Justin, Megan, Evelyn & Liliana Troyer

It's been a while...

2011-09-23T12:53:00.001-04:00

My, how things have changed in the last year since I made my last post. Let's start with the big news first: I didn't share this in my October 23rd post, but I was a few weeks pregnant at the time. I had a miscarriage in August 2010, so I was gun shy about sharing the news back then. Our second daughter, Liliana Claire was born on June 26, 2011.

Other big, but sad news is that Pickles developed some aggression issues to the point that I was fearful that she might hurt Evie, so she was returned to the Franklin County Animal Shelter. I still deal with a great amount of guilt over that decision, but it was absolutely a necessary decision for our family. I still miss Zoey dearly. I know some day again soon, we'll welcome another dog into our home, but right now is just not the right time for us to take that on.

Our little family is happily adjusting to life as a foursome in Hilliard.

We ARE Potty Trained!!!

2010-10-23T13:35:00.003-04:00

Evelyn has been very, very good about using the potty since about the end of May. When she moved up to the next class at her day care center, she was the only one who moved up to the "potty training room" already potty trained. When she started showing interest at school, I took a week off from work and followed many of the tips in "Potty Boot Camp" and we had success. There was still the occasional accident, but the girl must be part camel because she can go hours and hours between potty breaks. To my friends out there still working on this, one tip I have that I didn't read anywhere (at least not specific to potty training) was to not ask a yes or no question like, "Do you have to go potty?" Rather, let your child chose, "Do you want to use the big potty or the little potty?" In our house we have a little potty in Evie's room and in the half bath on our first level.

For the last week, we've been brave enough to wear cotton panties at night time, too. I'm ecstatic that she has taken advantage of the potty in her bedroom when she has to go potty at night--even going so far as to take the bowl into the nearest bathroom in the middle of the night. (YIKES!!!) So far, I have not convinced her that it is okay to "let it mellow" overnight. Hopefully it will not take a middle of the night spill to make the case.

Most family and local friends know this, but I also wanted to share with my friends out there that less than a week after we said goodbye to my Zoey, I did a bad, bad thing and spent an afternoon at the Franklin County Animal Shelter. The next day, I dragged my husband and daughter there and came home with "Cleo" who we renames "Pickles." (Since I was the one who wanted the dog, I got no say in what to re-name her.) Justin narrowed it down to "Cairo" and "Pickles" and left it up to the two-year-old to chose.

When we adopted Pickles, we were told that she was a black lab mix, but after a few months with her, we are beginning to believe that she is part Pit Bull. No clue what else, but she weighs 36 pounds--which is about 14 pounds less than Zoey did. She is an exuberant tail-wagger to the point of having "Happy Tail Syndrome." What's that, you ask? It is when a dog wags their tail so hard against whatever surface that she damages the skin on her tail. If you've ever flicked water off a spoon, you can imagine what a bleeding tail can do to your walls, curtains, and furniture. A week ago, we had her at the vet to get her tail bandaged. Have you ever seen anything so pitiful?

A letter to a friend

2010-05-10T21:44:00.003-04:00

Words cannot express the mixed bag of emotions that I'm feeling right now. First, I want to thank you for choosing me to be your companion; you made my life better in so many ways. You have been with me longer than some of my closest friends--longer than my husband. You saw me through heartache and joy.

You were with me when I broke my ankle--even if I did blame you for falling down those stairs. You were with me when Justin proposed. You were with me when we moved into the new house. You were with me when I learned I was pregnant. You were a constant, calming presence in my life for the last 10 years. Thank you for being so gentle with Evelyn even when she was not gentle with you.

You greeted those you loved with exuberant affection. Your bark was just enough to intimidate those that did not belong. You were the kind of dog that made a dog lover out of anyone. My seven-year-old neighbor said it best, "I don't like dogs, but if I ever got a dog, I would want it to be a Zoey puppy."

So, my sweet Zoey-bear, watch over Evelyn, Justin and I as we carry on without you. When it comes time for us to welcome another dog into our family, help guide the right pup to our door. I know you will wait for me at the Rainbow Bridge, but while you are there say hello to all of my fur-babies that have gone on before you.

I will always love you.

