Baby Deadline

We have an official date set for the surgery/birth of Anna. It is March 21st at 8:50am. The time really means nothing, because neither one of the boys was born close to their surgery times. Matthew's time was 8:30 and he was born at 9:51 and Ben's was 1:30 and he was born at 3:08. It can take a bit for them to get me prepped and whatnot. Matthew's was delayed b/c a lady in labor almost needed an emergency c-section, which bumped me back. (For those worried, she was able to deliver naturally.)

ANYWAY, it's set now. I could always go into labor before that date and have to have an emergency c-section, but at least we have a deadline. The pregnancy is going well, my foot is feeling better, and we're starting to prepare for Anna's arrival. (i.e.--today I bought pacifiers.)

Family News

I've talked alot about myself this week and our blessings, so I thought I'd let y'all know how the rest of the family is doing.

Benjamin--Ben has started potty training this week. We started last Saturday by trying to place him on his little potty when we knew he was going #2. He got the idea, but not the follow through. He was crying from his crib about going potty that night but we didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. :( Since then, he's been going into the bathroom whenever Matthew has to go. They both love it because if Ben goes, then they both get M&M's. (Hey, I gotta get my help when Rob's gone!) Ben's still pretty young, but since he's interested, we're going to keep trying.

Matthew--My little charmer has been full of interesting quips this week. I think my favorite one came on Thursday morning when he was picking up toys to put in the toy box. We could hear him getting frustrated and he finally yelled, "I can't get the monkey off the pliers!" I asked Rob if he ever has that trouble at work. Otherwise, he's been pretty good overall. We fingerpainted yesterday and had a ball doing it. He's quite the little artist. I was teaching him about mixing colors and he got the idea right away, experimenting alot on his own. He's not interested in learning letters and numbers yet, but he loves the art stuff!

Rob--He's doing well in school and is enjoying his relaxed load. He's been working on some Greek extra credit that is due on Monday, but when that's finished he'll have plenty of time for the regular work each night and get a decent night's sleep. He's taking Joshua and Judges and is reading the boys their devos from Joshua right now. They love it! He's been such a great help this week and has played Mommy quite often. I'm so blessed to have him!

Anna--She's been kicking away like mad. Last night she moved up and down my side and it almost tickled! I just love the feeling of a baby inside. My OB is trying to set the c-section for March 21st, which is Good Friday. I see her on Wednesday so hopefully she'll have the date settled by then.

Me--My foot is slowly improving. I did a bit of driving today (had to hit the oops sale at the local candle store!) and it hurt, especially keeping my foot on the brake. It was also very slushy out, so walking wasn't much fun either. (I did find a Gourmet Popcorn Shoppe and stopped to get some cheese popcorn for Rob.) Otherwise, I'm still moving slow, but it doesn't hurt as bad. I haven't needed any pain killers for a few days. The bruise is very ugly, but it looks worse than it feels!

And that's us!

Blessings

I promise not to complain about my injury in this post (which is feeling better, thank you for your prayers.) Instead, I have some blessings to share.

Rob came home from church last night with a card from some friends. In it was a gift certificate to a local grocery store for a substantial amount of money. God is so good! Today was Second Harvest at MBBC and some friends picked up a box for us. I also had my own personal maid/nanny this morning (same friends). A friend of Rob's from work/school was recently married and when his wife heard of my plight, she came over to do some housework for me and entertain the kids for four hours.

What wonderful blessings! Rob and I do not deserve these blessings, but the Lord has just been so good to us.

Update on the gimp

There are days where I feel that I will never be whole and healthy again. This was one of them. I was pretty sad this morning and I told Rob that I'd better never get some huge life-altering illness because I do not have the emotional state for it. Poor guy, I gave him the pouty lip and everything before he left for work.

I woke up with a cramp in my thigh this morning, so that just set the tone for the whole day. I used some Icy Hot on it and it felt much better. Overall I've been walking better today and only had two little setbacks. I tripped over my own foot and set some pain up the leg and tripped over a blanket in the boys room, but that wasn't as bad. Probably the most painful thing I've dealt with had more to do with my c-section scar than my injury. I woke up from my nap in pain b/c the way I was laying to make my leg feel better made my old scar area hurt. After lumbering around in the bed for a better position, I fell right back to sleep.

Otherwise, it's not too bad. I stayed home from Truth Trackers tonight because there has been some new snow and I'm a little nervous about making it safely to the car. Plus, I have a lot of walking to do to get to our classroom, so I figured I'm better off just recooperating.

