We're Having A Baby!!!

We've tried (rather unsuccessfully...love you Mom!) to keep this to ourselves for a bit but since the word is out thanks to some family members (again, Mom), I figured we might as well share it with everyone, so we're having another baby. 

We had some complications thus far so we've been a bit worried but today we had an ultrasound and we got some really good news. Dr. Worrall said we now have a "viable pregnancy." We have a heartbeat, we have an embryo, and nothing looks particularly worrisome. Once you see a heartbeat, the odds of having a miscarriage go WAY down so we can breathe a little now.

It really seems real to me now. I have to admit that until this point I haven't truly believed it but then when I saw that heart just pounding away, my breath caught in my throat. He wont admit it, but I'm pretty sure that huge grin on Kelly's face was also accompanied with a little wetness around the eyes. We both saw it almost immediately before Dr. Worrall even pointed out anything and we were both ecstatic. 

So, that's our news and we're very surprised but also very happy. Be ready to add another O'Neil come December 28th (or if he/she is like the other two, a few weeks before)! :)

Family Sunday...

Sunday is usually our family day and last Sunday we had a particularly nice one. We started out the day by going out to breakfast at the Cookie Jar. The kids each had their eyes on an Alaskan themed stuffed animal that they sell out front so I surprised them with them when we paid our bill.

Vaughn got a moose.

Bailey got an owl.

Vaughn figured that was right because he had of course announced to us that the moose was his when we came in. Actually, he proclaimed it to all that would hear with his "My moose!" cheers.

We then drove to Creamer's Field to check out the cranes. We were surpised by how many were there. Bailey loves the cranes so I wasn't at all surprised when she was moving and wiggling in the truck trying to get a better view. I was shocked though by how much Vaughn enjoyed the birds. We stayed in the truck because is was still like a swamp out there but we opened the windows and all you could hear were the honks and hoots of the cranes. The kids just loved it! Sadly though, we had to head about our day and Vaughn shed a few tears to say goodbye to his new feathered friends.

We were off for our regular grocery shopping and then home, only to rush out again to take Bailey to a classmate's birthday party while Vaughn and Kelly napped. Bailey and I were barely back in the house when a friend of mine called and invited us to come and cook with her. She was teaching us how to make Chinese dumplings...Yummy! Bailey loved it and the food was awesome! Thanks Mei!

Back home again where Kelly had a nice dinner waiting for us. After dinner we decided to end the evening with a family baking project. We made cookies with "Fundough." It's like playdough only it bakes into cookies. Vaughn didn't get it at first but after we pulled out the sprinkles, he was sold. Bailey was her usual artistic self creating art with sugar that I am still having trouble eating because it's so pretty. I made very nice circles and Kelly of course made a light saber. Here are only some of our creations.

It was a busy day but oh so lovely to have spent so much time together as a family doing wonderful activities. I hope we have many more Sundays just like that!

Vaughn In Print!

My mom submitted a picture she took of Vaughn to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and they put it in the paper. I love this picture and her sweet comments.
Check it out!
http://newsminer.com/photos/galleries/my-best-photo---april-2009/1976/

Happy 2nd Birthday Vaughn!

2 Years has passed so quickly. My handsome little boy has gone from this...

To this...

In only two short years. Some things never change though...he still drools better than anyone I know (notice the shirt in the first picture and the wet spot on his chin in the second).

We are so proud that our little boy is learning so much and becoming such a smart, unique, and wonderful person. I am constantly amazed at how much he can do, how well he expresses himself, and how wonderful it is to get to know the person he is becoming. He was our miracle blessing and I never forget that. We love you Buddy. Happy Birthday!

Hey Sisters...How's the diet going?

I'm sitting here eating my salad for lunch (way fresh and super yummy today) and am wondering how it's going for you two. So, thought I'd do a a little check-in, you go girl, kind of thing.

I have to say that I haven't been so good lately. I could blame it on Kelly's bad influence or the fact that I've been sick so I needed soft foods...but it's still on me that I didn't hang in there.

Oh well, am back on the horse and as soon as I'm healthy again I'll be back to exercising too. I'm now down 17 pounds and hoping to make it 18 soon.

So...how is it going for you?

Those three magic words...

Tonight I heard those three wonderful words...no, it wasn't "I love you," or "Pretty please Mom," or even "Uh-oh Mommy, Yucky!" No, today my husband said the three words that when he says them, they still take my breath away...Here's the story.