The beauty of bribery

2010-04-30T20:48:00.003-04:00

So we aren't really working too hard on potty training at our house. We're just kind of letting Evie direct things for now. (What she doesn't know is that I have a week off in one month's time where I plan to concentrate on potty training.) More often than not, when Evie tells us that she wants to go potty, she really just wants to be naked. On Wednesday, Evie was dressed, but had no diaper on. When Justin was in the bathroom, Evie came in and spontaneously went pee-pee on the potty.

Tonight after dinner, Evie was asking for chocolate. I told her that if she went pee-pee on the potty, I would give her some chocolate. She told me "okay" and headed to the bathroom. She came back out and we explained that she actually had to make pee-pee in the potty to get the chocolate. She said, "Okay, I'll be right ba-aaaack!" and sure as I have 10 toes on my feet, she went pee-pee!

The Joy of Parenthood

2010-04-28T12:24:00.002-04:00

Last night, I had one of those experiences as a parent where I wasn't sure what to do next.

Some background: when we tuck Evie in to bed at night, we do a diaper change, put on pajamas, take medicine, brush teeth, read two stories, look out the windows of the loft and tell the neighbors, trees, flowers, birds, cars, mailboxes, sun and moon "goodnight" and then we "rumpus" to her bedroom. (One of Evie's favorite books is Where the Wild Things Are and there's a part in there where Max says, "Let the wild rumpus begin!" and we have a rumpus as we turn the pages. I'm sure if you ever overhear us, you would think we were crazy.) We tuck her into bed, give and get hugs and kisses, and leave. When she started sleeping in her big girl bed, we started leaving a light on for her so the room wasn't so scary. I typically slip into her bedroom when Justin and I go up to bed (around 10ish) and turn the light off. I love seeing her sleeping peacefully in her bed.

Lately, Evie has been expressing interest in going pee-pee in the potty--often as an excuse to strip down and have some naked time. We're okay with naked time and we let her run around in the buff many evenings. When we tucked Evie into bed last night she told me she wanted a diaper change. I checked and she was dry and told her it was night-night time. We got hugs and kisses and left her room. Justin and I then went outside to wrap towels around my rose bushes to protect them from the frost, came back inside to clean up and put laundry away. All was quiet over the monitor, so before Justin and I headed down to the basement to watch TV, I went to slip into Evie's room to turn out the light. It was probably around 8:45 p.m.

I opened her door and what I saw before me almost made me laugh out loud. I called out in my best loud, urgent whisper, "Justin, come here!" He took a peek and I sent him downstairs for the camera. Just inside the door to Evie's room, she has a potty chair. At the base of the potty chair last night were her shucked pajamas (top and bottom) and diaper. One of the drawers of her dresser was open and disheveled. In her bed asleep, buck naked, was my daughter. She was curled up with a new pair of pajamas and a clean, still folded diaper.

Ah, parenthood. I hesitated to do anything for a moment because I didn't want to wake her up, but I knew she needed to be wearing a diaper. I unfolded the diaper and rolled her onto it. She woke up enough to tell me, "I went pee-pee potty mommy." I slipped her into the pair of pajamas she had picked out, kissed her and covered her up. Then, I turned off her light and counted my blessings that it wasn't already 10 o'clock--which probably would have meant changing the sheets, not just adding a diaper and jammies.

I hope this puts a smile on your faces.

a day of firsts

2009-11-22T17:19:00.004-05:00

Today is Evelyn's 20 month birthday. We marked the wall with her height and went to the park. Today was also the first time she climbed up to the top of the slide and went down all by herself. We had lots of fun on the slide and swinging. Another family was there feeding the ducks.

Evie also learned to say a few new words today: bunny (sounds more like "money"), duck, park and one more...

...iPhone.

She also made blowfish on the glass door while Daddy was firing up the grill. Three guesses who showed her that trick.

Somebody call the Cute Police!!

2009-10-18T18:12:00.003-04:00

This picture of Evelyn is just too cute not to share with the whole world! Unfortunately the Buckeyes did not win this weekend. (What was up with Pryor already?)

We've been having lots of fun this weekend playing around the house, going on a walk to the playground and being entertained by Giggle Pig. (This toy is a stuffed pig that shakes and laughs maniacally when activated.)

Guacamole Anyone?

