Going to the Hospital and...Gonna Have a Baby!

Well, it would appear today is a beautiful day to bring a baby into the world. Yep, Jalal and I are at the hospital. We checked in yesterday for observation after tests showed low amniotic fluid. So we've had a lovely date night in the hospital getting prepared for a morning induction. Despite the fact that I was the one given a sleeping pill, I have been up for some time now. Jalal peacefully sleeps on. As he should, since I'm going to need him a lot today. Everything surrounding this situation has come together. Mom is here, despite having to wait at the airport while we were stuck at the doc's office having tests, watching Quinn. Trish arrived late last night and will be coming up to the hospital in the next hour or so. All we have to do now is wait for the doctor and do what needs to be done. I'm so anxious to meet my first daughter. She's going to be amazing--at least, if her brother is any indication. Well, I'm not sure I'll sleep anymore, but I'm going to at least try to get some rest. I'm sure you'll hear more from us later today. This should be better than the last time. When Quinn was born, at 3:00 a.m., I attempted to send my first ever text message at 10:00 that night. I was delirious and confused and not very capable. But look at me now! By text, by email, by phone, by blog, or by Facebook, the world shall know about the arrival of my darling Madigan Ruth Halaby. And hopefully all without the slightest freaking out by one worn-out Mama. Hope your day is not as exciting as mine will be! Lots of love, Us.

Tough Choices--Oh, and Brownies

Warning! This blog may tend to ramble a good bit, considering how long it's been since I posted and how much is going on in our lives. What? Stuff going on? Have I mentioned that today I am 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant? If it hadn't been for a strong conviction that Maddie and I weren't ready and a tough decision to do what was right for us, she would probably be here right now! That's right. We almost scheduled an induction for today. Our options for inducing were today and Thursday the 25th. There are so many "good" reasons to induce, from Jalal's time off and scheduling convenience, to having my mom here both to watch Quinn while we're in the hospital and to be here when the baby comes home, to knowing that Trish would be here for the birth, to not having to worry about going into labor when Jalal was stuck at work 40 minutes away and the roads were icy (we actually had almost 3 inches of snow Friday night and ice again yesterday morning). It would take a lot to counteract all those "pros." But the single biggest "con" was that I wasn't all that excited about checking into the hospital at 5 a.m. and getting hooked up to all the crap and machines and, my least favorite, the Pitocin. I hate Pitocin. I was on it for about 5 hours with Quinn, and it was no fun. Well, I guess it was a little fun in hindsight for Trish and Jalal (and probably the nurses) to laugh at all the things I said and did. ("I'm sorry I pushed!!" is still a big joke around here.) But I was so looking forward to avoiding it this time around if at all possible. I was (and still am) convinced that a second labor will be easier and shorter and totally doable without pain meds--as long as I don't have to have Pitocin. That's my goal, and my plan. Hopefully Maddie will come on her own in the next 8 days and we can avoid all that mess altogether. Another issue is that yesterday was my deadline for editing a 500-page economics book. I finally finished it after a sprint to the end at about 7:00 last night. If I had to then get up before dawn to be at the hospital, my mood last night would not have been relieved. As it was, I have been feeling great today! Catching up on my QT with Q-ball, going to the bounce house today and then playing an exciting game of Candy Land, taking a long nap without setting an alarm, painting my fingernails and reuniting with Facebook, which Jalal had parental blocked me from for the past week so I would get my edit done. Granted, I still have a lot to do, from baby laundry and writing thank-you cards, to paying the hospital bill in advance (seriously?) and charging the camera battery, to cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming the stairs (yes, it really needs to be done even though I am 9 1/2 months pregnant--blame the hormones). And of course, there's the Olympics to watch. Can't forget that. I guess what it comes down to is that I finally (agonizingly) made the decision that I felt was right for me, even if it means Trish and Mom can't be here and even if it messes up everyone else's schedule and even if it happens in the middle of the night. So be it. So there.

Something that is bugging me right now is the stupid Marriott. Jalal took Thursday and Friday off this week to prepare in case Maddie came as those are his last two days of his work week. Now it turns out he has to go in to work at 6 a.m. on Thursday to suspend someone and for a couple of hours on Friday because the general manager is doing an audit of his departments. That sucks!! My mom is flying in this Friday just after our very last OB appointment, and I was so hoping maybe Jalal and I could get away just the two of us for a little bit, maybe for lunch or a movie. Guess not. Oh well. I'm sure we'll get back to our biannual date nights in a year or so. :(

Last Friday afternoon, we got some snow, real snow! The last wintry weather we had in Greenville was all slush, so it was great to see the fluffy snowflakes falling fast and furious from about 3:15 until around midnight. We went outside twice to play in it, and Quinn discovered just how fun it is to throw snowballs at Mama and Dada. We could barely get him back in the house and had to bribe him with hot chocolate. We had a really great time, made a couple of small snowmen, and even took some pictures of the baby bump (pretty bumpy at this point), which are so overdue and which I will post at some point when I find the camera (I think it's still in the pocket of the coat I was wearing that night). I can't believe we got almost three inches in that short time, and that it was all melted off my car by about 3:00 the next afternoon. We did go through a ton of firewood, though, and now have just about half a dozen logs left from our whole truckload. Let's hope winter is close to over now!

