This morning, Nate was standing up on the recliner, then falling on his behind. He was saying, "Watch me, Mama! Watch this!" I know all kids learn this "watch me, mama" thing, but it just cracks me up that it's almost innate. Then when he was falling, he was saying "Weee!" and then "Can you say that, Mama?" Ha!!!

Nate is such a star at aquatic therapy. From the minute he walks in, the little old ladies are all over him, telling him how cute he is, watching him swim, encouraging him to kick his legs. :) Today he was such a ham--he kept swallowing water because he was too busy talking and laughing to close his mouth!

When we got home, Elizabeth was due to come over any minute. It started raining out, and the storm was so bad that the satelite went out. Nate said, "Ewizabef will fix it." Apparently this happened last time she was here, and he has far more faith in her to fix the tv than me. :)

If I don't update tomorrow, keep me in your thoughts. We're heading up to Ohio for me to defend my thesis on Thursday at 10am. Prayers appreciated!

Georgia update

I'm having doctor appointments every two weeks now, and I had one today. I'm 30 weeks and a few days pregnant now. I told my doctor that I had concerns about leaking amniotic fluid--she knows how paranoid I am because my water broke so early with Nate--so she did a test that came up negative for amniotic fluid. She also confirmed that I'm not dilated at all. And she sent me for an ultrasound to check for fluid! I love my doc!

So I got to see little Georgia, and she has plenty of fluid around her. (Normal is between 8-25, and she has 19.) The ultrasound tech said she's weighing about 3lb5oz now! I'm hoping she'll at least double that by July 31. It was nice to get a little peek at her and know she's still doing okay. Not that I don't feel her at all hours of the day!

Nate went to playgroup this morning, and his teacher said he danced the whole time he was there. So I think that says he's definitely feeling better! Blake asked him what he wants for his birthday (I'm truly at a loss for what to get him) and he thought about it and said ... "Presents." Thanks, that's helpful.

Finally feeling better!

That was a loooooong week of both me and Nate feeling awful. Besides the head and chest cold stuff, the worst part was that neither of us had any energy whatsoever. I had to cancel all of his therapy, we didn't go to soccer, and I'm so glad no one stopped by the house to see what a disaster area it had become. This morning, Nate slept until 10:30! I was starting to get really worried that he had pneumonia or something to make him so tired/lethargic. Then I was determined to get some housework done this morning, but I had to stop every couple of minutes to lay down so I didn't pass out! I was getting very frustrated with myself.

But by this afternoon, Nate was crawling around like a madman, talking my ear off. That's when I realized how little he had talked all week. The most he had said was a "yeah" if I asked him if he felt bad, or he would whine if he wanted something. So it was nice to hear him happy again today. He found a bug and followed it around for awhile, yelling "Buuuuuggg! Where are youuuuu?" Then he started yelling "Coweeeeeen!" Ha! Never heard him say my name before, but I guess he's heard Blake calling for me. Then he said, "Mama, it's a great day to run!" and he took off speed crawling across the floor! A couple hours later, I got my own energy back and was able to kick some laundry butt. Blake and I hung curtains, worked a little in the nursery, he cleaned the living room carpets ... ahhhh, I'm feeling much better. Nesting must be kicking in. :)

Yesterday, even though Nate and I were seriously not in the mood to drive over 2 hours, but I had planned a Spina Bifida playgroup in London, KY (eastern part of the state). Two other little boys came, along with their parents and grandmas and one sibling, and my mom and Pat from the SBAK were there too, so it was a decent little turnout. There's so little in the way of programming and services for the SB population in eastern KY, so I thought this playgroup would be a great start. Nate did show off his walking skills, and a younger little boy got to try out his walker, and us moms got to chat about preschool and orthotics. I think it was a success! I hope Nate didn't infect either of the other boys. Afterwards we had dinner with Pop and Uncle Wucas. :)

This is a big week! Wednesday evening we're heading to Athens, OH, and Thursday morning I'll defend my thesis! If you'd just stop and say a little prayer for me, I'd appreciate it very much. Then Saturday is my baby shower, and Sunday we're celebrating Nate's 3rd birthday as well as Father's Day. I'm sure I'll be in the mood to party after my thesis defense is over. (Well, let's hope so....)

Tomorrow it's back to our regular therapy, and I also have a doctor's appointment. So I guess I should be turning in.

We're sick.

