iamom05

Thought I'd give a little update and a funny story.  Val has created a habit of playing until she crashes when I put her down for naps.  It's really annoying.   So this afternoon I went to check on her (again) and she had pulled 2 of her drawers out and emptied the clothing.  She had also put all of her babies and teddy bears in one, and stuffed her pillow and self in the other.  She wanted me to tuck her in in there.  I did, but as I got ready to leave she said she wanted to sleep in her bed.  She likes to sleep all sprawled out anyway.  But it was cute to see her all curled up in her drawer. 

Nic is pulling himself up.  Only problem is that when he does, he gets on his tiptoes (hasn't figured out how to get to his flat feet), so he usually topples over and lands with a thud.  I try to stay close by, but that's sometimes hard with Val around too.  He is crawling too, but not much.  He pulls himself everywhere and can get anywhere like that, but actual hands and knees crawling just started last weekend.  We were at a friend's house and he made 3 or 4 forward "steps".  I got so excited and cut whoever was talking off and yelled..."Craig, he's crawling, he's crawling!" He's done it a couple of time since now too.

Well, we've discovered the library loans PS2 games, so I've been playing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  It's pretty fun I guess.  We've also been playing a LOT of Lego Star Wars II and this week I noticed it was on sale at Target, so Craig's getting it for Christmas (shhhh...don't tell!)  I'm gonna go try and beat another level while Val and Nic finish their naps.

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I'll probably post pics on Facebook, so watch your homepage.

 I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted.  I don't even know where to start.  I guess with me.  I've had some weird health issues the last couple of weeks.  Abdominal pain.  After an ultrasound of my liver due to high enzyme levels and several blood tests my dr. thinks it's just some acid reflux or possibly pre-ulcer.  I'm on meds which he says will take care of it in the next week or so.  I'm really tired and gaining weight and pretty much not happy about that.  I stopped working out when I wasn't feeling well last week and gained a couple of pounds that I had worked so hard to lose.  It's a little weird because when I've lost weight I've been able to keep it off.  I guess that metabolism just loses it after you hit 30!  So I'm working out again.  If Nic would learn to sit up, I'd give him solids...that's when I really lost the weight with Val,  but my period also came back, so maybe I don't want that....

Yes, Nic isn't sitting up yet.  He seems to be really close to crawling though.  He's so funny..he'll get up on his hands and toes.  His little body suspended in the air.  It's pretty cute and I tried to get a pic today, but the angle was weird.  I'll post it  someday.  Speaking of posts...I just posted a bunch of pics from CA and a few of Val on the other website.  www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com
He eats well though and is growing.  At his 6 mo. appt 2 weeks ago he was 16 lbs 7 oz and 26 1/2 in. long.  Guess I'd better move him out of the carrier car seat soon!  He's getting to heavy anyway.  He's always got lots of giggles and laughs for me.  It's pretty cute when Val plays with him and he just laughs and laughs!

Val is her own creature.  She's crazy...there's not much else to say.  It seems every other day she's potty trained.  Some days she'll go all morning and afternoon (not during naptime though) without going in her pants.  Other days, like today, it's only diapers!  I don't know what to make of it and I feel like I've done enough pressuring and when she's ready she'll do it herself.  That's her favorite thing to say now anyway "I do it myself".  she's funny.  She's pushing every limit and button, but can be really good and creative when she wants to.  She's learning to color pictures (not just scribble over them, but actually trying to color them in!)  She's learned to jump recently as well.  It's funny to watch how hard she concentrates...I'm always worried she's going to bit her tongue because she curls it and sticks it out when she's jumping.

Craig....hmmm....Craig is mostly focused on getting us out of our car debts by working 60 + hrs a week.  11hrs M-F (usually) and until at least 12 on Saturday (starting at 5AM).  It's ridiculous, but I think we'll have one of them paid off at the end of this month.  We're also ditching the credit cards and switching to debit...he says we'll save money.  We're taking Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey and that's what he advises.  No debt living!  So I guess we should apply what we're learning, otherwise it's senseless to pay babysitters and the fee for the course!  it's been a fun class though and we'll be millionaires some day because of it....right?!