Last night I was so happy to be done with my job for a while that I decided to make brownies at 9:00. When they finished, they smelled so good, and all I wanted was a warm, fresh brownie and a glass of cold milk. I pulled out my trusty plastic knife that I use only for brownies and went to work cutting them almost fresh out of the oven. I got through the first two slices and then the knife pulled up a corner of one of the brownies. I pulled it out to see why, and saw that the tip of the knife was bent into a hook shape. Guess the brownies were still a little too warm. Whoops. Now I have to find another brownie knife. Hah!

So it's crazy to me how different this pregnancy has been than the first one. I started off with Quinn almost 30 pounds lighter, I was working out pretty regularly before and during that pregnancy (dragon boating, walking hardcore, weights, belly dancing), and I worked full-time, so I didn't have constant access to a kitchen full of food (at least, not my own). This time, I am starting heavier, working out less (did I mention I have a 2-year-old?), and I spend most of my time at home, where Jalal reliably buys ice cream and snack foods whenever they are on sale (um, every week!). So how is it possible that I feel so much better this time? I still weigh less than when I delivered Quinn, and barring some crazy binge sessions in the next week, I can't possibly gain enough to pass that number (and no, you don't need to know what that number is). I am surprisingly not miserable. I do waddle, of course, but I can keep a decent pace up walking for a while. I don't groan EVERY time I have to stand up. And most importantly, I don't have cankles!!! This is huge for me, since with Quinn I had to rely exclusively on flip flops (which I hated), and even then they left upside-down V indents in my hugely swollen feet. I was so grumpy and miserable one week before Quinn's birth that I almost refused to go out for my birthday. My sister and Jalal and a couple girls from work had to drag me out for lunch and ice cream cake. Ice cream cake!! I almost turned down ice cream cake, if that tells you how dire the situation was. It makes me pretty happy that I'm not just wishing this to be over.

Well, I think that's all the rambling I have for tonight. Hope y'all managed to stay awake for that. If not, no worries. Have a brownie. I think I will. Night. Love, Us.

Sick and Tired

Oh what a week! Last Saturday was supposed to be my baby shower, but we got nasty sleet and ice the day before and the day of, so it was postponed until today. Earlier this week, Quinn came down with a fever and was miserable for three days. He managed to make me miserable, too. He was either listless and drooling on the couch (about 20% of the time) or screaming and angry (80%), which included lots of "mine!" and "No, Quinn do it!" He did not sleep well, which means of course that Mama and Dada did not sleep well. When he got over that, we all felt better. Then, last night, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with serious contractions. I didn't want to wake up Jalal until I knew they were for real, so I eventually just came downstairs and tried to relax. After about three hours, they went away, but I couldn't for the life of me fall back to sleep until about 7:30, which means I got a whopping 45 minutes of sleep before the boys came downstairs. Still, I was so looking forward to the baby shower that I wasn't too worried about how tired I was. I managed to get Quinn down for a little over an hour's nap before we went over to Kim's. Everything was so pretty, especially the cake, which was pink and brown and had a baby with a cute little naked bottom on the top. Well, just as we were getting into the second game, Quinn comes out of the playroom and says his head hurt. He said he didn't hit it or bump it, so that was weird. He cuddled on my lap kind of whiny for a while, and then he started crying. Before you know it, he had thrown up all over himself, me, the big upholstered chair we were in, and I'm sure anything else within 5 feet. The poor kid. Everybody was so sweet and helpful, but I just lost it. I guess with all the crazy preggo hormones and hardly any sleep and of course the puke, I got a bit overwhelmed. A couple of women helped clean up Quinn and change his clothes, while Maureen cleaned me up. I insisted that Quinn and I at least move to the tile floor of the kitchen on a wooden chair with a trash can and a towel under us. So we were prepared when he got sick again. Quinn wouldn't go to anyone else, and he was actually downright rude, which bugged me. He's not like that often, but anyone who came near us was met with a nasty "Get out the way." Which means "leave me alone" or "don't touch me." As if him throwing up wasn't embarrassing enough. After making Sarah open up some of the presents for us because I was otherwise occupied, I made the call to just pack up and leave. It was too much to ask Quinn to hang out there when he clearly was miserable. Someone at least had the bright idea to pull out a crib pad from the presents and wrap it around him in the car so he wouldn't make a mess if he got sick again. Ali even followed us home to help me get Quinn into the house. After another round of sickness and a couple hours of sleeping on the couch (both of us), Quinn was feeling good enough to eat a bunch of cheerios and a banana and a half. He was in a great mood until it was time for bed (at 10, since he hadn't woken up until 8:30). Then he pitched a mega-fit until I had to carry him up the stairs, which did a number on my back, let me tell you. Now I'm totally ready for bed myself, and though I desperately need to catch up on my work, I don't really think that staying up past midnight to do it is a good idea. Well, that's enough about my crummy week. Oh, and the baby! We're at 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Talk about the end of the line! We're so close now I can taste it! Wish us luck and I will try to keep y'all up to date on the preggo progress. Love, Us.

