Events and adventures

Whew! It's been a week! I feel like we've been going non stop, which is pretty much the truth. I worked Sunday through Thursday and was VERY excited to have Friday through today off! Friday, Jason and I went to Andrew's school to eat lunch with him and watch his field day. He'd been asking since the week before, and even though it was raining, he called me and left a VM saying "um, you should still come 'cause it will be pretty fun!" We wouldn't have missed it for the world! He was so happy to introduce us to his class and his teacher, who told us he'd been talking about us coming all week! Precious! After school, we snatched him up and went to pick Jacob up from school. Jacob met us at the school office BEAMING because he'd been awarded the "Best 8th grade boy in choir" medal. He loves to sing and I'm pretty sure that aside from the girls, choir is the best part of 8th grade! We took both of them home and just relaxed the rest of the night.

Saturday, we got up and went to the Colonial golf tournament. The boys were really excited about it, and not surprising, their dad was too! I went with my "mom bag", filled with sunscreen, water bottles, and other necessities for a day spent in the smothering Texas humidity. We had a great time, but were rained out on the 18th hole right before the boys favorite golfer, Rickie Fowler, was set to play. We made our way back to the bus through the rain and came home. The rest of the day was spent drying off and getting clean. Sunday, Andrew had to be back home early to work on a rainforest project for school, so we dropped them off with their mom and headed to Costco, my favorite weekend hang out. I got lots of free samples...it's a bypass patient's dream! We also went to see Bridesmaids which nearly made me wet myself at least four times. Darn that pregnant tiny bladder!

Today has been a L-A-Z-Y day! We've had some whopper thunderstorms come through, which has delighted me! This allows for lounging about in my pajamas and watching Food Network all day whilst catching up on laundry. Tonight, we are going to Jacob's last middle school choir concert. I can't believe he's going to be in high school next year! Whew! Time FLIES!

Olivia has been up to her regular antics this weekend. Saturday, I guess she was tired of all the boy time and wanted to make her presence known. She was kicking my stomach SO hard that it was visible to all around. Andrew got to see it and I think his eyes got as big as saucers! "What was THAT?" That was your sister. "WHOA. She's strong!" Yep, she's a feisty little thing! He is so proud of her! He asks about her every time we talk. He's going to be an amazing big brother.

We leave for California in less than a month! AAHH! I am so excited to show those sweet boys what fun vacation is! It's going to be hard for me in parts since I won't be able to ride some of my favorite rides, but there's enough for me to ride and seeing their joy will take away any sadness! And really, there can't be any sadness at Disney!

I work the rest of this week, so that will be fun and games. I am still really enjoying the people I work with and the environment. It's nice to feel appreciated!

Thank you for your continued prayers for my sweet family. They are most appreciated!

My funny boys

Jacob and Andrew are hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. They never cease to make me smile, laugh, or turn my head in the "huh?" position. Every time they have the opportunity to come be with us, we end up having a wonderful time, even if we're really not doing much. When I picked them up yesterday, Andrew looked at my belly and said "Woah. She got huge!" I laughed and asked him if he meant me or his sister. He quickly replied that I wasn't huge but Olivia's gotten so big that I really look pregnant. I was thinking the same thing, Andrew!

This weekend, my parents drove in from Houston since my mom had the day off of school on Friday. They wanted to take everyone to lunch on Saturday, including their two grandsons. Those boys really don't know a stranger. They can talk to anyone about anything! We went and met my parents, grandma, aunt and uncle, and another aunt for a fun meal of laughing and craziness. The boys fit right in and I think they had fun hearing stories about my childhood and telling the family about their own shenanigans!

After lunch, the four of us (and Olivia!) went home and watched Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It doesn't exactly follow the book to the tee, but really, what movie from a book does these days? It was still a cool movie! Jason and I were going to take the kiddos back home and then head to a graduation party we had already committed to. It ended up that the boys wanted to spend the night ("desperately!" in Andrew's words!), so they hung out with Liberty while we went to the party for a few hours. I guess they wore themselves out because they were both fast asleep when we got home.

This morning, I had to get up and go to work. Blah. Before I left, I got Liberty out of her bed and then got ready for the day. When I returned to the living room (where the boys sleep), I found Liberty snuggled up with Jacob and trying to share his pillow. It was supremely pathetic. The last sound I heard as I closed the front door was the thump, thump, thump of her very happy tail and the phrase "Lib, move over! You have to share the pillow!" HA!