2009-09-23T20:29:00.003-04:00

Daddy captured a prime moment, and it is worth sharing!
I cannot believe that my little girl is a year and a half. Time just goes by so quickly. Evelyn is showing signs of entering her "terrible twos" and gets pretty frustrated so easily. We are working hard at getting Evie to "use her words" and not giving her something that she's broken down and cried over unless she has stopped crying.

Daycare tells us that she really enjoys cleanup time there... I wish she would do that at home!

Oh what a night!

2009-07-20T18:41:00.003-04:00

Evelyn is in rare form this evening. Today, she got to spend the day at work with Mommy. This was grand fun. She got to entertain Mommy's boss for about 30 minutes towards the end of the day to let Mommy get some lose ends tied up. Then, on the way home we stopped to pick up Mackenzie, one of Zoey's canine pals. And oh, boy, another dog!!!!

Since Evie spent the day at work, she only napped for about a total of an hour and a half as opposed to the three hours she gets on the average day. She has lost all control of the volume of her voice. She also spent time running laps up and down the long hallway in our house (from the front door to the kitchen drawers) pushing a laundry basket, stopping at her drawer, selecting an item to go up and down the hallway again, "singing." (Top of her voice, random syllables at various tones.)

I just know that she's going to crash and sleep, sleep my pretties, tonight!

I know, I know...

2009-06-19T14:22:00.004-04:00

...it has been way too long since I posted. Monday marks 15 months of life for our sweet girl. I never imagined how much joy my little one would bring to my life.

We've been to the Zoo a couple of times (thanks Aunties for the birthday present) and to her everything is a dog. She can't say dog yet, but she knows sign language for dog and pants to indicate dog. Soo sweet. She was totally amazed by the tiger and the fish.

More recently, she gave us a huge scare when she spiked a temperature of 106.7 on the temporal artery thermometer and 104.9 on the rectal. I don't think I've ever traveled faster on I70 than last Sunday as Justin hurried us to Children's ER.

It turns out that she had a urinary tract infection. Don't worry, she's on the mend and was almost 100% herself again yesterday. Luckily this week our sitter was on vacation and Daddy had already planed on staycation with his little girl.

Spaghetti anyone?

FINALLY!!!!

2009-01-18T13:41:00.003-05:00

Evelyn has finally mustered up a mmmmmmmmmmama! Such music to my ears! I'm not totally sure that she knows that I'm "mama" but she's been able to repeat it a few times, especially when I'm changing her.

Right now she's been fighting a nap for about an hour, and you would think I should go get her, but she only makes one or two fusses every 5 to 15 minutes. It might be that "the guys" are here for D&D and making enough noise to be disturbing, she could be working on a top tooth, or she may be getting sick. (I'm really hoping that she's not getting sick, but that's how she is acting.) I went up and found a poopy diaper (#3 today, so far!!!) changed her, and laid her back down. It has been silent now for 15 minutes, so I'm hoping sleep has found her.

Happy Thanks-teething!

2008-11-30T08:54:00.004-05:00

Wow, it has been a weekend full of discoveries for our little Evie! She continues to work her vocal cords trying new sounds, the most recent a squeal that sounds like choking over a baby monitor--that sent me flying up the stairs yesterday.

Evie's Grandmother Troyer (aka "Grand") came for a visit to join the Crabb side of the family for a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday at Momea and Bapa's house (grandma and grandpa Crabb.) Shortly after the meal Justin reached into Evie's mouth to find teeth. Yes, you read that right, teeth. Not tooth, teeth. Both of her bottom center incisors have breached the surface of her gums.

Her legs are stronger and stronger and we think that she may skip the crawling stage all together, but she's decided that tummy time is not all that bad after all. She's learned to maneuver her way around some while face down.

Another stride taken this weekend is that she has learned that you can put those "puffs" things in your mouth and they actually taste pretty good. That's a good step towards self feeding.

Now we just need to get her sleep schedule back on track so that Mommy doesn't do crazy things with her hair in the early, early mornings...

Dadadadada

2008-11-20T16:15:00.004-05:00

Alas, yes, she says "Dada" now. Nope, no "Mama." I'm sure she does not yet relate "Dada" to Justin, but it IS kind of amusing to hear her wake up at 3 a.m. and say "Dadadadada." The perfect excuse for an elbow, "Honey, she wants you." Even if she doesn't know that "Mama" is me, I still want to hear it. I know it will happen eventually and I already feel like she is growing up too fast. Saturday will be 8 months!!! Yikes.