The Ego-stroking Issue

I'm super excited. I just finished eating dinner, which I made. Those of you who know me well know that my "cooking" is usually a craps shoot at best, even if I follow a recipe. Well, tonight, I threw caution to the wind and created a meal from scratch, using my fridge contents as inspiration, and even producing (gasp) a sauce!! Not only did it not suck, but I thought it was pretty good. I'm so stinkin' proud of myself. Granted, my pasta was a little sticky, and the steamed broccoli was a little cold because I am terrible at timing the different elements of a meal, but the hard part turned out great.

Since I'm patting myself on the back, I might as well mention that we've clearly identified Quinn's "love language." Now I don't know too much about the 5 Love Languages, but I have a dear friend (LC) who read the book years ago and always talks about them. I do know that one of the languages is verbal affirmation (or something similar). My dear son has turned verbal affirmation into his true calling, and he boosts his frazzled mother's self-esteem nearly every day with this. I asked him the other day if I could take a nap while he watched a movie. He agreed (and only woke me up once to ask if he could eat a lollipop). When the movie was over, he stroked my head and said, "Good job sleeping Mama!" The next day, I came out of the shower to Quinn saying, "Good job in shower Mama!" Gee, thanks. I've been working on that one for about 25 years. He also clearly doesn't understand what a birthday is. After a not particularly impressive dinner the other day, he said, "This is the best dirtday (birthday) ever!" Huh?

So Maddie's room is coming together nicely. We've been maximizing Jalal's time off and buying the last couple of pieces of furniture we need. Now Quinn has a new dresser, and Maddie has his changing table and a new bookcase. The wonderful women at my church are throwing me a baby shower later this month, so we're trying to hold off on buying anything else. I am just putting clothes away and stocking the changing table with all of the sample diapers we have (I think I've gotten at least a dozen!!) and stuff like that. It's getting so close! She's due 6 weeks from tomorrow. I can't believe it. My doctor's appointment on Friday went great. All my tests look good, and my blood pressure is great (unlike when I was pregnant with Quinn). The downside to all the good news is that it seems we won't get another ultrasound as long as she keeps measuring right on track. Boo. Well, I have to go give a bath to one stinky little boy. Night! Love, Us.

The Mundane and the Sublime

So I was making dinner tonight and remembered this funny story I wanted to write about that happened a day or two before New Year's. Jalal and I went grocery shopping at Bloom. (I can't decide if I was happy about how nicely Quinn behaved or if I was pissed off because he is NEVER that good when I take him grocery shopping. But I digress.) Anyway, we were tooling through the produce section when this older black women walked right around us to a younger black woman a few feet away. She proceeded to ask this stranger if she thought the collard greens the older woman has chosen looked good or not. The younger woman admitted that she had no idea, and Jalal just started laughing to himself. Now I suppose the older woman assumed that we don't eat a lot of collards (true), but we just found it ironic that she had a choice between another black person (who was clearly ignorant about collards) and a professionally trained chef and restaurant manager who could have easily told her if she had chosen the best greens, as well as probably how to prepare them.