Matthew has decided that music makes my foot feel better, so he's been playing me songs on his toy CD player, a xylophone, and singing. He's so cute!

Everything Is Trying to Kill Me

When I taught history, I used to show this video on the Vietnam War and one of the songs they played was titled the same as this post. It's how I kind of feel today.

If you read the previous post, you know that I injured my right leg, mainly my foot. Well, yesterday, I dropped the remote on the same foot. Then today, a Magni Doodle came crashing down on my injured thigh. I popped my knee going up the stairs to shower this morning. But the "kicker" came when I knocked a couch cushion with my injured foot, thus shooting pain up my entire leg. Rob came home early from work to save me from the children, who were less than sympathetic to my plight. In fact, Matthew was so scared seeing me writhe in agony that he curled up in a fetal position on the couch until I calmed down! (Again, more proof that he is not destined for the medical profession!) Benjamin, on the other hand, just wanted to poke my injuries.

I'm supposed to see my OB tomorrow to go over my blood counts (b/c I forgot them last week) but I am unable to drive, so that appointment will be cancelled. **sigh** There is a bright spot, because the wife of a friend of Rob's offered to come over and help do housework or watch the boys for a bit on Thursday.

I'll try to post again to update you on my condition, providing I'm not in a coma or something....

Sigh.....

Okay, I'm breaking a promise. I said that I wasn't going to post anything new until I posted some new pictures. I haven't downloaded the pics yet from my camera (I fear all technology) but I have a few updates on the fam to put up....so there.

This weekend we celebrated Rob's 30th birthday. It was not at all stressful for him, since his wife has already reached that milestone. He even stated that it was about time he was 30. I guess returning to college with a bunch of kids makes you feel older. Anyway, I baked him some cupcakes, but they didn't turn out as planned. They are supposed to have a carmel center, but it hardened after the cupcakes cooled, so we pulled them out. We did order Rico's for his dinner on Saturday (that's the best pizza in town, BTW) so that was fun.

My present to Rob was a Sunday afternoon with no children. Some friends of ours took the boys home with them after church on Sunday and brought them back for the Sunday night service. Rob and I went to Applebee's for lunch and then home. We changed clothes, finding some old slippers we hadn't worn, and came down the stairs discussing our afternoon plans. As I stepped onto our hardwood floor from the last step, I slipped and landed on my right leg with my foot bent too far in front of me. I screamed, hollered, and writhed in pain for what felt like hours (but was mere seconds.) Rob had heard three cracking noises and assumed I broke something. (Turned out that he heard the slippers cracking.) He even asked if I broke my ankle. Being the ever sarcastic one, the first comment that popped into my head was, "Do I LOOK like an x-ray machine??"

I was able to move everything just fine, so Rob helped me to the couch. I was in agony for awhile, but we decided not to go to the ER just yet. I took some Tylenol and that helped. It seems that I just landed hard on my leg. It's sore all the way down, but the worst pain is in the foot. I've been limping around today and trying to keep off it as much as possible. Rob stayed home from school this morning to help out. He did go to work at 3 as usual and we were just fine. He'll be gone most of tomorrow, so hopefully my foot will be feeling better.

So, we didn't really do much on Sunday except nap and play card games in the afternoon, which is just as well. At least we didn't have to run to the hospital! The boys had a wonderful afternoon with the Petersons and Ben even napped while he was there. I was glad to see my little guys when they came home because this house is too quiet without them!

And that's a bit of our household happenings this week. I will get those pictures loaded sometime in the near future!

Cute Stuff

We often refer to the boys as "cute stuff", often when they are sleeping, but this isn't about them. Well, it is about them, but not their looks. (Although I must admit that I have the handsomest little boys on the planet...and I'm not biased.)

Matthew received a thank-you card from his Sunday school teacher. It has a sparkly snowman on it and his comment was, "Awww! How cute!" (Pronounced key-ute.) Ben now refers to the snowman AS an aww cute. Ben has also adopted Matthew's concept of time. Anything that did not happen today happened yesterday or last night, regardless of how long ago it was.

Matthew is a pack rat. At least with stuffed animals. At any given time, he has 10-15 of them on his bed. In fact, he doesn't really sleep on pillows anymore. It's kind of hard to fit that many creatures, three pillows, and a preschooler on a toddler bed anyway. He also carries around six or seven of them with him. They all have names as well. His favorite right now is the Robin Hood that he bought at the Disney Store with his Christmas money. I gave him the tie to a robe I'm not using and he puts a leash on his doggies and takes them for walks. It's actually a bit demented, because at times it looks like he's dragging around dead animals.