Socks are now a favorite toy. First there is the accomplishment of actually getting it off your foot without falling over backwards, then you get to chew on it and make it all soggy.

Happy Times

2008-10-30T10:24:00.004-04:00

As Evie coasts into 7 months with us, we're having so much fun. We started Evie at a private day care provider and have had a scare there already, luckily everything is fine, fine, fine. This scare came on the second day that we had Evie at the new sitter's house and arrive to pick her up to find a police car idling in front of the house. Nothing will stop a mother's heart like that, except maybe an ambulance, which I haven't experienced yet and hopefully never will. Apparently one of the sitter's young children dialed 911 and hung up. (Of course none of the kids fessed up to this activity.) That same day was the first time Evie reached out her arms wanting me to hold her. What a way to melt my heart. (Unfortunately Daddy was holding her at the time, so it maybe made him feel not so warm and fuzzy.)

I also wanted to share this picture of Evie wearing just one sock. On her ear. Let me explain. She woke up at 5:30 that Saturday. And when I say "woke up" she was UP. After her morning bottle, I was hoping she would snooze a bit more (that was just about 6 a.m.) So we got up (let Daddy sleep) and played with balls and cups. Mommy was very tired and was being silly putting Evie's socks on her ears. She seemed to not mind, so I grabbed the camera.

Pumpkin

2008-10-09T14:38:00.004-04:00

I just needed to share this picture of my little on checking out her pumpkin. Such concen- tration. We went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Shane, did the hay ride and corn maze. We also watched some kids go for pony rides, Aunt Jenny petted a bunny, and there were some baby cows. (Calfs? Calves?) Cows are pretty...

Tell Aunt Jenny how you really feel...

2008-09-10T13:31:00.002-04:00

I thought I would lighten the mood with a hilarious Aunt Jenny story. Aunt Jenny and Uncle Shane (Evie's God parents) came over to the Troyer house for gnocchi and Evie time Saturday.

After a while, Evie was hungry and in need of a diaper change, and Aunt Jenny volunteered to change the wee one. So, up we go to Evie's room and onto the changing table. Off with jammies and diaper--its wet with just a bit of poo. Poor Aunt Jenny probably hasn't changed poopy diapers in who knows how long... since the babysitting days, I'm sure. She used the dirty diaper to wipe off what was there and upon my urging put a clean underneath to catch anything that might be a latecomer to the party. Well, of course, with a grunt and a grin, Evelyn gave us her best impression of the Play-doh Fun Factory. Mommy and Aunt Jenny were both laughing at this point when Evie showed us one of her other fun tricks. I like to call it "Magic Fountain Evelyn." Silly Jen starts to pull the diaper out from under sweet Evie and asked for a clean one. "No, no! Leave it there! It's already dirty, let it catch this mess, too." The two of us were really laughing it up at this point. So Jen gets Evie all cleaned up, and goes for one more wipe. I jokingly say, "Tell Aunt Jenny how you REALLY feel." Evelyn answered with a sweet little toot. I'm now in hysterics, laughing, stomping the floor. Jenny got a little more... Play-Doh. ;-) We managed to get Evie all cleaned up, changed into a fresh, clean diaper and settled in for a nice supper.

Out of the blue

2008-07-28T10:52:00.002-04:00

My long lost friend Omar Toro contacted me via email over the weekend. It's been ages since we've been able to talk to each other, I cannot wait to hear back from him and to get back in touch.

Omar was a foreign exchange student at Dublin High School my sophomore year and we became close friends that year. I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Chile for a visit in September of 1999. Here's hoping that my next post is about how we've caught up on the last 9 years!

First laugh

2008-06-30T09:38:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, we heard Evie laugh for the very first time. Of course she was done laughing by the time I grabbed the camera and put it in movie mode, but she and Daddy were have a good time playing on the swing.

Tongues!!!

2008-06-03T09:25:00.002-04:00

One of Evie's favorite games is tongues. She will mirror you sticking out your tongue. We're working on hands next, but she hasn't quite figured out that she has those yet.

I've gone back to work (as of May 19) and that was harder than I thought it would be. I know I was missing work, the folks there and the adult conversations during the day, but I sure miss my little one!

More pictures!

2008-03-28T13:48:00.003-04:00

We've started a new album for pictures of Evie post-hospital. You can check them out here.

