I just got to supervise/interact with a co-workers 13 month old son. It was joyous! Now I'm all the more ready for baby Alex to get here!!!!!!!!!! Alex come home already.
Jennifer

I forgot the coolest part of the Cannon story (other than he is wonderfully okay). The midwife and Dr had the placenta bioposied after his delivery. The next A.M. the midwife came to my room and told me, "Well, you aren't going to believe this, but scar tissue saved the baby's life. Where the placenta had torn it eventually readhered to the uterine wall with scar tissue from the tears. So what veins, etc from the placenta that were carrying oxygen and essentials to Cannon were maintained by the torn part's scar tissue readhering and supporting the weight of the placenta". Super cool, but weird answer to prayer, Huh? And Jewel was born early and not breathing, but they nurses revived her with a shot and other things and she is okay now too. so we are blessed.
Jennifer

A reminder of a blessing. A co-worker of mine had a baby die in December and is now pregnant again and experiencing difficulties again. This reminded me of some of my complications with Cannon (placenta abruptia the primary and many other small complications),but then as I was talking about it I realized how readily I forget the blessing God gave me with Cannon. I hemorraged large amounts of placenta while pregnant with Cannon-so the Drs were unsure how much oxygen and nutrients Cannon was receiving and they (yes plural) warned me he would probably not be o.k. if he survived the pregnancy. Cannon was born with an Apgar 1 min. score of 9 and a 3 min. score of 10 (10 being the highest). I am so blessed to be a mom and that both of my children are okay. I forget that sometimes even in the field I work in.
Later..

Jennifer

Weird day that seems to be getting better.. Difficult time falling asleep last night; which was weird b/c I was really tired. Felt junky this A.M., but better now. I'm also a little bummy right now, but really trying to push myself out of the fog. I even asked for prayer from my prayer group this morning, b/c I don't want to whine, but I've just struggled this last month or so.. Sorry if my blogs seem down.
When we picked Jewel up from school she had a large scrape on her hip(actual large section of skin missing) and two scrapes on her wrist. The story goes... a group of boys from her class were chasing she and Alexandria at recess. Jewel tripped on her own shoes (yes she is my child- but the shoes are a tad big) and fell onto the sidewalk. Okay she skidded down the sidewalk would be a more apt description. This morning we put antibiotic ointment on them and then I covered the sores best I could,but I did not have a large bandage like the school nurse had so I improvised.
I did get a happy phone call that Michelle's mom came through breast cancer surgery pretty well. Thanks for the prayers everyone. The mass was at least an inch and had "fingers"-(sorry I forgot the medical term for them), but appeared to be isolated to her breast and a little bit of her pectoral muscle which the surgeon did have to remove-appeared to be no lymp node involvment. Her dad is in recovery from prostrate cancer so this family could use continued prayers; they are both younger than my parents so I don't expect them to get sick already.
We hope to take the kids to Adventurland very soon. We got free tickets from Barilla for the 4 of us and we didn't do anything as a family for vacation all summer. Even though the kids and I enjoyed a great trip to Decorah and Burr Oak (yeah just finished reading the biography of L.I.Wilder I bought there), and the trip to Omaha for Elizabeth's wedding and the trip to Omaha Zoo and Frank got his trip to Indiana for geekfest we haven't done anything as a family, not even a trip to the swimming pool or the movies. So I 'm really hoping ti works out for us.
Smiles,
Jennifer

Old Lady talk. On Sunday, Jewel and I picked out some white peaches from Hy-Vee;excellent. Yes it's true I'm blogging about fruit, but these peaches are really good I'm telling you. Tonight Take the Lead comes out on DVD so we may rent it. New fall shows haven't started airing yet and our activities for the year haven't started yet either.
Sara-do you have an Ellsworth Home football schedule? I tried to look on line, but only saw one home game listed, but I kept getting interrupted.
I finished my big work projects this A.M. and asked my boss if she had anything for me to do, but she said, "No just enjoy the slow afternoon".
anyway...
Have a blessed day!
Jennifer