This was really long, but it's been years (well, maybe just months) since I've written!

Ok...I noticed I haven't posted in about a month, so I'll put something short up (yeah right..we'll see how much time I waste!).  MOPS started yesterday.  We had about 23 moms (from my count, but I could have missed some).  Last year we averaged 20.  I know there's a few more coming that weren't there yesterday too.  So we're kind of scrambling to get more help watching the kiddos.  My part is to get everyone into groups.  Some people went in the wrong group yesterday, but that's ok.  We'll just change it.  No biggie...it was only an attempt to be a little more organized anyway.

Nic is doing great.  He keeps growing though.  I'm annoyed by that...I love my LITTLE buddy!  Val continues to try me.  Now she's started this thing when we put her to bed.  We'll tuck her in (anyone..me, craig, grandma) and she'll immediately kick the covers off and say "Tuck In".  So I say I'll only do it twice and the 2nd time I get up and walk leave the room saying "I love you...goodnight"  She jumps up and bolts across the room screaming and saying "Tuck in, mom!!"...I'm not mommy anymore ;-( .  It makes me want to cry.  Sometimes I give in, but usually I pick her up, tell her I love her and that I said if you want be tucked in, don't kick off the covers, and send her back to her bed (with much protest....she usually blocks to the door so I can't get out, so I have to go put her in bed).  It's craziness.  But the look of desperation on her face makes me want to cry every time!  Any Ideas????

Other than that, she can say her ABC's (sort of), and count to 10.  She notices everything!  She's pretty fun when she's not annoying me by waking little bro up with her screaming or disobeying deliberately.  She loves to read, which I enjoy.  Potty training has ended, and not because she's trained.  She just doesn't care anymore.  I ask "Do you want to wear diapers or big girl underwear"  Just diapers please mom.  It's silly I think.

What else...not much.  The big 3-0 is coming up in a couple of weeks.  Grand.  This Sat. I walk for the Crisis preg. Center.  If anyone wants to sponsor me, let me know.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Thought I'd better post since I haven't really in over a month.  It's crazy here!  Val's been potty-training and doing pretty well.  She'd either go all morning or all afternoon without going in her pants (except nighttime and naps).  One day she did the whole day!  Then, last weekend she got sick and was sick for 3 days.  Yesterday I tried what we'd been doing and all she did was wet her pants.  Today ,we're wearing diapers, even though she cries and says "I don't want to wear diapers!"  We'll get there.

Nic is growing!  He had his 4 mo appt (at 4 1/2 mo)  and he's 14lbs 12 oz.  25 3/4 in. long and his head is 15 1/2.  He was stated as in perfect health.  Then, that night, he got the sickness Val and Craig had.  They got it Sat, he on Monday.  It was really pretty...we were at some friends' wedding (lots of people I hadn't seen in a long time and was looking forward to visiting!) and as soon as I sat down with my food, Val throws up all over herself.  Luckily, she was contained in her stroller because she didn't seem to be feeling well (Smart mommy me attributed it teeth!).  Nic is pretty good now...ran a fever of 101.5 for a day, then gradually it dropped.  He's just covered from head to toe with a nasty rash that doesn't seem to be bothering him except when he's nursing.  Then he wants to scratch his head (I'm guessing because I make him hot).

Craig went back to work Thursday after 3 days off.  My schedule is all off and I really should be cleaning and sanitizing rather than on here, but I'll get to it.  It will still be there I'm sure! (Of course this will too!)

Somehow I was spared...probably so I could take care of my family.

Just thought I'd put up a quick post to say I'm thinking about all of you Minnesotans!  I hope everyone is ok.  We have a bridge (that I use almost daily), that need to be replaced and also crosses the Mississippi, so now I'm nervous.   A friend of mine from here went over the I35 W bridge last week and say big chunks were falling off of it.  She was worried their car was going to get hit.  I guess they were jackhammering and there were warning signs about "falling debris".  That's a little unsettling.
Anyway....I'm thinking of you!

Things are happening here...Val's in the process of potty training.  I'll write more later!

