36 weeks

Today we are 36 weeks pregnant. I had my doctor appt today. Things look good. My cervix is softening. and the baby looks good. I have Non-stress tests two times a week. Today he decided not to comply with it, so I was able to get a quick ultrasound. I was able to see his face and hands. So cute. It was quick, the doctor was just checking for movment, and heart rates. Im feel very large and am very embarrased that im catching up to josh as far as weight it concerned. Its going to be a VERY long weight loss road for me when its all said and done. Jacob will be here two weeks from Thursday. I cannot wait to meet him.

Elaine and I are spending alot of quality time together. Today she helped me to wash bottles and then I sanitized them. She was so proud to stand at the counter and help out. When it was all done, she did not want to be done. She threw a huge!! fit when i said we were done. She kept saying to me"mommy help Jacob" explaining to her during a tantrum that she did help and that we are done because there are no more things to wash, is nearly impossible.

yesterday we went outside to play. I was feeling good and decided to join elaine on the ground and draw with chalk. when i was done and could not sit any longer I tried to roll over and get up. Only I could not get enough momentum to get up. I said to lainey "please bring mommy the wagon, im stuck and need help getting up" she actually rolled it to me,and I was able to grab on and pull my self back up. So a few mins later she is laying back down drawing and she says"mommy help,wagon stuck" I laughed so hard she was doing what she saw me do. the other funny part is that she got up, went and got the wagon by herself, layed back down then pulled herself up. It was a very funny moment.

We also enjoyed last friday with warm temps 65 degrees. We played outside all day and I had the windows open and enjoyed every minute of it. Elaine is growing up so fast, She is taken to potty training, and is talking and singing so much. I love spending time with her and watching her grow and mature and learn about the world around her.

Josh, is well Josh. Nothing new with him. He is busy with work. and spends one night a week with guys from work,they go hit softballs. He loves doing that!!! He has also broke out the chuck norris total gym again 3 times a week. Looking mighty buff I might add :)

We are both trying to prepare to bring another baby into the house. We are getting things together and preparing our minds for lack of sleep and helping Elaine adjust to her world that is soon to be turned upside down.

JACOBS BIRTHDAY IS....

I made my date for the c-section. We are going to come home to muskegon and have my orriginal doctor deliver Jacob. The date is Thursday March 26, Dr. Mcdonald decided on doing it at 38 weeks because of my history. I dont know the exact time yet but at least we have a date. This is all contingent on making it that far. So far things look good other than high blood pressure, and im on medication for that. If i can stay healthy than I can go back and have him at home. I know that at any time i could turn and would have to be delivered here in Farmington Hills. But as of right now Im so excited and ready to see this little guy in a few weeks!!! I will keep you posted. I will be at Mercy Birthing Center off of Apple Ave. I will probably be there three or four days. Then we will head back here to Farmington Hills. Elaine has her BIG SISTER tee-shirt ready!! and almost everything is ready for him to come home. we just have to clean up his room and get diapers.

34

YEAH WE ARE 34 WEEKS!!!!! This is so exciting for us!! I feel huge and of course I have a much larger baby growing inside, around 5 pounds right now. I was put on some blood pressure pills last week. Labetalol. I hate being on them because I feel horrible, i get chills, shakes and get really tired. We did take the does down a bit from 400 mg to 200mg. hopefully it will help. I have not had any protein in urine and blood work is fine, my weight gain has slowed. Im actually the weight I was at 30 weeks when i delivered elaine. Only thing that was wrong was really high blood pressure, that is why they put me on the BP pill. Its not Ideal but having the high blood pressure is not good either. Today Josh came with to my appointment for moral support. We have decided that if the next 5 weeks go well that we want to deliver at home in muskegon. We got that ok today. So i have called my doctor at home to get somthing in the books. I will be 39 weeks on March 31. But with the blood pressure thing i may have to be delivered earlier. Im waiting for the Doctor to call me back. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Im 80% confident that I will make it 5 more weeks. Ill just rest and do my best to keep him in. Next week they will start checking my cervix and all that fun stuff. One things I would love to have your prayers and comments if you want, is on getting my tubes tied. I have been struggling with this maybe for selfish reasons but non the less struggling. Given my history and all the times in and out of hospital I have been advised not to try again. And truthfully I dont want to. Im so emotionally drained that I dont know how to even handle my emotions at times. I feel horrible for putting Josh through all this, and Elaine whom for a while with all the changes refused to eat and her hair started falling out. Her way of dealing with stress. I was home and then not then home and gone again. I just dont think i can do that againwith two kids at home. I know some of it was me trying to handle the stress of moving away from everyone and everything familer to me. I on the other hand have always wanted a big family and would love to have had 4 kids but I really wanted 3. I feel weird that I will never have that chance again. It makes me sad. I pray daily about this sometimes more than that. I just want to feel confident about doing this procedure. If Im going to have it done I have to do it during the c-section because these are catholic hospitals and I have to have a medical reason to do it. Prayers and your imput would be wonderful. I just want to collect all the facts and make the right choice for our family.

