Every Minivan Tells a Story

Hung by the chimney with care

2008-12-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

This photo represents so much more to me than candy from Santa. About three years ago, I decided that our old Christmas decorations were ready to be retired and I went out and bought some new things, including these stockings. I obviously only needed four stockings, but then I figured, I was really, really hoping to be able to add one more child to our family so maybe I should go ahead and buy the 5th stocking now so that I'd have a matching set. That year, I hung up four of the stockings and never even took the last one out of the bag - I just stuffed it into my holiday storage bin to await the time when I might be lucky enough to use it. Each year since then, including just last year, I've come across that bag and questioned my optimism in pre-buying that 5th stocking. This year, though, as I came across the bag with the 5th stocking, I was a little overcome with post-partum emotion as I finally got to remove the stocking from the bag, cut off the tags, and hang it on the mantle with the other four. And just for fun, I tucked the receipt in the toe of the stocking so someday Audrey can see the date and know how long we'd been waiting for her.

Long overdue update.

2008-11-11T10:08:00.000-08:00

Audrey Sloane , the third and final installment in our family trilogy, made her big debut on Halloween. She must've heard there was going to be candy.

Labor was an absolutely lovely experience. I'll be back with a more thorough birth story, once I get a chance to write it. Recovery is going remarkably well too. Overall, I feel like the luckiest momma on earth. It's been a long time coming but she was well worth the wait. We feel truly blessed.

Overheard at my house today

2008-09-07T06:10:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple new Sydney-isms:

"Mom, Spencer's messing around with the computer and he's going to get us a fungus again!"

"Spencer wants to put the Million Farcan on his Christmas wish list."

32 Weeks

2008-09-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Still feeling good. Scary good. Pregnancy is not supposed to be this easy... I feel like fate is going to have to get even with me eventually.

Back-to-School!

2008-09-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Here are the kids heading into a new year of school. Sydney started last week, so we took her first day pics then, and Spencer started today, so we took more pics this morning -- hence the different outfits for Sydney. [You can click on these pics to make them bigger.]

My funny husband

2008-08-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

As pregnant women are frequently known to do, I fell asleep last night on the sofa while watching TV. Mr. Funny Man decides to go get a red pen and do this to me. I didn't see it until this morning:

A day that will live in infamy...

2008-08-17T12:29:00.001-07:00

Last night, dh has this fun idea to set up his big tent outside and have a backyard camp-out with the kids. We bathed the kids since they were still a little sandy from our day at the beach the day before (there'd been no time for a bath that night we got home). We get out all the sleeping bags (brand new, mind you) and got the kids all settled in for a fun night. I went back in to putter around the house and finish up my laundry. I had just washed everyone's sheets from our day at the beach (they'd gotten sandy from the dirty kids the night before). I was just going to go to bed and leave some stuff for this morning but it occurred to me that maybe I should go ahead and get their beds made back up just in case something should go awry outside and they need to come back in to sleep. I had just finished making the kids' beds when I hear the patio door open and in comes dh with Spencer, telling me he'd thrown up all over everything. Spencer was a mess, his pajamas were a mess, and of course, the tent was a mess. So while dh hosed off the sleeping bags (his and Spencer's) and the air mattress and everything, I cleaned up Spencer, changed his clothes and put him into the clean sheets that I had just finished putting on the bed not minutes before.

Then, thankfully I had the foresight to get Sydney's bed all ready too, because an hour later dh brought her in covered in puke as well. Wash, rinse, repeat. While dh hosed off everything outside, I got Sydney cleaned up and stuck her into her fresh-out-of the-dryer sheets. Dh and I got to bed at about 3am and woke up this morning to about a dozen loads of laundry. I've spent the day washing all the sleeping bags, all the bedding that was outside, all the bedding that was inside, all the pajamas we went through, plus towels and buckets and other accoutrements one uses when one is sick. Then the kids, who just had showers last night before bed, got right back into the shower this morning.

But dh pointed out the bright side... at least the camp-out was in our back yard rather than some campsite somewhere far from home. Can you imagine?

Here's a photo from before the night went south:

To my dear old friend, my blog:

2008-08-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've neglected our friendship for these last several months. Life has an uncanny knack for getting in the way of things, doesn't it? So much has changed recently. Well, okay, not so much, really just one thing... we're finally getting to add that third and last family member to our family trilogy. She's due to arrive in late October and we are all so excited. It's been a long time coming, as you well know, old friend.