Comedy of maladies- so Saturday was the 1st Sat. in 4 Saturdays we've all been home together as a family. So what happens? I wake up running a fever with a slight headache. Jewel woke up and then went back to sleep (which I originally thought nothing of until she woke up 2 hours later crying) eyes watering terribly stammering her right eye hurt (and a small sore throat-no fever) and Frank hurt his back on Friday night. So.. our big day of going to a movie, tee hee, didn't happen. Jewel's eye continued t0 hurt (she even went back to her room again and didn't want to watch T.V. with me in the living room -so you know the girl is sick b/c Raven is on Saturday mornings) ended up giving her Motrin and after another nap she was good to go. Frank sat on a heating pad until 6 P.M. is and then felt a little better. My fever broke after taking a Tylenol/Motrin cocktail and other than being tired (very tired) I felt fine. Cannon-was in good shape all day. I did get dishes washed and dried (Cannon was outside playing nicely with a few of the neighbor boys so I didn't make him come in to help me), mowed the lawn and got some errands ran so that felt good. I did take the kids to see Cars at the dollar theatre; which Cannon really liked (Jewel had seen it with her friends), but enjoyed it the 2nd time. Cannon did not giggle during Cars like he did during Barn Yard so it wasn't to that level, but he still really enjoyed it and after buying school supplies we are broke so I'm glad there were good flicks at the dollar theatre.
So I'm feeling better about fall, but the true test is next week when dance and AWANA start for the year. So far.. so good. (Jewel has already lost a library book- the 1st she checked out this year).

Smiles,
Jennifer

How pathetic am I? This is the 1st weekend in 4 weekends that we will all be together for the weekend and I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I hope Frank and I get a chance to rent/watch some movies. Also, there are tons of family friendly movies at the dollar theatre. I am so excited for us to spend time all together which is nice b/c I still haven't lost the 8 pounds I gained while on Prednisone and its completely bumming me. I've been more conservative with my food choices lately and been moving a lot ,but still the weight has hung on. Dieting is a tricky venture for me (I'm not being attention seeking it took me years to admit this), but I am in recovery from 2 eating disorders so I think I am fat all the time, but when the pants get tight and the scale shows a gain I know it's bad news. Trying to diet without going crazy can be very difficult for me. The Dr would like me to stay at my "new" weight and I will be fine with that if I can turn some of this back into muscle. When we could afford for me to go to the gym I know I worked a greater variety of muscles than I am working now. I have free weights that I lift and legs I attach to my ankles while I perform leg work, but still. There is a small part of me that says, "Ya know I'm 35, I have 2 children and work full time maybe I should let up a little, I'm still the same size I was in high school (okay for most of high school b/c I was also a size 3 on and off throughout high school -diet pop and aerobics, but it's been a frightful long time since I've been able to wear a size 3)but I'm so scared to do that b/c last time I did that I gained 30 pounds in less than a year.
So I very very scared. Please bare with me. Hopefully I can loose just 4 of this and I will be better!
Smiles,
Jennifer

Well, I got the kids off to school this morning. I was a tad stressed so moving/talking at nearly the speed of light-sorry Frank. Frank was really tired and grumpy so we collided. Sorry dear.
I just thought of something nice about school starting-now the afterschool program is open late and I can stay and work late; which is great b/c so much goes on during the day I can focus and get a lot done after 5 P.M. when most of my office mates go home.
Jewel and I got into a disagreement about clothes during school shopping (imagine that). We did mostly agree on today's outfit I hated the shirt, but loved the skort, etc. I only bought them two new outfits for school b/c experience has taught me both children love to have growth spurts right about late September/October so now I wait to buy jeans, longer shirts and pants. Jewel was miffed, but she'll get over it.
My friend's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer; we just found out last night so please pray for healing for Marina.
I am closely following the JonBenet case to see if this guy really murdered her; I'm usually not drawn to cases like these, but this one gets to me.
Did anyone else see the story that came over the wire today of the girl who was kidnapped at age 10 years and now it is believed by her family she's been found? It is a case that occurred in Australia I think? I hope its her and she can receive counseling. She has both parents and a half-sister who are still alive. Anyhoo..
I hope this week is going well for everyone. I'm trying so hard to hold onto my faith when I worry about things. I pray A LOT and cannot comprehend how people who do not believe in God and Jesus keep their chins up.
Smiles,
Jennifer

