28 weeks - Is someone sitting on my chest?

Here we are at 28 weeks, and the beginning of the third trimester.

I've heard for some women this is a very relaxing time in the pregnancy and things just run smoothly from here on out. Yeah, I'd like to know where those women are??? No, I'm only kidding. That was definitely the case when I was pregnant with Kallen. I had no issues to speak of other than the occasional SLIGHT heartburn attack. I was comfortable, full of energy, and often times forgot I was even pregnant...other than the humongous growth that was protruding from the middle region of my body! Anyways...things this time, are not so.

I have been having the worse bouts of heartburn I could ever imagine, and literally have such a lack of energy that I find myself crawling around the house to get places. Also if I'm down on the floor, Kallen doesn't think he has to be up in my arms all the time, which drains my daily allowance of energy to nothing.

When these heartburn attacks first began, I thought I was dying and that I needed Kevin to take me to the emergency room. I quite frankly thought I was having a panic attack or something because the first episode was the night before I left for Alaska. The whole next day I felt as if someone was sitting on my chest, making it nearly impossible to breath. The good ol' trusty doc recommended Zantac and said the symptoms should clear up within an hour. I watched that clock like a hawk, and the doctor was only about an hour off in her times. It took almost two hours to feel any relief, but when I did...Oh sweet relief!!!

Now I sleep propped up with several pillows (almost sitting), don't eat at least three hours before bed, and watch foods that seem to trigger the symptoms (which actually seems to be anything, so I'm a little stuck in that department!)

I keep telling myself it's all worth it to see my precious little babe here in another 3 months, but then 3 months sounds like forever...so I say 12 weeks...uhgg, still sounds like forever...what about 84 days...huh...is it really that long?

Help please!!!

* UPDATE: I figured it out...I had done it correctly, but there were two http://'s at the begining of the link. Attention to detail!!! Thanks for the help ladies!

Sorry, I know...two posts in one day...and this one doesn't really say anything informative...I'm just looking for some help!

Okay, so I'm having some problems linking an old post to the post I just made. I've gotten good at writing things, and adding some pictures, but that's about all I can do! I'm just starting to branch out, and I even added some other blog links to my site...Yeah for me!

Now I'm stuck. Any of you bloggers out there...How do I link an old post to a new one? I thought I had done it, but there seems to be an error! Huh...

Let's try this again!

Once again we're trying the "big boy bed", and hopefully we can avoid the events of last time. So far things seem to be going great, but we're only on day three...so you never know!

I'm starting to get the babies room ready for our new arrival (even though we still have three months), and getting Kallen out of the crib, is one of the first steps! Last time we tried this, I left the crib in his room, so there was a since of familiarity (not sure where I got that logic, but oh well). This time I've completely taken it out, and the only option is his bed.

For Monday's nap, I laid down with him until he fell asleep, then quietly removed myself from his room. At bedtime, we didn't have to because he was almost asleep as soon as his head hit the sheets. Yesterday's nap time was the same...lay with him until he falls asleep, then sneak out. Bedtime once again...no problem!

Now today is going to be the big test. We have Dawson today and I can't really leave him out in the living room while I lay with Kallen for a few minutes! Everyone can just pray that things go well, and Kallen doesn't get too carried away with all the freedom of being able to roam around his room! He should figure it out...right???

Alaska - Installment #2

So here we are at the airport; It's 7:00pm, we're all checked in and killing time before the dreaded moment when Kallen and I walk through the security checkpoint, and leave Kevin behind. The good ol' Portland airport has a nice little play structure for kiddos awaiting arrivals or departures, and that's where we parked ourselves for the next hour or so.

Then it was time to go. We said our goodbyes, gave our hugs and kisses, and went on our way! Being that it was now 8:30 or so, I put Kallen's PJ's on, set him in the stroller, and walked from gate to gate until it was our time to board the plane!

I had gotten some wonderful advice from my friend Laura who told me not to board with the usual "early boarding for people traveling with kids", but instead to wait until that last possible moment to board. If you board early, you end up waiting another 20-30 minutes for everyone else to arrive, before the plane actually begins to move. The 3 1/2 hour flight turns into 4, etc, etc.

We boarded the plane, waved goodbye to daddy, and settled in to our seats. It was merely 2 minutes or so before we began to taxi down the runway, and we were off to Alaska.