Hopefully I'll now be able to get back to doing what I do best here in blogville -- recording the funny things my kids say and do, logging all our fun family adventures, airing out my parenting concerns, and basically just boring the hell out of any of the people who happen to stumble across this blog who aren't, say, my mom.

But if you're here and you enjoy reading the everyday minutia of an average family, then please feel free to read and comment and share in the madcap adventures (and sometimes misadventures) of our family.

Somnabulism (otherwise known as sleepwalking)

2008-08-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

I had the weirdest, creepiest experience of my life last night. It was 10pm and dh and I were sitting downstairs watching the Olympics. I heard a door open upstairs so I muted the TV. This isn't uncommon, it's just usually Spencer getting up to go pee. We like to watch and listen so I kept the TV muted and we were both looking upstairs (we have a two-story family room so we can see from our sofa). I saw him pass the bathroom and go into the guestroom. I told dh and we stood up to look closer at what was going to happen. Spencer came out of the guestroom and stood in the hall looking down at us with a blank stare. I said, "Honey, do you have to go pee pee?" and he didn't respond at all, just the blank stare. That was weird enough already so the two of us bounded up the stairs and by then, he had returned to his room, pulled out his weiner and was peeing on the carpet. Dh started to say "Stop! You're not in the bathroom!" but Spence was a complete zombie so I knew he was sleepwalking. I told dh just to let him be b/c I was scared of waking him. So Spencer stood there in his room and peed on the floor, just staring at us. What was so creepy was that it was Spencer's face but Spencer wasn't there. He was not there behind his eyes. So as he was finishing, I grabbed some dry undies and pajamas and we took off his shorts (him being very cooperative and lifting his legs and everything) and then we put the dry things on (again, lifting his legs to help) and then we steered him back to bed and he just went right back to sleep.

I just did a lot of research online about sleepwalking and it's apparently pretty normal. About 16-20% of kids do it, more boys than girls, and it can be triggered by a full bladder and one site said it could involve urinating in an inappropriate place. I remember my little brother waking up when he was a kid and going to the toy box in the hallway, lifting the lid, and peeing inside. So I guess I shouldn't be too creeped out, but what was so scary was that Spencer's body was walking around but he wasn't really there.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-14T08:12:00.001-08:00

After about 50 outtakes, we finally got a keeper...

Stranger than fiction

2007-12-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you may or may not know that I'm a WWII history buff. My grandfather was a nose gunner in a B-24 bomber and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Anyway, I will read just about any book on the topic that my local library has to offer. The current one I'm reading is by Rick Atkinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his last WWII book. In the first chapter of "The Day of Battle," he discusses all the rations that Americans had to deal with, and all the ways that industry had to change from civilian to war production -- auto manufacturers were building tanks, lipstick factories were making cartridge shells, etc. The author then notes that fabric was rationed as well: lapels got smaller, hems got shorter, pleated skirts disappeared. But then came this doozy:

"An edict requiring a 10% reduction in the cloth used for women's bathing suits led to the bikini."

Now, I don't know about you, but that just sounds wrong on so many levels. First off, I sincerely doubt that bikinis were the latest craze during a time of war (not to mention the years following the Great Depression; I just don't think that frivolity was the prevailing attitude). And secondly, I have a very hard time believing that, when the nation needed to make do without certain comforts, that one of the places they decided to "make do with less" was women's bathing suits. Come on!

So do you believe that? I googled "bikini," as well as looked it up on wikipedia, and found no mention of this little factoid. Do any of you, my esteemed bloggers, have any data on the history of the bikini that could prove our Pulitzer Prize-winning friend wrong?

Dancing with the Sibs

2007-11-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

SuperGirl and WonderBoy got inspired while watching Dancing with the Stars with me last week. Here's their attempt at the cha cha cha:

Tis' the season

2007-11-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

A few of my online friends and I have recently been having a discussion about inappropriate kids' toys, particularly for girls. The only things I really object to are the Bratz dolls and the MyScene Barbies with the big, silicone lips, the credit cards, the bling, the makeup, the breast implants (okay, maybe I'm stretching for that last one, but still). Today SuperGirl saw a commercial for one and asked me why I don't like them. I was sort of at a loss for how to explain my reasoning to a 6-year-old.

There's a life lesson in there somewhere but I'm just not sure how to get at it. Anyone have any advice?

Mortifying moment

2007-11-08T14:26:00.000-08:00

I was at library with the kids yesterday and a "Little Person" walked by. I didn't spot him at first but SuperGirl did and she said softly to me, "There's a Little Person, mom." [I'm a huge fan of the show "Little People, Big World" and she has watched it with me before, so she is up on the proper terminology.] WonderBoy, on the other hand, said loudly, right as the guy was walking by us... "He looks funny."