Benjamin keeps amusing me with his funny phrases. If you ask him if he just ate something, he'll say, "I ate the _____. I ate it in my mouth." Just today he looked outside and said, "It's snowing! Oh, my goodness!" He's still picking up songs. He surprised me yesterday by singing the ABC song. Not in total, but enough that I could figure it out. Oh, and we were in Arby's yesterday and some rock music was playing. He started jamming to it and was saying, "I like the music!" I told Rob we'll have to keep an eye on that one musically!

Rob has his own share of funny things to say. Just this morning, he used his standard pregnancy phrase. He came up, poked my belly and said, "Man, that's hard. Do you work out?" He has said that with every pregnancy....silly man.

Oh, Rob started classes this week and it looks like a much lighter load for him. Last semester, he had 18 papers and projects. This semester, he has two. They are both due around the same time as the baby, so he's going to get them done early.

As for me, I'm still here. I'm adjusting to the new diet, the blood testing, and the head cold.

Oh, we're having a surprise visit today from Rob's parents. They called this morning and asked to come up to take us to lunch for Rob's birthday. Should be fun! Rob turns 30 next Sunday and I keep teasing him about being the baby. (I am over 30 already and that's enough said about that.) I found a great birthday song for him on my Facebook page, if any of you are my "Facebook friends", have a listen. It's great!

That's all for now! Next post will contain pictures. We've actually been taking them recently.

Sweet, sweet rest

The past five days or so have been a little crazy around here. I was on that funky diet this weekend, which made me a little loopy. Rob even sweetly told me on Saturday night, "Honey, you don't have to eat your dessert. This is just too hard, isn't it?" It was like living in opposite land all weekend! The only good part was going to the mall on Saturday, so I walked off quite a bit of the sugar (but added some at Mrs. Field's cookies).

Monday was my blood test, which made me very tired. The kids didn't get regular naps and Rob left me (to go to work, of all things) so we had a cranky evening until I put them to bed at 7pm. They normally go to bed at 9pm, so the early bedtime was a wonderful change. Tuesday was pretty much the same, except that I had TWO outings (pharmacy and doctor) and the kids still didn't get naps in (except in the car.) Bedtime came early and a cranky mommy crashed on the couch.

Today, however, was wonderfully different. We stayed home. We had "schooltime" (alphabet emphasis for Matthew, sitting and listening to a story for Ben.) We took naps. Ben slept for 2 hours and Matthew for three. I think Ben would have slept longer had not the phone rang at 3:30. It was a call I needed to take, but it woke me out of a sound sleep (I was drooling and everything, which is a good indicator of a good sleep.)

The important thing is that we rested. Tomorrow is Morning for Moms, so I get a two hour break while I learn how to quilt. The children get a two hour break from Mommy, so I'm sure they'll be thrilled as well. You know, it can't be easy living with a hormone-crazed gestational diabetic mommy. They need their breaks, too!

Prayer Request: The town my parents live in has been declared a disaster area due to severe flooding. They and their house are fine, but several friends of theirs have water damage to their homes. Please pray for the town of Pontiac, Illinois.

Viva La Difference

I saw the nurse who deals with diabetic counseling today and it was a good review with some interesting differences. Let me list them, because lists are fun and exciting.

1. I can eat ketchup. I was denied that condiment the last two times.
2. I have to test 5 times a day instead of four. :(
3. She told me NOT to wash my hands before I test. I have experienced a HUGE difference in washing my hands before I test, so that was kind of weird.
4. I was told to use the same lancet all day long instead of a new one with each test. Hmmm...
5. I was told to seal my lancets in a container and throw them in the regular trash. In Cali they were treated as a biohazard and had to be dumped differently. Again, hmmm.....
6. Meat, cheese, cottage cheese, and a few other surprises are considered free foods unless I eat so much that they count as carbs. Before, I had to ration them.
7. I can have sweets as long as they don't consistently shoot up my sugar levels. Well, I have to cut them out right now, but she might add them back if I'm okay.
8. The numbers have changed. For fasting, I have to be below 95 instead of 100 and the rest below 140 instead of 145.
9. It looks like I have to continue testing for awhile AFTER the baby is born.
10. I did get a cool new blood monitor with more buttons. Maybe it doubles as a personal planner or something...that would be cool....I haven't read the instructions yet. j/k

And I learned NOT to take the kids with me EVER AGAIN for long appointments. I can't type about it.....I'll have nightmares.