This week will hopefully go by QUICKLY as I have a 4 day weekend coming up! Andrew asked me to come and eat lunch with him, so I'm planning to do that on Friday when he has field day. Then, I'll go find something to do for a few hours and go back to get both of them for a weekend where we don't have anything to do and can spend the weekend planning for our Disney trip!

I continue to be blessed to be a mom to these two. I am so thankful they have accepted me into their lives. My biggest prayer is that I continue to show them how special they are and how much their dad and I love them! Olivia truly will be the most blessed little sister in the world!

In other news...

Thank goodness my glucose test was NORMAL! There was no way in this whole world that I would be repeating that torturous test...for ANY reason. I also started having some Braxton Hicks contractions, but I think that may have been caused by my lack of good water drinking for a few days! I normally drink 2 44 oz cups of water at work to keep myself flushed through, but since I was off for 4 days, I threw my system off. Once I corrected the problem, little Olivia has still been actively dancing, but there haven't been any contractions. I know those type of contractions are normal, but that doesn't mean they don't freak me out! :)

Jason and I have been working on our fabulous summer vacation plans for those two sweet boys. Every time we talk I get more and more excited! We're actually going the day after Father's Day, so what a precious gift for my sweet husband and the boys! The next time they are over to the house, we're going to sit down and see exactly what things they want to see while we are there. We've got some extra time in Los Angeles and are gonna try and do all the fun Hollywood stuff...the sign, the walk of fame...all the things that are on TV all the time and would be neat to say "I've been there!" As a complete foodie, I'm also trying to think of all the places I've seen on TV that I want to go visit. I know Jason's excited about this restaurant called Tommy's Hamburgers. I would LOVE to go to Pink's Hot Dog stand, but we'll see. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives is one of my favorite shows (and the boys love it too!), so we may investigate some of the places from it!

Well, I guess I'd better get moving...work is calling me! Thanks for all who tune in and read the random events of the Russell household!

Bypass Beware

In 2008, I had my entire digestive system rerouted in the hopes that it would allow me to finally lose weight. It did the trick. 140lbs gone in 9 months! What it left me with is complete sugar intolerance and the inability to eat too much fatty food. No big deal! I can live with that!

When I realized I was pregnant, I suddenly noticed I was having sugar cravings, something I haven't had in almost 3 years. I was able to tolerate small bursts of sugary items because of the influx of pregnancy hormones. My doctor (who has also had weight loss surgery) said this is not unheard of, and that this will most likely go away after those surges are gone. Before pregnancy, I could probably only handle about 2-4 grams of sugar at a time, and sometimes not even that. NO sugar soda, no syrup, not even things like honey or agave syrup. I could do fruit sugar, but that was it. I can now do small bits of sugar, typically no more than about 25g of sugar at a time. Doing more means running to the potty (sorry about the TMI!) and horrid intestinal cramps. If I can avoid this torture, I absolutely will!

So when my doctor decided that it wouldn't be "that bad", even though I knew it would probably not be too fun for me, I defaulted to his judgement and that hopes that it would give information about my pregnancy that would be helpful. Oh heavens. I should have said no! Apparently, they were supposed to give me the drink to consume at home and then come in to the office. Thank goodness they did not because I would NEVER have made it. I started feeling icky about 2/3 through the 10 oz, 50g sugary torture device . In fact, I was on my way to the bathroom while drinking the last gulp and handing the container back to the nurse. The next few hours was badness, but I made it through! I will NEVER do that to myself again, so I hope everything turns out ok! :)

Other than the torture of the nasty orange badness, we also got another peek at our sweet girl. She was active as always, surprisingly laying side to side instead of her feet dancing on my bladder. She weighs 1 lb, 7oz which is simply perfect. I haven't gained much weight and what weight I am gaining is apparently all baby and baby growing apparati. She's a foot long, and extremely active (as if I didn't already know that part!). She is also "still a girl, NO penis". Awesome. So glad to know that! I still think it's amazing that the sono tech knew at 13 weeks who she was! I guess when you've been doing something for a long time, you should really know your stuff!

I'm free from the OB for another month, and then I'll have to move to every 2 week visits from that point on. I think once I hit 8 months, I go to weekly. UGH. I still can't believe that tomorrow marks the 6 month mark. We are so blessed to have this wee one growing for all that time. Keep up the good work, Olivia!