Well, as you can imagine, I wished the ground would open up and suck me right down into it. It didn't, so I said, "No, he doesn't, honey. There are lots of people who are his size." By then, the guy had passed us by and there wasn't much more I could say in his hearing, but after we got to the car, I talked to WonderBoy at length about how some people are made differently but they're still people just like us, and telling them that they look funny hurts their feelings. I also wondered if I should have apologized to the man for my son's rude comment.

What would you have done?

Halloween

2007-11-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Here they are, my little cowboy and batgirl. As always, they got way more candy than they ever could, or should, eat, so I intend to donate the surplus.. if I can keep from eating it all first, that is.

Greetings from Buttercup Bananahead

2007-10-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here's one to add to your Christmas wishlist if you have kids in the 5-10 year range:

My kids are LOVING this series. I would've thought it was too old for them, but no. Basically, if your kid is in the stage where s/he laughs hysterically at potty-talk, this series will be a big hit this Christmas.

I mean, what's not to love about a book entitled, "Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants"?

Changes in attitude, changes in latitude

2007-10-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

So, consistent with the recent change in programming, I've decided to make my blog a little less, um... vulnerable? At first, I planned to just make it private and invite only certain readers (all two of them that I knew about) to visit my new blog. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that's sort of the nature of blogging -- to write something for public consumption, knowing that any like-minded invidual might stumble across my little neck of the woods and amble in for a visit. And being aware that I myself am a lurker on other blogs, I figure it's reasonable to think that others may be lurking here. So to any lurkers out there, whoever you are, welcome to my humble abode and make yourself at home.

There is really only one thing different about this blog from my old blog: I will no longer be using my kids' real names. My daughter will now be known as "SuperGirl" and my son will be known as "WonderBoy."

Thanks for following me over here!

Just say "No" to drugs

2007-10-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well, once again, I seem to have beaten the odds. And I don't mean that in a good way. I always manage to end up on the wrong side of the statistics. It seems that, even though clomid is known for its ability to make women ovulate, it apparenly has the opposite effect on me. Prior to this month, you could set your clocks by my menstrual cycle. I have been charting/temping now for over two years and each cycle is remarkably consistent with all the others. Until this month. My first round of clomid and I had my first ever anovulatory cycle. My temps have been all over the place and my period is over a week late (no, I'm not pregnant). My OB said she has no explanation for why clomid would do this to me. I said, "My period is very late and I don't get the impression it's coming any time soon. What do I do?" And you know what her response was? "Call me next week and I'll give you another drug to start it."

At this rate, I'm going to need to check myself into rehab. i feel like the reproductive version of Lindsay Lohan.

Clomid overload

2007-10-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well, my period is three days late, my temps are still very low (11 days now), and the pregnancy tests are all negative. Clomid has taken an otherwise textbook-perfect menstruater (is that a word?) and bungled things up beyond recognition. I called my OB today and she has no explanation for all the wacky things that are going on with this cycle, but she agrees that the clomid has apparently done more harm than good. She says that maybe the 100mg dose is too much for me and that 50mg would be worth a try. I don't know, but whatever the case, I'm sitting out the next cycle entirely. If there ever IS a next cycle, that is. [Drumming fingers and waiting.... ]

Oh, and in other news, I've made my blog private. The only readers will now be those that I have personally invited. Thanks to my friend Valerie who has made me re-think the wisdom of publishing my kids' photos and names online for all to see. I considered deleting the blog altogether but figured I'd give this a try for awhile. Honestly, I hardly have any readers anyway but it doesn't matter because the act of blogging itself is cool for introspective people like me. [You could replace the word "introspective" with "neurotic" and that sentence would be equally true.]

I don't think this is going to work.

2007-09-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is my first round of clomid and my temps, which are usually textbook perfect, have gone all awry. I'm not even sure I ovulated at all, which is strange because I think I ovulate fine on my own without clomid, so why would I quit while taking it? During the first half of my cycle my temps were very high, like what they normally are after the thermal shift. I read online that this is normal, that Clomid raises your BBT. Okay, so then you would expect my post-O temps to be higher yet, right? Nope. My temps now, in the 2ww, are barely higher than they were, and today, 9dpo, my temp went lower than it's been all month long. What does THAT mean? It might mean that AF is coming, and if that happens this early in my cycle, then clomid will have shortened my luteal phase from 16 days to 9 days and I sure can't get pregnant that way, regardless of whether I ovualted or not.