Lainey and Josh are struggling with colds right now. Elaine has big green boogies and is all congested, its been a really lazy week around here. Josh is all stuffed up and not feeling well. This weekend will be sanitize weekend!! hopefully i dont get it, so far i feel fine. we are very eargly awaiting some warmer weather. its been so cold over here in Farmington Hills.

Random happenings from the Troasts

here are some of the things we have been up too the last month.

****Josh has been busy with work. Nothing new there

*** Josh is enjoying his new car 04 impala, so have I :)

**** Josh has been busy killing mice, i think there are gone now.

*** I joined a MOPS group and love it , Elaine however is going through seperation anxiety and cries alot. She also started doind this at church too.. they are held in the same building. sunday she cried and cried, settled down and started back up towards the end.

**** I burned my hand badly... i was heating up wax to do my eyebrows, i went to get container from microwave and i dropped it all over left hand. luckly no surgery needed, but i will have to keep it wrapped another week yet.. 3.5 weeks total. it was so painful.

*** I have a new insight on only having one hand to use. it is very difficult to do.

**** Im starting to have blood pressure rise. its been really high for about six days now. Of course my blood work is fine, i just turned in a 24 urine. i have a bad headache again and feeling very nauseated.

**** Elaine has been doing projects. she loves to color, paint and glue stuff.

**** I officially have the only 2 year old who refuses story time at library.. it was embarrasing today, every child was singing dancing and then listened to story... my child,,, ran around saying NOOOO GO FOR WALK. and then she left the room. i quietly picked up our stuff and left. so much for socializing. she would rather play alone. which is what we did. the library is huge with lots of stuff for kids to do.

***** Elaine has turned into a picky eater.

***** She is saying so much stuff. her language is really comming out.

*** She runs naked every night before bath, she loves it.

**** she cracks us up every day.. I thank God every day for her.

*** WE are slowly adjusting to life here... I still dont think of it as home.

The Snowman

I had another Doctor appointment today, everything looked really good. My blood pressure was the best it has been scince my very first pre-natal visit. My protein was negative and the baby sounds and looks good. I think im comming down with a headcold as my sinus's are all plugged up and i just dont feel good. But at least im doing well as far as the baby is concerned. I will be 31 weeks tommorow. YEAH!!! so I never mad it this far before so im experiencing things i have never had the joy:( of experiencing like braxton hicks... at least i hope thats what they are?? man alive, they are crazy!! and sorry for this one, but constipation!!! oh my gosh, i dont know what to take but its been really bad and hurts really bad. I have never had that before. I dont even want to go because I know the pain i will endure. Other than that I can feel he is getting bigger as his kicks and punches sure hurt and are getting stronger. He has also had the hick-ups alot. Im starting to get anxious to meet him and see what he looks like. Im starting to really gear up for the fact that I might just go full term with Jacob, but who knows?

Yesterday Elaine had a really off day, she decided to undress her self during her nap and then not go to sleep. She was literally going nuts, screaming crying, kicking and would not give in. So we let her get up, she was so naughty all day. It was so insane. She had something up her butt and it was not good. She had big bags under he eyes and would not give in to sleep. We all ended up going outside to play. Josh helped her make a snowman. It was so cute to watch them play. Norman kept running up and pulling the arms out of the snowman( they were sticks,so he could not help himself) Elaine went to hug the snowman when it was finished. We were able to spend almost an hour outside, its been a long time because the weather has been so terribly cold. Today is another nice day so we may go out again.

Josh watched the superbowl and we put Elaine to bed Early. We made snacks and I tried really hard to stay awake but at 9:30 I could not take it anymore. I really wanted to stay up and watch the one hour Office, but I was sleeping on the couch, so i just went to bed. I heard it was really good.

I have been feeling really down again lately. Im really missing life back in spring lake, so bad that it hurts sometimes. I want to see my friends, and go to story time at library, playgroup with early on, i want to go to the Journey, and be close to friends and family. I miss making random visits to Aunt Lisas classroom. I felt terrible that Josh for the first time had no-one to watch the super bowl with. I miss my breaks away from Elaine, so i can just be alone, We have not found any babysitters yet. Its starting to take its toll on both of us, as we just want to go on a date. we have not done that in forever. Sometimes I wish i could speed up time and skip all this Detroit living and get back to west michigan. I get so frustrated with myself, I have good days and then bad days. Im trying hard to remember God does things for a reason and I just wish I knew the reason. Elaine seems to be doing fine,except when we go to church she wakes up and we tell her its sunday and we are going to church, the first words out her mouth are Noah, Ellie, Emma,baby(which she uses for Eli) I have to tell her no, those friends dont go to this church, She says their names several times during the morning. She does like her new room and plays with new friends. Josh still seems to like his work, although I can tell he misses home too. I really hope spring brings about better overall feelings.

