Cameron's Heart Month

During February, Cameron learned all about his heart at preschool. All month long, he would come home with little tidbits of information about his veins and arteries, and how his heart worked. For a while, all of his drawings of people included blue and red blood vessels running through their bodies. I was really impressed by all he was learning and he even taught me some things I didn't know. Also throughout the month, "Chef Combo" cooked for the kids and taught them about healthy and unhealthy foods. He was just a puppet, but he had a magic effect on Cameron, and his "one bite rule" got Cam to eat foods like eggplant and squash- things he had never tried. This month was a bit of a wake up call for Jeremy and I too as Cameron would constantly comment on our eating habits and how unhealthy they were. I was eating a piece of pie one day and he told me I was hurting my heart and now it would be harder to pump my blood. I told him we make exceptions when mommy is pregnant... I guess we should be setting a better example. Today they had a little performance and graduation at school since the month is over. Cameron's part included showing how your heart pumps blood when you eat healthy and when you don't eat healthy. He had a turkey baster that was easy to squeeze and one that was a lot harder to squeeze, complete with attached tubes into red colored water. At the end each child received a diploma for having completed the program. I sure hope the lessons he's learned stick with him (and his parents).

My Pregnancy

I have always wanted to have professional maternity photos done, but never got around to it with Cameron or Gavin, and time is a tickin' with this one too, so today I decided to play around with it a bit myself. They are not professional by any means, but at least I have them to look back on one day. I've also realized that I haven't really written much about my pregnancy, I hope this is not an indication of the amount of attention this little one will get! I am very fortunate in the fact that my pregnancies are relatively easy, although with each one it seems to get a bit more difficult. With this one my back really bothers me, I have horrible heartburn, and I get a lot of nosebleeds. But I really do love being pregnant and I love this stage when the baby is moving all the time, even when he kicks me in the ribs! My doctor moved my due date up a couple of days to the 17th of April because of how the baby was measuring at my last ultrasound and I plan on being induced about a week before that, so in about 6 weeks we will be parents of three! I must say I am absolutely petrified. All of my friends say that going from two to three is the hardest and my biggest fear is having to run errands and heaven forbid- navigate the swimming pool this summer! Also, the newborn stage is not my favorite, but I do love snuggling a sleeping baby and I am looking forward to that. We've yet to settle on a name for this little guy, but this is pretty characteristic of Jeremy and I. We have a hard time agreeing on names and both of out boys were not named until we were in the hospital. We do have a few that we've been playing around with, but who knows. Jeremy and I both know that being able to have these kids is such a huge blessing and I hope that I can remember that even on the hard days. I feel so lucky to have these little guys in my life!

Icky Sickies

Oh joy, what a fun week... I knew I was jinxing myself when I said how healthy my family had been this winter! President's Day Monday was a beautiful day here so we took the kids up to Skyline drive to have a picnic and maybe a hike. Well the whole way there Gavin barely made a peep which isn't like him at all. Our adventure was cut short due to some rain and way colder temperatures up in the mountains so we quickly ate our lunch, kicked a ball around for maybe 10 minutes and then headed back home. Gavin again was completely zoned out and that night he started with a high fever that lasted until yesterday! Not fun, however selfishly I kind of like it when he's sick because it is the only time he is so cuddly and wants to be held.