I'm very tired and very grumpy today so I won't blog much. We have school orientations tonight for both children so our night is pretty much pre-scheduled for us. Tomorrow there is no kids club so the kids and I will be home together-we have a lab appt. for Cannon along with other errands to run, but we need to try to do something fun.
In a weird "the world is small" story. My aunt Joanie gave a baby girl away cir. 1970's in Waterloo. Later on, my aunt searched for years for her daughter. With her adopted mom's blessing my cousin went to her file at the adoption agency and found that my aunt had left medical information there for her and contact info. about herself. So... about 6 years ago we got to met Tammy (I never thought I would get to met her; there is a lot more to the story as you can imagine, but this is the summary). Tammy is great! She owns her own beauty shop in Omaha is married and has beautiful twin girls. (I got to meet the twins this past weekend). My grandparents lived in Nebraska for a very short time in the late 70's (they moved there after living in Waterloo). My uncle met/married a local gal where they have lived happily ever after, but in Lincoln not Omaha (okay well pretty much. Their daughter is the cousin of mine who got married this past weekend in Omaha). Another brother met a local gal and stayed in that area also. At the wedding I found out my uncle's wife's sister (she has 4 sisters) had been having Tammy cut her hair for years! and even took a present/met the twins right after they were born.. Meanwhile, we had been searching for Tammy all along. Nancy's sister was freaked when Nancy called to tell her the "missing daughter" lived right there in Omaha and what her name was. In a weirder twist, when my aunt Joanie was married to her 1st husband she lived for a brief period of time in Omaha and Nancy's sister had babysat my cousins (but at that time Tammy was being raised by her adoptive parents in Denison). anyway.... isn't it a small world?
Jennifer

Today is Frank's and I's 15th wedding anniversary. He is taking me out to the Cheesecake Factory in Des Moines so I'm very excited. He also sent me 15 very red very beautiful roses. I have them on my desk; they truly are some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen. I don't know if the knows this, but the roses are very cool for me b/c roses are the flower for the 15th anniversary; he probalby knows he very good with these things when he has time to plan them. My gift will probably stink in comparision to his gifts (dinner and roses; he couldn't go wrong). Anyway.. I am very blessed. I need to go home and change dresses, shoes, and fix my hair and make-up.

Have a good one.

Jennifer

Full House season 4. Quess what we watched last night after running errands? That's right. FH 4; it was released on DVD yesterday so I bought it for Jewel (Cannon watches the show too; just not with the same diligence Jewel does-she is a fan!). We had errands to run again last night and again tonight. Errands always seem to take up more time than I plan they will.
School starts soon so we are trying to gear up.
Frankie got assigned to work extra hours this week so I'm trying to complete his chores for him. And I was going to sweet talk him into getting his sister's b-day present since I want to get it in the mail to her, but now he has no time. I also have to get Amber's bought and to my mother-in-law to see if she can deliver it for me since we'll miss the party.He was assinged (at the last minute) to work on our 15th wedding anniversary, but his boss took pity on him and released him after Frank told him it was our 15th anniversary, we already had a baby sitter lined up, and since Frank works all weekend we had planned to celebrate on our actual anniversary. I'm so glad his boss was cool and released him from work I'm so looking forward to our date (although I don't have all of Frank's present compiled; I'm struggling with his presents this year b/c I want it to be special).
Frank had a blast at Gen Con and hopefully when he gets some time he will blog about it. I'm so glad he had fun and nearly as jealous as I would have been since my mother-in-law took me and the kids to Decorah (remember I got to visit/tour Laura Ingalls Wilder's museum!!!!!!!!!!!-I'm still smiling from that).