We made it!!

We made it to our first goal, 30 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went out to eat to applebees tonight. We all shared the best dessert I have ever had in my life. Its new to Applebees. Its a warm chocolate chip cookie, with a sea of chocolate syurp, with two scoops of ice cream, four piles of whipped cream and oreo cookies all crushed on top and all over!! It was so good!! Elaine was dancing in her seat when she was eating it. IT was a great way to celebrate!!

Orchard Grove Community Church

I had a doctor appointment today. So far things are still looking ok. I made it to 30 weeks!! Josh is taking me out to dinner this week for that accomplishment!!! My blood pressure was ok, I had labs repeated and have to do another 24 urine for my thursday appointment. I do how ever have a Hernia around my belly button. I noticed it this past weekend when i would sneeze, or cough or laugh hard. My belly seemed to hurt really bad, I thought it was nothing until I watched my belly and my middle section would shoot straight out and become more painful. So I asked today if this was normal, she said NO. Hopefully she said she can fix it while I have my C-section other wise I will have to come back in for another surgery. Dr. Also said that if it becomes really painful i have to just lay down and push it back it. I had to do that tonight, talk about gross!!!

This past sunday we decided to go visit a church I found online while searching for a MOPS group to attend. The church is in walled lake and its called Orchard Grove Community Church. It is a very LARGE at least 1,000 people at the 9:30 service. It was a Journey on major steroids. I think that is why we liked it so much. Even though it was big it still had that feeling we had at the Journey. The pastor was wearing Jeans YES!! The band was awsome and one thing that I think bothered josh a little was their was alot of clapping and praise Jesus after songs.I grew up with that so it did not bother me but i think he was taken a little back by that. Elaine had a huge room to play in 2-3 year olds. I actually call it a gymnasium It was so big, and there was a mirror on the other wall that during the service you could go watch your kid with out them seeing you. NICE feature. The serise that they started their was Looking up when things look down. How apropriate. The sermon was taking from John 15:1-5,8 The pastor talked about that when you are going through some tough times remember that God is prunning you to do better things. this can mean a job situation, moving, family stuff etc.. not just losing your job which is what most people think of when hearing the word cutting back. The main objective was to Bear fruit, He talked about us being connected to the Vine and that God wants us to bear fruit,( LOVE AND JOY) he challenged us to think about what kind of fruit we bear on the vine. Are we allowing God to do all he wants to do, or do we question his every move or "prunning Tacktic" He talked about prunning can sometimes cause pain, confussion,frustration and so on, God prunes us for a greater preparation, he see something in us we dont at the time and the reason we are going through what ever it is, its because God sees the potential. This message is just a nut shell and pieces of what I wrote down, but for me it ment alot. I hated being and still dont like having been torn apart from my family and friends( I have talked about this with josh but i wont speak on his behalf) anyway, I have felt like everything was taken out from under me. not just with the move but with having kids and life. I was almost teary eyed during the service because God really does care for me and what is going on. He knows why and what he is doing. He is preparing us for something better and maybe not just on a spiritual level but other levels in life as well. We may not have liked the move but we also felt the tug to need to go, and God is taking care of us through out our stay in east side, as well as with this pregnancy and Jacob. I plan on going again next sunday if Im able. I really enjoyed the service and I found myself thinking about it again today. Which to be honest I dont always do after a sunday passes. Im also going to plan on attending the MOPS group that meets there in two weeks.

well, sorry this was so long winded but i felt like writing it down while stuff was fresh in my mind. I Hope this finds everyone doing well. Its freezing cold here and Josh just came home from a meeting and said we got about an inch of snow. I looked outside and sure enough we did!!

Fine Today

This morning I had a Doctor appointment. My blood pressure was ok 132/78 and i have gained four pounds in six days. I still have a headache but im feeling a little better. I have been resting at home and we took a long nap today. Im still not out of the woods, but each day that passes is good. I go back to the doctor on monday and then Thursday again, I will go every week on these two days. I decided that If I make it through monday that we will celebrate by going out to eat!! and get dessert!! I will be 30 weeks on Monday, so making anytime past that is wonderful to me!! I told Josh we had to celebrate some how!!

well other than updates things are pretty boring here. Lainey loves it that im home, we spend our days right now watching T.V. and playing with playdough, coloring, reading and i do all this sitting on the couch or at the table. Nothing to exciting. She wont know what to do when we can get back to normal, going places and getting outside more. I wont know what to do either.


I posted some pictures from the other day, Elaine got the blood pressure cuff and stethascope and put it on pooh bear, and said DADDY, she always sees daddy do that to me. Then she tried to chase norman down and do it to him too.. that did not fly so well.

