Just Checking In

Since I only do this once a year... it's time again! We have had some changes in our lives that I decided needed to be added! Matt and I have finally made the move to Sand Springs schools! With Noah going to school we decided it was time to be closer. Scary and exciting! Noah is 4 and as the weeks of summer come to an end, I am finding it difficult for him to start pre-k. He is ready...mommy isn't! I can not believe that he is already school age! Time flies! Sophie girl is 2. She is a mess! Ms. Independent and attitude. I am scared for the teenage years with this one! She is such a handful. Everybody thinks she is so cute; she has them fooled.
We got to go to Colorado this summer. It was a great time! The kids really enjoyed it! We came home the long way for an extended trip. The kids got to go to Sea World and Roswell. They had a blast.

Gluten Free and NOT loving it!

When I got pregnant with Noah, one of the pregnancy side effects I had to deal with was (among being sick) upset stomachs. I just assumed that they were from being pregnant. I went the whole pregnancy like this. I thought once I had him the stomach aches would go away. They didn't. I went to my dr and talked with him about them. He thought that I had anxiety being a new mom and IBS. He gave me some medicine. I didn't think it helped that much. I just dealt with it until I got pregnant with Sophie. During that pregnancy, the stomach aches stopped. I would be sick occasionally, but nothing like before! I was excited and thought that maybe getting pregnant again was reversing whatever happened with Noah!
After having Sophie, my stomach went back to being upset ALL the time. I had Sophie in April and when school started, I was constantly having to ask my partner to watch my class while I ran to the bathroom. She was probably sick of me asking her! I was going to go to the dr in November, when we had our Thanksgiving break, but I felt silly going in and just saying that I get sick after eating. I kept putting off going to the dr. In January, I was still sick and losing weight. I started looking horrible! I got down to 85 lbs and that was low for me! I set up an appointment and was told that I would have to do a colonoscopy and endoscopy. I would NEVER wish a colonoscopy on anybody. It was horrible having to prep for that! The stuff that you have to drink is terrible!!
We got the results back that I have Celiac Disease. The dr wanted to make sure that he diagnosed me properly and sent me in for blood work. The blood work came back negative. So I had to go back for a genetics screening. The genetics screening said that I was a carrier for Celiac and so the dr was sure that was what was wrong. I had to go on a whole new diet. :(
Gluten is wheat, rye, barley, and some oats. I couldn't eat anything with these or I would end up in the bathroom. There are a ton of foods with gluten in them. Lucky for me, I was diagnosed when it became a diet fad to be gluten free. Finding food for me was easier than it would have been a year ago! It still isn't fun because I LOVE fried food and bread! I am getting used to it and found out that I can make fried chicken with gluten free Bisquik. I didn't cook before. My husband is great at cooking and has been wonderful with helping me with my new diet! Now, I cook some of my own meals.
I am learning what I can and can't eat and where I can and can't eat! I don't eat out a lot because I usually end up sick, but I have found some places that are ok for me to eat. I just have to make sure to mention that the cooks need to change gloves or wash hands before preparing my food! Yes, I am that annoying person! It is getting easier, I hope to have my diet down before the start of school so I don't have to bug my partner this year!!   

School Pictures

Once again I am behind on these. Here are their school pictures from April!

The Terrible 2's

Noah has been a pretty good kid up until recently. We are starting the terrible 2's a little late (he will be three July 9th). We have the foot stomp, yelling at the top of our lungs, hitting, and spitting happening. Not a fun time. He listens to Matt pretty well, but won't listen to me that good. I have tried spanking with pants on, time outs, spanking with pants off, and finally tried to ignore him completely. He doesn't like being in trouble, but boy, can he throw some big fits! 

Walking away from him and telling him I don't want to talk to him until he calms down has been working for me. He doesn't like it when I am mad at him and ignore him! 

Today at WalMart, he was that kid everyone stares at and thinks "If that was my kid..." because he was screaming and hitting me. It was so embarrassing! As soon as we were in the car, he apologized. Then proceeded to tell me that I was going to jail because I was a bad guy and that he was mad at me! I told him that I didn't care because I was mad at him! I have never been embarrassed like that and hope I won't have to go through it again! 

A year later

We celebrated Sophie's first birthday about 3 weeks ago. She is now crawling and says hi, bye-bye, momma, dada, and bubba. She likes to walk holding onto someones hands, but she won't let go yet. Now we are chasing after 2 kids!
Noah is done with his first year of school. He was in a two-year old program and LOVED it. He made some good friends and learned how to interact with other kids. It was great putting him in there. He has blossomed with his speech and learning! We could not be happier with his progress. He is going through his terrible 2's stage. We have a lot of time-outs. He is still our sour patch kid: ornery 1 minute and sweet the next. He is our entertainment because he is so funny! 
We are now done with school! This year has been a challenge, but I made it! I had a tough class, but it was still a fun year. I had a student teacher for the first time. She was AMAZING!  Now I am afraid to ever get one again. She set the bar high! I wouldn't have gotten through the year without her!
Now we are ready for summer and starting our new renovations on the house. My goal is to get the deck completed! Matt's goal is to get his bathroom completed. We will see whose gets done! 