I also splurged and ate french fries (some blotted some not) while on vac with Kris and kids. They were the old fashioned crinckled kind-YUMMY!!!! And ice cream from Whippy Dip ( a ice cream shop Kris and her famil yuse to go to all the time- her Mom had wanted to oown and operate one before she got sick).
More later...
Jennifer

Laura Ingalls Wilder, Burr Oak, IA. Quess where I got to go this weekend??? Tee hee; that's right. My mother-in-law is the best! Since Frank was gone on his vacations she took me and the kids to see her family in Decorah and then surprised me my taking me to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Burr Oak (appr. 10 miles from Decorah). It was the best!! It is the smallest of all the Laura museums, but there were seveal items Laura actually owned, letters she'd returned to fans and we got to see the actual room where Laura slept with her family while she lived in Burr Oak. It was just fantastic; I've always wanted to go there!!!!!!!!!! I bought a t-shirt, a couple of books and a flier. Cannon hummed the Little House T.V. show theme song as we drove up to the museum. It was simply fabulous.
Also, because my mom-in-law and her sis are troupers they let me check one of the Register's "100 Places" off my list. We all ate at Mabe's Pizza for lunch. I had a personal veggie with sauerkraut on the side (that way it was still cool and crunchy and I could add as much or as little as I wanted); again fabulous. Probably one of the best pizzas I've ever tasted and I ususally don't like thin crust pizza, but this was really tasty. It was also nice to see Kris's sister, Nancy. I haven't seen her in about 9 years. Jewel was fascinated to meet her grandma's sister; it was pretty cute. Nan is a quilter and later when we went back to her house she showed us her latest creations and fabric she's bought; Jewel oohhed and awwed. I also got a pic of Kris's mom's headstone; which I've desperately wanted for a long time.
Okay the phone is ringing off the hook.. more later.

Jennifer

Hallejuah!!!!!!! My sis-in-law Katie phoned a bit ago to joyously inform me their son's paperwork is out of PGN! She and Bill will be able to bring Alex home in 3-6 weeks! That is joyous on many levels and for many reasons. He will be with us in time to celebrate his 1st birthday and we just get to see him soon. That should happen by Sep 22nd. Then, my brother's and sis-in-law's 3rd baby is due Sep 26th (but we guess the baby will arrive about 2 weeks prior). I get to meet my newest niece/nephews very soon.

Well my husband could have fallen off a cliff for all I know; he and his buds are gone to geekfest (stole another phrase from Sara) since early Wednesday A.M. and he hasn't called or emailed to say they got there okay. I'm a little miffed. And Jewel has asked when dad will call and jumped up to answer the phone saying, "Maybe its Dad". So I really do hope he's having fun,but wish he would call.

We have really behaved ourselves during Frank's absence. We didn't even go out to eat on Wednesday night, but picked up odds and ends at the grocery store. Last night we did feast at Old Chicago- I love their dipping sauce! and oddly the salads they serve, although last night's salad was a disappointment-very little lettuce and only a few dark green leaves. It was still a good time. I would love to try their pizza sometime, but can never seem to con anyone into ordering one with me. Cannon has really been focusing on the fact that this is his last year to order off the kid's menu, most places now say no one older than 10 yrs. He hasn't expressed his thoughts on that so I don't know if his feelings are mixed, if he is glad or a little sad. Hum... We haven't even made a mad dash to Cold Stone like we teased we were going to (eat ice cream for supper every night, etc), but mostly that's b/c it's very high fat (I'd like to loose a few) and it's spendy. We did have ice cream for supper on Sunday night and went to see Barn Yard; it was actually pretty good not to the level of Shrek, but bette than Over the Hedge for me anyway. Over the Hedge just didn't ring any bells for me. Sunday I felt junky, but we had fun on Sunday night.