Home again for now

I was able to come home yesterday. Thanks to many answered prayers and with those I had no real diagnosis so for insurance reasons I was not allowed to stay at hospital. I have to be on bed rest at home, no going out shopping or running around, only to Doctor appointments. Josh gets to do Laundry and Sunday he is going to learn how to make casserols!! and we will freeze them for dinners, because im not suppose to be on my feet that long. My Mother in Law just left this afternoon, she has been so helpful holding down the fort while i was gone. She cleaned the house and even organized cupboards and closets. Thank you so much MOM!

I got home around 12 yesterday. Had a quick lunch and went to my room and slept for almost 4 hours. My headache is almost gone, Im on Prednizone(sp) for a few days to see if it helps. I still dont feel the greatest but its not getting worse. Im just thankful to come home for a while. I have been really down lately and feeling depressed, but as i look back over the last week and all that has happened I now realize that It was all the prayers from people we knew and some I dont even know at all. First was with the pipe that burst in the house. We were told that we would be without laundry for a few weeks and that it would take a while to get it all fixed. Well yesterday guys came to check on how the drying was going.. and it was dry! so they hooked up washer and dryer again!! Thanks for that!! we still have a mess in back room but we can do our laundry. The next prayer that was answered was with me. I was really sick when I went into the hospital Friday, and very scared. I really thought this was it. They had drawn my blood. ( I learned about this story from my doctor whom came to talk with me saturday morning, while i cried and cried she just sat with me on the bed.) Dr. Harris shared with me her concern for my health and Jacobs. She told me the reason I could not eat anything and that she kept me in Labor and Delivery was because she honestly thought that she was going to deliver me. My first set of blood work came back with very elevated Liver Enzymes which means that preclampsia is getting into high gear. She said she decided to wait and do one more draw, when that came back it was completly back to normal. She told me she has never seen that happen before, it always goes up.. never back down.... I just smiled a midst my tears because I knew what had happened. So thank you to everyone for praying so hard because of that I get to be home a while longer and Jacob gets to grow some more.

I still have to take blood pressures at home,and weigh my self. I go back to doctor tommorow. with the understanding that if i progess with any other symptoms or have protein in my urine that I will be spending more time in hospital. We are just trying to make it to at least 34 weeks. But I know that it can happen anytime.


Thanks again to everyone for praying, and to my family for helping us out, it has been wonderful.

family update

Hello to everyone from room 307 at St. Johns Providence Hospital Southfield. I have access today to the computer for afew hours, in bed. I was admitted friday night with pre-clampsia symptoms. Currenlty i have some visual disturbances, seeing spots, pain in my left side and a persistant headache( which i have had for about a week) I have had lots of lab work and Im on my second 24 urine to test for protien. So far im stable, i can take a shower and go to the bathroom and then its back in bed. I cannot go for walks or any physical activity. My Labs have shown an increase in myliver enzymes but as of late seem to have come down(thanks for prayer) Today my white blood count is high and they are repeating labs every 12 hours. Today I have had some swelling,minor so far. My headache is still there, its under some control with Fiorecet(sp?) I can tell its there and dont really like to have to blinds open or lights on for long. My doctor has said that at any time my symptoms or 24 urine come back high that we will deliver. We would like to get into the 30 week mark if possible. She is not confident of this but its our goal, so that is why its strick bed rest. The best case scenario would be after a few weeks if im ok that i could possible go home on strict bedrest. This to is not what the doc thinks will happen. My body is up to something and its a matter of time. I have a couple different ultrasounds tommorow morning,as well as 2 times a day on the fetal monitor.

I have not been handling this the best, im scared,anxious, deppressed and not in the best mood. I know why i need tobe here, and what is best for Jacob but its alot easier said than done to relax and not be upset. I feel guilt that my body cannot do what it was made to do and angry. Ioften wake at night to memories of seeing Elaine all hooked up and the shame i felt because I was feeling better and she had to suffer. I will admit i have cried more these last few days than i have in over a year. I want things to be ok and jacob to be ok. After going through it once you would think I would be pre-pared, and i though that, but im not. Im digging deep for strength and find my self in prayer alot, actually sometimes angry conversation with him. I ask that you pray for me to let go and trust people, which i dont come by naturally. I need to trust that my family will be taken care of. and trust in staff at hospital as they know what is best. I really really miss Elaine and being with Josh. I feel like im missing out on a big part of Elaines life, esspecially scince i will be here a while. I get choked up thinking about it. I also miss Josh, I know that its not been easy for him and i love him so much for all his hard work. Please pray for him to have strength to get through work, home stuff and being here with me. If i did not have him I dont know what i would do. he has delt with alot these past few days... and i know its not easy.

I would like to thank my In-laws for all their help and for staying with Elaine, my sister and brother-in-law for staying this weekend, and to my parents for their help. And to everyone for prayers and support.

josh and I will try to keep the blog updated so that people can know what is going on.

Could the day get any worse...