Onto the next chapter... On Wednesday I felt like I was getting the stomach flu, I was really nauseous and achy. Well I hadn't eaten much until that night when I forced myself to munch on some Saltines and Ginger Ale. All of a sudden I got this pain in my chest that would not go away. I thought it was probably something to do with the heartburn I have been experiencing lately, one of my "joys of pregnancy" so I went to bed and tried to sleep it off. No such luck, I slept horribly and the pain was still there the next day. I decided I should probably get it checked out and called our family doctor. They told me that I should be seen my my ob since it probably had something to do with my pregnancy. I called my ob and they said that there was nothing they could do, that my family doctor should take care of it. After getting quite a run around, both offices decided I should just go to the hospital to labor and delivery. What? That's right, my little pain had suddenly become a big pain in the neck! Reluctantly I went, kids in tow with Jeremy meeting me there from work. The first thing the nurses said was that I didn't belong there, but I begged them to take pity on me and thankfully they did. My ob came in and everyone agreed it most likely had something to do with heartburn. I had to drink this awful liquid and they said I would be good as new in 30 minutes... Well half an hour passed and I was not feeling any better so unfortunately they had to send me to the ER. Jeremy took the kids home and they wheeled me over to the place I absolutely hate the most because everything takes an eternity to get done. First they did an EKG which showed that my heart rate was elevated- 114 BPM, indicating it could be something serious. This is when I really started freaking out because the "doctor's apprentice" (I hardly got to see the real doctor and seriously this kid looked 15 years old) was telling me that my symptoms were all indicative of a blood clot in my lungs which happens to be the number one reason for death in pregnant women. They ordered a blood test that would check for that and some chest x-rays. The blood test came back three times higher than normal and my "apprentice" was certain that I had a clot. The x-rays didn't show anything so the next step was to do a cat scan. Well, pregnant women can't get cat scans because they are too dangerous for the baby so I had to get a "safer" test called a VQ scan where I had to inhale a radioactive gas for 5 minutes and then they injected me with some other radioactive substance for 10 minutes while they took more pictures of my lungs. I was scared to death because they have you sign all these waivers saying that the baby will be receiving some radiation as well, but they told me that if I didn't have these tests done that I could die from the blood clot. After a total of 8 hours (and no food) at the hospital the VQ scan came back negative and they told me I could go home. After all that! I was grateful that it was nothing serious, but I was still in pain and I felt like I was subjected to so many needless tests it just all felt like a waste. They told me all they could do was rule out that it was anything life-threatening. Well I came home and ate something and went to bed and miraculously the pain is just about gone today. I am convinced that it really did have something to do with my acid reflux, but I guess we'll never know. What a fun day, and now I have been exposed to every strain of flu that seemed to be going around at the ER, yay!

To top it all off, at lunchtime today Cameron told me his belly was hurting and put up no fight when I told him he should go take a little nap... So it seems like Jeremy is the last man standing and I sure hope it stays that way!
Here is a picture of the boys in the mountains- the calm before the storm.

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I have realized that having kids means every holiday instantly becomes more important. Weeks ahead of time the countdown to the nearest celebration begins and all treats and crafts center on that special day. Valentine's was no exception in our home and Cameron had been looking forward to writing out all of the valentine's to his classmates (which he proudly did all himself this year in lowercase letters) and making some extra crafty valentine's for the really special people in his life. He was supposed to have a big party at school yesterday, but Virginia is the only place on earth that closes schools not for snow, but for ice... Needless to say he was disappointed, but we have been reassured that the celebration has only been postponed until tomorrow. Yet another excuse to have cupcakes and candy, Mom!

What is love? Take it from the experts:

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.You just know that your name is safe in their mouth. Billy - age 4

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.” Karl - age 5

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy - age 6

“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss” Emily - age 8

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby - age 7

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” Noelle - age 7

“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy - age 6

“My mommy loves me more than anybody.You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.”Clare - age 6

“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.”Chris - age 7

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren - age 4

“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”Rebecca- age 8

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.” (what an image)Karen - age 7

There you have it. I consider myself very lucky to be able to have not only my hubby, but two great kids that make the little stars come out of me. Have a great day!

Baby Puppy and Sheepie

When Cameron was born, a friend of ours gave us an adorable blue stuffed puppy that was the perfect size for a little one to snuggle in bed. Soon "Baby Puppy" went everywhere with Cameron and to this day it is still Cam's favorite stuffie that he must have to sleep with and often gets carried all over the house as well. Jeremy and I have spent many nights scouring the house to find her so that Cameron can sleep and there have been a handful of times that she has been left over at someone's house and you wouldn't beleive the drama that ensues. He/she (gender depends on the day) has been well loved almost to the point that you can't even tell that she's blue anymore, but that just makes her all the more cherished. I don't think there is a toy that is nearer to this little boy's heart, and I hope this is a stage that he never outgrows.


Of course we had to find a suitable friend for Gavin as well, and when we decorated the nursery with a sheep theme, we were tickled to find out that Gund made a sheep in the same collection as the blue puppy. Sure enough, baby and sheep hit it off in much the same fashion as Cam and puppy. Gavin is equally as attached to his "Sheepie", needing it to sleep and keeping it close as his constant companion. You can find my two boys and their stuffed pets playing together on most days, and Cameron makes up all kinds of stories and scenarios for them. It's really very sweet. The relationship between boy and stuffed animal reminds me of one of my very favorite books when I was little, "The Velveteen Rabbit," about a boy and his bunny and how inseparable they are. I've got to pull that book out and read it to the boys.

So now that we are expecting baby number three, we just had to keep up the tradition. Our choices from that same collection were a pink pig or a white bear. Since we're having a boy, we decided on the bear and I just ordered it earlier this week. It will be anxiously awaiting its owner in the bassinet and hopefully another beautiful relationship will blossom with yet another Johnson baby.