Happy Halloween!

Well, I am happy to say I survived Halloween. I was in charge of our ward Halloween Party and single handed I might add. It was a bit stressful considering the situation the last week or so. I am happy to say it is over and done with and now I may be able to truly relax and take it easy a bit. Marlee was Snow White (and a very cute one if you ask me!) and I was little Red Riding Hood...I know a total cop out, but I am 7 1/2 months pregnant gimme a break!

I had another Doc apt today and everything looked about the same, which at this point is good news! There has been no progression with the contractions or dilation. Although my kidneys are dilated they found with ultrasound and could be a lot of the reason for my severe back pain. Anyway, all is well for now, I just have to still take it easy.....as easy as you can take it with a rambunctious 2 year old!

We are going to go down to Omaha tomorrow and see Corbin for a bit which should be fun! He has only met Marlee once and she was like 10 months old! We are so excited to see him again! Anyway, hope you all had a great Halloween! Here are a few of our pics!

Quite a Scare

As some of you have heard it has been a long week for us! It started on Tuesday with my Docs apt, where I told her I thought I had been having quite a few, what I thought were, Braxton Hicks. She sent me for an internal ultrasound where they found that my cervix was "short" (meaning thin for this early on). I am 29 weeks now. So she told me to "take it easy". Well, I started some antibiotics for an infection but the contractions kept coming and Thursday and Friday the pain from that and my back were pretty severe. So I called in once again Saturday morning and she told me to meet her at the ER. She checked me and assured me that she was sure I wouldn't be dilated already but they were gonna check just to be safe, the look on her face said it all. She was just as surprised as I was that I was dilating. They ran some tests to determine if they needed to transport me to Sioux Falls, and told me to consider the reality that the baby could be coming now, and is about 2 1/2 lbs, and to get ourselves prepared for that...which of course made me pretty much HYSTERICAL! Well, they didn't have to, they kept me for about 30 hours and gave me LOTS of drugs. Some for infection, some for pain, some to stop the contractions, and some steroids to prepare Makennas lungs should she come soon. Well, the medicine helped a lot and they decided since I hadn't dilated any further to let me come home to my own bed for now. Unfortunately pretty much on bed rest until further notice. I will be having weekly apts to check my cervix and contractions but we all have every hope she will make it at least 6 more weeks with a little TLC and some good drugs! I appreciate my friends and neighbors out here who have been so sweet and quick to help...it could be a long few weeks!

Potty Time?!?!?

So Marlee was "napping" a couple days ago and all of a sudden I hear her start to frantically yell " mommy, mommy,mommy" So I go running up the stairs and she is yelling "I potty, go to potty" and I am thinking, you are wearing a diaper why are you saying this. Well, I get to the top of the stairs and before I can get her gate down she is peeing on the floor. So, I grab her and run her into the potty and set her there to finish. Our conversations went like this:
Me: "Marlee, why did you take your diaper off?"

Marlee: "I poop mommy"

Me: "you pooped where?"
Marlee: "A diaper"

Me: "Well, where is your diaper now?"

Marlee: "my room"

Me: "Oh no....."

So, I get her off the potty where she leads me back to her room and I find her poopy diaper wrapped up neatly on the floor, the wipes out, she had wiped her own bum and placed the dirty wipes in the dirty diaper, a fresh diaper layed out with the diaper cream next to it and she says "I diaper mommy, ok, I diaper".

Now how can you be mad at a kid for trying to change herself out of her own poopy diaper. It was TOO funny. I called Collin up and showed him what she had done and we both just sat there and laughed. What can I say, I would want it off too! Time to potty train???

7 months...and a Day at the Duck Pond

Well, I am officially 7 months now...and showing it. I feel like I am about 11 months now. I have been feeling guilty b/c with Marlee I took a prego picture every 4 weeks and scrapbooked and the whole sha-bang. This time around I think this is pretty much the only "prego" pic I have taken. With a little encouragement from Cami,Myca and Lindsay ALL posting theirs in the last week or so I decided it was time. P.S. Try to steer clear of comments like "Oh my gosh you're HUGE" and "You've got TWO MORE MONTHS?" I hear that enough already! lol Here I am....Anyway, we went to Yankton today and took Marlee to this really pretty little duck pond. She was cracking me up. Besides the fact that Grandma Gail has pretty much taught her ducks say "AFLAC" ...which they didn't and was therefor a little disappointing, it was fun. She did get a little scared because some of those Geese were HUGE and easily as big as she is. Needless to say, she wanted Daddy to hold her. It was a BEAUTIFUL day here today and that park really is gorgeous. She also got to play in her "castle". It is a pretty little thing although I am unsure what its real purpose is. She kept saying, "My castle, go to my castle". She really does think she is a princess! And in our eyes she is! It was a fun family day!

Something Good

My "Something Good"

Do you ever have those weeks (or months) where you feel like you can't do anything right? I have been feeling kind of like that lately. I can't seem to keep up with the housework, or make an amazing dinner, I even broke Collins MAC laptop on Saturday. Anyway, I have been SO hard on myself, I think sometimes we forget to stop and realize the things we do well...or even ok. Well, this week Marlee helped me realize I have done something good....her. I was feeling so frustrated and she just came up and kissed me and said "I love you mommy". I wanted to cry and I realized how BEAUTIFUL she really is (I know every mom thinks that!). She is such an amazing and beautiful little person inside and out, and when I stopped to think about it, I am a pretty good mom (not to toot my own horn, lol)! I have been trying so hard to teach her what she needs to know and keep her busy and learning. Isn't that what really matters? We do gymnastics on Mondays, story time on Tuesdays, & playgroup on Wednesdays.... I try to keep her doing SOMETHING every day. She has grown to be so loving and outgoing...not to mention energetic. Without fail, every time I take her somewhere someone says "wow, does she always have this much energy?"....well YES she does! And I love her for it!