So this morning I woke up to Josh whispering in my ear that there was no hot water... and then he left. THEN.... he came back again with out his pants and socks on?????? and said we have a problem. So i got up and went to find towels, and water eveywhere in the kitcken and back laundry room.. A pipe had burst, Josh was able to get water off before it got to the rest of the house. Well, he cleaned up a bit and left for work. I had a 32 oz jug of water in fridge in which Elaine and I had watery oatmeal and cleaned up with after heating the rest. I was about to start to head out for my Check-up at the doc,and I also had to bring back my 24 urine. And the doc office called, The Doctor was at a delivery. I had to go anyway because I had to turn in the 24 urine, and I have a bad headache again, not feeling well. Then Josh calls to tell me that someone will be at the house in half hour. So he came home while i went to the doc. Of course my blood pressure was up, and so they drew some blood and paged the doctor. SHe of course wants me to come right into Land D. What the heck?? How do i do that with a kid at home, a broken pipe, and a frantic husband,not to metion myself. I simply and calmly said NO. I told the nurse that I have no intention of spending the weekend in hospital for one high blood pressure. I said for them to call me when my protien levels come back, and then i would come in if needed. Yes I have a headache, and dont feel well, but ive been like that all week. She said she would see what she could do. ( ill keep you posted on that whole thing)

So... I get home to two men inthe house the plumber and a contractor. Wet towels and rugs piled on the kitchen floor. Water is still off until the soddered pipe dries. We cannot use the laundry until minium Monday( I knew I should have done it yesterday) and the whole wall on other side of kitchen has to be torn out and a cleaning service is comming soon to set up a bunch of fans and a humidifer for the whole weekend, they will be back every day this weekend. We have to have a new wall, they are hoping not to have to tear out part of kitchen wall. So much for resting today... people will be in and out all afternoon. It will be into next week before everything is taken care of.

Im just praying that nothing eles happens today.. i dont know if i can handle it. my house is a mess, and i cannot clean it,there is sopping wet stuff on the floor, I dont feel good and just want to do nothing, and I feel terrible for Josh who has to deal with all this stuff too. Im finding it really hard to trust God or find an humor or good in this day.(other than the bright sun is out, its nice to see that) We have had nothing but problems with this house scince we moved it two months ago. We had pipes back up, toilets break open,and now this... in less than two months. Josh called our relator today to tell her what has happened and see what we can do. Im really trying to be brave and make it through the weekend.
sorry this is such a negative post, but i have no place eles to vent and i feel better now that i did. thanks to everyone for listening.

Life with the Troast Family

Hello Everyone,
well our weekend was not as relaxing as planned. We went home to have a family christmas and visit with joshs brother and sister in-law from Arizona and their precious Mieke. she is almost three months old. We met her for the first time this week. Elaine loved her new cousin, and also learned this weekend what babys drink..."boobie Juice" Friday night turned on us though.... I have not been feeling well for about a week or so. Friday night i suddenly did not feel good at all so i asked josh to take my blood pressure because something did not feel right. It was 160/88 not good. My reflexed were a little hyperactive and i was dizzy and throwing up. We went into Triage at Mercy Special Delivery. They were concerned enough with preclampsia symptoms that they started me on Magnesium sulfate and shipped me off to spectrum. I stayed there for two days. this improved from friday and the doctor discharged me sunday night. I still dont feel great andhave a headache with pressure behind my eye. The specialist at spectrum basicly wrote us off because my blood work did not show anything. I do however have a protein level of 231( once you hit 300 then there are problems) so im safe with that for now. I was thankful we did not have to deliver and thankful i could go home. But i do know that I still dont feel right.

I had a doctor appoint today in Farmington Hills where the doctor we see was more concerned and understanding about it. Although i dont have pre-clampsia yet, she says it can happen any minute. She is going to be seeing me two times a week, and do a 24 urine test every week as well. She says that no one knows my body like myself so she is taking this seriously. I go weds morning for a ultrasound, and back again friday for a check up and bring in my 24 urine. She is running it stat so friday night she said if it comes back abnormal again she will prob put me back in the hospital to be monitored and then possible delivery. Im currently 28 weeks. We have also discussed that if things dont go well that this will probably be our last pregnancy that we will be able to have. Josh and I have talked about this but will probably wait until the emotional ride of having Jacob settles down. I know I cannot physically go through this again, and the thought of putting another human being at risk as well breaks my heart. I have always dreamed of a big family, but God must have other plans. This how ever does not take the sad feelings, i carry daily ,away from me. I must admit that i always knew there was a possiblilty of something happening again but until it does it does not sink in. it really is a struggle to not just sit here and cry all day. I also try to remind my self constantly that these two precious babies I have are really not mine but Gods and when i cannot stop crying or agonizing I remember to think on that. God really does have a plan in the midst of all this. It really is easier said than done to trust God in all areas. Thankfully Elaine keeps be busy and reminds me of how wonderful life is. I love her so much!! Im also very greatfull for my family and supportive friends who have been praying hard for us. It is definitly felt by josh and I. I also want to thank my wonderful husband. Josh you have been very paitent and loving through out this. I know its hard on you too. (josh stays by my side and has been very comforting and supportive) I LOVE YOU very much.