Tomorrow is Vallarie's 2 year birthday!  I can't believe it.  So here it is the day before and we don't have gifts for her yet.  We're such bad parents!  I was at Target and asked Craig what I should get.  He said just come home (it was getting late) and we'd talk about it...but we never did!  So I'm guessing I'll be out tonight or tomorrow frantically getting something for our little girl.  I'm thinking of a water toy or a slide.  Maybe both.  We'll just have to see.

She's been doing well except she's getting teeth so she's always waking herself up pooping, then has trouble going back to sleep after being changed.  She won't go back to sleep at naptime.  It stinks...literally!

Nicolas is my dream baby.  He's so good all the time.  I was out with him a couple of times (a trip to Chicago and a night out with the girls) and both groups commented on what a good baby he is.  And he's always like that.  Lately he's been sleeping until 5:15 or later!  THe other day it was 5:45!  It's so nice!  Although this morning is was 1, but I got him back to sleep until about 2:45.  This was a small setback and I hope he's back on schedule tomorrow.

So that's life here in IA today.  Oh...I just posted a TON of pictures on the kids' site.  Cousin Ethan was in town, so there's many a pictures with him.  Val loved it!  www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com
Some funny quotes of hers lately  "Not Happy.  Mommy spankings" (To Craig...he asked why)  "Hit Nic"
  Also  "I have a stick!"  (to our neighbor as she wielded this giant stick)   "I go with Ethan to park?"  After Ethan had gone home.
And once at my parents last weekend, Shannon (my brother's wife) had gone to visit a friend.  Val noticed she wasn't there and said "Shannon night-night?"  She's so observant.

Ok, must go get something done.

It seems I never get to post anymore...let alone read. A lot has happened since I last read!

Here's what's up here.  I have a horrible cold and ear infection.  Popped up yesterday.  At least today was Nic's 2 month appt so he just saw me too and I was able to get a prescription.  Haven't filled it yet though.

Nic is growing so fast!  He is 10lbs 10 oz and 22 in. long.  Val at this age was only 8lbs 4 oz and 19 1/2 in. long.  Why does he have to grow so fast??

He is smiling all the time now and even coos to us sometimes.  Last night he was laughing! It was so cute.  We got out the video camera, but every time we'd turn it on, he'd stop of course.  Oh well. 

Val had her first haircut.  She looks like a little girl now. I was practically crying and Craig was just laughing at me.  She looks good though!  I had their pictures taken on Tuesday and I was elated because Nic smiled for his picture and we got one of both of them looking at the camera and smiling!  Val's were great of course.  It's so nice to have her at an age that you can tell her to smile and she will!

I've got to go clean up for my piano lesson this pm.  I may also need to nap.  Nic went from 9pm to 3:15 AM (we went to bed shortly before10), then he didn't eat again until 7.  It would have been even better if I could have slept the whole time, but due to this nasty cold, I couldn't.   So at least we've been getting good sleep.  We didn't get that with Val until she was 11 months and we made her sleep.

That's all for now.  Hopefully I'll be able to write more frequently.

Well, I realized that it's been almost a month since I posted.  Things are finally starting to settle down with Nicolas and his eating issues.  After his tongue was clipped it took about a week before he got really good at eating on my right side.  My left was a different story.  He kept getting on and doing it well, then after about 2 or 3 days, the blisters would come back...pain once again.  This happened 3 times...the last time I bawled!  Anyway, after letting myself heal again and pumped in the process, I decided to try a different approach.  Instead of just straight nursing, I'd only put him on every other time and pump the other times.  Well, apparently that worked.  That was about a week or so ago that I started that.  He's been on exclusively (no pumping) since last Friday and NO BLISTERS yet.  I do have some soreness, but it's not bad and goes away almost as soon as he starts sucking.  I think he may finally have it.  Of course, now he's Mr. Spitup...and spits up every time he eats.  It's really annoying, especially  when I only have one pair of shorts and one pair of jeans that fit.  Keeps making a mess of them and I usually have to just wear them dirty.  Yuck!