The other morning I had a fairly dramatic revelation about the collision between the mundane and the sublime. Now, when I say fairly dramatic, that might be a bit of an overstatement. I mean, my sense of judgment may have been a bit skewed considering it was 2 a.m. I was awake at that time for God knows what reason, but I had terrible heartburn. So I had to go find some extra pillows in the linen closet and prop myself up to a sitting position. And then I got stuck eating all the green (lime) Tums because I had been avoiding them for so long that they were about all that was left in the bottle and I didn't want to turn on the light to find a better flavor. So here I am, wondering why on earth I can't seem to get any sleep just when I need it the most, and Maddie starts squirming and kicking. My first reaction was to wish she would calm down so I could get back to sleep sometime soon. But then I started thinking about how amazing it was that this actual person was inside me, wiggling around and kicking and hiccuping and only 5 pounds! She's completely alive and completely dependent on me for everything. I can't wait to find out what she's like on the outside, but if my experience with Quinn is any indication, she's already showing her personality in there. For instance, despite the pink satin slippers she already owns that are just 2 inches long, she seems to be more Ralph Macchio than Anna Pavlova. There's only 7 weeks left until her due date, and though we are not ready for her yet, I'm so excited to meet her face to face. No matter how little sleep I get because of her, that, my friends, is truly sublime. Love, Us.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Wow, has it really been since November 10 that I've written? That sucks. I'll try to be better. The holidays and a vacation and a lot of work have gotten in the way. I won't make this a total recap because that would be exhausting, but I'll touch on a couple of recent events.

First of all, I would like to say "hah" to all those Chinese folks whose kids can eat rice with chopsticks. Last night, Quinn managed to eat rice with a single toothpick. Strange child, I know. But at least I got him to eat rice! It was only the second time he's gladly eaten it. The first was last week in Tallahassee when he ate basmati rice at an Indian restaurant (which was fantastic!). Last night, he ate brown rice, so at least he's getting some whole grains. He used to eat tons of whole grains, but then he turned 2.

Speaking of Tallahassee, our trip was great, but too short. Quinn charmed his Auntie Trish and Uncle Wade, of course, and was in turn spoiled rotten. Big surprise. Here's a link to the pictures Trish took. Quinn sang along to Uncle Wade and Daddy playing Guitar Hero, and then he told them, "You guys rock!" He also behaved like a little punk at most of his meals, too busy showing off and messing around for his "audience." Every time we left Trish and Wade, he would ask, "Where Uncle Wade and Auntie Trish goes? Find it anywhere?" That's his new thing. "Find it anywhere?" And he puts his hands palm up out to the side and cocks his head. It's hysterical. He also spent a lot of time singing his songs: the ABC song; Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; You Are My Sunshine; and the theme song to "Wonder Pets." He also helped Uncle Wade get eggs out of the chicken coop, mimicked the rooster crowing (wish I had that on video), and "rode" Uncle Wade's motorcycle.

The day after we got back, we had to take our first baby class at the hospital, which was actually a tour and orientation of the OB floor. It was interesting to find out what they offer: baby Lojack (an alarm system that shuts down the floor if the baby gets too close to elevators or stairwells), massages for new mommies, and mom and baby rooms (for post-delivery) that are about four times as big as the one we were in with Quinn. Woo Hoo! I don't know if we'll take a Lamaze refresher course or their class called "Meet the Doulas." We'll see if we can fit them in.

Tonight is the manager Christmas party for the Marriott, so I'm trying to get ready for that as well. I found some fairly low-heeled shoes that I can fit my swollen feet into, but it was quite amusing even to me how contorted I had to get to paint my own toenails. I still need to put together some sparkly bling to distract from the fact that I'm wearing boring old maternity clothes and nothing fancy. Time to meet the bigwigs and their wives. (Not trying to be sexist, but it just so happens all of the bigwigs are male there.) Too bad I'll have to be sober. Oh well, I'm getting used to it now. But as the temps dip into the low 30s, I sure am craving a hot buttered chocolate (thanks Kaminsky's for turning me onto the blissful combo of hot chocolote and butterscotch schnapps).

I had to see a male OB yesterday instead of my female doctor. We have to struggle to find someone to watch Quinn just so Jalal can join me at some of my appointments (thank you, H1N1 scare), and when we get there, the receptionist says the doctor is doing an emergency C-section but we can come back in an hour. WTH? I know it happens, and I don't blame them, but this is really frustrating. I had to reschedule last month because we were running 10 minutes late, so that meant turning around and driving from Greenville back to Simpsonville again to pick up Quinn. Then I still had to go by myself. It's so frustrating. Anyway, I asked if I could just see someone else, and so I met one of the male docs. He was nice, and I figure you never know who'll be delivering the baby, so best meet them ahead of time.

Anyway, I better get back to work and nail polish. Duty calls! Love, Us.

Why Not?

What a crazy week it's been! I got a new freelance job a few weeks ago, but I waited a while before I received any actual work from them. Then, when it came, it came in a big rush! My first project was a 300-plus page book about minorities in Africa. It is extremely interesting and reminds me of my African lit classes in college. But the company wanted me to return 20-30 pages at a time for review, often overnight! I was trying to get used to their style and more academic writing, and I was stressed. The reviewing went well, though, and now I have until the 16th to finish the rest of the book (probably 8 chapters and a 40-page bibliography). I've learned more about endnotes in the past week than in my entire editing career!

