Mommy Marvels at Mini Milestones

Last week I was telling Miguel that I can feel the baby kicking now. I don't think he believed me. This week I am now 20 weeks along and just yesterday while laying down next to daddy, I felt the little one (I'll announce his name in a later post) moving about. Daddy put his hand on me and sure enough, he felt it too. I'm trying to savor every last piece of this pregnancy as well as document everything I can since this will NEVER happen to me again. I hate saying that, makes me want to cry! Anyways, with that said, let it be known that on June 15, 2009, while 20 wks along, daddy felt his 2nd son move for the very first time!

19 Weeks

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that he may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to him, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom about the size of a large heirloom tomato. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Think you're big now? You'll start growing even faster in the weeks to come. As a result, you may notice some achiness in your lower abdomen or even an occasional brief, stabbing pain on one or both sides — especially when you shift position or at the end of an active day. Most likely, this is round ligament pain. The ligaments that support your uterus are stretching to accommodate its increasing weight.

Peeing in Peace

Older kids are in school, Sesame Street is babysitting the younger two (thank God for the creator of Elmo), now's my chance to finally pee in peace.... or so I thought. No more than two seconds later they know I'm missing and hunt me down.

So much for ten seconds of peace! Matthew and Megan hop into the 'just cleaned' shower and proceed to make funny faces for mommy on my 'just cleaned' shower glass door. Argh!!!

Instead of yelling, like I wanted to, I laughed. Because who wouldn't laugh at those two cute piggy noses. So what if I did spent half my day off cleaning the house! I guess those dirty handprints will just have to stay there because despite my efforts to clean, they just keep reappearing. Each time I feel myself starting to get upset, I have to remind myself that one day I'll do just about anything to see those sticky fingerprints just one more time. Until then... I have no choice but to sit back (on the toilet) and enjoy the show they're putting on for me, oh and run as fast as I can to get my camera when I'm done peeing.

Grassy Crossroads

I'm reading a book right now. This is a rare occasion for me as I rarely have time to read with 5 kids at home. I've saved my reading times for downtime at work. The book I'm reading is titled: My Sister's Keeper. I'm really excited about this as the movie is coming out very soon and I just love to compare books with movies. I will surely be dragging my husband to this one!

Anyhow, I'm only in chapter three but I read something in there that spoke to me in an indescribable way. I had to go over and re-read it several times. It really hit home and it made me want to blog about it. This is what is said...

"I think there are crossroads in our lives when we make grand, sweeping decisions without even realizing it. Like scanning the newspaper headline at a red light, and therefore missing the rogue van that jumps the line of traffic and causes an accident. Entering a coffee shop on a whim and meeting the man you will marry one day, while he's digging for change at the counter. Or this one: instructing your husband to meet you [at the hospital], when for hours you have been convincing yourself this is nothing important at all."

Immediately, I thought of our Emily. And I thought of those first few days in our new home. Excitement was an understatement for the feelings we were experiencing those first days. We quickly started the planning and the design of our empty backyard. At first, we had been unsure on whether to lay the concrete patio the whole length of the back of the house or just under the sliding glass door. In the end, we agreed on only having patio near the sliding door. Little did we know, the decision we made at that time was a CROSSROAD, we had no idea what influence and impact it would have on our future, and on our little 2 1/2 year old's life. Later that year, while mom and dad were at work, Emily fell out the second story window. Rather than landing on concrete, she landed on wet, soggy grass that had just been watered, cushioning her fall even more. Those two decisions... #1 where to lay the concrete and #2 what times to set the automatic sprinklers at, were our crossroads. They altered our lives, unbeknownst to us at the time, for the good!

Emily survived the 2nd story fall with nothing but the wind knocked out of her. Not even a scratch! We always tease her and tell her that she was trying to fly with the angels and instead they caught her in mid-air and guided her to the ground. Three other children that we know of have also fallen out of 2nd story windows, one of them, the one who landed on cement, did not survive. I could not imagine losing a child. My heart aches for his mother! I think that it was more than a simple landscaping decision for Miguel and I. Something else, Something bigger, Something or Someone Greater, had a hand in it. Still broken but in place, is the screen that failed her. We refuse to replace it. It serves as a constant reminder of what could have been.

Life would DEFINITELY not be the same without this little girl in our lives!

Enchanted Clay Mushrooms

In the May issue of Family Fun Magazine, we found these really cool mushrooms made out of polymer clay. The kids made some of their own. They look pretty neat sitting in the planter in the backyard. They might not be as perfect as the ones pictured, but fun nonetheless. We may just make some more. These nifty lil things bake right in your kitchen oven and don't take long at all.

(in case you couldn't tell- not my kid pictured above)

This is what ours look like

If you want to make some of your own, here's the link:

http://jas.familyfun.go.com/crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=12171

Blessed 2 B the Bearer of Big Beautiful Baby Blues News!

The Mejia kids have been busy cooking up a special message just for you...

Brianna

Elizabeth

Emily Matthew

and Megan

Are excited to announce that they...

Wow, you're waiting so patiently....

what if I just took a moment to throw in a few random pics for your enjoyment....

Would you hate me? Is it killin you?

A

new

baby

brother!!!

Did I drag that one out long enough or what?! long story short:

We won't be buying any more pink because

It's a boy!

What you've been waiting for...

won't come til later today. We need to tell the kids, first. They are so patiently waiting as are all of you. We have something planned for later today to break the news to them. I will post video of their reactions later as well. As for now, it seems that some more votes have come in and the percentage of those thinking 'girl' is rising. At the current moment: Boy: 60.7% Girl: 35.7 % Unsure: 3.6%

Paying the Price

Yes, I know I'm the one who wanted all these kids. And yes, I've heard how expensive it will be to raise them, however... I was NOT prepared for the total of yesterday's Costco trip.

So, what exactly does a trip to Costco cost one who has bare-naked cabinets, an empty fridge, and almost 6 kids???

$796.and some change

Okay, that was including a $100 renewal fee for the Costco membership. Subtract that and we actually spent $696.00. That's still a whole crap load of change!

Yikes! Scary, huh?!

I'm not complaining, just venting!