Vallarie's been quite the "helper".  Last week in an attempt to give Nic a stuffed animal (a dog that was about the size she is!), she nearly smothered the poor boy.  He was bright red and gasping when I got to him about a second later.  Shortly after (within 5 min.)  She put a Cheerio in his mouth.  Oh dear...what am I going to do??!!  At least she's sleeping much better with the crib tent.  That has made my life much easier.  So that's pretty much life around here...do my best to keep Nicolas alive...safe from his sister and eating well.

Well if it's not one thing it's another.  Nicolas got his tongue clipped on Monday and has since had a much better time latching on.  Unfortunately I had to go through the whole engorgement thing again because I'd apparently been pumping more often than he's now eating.  That seems to be subsiding, but because of it, I ended up with Mastitis.  Thankfully, I got a prescription pretty much as soon as I figured it out so that too is healing, but I'm still sore.  My fever is gone though.  Nic is latching on almost right almost every time on the right side.  He was doing ok with the left side for a few feedings, but has slipped back into an incorrect latch.  My friend came over a couple of days ago to help me (that's when he started doing it right)...and she was over again today to help me get him on right again.  It's been a little frustrating and quite painful as well.  At least my right side isn't in so much pain as it was before and I'm getting through the initial soreness.  I said to my mom today that if we can just get this nursing thing down he'd be a perfect baby.  Last night he was 7 hours without eating.  It would have been nice if he'd slept that whole time, but he woke around 2:30 because his diaper had come off and he was soaking wet.  I tried nursing, but he didn't want to...just wanted to sleep.  It was around the time he should have wanted to nurse too.  Around 3:30 he woke again...once again...didn't want to eat.  Finally around 5:40 he woke up and ate.  He had a GREAT feeding (no pain, great latches, about 45 min. of active sucking) last night before bed, so that's what I attribute to his long sleep.  Could he be preparing to sleep through the night already??  I shouldn't get my hopes up...he'll figure out nursing and quit sleeping I'm sure.  So that's little Nic.

Vallarie has been quite the handful too.  2 days ago she dumped some of her cereal...luckily I caught her before she dumped it all and threw it on the floor.  Then, I had vacuumed  and was putting her toys back in place.  She had crawled out of her pack n play and was sitting on the changing table.  Whoopee.  Then, since I couldn't keep her in there, she came in the living room.  I hadn't put the chairs back in the dining room from the kitchen yet.  I heard water running and looked in the kitchen.  She was sitting in the sink with the water running.  Fun, eh?  At least she took a nap that day.  But that night, she crawled out of her crib.  It took us forever to finally go back to bed.  Last night, she did it again...Craig moved her mattress to the floor and she went to sleep.  Today, I tried to put her down...just a few minutes ago it finally went silent.  I put her down an hour ago and it's usually only 15-20 min. before she's asleep. ..Guess she had to play a little.  Hopefully it won't be like yesterday when I came into a room where the drawers had been emptied and half the books were scattered on the floor.  She's acting like Nicolas too...sitting in his chair (which does convert to a rocker for her size), but she puts the blanket over her like I do for him.  She also wants to be held like him and rocked.  My poor little baby.  Not quite sure what to do with her.  We're just trying to spend as much time as possible with her so she knows she hasn't been replaced.  Any ideas are gladly welcomed

I should nap, even though I did get significant sleep last night due to nic's great sleep!

I've been having some problems with blisters and LOTS of pain while nursing.  I saw a lactation consultant yesterday afternoon only to find out that poor Nicolas is tongue-tied!  That just means that he can't physically get his tongue far enough out to latch on correctly causing me a lot of pain.  He was getting enough to eat though, so that's good.  I'm now pumping and using an SNS (milk comes through a tube and he sucks like normal).  My wounds are healing and Monday he'll have his tongue clipped to fix the problem.  Then he'll be able to get his tongue out far enough.  Everything is going ok, but I'm having trouble with my supply.  I'm doing some things differently in efforts to improve it.  So far I've had enough to keep him satisfied, however, my last pumping only produced a little less than 2 ozs.  He's been taking right around 2 and the nurse said he should have about 2 1/2.  But he's happy and satisfied with the 2, so I'm ok with that for now.  I'll let you know how Monday goes and if nursing resumes to normal.  Please keep me in your prayers until then!