Monday, Nate and I went to a luncheon that the Spina Bifida Association of Kentucky was hosting as part of a golf scramble. This is where I ate off the same fork as Nate, and he passed his germs to me. I didn't know he had germs. By that night, he had a fever. The next morning I took him to the doc. He said his ears looked fine and he didn't have strep, but his throat was really red and he had some sort of virus. Nate was pitiful. I was also starting to feel bad, so we stayed in bed together most of the day. Wednesday morning, Nate woke up crying and moaning, and he was losing his voice. Blake thought he had swine flu. :) So I called the nurse, and she suspected he had croup. I took him back to the doc, who gave him a prescription for a steroid that should make him feel better by the end of the day. I was feeling worse.

This morning, Nate woke up crying again. Blake brought him downstairs, and Nate was so upset that he flailed himself off the couch, and that just made him mad. He had absolutely no energy today. He just laid on the couch, then slept from noon-4, then laid on the couch some more, then went to bed at 7. I feel so bad for him. In the meantime, my cold has gotten worse! I am miserable! It's after 1 am and I cant sleep for the sneezing and stuffy nose. We are a mess.

What a weekend!

Nate is officially spoiled by grandparents! He had so much fun this weekend. What a lucky little boy.

On Saturday, I took him to soccer, and he surprised Coach Rob by walking over to him by himself. :) Then Memaw and GrandBob came for a visit and brought his birthday gift ... a sand and water table! Nate LOVED it. He kept saying, "I have sand ... aaaannd I have water." He got soaking wet and very sandy. Memaw also brought bubbles (aka, kid crack) and strawberries. It was Nate's idea of heaven. And she was nice enough to give him a much-needed bath afterwards. :)

Nate had so much fun that he didn't go to sleep until after 10 pm. He just laid in bed talking about his fun day. Sunday morning, we went to an early church service, gave Nate a snack, and he passed out in the truck, just as planned. By the time he woke up, we were in Sodor. :) That's where Thomas lives, for those who don't know Thomas as well as we do. We were actually in New Haven, KY, for a Day Out With Thomas ... and Grandma and Papaw.

There was a whole Thomas town made of Leggos.

This was made of Leggos too.

We ate lunch under that tree there.

All this stuff was at the Kentucky Railway Museum, where there is a model train room, and Nate loved that.

There's Thomas!

He could get on this train and ring the bell. I told him it was Donald (Thomas' friend) and he believed me. :)

He could pick out a temporary tattoo, and I loved that he picked the pink one! :)

We stood in the hot sun for a long time for the obligatory photo op.

About halfway through the day, Nate started wilting a bit. But as soon as we got him in the truck and cooled down, he went on and on about how fun it was to ride Thomas. And today he's shown everyone his tattoo: "It's pink!" he says.

The weekend was a little too much fun for me, and I went to bed about 6 pm last night!

Did it go away overnight?

No! He's still walking!!!! Whoo! I think it stuck this time! Blake and I tried it out first thing this morning after breakfast. :) Then his OT came, and soon after, one of the velcro straps on his new braces broke. Hmm. They wouldn't stay on. So I put his little braces back on him, and he continued to walk by himself! We didn't get to practice much today after that, because for the moment Nate needs to walk from one person to another and it was just me here today. We're going to see if he'll continue walking in his short braces or if I need to just get some new velcro for the taller braces.

Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day of cleaning, laundry, and making dinner. Nate helped me make brownies (and eat them), and he thought that was really cool. :)

Nate is walking!

And I caught it on tape!

This afternoon, Dee, his PT, came over, and she said she had a pair of taller braces she wanted to try on Nate. Not because his muscles need higher braces, but she thought they might make him feel more secure when he's walking. And they just so happened to fit perfectly! I was shocked--I can barely find shoes to fit this kid, and here these special orthotics she got from another kid happened to fit him just right. While Dee was here, he walked holding onto my hand, and I felt like he was already walking faster and more stable.

Blake came home from work this afternoon for a little break, and I told Nate to show Daddy how he walks with his "magic boots" on. Blake took Nate for a little walk to the front door and back, and he could tell a difference too. So we both got in the floor, just enough apart from each other that Nate would have to take about a step on his own. He wasn't cooperating and was just giggling, but then, he just stopped in between us, not holding onto either of us, and just stood there! So we started working on it again, moving a little farther away every now and then, and he started WALKING! This went on for at least a half an hour, and Nate was taking 14 steps--he was walking clear across the living room between us! And he LOVED it. He was giggling the whole time and saying "Do it again" before he even got to one of us. See for yourself!

