5 Things

Five things to tell you:

1. My quarter-rolling days are over. Today was my first day and I gave up halfway through our change stash...see, I've always used the CoinStar machine at the Albertsons by our house and they just closed last month. (gasp!) I asked Sean to get me some little paper things at the bank because I'd just start rolling the change myself. He laughed when I told him this but he got them for me anyway. I just called him to say I was done and he said he'd been timing me and wondering how many minutes it'd take for me to give up. My work ethic is questionable at this point. For kicks, I got on the internet and looked up where the next closest CoinStar machine is and it's even closer to the house than Albertsons. God is looking out for me.

2. One should never go to Walmart, Sam's, or Costco on a Sunday afternoon. One should definately not try all three in one day. You'll need medication afterward. Take my word for it. If I don't make sense in this post now you know why.

3. God loves a cheerful giver. I gave my sister-in-law Ana a pair of shoes that don't fit me anymore even though they are cute enough to force my now bigger foot into...but Ana still has a small foot and I gave them to her Thursday. That same afternoon, while shopping with her, I found a replacement pair for $3.97. 

4. I talk about bargains a lot. Someone I barely know who goes to our church told me this today. She said I mention how much everything costs on my blog. I'm not ashamed of that! If I can get a good deal on something it's my duty to share! For example, Old Navy had/I think is still having a HUGE sale on t-shirts. A girl can't have too many t-shirts, especially facing a Spring/Summer carrying a little person against my chest. Cute colors, all sizes. Online and in stores. Check it out.

5. My big girl Charlie no longer needs bottles, has taught herself (finally) to drink from a sippy cup, and is almost walking. Praise to the Lord on High because my back is on its last leg and I still have a few weeks to go being pregnant. The more weeks the better but I can only imagine how uncomfortable it will be as time goes on lugging my 30 lb. daughter up and down the stairs! Stairs are our next goal. 

Happy Sunday!

Joy Stable Kathryn Wilborn

No she is not here yet! Good news today--not only is the tumor/fluid situation stable, I only have to go once a week from now on, (pending things stay the same). I can't tell you how big a difference this makes--I'm trying not to wear my mom and Sean's mom out--hello I'll need them once she is here--so we've been getting people to come watch the kids during the appointments. Did I mention kids aren't allowed at the perinatologists' office? I'm not sure I get that but there has to be a great reason. Scheduling, paying, teaching, paying, programming, paying babysitters will be much less frequent because if things go according to the new plan I will be able to schedule all appts. on Mondays and Tuesdays while Sean is home. Praise! 

I have officially graduated from the intrauterine surgery! After 28 weeks they don't do it because the survival rate is high enough to deliver her and it doesn't involve putting me at risk the way the surgery would. So there is the latest update--good news all around!

Want to know where Joy's name came from? Well I'm gonna tell you.

Joy--I'm not sure if I've really told her to what extent, but Joy is named mostly in honor of my Mom. For two reasons: Joy was my mom's uncle who had a life filled with reverence and passion for the Lord. He was a very kind constant in my mom's life, as she lost her daddy when she was 7 years old. The other reason is that in the last few years, joy has become her favorite word. We've made fun of how many trinkets and signs she has all over the place with the word on it and she always says, "Well I have true joy and it's changed my life." And we can all tell. It really has. My parents are so happy and full of joy--It is refreshing. True joy really is, isn't it? Joy that God can give you and in the midst of everything else you have the constant reminder of all of the good that He is. I also just really like the name Joy. I picture her getting into trouble and going, "Why did you have to name me something that has to mean I'll be happy all the time!" and I'll say, "Because I need you to be happy all the time. Stop complaining." Ha!

Stable--Do I really need to explain? Read a few prior posts. No I'm really not officially naming her this.

Kathryn--My middle name.  Also my maternal grandmother's middle name. We called her "Gee," but her name was Patricia Kathryn. I was always Mary Kathryn growing up and most people from my hometown still call me that. I got a few Saturday Night Live comments in High School but I always really liked my name. 