In the meantime, Quinn had a blast at my church harvest festival, and he was the cutest cowboy ever. He played all the games, only ate one piece of candy, and learned the proper way to eat a hot dog from his father. (No, we didn't slice it into tiny, choke-proof pieces. Let it go.) Unfortunately, the next day he came down with a fever at a baby shower and was completely listless all day, which happened to be Halloween. So he didn't get to go trick-or-treating for the second year in a row! I didn't think he would even notice, he was so out of it, but when the first kids came to the door, he came over and said (so pitifully), "Quinn trick-or-treat!" Poor baby. Jalal helped by bringing home a Mickey Mouse Pez dispenser. The next morning, we went upstairs to get ready when we heard a little voice downstairs say "Trick-or-Treat" and then the sounds of little hands trying to open a Fun Size bag of M&Ms. Hmmm. We busted out laughing. It was so cute. Now he rings the doorbell every time he goes outside. Great.

His newest phrase is "Why not?" He came out with that the first time at dinner the other day, when I told him he couldn't play with "packets" (sugar packets, he likes to shake them). I nearly choked and couldn't answer. Jalal had to tell him that it was dinner time and not play time with a straight face. A few days later we had a long conversation that went something like this:
Quinn: Where Dada?
Me: In the dressing room, trying on some pants.
Quinn: Hiding wall?
Me: Yes, he's hiding behind that wall.
Quinn: Open door.
Me: No, we don't open the door to the dressing room.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because people need privacy in there.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because they are taking off their clothes.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Because it's not polite.
Quinn: Why not?
Me: Just because!!

I would like to state for the record (and that ongoing Mother of the Year application) that I have not yet said, "Because I said so!!"

On another funny note, we were driving to church this morning, and a leaf was stuck in my windshield wiper. It was flapping away, and Quinn said, "Mama, leaf go faster!" I said, "Yes, it's going fast because we are going fast" (this was at all of about 30 miles an hour). He said, "Slow down, Mama! Slow down!" Jeez, kid! I have such a little conscience now. In his quest to be polite, he sneezed the other day and expected Jalal to bless him. When Jalal didn't, Quinn said, "Bless you Quinn!" looking pointedly at Jalal.

This other child of ours is pretty controlling already herself. I woke up the other night at around 3:00 a.m. or so, when Jalal came home from work. He was pretty worked up so we talked for a little while. Well, then I couldn't go back to sleep. All of a sudden, I was starving! Finally, after letting my mind wander all over the place, I just got up and went downstairs. I fixed myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with an Oatmeal Creme Pie and a glass of milk. After that, Maddie and I both felt better and went back to bed. Well, I had thought Jalal was asleep when I left, but he said, "Where'd you go?" I said, "I had to eat lunch." He laughed and said, "That's what I figured." Does he know me or what? My sister thinks it's funny that I called it lunch, but really, what does it sound like? Not breakfast. The child wants what she wants and all I can do is try to comply. (If I don't, I end up snacking on Tums more often than not.) Well, I have a lot of work to finish, and I'm not going to waste anymore of Quinn's naptime talking to the two of you. Love, Us.

Not Me! Monday

For some reason, I never remember it's Monday until I read MckMama's Not Me Monday blog carnival. For more hilarious stories of things we would NEVER do, not in a million years, check it out and read her and others' blogs.

I did not literally yell/curse at my child today when he specifically disobeyed me and tried to crawl through my legs while I was draining grease from ground beef in a heavy, 8-qt. sauce pot. I did not burn my arm so bad that I yelled "Dammit Quinn! I told you not to come near me when I've got hot food in my hands!!" (There goes the Mother of the Year award I was up for.)

I do not wet my pants at least twice a day, every time I sneeze. It is not so common that recently, when I sneezed and didn't wet myself, I exclaimed proudly about that fact to Jalal.

I did not have to reorganize the refrigerator to fit in a giant orange jug for collecting 24 hours' worth of my pee before my doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is not the third time I've had to do this (once with Quinn and once already with Maddie), and I did not practically roll my eyes at the lab tech who tried to kindly explain the whole procedure to me AGAIN (same girl as the last time; guess she sees a lot of pee jugs).

I did not spend 10 precious minutes with a cranky toddler at the grocery store trying to pick out snack size candy for a church harvest festival. I did not have to weigh the merits of the sale versus the coupon, all the while trying to figure out if "peanut-free candy" meant candy with no nuts in it or candy that was not processed in a facility containing peanuts.