Just want to announce the birth of Nicolas Craig Fendley!
He was born on March 27, 2007 at 11:20 AM
He is 6lbs 10 oz and 19 in. long.  He's also very cute!  You can see pics at www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com
I guess I'll have to update my pic that's on this site now, huh?
 
He is doing really well and breastfeeding great!  At least that part is much easier than with Val.  He is just a sweetie and I hope that you can all meet him soon!

Well, I'm still here.  I keep getting all these contractions (mostly at night), but they're just teasing me.  I guess I'm a week and 1/2 out so I shouldn't expect it too soon, but still!!!

I'm pretty much ready to be done.  We'll have to see.  So you can send me your best labor-inducing tips and I'll be very happy!

Here are some cute pics of Val that my mom took the other day.    She had a great time at the park.  It finally warmed up and now they're saying back to the 30's by the weekend.  It's nice while it's lasting though.  I even got to hang clothes on the line!

Good news....Craig is back at work!  They called last Thursday.  He wasn't sure if he'd make it though because he was really sick Sat. and Sun.  He went and is probably suffering today, but at least he's working!

It's your last chance to enter the baby pool.  I'm closing it on Thursday.  There are pictures on the family website at www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com 
So you can check them out there if you think that will help your guess. Less than 4 weeks until my due date, so it's coming up quick!  Craig thinks baby will be 2 weeks early, so that means 2 weeks from now we'd have another baby!  I don't think they need to come that early.  Just so it's fair, we didn't have an ultrasound, so we don't know the gender either.  I'm feeling all right, but my hips are getting sore and I can tell the joints are starting to loosen.  Midwife said it's all normal...yippee!

Craig still isn't back to work yet.  His boss said possibly this week, but we haven't heard anything yet.  We're just hoping we have insurance.  Unemployment isn't that great,  but since I've picked up a few new students, that helps somewhat.  I have 8 now and another that will start this summer or fall.  I asked them to wait until after baby since they just called the middle of last month.  At best we would have had about 6 lessons.  Craig's been off 3 weeks and while I enjoy his help around the house, he needs to get back to work.

That's about all that's new here.

Well I just realized it's been over a month since I've posted, so I thought I'd do a little update.  Things are going well here (probably why I haven't posted too much).  I think the most exciting thing that's happened in the last week is Val learning to blow her nose.  I know, it doesn't seem like much, but it's a lot nicer than having to use that little suction thing on her.  What's weird is that she'll say "nose" and run over with me to the tissue box, but then hates actually blowing her nose.  I don't quite get it.

We had to cancel MOPS this week because of snow.  We managed to get nearly 11 in. this last week!  It doesn't really look like it though.  One storm brought almost 4 and the other over 6.  I think we're supposed to get another storm next weekend, but this week will be nice and warm in the 40's.  I'm pretty excited.

Craig and I are geting ready to celebrate 6 years next weekend!  What's weird is that our anniversary is on Saturday, but we're celebrating on Friday and Sunday-Monday.  Reason being, it's much cheaper to stay at the hot tub suite on a weeknight, and we didn't think we should leave Val 2 nights in a row and not even be there the 2nd morning she wakes up.  So we'll do dinner (or whatever Craig is planning...he's in charge of that night) Friday and hotel for our first night away from Val on Sunday night.  I'm pretty excited about it all! 

I'm 6 weeks from my due date.  Seems like less and less time to accomplish the things I wanted to with Vallarie.  Not sure we'll get to potty training or a big girl bed.  I'm still hoping and will try though!  I'm feeling good except for being very tired.  I've dropped choir because most of the time I'm too exhausted to go and we're mostly working on Easter stuff.  The concert is the day before I'm due so I don't want to be committed to an hour or so of singing in front of everyone and go into labor or something.  I also don't want to commit when if baby comes before, I wouldn't be able to do it anyway.  I'm getting anxious...I'm ready to meet baby!