I had to go to work today extra early. For me, that meant starting my day around 4:00am. I worked my regular job with extra tasks today only to head off to my second job as soon as the first finished. Needless to say, by the time my work day was ending, I was reasonably exhausted. As I was driving to pick-up the kids I was dreading the evening of cooking and dishes. Also, being Wednesday, I was hitting my mid-week lonely cycle. Most of you know that Kelly and I work opposite schedules so other than a kiss hello while I'm asleep in the evening and a kiss goodbye while he's asleep in the morning, we don't see each other all week. We communicate mostly by phone calls though we are starting to join the texting generation. Anyway, I picked up the phone to call Kelly (don't tell Bailey I was talking on my phone while driving or she'll yell at me!). I called his office line...no Kelly. So, then I called his cell phone and though the connection was bad and there was a lot of commotion, I finally got him on the line. Knowing how busy he was just from the fact that I had to track him down, I tentatively asked "Is today a bad day for us to come have dinner with you?" Kelly hmm'd and haa'd, explaining that he was really busy, and I realized I was forcing him to feel guilty and I didn't want that so I told him that it was okay, I understood, we'd do it another day.

Then he said it. Oh, it makes my heart flutter just to think about it. Girls it's the sexiest line, I'm telling you. Are you ready for this...my wonderful husband said "No, it's okay, I'll make time. Come and we'll have dinner." He'll make time for me. He will take time out of his busy day, pay the consequences of being pulled away from his tasks, and make time for me. Could there be any better way to say that he loves me? Diamonds, BAH! Give me your time and my heart will forever be yours. Truly, I think there is no better feeling than your husband specifically making the choice to give you his time even when it is not convenient or even downright difficult to do so. Someone can tell you over and over that they love you but when they sacrifice to be with you then they are showing you that they love you.

So we had a nice dinner. We talked about our day. We laughed at the kids. We dealt with a Vaughn toddler tantrum as a team. Now, I am getting ready to go to bed alone but it's okay because my heart is full because he made time for me. I think sometimes we take those simple things like a dinner together as a family for granted but for Kelly and I, a midweek family moment is truly a gift.

Thank you Kelly for making my day, my week...my lifetime. Thank you for doing something so simple yet so important as making time for me. I love you!

A Bad Day...

***Update at Bottom***

It's good that if we're gonna have a bad day that we get it all out at once...so, with that, today was one of those bad days where we got out all that bad luck.

Bad day event number 1...

Yesterday I got a call from a buyer for our house making an offer. The offer was what we considered fair and so we verbally accepted the offer and began to put it in writing. My broker stayed up late last night getting the contracts all written and after talking to the buyer, emailed them out to her. Then, for reasons I'm still unclear about, the buyer decided they no longer wanted the house. They really gave very little explanation, they just pulled out. To say we were disapointed is an understatement. To be honest, even though the smart part of me reminded that so many things could go wrong so I shouldn't get my hopes up, my heart had already packed the boxes and had ironed out the plan for the major change in our lives. When I got the call canceling the offer, all those moving boxes in my head had no where to go and I spent a great deal of time this afternoon feeling especially sorry for myself.

Bad day event number 2...

We were invited to my parents house for a lovely dinner. After dinner, Vaughn was putting on a real show for us in the living room. He had one of those books that you push different buttons to play music and so he would push a button and dance around the living room in all kinds of silly ways. After about 20 minutes of watching him dance while my mom and I giggled at his antics, Vaughn got a little too silly and made himself dizzy and when he did, he fell face first into their stone fireplace hearth. I got to him as quickly as I could and flipped him around to see the blood dripping from his face. I pulled his lip up and his mouth was a mess. Perhaps I was a bit over-protective but I headed for the ER to see if he needed stitches as there were several flaps of skin pulled away from his gums and a large area of just raw open wound with bleeding. So, I met Kelly at the ER and we had Vaughn seen.

The wait wasn't too long so I was impressed with that. The doctor examined Vaughn and said that it was probably the worst mouth injury she had seen in that type of wound for a toddler and that he had ripped off the top layer of skin across his gum line on his upper lip. Vaughn was a real trooper and let the examine him and didn't even cry. Anyway, an exam and a $125 co-pay later, the doctor said that there was little they could do and that it just needs to heal on its own even though it looked horrible. She said it may bleed for days and that he will be uncomfortable for awhile but that he should be okay. They said his nose got bruised too but on the positive side, his teeth were okay and looks like he managed to miss them completely. On the downside, he now looks like The Joker is his father but we're hoping that will be gone quickly.