I did not have to laugh hysterically today when Quinn (who just learned "Red stop/Green go!") said "two green gos" at a stoplight and it sounded just like "2 Gringos." I did not laugh even harder when Quinn noticed me laughing and said, "Mama, I funny."

I did not frantically spread three sheets of newspaper around Quinn's chair for our first attempt at eating spaghetti at our new dining room table. I also did not contemplate trying to force a bib on him for the first time in months. I did not settle for tucking a paper towel into his shirt collar.

On a different note: Jalal did not tell Quinn he couldn't have chocolate milk until he finished his breakfast the other day. He did not say, "Daddy gets to drink chocolate milk because he ate his breakfast," all the while knowing that the chocolate milk WAS his breakfast!

I hope there's nothing in your recent past that you wouldn't admit to on the Internet, forgetting that someday a future employer is going to discover this and decide he/she does not want to hire someone who publicly discusses wetting her pants! Love, Us.

The Purple Leaves of Autumn

The weather has been so beautiful here lately that we are anxiously awaiting a chance to go up to Asheville and see the fall foliage. It's been a tradition since we moved here (if you count one time so far as tradition). This year, we are also going to go apple picking. And tomorrow is the day!! Yay! Jalal has the day off, so off we go! The one kink in our plan is that, as of last week, the section of the Blue Ridge Parkway we like to take was closed because of some landslide or something (probably not that dramatic). Ah well. I was brushing Quinn's teeth tonight and trying to get him psyched about the trip. I said we were going to see leaves of all different colors, green, red, orange, yellow ... Quinn said "purple?" Yes, Quinn, maybe even purple leaves. Quinn says, "Purple leaves. And yellow flowers." Sure, kiddo. Whatever.

In other news, we finally broke down and bought a dining room table and chairs. We already have a very nice dining room table, but we've never had chairs, so the table basically holds all kinds of kitchenware and foodstuffs. We found a great set at a discount/unfinished furniture store here, retail $800, our price only $280!! It was brand new and matches our other furniture. I'm really hoping that this will help us get Quinn's mealtime behavior under control. I think it will be good for all of us to eat at the table like a family, without the TV on. We'll see how things go.

Maddie is kicking even more lately. I love that feeling! It seems like Maddie has just as much strength as her big brother. Well, I have to finish an edit tonight before I try to take most of a day off tomorrow. Happy Fall everyone! Love, Us.

Could I Possibly Be Doing Something Right?

It seems impossible, but our gradual weaning of parental presence at bedtime might have been successful. For three nights now, Quinn has not cried or gotten up after we closed the door at night. This is huge! It's taken us months to get to this point. Last night was not really a success story, however. Quinn did not nap yesterday, unless you count falling asleep in the car on the way to lunch. The decision to wake him up might have been a mistake. He started acting up pretty bad later in the evening, but we had agreed to go to a small group meeting with some people from our church at seven. So I finally decided to pop a couple Tylenol, force him into his socks and shoes, and throw him in the car with his blanket. After 20 minutes of "NO," he finally settled down and played with the other kids there. However, it was a pretty late night, and we didn't get out of there until almost 10 p.m. Of course, despite his rambunctious behavior at the Beattys' house, he passed out almost as soon as we got in the car.

It was no problem to get him changed and into bed without waking him. After a trip back downstairs to collect his "arsenal" of bed buddies, I thought the night was over. I was so wrong. An hour and a half later, Quinn wakes up screaming. I expected to find him banging on the door, or at least sitting up in bed. Instead, he was still lying down under the covers, with his eyes closed. Oh, and screaming. Did I mention that? Though I hadn't seen one before, I just knew this was a night terror. I've read about them because whenever I mention that he has been waking up crying at night, they say that it might be night terrors. Let me just say that you can wonder if you've experienced a night terror until you do, and then you know for a fact that that's what it is. I had read not to wake up a child having a night terror, so I just sat next to him, shushed him, and tried to comfort him quietly. He was tossing and turning, crying, and screaming "No" over and over. Break my heart! I managed to hold it together until he started screaming "Mama! Mama!" I started crying and talking to him, telling him I was there, everything was okay. Finally I ran downstairs and searched "night terrors" on the Internet. It said absolutely not to wake them, to not even talk to them or touch them. Just stay with them and make sure they don't hurt themselves. The article I read said they can take up to a half an hour to end, and Quinn's was pretty close to that. Finally, he settled down to a whimper and then fell back into a deep sleep. I was heart-broken listening to that and not being able to help. Evidently they are more common when kids are sleep-deprived, so I'm guessing the lack of nap combined with staying up late contributed. Hopefully that won't happen again. I don't know if I can take it! Well, it's late, and you've heard our drama for the past day or so. Let me just leave you with the news that Maddie is kicking up a storm and making me so happy every time I feel her. Can't wait to see her in next week's ultrasound. Love, Us.