The long story of Evie's birth...

2008-03-26T22:05:00.003-04:00

Since little Miss Evelyn was nearly a week late, I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, March 21. I was admitted just after 8 AM. Upon first examination, I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, posterior and Evie was at -4 station. This all means that my cervix needed to dilate another 9 cm and Evie needed to drop another 4 cm before she was "engaged."

At 10 AM, a Foley catheter was inserted to dilate my cervix and pitocin was started. Every half hour the pitocin was increased so that my contractions would become more regular and stronger. I was having a good contraction pattern and Evie was tolerating them "beautifully." Around 6 PM the Foley came out and I was 3-4 cm. Close to 6:30 PM, medical staff ruptured my bag of water and again began increasing the pitocin. After an exam close to 10 PM, I was still at 3-4 cm and I asked for some pain relief hoping for sleep, relaxation, and of course dilation. I was administered 2 doses of Nubane which made me feel loopy, but didn't seem to take the edge off the contractions, so I was only able to sleep in 2 minute bursts between the contractions. At 2 AM, I was still at 3-4 cm!!! The contractions were nearly unbearable, so I broke down and asked for an epidural, again hoping that relaxation would lead to quicker dilation. I was finally able to sleep through most of the contractions. They stopped the pitocin in the night in the hopes that nature would take over, which it did but the contractions weren't as strong or regular as they needed to be. By 8 AM, I had not passed the 3-4 cm dilated mark, so we began talking c-section.

I really did not want a Cesarean section, but 24 hours after being admitted and 22 hours into labor, I was ready to meet my little girl. The doctor was called at 9 AM with the decision to go ahead and he was on his way in. I was wheeled into the operating room at 9:40 AM, Justin joined me by 9:50, and Evelyn was successfully evicted at 9:59 AM weighing in at 7 pounds 9.4 ounces, 21 inches long, and absolutely beautiful.

I cried at the announcement that it was a girl and cried even more when I heard her crying. Justin was able to take some pictures in the operating room and Evie was able to stay with us even in the recovery room.

So far, Evie has been a peaceful child for the most part. It is taking us some time to get used to her various cries and needs. She sleeps more during the day than during the night, a habit that our pediatrician has advised us to try to break sooner rather than later. (We were extremely grateful for the 4 hour nap she allowed us Wednesday afternoon.) We have found that she gets fussy just before she dirties a diaper.

I've been breastfeeding which is a very interesting, sometimes painful experience. We did break down the second night in the hospital and asked for a pacifier. She has not had any nipple confusion. We have supplemented with maybe a grand total of 4 oz of formula at times when I was too sore to provide that consolation. (Note to new moms: do NOT allow yourself to be "mommy binky" no matter how much it soothes your baby.) My milk seems to have come in today, so now when Evie burps there is some liquid to them and that's oddly reassuring. She is a voracious, but lazy eater. There have been several occasions when she has fallen asleep at the table, so to speak.

Justin has been a great daddy, really stepping up in having to care not just for one new person, but for two people as I recover from the C-section. I have to remember to take care of myself first when it comes time to take my pain medication so that I'm not too sore to sit up or move about.

I'm recovering well from the C-section, but have decided that upstairs is better/easier than downstairs and I probably will not go down again for a few days, after I've recovered more. This means that I get served breakfast in bed, but I can shower. Our bed is easier to get in and out of than I had thought it would be given how high it sits off the floor. The bed rail serves as a little step and I'm able to climb in with relative ease.

We continue to post new pictures to our photobucket account, so check there often for the baby pics!

She's here...FINALLY!

2008-03-23T17:45:00.006-04:00

Evelyn Jolie is here!

Pictures and a video are available at the links below.

Pictures

Video

More to follow...

Last picture???

2008-03-13T21:15:00.003-04:00

I'm due the 15th and it is after 9 PM on the 13th, so is this the last belly shot?

:-)

Cruel Joke

2008-03-12T14:09:00.003-04:00

As a general rule, during the third trimester of pregnancy, experts recommend sleeping on your left side. It has something to do with improving circulation as your biggest artery and your biggest vein run up your back and the weight of the baby can cause blood flow to be diminished.

However, if you have heartburn at night, and BOY do I have heartburn, experts recommend that you sleep sitting up in bed to alleviate the pressure on your stomach and hopefully less acid will take the reverse route.