Here is a picture of Vaughn with his fat lip. It's not the best picture but the boy was wiped out so I did the best I could. Keep in mind that the damage is on the inside so the outside really doesn't look as bad as it could.

All in all, the experience with Vaughn certainly put the house thing in perspective. I realized that until I sat down to type up this entry, I hadn't even thought about the house as Vaughn was the only thought on my mind. I wish I wouldn't have had Vaughn put on the chopping block to teach me a necessary life lesson but anyone that knows me knows that the quickest way to get me to take notice is to go through my kids. Perhaps if I wasn't so stubborn and worried about material things, I wouldn't have needed that lesson and next time I hope I can avoid it but at least for this time, I'm willing to sit back and be thankful that my children are healthy and safe and that we have a nice home for them to find comfort in and that's truly all we really need.

***Update***

So Vaughn woke up this morning looking as if he'd done 6 rounds with Mike Tyson. Poor little guy. He's smiling here so he's not feeling too bad (I hope!)

Kelly's I-Phone

Okay, so I had to renew my cell phone contract. Cellone got bought out by AT&T and so they told me that if I ever made any changes to my account that I would have to renew with a new AT&T plan. I have been holding out because I had a pretty good deal on our phones but then we went to Arizona and Kelly went into the lazy river at the waterpark with his phone in the pocket of his swim trunks. We tried all different ways to get a new phone for him or drop him from my plan without having to renew our contract but AT&T didn't bite. In the end, I had to agree to a new contract or I had to pay for monthly service for Kelly's phone even though he didn't have one. So, we went into the AT&T store and looked around at all the pretty phones...and...well I think the title says it all. I figured as long as I had to get a new phone, might as well get what Kelly really wanted and has been hinting at for over a year now...the I-Phone.

He's had it now for a little over a week and I rarely see him without it in his hand. We've watched a movie on it (pretty darn good graphics for such a small screen) and Kelly and Bailey have played countless games on it already. He's already added a ton of music to it and I realize about 2 minutes too late that he's got the earphones in and isn't hearing a word I'm saying. I'm beginning to feel that his new best friend is his phone.
To tell the truth I have checked it out but I didn't have the patience or whatever and so I didn't spend the time needed to figure it out. Both of the kids are pros at the phone already though. Bailey tries to take off with it any chance she gets and Vaughn knows how to turn it on and off so he can see his picture as the wallpaper and then get to his drawing game that he likes...how is that possible that my baby who's not even 2 yet knows the phone better than I do.
So, if anyone wants to call Kelly, please feel free to call him on the phone as I'd like to believe it actually can be used as a phone...about the only feature he dosn't really use. :)

First Born

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born!

Okay, I got this on Facebook and Blogger so guess I'll answer the questions.

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? No, but I was thrilled!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes, had been for 4 years.

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I was shocked. I totally didn't expect it but oh so excited. I had always wanted children and wasn't sure I was ever going to get the chance to have them (long story).

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Never...Nope...Never Ever

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 22

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I hadn't been feeling well for awhile and my breasts were really sore. Then we planned to go to a party where there would be drinking so I took a test just in case. Totally did not expect it to come out positive...hence the reason I took like 4 more.

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My (now ex) husband Mark

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes, I wanted to be totally prepared. Didn't matter though, I just knew what I was having and I was right.

9. DUE DATE? January 23rd, but it was WAY wrong

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Some, but mostly it was just a total aversion to food in the beginning.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Home fried potatoes (fresh, not frozen), grilled chicken breast with barbecue sauce, and Taco Bell (which was 4 hours away!)

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? My friend Toni (she was way too bubbly about me being pregnant), my (ex) husband who just ticked me off regularly, and having all my family so far away so I couldn't really have my mom's help through the whole thing.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Female

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? I had always wanted a boy first so that he could be a protector for his little sister so I was a bit sad but once they confirmed I was having a girl, I couldn't imagine having anything but her so it passed quickly.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? It went up and down by what medications they put me on. When I was good and medicated, my weight stayed at about a 35 pound gain but then at the end when they pulled me off of them, I ballooned up another 45 pounds or so over about a 2 1/2 month period.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, I did. I had some really nice friends that got together and held it for me.

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about and was glad as after awhile of not knowing about a shower, I begin to feel that people don't care and have forgotten me (I learned this later on, not then).