On a not so great note, Craig is currently unemployed.  They are sitting on a TON of work, just waiting for the purchase orders and finalizations to be completed.  But for now, there's no work in the shop, so he's home.  We've got our savings and he's getting unemployment so I'm not concerned about that.  The only thing I don't know about is insurance.  If something were to happen and baby came early, I don't know if they're covering or not.  I think we're good through the end of February, but I'm not sure.  Hopefully he won't be off long.  I'd be surprised if he wasn't back by the beginning of March.   On the good side, he's just about finished with the TV cabinet he's building because he's had time to do it!  That will be a big help as we're constantly telling Val not to touch the TV.

So that's the news from here.  Hopefully I'll post more pics of Val on her site soon.

I realized today that the address for "Val's site" is incorrect.  It's fixed now, so if you want to see pics there, that link will work for you now!

Ok...I have a million things to do today, so I'm not really posting that much.  Just wanted to update you.

I've also posted some pics of my ever growing belly on Val's site.  Twice this week people have said "you've really popped over Christmas, huh?"    I guess I'm significantly larger than a couple of weeks ago.  Definately larger than when I posted at 15 weeks!

Christmas with Val was not what it was last year.  Last year was all smiles and excitement at each gift.  Couldn't wait to open another present.  This year was quite the opposite.  To her credit, she didn't get to bed on time Christmas Eve.   She was running a temp and generally didn't feel well (I attribute this to the lack of sleep as well as getting a new tooth).  Anyway, she mostly cried while opening presents.  We had to open all of hers for her at the end of the day.  We kept hoping she'd do it herself, but it was a no go!  She did truly love the shopping cart.  It wasn't wrapped and it was just sitting by the tree.  We have video.  I am posting some pics on her blog though, so you can check them out there.  We took it with us to both grandparents house and she did love playing with it all day.  She continues to so I guess we made a good buy!  She also liked the cell phone and car keys the grandparents gave her, however they drive me batty because they are pretty noisy.  The other grandparents gave her a sit n spin.  She likes that too, but mostly just to push the button on it that makes it play music.  The music sounds like an 80's video game (Craig says "Contra", but I listened to it online and the melody isn't the same, but it is the same instrument or whatever).  It's a little annoying as well...what are grandparents good for if not for giving noisy toys to their grandkids??

Since Christmas Val has been fine.  She had her 18 mo. checkup and weighs 22.6 lbs and is 31 inches tall.  The other baby is doing well too.  We heard the heartbeat again at the most recent appt. and found out that our midwives are now "in-network" so we just pay a copay and it's much more affordable!  YAY!!  She/he had their first set of hiccups that kept me up last night.  I've also had a couple of contractions.  I barely had any before the week I delivered with Val, so this is new and strange to me.

Val has been learning this week.  2 days ago, she got up on the table and found my Dove Dark Chocolate bar that Craig gave me in my stocking.  I found her with it and a tiny nibble out of it.  I said "no".  Then I told her it was chocolate.  Big mistake I found.  Yesterday, I was drying my hair and brushing my teeth.  I came in to find the empty wrapper on the table and she was in her "naughty spot" as we call it.  She goes there when she has something she knows she shouldn't have.  There was a big bite out of it.  I was a little miffed that she stole my chocolate.  I said "NO!"  and took it away, wrapped it up and put it somewhere where she couldn't get to it (I ate it later that pm).  Anyway, as I was doing this, she looks across the room and says "chocot" (or something similar), followed by "Num, num, num, num!"  Oh dear.  Last night while waiting for dinner she was getting hungry.  I offered her bread to tide her over, but she kept saying "chocot" over and over.  We tried to explain that we don't eat chocolate whenever we want...it's special for after dinner sometimes.  She kept insisting as her little 18 mo old mind just didn't get it.  Again today, she has asked for it already.  She's gonna have a long week I guess.

Well this is long enough.  I'll update again soon!

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd wish everyone a Merry Christmas...and give an update.  My family decided to give me their colds as an early Christmas present..nice, huh?  At least I didn't get it until after my choir concert last Sunday night.  It went really well, and I enjoyed singing.  It was a great program to sing though.  Last night was the worst, but I'm doing much better today.  Our family is doing a small part at the Christmas Eve service Sunday night...it's a scripture reading.  Craig doesn't do that, so he'll be lighting the candle and I'll read...hopefully I won't sound too stuffed.   I'm supposed to sing with the choir, but I'm not going to unless they really need me.  Such is life.