Wilborn--Well that's our last name. It's not rocket science. 

Eggs and His First Golf Lesson

Excuse the quality of these pictures--Use this disclaimer for all future posts because often my pictures are taken with my phone since it's handy. Plus if Sean is around he is taking the pictures and he doesn't find some of the things I capture picture-worthy. Ha! What does HE know :) Things like these two pictures are what make my day. 

My Mom started showing Ty and Charlie Easter eggs last weekend (during the weekend from down under,) hoping they will get into hunting them this year. They both love them--for different reasons. Ty likes to organize them. By size, color, etc. Charlie likes to just bang two together, much like her brother last year. Yesterday at Mimi and Pop's house, (Sean's parents) we broke out the egg collection and had a great time. Until other cousins joined in...what age do they understand sharing? Ever? Anyway, it was big fun and I'm really hoping Joy stays in the belly until after Easter so I can watch the kids hunt this year!
Isn't this a sweet picture? Sean's dad loves golf and felt it part of the plan that when they moved to a new house 5 or so years ago they put a putting green in the back yard. I'm not sure he pictured what would actually take place on it for the following years but imagine lots of lost golf balls, miniature plastic putters, and "THAT WAS MY BALL!" meltdowns. And Pops eats it right up. Ty giggled every time he actually hit the ball and would say, "Yay Pops." I sent this picture to Sean and he said it made him so sad he wasn't there with us. Sometimes when I send him a picture so he feels like he's not missing things it makes it worse that he isn't there. Not my intention babe!

Forgive the delay on telling you about our visit with the pediatric surgeon--It was great and relieving and has given us more hope than we have had before for Joy. When he walked into the room, my first thought was that he looks like my OB, which will help since after surgery I'll be drugged and can talk to them interchangeably..."Dr, how did the surgery go? Is all okay? Can you give me more pain meds?" You know, the important stuff. I kid. He does look, act, and calm me down like my OB though. They know each other and respect each other and that does matter to me. When you're envisioning your child in surgery of any kind don't you want someone that other people consider GREAT at their job?? 

I guess I should start calling the doctors in our lives by their names or titles to keep things less confusing. Maybe I'll think of some nicknames. Anyway, the ped. surgeon-let's call him that for now-said he has done "many" operations on babies similar to what Joy will have, he can operate at our hospital, and he doesn't expect to have to do the surgery immediately after birth. He explained CCAM more to us and said they often don't cause severe respiratory distress immediately after birth and that he will likely be on call for her delivery just in case but will probably do a CT scan when she is 3 months old to see the tumor then operate when she is about 6 months old. He actually said, "This is not too big a deal..." about three times. She will have 1 or 2 small scars and the surgery will take 2-3 hours. I can't tell you how different this looks from what we were imagining! He assured us that if for some reason she does need immediate surgery he can be there and do it and she should do fine. In the meantime, the NICU at the hospital is equipped to handle whatever symptoms she has and keep her stable until he gets there. If my diabetes stays under control and no more fluid appears in Joy's body they project that we will schedule her delivery at 36-37 weeks...mid-April. 

Thank You Lord. We are continuing to pray that she stays happy inside for as long as possible, but we have crossed the huge milestone (28 weeks,) that all of the doctors involved were hoping for. Our prayers and your prayers have been answered over and over again and we couldn't be more thankful. 

Last One...Probably

Okay thanks to Heather again, I found a whole new designer for blog backgrounds...this will be the last few tries at picking my new background I promise. Let me know when you like one!

Okay Y'all. The Hair

**Update**Thanks for the suggestions for miss Charlie! I need to run to Target :) I intended to get up earlier today to write a post about yesterday's appt. with the surgeon but my kids are already up and one is crying and the other is jumping in his crib--praying he doesn't get airborne and fly over the edge onto the floor as I write this. 