We haven't even rented any movies in Frank's absence. Shocker! A friend loaned Jewel Zoey 101 (a tweenie Nick show) and a few Raven episodes so we've watched those. Last night, (and I was in a crafty mood too) Jewel and I picked up the finishing touches for one of her scrap book pages, but then we got home and there were several church issues I received phone calls about and then I had to pack the kid's stuff. While packing the kid's stuff I realized I needed to do laundry then between loads of laundry I started cleaning their room. Now I realize having two children share a small bedroom is not ideal, but those two had junk stuffed everywhere!!!! Candy wrappers, Kleenex, just a variety of misc items everywhere. Well then around 12:30 a.m. I started to get dizzy and realized I hadn't eaten in awhile. Oh yeah, and I never completed my super arms workout-nuts. It's getting late and I have to get up for work further this a.m. I wanted to finish "just a few things" ,but around 1 a.m. my legs started getting rubbery and I knew I would soon be down for the count so I laid down only to awaken a few hours later. I've suffered from insomnia on and off since I was 16 yrs old. My dad also struggles and so does Cannon, but it's been about 6 years since I've had it this bad. At first I thought it was the Prednisone and perhaps there is a residual amount in my system, but I'm starting to worry my insmonia is back. Oh well, I make it through my prayer lists that way. My friend suggested I try a new brand of ice cream, can't recall the name; it's made differently so its lower in fat, but still retains a creamy texture like fully leaded ice cream; its made here in Iowa. I will have to give it a try; I will recall the ice cream if I saw it.
Wow. gotta go.

Have a blessed weekend and keep blogging!

Jennifer

Wow! I'm blogging two days in a row and twice yesterday. Today's blog is mundane. My asthma was better yesterday, but not well enough to do aerobics so I opted for Pilates and still had to completely stop 4 times to lean over focus and breathe. I was able to sleep lying down from 11 P.M. until 3 A.M. when I woke up feeling a little strangled which lead to an inhaler and sleeping on the couch the rest of the night. I did get to have a conversation with Frank at 3 A.M. sans children for the first time in a week; so that was beneficial.
Jewel and I had less scrapping time last night than we'd liked. Then we got stuck on a page and couldn't move past it. We did not even find any TV shows on DVD or Disney shows/ movies on sale or used at Hastings so we were a little bummed. We decided to try Hobby Lobby for a few scrap items we needed, no luck, but we did buy some paper and stickers b/c they were on sale 1/2 off regular price. All the way to the car,Jewel and I laughed about not finding what we needed, but still buying some things.
We hope to go to Adventurland sometime in Septemeber, the weather, Frank's work schedule and other events have prohibited a trip b/f now.
That's all!
Smiles and thank the Lord for a break from this humidity!
Jennifer

So the Dr. put me on Prednisone to give my immune system "a boost" I'm also staying well hydrated drinking lots of tea in addditon to water b/c tea is suppose to contain natural anti-inflammatories. Prednisone can also cause moodiness and weight gain, but the Dr. said my weight gain shouldn't be severe 'cuz I'm only on it for a short time frame. Now my size 8's fit just fine and I would like to stay in them so I will cut back the calories a little bit more, but it's been hard to really push the exercise when breathing on it's own has been a challenge.

My parents had Jewel and Cannon for 5 days last week so although they were home sick when we got them on Friday all my kids have talked about it, "Grandma cooked this and grandma baked this and we got to help and when can we make this and that". Well my mom is cooker! She loves to cook and bake and she is good at it. Me? not so much. There are a few things I make and make very well (Sara I borrowed your quote), but I'm not like my Mom. I did get an excellent mac and cheese recipe from my boss today (its an Emeril recipe) so I'm giving mac and cheese another try; if this doesn't turn out; I'm going to physically cry.