In typical fashion....

Texas weather is BIZARRE. Last weekend, it was in the 40's at night. Today, it was over 90. I just don't even get it. Ah well, it's the price I pay for living here! Normally, I wouldn't mind except that yesterday evening, in typical apartment fashion, the air conditioner died...AGAIN! Of course, that's about the 5th time it's done it in the last 3 months. They just keep shoving freon into it and considering that "fixed". Cheap skates. Thankfully, since it was going to be in the 90's for the next few days, and the fact that I'm noticeably pregnant and crabby in heat, they brought over a window unit that is currently blasting freezing cold air! It's been getting so much nicer in here! I am thankful!

I am now working full time at my job and really enjoying it. I've moved locations, still the same company. It's been fun getting to know all the new people at this new location. The beauty of this new job is my boss is completely flexible with my hours! I'm actually off until Tuesday, and I am SO loving that!

Yesterday, we got a call from Andrew who wanted to know when he would get to see me because he has something to give me. I asked what it was, and he said it was a secret because of the special day on Sunday. This brought me to tears right in the car and I almost couldn't keep talking! Such a sweet boy. He also wanted to know how his acrobatic sister was doing!

We're in the middle of planning our family vacation for June. We've got plane tickets, hotel and car reservations, and two VERY excited little boys, as well as one estatic husband! It's going to be absolutely amazing seeing them experience this for the first time! Plans are in the works for a few days at Disney, Legoland, and the San Diego Zoo! YAY!

It's so amazing to me that I have so many friends right now that have either just HAD babies or are pregnant. How blessed we all are! It's nice to have a host of friends to go through this with! It's also amazing to have a husband who understands the craziness of pregnancy and has been through it before! I've been given such a wonderful gift!

Not sure what the rest of the weekend will hold, but I do know that relaxing will be involved! Monday morning, I have the dreaded glucose test at the OB's office. I am NOT NOT NOT looking forward to this. My hormones of pregnancy have allowed my bypassed intestines to tolerate more sugar that pre-pregnancy, but I have no idea how this will go down. It should be interesting, to say the least. We'll also have another ultrasound to look at our little girl. Hopefully the sono will be BEFORE the horrid sugar test! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

An important milestone

Raising children is all about milestones. When did they first roll over? When did they walk? Talk? We compare our children (whether knowlingly or not)to others around them.

Today, Olivia has reached an important milestone. She is VIABLE. She has reached a developmental age that she COULD live outside the womb if she had to. Of course, this would not be without much help and assistance, but she still COULD. WOW. I've been growing her for 23 weeks and in the last 2 weeks, she has become so much more real to me. I can feel her move and dance. I can see her kick my stomach. When I press my stomach in, she kicks back.

Just because she COULD live on the outside, doesn't mean I am ready for her to. I'd like her to stay happy and growing, for at least 15 more weeks or so. Unfortunately, it's not my decision, but I certainly put in a good word for that time frame!

Last night, Jason and I toured the hospital where Olivia will be born. I've been in TONS of Labor and Delivery rooms, but I literally had the breath taken out of me when we were there. It just made it so much more real! To know that in 3 months, I'll be in the shoes of the women that I saw last night. AAH! I'm not ready! I have no doubt I'll be MORE than ready to end the days and nights of hot torture, only to replace it with the days and nights of not sleeping. Seeing the room layouts are really good for me because it makes it easier for me to put together in my head. I can see Jason going to get Jacob and Andrew so they can be the first two people to hold their new sister. We saw the waiting room where our families will anxiously await the arrival of this new life. We saw the nursery and the doors of patient rooms who have recently opened their hearts to a new family member. Whew! Overwhelming!

Little baby things have started to make their way into the house. A giant box of clothes from my sister...baby gear from friends...some tiny onesies and ballerina socks that my husband bought. It's been fun! I end up finding all things little people in my house. An Andrew shirt stuffed under the laundry hamper, a Jacob sock under the chair, and now starting to find Olivia gear too. I LOVE finding these little treasures. Last summer, Andrew left a pair of socks and we sent them back to him in the mail (cause didn't you LOVE to get mail as a child?) with a note from Liberty. He called me the second he got it to tell me about it. Precious!

Thanks for tuning in again. These sometimes turn rambly, but then again, this is how my brain works...so it seems to fit. Have a wonderful week! Enjoy the weather! It's GORGEOUS!