In addition to the heartburn, I'm experiencing edema. Edema means swelling and is completely normal in pregnancy. My feet and ankles are bearing the brunt of the swelling, but my fingers and arms are slightly swollen as well. I haven't worn my watch in over 3 weeks and decided it was safer to remove my wedding band and engagement ring before either reached a point where they would threaten to cut them off. They recommend elevating the swollen entities above the heart, especially at night, to relieve the swelling.

So picture someone sleeping on their left side, sitting up with their hands and feet above their heart. I don't believe even the most experienced Yogi using a Craftmatic (tm) adjustable bed could pull that off.

As a side note, the swelling is making my left ankle hurt. I'm not sure why because its my right ankle that I've broken once and sprained twice. When I get out of bed at night to use the ladies room as required (about 2-3 times) I'm unsteady on my feet because my left ankle tweaks just a bit. I know I am the MOST graceful person you all know (hehe, yeah right) but add to that the front-heaviness of being pregnant. I've given myself a nightly scare of almost falling for the past few nights, making it that much more difficult to get back to sleep.

Nursery Pics.... as promised, but delayed

2008-03-05T22:49:00.005-05:00

The furniture looks darker in the pictures than in real life. I cannot wait to share pictures with a baby in the crib.

Three Guesses!!!

2008-02-22T13:10:00.003-05:00

No, it's not a photo of the lunar eclipse, but Evie is working on giving mommy an outtie! I have just a little lip at this point, but there have been jokes in my house about a turkey timer... I cannot believe that I'm to the point of counting down by days rather than weeks!

Yesterday was Megaconference Junior, and it was a great success. It was a very long day yesterday and I was pretty sore when I got up this morning. Luckily two Tylenol and a tall glass of water and all was good. That and plenty of sleep.

I know it's been too long

2008-02-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

Okay so here's a 34 1/2 week belly shot. In the last few weeks, I've had my baby shower (thank you Christi, Ingrid, Michelle and Jen) and Evie came out of it with soooo many way cute outfits. Justin and I took delivery of our new bedroom furniture and Evie's room is almost photo ready. I'll try to get photos of both rooms up here after the weekend once everything has settled.

Good gravy, I know I walk around with it all day long, but I just cannot believe how big my belly is!!!

Me and my big mouth...

2008-01-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I opened my trap to say that I didn't have any stretch marks yet. Well, low and behold, Justin discovered one hiding under my belly. It was in a place that *I* couldn't see, but God bless husbands for being able to see in places we cannot. (He gets to trim my toenails as well now because it hurts to reach them.)

In other news, Saturday is my baby shower and I'm getting really excited. There will not be a ton of people there, but hopefully some that I haven't seen in a while. I'm exercising GREAT restraint in NOT checking on my baby registries (Babies R Us and Target) as I anticipate the big day. If one of you out there see this message and find that I need to fluff the registry some, please let me know.

Don't follow your nose!

2007-12-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

Wow! What a holiday! I guess you could say that I had a Merry Christmas aside from a broken nose and fat lip. It was really good to see family (especially those I hadn't seen in a while.) I still cannot believe that I found the one small patch of ice in Dart's driveway (my mother-in-law) that was big enough to slip on and managed to get Akron Christmas canceled. Of course, everyone was due to arrive at 11, so at 10:30, I slipped and my face met pavement. Justin took a picture of me at the ER as seen here. Evie and I are both fine and I've healed amazingly well. It's been just more than one week and most of the bruising is gone (there's a little yellow under my eyes) and the one big cut on my nose you can see above is a tiny little cut. I may have a few scars from the cuts, but I'm hoping they too will heal over with time. Luckily, I bought some Mederma for stretch marks when I first became pregnant, so I'll have that on hand once I'm healed over enough to apply it. Now, I just have a very sore nose, so no head colds for me!

I am so blessed

2007-12-17T19:55:00.001-05:00

I continue to be amazed at the kindness of others, especially my best friend Christi and her family. Christi has a daughter Rian who will turn three just about the same time that my little Evelyn will make her appearance into this world. Christi and family have given Justin and I a crib, changing table, high chair, travel system (baby carrier + stroller) a second infant car seat, pack-n-play complete with changing table and bassinet, and more girly clothes than I can imagine what to do with! I will have so little on my registry! From going through what I've gone through, it seems that my biggest need will actually be baby clothes for the fist year, bottles, diapers and wipes. I am just not sure how to thank Christi enough!