I will post updates on here as well as some on facebook. Its just easier to vent and share my feelings on the blog.

p.s. Im also working on getting wedding pictures from lisa and Jons wedding. We forgot our camera this weekend so I also have to wait for pictures from Laineys Chirstmas with the Troast and her new cousin.

We Need Your Prayers

Our family would like your help in keeping us in your prayers. I went to the doctor today and im starting to trend the way i did with elaine, ( all the preclampsia stuff) My doctor feels that i wont make it past 34 weeks. more like 32-33 she said if i went more the 34 weeks I would be lucky. I dont have protein but im starting to not feel good and starting to gain water weight. im too take it easy and try to bake a little longer. My doctor here in muskegon gave me a big hug today and told me to let her know how things go. ( I have a doctor now in Southfield i will be seeing and will probably deliver at Providence Hospital in southfield) They have a level three NICU its smaller than grand rapids but just as good. I have to weigh my self daily and check blood pressure. And be seen by the doctor every week now. my doctor in southfield also checks blood work every time i come. I will keep people posted as i will have to stay home more now.

Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! We had a blast!!
Wed morning we had our family Christmas just the three of us. We had chocolate chip pancakes and then we opened presents. Lainey had so much fun and was excited with every gift. We talked about Jesus's birthday and just had some family time.

At lunch time we headed out all packed and ready to make the trip to Muskegon. We had dinner with both Grandmas and then we headed off to Christmas eve service at the Journey. It was nice to be back with friends and family for the week. I miss The Journey and the friends we had there. I feel so much at home when im there.

Christmas day we went to Joshs aunt and uncle for dinner and some more family time. During the prayer that josh's uncle was doing, Elaine decided that he had gone on long enough and blurted out AMEN!!! before he was done praying. After that everyone erupted into laughter so the prayer ended a little early. Around 4 we headed back to muskegon to spend some time with my dad. Elaine got to open her stocking from Grandpa and she loved all the fun stuff she got. Coloring books, playdough and other little items. She enjoyed seeing grandpa and all the friends and family there too. She was exausted by the end of the night.

Friday night we had Christmas with my mom and sister and her soon to be husband. We headed down to holland for dinner. My sister and Jon made their first turkey. It was delicious!! They did a great Job. Josh had to carve it, that was funny!! he did a wonderful job too :) We opened more gifts. I was excited because I got a mixer from my mom. I have never had one and I cannot wait to use it. Elaine was so excited because she got a dora bike with peddles. Although when my mom and I went to buy it we asumed it was half way put to gether. We were wrong so so spent a while putting together the Dora Bike. It was all worth it in the end. She loves it and wakes up talking about her BIKE. she has been riding around the house, or should i say trying to ride it. Hopefully by spring she will have the hang of it :) It was a busy few days but it was wonderful to be with family and enjoying each others company.

Saturday Josh and I spent some time together and ran over to the mall. I had to get some stuff for my sisters wedding and then josh paitently walked through the BIG SALE at Bath and Body Works. I was so excited about my purchases! We headed home in the afternoon. We got home and played outside in the crazy 60 degree weather thats NUTS!!!!!!!!!

This next week will be busy as my sister gets married on New Years Eve!!! So i will be heading back monday afternoon. Josh heading back on Tuesday. We wont be home until next week Sunday!!! Crazy busy.

We wish everyone a blessed and happy New Year!!

p.s. we are almost 26 weeks pregnant and everything seems to be going fine. Im definitly getting more tired and starting to slow down a bit. Jacob's kicks are getting much harder and starting to hurt a bit. He is definitly growing :)

BIG SNOW

This week brought us a ton of snow. 12 inches by us. and at least that much in west michigan. Thursday am bright and early lainey and I headed out to Grand Rapids. I had a appointment with The Maternal Fetal Medicine group. I have to go every six weeks for a check up and ultra sound. Things look great! Its really a treat to see Jacob grow every month or so. Everything looks great so far. After the appointment lainey and I headed over to my moms. We spent the night there. Grandma and Grandpa T came over for dinner too, so lainey had all her grandparents for the night. Lainey was suppose to have her 2 year check up friday at 10am. I got up early because i knew it was snowing, and woke her early and got dressed. only to get a phone call that her doctors office had closed. I was so frustrated. She is a month behind on shots and i needed a health appraisal done so that she can move forward with the early on transfer. So hopefully the will accomodate us next week when we are home again. ( I have yet to find a doctor here for her, and I really wanted her doctor to finish up her first two years) Elaine and I spent the day together at my moms, watching cartoons,playing with the cats, and we both painted our nails red !! It was so fun!!

