October Family Update

Time for an update, right? I'm happy to be able to report that I'm well and so are the rest of my household — well mostly. We've had recurring head colds, and Chris messed up his back at the end of last week, but both of those situations seem to be getting better (though I'm still keeping an eye on Chris and trying to keep him from overdoing it — not an easy task).

My prenatal appointment with the nurse practitioner earlier this month was wonderfully low key — weight checked but nothing said about it (I think I'm gaining now, though I still weigh less than I did before I became pregnant), blood pressure good, heartbeat good and easily found this time.

My ultrasound is scheduled for Halloween, and we'll probably find out what sex the baby is at that time — as well as making sure there's only one. Chris thinks I'm nuts, but I really wouldn't be unhappy if it was twins. It would be rather chaotic, but I like the idea of having four kids in our family ... it just feels right. But I really don't think another pregnancy would be a good idea for me. Ah well, we shall see.

I don't see the endocrinologist again until after Thanksgiving, but they wanted me to get my blood checked in October. Did that end of last week and had a nice phone call this morning as the result — I'm to lower my dose of PTU to one pill every other day, rather than every day. Yay! (Those pills are vile tasting, and it's almost impossible to take them without some taste or aftertaste.)

This past weekend was my mom's birthday, and as it was one ending in a zero we took the opportunity to make it a big celebration. My brother and his wife and son flew in Friday afternoon and our Aunt Nancy (one of mom's sisters) drove them down to South Bend. Mom knew Nan was coming, but not Paul and Em and Noah. Then Saturday Nan's two daughters plus a boyfriend arrived (also not expected) and a bit later her brother Tony and his partner Greg arrived (another surprise).

We all went out to dinner together — 14 adults plus 6 kids, 6 months to 5 years — talk about barely organized chaos! Tony made an awesome mango and pineapple upside down cake which we ate back in the neighborhood. It was a lovely day and Mom was pleased — the main goal, after all.

Sunday everyone had to head home, some after church and brunch with us, others earlier. By the end of the day I felt totally exhausted, physically and emotionally. The usual let-down after a big to do. Thankfully there are other impending events to turn my mind to...

What else? The basement is almost done, and I think the paint color was a good choice ("Clove Bud" — who names these? — it's a slightly muted reddish orange). The girls and I got to spend one more evening in the not-yet finished basement due to a tornado warning on Thursday (Chris was gaming with friends, and got to spend time in their basement). I discovered the hard way that I cannot carrying Nora down, and later up, two flights of steps anymore and had a sore back most of Friday.

Guess that's all for now. Watch for pictures, maybe even a video (if I can figure out how to transfer it from the VHS tape), on or shortly after Halloween. Happy fall, everyone!