Okay, now the test is to see whether he will do it tomorrow! But even if he does it, this time I have proof!

WHOOO HOOO!!!!!

I finished my thesis!!! It's done, done, done!!! There was a little drama at Kinkos today when they couldn't open one of my files, but it all got worked out. They printed it all, I collated and assembled the binders, and they shipped them to my committee members. I nearly danced out of Kinkos. Thanks so much to my friend Megan who designed the brochures for FREE and then had to deal with all the drama of figuring out how to email the files over the last 3 days. Now all that's left is defending it. (Cue dramatic music.) In two weeks, Blake and Nate are heading up to Athens, Ohio with me to attend the defense, and I just hope that Nate's cuteness, my big belly, and the bagels I plan to bring will put them in such a great mood that they won't be too harsh. I honestly am so proud of this project, so there may be things that they pick at, but overall I think it's really great.

Have I explained the project on this blog? Here it is in a nutshell. When obstetricians give parents the news that their unborn baby has Spina Bifida, they usually scare them to death. OBs don't know much about SB, so they tell parents things like, "Your child will be a vegetable," "He will be mentally retarded," " She will have no quality of life," "It would be cruel to continue this pregnancy," "You baby will probably die before he makes it to birth." Um, they haven't met Nate. Or the hundreds of other kids I "know" (sometimes only online through their parents) who have SB. So I have worked with the Spina Bifida Association of Kentucky to develop an information campaign to give doctors accurate information about SB as well as tips for giving the diagnosis compassionately. This includes a "fact sheet" as well as a series of presentations. We've also developed a brochure for parents. For my thesis, I also did a literature review, survey of about 50 parents, reported the results, wrote Nate's story, and wrote a commentary of how the project went. So not only am I finishing my master's degree, I'm also doing a project that I really believe will make a difference in people's lives. This will be an actual program for the SBAK, and they plan to present it to the national Spina Bifida Association to see if they'll take it nationwide. How cool is that? My hope is that parents will be able to make more informed decisions, and many, many babies will be spared from being needlessly terminated.

Okay, enough about that for now. Today I had an OB appointment, and it went well. Georgia is measuring right on schedule, and I have gained NO weight! Whoo! (You really wouldn't believe it to look at me!) I'm far enough along now--28 weeks--that I will be starting appointments every other week instead of monthly. At 32 weeks, I'll have another ultrasound to see how this girl is growing in there. And best of all, we have scheduled a c-section date! Grandmas, get out your calendars--Miss Georgia has a birthday! Friday, July 31.

Nate had playgroup today, and he was having so much fun playing with magnetic letters that he ignored me when I came to pick him up. As we were leaving, I asked him what he did at school today. This is his new way of telling stories: "Ummmm, I pwayed with wetters. Aaannnd had a snack. Aaannnd went to da gym. Aaannnnddd...." It's hilarious. Miss Elizabeth was here when we got back, and she stayed here with Nate while I went to Kinkos and got my hair cut. She got him to take a few steps by himself, and she also took him for a walk to the end of our street and back, just holding his hand. He is getting so strong. When I got home, she was telling me about all the walking he did, and Nate looked at me and said, "I so proud of you!" He said it all evening, how proud he was. I guess Elizabeth told him that, and he knew it was good but was figuring out exactly what it meant. (Let me interject that I also say this to him, but it just hit him today. Really, I do, haha.)

Then I put Nate to bed, and we did our usual routine--read a book, sing a song, say our prayers, talk about what he's going to dream about, lights out. Well, an hour and a half later, he was still up there talking and singing, perfectly happy but not sleeping. I heard him recite the prayer I always say, which is funny cause he never says it with me, just folds his hands and closes his eyes. But I heard him say, "Dear Jesus, tank you for mama and daddy and Nate and baby Georgie. We wuv you. Amen." Awww! The last couple of days, I've heard him randomly chanting "Mama, Daddy, Nate, Baby Georgie." And I say, "Yes, that's our family!" I'm hoping he's used to at least the idea of Georgia by the time she gets here.

Anyway, it's 11 pm, and Nate is still awake, now in our bed watching TV with Blake. This should be an interesting night!

IEP meeting!

This morning we had our IEP meeting with the public school system to talk about preschool. As you probably picked up from previous posts, I was pretty nervous about this meeting. I've heard of other kids in our community not getting IEPs or the services/accommodations that they needed. And I honestly didn't have time to do much research about what I wanted for his goals and accomodations, so I felt kind of blind and at the mercy of the school system walking into this meeting. But, I prayed a lot about it, that the school people would have Nate's best interest at heart and that I (and Nate's other advocates there) would have the presence of mind to think of everything he needed.