Friday afternoon we headed out to hastings to my cousins to meet up with my sister and get our hair done. It only took half hour longer than normal. and the roads really were not that bad. Elaine had fun with my cousins kids for a few hours. Lisa and I got our hair highlighted and cut. My cousin is doing the hair for lisa wedding so we tried some updo's on lisas hair.
Around 8pm, lainey and i headed home to Farmington Hills. The roads were perfect, dry and i was able to drive normal the whole way home. until, i reached the Brighton area.... Have we heard of snow plows here????? the roads were so terrible, i went from 75 to 30 mph. Finally we got home, i was so relieved. lainey and I slept in until 10 am !!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was wonderful!! Then Daddy made us eggs and toast. yummy!!!!!!!

This afternoon, I with Josh help made three batches of peanut butter balls!!!!!!!! Lainey kept saying yummmyyyy
We also ventured outside for a while, josh shoveled out the rest of the driveway, lainey norman and I just played. Elaine loved shoveling the snow "like daddy" she would say.

well, its almost bath time, and then bedtime!!! YEAH!! josh and i are going to try a new church tommorow, called Kensington? (sp) have a great rest of the weekend!!!!!!!!!!

LAZY DAYS

life around the troast home has been pretty lazy lately. having to stay home and hang low is tough for all of us. I got to go out the other night, when i got home i said to Josh it felt so weird to drive?? i have not driven in several days. thats insane :) I do a couple things every day around the house. today i vaccumed. Last night Josh helped me address all the christmas cards and seal the envelopes while we watched my favorite show, the biggest loser!! A women won for the second season!! GIRL POWER!! Elaine and I are headed to GR tommorow morning. I have another appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine, and another Ultrasound. Then we are staying the night with Grandma O. Friday Elaine has her 2 year check up. Then we are making my way to my cousins on the way home to get our hair done. Hopefully that makes me feel better. my hair is nasty and it makes me feel terrible.

Last sunday Josh asked if we could bake cookies?? yes he really did. He usually only helps dip the PB balls. SO i said sure, he helped mix it, and roll the dough(we made sugar cookies) then i sat at the table and frosted them. Elaine also helped, she had so much fun!! i have posted some pictures of her helping, and the finished product.

We took our own christmas photo, with the timer on the camera, we look a little goofy, but we got it done, we both did a lot of laughing as we would set it and run to our places. It was a good family moment. We hope everyone enjoys them. :)

im going to get going and lay down for a while. Today is the second day Elaine has taken her nap in the big girl bed. I think this weekend we are going to move it into her room. Right now its in Jacobs room. She layed right down today and fell asleep.

explosion

funny thing happened yesterday. We were sitting down for breakfast and all of the sudden we heard a huge crack and water rushing..... Josh and I jumped up and ran into the bathroom right around the corner. The tank had burst right in half, water from the tank running all over the bathroom, it was crazy!! Josh quickly shut the water off. We both looked at each other and were like what the heck??!!! Our house is always cold we have no basement and are on a cement slab , the floors are cold and the water is cold, so maybe water comming into the tank warmed up and it cracked?? we dont know. By 1:00pm, the plumber came and fixed it and got us a new toilet. so now we have a all white toilet in our bright blue bathroom :) it was a crazy thing to have happen after our busy crazy couple of days. Thank goodness for renting because we did not pay for it or have to arrange it being taken care of. It was just one of those things that happen i guess. we are laughing about it now:)

Jacob and Mommy

My so far un-eventful pregnancy turned into quit a scare on Thursday. All week i have been under some stress, combined with some other stresses and monday Night i started to cramp for about 12 hours. through out tuesday things improved and weds night it started all over again this time it was worse and i had really bad back pain as well as a ton of pressure. By Thursday morning i could not sit still, rest or even walk around for long, everything just hurt. Thanks to a doctor josh works with he was able to pull some strings and get me into an OB doctor. ( a little back story, because we really want to deliver back in muskegon for convience and because i really like my doctor no doctors here in detroit want to take my case because they wont make money, so they tell me they cannot corrdinate the care between two doctors. I have been driving back and forth to muskegon for appointments.) So joshs doctor at work pulled some strings and I was able to be seen by one of the doctor groups that had turned me down. I went in about 4 pm thursday. She did an internal exam and at that point felt my cevix was softening. She imediatly sent me to Providence Hopsital in southfield. ( they have a level 3 NICU, its smaller than GR but has the same stuff) I was given morphin for the pain and was able to relax. They kept me in labor and delivery on monitors until friday night. I had another ultra sound and cervical length which turned out to be ok. They also did other work ups for preclampsia just to be safe, that all came back fine, my protien was 160 so that is ok for now, once we get to 300 than they are going to start worrying. But so far i feel fine with all that there are no other symptoms associated with it. I was just scared and did not want to be in any sort of labor, we are almost 24 weeks. so things would not have been the greatest. Im very thankful for all the quick prayers from family and friends, I know it helped and I know that is why things looked better on the ultrasound.Jacob so far is looking great and is very healthy. his current weight is 1 pound 5 ounces. I came home last night and Im on moderate bedrest, I need to stay home as much as possible. I can go out once or twice a week briefly. meaning no more walking the mall and all that stuff. I used to go out daily and that wont be happening anymore, well for at least two weeks when i have another check up. I will keep you posted. I hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the weather on the west side, we dont have much going on around here, I sort of miss the occasional lake effect snow. Here its just cold with a small amount of snow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELAINE KATHRYN