Hello Fall!

The weather is absolutely gorgeous here! I am loving the sunshine with the cool wind. Wish it were like this all summer, too. So it's October, right? That means great things for me: Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas!! My favorite time of year. The only real downside to today is that I had to pay rent. Oh well, at least we have a place to live for another month. ; )

So now here comes the pregnancy hunger. After getting through the first 19 weeks and only gaining a pound (yay!), now I want to eat EVERYTHING! Leftover pizza goes with leftover mashed potatoes, right? Stupid Costco had a stupid coupon for a stupid pumpkin pie, too. The day before yesterday, I ate a reasonable size bowl of tomato soup, accompanied by a HUGE slab of bread slathered in butter. I kept reading the nutrition facts on the butter and assuring myself it was pretty healthy because it was Smart Balance. Hah! I must be stopped. Well, gotta go. Haven't eaten any pumpkin pie yet today! Love, Us.

P-I-N-K!!!!

It's a girl!! Little Maddie cooperated today with the ultrasound tech and showed us her girly parts!! Unfortunately, she didn't cooperate for much more than that. We got 2 pics of the "girl parts," but I don't think anyone else would see anything. No profile pics or anything. Since we couldn't get many good looks at the important stuff, the doctor has sent us to another doctor with more advanced equipment. So hopefully next week we'll have "sharable" pictures of Baby Maddie. In the meantime, we took a little trip to the outlets to buy some baby girl stuff. It was killing me! And now, for less than $50, I'm satisfied. For now. ; )

Love, Us.

Dum dah dum dum...dum dah dum dum dum!!

Hope you got the tune. The excitement is at record levels around the Halaby household, as tomorrow is the day we find out if the baby is a boy or a girl! That is assuming the baby cooperates with the sonographer. I had a dream the other night that I was pregnant with a boy, but I'm not placing a ton of faith in that because I was also sharing a hospital bed (not room, bed) with someone I went to high school with and who was injured during some military maneuver after ice skating. So you see, it didn't make a ton of sense all around. Anyway, after some debate about letting Quinn come with us to see the pictures of the baby, we decided to share him with Maureen and Sarah for the morning because it was going to take a while at the doctor. It's a good thing we did that because we got a recorded message the other night that no children under 18 were allowed in the doctor's office now since the concerns are so high about H1N1. I guess it's supposed to be much worse for pregnant women, and they still don't have a vaccine available. I'm planning to get my seasonal flu shot tomorrow at the doctor, so that's one less worry. I panicked a little this morning when I woke up with a sore threat and stuffy nose and feeling feverish. Even though I have felt feverish all day, the thermometer tells me I have no fever. Now, if thermometers expire after say, 11 years or so, someone should tell me that. If 96.8 really means 101.8, I should know that, dontcha think? So I didn't make it to Bible study this morning, mostly because of the throbbing head. Quinn and I have pretty much taken it easy all day, napping and hanging out watching movies. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. On the bright side, I had tomato soup and a bread bowl (from Panera courtesy of the Bridge church!) for lunch, and it was very nice. I got my hopes up that Jalal was going to make chili but we didn't have canned tomatoes (boo!).

Quinn is cracking me up lately with the things he says and does. He adds "and" to everything, making his list of things he must sleep with "blanket and dragon and monkey (ooh ooh ahh ahh, his words, not mine) and frog and pillow." Sheesh! It has taken this long to get online access to the pictures we took at Picture People in his cowboy. I must say, they are stinking adorable. I don't think I can share a link on here but I can send it to anyone who emails me personally. I will also try to get a few scanned in from our hard copies to post.

Here's another milestone: Last night, for the first time since we transitioned to the toddler bed, Quinn did not scream, cry, or get out of bed when we closed the door. No sitting with him, no talking through the door, just the routine, the "night night" and "I love you," and we were done. Woo hoo! Tonight, there was a minute of crying but then nothing. This would be a great help to our nighttime routine.

So since I still haven't found a new job yet, I'm going to cut this short and move on to working on the only paying work I have right now. You never know when it's gone, so I'll take advantage of it. I'll be sure to post tomorrow on PINK or BLUE! Love, Us.

Sprinkly Saturday

It's been raining a lot lately. The bad news: We have to accommodate with inside exercise. Yesterday was Monkey Joe's. God help me. I spent half the time trying to make sure Quinn didn't get jumped on by 10-year-old Catholic schoolgirls and the other half telling him I wasn't going to give him "pennies" for the arcade games.