I took some pictures of her this week, because I realized I didn't have any close ups of her lately and oh how I love that little face. She has such an expressive face for her age. I also LOVE a good black and white photo, so the ones I am posting are my favorites. Anyway, I just needed a pick me up to remind myself that although I am NOT SUPERMOM, I try and at this point in my life being a mom is most important and not the cleaning or the cooking.
Marlee, thank you for helping me remember who I am, who I've always wanted to be, and why I LOVE being a mom. I love you Peanut.

Circus Circus

The Greatest Show On Earth!We went to the Circus on Friday night for fun and to celebrate Collins new position. I have always thought the circus was fun and knew Marlee would LOVE it. I was right. She was hilarious. It was very cool to watch the trained animals do their tricks because Marlee loves animals anyway. Collin had never been so it was both of their first times. The clowns weren't as funny as I remembered them being...you know 15 years later but it was still a really good time. Marlee got this incredibly annoying light up wand that plays music and was just thrilled with herself. The Elephant was by far the highlight if you ask the three of us! It was a fun night out on the town. Thanks Barnum and Bailey!

A time to ponder....

Well, here I sit at the laundry mat on a Saturday afternoon to myself....I know, real fun. Anyway, it's funny the times you can ponder and feel sentimental. This last few weeks has been really interesting for me. I have had such mixed emotions about life. Feeling sad to be away from family again, excited to be back on our own, scared for my dad and this whole cancer thing, excited/scared for a new baby soon, and overall pretty overwhelmed.
I have just been realizing how lucky I am. I have SUCH a wonderful husband... (most of the time, lol) I have a beautiful daughter who absolutely makes life worth living, the church, friends and family.
I think having my dad sick has really affected me lately because my dad is SO strong. He is always the tough guy, he knows everything about everything. He gives great advice on any topic and once you get through his sometimes rough exterior he is the most funny, and loving person you will ever know. He has taught me SO much in my life and I don't know if he even knows it. Even the THOUGHT of not having him around forever leaves me speechless b/c it is NEVER a thought I have entertained before. My mom too, man she is one tough broad. She is dealing with all of this with such grace and while trying to maintain a really stressful full time job. She is SO amazing. How did I get so lucky? I guess what I am trying to say is, I LOVE MY PARENTS! I love the gospel and the knowledge that I have, although it is FAR from perfect. I am SO thankful for how blessed we have been since we moved here to South Dakota.
Collin got a Graduate Assistance position yesterday which is HUGE NEWS for us. It is more than a $10,000 a YEAR tuition cut, AND an extra $500/month. We have received blessing after blessing, and I just thought it was time for my to say "thanks".
I love you ALL, and thank you all for your prayers, sweet notes, and phone calls in these trying times.
Mandi

Gymnastics

Marlee is in a cute little gymnastics class here, and yesterday I brought my camera. No, that is not the "normal" gymnastics outfit but to Marlee...everyday is the day to be a princess. And most days to me it is not worth the fight. It is really fun to watch them all stretch and run around and do the bars, beam,vault, and trampoline. Marlee gets SO excited and it is hard for me to keep up with her, seems like she is a little more "busy" than most the other girls in the class. Here are some of the pics.

Ouch!

Well, here it is. Proof of my little "incident" (although, the pictures don't do it justice, for some reason bruises don't show up very well). I have been trying to come up with a better story for fracturing my foot, but I haven't really found one that is believable enough as a 6 month pregnant super-hero. Anyway, it has been almost 2 weeks now and it is actually looking better. The swelling has gone down a lot and the bruising is starting to fade. I am not on crutches anymore just limping my fat butt around in a really stylish boot. I know, it's hot. Anyway, just wanted to share my "battle wounds" I guess you could say...the things we do chasing our children. It is really sweet though because Marlee will try to help me put my boot on and she always has to ask "mommy, you ok?" and I have to re-assure her "yes, mommy is ok", she'll say "ok, mommy no hurt?". It's funny, she is always so concerned with my well being. I do love that little girl.

Why I love Fall in Vermillion

There are a lot of things about Vermillion that I have a hard time with, but fall is not one of them. It is SO beautiful here in the nice fall weather. The trees here touch the sky, and when the leaves change....wow, and it is so nice to have such a gorgeous park to play in (til it gets cold anyway).

We had playgroup this morning there. It is Marlee's favorite thing to do here except maybe for story time at the library...or now gymnastics class. Anyway, I have so much fun chasing her around and watching her try new things. She is such a little busy body. It is fun having so many kids her age to enjoy it with too. Here are a few pictures of why I love it here, and Marlee and her friends at playgroup. I just feel so blessed to have such a beautiful place to live and such wonderful friends and neighbors to enjoy it with. As much as I sometimes complain about my small town, it is truly a great place to be.

our best buddies here, Reese &Rachel

P.S. I thought this big slide would scare the crap out of her...but I was very wrong. She loved it and kept going back for more. My little Dare Devil.

Insomnia...in a 2 year old?

Don't let the smile fool you...she's a stinker

I don't know what has happened to Marlee in the last couple weeks, but she has decided that she no longer needs to sleep. I am getting SO tired of the daily battle at nap time and bedtime. She used to go down for both no problem, but lately it is such a struggle. She got a new twin bed for her birthday, but now she feels like she needs to get up every 3 minutes. It has been taking at least an hour every night to get her to stay and most naps too. Anyway, just needed to vent or I'd be in there tossing her out the window, lol.

Here are a few pics of her at the park yesterday with her good buddy Reese.

I think she is happy to be back and settled again. She got to go to story time today and had a BLAST, and she started a cute little gymnastics class yesterday, it was too cute. I will try and get some pictures next week.