I'll write more later but the appt. was great-we feel much less anxious after hearing details about the surgery...he literally said, "It's no big deal," which is exactly what you want your surgeon operating on your child to think, right? He's not worried at all! He has done many like it, can be there quickly if needed, and can do it at my hospital so we wouldn't have to transport her. In Sean's sister Stephanie's words, "PRAISE!"

Gotta run--going to Mimi's house in Denton today with the kids :) 

It really needs some help. Maybe it's just the wind the last few days but her hair has taken a turn for the worse. I am getting worried.

To add to my concern, she has learned how to pull bows out so my only defense is now obsolete. 
Rubber bands? Does that make her look too much like Pebbles? Should I break down and start using gel or something? Promise not to judge me if I put products in my one year-0ld's hair?

Stable Is Our New Favorite Word

Looks good once again. I sent Sean and Mom a text right away when she said "stable," and Mom wrote back, "That is our favorite word now. Maybe we should name her Stable instead of Joy." Direct quote. I guess she could have two middle names :)

At the end of the week will be another sonogram and she said today that if all is okay then we will push it to once a week. Wouldn't that be nice?! This afternoon I see my OB and tomorrow Sean and I will go meet the pediatric surgeon that will remove the tumor if needed when she is born. That is my final appointment until Friday. I'm not sure what to do with myself with all of this extra time. 

Yes I do. I'm gonna go walk around the mall, get a Route 44 Diet Dr. Pepper, and say thank you to my husband who will gladly play with the kids all day to give me a break. Then have an uneventful OB appointment and come back home. Happy Day!

Look What I Found!

I'm back! I know you were hanging on the edge of your seat. Ha! I know I say it a lot but for the record, steroids are not your friend. They may be your unborn baby or your little girl's lungs' friend but they are NOT good for the mood of the already hormonal momma. Thankfully my blood sugar has returned to earth and it looks like I might not even need insulin yet (or ever again!) We will see in the next few weeks...This morning while Ty was happy watching Blues Clues and miss Charlie took her nap I cleaned out some pictures from my computer and look what I found! I might have posted some of these but just pretend you're seeing them for the first time if not. It'll be more fun that way. 

For our anniversary (the big #3,) in August, the man and I went to Santa Barbara for a little getaway. We'd planned on going somewhere this year because I'd been pregnant both prior anniversaries and couldn't travel--I hate to fly so the shorter the plane ride the better and I've never been anywhere in California besides LA. Sean used to live in Santa Barbara so it seemed like a good fit for a quick trip...it was! I highly recommend it for a trip with or without kids. The weather was beautiful and you can stay outside all day without breaking a sweat. For those of us who sweat more than a woman should, it was great to be on a beach and never feel the least bit gross. I also highly recommend In and Out burger. Enough said. 

This is the old Santa Barbara Mission building. Beautiful! Sean had never been there before and it was just breathtaking. 
This is me in the early stages of pregnancy...but I didn't know that. I was tired and nauseous but thought it was the triple dose of Dramamine that I took to make it through the plane ride. Yes, it's okay to have Dramamine while pregnant.
My pictures really don't do the Mission justice. Inside it was a sacred place--full of history and really beautiful but you couldn't take pictures. 
And this is what Sean used to fly when he worked in SB for SkyWest. It makes me nervous just looking at it because of the plane similar to this one that crashed last week. If I do have to fly I think it's worth the picky schedule and extra $$ to get on a big airplane. The bigger the jet the better I feel. Sean, of course, thinks this is hogwash.

It was fun to look back at this trip and think of how much is different now. I didn't know about what would unfold in the months following this past September. How many uncertainties, great blessings, and new challenges. Ty and Charlie are doing so much more than they were then!

On an update note, I go tomorrow morning at 9:30 to see if there are any changes. Right now I'm not the least bit nervous because I'm just so glad we survived this past weekend. If you know my parents or sister, give them a hug and tell them I wouldn't be able to do this without them :)