Today, Maureen and I attempted to keep the kids up until 12 so we could take them to a party store for an Elmo visit. Quinn fell asleep on the way, but thankfully he perked right up when he saw Sarah. Though it took us about 10 minutes to get them warmed up enough to get near Elmo, soon they were hugging him all over. I told Maureen that Quinn would likely fall asleep on the way home, and boy, did I jinx myself there. He would NOT nap. Not until Jalal got home and we headed to a consignment sale did he fall asleep.



The best part about the rain lately has been frog hunting. There are dozens of tiny baby frogs hopping all over our front yard, and every time we go outside, we chase them around. I caught one for Quinn today and let him hold it, and now he keeps talking about our "froggy hands." I'll try to get a picture of that soon.

Last week, we took Quinn to Picture People to get his cowboy pictures made. Let me just say he was a hit! I thought all was lost when he started running around in circles until his eyes literally rolled back in his head and he fell over. But the photographer salvaged it. Then we had to sign a model release so they could dedicate a display wall to his photos. We spent more than we should have but less than we could have. I'll try to get a link posted as soon as I get one so everyone can enjoy the adorableness that is my child. Locals can check out the left wall of the Picture People in the mall to see the newest celebrity.

Well, this baby is kicking up a storm already. We have only another week and a half before we find out whether it's a she or a he. I can't wait! I keep seeing all this adorable baby stuff but I can't buy boy or girl stuff. It's killing me! On the bright side, I've managed a few days of just a little queasiness where I haven't had to take my pills. Maybe we're finally heading into the downslide on morning sickness. On the downside, my hips are killing me and my back is starting to ache. I haven't gained any weight so far, which I was a little worried about these past few weeks, but the doctor's okay with that, so so am I. I'll try to keep baby updates as often as I can, but I don't want this to become a litany of preggo complaints. So feel free to shut me up if I get annoying!

P.S. RIP Patrick Swayze. I love "Roadhouse"!

Oh, What a Night!

It wasn't late December and it was not a very special time for me. But last night certainly qualifies as "what a night." About 1:30 in the morning, I woke up with really bad stomach cramps. After trying to deal with it for a while, I woke Jalal and told him we needed to call the doctor's office. The nurse on call suggested we go ahead and head to the emergency room. If ever there were a time I wished we still lived in Charleston and had 30-some friends willing to help us in the middle of the night, it was this morning. But that's not our situation here yet, so we packed up Quinn and headed to St. Francis ER. After checking in and doing the preliminary tests, we were informed of their new rule (as of two days ago) that no children were allowed back into the emergency room (thanks swine flu). Jalal tried to call Maureen, but she was getting her first night of uninterrupted sleep in many weeks and didn't hear her phone. So poor Jalal was stuck in the waiting room with Quinn, who, by the way, decided that 2:00 a.m. was a perfectly normal time to get up and act like it was morning already (read: did not sleep or rest at all). I had no idea he wasn't even getting basic information about how I was doing (they were not busy, so I assumed the nurses would have let him know SOMETHING!). I was doing much better after they gave me a narcotic (well, after the initial effects--dizziness, heaviness, hysterical crying--wore off). The pain went away and I was stuck just waiting and wondering. I did have it a little easier than Jalal, since I didn't have Quinn to deal with, and since I got to hear that the baby's heartbeat was strong shortly after all the blood was drawn and tests were run. What a relief! I was so worried that something was wrong with the baby. After a couple of hours, I got the all-clear. The doctor said it was probably uterine spasms associated with the ligaments stretching. Now I trust that there was nothing else wrong, but I've felt ligaments stretching and man, was this worse! Maybe these were bigger ligaments. Who knows? Anyway, by 5 a.m., we were heading home. Jalal had left a message for my sister shortly after I went back, so I called again to tell her all was okay. Didn't want her to wake up and freak out at his message. Well, that didn't work. She only saw that she'd missed a call at 3:30, assumed the worst, listened to his message and then frantically called me to find out what happened. She was so upset, and I had only been asleep for about an hour, so I was just bleary. Anyway, after a couple more hours of sleep (or close to it), Quinn woke up raring to go. Poor Jalal had to go to work for 14 hours today while I tried to "stay off my feet." Hah! So, all is well for now. Let's hope tomorrow goes more smoothly, though we do have to handle another 2-year-old birthday party. Yikes! Love, Us.

The Shape of Things to Come

Forecast: Big and round.
Set calendar to February 22nd, 2010.
Taking bets: Pink or blue?