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? I had preeclampsia/toxemia diagnosed really early (very unusual) in my pregnancy. They put me on medications starting in my 8th week and tried taking me off several times which never worked until they had to take me off prior to birth at the end and put me on bed rest. My delivery was very touch and go as they were worried either I would have a stroke or my baby would have complications because my blood pressure was through the roof and climbing...luckily all worked out in the end.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? The Berlingenfeld Hospital in Germany

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 8 Flat...water broke at 4:00am and she was born at noon.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? my (ex)husband....driving like an Earnhardt

22. WHO WAS WITH YOU WHEN YOU GIVE BIRTH? my (ex)husband and my friend Toni

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Totally natural.

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Because of all my complications I couldn't have pain meds. I did get to have Pitocin though to make the contractions even stronger...that was just LOVELY! I did beg for meds though.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 8 pounds 14 ozs and 21 inches long

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? January 24th though they discovered that she was about 3 1/2 weeks early (I told them so!)

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Bailey Ryan...but changed it to Bailey Marie right as I filled in the birth certificate

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 10 going on 45.

I'd post a picture but look one post down and you'll see her. I don't have any newborn photos on the computer.

Oh, and Miss, I commented on your post but don't see it so if it doesn't show up, you're still having problems.

My Baby Turned 10!

Yesterday my baby, my Bailey, turned 10 years old. She is double digits. It made me think back to what I still see sometimes in my head when I look at her. Sometimes when she smiles at me, this is what I see:
And yet this is what she has become. Don't get me wrong, I am immensley proud of her. Bailey is smart (almost too much so), sweet, kind, and never misses the chance to tell the people that she loves that she cares about them. She is joyous and jubilent and very open with her emotions. If she is sad, you will want to cry with her (and I have many times) and if she is happy, you can't help but to smile when she grins at you with that full face grin that spreads across her face. It is my joy and my honor to be her mother.

Next week we will have her birthday party and celebrate for her with her friends but yesterday was just for her family where we got to have her precious attention for one evening. Happy Birthday my baby...both the one I see now and the one I remember in my head. We love you and are proud of who you have become and we look forward to watching to see where life will take you but know that it can never take you far from our hearts.

Happy Birthday Jeremy & Abbie

Happy Birthday Jeremy and Abbie. We wanted to sing happy birthday for you like you did for Kelly on his but we killed Kelly's computer that is set up to dowload the video from our camera so guess you'll just have to settle for this (sorry):
Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha)
Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha)
Happy Birthday Jeremay and Abigail
Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha)
Really we hope your birthdays are great. We miss you and are sad we can't be with you for your special day. We love you and wish you the best! Happy Day!

Christmas With The Grandparents

With the weather as bad as it was and all the flights getting canceled, we weren't sure if we'd make it home to be with the kids on Christmas but someone was watching out for us and we finally made it home late Christmas Eve/Early Christmas morning so that we were there when the kids woke up. It was the only thing I wanted for Christmas and it was just as good as I hoped it would be.
We had planned to go small this year for gifts...guess my parents didn't get that memo! It looked like Toys R Us after the kids had opened their presents. Bailey's favorites were here kareoke machine, her spa making kit, and her Nintendo DS (thanks Grandparents). I think she still looks cute in her footie jammies...even if she is almost 10!
Here's Grandma Julee opening her presents. A new pair of slippers...just what she wanted.

Vaughn woke up and wasn't sure what to think of the whole thing. Mom and Dad were suddenly there, he got to eat candy out of the sock hanging on the fireplace (see the remnants on his face) and then we threw a bunch of boxes wrapped in paper at him. He got the hang of it though and started tearing into the packages as soon as I could get them in front of him. He got a little over-stimulated though and by the end of the day was actually thankful to be home and go to bed in his own crib that he's missed. He's sure gonna miss that thing when we move him up to a toddler bed...he really loves his bed.

Grandma Dee sure was a good sport and tried out one of Bailey's concoctions from her spa kit. Apparently it's sure to give you a good complexion...or be a healthy breakfast...hmmm, maybe she wasn't supposed to put in on her face but in it instead? Bailey, are you sure you got that right?

All in all, it was a great Christmas that was extra-special because we had so much family around. We sure missed Jeremy and Dahlia and their little ones and we will have to catch up with Barbara, Sean, Melissa, and Tayllor, but still a wonderful Christmas. Love to all and hope your holiday was as nice as ours.