We are nearing Christmas and I cannot believe that we're just a week away!

Evelyn continues to get bigger and stronger every day. I'm surprised by her strength on occasion enough to gasp or even say "Oh my!" Don't get me wrong, but I so love to feel her move and kick. It just makes me feel closer to her and more anxious to meet my little girl!

Belly Shot

2007-11-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

Rebecca has asked for a belly shot, so here you go. Way to go belly!

Craziness

2007-11-08T15:40:00.000-05:00

Okay work days that start at 6 AM and last until 8:30 PM are enough to make a pregnant lady wish there was a cot hiding away in some dark corner of the server room. :-) I joked with my office mates that I needed a nap and they found some foam and a blanket for me to lay down on the floor. I just know that if I lay down, there will not be any getting me up. It will be worth it though for Megaconference--why I have a 15 hour day. AND because of my 15 hour day today, I get a 4 day weekend. (Monday is a holiday and I work for the state.)

Evie update: She's been kicking away. I know I've felt a few on the outside and that is so exciting to me. I have yet to have a stranger pat my belly (knock on wood) though the more I show, the more I expect that to happen.

Leg cramps???

2007-10-26T09:37:00.000-04:00

Nobody told me that leg cramps would be part of the baby game. I woke up last night around 3:15 AM with the *worst* Charlie horse I have ever experienced. The pain sat me up in bed moaning so loudly that I woke poor Justin. "It's okay," he says, "the adrenaline will soon go away." Well, he was sound asleep by 4. How do I know? Well, let's just say that I wasn't. The Charlie horse turned into a muscle spasm that kept me up, in fact the muscle is still twitching now 6 hours later. Then my tummy started grumbling and I gave up. I went downstairs and had a tall glass of milk and some of the yummy apple crisp that Dart (my mother-in-law) baked for us on Tuesday evening. With a full belly, I crashed out on the couch with WOSU-HD on the TV. I slept until that creepy Boobah kids show came on at 6 when I just turned off the TV and rolled over on the couch. I sure hope Evie never sees Boobah.

It's a GIRL!!!

2007-10-17T12:50:00.001-04:00

Justin and I are so excited to share with everyone that we will be having a little girl! We've only settled on a first name (Evelyn aka Evie) go here to see the latest ultrasound pictures. There are a couple of "girl" shots and some that are kinda creepy skeletonized shots. Hopefully she wont be too bashful and mad that we're showing off her girl parts. (Or rather the lack of any boy parts.) The ultrasound revealed all the right parts in all the right places and a "very well formed brain."

Bebe's heartbeat

2007-10-05T09:36:00.000-04:00

I finally have a link to share to if you're interested in hearing the heartbeat.

Pregnancy Brain Strikes....Again!!!

2007-10-02T11:36:00.000-04:00

It is fact that pregnant women suffer from being scatterbrained while pregnant and we get to blame it on, you guessed it, hormones!!! I seem to be suffering from "pregnancy brain." The other night, I used the bathroom, flushed, washed my hands, turned off the lights and left the bathroom. About 10 minutes later, my dear husband came to me saying, "I turned the water off for you." I had left the water in the sink running after washing my hands!!! Now, I know I've had other episodes of pregnancy brain that I totally wanted to share with my readers, but, well, I cannot remember what they are to save my life!!!!

Anyways, we had our 16 week checkup on Friday and recorded the heartbeat! Bebe Troyer was beating away between 140 and 150 bpm. I'll get Justin to upload the mp3 to our server and link to it here. I'll be at conferences this week and next, and our Level II ultrasound is October 15 and we were given an unofficial 75% chance that we'll find out the sex of the baby!!! Stay tuned.

Starting to feel real...

2007-09-24T08:47:00.000-04:00

So my friend Christi dropped off a crib, changing table, pack-n-play, stroller, baby carrier and a couple of bouncers yesterday. All of the sudden having all of this baby stuff in the house makes it all the more real that Justin and I really are having a baby!

You know there are times (like when spending a lazy Sunday sleeping on the couch) that I wonder, can we really do this??? I mean this will be a living, breathing tiny human being that will be completely dependent on Justin and I for his or her every need!