So.. Jewel saw on the T.V. that Raven will be at the fair on the 20th of August. She is a HUGE Cheetah girl and Raven fan so jumped up and down in the living room, but I'm not sure we can go that day and I don't know about this.. I would love to make one of Jewel's dreams come true so we will see what can be worked out.

So.. are any other parent's dreading the Fall? I am b/c then school, home work and all the other activities start again. I feel like we rush from one thing to the next and my children aren't really involved in that much. Maybe getting the dishwasher fixed will clear up some time, but I will miss Cannon's and I's little talks. I wash, he dried and puts some away the shelves he can't reach we put away together. He tends to really open up then and talk to me. Who would have every thought a broken dish washer would be such a blessing? God knows what's he's doing I say.

My brother-in-law and his wife are back from Guatemala from visiting their son Alex-who should be "officially" there's soon (not soon enough for us, but I need to remember God has a plan). There was a snafou with the paper work in June that their lawyer just now notified them of, but it has been remedied so he soon should be theirs. So if ya pray- please add this to your list.

Thank you to Michelle B. and Jeanette for commenting on my blog the other day. Jeanette, did I sound snotty in my response? I didn't mean to,but when I reviewed it I thought, 'Oh that sounds not quite how I meant it". So sorry if it sounded weird.

Cannon had really bad leg cramps in the middle of the night last night and he leg actually shook. Probably just growing pains, but I don't remember Jewel's leg shaking with hers. I recommended Cannon intake a lot of sodium, potassium, milk and water today to see if it clears up. Cannon has gained 5 lbs.! YEAH so maybe his body is growing also.

So I gave my niece, Amber, a few scrapbook supplies for Christmas (she is very crafty and can do anything she puts her mind to. She's only 8, but she crochets, plays piano, draws, and scrapbooks. She asked for scrapping supplies for her birthday which I must confess put a huge smile on my face. I'm hoping she, Jewel and I can get together to scrap book soon. Her sis Ashley might also enjoy this, but I'm not sure. I've alread envisioned the three of us at a table with stickers, supplies, fun music playing in the background, and snacks close by. Aren't I a goomba? Maybe the week Frank is gone she could come over. Note to self- email Katie.

Anyhoo...

Have a blessed day!

Jennifer

Excitement! The super heroes stamps are in from the U.S.P.S - I bought 3 pages b/c they've been popular the clerk told me so I didn't want to run out soon and not be able to refill. If you have not seen them; I think you should. The stamps feature the "old" Super Man and the "new" Super Man and all stamps are unique, not repeating sets as often the case is with postal stamps sets. Jewel and Cannon were very excited to see them.

Speaking of super heroes.. There is to slated to be a show titled, "Heroes" starting this fall; I believe on N.B.C. I am suppressing my excitement b/c Frank and I both loved Birds of Prey which was based on a comic book (it was on Fox I think), but it got cancelled. Frank would even tape it for me b/c it aired Wed. evenings while the kids and I were at church. Quality show if ya ask me- CANCELLED! Thus, Heroes sound good I don't want to get attached b/c most super hero shows get cancelled.

Every night since Sunday Jewel has asked if we are scrapbooking; which breaks my heart to tell her no to such a simple request (besides I know we will need to give the kitchen table back for family use soon) , but we've had errands and cleaning to do. I promised her we would try tonight! If my asthma is better I plan on exercising and then scrapping with her. She got inpatient and cropped some photos by herself, she did fairly well cutting, but in one of the pics her head is partially chopped off, but she proudly announced, "Jordan's head isn't cut off" so she took care in not amputating her friend's head in the pic. tee hee.

My asthma has been givng me troubles, it's one thing when I feel a little squeeze when I breathe, but when breathing acutally hurts and I can't sleep while lying down I decided to go to the Dr. My inhalers were not doing the job.

More later...