Sophie's Delivery

I can FINALLY post about Sophie's delivery. It was a completely different experience than with Noah. Sophie was a scheduled c-section. We had to show up at 7:00 am on April 24th and the doctor would do the rest! I was SO nervous!!

This is the picture before we went to the hospital! 

We got to the hospital and they tell me that it could be sooner than expected. Great! I thought I was going to get sick. It was different with Noah because I didn't know what to expect and it was still a surprise to wake up and then realize that it was time to go to the hospital. I had several months to think about this date and what would happen. The doctor was able to do the delivery sooner. Matt's family wasn't even there yet! The roll me down to the OR and Matt has to wait outside while they do the spinal block. 

The "dad" chair, where Matt had to wait!

Let me just say, with Noah I had an AWESOME nurse. She was great and I don't think I will ever forget her. This time I didn't have a chance to get to know my nurse and so I didn't feel as comfortable with her! So I hated having to leave Matt outside.

Back in the OR the nurses and anesthesiologist were just having a wonderful time. They were talking away and it was like I wasn't even there. I heard all about what they did that weekend and the vacation one nurse took. "HELLO YOU HAVE A NERVOUS MOTHER HERE!" I wanted to scream! Don't mind me, I'm just the one about to be cut open. I was so nervous and worried and didn't want to hear them jabber! They finally did the spinal and Matt got to come in! And the doctor showed up! He made me feel better too! 

What Matt saw when he walked in! 

Now it is go time. The spinal had me feeling funny. I didn't like it at all (I didn't feel this way with Noah). I felt like I need to move my legs and straighten them out, but couldn't. I guess this is how someone who is paralyzed feels. It was a terrible feeling. They got her out with no problem. And I didn't feel any pressure like I did with Noah. Matt even got to cut her cord!! They took her over and weighed her and cleaned her a little. She was a healthy 7 lbs and 3 ozs. 20 1/2 inches long. Perfect! 

Matt got to walk with her down to the room with the family waiting! (Another difference from Noah's: Noah couldn't be carried down the hall because he was going to special care after being cleaned up.)

I know it is a little blurry, but the nurse with Matt took it! He was holding Sophie (or baby Watkins at this point) so she had to take the picture. This is what Matt walked into! 

I was still being sown up, so I got to hear about this! Apparently, Noah did not recognize daddy in his white outfit. Matt had to take it off for Noah to go to him! 

Noah didn't know what to think of his new sister either! But he eventually warmed up to her! 

I finally was finished and they wheeled me into the recovery room! My legs still felt weird and I was itching and really red in the face! Stupid side effects!

While I was laying here, I asked Jamie to straighten my leg because it felt like it was bent. She told me it was straight! I told you that it felt funny.
My sister stayed with me in the hospital. Matt had to get home with Noah and go back to work. I was really thankful she stayed. I hated being by myself when Noah was born! I felt sorry for her though. She would stay and get up in the morning to go to work, after being woken up every 2 hours for me to feed Sophie! Thank you Jamie for being there! You are the best sister!
One thing that I must recommend is that if you have a c section: get up and move around! I was forced to with Noah and this time they left me alone. I was up walking around and feeling pretty good with Noah. It took me longer to recover with Sophie and I truly believe that it was because I wasn't as active from the moment they let me get out of bed. I regretted that! If we decide to have another child and it has to be by c section, I will keep this is mind!
It took a couple days but we finally came up with a name! It was hard, but we did it! Sophia Jo Grace won! I call her Sophie! Matt's stepdad calls her Sojo. Matt calls her tootsie because she is one gassy little girl! Everybody is happy!

2 Months Later:
She just got her 2 month shots. She did ok with them. She ran a fever and didn't really eat that well afterwards. But she seems to be back to her normal self! Yay!! She is making noises and lifts her head pretty good! She is able to be breastfed longer than Noah! I am producing more milk and she is growing! She weighs 10lbs and 3oz. It was exciting to see that! I was having second thoughts about wanting to breastfed her and wanting to change to formula, but it was exciting to see that I am the reason she is growing! I might stick with it longer;)

Potty Training...

Well Noah will be 2 on Monday and is showing signs of being able to start potty training...so we are trying! It is kind of sad that my baby is growing up so fast, but I will be happy about not having to buy the diapers! We started this week keeping him in his diapers, but have been asking him every hour if he needs to go potty. He usually says no and we take him in the bathroom anyways. He has been doing very well at this. The only accidents have been at night and when he has to poop. Not bad! So today, we decided to try "big boy underwear"! Even more scary! He has done well so far, but he hasn't had them on that long! We shall see how the rest of the day goes!