If this cycle goes bust, which it's looking like, then this may be my first and last round of clomid. What's really disappointing is that I was looking forward to having some help in this TTC business, and now it looks like I'll be on my own again. And on my own, I can get pregnant, but it will take another 6-12 months, which I just don't have. So this may end up being the end of the road for me.

Not a good day.

Still fresh

2007-09-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

My eggs, that is. I passed the expiration test. I was a little disappointed, though, because I thought they would give me an actual chronological age for my eggs. You know, as in, "You are 37 but your eggs are only 34!" Or in the case of a bad result, "Your eggs are equivalent to those of a 42 year old. Sorry." I guess I just like to have all my data quantified. Makes it easier for me to obsess. But I will just have to satisfy myself with what I got, which is an FSH of 7.7 (pre-Clomid) and 9.9 (post-Clomid), ), which my OB/GYN calls, "a good response." My research online tells me that this test is highly lab-specific so I cannot accurately interpret my own result -- I have to have the doctor or lab give me their interpretation. Since they call it "good," I guess that'll just have to satisfy me. It's a whole lot better than "bad."

Expiration Date

2007-09-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows eggs have an expiration date and I'm about to find out what mine is. That's right, I'm talking about ova.

I went to get my FSH tested last week and now I'm on one round of Clomid so that we can test my FSH again afterwards and see how my hormones responded. If they react poorly, then my eggs are nearing their expiration date. Given that I'm only 37 and will probably not be menopausal for about 13 more years, one would assume my eggs have quite a bit of shelf life left. But one could be wrong. It's not out of the range of possiblity for a 25 year old to have menopausal-quality eggs. It's just a fluke of nature, I guess. And given that I've just had two miscarriages in a row, it's reasonable to question whether my A.M.A.* eggs are to blame.

I go for my second blood draw Thursday and should have the results Friday. I don't know what I"ll do if I get a bad result. Where do I go from there? Do I give up? I don't know. And it's not at all like me to not have a plan. I'll just figure it out when I get there, I guess.

* A.M.A. refers to "Advanced Maternal Age" for childbearing. In common language, that translates to, "reproductively old as dirt."

Went AWOL

2007-08-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

So I realise I've been away for months. And I do have good reason. It's called depression. Disappointment. Anger. Take your pick. They've all sapped my strength and made me lose all motivation to post the kinds of sappy, happy dribble I used to post about the kids. Not that every minute of the last six months has been bad, it hasn't. I've been doing my level best to keep my spirits up and I have succeeded in staving off the deepest pit of depression. But my point is, updating my blog has just not been Priority One lately due to the fact that my mind has been on other things, things that I never before cared to share on my blog. But lately I've been realizing, this IS my blog, and if a blog is a place where you write what's on your mind, then maybe it's time for a change in programming around here.

You'll also notice that I've changed the title to reflect the new perspective. This is no longer just a collection of musings about the funny things my kids do and say, though I will still be doing that too. What this is now is more real, more honest, more raw, and more personal. Every minivan does tell a story. Mine says that I'm a suburban housewife and mother of two. And if you look closer, you'll notice that my third row seat is empty. And that, my friends, is the crux of the problem.

My dh and I have been trying to add to our family for the last two years. I'm no spring chicken, so these things don't happen as quickly as they once did, but still, we did finally manage to find success after ten months. I was nervous but ecstatic. Things appeared to be going well and as I passed bloodwork tests and had good ultrasounds, I finally relaxed and settled in to enjoy the ride. At nine weeks, I ordered a doppler for home use and found the heartbeat, nice and easy. Dh and I told our families and friends that a third blessing was on the way. Then, a couple weeks, later, I did my daily doppler listen and found nothing. And nothing again the next day. I hoped that I just had sucky doppler skills so I went to the doctor for a quick check and, sure enough, baby had died at 11 weeks. I had a D&C and chromosomal testing that revealed that Baby Girl had Trisomy 18. I was devastated. That was last November.

After taking a couple months to recover, we started trying again and this time we had success a little sooner, at seven months. This time around, I remained very cautious and was braced for the worst. And I wasn't disappointed. Two weeks later I went for a routine ultrsound and saw that the sac was empty. It was over before it even started. This time I took the drug cytotec and miscarried at home for the first time (I also miscarried my first pregnancy, right before Sydney, and that resulted in a D&C as well). I have been bleeding now for a month and finally, just today, got my first BFN, which is a huge relief. The only thing more frustrating than a miscarriage is one that drags on forever. So it's onwards and upwards and on to next cycle. And that's where my story will continue on from here.