist. It pays to be the daughter of a very well liked nurse! The sonogram showed that the baby is measuring right on track which we knew from just 4 weeks ago but also that there wasn't too much amniotic fluid which could lead to some other more serious problems. My blood work showed nothing out of the ordinary as well. WHEW! As far as the visit with the internist I passed a very basic physical that made me feel like an old lady. I only say that because I have been with my grandma when she has gone through the same sort of exam. Hers was because of Alzheimers mine was for headaches. I hope there is no connection. HA! The doctor felt at this time there were no indicators that made him feel this was serious and that it didn't need further tests. So I got a prescription for a stronger medication to control them. Over all I was excited to see the little guy and relieved to have such good news.

When we saw him he was just sitting there criss-cross and looking like he was meditating. He hardly moved and was being a good little boy for the technician to measure everything. At the end she focused on his face and he just smiled. I immediately started thinking of what was going through his mind. He looked very cozy in there.

Was this just nothing and my doctor being cautious? Maybe. Was it something and after much prayer from my family and friends it was miraculously taken care of? Maybe. Will I question it? Absolutely not! I have an obligation to praise God for his care in this situation. I do not know how much intervention he played in it but I do know that he was with me over the past 3 days and that he did work (like he always does) without fail.

Unless we come up with any more names we are officially down to two! I am not a secret keeper and if we ever decide for sure I will definitely let everyone know but for now we are undecided on Mason Baker or Jace Baker. Each one has meaning for our family with Baker being my maiden name and Jace being similar to my dad's brother (Jack) who died when he was 19. Mason is similar to our other kid's names because it is a 2 syllable name ending with an "n". So scientific huh? We like both names equally. I use equally loosely because we each have our favorites but we are happy with them and think they are good names for a Melban.

Baby Update

I was always under the impression that the more times you do something the easier it gets. For the most part that theory is true but with pregnancy it is not the case. A very brief prenatal history is that I had two VERY uneventful pregnancies that flew by without any glitches or hiccups (all except for the babies having hiccups constantly!). This time around it is just a little different. I think that it boils down to my perspective of it all. With Gracelyn I didn't let anything bother me and I was very naive of what could possibly go wrong in a pregnancy. With Cannon I worked hard and enjoyed my summer off before having him as well and life just happened. Both babies came at 36 weeks with no problems. 36 weeks is borderline premature but since both kids were of good weight it was not a problem at all. I always teased that the kids came early because they knew their mommy couldn't get any bigger!

Baby #3 is really just a different little character. He is just fine and my sonogram report came back great that we had on the 13th of October. Whew! What a relief. But as my doctor was measuring my uterus it measured 30 cm and should be measuring 24 cm. Hmmm.... why would a uterus that is holding a baby that is right on track for his due date be bigger than what it is suppose to? This is puzzling to the doctor so we are doing the glucose testing/blood work baseline stuff early and then also another sonogram to check things out. Not a huge deal but something to think about. Like I said before I NEVER thought about the possibilities of things going wrong so this is new to me. Another glitch is that for the past 2-2 1/2 weeks I have been having headaches EVERY morning. They won't go away with Tylenol so I just mentioned it to my Dr. The variables that make me have the headaches is the weird factor in it all. When I go to bed at night I try to start out on my left side (which is recommended) and then through out the night I toss and turn and end up on every side imaginable but at least I try to start out on the left side. Well this automatically makes me have the headache. I have tried different "experiments" to narrow down the possibilities of what triggers it all. When I conveyed it to the Dr. she didn't know immediately what to think of it so I have to go to another doctor for his opinion. I am very thankful that my obstetrician is staying on top of it all and really listens to me. Bonus points for Dr. Cathy Van Hook! But on the flip side I was very used to a doctor with the previous two who was laid back and just let you be pregnant.

So although I am doing this for the third time I feel like I don't have a clue what is going on with my body.

One thing I do know is that God has a hand in this whole matter. He is in control of this situation and always will be. I do not feel like there is something MAJOR wrong just something else to worry about. And when I say worry I know that it should really be something else to pray about. Praying is the only thing that will ease my mind and give me peace. Of course test results help that as well but I know that prayer will give me comfort.

I'm off to go have a conversation of faith. I know that He is waiting for me I just hope that I have the patience to listen to Him.

Bella approves of the blanket

Kassie and Beverlee made a quick trip to Amarillo this weekend. I say quick loosely because a trip between Fort Hood and Amarillo is not quick! But they wanted to come up and show Bella off. Rightly so because she is just beautiful. Gracelyn was in love with her new cousin from the second she saw her. It was really precious. Beverlee, Kassie and Bella will be heading back down there on Wednesday for a dr. appointment and trying to get Kassie packed up and moved into a storage building so that she will be able to be here permanently! That should be in the next few weeks. But anyways it was wonderful to see them and get to hold that baby throughout church on Sunday. She looked very cozy with her blanket wrapped around her. I also love that Kassie loves bows as much as me!! I knew I liked that girl!

Silly Clown, Princess lessons and Chonda Pierce

Sweet Cannon! We really do love you boy! I promise we weren't being mean to him by making him wear this wig. He kept it on the whole night for Trunk or Treat and then for dressing up at school he wore it for a while. He won't wear a hat to save his life but a wig~SURE! What a fun night we had with the kids at church. Oh yeah, by the way he is a WALKER!!!! FINALLY. I will post pictures of him upright soon. It is so fun to watch him try walking while holding things in his hands like a book or his cup. Now if he can figure out how to keep his balance AND suck his thumb we will be on the right track.

Gracelyn was such a cutie and had so much fun. I also have posted about the candy monster that has emerged from her. She is a psycho when it comes to candy. It really is so funny to watch her go bonkers for it. I am going on strike. As of tomorrow morning all candy will have magically disappeared. Ether we go ahead and pull all her teeth because they are rotten or we deal with a sad monster for a few hours. It's tough being a princess with a sweet tooth.
On a much different note, I went to see Chonda Pierce tonight with a group of ladies from church. She is just hilarious and I was very moved by her talk that she incorporated between the jokes. It was light hearted but deep at the same time. She really talked about depression and how it has effected her life and the loved ones surrounding her. Great analogies were given and we laughed a lot! Most importantly I got to laugh at and understand something that I always deemed sad and taboo to talk about. It was enlightening and powerful. Because my friend Teresa had helped with World Vision (I think that is what it is called) she got special tickets for us to go back and meet Chonda! A real encounter with a famous person. (I don't get out much)! It was fun to meet her and I got a hug to boot!

Lots of things going on this weekend so look for an exciting post in the next few days! I hope you will be waiting on the edge of your seats for the scoop!