Two years ago today I layed in a room at spectrum in pain and two hours from delivering lainey by emergency c-section. Last night I woke up every couple hours and could not sleep, i kept thinking about what i was doing at that time and how i felt, then i would cry and fall back asleep for a while. finally at 3:30am i fell sound asleep. I dont remember doing this last year but i guess im more emotional this year. Last night we were wrapping her gifts for tonight and i broke down again. oh well this too shall pass.

This morning when Lainey got up i walked into her room singing happy birthday,and she said to LAINEY!! and then she said" tank you" When josh called she said the same thing when he said happy birthday to her. We have been having a low key day, its been raining here all day long. So this morning we gave norman a bath and cleaned the bathroom. She and I have just been hanging out. Tonight josh is comming home a little early and we are going to have mac n cheese with hot dogs( her favorite food, although we dont have it all the time) and then i bought some cookies and we are going to put candles in them, then open a few gifts we got for her. This comming saturday my sister, her fiance and my mom are comming overnight and we are going to chuckie cheese. I just cannot belive how big she is and all the fun stuff that she can do now. SHe is such a big girl!!!!!!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU LAINEY!!!!

OUR NEW HOME

wow, its been a while, its day three of our first week in the new home in farmington hills, MI. Things are going ok, we are pretty much settled in, only our storage boxes need to find a place to store:) and then we are fully un-packed. We left for home sunday afternoon at12:30 made one stop in allendale for our christmas tree, and we were on the road at @ 1 pm, and did not arrive home until just after 5 pm!!! We did hit some bad snow, but the roads were relativly clear, there was so much stopping and going it was crazy, at several points we did not move for 15 minutes. with clear roads. I think it was the combination of snow, and everyone going home at the same time. I hope those kinds of trips are far and few between.

Sunday night and Monday was spent un-packing and organizing and doing loads of laundry. Which i really like because the dryer here drys in no time. Our old dryer could take over an hour for one load. Lainey and I ended up outside to shovel and play in the snow. Monday night I ventured out to do some grocery shopping, I found a Mejier relativly close so I went there. NOT ALL MEIJERS ARE THE SAME, so i learned. most every fruit and veggie were on sale and rotten, i could not understand the lady at the meat counter, so i got way more lunch meat than i normaly buy, the store was dirty and gross, i wont be going back. There are some Krogers and Heartland stores closer, ill try those next. I came home to lainey sreaming, josh was watching shrek with her, and the dragon came on and appartently she was having nightmares. no more big kid movies. ( we dont have cable hooked up yet so we resorted to movies we had on hand) She was awake until after 10:30 and then again at 3:30am, 6 am and finally at 8 am. She ended up taking a three hour nap tuesday.

Tuesday lainey and I ended up at the twelve oaks mall!! ihad to schedual her two year pictures at JC Pennys and pick up a few things. This mall is HUGE, i only stayed an hour because it was such an overload on my senses. Lainey just kept saying " oh wow" over and over, its a big two story mall filled with any kind of store you want. I just could not belive how big it was. Tuesday night we got our tree set up and decorations out, I have all my christmas candles burning and it smells warm and cozy in here right now. Laineys favorite decoration on the tree is a sponge bob ornanment josh had from a long time ago, she keeps going up to it touching it and jumps up and down saying "spon BOB" yes she is weird:) ! yes she slept better tonight, only tears for brief moment and then she slept until 9 am!!! weds.

Its currently wed am. Lainey is engulfed in Veggie tails and so im taking the time out to write this. we seem to be adjusting well, josh is liking work so far, and getting used to his new enviornment. he has some tough stuff to do in the next months to come stuff that no boss really wants to do so pray that he can do it smoothly.
Im still trying to find a doctor, i found one today that specializes in problem pregnancies. But she declined to see me unless i dont go back to deliver in Muskegon, she said it was to hard to coordinate care. Im really down with this laty,all i want to do it come home for the delivery if i even make it that far. So i still dont have any doctors over here. things are so different here and all i want is to have doctors, and familar places of which i dont have. I handle things well until about nap time, when im sitting here all alone,and then i think about doing stuff back home, how easy things were and then i get really down and out. I hope it changes soon, i think being pregnant only multiplies stuff, but to me its all still real.

well, veggie tails is done, i better get going and get ourselves dressed we have to go to target for some tights for lainey, i bought some that are way to big on her. she looks like she has droopy legs its really funny. Enjoy the pictures!!