Third time's a charm

I took the three hour test this morning and failed three of the four tests. The fourth one was right at the borderline. So, I have gestational diabetes again. I'm not very surprised at all and I have lots of things to be thankful for, which I will list below.

1. It's only for 10 more weeks.
2. I've done it twice already, so there are few surprises in store.
3. They didn't draw blood, just pin pricks, so it didn't hurt too bad.
4. The boys were well-behaved for their daddy.
5. I got to eat at Schlotzsky's Deli afterwards :)
6. The time flew by.
7. Rob doesn't go into work until 3pm, so I have been able to recover from the whole thing.
8. The orange stuff didn't taste too bad and I was so thirsty that I gulped it down.
9. My nurse was fun to talk to.
10. I got to watch "The Price is Right" while I waited.

So, it wasn't all bad. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me!

Litwiller Preacher Boys

Before I forget the details of this incident (pregnant brain, you know) I have to record it. There are pictures, but I'll post them later.

Okay, so tonight, the boys played pretend again, only this time, they were playing church. Matthew got up behind our speaker in the dining room and began to preach, pretending he was Pastor Loggans. He told us that we have to give LOTS of money to God, that it's all about Baby Jesus, and he wanted us to sing about beaks. Okay, so two out of three isn't bad! We were kind of impressed, because part of Pastor's sermon on Wednesday WAS about tithing, so Matthew must have been listening.

Then, he had Ben come up and be the song leader. Ben led us in "Jesus Loves Me", Matthew preached again, and then he prayed. Matthew was even a pulpit pounder for part of the sermon, which is funny, because Pastor Loggans is not a pulpit pounder, so I don't know where Matthew picked that up. We must have an old-time, hellfire and brimstone preacher in the making. I told Rob when we go on deputation, he can have Ben sing, Rob can give the presentation, then Matthew can preach.

WHAT????

So I went in for my prenatal check-up this morning and did the one hour glucose test. I dutifully drank the stuff (tasted like over-sweetend Hawaiian punch....better than the other things I drank in previous pregnancies) and had my blood drawn. I failed the test and will have to do the three hour test on Monday, but I expected that to happen. Here's the weird part of it all: I HAVE TO EAT A HIGH-CARB, HIGH-SUGAR DIET UNTIL I TEST!!!

What??? That is just too weird. It's like telling a heart patient, "Hey, we think you are prone to heart attacks, but just in case, here's a side of bacon to eat through." Or offering a potential cancer patient a load of MSG, or asking a guy with a broken leg to walk around for awhile just to make sure he's actually in pain.

I will follow my diet, complete with a tablespoon of sugar at breakfast and desserts after lunch and supper, but Rob has already informed me that if I get too weird on it, I'm going off of it. I'm half-tempted to call the doctor and just ask for the diabetes diet plan and the blood monitor and just start treating myself now.

Good grief.

Death of a Good Friend

Today marks the passing of a dear friend of the Litwiller family: our beloved television set. I would now like to eulogize about the dearly departed.

Our 20" Panasonic has served the family well over the past 8 1/2 years. He joined the family when the family was created, back in August of 1999. My parents gave him to us as a wedding present and he brought much joy to our home in the form of movies, video games, and crazy TV shows, like Survivor and the Amazing Race. Even the Food Network became a favorite over the years.

Back in 2001, he was joined by the DVD player and the two were inseperable. Around the same time, the VCR attatched to the TV became quite ill, having played a stupid tape sent from a company that erased itself as it played. The television took good care of the VCR and a rewinder was purchased to alleviate it's pain.

In the year 2005, a decision was made to disconnect the cable so that the owners would spend more time with their beloved son and less time vegging. The television was concerned, but many videos and DVD's later learned that it would still be in use.

The television began to show signs of age, as it periodically had a rainbow at the bottom and the cords connecting it to the DVD player became looser and looser. The final death blow came in the form of a Peter Pan video from the library. It was at this time that Mr. Litwiller took it apart and broke the VCR to rescue the tape. The TV then showed some senility when it thought a tape was inside and was constantly trying to accept, play, and eject a phantom tape. Mr. Litwiller took out the VCR, but the surgery was unsuccessful and the TV is no more.

The television was replaced by a flat screen model from Wal-Mart with no VCR attatched. A VCR from my grandmother will be used in place of the dead model.

The television was survived by the DVD player. The rewinder predeceased the TV a few years ago. No memorial service will be held. The TV will be donated to the Foundation for Robert Litwiller in the hopes that he can tinker further with a larger electronic device and learn pretty much nothing from the experience, except how to play with a dead TV.

The End.