Well, God totally exceeded my expectations with this one! Nate DID qualify for an IEP based on him having a physical disability. And they are offering him physical therapy, occuptional therapy, AND speech therapy! :O I was shocked! In a good way. Nate currently has PT and OT, but he's never even been evaluated for speech because he's always been such a good talker. The speech therapist there today said she was also a little surprised he qualified, just listening to some of the things he was saying this morning, but the day of the evaluation, he showed a few problems that might hinder him some in preschool. For example, refusing to tell someone his name when asked, lol. (He's just stubborn.) Oh, one funny thing--The evaluator noted that when she was looking at a Barney book with Nate, she asked him what he was drinking, and he told her "Diet Coke." Ha! I have no idea where he came up with that! He must have heard someone that morning say that, cause neither of us drink Diet Coke. But apparently Barney does.

So they made some wonderful goals for him and offered him quite a bit of therapy. Even though he may not need speech therapy, we are always happy to get him all the resources he can get. In preschool, they won't pull him out of class for therapy. The therapists will come in and play with the whole group and especially focus on Nate's needs and evaluate his progress. So it can't hurt. As we were leaving, our early intervention person who was there to advocate for us whispered to me, "You got the motherload of services!" She was shocked at how much they offered him, compared to kids she had seen shortchanged in the past. I told her, "Well, I prayed really hard about it." :)

There was only one point of contention: the school bus. Blake and I had discussed that although we would certainly drive him at first, at some point, he's probably going to want to ride the bus like the other kids. Plus, it will be winter, and I'll have an infant to bundle, and it may a lot easier for us. Well, the PT thought that, considering Nate's sensory issues that often make him oblivious to where his body parts are (causing him to fall off the couch and our bed and anything else off the ground fairly regularly) that he should be in a harness (kinda like a seatbelt) on the bus. The problem is, harnesses are only available on special needs buses. Blake raised objections about this, and I agree with him. We want Nate mainstreamed in every way, so we don't want him set apart even on a different school bus. Also, riding a special needs bus may determine where he goes to preschool. The city only has a few special needs buses, so it's likely they'd round up all the kids that need to ride one and take them to the same school. We'd rather have him at the school closest to us.

Which brings me to the next good news. There is a very nice, very new school practically in our subdivision. Farmer Elementary is less than a mile from our house, and that's where most of the kids in our neighborhood go to school. I had heard that they only had a full day preschool program, and I was so disappointed because we really wanted Nate to go there but we only want him in half-day preschool this year. But today they told me that there IS a half-day preschool program at Farmer! We put that as our first preference and said we wouldn't even need transportation if he went there, hoping that would increase our odds. That would be soooo great, because I could walk to pick him up on nice days, and he'd get to know the school, teachers, and kids in preparation for Kindergarten.

So, it was a GREAT meeting. I still can't believe my baby is going to preschool, but I'm feeling really good about it now. He will probably start Aug. 30, so that will give us a month to settle in with baby Georgia before starting.

What a weekend!

I'm exhausted, and so is Blake! We got a lot of things done though. On Saturday we headed to Lexington to have lunch with Mindy and do a little shopping, and we met my parents there too. Oh, I did some minor damage at a gymboree sale--on teeny tiny girl clothes! It was so much fun! I also got us something to wear for our Littlest Heroes photo shoot next week. Now if we can all get haircuts before next Thursday, we'll be ready to go. Blake spent the day at work and then getting all the junk out of the nursery in preparation for painting.

Sunday, I sorted through all that junk to see what needed to go in storage and what needs to go in the yard sale next weekend. Blake also painted the nursery, and we cooked out and had Brian and Sunny over. Then today, I went to Panera to work on my project for several hours while Blake and Nate hung out, and when I got home, I did some touch up painting on the nursery. Nate just loved having Daddy home so much this weekend!

Nate has a pretty good cut on his nose, and we're not exactly sure how it happened. Blake left the room for a second, and next thing he knew, Nate was screaming. Of course it's hard to get the whole story out of Nate, so we've narrowed it down to either him falling off a chair onto a toy or him pulling Maggie off the chair and she scratched him on the way down. We're thinking the latter. :) Nate has been terrorizing Maggie lately, following her around, backing her into corners, telling her to run or go or get off the couch or get on the couch. Maggie is not happy. I think she's going to be much less happy with two little ones following her around.