Let me backtrack, just a minute. I've never flown with kids before, so I don't really know the ends and outs of family travel. I didn't buy a seat for Kallen because I figured he would sleep on my lap the whole flight, and it wouldn't be worth spending the extra miles. The thing I didn't realize was that the airlines try to accomodate families by blocking out seats when the flights arn't full. Sure enough, they had done that for us. We ended up with two seats, and plenty of room to move around.

The engine noise at take-off, put Kallen right to sleep, and he didn't wake up until the plane touched the ground. Thank you Lord!

We're now in Anchorage, and begin looking for a place to crash for our 7 hour layover...yes, 7 hours...but remember how much I saved on the flight, and it is 12:00 am, so it's bedtime!!! Well, this nice lady, pointed me in the direction of the "nursery". Okay, we'll check it out. Let me tell you how wonderful the Anchorage airport is. They have a nursery room, for parents traveling with kids, that had a crib, two leather couches, toys, and even a private bathroom! Thank you again Lord. I let Kallen play for a few minutes, laid him down in the crib, found my place on the couch, and went to sleep. Sleep isn't really the right word, since the announcer kept coming over the loud speaker telling us all that the local time in Anchorage was 1:00 am, 1:30 am, 2:00 am , ect., ect.. Kallen slept through the noise, but it was just enough to keep me alert!


We woke up, went to our gate, boarded the plane for Fairbanks, and once again we were off!

Daddy's Boy

I've come to the conclusion, that I'm rapidly losing "my" baby boy! Here's the deal...for the past 17 months, Kallen has been quite the mamma's boy. When he's hurt, he wants me, if he's fussy, only I can calm him, I'm the last hug he wants at night, and the first face he wants to see in the morning, etc., etc.!!! Well, all of that is now changing, and not very slowly might I add.

Ever since our trip to Alaska, Kallen has been on a daddy kick. When Kevin would call to say hello, it was all I could do to get the phone away from a couple of little hands who didn't want to let his daddy's voice go away. Then on the plane ride back, Kallen saw the lights of Portland out our window, and at the top of his lungs yelled "dadda" (I'll tell you more about that story later). When we walked to the area of the airport where your friends and family can meet you, Kallen saw Kevin and I've never seen his little legs move so fast. He was in Kevin's arms before I could blink my eyes, and we finally had to pry his little fingers lose when we got to the car and it was time to go home!

So began the daddy saga. Now, for those of you who don't know, I'm a stay at home mom, and Kevin works. As a result, Kallen generally only gets to see Kevin from around 5:30 when he gets home, until 8:00 when it's bedtime. Then, on Wednesdays they don't get to see each other at all because Kevin bowls in a bowling league, and Kallen goes to bed well before he gets home. Well on Wednesday night (the first Wednesday since we've been home) Kallen had a REALLY rough time. From about 4:30 on, he basically didn't stop crying, and was continually looking around the house for his "daddy". I muddled through the fussiness, and put Kallen to bed like usual. Well...his attitude hadn't changed any, even when he woke up. He was still fussy, and looking all over for "daddy".

About 5:00 tonight, he began walking to the front door, calling out "daddy", then coming back to me with the saddest look you've ever seen. I kept saying...he's almost home, just hang in there. 5:20ish roles around, and the front door opens...Kallen's eyes got as big as baseballs, and his smile went from ear to ear. He stood paralyzed in anticipation for that one face he had been longing to see for the past day or so. Then came the "hello"...it was Brandy, coming to pick up Dawson. "oh" said Kallen, and what sounded like "it's you" in his eawok jibber jabber. He then gave Brandy the polite "hello" smile, though you could see the disappointment on his face. From that moment on, our little man decided to park himself on the front porch, and wait for his daddy to come home.

When the oh so familiar truck finally pulled in the driveway, it was all I could do to keep Kallen from leaping off the deck and running to greet him. All my little boy's troubles were over, his daddy was home!

Alaska - Installment #1

Here we are; the boys are down for a nap, and I've got a few moments to spare...so, there's no time like the present to start telling you all about our trip! Oh, and I've decided that since I ramble so much, I'll break it down into different parts. That way you don't have to read it all at once...you can have a break from my jibber jabber!!!