It was funny this morning when Zoey went sniffing about the new stuff (which is spread about in our parlor) and I heard one of the rattles. I just cannot help but think that Zoey is going to be so good with Bebe! She was very gentle playing with Grant (10) and Rian (almost 3). When Christi first saw Zoey (we used to be roommates) she couldn't believe how old ("wise") Zoey looked. Yeah, she's getting gray about the muzzle, but it was a little hard to realize that she really is getting up there at 7 1/2. She could be around for that much longer, too though.

Belly chat

2007-09-17T11:54:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, I went out to dinner with my parents, older sister and her husband. Jenny (sister) asked me if I was out at work yet and I flattened my sweater to my belly and just said, "ummm" to which she replied, "Oh, look at your little pregnant belly!" Mom thought I was forcing it out there, but there's no force here! I can hardly even suck it in. Mom thinks it's funny that I'm proud of my baby bump.

Sunday (whilst the boys were over) I went maternity shirt shopping and raided Old Navy's clearance and sale selection. I now have several tops that should get me through at least the next few months, or so I hope. Lots of the current fashion tops have the empire waste that is preggo friendly, but everything I saw was shiny material and I didn't like that so much.

Then Sunday evening, my mother-in-law stayed over at our house. (She's flying to California to stay with her sister, Justin's Aunt, Bonnie who just had hernia surgery.) Dart didn't even get out of the car before she commented on my tummy. She did pick up a maternity top at Target that I'm wearing today.

Okay, so I popped!!!

2007-09-13T10:45:00.001-04:00

I went to Chicago with my fellow VC Divas. There I found out that one of my fellow divas is a mere two weeks behind me! (She's due March 29, 2008.) We stopped one evening to take a "belly shot." No, not alcohol, take a look at the picture. We'll see each other again in mid October at a conference in San Diego and will have to repeat the shot. I cannot believe how big I look, already! Its funny though, in the mornings, I'm much smaller. Today, I could even button my pants. I'm sure by day's end, I'll be relying on my belly band to hold them up!

(FYI--VC Divas are Videoconferencing Divas!)

I guess we couldn't wait

2007-09-04T10:19:00.000-04:00

So much for waiting until today (Tuesday) to tell everyone at work! The cookies and t-shirts were lots of fun and I was surprised at how nervous I was when actually telling people!

So this weekend was a good weekend. Ohio State won, Michigan lost, and I spent time with my dearest friend Christi shopping for maternity clothes. I didn't think I was ready for maternity clothes just yet, but it was clear how much more comfortable I was in some of the outfits that I tried on. I didn't think I looked pregnant just yet, but in the right clothes my little baby bump is quite obvious. Many of the things I tried on only made me look and feel like a whale, but some of the clothes I found are really quite cute. I'm going to wear one such outfit when I travel to Chicago on Thursday to meet up with some work girlfriends. This will be the first time I've seen my pal Sue face to face, though we've met over the video umpteen times.

Outing at work...

2007-08-31T14:00:00.001-04:00

So we decided that today is the day to let everyone (who showed up) at work today know about Bebe. Justin and I baked cookies last night, colored them pink and blue. We each have a T-shirt. Mine is a yellow caution sign that says "Baby bump ahead" and Justin's "She's eating for two, I'm drinking for three."

Shhhhh!

2007-08-29T09:14:00.001-04:00

Okay, so we haven't told everyone at work yet--we plan to do this on Tuesday with some cleverly decorated cookies--but the secret is killing me. Most of you all know that Justin and I both work at Ohio State in sister departments, so we have to tell everyone on the same day.

There's part of me that just wants everyone to know, but another part of me that's quite content knowing that only a few select people know. I'm avoiding fumes blaming "migraines." (Although fumes CAN trigger a migraine, its not the real reason I'm walking through the halls covering my nose.)

Oh well, just three more days in the office with the big secret! I think I may hang pictures on my office door before I go home on Friday.

Bebe

2007-08-27T13:31:00.000-04:00

First Entry

2007-08-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

Mom asked if I had started a pregnancy journal. I have not, but I'm a techy, so I thought I would start a pregnancy BLOG!!! :-) I hope you enjoy reading my occasional updates. I'll post pictures and doctor's appointment updates here. See the current set of pics here:
http://zephirus.dyndns.org/bebe/

Cheers!
Megan