Craig is off and will be until after New Year's.  We'll see how that goes.  So far, it's been nice these 2 days as I've been sick.  He's been helpful with cleaning and Val, etc.  We had his work Christmas party (the family one) on Thursday afternoon. Val did really well despite it being right during her naptime.  Oh well.  She wasn't too fond of Santa though.  She cried.  I'll post pics at www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com
At least she wasn't the only one...another girl her age also screamed (she was much more vocal though!)  Santa gave her a teddy bear and she did like that.  So yesterday morning, Craig was playing with her and showed her the bear and she said "Santa".  She remembered who gave it to her!  Craig showed her the picture and again she said "Santa".   This afternoon I was putting her down for her nap and I told her to pick a book to read.  She grabbed this one called "Jesus, me and my Christmas Tree".  It's a really cute story (shaped like a tree!) that tells about the ornaments she's putting on the tree and how they relate to the Christmas story.  Anyway, she picks it up and says "Santa".  Not quite cutie.  It made me laugh.  As far as that goes, we're planning on telling her the story of St. Nick and that he was a nice man who gave presents, etc.  We'll let her know it's just an American tradition, but not get into the whole he's real and magical and all that stuff.   But for right now, she doesn't understand that Santa brings gifts and does it all on Christmas eve anyway, so we've got time.  She can at least know who the character of Santa is.  We'll explain later.

I'm feeling quite well pregnancy wise.  I've got an appt next week and Craig will be able to come!!  He hasn't been to an OB appt since our first one with Val.  I'm happy he'll get to come here the heartbeat.  Baby moves and in some interesting ways these days.  This child moves so differently than what I remember with Val.  Very low and on my bladder 1/2 the time (which is actually kinda painful).  I even see it move.  It's hard to believe we're only 3 months away from being the parents of 2!   That reminds me.  You need to get online and go to www.expectnet.com then in the "game" part put  "babyfendley2" (no spaces or caps)...and enter your guess for the little one.  Got it??  I expect to see some guesses.

Well, this is long enough.  Hope everyone has a nice Christmas and Happy New Year.  I'll try to update more frequently. 

Just thought I'd let you know that I just posted a bunch of pics to the family site. For those of you who received my parent's Christmas letter and are wondering where the adorable pics of Val are, you can either click on the site that says "Val's site" on this page, or go to www.fendleyfam.blogspot.com.   There are pics from today in the snow and Thanksgiving and other random things.

I'm doing well...however I woke yesterday to a lovely case of pink eye.  My dr. actually had an appt at a time I could go which was amazing to me. So I've got meds and am recovering...ah the fun little annoyances of life.

Oh...on a positive note, a friend of mine has been battling cancer (that's not the positive part).  Anyway, she has been up to Mayo clinics a couple of times.  When she was diagnosed here (and there the 1st time) she was given a 1 in a million chance of survival because of where the cancer was (in her liver, color, spine and I think bone).  Anyway, they thought it was in her lungs here too, but a Mayo dr. thought it was something else and he turned out to be right.  Here's the amazing part.  In order for her to live, she needs to have surgery to remove part of her colon and the larger part of her liver.  The only way to have that surgery is to have no cancer in any other part of her body.  It's a true miracle because the other cancers have disappeared.  She is the 1st person EVER at Mayo to be able to have this surgery after it was in her bones. This has never happened to anyone else...they have all been on chemo until they died.  So now her chance of survival is 40 %...still not the best, but a far cry from where she was.  She has 2 daughters...one 3 and the other is just a couple of months older than Val, so they play together at church all the time (they're usually the only 2 at first service).   I had to share this amazing news because I'm so amazed at what God has done.  I guess the Drs. at Mayo talk about her all the time and will probably be doing a clinic study on her because they can't believe that her cancers disappeared.  I guess a big one in her liver just vanished as well.  She is scheduled for surgery on Dec. 28 up at Mayo. 

So that's life here.