Anyways...We started looking for tickets back in February, and realized it was going to cost at least $850 for me alone, and $1200 if I wanted to get Kallen his own seat. Huh...So thanks for the deals Travelocity, Expedia, ect, ect. Next step, look into using our airline miles. Perfect, we've got a lot of miles built up, and never fly anywhere, so why not? Here's the deal with our miles...In order to fly a regular, leave in the morning, arrive in the evening type flight, it was going to take 45,000 miles. If we flew "red-eye" and had long layovers in Anchorage, it would only be 20,000 miles. Huh, decisions, decisions. Well, we decided to go the "red-eye" route, and although you may think I'm crazy, I'll explain myself later!

Since we were leaving at 9:25 pm from Portland, I thought it would be best if we just hung out in P-Town during the day Sunday, so we were already there, and Kallen would get tuckered out. I didn't want him sleeping all the way up to Portland, only to get on a plane a few hours later and try to get him back to sleep again. Makes sense, right!!!

Well, the sky in Portland that day was threatening a good ol' fashioned Oregon rain storm, but we had planned to go to the zoo. Kallen had never been to the zoo, and what better way to get him tired out for the trip then to walk around and look at a bunch of cool animals. We went ahead and braved the odds, and paid the ridiculous $9.75 each to traipse through the wildlife!

Great decision on our part! The sky's parted an hour or so into our quest, and most of the animals were actually quite active. Kallen was content hangin' out in his stroller and being pushed all over the zoo... although the whole point was to get him out walking. Oh well, what are you to do. He loved the animals that were actually moving around and he could tell were something other than a great big rock (aka the hippos), and most of all he loved the train! We heard the train a few times driving around the park, but on our way out, we decided to take him for a ride! That was the highlight of his day, I'm sure! Trying to get him off the train when our ride was over, was quite an adventure, but we managed!

We followed the crowds out the gates, got some dinner, then headed to the airport.

Helping daddy push the stroller!

Sittin' on the train with mommy.

Lookin' at the Elephants

Cottage Cheese Anyone?

Okay, so I was totally going to start sharing about my trip, but after the morning I had...I thought I'd share about that instead!!!

Today is the second Tuesday of the month, which for those of you who don't know, means MOPS. We had Dawson today as well, so instead of having Brandy drive all the way out to our house, just to turn back around and head into town, we decided to pick him up instead. Fine, things are going great so far! Kallen woke up at 7:45, drank some milk, played for a little bit, then got dressed for our outing into town! I tried to give him some breakfast, but that was a "no go", so fine, no worries!

Well, here we are, driving into town, just around the corner from Brandy's, when all the sudden ...blahhhhh...Uh, what was that? I turn around and Kallen is throwing up, curdled, chunks of milk. Uh...what do I do now? I'm driving around a corner, turned around watching my son, not able to do anything to help him, and almost losing it myself from the smell and the sight of it all. Then, that precious son of mine blurts out "uh oh...oots (his version of Oops)", while holding out his arm for me to see the nasty cottage cheese looking curds that are looming on his arm. Sorry to be so graphic, but at least you don't have to smell it too...right Brandy!

I got to Brandy's, pulled the car seat (with Kallen still strapped in) out of the car, and went knocking on the door looking for towels, plastic bags, and a gas mask if she had it. No such luck on the gas mask, but Brandy was such a good friend, and helped me change Kallen's clothes, and try to get things a little better cleaned out before I headed to MOPS.

Yes, I went ahead and went to the meeting, but only because I was certain Kallen wasn't really sick. He basically turned into a human milkshake after drinking so much right before we went into town, and his poor little body didn't like it.

The meeting didn't go so well, since Kallen decided to have a major case of "mommy separation anxiety" and never stopped screaming. I ended up sitting down in the nursery with him and all the other little kiddos, and missed the entire meeting. Oh well, what are you going to do? Go home and have cottage cheese and fruit for lunch, right?

We're Back!!!

Well, we made it safe and sound, but this picture of Kallen sums up our day. After our rough red-eye flights, and long layover in Anchorage, we've been trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. I've got so much to tell you all, and lots and lots of pictures to share, but you'll all just have to wait!

We hope you have a wonderful Easter tomorrow!